Chapter 18: A Rockstar Comeback @Anson Courts
<><><>
ON THAT EVENING OF WESAK-DAY– Peter would play against Chucky-Miggs’ selection of his-Top-3 best players, in the floodlight lit clay-court @Anson Public-Court … for his ‘debut’ as Australia’s first-&-only cyborg-Tennis player…
…he didn’t ‘tell his mother, Caroline – ‘nor’ his girlfriend, Bella… cos THEY WOULDN’T ‘understand’ his ‘hunger-driven’ dreams of being ‘among’ the best-of the-Top world-class crop of players, who currently ‘exist’ in-this-realm…
…now, since he was ‘barred’ from school-competition cos’ of his robotic-arm – so, his ‘next’ strategy-was to be a media-sensation Tennis-Rockstar in Perth… who ‘called-out’ the Best-of-Best able-bodied crop of local-players SO-TO beat-them... and, for him to-establish his-clean ‘amateur-records’… and-then climb-up the-chain to face Top-dogs in Sydney-and-Melbourne, and, beat them-too – by ‘being’ THE ‘BEST’ in the-country…
… ‘next-up,’ – was the call for monetized-deals in ‘EXHIBITION-MATCHES’… with a pre-promotion-of ‘Truth-or-Dare’ on social-media in the international fan-base community – ‘where’ fans/supporters/followers of the world-class international-players would want their hero-idols TO FACEOFF’ with The Terror-Demon Rockstar from Downunder…
With his inspector-mother at work, he ordered a pizza-for lunch and ate it on his-bed. In a state-of carb-coma, Peter rested for tonight’s matches… but his-mind ‘couldn’t’ get into the-Zone…
…. his-anxiety was ‘not’ of the-trio he would-face later… BUT OF THE-ringmaster, Chucky Miggs –who-was the notorious gangster, now running an illegal betting-numbers sports-syndicate on the clay-courts…
… whose estranged-son, Charlie was ‘dead’ without the father’s knowledge. It was in a tragic incident at the zoo when the Hateful-8’s botched mission of ‘Freeing-the-Monkeys,’ resulting with Charlie-the-Horse was bludgeoned to-death by a provoked old-gorilla… when the-Horse ‘entered’ its-cage…
… the Hateful-8 since-then, laid ‘low’ from the-Law of their accessory-to-murder… and the leader of the H-8, Kirk Kiperman did a ‘good-job’ of the disposal of Horses’ body, AND BE anonymous to the gangster-father’s radar of suspicion…
Peter was-now going behind-the ‘back’ of the H-8 animal-activists by ‘REACHING-OUT to the gangster-father – in the-capacity of asking a favour of shooting his-debut promo-video … but…
… he was ‘not’ worried – as it was strictly-business…
He couldn’t nap-the whole afternoon either… and, did nothing but chillax…
… he rewatched YouTube ‘highlights’ of his-idol, McEnroe’s past-matches – vs his greatest rival, Jimmy Connors… and, beating him in 20-of their 34-encounters… from the-70s to-the-90s…
Whenever he felt ‘bored-or-lazy’ – he got-off the bed and ‘practised’ 10-minutes of ‘visualisation’ moves-on the mirror… holding his-Babolat with his robotic-arm leftie. Peter also did some stretching-exercises… where he could-do 2 finger-push-ups with his leftie-Smasher… just-like Bruce-Lee…
… he too-observed his-personal superstition ritual of ‘not’ taking a shower during ‘match-day,’ and he ‘was’ used to his body-odour… but applied fragrant body-spray whenever he went-out ‘public’ – but in-reverse, Peter was all-time repulsive to the-urine smell downstairs of his-twin, Poe-and-his ‘dingo’…
He had 2 hours-more ‘before’ match-time… and he surfed the-net for Top-stories in Perth, where-everything ‘bored’ him… as scrolling in his-iPad:
* ‘3 security-guards killed in freak-explosion – in NORTH-EAST industrial-area’
‘… ass-luck… RIP-you disposable-f***-ers… your-mediocre minion presence wouldn’t be sorely-missed by anyone…’
* ‘Millions of bees are dying of a mysterious-disease – scientists ‘suspects’ an-INSECT KILLER-VIRUS’
‘… bring-on this-virus, cos’ – I ‘hate’ bugs…’
Everything was ‘not’ newsworthy to him… until he was the-news-itself – and, ‘wishing’ he had a horde of-his ‘minion’ fans/supporters/ followers… who worship-&-root for his-Australia’s one-and-only Cyborg-Tennis’ sensation… into his pugilistic-prominence ‘Comeback’ after 3-years… of ‘licking’ his-wounds… and, strategizing…
‘… this shitty-newsfeeds are ‘not’ worth my-time… I rather surf porn…’
<>
