章 31: The Fall

"Ah… everyone around me is useless. I see it now," Ty thought.

The heavy silence left in the wake of the fumble was interspersed by muted cheers from the subsection of Pirates fans within the bleachers.

'Keep your head up, keep your head up!' Coach Long called out to the returning offence.

Chris sat on the bench, head in his hands as he mumbled that it was his fault, over and over.

Coach Norman moved over and thumped the boy on the back. 'You'll get 'em next time. You did your best, these things happen.'

Ty sauntered out onto the field alongside the rest of the defence. It was weird. He wasn't mad, or upset. He'd accepted his situation, and with that came a calm resolve.

Even Deshaun could tell something was off with Ty as they lined up together.

'Ohh man! Didn't think we'd be seeing you two again so soon. I guess your entire offence is somehow even worse than you losers,' Patty said, grinning from ear to ear as he strutted over to Deshaun and Ty, Bastion of course in tow.

Deshaun said nothing, clenching his fists. Ty stared coldly at Patty, and Bastion couldn't take his eyes off Ty.

'What? Cat got your tongue?' Patty's eyes darted between the two CBs as he chuckled, though his voice had lost the confident edge it had held only moments before.

Things quietened down, and Patty's mouth went dry as he waited for the snap of the ball, which couldn't come soon enough.

Ty was the first to move when the QB's voice finally pierced the air. He lunged at Patty, but it was just a bait. When Patty tried to slip by the over-aggressive move—like he had done for most of the game—Ty shoved him into Deshaun, successfully knocking them both out of the equation.

He just had Bastion to worry about. Though not really. Ty's eyes were locked on the QB, he didn't even care about marking Bastion, he was going to get the ball first.

Bastion backpedalled towards the sideline, though as he saw Ty lying in wait, he tried to signal for the QB to throw it further upfield, his body beginning to twist around so he could start running to the endzone.

It was too late. The QB threw the ball out to the flat where Bastion was; he'd never seen Ty lurking in the perfect position behind Patty and Deshaun.

Ty pounced on the pass, his outstretched hands reaching the ball before Bastion's. His body crashed through Bastion's arms, and the WR couldn't wrap him up.

Ty was home free as Bastion fell down and could only watch.

Patty turned and sprinted after Ty, but quickly gave up the chase: Ty was already gone, and there was no one who could catch him.

Bastion and Patty could only watch in stunned silence as the crowd roared with every step of Ty's race to the endzone.

Bastion couldn't hear them. His whole world was distorted, as if he was sinking under water, falling ever deeper while Ty disappeared further into the darkness.

He was snapped back to the surface when Patty shook his arm.

'Bastion! Come on, man, we gotta get off the field.'

The special teams units for both the Pirates and the Dons were already coming out onto the field, while Bastion was still kneeling on the ground, staring at where Ty had been.

'S-Sorry,' Bastion weakly apologised as Patty helped him up and the two jogged over to the sideline. Bastion still couldn't wrap his head around what had just happened.

The extra point was good, and just like that, the game was tied, 10–10.

Ty wasn't satisfied. He didn't celebrate with the rest of his teammates. He stared at the scoreboard. His job was not finished; he hadn't even made up for all his mistakes that game.

Again, the Dons' kickoff was thumped into the endzone and downed for a touchback. The Pirates took over again on the 25-yard line.

'Everybody acts tough when they're up. Why ain't ya talking now?' Deshaun questioned Patty.

Patty shook his head, keeping his eyes on Ty. 'Shut the fuck up, you didn't even do shit.'

Ty said nothing, he just stared. It made Patty's skin crawl. Bastion reached out, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to keep him calm, trying to silence him.

The entirety of the Pirates' offence seemed rattled, and for the first two plays, the QB didn't even look towards Patty and Bastion.

Both the run and the pass they tried resulted in no gain.

Their usual, fast-paced, no-huddle offence on third down was slow. They still didn't huddle, but there was hesitancy behind each of the QB's actions, and what the QB did affected the entire offence.

He snapped the ball and FINALLY looked to Bastion and Patty.

Bastion was blocking Deshaun, trying to shove him into Ty's path, as Patty undercut them both and tried to get open towards the middle of the field.

Patty called for the ball, insisting it was thrown his way. Bastion and the QB locked eyes; they were treaded water, their heads slipping further under the rippling waves, each breath filling their lungs with more water than air.

Ty was barrelling down on them both; sharks circled them.

The QB flung the ball away, well over the heads of everyone in that direction, giving no one any hope of catching it.

Just like that, the Pirates' offence was walking off the field, heads hung low as they had to punt the ball back to the Dons.

