Aaron Collins' EndG8 Part 4: Whirlybugs In Rio

by Psychoflop

In this alternate history, A Canada Vs. U.S.A. whirlyball tournament is staged in Brazil to bring the sport of Whirlyball to South America

EndG8

Part 4: Whirlybugs in Rio

Chapter 1: Destiny in a Whirlwind (Days spent in Aaronworld: -5439)

Song to put on: Jimi Hendrix – The Wind Cries Mary

"What in the blue hell was that?"

It was a question commonly asked by Marita Holm whenever she was on an airplane. This was however, the longest flight that she had ever been on (she took off from Oslo shortly after getting drunk at a city-wide party celebrating 50 years as the 52nd state in the United States of America and was now flying over the Atlantic Ocean, heading for Rio De Janeiro, Brazil). But returning to the question at hand, her plane was a private one, so there were no passengers ready to assure her that whatever woke her wouldn't lead to a crash (or at least an emergency landing). She sat up in her seat (having been sleeping across a row of 5 that she personally lowered the backs of, in order to make a bed) and hit the button over her head with the drawing of the stick figure man on it. It was as good a constant across the multiverse as any, one would guess. But Mary was shocked from half-asleep to fully awake at the sight of what came to her side: An automated multitasking yeoman (Or A.M.Y. for short which was written on this machine's left cheek). She had long, flowing auburn hair (which Mary guessed MIGHT have been human, maybe cloned) and was made up to resemble the stewards and stewardesses of the Pan Am flights of the 1960's)

"Good evening to you, Mary Holm. Or would you rather I call you Marita? Both of those names are on file for some reason."

A series of lights shot out of the A.M.Y.'s eyes, forming a holographic display in front of Mary's face of the aforementioned "file" to which it was referring. She went by Mary on her Princeton-Oslo University ID, but her State of Norway driver's license had the name Marita, hence the A.M.Y's confusion.

"Mary would be fine, thank you" she eventually replied. She was still surprised to see that she was the only human being in the cabin.

"How may I be of assistance to you?" the A.M.Y. asked.

"Coffee, please. Dark Roast Blend and Black with 1/6th of the cup being 5 degree Celsius water. The hottest that you are programmed to make the coffee will be just fine."

Mary distinctly heard an automated pot turn on and begin the necessary preparations.

"Will there be anything else at the moment?" the A.M.Y.

"Yes, please. A local time check, the estimated time of landing in Rio de Janeiro and the nearest English language 16K HDTV broadcast pertaining to the Whirlyball Summit in Rio that I will be representing the United States in. Precisely in that order"

"Certainly. The local time is 2:17am as you are so far into the Atlantic Ocean that the State of the Bermuda Islands is the nearest land in relation to this plane and is still at least 2 hours away. Your estimated time of arrival is 5 hours, 13 minutes and please wait while I scan for nearby English news channels."

The A.M.Y. rolled its' eyes into the back of its' head (to which Mary surmised was its' "Search mode"), she stood up (wearing a Black hooded sweatshirt with all 101 Dalmatians scattered across it from the Disney movie and acid-washed Blue Jeans) and walked around the cabin in an effort to stretch her legs. She was slightly perturbed at the lack of noise inside the plane, she continued walking towards the cockpit, and still heard no human noise of any kind (other than her own feet and breathing). When she opened the door, there were no pilots in the cockpit, at all.

"The entire plane is automated" she whispered.

"Miss Holm, PLEASE close that door." shouted the A.M.Y.

"Apologies, but I'm used to..." started Mary.

"...Humans working on the plane?" finished the A.M.Y. Mary nodded as she closed the door.

"It's OK, but please be careful. You are very high priority in the world at the moment." the A.M.Y. continued as it began projecting a broadcast from what Mary guessed was the state of Puerto Rico. It showed an aerial view of Oslo as a version of Edvard Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King" playing very softly in the background. An English, baritone voice began speaking (which Mary briefly thought reminded her of an actor with a penchant for scarves):

"Oslo, the most northerly state capital in the United States of America. Home to Fjords, Black Metal and arguably the top Right Defender in the world of Whirlyball."

The broadcast then cut to Mary from a few weeks ago, walking along the streets of Oslo, carrying a black, leather doctor's bag and smiling nervously at the camera crew. It's quite clear that she's surprised (and uncomfortable) to be interviewed by anyone. Mary then listens to her past self speak:

"I was thrilled when they announced that a Canada vs. U.S.A. whirlyball summit tournament was going to be held in Brazil in an effort to bring the game to South America. But when both President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Mulcair agreed that each team was required to have 1 player from outside of the continental North America in the starting lineup, I had NO idea that it would be me who would be the outsider. Oslo has exactly ONE whirlyball facility with 4 courts and our "league" is basically a house league for the whole state. With all due love to my state of Norway, we're really just an outpost when it comes to Whirlyball. But I lead our league in both clean side impact collisions and assists, which apparently caught Coach Dotson's attention."

The broadcast cuts to a beautiful blonde woman sitting on a deep-stained oak barstool wearing a Team USA jersey and black dress pants in what could best be described as her backyard on a sunny day somewhere in Southern California. The graphic under her reads: "Laura Dotson, Team USA defensive co-ordinator" in simple black with white letters.

"She's a phenom. On every whirlyball team, there's always one defender who runs point between the other defender and the 3 forwards. Generally speaking, it would be the left defender that I would have in this role but Mary plays the right better than the left and I wanted to break with tradition. She's lead the North Oslo Storm to 3 straight championships so, outsider or not, I'm confident that she'll pay the lady."

Mary giggled slightly nervously as the broadcast shifted its' attention back to herself. She's finishing arm stretches and sits down on a large, flat section of green grass 5-10 metres away from a brick wall. She opens the doctor's bag, taking a Whirlyball scoop and ball and begins flicking the scoop, flinging the ball against the wall and catching it (sometimes without a bounce, sometimes with a bounce or 2).

"I do this for 1 hour a day, every day, come hell or high water, and I vary the angle and strength in which I throw each time in order to simulate balls coming at me from different angles. I know that I look like a nerd doing this but it really helps with my co-ordination"

The present Mary had seen enough "A.M.Y., terminate broadcast"

"Yes Mary, your coffee is ready" it replied.

"Thank you. It was weird watching myself" Mary confessed.

"In what way?" A.M.Y. asked.

"I got into this game when I was a little girl when my gym teacher introduced my class to the game. To be representing my country less than a decade later...to be honest, I'm uncomfortable with all of the attention. I imagine that's how my friend in Canada feels whenever he writes about himself. Oh god, what if he ever wrote about me?" asked Mary in horror.

"Try not to think about that right now. This is your chance to leave your mark on this world" stated A.M.Y. (who was shocked that her "encouragement psychology" subroutine).

Mary nodded and returned to her seat. There was a book next to her with "Whirlybug driving for Advanced Players" as its' title. She turned to where her Dr. Who bookmark was in the book and resumed reading as she continued to drink.

Song to put on: Allman Brothers Band – Jessica

It was a little bit disorienting for Jessica Oresto to be on this flight, as the United States eastern seaboard could be seen from any window on the right side of the plane, whereas the Atlantic Ocean could be seen from any window on the left side of the plane. This was going to be a constant for some time, as her plane had taken off from Newark, New Jersey less than an hour ago. Like Mary, she was the only human being on the plane. Unlike Mary however, her plane was half of the size and would be stopping in Miami, Florida in order to refuel.

"I wonder how long the refuelling process will take when I land in Florida" she whispered to no one in particular. A control panel turned on on the back of the seat in front of her and the words "Approximately 2 hours" came on the screen. Jess was surprised, but only that the plane could hear her whispering (as she was trying to avoid being heard by a machine). But what was done, was done.

"Will I be able to leave the plane during that time? Get something to drink or eat?" she asked.

The display on the screen changed to "Of course, would you like me to find a restaurant in the airport that suits your interests?"

"Not now, but maybe later." she spoke clearly in order to avoid confusion.

Jess stood up, wearing a simple white tube top and black jean shorts and making sure not to make any more noise as she walked over to a white, magnetic door with a sticker on it that simply said "luggage". She opened it, taking out a red leather carry-on bag. It took almost a minute for her to switch to a side pocket and upon opening it, she took out a Google Visor Generation 3 and put it on. She walked back over to her seat and whispered "Control Panel Off". After hearing an electronic noise that suggested that it powered down into standby mode, she pushed a button on the right side of the visor. Her eyes saw several options: "Music", "TV", "Video", "Games", "Apps", Store" among others. She selected "Video" via a series of blinks. There were over 100 videos to choose from.

"I really need to clean my visor out, make some space for more recent media. Starting with Your Favorite Enemies, they suck. OK, play...2014 New England Championship Semi-Finals, Connecticut Authority vs. Trenton Titans, 3rd Quarter, final 3 minutes, no audio, begin playback now."

She is shown a video of herself performing as the Left Wing for the Trenton Titans from a little over 2 and a half years ago. The younger her on video is actually doing a textbook play in Whirlyball known as "hanging by the back door". Like in Basketball, there's a semi-ovular line directly under each basket called "the key" and hanging by the back door is when a player (usually a winger) keeps their bumper car (called a Whirlybug) to one side of the key hoping for a pass or a scoop that lead to an easy 2 points. While a common play in Whirlyball, this game is noteworthy because Jessica scored 12 points in 2 minutes and 45 seconds, winning the semi-finals for Trenton.

"Bring it on, Canada" she whispered.

Song to put on: Blues Brothers – Sweet Home Chicago

"Ladies, we have just reached cruising altitude and have turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. You are free to move about the cabin. When you do not need to move however, please remain in your seats"

"This may be our last flight with a human pilot, ever" commented Dani Stafford.

"I for one, will miss the human touch. But you got to move along with the times." replied Holly Rapp.

"I agree with Holly. OK ladies, time to go through our morning stretches." announced Jane Chapman.

"Here? On the plane? Now?" asked Holly.

"There's no room with all of these seats, that we don't really need as there's only us 3 on the plane" added Dani.

"Follow me." replied Jane with a smirk.

As they walked to the back of the plane, all 3 remembered their journeys to Chicago's O'Hare International airport: Jane took the bus from Cleveland, Ohio (where she serves as the trainer for the Cleveland Working Men whirlyball team), Holly took the train from Indianapolis, Indiana (where she serves as the Right winger for the Indianapolis Chasers), while Dani took the bus from Detroit, Michigan (who served as Right Defence for the Detroit Assemblers, but was switching to Left Defence in order to play for the U.S. national team). The entire "coach" section had all of its' seats removed and the floor had been converted to hardwood. Their were also stationary bikes and weight training machines in the back. Holly was in a simple grey tank top and blue jeans. Dani was also in blue jeans, but her t-shirt was black with the words "Kid Rock's Whirlyball Academy Graduate, Class of 2012" written across it (and yes, she actually did train under Kid Rock as he has a $1.3 million whirlyball court in his backyard in every Aaronworld that he's alive on). Jane stood in front of a large HDTV screen and announced "OK ladies, grab some floor"

Dani chuckled slightly as both she and Holly sat down cross-legged (recognizing Jane's words as a paraphrase of a key line of dialogue from "Silence of the Lambs"). Jane then spoke "Access 2015 Midwest region whirlyball finals, game 3" which began playing as Jane herself sat down. This was a pivotal game for both Holly and Dani's respective whirlyball careers. While Holly lead the Indianapolis Chasers to its' first Midwest title in over a decade by successfully making the most Whirlics (2-point shots) in one half (15 total), Dani (in Detroit's losing effort) became the first left-handed Whirlyball player in American history to successfully make 5 different shots from behind the half-court line or farther (which unlike Basketball, counts for 6 points each).

"We were both made into stars that night." whispered Holly.

Dani nodded in agreement "Yeah, I'm looking forward to the position switch though. I'm left-handed so handling the left side of our half of the court should be easier for me. And have you seen Mary Holm play over in the state of Norway? She once broke an opposing Whirlybug by crashing into it that hard."

"OK girls, make sure your legs are at proper 45 degree angles...and let's begin" ordered Jane.

Song to put on: Buckethead – The Boiling Pond

Laura Dotson didn't often visit the state of Texas, but needed to for this tournament. She was sitting in a beige, all-leather chair going over a large series of notes silently. There was a small, red-carpeted walkway separating her seat from the man sitting across from her, Rudy Castro. They were both dressed in all black (both with sweaters with the Team USA logo on them with black jeans), and Rudy was going over his notes as well. Laura (as displayed in the feature that Mary was watching), was Team U.S.A.'s Defensive Co-ordinator while Rudy was the team's Offensive Co-ordinator.

"Are we over Mexico yet?" asked Laura.

Rudy was quick to reply "Mm-hmm, we have been for about 20 minutes."

"Good. What do you think about my defence strategies?" she asked.

Rudy cleared his throat before he began "I'm cool with them. Dani on the left and Mary on the right will make Canada underestimate us. They won't think that Dani can work the left side, plus Mary has more side impacts to stop opposing cars on her right than she does on her left. How do you feel about my offence?"

Laura sighed "I'm OK with your choice of wingers. Jess can work the key better than anyone in America and how Holly can make some of those shots at weird angles is beyond my comprehension."

Rudy was expecting an answer like that, but pressed what he felt was an underlying issue "You're still not 100% on my choice of centre, are you?"

"No...I'm not. He has a history of not playing nicely with others, he can't concentrate for long periods of time, and my husband and I had to call in a favour with San Quentin just to get him out of prison."

"Why isn't Mr. Dotson coming along again?" asked Rudy.

"Oh, he had some auctions that he couldn't get out of." replied Laura.

Rudy returned to the previous topic "Those charges against him were trumped up by a corrupt judge who was upset that he couldn't make this guy take his mask off. The jury also judged him for being different, and he's waiting for a new trial due to manipulation of evidence. But I know that you opposed him being on the team, so thank you for picking him up before flying to Dallas to come get me."

Laura took a deep breath and nodded "You're welcome. Even I concede that he was well enough behaved at LAX, and customs knew who he was and let him through with his mask on and everything. But, he's...so quiet, it's like he's already planning his next crime. Or maybe his escape once the tournament is over."

"Actually, that's how he naturally is. He has barely spoken since he was a teenager" countered Rudy.

They both got out of their seats and walked towards the back of the plane. They came to a large titanium cage just before reaching the bathroom. In it was Buckethead, wearing a blue Adidas zip-up jacket and matching pants, black Nike sneakers and his trademark KFC Bucket with the White Kabuki mask underneath. He was sitting down, rocking back and forth slowly (like he was trying to calm himself down).

"If we let you out Big B, are you gonna play nice?" asked Rudy.

Buckethead nodded, staring blankly at the space between Rudy and Laura.

"Will you play nice on the court in Rio?" asked Laura.

Buckethead shook his head, Rudy smiled and grabbed a set of keys from a wall between Buckethead and the bathroom. He fixated on the longest key, a skeleton key made out of iron. He had to jiggle the key while it was inside the lock before it turned clockwise. Once the door was opened, Buckethead crawled out, and only when he stood up did Laura and Rudy gasp at how tall he was (Nearly 2 metres tall, not counting the bucket).

"He may be a convicted felon, but he's a human being too. We need to treat him as such until we have a reason not to." offered Rudy.

"Agreed. He may have trouble getting in and out of the Whirlybug but his reach advantage alone is more than worth it" replied Laura with a sigh.

"Cue the San Francisco team practice video from 2006 that leaked onto YouTube last week" said Rudy at the plane. Several small screens lowered from above and began playing a video of the San Francisco Quakes practicing. At first, Laura didn't notice what was special about him (other than his height and how well he could see the court despite being masked)...after a few minutes, she finally clued into what Rudy Castro saw in him:

"My god, he's the best bounce passer that I've ever seen. He's even bouncing the ball off of the walls and it's still reaching his teammates." announced Laura in shock.

"And that's just his offensive upside. Watch his defensive skills" responded Rudy.

Buckethead giggled slightly and pointed at the screen. Laura saw him intercepting opposing team's passes with impunity.

"Good god, a 2-way forward. Canada doesn't stand a chance." whispered Laura. Buckethead merely nodded.

Song to put on: Swollen Members – Bring it Home

"Oh thank god, there's an open bar on our private plane." exclaimed Cindy in excitement.

"I guess you and I are serving as bartenders" replied Sherry.

It was a restored G650 that these 2 ladies just got on. It had a cruising speed ranging Mach 0.85-0.9 and could safely travel 13,000 kilometres without refuelling.

"Where are we refuelling again?" asked Sherry.

"We're not. Our flight path is only 8,267 kilometres so as long as we're at least 2/3 fully fuelled here there's no need."

"How many players from Team Canada are with us on this plane?" asked Sherry.

"3 players and the Trainer are with us. 1's flying alone from the West Coast and our outsider is already on route from the province of Australia."

Sherry Ripa was selected to Team Canada as Offensive Co-Ordinator from her local team of the Sudbury Saints. Cindy Hayden was Canada's Defensive Co-Ordinator from her local team of the Newmarket Comedians (a team named by its' co-owners, Jim Carrey and John Candy).

"Anyone coming from your team?" asked Cindy.

"No, frankly I'm surprised that I was voted in. Sudbury is such a small town." replied Sherry who saw a longer haired gentleman in his mid 30's wearing a black leather peacoat, Iron Maiden T-Shirt and black jeans out the window, manually loading in his luggage to the bottom of the plane.

"That's our right winger, Jason Carman. He's currently on the Toronto Legacy but he played with my Newmarket team for over a decade." stated Cindy as Sherry watched Jason load the last of his luggage.

"Hasn't he lost a step or 2 in the last couple of years?" asked Sherry, who was only vaguely aware of him as she played in the North Ontario league, not the South Ontario league.

"I admit he's past his peak. Hell at one point, he was averaging 40 points a game when he was with me. But he's still 2 steps ahead of every other right winger in the game."

Jason finally walked up the staircase the lead passengers use to get inside the plane. He saw a fully automated cockpit to his left, seating for 8-12 people to his immediate right, and a bar/kitchen combo in the back before the bathrooms (of which there were 3).

"Great to be working with you again, Cindy" he said as he saw the 2 ladies at the bar fixing themselves Long Island Iced Teas. Cindy came out and hugged him.

"Great to see you, have trouble getting here?" she asked.

"Oh no, I just took the Union-Pearson train and walked to terminal 4. VIP customs was a breeze, I think I missed you 2 by about 10 or 15 minutes. I loaded my own stuff as I'm bringing my laptops with me and didn't want them damaged by baggage handlers."

