Chapter 3: 3. RIVALRY WEEKEND

Roger was ready. In the past four weeks Maxus University had played four games and won every single one of them -  4-0 against the University of Zelon, 4-1 against the University of Wenmir, 3-1 against Apec University and a resounding 6-2 victory against the University of Cyan. Maxus was on the most brilliant run a Vincball team could ask for.

 And now the team had travelled to the grounds of Regiis University, the most affluent student body in the country and Maxus' biggest rivals if they wanted to win the championship by the year's end.  The Regiis stands and seating areas for fans and onlookers were much larger than that of Maxus. And the players donned in their regal light blue and white jerseys with logos of Spartans, gladiators and coliseums, looked to be a more serious and united force than any team that they had ever played against. Especially with the way their captain. Diego Aiza,  coordinated them. Whilst Zack was the first highlighted profile when you looked up Maxus University, Diego's was the first highlighted profile when you looked up anything related to university Vincball at all: 

Name: Diego Aiza

Age: 19

Height: 5'6" (1.68m)

Weight: 160 lbs (73kg)

Background: Spanish-English

Position: Thrower

Stats: 10 Games 9 Goals

Though short and stout, Roger saw enough of his highlight reel to know he was a player who ought to be taken seriously. Diego’s taller, paler and blonder teammate, Karl Jaeger, was also another player Roger saw as a potential threat. Like Roger he was a late recruit who only come in around the fifth week, but from what he saw when him and Blunt looked up  his profile earlier that morning, it looked like he would be a problem too:

Name: Karl Jaeger

Age: 18

Height: 6'0" (1.83m)

Weight: 173 lbs (78kg)

Background: German-English

Position: Thrower

Stats: 5 Games 3 Goals

But even then, Roger was willing to take them on, desperate even. He wanted the Regiis players to feel that apprehension he felt when they thought about facing him. 

"Are we ready boys?" Maaravi asked as he rallied the team together. 

"Yeah!" shouted the starting line-up, with Roger shouting the loudest. He knew he was ready to take Regiis on. He assumed with their current hot-streak, that they would take this match in its stride and secure their fifth win in a row. His assumptions could not have been more wrong. 

The match ended in a devastatingly embarrassing six goal loss, with Diego Aiza and Karl Jaeger scoring four of those goals collectively, whilst Roger on the other hand, did next to nothing useful all game. But it was not just the loss that bothered Roger, there was a specific incident that played on his mind. 

During the match, Roger had gone on another one of his surging runs, dazzling the defence with his footwork as he side-stepped past them. At that point in the match they were down 4-0 and Roger was ready to close that deficit. But before he could even think about throwing the ball, Roger saw himself knocked over and dispossessed by none other than Karl Jaeger himself. Roger remembered the disgusted feeling he had with himself as he looked up to see the slender, smug-faced blonde leering over him. In that moment he lost all his senses and within an instant had taken Jaeger down to his level, dragging him to the ground. Roger miscalculated his attack however as when Karl fell, he accidentally smacked his face on the polished court floor as he went down. Roger's heart sank as he saw Karl’s face fit the floor. If the officials decided to count that as an illegal move he would have been finished. But he got lucky in that regard. 

Though the referee had decided to look past this, Jaeger did not. But he did not go to attack Roger back. Instead he reported back to Diego like an informant would to a police officer. Diego listened to Karl’s complaints as he stared Roger down. For some reason, this had actually worked in intimidating him. And now, even though the match was over and Regiis had dominated, Diego was still staring in Roger’s direction. Eyes full of menace. 

Roger tried to ignore him as the teams dispersed following the match's conclusion. As he left the court and returned to the dugout, Diego went out of his way to cross Zack’s path. 

“Unlucky mate.” he scoffed sardonically, intentionally barging into Zack as he walked by. “Better luck next game.”

 Karl laughed at Caleb and made immature googly faces at him as the two returned to their stands. 

“Prick.” Zack snarled as he glared at the leaving duo.

“Short-ass prick.” Jonas added. 

