Chapter 20

The team of Crowfire stood on the other side of the court. All are on their opposing stances with their sharp looks on those tall boys scarier than they were.

Tom started to feel the worry that never chased him earlier. As he stood on his position, he still had his look on Lungs. Lungs had his gaze on Thunder, as far as people believed to be the ace of the Crowfire team. He suddenly remembered it was the time Thunder had brought back himself to court when they defeated Tuberculosis High (TB High). TB High was the school that had their so called, "Iron Wall", a very strict defense block from the tallest of the team. Amongst them is Lungs. Tom knows, he has act the way he should, so their team will win. They will win and soon fight Herring Gull High.

But at this point, he doesn't think winning these games will make him feel happy, like he had expected, long before he had this deal with Psyche. He knew things that he wasn't suppose to know, and that he understood everything now. He wanted to enjoy this mess he is in, and slowly, he forgets who he was, as a human being. Because he knew, he wasn't.

Psyche. Chronos. Zeus. And him. He wanted to see how much things will go before he reveal himself to his thorns and see them gasp for air.

What Chronos had told him bugged him all of a sudden.

"Your memories serve you well now. It brings back whenever you rectify the events that should be happening. But if you cause any more alteration to the things around here, and thus might change the future, you will be trapped here and run along with this time line. Your memories will fade, leaving no traces and you will eventually treat this as yours."

He just smirked. He knew it wasn't true, at least for him. What he thought he is, the precious life he led was in fact a lie. Up to this point, his memories are still sharp. He still had the grasp of the proper chronology of the events during his days as a volleyball champion. They had defeated Green Lizard and there are no altered things occurred except for what happened earlier, especially on Lungs.

The set started. The referee whistled. All of them in both sides of court stood. Then the ball flew across their horizon. The floor squeaked. Shoes drifted. The players ran through and fro the court. And the ball flew back and fort. The players spiked, received and ran. Tuberculosis High maintained their three-man block on their side of the net. Lungs was on the middle and there are two more beside him. The iron wall.

The scores are going steady. Crowfire points a few but Tuberculosis catches up. Lungs moved his arms quickly and blocked most of the spikes from Crowfire.

"Bring it to me!" Tom shouted from the middle of the court. Toby was raising his hands and watching for the ball to toss.

His eyes darted, ignoring the movements of the other team from the other side of the court. Parallel on his left were Tom and Thunder, both bending their knees. Then Tom jumped first.

Toby tossed the ball and took its trajectory.

The three-man block jumped, with both of their hands rising above in the air, looking at Tom.

Their eyes bulged out. Tom spiked without the ball.

Behind him Thunder appeared, raising his hand and spiked the ball with all his force.

The ball passed through the arching arms of the block and immediately shot on the ground. Few of the other team members dove down to catch the ball, but it just bounced on the floor.

Tom bounced on the floor until he landed lying. He saw from his periphery his team mates, bending their bodies and shouting very loud. They won the first set.

"This is it. One more set." he said to himself.

Coal tapped Tom's back and gave him a hand to stand. He and Brimstone gave him high fives for the win.

"Rahhhh..." a loud grizzly roar spoke out from the middle of the court. It was Lungs. Tom turned his neck on him and he suddenly felt scared.

Lungs walked towards the bench. One of his team mate, Sam Boddy ran through and grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey, Lungs. Don't feel so bad. It is not like you." Sam Boddy said while following Lungs.

Tom gulped. It is true, though Lungs may seem to look very brusk, he is a kind of gentle person. He had seen him a lot of times and both of them always had good greetings. Those things started when they knew each other, on the end of this game.

"Ahhhh..." Lungs again roared. His arm flew. His fist hit Sam Boddy's face. Sam Boddy flew in the air. His body hit the pole of the net then he slammed on the floor.

He coughed. Then blood burst out from his mouth. His arm was spreading over his head. His sight blurred, and his ears rang. He felt his skull was broken in small plates. There is nothing he could feel on his lower body. Hollow pain spread across his entire head down to this neck.

Everyone in the court was shocked and ran through him. The coach and the team mates came murmuring and whispering. Everyone from the audience look startled as they stood from their seats.

