The next day everyone were talking about Annabelle's return. Stories of a SWAT rescue began circulating. Phoenix's friends were none the wiser, though Logan had her suspicions but couldn’t care to question it.

Besides that, it was now Phoenix's first day of Basketball trials. Usually Sunday’s are off days but scheduling had shifted due to the attack on the camp. Phoenix was now the only one amongst her peers who’s participating.

She walked by herself to the gymnasium, she looked over her shoulder just to make sure Vivy isn't going to make a surprise appearance. There were already those training when she got there. The majority of them were African-American girls with only two fair skinned players. The coach is the dorm mother of building 11, Miss Eisenhower.

While the others were pre occupied, Phoenix went over to a girl sitting on the bench who held a clipboard, she was likely the team manager by the looks of it. She was wearing a full tracksuit and had a pair of spectacles.

“Uhh, hi,” greeted Phoenix.

The girl looked at her and her eyes widened.

“So huge.”

“I-I know, ha ha.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jane Driver.”

They both shook hands.

“I hope you’re here to play basketball, because if that’s the case you’ll be the biggest player here,” said Jane. “Our tallest is only 186.”

“186?”

“Centimeters.”

“Oh…how much is that again?”

“6 foot 1.”

“Aah.”

“That would be her,” Jane pointed to the tall young woman dark blue hair. “Nathalie Levin from Sweden. Guess that makes you the only White American here besides coach and myself.”

“Really, then what about her?”

Phoenix pointed to the shortest girl on the court, she’s probably only around 5 foot 3, just an inch taller than Vivy.

“Jin Zhenqi, that name is self-explanatory.”

“I…see.”

Phoenix preferred not to question the offensiveness of that statement.

“Anyway, I presume you’re Phoenix Lilywhite as seen on the sign-up sheet?” asked Jane. “Of course I know who you are from the news and other stories but I just never got your name, it somehow never got mentioned then.”

“Y-yes.”

“Well I hope you’re good because with team of 8 players you’d expect a few on the bench.”

“H-honestly, I play Basketball at school, but the only reason I'm even on the team was because of my height and physicality.”

“What did you do?”

“All I ever did was block shots, I’ve never even since tried to score, it was established that I’m not good at precision.”

“Can you do a layup?”

“N-no.”

“Have you ever tried dunking?”

“Not even once.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I have never even attempted to dunk.”

“So you’re telling me a team with a 6 foot 3 walking totem pole such as yourself never even once suggested that you should dunk?”

“Y-yeah.”

“I mean I know dunking is a difficult move but you could have trained, ” said Jane as she put a hand to her chin. “Come with me. Hey guys!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Phoenix immediately caught everyone's attention.

“If it isn’t the hero herself,” said a girl with pink hair.

“The one and only cephalopod,” said another with brown dreadlocks

One of them clapped their hands together. “Now now, settle down.”

“This is the captain,” said Jane. “Amira Jacobs.”

Miss Eisenhower came forward.

“Welcome, Phoenix Lilywhite,” she said. “You’re only the second newcomer to the team, along with Barbara over here.”

She gestured to the tall but younger-looking girl with silver hair. She waved.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“She's only thirteen going on fourteen, but don’t underestimate her skills.”

Jane cleared her throat. “So, Phoenix says she plays for her school, but, she’s never attempted a dunk before.”

“Really!? Well then, how about we try it out right now.”

“Huh?” said Phoenix.

“Just go close to the hoop, take the ball, run forward and show us what you’ve got.”

Phoenix gulped. She slowly walked over to the inner circle. She picked up one of the balls lying there. Everyone else were watching intently. Phoenix readied herself, took a running start and when she closed in she leapt up. For a moment, everyone were speechless, her jump was so high, that is, until, bang! She smacked her face into the backboard. Everyone collapsed, dumbstruck.

“Uh, I don’t really care how many times you smash your face in,” said Amira. “Just make sure to dunk the ball before.”

Phoenix was lying on the floor, her arms and legs spread out, her face as red as her hair. Despite that, Miss Eisenhower seemed more determined than anything else.

“With her jumping, this team could be formidable moving on,” Miss Eisenhower murmured. “All right, let’s get down to business.”

They decided to have a 4-a-side game. Phoenix is teamed up with Amira, Zhenqi and Barbara. They wore red bibs while the other team wore blue. Miss Eisenhower blew the whistle, Nathalie and Amira went for the ball in the middle, Amira got it and passes to Barbara. Barbara proceeds to slouch as she ran, that couldn’t be good for her spine. She dodge the entire defense and proceeds to score a layup.