"Very sensible of you. Hi I'm Sherry Ripa, nice to finally meet you." she said as she walked from behind the bar and stuck out her hand, he shook it immediately.

"I guess I'll be dealing with you directly. Where are the other 3?" Jason asked.

"No idea. They're coming from Brampton so they should've actually beat us here as they're closer to Lester B. Pearson airport than any of us." replied Sherry.

"That makes sense, the Brampton Blue Collars are pretty much our country's dynasty. Can I get you a drink, Jason?" asked Cindy.

"Sure, scotch on the rocks, please" he replied with a smile. Cindy nodded and walked towards the back of the bar. Sherry giggled slightly.

"Did I say something funny?" asked Jason, confused.

"Technically yes, sorry. I just remembered that book Suspects when you mentioned the Union-Pearson train, you took the route a lot of us used to get to the scene of the crime in reverse." answered Sherry. Jason got it and giggled too, saying "OK, fair enough."

Just then, an airport shuttle bus appeared within hearing distance of the plane comes within full view of the windows on the left side of the plane. Jason and Sherry looked outside, seeing baggage handlers take several bags (all rectangular and large with colours ranging from white to black to blue). Jason observed a bald male, early 40's wearing blue jeans and a Refused T-Shirt getting out his wallet to tip the baggage staff and 2 girls. 1 looked about a decade younger than him wearing a white Toronto Blue Jays T-shirt and black shorts, 1 was even younger (not even 30 yet by Jason's silent guess) wearing a pink tank top and also black shorts. A couple of minutes later, they boarded the plane.

"Rio, here we come." announced the older girl.

"Fuck America" shouted the younger girl in excitement.

"Now come on girls, this is more to bring the game to a 5th continent, not just about us against the Americans" came the older man in the rear of the group. Cindy handed Jason his scotch and began pointing at the newest arrivals.

"This is Melinda Hughes, our left winger. Canadian leader in power shots, or lay-ups if you prefer the basketball terminology. Krystal Dinn, left defenceman and all-time world record holder in what is beginning to be called pillow blocks."

Sherry raised her hand "Excuse me? Pillow blocks?"

Krystal stared at Sherry and replied "I drive directly into an opposing whirlybug's front bumper and then slow them down by remaining there. I'm co-ordinated well enough where I can match the opposing driver's steering."

"Good god, a defensive forward." whispered Jason.

"It's a nice compliment to yours and our centre's offence. Hi, I'm Gregg Davis, the trainer."

Hands were shaken all around as Cindy once again walked towards the bar "Can I get you 3 three anything?"

"Jack and Coke" replied Melinda.

"Make it 2." added Krystal.

"Just a bottle of Perrier water for me, please." stated Gregg as the plane began taxiing out towards the runway.

"Coming right up" replied Cindy as she worked quickly to get the drinks before takeoff (mumbling something about wishing for a world where Gregg wasn't straightedge). Sherry grabbed the Perrier bottle and gave it to Gregg, seeing that Cindy was under pressure.

"Here you go, Gregg." stated Sherry.

"Thank you kindly." he replied. Cindy handed the drinks over to Melinda and Krystal, who both whispered "Thank you" as everyone strapped in.

An hour had passed since takeoff and they were in American airspace. Sherry announced "Reduce lights by 50% and cue the video "MontageSherry1, please".

The plane dimmed the lights and several small HD screens descended from the ceiling of the plane. It showed clips of Jason in his younger days driving around several opposing whirlybugs with extreme ease, Krystal pillow blocking a player from the Mississauga Madmen while Melinda successfully executes several 2-point shots in succession, then clips from backstage of Gregg whipping up several vitamin-fortified protein shakes.

"Wonder what the other 2 players are doing on the other planes." whispered Gregg.

Song to put on: Nickelback – Burn it to the ground

Thom was in fact, sleeping. As he lived on the pacific time zone (Vancouver to be precise), his plane had to take off in the middle of the night in order to arrive in Brazil at an appropriate time.

The turbulence over the Rockies on the other hand, woke him up.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked. A nearby A.M.Y. walked by and recorded "Multiple thunderstorms that we're trying to fly between. Also, disturbances that cannot be identified."

Thom scratched the right side of his head as he sat up, wearing only a black tank top and white cotton boxer shorts.

"Is it within visual range?" he asked. A.M.Y. merely nodded and pointed to one of the right-side windows. Thom stared at it, progressively with dread.

"Is that a...hole in the sky?" he asked as he saw what appeared to be a crack near the lower edge of the Earth's atmosphere. He saw someone about the same age as his friend's mother in Toronto performing maintenance on her...facial hair. The image then changed to a young man, early 20's, in a town that Thom deduced was somewhere in Eastern Europe. But Thom's eyes went wide when he noticed several large pieces of skin were missing across his whole body.

"Laurie, and Allan? But you 2 don't exist here." whispered Thom.

"Sir, please return to your seat. I calculate a 97% chance of injury or worse if you remain on the plane without a seatbelt." instructed A.M.Y.

Thom nodded and sat back down, asking "Are you a generation 3 model?"

"Why yes I am, why do you ask?" asked back the A.M.Y. robot, returning to a voice of calm with its' only passenger back in his seat, safe and secure.

"So you're designed to go beyond your original programming, are you not?" asking Thom with something of a sense of panic.

"I am." stated A.M.Y. flatly.

Thom was very relieved to hear that response "OK, suppose we exist in a multiverse where all things that can happen, do happen. Also assume that the 'disturbances that cannot be identified' are holes in the multi-dimensional space-time continuum caused by a quantum phenomenon of some kind. Extrapolate from these assumptions and calculate the possibility that the storms are a by-product of this world collapsing."

"One moment" responded the A.M.Y. unit as its' eyes rolled into the back of its' head, running the calculations. But this was no ordinary set of calculations, as a new file entered the A.M.Y. unit's CPU. After a quick virus scan, it opened displaying the appropriate programming code needed for A.M.Y. to stop with its' calculations and say to Thom "Very good Mr. Phung, I'm supposed to tell you that the big guy is working on fixing it as quickly as possible"

Thom was disturbed by the last of that exchange as the A.M.Y. unit walked away. He grabbed a scrapbook from out of a black backpack from under the seat in front of him. He opened it, revealing 3-dimensional still images of his family, then his last game with the Vancouver Salmon before he was traded to the Calgary Sharpshooters. 1 image showed him making a successful 6-point shot with his right hand, then (after turning the page), the next image showed him doing the same thing with his left.

"I'm the only ambidextrous player on the planet playing professionally, take that America" he whispered before going back to sleep.

Song to put on: AC/DC – Stiff Upper Lip

"Wow, the mountains in Chile had even more ice and snow on them than I imagined."

Even for a private plane, it was virtually impossible to fly directly from Sydney, Australia to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (even after Canada bought Australia from the British in the 1940's due to a second Yukon Gold Rush). So Julie Bourke changed private jets in Santiago, Chile for the final leg of her journey. Once the fasten seatbelt sign turned off, she got up and saw the mountains as the plane left Chilean air space. Satisfied, she laid down in the middle of the plane (as she was also the only passenger, she didn't have to worry about food/beverage service) and began doing sit ups. She was wearing a White hooded sweatshirt with Aerosmith's "Get a Grip" album artwork on it and ripped denim blue jeans (which she made sure to cover as much of her skin underneath as possible so that she didn't suffer rub burn).

"Access the video footage for this year's Australian 6 state finals and display on central HD video screen that drops down the middle of the plane. Focus on the last 30 seconds of final match between the Sydney Operas and the Canberra Maulers"

The plane's automated systems heard her and did as instructed. A 45 inch HDTV descended from the midsection of the aircraft. It needed a moment to find where those exact 60 seconds were stored on this company's online storage, but Julie kept doing sit-ups while she waited, even as the TV began broadcasting:

"Bourke has possession of the whiffle ball, but is driving straight at the car driven by Popovic, the centre for Canberra for some reason. Why isn't she making a bounce pass to 1 of the forwards? Oh my god, she just did a roll-off, she just became the first Australian to make contact with an opponent's bumper and successfully execute a 360 degree turn AND continue momentum. There is literally no one close to guard her or intercept the ball. 3 seconds left, she's shooting a 3-pointer and SHE SCORES! BOURKE HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SYDNEY! BOURKE HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SYDNEY! The crowd has jumped out of their seats and is running onto the court."

"Screen off" ordered Julie. The broadcast stopped but the screen remained suspended in the air.

"Retract the screen" she ordered. The screen rose back up to a storage compartment in the plane's ceiling. Julie sat up, stopping her situps, and smiled.

"It took me 4 years to perfect that play, behind the back of my coaches and the Canadaustralian athletic commission. I only later found out that I'm the only defenseman to have pulled that play off in the world. The rest of the handful of players to do it successfully were all forwards. Still, I'm honoured to represent my province of Australia, and my country of Canada. Oh, that reminds me...plane, prepare a video cellular message, please"

A smaller camera came out from the left side of the plane and flew to within 30 centimetres of Julie's face.

"Please state the name of the person that you are trying to record yourself for."

"Cindy Hayden, Team Canada Defense Coach"

After 2 minutes of searching, "Found, she is also on a plane with several others flying over the eastern edge of the Caribbean. You may begin recording...now"

"Hey Cindy, Julie here. I should be landing in about 4 hours, hope to see you soon. Ciao!"

We go to a temporary broadcast booth set up at Rio De Janeiro's Maracana Stadium for the USA network. It's navy blue with the USA logo front and centre. Seated at it are 2 Americans, 1 with a black 200x resistol cowboy hat, the other wearing a crown suitable for royalty. They are otherwise dressed in all black (dress shirts, pants and shoes) that fit to within 1 cm, in accordance to Brazilian by-laws.

"Morning everyone, I'm Jim Ross and to my left is Jerry "The King" Lawler."

Jerry salutes the audience, Jim continues "We know that you folks are used to us on Monday Night Raw and Thursday Night Smackdown but we're happy to represent the United States of America on this momentous occasion in whirlyball...and sporting. Jerry "the King" Lawler is going to take you through the basics of the game as agreed upon by both the U.S. and Canada. Jerry, take it away."

Jerry cleared his throat, then began speaking "The court is approximately 4000 sq. ft. (or 1200 sq. m.) and will be played by 2 teams of 5 players each. They will be driving North America Whirlyball Association certified Whirlybugs which are identical to bumper cars accept that they are not enclosed on the sides and are driven by a crank and foot pedals. The brake is the left pedal, the accelerator the right. Turning the crank to the left (or counterclockwise) will turn it left, whereas turning the crank to the right (or counterclockwise) will turn it right, turning it 720 degrees will cause the whirlybug to reverse. The racquets are standard whiffle ball racquets, only the handle has been cut down to 30 centimetres. The whirlyball boards are 1 square metre situated 3 metres above the ground. 2 points for a close-up shot, 3 from outside the key, and 6 points for any successful shots made from farther than half court. Anything to add, Jim?"

The screen splits into 2 halves. Jim and Jerry are on the right hand side and the left shows all 8 members of Team Canada.

"Yes Jerry. Folks, sorry to split the screen without notice but as you can clearly see to the left side, Team Canada have all arrived and are in V.I.P. Baggage Claim in Rio de Janeiro as we speak."

"Wow, The only team I know where 2 of the 3 coaches are sexier than the players...although Julie's not too bad looking. I can tell that she's been working on her abs."

Jim Ross facepalmed. "Jerry, Julie's the youngest and she's still 10 years older than your last 3 'girlfriends'. OK folks and at the opposite end of Santos Dumont International Airport, we have Team America at their V.I.P. Baggage Claim."

"The left screen changes to Team America. Rudy has commandeered the coffee machine and is trying to get double strength for the whole team. Mary and Laura are searching inside a miniature refrigerator for alcohol, only to find none, much to their chagrin."

"Oh wow, This is more like it. Marita Holm, Holly Rapp and Dani Stafford, the King approves!" exclaimed Jerry while rubbing his hands together.

"JERRY! We are IN SOUTH AMERICA, SEXUAL HARASSMENT WILL PROBABLY GET YOU THE DEATH PENALTY HERE." shouted Jim, followed by Jim slapping Jerry across the face on live television. Screens around the world cut to commercial...

Both V.I.P. baggage claims experienced the same phenomenon. Thom saw the same Laurie and Allan that he saw in the "storm cloud" on his fight from Vancouver, Krystal saw a man inside a cage with his hair growing rapidly all over his body followed by another man (slightly younger) who was throwing knives at a wooden board (whom she recognized as her fiance on some worlds, named Justin and an on-again, off-again friend named James). Sherry saw 2 ladies that she didn't recognize, both at least 20 years her junior, and both were red-haired. One was doing stretches that no human should ever be able to do, the other was a university student in Eastern Europe ("Kate? Jen?" Sherry asked herself). Gregg saw 2 fellow musicians that he vaguely recognized as being bandmates on another world, another story somewhere. They were romantically entangled, even though Gregg knew that they were from different worlds (It took him a moment to get their names, Chiara and Fabio). Cindy saw her (on some worlds) 2nd husband and daughter, happy that somewhere in the Aaronverse, there were a Rick and Tara there for her. Jason saw 2 people that he (at best) barely recognized, 1 that he knew that he met at paintball games and at gun clubs over in Russia, 1 that he didn't know at all but knew that someone that he met at a dance themed around toast considered a close friend ("David? I don't know who the other 1 is...Aman...Amanda?" he asked, utterly confused). Julie saw 2 ladies that she knew somewhat well (1 from her country but not an owned by Canada version of Australia), the other from Scotland (but living in the Czech Republic) ("Nice to see you 2, Megan and Heather. Good to see you" thought Julie to herself). While Melinda saw 2 former schoolmates that looked slightly different than the ones that she still talked to on occasion back home (The Isaac that she saw had some grey hair, whereas the Adam that she saw didn't).

Meanwhile over at the V.I.P. baggage claim where team USA was lounging, Buckethead saw a well-groomed weight lifter at the circus and a small child who protects her city with a crossbow (He said nothing like he usually doesn't, but their names were Tyrone and either Aisling or the Skull Girl, he wasn't sure which name best applied to her). Mary saw 2 fellow Northern European ladies whom she looked at with fondness ("Good to see you Miriam and Amy" she whispered). Rudy saw a couple that he knew on most worlds, were married to each other. One was on a ship heading to what he believed to be Greece, the other was getting some kind of modified blood transfusion ("Is this what can happen between Jeanie and Rick on some worlds?" Rudy quietly asked himself). Dani was in a unique boat, only seeing 2 ladies of similar age. One was checking on her injured shoulder that had just been repaired, the other was staring at an antique film projector ("I guess that's Olivia and Maddie" thought Dani to herself). Jess saw 2 New Yorkers that she didn't know directly but knew that they dealt in auctions near her home in New Jersey ("Joe P. And John?" she asked herself). Holly saw 2 people that she knew quite well (1 American, 1 Canadian). She saw 1 of them taking a cannonball to the belly and the other stirring a large cauldron ("So that's what Laura Bradley and Tamara Costa look like in other places" thought Holly to herself). Laura Dotson saw a version of her husband teaching a classroom and a slightly younger British guy breathing fire inside a tent ("So that one's Dan, and the other...David Kay?" she asked herself, somewhat confused). Finally, Jane saw 2 ladies of similar age: One reading tarot cards, the other teaching school. After some searching of her thoughts, she guessed that it was Gloria and Lindsay. Eventually, the group hallucination ceased, leaving everyone perplexed, especially Mary.

"Well at least it's not raining. Is this commonplace?" she asked to the rest of the American team.

"Welcome to the Aaronverse." announced Buckethead with a dejected sigh. To say that he hated speaking to others was in fact, an understatement. And Mary understood that right away.

While both Team USA and Team Canada had seen each other at opposite ends of the limo parking lot, there was too great a distance for them to engage in any friendly (or unfriendly) dialogue. But after almost 2 hours (on account of Rio de Janeiro's traffic being multiversally bad), they both finally arrived at the Hotel Santa Teresa within minutes of each other. The entire lobby's colour scheme seemed to be red, pink, green and gold with all of the furniture being mid-century modern. Except of course for over 2 dozen voice/touchscreen computers. They were each situated at a computer all to themselves, and ignored the few attempts at trash talk in order to check into their rooms. The Canadians all had the same confirmation number (11181514), whereas the Americans all had a different one (18915450). The computers then displayed their room assignments after dispensing electronic card keys:

First Floor (Canadians)

Room 1: Cindy, Melinda

Room 2: Krystal, Julie

Room 3: Thom, Jason

Room 4: Gregg, Sherry

Second Floor (Americans)

Room 1: Jess, Holly

Room 2: Mary, Buckethead

Room 3: Laura, Dani

Room 4: Rudy, Jane

"See you tomorrow." said Sherry mockingly to the American squad.

"Not if your whirlybugs aren't fast enough." replied Laura with almost complete indifference.

Chapter 2: First Blood

To the more cynical people of this world, it was merely an expression of nationalistic pride. Team USA were all dressed in Navy Blue tank tops and jeans with "USA" across the chest of the tank top in Red and White whereas the rest of the uniform had exactly 56 stars (1 for each state in the Union). Team Canada's uniforms were a bit more conservative: Black tank tops and jeans where "Canada" was written in red across the chest and a simple (but large) red maple lead adorning most of each team member's stomachs. For the more idealist people of this world, it was a beautiful demonstration of international co-operation. With no time for either country to have a team practice beforehand (or at any point during the tournament), their first time inside Maracana Stadium was already filled with the attendees of Game 1. Each country brought with them 2 flags of their home: 1 to be hoisted into the stadium's rafters during the tournament, the other to be given to the opposing team in a demonstration of sportsmanship. But between the hoisting of the flags to the rafters, the President of the International Whirlyball Association, Thomas Bach walked along a red carpet towards the centre. The entire crowd gave him a standing ovation as he approached the podium in the centre. He was sporting closely cropped grey hair, frameless glasses, a traditional navy blue suit with a white dress shirt and tie of the Brazilian flag. He cleared his throat before speaking a German-Accented perfect English:

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to the 2016 summit series of Whirlyball between Canada and the United States. This will be contested as a best 2 out of 3 series with both teams agreeing that neither side will be the home team or the visitors team. May I please have each team's centres meet with me in mid-court?"

