by Griffith, KF
We were doing the best that we could, and it wasn’t nearly enough.
Chapter 26: Halftime
We hobbled off the field holding each other up. We’d taken a beating and we knew it. We’d only scored one single point in the entire first half, and we were losing by nine points. We entered the locker room with our spirits beaten down and our bodies pushed beyond the breaking point.
“I’m exhausted,” said Baerwald as he dropped his gear and threw himself onto a bench. It broke and collapsed under his weight.
“I’m exhausted, and I’m not even playing in the game,” said Slipknock.
Elganbok poured a bottle of water over himself, dropped his gear, and flopped down on the floor next to Baerwald. “It’s hopeless,” he said.
“Whaddaya mean hopeless?” said Brunda. “You’re only down by nine points!”
“Maybe we should just forfeit the game,” said Baerwald. “These guys are unbeatable. We’ll never score the points we need to win.”
“It’s hopeless,” said Elganbok.
“Stop sayin’ that!” shouted Brunda. She whacked him on the leg as he lay there moaning.
“Let’s face it,” said Baerwald. “We aren’t ogreballers, we’re thieves. We can’t compete with these guys. They’re all serious ogreball players.”
“He’s got a point,” said Elganbok.
The other team members agreed.
“Then maybe you need to change your strategy,” said Slipknock.
We all turned to look at him.
“Whenever we hit a dead end in science,” said Grelda, “we start again from a new angle.”
“That sounds lovely,” said Baerwald. “But we don’t have any new angles.”
“Can you change your style?” asked Slipknock.
“We don’t have a style,” said Elganbok.
“Well then,” said Grelda, “can you change your focus?”
“I suppose we can focus on not getting killed if the generator goes down instead of focusing on trying to win the game so Brunda can save the Flaming Goat and Grady Burr can get back home,” said Elganbok.
“Hang on a second,” I said. “You guys might be onto something.” They looked at me skeptically. “I noticed something earlier,” I said. “You might think I’m crazy, but I could swear that the flogiston generator went out at exactly the perfect time for Grindspike’s team. Every single time.”
“It did seem to be awfully convenient for them,” said Slipknock.
“Are you suggesting that they weren’t just using the blackouts to their advantage but that they were actually controlling it?” asked Grelda.
“I am,” I said. “I looked up at one of the monitors just as the generator stopped working, and on the screen I saw that the camera had zoomed in on Grindspike himself. Mean looking little guy with a ring in his nose?”
“That’s him,” spat Brunda.
“And guess who was sitting with him?” I asked. They looked curious. “Squinteye.”
“From the B.O.R.I.A.L. headquarters?” said Slipknock, sounding shocked.
“Our Squinteye?” said Grelda. She raised her hand to her mouth. “He’s working with Grindspike?”
“We trusted him,” said Slipknock. “He must have been the one that alerted the authorities about the heist plans.”
“Right before the power went out he was helping Grindspike with some kind of little box with switches and levers on it,” I said. “Grindspike was fiddling with it when the power came back on.”
“That sounds very suspicious,” said Grelda.
“It does,” said Baerwald. “But it makes sense.”
“So, they’re usin’ this little magic box to cheat?” said Elganbok. “Should we just turn them in?”
“We can’t,” said Brunda. “If we do, they’ll cancel the game, and we’d lose the prize money and Grady Burr’s best chance at gettin’ home.”
“That brings me to my second point,” I said. “Baerwald said a minute ago that you guys don’t stand a chance because you’re not ogreballers, you’re thieves, right?” They all agreed with me. “Well what if we started thinking and playing like thieves instead of ogreballers?”
“I like the way you’re thinkin’, kid, but I’m not quite sure where you’re goin’ with it,” said Elganbok.
“What I’m saying is that we should stop trying to outplay them and start trying to outsmart them.”
“Exactly how do you suggest we do that?” asked Grelda.
“It seems pretty clear that Grindspike has the advantage as long as he’s got that magic box,” I said.
“That’s true,” said Baerwald.
“So, why don’t we steal it from him and use it to our advantage?” I asked.
They all looked at me like I was crazy.
“In the middle of a game?” Elganbok said. “Really?”
“If any of the players leave the playing field, their team gets disqualified,” said Slipknock. “The rules are clear about that.”
“What if they can’t see the player when they leave the field?” I asked.
“Exactly how would they not see one of us leaving the field,” asked Baerwald. He hesitated a second and then said, “Oh, I think I see where you’re going with this.” He nodded his head.
“Did you use your Invisibouillon?” I asked.
“I did, but all of the equipment gets refreshed over halftime,” he said. “I’ll have a full bottle when we head back onto the field. You know it only lasts for thirty seconds at a time, though, right?”
I nodded my head. “How many drinks do you think you’ll get out of your bottle?”
“Only one,” he said. “I’m a big guy.”
“That won’t work,” I said. “Are we allowed to switch equipment? Can I swap my Eyeballit II potion for your Invisibouillon?”
“If it’s one-for-one and it’s the same type of equipment – like a potion for a potion – sure,” he said.
“Then let’s swap them when we go back out. How many drinks of the Invisibouillon do you think I’ll be able to use before I run out?”
