“Well...” Vaal began with a sigh, allowing the word to hang in the air. Their team now huddled in the moss-draped break room assigned to them, breathing hard and soaked in sweat, water, and an ungodly amount of mud and plant matter. The scent around them was a sharp blend of ozone, damp sports kit, and manure.
A few of them slumped onto benches carved from living wood. The walls were half-vines, half-stone, with enchanted lamps casting soft greenish light across the room. A shallow font of water burbled gently in the centre, which Jack had been assured was full of drinking water. He was too exhausted to even question it as he joined the queue and quickly filled a cup, chugging it down and barely noticing the earthy aftertaste as they all took their seats, with Kizzarith and Arlox also joining them, having observed the game from the crowd.
“What the hell is there to say?” Kritch sighed dejectedly as the Lizta slumped shivering in their seat. His fur was soaked through, giving him a much thinner appearance than usual, and he had a long muddy gash on his left arm. “It’s their five goals to our three.”
“Could be worse,” Karzen muttered as they clutched at their aching head, pale purple blood dribbling down their nose. “We can catch up.”
“They’ve given us a beating, though,” Plooderoo moaned as he rubbed his body, which was riddled with bruises and sores from the unrelenting assault of the enemy team.
“That water mage they have is very strong!” Rayle spoke up, sniffling and on the verge of tears. “I’m really sorry! I try to stop him, I really do!”
“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Kritch patted the Squa’Kaar on the shoulder reassuringly as the Lizta forced a smile on his face. “You’re doing really well! And it’s your first game, too!”
“You’re not wrong,” Vaal agreed with a deep sigh. “We have been playing well given the circumstances, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re losing. We really need to try and do better if we’re going to actually have a shot at winning this.”
“Win? I just want to survive and get this shit done with…” Crill gave an exhausted sigh, hissing out in pain as he worked on preening his feathers, trying to re-slick them after being caught with a powerful water spell after Kaldros had gotten the ball from a distracted Jack and made a successful run towards their goal. The Squarri’s talons were chipped, and the team could see Crill’s beak had a hairline crack that must have been incredibly painful as he winced while speaking.
“Here.” Arlox quietly spoke up. The aquatic boy reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a tube of something, undid the lid and gently applied some sort of cream to the injury. Crill hissed in pain, though he weakly smiled his thanks anyway.
“I know most of you…alright, all of us are feeling like shit,” Vaal admitted, looking around at the sea of sad faces around the room, “but giving up is for pussies! We’re only two down, this isn’t a stomp!”
“Their magic is strong,” Zayle cautioned. “It is difficult for me to maintain my spirits when they keep getting disrupted and banished. I was hoping my Earth spirit could block them better.”
“And they really fucked Jack up at the start,” Karzen pointed out. “They almost fully froze him solid in that pond and took the lead.”
“Could they have known you’d have put him front and centre, Vaal?” Nika asked.
“I…perhaps it was too obvious a play.” Vaal agreed with a sigh.
“Yeah, but well done for fixing him up Zayle!” Sephy added.
“What else?” Vaal asked.
“I think Jack could be a bit more focused,” Kizzarith noted, and the rest of the team looked at him. “No offence, but you were playing in the middle a bit too much, and while you’re useful there, we need you to focus on scoring some more goals. They got you good at the start, and they’ve set the tempo since.”
“You’re a Charger for a reason,” Bentom pointed out.
“Yeah, well it’d be a hell of a lot easier for me to score if there wasn’t that fucking Danger Noodle lurking about!” Jack growled back in frustration.
“Svaartal?” Vaal asked. “I thought you two were staying away from one another?”
“Yeah, we have been.” Jack sighed. “That was until I spotted him eyeballing me in the crowd. I think my ring sensed danger or something. I mean, I’m not sure how it actually works, but he’s definitely up to something and I don’t have my weapons on me!”
“Shit! Did he attack you from the crowd?” The Eladra asked.