“Great dribbling, Jordan,” said Amira.

The game continued, it was just simple plays for now. The scores were red team with 20 points and blue team with 18 points.

“I think it’s time, Tara,” called one of the blue team players.

A girl with green hair received the ball.

“Mark Byrnes!” called Amira.

“W-w-who’s Mark Byrnes?” asked Phoenix.

“No! Mark…Tara Byrnes.”

Tara readied a jump shot, it was outside the circle. She shoots and it flies at a high ark, it lands in the basket, three points.

Amira sighed. “Never mind. Zhenqi!”

“Hão!” responded Zhenqi.

She received the ball then ran forward. She dribbles past the opposition. When she’s at the basket she then attempts a jump shot. But, everyone were marking Amira while Nathalie was covering Zhenqi. She shoots, but the ball is too steep to reach the hoop. However, when it came back down Barbara leapt upwards, grabbed it and shot mid-air while sailing to her left, she scores.

“Yes!” cheered Amira.

“So you see, Lilywhite,” said Miss Eisenhower. “Each member has their own skill. Whether it’s Jacobs's captaincy, Jordan's extraordinary athleticism, Jin's calculated set-ups, Byrnes's accuracy or even your jumping. And that’s not even the whole team yet.”

Phoenix was fascinated by the construction of this team, it’s as if their built of different individual parts making a much grander foundation. The practice session continued, they did a few exercises and shooting practice until eventually it was the end of the day.

Evryone were assigned their postitions. Phoenix and Nathalie are Centers; Amira is Power Forward; Tara and Barbara are Shooting Guards; Zhenqi is Point guard. The other players named Angela Robinson and Linda March were made Small forwards.

Phoenix didn’t really have much to show for today's training besides slamming her face against a backboard. But, she still intends to stay after witnessing such an incredible team.

Everyone left the gymnasium, Jane stayed behind a bit to tidy up. Phoenix was still there too, she had something she wanted to ask their team manager.

“Why don’t you play?”

Jane froze from that question.

“M-m-me, don’t be preposterous, I have no talent whatsoever.”

“Well, neither do I, and you seem to be passionate about the sport and you're taller than more than half the team.”

“First of all, comparing myself to you is a bit a stretch considering your stature and second, I’m fine just being the manager,” Jane admitted. “Anyway, it’s time to leave, the boys will practice soon.”

She hurried out after clearing up. Phoenix left as well. As she exited the gym she got a call from behind.

“Yo, Leaning Tower of Takoyaki!”

Phoenix froze, she turned back to see Barbara Jordan. She had her arms folded while standing against the wall.

“Y-y-yes?”

She left the wall then walked past Phoenix before beckoning from behind.

“Come on!”

Phoenix was confused for a second but followed her anyway. She didn’t ask where they were going, she'd been invited for plenty of undertakings as of late. They eventually made it to the outdoor court that's often used for streetball. Barbara picked up the basketball and tossed it to Phoenix.

“Bring out those tentacles of yours.”

“W-why?”

“I wanna know, can they throw things?”

“I-I suppose.”

“Throw that basketball at me as fast as you can.”

“S-sure, but I might not live up to your expectations.”

“No point in not trying.”

“Okay.”

Phoenix let out her extra appendages, one lifted the ball off her hands.

“Here I go.”

She threw the ball and it went like a rocket. Barbara actually got knocked over, tumbled, and stopped just inches from hitting her head against the pole.

“A-a-a-are you okay!?!”

“Are you kidding? That was awesome, much better than expected!”

“W-what's this even all about, anyway?”

“You see that girl Levin, you probably didn’t notice from her loose fitting shirt but she’s jacked like a brick shithouse.”

“Umm, I did notice her leg muscles.”

“So, you can imagine she must have quite the throwing arm, especially with a basketball.”

“I guess.”

“Thing is, I’ve had a hard time getting used to catching her long passes, and she’s not the only one, that one girl Angela has a bit of power as well,” said Barbara. “What I need from you is to keep throwing at me until I’m good enough to keep up with their passes.”

“But aren’t my tentacles a bit overdoing it?”

“The more the better, just practicing at the same level is not enough, now, hit me with your best shot!”

It went for some time. After each throw, Barbara would go from getting flung across the court to just dropping to her bottom, sometimes she couldn’t even catch the ball, her hands were bruising at this point.

“I think that’s enough,” said Phoenix. “Your hands look like you’ve crawled over hot coals.”

