Until We Break (26 page)

Jaysin contorted his body and jumped into the air. He twisted around to avoid the orbs. One after another sailed over and around his limbs, barely missing him. It seemed he would get through this attack without a scratch.

He didn’t even register the impact at first. Something hard crashed into him, and the next thing he knew, he was wet and hurting. An orb had hit him and covered his body in paint. He fell down, hurt from the impact.

* * *

“It’s over,” a defeated Maya said.

They hung their heads in shame. They had lost hands down. It was a clean sweep for Zero Grade. They should have known they didn’t have what it took to compete with veteran gods.”

But suddenly, Daryn said, “Wait! Look!”

They looked. Jaysin was covered in
blue
paint. Dionysus had inadvertently hit him with the wrong color.

“That means we’re still in this!” CiCi said.

A cheer went out from the group. The upstarts just might prevail against full-fledged gods.

* * *

Jaysin got back to his feet and began trying to wipe the paint off him. The orb had hit his chest, covering it and the left side of his face in paint.

“Your luck endures,” Dionysus said while examining his handiwork.

“I told you—it’s not luck. It’s skill.”

“Call it whatever you wish. It doesn’t matter. Up until now you’ve been surviving by the skin of your teeth. However much skill you have, it’s not nearly enough. You can’t beat me.”

Jaysin picked up his staff. “We’ll see about that, mate. You and your friends are full of it. You don’t see us as equals. Think it’s time we changed that.”

He charged in and struck the ground at Dionysus’ feet. The elder god leapt out of the way before the antigravity took effect, but Jaysin felt he was getting the message: don’t mess with the Academy.

Dionysus shot out his nets and once again used them to outflank Jaysin. Since they were coming from two different directions, the student didn’t think he could get them both with his antigravity. Therefore, he used it to repel the net in front of him before turning around and striking the one behind him.

But rather than getting knocked away, the net enveloped the staff and yanked it away from him.
Dammit, he got me. Without my staff, I can’t use antigravity on him
.

The other net then took the opportunity and pounced on him. Jaysin flew out of the way, but the net followed him, seemingly extending indefinitely as they ran around the complex. The metallic snare kept up with him all the way.

Realizing he needed to change tactics, Jaysin began flying in circles around Dionysus. If he could get the net to tie up his opponent, victory would be that much easier.

However, rather than standing still, Dionysus turned with him to avoid getting ensnared by his own weapon. Around and around they went in circles until Jaysin was certain they looked like a tornado.

This went on for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, Jaysin lost his concentration and went skidding across the floor. In that moment, he was scared Dionysus would capitalize on his lapse and hit him with an orb.

But it seemed the chase had taken its toll on the elder god as well, because he collapsed to the floor.
Son of a bitch—he’s dizzy! Now’s my chance.

Jaysin got up, but unfortunately found he, too, was dizzy. He stumbled forward, fighting to get a handle on his equilibrium. Looking around, he found a blue orb and grabbed it.

By now, Dionysus was also on his feet and staggering forward. Jaysin struggled to get his hand steady, but between the dizziness and his shaky nerves, he couldn’t do it.
I’ve got to hit him before he recovers. There’s not enough time; I’ve just got to risk it
.

Jaysin hurled the orb, but to his dismay, it went wide. Dionysus began laughing. “There aren’t any more orbs near you. Face it, kid; you’re finished.”

“Says you.” By this time, the floor and walls were covered in paint from all the orbs they’d smashed. There were hardly any of the spheres left now, and certainly no blue ones.

Only one thing to do…

Jaysin turned to Loki, who was standing off in the corner watching. “Crazy man! Can I get some more orbs?”

“Why, certainly you may! More orbs!”

Dozens more red and blue spheres dropped from the ceiling and began hovering all around them. “Thanks!” Jaysin said.

“That’s not fair!” Dionysus protested. “He was all out! You should have just let me finish him!”

An astonished Loki replied, “Not fair? I just gave
you
more orbs as well. That sounds quite fair to
me
.”

Exasperated, Dionysus said, “So be it. I’ll end this quickly before he has a chance to use his new orbs.”

But Jaysin crossed his arms defiantly. “Don’t think so, mate! I’ve had just about enough of you Zero Grade dick tarts walking all over us.
I’m
ending this.”

Dionysus looked incredulous. “Oh? And how do you plan on doing that?”

“All that spinning around we just did gave me an idea.” He unfolded his arms and held them aloft. Then, he imagined the biggest, baddest tornado he could think of. On cue, a massive gust of wind picked up.

Dionysus said, “What are you doing?”

Jaysin decided to let his actions answer him. Within moments, an actual tornado began whipping around Dionysus. The elder god held up his hands to protect himself, apparently not realizing the display wasn’t meant to physically hurt him.

Soon all the orbs in the immediate vicinity were racing around Dionysus like planets around a sun. Red and blue blurred together while flying at mach speed. A terrible whine reverberated throughout the complex.

Now came the tricky part. Jaysin subtly altered the path of the wind, so now instead of flying in circles around Dionysus, it was flying
through
him.

