by Jeff Chen
No exceptions.
Bending down low, Boom inspected Pickaxe’s Ultrabot suit. “Maybe you twisted something? But even that’s not really possible.”
“I have to take my suit off,” Pickaxe said, moaning in pain. “My arm is on fire.”
He went to unlatch his chest plate, but Rock stopped him. “If you get out of your suit, we’ll lose this game. You can’t leave your suit until halftime.”
“You can play through it, right?” Strike asked.
Pickaxe shook his head. “No way. I have to unclick.”
Strike hovered over Pickaxe while keeping an eye on the play clock, ticking down. He turned to a ref and put his hands together in the shape of a T. He hated to use their one and only time-out, but it had to be done.
“Where does it hurt?” Boom asked.
Pickaxe pointed to his shoulder, wincing. “It’s from all the extra practice. You did this to me. Boom broke my arm.”
Boom took hold of Pickaxe’s gloved hand. “Brace yourself. This is going to hurt. A lot.”
Strike jumped in to stop her, but Boom held up her free hand. “Trust me,” she said.
Unsure of what to do, Strike looked to Rock, who nodded.
“Okay, Boom,” Strike said. “Do it.”
Boom rolled Pickaxe over onto his stomach. She placed her foot onto Pickaxe’s back and jerked up his arm, wrenching it far behind him.
Pickaxe shrieked, pounding the turf with his left glove. “Get off me! You’re gonna tear my arm out!” He continued to wail, but his cries slowly died out. Soon, he quieted to whimpers.
“Better?” Boom asked. She carefully lowered his arm.
“I guess,” Pickaxe said. “What did you do? Dark Side voodoo?”
Boom offered a hand and pulled Pickaxe up. “You had a cramp. I stretched out your shoulder muscles until it went away. Get up.”
“A cramp?” Strike said. “You’ve never had a muscle cramp before?”
“We almost forfeited the game because of your owie,” Boom muttered.
Pickaxe tentatively prodded at his shoulder. “It was the worst pain I’ve ever had. It’s Boom’s fault.”
“It’s my fault I worked you so hard that you could actually make that play?” Boom said.
“Everyone line it up,” Strike said. “Our time-out is almost over.” He scanned the Explorers’ offense, setting up for what looked like a trick play.
“That wouldn’t have happened to me if Boom hadn’t worked us so hard,” Pickaxe said. “It’s her fault we almost had to forfeit. Not mine.”
“Get your head out of your butt and back into the game!” Strike yelled. “They’re changing the play!” As the Explorers shifted from slingshot V formation to a deep shotgun, Strike ran over to yank Pickaxe to his new position.
Shootout, the Explorers’ quarterback, took full advantage of the Miners’ confusion, quick-hiking the ball. The rocketback Pickaxe was supposed to jam at the line ran right around him, untouched, streaking toward the end zone. Shootout heaved a bullet to the wide-open Lasso, no Miner within five meters of him. It was the easiest touchdown the Explorers had ever scored.
And it was all Pickaxe’s fault.
Explorers fans in the crowd started in with a jeering “Axe-picker, Axe-picker” chant. Strike knew he needed to go over and tell Pickaxe to shake it off, to not let the nickname get to him. But in that moment, it was all he could do to not explode at his crackback 1.
RESULTS AND STANDINGS, AFTER WEEK 3
RESULTS, WEEK 3
Miners
91
Explorers
63
Beatdown
105
Molemen
14
Neutrons
84
Venom
28
Flamethrowers
105
Shock
42
STANDINGS, WEEK 3
Wins Losses Total Points
Neutrons
3
0
301
Miners
3
0
266
Beatdown
2
1
273
Flamethrowers
2
1
252
Explorers
1
2
217
Shock
1
2
140
Venom
0
3
112
Molemen
0
3
49
14
The Deep Prospect
THANKFULLY, THAT WAS Pickaxe’s only big mistake of the game, the crackback playing solidly after Strike begrudgingly pulled him aside to give him a pep talk. After the 91–63 victory, the Miners walked out of the locker room to a crowd of people waiting for autographs. Strike shrugged at Boom, who groaned at having to go through it all. “We have to do what we have to do,” Strike said. “The fans helped win this game for us.”
