Strike

Chapter 15

Carlos could officially add Tourney to the list of things he was absolutely horrible at. The game required every skill Carlos did not have: strength, agility, and being big enough to knock other people down. In other words, Jay was amazing at it.

As soon as he stepped foot on the field, Carlos knew it would be a bad experience. Actually, it was when he couldn't find any padding that would actually fit him. Tourney wasn't made for people with his physique.

One of the first problems he ran into was no one had bothered to tell him how the game worked or what he was supposed to do. He was simply handed a helmet and some stick and was pushed onto the field. Carlos vaguely heard the P.E. teacher (who he also managed to find out was the Tourney coach) blowing a whistle, but he was too busy trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing.

"Hey! Hey! Hey, you! Lost boy!" Carlos heard someone call.

He turned his head to see that the teacher was in fact calling him.

"Put your helmet on and get out of the kill zone!"

"Kill zone?" Carlos wondered under his breath. Looking down he noticed a strip of the field painted with red and white arrows. How did this sport even work?

"Come on, pick it up! Put it on! Use two hands!" Coach called after him. He blew his whistle once more and just like that, the game started.

Now Carlos would like to think that he remembered his first athletic experience outside the Isle, but if he was being completely honest it was all a blur. It mostly involved Carlos on the ground and his life flashing before his eyes. He was too worried about being trampled to actually figure out how the game worked. It's one thing to be scared of bigger, stronger guys running towards you at top speed and Jay running towards you at top speed.

The game was going fine; Carlos managed to avoid any actual contact with any other players, until he noticed Jay playing on the opposite side of the field. He was knocking down players as if they were flies. Carlos knew for a fact that Jay lived for adrenaline and as soon as he started going it only escalated. So every time he knocked someone down, the next one was down even faster and harder.

Carlos watched as Jay ran through the 'kill zone', dodging every obstacle and canon launched at him. It wasn't hard to be impressed by Jay's skills. Everything he tried he was good at.

Then Carlos realized he was the only thing standing between Jay and the net.

So, he did the only rational thing possible. First he shouted at Jay to try to get him to stop and not trample him to death, then he through his tourney stick (was that what it was called? He really needed to learn the rules to Tourney, maybe then he'd figure out what the equipment was called) at him as a last source of defense, and finally he collapsed to the ground and hid under his shield. It sounds just plain embarrassing, but in his defense, Jay jumped off his shield to score so if he wasn't protecting himself, Carlos could have easily been injured.

Carlos just laid there for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. That could have been one of the scariest moments of his life, if his mother wasn't Cruella de Vil. Slowly sitting up he turned his head to see where Jay was and if he succeeded in making the goal. If his victory dance in the end zone was anything to go by, Carlos figured he did.

The whistle blew again and Carlos heard Coach yell to Jay,

"You! Get over here!"

Jay jogged over as Ben offered his hand to help Carlos up.

"You okay?" He asked sincerely.

Carlos was hesitant to take his hand, but once realizing Ben was truly trying to help him he took it and said, "I'm alive so, yeah."