"Sam, can you hear me? How many is this?" the coach said while showing his two fingers on Sam Boddy.

Sam Boddy had his eyes open and he can still move. The blood from his head slowly drains out. It floods out on his hair down the floor.

"Three... No... Four...Five..." he uttered. His voice is hoarse. His team mates are wiping the blood on his head.

"Can an ambulance!" the coach shouted from everyone. The scorers and the other personnel ran. The tension in the court started.

The team of Crowfire crowded the other side of the net to sneak out. Coach Emberbright and Ios Android are talking to the tournament managers.

"Lungs! What's the matter with you?" the manager ran through Lungs who was now comfortably sitting on the bench. He had a steady blank look on the people in commotion that moment.

He just looked at the manager and said, "We should win against that shrimp!"

"Is that all on your mind?" the manager shouted and pointed a finger on Lungs' face. He continued, "You think you will not be expelled for what you did?"

Lungs stood. His face is still blank. He motioned his hand then grabbed the neck of the manager. He constricted his grip, until he can feel the neck muscles of the manager.

Then he hoisted the manager above the floor.

"We will play the next set." Lungs whispered on the manager. The manager's face was bloating up and his chin turned pale to violet. His hands held Lungs' hand strangling his neck. His feet flailed hard. He grunted and tried to shout but there's no voice came out from his mouth.

Lungs can feel his spinal bone. The air on the manager's respiratory tract congested as if it will burst out.

On his periphery, Lungs saw a red fire extinguisher flying towards him. It crashed on his head. Red stain sprung on his white hair. Blood immediately flood out. But he wasn't even moved. His blood ran down through his white t-shirt and on his shorts. With all his fury, he roared and threw the manager flying above the horizon.

The manager rolled on the floor until he bumped at the foot of the net pole.

"Please call an ambulance! Right now. Call the police!" the coach of Tuberculosis High shouted.

The crowd ran through all directions while shouting. Everyone is making their way through the open doors of the municipal gymnasium. The commotion got even louder.

The Tuberculosis team members are still huddling around Sam Boddy. Despite everyone making their way out, two of the team pulled his arms up and hoisted him on their napes.

Lungs walked through the other side of the court. All his team mates marked their eyes on him while slowly carrying Sam Boddy. He was going to the bench of Crowfire.

"Sam. Sam! Hey! Buddy!" one team mate pressed Sam Boddy's face and shook it lightly. Sam Boddy's head hanged on his neck. He is unconscious. The team mate held his wrist and tried to catch his pulse. He started to tremble. He darted his eyes on his team mates carrying him and on the coach. He uttered while shaking, "Sam Boddy's dead."

They quickly laid him on the floor. The thought never truly synced on their mind. The coach put his head on Sam Boddy's chest and listened. He was not breathing. The other team mates trembled. Some of them already cried.

"He's dead." the coach out of his mind said. He said, "Come, let us bring him out here."

All of them stood and started to walk. All of them don't know what to do. They just have to get outside of this place.

Another team mate came to the manager for rescue. The manager shook, his limbs twitched and his eyes squinted. His face is color violet while the sclera of his eyes is all red.

"Can you stand?" the team mate asked while kneeling before the manager.

The manager can't reply. He neither can't move his jaws nor move his neck. The pain spreads all over him, rooting from his head and on his chest. He can't breath. He felt the air passing slowly out of his lungs but nothing gets in. He felt his rib bones were crushed.

Lungs came over to Crowfire team members. Still, many people from the audience are taking their way through the gate. Crowfire's coach and club adviser are there above the audience balcony having commotion with the gymnasium personnel.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Coal walked through him as he got closer to them.

"Hey, Coal. Careful. He was out of his mind." Hammer said. He beamed his right arm on Coal's chest. He turned his back among his team mates, "On my command..."

Everyone of them nodded. Lungs was just three feet away.

"Run..."

All of them moved their feet. They spread at all directions. They ran everywhere they find a way out. Some had taken the stairs up to the balcony and some ran through the court. Some made their way out of the gymnasium.

Lungs stood on his position, tilting his body back and fort, finding someone to chase. They were everywhere, the boys wearing blue and orange, having their sharp eyes on him. Then his eyes caught Tom running from the corner of the court. He ran through him.