Peter was ‘glad’ that he needed ‘not’ cycle on his-mountain bike to Anson-courts for the matches… where KC’s person-assistant, Mimi Lee would pick him-up in her car – and he would ‘arrive’ in the floodlight-lit arena in-style like a celebrity-Tennis rockstar…
… he felt that his ‘future’ celebrity-status as a-Cyborg ‘superstar’ riding on his-old bicycle was a SHAMEFUL-IMAGE when it came to social-media. He wished they would ‘lower’ the legal-age of a motorcycle-riders from 16-years-old… where KC had ‘already’ taught him the basics of riding a superbike…
… but he was CASH-POOR at 13-years of age to even ‘afford’ a motorcycle ~ he wasn’t filthy-rich like his 14-years-old girlfriend, Bella who ‘owned’ a Ducati… ‘probably’ influenced by her animal-activist group, the H-8 working FOR HER IN the outskirts ‘dog-farm’ shelter… as they were-all motorbike-enthusiasts…
‘… I ‘wished’ that bimbo-Frenchie would give ‘me’ the keys-of her-Ducati… it’s sitting idle cos’ she hadn’t ridden it since the Zombie-lockdown – what a shame…’
… his iPhone rang while he was ‘thinking’ of Frenchie ~ true-enough it was the she-devil herself… he wanted to ask about her-Ducati… but she was in-tears in the other-end…
… Bella-Beaulieu was crying as she informed her-boyfriend that uncle-Jared-Wilford had been admitted at Perth-Hospital… revealing further that he was burnt-badly in a ‘freak’ accident while ‘visiting’ a factory…
“Peter… please come-now with-me to the hospital…” She urged…
“… err… No! I can’t – ‘NOT’ TODAY…” He declined…
“WHAT!? What is ‘so’ important that you CAN’T COME? Don’t be ungrateful-here – he helped your mother with her debt-problem, remember that…!!” She pinpointed…
“Oii! Don’t rub-that on me… I can’t-come – I’ve got ‘something’ dead-urgent happening-this evening…” He excused…
“What soo-urgent!? TELL ME ‘Now’…!” She instigated…
“… this is ‘important’ to me… I’m playing ‘matches @the-Anson Public-Courts later… somebody’s picking-me up later…” He revealed…
“Anson-Courts! That where Charlie’s FATHER ‘OPERATES’… he’s a bad-gangster, and we should ‘LAY-LOW’ from him ‘knowing-that’… his son IS DEAD… “She cautioned…
“DON’T TELL-me ‘what’ I-can and ‘not’-do… yes, I would-be ‘cautious’ about Horse’s death when I’m ‘around’ Miggs, and, you don’t have to bloody ‘tell-me’ that, Frenchie… I’m an inspector’s son, and I ‘know’ THE GAME that we’re playing, okay…!? Hey, you… go-ahead without me – and visit Uncle-Jared by yourself today… he’ll ‘understand’ – tell him that I’ll visit-tomorrow, with a fruit-basket…”
“… it’s risky, Peter… please don’t-go to Anson – I’ve a bad-feeling about it…”
“SHUT-UP! Don’t jinx-it for me, B****!!!”
Peter hung-up the call.
<>
AT 5:45 PM, Peter went-out of the Walker-house main-gate – and waited for his-transportation… but his mind was ‘still’ troubled – after ‘argument’ with Bella…
… he felt ‘bad’ that uncle-Jared had a misfortunate-accident… and he couldn’t visit him, as his ‘priorities’ of being-a-Rockstar ‘goal’ CAME-FIRST – cos’ that was ‘where’ his-money-was… so, that he could ‘HELP’ PAYOFF his late-father’s debt… and Jared would-in-return ‘give’ the deed-of the Walker-House to-him…
Peter sighed at the-thought of opportunity-and-misfortune ‘crossing’ over the same-day à and, he ‘chose’ his-Tennis ‘dreams’… but Bella doesn’t ‘understand’ his wants-and-needs’ – she’s demanding-and-controlling like Caroline…
‘… begone, all you-b****es!’
Peter looked up and saw a lemon-yellow Camaro speeding-over. He recognised the Bumblebee-Chevrolet on-his visit to KC’s rented manor – and the car was there among several luxury-sportscars…
He opened the door, and sat beside the attractive, 20-something, Mimi Lee who introduced herself… he ‘might’ have seen her-or ‘not’ in his one-time visit to KC’s manor which-was an OPEN-HOUSE…
… where all the Chinese girls he met-there were ‘attractive’ – Peter doesn’t ‘know’ who’s-who among KC’s friends-and-staff…. all he remembered while he went-there to get his cyborg-arm to be calibrated to its-optimum – and, met 3 bikini-clad girls swimming in the swimming-pool…
His arousal-memory ‘poofed’ when Mimi-spoke… saying that KC was ‘busy-tied’ up-with his crypto-mining business. She then said that she was assigned to Peter’s Rockstar-project … AND WOULD handle his ‘affair’ in KC’s absence…
‘… huh-what? … another B**** as my ‘handler’…!?’
