The next day, Axel was back in the clubhouse. It felt weird, yet right. He and Mark were sat on the beanbag, Mark on his lap, somewhere they normally only sat in private.
"I honestly thought that you guys were lying to me!"Kevin said. "You're really fucking back, man!"
"Yeah,"said Axel. "Leaving was cowardly of me."
"It's normal to be upset, Axel. But normally when somebody says something that I don't like, I beat the shit out of them,"Kevin laughed.
Axel smiled. "I know you would."
"We knew that you'd come back eventually,"Nelly and Nathan said smugly in unison.
"We're just happy that you're back,"said Sylvia. "We'll definitely win now!"
"True!"said Jude. "We'll wipe the floor with Zeus."
"The Zeus boys are so dreamy!"Celia said wistfully.
"Ugh, agreed!"Nathan laughed.
"Maybe you guys should ask one of them on a date after we completely pummel them?"Jude joked.
"Hey! You know what, I just might!"Celia giggled.
"Same,"Nathan grinned.
"It feels so good to have the energy back in the clubhouse,"said Steve. "You bring a lot to the team, Axel."
"Yeah, Mark's happiness!"Nelly said.
"I really shouldn't let all my happiness rest on one person,"Mark said, looking up at Axel. "But I can't help it."
"I won't leave you again,"Axel whispered, then kissed Mark's forehead. "I'm so so sorry."
"How is your sister, Axel? I heard the news, but I didn't want to call you, because you were spending time with her,"Nelly said.
"She's great. Honestly, we need to win the game just to see the look on her face,"Axel said,"She is finding it a bit weird that a whole year has gone by."
"That would be weird for anyone, let alone a little kid,"said Nelly.
"Yeah. She's so brave,"Axel smiled. "We need to train hard this week."
"Yeah, especially since last week our training has gone kinda shit,"Kevin said. "You left a hole on the field, Axel."
"I'll step up my game, Kevin, I promise."
"You better!"
**********
However, even with Axel back on the team, Mark still struggled with training. He kept letting goals in, and by the end of training, he was in a bad mood.
"What's wrong, Mark?"Nathan asked.
"I'll never be able to stop Zeus with my stupid ass God Hand."
"It's literally God hand. You can't insult gods,"Nathan said jokingly.
Mark crossed his arms and tutted. "I'm serious, Nathan. Maybe I wasn't doing shit in training last week because of Axel. Maybe it was because I need to upgrade my skill set."
"So you want to learn a new goalie move?"Nathan looked interested.
"Exactly."
"Well how are you gonna do that?"
"How do I always come up with moves, Nathan? Grandpas notebook, obviously!"Mark exclaimed.
He then took off running towards the clubhouse.
"He's mental,"Nathan sighed.
"Agreed,"said Sylvia, sitting beside him. "I overheard some of your conversation. He's right. He needs to improve if we're going to win."
"That'll be hard though. To learn and perfect a whole new move in the span of a week?"
"If anyone can do it, it's Mark,"Sylvia sighed.
******
Later, a few members of the team decided to have a meeting on the hill. Sylvia and Celia also joined. Nelly couldn't make it as she was doing something for her father.
"I found a move, but it's described in a vague way,"Mark said.
"Is it really feasible to learn a new move in a week?"Bobby asked.
"If anyone can do it, Mark can,"Axel said. "Go ahead."
"Well, apparently you focus your energy in your heart. That's it,"Mark said.
"Well that'll be easy for you!"said Sylvia. "You have so much love in your heart, Mark!"
Mark awkwardly laughed. "Somehow I don't think it will be that easy."
Everybody could see that the stress was getting to Mark. Now that Axel was back, Mark was fully realising how big of a deal this final was. He was incredibly nervous, and knew that God Hand would not be enough.
"Does the move have a name?"Nathan asked.
"No,"said Mark. "I'll name it. When I pull it off, that is. I'll know."
"Willy won't be very happy with that,"Celia laughed. "You know how he gets about naming the moves."
"To be fair, that is the only thing the little shit does,"said Kevin. "But this is important to you, so I think he'll manage."
"Try telling him that!"Nathan giggled. "He'll be so mad!"
"What'll he do? He's too puny to fight anyone. Especially me,"Kevin grinned while flexing his muscles.
The whole team couldn't help but erupt into laughter.
"What! I'm serious!"Kevin said, but he eventually joined in the laughter.