Chapter 1178 Blink and you Could Miss it
Gareth and Burgandy vs Carl and Blue with Marigold on the side
Current Match Score 2-2
Gareth POV chapter.
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Dun-Dun
Gareth stared down at Blue and Carl. Burgandy was hidden in the back as she got ready to serve. Blue was spinning the water wall much faster now, Gareth was assuming it was to help prevent balls getting pushed through the water but he couldn't be sure. Carl was bouncing on his feet, trying to keep himself limber. His eyes were scanning the water, though the increased speed meant more foam and limited his visibility somewhat.
Dun-Dun-Boom
Burgandy twisted the ball around in her hands. Part of her wanted to pass the ball back to Gareth. Let him take the final serve. He'd done well enough last time, and it was clear he knew how to hit a target. Yet Burgandy's pride wouldn't allow it. The shot should be easy. Just an easy lob towards a massive amount of water. No problem. Easy peasy. So why was she sweating?
Dun-Boom-Dun-Boom-Boom
*Just gotta kick the ball hard enough through the water to win this. Carl needs to be distracted somehow as well… so maybe I should try dropping a rock into the water right as Burgandy goes for the stomp? That could confuse Carl somewhat… and with the water foaming up a bit more it might be tough to differentiate them… Hmm… not sure how I'd get a good sphere for it? You'd either take time or use the enchantment on one of the shirts. One of the shirts I DON'T HAVE.*
Crash-Boom-Dun-Boom-Crash.
"Ok Thyme… I know you're a little eccentric but seriously what's with the music? It's a little distracting," asked Blue.
Suddenly there was the sound of a scratching record and the music on the background faded as Thyme pouted. It was worth noting that the large box Thyme was using to spit out tunes didn't HAVE a record player attachment, and it was entirely possible Thyme didn't know what a record was. So the Thyme still played that particular sound when the song could off was very strange. Unless that was just what sound the music player made when being forcefully shut off of course. Though that would just raise other questions.
Thyme glared at Blue with both bodies and huffed, looking away for a few seconds… as they summoned a third body next to Burgandy so that she could watch the show, complete with their own enchanted music player. Burgandy just rolled her eyes. "Well, you see Blue. Considering this is the first close match of the tournament, I thought the music would make it a bit more fun. Alas, seeing as you're anti-fun I'll just pack everything up and we can all sit in silence and listen to the waves," said Thyme.
Blue let out a light groan and said, "Look, if the music means that much to you we can keep it. It's not THAT distracting, certainly not compared to the sounds of battle… I'm just used to those sounds. Music isn't really my thing, so… just do whatever,"
Thyme shook their heads, "Nope. I can't be seen as interfering with the competition so if the music really is a distraction, I have to turn it off. Even if it's technically affecting you all evenly right now, Marigold is off to the side. Which means I'm not effecting all the matches evenly. If that makes sense,"
"Wait seriously?" asked Blue. Thyme nodded. "Can I take back my complaints?" Thyme shrugged. "Well is that a yes or a no?"
The Thyme's made a 'so-so' gesture as they spoke. "Sort of? The problem is I can't be sure you're telling the truth and it at least seems like you're asking for the music back because other people like it. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it hard for me to justify turning it back on,"
"What if… you put the music player next to me and I turn it back on?" asked Blue.
Thyme thought for a moment, "I could probably justify it if I gave each of you a music player to turn on or off. Though they'd all be connected. So if one was off they all would be…"
Burgandy decided to cut in, "Look, can we just play? I was nervous enough getting ready to serve, and now we're talking about things that don't really matter. I want to get this point done so I can relax somewhat and hopefully get Blue on my team next match,"
"Right, well, Burgandy has spoken so get ready for the final point everyone!" announced Thyme. The third copy of them disappearing. Burgandy nodded at the spot Thyme just was, as she spun the ball in her hands a few times before breathing out. Eyes locked ahead of her at nothing.
Burgandy got ready, and then she served. Despite her slightly shaking hands and sweat covered palms, the serve was fine, if a bit low. She hopped back onto the stone in time, and then the rally began. Blue was sending the ball out quicker then ever before, though this was offset by not sending it quite so far to the edges. Gareth and Burgandy danced at the edge of the stone to kick the ball back into the water over and over again.
Things were not looking promising for them. The increased spin on the water was killing the downward momentum of the ball, making the challenge of finding the right moment harder mostly by virtue of the fact neither Gareth nor Burgandy were sure it could be found anymore. As Gareth was kicking the ball back into the water again and again, he was also trying to think up a good plan.
*Shit. I didn't think a bit of extra speed on the spin would make this so much harder. What can we do to push through the water? Just stomping down as hard as we can probably isn't enough anymore… but I don't know what else we can do. The only thing I can think of is a silly idea to use Burgandy as a bat. With a good swing and a good kick from her it MIGHT be possible…
But we'd definitely lose before it worked out right? We'd need time for me to pick Burgandy up. Time for me to run to the ball. Time for Burgandy to get used to everything. I'd need to warn her about it beforehand, which would also warn Blue and Carl… probably? The water isn't exactly quiet but I doubt it's loud enough to stop us from being heard… right?
No that's now something we can really rely on. It's not like they're actually underwater, they're just under water. Hmmm… could I instead throw bad puns out at them? Try to get them to laugh? Hmmm… hmm… as dumb as that idea is… it's also probably better then using Burgandy as a bat. Though there is the potential for collateral damage.
I wish I knew what Burgandy found funny. I need to stay away from that. I'd try to rely on what I know of Green's sense of humour and hope it was shared amongst fae… except once again, that's just as likely to work on Burgandy as it is on Blue. Shit. Ok… so what sort of jokes do I make? It's not like I consider myself a particularly funny person.*
While Gareth was thinking funny thoughts Burgandy was similarly raking her brains for the answers to their problems. Sadly, she was having less success then Gareth's out of the box thinking. Burgandy would come up with half a dozen bad plans, and then discard them all out of hand for being generally bad, or because they were actually impossible. She did actually come up with a similar idea of using her teammate as a paddle, but she discarded it quickly for many of the same reasons Gareth had.
So the rally carried on. Plans were made and thrown out… mostly just by Burgandy and Gareth. Blue focused on keeping the speed up, and the water loss down, while Carl did his best to stay focused on the ball. Always keeping it in sight to make sure that he wouldn't be responsible for losing the final round. He wasn't too stressed about it. He'd lost a point, and Blue had lost a point in turn. He'd keep his head held high regardless of what happened… but winning was the goal. Especially with Blue on his team.
In the end, a small slip-up was what galvanized everyone into action. If it could even be called as such. After such an extended rally, it wasn't anything to be ashamed of. What happened was… Carl sneezed. Just as the ball came flying out of the water and Burgandy took the chance. She jumped out and smashed down as fast as she could using all of her strength to break through the water.
Gareth was moving for her, ready to pull her up but alas, it was not to be. The ball didn't shoot out the bottom, it came bouncing back quickly and was launched towards Gareth's side of the platform. Gareth killed his sprint and turned around… much too slowly. The ball dropped gracefully out of the water and towards the stone platform. Gareth pushed as much mana as he could into lowering the entire structure… but he wasn't a mage. It wasn't fast enough. The ball hit the stone. Blue and Carl were the winners.
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