“Nope,” Kizzarith answered before Jack could do so himself. “Sorry, Jack, but I saw Svaartal show up about halfway through and kept my eyes on him. I don’t think he’s been casting any spells, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Well, while crowd participation is a thing in Deathball, if he actually hasn’t done anything, then you need to clear your mind of it until he does,” Vaal told him with a shrug. “Maybe he’s just bored and watching the game?”
“I doubt it,” Jack growled.
“Speaking of, though, crowds do get pretty wild in the second half,” Sephy said. “Could work for us if they distract the mages while we get some goals in!”
“Members of the crowd would also target us,” Kritch countered. “Sorry, Jack, but I’ve heard a bunch of the lads daring each other to try their luck against you.”
“Great.” Jack groaned.
“I think the crowd would affect the mages more than they would us,” Nika reasoned. “They’ve already used a lot of spells in the first half, and up close and personal, we have the edge.”
“You’re not wrong,” Vaal agreed. “And even if they have contingencies for the crowd, that’s fewer chances for them to sling spells our way.”
“They will also tire,” Arlox spoke up unsurely from where he was sitting unsteadily at the door. “You may be able to get them to overexert themselves.”
“They’re not as physically fit as us, either,” Karzen noted. “They may have been trying to pace themselves for the first half, but the second will be harder on them, just like it will be on us.”
“Then we just need to grit our teeth and push through.” Vaal nodded, very much doing his best to inspire the rest of the team. “Kizzarith, Arlox, you’ve been keeping an eye on the game from the audience - anything you want to share with the class?”
“I think you’ve got to push more,” Kizzarith spoke first. “I know you’ve had to intercept balls and stuff, but they’ve had too many opportunities. They were able to get a huge advantage by disabling Jack at the start, and though you’ve been doing alright given the circumstances, if you keep playing too defensively, you’re going to lose.”
“Easier said than done!” Sephy snorted.
“But forcing the enemy to react to us is better than letting us react to them, which is what we’ve been doing so far,” Vaal pointed out. “Even if you can’t make a successful run for the goal, possessing the ball and keeping it out of their hands is better than them getting a ball and scoring the goal. If you need to double back, then do so.”
“If I can get them to come to me, then that means someone else can make a run with their ball.” Nika nodded, seeing the logic.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Precisely!” Vaal agreed. “Chargers, just keep attacking if you’re able to. Warders will try and get balls to you so you don’t have to retreat too far. Arlox? Got anything?”
“It’s not easy for the Protectors,” the aquatic boy hesitantly spoke up. “It’s especially rough for Rayle since it’s their first game. The enemies know how to unweave and counterspell, so wards and sustained spells aren’t working. The moment they detect any enchantments they bust them.”
“So…” Jack spoke up uncertainly. “Just don’t do that? Unless it takes them a while to unravel them, in which case, you could just stall them?”
“Quicker spells.” Kritch shrugged with a grin. “Don’t make it so complicated and just keep blasting!”
“I can try…” Crill nodded nervously. “But it would mean fewer ways I can help you.”
“It’s not sticking around for long anyway.” Vaal shrugged. “Rayle, how are things with you?”
“My druidic abilities are harder for them to counteract.” The Squa’Kaar smiled nervously at being addressed.
“Different paradigms,” Zayle explained. “Same for me. It’s still possible for them to do so, though, once they work out what’s being done. However, they can’t see it as well as they can with arcane magic, which they are familiar with.”
“That’s good to hear, at least.” Vaal sighed. “Perhaps you can keep them distracted with some decoys? Something unrelated to the game that you can throw up quickly?”
“I’ll try my best…” Rayle nodded, betraying their anxiety with a sharp breath.
“Don’t worry, even if we lose this, we’ve done well,” Vaal told them all. “They are a strong team, mostly in their final year of school. There’s no shame in losing if it comes to it.”