Tom was suddenly frozen on the corner of the court when his ears caught a clinging sound of metal up above the ceiling. The bolts of the metal frame of lights above the ceiling of the gymnasium slowly rolled down. He tilted his head up seeing the metal frames shaking in every second passed. Then the bolts broke free.

Tom stepped back. The metal frame was falling. It rocketed down while clattering in the mid-air. Then it landed on the volleyball court, from where Lungs was running. Dust swirled around the gymnasium and the wind gusted from everywhere.

The metal frames were buried on the hard cemented floor. Tom was still startled he never realized Lungs was on his front. He escaped the fall.

"It is your fault. You brought us down. And now, we lose." Lungs spoke out. Then he rose his open palm up. And swung it on Tom's face.

Tom flew and hit the wall of the court. He bounced down the ground. He pushed his body up.

"It is your fault!" Lungs once again spoke out that Tom never realized he was already on his front. He swung his leg on Tom's head. His foot crashed on Tom's cheek. Tom was slammed on the ground again. He felt his teeth were crushed. He was already gurgling blood.

"Tom. Tom. Tom. Are you alright?" it was the mixed voices of his team mates calling for his name.

"Screw you airhead." He whispered. He wiped his mouth with his hand.

As the dust settled, Tom saw from the balcony, his team mates. Along with them standing was Psyche on her high school uniform. Despite all the pain, he was surprised when he saw Psyche's face. Worry painted her face, and her eyes were bothered looking at him.

Tom saw Psyche raised her hand above her head. Then she looked at him. Psyche flung her limbs in the air, pointing over the metal bars on the ceiling.

Lungs was about to swing his feet on Tom's face. Both of them heard a loud clattering of metals right above them. Tom gazed up. The clattering and ringing of metals got louder. The roof quaked. Then the metal bars started to fall.

Tom's eyes bulged out and his chest pound heavily.

The metal bars, the lights and the bolts crashed on the floor, rolling, and crushing the concrete. They bounced over each other, and sparked everywhere.

The air swirled and the dust swept. Then someone grabbed the collar of his shirt. And pulled him up the balcony. The dust smoked out blinding the atmosphere. The loud ring of clatter lasted for few seconds. Until nothing had last.

"Let's get out of here." a voice of someone Tom heard. It was Toby. He never knew how he was transported. He just felt the air is getting hotter and is almost evenly losing his consciousness until he sensed light.

They were outside.

Tom was laid on Toby's back. All of Crowfire ran very fast along with the running crowd. All of them are shouting, and their chests were pounding very loud. Hammer pointed out an open restaurant with a glass window. Half of its wall below is concrete. Then all of them took a hunched their bodies and huddled together.

As if they knew what will happen. The municipal gymnasium exploded.

A powerful wave swept across the whole town followed by the loud burst of hot air and flames. The sound deafened them for seconds. Metal and pieces of concrete rained everywhere. The huge black smoke filled the whole atmosphere.

The nearby buildings were stoned by the debris. The glass walls and windows were cracked into shards. Many people were taken by the wave. And some were swallowed by the explosion.

The shards of glass were sprinkling above the heads of Crowfire team the moment the concrete and metal debris flew over the walls.

"What just happened?" the coach of the Tuberculosis High asked the ambulance driver while speeding the road towards the hospital.

The driver looked at the road. Huge flaming concrete debris was shooting everywhere. One molten metal bar hit the window of ambulance. It impaled the driver on the torso. The ambulance drifted along the expressway.

"What happened?" the coach asked again and looked at the driver. He screamed, "AHHHHHHH".

The ambulance swirled on the road and scrambled them inside. They bumped vehicles on the incoming heavy traffic because of a bridge construction. The vehicles flipped on the bridge and crushed. The ambulance was on full speed as it continued to swirl. It bumped the construction ground, and fell on the bay underneath.

Then it exploded. Giant smoke of fire burst above the water. Its flaming debris blasted from the water. The other vehicles crashed, and exploded, bursting out fire and sharp wave of energy.

Far from the above, the skies of whole Acerspire City were penetrated by thick gray cloud.

At that point, Tom was losing his consciousness, without noticing the danger that lies ahead before him.