“Fine,” Boom said, taking an Ultraball-shaped rock from a fan and signing it. “Let’s get this over with.” Even with her sour attitude, fans swarmed her, the star of the game. Not only had she scored six touchdowns, but she had five sacks and twenty-one solo tackles.
An eager fan pushed against Boom. “Hey, Boom! Can you sign my chest?” He handed her a permanent pen and lifted his shirt to expose his rib cage poking out under dark brown skin.
An evil grin came to Boom’s face. “Sure, I can sign it.” She let out a low laugh.
“Boom,” Strike said. “No dirty jokes.”
She stopped, her eyes shooting toward Strike. “Aw. But—”
“Just sign your name, okay?”
“Fine.” Boom autographed the boy’s chest so hard he squealed. Tossing the pen back to him, she yelled out, “Anyone else?”
“C’mon, Boom,” Strike said. “You have to treat our fans better—”
But to Strike’s surprise, the boy lifted his arms and roared to his friends. Groupies charged toward Boom with their pens, swarming the wide-eyed rocketback.
Strike laughed, elbowing a fan who had sidled up next to him. “Serves her right, huh?” Strike said.
“Here,” the boy said, sticking out his hand.
Strike started to sign it, but paused. “What is this?”
The kid’s hand had “Explorers vs. Molemen, 77–14” scrawled on it. He pulled it back and ran off.
Strike stole a glance around. “Hey, Rock. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just gotta take care of something.” Strike made his way through the crowds and into the locker room. He crept out through the security exit, pulling his hood down low over his face. Nodding to a guard at the door, he stepped out and turned down a maintenance tunnel that followed along the perimeter of Taiko Arena and then cut inward, under the stadium. He slid behind a big stone and slithered through a hole. The tunnel angled up and curved around.
“You came,” a voice said.
“Been almost four years since we used this place,” Strike said. TNT’s ashy face appeared as Strike made his way into the secret cave TNT introduced him to, where they had gone every day after school to watch the empty strip-mining crater being transformed into Taiko Arena. Through peepholes bored into the stadium walls underneath the bleachers, TNT and Strike had watched the exhibition game between the Explorers and the Molemen that opened the new Taiko Arena. Even with the two teams just playing for fun, that first live game had blown Strike’s mind, the raw speed and power of Ultraball players making them seem like superheroes.
“You’re in deep trouble,” TNT said. “Boom is in Zuna’s pocket.”
“You better have proof.”
“I do. Just listen, okay?”
Strike looked down at the ground, kicking at trash he and TNT had left behind years ago. “I’m listening.”
“I swear t
o you on my father’s grave. I heard Raiden Zuna buy off a Miner.”
Strike studied TNT’s face, desperate and pleading. “What exactly did you hear?”
“He set up a meeting with his ‘deep prospect.’ And then he sent out a big guy, carrying a briefcase full of money.”
“How do you know it was money?”
“Why else would you handcuff a briefcase to your wrist?”
It was just like the rumors Strike had heard: Raiden Zuna’s people moved money around in locked briefcases. Strike’s stomach churned as memories of last year’s Ultrabowl swirled through his head. Was Zuna setting him up again, this time to take an even bigger fall? “Do you have a recording of him saying he was delivering the money to Boom? Or pictures?”
TNT bit his lip. “You know I don’t have a phone or a camera.”
“How am I supposed to believe you if you don’t have any real proof? And are you absolutely sure the traitor is—”
“There’s more. A lot more. Zuna. If he becomes governor of Taiko Colony . . .” TNT held his breath for a long, tense moment. “He’s going to destroy it. His alliance is planning on blast fracking and explosion mining to collect all the ice deposits far underneath. The entire cavern will collapse.”
