The Academy: Book 2 (73 page)

             
Asa looked out over the water and thought that the wind might actually by blowing at twenty miles per hour. Asa furrowed his eyebrows and tried not to get too excited about this; the Wolves were good enough that they could overcome such a disadvantage.

             
The wind tore at Asa’s suit like dragging fingers, and forced him to take a step back.
I think that we might have a shot, though. This wind is really blowing.

             
He turned and looked at the Wolves. There were twenty-five of them, and they took up their entire Starting Platform as they buckled themselves in. Their uniforms were dark gray, and they had snarling wolves imprinted on their shoulders.

             
Asa looked over his own team, and was surprised to see that each player had undergone a complete change of attitude while he was meeting with Robert King. Gabby was scowling as she strapped herself in. She was staring at the ground, concentrating. There was a competitor’s intensity in her eyes. Viola Burns was flushed red; her eyes were closed, she was bobbing her head, and muttering something to herself that seemed to be exciting her for the match. Mike Plode had his fists clenched and was staring down the Wolves, even though they outnumbered the Sharks over three to one.

             
Asa sat down beside Jen and strapped himself in.

             
“We’re running play number one. Roxy is the defender.” Jen said. She looked determined and cocky as ever as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

             
Asa paled as he heard the play call. Bruce used to joke with the Sharks that he hoped they would never have to run play number one. The formation was intended to only be executed when absolutely necessary, in dire situations. Bruce had written the play up for when they were in a competitive game and there seemed to be no chance of winning, unless something remarkable happened. It was a Hail Mary.

             
The play was simple. Every player but one would attack and try to score, while the one defender stayed back and did his or her best to defend one goal. But, the offensive attack wasn’t conducted in the usual manner. Typically, a player will dive low off the Starting Platform, gain speed as they are crossing mid court, and then coast towards the goal. In play number one, the players were instructed to fly almost horizontal until they passed the Plaid. Then, they dove towards the goals. It wasn’t the quickest way to score—gaining speed at the beginning and then gliding across over the water was the fastest way to score. But by diving so late, the Sharks would be reaching the other team’s goals at near-terminal velocity. This type of maneuver wasn’t exactly against the rules, but it was very frowned upon. It wasn’t unreasonable for students to collide going 150 mph when this type of play was run, and students had broken backs and died before while executing similar plays.

             
One of the things that you counted on when you dove so late across the field was that the other team might get scared and get out of the way. Defenders were often not willing to risk their lives for a Winggame match.

             
Asa looked over at the Wolves again, and for the first time he noticed their
mood.
They were laughing. Joking. No one was rallying them up. To them, this game was a pre-celebration technicality.

             
We could actually do this,
Asa thought to himself again.

             
He turned to Jen, and was about to ask her why there had been such a change of mood in the Sharks. When he left to see Robert King, they had been sulky; now, they seemed ready for a battle. But then Roxanne returned to her team after a word with the referee. Her eyes were still puffy, but there was an insane fierceness about her, like a feral cat. Her green and yellow irises seemed to glow with an inner fire.

             
Before she sat down, she yelled, “What would Bruce want, huh? Us to give up? Or for us to play our damned
hearts out!
Let’s do this. These guys are cocky! They’re not expecting us.”

             
She sat down and slammed her seatbelt into place. It was as though she was converting every emotion that she had about Bruce into anger and determination to be used in the match.

             
The wind picked up behind Asa, and then, with everyone strapped in, the Starting Platforms flew up to opposite ends of the Winggame court, above the choppy water. The Sharks were in the North; the Wolves were in the South.

             
Once they were in position, Roxanne stood up and began to scream and cry, “FOR BRUCE!
HE WANTED US TO WIN THIS GAME!”

             
I’ll do you one better than win this game for Bruce, Roxy,
Asa thought to himself.
I’m going to go and try to kill those bastards for what they did to your boyfriend.
Asa looked up into Jen’s face, and thought about leaving her tonight at the dance to go drop the bombs. This increased his anxiety, and he turned, deciding to put all his emotions into the game.

             
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” The announcer boomed through the speakers, and the cheers of the crowd reached a new height. “This is Chandler Martin speaking, and it is my pleasure to present, this years WINGGAME CHAMPIONSHIP!”

             
Chandler Martin,
Asa thought.
I haven’t heard of him in a while.
Asa wondered what ever happened to the Gill Initiative. He supposed that it may have just been an act to make the crows believe that the Academy was changing—moving towards more fairness, so they wouldn’t release anymore incriminating information about Robert King or Alfatrex.

             
The crowd roared, and Asa moved closer to the edge of the Starting Platform. He let his toes hang over the edge that was hundreds of feet above the water below. The wind ripped at his back, threatening to tear him into the open air.