As the Dons' offence headed back out onto the field for the first time since Chris's fumble, Coach Long tried to keep their spirits up.

'Forget about what happened last time! They're on the ropes. We can beat them, and our new plans will work! Just keep pushing forward.'

Chris jogged by Jay's side and tugged his sleeve. 'Hey. I won't let that happen again. Get me the ball.'

Jay smiled. 'I know, man. You don't make the same mistakes twice, don't worry. I trust you.'

Their first play was a run, a counter to the left side. The Pirates' defence had been over-eager, like they felt they needed to prove something after their last victory, and their offence's recent struggles.

Chris ripped off a huge gain, over 15 yards in one play.

The next play the Pirates focused more of their efforts on stopping the run; there were big gaps in their zone defence.

Jay picked it apart, and the Receivers knew just where to find the open spots on the field, he had his choice of targets. For the second play in a row, the Dons got a first down.

The Pirates couldn't stop them anymore, the Dons could do whatever they wanted out there, working their way down the field quickly.

They were past half field before they knew it, and Jay was looking for another pass. He was just about to throw it into a soft spot they'd been exploiting throughout the drive, when a new defender caught his attention just in the corner of his eye.

He pulled the ball down, holding it close to his chest, but got crunched in a tackle. Thankfully, he held onto the ball.

His teammates rushed over and helped him up, his linemen apologising, sounding overly worried; it wasn't every game that Jay got hit, he was usually pretty good at getting rid of it before any pressure could get to him.

He looked around as he got back onto his feet. "Where did that defender come from?" he thought. His experienced eyes scanned the field quickly; only one man had actually covered Stephen.

Before the snap, there had been two defenders lined up against him, just like there had been all game, but after the snap, one of them had peeled off and helped up in covering the rest of the field.

Jay smirked, and when Stephen came over to let him know about what they had done, the QB was already waving him away.

'Don't worry, I saw. Let's show them why that's a dumb move, big guy,' Jay said.

Stephen grinned. 'Finally, I can play the fucking game.'

The next play was the biggest gain the Dons had had all game. One-on-one, the CB who had been left against Stephen was no match for the giant, and Stephen made sure to let the defence know why it wasn't an option to leave him against just one CB like that.

There was no way for the Pirates to resist the Dons anymore. Whatever plan they went with, of either dropping more people into coverage against the whole team, doubling Stephen, or focusing on the run, Jay quickly figured out what they were up to, and went with the best option.

Whether it was on the ground with Chris, picking apart the zone with the rest of the Receivers, or letting Stephen cook in the 1v1, there was no stopping them.

It wasn't long before they got into the endzone, the brilliant drive capped off when Stephen caught the final pass above his head, one-handed, a defender draped all over him.

The Dons were finally in the lead, and the crowd was the loudest it had been all game.

Though their energy was sucked out of them a bit when the kick for the extra point missed, leaving the score 16–10.

'Yes!' No one was more thrilled about that kick missing than Patty was. 'Come on! We're still in it, we just need one more touchdown. We've still got this!'

Not even Bastion shared his enthusiasm.

The return on the following kickoff was short, only getting to the 22-yard line where the Pirates took over again.

As the Pirates' offence took the field, Patty still kept trying to inspire his teammates.

'Don't sweat, we're getting a touchdown right now, just give it here. Come on boys, don't let these fuckers think they're better than us. That shit was just a fluke!'

Again, for the first two plays of their outing, the QB refused to look Patty's way.

The two runs they tried at least got SOME yards, but not enough. They still had over 5 to go when it came to third down.

This time, the QB did actually call them into an unexpected huddle, his eyes darting around nervously. Even the coaches were confused by this, though their attempts to control the situation from the sideline were ignored.

'I-I don't think the bubble screen is gonna work, guys. M-Maybe we should try a draw play instead. Th-They won't expect it!' the jittery QB said.

'What the fuck, Kyle?' Patty exclaimed, staring down the young, freckled, ginger. 'Stop talking bullshit, just give me the ball, dammit. Trust me! We can still do this, like we've always done, okay? B and I are better than those guys, they just got lucky once or twice.'

Patty turned his attention to his best friend, everyone watching him. 'You trust me right, Bastion? Don't you ALL trust us? When have we let you guys down?' He looked around the huddle.

Bastion smiled and pushed a fist out into the middle of the huddle. 'Yeah. We've got this. Trust on three.'

Patty quickly thrust his fist out against Bastion's, and everyone else slowly followed suit.

'1, 2, 3, trust!' Patty counted them down, and everyone shouted as one. Though as their huddle broke apart, a whistle blew, and a timeout had been called. During their frantic huddle, the 45 seconds they had to start another play was going to expire, so the Pirates' coach called a timeout.

