"So... have any of you played basketball?" Catherine turned to look at each member of her team, they all collectively shaked their heads.

"Miley, how do you expect us to win if all of us haven't even played basketball?"

"Don't worry about it Cath. If we're not good enough to win, all we have to do is cheat."

Miley broke off from the group and headed towards Doogledert, who was awkwardly standing by the crowd stand.

"Hey can I talk with you for a minute?" She pulled him to the side.

"Is there a problem? Other then the death basketball you're about to play."

"You see, stuff like this tends to have referees, so I was thinking that you can be one." Miley looked around to make sure that no one was listening in on this. "Just make sure to ignore every mistake that our side makes, alright?"

"Well, I do have a minor in physical education..." Doogledert thought about Miley's words carefully, would he forsake the legacy of a sport championed by the people for the chance to see the remains of an ancient creature? Yes. Yes he would. "I'm in."

The two nodded in agreement before heading out to the center of the court. Meanwhile, Silver was chatting with Bill at the top of the stand.

"And that's what I want you to do." Silver leaned her back on the railing.

"I don't have a say in the matter right? Since the other option is death." Bill rubs the back of his head, with a sigh he sat back down. "Go ahead and play ya game, I'll see what I can do."

Silver smiled and clasped her hand together, things were going smoothly so far. Her sapphire eyes focused on the other side of the room, the US soldiers were huddled together. What could they possibly be scheming Silver thought.

"So we're in agreement that US Ligers is a badass team name right?" Dealer glared at Sweeper.

"Fine, fine. We'll go with it. Jeez what a hassle..."

"Anyways, why basketball?" Dealer turned to look at her Captain.

"They outgun us but they don't know it, this battle is now an even playing field." Savage pointed out.

"I see, but how do you play basketball?" Reaper questioned, she only had combat training so she wasn't sure if she can perform well.

"Don't worry, I got this." Dealer grabbed Reaper and started to explain the main mechanics of the sport. Her arms were flapping about as Reaper continually nodded her head at every word, the others weren't able to keep up with Dealer's description as they watched the display unfold.

"I'm going to check to see if the other team is ready." Savage backed off and went to the center of the court.

The leader of the UCNA team was waiting for her there along with a stranger.

"I assume you and your team understand the rules of basketball?"

"Uh, yes." Miley nodded.

"We're playing with underground basketball rules, you got that?"

"Yeah."

Savage turned to the man beside Miley. "Who are you?"

"Oh, uh, I'm Anthony Doogledert. I'm a paleontol- a referee. I'm the referee for this match, uh, I just came by and saw that a basketball match was happening so I thought you might need my services."

"So you just happened to be a referee that traveled here? To Former North Dakota?" Savage raised one eyebrow up. It seemed like she was suspicious of what's going on, Doogledert had to do something to salvage this.

"Yes." He replied.

"Okay that's great! I was wondering what we were going to do for a referee!" Savage eyes lit up as everything seemed to fall in place for this basketball match.

Miley was nervous, she had barely grasped the rules of regular basketball but now they were playing underground basketball. What the hell is the difference she thought to herself. As she stood there trying to figure it out, Doogledert turned and noticed her shifting around.

"Hey, can you explain the rules of underground basketball?" He stepped forward to ask Savage.

"You're a ref and you want me to explain the rules?"

"Oh... I referee for the the regular basketball league, the underground one is a bit out of my league... hah." Doogledert smiled and hoped she buys it.

"The basic rules are that you can only carry one weapon. Also you can't throw or put down your weapon. The one with the ball must holster their weapon and focus on scoring." Savage explained to the two. "Also, the weapons can't be ranged. That means no guns, you got that?" She pointed at Miley.

"Rigggghhht, our guns. We got a lot of them." Miley said with a straight face.

"Alright I'll put my rocket launcher over there, just make sure you put those guns away." Savage begins to walk back to her team.

"Yeah, yeah we already put them somewhere. Around the general vicinity." Miley motioned around the gymnasium.

As Savage headed back, Miley turned to Doogledert. "Thanks professor, I guess I have to tell everyone to find a weapon. Also, don't forget to let some of the stuff we do slide." Doogledert reassured her that he knew what he was doing so she went back to her team.

