“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Theodora Greyman whispered.

Dear. President Greyman,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. However, neither Kharon nor the Order Ducis will be available to serve as guards during the inaugural football game. Of course, we take the mention of the attack on you during the game’s announcement very seriously. We believe there is a credible threat that another attack will come on your chosen day. However, the other Orders will likely be a sufficient deterrent; our presence would not only be superfluous, but misleading.

Hope all is well with you,

From the Desk of Randidly Ghosthound

Theodora Greyman crumpled up the letter into a tight little ball and then changed her mind. Her assistant Douglas stood impressively still as Theodora straightened the letter and then began meticulously tearing it to pieces. It took much more effort, but the process was quite satisfying. Afterward, she sighed and shook her head, “Really, from the desk of Randidly Ghosthound? Even if he’s really back like they say, he did not write this letter. Shit, it would have been less insulting if they had just ignored the request…”

“Are we going to do something about it, ma’am?” Douglas asked neutrally.

Theodora tilted her head at Douglas. Ever since having his foot burnt off and being forced to endure the obnoxious process of growing it back, Douglas’ affability had taken a huge hit. His face was always so gaunt and serious. Even worse, his eyes were rather constantly performing the surly sideglances of a rebellious teenager. At the very least, Theodora was glad it was directed at her political opponents. But still, the man needed to relax.

Sighing, Theodora shook her head. “There’s little to do. It will strengthen the calls to remove the Order Ducis as the head Order, but I doubt it will change the opinions of the people who truly matter. Despite his… lack of recent activity, Randidly Ghosthound is not a foe that is easy to assail. Even I…”

But at that, Theodora trailed off. She had started speaking with the intention of admitting that she held a deep fear toward Randidly Ghosthound, but was that really someone who was chairperson of the World Council should admit? Especially after she had been starkly shown the limitations of Mjolnir in the attack ten days prior, it had occurred to Theodora that it would be much more reassuring to have some she could trust to protect her.

That was the sort of security they needed for the inaugural football game. Not a weapon of mass destruction that was beginning to experience slight deviations in its targeting parameters…

Yet the experiments in creating a singular avatar that is constructed the same way as Mjolnir have had… unpredictable results. Theodora pursed her lips. And although Zone 1’s military is competent, there haven’t been any real standouts in the past few years...

Theodora was snapped back from her wandering thoughts by Douglas’ curt expression. “Yes? Was there something else?”

Douglas bowed. “Mark Rowel is here to talk about the defensive arrangements for the game. He also wanted to talk about the position of the VIP box-”

A familiar headache bloomed behind Theodora Greyman’s eyes. “What is the issue? Is the Order Valorem withdrawing its offer to supply manpower to the event?”

“Quite the opposite, Madam President,” The door to Theodora’s office was pushed open and Mark Rowel strolled into the room like he owned it. After glancing at the gold pocket watch in his hand, he smiled up at Theodora with some genuine guilt, mollifying her somewhat. “Sorry for intruding, but I figured it would be easier to hear directly from my mouth.”

The current head of the Order Valorem removed his coat and offered it to Douglas. After Theodora’s nod, Douglas took the coat and removed himself from the room. Theodora sat very straight as she considered the man in front of her. “Apologies at my strong reaction. Simply put, I haven’t had much good news about the inaugural game this week. I assumed your message was similarly disappointing.”

The corner of Mark’s mouth quirked upward. “The Order Ducis still hasn’t responded? How typical. They are a leaderless-”

“Actually, they flatly denied my request. It seems they don’t find the game to be very important.” Theodora Greyman watched the interplay of emotions across Mark Rowel’s face.

His expression quickly turned stony. “It seems… Randidly Ghosthound is truly back, huh…? Well, I can assure you that his return will not stop me from pursuing what is right for Earth. The Order Ducis should give way and pass its responsibilities to us, the Order Valorem, the ones who are truly out there protecting the people. Randidly Ghosthound… is ultimately one man. What can one man do?”

What indeed? Theodora thought to herself. But she was remembering the inspiring power demonstrated by Alana Donal as she had ridden the Frost Dragon Broodmother to fight against the towering bloodbeast.

Rather than getting dragged into the man’s rather irrelevant conversation topic, Theodora instead asked, “You said quite the opposite of withdrawing your promised manpower? That certainly is a welcome thing to hear.”

The confident expression returned to Mark’s face as he nodded. “Perhaps due to our recent activities, recruitment is at an all-time high. A new batch of Knight-Errants recently finished their training and will be ready for the match. I can provide an extra two hundred capable individuals beyond what I already promised you.”

