Shortly after, the little man was engulfed by a lively aura that shone in all the colors of the rainbow.
Kerah fired at the opponent once, twice, three times, but it wasn’t doing any good. Somehow he was invulnerable now. The foe again drew closer to Ace. He tried to pick up his pace, but that was almost impossible amidst all those carnivorous plants.
“Ace, try to hang on just a little longer! He can’t stay that way forever!” Kerah cried. “I’m preparing a little surprise for him.”
Ace was jumping as fast as he could, trying not to look back. He focused his mind entirely on reaching his goal of getting at least to the middle of the court.
“Kerah! I hope it’s something powerful, because I don’t know if I can take it if he jumps on me again. Even though he’s little. I—” Ace smiled when he got to see where Kerah was. The Hitter was now piloting a huge futuristic tank in siege position.
As soon as Kerah saw the many-colored shine around their opponent had ceased, she fired. The explosion caused by her unerring shot took place just a few yards behind Ace, who was startled by the impact.
This time there was no way for the foe to endure it. He was immediately disintegrated.
“Thanks!” Ace yelled as he turned his boots back into roller blades, picking up his pace to return to the base.
Soon his whole team cheered as the sportscaster announced, “One to one! Dante’s Chaos shows they’re still in the game! What an intense final this match is turning out to be today!”
“Good old Ace!” Dante said. “I guess you were luckier than I was! I still didn’t manage to get to the other side, what with this bunch of cars passing back and forth and having to jump over those logs on the river right ahead. I’d have done it if weren’t for this stupid frog getting in the way and running off whenever Bobby and I try to hit it!”
“Guys, I think I need help, I... Ahhhh!” was the last they heard from Asuka.
“She was trying to stop that giant orange ball from getting at our flag!” said Kerah. “She didn’t see it when those... ghosts?... cornered her. I got the ghosts, but the ball must be holding our flag already.”
“It’s not a ball!” Mary said. “It’s a... chomper! And it’s swallowed half of our defenses. I teleported it away, but it’s back here already.”
Ace ran to the opposing team’s center line as he listened to his friends’ remarks. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stop the giant orange chomper, so instead he had to try snatching their other flag as soon as he could. But he also knew the center line was where the biggest challenge most likely resided. They’d already faced the chomper, the frog, the mustachioed little man, and the blue hedgehog. What else would they see in this match?
Having skated a few yards into the center line toward the opposing team’s base, Ace just realized what kind of defenses he’d have to deal with. The opponents had “folded” the game line ninety degrees above, turning it now into a huge wall that had to be climbed. That by itself wouldn’t be such an issue if it weren’t for the gigantic falling pieces that came sliding down the wall.
Each pieced had an individual color and was made out of four cubes. Some were L- or I-shaped, and others came in all the other possible configurations featuring these given elements. Ace turned his roller blades into rock-climbing boots and crafted magnetized gloves to help him get to the top.
He figured he could wait until the pieces had accumulated down at the ground and then climb up using them, but he soon realized that, as soon as they came together into a horizontal line, they were immediately disintegrated.
Ace then started climbing through the game line itself, dodging the blocks as they came down faster and faster, moving right and left to get on his way.
“Ace! Try picking up your pace because the chomper is coming for you!” Mary screamed. “I’m holding it back as much as I can!”
“We got the other flag already!” Dante cried. “I’m coming back! Bobby will try to handle that ball!”
After being almost taken down by a piece that came crashing hard in his direction, Ace finally came to the top of the wall. He grew disheartened to see there was still a long way to go to get the flag. On his path, which now was flat, dozens of balls were being bounced from side to side by several little floating bars that went up and down according to the movement of the spheres. A poing noise sounded whenever a ball was struck by one of the bars. He understood he’d have to evade those globes if he wished to get to the flag in one piece.
Standing alert, he figured the opponent who controlled all those effects should be lurking by, invisible, somewhere near, waiting for the moment to strike.