“Judging by your size, probably three,” he said.
“And then you can use my Eyeballit II potion to see through the walls so that you can warn me if you see anybody getting near me.”
“Let me get this straight,” said Elganbok. “You’re thinkin’ of sneakin’ up on someone and stealin’ somethin’ from them with dozens of cameras watchin’? What could possible go wrong with a plan like that?” He rolled his eyes.
“Look, I know I’m not really an ogre, so maybe I have no business saying this at all, but I’ve learned a lot from you guys since I’ve been here. And one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that ogres don’t stop being ogres just because they don’t get something the easy way. Since when do ogres say no to a challenge? I mean, we stole a trophy from the Ogreball Hall, for crying out loud!”
“How’d that work out for us?” asked one of the other ogres, he was the one that thought being a pirate sounded like a good idea when we were in the dungeons.
“It didn’t work out for us,” I said, “until it did. And here we are now playing in a stadium packed full of ogres that are watching our every move and hanging on our every word. What would they think if they knew that you wanted to just give up and go hide somewhere?”
“I have to admit, the kid has a good point,” said Elganbok. “We can’t just give up because it’s too hard. Ogres don’t do that. Ogres face whatever challenges come our way. And while we’re doing it, we throw a little style and a little flair on top, just to keep things interestin’.”
The other ogres started to stir.
“Are you gonna let some kid, some human kid, show you how to be an ogre?” asked Brunda. “Maybe we should just ask you to give us ogre lessons, Grady Burr.”
That really stirred up the team.
“I’m not takin’ ogre lessons from no human kid,” said the ogre with the slingshot.
“I say we go back out th
ere and show those Grindspike knuckleheads how a real ogre plays!” I shouted. “We can do this! Let’s go trick the tricksters!” They cheered and threw their fists in the air.
“Let’s hit the field!” cried Brunda.
We stormed out of the locker room ready to face anything.
Chapter 27: Back in the Game
We returned to the field on fire. We had hope now. We had a plan. Whether it was going to work or not wasn’t the point. We had a clear sense of what we had to do, and that made moving forward easy.
Baerwald and I got permission to make the equipment swap from the referee, and then we took our positions on the playing field with the rest of the team. We were ready for the kickoff.
The gong sounded and the second half began. I got to the skullball first and grabbed it. Instead of heading toward the Grindspike team’s goal I turned back around and headed towards ours.
“That’s a first,” said the announcer. “Seems like the Flaming Goat team has changed their strategy.”
I ducked into a dark passageway towards the opposite side of the field from the team benches. The passageway went down at a shallow angle and then turned to the right abruptly. Elganbok was waiting for me there.
“I sure hope this works, kid,” he said. In the dim glow of the flogiston lights, he looked troubled.
“I think it will,” I said. “And the sooner we get that magic box from Grindspike, the more time we’ll have to rack up the points and win the game.”
He jumped up and whacked the nearest flogiston lamp with one of his bludgeons, knocking it off the wall. The glass and metal dome bounced off the wall and fell at my feet. The exposed flogiston line blew crackling plasma out into the passageway.
“Steer clear of that,” he said. He picked up the lamp dome and handed it to me.
I held it up next to the skullball. They were almost exactly the same size. “This should fool them for a while if I keep moving,” I said. I handed him the skullball, and tucked the lamp dome under my arm, covering it as much as I could.
“Make it happen, kid,” he said.
I ducked under the flogiston plasma blowing from the open pipe and raced away from him.
As soon as I came back out onto the surface of the playing field Gridnspike players were on my tail.
These guys were fast. But I managed to avoid them for a good five minutes. When they eventually caught me, I made sure they did it in full view of the audience and the cameras. I was on top of a platform that was exposed in every direction as they surrounded me.
One of the bigger ones stepped forward from the others and held out his hand. “Gimme that, ya little . . . .”
“Is this what you want?” I held out the lamp dome.
The audience laughed, and the announcer said, “Will you look at that? Well played, Flaming Goats!”
It took a second for what I’d done to register for the Grindspike players, and when it did they were furious. I dodged past them and ran as fast as I could for cover. It only took a moment for one of their teammates to spot Elganbok with the real skullball, and they quickly forgot about me, jumped off the platform, and headed off in his direction.
I found Baerwald and we hunkered down behind a low wall.
“I’ve been scoping out the layout of the stadium,” he said. “I think your best chance will be the corner stairwells. They don’t seem to be used much. You’ll just have to get past the guards at the edge of the field and make a dash for the stairs. You should be able to make it the whole way to the stairwell door in less than thirty seconds.”
I nodded.
“I’ll warn you if it looks like anyone is going to enter the stairwell,” he said. “But I’ll have to be careful about it. They monitor our radio communications, and if they think you’ve left the field, they’ll come after you.”
“And if I get caught, I’m done?”
“You’re done.”
“I won’t get caught.”
“Once you get to the level that Grindspike’s balcony is on, you’ll have to maneuver to it and sneak in without being spotted.”
“I think I can do that.”