She also mentioned that she among the-8 who were assigned to his-Tennis marketing project … Peter listened and was-told of items that the marketing-team ‘prepared’ for the campaign…
There was a cardboard box at the backseat – Mimi told Peter to get-it… the-teen saw the outer-box, with…
… a ‘pasted’ photoshopped-photo of Peter’s ‘face’ as a Tennis-player – in a futuristic all-RED-MOTIF UNIFORM, holding a racquet and wearing darkglasses…
“… KC-said-and hoping you’ll like the-colour red – cos’ according to Chinese-Feng Shui the colour ‘represented’ bold-strength, ambitious and driven-in-nature… and, that’s you, Rockstar-Peter – ‘this’ is your colour. The marketing-team guys HAVE ‘DESIGNED’ your jersey and shorts… GO-ON, open the box…”
Peter opened it – to find 3-items in it:
* A RED JERSEY with yellow ‘thunderbolts’ motif on the sleeves… and had a printed sponsor-logo in front of Est-8 Group – and his name-as, ‘Thunderbolt-Pete’ at the back, printed in luminous-glow in-dark dye
* A BLACK SPANDEX… that-was calf-length…with bubble-sponged sewn-in seams
* And a size-10, Under-Amour branded RED-SHOES
… even-though Red wasn’t his-colour – as he preferred-colour ‘WAS’ BLACK to ‘match-up’ the colour of his Kimura-Star robotic-arm… but he chose ‘NOT’ TO argue with KC’s marketing decisions… who had invested a-lot-$ in his-CYBORG-COMEBACK campaign…
… bearing IN-MIND of ‘what’ KC’s campaign-strategy – which was to focus on keeping a ‘clean’ amateur-record of his mechanical-robotic arm would his-wield his Babolat ‘sword,’ felling-of…
– of ‘able-bodied’ man – ‘losing’ against a-part-machine cyborg Tennis-player…
Peter closed the-box… gazed at the photoshopped-picture on-it – and visualised-himself in the-outfit… Mimi ‘read’ his-mind…
“… you’ll look like a Superhero-Tennis Rockstar when you’re out-there tonight in your Comeback… as the one-and-only Aussie’s Cyborg player…” She crowed in enthusiasm while stepping the pedal of the fast-Camaro…
“… I guess I don’t need ‘sunnies’ later, haha…” Peter chucked at the photoshop-pic that ‘showed’ him wearing-darkglasses…
“… haha, I thought you’ll ‘never’ ask – KC got A SURPRISE FOR YOU… when you ‘had’ requested a goggle that ‘calculates’…”
‘… yea-b****, he’d told me earlier that he had ‘found’ one… but I’ve TO WIN this debut-matches tonight to ‘get’ it...’
The PA handed him a black-case…
“… KC told me to GIVE THIS to you – so, that you can go-full-On Cyborg later…”
… he sighed softly ‘when’ he opened the spectacles-case… to find a ‘regular-looking’ silver-framed Oakley-sunnies… Mimi said…
“… go-on, Thunderbolt-Pete – ‘try’ it on…!”
The half-hearted Peter put on the darkglasses to ‘comply’… it was ‘a-normal’ sunnies, nothing-to-shout ‘about’ – until the woman surprised-him when she used a small-device to ‘SWITCH-ON’ the darkglasses’ operating ‘features’…
He looked at the windshield… the OS-activated and it ‘calculated’ visual-digits on-screen of the oncoming cars’ distance… on its built-in headphones in the glasses’ frames, was activated with KC’s voiced ‘instructions’ – just like Boyyo’s vocal-speech-of blind-Jane’s AI-guiding-device…
… it was a 100%-replica – of his ex-girlfriend’s AI… when he ‘borrowed’ it for tennis-practice in the-OTHER-PERTH… ‘when’ he was a One-armed boy in that-realm…
“WOW-Pete – you ‘look’ like X’Men’s Cyclops, hahaha!”
“Whoa! Does Oakley produce AI-devices too in their sunglasses…!?”
“Hahaha… no-they-don’t … the marketing-team ‘USED’ THE OAKLEY frames, as it was cooler-and-slicker than the ‘original’ AI-googles bulky-frames it-came-in… and the-guys too made a Velcro-band-to ‘secure’ the glasses, when you play-later…
“… here is the-transponder – to switch it on-off…”
… the delighted teen received a small-device, of-the size of a thumb-drive – that ‘controlled’ the-AI…
“WOW! With THIS ‘TECH’ – I ‘can’ beat anyone!!!” The overjoyed teen exclaimed…
Unbeknownst to Peter, that it was Maggi’s AI-darkglasses which Albert had ‘STOLEN,’ after he ‘knocked’ her unconscious in just-now’s abduction inside the Maserati… as the businessman wanted to ‘help’ Peter – so that he ‘could’ profit in his soon TO-BE ‘sensational’ quest in the first-and-only path of a Cyborg-Tennis player from Downunder…
… Ken Chan and his-technicians have ‘modified’ the Kimura-Star device, by ‘over-riding’ its OS, Alphatron… and replacing it with a China-tech replica mirror-memory – that the ‘hackers’ used and bypassed the parent-company’s commands...
… AND COPYCATING-&-’‘CLAIMING’ the tech later-as-their ‘Own’…
<>
The Bumblebee-Chevrolet arrived a half-hour ‘early’ @the-Anson Courts. The open carpark in front can accommodate a 100 parked-vehicles, had 20 cars – but with a lot of motorbikes belonging to the ‘regulars,’ who were there to ‘gamble’…
Peter was nervous after returning 3-years ‘after’ playing there at the age of 10, as the Champ of the School-district in an able-bodied boy’s capabilities… but-today, as a 13-year-old… ‘returning’ as an upgraded-ableist for his-Comeback to take his ‘spot-back’ in the world of-the Tennis-sports...
