“The Winter Wolves, from San Diego!”

That seemed ironic, Eniola thought. They called themselves the Winter Wolves in a place as sunny as San Diego.

A giddy female commentator announced at the arena roared into cheers. All five of them were standing just below the playing pit where they were instructed to wait by pushy androids. For the championships, the teams were supposed to travel around in the arena and then head to the playing seats. The current team was out there running around, while the screens showed them from all angles and displayed their stats. The commentators were discussing this new team.

“Rogue, from San Francisco!” the commentator yelled, pulling them into the action. They emerged from the dark, running excitedly down into the arena and jumping into the glowing blue hover platform that came back to them. Then a glass wall rose on it and circled them and they were sent flying around the arena. The audience erupted into cheers at their presence, and some started chanting their team name. The first time they did this, people only clapped because it was expected. Now they were being cheered for because they were Rogue.

They circled the arena, doing the best they could to entertain the crowds. The lights made the audience look like a sea of colours as they travelled higher. Eniola gripped tighter onto the bordering glass, avoiding the view of how far down they were. Suddenly her hand was uprooted from its place and wrapped in another hand. Jay gave her a small smile.

Their faces were on the screens, showing their previous plays and their stats. Some had audience reactions from people in the crowd, probably feeling the rush of this Olympic-style thing. She knew Rogue was big, but seeing it all up close made it feel so real.

“Rogue has had exactly zero all team wins, after being one member short for the season. Rogue made it to the top five in last year’s Championships but suffered the loss of a team member, Keone, a.k.a. Shadow, which disqualified them. Now they have a new team member KS, replacing Shadow, and not much is known about him. KS is a newbie player who is super fast and clever on the track and Keone’s last-minute replacement. Will he live up to the hype or fall short?”

Eniola felt her face sink into a frown. Why were they talking about them like that?

“They’ve been playing this season with only four members and it seems like they’ve been doing average, only cruising above to make it here in the first place.” They exchanged confused glances. Eniola glanced up at mediators in the floating circle and almost froze. If Eniola was right, no way was who she thought she heard was essentially slandering them.

“Rogue was a once-talented team, but can we be sure they’ll have a fast-paced and slaying competition this time?” she continued. “They were the underdogs last year, but now they might go under.”

The hover dipped down to dock in the seating area, and the glass wall sunk, letting them go out. Their seats all flashed their names and a mini-version of their disk as they approached and sat.

“That was interesting?” Jay was the first one to say. He looked utterly confused.

“Used to be the underdogs, but now under? Why did they say those things about us?” Lucia yelled, mocking them. “This is outright slander!”

“Shh,” Theo shushed, caressing her ear jewelry to calm her down.

“They think without Keone we’re useless,” Iris grumbled. “Why did they still mention him when he left us last year?”

“What are we going to do?” Eniola said. “She already said all of that, now she can’t take it back.”

“This might seem negative, but hear me out,” Theo cut in positively. “This is another chance for us to be underdogs again. We’ll prove everyone wrong. We’ll show them that Rogue is Rogue, not Keone and Rogue.”

They all quieted down as the next team was about to be announced. “ULTRA!” The mediator announced, and five guys entered the arena pit. They were all wearing cloaks, one red in the middle and the others black, and walked in unison. This gave Eniola some weird cult vibes. The audience stopped clapping, and instead gasped and talked in hush voices at the hover. They stopped in the middle once the hover reached the ground before the red one removed his robe and the others followed suit.

“Wait a minute?” Lucia started. “Is that?”

Eniola squinted at them a little harder.

In the dead centre was Keone. His brown hair grew down into a long ponytail draped down his chest. But he still looked the same. Sharp jawline, deep brown eyes, and toned frame. And when everyone saw their beloved SCOPE layer, they went wild.

A wave of shock paralyzed Eniola. Of course, he never quit SCOPE, but they hadn’t seen him since last year’s incident. His face was the only one that showed up on the screen, neglecting the 4 other members. And of course, he wore red while everyone else wore black. Classic Keone. The audience began simultaneously chanting his name instead of his team name.

“ULTRA, from Los Angeles!” the mediator practically squealed. “Shadow debuts with his new official team who have had a record-shattering first season with 120 all-team wins!” Official? The statistics flash on the screen and they are high. Super high.

“After departing from team Rogue during the last Championship, Shadow has now reclaimed his title of the best player. As the 6th official team, we expect ULTRA to take the win this year!” The commentator kept going, but Eniola tuned them out. When the next team was announced, people were still screaming his name like they were demanding him to come back. The power.

The hover rode into the team seating area, and the names above the seat popped up. Keone luckily sat farthest from them, and right next to Eniola was a big guy with purple hair who at least had to be 3 times her size. Her gaze shifted over to Keone, who was watching the next team insightfully. He looked so focused, and Eniola had to admit she enjoyed watching him when he was focused on something. It added to his alluring face which she used to enjoy staring at.

His eyebrows furrowed together and his jaw clenched. She felt her heart sped up and quickly tore her gaze away. She hated that he still had that effect on her. He must’ve noticed because his emerald green eyes met hers. It was like he was holding her in his gaze. Then it snapped away.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Eniola whispered, although she wasn’t sure to who, leaving her seat. She walked away from the seating area and down the hall where a floating sign showed a bathroom was down that hall. She turned, observing two doors in the lone hallway.

