The following day arrived, and everyone on the Fyron Dragonstryke team met in the lobby, and then we all walked to the train station together to take the trolley to the stadium. People in the Fyron Dormitory cheered us on as we left, and I had goosebumps all over my body.

I couldn't wait to play the Voltruns for the first time ever.

We got to the cavernous stadium, and the audience was quickly filling in. Once again, I felt that the whole world was watching, and it felt even more epic than the semi-final match.

The Voltruns were flying around in an ominous circle on their side of the field, Coach Florence gave us one last pep talk, and we flew out over the cavern grounds. Looking out at the crowd, I knew my grandpa was there, and so was Farrah. Knowing they were somewhere in the sea of scarlet and maize fired me up (no pun intended).

The announcements came from the loudspeakers, and I couldn't tell what was being said. I tuned everything out, even the cheering from the crowd and the thunderous applause. In the center of the field, on my Blackbird, I stared down Houston. His big muscular body sat on his bike, floating gracefully. We were 20 yards apart, and we narrowed our eyes at each other. The only thing my brain registered was the countdown.

"3... 2... 1... Begin!" Mickey hollered over the loudspeaker.

Everyone on their dragon bikes shot off in different directions, but immediately Houston tried shooting an electric bolt right at me, but I dodged it with a quick cut around. I was surprised their game plan wasn't to target me for the match like the Venomaus. Instead, it was just Houston following me as I led the first charge into the Voltrun territory. I was going as fast as I could without breaking the rules, which I had been practicing ever since I got penalized at the beginning of the year. Houston kept rifling electric bolts at me, and I kept ducking, dodging, and barrel-rolling to avoid every single attack. I managed to enter the Voltrun zone alone without any backup around me going in. I was just one-on-one with the goalie, and I dodged his attacks with a few turns and fake-outs, and I managed to swipe their trophy.

Flying out of their hive, Houston waited for me, back on my tail, he kept trying to shoot me down, and he was closer than before, only a few feet away. I felt like he was dangerously close to me, but no whistle was blown, so it must have been completely legal.

I had my eyes straight ahead, but I saw a flicker of red flames in my periphery during the high-speed pursuit.

"And a Fyron defender just struck Houston with a bolt! And Rollie has successfully stolen the trophy to begin! The Fyrons with a strong showing in the first few minutes of the match! The game is 4-2 Fyrons with the lead!"

I was so busy trying to dodge Houston's attacks that I didn't realize I had already returned to my area. The audience cheered, and I was at a loss for words. The only thing I responded with was a smile as I returned to my team, and they all pumped their fists in the air and told me good job.

Returning to the center of the field, the captains and I looked at Coach Florence for her hand signals. She gestured for us to run the same play if they had the same defensive strategy. Then she gave us the backup play in case I would get targeted.

"Got that, Rollie?" a captain asked.

"Yeah! Let's Move!" I yelled.

Charging back toward the Voltruns, they went with the same defensive set. Houston was the only one to chase after me, but he wasn't hurling nearly as many electric bolts as he did during my initial run. But he threw enough to keep me on my toes and checking back every few seconds. He was charging up a bolt, though, for a while, and it made me nervous. It absorbed all my focus.

PLUNK!

I hit a wall.

Seriously, I hit a physical wall even though there was nothing in sight. I was too busy glancing back at Houston gaining on me that I didn't see what I hit. But the next thing I knew, the whistle blew, and I fell from the sky. I tried squinting up to see what had happened and saw three dragon bikes in front of me.

The whistle shrieked, but I continued to plummet. Mickey Alvarez, the announcer, was saying something, but I couldn't hear it. The wind blowing in my ears was deafening. Before hitting the ground and crushing every bone in my body, the magical spell on the cavern floor allowed me to float to the ground and land like a butterfly.

"The Voltruns will be penalized, and two of their players will sit on the bench for the next 5 minutes of play! If there's another instance like another blatant hit of that nature, the Voltruns will be disqualified!" Mickey hollered.

The referee flew down with my dragon bike, and I hopped back on.

"Coach Florence wants to speak to you quickly," the referee said.

I nodded and rode to the bench, although I wasn't moving too fast. My whole body was trembling. Arriving at the platform, Coach Florence came up to me immediately.

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"Rollie, how are you feeling?"

"I-I don't even know what happened. I just feel sh-shaken up and f-frightened," I said.

"Yeah, you have every right to feel that way. That was unbelievable. An absolute cheap shot if I've ever seen one. I can't believe they actually did that." She studied my face as if trying to find any injuries.

"What did they do? I turned around because Houston was following me, and the next thing I know, I'm falling to the ground."

"Well, just as you were about to get in their zone for a second time in a row, they had three players swarm the entrance and intentionally hit your upper body with one of their dragon bikes. One defender got you, in particular, but they had three prepared at the top and bottom in case you managed to turn around in time. Honestly, I think all three should be penalized, but one kid was just far enough away, I guess."

"Whoa." I shook my head, but my whole body felt wobbly and unsteady.

"More importantly, though, how are you feeling? Do you want to go back out there? You don't have to."