The marred-thoughts too returned that Anson-Court was a place of ‘Bad-Luck’ in the realm of the-OTHER-PERTH… where he was ‘tricked-and-cursed’ by a Blackmagick-practitioner, Hajji with THE ‘GIFT’ OF a good-luck talisman juju – and, 2 weeks later… he lost his left-arm in the BMW-crash tragedy…
He was edgy-too after the argument with Bella just-now… and defying ‘orders’ that the H-8 to-be ‘mandated’ to lie-low from the law ‘since,’ the Horse ‘died’ 3-monts ago…
Peter was ‘worried’ that Bella would inform the H-8-leader, Kirk Kiperman – and, he would come-here to Anson and ‘confront’ him…
… he ‘knew’ Kirk was a meth-addict who was sometimes violent-and-aggressive – and could-be ‘unpredictable’ too, just like the ‘other’ meth-head, Jimbo – who a few days-ago, created a ruckus in the Sunday’s Holy-Confirmation service @the St Michael-Church … insulting the bishop… and ‘cursing’ Peter-too, that he would-die in a plane crash…
… he wished that KC, the Blackbelt Taekwondo WAS ‘HERE’… in-case the ‘adult’ Kirk – ‘came’ for-him…
But KC was ‘not’ here – ‘ONLY’ THE young Chinese-woman in-the-car…
‘… hope this Mimi-b**** knows Kung-Fu like Michelle-Yeoh… if Everything, Everywhere ‘went-wrong’ All-at-Once…’
… Mimi Lee was chatty when she parked her yellow-car… but Peter wasn’t listening to-a-word she was-saying – as he was on a ‘lookout’ at the motorcycle-bay for the Harley-Davidson bike, which Kirk-rode. He was glad that ‘such’ a bike wasn’t at-sight… and, it-was safe to step-out…
Peter alighted the Corvette with his arms ‘full’ – with his backpack and, also carrying a medium sized cardboard box. Mimi too got-off from-the driver-side, saying…
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Pete, you go-and ‘change’ – I’ll meet you at the-Merch-stall…”
‘… huh… what merch-stall…?’
He didn’t ask and walked to the changing-room. Peter was met with several eyes of strangers gawking… as they realised, he was the ‘MAIN-EVENT’ player – ‘judging’ by his black robotic-arm… Peter too grinned-and-nodded back-to each of-the staring eyes he-passed-by…
He was disappointed that the ‘new’ management who did ‘not’ do-up the changing-room – they only whitewashed it with paint in-the-outside but ‘nothing’ much inside… like building ‘personal’ lockers for the public-courts’ players. It was the ‘same’ as-it was when he ‘last’ stepped-in 3 years-ago – a bare-area with 3 long-benches on the-3 side of the-walls… with several broken wall-hooks to hang clothes… graffiti on the wall with phone-numbers of ‘lady-boys’… and the floor was ‘always-wet’ with leaky-dripping pipes…
… Peter cursed to the thought of THE ‘HUMILIATION’ faced as a future Tennis-Rockstar had to endure by stepping into the-horrible conditioned Anson’s Changing-room… Peter stood on the bench, away from the wet-floor as he changed into his ‘new’ uniform…
He-then saw his-reflection at the long-mirror across the room – Peter was wowed by how-good his Rockstar ‘new’ image-was in the RED-UNIFORM, and it was super-comfortable too. Still standing on the-long-bench, Peter took selfies of himself holding the Babolat, in various poses…
Peter’s confidence-level came back of ‘being’ the-Rockstar… and he liked the moniker ‘new’ name too, that KC ‘choose’ for him…
“Watch-Out-World – eeeer-comes Cyborg ‘Thunderbolt’ Pete… to taunt-and-haunt you-all b****es, hehehe…!”