Buckethead and Thom met in mid-court, with each carrying a wooden case made of cedar with brass used to be the opening hinges on their respective left sides. Thomas Bach continued his speech:

"Gentlemen, please proceed to exchange the wooden cases that contain the flags that each of you are carrying."

Both Thom and Buckethead did so in a manner where it left each of their left hands, and was received by the opposing player's right hands. Mr. Bach then continued:

"Gentlemen, these will be the 3 referees for all of the required matches. The head linesman is Benjamin Palledorous of Greece, the assistant linesman for the north half of the court is Mike McClennan of the Independent Republic of Scotland, the assistant linesman for the south half of the court is Alan Rodriguez of Indonesia."

A spotlight was then shown on the 3 linesmen, all of slight build and wearing grey t-shirts and black dress pants, they each waved at the crowd. Mr. Bach then pushed an earpiece deeper into his right ear, as he wanted to hear the person on the other end more clearly. He then smiled and continued:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am thrilled to announce that today's attendance has set a...NEW all-time single day ticketed indoor event world record of...199,866. Please give yourselves a bigger hand than you gave me, all of you are the reason we had this summit series here in this country."

The crowd proceeded as instructed. Waves and salutes were even given by all of the members of Team Canada and Team U.S.A. Mr. Bach stepped away from the microphone and instructed each team's centres "Shake hands gentlemen, I want each game clean, but competitive."

"Yes sir, good luck Buckethead." replied Thom as he extended his left hand. Buckethead extended his own, despite his hate of touching other human beings (that was a constant across the entire Aaronverse).

"You will lose." was all that Buckethead said. Thom was amazed that he said anything at all (as he understood Buckethead to be the quiet type based on his reading of the mixed poker book), Mr. Bach was actually intimidated by Buckethead's size as he nervously smiled, waved at the crowd, then walked off the court. It was Thom who reached his teammates first as they walked towards their whirlybugs.

"Something wrong, Thom?" asked Julie.

"Yeah, how can anyone beat Buckethead in a tip-off when he's 10 centimetres taller than literally every other whirlyball player in the world?"

Buckethead merely gave a secret thumbs-up to Team U.S.A., some nodded, others ignored him out of fear, especially Mary.

Song to put on: Rev Theory – Light it up

We go to a temporary broadcast booth set up at Rio De Janeiro's Maracana Stadium for the CBC network. It's royal blue with the CBC logo front and centre. Seated at it are 2 Canadians, 1 with a baseball cap adorning the Brazilian flag, The other is not wearing a hat at all, allowing his well-groomed short grey hair to be shown. They are otherwise dressed in all black (dress shirts, pants and shoes) that fit to within 1 cm, in accordance to Brazilian by-laws.

"Good afternoon everyone, I'm Brian Williams and with me is Don Cherry, who is for once NOT wearing a suit of several colours."

Don Cherry chuckles slightly at Brian's comment and adjusts the Brazil cap before replying with "This isn't just a sporting event, this is a diplomatic mission. It is my honour to represent Canada on this momentous occasion, but just because I'm dressing more conservatively for this, doesn't mean that my opinion will be restrained. The whole lack of team practices to me, is a complete mockery of the sport. We have no idea if either Canada or the United States will work together as a cohesive unit, especially the United States as they have a convicted felon for a centre."

"Oh come on Don, he's guilty of killing someone who thought that torturing chickens produced better meat and eggs. The surveillance showed..."

Don stopped Brian with a simple hand wave, saying "Yeah, can we go to the footage?"

Shown on every TV screen in Canada is VERY clear black and white footage of a farmer wearing nothing but blue jean coveralls charging at Buckethead with an axe. Buckethead disables him easily by sidestepping then swatting the farmer's hands with a previously concealed pair of nunchuks. The farmer drops the axe leading Buckethead to roundhouse kick him in the face hard enough where his fall causes him to head first into a rock, causing massive blunt force trauma and cranial bleeding. Buckethead is heard screaming "Leave the chickens alone!" before grabbing the farmer's head with both of his hands, snapping the farmer's neck, killing him instantly.

"The farmer in question was named Paul Levesque, and he had broken onto Buckethead's property in Chatsworth, California with that axe. Buckethead was basically found guilty on the technicality that he did not disclose to the farmer that he was a registered lethal weapon. He was sentenced to 4 years for voluntary manslaughter, and was put on parole early for good behaviour and for the strings that Coach Dotson pulled at the request of Coach Castro." explained Brian Williams.

Don could see that the topic had run its' course.

The TV screens cut to a display of the breakdown of time.

Don Cherry began "OK, let's go to the breakdown: The game will be played in four quarters of 10 minutes each, followed by 3 minute breaks. There will be no halftimes in any of the games."

The screens then change to a graphic of the USA side of the whirlyball court, listing team surnames and their respective places on the field.

Don Cherry continues "Team USA will be playing a traditional 1-2-2 configuration on the court with the big guy, Buckethead, front and centre. Slightly behind him are the wingers, Jess Oresto on the left and Holly Rapp on the right. Behind them and closer together are defence, with Dani Stafford playing left back which is a position switch for her that according to CNN, she's looking forward to. On right back, is Marita Holm who is the team's token "outsider". Brian, do the honours for Team Canada."

The screens then change to a graphic of the Canada side of the whirlyball court, listing team surnames and their respective places on the field.

Brian Williams began talking on cue "While Thom has to be more up front in order to take the tip-offs, Canada will be playing the more experimental 3-2 configuration otherwise. The 3 forwards from left to right are Melinda Hughes, Thom Phung and Jason Carman. Krystal Dinn will be playing left back, hoping to pillow block America early and often. Julie Bourke will be playing right back."

"The TV screen changes to a graphic listing the rules of the game."

Brian Williams continues talking "2 points per successful shot inside the key, 3 points from outside the key but within half-court, 6 points for successful shots from behind half court (and the whirlybug cannot touch the half-court line for those shots). Players can request that the time clock be paused at any time in the game but only once per player per half. The coaches have 1 timeout each country, each half for 60 seconds each. Any requests for clock stoppage not used in the first half DO NOT carry over to the second half and if a player is injured, a linesman can call for an indefinite stoppage while the injured player is tended to. No stoppage time will be added. Mr. Cherry, would you please be so kind as to go over what will get players in the penalty box, or worse?"

Don nodded and began "A player who leaves their car while the clock is running or touches the ball with their hands will spend 2 minutes in the box. A four-point deduction and a 5 minute penalty for any rear-impact collisions or physical contact with an opposing player. Other than that, pretty much anything goes. Both Canada and the United States have agreed to play with the no-offside rule in place."

The TV then cuts to alternating shots of all 4 coaches going over first quarter strategies with their respective players. Their is no audio of their conversations, only stock orchestra music.

Brian took his turn, announcing "There's Coaches Dotson, Castro, Hayden and Ripa going over last minute strategy. Gregg Davis and Jane Chapman are elsewhere, preparing Gatorade, bandages and towels for their respective teams."

An announcement is heard over the PA system over all of Maracana Stadium "Attention, will Teams Canada and USA please make their way to the court"

"The whirlybugs, as per tradition, are parked at the back ends of each half of the court and here come Canada and the United States." said Brian.

"Get ready for war." replied Don.

First Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Dani's perspective, Song to put on: MC5 – Kick out the jams

I wasn't worried about the opening tip-off, as Buckethead was at least 9 inches taller than everyone else on the court, including me. He couldn't keep the ball in his scoop though so it bounced off the tip of his racquet. Holly and Melinda scrambled for the loose ball, a pity that Melinda got to it first. By the time that she saw an opening, Jason had already made it to just outside the key and Melinda bounce passed it to him. He already took the shot before I hit the front of his whirlybug. It hit our board, and Canada took a 3-0 lead.

"You wanna take it?" Mary asked me regarding our possession. Whenever a team scores, the opposing team takes possession on the next play (like a lot of other sports). I nodded, hoping that Canada would try to blitz me so that I would have to "settle" for a try at the 6-pointer. I flanked more to the middle of the court, like I was trying for a diversion. Thom, Melinda and Jason tried to blitz me, but I knew that a shot three-quarters of the way from the board would be near-impossible. Luckily I saw Jess doing her trademark "hanging by the back door" play, so I made an arc pass (a pass that went high in the hair) to her, she caught it and made the easy whirlic, but we were still down 3-2.

Julie took it for Team Canada, and dumped it (a play where a defenceman just tosses the ball as far as she can into the opposing team's corner when they have no obvious offensive play. Mary got to it first, as it was in her corner. She actually screamed "Fuck it" and passed it to Buckethead, who was just driving straight down the middle of the court. The ball actually landed in front of him, but he scooped it legally and made the whirlic before Krystal could pillow block. We're now up 4-3, it was Krystal who took the ball for Canada, but she drove her whirlybug so that she was behind Julie. Julie then started calling out her turns so that Krystal was always covered. For a moment, I thought that Krystal was going to try for a 6-pointer, but she arc passed it to Melinda (who caught it in her racquet), who made the whirlic, giving Canada the 5-4 lead.

First Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Mary's perspective, Song to put on: Dimmu Borgir – Progenies of the great apocalypse

That explosion of offence is likely to subside as Krystal took possession of the ball, she lobbed it over to Melinda, who thought that she was wide open. The crowd is so large that none of us could hear each other on the court at all. Melinda drove by the edge of my side (less than 10 centimetres from the metal railing that serves as a bumper along the perimeter of the court). The big scary masked guy (that I'm unfortunately sharing a room with) and Holly stayed out of my way as I legally side-impacted Melinda hard enough to where she dropped the ball and was forced against the wall. It was just out of my reach, but Dani intercepted it beautifully. The centre linesman told me to set Melinda free (which I found odd, but I granted his request as I was out of commission too), so I backed up 1 metre and turned right. After a routine bounce pass to the big scary masked guy, he tried for a 3-pointer but the ball sailed too high. The right linesman blew the whistle, as the ball was outside the court and scooped by a small child in the front row. He then opened a grey sack that he kept just off-court and lobbed a fresh ball over to Julie (as she was the nearest defender, and the most open). Jess, Holly, Dani and the masked one formed a mid-court wall (I made a short drive so that I was behind Holly, but the masked one waved me over to be behind him as Julie approached). I was almost to the big guy when Julie tried for a 6-pointer. It just missed (as whiffle balls sometimes curve in mid-air unexpectedly), going into our side's audience. The left linesman reached for a ball and tossed one over to me as I returned to the back-right corner of the USA side. It was at that moment where the words of Coach Dotson from the pre-game meeting this morning returned to my mind:

"We must all learn to trust every member of this team, even the big guy. Don't forget to pay the lady!"

I don't want my fear of Buckethead to be exposed to Team Canada, so I bounce passed it to him, nervous as to what he would do next.

First Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Buckethead's perspective, Song to put on: Buckethead – Bumper Cars

Oh boy, I have possession of the ball. OK, I don't want to try for a 3-pointer and have the ball go out of play again, I'll just bounce pass it to the Jersey girl. Oh good, she caught it but oh crap the Canadian centre hit the front of her whirlybug and she lost possession. I better turn the crank and reverse left to scoop it back up and OK the Michigan girl got to it first and she dumped it in Canada's corner. Why oh why can I play guitar, bass, banjo, nunchuks and whirlyball so well, but I can't learn people's names unless I know them for a long time? It must be what Aaron calls his autism. Oh how cute, the long-haired winger on Team Canada is going to try for a 6-pointer but I'm now driving forward and WHAM-O, I hit his side AND I gained possession. OK, a bounce pass to the Indiana girl as she is wide open for a quick whirlic and uh oh she shot low and the ball is now out of bounds. I hope I didn't scare the Norwegian girl in the room with my Tai Chi exercises last night, but I suppose that as I never take my mask off, I am going to scare everyone that I meet. Focus, Big B, Focus on the game, the smaller Canadian defence girl just bounce passed it to the Canadian girl winger, and yay, the coach that got me out of jail has made that "letter T" gesture to the linesman, requesting a time out. I better drive my whirlybug over there and listen to her, the coach in black and the lady from Ohio. OK, we're all over here:

Laura: "Jess, vary which side of the key you hang by, keep Canada guessing. Holly, take more risks but no half-court shots, at least not yet. Big guy, get mean and don't forget to pay the lady. Take it away, Rudy."

Rudy: "We have to tighten up in the middle of the court, Mary and Dani, that's why Canada is beating us right now. Buckethead, use your size to act as a third defenseman, scare the shit out of them. Jane, they're all yours."

Jane: "Are you alright, Mary? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Dani? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Holly? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jess? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Mr. Buckethead? Here, have some Gatorade. You know if you take the mask part of the way off, you won't spill as much Gatorade."

I'm just going to shake my head at Ohio lady while everyone (including me) puts a hand in the middle like that game, hokey pokey. Huh, my hand is on top of the Norwegian girl's and she's laughing nervously as we all shout "USA!" OK, back to the court we go, the whistle has been blown to resume play.

First Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Jess's perspective, Song to put on: Bon Jovi – Bad Medicine

Canada still has possession as they had possession before the time out was called (But they have to start at the back of their own court). I think it was Julie who took the lead, driving down the court with the ball before bounce passing it to Thom, ONLY TO BE INTERCEPTED BY BUCKETHEAD! He's trying for a 6 point shot, and he missed. Well, at least this time it went below instead of above the board. Krystal caught it before it went out of bounds (which is moot because Canada would get possession of the ball anyway). She went with a play where she didn't dump the ball in the back of our court, but she didn't bounce pass to a nearby forward, instead she made a long arch pass to Thom who got creamed on both sides of his whirlybug by Dani and Mary (Kudos to them for both of them making clean hits, we don't need to go back down to 0 points this close to the end of the first quarter). The ball got loose, but Holly scooped it up nicely and bounce passed it to me. OK, that's fine. I can just drive down the left side of the court and oh crap, Krystal's crossed sides and is pillow blocking me, I'll just bounce pass back to Holly and uh oh, Julie crashed into her, and now Jason has possession and is driving behind Melinda on a fast break, Mary is first to try to intercept, but he's already shot his 3-pointer, and it sailed high and is now out of bounds. Dani will take it as it's on her side of the court, and with Jason now moving to cover me, Dani has no obvious bounce or arch pass. She throws the ball into the back of the Canadian end of the court, I think it'll be Julie who takes possession. And I'm right, she bounce passes to Melinda, who then bounce passes to Thom who takes a short shot, and it goes low. Dani and Mary try to scoop it, but it goes out of bounds. Mary will take this one, I wonder who she'll pass it to.

First Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Holly's perspective, Song to put on: Smashing Pumpkins – The End is the Beginning is the End

OK, I guess Jess is taking Mary's bounce pass instead of me or Buckethead (which is fine, as she's open). Oh god, why is she trying for a 6-pointer? She's a short shot specialist. Wait, did that hit the board? Did we just score? The centre linesman has blown the whistle, the clock has stopped. He's looking up at the media booth, the shot is going to be reviewed. I understand that the rules the coaches agreed on state that video review must show conclusive evidence that it hit the board, otherwise it stands as no score. Same thing regarding rules infractions, and even if it's borderline it's considered no infraction. The whirlybugs are also required to completely stop while the play is under review, and the crowd is so quiet that I can actually hear all of the conversations that are going on in my section of the stadium (though most of them are in Porugese). Jess is close enough to Buckethead in order to chat with him in order to pass the time (I doubt that he'll respond). Mary and Dani are getting more acquainted, Dani's asking a LOT of questions about the state of Norway. The Canadians are all taking turns asking Julie about the province of Australia. The coaches and trainers from both countries aren't saying anything, they're just staring at the media booth (who I believe can communicate with the linesman via Bluetooth 2 earpieces). There's 1:11 left on the clock, but this play has been under review for at least 3 minutes by now. OK, I see the centre linesman nodding and he's turning to us and...waving the score off. There's an Ultra HD jumbotron on the highest point of the stadium on the Canadian side. It clearly shows (frame by frame) that the ball missed the board by a few inches, DAMN! The final minute and change will go by so quickly because part of me is still in shock. It was a relief when the first quarter buzzer went off, and we drove to the coaches bench for intermission.

First intermission, 3:00-2:00, Rudy's perspective, Song to put on: Johnny Cash – Rusty Cage

I approached the team with my clipboard, and decided to talk to them with my usual smile. You can get more accomplished with kindness then you can with anger (unless it's some asshole who sues you because you won't give him a bigger piece of the sandbox than the others around him combined. Seriously, one day Danny and I are going to sit Aaron-Prime down and ask him why there are so many different versions of us confronted with so many versions of wannabe moguls, but I digress):

"Jess: Stop trying for 6 pointers. Keep your offence simple, power shots for 2 points only. I don't mind giving Canada possession of the ball AFTER we score, but not when our shots miss. Holly: Vary your shot locations, it will keep team Canada guessing. Buckethead: I'm basically giving you the exact same advice that I gave both of the girls; Don't try for 6. I know that you have a considerably longer arm and thus more leverage with every shot or pass that you take, but I want to manufacture points in small, but steady, doses. And don't keep driving straight down the centre of the court, just because you're taller doesn't mean that you're immune to a side crash from that Melinda girl or being pillow blocked by Krystal. All of you get that?"

Jess and Holly smiled and nodded, Buckethead was still staring at me (which I consider an accomplishment in and of itself).

"Great. Laura, they're all yours."

First intermission, 2:00-1:00, Laura's perspective, Song to put on: Otep – Confrontation

I approached the team with my clipboard, and decided to talk to them with an even tone of voice. We're down, but it's not a blowout so I can get us back into the swing of things:

"OK, the defence seems to be more cohesive since we tightened up near the middle of the court after the timeout but that's going to eventually come back to bite us in the ass when Canada's forwards just drive near the perimeter and you guys can't pillow block or side impact to stop them. Dani, Mary, loosen up so that you're in-between your original positions and the near-middle of the court where you spent after the timeout. This should make bounce passing to the forwards easier so that you don't have to just keep dumping the ball in the opposing corner. Big guy, stay focused out there. They don't seem to understand that you're now the point man between the other 4 players. Everybody got that?"

Dani and Mary both shouted "Yes ma'am" at the same time, I was content just to get a nod out of Buckethead. Actually, I'm amazed he isn't more disconnected from his surroundings than he is.

"OK Jane, they're all yours."

