Batey Ascending

First third is over and there’s been no score. It’s an upset in both directions. The RTGs are hard fighters and fast to overwhelm a team when the match opens up, and they tried, but they failed. And they don’t deal with failure well. Both teams spent time in the Sphere between rounds to strategize and recover.

“We’re not making progress,” IND23 said. “They’re pushing up their front line across the center too quickly.”

“They only keep two men in the back,” Chilly said. She looked at me, “I saw what you were doing back there to give us an opening. You think that was a one-off?”

“As long as they’re dumb enough,” I said, “and I’m fast enough I can get them out one at a time.”

“How’s your head?” Gorri asked. I rubbed my skull, nothing unusual. Nothing leaking, at least. “I saw your heel turn maneuver. If you keep that up, you could get a headrush and lose your positioning.”

“I’m good, man,” I said. He took a second to look me over before he nodded my way. Gruff old man wouldn’t normally let you take a break unless you were breathing or heaving but in the middle of the game, he knew how to handle stress and panic. Kept us calm and not worrying about little pains.

“Those guys are good,” AB said. He clutched his hand open and shut. “That Fred guy is strong.”

“He’s a top player,” I said. “I think he’s taking this match personally, too.”

“He’s tying both our forwards up,” Chilly said. “AB and IND23 can’t make any moves on their own as long as he’s on the push forward. We need to block them and lock them down somewhere else.”

“They’re just following the ball,” I say. “That’s all they care about. They’ve got strength for days - mohawk over there has a jacked-up arm and I’m pretty sure that long-hair has cybernetics in his legs, he’s moving them too fast to be organic.”

“So, it’s flesh against metal,” Gorri said. That got him pumped, I can see it. It just got personal for him, too, apparently. I take a look back at the enemy team and catch Fred glaring me down. Not my team, those eyes are on me. His thick boy too, the crew cut with the bionic arms. He whispers something to Fred and gets a stink-eye for it. Probably something about letting him handle the problem I’m causing.

“Put me on point,” I said. AB isn’t having it, but I can tell behind IND23’s mask he’s giving me an ear. Gorri, too. “I’m in Fred’s head, I can feel it. He pushed me out once and I pushed out one of his for the rest of the third. He’s got a mind to teach me a lesson now.”

“Mix-ups this early,” Gorri said, “aren’t too common. You usually stick to the last third before you make a call like that.”

“Who runs goal, then?” IND23 asked. He’s a rusher, and our best striker after AB. I know I’m not swapping out to boost our power, but this is a mind game. Unfortunately, mind games are the one thing AB just doesn’t get.

“Just tell me what you want to do,” Black said. I have to dig deep and think hard on how to explain this to him. Simplest terms are best, that’s what he uses. And it’s not like he’s dumb, in the Sphere he’s a star, holds up the right guys and only takes shots he knows will travel. I’ve seen him do geometry that made heads spin and his only explanation was because he thought it felt right to try.

“It’ll be a distraction,” I explain. “Fred hates me so much he’ll split his focus just a little bit. So, between you and me, AB, he won’t have time for anyone else.”

“Then his other guys can keep the rest of the team tied together,” AB said. “It’ll be two on one, and four on three, their favor. Or, for us, and then them, but reverse it specifically.”

“You think you can handle the rest?”

Gorri and IND23 nod together. That leaves us with one player without any ties to keep them down. “And you, sis?” I ask. She smirks. It looks sarcastic, but I can tell there’s something under there that’s closer. Maybe after all this time, now that we’re in our first big game, she’s finally ready to accept that.

“I say we make this a team effort,” she says. “We just need one hot second to control the ball while all those clowns are reeling from clashes and pushing themselves away from the tide wall. A distraction could work wonders for that, especially against their leader.”

“And don’t forget their chips,” IND23 pointed out. “They’re using precise calculated geometrical pathing. We can’t out flank them with the ball. It has to be a carry and dive. Get it, push it, and shoot while they have no goalie.”

“They could go hard on the defense, too,” Gorri said. “Nico, you’ve got better 3D handling than the rest of us.”

“Hey,” AB remarked.

“Yes, hey,” Gorri shot back. “You’ve got the talent, kid. You were born in one world or another to be here in this floating arena and playing this sport on an alien spacecraft hovering over Earth to watch the extinction event that’ll make the dinosaur’s deaths look pathetic by comparison. But Nico’s got the training, and the heart. I’m with him, you two cover each other and peel Fred until there’s nothing left of him.”

AB wasn’t so much inspired, that I could tell, as he was just overwhelmed with the spirit, and with that we got his approval. Him and me on offense, Gorri tending goalie, IND23 hunting down flankers to push them out, and above us all, Chilly would secure the ball.

We’re getting that goal in the second third. Even if it’s the last one we make.

~~~