Strike blinked hard, stunned into silence. Then he grabbed TNT’s filthy jumpsuit, violently shaking him. “Shut up. Just shut up. That’s insane. No one would do that. Not even Zuna is that crazy.”
But a cold shiver ran up Strike’s back. With each passing second, it sounded less and less crazy. Cratering an entire colony to harvest the priceless ice deposits far underneath . . .
That was exactly what Boom had said Zuna was doing on the Dark Side.
“You know I’m right, Strike,” TNT said. “All that ice has to be worth millions of U-dollars. You have to stop Zuna from becoming governor of Taiko Colony. The Miners must win the Ultrabowl. You have to do something about Boom before she stabs you in the back.”
“Wait,” Strike said, shaking his head. “No. This can’t be right. Who did you get this information from?”
“I overheard one of his bodyguards. He said that—” TNT flinched at the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.
Strike swiveled around. “Rock?”
Rock glared at TNT. His usually stoic demeanor had been replaced with the look of a rabid animal leaping in for the kill. “I appreciate what you’ve done for Strike and me in the past. I really do. Without your mother’s help, we would never have gotten a chance to try out for the Miners, nor would we have gotten practice time in Ultrabot suits before those tryouts. But if you ever again accuse Boom of being a traitor, there’s going to be trouble. She’s an incredible teammate and a very good friend. I will defend her honor with fists to your face.”
TNT scrabbled past Rock, the bony boy covering his head with his hands as he scrambled away. “I’ll get more proof, Strike,” he said. “I swear, I will.” He shoved his way through the tunnel opening and disappeared.
“You made a promise to Boom, on your parents’ souls,” Rock said, still breathing hard, his eyes wild. “You cannot go back on that. TNT is poisoning your mind.”
“You overheard him?” Strike said.
Rock nodded. “He thinks he’s helping, but he’s only making more trouble.”
“But what about what he said? Zuna is going to destroy Taiko Colony.”
“Ridiculous. The Council of Governors would never allow something like that to happen. Even if Zuna does become governor of Taiko Colony, he’d still only control two of the twenty-one votes.”
“What about that alliance of his?”
“He’d need fourteen votes to control the Council of Governors. How could he possibly convince so many governors to go along with such a criminal plan?” Rock looked over his shoulder to where TNT had disappeared. “Maybe TNT is delusional. Dust poisoning would have that effect. Or more likely, Zuna is feeding him stories designed to mess with your head.”
Rock made sense. Could Zuna be setting TNT up, feeding him fake calls, sending out henchmen on made-up payoff missions? Maybe Strike was being played like a fool.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Listen to me,” Rock said. “Boom is not a traitor. I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
Strike nodded. “You’re right.” He held out a fist for Rock to tap. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
But as they walked back along the path to the stadium, Strike thought about TNT catching touchdown after touchdown after touchdown, knowing exactly what route his best friend was going to run without even calling a play. They had been the tightest quarterback-and-rocketback pair there had ever been, even tighter than Fusion and Chain Reaction, or Torch and Dragon. Even after TNT’s betrayal, Strike still felt the threads of their unbreakable connection. TNT had dedicated the rest of his life to making things right. And he made a ton of sense about Zuna aiming to plunder the ice deposits deep underneath Taiko Colony.
There was one explanation that would allow Strike to believe Rock, Boom, and TNT. The fiendish thought clawed again at the back of Strike’s brain, hissing, screeching, demanding that it be heard:
Another one of your Fireball Five brothers is going to stab you in the back.
Now that the very future of Taiko Colony was in jeopardy, Strike no longer had a choice in the matter. He opened the door and let the nightmare in.