He looked back then, to the center of the battleground, to see how the great orange ball was doing. Bobby had just grabbed the game line itself by the side and shaken it like a carpet, tossing the chomper several yards back. Ace still had some time left.
Time! That’s just what he needed!
“Mary! It’s about time you give me that buff you’ve been practicing!”
“But I still haven’t tested it. It could fail something awful, especially when you’re this far away!”
“Mary, there’s no other way. I need your help. Now!”
Once again wearing his roller blades on his feet, he started sliding toward the flag, picking up speed and believing Mary would come to his aid. The balls were coming closer and closer. He managed to dodge one or two of them by himself, but he wouldn’t be able to manage the long corridor of balls that stood between him and his goal without the girl’s help.
In a few seconds, he began glowing with a bluish light. That’s it! Mary had done her part.
Everything around him, even time itself, was passing at a diminished speed. The sounds from the court all around, coming from the audience and the announcer, were becoming muffled and slow. The spheres on his way bounced from side to side in slow motion. He took the chance to accelerate to the max. With a couple of acrobatic leaps, he evaded the obstacles and soon grabbed the flag.
“Thanks, Mary!” he cried through the Neurolink.
As soon as that effect was over, time around Ace was frightfully picking up its pace, returning to its original flow.
“Ace!” Kerah yelled. “Why didn’t you answer before?! I’ve been calling you for a while now! I tried to keep some gorilla with a green tie from getting at our final flag, but it didn’t work. He wrecked my tank by tossing some freaking barrels. He’s coming back to their base. If you and Dante don’t come back soon, they’re going to win!”
“Mary had me put in slow motion! I think I was a few seconds... behind in time, I don’t know! Where is Dante?”
“Two to one!” the play-by-play announcer answered him. “Dante manages to capture one more flag for his team, putting some pressure on the Classic Riders! The players are already holding the remaining flags. Who can get to their base first?”
Grabbing this flag was easier than I thought. I wonder if... Ace quickly ducked, evading a huge globe of energy that had been fired at him. He looked back and saw the foe responsible for creating the defenses he’d just gone through: a robotic man in blue armor with an energy cannon attached to his right arm. Just as Ace had imagined, he’d remained invisible until the moment in which he attacked.
Ace checked his stability: 43%. Since he’d produced few effects so far, he still had a great deal remaining. Concentrating, he was getting himself ready to face his foe, whose cannon was already glowing, gathering energy for another shot.
I don’t have time to fight you! Ace thought. I’ve got to get back to my base before they do! He looked at his opponent’s gun, shining brighter and brighter with energy, wondering how he’d deal with that. Hey! I think I know! I just need to react fast!
Ace started moving toward his opponent, slowly at first, only to accelerate faster and faster afterwards. Hoping to keep their distance, the robot man fired his cannon, releasing another large sphere of energy against Ace. The boy was quick to act, creating a huge mirrored shield
on his arm with which he immediately sheltered himself. The shot clashed against the shield’s reflective surface and at once was bounced back at his foe, who didn’t have time to dodge it and was disintegrated right away.
As soon as he defeated his opponent, the balls that were bouncing before were simply gone. Without their controller to maintain the effects, the game line in which Ace was began to slowly return to normal. Ace let go of his shield so it wouldn’t burden him on his return. Now all he had to do was dodge the other opponents and get to his base before they did.
He soon realized that wouldn’t be so easy. While the huge orange ball called the most attention as it returned to their base, the gorilla took the chance to surprise-grab Bobby and toss him out of the court, causing him to disintegrate.
All remaining players from both teams were now near the center of the court, holding still. They waited, watching each other for the slightest sign of action and getting ready to react in retaliation. The final flags waved, being held by Ace, the gorilla, and the chomper. None of them felt safe enough to return to their base with the opponents so close.
The first one to act was the blue hedgehog. He had spared enough of his remaining stability for his final tactics. Staring defiantly at his opponents, he started accelerating toward them.