The impact was immediate and spectacular. Every single orb crashed into him, spraying paint everywhere and covering the elder god head to foot in it. Within moments, Dionysus was a mess of red and blue, forming magenta. The disgraced deity fell to his knees and moaned.

* * *

The audience erupted into thunderous cheers and applause. But their rejoicing paled in comparison to that of the Academy group who exalted their first win with a roar that put all others to shame.

“He did it!” CiCi said.

“Way to go, Jaysin!” Maya added.

Ev’s hands hurt from the pounding of his hands as he clapped like he had never clapped before. “That’s the future god of money for you!”

Even Daryn was cheering. The team had finally come together to score a victory for their side.

The only ones not applauding, naturally, were the Zero Grade competitors. They stared at Dionysus with a mixture of embarrassment and shame. Set balled his hands into fists while looking down at his comrade.

Loki charged over and began hollering. “Unbelievable! Astonishing! The Divine Protector Academy has just taken home a win, effectively raining on Zero Grade’s perfect plans. Is this the beginning of a huge upset? Are we looking at a come-from-behind victory for these students? If they have anything to say about it, then yes!”

“We only need two more wins, and we’ll have the location of Zero Grade’s super secret base,” Ev said.

Maya nodded. “We’ll finally be able to bring the fight to them.”

“I’m definitely looking forward to that,” Daryn said.

       Set, standing about fifteen feet away, thrust a sinister finger in their direction. “Don’t get cocky! You’re not true supermen. You’re merely children who got lucky. You lack the will to power that we possess, and that’s why you’re going to lose everything.”

“Blah, blah, blah, mate.”

“Jaysin’s right,” CiCi said. “You talk too much.”

Loki happily declared to the audience, “The trash talking intensifies! Sensational! But which side will prove correct? Let’s decide that with the next event!” The crowd roared, and it was beginning to seem more and more mechanical, almost artificial. Ev couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong here (aside from all the bloodthirsty lunatics, of course). “Are you all ready for the next event?” They raucously let him know they were. “All right, then! Right this way.”

Chapter XIX

He led them to another area of the complex which was occupied by raised platforms similar to high diving boards at swimming pools, only without the board. “For this event—which we’re calling Arrow Odyssey—we’re going to need two archers, which I know both sides have.”

“I guess that’s me,” Maya said. She looked nervous but excited.

“And me as well. Artemis has been teaching me,” Persephone said. She looked bored.

“Outstanding!” Loki said. “Two femme fatales, both skilled with a bow, competing to win the Games for their team.

“All right, I’m going to need both of you to pick a platform and climb it.” They did so; Maya picked the left one, leaving Persephone with the right. They climbed the plastic ladders attached to the fifteen-foot-high towers. When they were standing at the top, Loki directed their attention to a series of four rings hovering some thirty yards away near the far wall. The nearest ring was quite large, but they got progressively smaller the closer to the wall they got. The next to last ring was not only small but, in fact, on fire. As far as Ev could tell, there was nothing visible holding them in the air; it must have been some advanced technology at work. “For this event, you’ll be shooting arrows through the rings, and each ring is worth a set number of points. The smaller the ring, the harder it is to get an arrow through, and thus the more points it will be worth. Starting from the nearest and largest ring, they are worth five, ten, twenty and forty points respectively. The first one to get a hundred points wins the event. And, as you can see, the rings are constantly moving back and forth. If you can get them lined up, you’ll earn a fabulous seventy-five points and probably the whole game.” Ev could tell this wouldn’t be easy; even with Maya’s manual arrows, the rings were moving very quickly, and it was unlikely she’d be able to manually steer through all of them. The next to last ring also posed a unique challenge, as its flames and smoke made it hard to see the very last (and smallest) ring. Getting them all lined up would take a miracle.

Fortunately, Ev decided, if anyone could do it, it was Maya.

Loki continued. “You will each take turns taking shots. Miss Brünhart, you will go first.” Persephone looked annoyed at having to wait, but she held her tongue. “Oh and before I forget,” he said. “Normal arrows only. Either competitor caught using a special arrow will be disqualified.”
Damn
, Ev thought.
So much for Maya’s advantage
. “And begin!”

Maya took aim and stood still for several tense moments while she lined up her shot. Ev held his breath, his nerves screaming for her to make each arrow count.

She let fly, the arrow sailing through the five-point ring before being lodged in the far wall. “Five points!” Loki said. “A respectable, if underwhelming, start to this event.” Ev allowed himself to breathe; the event was underway, and Maya had already scored some points. It could certainly have been worse. “And now, Persephone, it is your turn.”

The purple-haired goddess cocked her head and took aim. It only took her a second to release her arrow, sending it soaring through the ten-point ring and just barely missing the twenty-point one.

“And Persephone scores ten points! Zero Grade leads the Academy two to one in this event!”

Maya closed her eyes in an apparent attempt to maintain her composure. Ev couldn’t blame her; they weren’t off to the best start in this event.

Next it was her turn again. This time, she took twice as long to line up her shot. She then released the arrow, sending it flying through the ten-point ring in a recreation of Persephone’s shot.

