Chapter 28
Strafe
We stood on the platform, then knelt down in front of thousands. We all hugged and listened to Charity, "Alright chaps, this is it! We have the chance to usher in a new era of Brave-Ball and make our mark in history! This is for all of us! Don't take any moment for granted and remember that nobody in their right mind thought we had a chance to make it here! Let's make sure they don't ever second guess us again!"
"HO HUM!!!" we all chanted.
Before we could blink we were being shot across the field. This was my best chance to find Yessa and to make things right. I would play with every last ounce of my strength until they had to scrape me off the floor if need be.
We collided with the Castel Bell Royal squad making a rather harsh thud. Players from both teams were getting smacked and knocked to the ground. I grabbed my back in pain after some hard hits. Whether or not their armor was fake, it sure did hurt to be hit by them.
I looked up and saw they'd recovered the ball and passed it back to their Masterback. The Castle Bell Royal Guards were already streaking down the field and our guards had to catch up to them. Roya had her assignment covered but the other Wings were quickly out-paced. Our players ran at full speed but with a quick flick of the Masterback's wrist, the ball sailed smoothly into one of the Wing's hands, right in the Goal Zone.
"Damn it!" I scolded myself as I slapped my leg. I was pissed.
"Don't worry, Strafe-Sah, we have begun just only!" Roya assured as she ran by.
"I know. I know," I was winded from running.
We lined up to receive the ball after they made the extra point. The ball came down and our Dodger caught it, she then quickly passed it back to Charity. Our Forwards led the charge but were bulldozed by Castle Bell's defense, who pushed them back on their asses. Thinking fast, Charity tossed the ball into the air at the 35-yard mark. Our Dodger saw what Charity was trying to do and jumped up to take a kick at it. The opposing Masterback and Dodger had also closed in on the ball but our Dodger did a bicycle kick and smashed it toward the floating goal. Even though Castle Bell's Masterback got a hand on it, we scored the three points. The game was 3-7.
"WOO HOO!!!" our Dodger shouted.
The score stayed the same for the rest of the first quarter and halfway into the second. It was taking everything we had just to keep up with these guys. Every time we got hit it looked and sounded like a hit from a sledgehammer. We were constantly fighting over possession, and with each big hit the crowd cheered and stood on the edge of their seats. Most of the people supported Castel Bell Royal, but a few of them represented us too.
It wasn't until the middle of the second that the tables turned. Castle Bell Royal had the ball in their territory and was driving it down the field. Their Forwards were running all over ours and the Masterback simply had to run behind them to move the ball downfield. Seeing this unfold, our Dodger and Charity decided to make a desperate run at the opposing Masterback to strip the ball. They came at the Masterback from the left and right side of the Forward's line and were going to make it happen.
Knowing this, the Masterback motioned the Guards to run their formations and get ready for a pass. The Wings charged me at full speed but our Forwards stepped to the side and slowed them down. With the other two Wings covered, the opposing Masterback had no choice but to toss it up and hope I would get burned by my Wing.
As the Masterback threw the ball up toward the Wing I was covering, Charity managed to get a hand on it, making it lose some distance. It came down short. Roya made a quick pivot and jumped in the air to catch it; it fell right into her hands and the crowd went wild. She was the crowd favorite hands down.
The entire right side of the field was open and Roya started sprinting toward the Goal Zone. The noise from the crowd was intense and fans were jumping up and down in their seats! The opposing Dodger tried to catch up with her, but it was too late; she somersaulted into the Goal Zone and scored her first defensive Brave-Down.
Roya held her arms high with the ball in her right hand and looked into the crowd. We could hear them chanting, "PIRATES!!! PIRATES!!! PIRATES!!!"
"YEEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!! THAT'S HOW WE DO THIS!!!" I shouted as we ran up to Roya.
My smile spanned from ear to ear but it quickly faded when I looked back and saw a few players standing above Charity and one of our Wings; she was lying still on the ground. I ran over to check on her, Captain Cali was already bending over her.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Charity was clutching her right arm, writhing in pain. I could see tears streaking down her face, but when I saw the extent of the damage, I understood why. Her bone was poking out from underneath her skin.
"Blimey! Where're the damn medical people!?!" Captain Cali shouted.
A few people from the medical team came up to help her get off the field. They placed two gray bars on her sides and flipped a switch, activating a blue screen to form between them. The newly formed blue board now floated up and held Charity at waist height, and they carried her off toward the locker rooms.