… he jumped-off the bench, and his red-shoes squished on the wet-floor. The chuckling Peter picked his backpack and left the atrocious-conditioned changing-room… leaving behind the discarded empty-box, with his ‘photoshopped’ photo on the bench…
He had 15-minutes more ‘till it got-dark, ‘before’ the floodlights kick-in for his grand-entrance… and-later ‘marvel’ everyone with his technological-wonders as Aussie’s Cyborg-player to defeat anyone – SO-TO keep a ‘clean’ amateur record…
Outside, Peter saw more cars were filling-up the parking-lot and some crowds were gathering in the foyer. He decided to go there and parading-himself in the red-uniform, holding his Babolat with his black-robotic arm…
… but he met with repulsive-and-revolting angry-eyeballs, when THEY SAW the bold-print of his-crimson jersey – that was sponsored by EST-8-GROUP …whose ‘parent-company’ was Wang Group Inc. – that controlled the property-market prices in the Greater-Perth… making houses less ‘affordable’ to medium-incomed buyers…
Peter felt uncomfortable standing around adults with their foul-looking-faces… and, the teen thought after 3-years of hiatus, he was now-THE ‘OUTSIDER’ – and ‘these’ were everyone… who came to support Chuck-Miggs’ 3-best players…
His i-Phone rang… it was Mimi Lee calling-and-waving at him at the far-end of the car park – where there was a merch-stand. Peter walked over to a minivan that had a foldable table displaying coffee-mugs and t-shirts with Thunderbolt-Pete in manga-art… in 3-colours of red, white and black…
… Peter was impressed and proud in what he saw… and was thankful that KC’s marketing-team had included merchandises bearing the likeness of the ‘future’ Cyborg Tennis-Rockstar – that reminded of HIS ‘OWN’ Perth’s Famous-couple marketing campaign with Jane-Wilson in the-OTHER-PERTH – in their mixed-double matches – where the venue sold t-shirts for Jane’s fanbase…
…WHERE EVERYONE in-Perth was ‘curious’ OF HOW a ‘visually-impaired’ girl played-tennis…`
‘… scoot-over, Janey ~ this is my-time…’
Mimi introduced Peter to 2 Chinese-teenagers… a-guy and-girl who would-be ‘selling’ the-merch. They both commented that Peter looked like-a Tennis-superhero-Cyborg in the red-uniform… and, took selfies with him…
… Mimi then-said…
“KC said that 20% of the merch-profits are for you, Pete… a residual-income ‘reward’ for your amateur-record win-accumulation – the ‘more’ famous as a Rockstar you-become, the more-sales and the wealthier you get when you ‘get’ endorsements… and soon, we’ll get-out of Anson… and do roadshows in OTHER CITIES, and – you’ll face ‘their’ best players…”
‘… yea… that’s what KC ‘had’ told-me too… that I should keep a ‘clean’ record – steamroll them over with wins-after-wins… before I meet the A-listers… the who-Of-whos…’
The Chinese-woman then took Peter to MEET-UP with the video-crew in their production-van – and he shook-hands with 5 other Asian-faces… whose names he instantly-forgot. They were 2nd-year students from Perth Film-School… and it was a 4 cameras setup where one-was a drone-cam operated by a guy… and 2 other-cameras were operated by 2 Chinese-girls. There was a guy in the van WHO DID-live mixing-and-editing of the matches…
They were-then in discussion in Mandarin… and some of them were touching his Red-jersey… that befuddled the 13-year-old – Mimi explained to him that the red-cloth material was made with special-dyes of red-hues ‘not’ seen via naked-eyes… but ‘glowed’ in-effect when videographed under the floodlights later…
… even in close-proximity while wearing the shirt, Peter too ‘felt’ the colour’s ‘changing’ effects, like-when he saw the red was ‘ruby’ in the long-mirror of the changing-room… and-while walking under fluorescent lights the red was ‘burgundy’… now, in the parking-lot the red was ‘crimson’…
The floodlights came on Anson clay-court after sunset… the camera-crew went in – and Peter was accompanied by his ‘project-manager,’ Mimi Lee…
<>
A match was going on under-the floodlight when they entered the small-arena, with surroundings of 6 bleachers that were 3-tiered… and scattered by 100-over screaming fans – who cheered-out when the winner slammed his tenno ‘beyond’ the reach-of-the losing opponent…
Peter saw Chucky-Miggs at the side-line surrounded by gamblers… just-like in the-days-of 3 years ago – making his illegal pay-outs.
On the parking-lot, inside the production-crews’ van – the technician who was working on the editing-and-mixers was ‘sending’ a live feed of the 4 cameras at the clay-court arena via Bluetooth to Mimi Lee’s tablet. Peter realised that 2 of cameras were operated on-top of opposite-bleachers for birds’-eye-views of the 2-sides of the court… while another cameraman was operating the drone-cam…
… and the 4th camerawoman was with Mimi-and-Peter… documenting them.