Roger still felt Diego's glare burning a hole through the back of his head, even long after the game had ended. There was something about it that seemed dark and sinister to him. What did it mean? He tried to stop thinking about it throughout the day, but it proved to be a way more difficult task than he had anticipated. 

Later that afternoon, Roger and Blunt walked throughout Regiis' on-campus student housing halls, their temporary place of stay for the matches they were taking up this week. The two casually talked Vincball tactics with each other as they walked through the flats and entered Rogers room, thinking nothing of it. Their casual conversation was brought to a grinding halt as they saw something on Roger's wall that had not been there before. 

Painted on the walls in still fresh blood was the number "19" in huge lettering. Not only was the sight of the blood gruesome, but the smell it emitted was even more horrible and wince-inducing. 

Roger did not know what disturbed him more. The fact there was blood dripping all over his bed, or the fact that he could tell it was not human blood. 

"Who the hell did this?" asked Blunt, his anxiety acting up and manifesting in fits of shakes. Roger instantly knew who did this. Diego's jersey number was 10 and Karl’s 9. Add them together and…

Roger felt like he might have been reading too far into it, but something told him his gut instincts were entirely correct in this situation. 

“Nah, he definitely did it.” confirmed Zack when Roger asked him at training. The starting line-up had gathered together on one of the outdoor courts in the early hours for another wind-resistance training session. But beyond some light stretching not much actual training went down, especially with the conversation topic Roger had just brought up. 

“And why the fuck would they do that?” asked Jonas. 

“Diego Aiza’s crazy bro.” stated Zack. “And Karl Jaeger isn’t any better either.”

“I don’t know man, that’s an overly-emotional reaction to getting your face hurt in a Vinc match.” said Jonas. 

“Trust me, I grew up in the same county as Diego.” said Zack. “From the stuff  I heard he was a real problem child growing up, and that’s coming from me. He did it.”

Roger thought he would feel better if he had it confirmed, but for some reason he only felt worse about the fact that his suspicions were correct. 

“Where did they even get pigs-blood from?” asked Roger, furrowing his brows. 

“How do you even know it was pigs blood?” asked Maaravi. 

“Well it most definitely wasn’t human blood.” stated Blunt. “I could collect a sample and study it to find out if that would help?”

“Yeah, cheers Blunt, that would help a lot.” said Jonas sarcastically, though from Blunts series of jittered nods, you could tell he thought he was being serious. 

"Bad enough they had to smack us 6-0. You'd think they'd be satisfied…" complained Zack. 

"So what are you going to do about it?" Jonas asked Roger. 

"Nothing. I came to this university to play Vincball, not to get into bullshit prank wars." scoffed Roger. 

"Yeah that's fine…" said Jonas "...if you want them to think you're a bitch that is."

Roger scowled at Jonas who smirked back at him maliciously. Maaravi sighed quietly out of his nose and shook his head. 

            "Let's just focus on what we came her to do." suggested Maaravi. "Come on let's train."

The other playes reluctantly listened to their captain and returned to their stretches. Afterwards they did sprints, then passing drills then shooting drills. Their training ran like clockwork until Maaravi stopped. As opposed to keeping his eye on the ball like he usually did, his eyes wandered across the outdoor court and towards the adjacent field. On that side of the field there were a group of six Regiis cheerleaders by a large container of equipment on the pavement. The cheerleaders struggled to remove a full bag of Vincball jerseys balls and score-box parts. Maaravi noticed how hard the cheerleaders found it to carry the bags of items on their own and sought to help them out. He walked away from the training drills and towards the quartet. 

"Skipping training to chase girls, are we captain?" joked Zack. "Isn't that the type of thing you criticise me for?"

"I'm just going to give  them a hand," said Maaravi. "Just continue on with the drills."

Maaravi approached the four girls by the metal equipment container with a soft smile on his nice face. The girls look pleased to see him.  

"Hi, sorry to bother you but can you help us with this?" asked one of the cheerleaders

  "That's exactly what I'm here to do." Maaravi chuckled. All the cheerleaders chuckled back, relieved for his act of kindness. The cheerleaders stepped away from the container and allowed Maaravi to try his hand at taking out the bags. 

