The Champion (66 page)

Lines radiated from each and every Wolfpack player, showing Quentin where they would go at the snap of the ball.

I step, you step
.

Behind black masks, Wabash faces blazed with intensity and promised violence. The black-and-white-trimmed snarling red wolf heads stared out from either side of their red helmets. Like Becca’s uniform, the Wolfpack’s black jerseys showed the marks of battle: rips and tears, blood and dirt on the red-trimmed, pearlescent-white numbers and letters, the same stains on white-trimmed red wolf head logos snarling on their right shoulders. Dirt, blood and scratches marred once-pristine pearlescent leg armor and shoes.

The Wolfpack was hungry for the win against their main rival,
had
to have it to stay in playoff contention.

Too bad for them.

They had lined up in the perfect defense to counter Quentin’s play, but he didn’t need to audible; he knew where the defenders would go, knew how they would react.

“Blue, sixteen! Blue,
sixteeeeeen
. Hut-hut...
hut
!”

The ball flipped back to him, glowing like a miniature sun. It hit his hands. He felt every pebble of leather, the grain of the laces. He could almost feel the air trapped inside.

Lines of power vibrated across the field, every player, every path, every possibility.

Quentin looked downfield, saw Denver angling from right to left on her slant pattern. As he’d predicted, she was double-covered by cornerback Gladwin and safety Mississauga, but that didn’t matter ... Quentin knew exactly where his friend would run, how she would turn, how she would jump.

He locked on, watched, glanced left (Halawa on the left side, streaking downfield on a route as straight as an arrow) then right (Starcher hooking up fifteen yards downfield).

When Quentin glanced at Starcher, Gladwin, the corner, turned her shoulders ever so slightly toward the tight end, just enough to make her fall a quarter-step behind Denver at the exact moment Denver changed her pattern from a
slant
to a
slant-
and
-go
.

Quentin’s friend and favorite receiver cut downfield, parallel to the sidelines, burning past Mississauga and leaving Gladwin behind. The ball came out of Quentin’s hand with barely any arc, a blistering straight line that punished the air around it.

Denver’s eyestalks looked back a yard before the goal line. Gladwin saw her looking, turned back for the ball, but it was too late. Mississauga didn’t even have time to do that.

The ball slid between the two defenders, through a closing hole of bodies and tentacles that wasn’t more than a millimeter wider than the ball itself. It hit Denver so hard that she fell backward across the goal line, her tentacles gripped tightly around the pigskin.

Touchdown.

Most of the crowd booed. Ionath 27, Wabash 24, eight seconds to play with the extra point still to come.

Quentin stood there, feeling the voice of each fan, the footsteps of each player. He was a part of the universe; the universe was a part of him. He jogged off the field, a wide smile pulling at his eyes and making his cheeks rise up.

“Q,” Becca said, falling in at his left, “you sure you’re okay? Is it your head?”

“As a
kite
,” Ju said, falling in at his right. “I told you —
so
high.”

“My head is fine,” Quentin said. “In fact, I’ve never felt better.”

GFL WEEK TWELVE ROUNDUP

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network

With only a single game left in the 2686 regular season, there is one playoff spot remaining, two teams still to be relegated, and one division title up for grabs.

Only one title, because Ionath (11-0) locked up the Planet Division and moved one game closer to a perfect regular season, thanks to a 28-24 win over archrival Wabash (5-6). Quentin Barnes returned at quarterback after missing Week 11 with an injury. Barnes threw only 20 times for 180 yards with two touchdown passes, the second of which was a game-winning 28-yarder to Denver. Ionath coach Hokor the Hookchest used Barnes sparingly, opting instead to utilize a power running game with the twin-back assault of Ju Tweedy and Yassoud Murphy. Tweedy rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown. Murphy picked up 97 yards and a TD on the ground, along with 42 receiving yards and a touchdown reception.

The victory gives the Krakens home-field advantage for the two games of the divisional playoffs. OS1 (10-1) is a game behind Ionath, but since the Krakens beat the Death in Week 10, Ionath owns the head-to-head tiebreaker should both teams end the regular season at 11-1.

OS1 and Yall (9-2) both notched wins, increasing their momentum as they head into the post-season.

The final spot in the Planet playoff picture grew muddier. The To Pirates (6-5) lost 42-10 to Yall, allowing Buddha City (6-5) to move into a tie for fourth place following the Elite’s 35-3 win over D’Oni (0-11). Buddha City’s Week 10 victory over the Pirates gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker, which means the Elite are in the playoffs if they win next week against Alimum. To needs to win their regular-season finale against host McMurdo, and also needs Buddha City to lose to the Armada.

If Buddha City loses, To wins and either (or both) Isis (5-6) and Wabash win, it will create a more complicated tiebreaker due to a convoluted head-to-head situation. This means that Isis and Wabash are not yet mathematically eliminated.

In the Solar Division, Jupiter moved into sole possession of first place with their ninth straight victory, 14-10 over Bord (4-7). If Jupiter wins its Week 13 game against Texas, the Jacks clinch the division and secure home-field advantage for the divisional playoffs.

Texas (7-4) upset Vik (8-3) by a score of 24-21 to lock up the fourth and final Solar Division playoff spot. Vik has already qualified for the playoffs.

Even if the Earthlings lose their Week 13 game, they have beaten both Sheb (6-5) and Neptune (6-5) earlier in the season. This gives Texas the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“We’ve reached the playoffs for the second year in a row,” said Earthlings linebacker Alonzo Castro. “That’s an accomplishment, but we’re not done. Last year we lost in the first round. This year, we have to get past that.”

Relegation Watch

The two last-place teams in the Planet
and
the two last-place teams in the Solar lost their Week 12 outings, which means everything comes down to the final regular-season game.

In the Planet Division, Coranadillana (1-10) hosts D’Oni — the winner remains in Tier One, the loser gets relegated.

In the Solar, if Jang (2-9) wins at home against Sheb, the Atom Smashers remain in Tier One. If Jang loses and McMurdo upsets visiting To, the Murderers will survive their first season at the top and be back next year, while the Atom Smashers will fall to Tier Two.

Deaths

No deaths reported this week.

Offensive Player of the Week

Buddha City tight end Rick Warburg, who had 11 catches for 113 yards and three TDs against the Themala Dreadnaughts.

Defensive Player of the Week

Ionath defensive back Cormorant Bumberpuff, who had two interceptions and six solo tackles against Wabash.

46

Week Thirteen:
Themala Dreadnaughts at
Ionath Krakens

x = playoffs, y = division title, * = team has been relegated

THERE WERE THINGS MORE IMPORTANT
than football. Quentin knew that now in a way he’d never really understood before. But one game from an undefeated regular season? Most of those “more important” things could wait just a little while longer.

One of those things, however — family — was easy to handle even while preparing for the game. All it took was a big old mess of delivery food and an apartment packed full of people.

John and Ju had brought Ma to Quentin’s place in the Krakens Building. Fred had come as well, thanks to Gredok living up to the promise that the man could come and go as he pleased. Jeanine just had to take the elevator up a few floors.