“The Academy is now up to fifteen points! Can Zero Grade stay on top? Show us, Per-Per!”

“Don’t call me that,” Persephone said. She drew her bow and quickly fired off another shot, this one screaming through the twenty-point ring.

“And Zero Grade shoots ahead again with a total of thirty points The Academy is lagging behind; can they pull off another upset? My-My, give us your best shot!”

Maya ignored the presumptive nickname, instead focusing on her shot. Her eyes narrowed as her concentration increased, and she let her arrow fly. It arced cleanly through the twenty-point ring.

“Way to go, Maya!” Ev yelled. “That’s thirty-five points!”

Loki replied, “Hey, kid, how about leaving the commentary to us professionals? But, ahem, yes! That’s thirty-five points for the Academy. Maya is matching Persephone shot for shot, but if this keeps up, Zero Grade will reach a hundred points before them.”

“That’s the idea,” Set said. He and the rest of his team stood below Persephone’s platform to offer their support.

The veteran goddess once again took aim. But instead of firing quickly, this time she allowed herself a moment to focus. She launched her arrow, sending it through the ten and twenty-point rings.
      

“Amazing! Outstanding! Per-Per just scored thirty points, bringing Zero Grade’s total up to sixty points. They’re past the halfway point to winning this event!” The crowd roared with approval.

Maya’s shoulders sagged and she exhaled sharply. She was lagging way behind, and her only chance to catch up might be to take a big risk. That scared Ev. If she was too eager to score big points, she might get sloppy and make a huge mistake.

He decided her needed to cheer her on. “You can do it, Maya! Remember, we’re still in this. Just take it slow and make every shot count.”

She straightened up. “Thank you, Ev! You don’t know how much your words mean to me.”

“Just doing my job as your boyfriend.”

She took aim again. When she released the arrow, it flew through the five and ten-point rings.

“And the Academy’s total come up to fifty points. They’ve reached the halfway mark in this event, but Zero Grade still has a commanding lead.”

“And it’s about to become even
more
commanding,” Persephone said.

“Not if I have anything so say about it,” Maya replied softly.

Persephone raised her bow and fired another arrow. This one went through the ten and twenty-point rings. Ev’s heart almost stopped as he realized what that meant.

“Incredible! Marvelous! Per-Per scores thirty points, bringing Zero Grade up to a grand total of ninety, while the Academy only has fifty! It seems a sure bet we’re about to see the end of this event.”

Maya was visibly shaking now. Ev worried for her; if she didn’t get it together quickly, it would all be over for them, and she surely knew that. “Maya! Listen to me. Settle this with your next shot.”

She shook her head. “I… I don’t know if I can.”

“You
can
! Trust me. The Maya Brünhart I know wouldn’t just give up here. She’d focus all her energy into pulling victory from the jaws of defeat.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Set said. “You’re all finished. Just accept it.”

Ev glared at him. “Is that what you supermen would do? You talk big, but deep inside, you’re just a defeatist.” Set had no response to that, so Ev turned his attention back to Maya. “Don’t listen to anything those Zero Grade assholes say. You’re Maya Brünhart, and you can do this!”

She clenched her fingers tightly across her bow and stood there silently. Finally she said, “You’re right. I’m sorry I let myself be riddled with doubt. I’ll finish this with my next shot.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Persephone said, her tone dripping with arrogance. “To do that, you have to score fifty points, and that means getting an arrow through the forty-point ring, which even I haven’t been able to do yet.”

Without any more hesitation, Maya took aim. “Just watch.”

For a full minute, she stood still as a statue, carefully lining up her shot. Ev felt his tension skyrocket while he waited with bated breath for Maya to win or lose everything.

Finally, she released the arrow.
Too early!
Ev thought. The rings weren’t lined up yet.

But then he realized his mistake. If she had waited for all the rings to be aligned, they would have gotten out of alignment before the arrow went through. She had timed it so the arrow went through
just before
they were aligned.

It soared gracefully through the five-point ring and then the ten-point one.
Come on, come on, come on, come on!
Ev silently shouted at it. It then went through the flaming twenty-point ring, bringing the shot’s total to at least thirty-five. However, the flames and smoke obscured the view of the forty-point ring, so Ev couldn’t tell if the arrow made it through that one.

But Loki, who stood underneath it, cried out, “Remarkable! My-My got the arrow through all four rings for a total of seventy-five points, bringing the final tally up to an astonishing one hundred and twenty-five points! The Academy has won this event and tied the score.”

Everyone erupted in cheers, except for the Zero Grade team, of course, and Ev swelled with pride at his girlfriend’s accomplishment. He anxiously waited for her to descend the platform before taking her in his arms. “I knew you could do it!”

Her smile was radiant. “I should never have doubted you, or myself for that matter. Thank you, Ev. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Next, CiCi gave her a hug. “That’s our My-My!”

“You are not to call me that.”

Jaysin chimed in. “Gotta say, I think that might just catch on. You may be ‘My-My’ from here on out.”

“Don’t you dare.” Despite the annoyance, her smile never wavered.