"This really won't budge." grunted Maaravi as he struggled to pull it out. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah."

"Yeah I guess it's really stamped in there..." remarked one of the cheerleaders. The others snickered and giggled when she said this, though Maaravi could not tell why. 

"What’s so funny-". As soon as Maaravi turned around one of the cheerleaders pulled out an ink stamp and pressed it against Maaravi’s chest. His jersey was stained with "6-0" in Regiis blue ink. 

"What was that all about?" asked Maaravi, his voice shaky as if he had just experienced an immense betrayal. 

"Get him!" shouted  the cheerleaders. Upon her command, the other cheerleaders brought out their ink stamps and tackled Maaravi to the ground. Maaravi flailed around in confused shame as the cheerleaders sadistically beat him with the stamps, stamping "6-0" all over his body over and over again. Maaravi’s teammates heard the sounds of cheerleaders laughing and cheering as they stamped a helpless Maaravi. 

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Jonas. He ditched the training drill and rushed to Maaravi’s aid. Zack quickly followed him. 

"Hey, hey ladies. What's going on here?" asked Zack as he and Jonas reached the cheerleaders and Maaravi. The girls did not even look up at them once, branding Maaravi with more ink. Jonas bent over to try and pull one of the girls off of Maaravi but is stopped by one of the cheerleaders who violently throws a stamp at his face. 

"What the fuck?!" winced Jonas, squinting his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes to see six Regiis players had emerged from their hiding spots from within the bags in the metal container and were charging their way towards them. Three pin down Zack and the other four take him to the ground. Jonas tried his damndest to wriggle out of their grasp but both he and Zack were unsuccessful. With the two Maxus players forced down onto the grass the players got out ink stamps of their own, and started a campaign of branding every inch of their bodies with inky-blue “6-0's” all over. 

"What on Earth is going on?!" asked Roger as he saw the scene unfold from afar. Blunt gave him an anxious nod. Reluctantly, the two of them rushed to help out the other three. By the time they arrived at the scene however, the Regiis players and cheerleaders  had already started to make their escape. The blue-clad athletes sprinted across the field, laughing incessantly and chanting "6-0" as they did so. 

"Are you guys alright?" Blunt asked. 

"What do you think?" sighed Zack. He ran a hand through his blonde hair that had now been stained with spots of blue. 

"I think that confirms the pigs blood was them too." Roger said.

"All that confirms is that we have to fuck them up!" Jonas proclaimed boldly. "I'm not about that three strikes shit they've already crossed the line!"

"Definitely." agreed Zack. 

"So what, we should do something similar back?" asked Roger. "That doesn't seem like a smart way to spend our time."

"Yeah, I don't like the idea of doing that at all." agreed Blunt. 

"Pussies!" groaned Jonas.

"They're right. Let's not start something we can't finish.” said Maaravi.

"Fuck that!" protested Jonas. "We need to get them back. Or else they'll just do some more shit. Worse shit!"

 

"This isn't what Coach Maria meant when she said wear your results with pride." Chelsea mocked as she picked  Zack’s jersey off of the building pile of stained blue clothes within the laundry room. “At least the 6-0’s match your pretty blue eyes.”

Zack rolled his eyes at her, snatching the jersey out of her grasp. He haphazardly threw the jersey onto the dirty clothes pile and left the room. Only Roger remained in the room with Chelsea as he neatly organised the rest of his laundry by a row of grey dryers. So Chelsea decided to walk over to bother him. 

“I’m guessing all this blue ink confirms that rivalry weekend is well underway.” she said. 

“Rivalry Weekend?” asked Roger. “What the hell is rivalry weekend.”

“I think the name speaks for itself.” laughed Chelsea. 

“But Factum are our local rivals, not Regiis.”

“Yes, but Regiis are our main rivals in terms of league table. If someones winning the championship this year it's either us or them..” informed Chelsea “So you better prepare for more of these scenarios.”