             
He looked over, and could see Robert King sitting in the front row of the bleachers on the right. From such a distance, Asa couldn’t be sure, but he thought that The Boss was staring at him. On his left sat Jamie. He scratched the chimp behind his ears. On The Boss’s right sat someone else who Asa hadn’t seen in a while—Ned Pudman. Pudman’s black hair was gelled straight back, and Asa wondered how Robert King got along with the other owners of Alfatrex. He also wondered if Ken Pudman had had any threats on his life, like Robert King had. In the same row sat Travis, Roxanne’s Multiplier boyfriend. Asa wondered if he had any idea the emotional trauma that his girlfriend had suffered in losing Bruce.

             
Hopefully he doesn’t.

             
The announcer continued to speak with increased excitement. “AND NOW! FOR THE TEAM LEADERS!

             
“From the Wolves: A MERE FOUR FEET, ELEVEN INCHES TALL. She’s one of the fastest players of all time, and has been known to reach speeds of ONE-HUNDRED SIXTY MILES PER HOUR,
THUNDERING TARA TRUMAN!”

             
The crowd temporarily picked up their level of enthusiasm, whistling and cheering for Tara. Asa thought that Tara was overrated; she hadn’t scored as much as Asa had this semester, and because of how small she was, she was often times thrown into the water by defenders.

             
For the most part, Asa didn’t think that the Wolves had any great players, except for one. The Wolves were good because they outnumbered every other team, and because they didn’t have any
bad
players. Their team was comprised of 25 merely competitive members. There was one exception to this, which was Jordan Hall. Asa thought that the only reason Jordan Hall did not receive MVP this year was because he was on such a good team. He was, in Asa’s opinion, the best defender in the league. Because the Wolves had so many players, they didn’t need to rely on Jordan as much as another team would, and so his statistics did not reflect his astounding performance this semester.

             
“From the Wolves: A SOLID SIX FEET, FIVE INCHES, AND THE HEAVIEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE AT THREE HUNDRED FIFTY POUNDS!” The crowd began to roar even before the announcer went on; they knew exactly who was being introduced.

             
Asa thought it was impressive that Jordan weighed so much. With all the mutations, the Academy students had very high metabolisms, and it was hard for them to put on weight. Jordan was built like a professional linebacker.

             
“He’s one of the best defenders in the league:
JORDAN HALL!”

             
Fans of the Wolves began waving their hats in support. Jordan stepped forward, almost a head taller than anyone else on his team and as wide as a barrel.
Even with the favorable wind, someone’s going to have a very hard time getting past him,
Asa thought.

             
“From the Sharks: STANDING FIVE FEET, ELEVEN INCHES TALL. She’s skinny, but still one of the best defenders in the league. She was third place for this year’s MVP award. TEAM CAPTAIN,
ROXANNE HURST!”

             
The crowd cheered and whistled, and Roxanne stepped forward and gave a stiff wave at the onlookers. Asa hoped that she remembered not to use her electrocution ability too much. He thought it wouldn’t be worth it to reveal her special power just to win this Winggame match, even if it was the championship.

             
The announcer then presented the last player:

             
“From the Sharks: STANDING SIX FEET, ONE INCHES TALL, AND WEIGHING A SOLID ONE HUNDRED NINETY POUNDS!” Asa’s face went red. Some of the students were already booing him. “He leads the Sharks in scoring this season.
ASA PALMER!”

             
There was a mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd, and Asa gave a small wave.

             
As the timer counted down the start, Asa extended his wings and had a surreal moment where he looked around, thinking,
what am I doing?
He tried to explain it to himself.
I’m a mutated human with super-strength and wings, competing in a sport that involves flying with other mutated humans.
It sounded insane to him. A year ago, he had never even heard of this place.

             
The starting horn sounded and startled Asa. Every Shark except for Roxanne dove off the Starting Platform like competitive swimmers dive into the water at the beginning of a race. Asa, being the Sharks current best scorer, was supposed to attack the Wolves middle goal. He hoped that Jordan Hall wouldn’t be defending him. He wouldn’t be able to set the bombs tonight with a broken back.

             
Ten of the twenty-five Wolves left their Starting Platform. Unlike the Sharks, they proceeded in the usual fashion, and dove low over the water, gaining initial speed and then coasting. Jordan Hall stayed on the Starting Platform, wings out, a huge shadow against the sky.

             
Asa didn’t look long, but he thought that the Wolves’ dive had been sloppy. This was uncharacteristic for them.
They’re cocky,
he thought.

             
Asa flew as fast as he could on a horizontal route towards the Plaid. The Wolves, traveling far below, passed beyond the Plaid before the Sharks even reached it. The Wolves would get to the Sharks’ goal before the Sharks reached the Wolves’ goal. It all depended on Roxanne. If she were able to defend just one of the Sharks’ five goals, they would have a chance.