The offence awkwardly shuffled back to the sideline, expecting to get an earful.

Patty went to explain what happened when they got to the sideline, but the coach stopped him.

The older man looked around at each of his players. 'Are you alright now? Did that settle your nerves?'

The boys all nodded. A smile formed amidst the coach's thick, salt-and-pepper beard. 'Good!' He slapped a hand onto Kyle and Patty's shoulders.

'Believe in yourself, boys. Don't forget what you've practised. I know they've got us rattled right now. This half started off crazy, but we just need to take a breath, and remember everything we've been through. We've gotten through tougher times, and we've practised for moments like these. Go out there and show them you won't be beaten so easily! Show them who you are and steal the lead right back from them! Go Pirates!'

'GO PIRATES!' the players cheered, running back out onto the field, their spirits burning once more.

Bastion ran out alongside Patty, looking at his friend, grins plastered over both their faces.

"Football is so much fun," Bastion thought, all thought of the scoreboard and the specific state of the game had vanished from his mind. THIS is why he played. Nothing else mattered when he was by his best friend's side.

'Hut-hut!' Bastion rushed forward, he couldn't let his friend down. He laid a solid block on Deshaun again, even getting in Ty's way as best he could, clearing a path for Patty.

The QB zipped the ball out quickly, just as Ty was darting around Bastion and Deshaun. He wouldn't be stopped now.

Ty lunged forward, one long arm stretching out. Patty got his hands on the ball, it should've been an easy catch. Then Ty's arm shot across his shoulder and smacked the ball away.

"Was his arm always that freaking long?" Patty thought.

The Pirates had failed. It was fourth down, and they'd have to punt. That's what EVERYONE thought. Everyone except Patty.

He wouldn't give in. He blocked his teammates from returning to the sideline, his arms stretched out wide.

'No! We can't just give it back to them. We HAVE to score.' He knew this was the turning point of the game, he could feel it. If they didn't score now, they would lose this game.

The coach could feel it too, that's why he let them stay out there. This would be the turning point of the game, the outcome of this play could decide the fate of the game.

"Patrick never gives up," Bastion thought, staring at his best friend. "He's always been like that."

He thought back to when he first met Patty.

It was Bastion's freshman year. He'd just moved to town. A quiet kid whose biggest interests were D&D and comic books. He had no friends and couldn't stand up for himself. He was the perfect target for bullies.

He never fought back, but he'd run if he could, and he was running on this particular occasion. Though, unfamiliar with the school, it wasn't long before Bastion found himself in a dead end.

He thought he was done for. But that's when he met Patty.

Patty threw the first punch, no one had even seen where he came from—turns out they were right by some toilets, Bastion considered it the luckiest moment of his life that Patty had just finished taking a shit.

Of course, even Patty couldn't win a fight against three other people. But it was that courage and selflessness to jump into such harsh odds to fight for a stranger that sparked Bastion to finally make a stand of his own.

Together, the two of them were able to protect themselves and beat back their attackers, though not without earning some bruises and bloody noses of their own.

They'd never even said a word to one another, but they had fought side by side, they were brothers before they had even spoken.

'Hey! You okay?' Patty had said, offering Bastion a hand to help him up after all the violence was over.

Bastion had stared at that hand, long and hard. He eventually took it, and a lifelong bond was forged from that very moment.

In the present, Patty was once again offering Bastion his hand.

'We've got this. Together,' Patty said.

Bastion smiled and took his hand. 'Together.' The pair dapped each other up again before lining up for what felt like the most important play of their lives.

If it was the two of them, Bastion felt that they could overcome ANYTHING, even that monster currently staring them down.

Ty stood silently, watching them both. This was it. This was his moment to pull them both under and drown them for good.

'Hut-hut!' Patty rushed forward, but Ty's long arms met his chest first. He was knocked back and held away, right where Ty wanted him.

When the ball was thrown, Ty shrugged Patty aside, shirking him off to Deshaun as he leapt after his real target: Bastion.

Bastion dived forward towards the ball, he couldn't let Ty get it.

They both caught the ball at the same time, four hands wrapped all around that pig skin.

Bastion pulled as hard as he could as he fell towards the ground, but the ball wouldn't budge from Ty's grasp, it was like the ball was being sucked towards him.

Ty grinned. Just before he ripped the ball free, he saw the hope vanish from Bastion's eyes. He tore the ball away from the other boy.

Again, Patty and Bastion could do nothing as Ty bolted away.

Ty crossed through the endzone for his second touchdown. He couldn't help but laugh. It was a laugh that was completely carefree, completely genuine, but completely fuelled by the misery of his enemies.