Ultraball #1

by Jeff Chen

  Strike couldn’t hear anything over the crowd’s roar. The Miners huddled up. Making hand signals at Boom and Rock, Strike hoped they’d understand what he wanted: one of Torch’s new plays, the highball bounce. He looked toward the coach’s box and gave the signal, hoping Torch would repeat it for any of the Miners who hadn’t understood him.

  But to Strike’s confusion, Torch waved his hands in the air, shaking his head with exaggerated motions. He seemed to be screaming a warning, but Strike couldn’t make it out. Had he seen something? Strike considered changing the play to something out of their standard playbook, but the Miners needed something killer.

  Strike ran to his players, repeating the hand signals. He pointed at Boom, who would charge into a magnetic slingshot zone and then run up Nugget’s back, superjumping so high that she’d slam off the roof, hopefully ricocheting in toward the corner of the end zone. They’d practiced it a few times, but since Taiko Arena didn’t have magnetic slingshot zones, this would be the first time they would run it for real at blinding speed.

  As Strike was lining up over the ball, Pickaxe flipped his visor to clear and yelled something. Strike squinted, trying to read Pickaxe’s lips, but he couldn’t make anything out. He glimpsed at the play clock, ticking down to ten seconds. He waved Pickaxe off, pointing at the play clock. Boom and Rock lined up in the backfield.

  As soon as everyone got into a three-point stance, Strike hiked it. Charging backward, he prepared to flip it up so Boom could latch onto it as she flew by. Nugget bent over like a ramp, set for Boom to run up his back and shoot into the sky. But to Strike’s horror, the Neutrons went full blitz from the blind side, as if they knew exactly what the Miners were up to. One broke through, on course to ram Strike before he could flip the ball to Boom as she passed by.

  Strike pulled the ball into his chest and ducked away from the rusher. Boom had already launched herself through the slingshot zone and couldn’t stop herself from racing up Nugget’s back to go flying over the middle of the field. She went soaring toward the roof, her hands empty.

  Bracing for impact as another Neutron charged at him, Strike tucked the ball in as if he was going to take the sack. But just as the Neutron launched himself, Strike spun low, twisting away and scrambling. He looked to the skies for his star RB1 in case he could still whip a pass to her. But Chain Reaction had superjumped, intercepting her as she flew. Locked in struggle, they spun uncontrollably through the air.

  Strike pulled the ball in and ran. Only Ion Storm separated him from the end zone, but there wasn’t enough room for Strike to put a big juke on her. Even if the defender didn’t make the tackle straight-on, she’d slow Strike enough that the other Neutrons would pile into him.

  Then Strike spotted a flash of blue in the back corner of the end zone. Waving his arms, Pickaxe was open. Strike had no choice but to jump high into the air, gunning a bullet over Ion Storm’s outstretched arms. A split second later, Ion Storm smashed into Strike, crushing him backward.

  Twisting to see the play, Strike punched his arm into the air when Pickaxe leapt at full extension, the ball snapping into his glove electromagnets. As Pickaxe fell backward, he looked down to touch a foot into the end zone. But just before he could, a Neutron defender crunched into his legs, sending him whipping head over heels.

  The ball popped out of Pickaxe’s magnetized gloves. It fell to the turf. Incomplete.

  A cannon fired. “Receiver did not have control over the ball,” a ref announced over the loudspeakers. “The game is over.”

  A crazed roar went through the crowd. The scoreboard blazed in bright red:

  NEUTRONS WIN, 105–98!