The two sides finished their preparations and met back up at the middle of the court. The crowd stand was densely packed at the top as members of Those at the Threshold wanted to be far away as possible from the US soldiers. Doogledert stood between the two groups as the referee, he held the basketball in his hand as he looked at both sides.

"You worried about the enemy team, Miley?" Catherine whispered.

"What's there to worry about? We have the height advantage, right?" Miley said. Engie, who was their shortest member, was just a bit shorter than the US team's second tallest member, the girl in black. And that's not even getting in to how tiny their Captain is. "We might run into a problem with that one though..." She looked up at the giant girl on the other side.

"Damn, she's even taller than Annie. You think she's a model?" Catherine took note of the way she was dressed.

"A basketball model... yeah, I can see it. She was probably signed up once she became outdated."

"Hey! Can you two cut the chit chat, we're starting!" Savage shouted at them.

With a sigh, Miley and Catherine got into their positions. It was agreed upon that Annie and Reaper would be the ones to face each other for the ball in the opening start of the game. As the two girls took center position, Reaper readied herself to jump for the ball while Annie stood in place. Doogledert got between the two and held the ball up. Seconds tick down on the scoreboard as the two sides steeled themselves for what's to come, as the timer hits zero a loud ringing was heard commencing the start of the game. Doogledert tossed the ball into the air as Reaper leaped up with all her might, but the effort was for nothing as Annie did a small hop and beat her to the ball as she smacked it towards the US team.

"What the hell Annie? You're suppose to hand the ball to us!" Miley ran to get the ball back.

"Cover me!" Savage catches the ball and made her way towards the UCNA basket.

Reaper pulled out her knife as she ran towards Catherine, who swung her baton in desperation. She ducked under the swing and as she was about to slash Catherine, another baton comes out of nowhere. She dodged it just before it could come in contact with her head and took a fighting stance at the new opponent.

"You okay!" Engie held her weapon with both hands.

"You saved me!" Catherine almost hugged her saviour. "Hey, we both have the same weapon... I got it, we can be the Baton Buddies!" She twirled the baton in her hands as both her and Engie faced down Reaper.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

On the opposite side of the stand was the commentary table, in truth it was just a plastic table with microphones taped to it. Both Haven and Samantha were tied to their chairs so that they couldn't run away.

"Do we really have to commentate? The mics aren't even plugged in..." Haven sulked in his chair.

"The miniature red haired devil slips pass Miley and Annie and is headed for the hoop, could this be the end?" The chair bounced around as Samantha passionately spoke into the microphone.

"You're seriously doing this? And hey! The match just started, don't go deciding the victor all on your own!"

Savage managed to break through the awful defensive line and performed a layup, the ball rebound off the backboard and effortlessly went into the hoop. Savage landed with her fists raised to the sky.

The crowd started murmuring to each other, Doogledert blew his whistle to get everyone's attention. "That's, uh, two points for the US Ligers."

"We don't need two people to block down one guy!" Miley furiously walked towards Catherine and Miley.

"Don't worry, we gave them that one." Silver picked up the ball, her amber eyes flashed with confidence.

"Silver?" Engie felt that something was off with her, no answer was given as Silver bursted forth from their side of the court.

"Silver speeds through the court and in a flash is now on the other side. The Ligers have no time to react as she soars through the air like a phoenix and barbarously slams the ball in!" Samantha excitedly watch Silver perform the dunk to the cheers of the crowd.

"What the hell!" Dealer could only look up as Silver flew pass her and dunked the ball in. "She just sprinted with the ball in hand isn't that a foul?"

"That's two points for the Plesiosaurs!" Doogledert shouted as he ignored Dealer.

"Does anyone else feel that the referee might be bias?" Sweeper said as she turns her flashlight on and off again.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Dealer walked up to Sweeper who was standing near the back end of the court.

"I mean, I can't really do physical activities right now so I have to play more defensively."

"No, I meant why do you have a flashlight?" Dealer pointed to the object in her hands. "Is that your weapon?"

"Oh yeah... you see I can use it to blind people by shining it into their eyes!" Dealer stumbled back as Sweeper showcased its ability on her. "Like that! That way I can still help out without having to do more physically involved things."

"It's annoying but what would you do if they're further away?"