Peter was impressed with the sophistication of the production-value that had-gone in the-making-of his Comeback-video as a Cyborg Tennis-Rockstar ~ a far-cry… ‘compared’ when he was 10, as a school district-Champ… where he only had POE-&-FRIENDS shooting his then-matches in their cellphone cameras… then editing the haphazard shaky-footages before uploading on YouTube…
The project-manager was coordinating with the crew using a walkie-talkie – she reminded the 2-camera crew on-top of the breachers to keep their cameras-high from the spectators blocking the-shot…
Next, Mimi wanted to ‘test’ the drone-camera for REACTION-SHOTS of the spectators… she instructed the drone-operator to ‘fly’ his cam ‘lower’ to their-faces’ level – and, when the cameraman ‘DID’ THAT… the unruly-crowd were pisses-off with the invasion of their private-space… they pelted the drone with their water bottles…
… that ghastly and hair-raising ‘crowd-reaction’ of throwing bottles, reminded Peter of a Netflix-documentary of Woodstock-’99 – where the ‘mediocre’ pop-singer, Jewel was pelted-off from-the-stage by the raging-crowd demanding their ‘choice’ in aggressive tone-of-music…
There was almost a half-hour delay for the main-event… Peter was drinking his RedBull and was psyching himself to-the-zone… Mimi pointed to the 300-over spectator that had turned-up…
“… Pete, these are ‘your’ your fans…”
“… doubt that, haha… their Chucky Miggs’ ‘crowd…” The doubting-teen gave a nervous-chuckle…
“… then CONVERT THEM by this-evening…” Instructed the manager…
Peter was speechless as he looked at the over-300+ people WHO CAME… that reminded the same rough-turnout in his-finals with Mark-Spencer in the interschool tournament where he emerged as the Champ, 3 years ago… but his-record biggest turnout was 400+ in the OTHER-PERTH, at the SHS’ gym where in the mixed doubles-match partnering with Jane, as they ‘faceoff’ Dougie-and-Zoe. The 3rd-biggest was 200+ – when he-and-Jane played the Aussie ex-internationals in the-Mayor-Cup at the country-club’s charity-event…
At 6:30 PM the main-event commenced. Being a paid event, where Chucky-Miggs ‘charged’ $500 from KC to organise… he made a bullhorn introduction announcement… calling it a winner-took-all grand-prize of 1000 lottery-tickets, and he said it chucking as it was a ‘joke,’ as the real money WERE ‘MADE’ in illegal-bets gambling @the-sideline…
“… OUR FIRST-MATCH IS ‘BETWEEN’ OUR VERY-OWN RALPH LITHGOW FACING PETER-WALKER… NOW, KNOWN-AS ‘THUNDERBOLT-PETE…”
Peter high-5ed Mimi – and he walked to the clay-court and, the camerawoman followed-him… while they-both heard the crowd booing-and-jeering at him. Peter was nervous and he released-the tension by speaking to the camerawoman, and ‘interviewing’ her by asking her-name…
… she told-him – it was Judy… Peter then spoke into the-camera…
“… Judy, those ‘fools’ are booing at me – WHAT-IF I were to say that this ‘same’ crowd would be ‘rooting-and-cheering’ for me by the end-of this evening… would you ‘believe’ me, Judy…? Don’t answer-that ~ that’s ‘remained’ to-be seen for ‘what’ I’m ‘going’ to display-soon as-a-Cyborg…” The braggart-Peter winked and ‘blew’ a kiss at the camera-lens…
He was over-confident when he stepped on his-side of the court… he reasserted that he would ‘play’ A MATCH-EACH with ‘each’ player for the Cyborg-Tennis Rockstar ‘promo’ video in production-of his Comeback. He was hell-bent to put-on A GOOD-SHOW for the cameras and the doubting-crowd @Anson-Courts…as the underdog ‘outsider’…
Peter was ‘sizing’ each-opponent mentally – and, Ralph Lithgow, aged-23 was his first… and he didn’t know if he was the-best or the-3rd-best of Chucky-Miggs’ selection. He did ‘not’ know-of any Ralph when he last played there 3-years-ago… and, assumed that Ralph came to-be Miggs fave-players when he was in hiatus… ‘licking’ his-wounds ‘after’ the BMW-tragedy…
Ralph had the first serve… when Peter returned the-shot – he ‘knew’ something was wrong with Smasher, his-robotic arm. The umpire stopped the-game – when Peter had a wardrobe malfunction, where the body-harness that secured Smasher loosened… and the robotic-arm was dangling-loose from the left-sleeve of the red-jersey that the one-armed-teen wore…
… Mimi came to the rescue… and, JUDY ‘RECORDED’ the footage…
… Peter stood at the side-line – and the Chinese woman helped him to take-off his-jersey. The one-armed Peter was bare-bodied… as Mimi secured the 3-buckles of the body-harness so that the end-socket of the black-metal arm ‘fitted’ tight to his-limbless shoulder…
It was an-EMBARRASSING MOMENT for Peter as looked down at his-red shoes… while laughter ECHOED FROM the 4-corners of Anson-Court… hecklers were ridiculing his cyborg-arm AS A ‘USELESS’ prosthetic arm, with consequent laughers-agreeing…
… Mimi held Peter’s right-shoulder firm…and gave a ‘pep-talk’…
“… don’t let them get to-you, Pete – GO-OUT there… and, prove them-wrong…!”
Peter nodded and put-on his red-jersey and stepped-in the clay-court, mentally more-focused of winning. The moment the umpire resumed the-game – Peter was in Terminator-mode as the MADE THE CROWD-quiet by dismantling-their-Ralphie in 22-minutes-flat… with a 6-1 win…
There was a 5-MINUTE REST-break in-between ‘each’ match – but Peter was ‘pumped-up’ and he called out to Chuck-Miggs to send-in his ‘next’ opponent…
The bullhorn announced Erik Nophalac… an-Erik-with-a ‘k’ – as the 2nd challenger – and, there were chanting in crowd…
“OCTOPUS! OCTOPUS! OCTOPUS!”