  RESULTS AND STANDINGS, AFTER WEEK 5

  RESULTS, WEEK 5

  Neutrons

  105

  Miners

  98

  Beatdown

  98

  Flamethrowers

  91

  Explorers

  84

  Shock

  28

  Venom

  49

  Molemen

  35

  STANDINGS, WEEK 5

  Wins Losses Total Points

  Neutrons X

  5

  0

  497

  Miners

  4

  1

  441

  Flamethrowers

  3

  2

  455

  Beatdown

  3

  2

  434

  Explorers

  2

  3

  364

  Shock

  2

  3

  210

  Venom

  1

  4

  196

  Molemen

  0

  5

  105

  X= clinched playoff spot

  17

  Meeting at the Mines

  THE NEUTRONS WERE now solidly leading the race for the number one seed in the playoffs. It was still theoretically possible for the Miners to get that all-important top spot, but the Neutrons would have to lose at least one of their next two games. That wasn’t going to happen. So the Miners would be facing an uphill battle during the playoffs, having to play in Neutron Stadium at least once.

  That was if the Miners made the playoffs. Not since his rookie year had Strike been concerned about that. The Miners currently had a one-game lead over the Flamethrowers and the Beatdown, but both of those teams had been high-scoring offensive machines all season. If the Miners lost their upcoming game against the Flamethrowers, they’d be in big trouble.

  Strike peeked over to Rock’s cot early the next morning. Quiet snores came from under the sheet, a regular rise and fall of Rock’s chest. Strike eased out of bed and crept toward the door. He hated sneaking around, but Rock was so convinced that there was nothing behind TNT’s words. He wouldn’t understand what Strike had to do.

  Strike peered out the door, relieved. The corridor was empty, most everyone already having gone down to the mines. After facing so many questions, hard stares, and desperate looks upon arriving home last night after the defeat, he couldn’t bear any more. Someone had even accused him of throwing the game.

  Pulling his hood over his head as low as it would go, Strike made his way through the nearly empty streets, going out of his way to avoid any people milling about. He sped up when a young girl shouted his name, and thankfully her mother yanked her back before she could approach. “Leave him alone,” the mother said. “He has enough to worry about.”

  Strike felt the familiar knot in his stomach and broke into a jog, heading down the street toward the mines. He wound around to the outskirts of town and finally arrived at the airlock separating the mines from the main cavern of Taiko Colony. A dark-haired woman stood by the doorway: Nadya, Strike’s across-the-hall neighbor. She motioned to Strike. “Where have you been? Section fourteen needs a shaft crawler right away. Get down there, right now.”

  “It’s me, Strike.” He pulled back his hood. “Is Torch around?”

  Nadya squinted at him. “Strike? What are you doing here?” She kneeled to look Strike in the eyes. “I’m so sorry about the game yesterday. What happened on that last play? You had the Neutrons’ backs to the wall. I thought Pickaxe was going to score for sure.”

  “I thought so, too. I was hoping Torch could help me figure it out.”

  Nadya checked her clipboard. “Taj Tariq . . . he’s in section six today. He has extra quotas to make up for, but I can spare him for five minutes.” She pushed a button and the airlock opened, the door squealing. “Get Tariq, down in section six.”

  A lanky man appeared, his eyes widening at the sight of Strike. “Big game coming up,” he said. “The Flamethrowers are looking really good. They might even break the Torch’s Curse.” He leaned in. “The spread is 17.5 points. Think you’ll beat them by more than that?”

  “Go get Tariq already,” Nadya said.

  “Come on, St
rike, be a pal,” the man said. “I really need this. Gimme something I can use to bet on. I got two kids to take care of.”

  “Uh.” Strike winced. “I really can’t say.”

  The guy’s forehead wrinkled. “You can’t say? Or you won’t say?”

  “Stop bothering Strike and go get Tariq,” Nadya said. She turned the guy around and shoved her foot into his rear, sending him stumbling away. Shaking her head, she closed the airlock door. “Sorry about that. You wouldn’t believe all the bets people are making. Some morons even pooled their money and put down a hundred u-bucks on a blackout happening during the Ultrabowl. The idiots think they’re going to strike it rich.”

  Betting really is the moon’s national pastime, Strike thought.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Nadya asked. “It’s not fair that you have so much pressure on you. It’s more than anyone should have to bear.”

  Nadya’s kind words should have made Strike feel better, but he felt sicker than ever. “Thanks,” he said. “But I think only Torch can help me.”

