Batey Ascending

Tied again and the final third. For the whole second, our strategy was paying off, but it really felt like an ending was coming sooner than we thought. As soon as the third started the RTG players changed positions as the ball dropped in. Their lineup was still official, but their scramble was so quick they were already in new positions before anyone could reach the ball.

All forward, no goal, no backline defense. All five of them came in and collapsed on our formation. The only one left out was Gorri in the back, but the rest of us were tied up. And Fred was still right on me.

We clashed, elbow to elbow, and he started pushing me back. He was stronger than me and could react faster with his digital brain stem, but I had the boots. I had the speed, and the willpower to push back. But I didn’t have two bodies to block with.

JD came in from the side and got me off center with a tackle. Then he immediately rebounded and dashed to IND23. They had one more player than us and they were using him up. The ball wasn’t even in play because who was left to handle it? No one.

Well, no one I expected. Fred sees it first and turns away from me. I chase him because of course I will, I’m faster. I can get in front of him and steer him away. Once we were out of that cluster below, I saw what was going on.

The ball wasn’t free. Gorri was on it. He left the goal to put it across the center line. He was on a direct course with it to spike it in with a spinning knee kick, but Fred finally broke away from me and got in position to intercept it. Off the knee and into the shoulder, Fred diverted it. Right at me.

I can understand why having a computer brain would be useful. In less than a second, I have to make the decision on where this ball will go to affect the course of the rest of the game. A wrong decision could put us a point behind at the top of the third. That’s not a loss, but it’s a hard battle to fight against these guys.

No time to think more than that, and I don’t have a plan. I let it hit my chest and it rests right in front of me, just far enough for me to spike it over with my elbow. I see Gorri above me to my left, so I wind back my right elbow.

Tackled from behind. Two knees, rocket sliding into my back. It hits me and the ball and sends it sliding over to Fred again. Gorri tries to rush him down but Fred jukes him and shoots forward, angles up and diverts it with his hip.

Then he slams into me from the front. Getting hit by one dude, even at full strength, isn’t bad in these pads. Two dudes at once, from opposite angles - now I’m just plain hurt. All the solid gunk inside my body holding my organs in place feels like it’s been cracked apart, like a full-meal biscuit turning to crumbs inside its plastic wrapper.

My fight and flight instincts are a little skewed. All I can think of doing is running. I crank up the Flash Flight boots to full throttle and zip away. Immediately I’m at the edge. I can feel the slight magnetic pull of the Sphere’s inner surface trying to yank me out. I’m near the top but just a few wasted seconds out there, not knowing what’s happening, would put us all at a risk.

The ball’s in motion. Gorri managed to steal it and is driving for the center. JD tackles him and leaves the whole path open for Fred to get ahead of it. IND23 is chasing, leaving his own guy behind. But he’s not alone for long. Big ugly, with his robot arms, is chasing and he’s planning something foul for sure.

These boots aren’t invincible. It’s hard to do because we’re normally fighting with elbows and knees, but they can break if they get hit hard. Getting an elbow or knee on someone’s guarded foot, of all places, is hard, and the repulsion jets push anything away that gets close, but one wrong nudge and you’re out.

We’ve got no bench or extra players. We don’t even have spare shoes. If he nicks IND23’s boot our game is over. It’s a good thing my shoes are the fastest in the league. I jet down and shoulder-slam the dude’s back until we’re both so close to the other edge I’m not sure I’ll make it out.

No compromise, no plan, no thinking. Just speed, speed, speed!

He’s out, and so am I. I’m so out, I’m out of the magnetic field. I went so fast I broke through the Sphere. Gravity hits me and normalizes my insides again. I’m flying outside the Sphere, on a long, wide path around the arena, doing my best to avoid crashing into the very real audience.

There’s no rule against this. It’s just that no one does it because breaking through the Sphere like that takes force that regular Flash Flight boots can’t make. These aren’t regular. Regulations will have to be rewritten over this play. They’ll have to change the game just to stop me from winning. But that day is for another time. My focus is on this battle at the moment.

I aim for the Sphere with the roar of the crowd behind me. They’ve seen me. They know my speed. Before I went back in, I could hear the announcers shouting my name. “This could be the play of the millennium! Nico Pengin, what are you doing!? And how did you even do that !?!?”

Not sure, but I’ll find out. I get back in from the side of the goal. I can see clearly from outside what’s going on. Fred and Gorri are clashing. Our line is scattered. No one’s on defense. If that ball gets loose it’s going straight into our goal. They’re too deadly and capable and won’t miss.

Neither will I. I slam through the magnetic field, taking it like a blow-you-over kind of wind, hold my breath, and charge in. I angle up at the last second and put my arms out. Fred doesn’t even see me coming. I full on body splash him away and the ball is free. He’s heading for the outside while I blast my feet down to stop just on the surface.

I feel like I’m standing up. The whole arena is above me, and I’m grounded on its edge. My repulsors balance out against the magnetic vacuum. Like I’m at the bottom of the ocean now, and I can see Fred spinning out in the field until he slows to a stop. He’s turned around. I can just see his silhouette.

I put my fist up as the Sphere turns half green. That’s one more point for the Absolutes. And that’s all we need to win.

~~~