On the Colossus bench, the silence was so heavy it felt like it weighed a ton. The chaos in this silence was almost as hard as the one in their Captain’s mind.
Nobody dared to even look at Seth, sitting off to the side, staring blankly at nothing, with a towel draped over his shoulders that he didn’t even seem to notice. Hall and Kael exchanged worried glances, neither of them knowing what the hell to say to break the tension.
"...So... What’s the plan?" Kael whispered.
"No clue," Hall replied. "I didn’t expect the duel to end like this."
Even the coach stayed quiet. Seth had just been crushed. This was Seth, the Best of his generation, the guy who never lost, and he’d just bitten the dust for the first time in his life. What do you even say to that?
He wondered if he should have said something, some advice or whatever. But in a world where a Breakball star is like a national treasure, even he felt that inferiority complex. Like, what advice do you give to a guy who is way better than you? "Just be better"? It sounded stupid.
On the other side of the arena, the Blacklist bench was a totally different story.
Dahlia was practically dancing on a music that only she could hear. She didn’t even care who saw it.
"Only one quarter left!" she sang out, sounding way too happy. "It’s basically over. We won!"
"Shut up," Nia joked, though she had a smug smile of her own. "Don’t jinx us by talking like that."
But Nia couldn’t hide her joy either. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She grabbed Miko and Aiko by the shoulders, pulling them in tight while laughing.
"We’re going to be the regular season champions, girls! For real this time!"
Miko beamed, totally hyped, Aiko, being Aiko, crossed her arms and looked away, though she didn’t pull away from the hug.
There was something deeper to this happiness, though. Something only people who had survived the "Underground before Nash’s Blacklist" could get.
For a woman like Nia in that hellhole, surviving usually meant selling your body, day after day, with no way out. Nia had been a prostitute at the Midnight Rest, under Victoria, before she escaped into Breakball. And now, in her very first season, she was about to be a champion. Then there was Alicia; she had been a nobody, a benchwarmer with no real talent, with a bright road to a life of selling her body.
But under Nash, she’d become a monster on the court and was about to touch the sky.
"It’s a huge step, girls!" Chio shouted, eyes sparkling, and you could tell she was seriously hyped up. "A team that’s ninety-nine percent female, and we’re right on the verge of pulling off something that nobody has ever done in the entire history of Breakball!"
Jaz nodded, a smug, proud smile on her face.
"It sends a real message," she added. "Women can do it too, without ever giving our coochies!"
The two of them slammed their hands together.
Rei smiled, feeling the emotion of the moment. But then her expression dimmed a bit. She remembered that it was that kind of mindset that caused Nash to never touch her, unlike the other girls. She didn’t want to kill the mood, so she decided to steer the conversation.
"Still," Rei said, "ninety-nine percent of this work is thanks to OUR man. Maybe we should actually congratulate him for once."
Hina didn’t need to be told twice. She lunged at Nash, throwing her body and giant sweaty pillows onto his back and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
"Of course we should, silly!" Hina laughed. "You think we’re stupid?"
Nia slid right onto his lap, straddling him with her legs wide open. Nash could feel the heat of her body through their clothes.
"Some things," Nia whispered, her lips almost brushing his, "don’t need to be said. They just need to be demonstrated. Physically." She pressed her pelvis firmly against him, letting him feel exactly how much she wanted him. "And I know exactly what kind of demonstration you like, baby."
The other girls were exchanging looks. They were all getting worked up, seriously considering turning the team bench into an orgie right there in front of everyone.
Victoria finally stepped in before things got too dirty for the internet.
"You can celebrate after the match," she said. "For now, it’s not over till it’s over."
Nia stuck her tongue out at her, acting like a brat.
"Party pooper."
Victoria smiled, then looked at Nash.
"You want to start this last quarter from the bench?"
Nash grinned. He didn’t say a word; instead, he reached down and gave Nia’s fat, juicy ass a hard squeeze. He loved the feel of her curves.
"If I stay benched, we’ll get hit by a tsunami," Nash said. "It’s not that I don’t trust you. But you think we’ve already won. It would be a shame to relax and lose points just because we got overconfident, right?"
He looked at the group, his voice softening.
"I want to give you this victory. I want everyone to remember you as the first all-female team to finish a season undefeated."
The girls looked at him, genuinely touched. Aiko slid closer, her shoulder bumping his arm.
"All-female team, huh?" she muttered. "We’d be nothing without you too, so stop playing the third wheel."
Nash laughed softly.
"I think I can take it easy and just play as a pure distributor. Alicia and Kai up front, Hina and Rumi in the back." He smiled. "I’ve got an idea to wreck their attack, but Alicia and Kai need to become scoring machines this quarter."
The two girls grinned, looking determined.
When the final quarter started, Blacklist got the ball back.
Seth was way more passive this time. He was still shaken up, feeling fragile after the way Nash had dismantled him earlier, although, the Beast’s hard on had defleted. Nash played exactly as he said, he just moved the ball around, never pushing for a score himself. He was just stalling, waiting for his main weapons to get back into position.
With the time left, I can still make one last gamble, Nash thought.
Rei had recovered enough to get back in. Nia looked ready too. Chio should be back soon. As for him, he needed to recover his stamina fully so he could dominate the money time at the end of the game.
He glanced at Hina.
On the offense, Kai tried to make a break, but Vex stopped her quickly and restarted the play. Seth watched the ball move, and his confidence started to crumble.
He knew the ball would end up in his hands eventually, it was just a matter of when.
Finally, the ball came. Seth almost panicked. He checked Nash out of the corner of his eye, but Nash was far back, playing it safe.
It’s okay, Seth told himself. I...
Hina intercepted the pass before Seth could even finish his thought. She zipped it immediately to Alicia, who was already sprinting.
The crowd gasped. On the opposing bench, the coach was stunned.
"What the hell is he doing?" He muttered, unable to believe the play.
Alicia found herself face-to-face with Hall, then quickly passed it back to Nash. Nash immediately fired a laser pass toward Kai. But Vex wouldn’t let Kai breathe, sticking to her like glue even without the ball. Kai frowned and tried to throw the ball anyway, but Vex jumped, cutting off every single inch of space.
Kai let out a little gasp of surprise and hurriedly sent the ball back to Nash, but her read was off. Kael intercepted it, immediately launching a counter-attack.
Seth flinched. He knew the play was coming back to him again. He looked for Nash and saw him sweating heavily, moving a bit slower than usual.
... Is... Is he tiring out? Seth thought.
The ball finally hit his hands. He spun around, never taking his eyes off Nash, completely focused on the guy, and slammed right into Hina.
"Huh?!"
Hina went crashing hard to the ground. The referee immediately blew the whistle, calling a clear foul for the aggressive contact. Seth stood there, frozen, shocked. A foul? Why? When? How?
He didn’t even see the girl, how did she get there? Was she marking him?
On the Colossus bench, everyone was confused.
"What the fuck, SETH?!" A fan screamed from the stands.
But Seth looked just as shocked as everyone else.
On the floor, Hina winced, like she was in a lot of pain. But while she was down, hidden from the ref’s view, she was actually smiling.
[Zone State: Activated]