First intermission, 1:00-0:00, Jane's perspective, Song to put on: The Presidents of the United States of America – Cleveland Rocks

I don't have time to do much of anything as a trainer with only 60 seconds to work with. I can't really make them stretch or the like as they're already getting a hell of a workout out there on the court. Perhaps I should inquire the team about injuries that were sustained in the first quarter. I'll start with the big scary guy first, get him over and done with.

"Are you injured, Mr. Buckethead?" I asked, he merely shook his head. The masked one is a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them.

"Are you injured, Dani and Mary?" I asked.

"Not at all." replied Mary.

"I'm good, thanks." added Dani. I went for them next because they were the youngest. They actually have the most to lose by being injured now as they can (theoretically) have another 10 or 20 years in their careers ahead of them. I went to Holly next, trying to convince myself that this is a different Holly from that alternate place where we were in Africa together (and she was a Heroin and Cocaine addict as well as an alcoholic).

"Are you injured, Holly?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine, Thanks." she softly answered. That just leaves Jess for last.

"Are you injured, Miss Oresto?" I asked. She held up her right arm, exposing a bruise with swelling the size of a golf ball off to one side of her right elbow. I quickly took out a black voice-activated elbow brace and Jess put her arm through it willingly, it was quite...big for her.

"Adjust size to fit and set to cold level 2, please" I spoke directly at the elbow brace. It complied (making Jess sigh out in reliefe), there are 7 seconds left on the clock. Nothing else for any of us to say, this quarter.

Second Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Melinda's perspective, Song to put on: Pan Out Now – Agawa Bay

Oh goodie, the big guy wins the tipoff again and arch passes it to Holly in one continuous motion (actually, I concede that that's pretty cool). Off I drive to side-hit, hopefully I hit her hard enough to lose possession. And I do, Krystal will have to reach a bit to scoop the ball up on her left side, but she's done it without any problems at all. I'm a bit out of commission with pushing Holly against the wall, oh good, she bounce passed it to Thom, who arch passed it to Jason perfectly. Mary's close to a front impact hit to intercept, but Jason gets a 3-point shot in the air which sails wide to the left and out of play. The left linesman tosses a fresh ball to Dani who bounce passes it to Jess, only for the jersey girl to be side hit by Thom. I guess both teams centres are more defensively minded than everyone thought. A pity Jason was too far away to try and make a scoop, but Julie eventually gets it. I've let Holly go (at the "request" of the centre linesman). So I'll take Julie's bounce pass (I'm glad that she didn't just toss the ball into 1 of the Team USA corners). I think I'll zig-zag right to left as I see Team USA were nice enough to leave me an opening so that I don't have to try for a 6-pointer. Well would you look at that? I can turn even more to the left and get inside the key for a better chance at a 2-point power shot. Oh shit, Mary and Dani are going to try to wipe me out from both sides, I better take my shot now. It looks good but oops, it sailed low, and both defencewomen hit me legally (though for Dani, it was borderline)...OW!

Second Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Thom's perspective, Song to put on: Buckethead and Brain – Used Banana Box

Jeez, I hope that Melinda's OK. Oh good, she seems to be driving around with ease. That Norwegian chick seems to be taking the possession of the ball, and oh look, she's trying to make a bounce pass to Dani as I'm driving towards her...yoink, now I've scooped it up and my shot...is GOOD. Canada's now up 7-4. Dani's taking the possession this time. Hey, where's the jersey girl at? Wow, she's hanging around our key again, and she takes an arch pass from Dani and a power shot and she just pulled back to within 1 point of us, 7-6. Krystal is taking possession, making a bounce pass to Julie who drives forward on a break for the board. Oh crap, Buckethead is heading right for her. "Flank to the wall", I shout. She makes a risky bounce pass to Jason (he was more open than I was but the angle of the pass was quite awkward). He slams on his brakes to stop from going over the line of the key, fires a weak 3-point shot. WOW, it actually hit the board, we're now up 10-6. Mary's taking possession, she goes for an arch pass to Holly who fires and it's good. Wait a minute, the linesman has blown the whistle. What the hell is all of this about? All of us would've heard a hit (even a rear one), I didn't see a handball violation or a racquet slash. Oh, it's a review of Holly's car and where it was in relation to the key. OK, that's fair enough, I get that. This is the difference between a 2-point power shot and a 3-point shot and as much as it's a shot from the opposing team, both Canada and the United States deserve to be treated equally. After the better part of 3 minutes goes by, the centre linesman speaks to the stadium via headset:

"After extensive video review, it is determined that Holly Rapp's whirlybug was over the line of the key and is thus, only entitled to 2 points, not 3. The scoreboard shall be changed to 10-8 in favour of Canada."

OK, kudos to whoever taught these linesmen English. And whoever's translating this into Portuguese for the fans.

Second Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Jason's perspective, Song to put on: Accept – Balls to the Wall

I wonder who is taking possession of the ball for us. I guess that it's Krystal by default (Julie's better at mixing up how she handles possessions after shots or balls that go out of bounds, but whatever). She bounce passes it to Melinda, who for some reason is trying for a 6-point shot when we have a 2-point lead. It sails low, and Dani catches it before it goes out of bounds (or even hits the ground for that matter). I have to give America credit where credit is due, switching Dani over to the left side was a brilliant idea. Then again, I doubt they could find another defenseman as good as those 2 girls that played left back naturally. Anyways, Dani passes it to Buckethead (who is actually older than our trainer by about 3 years, but man he moves well and no one can touch him when he has the ball because, who the hell can reach as high as he can?). Oh wow, Julie just creamed him in the front hard enough for him to lose balance and possession of the ball. Thom scoops up the ball and breaks for the board. Crap, everyone on Team USA except for Buckethead is gunning for him. Holly side hits him before he can get off a shot, and the loose ball is scooped up by Jess. I wonder if she's going to try to make another 6-point shot and fail miserably as I drive towards her, nope, it seems that she's switching back to power shots. She gets off a shot, and it sails high and out of bounds. Oh thank goodness, Julie is taking the possession this time. Good thing I got back over to our half of the court, because she just bounce passed it to me.

Second Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Julie's perspective, Song to put on: Silverchair – Pure Massacre

OK Jason, take the pass and drive down the court. I'm not expecting a 6-pointer (or even a 3-pointer for that matter), but a power shot would be nice. He goes for the shot, it sails wide right. I'm guessing that Mary takes possession of the ball this time, and I'm right. She makes a bounce pass to Buckethead (which for some reason, overcame her with a look of dread on her face). He's just driving with his scoop and ball as high in the air as he can (actually, I can't say as I blame him. He's almost 2 metres tall and he knows full well that no one in Whirlyball can steal the ball from him). He lobs up a power shot, and he goes high. Probably time that I shout at Krystal (and no, I'm not mad at her).

"Take it" I yell at her. Krystal nods and holds up her scoop so that the linesman can lob it over to her. She arch passes it Melinda (Fair enough, Indiana Holly and the Jersey Girl seem to be covering Thom very well at the moment and Jason is too far away), who drives close to the perimeter wall (a bit stupid on her part, as side hits hurt more when they're against those iron barriers, believe me, I know). She tries for a badly angled 3-pointer and it sails high. Dani takes the possession and bounce passes it to Holly, who is now trying for a 6-pointer for some strange reason (I guess America is that desperate to take the lead at this point in the first half). It sails low and not out of bounds (a bit of a relief, as I hate the stoppages in play when the ball goes out of bounds) and after 2 bounces, it gets scooped up by Thom. And he's attempting a 6-point shot of his own? (Seriously Thom, why are you doing this?) and it sails low and is scooped up by Jess. "OK, I guess I'll do Mary's and Dani's job" I distinctly heard her say right before she dumped it in our back half of the court, going out of bounds.

Second Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Krystal's perspective, Song to put on: Team Sleep – Acoustic One

Our team has called our time out for the first half (which makes sense because if we don't use it, we lose it). The linesman nods and grants it, blowing the whistle. We all drive over to the coach's bench. Sherry approaches us first:

Sherry: "Keep the pressure on them as we wind down the first half. We're still ahead so we can afford to miss a shot or two, but no more. Thom, Melinda, Jason, don't be afraid of the masked giant, he's just a man. Gregg, take it away."

Gregg: "Are you alright, Julie? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Krystal? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Thom? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Melinda? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jason? Here, have some Gatorade."

Cindy: "I don't have much to say as we're only using this timeout because it doesn't carry over to the second half. Just stay the course for the last...just under 2 minutes left on the clock so that we carry the lead into the second half. Actually, Julie, Krystal...just dump the ball into the back of the USA half of the court until time expires every time you get possession.

I'm nod at Cindy while everyone (including me) puts a hand in the middle as we all shout "CANADA!" OK, back to the court we go, the whistle has been blown to resume play.

I follow Cindy's instructions to a letter T, (and so did Julie). Each of us only got possession of the ball once each in the final 1:57 of the half. The rest of the time consisted of Thom and his wingers trying to make power shots. Most of them sailed low and were caught by Dani and Mary before they went out of bounds. Strangely, there were no hits between whirlybugs at any point as the first half wound down. The one time that I got possession, if I had thrown it any harder with my scoop, it would have gone out of bounds on the American side. When the second quarter buzzer went off, we were still in the lead, 10-8.

Second Intermission, 3:00-2:00. Cindy's perspective, Song to put on: Hellyeah -Alcohaulin' Ass

I generally tend to not use clipboards when I coach my team back in Newmarket, and I wasn't about to change that policy for Team Canada. I walked over to my team with mixed feelings: Happy that our defence was the primary cause for us having a lead, sad that it was only by 2 points.

"Girls (referring to Julie and Krystal), I only have 1 critique of you: You need to vary your location on the court a little more to make the defence more effective. Remember ladies, you each have several hundred square feet of room to guard between your forwards and the board, use it, they can come from anywhere. Also, if any of you forwards have any defensive skills whatsoever, we need them in order to maintain our lead. That big guy in the mask is a fucking beast, we probably can't steal the ball if he has possession but we have to slow him down somehow. How the hell does he even get his body inside the whirlybug? Anyways, do I make myself clear girls?" I ask. Both Julie and Krystal nod and smile, I can tell that they're happy to be in the lead after the first half, and it was well-earned, so I say nothing else except "Take it away, Gregg."

Second intermission, 2:00-1:00, Gregg's perspective, Song to put on: Minor Threat – Straight Edge

I don't have time to do much of anything as a trainer with only 60 seconds to work with (although if Aaron ever writes this, I hope that he chooses Minor Threat's Straight Edge song for me as it's who we are and it's only 46 seconds long). I can't really make them stretch or the like as they're already getting a hell of a workout out there. Perhaps I should inquire about injury sustained in the second quarter.

"Are you injured, Jason?" I asked, he merely shook his head.

"Are you injured, Julie and Krystal?" I asked.

"Not at all." replied Julie.

"I'm hurt. My ribs are bruised, possibly broken" added Krystal. She lifted up her Team Canada jersey, revealing a multicoloured stripe of bruising along and near her diaphragm. I quickly grabbed a roll of white medical tape and wrapped it around Krystal's mid-torso three times tightly.

"I don't even know when that happened, the adrenaline has been so intense today." she said, sheepishly, with more than a hint of guilt in her voice. I grabbed a grey, metal scanning tool out of my pocket and quickly scanned the injury.

"Multiple veins and capillaries burst with swelling pressing onto the bottom 2 ribs, scan for broken or cracked bones...negative" the scanner (that looked like Aaron-Prime's Cammy) replied in a robotic male voice.

"There's no break. We got lucky, be careful Krystal. Are you injured, Melinda?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine." she softly answered. That just leaves Thom for last.

"Are you injured, Mister Phung?" I asked. He merely shook his head with 1 minute and 14 seconds left on the clock.

"They're all yours, Sherry." I shouted as I tilted my head over to the left, to where Miss Ripa was standing.

Second intermission, 1:00-0:00, Sherry's perspective, Song to put on: Pat Benatar – Hit me with your best shot

There really wasn't much for me to critique out of Thom's, Jason's and Melinda's offence in the first half. So I approach them with a somewhat different tactic.

"With only a 2 point lead going into the second half, I must stress to each of you not to take unneeded risks with the shots that you make. We don't need to dazzle the crowd with 6-point shots, let's keep it to just power shots with MAYBE an occasional 3-point shot thrown in just to mix things up. Also, I've noticed that the big guy is not as good at intercepting the ball on the ground as he is when the ball is in the air. So let's work around that everyone, let's eliminate arch passes from our game entirely and go entirely on bounce passes. Got that?"

"Yes, Miss Ripa." replied Thom.

"We will." added Melinda and Jason.

Not entirely satisfied (and with 20 seconds left in the intermission), I turn my attention to the defence: "You 2 can still dump the ball if you have no one to pass it to, but keep it away from the big guy and bounce pass it to a forward whenever you can. Understand?"

"Got it." answered Julie, Krystal merely nodded. The players, other coaches and I joined hands and shouted "GO CANADA!" before the players returned to the court in order to start the second half.

Third Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Mary's perspective, Song to put on: A-ha – Take on me

OK Mary, we've got to play catch up to Team Canada. Buckethead wins another tip-off, good for him but he still gives me the creeps with that expressionless mask and KFC bucket on his face and penchant for not speaking all that much. He doesn't even make any noise when he sleeps in that custom made bed that's only 1 metre away from my standard sized bed. OK Mary, focus on the game. Holly's trying for a 3 pointer (with a look on her face that suggests that she's breaking from her coach's advice), it sails low and almost right into Julie's scoop. Well, at least it didn't go out of bounds and stop the play of the game. Julie bounce passes it over to Melinda, I'm pretty sure Dani has got this but I'll drive over to her side of the court as backup. Sure enough, Dani front-swiped her hard enough to make her drop the ball. I go for the scoop, get the ball, and search for a forward. Holly is still too far away and I don't want to try an arch pass right now, The big guy is running point (effectively our third defender). I guess I'm bounce passing it to the jersey girl, just as well, she handles my bounce passes better than the other 2 forwards at the moment. OK, the ball is away, 2 bounces, and she scoops, good girl. She drives more towards the middle of the court (risky, but at least she won't get plowed into the side rail with that strategy), she's inside the key, tries for a power shot, it goes high. I suppose Krystal is taking the possession as it did go out of bounds, so who will she pass it to? Jason and Thom are her best options, and she's going with Thom (fair enough, I would've gone with him too). I drive to intercept, and I side impact Thom, he loses possession of the ball but Jason picks it up quick (I know he's my enemy, but that was good heads-up thinking). He's inside the key, takes a power shot, it sails low. I motion to Dani to take the possession as it sailed out of bounds on her half of the court.

Third Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Buckethead's perspective, Song to put on: Buckethead – Floating Graveyard

OK, defender lady with the glasses has bounce passed it to me, oh boy, oh boy. I'm driving to the board but I'm zigging and zagging so that it'll be harder for the Australian lady and Krystal to hit me. No 6-pointers, no 6-pointers, no 6-pointers. OK, I'm inside Canada's half of the court, no one is near me. I feel so disembodied, why is no one on my team my friend? I wear the mask for their benefit, if only they could understand that. Focus br...I mean Buckethead, Focus. OK, I'm inside the key and the Australian lady is closer to me than Krystal, so I better take my shot now. And with a flick of the wrist, I take my shot and...oops, it sails high and out of bounds. I better do a full reverse and block one of the forwards. The Aussie lady tends to pass to Jason more than the other 2 forwards, so I'll intercept him. Hopefully I can make it to where he is before he gets off a shot, and I do. Of course, the Aussie lady bounce passes it to...Thom, instead. I really wish that I was better with people's names, maybe I'd talk a little more to other people (but not that much, humans scare me more than they scare Aaron). I can't get to Thom on account of choosing to block Jason, oh great, the Indiana lady and the New Jersey lady hit him on both sides. Pity that he didn't lose possession of the ball, so he bounce passed it to the Canadian lady winger (why do I have pictures of lemurs in my head every time I look at her?) and the Norwegian lady I'm rooming with hit her in the side, yay, she dropped the ball. It's too bad that it's too far away from any of us to scoop up, but the ball going out of bounds is cool too, as we get possession back. Looks like the Norwegian girl is taking the possession, so I'll drive back to the middle of the court, not like she'll pass to me again anyway.

Third Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Jess's perspective, Song to put on: Drain STH – Down

Huh, Mary bounce passed it to me. Holly was closer but that's OK (and I guess that she's still a little reluctant to pass it to Buckethead). I'll drive down to the Canadian half of the court, the big guy seems to run interference for Holly and I quite well (he'd probably be the right defender instead of Mary if not for his height and presumably, his leadership skills). Canada doesn't seem to be too concerned about me when I'm in America's half of the court (I guess that they know about my inability to make 6-point shots, good thing that I stopped). OK, I'm inside their half of the court, the big guy is distracting Thom, Holly is pillow blocking Jason (and quite well, I might add) and Melinda is getting close, as is Julie and Krystal. Am I inside the key? Yes. I take my shot, it's GOOD. I just tied it up for the United States, 10-10. Krystal and Julie move back to their positions while I head back to my half of the court. Julie is taking the possession, she tries to bounce pass it to Thom AND BUCKETHEAD INTERCEPTS IT. Man that guy has great reach, and he's already inside the key. Come on big guy, take the shot..YES, WE'RE UP 12-10. What the hell is Coach Castro doing signalling the linesman for a timeout now? Well, the linesmen are granting it for some strange reason, I now have to drive over to the coaches bench. Now Coach Dotson's coming to us first? This is strange.

"OK, Dani and Mary: Move forward in regards to where you 2 are covering, the Canadians will be more aggressive now. So don't be afraid to crash into them. Got that?"

I see Dani and Mary nod, followed by Laura saying "Jane, Gatorade. them!"

We each have different bottles of Gatorade that Jane gives to us. She insisted upon it, as Brazil is not quite as efficient in fighting germs as North America is (naturally occurring, made in a lab but still organic, made in a lab but completely inorganic...it doesn't matter anymore, I'm frankly surprised that we haven't had a plague kill 99% of the planet like that guy from Maine wrote about). She isn't saying anything as she hands us the Gatorade, but she has a smile on her face, as if she's proud of us. Now Rudy is strutting over towards us, as if he knows exactly what he's saying to us.

"Way to go, Big B and Jess for tying it up and putting us over the top. We need to keep hitting them hard and shooting fast. That said, no unneeded risks with the 6-point shots. Dump it out of bounds on purpose if you have to, make their defenders work harder, Holly should get her shots in too. Understand?"

