Fate of the Titans

As both teams ventured into their locker rooms for the half-time break, Rudy got up from his seat. Tommy followed suit, stretching. Rudy tried to go past Tommy, found the way blocked, then hurriedly shimmied by Jackson and Kenny.

He looked back. 'You idiots coming?'

Kenny didn't respond to the insulting question.

'Where?' Jackson asked.

Rudy looked at him like he was stupid. 'To the locker room.'

'Uhh…' Jackson tried to figure out if that was allowed, but Tommy pat him on the shoulder.

'That's a great idea. Go see what adjustments the coaches are gonna make and how well they think the first half went.'

They got up. Rudy wasn't waiting for them, so both boys had to run down the stairs.

'You guys want anything when you get back?' Tommy called.

Jackson looked back, shaking his head. 'No thanks, bro!'

The others didn't answer as they fell in with Coach Vasquez, who welcomed them excitedly, and lead them through to the locker room trailing the varsity team.

When the three entered the locker room, their presence didn't go unnoticed. Grant and his buddies, Daniel and Demetrius, looked over. 'The hell do you losers want?' Grant said.

The boys ignored Grant, but his comment drew Wesley's attention to them. 'Hey, I left my drink out there. One of you run and get it. Another one can get me a fresh towel.'

'Fuck off, Wesley,' Rudy muttered.

'What did you sa… ohh, Rudy.' A big, false smile spread over Wesley's face for a moment before dropping into a look of contempt. 'Why are you here? Didn't we dump your useless ass?'

Grant and his goons laughed, snickering about how Rudy's probably used to being dumped.

'Alright, lay off the kids, will ya?' Mickey said. He sat before his locker, unlacing his boots to give his aching feet some air to breathe.

'I'm sure they have their reasons for being here,' Shane said, walking over to the three outsiders. 'Let's welcome them but not lose focus on what we need to be doing.'

'Shane's right,' Coach Otsen said. 'You all have too much to be worrying about before you have any time for some extra spectators.'

Grant and the others grumbled, still side-eyeing Rudy, Kenny, and Jackson, as they came further into the room and lurked in a corner.

Coach Otsen turned his attention to the defence, his face stern enough to make a boulder blink. Coach Carson was by his side, backing him up.

'That was one of the worst performances I've seen all year from you boys,' he said.

Jackson, Kenny, and Rudy listened in closely.

'I thought we'd trained you better than that. I guess I thought wrong. That was extremely disappointing,' Coach Carson said.

'If you don't step it up in the second half, we're going to lose, and if we lose because you refuse to tackle, then I'll have you running and tackling for the rest of the year. I'll follow you all on your Christmas holidays and I'll STILL make you run and tackle.'

The defence nodded. They looked like scolded dogs as they listened to Coach Otsen's reprimands.

'I KNOW you can do better. Don't let your season end early because you didn't play as good as you could've.'

With that final message, he turned away. Coach Knight was over with the offence, his stoic gaze saying everything his words couldn't, whilst Coach Vasquez squatted in front of the Receivers.

'C'mon guys! We can do better in the second half! I want MAXIMUM catches from EVERYONE! I know you haven't shown them your all yet.'

Coach Otsen stepped over, nodding. 'You boys need to lift as well. Seventeen points is good, but you can do better. I need more urgency from our Receivers. Some of you look like you're sleepwalking out there.'

Rudy snickered. Grant shot him a filthy look. Rudy answered with a smug grin.

'That said,' Coach Otsen continued, 'the RPO has been working, so we might try more of that. Just remember that "P" stands for Pass, I need everyone to keep that in mind going forward.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Wesley nodded, sitting back, hands behind his head.

As Coach Otsen left, Grant got up and walked right up to Wesley. Daniel and Demetrius followed. Wesley's easygoing smile faded as he looked the three jackals over. 'The fuck you niggas want?'

'What do I want? Maybe I want you to throw the ball where we can catch it,' Grant said.

'Ha ha! Even if I smacked you right in your thick head, you wouldn't catch shit. Be thankful I even LOOK your way. I control how many touches you get.'

'It doesn't count as a drop when I can only get fingertips to your shit passes, retard.'

'Yeah, and how can we drop something if you never throw to us?' Daniel added.

Demetrius grunted in agreement.

Wesley stood up, not backing down from the three-on-one confrontation. 'None of you worthless asses get open. Why would I pass to that shit?'

Shane stepped in, a vice-like hand on Wesley and Grant's shoulders. 'We're all on the same team, guys. Let's keep playing and do our best to win in the second half.'

The Disney-tier pep-talk disgusted those it was aimed at, but there wasn't any arguing with Shane's crushing grip. Both sides agreed to end things there, and Shane even got them to bump fists.

The team left the locker room shortly after that, led out by Shane and the coaches. Jackson, Kenny, and Rudy came up the rear, the latter two still giggling about the way Shane had shut down Grant and Wesley. Being flies on the wall had more than paid off.