"As much as I want to go back in there, I think I need a little more time." I took a deep breath. "Like, I know that if I get back on the bike and play, they won't target me again, but my whole body just feels terrified to go back out there."

"I totally understand. We can send Arthur out there as a backup. He played really well last time we played the Voltruns, and they will be down two players, so I think we can make the score 5-1. Don't sweat it." Coach Florence patted my shoulder.

"They wanted to do that." I scoffed.

"Yeah, of course, they did. That was a seriously flagrant offense we just witnessed."

"But that's part of their strategy. They want me out of the game, and so they think they can do that by scaring me."

Coach Florence paused but nodded.

"That's what they did last time!" I yelled. "They had kids beat me up so I wouldn't even be able to attend the match." I took a deep breath, and my fist clenched. "You can put me back in, Coach Florence."

She exhaled. "Rollie, I don't think that's such a good idea. You just got rattled out there. Listen to your body and mind. You can take a break. We can probably get a steal with Arthur subbing in. No need to be a tough guy, I don't think anyone questions your toughness."

"Put me back in, please."

"How about this: if you can walk in a straight line right now, I'll sub you in."

Holding my breath, I put one foot in front of the other, but my body was shaking so much I couldn't go in a straight line.

"Listen to your body, Rollie. You should take a break, and there's nothing wrong with that. We'll have Arthur go in, and you can take the field as soon as you feel back to normal, okay?"

My chest sank, but I accepted my fate of having to sit out. "Yeah, of course, Coach."

Arthur flew onto the field, and I watched the next 5 minutes unfold from the bench. I hoped they could get in the Voltrun zone quickly, but Houston turned into a wild animal and nailed all three of our guys as they tried to go in for a trophy steal, including Arthur.

Watching the match distracted me from my simmering fear. Instead of being shaken up, I was irritated that we couldn't invade the Voltrun zone and swipe a trophy. The 5 minutes ended, and the two players who had to sit out came back in. The field was evened up with 12 players on each side once again, our advantage had ended, but we were still playing great defense. We didn't allow anyone to steal one of our trophies.

Although we weren't applying pressure as much anymore, the Voltruns stayed in our territory, foiling any opportunity to draw up a play to get our offense going. I was tapping my foot impatiently and finally marched towards Coach Florence.

"Check this out," I said as I walked in a perfectly straight line.

Coach Florence nodded. "Yeah, we're looking a little rough out there. If you could go in, that would be great, but again, if you want to sit out longer, I encourage you to do so."

"Just put me in! I'm ready!" I said.

Coach Florence waved at one of the captains and made a signal with her hand (she was calling for a substitution), and then held one finger in the air. Arthur came flying back to the bench, and I flew into the game.

"Good luck out there, man. Houston is playing on a different level today," Arthur said.

"Thanks," I said, hopping on my bike and flying back out there. I still had a slight jitter going through my arms, but I remained calm. I flew up next to the captains and immediately started tailing Houston. He was still in our half of the field, taking a long roundabout way to get to our zone, and he kept throwing electric bolts at our defenders, getting a hit with every other throw.

"And with that! The Fyrons are down a defender. Houston landed three electric bolts!" Mickey announced.

Two other Voltruns tried flying into our zone, but our defenders focused on them while I focused on Houston. I threw a fire bolt at Houston, and he spun around on his bike at the last second, narrowly dodging the attack. He glanced back at me and rifled off an electric bolt that he must've had charged and ready to rifle off. I was unprepared for it, and it struck me in the chest. A surge of electricity ran through me in a blink of an eye, and I quickly felt normal again, but I was fuming.

Our defenders tried swarming the two Voltrun invaders, but they backed out, and Houston swooped into our zone and grabbed a trophy, speeding out of there, I flew right behind him and threw as many fire bolts as possible at him. I couldn't even tell how fast we were flying, he was leading me on a chase rather than a straightaway sprint. We were still flying in our territory, and I was dodging our players and what few Voltruns were on our side. Houston flew to the side of the field, and we were right by the audience. He taunted the crowd and pumped the trophy up in the air, and I tried to throw a firebolt at him, but he strafed to the side, dodging it again.

I lost track of how fast we were going, it seemed like Houston sped up, and so did I. I think I heard a whistle screeching off in the distance, but I couldn't be sure. Both of us kept continued our high-speed pursuit, everything blurring around me, and I wasn't even sure what direction we were going in, but I still had Houston locked in my sight. Speeding up just a little bit faster, he was so close there was no way he could dodge me.

"Hey, Houston! Why don't you finally just face me yourself!" I shouted. A fire bolt raged in my palm, and he turned his head to the right, and I threw the smoldering bolt directly at his chest. It took every bit of me not to throw it in his face, but I knew I would have been penalized.

The fire bolt struck him, and he shouted, but I wasn't prepared for what he did next. He threw his bike into mine. Crunching against my beautiful Blackbird, I lost all sense of the game and the rules. I rammed back into his bike with mine, and he threw the trophy into my body.

For the second time that game, I fell from my Blackbird.