“Enough of that defeatist talk!” Jack jokingly spoke up with a grin. “We need an overall plan if we’re still committing to trying to win this. What do we want to do?”
“We’re two goals down,” Nika noted. “Vaal, how do you want us to catch up?”
“Alright…” Vaal began, closing his eyes seriously and nodding to himself for a moment. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”
*****
Back in the central chamber, everyone except for the Keepers were staring each other down with dagger-like focus. The plan was to win the initial scrum at any cost, so even Crill and Rayle were up front with them, with instructions to move back quickly after they’d either gotten control of the situation or felt like they needed to shore up their defences.
Unfortunately, their opponents had a similar idea.
Staring them down along with the rest of the squad, Jack spotted the white furred mage with the big head that was behind the annoying invisible walls he kept crashing into, as well as the more visible ones that he…also kept crashing into. With him was a Korrigan he hadn’t really paid much attention to before, but he realised that they were probably Merriwyn, the nature mage that had mostly remained camouflaged around the plants for most of the match and had irritated him more than once by making deep pits all over the place. Jack also spotted the diminutive summoner hanging back, and knew they needed to score as many goals as they could before the corridors became clogged with creatures getting in the way.
He also spotted Kaldros directly in front of him. Clearly the water mage was their team’s ace and their best bet for countering him.
‘Bring it on motherfucker!’ Jack thought to himself, with a confident grin.
“COMBATANTS? ARE YOU READY?!” the referee yelled from his spot in the middle of the pond, though after what happened the first time, nobody was going to fucking join him.
“Fuck yeah we are!” Jack yelled, as the rest of his team yelled similar sentiments, having been thoroughly hyped up by Vaal on their way out of the team break room. Their opponents all gave their confirmations and nodded with serious, focused looks.
It didn’t seem like they getting cocky from their advantage.
“SPECTATORS? ARE YOU READY?!” The referee yelled again, as the crowd roared, and then kept roaring in anticipation.
“3….” The referee bellowed.
“2…” Jack took a deep breath, and got ready to lock in.
“1…” Vaal yelled out, “MAXIMUM EFFORT!”
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!”
The horn blared from the referee drones around them, like a roaring beast echoing throughout the entire building as the second half officially began.
And then all hell broke loose.
Jack sprinted straight ahead as swiftly as he could, as Kaldros surged forward to intercept him, propelled by a thin jet of water.
“Zayle! Now!” Vaal called out, and the Shaman’s Air Spirit was quickly summoned, blasting the centre ball to the right-hand side before it could splash into the pond. Several members of their team were focused over there, battling with the opponent’s captain.
Knowing the plan, Jack dropped and turned, ducking the jet of water that zoomed over his head as he followed the ball while Kritch leapt up at Kaldros, grabbing at the mage’s head. Kladros tried to shake the Lizta off, which meant he couldn’t see Bentom’s charge, who utterly bodied the water mage and tackled them roughly to the ground with a hard thud.
“Riven! Check the Outsider!” The enemy captain yelled out in warning, and all of a sudden Jack’s vision turned to black as he was momentarily blinded, and judging by the yells from a few others, his teammates were hit too…
Still, Jack kept on going, mentally judging the distance to where he wanted to be in the back of his mind while he tried not to trip.
“Sephy! Get that bitch!” Jack heard Nika yell.
Two seconds later, Jack’s vision returned, and he spotted the aftermath of Sephy punching one of the enemy team’s mages who was shrouded in shadow, disrupting the field of darkness they had just conjured, knocking them sprawling as Sephy whacked them several times again for good measure.
“Oooooow….That was uncalled for…” A quiet, feminine voice groaned from the prone mass of shadows as the Skritta got off of her.
“Mine!” The enemy captain yelled as the lemur sped up to the ball Jack was aiming for. He dove forward, but Jack was ready, twisting his body and shoulder barging them out of the way, getting both hands firmly around the rugby-shaped ball as he carried on his charge, looking to knock some more of their opponents down to help the rest of his team take the advantage before he went for the goal.