Jackson wasn't as thrilled by what he saw, and as the three returned to their seats, he voiced his concerns. 'Isn't it bad to have a Receiver and Quarterback fighting like that? Don't they need good chemistry?'

'Ehh, chemistry is different for everybody,' Rudy said. 'It depends on the players. With Grant and Wesley, they actually work better the more pissed off they are, at least with each other.'

'You telling me Grants gonna start doing stuff in the second half? That's shit,' Kenny said.

Jackson frowned at that. As much as they didn't like Grant, they were still rooting for the Titans to win.

'Yeah, just watch. After they challenge each other like that, those two start playing better.'

When they got back to their seats, Tommy was waiting for them. He asked how things went down in the locker room.

Rudy didn't answer.

Kenny said: 'Oh man, you should've seen it. Shit was hilarious.'

Tommy raised a brow, finding the answer odd.

'Uhh… it was very … informative,' Jackson said.

'Uh-huh…' The answers were strange, but as the game resumed, Tommy didn't push further.

Based on the opening drive of the second half, the Titans' defence had taken Coach Otsen's and Coach Carson's words to heart. It didn't take them long to stuff the Cardinals' attack and force them to punt.

After which, when the Titans' offence got their first chance in the second half, Wesley and Grant quickly proved Rudy correct.

The Titans broke the game open in the third quarter and took control with a 14-point lead (17–31) after scoring two touchdowns and holding the Cardinals scoreless heading into the last break.

One of those touchdowns came when Grant slipped into a large hole within the Cardinals' Zone and scored on a 23-yard reception.

The second came through the ground, with Wesley once again running in during an Option.

During the break, the boys sat back. 'What did I tell you?' Rudy said.

'What DID you guys see in that locker room?' Tommy asked.

'Ah, Wesley and Grant got into an argument. The QB and that asshole who scored that quarter,' Rudy explained. 'They always play better after fighting, then when Grant does better, so do those two hanging off him.'

'It's like Grant can see where the openings will come,' Jackson said. 'He slides right into the defence's blind-spot just as it opens.'

'Yeah, and when Wesley's pissed off at someone, he really lays into them. Those passes are fast and angry, and that's good because otherwise they wouldn't make it through those tight gaps. 'Cause Grants pissed too, he's not gonna drop it or complain no matter how hard Wesley throws it, if he did that, he'd be bitching out. Neither of those assholes wanna lose to each other, so they'll keep pushing each other.'

'They can't be that hard to catch,' Kenny said. 'They don't look that fast.'

'Trust me, they're a lot faster when you're down there on the field and they're coming right at you.'

'Yeah? And how would YOU know that?'

Frost spread across the stands again as Kenny and Rudy glared at one another.

Jackson shivered. 'C-Come on, guys. The game's starting again. And whether it's during a game, or at practice, I'm sure Rudy has a lot of experience catching Wesley's passes.'

Warmth returned as Jackson's words defused both Rudy and Kenny. As the last quarter began and focus returned to the game, Jackson wondered if Rudy and Kenny worked like Wesley and Grant, where their animosity pushed them to play better. It was such a foreign concept that went against Jackson's beliefs and everything he was taught, but this game was evidence that it worked for the right people.

The last quarter turned out to be the slowest, with only a single touchdown as the Titans cruised to a comfortable 21-point victory. (17–38.)

Since Grant could carve through the defence, it pulled some of the focus away from Shane, which led to him scoring another touchdown on a 17-yard sprint down the sideline.

The defence remained steadfast as well and continued to shut out the Cardinals through the second half.

It was a dominating performance throughout the second half, though one that was bittersweet for Rudy. The team hadn't changed without him. They were still on track for another Regional Championship. He shook his head clear. It didn't matter if the team and Grant had an outstanding performance; he didn't have to replace Grant to get back on the team and into the starting lineup.

'Didn't I say it was going to be a great game?' Tommy said, standing. 'Always is when you come watch the Arcadia Titans, no matter if it's the JV game or varsity.'

The boys stood as well, nodding and muttering their agreement.

Tommy turned to Rudy. 'Do you need a ride home?'

'Huh? Oh, no, I'm good. Thanks though.'

'Alright then, good meeting you, Rudy.' Tommy shook his hand.

'You too.' Rudy squeezed tightly.

As Kenny and Jackson left, they told Rudy they'd see him at training. However, Kenny stopped on the stairs and looked back. 'And next week you can sit back and enjoy watching us play in the championship game.'

'Bullshit.' Rudy laughed. 'If ANYONE is getting called up to varsity, it'll be me.'

'We'll see about that. When I get on varsity before you, you'll have to admit I'm the better Receiver.'

'Same goes for you, Kenny. And I'll tell you one thing right now, you'll NEVER be better than me.'

Despite the challenges, both boys had smiles on their faces. Jackson had his back to them, but he, too, wore a smile. Sure, they were all racing for a varsity spot that didn't exist at the moment, but if they were all pushing each other, they would reach farther than they could alone.

Eventually, one of them would have to get called up, and Jackson vowed that he'd be the first.