"You'll be okay Charity!" I said to her before she left.
"Strafe, I think they cheap-shotted me, and he pushed Ronaldo down hard with his arm," she said while wincing in pain.
"Why wasn't it flagged?! They must have seen what happened?!" I argued.
"Arg, I don't think they be playin' by the rules 'ere Strafe me boy," Captain Cali said in a saddened voice as he looked at Charity, "I've been seein' some rough play and no flags be gettin' thrown."
"This shit really is rigged isn't it!?" I commented.
"Nah, just heavily skewed in their favor, me boy. I don't know what we're to do. Charity was our only Masterback," Captain Cali lamented, he looked at the ground as he rubbed his face.
"Cap'n, I think it's time to show the world our hearts," a voice said behind the wall of people.
Captain Cali turned around, "Ye think ye can handle it?"
"This is more than a game. People's lives are at stake. Let me help pave the way to winning the Championship!" the voice demanded. Moving up into the huddle, was the first mate Penty.
"All right, me girl. Don't let me down!" Captain Cali shouted.
After Charity was carted off the field, we made the personnel adjustments and for the first time in the tournament, Penty stepped onto the field. After we scored the extra point we were up 10-7. Castle Bell Royal got the ball back afterward and began to march upfield. I could tell they were getting more frisky and physical by the way they were pushing us around. Their coach must've told them to try to intimidate us.
The half ended with them scoring on a kick to even up the score at 10-10. We headed back to the locker room and took our break. We shortly returned to the field to begin the third quarter and heard the crowd now chanting, "Royal! Royal! Royal!"
I couldn't help but think how quickly they had forgotten that just before the half they 'd been chanting our name.
The game resumed after the break with the Blitz and Castle Bell Royal recovered the ball again. They tossed it up to their Dodger and he began to run it up the field on us. Roya broke off of her assignment and tried to tackle the Dodger but he jumped over her and kept on advancing. I was too far away and our Masterback was too slow. Their Dodger ran untouched into the Goal Zone for a quick score. All of our jaws fell to the floor. They made an incredible kick to make the extra point and the game was 17-10 just like that.
Throughout the third quarter, we battled back and forth. Penty's impact wasn't felt as immediately as I'd expected; she was rusty and not making the throws she should've. For most of the quarter, we played heavy defense. Finally, after all the battling back and forth, their Center pushed our Center down and caught a pass right up the middle and fell into the Goal Zone on top of our Masterback and Dodger. The score was now 23-10. Things were getting out of hand and to top it off, they decided to go for the Two-point conversion to begin pulling away from us and wrap it up.
We lined up in our Goal Zone and their Masterback took the ball back to their 30-yard mark. In such instances, we were told to stay near our assigned positions and not let them get outside of an arm's reach. Before we had time to fully adjust, the ball was in the air and began to travel toward us.
It was soaring so high up in the sky and just our luck came down with the sun in our eyes. I had to squint to see the tiny outline of the ball as it soared to the Goal Zone. Everyone was running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off and the Wing I was covering was super quick despite wearing all that armor. I saw a bunch of people on the left side of the Goal Zone waiting for the ball to come down. The crowd jumped up toward the ball and all I saw was a bunch of tangled hands and then they pulled it down. My heart sank. We entered the fourth quarter with the score in their favor at 25-10. We were getting stomped. We congregated on the sideline to devise a strategy.
"Our fortune may've only been enough for us to get this far, but we still have a chance, Captain Cali-Sah," Roya said.
"Arg, me girl, I appreciate ye high spirits," Captain Cali responded with a smile.
From our body language and the spots of blood on our uniforms, I could tell our team felt we couldn't hold these guys back. Seeing what a dire situation we were in, Rousseau stepped up, "Listen, you guys aren't exposing their soft underbelly!"
"Well, we can barely keep their line back, let alone give Penty time to throw the ball!" our Center said.
"We aren't gonna be able to win if we can't get into their territory. If we can't pass, we're dead," our Dodger complained.
"I'm sorry guys," Penty sobbed.
Rousseau walked over and patted her on the shoulder and then looked us in the eye, "Penty, take a seat. I want a shot at these mugs!"
"Rousseau-Sah!? What about the safety of your life?" Roya asked.
"Don't worry, love, this ain't just about me anymore. This is the greatest return I could ever make!" he put on his jersey and gloves.
"You better not be rusty because these big bad boys came out to play!" I warned.