I nod, so do Holly and the big guy. We join hands and shout "USA!" and drive back to our court positions. Krystal is taking the possession of the ball, and she's bounce passing to Melinda. Buckethead and I move to side hit her, she bounce passes it to Thom (who somehow got past the half-court line without any of us noticing) who takes a shot and it's good for 3 points, and there goes our lead, it's Canada 13, the USA 12. Dani takes possession of the ball, she bounce passes it to Holly who is going way too close to the metal perimeter wall for my comfort. Jason rammed her hard (but sadly, legally), causing her to drop the ball. Thom scoops it up, but bounce passes it to Melinda. Melinda is going more in the middle of the court (with Buckethead already behind her). She arches the ball for a power shot, which is successful. Canada's up 15-12, Mary will take the possession.

Third Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Holly's perspective, Song to put on: The letter black – Up from the ashes

Mary bounce passes it to me, to which I appreciate. I drive to about half a metre from inside the perimeter wall, with Buckethead driving parallel to me in order to keep me from being hit by the Canadians. It's a solid play, but if he gets hit hard enough, my own teammate will effectively be putting me into the wall, rendering me immobile. I'm almost in position, but Krystal has caught on to what I'm doing. She's driving right for me to pillow block, and Thom and Jason are blocking Jess. I guess that my only options are to take the hit or try for the 3-point shot now. I know it's a bad angle and Coach Castro advised against it, but I'm taking the 3-point shot. I set my arm back to wind-up and somehow get off the shot just as Krystal's whirlybug hits the front of my whirlybug. The ball hits one of the titanium bars that keeps the board in the air, sailing out of bounds. Mr. Castro is giving me a look of sympathy (as if he's saying that he understands why I took the shot). Julie is taking possession this time as I drive back to the USA half of the court. She bounce passes it to Thom, but Jess nudges his car sideways so he can't scoop the ball. It bounces off of the side of his whirlybug and into my scoop. I full reverse back to Canada's board, hoping for a power shot from the middle inside of the key. I stop, arch my arm and make the shot...it sails high, and out of bounds. The linesman blows the whistle, as Dani's whirlybug seems to be stuck back in her corner of the USA court. He seems to be motioning for her to get out of her car, that's...strange. Now he's motioning for the other 2 linesmen to come over, and the Brazilian crowd is booing for the delay of game. It's not her fault, or any player's fault (or the linesman's fault) for that matter. They lift up the whirlybug, now one of them appears to be taking something off of the wheel. He holds it up for the cameras to see...oh wow, a nail came off of the court floor and was stalling her car. The linesmen are now signalling for maintenance to come in and repair the floor, and after 2 minutes, they're finished. One of the linesman is now making a figure 8 gesture in the air, and Dani is driving as such with ease. All 3 linesmen shout "PLAY ON!"

Third Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Dani's perspective, Song to put on: Queen – I'm in love with my car

OK, that was scary. I thought that I broke my whirlybug myself or something. That's a relief, and everyone on both sides of the court returned to their respective spots (quietly, as the linesman could've just as easily told everyone to just stay where they are instead). Julie takes possession of the ball and makes a simple bounce pass to Jason (he was the closest, nothing strange there). His bounce pass that went past Thom and into the scoop of Melinda on the other hand, was. She's inside our half of the court and attempts a long 3-point shot in order to prevent Mary from pillow blocking her while she still had the ball. It sails low, and out of bounds. I shout "Take it" to Mary (as it went out of bounds on her half of the court). She nods and surveys the forwards before accepting the ball. Jess is too far away, and Melinda is blocking Holly, wow, she actually bounce passed it to Buckethead, good for her.

Buckethead bounce passes it to Jess, she bounces it back to Buckethead when Jason gets close to pillow blocking her, he bounce passes it to Holly who immediately bounce passes it back to him when Krystal rams her. He tries for a centre power shot, but it sails high and out of bounds. He full reverses back to our half of the court as Julie takes possession for Canada. She has no open forwards, really, so she just dumps the ball in our half of the court. Amazingly, she tossed it with her scoop diagonally all the way to Mary with it only bouncing once. With only 4 seconds on the clock, Mary bounce passes it to Buckethead who tries a desperate 6-point shot. It sails low, but the buzzer has gone off anyway so Julie and Krystal don't get possession again. I drive over to the USA's coaches bench...

Third intermission, 3:00-2:00, Laura's perspective, Song to put on: Katy Perry – California Girls

I approached the team with my clipboard, and decided to talk to them with an even tone of voice again (although it's getting tougher for me to do so. We're running out of time):

"OK, the defence isn't being problematic at any point this game. I'm serious, I can't really criticize anything about your game. If half of the last quarter has gone by and we're still down on points, you girls might as well start trying for 6-point shots yourselves as we'll have nothing to lose by that point. Dani, Mary, stay loose. This should make bounce passing to the forwards even easier than the first 3 quarters so that you don't have to dump the ball into the Canadian half of the court for the rest of the game. Big guy, keep focused out there. They don't seem to understand that you're now the point man between the other 4 players instead of Mary. Everybody got that?"

Dani and Mary both shouted "Yes ma'am" at the same time, I was content just to get a nod out of Buckethead. Actually, I'm amazed he isn't more disconnected from his surroundings than he is at the moment.

"OK Jane, they're all yours."

Third intermission, 2:00-1:00, Jane's perspective, Song to put on: Rush – Working Man

"Jess, how's the arm?" I asked, not wanting to waste any time as I approach the team. Jess smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up gesture. I for one was relieved to see her thumb go up, as the brace that I put on her was actually more than 10 years old. I actually don't know why I even bothered to pack it, as I have newer, better ones. Maybe I felt compelled to finally use it or something. I decide to switch my focus to the other 4 players, maybe they're hurt too.

"Big guy, how are you doing over there?" I asked Buckethead. He merely nodded at me, which is just as well. He's such a reserved person that I doubt that any of us would hear him even if he did talk.

"Indiana Holly, are you still OK over there?" I ask Miss Rapp. She smiles (almost identically to the way that Jess smiles, oddly enough). I thought about it for a moment, but decided not to press the matter. What reason would she have to lie to me? Onto the defence ladies...

"Mary, Dani, are you 2 alright?" I asked them simultaneously.

"I'm OK. How about you, Dani." replied Mary.

"I'm good. 1 more quarter and we're done for the day." added Dani.

"Take it away, Rudy." I shout, satisfied that my team is OK.

Third Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Rudy's perspective, Song to put on: David Allen Coe and Pantera – No Compromise

I approached the team with my clipboard, and decided to talk to them with my usual smile. I kind of have to switch things up a little bit:

"Jess: Forget what Coach Dotson said. You can try for 6-pointers now, we really need to play catch up at this point in the game. But try them from your side of the court as it will increase the chances of you making the shots. Holly: Vary your shot locations less often now, it will help your scoring slump, I promise. Buckethead: I'm basically giving you the exact same advice that I gave Jess; Try for 6 point shots, with your height, you have the best chance of making those shots out of anyone on the team (or team Canada for that matter). And keep varying which direction that you're driving in, just because you're taller doesn't mean that you're immune to a side crash from that Melinda girl or being pillow blocked by Krystal. All of you get that?"

Jess and Holly smiled and nodded, Buckethead was still staring at me (which I consider an accomplishment in and of itself). I was beginning to get frustrated, as there was no reason as to why we were still trailing the Canadians.

"Great. Let's strike hard in last quarter."

Everyone's hands then joined mine, "GO USA!"

Fourth Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Thom's perspective, Song to put on: Ice Cube with Korn – Fuck Dying

I don't even see why we have a tip-off each quarter with Buckethead being almost a foot taller than I am (and I might very well be the tallest player on Team Canada). They should just give the ball to Team USA each and every single time, God knows that it'll save everyone a lot of time (and humiliation on my end). And Buckethead wins another fucking tip-off, what a surprise? (Hopefully if Aaron ever writes this, he can accurately portray my sarcasm with the written word). He bounce passes it to Holly who drives towards the middle of the court (right past Melinda). I full reverse and drive at her in order to hit her before her shot. What the? She's trying for a 3-pointer? And it's successful? Did America just tie the game at 15 points apiece? OK, looks like Team Canada has to hustle to regain the lead. Julie takes possession of the ball and bounce passes it to Jason. I'm going to parallel drive with Jason, watch his back, keep him from getting hit and all that jazz. We're inside the American half, Jess is driving right for Jason as he bounce passes it to me. Sweet, now I'm inside the key, I take my shot, and Buckethead appears out of nowhere and grabs my shot while it's in mid-air. Jesus Christ, that guy's slippery. Now he's bounce passing it to Jess (who's already inside our key and gets off a power shot before Julie and Krystal can double tap her). Speaking of which, I just got double tapped by Mary and Dani. Come on girls, I don't even have the ball anymore, leave me alone. Oh, and America's now ahead 17-15. I drive back to my half of the court as Julie and Krystal argue over who takes possession. Eventually, the linesman gets pissed at them and Krystal takes it. She bounce passes it to Jason as both Melinda and I are too far away at the moment.

Fourth Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Jason's perspective, Song to put on: Disturbed – 10,000 Fists

Thanks Krystal, now hopefully Melinda and Thom can keep most of Team USA off of my back while I try to put Team Canada back ahead in this game (or at least even). I think I'll zig-zag right-left to keep the Americans guessing, hopefully Buckethead is occupied enough for me to get inside their half of the court without him noticing, maybe even inside the key (but Canada can't afford to be choosers at this point in the game). OK, I'm inside the USA half. Jess and Holly have no clear route to get to me and Thom is blocking the big guy. Do Mary and Dani even know that I have the ball right now? Either way, I'm inside the key and am trying to sneak in a power shot...

...BAM!

Well, that was a rough hit. But I got the shot off, pity that it sailed low (and out of bounds). Oh, there's the Michigan girl and the Norwegian...

"We knew you had it all along." taunted Mary while Dani took possession. I tip my non-existent hat at the Norwegian as I drive back to my half of the court (sorry, but that sandwich play was excellent, even if I was the victim). Dani bounce passed it to Buckethead (I guess they're not as afraid of him as they once were, or maybe that's just Mary). Buckethead drives down the right-centre side of the court, and I'm not going to catch up to him (especially with both Jess and Holly escorting him right into our half). Whoa, Melinda and Jason just drove between Buckethead and each of his escorts, then pushed them away with their own whirlybugs. Now Thom is pillow blocking him from the front, but with the height advantage, Buckethead can still get off a 3-point shot. He does, but it sails way too high, and out of bounds. Julie and Krystal play a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock in order to decide who gets possession of the ball: Julie shows Paper, Krystal shows Spock, Paper disproves Spock. I guess Julie takes possession of the ball.

Fourth Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Julie's perspective, Song to put on: Danzig – Possession

OK, which forward is open for me to pass to? Thom and Buckethead are too close together, Melinda is too far away from me to make a bounce pass effective (although if she was the only option available, I still would try it). Oh good, Jason is open. I snap my wrist, it's a quick, 1-bounce pass to him. He has to alter his course just to avoid getting side hit by the jersey girl, but he's inside the USA half of the court relatively quickly. Dani and Mary move to intercept him, but he's already inside their key, and taking the power shot. It sails wide left and out of bounds (which I find odd, maybe his racquet is damaged in some way. Too late to do anything about it now, I suppose). Mary actually has to reverse her whirlybug in order to take possession of the ball. She makes a bounce pass to Holly (which is almost as weird as her passes to Buckethead). Krystal and I (moreso Krystal) drive to intercept, but it turns out that we don't really have to, as both Thom and Melinda have already put her in the wall (so to speak), causing her to lose the ball. It's a bit of a drive for Krystal, but she reaches the ball before Team USA can sneak into our half of the court in order to take it. Melinda breaks off from the ramming of Holly first, so Krystal gives her the pass (which is close enough where a bounce pass isn't necessary). Thom is now free as well, so she has something of an escort to take her shot. Oops, spoke too soon, he just sacrificed his position on the court to Buckethead. Come on Melinda, get into position, we're dying out here. CRAP, Mary hit her whirlybug hard enough where Melinda dropped the ball and it went out of bounds. Oh thank god, Coach Cindy has called her time out.

Fourth Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Krystal's perspective, Song to put on: Godsmack – Spiral

I guess that I'm driving over to the Coach's bench (along with the rest of my teammates). Strange, Gregg (our trainer) is the one who is going to be talking to us first. And that's strange in any game, even in the GTA league back home. We each have different bottles of Gatorade that Gregg gives to us (and with the game almost over, he's just handing us the rest of each of our bottles). He insisted upon it, as he's something of a neurotic germaphobe (and with what's going on in the world today, I can't exactly say as I blame him). He isn't saying anything as he hands us the Gatorade, but he has a scowl on his face, as if he's pissed off at us. He's mouthing the words "how are your ribs doing?" at me, I just give him the thumbs up, as I'm not in anywhere near as much pain as I once was. Now Cindy is strutting over towards us, as if she knows exactly what she's saying to us.

"We have nothing to lose now. Hit them anywhere, not like we're going to win anyway." she simply says, dejected. Sherry can somehow hear this, and is screaming at Cindy: "OH NO YOU DON'T!" as she starts walking over to us. "Don't listen to Cindy, listen to me: If you have a clear 3-point or 6-point shot, take it."

All while this is going on, Jason has reported his racquet to Gregg. Gregg is not the equipment manager by any stretch of the imagination, but he knows where the spares are. They come back over quickly enough for us to join hands and shout "Fear the North." Up until the 2 minute warning, none of our shots go through and the Norwegian and Michigan girls are just dumping the ball in our half of the court (as they have no clear bounce pass to take with Buckethead, Holly and Jess).

Fourth quarter, 2:00-0:00, Melinda's perspective, Song to put on: Frank Sinatra – My Way

OK, the United States might be complacent to just let the clock run out, but I'm not. Julie bounce passes it to me, and I just go for it. I don't bother driving forward, as my whirlybug is more than half the court away from the American board as it is. I just snap my arm back and take the shot (worst case scenario, I'm out of bounds and their defenders will probably just dump the ball back in our half of the court anyway). Holy shit, I MADE IT! The first 6-pointer of the game and Canada is now up 21-17. Mary is taking possession of the ball for Team America (with an "Oh Crap" look on her face) and bounce passes it Buckethead, only he can't reach it. I'm actually a little closer to the ball than Holly is, and I decide "Screw it, I'll take another one." and fire. It only counts for 3, but we now have a 7-point lead with less than a minute to go. Aside from 1 scare from Buckethead trying for a 6-pointer, Canada holds onto the lead 24-17 by dumping the ball in the back half of their court (like they tried to do with us when they were in the lead). Round 1 to us as I'm hoisted on the team's shoulders after the buzzer is signalled. The crowd is about 60/40 in support of us, we drew First Blood.

Chapter 3: A new kind of low

Jess and Holly had just finished eating their second plate (each) of Feijoada for dinner, the national dish of Brazil. It consists of Black Beans, Bacon and salted broth served over Rice. Both of them let out large belches, uncharacteristic to both of them (which caused a shared laugh).

"Thank God we didn't get a version of this with ears, tail, feet, loin or tongue in it." lamented Holly.

Surprisingly, Jess showed no agreement with that sentiment "I would've eaten it anyway. I was starving. Whirlyball always works up an appetite, for me at least."

Their hotel room door was knocked upon four times. A voice that both of them had recognized to be Dani "Team meeting, downstairs, conference room, 10 minutes."

"Good thing we finished eating." whispered Jess, as both she and Holly grabbed their purses.

It was amazing for Mary, how food can be used to establish fellowship with all walks of life. To her surprise, all of her fears of her roommate had all but dissipated. He had cooked Brazilian style rice with grilled Zucchini and Peppers for her, and she was stunned that he cooked so well, and it was vegetarian to boot. Mary enjoyed eating meat, but respected dietary differences of all kinds. She was so curious as to what was her masked chef's secrets, but knew that the chance of an answer from him was slim, at best.

"That was wonderful, thank you. Have you been a vegetarian for very long?" she asked as she took a sip of what she guessed was some local red wine (which she didn't mind as the taste had hints of cashew, which was quite rare for either colour of wine). Buckethead merely tilted his head sideways before drawing a 2 and an 8 in the air (backwards from his perspective, but Mary had made it out perfectly).

"28 years, OK. Did I taste orange rind in the rice?"

Buckethead nodded.

Mary sighed, resigning herself to open up to the masked one for the first time "I'm sorry for misjudging you, Buckethead. But I guess people have been misunderstanding you for your whole life."

Buckethead stared at the ceiling, as if he was pondering something.

"Yes...I have a wife and 2 kids back home. I just want to be left alone and let my talents speak for themselves (both music and whirlyball). You're relatively new to the 'verse, aren't you?"

Mary nodded. "I have dreams of Korea sometimes, and making videos on YouTube of me reacting to TV shows that I like (with friends) and singing in multiple languages...he told me that those were other me's and...oh Buckethead, those glitches...I think we're all going to be dead in 2 weeks, 3 at the most."

Their hotel room door was knocked upon four times. A voice that both of them had recognized to be Dani "Team meeting, downstairs, conference room, 5 minutes."

"I agree." whispered Buckethead, as he embraced Mary before they both headed downstairs.

"It was nice of hotel management to let us use their conference room tonight." remarked Jane as she looked around the room. All blue-grey walls with lithium lighting in the ceiling, a long, rectangular Oak conference table that could easily seat 16 people and small palm trees in every corner of the room.

"I think that we're the only guests in the hotel room, other than Team Canada, of course." replied Rudy.

The door knocked four times.

"That'll be them, have robotic preparations on stand-by, COME IN!" shouted Laura. The team entered, wearing various combinations of street clothes in lieu of team uniforms.

"I'm not one to mince my words, our defence collapsed at the end of today. But with no practice time scheduled, I can really only say: For game 2, we really need to step it up. Especially as it pertains to Melinda, how the hell did we allow her to score a 6-pointer to put us away?"

The entire team stared at the hardwood floor in embarrassment, Rudy stepped forward "But enough about whirlyball. We need to relax and come together as team."

"Hotel robot, please prepare the conference table for poker." announced Jane. A robot emerged from behind one of the plants. It began talking to the group "Please state the specifics regarding the game type, stakes, payouts, rules and seating."

Laura took a moment to ponder all of that "Ace-5 triple draw lowball, 25 Real per player (with the winner receiving 150 and 2nd place receiving 50), standard Las Vegas rules, 2 tables of 4 players with a merge to a final table of 6 after the first 2 eliminations."