“Look at what the cat dragged in.”

Eniola froze in her tracks as a smooth and fluid voice echoed down the corridor. She turned to find the owner of the voice.

“K-Keone?” Eniola stammered. How fast was he? She was now looking up at the person who had been a teammate and unfortunately her first crush and relationship. More of a pseudo-relationship when you do a deep dive into it.

“You finally showed.” He stepped closer to her, which prompted her to step back in response. He was now towering over her which didn’t seem hard because he almost had a foot on her.

“What are you doing here?” she said, unable to come up with something snappy. “Did you follow me?”

“I saw the way you were looking at me back there. I figured you would want to talk,” he whispered, grinning. “I didn’t know that you guys watched.”

“We’re not watching,” she corrected. “We’re playing this year, and we’re going to win.”

He let out a disbelieving chuckle. “You seriously have deluded yourselves into believing that.”

“We could’ve won last year,” she countered. “If someone hadn’t left because he knew the attention would’ve had to be shared.”

A glare hardened his gaze. “You guys are nothing without me. Rogue was only good because I was there to save you guys from looking like uncoordinated fools who had access to bikes. I’m glad I left you guys.”

Eniola felt like she had been stunned. She felt a lump in her throat. “You know what? I will not take this.” She ducked past his domineering stance and prepared to rush back to the seats.

Suddenly, she was thrown back onto the wall by a firm grip. He moved forward to her, closing into the corner. Her heart picked up in nervousness.

“I never said you could leave.” Her breaths became fast and shallow. He had 11 inches of height on her and more weight. She couldn’t fight her way out if she wanted to.

“What are you doing? Leave me alone!” she yelled, trying to him. He didn’t budge. “Leave me alone!”

“We never got to finish what we had,” he admitted, sending a jolt of shivers down her spine. “This past year, I’ve missed you and being with you.”

“There is no we,” she corrected him, forcing his forceful grip from her arm. He gripped on tighter.

“Don’t test me!” he growled. “You know I don’t take no for an answer.” He forced her harder against the wall. She whimpered.

“Stop!” she yelled.

He didn’t reply, rather he began running his knuckles against the side of her face and through her hair.

He crooked his head to her and whispered into her ear, “You’re not going anywhere.” She shut her eyes and prayed that a giant hole would come and swallow her up.

“Eniola…” A voice came from the end of the hallway and seemed to stop and fade. Eniola looked past Keone and saw the familiar shape in the doorway. Jay.

“You were gone for a bit and—” he said before he trailed off into a shocked pause. “Hey. Get away from her.”

Keone stopped and turned. “Go away,” Keone said with venom in his voice. He turned back to Eniola. “So this is the new teammate?”

“He’s bothering me,” Eniola grunted out, and Keone stared hard enough to burn a hole through her.

Jay sternly walked over and in one movement unlatched Keone from Eniola and pushed him to the ground. Jay came closer, “Are you okay? Did he do anything?”

“No one asked for you to come here,” Keone interrupted. “Just go away.” He cooed, trying to touch Eniola again before his hand was suddenly slapped away. Eniola looked at Jay who had suddenly appeared. She used this as a way to escape from Keone’s grasp.

“It’s very clear she isn’t comfortable, so do everyone a favour and leave,” Jay said.

“What are you going to do about it?” Keone challenged. He straightened to his height, still falling a few inches short of Jay. It seemed like rage had encompassed his entire body, lighting him on fire. Eniola had never seen him so angry before.

In a split second, Jay’s first landed with a crack against Keone’s jaw, sending him tumbling backwards, before he hit the wall and slumped down. It looked painful. He was blinking repeatedly probably from the shock and pain. Jay stood back with his fist clenched together. Eniola stood back with her jaw hung open. It was only until a few seconds later Eniola realized her eyes were glassy.

“Touch her again and I will end you,” Jay warned in a deadly whisper, that for a split second Eniola was scared. Eniola had already moved out of the hallway walking as far as she could from the scene as she could, scratching her skin like it was infected. She emerged into a second alcove that was more secluded.

Jay suddenly appeared, and Eniola immediately wanted to run as far as she could, but something grounded her. He moved over to Eniola. “Are you okay?”

She recoiled and turned away. “I’m fine. You didn’t have to punch him out like that.”

“He was going to hurt you,” Jay responded. “I had to do something.”

Eniola turned away. She suddenly felt like she was stark naked in the air, feeling so exposed that Jay had just seen her that way with Keone. Now he knew about it. A wave of shame washed over her. Out of all people, why did it have to be Jay that saw her?

“Don’t tell a soul,” Eniola whispered. “Not Rogue, not anyone. Take this secret to the grave.”

“I won’t,” Jay mumbled, moving closer so that she could hear. “But if you want to talk-

“Talk about what?” Eniola snapped, stepping back abruptly. “There’s nothing to talk about, especially with you. Pretend it never happened, okay!”

He stood there stunned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be upset and-

“Well, I am!” Eniola shouted. “Just leave me the hell alone, please.” Eniola felt the tears pouring down her cheeks before walking back to the seat.