That had Theodora’s eyebrows rising upward. Basically all of her annoyance at his presumptuous entrance had dissipated. “That is… a significant help. Thank you, Mark.”

Mark Rowel’s smile widened. “But as I said… I would like to talk about the VIP suite. I believe a single exit would be… limiting to any attempt to escape, should the attack happen. With the extra manpower, I trust that covering another entrance will be no problem.”

******

Jake Tuck, Quarterback for the currently undefeated East Providence Stallions, shifted the memory crystal in his hand and projected the recorded videos contained within onto the wall of the darkened room. Immediately, blurry footage from the practice of the West Providence Vipers resolved itself.

Jake watched through the full three hours of the blurry footage, ignoring the poor angle and the weird color saturation of the videos. Most of the video had been taken from the eyes of animals controlled by a friend of Jake’s so it was impossible to avoid the low quality. Instead, Jake did his best to focus on the plays that the Vipers were running. His expression was intent on the blurry figures projected against the wall.

At points, he manipulated the footage to rewind briefly and repeat, showing the play once more. The first game of this historic revival of football was the most important one for this endeavor. In Jake Tuck’s heart, he had no doubt that people would once more fall in love with the game of football. After all, the athletes becoming stronger and faster would only increase the appeal. But because the competition was going to grow stronger, Jake had no choice but to rely on methods like this.

Because he fully intended for the East Providence Stallions to always remain undefeated. Jake Tuck wanted to become the invulnerable face of Football for the new world.

After the footage was over, Jake’s face twisted into a thoughtful look as he turned on the lights in the room. After looking at the offensive plays and defensive coverages that the Vipers ran, Jake began to make notes for his team’s next practice so they could effectively counter them without being too obvious about it.

Of course, Jake Tuck wasn’t a selfish individual; part of the reason that he was willing to cheat was that he knew that Earth would be better for having him on top of the Football world. In Jake’s mind, Football was exactly what the New Earth needed to thrive. Currently, there was a lot of division opinion about how to best raise the next generation of children. Obviously, they should improve their Stats and Skills in preparation for the day where they obtain a Class, but there were a lot of Paths to do that.

But was constant combat and violence really the best way to do that?

Of course not. Children should be raised on Football instead!

Pushing his blonde hair back out of his eyes, Jake Tuck began drawing up some plays for the big game. Once he had firmly entrenched himself as the face of football, he fully intended to throw his significant clout behind the spread of children’s programs involving sports rather than sparring.

He also thought that the many criticisms currently being thrown at sports in post-System Earth were ridiculous. People who believed that superior Stats and Skills would determine everything didn’t understand how complicated playing sports at a professional level truly was. And the people who pointed out with the System players wouldn’t be forced into retirement due to age didn’t realize how wonderful such a thing could be.

Without the crippling touch of age, the greats would remain a constant presence, older heroes mingling with their younger counterparts. The quality of play in the sport would constantly improve. Innovation in playcalling and formation would become paramount. Perhaps it will be slightly more difficult for newer arrivals to get their name out there, but Jake Tuck assumed that minor leagues would quickly emerge to solve that problem.

The lines around Jake’s eyes tightened. This was exactly why it was so important that the Stallions become dominant now-

There was a knock at the door and Jake looked up sharply. His hand snaked outward and picked up the recording crystal. He squeezed until the crystal was nothing but pulverized powder in his hand. Only when he was satisfied that the crystal was unrecognizable did Jake answer. “Come on in,”

The general manager poked his head through the door and smiled at Jake. “I knew you’d be up working. That’s my star. Just a small thing- the Order Valorem sent over some people who will be shadowing the team for the next few days before the match. Just to watch out for anything suspicious.”

Mentally cursing the timing, Jake Tuck nodded and smiled graciously. “Really? Amazing. I’m glad the Order Valorem is so proactive about protecting the fans. They are the real lifeblood of a sport.”

“One hundred percent.” Jake and the general manager shared a rather less than savory look. Then the general manager opened the door wider and revealed an older man wearing a long robe marked with the symbol of the Order Valorem. The man had short black hair greying at the temples and dark eyes.

The man extended his hand toward Jake. “I’ll be your protector. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Jake Tuck,” Jake said with false humility as he took the man’s hand. “And what’s your name?”

“Ezekiel,” The man responded simply. He didn’t smile, but Jake sneered inwardly as he saw how yellow the man’s teeth were.

You certainly don’t have the face of a star, Jake thought dismissively as he turned away and focused once more on his play book. The corner of Jake’s mouth quirked upward. That day… that first day… everything needed to be perfect. He refused to leave anything up to chance.