"This is a high powered flashlight, if I adjust this dial I can make it more powerful." She flashs the light into Dealer's eyes causing her to fall backwards.

"Can you two stop fooling around, we have a battle to win! Also Private Mirabelle, defend the basket!" Mirabelle's head slowly creaked towards Savage.

Savage picked up the ball and dribbled towards the UCNA basket. Silver immediately got in her way and was about to land a devastating kick but was blocked by Reaper, who tossed her to the side.

"You bitch!" Silver quickly recovered and ran towards Savage. Each time she got close, Reaper would cut her off. Silver was assuredly faster but as long as Reaper could predict her path she would be able to keep up.

"So you want to play huh?" Silver ran at full speed towards the girl in black and quickly performed a slide tackle. Reaper wasn't able to react fast enough and was knocked down, as she tried to get up, Silver's foot came crashing down but Reaper's arms were able to protect her face from the brunt of the kick.

"That doesn't look good for the Ligers!" Haven was surprised by how fast the androids were. He snapped out of his captivation for the fight and turned to the event happening in the three point line. "It looks like the tiny one is being blocked by Ms. Miley and Ms. Catherine."

"Hey! Pass the ball to me!" Dealer jumped up and down as she waved at her Captain.

Seeing no other choice she passed the ball to Dealer. She gracefully caught it and immediately threw it into the air. The ball curved smoothly in the air as it fell through the basket.

As the US team regrouped, Dealer confidently strutted back.

"That was impressive." Reaper rubbed her right forearm, it was still sore from the axe kick.

"Woah, I never knew you knew how to play basketball." Sweeper gave Dealer a thumbs up.

"I'm pretty good at basketball. Back home they called me the- well I didn't have a nickname but if I did it would be kickass."

Doogledert whistled for the game to start again and Miley quickly passed the ball to Silver. She sprinted towards the US basket again as her teammates try to keep up.

"Once she gets like this there's no stopping her, so we might as well just ride it out." Miley remarked.

Dealer stepped in front of Silver with an iron pipe and took two swings, which were easily avoided. She attempted for a third try but a baton gently poked at her side, the electrical currents radiating from the tip of the baton blasted her across the court.

"Holy crap, you got a stun baton?" Catherine looked down at her regular baton, the imbalance in power might break the relationship of the Baton Buddies.

"Someone stop her!" Sweeper shouted as she desperately flashed her light at Silver. Her pleas were not heard as Silver managed to dunk on them again granting the Plesiosaurs two more points.

Reaper went to help Dealer, who struggled to stand up properly due to getting dropkicked by a massive surge of electricity.

"Private Dealer, do you think you can handle the ball?" Savage asked.

"Y-yeah, totally." She picked up the ball and made her way towards the UCNA basket as soon as the whistle blew.

Silver, once again, made a mad dash for the one holding the ball, Savage slashed at her but she expertly kicked the knife from the girl's hand. Not being deterred by this, Savage continued her assault by hugging her from the front.

"Let go, you midget!" She angrily shouted at the one holding her in place.

"Over my dead body! And I'll have you know my body is impervious to damage! Try all you like but-" A swift kick hit the side of Savage's body. "Ow! Okay it's not that impervious... but it will still be difficult for you to get me off!" Multiple kicks landed on Savage as she continued to hold on to the biggest threat from the UCNA side.

"Shouldn't that be illegal!" Miley complained to the referee.

"I don't know the rules, it could be? Maybe?" Doogledert scratched his head, underground basketball still remained a mystery to him.

"It's fine. As long as he just keeps track of the score and doesn't do any actual refereeing." Miley muttered to herself.

Screams could be heard at the three point line, Dealer had broken through their defenses. She was preparing to do a layup, however, Annie jumped on top of Dealer with her weapon of choice, a pillow. The ball bounced away as the larger girl suffocated Dealer under the fluffiness of the pillow, she desperately tried to push it off but the struggle was in vain against Annie's herculean strength. Engie managed to pick it up before it went out of bounds.

"As was foretold, both sides have managed to bind a key member of the opposing force." Samantha contently smiled.

"The Ligers are in trouble, the scary girl in black seems to be the only active member left." Haven added.