  Footsteps approached and the airlock door slid back. Torch stepped through, covered from head to toe in a layer of fine gray powder. He pulled back his hood and shook out his hair in a cloud of dust.

  Strike stepped back as Torch went into a coughing fit, his chest heaving. As the spasms died away, Strike counted his lucky stars that he had been able to avoid that life.

  “Hey,” Torch said. He brushed a layer of grit from his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  “I need someone to bounce something off of.”

  “Not Rock?”

  Strike shook his head. “Usually, yes. But not about this. Can we talk?” He eyed Nadya. Strike trusted her more than almost anyone on the moon, but the stakes were huge. “You mind if I talk to Torch in private?”

  “Whatever you need, Strike,” Nadya said. “But keep it short, okay? Tariq has a ton of work to do.” She narrowed her eyes at Torch. “No cutting out early again tonight. I’m watching you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Torch gave Nadya the evil eye as he pulled Strike off the path. They sat down on a big boulder. “What’s up?”

  The only person Strike had told about Fusion’s whispered message was Rock. But Rock kept stubbornly insisting that there was no traitor. Strike had to talk to someone else he trusted—someone else who would face up to the truth.

  Torch’s eyes went wide as he took in everything. He interrupted when Strike brought up Fusion’s warning. “Are you absolutely sure that’s what Fusion said? You’re positive?”

  “I’m one hundred percent sure. Zuna’s paid someone off to stab me in the back. Just like last year.”

  Strike expected Torch to tell him how crazy that was, how he should forget all of this and just play. But Torch sat quietly on the boulder, staring off into the distance. “Did you hear the rumor Berzerkatron and the Mad Mongol were talking about this morning?”

  “No,” Strike said. “What rumor?”

  Torch paused. “Someone saw a guy in a blue jumpsuit. Riding the trams late last night.”

  “So?”

  “He was spotted next to a big guy. In a red jumpsuit. With a briefcase. Had to be one of Zuna’s guys.”

  Strike’s eyes widened. “Pickaxe stormed out last night after the game. Didn’t even stick around to sign autographs. It has to be him.”

  “Pickaxe?” Torch slumped over. “Pickaxe.” He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut tight. “He did almost cost you the Explorers game by clicking out of his suit. And his play the past two games . . .”

  “Exactly,” Strike said. “Finally, someone sees what I do. The evidence all points to him. This thing about the tram is the nail in the coffin.”

  Torch gulped. “You seriously think Pickaxe is a traitor?”

  “Who else?” Strike asked. “Nugget, Rock, and Boom were with me. Nugget insisted on us looking for his brother, but we never found him. Because he was on his way to North Pole Colony to take a payoff.” He paused, thinking about Pickaxe’s aunt Keiko, who had always been so kind to him. Pickaxe and Nugget were the only people supporting her, barely keeping her alive. But they couldn’t help much on their meager Miners’ salary. Sympathy briefly welled up inside Strike before he swept it aside.

  “So what are you going to do?” Torch asked.

  A stabbing pain pierced Strike’s gut. What was once the Fireball Five would lose another of its members. His world would collapse even further. But too much was at stake. “I have to cut him. I need your help picking someone off my backup list.”

  Torch snapped around, the blood draining out of his face. “No. You can’t do that. Don’t.” He shook his head, his lips pressed into a tight line. “Who are you going to get as a replacement? Good crackbacks are hard to come by. And how are you going to work in a new person without risking this next game?”

  “I don’t know. But I don’t have any choice. I’ve already waited way too long. It’s cost us, big-time.”

  “Hold up, hold up,” Torch said. “Just hold the frak up.” His brow wrinkled as he concentrated. “No. No! You can’t cut him. Think about what that would do to Nugget. He’d quit.”

  Frak, Strike thought. He smacked the side of his head. I’m such a moron. Why didn’t I think of that? Cutting Pickaxe would take Nugget down as well, the brothers always sticking together. There was no way the Miners could survive losing both crackbacks at once. “But what are we going to do about the upcoming game?” he asked. “The Flamethrowers might actually beat us if I get chased all around the field like last week. We cannot lose this one.”