"You think they'll be able to catch me, Strafe?" Rousseau boasted as he winked at me; I smiled back. Rousseau looked across the field and saw the whole Castle Bell team staring him down, which made him gulp.
We took out Penty and put Rousseau in charge of Masterbacking. Castle Bell Royal lined up at their 30-yard mark and kicked us the ball. It traveled far– and right into Rousseau's hands. I turned around to see if he'd caught it but he was already racing ahead of the entire team. I could see the green in his hair and he was rushing straight at the Forward line of the opposing team.
They came at him fiercely but he easily outmaneuvered the opposing team and cut straight through the middle. Even with the Dodger and Masterback in the backfield, he made them look like snails as he ran past all of them and straight into the Goal Zone.
"Holy molly! Sonic-speed!" I cried as my jaw hit the floor.
After we made the extra point, the score was 17-25.
"That bastard must be cheating!" one of the Castle Bell players commented. Rousseau heard this and replied,
"Maybe if you took off your armor you could run faster! But, wait, I don't wanna see your ugly face!"
The Castle Bell player tried to make Rousseau flinch by coming at him but I stepped in to stop him, which caused a small scuffle to ensue. There was pushing and shoving back and forth but it got resolved shortly. I remember pushing the Center straight on his ass. The referees saw me do this and forced me to sit on the bench for a three-minute penalty.
There were only four minutes left.
As I sat down after the scuffle was settled, Captain Cali came over to scold me, "Damnit, boy! Whatcha be thinkin' knockin' that arse down? Ye needed to keep that for the game! Arg!"
"Shit! Ahhh!!!" I ran my hands through my hair and slammed the bench with my hand.
"Well, it ain't be over yet. Get ready for that last minute!" the Captain told me.
From the bench, the game looked completely different. We kicked to Castle Bell and they made it to the 50-yard mark before they passed the ball back to their Masterback. Without knowing our defensive capabilities, the Masterback threw a sideline pass to the Dodger, but it was intercepted by Rousseau! The crowd went wild as again we saw him begin to rush down the field, but unfortunately, the Masterback, Safety, and two Wings were waiting for him.
With nowhere to go for himself, he saw Roya on the opposite side of the field rushing down. He probably knew she couldn't get far enough for a Brave-Down because of all the coverage, so he tossed it up into the air. Roya made a jump completely over the Wing that was covering her and performed a sideways kick, which sent it rocketing into the Rose Goal. The score was now 20-25 with 1:30 left on the clock.
"Damnit! They could just run out the clock!" a player on our bench fretted.
"This ain't lookin' good, Cap'n," another player sighed.
Captain Cali crossed his arms and closed his eyes; he looked to be in deep thought. He strolled back and forth, with his long drapery following him. Then, with a finger snap, he opened his eyes and stormed up to the referee, "BRAVERY RULE!"
"What's that Captain?" I asked.
"Ye didn't look at the rule book I gave ye? Hahaha, we still be in luck me boys!" the Captain said to us, "I wish to use our Bravery Rule on this play, sir."
"Bravery rule? I'll give you some credit Captain for putting the game on the line!" the referee exclaimed as he motioned the other referee's to come over.
They discussed the decision and told the Castle Bell coach about it, to which he just threw his arms up in the air. Captain Cali motioned for Roya to come over and he talked to her privately. She gasped and nodded every so often and looked very serious as she listened.
The Bravery or Hero rule is an extremely dangerous play. It involves the last person who scored to command the field by themselves against the entire opposing team. If the player makes it into the Goal Zone, it is a Brave-Down, but it can be recovered by the opposing team. Only if the person makes it past their 30-yard mark can the rest of the team come onto the field. If the ball is lost before that, the recovering team can run it back for a Brave-Down. This rule can only be used once by each team per game and is an extremely high risk-high reward.
There was a story behind the rule. It was created in honor of the memory of an old King who had ridden alone on his horse against an army, holding only a torch and sword, in order to light a fire underneath an enemy castle. According to Captain Cali, the entire game of Brave-Ball was based on this King's heroic actions.
"Jeez, that seems like suicide," I cringed.
"What choice we be left with, Strafe? Surrender? Defeat? Arg! Those words not be in a pirate dictionary!" Captain Cali shouted.
"Roya, you don't have to do this," Rousseau told her; she nodded with a smile and said,
"Worry not my friend, I have faith, and that is all I need. We did not come this far to lose."