The robot began making the needed arrangements (most specifically, taking the mid-section of the table out and changing 1 large table into 2 smaller ones). As the robot was stacking chips for each player, Mary looked around the other people in the game and mumbled "I...don't...know how play Ace-5 triple draw lowball. The state of Norway doesn't spread it in our Casinos very often. We're more into playing 6 card Omaha, like the rest of the world."

Rudy cleared his throat, preparing for a rant: "Ace-5 triple draw lowball is a 'worst hand wins' poker variant. Unlike the 2-7 variant that we read about in Aaron's mixed poker book, straights and flushes don't count against your hand so, Ace-2-3-4-5 is a perfect hand, hence the name of the game."

Laura realized that she probably had to break things down even further as it was entirely possible that a few of the other players didn't know how to play poker at all. She continued where Rudy left off "Play begins with each player being dealt 5 cards face down. Each player may observe those 5 cards that they're dealt, but not the cards dealt to other players. The hand begins with a pre-draw betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind..."

"...That's the bigger of the 2 forced bets in the hand, right?" asked Dani. Laura nodded and continued "Play then continues clockwise. Each player must either call the amount of the big blind, fold, or raise. Betting in Ace-5 triple draw lowball is strict limit with the first 2 betting levels meaning that you can only call, bet or raise the value of the big blind, whereas it doubles in the last 2 betting rounds. When all players have wagered the same amount of money into the pot or folded, play proceeds to the drawing rounds."

"Is the triple draw aspect of the game the reason why there is only 6 players to a table?" asked Jess. Laura nodded and continued "Starting with the first player left of the dealer who is still playing the hand, players can then discard up to a maximum of three cards and draw an equal number of replacement cards. The discarded cards will no longer be used in play for the remainder of the hand. There is a betting round after each of the 3 drawing rounds, followed by a showdown if there are still 2 or more players in the hand. The blind levels go up each time someone gets eliminated. Seating is determined by our robot friend. I assume it has our names already"

The robot nodded and pointed to an HD screen in its' chest that displayed the seating arrangements for each table:

Table 1: Jess, Mary, Rudy, Buckethead

Table 2: Jane, Holly, Dani, Laura

"Seating is in order. Do you require a second robot so that we may deal for you?" it asked.

"Oh, yes please." answered Jane pre-emptively. Laura and Rudy nodded in approval. Then Laura added "Robots, add the following as house rules for our game: The first player that is out has to inspect our whirlybugs before the rest of us arrive."

"Added." replied both of the robots in the room.

Level 1, Table 1 = 1-2 Blinds, 2-4 Limits. All stacks even.

Hand #1 began with Buckethead quietly folding the King/7 of Diamonds, the 10 of Clubs and the 8/4 of Hearts from under the gun, Jess announcing "I Call." from the Button with the Jack/7 of Clubs and the 6/4/3 of Spades. Mary thinking for a moment in the Small Blind before quietly calling with the Jack of Spades, the 6 of Hearts, the 5 of Clubs and the 4/2 of Diamonds while Rudy announced "Let's take a flop" from the Big Blind and checked with the Ace/King/8/6 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts.

"You have the first drawing option, Miss Holm." stated the robot.

"1 card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the Jack of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Spades in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please." added Rudy as he pitched the King/8 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 6/5 of Diamonds in exchange.

"And just one card for me, please." whispered Jess as she pitched the Jack of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the King of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm." stated the robot.

"I check." she stated, assuming that all robots were oblivious to non-verbal communication.

"Check." added Rudy.

"I check as well." finished Jess.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"Oh I'm perfectly fine with the cards that I have." replied Mary.

"If you are sure, please say 'I stand pat'. But be forewarned, you cannot draw anymore after saying it." responded the robot.

"Very well then...I stand pat." complied Mary.

"1 more card for me, please" added Rudy as he pitched the 6 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Clubs in exchange.

"Same here, 1 card for me." stated Jess as she pitched the King of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm." stated the robot.

"I check." responded Mary.

"Check." replied Rudy.

"Check." added Jess.

"You have the last drawing option in lieu of Miss Holm standing pat, Mister Castro." announced the dealer.

"1 more card for me, please." replied Rudy as he pitched the Queen of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Diamonds in exchange.

"Same with me, 1 more card, please" whispered Jess as she pitched the 10 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Spades in exchange.

"You have the last betting option, Miss Holm." announced the robot.

"Check." responded Mary.

"Check." replied Rudy.

"Check." replied Jess.

"Present your cards, please. Start with the rank of your highest card in relation to your entire hand. In the event of a tie between highest cards, I will analyze each hand in order to break the tie." stated the robot.

"7 low." announced Mary as she turned her hand face up.

"Beats my Queen low." responded Rudy as he tossed his hand into the muck.

"Same with my Queen low." added Jess as she threw away her cards. Mary looked around awkwardly as she raked in pot of 6. No one said anything, but Buckethead pointed at her and gave her a thumbs up in approval.

Hand #2 began with Jess quietly folding the Queen/Jack of Hearts and the 10/4/3 of Diamonds from under the gun, Mary announcing "I fold" from the button with the King/10 of Spades, the 9/7 of Diamonds and the 7 of Hearts, Rudy looking down at the Ace of Hearts, the Jack/8 of Clubs, the Jack of Diamonds and the 7 of Spades from the Small Blind and said "No big guy, it's all yours". Buckethead shrugged and looked at his hand in the Big Blind: A King/3 of Clubs, a Queen of Spades, an 8 of Diamonds and a 4 of Hearts, then raked in his pot of 3.

"Was it worth defending?" asked Mary, who was aware of the concept of Blind defence from other kinds of poker. Buckethead merely shrugged again.

"He doesn't have to reveal that information." stated Rudy.

"How would we know if he did?" asked Jess.

Hand #3 began with Mary quietly folding the Queen/Jack/6 of Spades, the Jack of Hearts and the 10 of Diamonds from under the gun, Rudy announcing "I raise to 4" from the Button with the 9/7/6 of Hearts, the 5 of Spades and the 2 of Clubs, Buckethead quietly folding the King of Diamonds, the King of Clubs, the 10/5 of Hearts and the 10 of Spades from the Small Blind and Jess announcing "I fold" from the Big Blind with the King/9 of Spades, the 9 of Clubs and the 8/4 of Diamonds. Rudy nodded and collected his pot of 7.

"I think that hand was yours by default even if one of us called." stated Jess.

"I agree, my cards royally sucked." whispered Mary. Buckethead merely nodded in agreement, then stared blankly at the wall.

Hand #4 began with Rudy announcing "I raise to 4" from under the gun with the King/Jack of Clubs, the 5/2 of Diamonds and the 4 of Spades. Buckethead shaking his head and quietly folding the Ace/King of Hearts and the Queen/Jack/7 of Spades from the Button, Jess announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the 7/6 of Hearts, the 5/3 of Spades and the 2 of Clubs while Mary quietly folded the Ace/King of Diamonds, the 9 of Hearts, the 8 of Clubs and the 6 of Spades in the Big Blind.

"You have the first drawing option, Miss Oresto." stated the robot.

"Oh, I stand pat right now." she replied. Everyone at both tables gasped in total shock.

"OK, I'll take 2 cards please." replied Rudy as he pitched the King/Jack of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Spades and the 8 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Oresto." stated the robot.

"2" announced Jess, Rudy silently called.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Rudy in lieu of Jess standing pat."

"1 card for me, please," replied Rudy as he pitched the 8 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Oresto" stated the robot.

"4" she replied.

"I raise 4" announced Rudy. The re-raising continued until Jess was all-in.

"Please do not turn up your cards yet as Mister Castro has 1 more drawing phase." stated the robot.

"I'll take 1 more card, please" replied Rudy as he pitched the Jack of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Clubs in exchange.

"With Jess all-in, no more betting is needed. Time to show your cards, please." stated the robot.

"7 low." announced Jess.

"I also have 7 low." replied Rudy.

The robot analyzed each player's hands and announced "Rudy's second highest card, a 5 is lower than Jess's second highest card, a 6. Therefore, Mister Castro wins the hand and Miss Oresto is eliminated."

Jess nodded and stood up, "Great hand, Coach Castro. I'm off to bed as I now have to be up several hours before you guys."

"You almost had me, see you tomorrow." he replied.

"Good night, Jess" said Mary. Jess and Buckethead merely shook hands and Jess waved goodbye to the other table as she left the room.

Chip stacks for the table: Rudy – 198, Mary – 102, Buckethead – 100

Level 2, Table 2 = 2-4 Blinds, 4-8 Limits. Chip stacks for the table: Dani – 106, Holly – 103, Laura – 97, Jane – 94

Hand #1 began with Laura announcing "I raise to 8" from under the gun with the Queen/Jack/5 of Hearts, the 7 of Spades and the 3 of Clubs. Jane quietly calling from the Button with the Ace/King/9/6 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds, Holly announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the Ace of Diamonds, the 9/2 of Diamonds, the 8 of Spades and the 3 of Hearts while Dani quietly folded the Queen of Clubs, the 8/2 of Hearts, the 5 of Diamonds and the 5 of Spades from the Big Blind.

"You have the first drawing option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 9 of Clubs and the 8 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Spades and the 7 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Same here, 2 cards for me please" stated Laura as she pitched the Queen/Jack of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds in exchange.

"I'll take 2 cards as well, please." whispered Jane as she pitched the King/9 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the King of Spades and the 6 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." added Laura.

"I check." whispered Jane.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Rapp." announced the robot

"Just 1 card for me this time, please." responded Holly as she pitched the 9 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 2 of Spades in exchange.

"2 more cards for me, please." replied Laura as she pitched the Queen of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Diamonds and the 6 of Clubs in exchange.

"Same here. 2 cards for me, please." whispered Jane as she pitched the King of Spades and the 6 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the King/8 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." stated Laura.

"I check." added Jane.

"You have the last drawing option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the 2 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Spades in exchange.

"Same here. 1 more card for me, please." stated Laura as she pitched the 10 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 3 of Spades in exchange.

"And 1 more card for me, please." added Jane as she pitched the King of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." stated Laura.

"I check." added Jane.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." announced the robot.

"I just have a 10-low. If either 1 of you can beat that, it's yours." announced Holly as she turned her hand face up.

"That...beats my pair of 3's, yuck." replied Laura as she tossed her cards into the muck.

"And narrowly beats my Jack-low. Take it, Holly." added Jane as she tossed her cards into the muck. Holly smiled and raked in her pot of 28.

"That...might be the first time that I've ever seen 10-low win in a multi-way hand." remarked Dani with a stunned look on her face.

Hand #2 began with Jane quietly folding the King/Queen of Hearts, the King of Clubs, the 4 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds from under the gun. Holly announced "I fold" from the Button with the Jack/10/5/3 of Hearts and the 8 of Diamonds, Dani looked down at the King/7/5 of Diamonds, the Jack of Clubs and the 9 of Spades from the Small Blind and whispered "OK, I'll pay the lady by giving Laura a walk" as she folded. Laura smiled and turned her hand face up before raking in her pot of 6: The Jack/6 of Spades, the 7/4 of Hearts and the 3 of Diamonds.

"Definitely a respectable drawing hand in this game, and worth defending the Big Blind." remarked Jane. Holly and Dani nodded in agreement, saying nothing.

Hand #3 began with Holly announcing "I raise to 8" from under the gun with the Queen/6 of Clubs, the Queen of Spades, the 7 of Diamonds and the 4 of Hearts. Dani quietly called with the King/3 of Diamonds, the Jack/5 of Clubs and the 7 of Hearts from the Button. Laura announcing "I'm out" from the Small Blind with the 10/3/2 of Clubs and the 10/9 of Spades from the Small Blind while Jane quietly folded the Jack/6 of Spades, the 9/5 of Diamonds and the 6 of Hearts from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please." she replied as she pitched the Queens of Spades and Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Diamonds and the 8 of Clubs in exchange.

"Same here. 2 cards for me, please." stated Dani as she pitched the King of Diamonds and the Jack of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 10/5 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." added Dani.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Holly." announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the 10 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Spades in exchange.

"2 more cards for me, please" stated Dani as she pitched the 10/5 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Diamonds and the 3 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"I check." responded Holly.

"I check." added Dani.

"You have the last drawing option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 8 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Hearts in exchange.

"Same here. 1 more card for me, please." stated Dani as she pitched the 3 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Dani.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." announced the robot.

"9 Low." declared Holly as she turned her cards face up.

"Beats my Jack Low, take it." responded Dani as she tossed her cards into the muck. Holly smiled as she raked in her pot of 22.

"Nice hand." commented Jane.

"Holly is a threat that must be destroyed." whispered Laura.

Hand #4 began with Dani announcing "I raise to 8" from under the gun with the Jack/4/3 of Diamonds and the 7/4 of Clubs. Laura quietly folding the Queen/5 of Hearts, the 10 of Diamonds, the 8 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs on the Button, Jane announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the 8/4 of Hearts, the 7/4 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds while Holly smiled as she quietly called from the Big Blind with the Ace of Spades, the 10/3 of Clubs and the 10/2 of Hearts.

"You have the first draw, Miss Chapman." announced the robot.

"Just 1 card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the 4 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving a King of Clubs in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please." stated Holly as she pitched her 10's of Hearts and Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Hearts and the 6 of Clubs in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me, please." added Dani as she pitched the Jack/4 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the King of Diamonds and the 7 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Chapman." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." stated Holly.

"I check." added Jane.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Chapman." announced the robot.

"Still at 1 card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the King of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Clubs in exchange.

"Just 1 card for me as well, please." stated Holly as she pitched the Ace of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Spades in exchange.

"And 2 more cards for me as well, please." added Dani as she pitched the King of Diamonds and the 7 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Diamonds and the 6 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Chapman." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." replied Holly.

"I check." replied Dani.

"You have the third drawing option, Miss Chapman." announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the Jack of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Diamonds in exchange.

"I stand pat, thank you" declared Holly.

"And 1 more card for me, please." added Dani as she pitched the 8 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 3 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Chapman." announced the robot.

"I bet 8." she announced as she slid in some chips. Holly went into the tank, thinking:

"She's bluffing. I've got this!"

"I raise 8." replied Holly. Dani quietly folded, Jane re-re-raised 8 and the re-raising continued until Jane was all-in.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." announced the robot.

"I was trying to bully you out of the pot. I have a pair of 8's." responded Jane as she turned her cards face up.

"I guess my 9 low wins then." replied Holly as she turned her cards face up. Jane nodded, stood up, and began shaking hands with the other players.

"Way to catch me in the act, Holly."

"Great hand." answered Holly.

"Goodnight, Dani and Laura."

"Goodnight" replied both of them at once.

"Can everyone please grab their chips and stand up while we make this one table again, please?" requested the robot. The last 6 players obliged and 1 of the 2 robots went to work. The other one pointed to the HD screen in its' chest:

Final Table Re-seating assignments and chip counts

Seat 1 (Button): Mary, 100

Seat 2 (Small Blind): Laura, 89

Seat 3 (Big Blind): Holly, 227

Seat 4: Buckethead, 102

Seat 5: Dani, 84

Seat 6: Rudy, 198

The first robot finished re-assembling the table while the second robot silently invited them to take their seats.

Level 3, Final Table: 3-6 Blinds, 6-12 Limits.

Hand #1 began with Buckethead quietly folding the Ace/King/7 of Diamonds, the Ace of Spades and the King of Clubs from under the gun, Dani announcing "I'm out" with the Queen/7 of Clubs and the Jack/7/6 of Hearts, Rudy quietly folding the Ace/Jack of Clubs, the 9 of Hearts and the 7/3 of Diamonds from the cutoff seat, Mary shaking her head as she folded the 10/2 of Spades, the 9/2 of Diamonds and the 4 of Clubs from the Button, Laura announcing "I raise to 12" from the Small Blind with the Ace/King/7/5 of Hearts and the 6 of Diamonds while Holly announced "Something tells me that you're not just trying to blind steal this time, so I fold." as she folded the Queen/Jack of Spades, the 10 of Clubs and the 8/5 of Diamonds from the Big Blind. Laura (not being able to help herself) declared "That concludes this hand and don't forget to pay the lady." as she raked in her pot of 18.

"...By default." replied Dani. A sentiment that the rest of the table shared.

Hand #2 began with Dani announcing "I raise to 12" from under the gun with the Ace/Jack of Hearts, the Queen of Spades and the 7/3 of Clubs, Rudy quietly calling with the 9/6/5 of Hearts, the 8 of Diamonds and the 2 of Clubs, Mary announcing "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the Queen/6 of Diamonds, the Jack of Spades and the 6/4 of Clubs, Laura announcing "I call" from the Button with the 10/4/3 of Hearts, the 9 of Spades and the 5 of Diamonds, Holly quietly calling from the Small Blind with the 10/9 of Clubs, the 5/4 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds and Buckethead quietly folding the Ace/Queen of Clubs, the King/7 of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 10/9 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 8/2 of Spades in exchange.

"Same here. 2 cards for me, please" responded Dani as she pitched the Queen of Spades and the Jack of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the King/10 of Spades in exchange.

"1 card will do just fine for me, please" stated Rudy as he pitched the 9 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Diamonds in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me, please" added Laura as she pitched the 9 of Spades and the 7 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 8/2 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." added Dani.

"I check." stated Rudy.

"And I check." announced Laura.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I stand pat." she replied.

"2 more cards for me, please" announced Dani as she pitched the King/10 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Diamonds and the 6 of Spades in exchange.

"I also stand pat." stated Rudy.

"I stand pat too." responded Laura.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." replied Holly, knowing that 3 out of people standing pat would completely kill the betting anyway.

"I Check." added Dani.

"I Check." stated Rudy.

"I Check." replied Laura.

"With almost everyone standing pat, Dani has the sole drawing option left." announced the robot.

"Just 1 from the top will be sufficient." replied Dani as she pitched the Ace of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"I check." replied Holly.

"I check." stated Dani.

"I check." added Rudy.

"I check." responded Laura.

"Time to show your cards." announced the robot.

"8 low." announced Holly as she turned her cards face up.

"I...have an 8 low." replied Dani awkwardly as she turned her cards face up.

"I have an 8 low too." added Rudy as he turned his cards face up.

"Make it 4." replied Laura as she turned her cards face up. The robots examined all 4 hands for over a minute before announcing "Rudy actually has the worst 8 low with 8-7-6-5-2. Dani's isn't much better with 8-7-6-3-Ace. Laura and Holly both have 8-5-4-3-2 and as suits are meaningless in this game, the hand is declared a tie and they are both awarded half of the pot each."