“I came here to play Vincball, I don’t have the time to be dealing with all of this extra shit! None of us do!”

“Well that’s tough. It’s rivalry weekend” laughed Chelsea with a shrug. Roger felt frustrated and confused. He noticed that he always felt that way when talking to Chelsea, it was a mystery to him as to why he still could not bring himself to dislike her. 

“So then what are we supposed to do?” asked Roger.

“Not much you can do but fight back.” stated Chelsea. “But if you do fight back, play it smart though. I don’t want you getting into big trouble. Cause if you do, Coach Maria will kill you. Then she’ll kill me for letting you go astray. Then I’ll come to life and kill you again for putting all that shit on my plate.”

“Right, thanks.” snarked Roger. Chelsea smiled at him as if he were being genuine. 

Though her advice was not the most helpful it did have him thinking. Maybe Zack and Jonas were right. Maybe they did have no other choice. Maybe they should attack back. Maybe they should attack back hard. 

"Nevermind, this is a stupid fucking idea." sighed Roger, squashed in the middle of the backseats of Zack's car in between Maaravi and Blunt. Jonas sat in the passenger's seat, his head excitedly stuck out of the window like a dog as Zack zoomed his way down the motorway. 

"Can't back out now Vegunbe," said Zack. "Plus it was your plan." 

"I said we should study how other teams responded to Rivalry Weekend pranks." Roger defended. "I didn't mean we should go see it for ourselves!" 

"Well how else are we gonna see what they get up to?" asked Zack. 

"It would be nice to see some of the other universities,” Maaravi said. 

“Would be nice to fuck up some other universities.” Jonas joked. Zack laughed. 

“We’re not fucking anything up!” protested Roger. “Let’s go back before we start some shit.”

“Too late for that…” Blunt groaned as Zack's car pulled up into the entrance of the Audens University sports complex. 

The team of boys arrived at the purple and pristine Audens University, their bus pulling up to the entrance of the sports complex. They stepped off the bus and stretched their legs, taking in the sights of the university. The campus was bustling with activity, and the sound of cheering could be heard in the distance.

Roger took in the scene with a strange sense of satisfaction. For a second he forgot about Rivalry Weekend and was grateful for the fact that he was a student athlete able to visit such facilities whenever he wanted. 

Maaravi was in awe of the university, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement as he looked around at their facilities. Jonas also looked around in awe, though it was more due to thoughts of how he could mess it up somehow. 

Blunt was the most focused of the group, taking in every detail of the university's Vincball facilities. Zack was more interested in looking at the girls walking around the campus than the facilities. 

 

The team walked around the campus, taking in the sights and sounds of the university. They saw the Vincball stadium, the training facilities, and the student centre.

Finally, the tour was over, as Zack and the group stopped off at a field. Zack instructed the group to hide behind a set of bushes. Across from them as they hide in the bushes were two rugby fields of fine grass and on the other side, the university's main campus of lecture buildings. 

“You going to tell us what we’re doing here?” asked Roger. 

“In a moment, just wait and see.” Zack chuckled excitedly. 

“What exactly are we waiting to see?” asked Maaravi, a cheekily curious smile on his face.  

“My sources tell me that something interesting we need to see is going to happen here soon.”

“Sources? Since when do you have ‘sources’?” mocked Jonas. 

“Shhh. Just be quiet and watch.” Zack told them as he adjusted himself in the bush and pointed towards the field. 

Out of nowhere, a seal team of Satis players dressed from head to toe in paintball riot gear over their full team kit, wearing masks,  and holding paintball guns sprinted across the field laughing, jeering and chanting “Satis are massive, everywhere we go!” over and over again. 

“OI! GET BACK HERE!” bellowed the disgruntled voice of a middle-aged lecturer, his brown suit covered in white paint splotches as he chased down the team. He was followed by a series of other lecturers and members of staff. 

The group of Satis players were laughing and high-fiving each other as they continued their chants. Some were shooting paintball guns wildly as they looked back at the group of Audens teachers chasing after them. The teachers were angry and shouting, trying to catch up to the Satis players but they were fast, darting across the field with ease.