Before she got into position, I felt a small tremor in the ground. I looked around and everything seemed normal, so I shrugged my shoulders and we continued to play. The rest of the team stood behind the Goal Zone with Roya in the middle, I was still banned from play for 30 seconds, so all I could do was to sit back and watch. I felt completely helpless. Our team patted Roya on the back as she got ready. She stood erect with her arms down and eyes closed; she was also muttering something to herself. Maybe she's praying?
She stepped forward and got into a running stance but kept her eyes closed. My heart was beating like a drum, so hard I felt it was going to pop out. The Castle Bell Royal team was lined up on their side and looked pumped; they knew they had the game in the bag if they could just get a turnover. Ever since I met Roya, I knew she was special. She was born for moments like this. I'd never seen a woman who commanded her destiny like her. She would make it if anyone could.
Once the referees were lined up, they blew their whistles and Roya was off. She ran toward the ball at the 25-yard mark and scooped it up. Castle Bell Royal began to get into their diamond-dots formation, with the midfield covered with players like a diamond and two Wings on the sides. Roya started to run toward the right sideline but then at midfield turned across the other way. The entire team of Castle Bell was baited into following her and they converged on the left side of the field.
Roya ran around and cut back up and to the right, which left only a Left-Tackle and Wing to beat in coverage. She jumped over the Left-Tackle as he tried to tackle her and did something I'd never seen her do before in play. Her hair went pure yellow and she pointed her fingers and then, the Wing just fell over. It was as if the Wing had been constricted. What the hell?
With the rest of the team chasing her, she continued to run up the sideline. Roya had almost made it into the Goal Zone before she was pushed out at the 5-yard mark. The crowd was going wild, as Roya had just set a new record for a Bravery Rule return. Nobody in recorded history had gotten as far as she did. Now, we had to decide what to do with just 58 seconds left on the clock. Regardless, Castle Bell Royal would get a chance with the ball again, even if the clock went to zero. The opposing team always got to touch the ball no matter what happened after the Bravery Rule was called by the other team.
"Captain, I can come back in!" I told Captain Cali.
"Of course me boy, that was the plan," he responded, then walked over to Roya and patted her on the shoulders.
"WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!," Rousseau shouted as he bounced up and down.
"Now lads and lassies, we've got to punch it in here now, but take ye time," Captain Cali advised.
"But Cap'n, what if they recover the ball? We toast then!" our Center said.
"Don't worry 'bout that, all we need to do is score and the game be ours! I'm looking at ye to make this catch this time, me boy," the Captain commanded as he looked at me.
We took our positions on the field, with the Wings in the Goal Zone, Forwards at the Goal Line and Guards near the midfield. Rousseau had the ball out of bounds where Roya had been bumped out and nodded to us to begin play. Castle Bell's Masterback tried to block his view by jumping up and down and waving his arms, but Rousseau tricked him by looking toward the Goal Zone but throwing toward the Dodger at midfield. Lancey caught it and ran around until Rousseau was set to regain possession of the ball. We stayed the move constantly, trying to confuse Castle Bell, but they kept us closely covered.
In the final seconds, the game felt like poetry. I had the look I did back when we first practiced, and Rousseau took a shot towards me. Only the opposing Wing and I had a chance at the ball. It was a back-shoulder throw, meaning I would spin and catch it in the goal zone.
Time slowed down as I leaped up in the air towards it. Spiraling perfectly, the ball came down and was going to hit me right between the numbers. The Wing guarding me held tight coverage, but I used my strength to out-muscle him and instead of letting the ball fall through my fingers, I held on tight and landed in the Goal Zone. The clock only had fifteen seconds remaining and we went up 26-25. The crowd went wild!
The game wasn't over yet, and they could still win it. After we scored the extra point making the game 27-25, we kicked them the ball and it went right into their Masterback's hands. They made a long pass to one of the Wings on the outside right but Roya tackled him and stripped the ball. From there we passed it to Rousseau, and all he had to do was outrun them for 15 seconds.
As the time winded down, the crowd started to chant, "5! 4! 3! 2! 1! YYEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
When the clock hit 0:00, we'd done what many thought to be impossible. We had become the King's Tournament Champions!
"WE DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!" I yelled in ecstasy.
We all ran over and smothered Roya with a group hug and then threw her up on our shoulders. Surprisingly, I felt someone grab my back and legs and soon I was on someone's shoulders too. Rousseau also joined us, and we could hear them chanting our team's name. The three newest and least experienced members had helped a team with no chance to become national champions. Who would have thought?