Laura and Holly smiled as the robot split the pot into 2 halves of 27 chips and gave each of them 1 half.

"That might be the craziest hand that I've ever seen, in any form of poker." announced Mary. Buckethead nodded.

Hand #3 began with Rudy announcing "I raise to 12" from under the gun with the 10 of Spades, the 9/3 of Clubs, the 6 of Hearts and the 5 of Diamonds. Mary quietly calling with the King/2 of Diamonds, the 7/4 of Hearts and the 6 of Spades, Laura quietly folding from the cutoff seat with the Ace of Spades, the King/Queen of Hearts, the King of Clubs and the 7 of Diamonds. Holly announcing "I call" from the Button with the Ace/5 of Hearts, the Ace of Clubs and the Jack/6 of Diamonds, Buckethead quietly calling from the Small Blind with the Jack/4 of Spades, the 8/2 of Clubs and the 8 of Hearts while Dani whispered "Not worth defending against 3 people behind me, I'm out." as she folded the King/Queen of Spades, the Jack/9 of Hearts and the 6 of Clubs from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers as he slid the Jack of Spades and the 8 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please" replied Rudy as he pitched the 10 of Spades and the 9 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Queen/3 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Just 1 card for me, please." added Mary as she pitched the King of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 5 of Clubs in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me, please." stated Holly as she pitched the Ace of Clubs and the Jack of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Clubs and the 4 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head." announced the robot.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check." replied Rudy.

"I check." added Mary.

"I check." responded Holly.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mr. Head." announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers again as he slid the 8 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds in exchange.

"2 more cards for me, please" added Rudy as he pitched the Queen/3 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Diamonds and the 5 of Spades in exchange.

"I stand pat." announced Mary.

"And 1 more card for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Queen of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head." announced the robot.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check." replied Rudy.

"I check" announced Mary.

"I check" whispered Holly.

"You have the last drawing option, Mr. Head." announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers one more time as he slid the 10 of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Spades and the 2 of Hearts in exchange.

"1 more card for me, please." replied Rudy as he pitched the 5 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 3 of Hearts in exchange.

"I stand pat" announced Holly.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head." announced the robot.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check" added Rudy.

"I check" replied Mary.

"I check" stated Holly.

"Time to show your cards." announced the robot.

Buckethead merely shakes his head as he presented his 2 pairs of 8's and 2's.

"Wow, my pair of 3's is in the lead right now?" asked Rudy awkwardly as he turned his cards face up.

"Not for long, I have 7 low." announced Mary.

"I have 7 low as well" announced Holly. It took the dealer a minute to analyze each hand before announcing "Holly's 7-6-5-4-Ace beats Mary's 7-6-5-4-2."

Holly grinned as she raked in her pot of 54.

"That...almost never happens." remarked Dani.

"Yeah, the 5th card rarely has to break the tie." replied Laura.

Hand #4 began with Mary announcing "I fold" from under the gun with the Queen/8 of Clubs and the Jack/5/4 of Spades, Laura quietly calling with the Ace/6/4 of Diamonds and the 9 of Hearts and the 6 of Spades, Holly whispering "I call" from the cutoff seat with the Jack/4/2 of Hearts, the 6 of Clubs and the 3 of Diamonds. Buckethead quietly folded the King/Queen of Spades, the Queen/9 of Diamonds and the 7 of Hearts on the Button, Dani announcing "I'm out" from the Small Blind as she folded the 10/5 of Hearts, the 2 of Diamonds, the 2 of Clubs and the 2 of Spades (and she did giggle slightly at being dealt a three of a kind in a lowball game). Rudy looked down at the Ace/5/4 of Clubs, the 8 of Diamonds and the 7 of Spades in the Big Blind and announced "Let's take a flop", which the robot correctly interpreted as a check.

"You have the first draw, Mister Castro." announced the robot.

"No I don't, I stand pat." he replied, shocking the entire table at once.

"2 cards for me, please" announced Laura as she pitched the 9 of Hearts and the 6 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the King/Jack of Diamonds in exchange.

"Just 1 card for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Jack of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mister Castro." announced the robot.

"I check" he replied, knowing that he just killed any action on this hand.

"I check" whispered Laura.

"I check" stated Holly.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mrs. Dotson on account of Mr. Castro standing pat last round." announced the robot.

"2 more cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the King/Jack of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the King of Hearts and the 3 of Clubs in exchange.

"I stand pat." stated Holly.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro." announced the robot.

"I check." he replied.

"I check." whispered Laura.

"I check." added Holly.

"You have...the only drawing option left, Mrs. Dotson." announced the robot.

"1 more card from the top will suffice for me, please" she replied as she pitched the King of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"I check" replied Rudy.

"I check" stated Laura.

"I check" whispered Holly.

"Time to show your cards, please" announced the robot.

"8 Low" announced Rudy as he turned his cards face up.

"Beats my 10 Low" stated Laura as she tossed her cards into the muck.

"I have 8 Low, too" declared Holly as she turned her cards face up. The robot looked at both hands and announced "Holly's 8-6 low beats Rudy's 8-7 low, Holly wins the hand."

Holly grinned as she raked in her pot of 21.

"Nice hand" stated Mary.

"Yeah, a close one too" added Dani. Buckethead merely stared at the ceiling.

Hand #5 began with Laura quietly folding the King/8 of Spades, the Queen/3 of Hearts and the 6 of Clubs from under the gun, Holly announcing "I raise to 12" with the Ace of Hearts, the Jack/3 of Clubs, the 4 of Spades and the 3 of Diamonds, Buckethead quietly calling from the cutoff seat with the Ace of Clubs, the 10 of Diamonds, the 9/4 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades, Dani announcing "I fold" from the Button with the Ace of Diamonds, the Jack/6 of Spades, the 10 of Hearts and the 8 of Clubs, Rudy quietly calling from the Small Blind with the 8 of Hearts, the 7/2 of Diamonds, the 5 of Spades and the 4 of Clubs while Mary announced "Not worth defending, I'm out" as she folded the King of Diamonds, the Queen/5 of Clubs and the Jack/5 of Hearts from the Big Blind.

"You have the first drawing option, Mister Castro." announced the robot.

"I stand pat...again" he replied.

"2 cards for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Jack/3 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the King of Clubs and the 3 of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead merely held up 2 fingers, then slid the 10 of Diamonds and the 9 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 8/4 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"I check" replied Rudy.

"I check" stated Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Rapp as Mr. Castro stood pat last time."

"2 more cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the King of Clubs and the 3 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Clubs and the 6 of Diamonds in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the 4 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 2 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mister Castro." announced the robot.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" whispered Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"You have the last drawing option, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 9 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead waved his left hand at the robot.

"Mr. Head, is that your way of communicating that you stand pat?" asked the robot.

Buckethead nodded, making sure to stare directly at the robot.

"Very well then. You have the last betting option, Mr. Castro." announced the robot.

"I check" he replied.

"I check." whispered Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

"I have 8 low" announced Rudy as he turned his cards face up.

"Beats my 9 low" replied Holly as she pitched her cards into the muck.

Buckethead quietly turned his cards face up, the robot analyzed both his and Rudy's hands before announcing "Buckethead's third card is lower than Rudy's, therefore Buckethead wins the hand."

Buckethead made no noise or expression whatsoever as he raked in his pot of 42.

"Good god, another close one" remarked Mary.

"I think Buckethead might be the most technically gifted poker player in the Aaronverse." stated Laura.

"Either way, I think I'll be breaking my 8 lows from now on." lamented Rudy with regret.

Hand #6 began with Holly announcing "I raise to 12" from under the gun with the King of Clubs, the 9/6 of Diamonds and the 7/5 of Spades, Buckethead quietly calling with the Ace/10 of Hearts, the 8 of Diamonds and the 5/2 of Clubs, Dani whispering "I call" from the cutoff seat with the Queen/4/2 of Spades, the 10 of Diamonds and the 5 of Hearts, Rudy quietly calling from the Button with the Ace/King of Spades, the Ace of Diamonds and the 7/6 of Hearts, Mary announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the Queen/4 of Clubs and the 7/3/2 of Diamonds while Laura whispered "No family pots, I fold" from the Big Blind with the Jack/3 of Clubs, the 9 of Hearts, the 5 of Diamonds and the 3 of Spades.

"Due to 5 of you still being in the hand, I have to keep a count as to how many cards are left in the deck. At 22 cards, you have the first draw, Miss Holm."

"Just 1 card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the Queen of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Hearts.

"2 cards for me, please." added Holly as she pitched the King of Clubs and the 9 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Diamonds and the Jack of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead held up two fingers as he slid the 10 of Hearts and the 8 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Spades and the 6 of Clubs in exchange.

"2 cards for me as well, please" stated Dani as she pitched the Queen of Spades and the 10 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 9's of Clubs and Spades in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me too, please" finished Rudy as he pitched the Ace of Diamonds and the King of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the Kings of Diamonds and Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm." announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check" whispered Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check" stated Dani.

"I check" finished Rudy.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. With 13 cards left in the deck, You're the second draw, Miss Holm." announced the robot.

"No I'm not, I stand pat." she replied. It drew some relief from everyone at the table not named Laura, as it was now less likely for the deck to run out of cards prematurely.

"2 more cards for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Queen of Diamonds and the Jack of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Hearts and the 6 of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the 10 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 2 of Hearts in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please" whispered Dani as she pitched the 9's of Clubs and Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Spades and the 4 of Diamonds in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me as well, please" finished Rudy as he pitched the Kings of Hearts and Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Clubs and the Jack of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"I check" she whispered.

"I check" announced Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check" stated Dani.

"I check" finished Rudy.

"With Mary standing pat, and with only 6 cards left in the deck, you have the last drawing option, Miss Rapp." announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the Jack of Hearts and the 6 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Clubs and the 4 of Hearts in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger again as he slid the 2 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 3 of Hearts in exchange.

"1 last card for me, please" whispered Dani as she pitched the 4 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Clubs in exchange.

"And I will take the last 2 cards in the deck, please" announced Rudy as he pitched the Ace of Clubs and the Jack of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Hearts and the 7 of Clubs in exchange.

"Perfect. You have the betting option, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." declared Holly.

Buckethead quietly slid 12 chips into the middle of the table. Dani went into the tank, thinking:

"He's bluffing. I'm going to try and out-bluff him."

"I raise 12" she declared.

"I fold" replied Rudy.

Mary went into the tank, thinking:

"Normally, an 8 Low would be enough for me to win the hand. But something is telling me that I'll be eliminated if I call right now."

"I'm out" added Mary.

"I fold" responded Holly.

Buckethead raised 12 again, and the re-raising continued until Dani was all-in.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

Buckethead showed his cards, the rest of the table saw it as a 6 Low, Dani tossed her hand away and stood up, having been eliminated.

"Way to catch me, Big B." she mumbled. He tipped his bucket.

"Goodnight Dani." said Laura.

"Bye Dani" said Mary, sadly.

"Goodnight Dani" said Holly and Rudy at the same time as Dani exited the room and Buckethead finished raking in his pot of 127.

Chip stacks for the table: Holly – 269, Buckethead – 219, Rudy – 144, Laura – 98, Mary – 70

Level 4, Final Table = 4-8 Blinds, 8-16 Limits.

Hand #1 began with Buckethead quietly folding the Ace/Queen/8 of Spades, the 10 of Clubs and the 10 of Hearts from under the gun, Rudy announcing "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the King/4 of Hearts, the King of Diamonds, the 9 of Clubs and the 5 of Spades, Mary quietly folding the 10 of Diamonds, the 8/7 of Clubs, the 6 of Spades and the 6 of Hearts from the Button and Laura announcing "No Holly, you get a walk" as she folded the King/7 of Spades and the Jack/8/6 of Diamonds from the Small Blind. Holly looked down at her hand in the Big Blind, seeing the Ace/Jack/7/2 of Hearts and the 4 of Diamonds. "I would've defended if any of you called or raised" was all that she said as she was awarded her pot of 12.

"Something tells me that you're not lying" was all that anyone said, and it was Mary who had said it.

Hand #2 began with Rudy quietly raising to 16 from under the gun with the Ace/4 of Spades, the King of Clubs and the 7/2 of Diamonds. Mary announcing "I'm out" from the cutoff seat with the Queen/8/2 of Spades, the 8 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts, Laura quietly folding the Queen of Diamonds, the 10 of Clubs, the 9/5 of Clubs and the 9 of Spades from the Button. Holly whispering "I fold" from the Small Blind with the King/7 of Spades, the 9 of Clubs and the 8/5 of Diamonds whereas Buckethead quietly folded the Queen/10 of Hearts, the Jack/6 of Diamonds and the Jack of Spades from the Big Blind. Rudy merely shrugged as he raked in his pot of 28.

"We know that you had us all beat" stated Holly, no one disagreed with her.

Hand #3 began with Mary announcing "I fold" from under the gun with the Jack/9/7 of Hearts, the Jack of Spades and the 4 of Diamonds, Laura quietly raising to 16 from the cutoff seat with the Ace/Queen of Hearts, the 6/3 of Diamonds and the 3 of Spades, Holly quietly folding the Button with the King of Clubs, the Queen of Diamonds, the 10/4 of Hearts and the 5 of Spades, Buckethead quietly calling from the Small Blind with the 7/2 of Diamonds, the 4/2 of Clubs and the 2 of Hearts and Rudy whispering "I'm out" with the Queen of Spades, the Jack/8 of Diamonds and the Jack/8 of Clubs from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers as he slid the 2's of Hearts and Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Ace/9 of Spades in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me, please" added Laura as she pitched the Queen of Hearts and the 3 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check" replied Laura.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mr. Head"

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the 9 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Clubs in exchange.

"And 1 more card for me, please" responded Laura as she pitched the 10 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 5 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check" added Laura.

"You have the last drawing option, Mr. Head." announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 1 finger again as he slid the 10 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Clubs in exchange.

"I stand pat" replied Laura.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"I check" declared Laura.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

Buckethead turned his cards face up, showing a 9 low to everyone.

"6 low. That concludes this hand and don't forget to pay the lady." declared Laura with a smile as she turned her hand face up and raked in her pot of 40.

"So Buckethead is human, after all." whispered Rudy, no one heard him.

Hand #4 began with Laura announcing "I raise to 16" from under the gun with the 9 of Diamonds, the 8/7/3 of Clubs and the 4 of Spades. Holly quietly calling from the cutoff seat with the Ace of Hearts, the Ace of Clubs and the King/5/3 of Spades, Buckethead shaking his head as he folded the Ace/10 of Diamonds, the King/4 of Hearts and the 10 of Spades on the Button, Rudy declaring "I'm out" from the Small Blind as he folded the King/6/5 of Clubs, the King of Diamonds and the 8 of Hearts while Mary quietly folded the Queen of Diamonds, the Jack/10 of Clubs, the 5 of Hearts and the 2 of Spades from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Mrs. Dotson." announced the robot.

"1 card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 9 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Hearts in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Ace of Hearts and the King of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9/6 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mrs. Dotson." announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check." added Holly.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mrs. Dotson" announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 10 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Hearts.

"And 1 more card for me as well, please" countered Holly as she pitched the 9 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mrs. Dotson." announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Holly.

"You have the last drawing option, Mrs. Dotson" announced the robot.

"Break the 8, it's your only chance" came a voice inside Laura's head. Laura took it to heart, knowing that the voice was trustworthy.

"2 cards for me, please" she announced (which gained weird glances from everyone else at the table as she only asked for 1 card in each of the first 2 drawing phases) as she pitched the Queen of Hearts and the 8 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Spades and the 6 of Diamonds in exchange.

"And I stand pat" countered Holly.

"Your betting option, Mrs. Dotson."

Laura went into the tank, thinking:

"Breaking the 8 wasn't good enough, I'll check to save face"

"I check" she whispered.

"I check" added Holly.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

"8 Low" declared Laura as she turned her cards face up.

"7 Low" replied Holly as she turned her cards face up. She smiled as she raked in her pot of 44.

"Another chapter in the Dotson/Rapp wars has concluded." declared Rudy.

"Another win for the Midwest" stated Dani.

Hand #6 began with Holly quietly calling from under the gun with the 7/6 of Clubs, the 6 of Diamonds, the 3 of Hearts and the 3 of Spades. Buckethead quietly folded the 10 of Clubs, the 8/5/4 of Spades and the 8 of Clubs from the cutoff seat, Rudy announcing "I'm out" with the Queen of Diamonds, the Jack/4/2 of Clubs and the 8 of Hearts from the Button. Mary quietly folded the Queen/2 of Spades, the Jack/5 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds from the Small Blind and Laura announced "Let's take a flop" from the Big Blind with the Ace/3 of Clubs, the Queen of Hearts, the Jack of Spades and the 5 of Diamonds, which the robot dealer interpreted as a check.

"You have the first draw, Mrs. Dotson" announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the Queen of Hearts and the Jack of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me as well, please" stated Holly as she pitched the 6 of Clubs and the 3 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mrs. Dotson" announced the robot.

"8" she announced as she slid the chips into the middle of the table, Holly quietly called.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mrs. Dotson."

"2 more cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the 9 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Hearts and the 6 of Spades in exchange"

"And 2 more cards for me, please." countered Holly as she pitched the 9 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the Kings of Diamonds and Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mrs. Dotson." announced the robot.

"16" she replied.

"I raise 16" declared Holly. And the re-raising continued until Laura was all-in.

"No one turn up your cards yet, there is still 1 more drawing phase. You may proceed, Mrs. Dotson" announced the robot.

"I stand pat" she replied.

A voice then spoke inside Holly's mind:

"Break the 7, it's your only chance"

"3 cards for me, please" announced Holly (who got strange looks from the rest of the table as she only wanted 2 cards in each of the first 2 drawing phases) as she pitched the King/7 of Clubs and the King of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Ace/4 of Diamonds and the 2 of Hearts in exchange.

"With no applicable betting option as Laura is all-in, time to show your cards, ladies." announced the robot.

"7 Low" declared Laura with a grin.

"6 Low" declared Holly with an even bigger grin as she raked in her pot of 114. Laura (slightly stunned) got up from the table.

"Well played Miss Rapp. You're now the lady to be paid." said Laura as she and Holly shook hands.