“No, I’m not done yet.”

No matter how Phoenix pleaded Barbara wouldn’t budge. They kept going at it but she hadn’t gotten any success. On the next throw, Barbara got her hand on it but a sudden jolt of unfathomable pain came over her. Her hand was now running blood, she dropped to her knees. Phoenix didn’t know how to react, she shook in a panic. But, Barbara got back up, she said ready another.

“N-n-n-no way!” yelled Phoenix.

“Just one more, but with your own hands this time.”

Phoenix couldn’t anymore, it was too hard to bear.

“You wanna know why I’m doing this, despite the fact that I’m already well skilled in other areas of the game?” said Barbara. “Not long ago I was playing a match for my school. I was the ace, on top of my game. But, when we entered crunch time I let my team down. Our opponents were one of the best in the region so we were trailing by a few points. In attempt to score quickly I was given a long pass with great momentum, unfortunately I ended up dropping the ball and then we tried again, but same result. We lost the match and couldn’t advance to the championship. I blamed myself despite having the best overall performance by a single player. Of course, when it came to the teamwork, I blew it”

Phoenix felt it was kind of an odd and simple weakness. She didn’t think not being able to catch a ball thrown at great speed should be all that difficult especially from a long distance where the momentum would reduce. But no, there does seem to be something more to it.

Phoenix picked up the ball. She took a momentum to consider her options. She may lack self confidence but even she knows the strength in her throwing ability. She inhaled, prepared the throw and pelted it. Barbara, with just her one hand, stopped the ball. It stuck in. She looked down at her hand then at Phoenix.

“Whoo!” she cheered. “That felt so easy now, all thanks to your catapulting. Just one hand, hey?”

Phoenix sighed in relief. She can finally rest at ease.

“Well, I’d continue, big stuff, but I’ve got to tend to the bloody hand, see ya, my sister.”

Barbara ran off waving goodbye. Phoenix still felt none of this was necessary just because of one bad game but yet proud at the same time.

“I meet so many wild characters each and every minute

Phoenix picked up the ball and rinses it under a faucet to wash off the blood, in no time she continued on her way back to the dorms.

$$$

“I just can’t keep up with them,” said Phoenix. “They're all so energetic; I bet you’d leave me in the dust as well.’

Cordelia Ridley didn’t respond as to be expected for someone taking a long, excruciating sleep.

“But then again, who am I to judge, I’m still having conversations with the girl I only knew for several minutes and can’t even hear me right now. I wonder what has me so compelled to be with you.”

“Maybe you find her sexy.”

Phoenix shrieked in surprise, but it was just Andromeda. Logan, Vivy and Eden were there too.

“I got flowers, psst, I specifically asked this one to give off a fragrant aroma on it’s own from time to time."

Phoenix put her hand to her chest, said eccentric people have just crashed the party.

“You guys,” said Phoenix.

"And I brought some chocolates!" said Vivy.

Everyone looked at her as if she'd brought dynamite.

"Uhh, for who?" said Eden.

Vivy stood there for a minute processing the situation.

"Well I ate half of it myself already, so, you guys!"

She brought the chocolates but forgot her common sense.

There were only four chairs but Eden got the best seat, Phoenix's lap. She lies against her like a child to their mother. Phoenix nuzzled her head. Everyone ate of Vivy's chocolates.

“What a week,” said Andy as she contemplated the ongoing events.

“Yeah, awesome right? “said Logan.

“No,” responded Eden casually.

“And I bet there’s more to come, maybe we’ll find danger before it finds us,” said Andy.

"Well they better watch out because I am real danger," said Vivy.

Phoenix smiled nervously. They still don’t know about her little venture with Diana.

“I’m not in the mood,” said Eden.

“When are you?” said Andy.

“Never.”

They all laughed. Of course, Eden found none of it amusing. She proceeded to snuggle on Phoenix to put her mind at ease.

$$$

“It appears your rival's attempt failed as well,” the man known as Tantalus said.

He's employer still couldn’t be seen in the dark behind his desk.

“Has first captain returned?”

“I'm afraid not sir.”

“Hmm, in that case, figure out a way to communicate with Devine, I think it's time she makes a little prison break.”

“I know of someone who can deliver your message.”

“Excellent,” said the man. “In the meantime we need to come up with a different plan and I think I know exactly what. Contact Nike and her team, we might need their assistance.”

"You hear all that?" Tantalus said.

The mysterious figure hiding in the shadows had another task to take care of.