Ace decided he wouldn’t wait anymore. He started once again to slide as fast as he could. He was dodging fireballs, gorilla blows, and the chomper’s attempt to swallow him. His stability suffered with each maneuver he made, so harsh were his efforts to avoid the obstacles and press forward. He had only 15% stability left now.
At an amazing speed, the hedgehog trampled over Kerah and Dante, disintegrating them both at once. The gorilla and the great ball were coming back to their base. The little mustachioed man disintegrated Mary with a fireball straight to her back while she was distracted.
Ace knew the hedgehog was after him now. At the preposterous speed at which he advanced, his foe would run him over in no time. There was nothing left to do now.
“Illusion power!” yelled Asuka, who had just returned to the court.
Copies of Ace started immediately multiplying and skating all around him. His foe ran over one, two, three decoys in failed attempts to strike the real Ace, who wondered how it was possible for his opponent to still have the stability to continue attacking.
“Two to two!” cried the announcer, as the chomper returned with the flag.
In the middle of that crowd of decoys surrounding him, Ace finally achieved his goal.
“Three to two! Victory belongs to Dante’s Chaos! I can barely believe what we’ve seen today, my friends! What a fantastic turn for this match! Despite having over half of their team members out of commission, Dante’s Chaos still manages to turn the tide and grab a most exciting victory!”
The crowd was going wild. The familiar, wonderful cry of “Victory!” filled the air. The hedgehog’s stability had reached zero and he was disconnected. Ace and Asuka jumped for joy while the gorilla punched the ground and pounded on his chest.
“Mamma mia!” sighed the mustachioed man under his red hat.
Ace’s friends were gradually returning to the court and getting together in celebration. The opponents who were still logged in came to congratulate them on the victory.
Amidst all the celebration, Ace felt he was being hugged tight by Mary, which made him blush. The girl’s pink hair wavered over her back. She lovingly held Ace’s face in her hands and brought his lips close to hers.
Ace couldn’t resist. He allowed himself to get carried away by the excitement of victory. If Letícia wasn’t ready for him, maybe Mary was. It would be great to celebrate with a kiss.
At the last moment, however, realizing Ace hadn’t brought his lips closer to hers too, Mary turned his face slightly and kissed him on the cheek, then drew back from him and winked. Ace still couldn’t understand what was going on in Mary’s mind when she drew back, so he went on with his celebration with his friends as usual. Women! It doesn’t matter if you’re in the virtual or the real world. I think I’ll never understand you... The thought that maybe Mary wished he’d taken the initiative didn’t even cross his mind.
He was brought back from his thoughts when Bobby lifted him on his shoulders, shouting for joy. They’d beaten the amateur league! They were going pro!
Soon the sportscaster came down to the court to congratulate and briefly interview them, also passing down to their Neurolinks the access codes to the pro area in the Flag Race server.
Pedro was ecstatic as he returned to the real world. He kept jumping for joy and whispering constrained victory cries. He heard his parents’ bedroom door closing. Then, by his bed, he saw a note signed by his dad.
Congrats on your victory! I knew you would make it. I watched the game on the Internet. Now rest, because there are many other victories waiting for you here in the real world. We love you.
“Did you win, Pedro?” Marcelo asked.
“Did you kill lots of people?” Rodrigo asked.
The visiting hours at the hospital were busy with his brothers’ curiosity. Pedro took the time he had to stay with the twins to tell them all he had done, while being bombarded with questions.
“Did you ever die? Can you lend it to us so we can play too? Are you the team leader? Why didn’t you throw a rocket at that guy? Can you really make anything you want over there? Did you ever a see a dragon up close? Why don’t you turn into a dragon?”
Pedro looked closely at his brothers while they chatted. The signs of feebleness were clear; their muscles seemed to be atrophying little by little. The doctors guaranteed they were running all the tests they needed and taking care of everything, and that soon all the paperwork would be filled so they could attempt the new procedure in the near future. Even so, it was heartbreaking to watch as the little guys were growing weaker and weaker.