"What the hell are they doing?" Roger whispered.

"Terrorising the other team's lecturers," Jonas chuckled. “Rivalry Weekend might be more fun than we give it credit for. 

As the Satis players escaped the scene, Blunt watched each and every player sprint away to avoid capture from the lecturers whose suits they just ruined. Blunt eyes tracked the leader of the group who was by far the fastest, seeming to sprint ahead of the pack with ease. As he looked closer at him, he noticed tufts of blonde afroed hair poking out of the top and sides of the leaders mask . His eyes widened in realisation.  

"Wait, is that who I think it is?” he asked. 

“Who do you think it is?” asked Zack with a wry smirk. 

“Fabrice Dubois!” Joel answered. 

Name: Fabrice Dubois

Age: 18

Height: 5'11" (1.76m)

Weight: 165 lbs (75kg)

Background: French-English

Position: Sprinter

Key Trait: Blistering Pace

You are reading story Vincball at novel35.com

“No it’s not dumbass!” shouted Jonas. “Why the fuck would Fabrice Dubois be dicking about with Satis players!”

“Why don’t we ask Mr. Sources?” suggested Roger. 

Zack grinned. As if on cue, he huddled the group together once more. "You're not going to believe this, but those aren't Satis players. They're Audens players in stolen Satis kits. They're shooting their own teachers with paintballs to try and get Satis in trouble."

Maaravi shook his head in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Zack replied. "It's all part of rivalry weekend. Satis is going to retaliate soon and we have to see it."

Roger's eyes followed Fabrice Dubois as he laughed maniacally, his blonde afro peeking out from his riot mask. "I can't believe it," he said.

"Believe it," Zack said, with a grin on his face. "It’s Rivalry Weekend.”

Zack nodded and grinned at the others. Jonas bellowed with laughter and Maaravi smirked a slight touch. Blunt was not as amused, and Roger even less so. 

“Getting tired of hearing that.” Roger grunted as the group left their spot from the bushes. 

“Well get used to it, you’re going to hear a lot of it tonight.” Zack told him. 

“Tonight?” asked Roger. 

“Yeah, tonight,” said Zack. “We’re going to a Satis party.”

“A Satis party on the Audens campus during RV?” asked Maaravi. “Not your best idea.”

“I disagree capitano. We need to scout these rivalry pranks more so that we can get ideas for how we’ll get back at Regiis.”

“All you probably want to ‘scout’ is some more southern  girls.” scoffed Jonas. 

“That too.” smirked Zack. “You think it's a good idea, don’t you Blunty?” asked Zack. 

“I don’t…but I know we’re going to end up doing it anyway, so whatever.” Joel said. 

“It’s settled then.” chuckled Zack. Roger can’t do anything but roll his eyes.  

 

Later that night, the Vincball boys were given entry to an on-campus Satis party at a student house that was far away from the other on-campus houses. As they walked through the door, they were greeted by a scene of decadence and depravity that took their breath away.

The house was packed with students, all dressed in their Satis gear and masks, drinking, dancing and laughing. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of alcohol, and there were red cups and empty bottles scattered everywhere. The music was blastedso loud that the walls were vibrating. As they made their way through the party, the boys saw all sorts of hedonistic activities taking place. They saw students taking shots off a table made of ice, others snorting lines of powder off a mirror, and couples grinding on each other on a makeshift dance floor. Maaravi's eyes were wide as he took it all in.

“This is…quite the party.” Maaravi chuckled awkwardly. 

“This is how they get down in the south.” Jonas jived as he nudged Maaravi in the sides. 

“You got that right…” Zack said as he looked around with glee. “Why don’t we make ourselves at home then boys?”

“What’s this got to do with the prank war?” asked Roger. Zack and Jonas ignored him and walked over to the dancefloor. 

“Who knows, maybe we’ll find something out along the way.” Maaravi said optimistically as he followed the two. Roger looked to Blunt to gauge his opinion. He just shrugged. 

