The Academy: Book 2 (32 page)

The wind howled and the snow was falling sidewise. Asa’s hands were numb as he undid his safety belt and stood up.

On the other side of the water, the Armadillos began to chant, “What do we want? DEATH! What do we want? DEATH! DEATH, DEATH, DEATH!”

The crowd loved it and some even began to chime in.

“You’re going to do great,” Asa said to Jen.

She actually looked nervous for once. She tried to hide it, and to make a joke out of it, saying confidently, “I know.”

“Game one of the Armadillos, Sharks match will commence in ten, nine, eight…” the announcer’s voice said through the speakers

Asa happened to glance over to the base of Fishie Mountain and see that smoke was billowing out of Conway’s chimney. He scanned the bleachers, and his mentor was nowhere in sight.
Of course he hadn’t come.

“One. GO!”

The screaming of the crowd reached a crescendo. Seventeen players leapt off the Sharks’ platform, and expanded their wings out beside them. Fifteen of those players zoomed low over the water, while Bruce and Janice made a straight line for the Plaid. Gaining hold of the elevated platform would allow them a great vantage point from which to shoot down Armadillos. Asa, Roxanne, and Boom Boom all stayed atop the Starting Platform, waiting until the Armadillos made it closer to the goal. Their plan was that they would then swoop down, using the altitude to gain speed, and try to collide with players, sending them into the water.

The Armadillos also sent their Goo Shooters directly for the Plaid at the beginning of the match. But, just as Bruce had anticipated, they were playing a mostly defensive game. All seventeen other eligible players remained on the Starting Platform across the water, waiting for the chance to swoop down and take out the Sharks.

They’re not attacking at all,
Asa thought excitedly,
if we are able to get five players to score, that’ll be the entire match! We’ll start with a record of one win and zero losses.
In an eight game season, each win was crucial.

Asa’s attacking teammates were still gaining speed, and Stan, who was moving fastest, was almost underneath the shadow of the Plaid.

Asa, Roxanne, and Mike Plode (Boom Boom) were standing at the edge of the Starting Platform with their wings out, watching in anticipation. Also on the platform with them were the five Fishies who were the weakest flyers, and had been benched.

The Armadillos Goo Shooters were fast, and appeared as though they would all three reach the Plaid before either
Jannice or Bruce. Their fastest was a red-headed male, who had a notably long and slender body. His wavy red hair was shoulder length and held back in a tight ponytail.

Just before reaching the Plaid, this player unexpectedly contracted his wings into his shoulders and began to free-fall. While falling towards the water, he shot all six of his bullets at long range towards Bruce and Janice. Given the movement of the redheaded player, Bruce and Janice’s movement, the distance that separated them, and the relative inaccuracy of the Goo guns, wasting all six bullets in a plan like that was not a smart idea. However, it worked. One of the green balls of goo stuck to Bruce’s neck, sent electricity through his body, and he began to seize in mid air. His wings froze, and Bruce Thurman fell to the steaming water where he made an enormous splash.

After seeing that his shot had hit its mark, this redheaded player dropped his now empty Goo gun, expanded his wings, and flew down over the attacking Sharks. Though he might not have been faster than Stan, he was descending from a higher altitude and had a head start on him. The redheaded player fell at a screaming speed, caught up with Stan, and shoved him into the water below.

Stan was the Sharks’ best attacker.

Stan was moving so fast that instead of plunging beneath the water’s surface, he skipped like a stone off the surface of the water before finally plunging beneath the Moat.

Upon seeing this, Roxanne cursed beside Asa. The match had just begun, and already the Sharks were at a deficit. They had lost their best Goo Shooter, and their best attacker, while the Armadillos remained intact.

After pushing Stan into the water, the redheaded Armadillo player’s momentum was slowed down. Seeing this, Viola Burns of the Sharks sped towards him and attempted to shove him into the water before he could take out more players. She dove straight towards his outstretched wings, and just as she was about to make contact with him, the redheaded player contracted his wings into his back. Viola flew passed him, into the water and the redhead expanded his wings out again.

For the second time, Roxanne cursed.

Meanwhile, all of the remaining in-game Armadillos left their own Starting Platform. The thirteen remaining attacking Sharks had to get passed seventeen Armadillos that were flying down from the Starting platform in addition to the redhead.

As they neared the Armadillos goals, the redheaded Goo Shooter slowed down so that he was level with the Sharks weakest flyers, the Fishies. He tore Jen into the water by her ankle and then flew after others.

As the Armadillo defenders made contact with the Sharks, the impacts were astounding. Bodies flew in every imaginable direction—after initial contact was made, people were flying towards the goals, away from them, and straight into the air. Most, however, fell straight into the water.

A series of splashes and flapping w
ings temporarily blocked Asa’s view from the action. When the water calmed, all the grappling students had fallen into the water, Asa took a count of what had happened.

The redheaded Goo Shooter had finally been brought into the water, where he waded, watching the remaining match. Surrounding him were three other Sharks, which indicated that he had taken them into the water with him.

Dispersed around these students, bobbing up and down in the Moat’s waves, were other Sharks and Armadillos. The attack had not gone as successfully as Asa would have hoped; all of the attacking Sharks but one had been dragged into the water.

The remaining attacking Shark was, miraculously, a Fishie named Alice Coleman. She was by no means the best flyer on the Sharks, but in the midst of the initial clash, no Armadillo had pursued her. Now, she pumped her wings furiously towards one of the goals as six Armadillos were working hard to change direction and come after her. She sailed through the goal and then was easily shoved into the water by the pursuing pack.

