The game Pt. 1

We got the possession.

"Good job, Earl!" I shouted. It wasn’t very important to get it but it might set the tone for the rest of the match. He passed the ball.

"Sure thing Pete, now go do you magic baby!!!"

I started dribbling and made sure to take my time getting to the opposition's court. It made sense that my defender was not Theo; you wouldn't put your star on a random nobody.

My defender #9 Jake said, "So short stuff, let’s see what you--"

I gladly took the opening he gave and didn’t wait for him to finish. I launched my shot from behind the arc.

The ball rattled into the hoop.

SCORE

There was pin drop silence in the packed court.

I returned the trash talk, "I would take your insults seriously if you even had an ounce of talent!"

His shocked face turned sour.

"You mother--Hugh, give me the fucking ball!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

The idiot actually fell for my trap. Just before he got the ball, I read his and Hugh’s body language to steal the ball.

"Easy basket!" I said again before laying the ball up.

"All that trash talk, and your team can’t even pass the ball!" I rubbed the salt into his wound.

He looked like he was about to burst a vein. I went back to our side of the court, knowing the same trick wouldn’t work again.

‘They’re not that stupid!’

I was proven right when Theo was the one who inbounded the ball. He dribbled the ball with a smile and swagger that couldn’t be imitated.

‘Let's see what you got, Time Stopper!'

He walked up to our side and shot the three casually. It went in with a swish. He looked at me with a smug look.

I don’t think he used his powers for that. Hmm, so I guess that was a message. Something like...

‘I can beat you without any of my powers or something like that."

"Eddy, give me the ball."

My defender was still #9. Jake looked pissed. He probably wanted to steal the ball back to reclaim his lost pride. Well, too bad for him.

He tried to swipe the ball away from me but missed horribly, instead hitting my arm. I exaggerated the damage.

The referee called a whistle.

‘YESS!!’ I celebrated internally while on the outside I was grabbing my arm.

"Offensive foul! One free throw and the Hawks retain possession."

Our bench went crazy with the hooting and hollering. There were some whispers in the crowd.

Jake tried explaining to the ref, "But I didn't--"

"That should have been a flagrant. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, keep arguing with me and you’ll see where it gets you!"

He grumbled under his breath.

I shot both of the free throws with ease, I was the sole scorer for my team so far.

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 7 / Green Bulls - 3

We were leading by 4, and their situation was only about to get worse.

I inbounded the ball and went straight for their D.

The entire team converged in the middle to stop me from getting any further. They must have thought their superior reach and height must scare me but of course it didn’t!

I gripped the ball tightly and contorted my body, I squeezed between them and found a way towards the basket.

One of the players grabbed me to stop my advance. I threw the ball in the air, hoping I would get a free basket along with the foul.

The referee blew his whistle.

SCORE

‘Oh my God, it really did go in and I got another free throw.’

Earl, Eddy and James came to give me high fives.

"That really shut them up! Great job, Peter!" Earl said with a huge grin, forgetting that I almost choked him to death this morning.

William was still busy guarding Theo, they were talking with each other. Probably some friendly banter.

I made the free-throw, our total points were now 10 and theirs were 3.

Theo inbounded the ball.

‘That’s a safe lead, we can afford to lose possession here and there!’ I thought with naïve optimism.

Theo brought the ball slowly to the basket and shot a three again. This time, Will made the mistake of touching his hands before the ball left Theo’s hands.

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The referee blew his whistle.

SWISH

"Three and one free throw!"

The crowd went wild. We completely lost our home court advantage to them.

Of course, he made the free throw, and the lead was cut to three.

I understood at that point that this game was far from over. The coach was yelling words of encouragement from the sideline. The rest of the team however, looked completely shaken. Will lifted his hand and apologized, "Sorry guys, that one was on me!"

The team made sure to let him know it was an understandable mistake.

"It’s alright Will, just make sure that you don’t pile up those fouls. Five more of those and you’re out and we absolutely cannot lose you!" I said to him,

He was what made playing against them fair. If I wanted to win this game then I needed William.

I dribbled the ball between my legs, saw the opening, and penetrated their defense.

"Stop!" Jake yelled out but by then I had already passed him over, I was moving at breakneck speed. I danced around their team's center, and edged past the power forward but at the end of it all was the small forward, Theodore Wellspring.

I might have had the jump on everyone else but Theo seemed to read my moves like a book. I was moving like a bullet but he was still catching up with me with ease.

I pump-faked him, and it looked like he almost fell for it but at the last second he stopped.

‘Shit! Can he read my mind?’

"Maybe." he responded with a smug look.

I run the clock for another five seconds, 'Shit' I look at the stop clock running out.

Ten seconds left until we lose possession.

I saw Will standing right behind me, 'Here goes nothing!'

I stopped and jumped on the spot to shoot the ball, Theo naturally contested my shot. While hanging in the air I say to him, "I guess you can’t read minds after all."

He responded with a confused look but realization set in when he saw the ball wasn’t in my hands anymore.

I passed it to our team’s ‘Sharpeshooter!’ without even looking at him.

One of the perks of my spider powers was that it helped me make no look passes.

Will caught it and shot the ball in one beautiful stroke.

SWISH

"Too bad Theo…you would have had a chance against me if you could have read minds as you stopped time."

He smiled, but his fist tightened into a ball.

‘Ooh looks like I’m getting to him!’

