Supa Strikas

Match Day

~Shakes POV~

The next few days went by smoothly. The training went on perfectly to the extent we knew what each one of us was thinking at any given point in the practice match. That was Esperanza's logo:

"Don't do it till you get it right, do it until you can't get it wrong anymore."

Then came the day of the Match, and everybody was seriously nervous.

"C'mon guys, it's nothing to be worried about! It's just a match against Iron Tank, like the rest of the matches we had earlier! Piece of cake... right?" I say, trying to cheer everyone up.

The guys don't seem much happy about it- especially because this is a match without Coach to help us out. All we have is Esperanza- and she is nowhere to be seen right now either. We haven't seen her all morning. In fact, she hadn't come to Strikaland at all today.

That is extremely scary and making us panic.

"Captain, we still have 15 minutes before the game. Where do you think she is?"

"I don't know man. But I hope she's okay."

"WHAT IF SHE GOT CAPTURED BY ZE IRON TANK?", exclaimed Klaus.

~Tiger POV~

"Now that I think about it- she could get captured, to distract us from our game. This could be a sabotage-" I start to say, but I cut off by the door to our lockers suddenly opening, and we can't believe who it is.

IT'S ESPERANZA COVERED IN BLOOD AND BRUISES!

Her hair was in a messy braid and her eyes were a bit puffy, with dark circles under them, indicating she didn't have a good night's rest.

We all immediately rush to her, and Shakes grabs a First Aid Kit. He starts tending to her bruises.

"What happened to ya, man?" Captain asks the question in everybody's minds.

"D-Don't worry ab-bout me Captain. All you have to do is win the game. Focus on winning only, it's just a minor bruise." she says, a bit shaken. No doubt from the bruises.

"A MINOR BRUISE?!" (Shakes)

"You're bleeding from almost everywhere. You have cuts on your arms, legs, your lip is swelling a bit and there's a few cuts on your neck too. AND YOU'RE TELLING US TO STAY CALM?" This time it's me.

"Well..." She's obviously uncomfortable and something's bothering her.

"C'mon Esperanza, please. You can trust us."

 Another round of please and c'mon was fired until she gave in.

"Okay okay jeez! Fine, I'll tell you. Those Iron Tank guys abducted me from my house last night. They thought I'd give up all the strategies easily out of fear or whatever. But I wasn't gonna wait around for my Prince Charming. So, I tried to escape. Got caught a few times, reckon they were getting tired and that Uber guy forced me into the torture chamber for half an hour too. But I managed to get out safely and unscathed- well, a bit bruised, but I'm fine."

Shakes just plastered her up really angrily. Something tells me a speech is brewing.

"Listen up guys, now, we really need to win this game. Since those cheating, foul, criminal bastards- I- I mean, those bozos have tried to mess up our game, now there's no probability. WE NEED TO WIN. Not just for ourselves, but for Esperanza too. So, WHO'S WITH ME?" Shakes said.

See, told you so. He's always so impulsive. But I have to agree with him on this one.

YES SHAKES/GO SHAKES/AYE AYE CAPTAIN SHAKES/WE'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU SHAKES MAN.