Chapter 13
“Man, I can’t believe you won!” Daniel’s voice wavered with excitement while they talked in the school courtyard at the break. “I’m friends with a Flag Race champion!”
“Don’t say it so loud, man!” Pedro laughed. “It was just the amateur championship! It’s super nice and all that I’ve won but it’s not that much of a big deal to tell it to everybody... The only thing we won was the chance to play in the pro championship.”
“I was checking out your moves here, dude... It really makes me feel like playing it too!” Luiz remarked while holding his tablet, on which he was watching the replays. “Such a shame I’ll never have a thingy like that. And, wow, that Asuka girl was on fire, huh? I don’t mean to talk smack about you, but if it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t have been able to get that final flag, would you?”
“Everybody is very good in this team. And look, I really believe we’ve got a chance in the pro league.”
“Yeah,” Luiz answered, “but have you seen what those guys can do? It won’t be easy... besides, in the pro championship everyone plays only once against each other, you can’t lose a single game. You better begin praying now that you’ll face only the easier teams in the beginning.”
Pedro nodded pensively. I’ve got to try at least, right?
“Man!” Daniel exclaimed. “I can’t believe that colored-hair babe almost kissed you! Why didn’t you do anything with her right then? You just stood like a sitting duck, man! It’s glaringly obvious she likes you!”
“You’re way off, Daniel,” Luiz answered, “Pedro should do no such thing. It’s pretty clear he likes the other girl better, isn’t it, Pedro?” Luiz now glanced at Letícia, who was talking to Amanda on the other side of the courtyard. Pedro followed his friend’s gaze before answering him.
“Yeah, but I don’t know anymore what’s the best thing to do. She kinda knows now I like her in the worst possible way and I’m not sure she was very happy with the idea at all...”
“Oh, no! Hang on a sec...” Daniel held his friends by the shoulders. “You think she might be the girl of your life?”
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“Oh, I don’t know... I think so, but—”
“Then there’s nothing else to say. You’re right, Luiz, he had no business with Mary (the name’s Mary, right?), he’s got to talk to Letícia!” He turned to Pedro. “Dude, you’ve got to do like I did: man up and win over the woman of your dreams!”
“Yeah, right. Because you’ve won Amanda over, for sure!” Pedro mocked him.
“Sure I did! We’re just playing it cool for now, you know? But you guys will soon see how much she’s into me. All is going according to the plan. And, even so, Pedro, imagine Letícia gives you a straight up no, wow, how awful that would be, eh?” he scorned. “Then you’d have to content yourself with the hottie with the color-shifting hair! It’s a win-win situation, man!”
Luiz thought about it for a few moments, trying to identify the bad and depressive side of Daniel’s idea, but he couldn’t find any.
“Man... he’s right, you know? Soon the year will end, the classrooms will change, and maybe you won’t even see Letícia anymore. You want to let this happen without trying anything?”
Pedro sighed.
“Yeah, I think you’re both right... But I don’t know. I’ll see when I can talk to her and—”
“What do you mean when?” Daniel’s voice was wavering again. “Go talk to her now, man!”
Pedro sought support in Luiz, but he shrugged, showing he agreed with the idea.
“If you won’t come with me, it’ll be worse,” said Daniel, as he started in the girls’ direction. Luiz followed him. Pedro picked up his pace behind his friends, regretting having talked about his feelings.
“Good morning, Amanda, my darling,” said Daniel respectfully.
Amanda smiled and glanced back at him as if she was saying “silly you!” Letícia and Pedro blushed by being in sheer proximity to them.
“So, Amanda,” Daniel went on, “have you seen the new post on the class’s online forum? Luiz and I were talking about it. I saved it on my cracked tablet something I wanted to ask you and... Oh! Geez! I left it in the classroom!... Well, since the break is almost over, don’t you wanna come with us?”
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