“I’ve got him!” a male voice croaked, and Jack dodged a blast of force from the Dresquox force mage only for the speedy Vivren to charge at him in a tackle, taking him off guard. The force of their momentum caused them both to crash and roll along the floor as they fought for the ball, which fell out of their hands and rolled along the floor. Jack bodily threw the Vivren into the ongoing melee, where Karzen was ready and waiting to deal with them…
“Gotcha!” The creature with spindly arms yelled as he pointed his wand at Jack, before swiping in a downwards direction towards the ball the human had just dropped.
Suddenly, Jack’s leg wrenched backwards as he nearly faceplanted, stumbling. He looked down and spotted some kind of magical chain linking him to the discarded ball.
“What the hell?” Jack grunted as he kept moving, yanking on the anchoring chain of purple light that was slowing him down.
“Nice try!” The enemy chaser taunted the human in a sing-song voice. “But there’s more than one way to lock your ass down!”
‘Shit!’ Jack thought to himself as he half-dragged, half-limped forward, with the ball dragging along behind him as he reeled it in towards him. But as he took in the sight of the ongoing brawl going on around him, with Kaldros grabbing one of the other balls, he suddenly got an idea…
“I’ve got the Outsider! He’s…OH WHAT THE FUCK?!” the enemy chaser cursed as he spotted Jack’s grin, and soon learned why as the human growled and twisted his entire body, his momentum lifting the heavy ball up off the ground as he whipped it like a flail as Kaldros used his ice leap to propel himself high, attempting to jump over his team to make a rush for their goal.
Jack’s grin grew wide as the chain wrapped around the water mage’s ankle.
“Lukahl! Turn that spell off you fucking idiot!” The enemy captain cursed the transmuter with the spindly arms, but it was too late.
“Get over here!” Jack yelled as he yanked the chain hard, pulling Kaldros out of the sky to slam firmly into the ground. Jack quickly reeled him in with a spin of his body, using his momentum to smash his elbow in the avian’s sternum, grabbing the other ball in the process as they went down.
“That was for freezing my ass off!” Jack growled as he started sprinting with a newfound burst of adrenaline, ignoring the burning in his thighs as the anchor spell dissipated. He barrelled through a hastily summoned barrier like a freight train, narrowly avoiding the twisting vines and ignoring the diminutive summoner as they hastily tried to refill their side of the field with blocking creatures, just forcing himself to move as swiftly as he could. He stayed one step ahead of the enemy team as he made a break for it, as he knew nearly all of them were still behind him in the central chamber, though he could hear sounds of alarm echoing from behind him.
As he dashed down the corridor towards the goal, he spotted a fluttering from above. Looking up, he recognised Svaartal’s pet ‘crow’ perched in the rafters above, watching him intently. There was no interference from the bird, but that still made Jack very nervous.
‘God damn fucking bird!’ Jack growled to himself as the creature’s gaze followed him as he ran to where he vaguely remembered the goal area to be. ‘Yeah keep watching you little shit! If only I had my guns I could turn you into fucking KFC!’
“Oh fuck! Some warning would have been nice!” He heard as he eventually emerged into the goal room, spotting the tall blue-skinned keeper completely caught unaware as she desperately called upon the winds to try and knock the human back.
He dropped down and skidded on the grass beneath the blast, before getting up and sprinting into the goal circle, touching both balls to the ground simultaneously with a relieved sigh.
The sound of the loud buzzer rang out as the two goals were calculated, the crowd around him cheering as the score became 5-5. Jack raised a fist in triumph as the referee ordered him to make some distance between him and the goal.
“Oh come on, you had two balls!?” The Keeper yelled, thoroughly unamused.
“Alright!” Jack grinned as he started jogging back. “Now we’re even!”
Almost immediately, the sound of the buzzer rang out again from the other side.
“Oh for fucks sake!”