The Sharks had scored one point.

A quick scan of the field revealed that eight Armadillos were still in play, as well as four Sharks (Boom
Boom, Roxanne, Asa, and Janice—the Goo Shooter).

On the Plaid, Janice had managed to take out on
e of the Armadillo players by shooting her in her chest. She fell seizing to the water. But, in the process, Janice used all six of her bullets. The remaining Armadillo Goo Shooter approached her, shot Janice, and then kicked her writhing body off the Plaid so that it also fell to the water far below.

The Sharks had the technical lead in the game, as they were winning one point to zero points, but the Armadillos had far more players still in
play. There were seven of them now and there were only three Sharks to defend the goals, including Asa.

“It’s time,” Roxanne said, and she leapt off the Starting Platform. Boom
Boom and Asa quickly followed her and soon they were all three whistling through the air, towards the approaching Armadillos.

As Asa gained speed, he reflected on the fact that he had grown accustomed to the sensation of his stomach churning as he jumped off of incredibly large platforms. It hardly bothered him anymore.

Roxanne was much faster than both Asa and Boom Boom, and she quickly outpaced them over the water. From above, the remaining Armadillo Goo Shooter was using her last three bullets in an attempt to take out one of the final three Sharks. The strong wind caught the balls of goo, however, and the projectiles widely missed their marks. Two of the remaining bullets fell to the water. The last of these bullets was blown into one of the Goo Shooter’s fellow Armadillos, who fell to the water, but not before running into another student and taking him with her.

Asa couldn’t believe their luck.

There were now five Armadillos and three Sharks in play.

With the incoming snow and the speed that Asa was traveling, he had to squint in order to see. He welcomed the hot steam rising from the Moat as it hit his face. He looked up at the four oncoming Armadillos.

The Armadillos were traveling much slower than Boom Boom, Roxanne, and Asa were, because they had used up all their speed in falling from the Starting platform in initially defending; they were now having to flap their wings to power their flight, whereas the Sharks were still gliding

At Asa’s speed, the water below him looked as hard as a uniform diamond, and he feared making contact with it. More than that, he did not want to collide heavily with the oncoming Armadillos.
I have something to prove, though. I need these people to trust me. Gene Gill’s letter said that I would have to rely on my teammates, and they’ll have to rely on me in order for us to survive in this semester’s lethal Task.

He gritted his teeth, put his head down, and flew right towards the closest Armadillo.

Asa couldn’t see, but he heard a fluttering, whipping noise as Boom Boom and Roxanne made contact with other opponents.

Asa was charging right for a large, blond male Armadillo. He acted as though he was aiming for the wings, but at the last moment, Asa lowered his shoulder and rammed into the Armadillo’s chest. The blonde’s eyes widened almost comically as Asa suddenly changed direction. He heard and felt the opponent’s ribs break, and the wind whistle out of his mouth. The blond player had the awareness to grip onto Asa, and they both went flying into the warm water.

When Asa resurfaced, he saw that Boom Boom had been knocked into the water after submerging a single Armadillo, just as Asa had. Roxanne, on the other hand, had shoved a redheaded female into the surface and was still flying. She was the last player on the Shark’s team, while Armadillos had two remaining.

The two remaining Armadillos
players were the Goo Shooter, a female with long, flailing black braids, and a heavy set male with a military style haircut. This male had a short nose that made him resemble a pig.

While Asa, Boom
Boom, and Roxanne had been colliding with Armadillo players on the offensive, the remaining Armadillo Goo Shooter had leapt off of the Plaid and flown through one of the Shark’s goals to score. Now, she had turned around and was heading for a second goal. It appeared as though she would zig zag through the remaining goals, which were each twenty yards apart, until she had flown through all five of them, or she was brought to the water.

The male Armadillo was flying towards the goals as well, and Roxanne was moving quickly behind him, gaining on him.

Asa watched from the water. Beside him, the Armadillo that he had collided with was floating on his back, moaning, and clutching his ribs. Asa wasn’t too concerned with this. Bones were often broken in Winggame. Because of the mutations that all students underwent, their bones healed quickly. Asa suspected that the student he had injured would take the field in the next game.

The Armadillo Goo Shooter flew through the second goal. The Sharks were now officially losing.

Roxanne was flying at an incredible pace. Asa had seen other students fly faster than her, but he didn’t believe that he had ever witnessed such powerful strokes of a student’s wings. She caught up with the Armadillo with the military cut, grabbed his foot and tugged.

Had the Armadillo left his wings expanded, they would have unevenly filled with air from behind, causing him to spin uncontrollably. However, he had the frame of mind to contract his wings into his back when he felt Roxanne tug on him. This wasn’t a natural instinct for most players, and Asa suspected that the Armadillos had been taught this in practice.

This brought the Armadillo even with Roxanne’s torso. He was much larger than her, and as he grasped her wings, Roxanne dropped drastically. She ripped at his arms, got her wings free, and then the Armadillo was on her neck. Roxanne reared up, trying to stay out of the water, and the Armadillo flailed like a rag-doll.

Back at the goal posts, the Goo Shooter had scored her third goal.

Asa’s team captain grappled with her opponent and they tumbled through the air, each trying to wrestle the other into the water. Then, something that Asa could not explain happened. Roxanne’s fist shot forward with a speed that Asa would have thought was impossible. He had seen Multipliers and extremely strong graduates punch before. Many of the mutated people in the Academy could get a strong amount of force behind a blow.