The Vincball boys delved further into the Satis party as time went on, each one with their own agenda. Zack was immediately drawn to the group of girls in the corner. Jonas was already drunk on a table, shouting and gesturing wildly to the crowd. Maaravi was observing the scene with a calm curiosity, mingling with the Satis players, trying to understand their culture and mentality. Blunt was slightly more awkward than the others, but he was still having fun, dancing and socialising with the other party-goers. Roger was in a corner, observing the party, taking notes and analysing the scene, trying to come up with ideas for the prank war but coming up short.

As the night progressed, Zack continued to charm the girls, his laughter and jokes filling the room. Jonas was still on the table, now with a bottle in his hand, leading the crowd in a raucous chant. Maaravi was deep in conversation with a group of Satis players. Blunt was now more at ease, laughing and joking with his new friends and even joining a game of beer pong. Roger was still in the corner, sitting, thinking and trying to come up with an idea for the prank war but not finding any inspiration. That was until, he saw something. 

“Blunt come here.” he whispered to Joel, gesturing at him. Blunt immediately came over. 

“What?” he asked upon arrival. Roger immediately pointed towards a room down the hall with the door cracked slightly open. In the room they catch a faint glimpse of two young men having a private discussion with each other on the bed. 

“I think that we should look over there,” said Roger. 

“Why?” asked Joel. 

“Cause I think one of those guys having that private discussion in there is the Satis captain,” said Roger, ushering Joel to come stand with him by the end of the hallway. “Nate Blakesly.”

Name: Nate Blakesly

Age: 19

Height: 5'8" (1.73m)

Weight: 150 lbs (68kg)

Background: English

Position: Alternate

Key Trait: Cool Head Under Pressure

“Oh right, I see.” Blunt agreed with a nod. “So what do you want to do? Should we go up and ask them about their prank war?”

“Nah, I think we should go closer and eavesdrop on their conversation.” said Roger as he turned back to Blunt. “That way we’ll be less conspicuous.”

“I don’t think we’ll be able to do that, Roger.”

“Why not?”

“Cause he already knows we’re about to.” said Blunt. “Either that or he decided to start staring at us at this exact moment for no reason…”

Roger looked back to see that Nate was in fact staring directly at them, his intense emerald coloured eyes somehow both dull and shining as they pierced in their direction. 

“Shit!” Roger grunted. Nate stood up from his seat on the bed, opened the door and walked out to meet them. 

“Hello,” Nate greeted with a calm and low voice as he approached the duo. Though on the shorter side, he held a commanding presence courtesy of his perfect posture and strongly structured face. 

“Hello.” Roger greeted back with a clearing of his throat. 

“You two are a part of the Maxus boys I’m assuming?”

“Correct. 

“Right.” Nate sighed. “Come along.”

Nate gestured at Roger and Blunt to follow him. Though reluctant, the two did exactly that. 

 

Roger and Blunt sat on a bed across from Satis captain, Nate Blakesly. Nate’s bedroom was a somewhat strange seeming place. The walls were adorned with posters of intense athletic motivational quote, but they were arranged in a way that seemed almost chaotic. The furniture was sparse and functional, with a single bed pushed against one wall and a small desk in the corner. The only other decoration was a large, framed photograph of him in highschool, staring out from above the bed with a fierce and determined expression. The overall effect was one of barely contained energy, as if the room was a reflection of the athlete's own intense drive and focus. Despite the eerie feeling, it was clear the room was kept clean and organised, giving the sense that Nate was in control of their surroundings. That was at least how Roger and Blunt felt as they sat across from him. 

“So the Maxus boys came down to the south during Rivalry Weekend…” Nate commented with gravitas. “Interesting…”

“Yep.” said Roger, nodding his head as he maintained eye contact with Nate, doing so as if faltering for even a second would cost him something. 

"So what brings you down to Audens?"

"We have a few questions for you," said Roger. 

"Ask away," said Nate. Joel and Roger looked at eachother, no specific questions coming to mind at first. After some contemplation Blunt put his arm on Roger's shoulder and gave him a look that said "I got this". Roger nodded, giving Blunt the floor to ask his question. 