THE SMASHMOUTH RADIO BLITZ
“And we’re back! This is Genghis Brawn of the SmashMouth Radio Blitz, bringing you the most smashmouth Ultraball play-by-play on the moon. Folks, can you believe the Tranquility Beatdown? The Miners are still clinging to the lead, 70–63, but my old team has been punching the Miners in the face during the second half. Destroyer is poised to lead the Beatdown to the tying score and send the game into overtime. I haven’t seen such a stellar performance from a Beatdown quarterback, well, since I put the team on my back and rammed us to an Ultrabowl VI victory. Today, Destroyer is playing with that same heart and fire.
“It’s fourth down. The teams break their huddles. Destroyer and his wrecking crew stride forward, their royal purple Ultrabot suits gleaming under the spotlights of Taiko Arena. The hometown Taiko Colony crowd is on its feet, stomping and roaring in waves of blue. The Beatdown set up in shotgun formation. Destroyer jogs toward a long field trench. He drops in and disappears! Chokehold is over the ball, ready to hike it. But to who?
“Chokehold looks up to the scoreboard, waiting. The Beatdown are stalling, allowing the last thirty seconds to tick down. Over in the Miners coach’s box, Torch is frantically signaling to Strike. Torch has been making great adjustments the entire game. The play clock is now at fifteen. Ten. Five. Destroyer comes rocketing out of the far end of the deep trench! Chokehold hikes it high into the air, and it pings right into Destroyer’s hands as he’s vaulting skyward!
“But Nugget is right on it. He’s going to superjump off Pickaxe’s back and intercept Destroyer. Nugget slips off Pickaxe’s shoulders! Yet another mistake by the Axepicker. Nugget is flying toward Destroyer, but he’s off course. Destroyer soars by Nugget with a meter to spare. Strike launches himself up on an intercept course.
“But Destroyer is twisting in midair! He throws a lateral across the field! Hammer Fist is wide open! The pass rockets into Hammer Fist, blasting her clear off her feet, crunching into the impactanium barrier. She pops back up and takes off running. Only Boom has a shot at stopping her now. But Boom is changing her angle. She’s letting Hammer Fist have the corner, untouched! Hammer Fist is going to score!
“No! The turf collapses underneath Hammer Fist. Boom let Hammer Fist take the sideline—right into a camouflaged pit. Boom dives in after Hammer Fist, plummeting out of sight. Other players race in. Boom rockets out of the pit! She’s got the ball. Boom has the ball! She front-flips over a Beatdown defender, landing on her feet and sprinting the other way.
“Uppercut is in hot pursuit of Boom. Uppercut has the angle. They cross the fifty-mete
r line. The forty. The thirty. Uppercut launches himself at Boom. She ducks, catching his outstretched glove with her free hand. She whips him over her head, flinging him like a meteor into the impactanium barrier. She sprints across the goal line. Touchdown, Miners! The game is over! Unbelievable. If that’s not number one on LunarSports’ Top Ten tonight, I will shove a hardtack bar up my nose.
“Miners 77, Beatdown 63. The Miners race in to join their star rocketback. Everyone except Strike, that is. He’s up in Pickaxe’s grill, chewing out his crackback 1 in a firestorm of fury, and for good reason—the Axepicker’s moronic third-down offsides penalty kept the Beatdown in the game. And what the frak happened with his botched launch of Nugget on fourth down? Good thing Boom saved the game. Saved Pickaxe’s axe.
“The Miners remain undefeated on the season. I’m heading down to the postgame press conference now. Can’t wait to hear what Strike has to say about his star rocketback saving the day. Or his crackback 1 nearly costing the Miners the game. The Miners cannot afford to let Axepicker pick his axe like that next week against the North Pole Neutrons.
“What a game, folks, what a game. This is Genghis Brawn of the SmashMouth Radio Blitz, bringing you the most smashmouth Ultraball play-by-play on the moon. Stay tuned for more.”
RESULTS AND STANDINGS, AFTER WEEK 4
RESULTS, WEEK 4
Miners
77
Beatdown
63
Neutrons
91
Explorers