For some reason shortly after Axel and Mark's kiss on the pitch, the match was stopped anyways. The referee said that they were subject to a random drug test.
Axel and Jude were extremely confused. The two of them had played at champion level for years, so unlike the other players, they knew what was standard procedure during these types of matches, and they had never been drug tested during a match.
"Why are we getting tested?"
"We've been tipped off that some of you are using steroids to boost your performance,"the referee said. "We can either take blood, or you can piss in a cup if you're scared of needles."
Everybody just took the needle. The Raimon team were confused but compliant. When they went to the Zeus team, it was not as simple.
Ray Dark was glowering at Coach Hillman and the Zeus team. Byron looked panicked. The whole team did, but especially Byron.
"Ugh, I'm scared of needles!"he yelled.
The man handed him a cup. "Be quick."
Byron ran to the bathroom and panicked. For some reason Jack was in there. He was the only member of Raimon that had not gotten his blood taken.
Byron saw the green hair over the top of the stall. He rapped his knuckles against the door.
"Big guy! Please open the door, I'm begging you!"Byron said desperately.
Jack opened the door, holding the cup full of yellow liquid.
"Hello, god,"Jack said innocently.
"Can I have that?"Byron pointed to Jack's cup.
"Uh, why?"
"You'll win the match and go to heaven if you give it to me!"Byron said softly. "Now can I have it?"
"Ok,"Jack shrugged and gave the cup to Byron. He walked out of the bathroom with Byron's empty cup. Byron was so relieved that he didn't even notice.
He exited the bathroom calmly, and walked up to the rest of the team, who had opted to take blood.
"Byron, we're fucked,"the goalkeeper whispered.
"Don't worry, I got the stupid one from Raimon to give me his piss,"Byron said. "So I'm clear."
"Man, why didn't I think of that?"the goalkeeper sighed.
Meanwhile, over at the Raimon side, Jack was getting yelled at for handing over an empty cup.
"You are supposed to pee in this cup, Jack,"Coach Hillman said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, I did,"said Jack.
"Why is the cup empty then?"
"I gave it away,"Jack said. "But don't worry, the god said that we were going to win the match if I gave it to him."
"You gave your sample to one of the guys on the Zeus team?"Coach Hillman facepalmed.
Jack just nodded with an innocent smile on his face.
The coach sighed, and took the empty cup to the drug tester. He explained the situation.
"I have to redo the test then!"he yelled.
"Most of my boys took the needle. How many of the Zeus boys did?"
"All except one,"the drug tester said. He walked over to check how the blood samples were doing.
All of the Raimon ones were clear, and all of the Zeus ones were not. Except for Byron's sample, which was clear.
"That's Jack's sample,"the coach said. "So that means that Zeus isn't that strong after all."
The drug tester sighed. "I hate cheaters."
"I think I know who is behind it. Their coach, Ray Dark,"Coach Hillman sighed.
"Really?"the drug tester sighed. "We'll investigate it at some point. Either way, Raimon automatically win. Zeus have to forfeit."
"Please look into it,"the coach said.
"It's out of my hands, I'm afraid. Gather up your boys. The match results will be announced in a few minutes."
The coach dejectedly walked back to the Raimon team.
"So?"Jude asked. "What's the verdict?"
"We've won,"the coach said.
The team started excitedly cheering before the coach shushed them.
"But at what cost?"he continued. "The other team drugged Kevin."
"Knowing Kevin, he probably stole their drugs,"said Nathan. "They'd never be that stupid to just drug somebody from the opposite team."
"I thought that too,"the coach said. "But either way, Kevin is still in danger. Nobody knows what's in that drug he took."
"True,"said Mark. "But we won!"
Still, it felt bittersweet. They had won, but the victory felt shallow.