"When playing alongside another alternate in a two-mid formation do you prefer that you both split attacking and defensive duties between each other or one of you go full attack and the other go full defence?"

"Oh…" chuckled Nate. "Well personally I like to be the alternate who goes on the attack to support the sprinters and cushion behind the thrower."

"Interesting because personally I prefer a system wherein which I’m closer to the tanks and-" 

"I thought you were going to ask him a question about the prank war or rivalry weekend!" chastised Roger. "Actual Vincball isn't as important right now!" 

"Vincball's always important!" defended Blunt. 

"You know that's not what I meant!" 

"So you want to know more about our prank war with Audens?" said Nate interjecting on their argument. 

"Yeah, Regiis Uni fucked us over and we're lookin for ideas on how to get even." Roger said. 

"I assume you saw that little fiasco the Audens players pulled.”

"We did." 

"Well, have you heard about how we're going to retaliate?" asked Nate. Both Roger and Blunt shook their heads. Nate's relaxed neutral smirk slowly morphed into a malevolent one. "I was going to wait until later, but since you're both here, I might as well let you be the first to see…"

Roger and Blunt raise an eyebrow each at Nate. Nate nodded at his other Satis teammate who was so quiet throughout their discussion, Roger and Blunt forgot he was there, startling the latter as he leapt up from the other side of the bed. The teammate bent down over to the floor to pick up a laptop. He opened the laptop, turned it on and placed it in front of Roger and Blunt. On the laptops screen was a camera feed of a student-run bar/club on campus. Most of the students within the bar were wearing Audens Universities’ Vincball teams gear, matching the fluorescent purple lighting through the establishment. 

“Pay attention to the ceiling.” Nate told them with excitement in his eyes. 

“What is that?” Blunt asked, looking at the white lumps that the camera only just about picks up, unable to get a clear shot of the full ceiling. 

“It’s our getback.” Nate chuckled menacingly. Roger and Blunt watched in confusion as Nate trailed his finger along the keyboard. He pressed the enter button then waited. 

A loud bursting of large cachet sacks blows down from the ceiling and onto the dancefloor, covering the general area in bird-shit. Soon after more cachet sacks that were placed around different areas of the bar exploded, including above the bars counter, from below the tables and from the side of the walls. Within a matter of seconds the entire bar of Audens student were screaming and stumbling, covered in bird shit. Nate maniacally laughed as he watched students throw up cry and run out of the bar in a mess. 

“What the fuck was that?!” asked Roger in disgust. 

“I told you…our getback,” said Nate casually. Roger rubbed his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real. Blunt glanced at him with a squeamish look on his face.

“Got any ideas?” asked Blunt. Roger shook his head. 

The Maxus boys, Roger, Blunt, Zack, Jonas and Maaravi, walked down the deserted street on the outskirts of campus. The party they had just attended was over, and all that was left was the bitter taste of disappointment in their mouths.

"Man, that party was brilliant," Zack said, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, it was a good time," Jonas agreed.

But Roger wasn't in the mood for small talk. He turned to Zack and Jonas, his anger palpable.

"You two don't get it, do you? We didn't do what we set out to do. We didn't even get any ideas on how to get Regiis back," he spat.

"What about Nate's prank? Didn't he show it to you guys?" Maaravi interjected.

“Yeah, he did.” Blunt sighed. 

Zack had an idea, "Maybe we should just copy them, but use dog shit instead." The others scoffed at the suggestion.

Roger shook his head, "How about we circle back to this when we get back to the car?"

Just as they were about to reach the car, a voice shouted out from the darkness ahead of them. "How about you don't?"

They turned to see a group of people approaching them from down the long road. As they got closer, they recognized Diego Aiza, Karl Jaeger, and the Regiis boys.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Roger asked, his guard up.

"Both captains told us you'd be here." Diego informed them.

"My sources are fucking snitches." Zack scoffed with a grunt.

Roger looked at each of the Regiis boys. He noticed all of the boys had their fists bunched except for Karl who hid something behind his back and wore a wicked smile on his face. 