Peter HEARD THEM… as-like were-calling ‘Maximus’ – as the ‘next’ gladiator into the battle-arena…
The opponent-then came-gradually from-behind the breachers…
Peter’s eyes-popped… as saw the one who was nicknamed-Octopus entering the court… and ‘assumed’ that the-tall 7-footer blonde-European – was A-VIKING… who ‘escaped’ from some far-place like Iceland, and somehow ended-up here, in-Downunder…
The blonde lanky-player was so-pale-white… Peter wondered if the-Octopus ever ‘practiced’ in the sun…and-therefore, he assumed the opponent played only at played at night, under the floodlight where he got his Vitamin-D like a firefly…
The teen ‘sized’ him-up like-he ‘did’ with Ralphie… with a game-plan to squish him into wet diarrhoea – but Erik-the-Octopus was a slippery-player… with GOOD-TRICKS in-his-returns using his long-limbs, thus his-nickname – which-even his AI in his-darkglasses couldn’t place the ‘exact’ algorithm of the returning ball – that made Peter run-and-miss a lot…
After some grewsome-and-tiring bouts, they-both were ‘tied’ @4-4 – that could go-either way to victory…
… it reminded Peter of 3-YEARS-AGO – ‘during’ his interschool tourney-finals when he faced-off with the-Brit, MARK-SPENCER… where the score-too was 4-4 tie…
… he was laser-focused back-then – and ‘beat’ the Pommie, and became Champ… so he tapped the same ‘focus’ on-to-Octopus… ‘reading’ his-moves and ‘making’ less mistakes… and, his-AI too gave ‘precise’ readings, which made him run-and-miss less…
After another exhausting 20-minutes, Peter secured a 6-4 victory. The majority of the crowd were cheering for him… he looked-up at the bleachers and was surprised that the spectators had almost ‘doubled’ – and were chanting…
“THUNDERBOLT-PETE! THUNDERBOLT-PETE! THUNDERBOLT-PETE!”
He raised his Babolat to them… he walked and-his knees buckled when he reached the side-line. Peter took the 5-minute-break and rested on a plastic armed-chair, sipping RedBull… Mimi massaged his-neck while motivating him that he had only-one promo match to-go…
Peter wouldn’t miss his 3rd-match too… duking with a ‘familiar’ face of ‘Mustachio,’ Tony Russo – the 19-year-old teenager with a big-moustache like Super-Mario. It was the same-rival from 3 years ago in the-OTHER-PERTH – where he took a ‘dive’ and lost for bigger ‘PAY-OUTS’ from Chuck-Miggs’ gambling odds… that eventually hurt his school-Champ reputation when he lost fans in social-media…
… he would ‘not’ make the ‘same’ mistake-again in POST-TREETON… cos’ he wanted to keep his Cyborg amateur-record ‘clean’…
The match was introduced… and a pony-tailed Italian-youth stepped on the-court and he was ‘smirking’ at Peter, sending a psych-message that he’ll beat him again after 3-years meeting-o'er in the-rematch…
… but that did ‘not’ deter-Peter, as he ‘knew’ that Tony-Russo doesn’t-know that he ‘lost’ the last-time on-purpose – and, he CAME-BACK here today, to decimate him…
Peter had underestimated his-opponent as he had ‘improved’ his-game-since – and scored-points with his precise-footwork-and-head with his swinging-volley. Peter was caught off-guard too when Tony delivered a perfect side-tweener like a Scarborough-pro…
… and, the ‘visiting’ underdog was TRAILING 0-3 in the-rival’s home-turf…
… Peter’s spectators-too ‘leapt’ over-the-fence like-frogs – and were cheering-aloud for Tony-Russo, who was Chuck-Miggs’ best player…
… the 13-year-old was dead-tired and his jersey was drenched in perspiration but his mind was still ‘focused’ as he was midway sizing a gameplan to win-points. He coordinated with his AI’s input – and was in his Terminator-mode again…
… and-soon, Peter ‘levelled,’ 3-3…
The umpire stopped the game to give the players a 90-seconds break-interval… the ‘fresh-legged’ player Tony remained on the-court while the exhausted-Peter, who-was playing his 3rd-opponent stepped-out into the side-line to rehydrate. His stomach-growled with hunger as it was dinner-time…
Mimi came-over to wipe the-sweat off his-face with a towel… he asked her if she had any-sweet snacks. Luckily, the camerawoman had a cavendish banana in her hip-pack, and gave it to him…
“… thanks, Judy…” Peter ‘said’ to-the-camera, and ‘saluting’ with the banana…
… He gobbled the fruit and washed-it with RedBull while ‘listening’ to Mimi’s impromptu comments on-the-match… although she had ‘limited’ knowledge of the game-of-Tennis but Peter ‘APPRECIATED’ her-and-her ‘team’ – to be on his-side – with those ‘who’ believed in-his-Comeback…
The umpire called the players to commence-game – Peter delayed an extra 7 seconds by wiping sweat-off his right-arm… and then-begin to use his right-hand TO WIPE his black robotic-arm too – and the quiet crowd was observing, when he ‘oddly-did’ that… as they saw him ‘polishing’ the-metal … they thought Peter had phantom-limb ‘fetish’…
It was Tony’s serve – and, he HIT IT ‘OUT’… but the linesman said IT WAS ‘IN’…
… Peter realised that Chucky-Miggs’ officials were playing ‘dirty’ – just-like able-bodied people DO-TO cheat the-handicaps… just as he’d ‘faced’ that many-times before…
… it was ‘not’ a run-down public-court had any state of the art-technology like Hawk-eye-OR-Cyclops to detect an OUT-BALL – neither did he wanted to argue with the linesman… OR-throw a McEnroe-tantrum…
… where-even the short-sighted person in the crowd ‘saw’ it was-clearly ‘out’ – but the linesman counted-in. Peter ‘decided’ as an outsider-underdog… he would ‘allow’ the crowd who-would determine, if he was ‘fairly’ judged if he ‘lost’…
He was cool-headed, chuckling and ‘accepted’ the-umpire’s decision AS A manner-of a ‘gentleman-cyborg’… cos’ he wanted everyone-in-Perth to see him AS A-skilful technician, in the sweet-science of-Tennis – ‘whenever’ he went warrior-mode TO ‘WIN’…
… with the-sweetness of the banana-and-RedBull settling-in his system to ‘energize’… mixed along with a bit of anger at the dirty-linesman – he wanted a sweet-comeback to get-back the service… and, he was the-Terminator ‘again’ – firing-all-cylinders…
… to level once-again @5-5… with ‘defending’ Tony-Russo too putting-up a good-fight…
Peter only ‘needed’ 2-points to win… and he had the crowd chanting, behind-him…
“THUNDERBOLT-PETE! THUNDERBOLT-PETE! THUNDERBOLT-PETE!”