  Torch chewed at a fingernail. “You know what? We could adjust the playbook. Nothing huge. But we could bring Nugget to the blind side once in a while. Even set up Rock to help out. Secretly. So Pickaxe doesn’t realize that we’re giving him backup.”

  “But that doesn’t solve the bigger problem. I have to cut him sooner or later.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. But one thing is for sure: making a huge move like that right now is suicide. I’ll help you figure out a plan. Just promise me you won’t do anything until we can come up with a solid plan. And don’t say anything to Pickaxe just yet. Trust me on that.”

  Strike nodded, relieved he had the greatest mind in Ultraball on his side. “Okay. Can you meet up tonight to help me figure it out?”

  “Can’t tonight. I have to go see my sister.”

  Strike bit his lip. “How’s she doing?”

  A radiant glow came to Torch’s face. “She’s getting a lot better. Thanks, man. For saying what you said back at the junk hole. She talks about it every time I see her.”

  “Wow. Really? I mean, glad I could help.” It was hard to believe that someone who had looked that bad could have recovered. But maybe hope was even more powerful than Strike had thought.

  Torch turned away, choking down a lump in his throat. “Jasmine is everything to me. I’d do anything for her. She’s the only family I have left.”

  “You got other family,” Strike said. “You got us. You’re a Miner. Miners forever. Miners together.” He held out a fist. “Tomorrow night? Help me plan things out?”

  Torch looked at Strike, a tear running down his cheek. He gave Strike a melancholy smile and bumped his fist.

  “Thanks,” Strike said. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Don’t thank me until you raise that Ultrabowl trophy,” Torch said. “Right now, let’s just make sure we do what it takes to beat the Flamethrowers.”

  LunarSports Reports around the League

  FLAMETHROWERS BREAK THE CURSE

  By Vikram Cho, Senior Staff Reporter

  After losing a heartbreaker to the Neutrons in week five, the Taiko Miners kept sliding in week six, stunned by the Farajah Flamethrowers, 77–70.

  With the surprising victory, the Flamethrowers have now guaranteed themselves their first winning season in four years, officially breaking the Torch’s Curse. Farajah Colony was in near riot, fans staying ou
t all night to celebrate their team’s victory. Three people were arrested and taken to Han-Shu Prison for burning Torch’s yellow number 7 decal, with dozens of others defacing number 7 decals as the party continued all night.

  The Miners’ first losing streak in over a year has put them in a three-way tie for second place, with the Flamethrowers and the Tranquility Beatdown. And the young and hungry Kamar Explorers are only a single game behind at 3–3. The Explorers looked rough earlier in the season, but they’ve now won two in a row and have momentum on their side.

  The Taiko Miners are now in a precarious position. With only one more game left in the Ultraball regular season, missing the playoffs for the first time in the history of the franchise is a real possibility.

  Pieces of the Miners’ offense looked sharp against the Flamethrowers, with Boom continuing to play like a superstar rocketback, scoring five TDs on two runs of thirty-nine and sixty-six meters, plus three fifty-plus-meter catches after skyrocketing up off Farajah Arena’s launching ramps. Strike also had five TDs on a mixture of QB whips, slingshot Vs, and a delayed superjump off Boom’s back that fooled the entire Flamethrowers defense. Strike’s mighty leap was measured at over sixty meters high, yet another record broken by the talented QB.

  The Miners’ blocking, on the other hand, crumbled even further from their weak performance in their week-five loss to the Neutrons. The Miners’ crackbacks allowed a team-record eight sacks and six deflected passes, two of which were returned by Afterburner for pick-seven touchdowns. The blind-side hits were particularly devastating, leading to two fumbles, one at the Flamethrowers one-meter line. At times, Pickaxe looked confused, seeming to let his blind-side rusher race by without even a block. The Miners attempted to adjust by shifting blocking assignments, but nothing could stop the Flamethrowers relentless pass rush.