In the next possession he brought the ball, Will wanted to guard him but I shooed him away.

Will appeared jaded for a moment before realizing what I was saying.

'Conserve your energy dummy, let me handle him for a bit.'

Me and Theo were going at it one-on-one.

"Looks like it’s just me and you, cowboy!" I said to Theo.

He dribbled the ball at an incredibly fast pace. Theo tried faking me.

He made his way to the left, only to change his direction to the right. Classic!

He left me in the rear and was about to shoot it with a huge smile on his face. Only to be shocked when the ball wouldn't leave his hand. I grabbed the ball from behind and stripped it from him ruthlessly.

Not looking back, I jetted to the other side of the court and floated it into the basket.

They didn’t even try to get back to defense, I guess they were too shocked to move.

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 15 / Green Bulls - 7

The crowd was still quiet due to it being full of Theo’s fangirls, but... I could hear my team’s cackles. The opposite team looked completely stunned, even the coach had her mouth open. I jogged back to my court lightly as the opposition inbounded the ball.

Theo was still looking at his palm.

"Who do you think I am? Theo. Did you think it would be that easy? Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?" I say with my chest puffed up.

The crowd must have heard it because they started booing me. I gave them an air kiss making some of the men giggle.

I continue my verbal assault on Theo, "So... is that it? Is this the ‘White comet’ I’ve been hearing so much about? Or are you done playing! If you’re not then I'll gladly strip you ten more times."

I knew I shouldn’t have been so cocky. I knew that nothing good could come from talking trash to him. But it irritated me that they could simply walk out here and have our crowd cheering for them.

How could they do that despite our efforts every day—waking up early and working tirelessly to hone and improve our game?

These rich private school pricks can go to hell for all I care. They, as well as this crowd!

Besides, their coach started the trash talk at the start, and I was only returning the favor.

"You’re right, Peter... I’ve been playing with my food for too long!" He spoke to me monotonously.

‘Oh shit.. did I just wake up the-’

He zoomed past me with lightning speed, he didn’t have the ball but we couldn’t just let him get inside our paint. Earl tried to obstruct his way, but he moved past him by turning around at full speed.

His teammates threw him the ball exactly where he wanted it; he grabbed it in midair and slammed it in with one hand.

It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that the crowd exploded with excitement. The staff could barely hold the line of fangirls from rushing into the court.

He slowly walked up to me, bent down to my level, touched his ear and said, "You were saying?"

His team on the bench roared with laughter, and I couldn’t help but grin.

"Well played! But while you’re talking trash, take a look where Will is!"

Theo's eyes panicked and he looked at Will, who was standing under his team’s hoop.

"Stop showboating and get back to defense now!!!" Coach Lee yelled at her team's carelessness.

Eddy threw the ball from our side to the other side of the court. Will caught the ball as it bounced two steps from him and dunked it right back.

It was our team’s turn to loudly yell out obscenities.

I turned to their Coach and delivered the promise I had made to her before.

"It doesn't matter how many times your boy dunked; we’re winning this game!"

At my proclamation, all hell broke loose. Their team started hurling insults at me while my teammates were on the verge of starting a brawl.

Coach Lee looked stoic, totally unconcerned with my words but inside I knew she was seething.

From what little I knew of her from our brief exchange, I knew that she hated losing. She was only calm because that was the best way to lead her team to victory.

Theo answered my challenge, "We’ll see about that Peter!!’

The remaining minutes of the first quarter boiled down to Theo scoring and us exploiting their lackluster defense. If the first five minutes of the ballgame were all about me, then the remaining were Will’s. He shredded them, slashing through their paint and scoring anytime he wanted.

When they were completely focused on him, I came out of nowhere and assisted my fellow teammates.

By the end of the first half, we were up 11 points.

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 29 / Green Bulls - 18

They didn’t waste energy playing defense when they realized they couldn’t stop our team's dynamic duo. Me and Will.

Theo was getting tired trying to carry his team's complete offense. Not to mention he was also busy guarding either me or Will on alternating possessions.

He was starting to run out of breath. Sure he can stop time however he couldn’t just outright teleport…he could keep up with me, sure, but he would eventually...

'What the hell am I thinking….At the end of the first quarter, he could just stop time and rest for as long as he pleased! In other words…he could stop about 2 or maybe even 4 hours before the next quarter began!!!!’

Meaning.. If he’s smart he would tire out Will and wait for the final fourth quarter where he could dominate against him!

"You crafty bastard!" I said to him,

"Did you figure it out? Peter… In order for you to win, Will has to be effective."

He called for a screen, and one of his teammates ran between me and him, blocking my path.

Theo hunted for Will and danced with him, chipping away my teammates' energy.

"Will switch to someone else.. He’s trying to waste your-" When Will made a bad read, Theo passed it to Hugh who took a two pointer.

SWISH

He turned to look at me,

"For me to win, all I have to do is trust my teammates. Oh and my teammates are ten times better than yours!"

Our bench took that insult personally and started booing him whenever he came close to them.

‘It hurts but it’s true!’

I had to give it to him. If I were in his situation, I would have come up with that exact same strategy.

Tire out Will, let the opposing team think they're winning and at the end simply pull the rug out from them. It was simple but effective, I couldn't be everywhere on the court every time.

The horn sounded, signaling the end of the first quarter.

I simply smile from ear to ear and say to Theo,

"Okay…time to get serious then!"

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 31 / Green Bulls - 20