Standing completely still, Engie eyed the enemy's basket. From this spot, from this distance, she could perfectly calculate the exact amount of effort needed to toss the ball directly in.

Seeing that her enemy wasn't making a move, Reaper charged at her. She felt that something was off and, in a split second, narrowly avoided the end of an iron chain aimed at her face. The wielder of that weapon was Miley, who used its long range to keep a distance from the physically superior Reaper.

This was her moment, her time to shine, the calculations were complete and nothing was going to stop her from making this shot from half court. Engie bent her knees down and with a small burst of power jumped up, suddenly, a bright light blocked her view of the basket, her throw was off. The ball flew across the air towards Mirabelle, who continued to stand still.

"Who's useless now!" Sweeper cheered herself on.

"Private Mirabelle! Throw that damn ball into the enemy's basket!" Savage shouted before getting knocked off by a massive blow from Silver.

Mirabelle bent over and picked the ball up with one hand.

"Hell no you don't!" Silver's amber eyes violently flashed as she ran towards Mirabelle. She leapt into the air with all her might, sparks could be seen flying off her as she dived towards the large girl. Using the momentum, she aimed for her opponent's head, the impact of the kick sounded like thunder, an attack that devastating would have torn through sheets of metal like nothing. But there the girl stood, unphased, as her lifeless eyes stared into Silver's. Before Silver could even react, her leg was grabbed by Mirabelle's free hand and, with a twirl, Silver was thrown across the court into Miley, knocking her down.

The droid held the ball up and, with as little effort as possible, chucked the ball into the net.

"Woah, uh, that's three points for US Ligers." Doogledert expressed his shock.

"Hey Silver, calm down a little." Miley struggled to hold Silver back, she kept angrily swinging her fist at Mirabelle. Catherine came up to help restrain the silver haired girl.

"Ouch! She's hot." Catherine could feel her skin burning as she held onto Silver. Her movements were slowing down and became sluggish as the girl started to calm down. A soft humming sound could be heard coming from Silver as she closed her eyes.

"Well, shit. I guess we're down a member." Miley let go of Silver's unconscious body, after laying her outside of the court.

On the other side, the US team regrouped once again to discuss what just happened.

"Okay, new plan. Why don't we just give the ball to Mirabelle every single time?" Dealer suggested, much to her surprise, everyone agreed.

"Yeah, that's a sound idea." Savage sat down on the ground rubbing her stomach. "I can feel my inside bits moving around, which doesn't appear to be good..."

The sound of a whistle traveled across the gym as Miley held the ball in her hands.

"Quick Engie, calculate how I can make the shot and pass the calculations to me." Miley ordered.

Because she's done it already, she was able to grasp the basics of basketball and could determine how to make shots much faster.

"Alright done, sending it to you now."

Angling the ball and adjusting her body, she threw the ball across the court. It landed right into Dealer's face, knocking her out and causing the ball to bounce towards Mirabelle.

"Miley... I think you need new glasses." Catherine remarked.

"Oh shit..." Miley could only watch as Mirabelle, once again, threw the ball into the net.

Mirabelle continued to score for the rest of the game. All attempts to stop her was met with absolute failure as she could easily score from anywhere on the court, those that managed to reach her were grabbed and tossed away like garbage. Annie wouldn't help out since she was too busy targeting Dealer with her pillow, it was like she was playing some other game. When the UCNA did have the ball in hand, they were either cut off by Reaper or Mirabelle herself, whose grip of iron held them in the air and pulled the ball from their hands. The crowd was silent as they watched the brutal beatdown of those that offered them their hospitality.

"I think... I think the game is over Sam." Haven anxiously turned to Samantha.

"This... is troubling..."

The whistle blew for the final time as the game ended. "The home team, UCNA Plesiosaurs has 4 points. Woo hoo!" Doogledert clapped, after noticing the mood of the room he coughed and continued. "The other guys, uh, the US Ligers have 97 points..."

The only sounds that could be heard came from the US team jumping around and cheering. The four of them patted Mirabelle on the back for a job well done, the titan stood in place staring blankly at a wall.

Catherine was flat on the ground, exhausted from the game. She looked up at Miley, who couldn't believed what had happen. "You think its too late to ask Command for a basketball model?"