THE MOMENT
[part c] Game. Ruined.
Astra crossed the goal line and her stats appeared on the board. The handicap organized by Chroma Corp. started her at level 6 with abilities she pre-purchased. Her green and white unitard shimmered and became a pair of forest-green overalls with a white shirt and leggings underneath. Ben, her white wolf, appeared on the track next to her. But, he was twice as large as usual and he had four glowing red eyes instead of his usual two. He ran along next to her as she skated forward.
[Pounce] A deep male voice shouted throughout the track when Astra activated the skill. The scoreboard removed the appropriate MP cost from her total and she leaped into the air. She covered 1/8th of the track with a single jump.
Oz ignored the notification in his vision. It took a lot of practice to learn how to not pay attention to everything in his sight. J.J. logged in after Astra, and her stats appeared on the giant board for the audience. She logged in at level 1 and had to spend her Ability point manually. Her skill upgrade appeared in the system chat in the bottom left of Oz's view. He picked out the relevant information while glossing over all the repetitive text.
Then, he saw Victoria log in just ahead of him. Her chrome unitard was replaced by a white one. Except, a red skeleton took up the front of the white unitard, complete with a red skull painted on her face and a white cowboy hat atop her head.
"Uh oh," Oz mumbled to himself. He noticed Victoria slowing down on the other side of the goal line, and he saw what skill she upgraded. He hoped his pre-bought skills activated in time and tried to formulate a plan. Ballisea interrupted his thoughts again.
"The scope of this game is much larger than you can imagine," Ballisea said. "If you value life, any life at all, you must let them win." The plea seemed so unlike her that Oz couldn't help but reply with snark.
"What do you care?" he asked as he crossed the goal line. His stats appeared on the board. His white unitard became his dark green suit with a green eye mask, though he chose to forego his staff for the game. Oz anticipated it; but, he still wasn't ready. Victoria spun around with a red, crystalline, double-barrel shotgun and smiled at Oz.
[Aura Cleanser] the voice yelled as Oz felt like he skated into a wall. He saw his HP and MP go down. Two of his three Aura slots were greyed out and the two Auras he pre-bought were dispelled for the rest of the lap.
[Auto Reload] Oz heard the voice say. He decided on a skill a moment too late.
[Suffocating Shot] Another blast of smoky force hit him in the face.
All his Abilities greyed out in his view. He suddenly felt like he was dragging a tractor tire behind him as he tried to skate forward. Victoria waved and skated off. Oz saw Majesty's stats appear on the board. But, it seemed like she already had a plan.
Oz heard the announcer at the same moment he saw what skill Majesty bought.
[Mudball] Oz felt a heavy wet slap on his face, then the bleachers and stat board disappeared. Every other skater disappeared from his vision and his mini-map. Only the track remained; he sighed and kept skating at a slow rate. He was glad the debuff markers were still visible. Up ahead he could see where his Slow debuff ended, and the Blind debuff ended a bit past that.
[Mudball] Oz felt a second impact. The glowing marker that said 'Blind' moved further ahead on the track and his HP went down a bit more.
"They don't need us to let them win...," Oz whined internally. He shook his head and continued forward. The most valuable lesson he learned during practice was that the beginning of the game wasn't as important as the later stages. The game hadn't even technically started yet because not everyone was logged in. He wasn't going to give up easily. He pushed forward, thankful that he could still see the system logs. Though it was limited to his team's plays while he was Blind. He saw the notification when Ruin logged in and guessed Minerva logged in around the same time.
[Fairy Forest] Oz sighed in relief when Ruin played his zone. Oz hoped a cleanse was coming his way soon. His Trailblazer ability was meant to help the team; but, at the moment he was slowing everyone down.
[Fairy Dew] Oz cheered at the card. But, the debuff markers were still on the track.
[Ballisea's Favor] his flair triggered and absorbed the spell. Instead of a cleanse, he got 65MP for his troubles.
"You did that on purpose," Oz said aloud. He didn't know if there was anyone around to hear him, but it didn't matter.
"I'd prefer to have the Skull Crushers win," Ballisea replied. "You could make it easier for me."
"Not going to happen," Oz replied. He took consolation in the fact that the debuff markers were getting closer.
[/p So, uh.. you guys wanna win? - Ruin]
[/p Duh. - Astra]
[/p Sure! - Brly]
[/p YESS!!!! - Oz]
[/p How? - Patch]
[/p Only if they lose. - Hels]
[/p Soon as Flutter logs in? - Ruin]
[/p Aww. Okay.. - Brly]
[/p YESS!!!! - Oz]
[/p Already? - Astra]
[/p Can we play a bit first? - Astra]
[/p NO! Not worth it. - Oz]
[/p If we can win. Win. -Oz] He considered telling them about Ballisea rooting for the other team. But, the last thing he needed was any of them siding with her.
[/p Oz is right. - Patch]
[/p Yeah, okay. - Astra]
[/p Okay. We're winning. - Ruin] Oz wondered what Ruin had up his sleeve. But, he cleared the Slow marker and felt like he could move with ease again.
[Favorite Card - Brain Bug] the announcer said. Oz only vaguely recognized the card; it wasn't Ruin's usual favorite. He knew it could manipulate Opponents but, he didn't know how that would win them the game. Oz reached the end of the Blind debuff and the stadium and scoreboard returned. He saw Flutter was already logged in. Then, a bright light flashed behind him on the other side of the track.
[Consecration] the announcer said. But, as soon as the voice finished, a loud buzzer signaled the end of the game.
[Team Disqualified!] the voice said. The invisible walls around the track disappeared and Oz could hear the crowd again cheering wildly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, THAT'S how you win at roller derby!" Marcie walked onto the track with a microphone while Oz and the rest of the skaters headed towards her.
"You don't know what you've done...," Ballisea whispered.
"Game's over," Oz replied smugly. "I have time to listen to you explain it now."
"I can't," Ballisea said. "Because I don't know what you've done either."
"What?" Oz asked. He was getting used to her different tones and she sounded vaguely sincere. "You don't even know why you wanted them to win?"
"Don't be stupid, idiot," she replied. "Of course I know why I wanted them to win. I know what happens when they win. But now... I don't. From this moment on, everything is new."
*
End of Stellar Tour