“What the fuck is all of this?” Roger asked with a sigh. “All this just because I fouled Jaeger once? I barely hurt him!”

"You committed a dangerous foul on my teammate. You might not have hurt him badly, but you easily could have. As captain, I cannot allow that.” Diego muttered with menace. “You understand don’t you Rabelo?”

“Not exactly…” Maaravi responded with a wary voice. 

“Well that’s because you’re not exactly a good leader or a captain.” scoffed Diego. “But I am…”

Maaravi furrowed his eyebrows, irritated by the comment. As he stepped forward, Karl revealed the baseball bat hidden behind him, prompting Maaravi to track back with the others. 

“Oh no.” Blunt gulped as he hid behind Maaravi and Jonas. 

“Alright, here’s what’s gonna happen now boys.” Karl started. “You’re all going to stand there and let me beat the shit out of Roger V for a little bit and in exchange we’ll stop pranking you. Deal?”

“You can’t be serious.” laughed Zack. 

“Do you see me laughing?” 

“You Regiis boys really are off your fucking heads!” Jonas chuckled. 

“It’s a simple transaction, Maxus.” Diego said. 

"Fuck no! This isn't happening!" Roger asserted.

"It's happening whether you want it to or not." Diego responded calmly. 

Karl stepped forward, brandishing the bat. He swung at Roger's arm, but Jonas intervened and punched Karl in the face. Diego retaliated with an expert flying kick.

"What the hell?" Jonas exclaimed, reeling back from the blow.

“Getthem” Diego ordered calmly. 

The Maxus team fought fiercely, throwing punches, dodging blows, and using every ounce of strength and skill they had. But despite their best efforts, it seemed that Regiis had the upper hand. Especially with how ruthless Diego fought, able to use his martial arts to stave off both Jonas and Zacks streetfighting at the same time. This combined with Karl effortlessly winning against Roger and Maaravi and Blunt having a hard time against the remaining Regiis players, meant that the Maxus team was quickly being pushed back.

Zack saw himself kicked to the floor for the dozenth time, landing him next to Jonas who was just kicked down a moment earlier. 

“I don’t think we’re going to win this…” grunted Zack. “Scatter?”

“Scatter.” Jonas agreed reluctantly. 

“Scatter lads!” Zack shouted at Maaravi and Blunt who were being tackled to the floor and Roger who found himself in a headlock. He did not have to tell them twice. In a desperate plea, Maaravi and Blunt wriggled their way out from underneath their opponents. Roger bit down on Karl’s hand with great force until he was forced to let go.

“Shit!” exclaimed Karl, rubbing his hand as he watched Roger escape his grasp and sprint towards the rest of his team. 

With a desperate cry, they broke through the Regiis line and ran to their car. They jumped in, slamming the doors shut and revving the engine. Tires screeched as they peeled out of there, leaving the Regiis team in their dust.

“Pathetic…” Diego groaned as he watched their car reel away. 

They drove wildly, the car careening around corners and narrowly avoiding obstacles as they tried to put as much distance between them and their pursuers as possible. 

“Shit, that was close…” Zack panted as he drove. Finally, they made it to the outskirts of Audens and breathed a sigh of relief. They thought they had escaped. But their relief was short-lived as they crashed the car into the curb, the car spun out of control and hit a pole, jolting everyone inside the car.

“Ah crap!” Zack cursed as the car rocked to a standstill. 

Moments later, the Maxus boys stumbled out of the vehicle, fortunate that the car did not sustain any major damage and even more fortunate that their bodies did not either. 

“Nice fucking driving Caleb!” Jonas spat. 

“Shut up!” defended Zack. “At least we got out of there safely.”

“Barely.” panted Blunt as he looked towards the car. Zack looked at the car, looked back at Blunt then shrugged. 

“Rivalry Weekend, amirite?” chided Maaravi in an attempt to uplift the mood. It doesn’t work. 

“Play university Vincball they said.” Roger scoffed underneath his breath. “It’ll change your life, they said…”

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