“You’re probably going to have to use another dose of the Invisibouillon to get your hands on the magic box, so that means you’ll only have a single dose left to get you all the way back onto the field without getting caught.”
“That’ll be the tricky part.”
“You’re a smart kid, you’ll figure it out.” He patted me on the shoulder. “Good luck.”
I trotted towards the sidelines closest to the corner stairwell, trying to look as casual as possible. I found a big metal utility box that had a bunch of cables running out of it near the edge of the field. It was a short dash to the barrier between the field and the bleachers. All I had to do was climb that wall and get to the stairwell door in less than thirty seconds. I ducked behind the utility box, switched off my goggles, and pulled the stopper out of the bottle of Invisibouillon. I checked to make sure the coast was clear, and I took a swig of the soup. It tasted kind of garlicky but wasn’t that bad. I put the stopper back in the bottle and stood up. And that’s when the burn hit me. It was seriously hot. Spicy hot! I grimaced and kept moving towards the wall. I could tell by looking down I was invisible. It was disorienting at first not being able to see my feet as I ran, but I adjusted quickly. By the time I got to the wall I was sweating like I had a fever. I climbed up the wall, looked right and left and ran up past the bleachers for the door. It was obvious that no one could see me. The spectators continued to watch the game as if I wasn’t even there, even though I was inches away from them.
I made it to the door with time to spare. I checked to make sure no one was watching, pulled the door open, and stepped inside.
“Someone coming at you from above,” Baerwald said into his radio.
That’s when I heard the door to the floor above me open. I could tell by the sound that they were coming down rather than going up. I looked down quickly to make sure I was still invisible, and I was. I turned and tiptoed up the steps towards the ogre coming down the steps towards me. As soon as I saw her, I pressed myself as flat as I could against the wall and stayed absolutely still as she descended past me. I held my breath and pulled my scoring harness in as close as I could. I even pushed my octozurl down into the harness so it wouldn’t be able to make any slimy noises if it moved its tentacles around.
As soon as she passed me I turned and continued on my way. Within seconds I could see myself again. I’d barely escaped. Thankfully, I didn’t have any more encounters on my way up.
“You’re clear to your target,” said Baerwald.
I opened the stairwell door and peeked out into the hall. He was right, it was completely empty. I hustled past the entrances to the other balconies. They all had velvet curtains instead of doors.
“I’m going to take my next dose now,” I said. “Get ready to point me towards my target.” I took my second swig of the Invisibouillon and waited for the burn.
“It sure is easy to see you,” Baerwald said. “Your thermal signature is shining like a star.” He chuckled.
“I wish you would have told me that this tuff was so spicy,” I said.
“I thought you liked surprises. You’re two doors away from your target.”
“Thanks,” I said. I knew I had to make this fast. I dashed to the curtains for Grindspike’s balcony, and pushed them aside, slipping in as quickly and quietly as I could.
I was in luck. Both Grindspike and Squinteye were out on the balcony, completely focused on the game. The magic box was sitting on a table between them. All I had to do was grab it and get out the door.
I inched my way to the table, reached silently over, and picked up the box. I tucked it quickly into one of the pouches on the leg of my pants. I must’ve made some slight sound, because Squinteye turned around as if he’d been startled. He looked down at the table and then looked directly at me. But then I realized he couldn’t see me. He was looking right throu
gh me at the curtains covering the doorway. He moved toward the doorway, and I barely managed to step out of his way as he slipped past me.
I realized that I only had seconds left before I became visible again. I pulled out the stopper on the bottle of Invisibouillon and swallowed the last of it. And holy cow, did it burn!
“I think we may have a visitor,” said Squinteye as he looked around nervously. “You might want to join me over here.”
Grindspike wheeled around and moved past me to Squinteye’s side. He glared around the room trying to see who was there in the room with them.
I was trapped, and my time was running out. I did the only thing I could think to do – I stepped out onto the balcony. We were at least ten stories above the playing field. I looked around in a panic for a way off the balcony . . . any way off the balcony.
That’s when I spotted the metal catwalk. It was off to my right and at least two stories above me, but it was my only hope. I climbed over the right side of the balcony, hopped the short distance to the ladder up to the catwalk, and I climbed again. I climbed as fast as I could. It only took me a moment to reach the catwalk. I turned and raced towards the giant scoreboard that hung above the center of the playing field. I realized that I only had seconds left before I became visible again, so I stopped running and looked at the playing field far below me. This is it, I thought. I grabbed the rail, swung myself over it, and jumped.
It felt weird trying to walk when I was invisible because I couldn’t see my feet. But falling while you’re invisible was even weirder. I didn’t have to worry about it for very long, though, because about halfway down I could see myself again. And so could everyone else. It must’ve looked really odd to see me falling out of the sky like that when I hadn’t even been there a second earlier.
“What in the world?” cried the announcer. “I’ll bet there’s an interesting story behind that.” And then I hit the ground.
Chapter 28: Complications
Baerwald and Elganbok dragged me into an alcove where we couldn’t be seen and lifted me slowly to my feet. I would have been dead if I’d fallen from that height without the magical protection provided by the flogiston generator. Despite that, I still hurt all over.