The crowd chanting was like Rocky-4, where the big-fight happened in-Russia… and the underdog-American’s will-and-determinations TO-KEEP-fighting despite ‘dirty-tactics’ thrown-at-him – had riled-up a stadium filled with Russians chanting for the-underdog, ‘Rocky-Rocky-Rocky’…
“THUNDERBOLT-PETE! THUNDERBOLT-PETE! THUNDERBOLT-PETE!”
The chanting affect got-into Tony-Russo’s psyche – where his home-crowd was cheering for his-opponent in his ‘own’ backyard-ground ~ like they did ‘not’ believe in his-talent ‘anymore,’ as Chucky-Miggs #1 top-dog…
The pony-tailed 19-year-old lost-his-focus on himself-and-game – and made silly-mistakes… where the 13-year-old underdog capitalised and gained a-lead point –
‘… ‘not’ today, Mustachio… today I’ll shave-you ‘off’ – and YOUR FACE would ‘look’ like your Italiano-butt…’
Peter too made a grand-finish when his-robotic-arm slammed the-tenno in-the-baseline, as he-too did a side-tweener like a-pro… for a 7-5 victory…
The cheering spectators stormed-into the clay-court to lift-up the-victor over-their heads – they have found their ‘next’ Tennis-hero to-root-for and-idolise in Perth…
… who was Australia’s FIRST ‘CYBORG’ Tennis-player…
-O-
The paid-event had its marketing-campaign follow-up of prize-giving on the clay-court – where in front of-cameras they shot-footages of Mimi-Lee presenting Peter with a stack of 1000-lottery tickets… where the-victor then-held the-prize above with his black metal-arm…
… Peter then spoke to his-fans in front of the cameras that he was feeling a generous-mood after the euphoria of getting his first-3 amateur-wins as a ‘cyborg’…
… so, he decided to donate the 1000-tickets to the Chucky-Miggs’ losers… whom he ‘had’ defeated that-evening. The crowd cheered-praises for their new-found ‘idol’ who had a virtue of kindness-and-giving…
Peter ‘returned’ the tickets to Mimi – and distribute it to the-losers, in accordance-to his big-heartedness quota… where the weakest-loser was ‘rewarded’ the most:
* Ralph ‘the weak-link’ Lithgow – got 500 tickets
* Erik ‘the-Octopus’ Nophalac – got 300 tickets
* Tony ‘the-Mustachio’ Russo – got 200 tickets
… the 3-Losers were cheered by everyone, when they posed for the-camera-crew… with the gleeful-rapt Ralphie-and-the-Octopus waving their-wins high over their-head – except for the sad-Mustachio, who looked away-from his-betraying fans…
Peter stole-back his ‘limelight’ by calling-out the-brit, Mark-Spencer as his next-opponent… and his-fans cheered. Then, there was a 10-minutes, of Peter signing-autographs… and ‘posing’ selfies with the-supporters.
Mimi Lee finally ended the event AND MADE an-announcement to the 500+ spectators present that – there will be a ‘afterparty’ TO CELEBRATE Thunderbolt-Pete’s victory @Hill-Street sports-bar … and everyone-in Anson WAS-INVITED…
… by the end-of the evening, a convoy of cars with 100+ fans were following the Bumblebee yellow-Corvette that transported the new-found ‘celebrity-Of-Perth’…
… who had the potential to be the-Next ‘NEW’ BUZZ-in-town – where, everyone would-WANT TO be the ‘first’ to meet Cyborg-Pete… and TO-BE IN his pioneer fanbase List…
… and, the scores of cars raced over to Adelaide-Terrace – SO-TO be ‘seen-posing’ for their cellphone cameras in the presence of THEIR IDOL-Peter, who-was…
… the ‘future’ Tennis-Rockstar-Of-Perth.