"I had to break a 7 low draw and then get 3 miracle cards just to beat you" replied Holly.

"Goodnight Laura" stated Rudy.

"Goodnight, Coach Dotson" whispered Mary.

Buckethead waved in Laura and whispered "I'll win this one for you", Laura nodded as she left.

Chip stacks for the table: Holly – 405, Buckethead – 195, Rudy – 144, Mary – 58

Level 5, Final Table: 5-10 Blinds, 10-20 Limits.

Hand #1 began with Rudy announcing "I raise to 20" from under the gun with the Ace/6 of Spades, the 10 of Diamonds and the 6/4 of Hearts, Mary quietly calling from the Button with the 8/7 of Hearts, the 6/4 of Clubs and the 4 of Spades, Holly announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the King/5 of Hearts, the 7 of Clubs, the 4 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades while Buckethead quietly folded the Ace/King of Diamonds, the King of Clubs and the 9/3 of Spades from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"1 card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the King of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Spades in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please" stated Rudy as he pitched the 10 of Diamonds and the 6 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Hearts and the 8 of Spades in exchange.

"And 1 card for me, please" added Mary as she pitched the King of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 4 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" stated Rudy.

"And I check" finished Mary.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the Queen of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Spades in exchange.

"1 card for me as well, please" whispered Rudy as he pitched the 9 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 3 of Diamonds in exchange.

A voice entered Mary's mind:

"Break the 8"

"2 cards for me, please" she stated as she pitched the King of Spades and the 8 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Ace/2 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Rudy.

"I check" whispered Mary.

"Last draw, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"1 last card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the Jack of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Spades in exchange.

"I stand pat" added Rudy.

"Me too" finished Mary.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

"I have a pair of 7's, I'll honestly be relieved if at least one of you has me beat." declared Holly as she turned her cards face up.

"Happy to oblige, I have 8 low" stated Rudy as he turned his cards face up.

"7 Low for me, I win" announced Mary with a smile as she raked in her pot of 70. Buckethead was staring directly at Mary, and Mary had no idea why.

Hand #2 began with Mary quietly folding the Ace of Hearts, the King/Queen/2 of Spades and the 8 of Clubs from under the gun, Holly announced "I'm out" from the Button with the 10/7/2 of Clubs, the 8 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades, Buckethead looking at Rudy and then shaking his head as he folded the Jack of Spades, the Jack of Diamonds, the 9/3 of Clubs and the 9 of Hearts from the Small Blind. Rudy nodded, happy to get a walk as he already saw the Jack of Clubs, the 9/4 of Diamonds, the 8 of Spades and the 5 of Hearts in the Big Blind.

"Worth defending, but just barely, I think" guessed Holly. Rudy merely nodded in agreement.

Hand #3 began with Holly announcing "I call" from under the gun with the 9/5 of Hearts, the 7/6 of Diamonds and the 5 of Clubs, Buckethead quietly calling from the Button with the 10 of Hearts, the 4/3 of Diamonds, the 4 of Clubs and the 2 of Spades, Rudy announcing "I fold" from the Small Blind with the Ace/Queen/4 of Hearts, the Jack of Diamonds and the 9 of Clubs while Mary knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the Ace/9/7 of Spades and the Queen/3 of Clubs.

"You have the first draw, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the Queen of Clubs and the 9 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the King of Spades and the 2 of Clubs in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please" countered Holly as she pitched the 9 of Hearts and the 5 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Diamonds and the 8 of Clubs in exchange.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers as he slid the 10 of Hearts and the 4 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the King/6 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm." announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" stated Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please" she replied as she pitched the King of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 5 of Diamonds in exchange.

"2 more cards for me, please" whispered Holly as she pitched the Queen of Diamonds and the 8 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 10/5 of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the King of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" whispered Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"You have the last draw, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"I stand pat" she replied.

"2 cards for me, please" whispered Holly as she pitched the 10/5 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the King of Clubs and the Jack of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger again as he slid the Jack of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the King of Diamonds in exchange.

"You have the last betting option, Miss Holm"

"I check" she replied.

"I check" stated Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

"7 Low" announced Mary as she turned her cards face up.

"Beats my King Low" replied Holly as she tossed her cards into the muck.

Buckethead pointed at Holly as he tossed his cards into the muck, Mary smiled as she raked in her pot of 35.

"Same hand as Holly, big guy?" asked Rudy to Buckethead. Buckethead reluctantly nodded.

Hand #4 began with Buckethead quietly calling with the Ace/8 of Spades and the 4/3/2 of Diamonds from under the gun. Rudy announced "I fold" from the Button with the Ace/King/10 of Diamonds and the King/3 of Clubs, Mary announced "I call" from the Small Blind with the 9/3 of Hearts, the 7/5 of Clubs and the 4 of Spades while Holly knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the 6/5 of Hearts, the 4/2 of Clubs and the 2 of Spades.

"You have the first draw, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"Just 1 card for me, please" she replied as she pitched 9 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Clubs in exchange.

"And 1 card for me as well, please" countered Holly as she pitched the 2 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Clubs in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the 8 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 2 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm." announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" stated Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"I stand pat" she replied.

"1 more card for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the 10 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Queen of Clubs in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger again as he slid the 2 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your betting option, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Holly.

Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

"With Mary standing pat, the last drawing option begins with you, Miss Rapp" announced the Robot.

"1 last card for me, please." she replied as she pitched the Queen of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Hearts in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger one more time as he slid the 8 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 5 of Diamonds in exchange.

"Your last betting option, Miss Holm" announced the robot.

"20" she announced, sliding some chips into the pot.

"I'm out" replied Holly as she tossed her cards into the muck.

"Of course you are, Holly. Your Jack low never had a chance against 2 hands. I raise 20" declared Buckethead. The re-raising continued until Mary was all-in. The other 3 players (and the robotic dealers) were shocked at Buckethead speaking (none moreso than Holly herself, as Buckethead just called her hand perfectly). Buckethead continued "I don't quite know how I know what I know, but I know that the Aaronverse is even more screwed up than we believe it to be. Mary was supposed to be eliminated in the hand where I knocked out...Dani the Dice girl, but Mary caused a relatively minor glitch in this Aaronworld by folding instead"

Mary put her jaw back up long enough to reply "I was tempted to fold, but I decided against it."

"Exactly, you DECIDED against it. Aaron decreed that we all have freewill when he's not writing us. But as I know that this IS something that he's writing, we're all supposed to be bound by his imagination, yet you exercised freewill. Still, the multiverse (in which the Aaronverse is just 1 small part of) has a way of correcting itself, because you have a 7 Low..."

Mary turned up her hand silently (with her mouth wide open in shock), and he was right. Buckethead continued "And I have a perfect 5 Low" he added as he turned his hand face up.

"Jesus Christ" exclaimed Rudy.

"That's the first perfect hand that I've ever seen in Ace-5" added Holly.

"I'm out of the game, and, I think, in MAJOR need of a drink." was all that Mary could say before she stood up and left.

"I think I frightened her again, I didn't mean to." whispered Buckethead.

"You frightened all of us, sir. People of your talent and genius often do." said Rudy as he put a comforting hand on Buckethead's shoulder as he raked in his pot of 153.

Chip stacks for the table: Holly – 363, Buckethead – 313, Rudy – 124

Level 6, Final Table: 10-20 Blinds, 20-40 Limits

Hand #1 began with Holly quietly calling with the Queen/5 of Clubs, the 8 of Diamonds and the 5/2 of Hearts from under the gun (and the button). Buckethead quietly folding the Ace/9 of Hearts, the Ace of Spades, the King of Clubs and the 2 of Diamonds from the Small Blind and Rudy announcing "Let's take a flop" from the Big Blind with the Queen of Diamonds, the Jack/6 of Clubs, the 8 of Hearts and the 4 of Spades.

"You have the first draw, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" he replied as he pitched the Queen of Diamonds and the Jack of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Clubs and the 3 of Diamonds in exchange.

"And 2 cards for me as well, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Queen/5 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the King of Spades and the 8 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" whispered Holly.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mister Castro" announced the robot.

"I stand pat" he replied.

"2 more cards for me, please" declared Holly as she pitched the King of Spades and the 8 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the King of Hearts and the 2 of Spades in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" declared Holly.

"With Rudy standing pat, you have the last drawing option, Miss Rapp" announced the robot.

"2 cards for me, please" she replied as she pitched the King of Hearts and the 2 of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 10 of Clubs and the 4 of Hearts in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" whispered Holly.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

"8 Low" declared Rudy as he turned his cards face up.

"Take it" replied Holly. Rudy nodded and took in his pot of 50, Buckethead was staring at the ceiling since he folded.

Hand #2 began with Buckethead quietly raising from under the gun (and the Button) with the Ace/King of Diamonds, the Queen/2 of Hearts and the 3 of Spades, Rudy quietly calling from the Small Blind with the Queen/8 of Diamonds and the 7/6/5 of Spades while Holly announced "I'm out" as she folded the King of Spades, the Queen/Jack/8 of Spades and the 5 of Hearts from the Big Blind.

"You have the first draw, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"1 card for me, please" he replied as he pitched the Queen of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the Jack of Hearts in exchange.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers as he slid the King of Diamonds and the Queen of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the 10/5 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Castro" announced the robot.

"20" he replied. Buckethead quietly raised to 40, Rudy re-raised to 60, Buckethead re-re-raised to 80, Rudy could only call 14 of the 20, giving Buckethead a refund of 6 as Rudy was all-in.

"No one turn up your cards yet as there are 2 more drawing rounds. Mr. Castro, you may proceed." announced the robot.

"1 more card for me, please" he replied as he pitched the Jack of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the Ace of Spades in exchange.

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the 10 of Clubs into the discard pile, receiving the 4 of Hearts in exchange.

"No betting option needed. Mr. Castro, you may proceed again" announced the robot.

"I stand pat" he replied.

Buckethead shook his head, indicating that he was standing pat as well.

"Time to show your cards, gentlemen" announced the robot.

"8 Low" replied Rudy as he turned his cards face up.

"Perfect 5 Low" countered Buckethead as he turned his cards face up.

"And I just folded my way into the money." whispered Holly.

"Well played, and good luck Big B" said Rudy as he stuck his hand out. Buckethead nodded and shook it.

"Good luck Holly" Rudy whispered.

"Thank you, I'll need it" she responded as Rudy placed the money on the table and took his leave.

Chip stacks for the table: Buckethead – 477, Holly – 323

Level 7, Final Table: 20-40 Blinds, 40-80 Limits.

"Welcome to heads-up play. The Button and the Small Blind will be Holly to open, with Buckethead being the Big Blind" announced the robot.

"I get it. Rules are rules" replied Holly. Buckethead offered his hand for Holly to shake. Holly shook it and smiled, saying nothing.

Hand #1 began with Holly quietly calling from the Button (and the Small Blind) with the Ace/10/8 of Hearts, the Queen of Diamonds and the 5 of Spades. Buckethead knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the Queen of Hearts, the 9/3 of Diamonds and the 6/4 of Spades.

"You have the first draw, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 2 fingers as he slid the Queen of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 7 of Spades and the 6 of Diamonds in exchange.

"2 cards for me, please" stated Holly as she pitched the Queen of Diamonds and the 10 of Hearts into the discard pile, receiving the King of Spades and the 6 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead quietly slid 40 into the pot.

"I raise to 80" replied Holly.

Buckethead quietly re-raised to 120.

"I re-re-raise to 160 which I believe caps the betting in this round" asked Holly, the robot dealer nodded to confirm that she was right.

"Betting limits are doubled and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises. You're the second draw, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead held up 1 finger as he slid the 6 of Diamonds into the discard pile, receiving the 8 of Diamonds in exchange.

"And 1 card for me, please" countered Holly as she pitched the King of Spades into the discard pile, receiving the 9 of Clubs in exchange.

"Your betting option, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead quietly slid 80 into the pot.

"I raise to...123, putting me all-in" replied Holly.

Buckethead quietly called.

"Do not turn your cards face up just yet, as there is still one more drawing option. You have the last drawing option, Mr. Head" announced the robot.

Buckethead waved it off, indicating that he was standing pat.

"I stand pat too" responded Holly.

"Time to show your cards" announced the robot.

"8 low...which I believe beats your 9 low" announced Buckethead as he turned his cards face up.

"Son of a bitch" stated Holly as she turned her hand face up, briefly but completely pissed off.

"That's game, Buckethead wins. Holly is the runner-up" announced the robot. It got up from the table and handed 50 Real (Brazil's currency) to Holly, then 150 to Buckethead.

"Congratulations, Buckethead" said Holly.

"You played very well throughout the whole game" said Buckethead.

"I can clean up?" stated the robot. Holly and Buckethead nodded at the robot as they each exited the room (Holly first, then Buckethead) then were walking down the hallway...

...as Holly had to grab the wall.

"Holly, what's wrong?" asked Buckethead, tempted to scream out for help to get her to the local hospital.

"Do you know how Aaron says we have different friends in different places in different stories?" she asked while crying.

Buckethead only nodded to confirm.

"All I see are 3 images on a loop: Some of them in one place, dancing in a poorly lit club to music that I can't even begin to comprehend. Others are driving around in...an ancient caravan in a travelling circus? And the image of 3 planets crashing into each other. It's OK, they're gone now."

"Are you sure?" asked Buckethead.

"Yes, I'll be fine." nodded Holly reassuringly. They each reached their rooms without any further incident.

Chapter 4: Second Crashes

Song to put on: Paul Stanley – Live to Win

We go to a temporary broadcast booth set up at Rio De Janeiro's Maracana Stadium for the USA network. It's navy blue with the USA logo front and centre. Seated at it are 2 Americans, 1 with a black 200x resistol cowboy hat, the other wearing a crown suitable for royalty. They are otherwise dressed in all black (dress shirts, pants and shoes) that fit to within 1 cm, in accordance to Brazilian by-laws.

"Good morning everyone, I'm Jim Ross and to my left is my partner as always, Jerry "The King" Lawler."

Jerry salutes the audience, Jim continues "With Game 1 now in the books, Team USA is now in a do or die situation as Canada took the first one by a score of 24-17 on account of some last minute offence from the Canadian Left Winger, Melinda Hughes."

Jerry nods and takes over speaking "You're certainly right about that, J.R. America relented in their defence at the last minute, either out of arrogance or exhaustion. Either way, if they can't keep the aggression on throughout ALL of game 2, then America might as well just pack it up and go home now because...Team Canada is amazing."

Jim tips his hat at Jerry, indicating agreement "No doubt about that, King. The crowd today is 199,237 strong which is slightly smaller than Game 1. But don't let that fool you folks, the energy in this building is just as magical as in game 1."

The TV screens cut to a display of the breakdown of time.

Jerry began "OK, let's go to the breakdown: The game will be played in four quarters of 10 minutes each, followed by 3 minute breaks. There will be no halftimes in any of the games."

The screens then change to a graphic of the USA side of the whirlyball court, listing team surnames and their respective places on the field.

Jerry continues "Team USA will be switching its' lineup to the more experimental 3-2 configuration on the court with the big guy, Buckethead, serving again as centre. Alongside him are the wingers, Jess Oresto on the left and Holly Rapp on the right. Behind them and closer together than they were in Game 1 are the defence, with Dani Stafford playing left back. On right back, is Marita Holm who is the team's token "outsider". J.R, do the honours for Team Canada."

The screens then change to a graphic of the Canada side of the whirlyball court, listing team surnames and their respective places on the field.

Jim began talking on cue "Thom has requested that Canada play with the more traditional 1-2-2 configuration today. The 3 forwards from left to right are Melinda Hughes, Thom Phung and Jason Carman. While on defence, Krystal Dinn will be playing left back, hoping to pillow block America some more today in game 2. Julie Bourke will be playing right back."

"The TV screen changes to a graphic listing the rules of the game."

Jim continues talking "You get 2 points per successful shot inside the key, 3 points from outside the key but within half-court, 6 points for successful shots from behind half court (and the whirlybug cannot touch the half-court line for those shots). Players can request that the time clock be paused at any time in the game but only once per player per half. The coaches have 1 timeout each country, each half for 60 seconds each. Any requests for clock stoppage not used in the first half DO NOT carry over to the second half and if a player is injured, a linesman can call for an indefinite stoppage while the injured player is tended to. No stoppage time will be added. Mr. Lawler, would you please be so kind as to go over what will get players in the penalty box, or worse?"

Jerry nodded and began "A player who leaves their car while the clock is running or touches the ball with their hands will spend 2 minutes in the penalty box. A four-point deduction and a 5 minute penalty for any rear-impact collisions or physical contact with an opposing player's body. Other than that, pretty much anything goes. Both Canada and the United States have agreed to play with the no-offside rule again today, which I prefer as offsides tend to slow down the game."

The TV then cuts to alternating shots of all 4 coaches going over first quarter strategies with their respective players. Their is no audio of their conversations, only stock orchestra music.

Jim took his turn, announcing "There's Coaches Dotson, Castro, Hayden and Ripa going over last minute strategy. Gregg Davis and Jane Chapman are elsewhere, preparing Gatorade, bandages and towels for their respective teams."

An announcement is heard over the PA system over all of Maracana Stadium "Attention, will Teams Canada and USA please make their way to the court"

"The whirlybugs, as per tradition, are parked at the back ends of each half of the court and here come Canada and the United States." said Jerry.

"Get ready for another war." replied Jim.

First Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Jason's Perspective. Song to put on: Metallica – The thing that should not be (Live Symphony Version)

Oh look, Buckethead won ANOTHER tip-off, what a surprise. It is a nice change to see the big guy fall back afterwards though, I will say that much. Well that's odd, he bounce passed the ball behind him to his defender Dani. Actually, who am I kidding? That may very well be the most normal thing that he's done today. Dani dumps the ball deep in our end (as there were no passing options available to her with Thom moving into try and block Buckethead), and it goes out of bounds. The linesman catches it before it can be scooped up by a fan and tosses it to Julie, who will be the one to take possession. Julie bounce passes it to Thom (who drove back to our court), which makes sense as he was the closest to her other than Krystal (I'm actually in front of him, drawing the proverbial fire away from him as we enter the USA side of the court). I have no illusions of grandeur that we're going to get off a power shot this time, so let's go for the trickier 3 point. Dani is trying to go around me and go for Thom directly, whereas Mary is driving right for me. Time for me to pillow block this Norwegian bitch as both my centre and I are well within their key. Front car bumpers, connected, Thom gets inside the key (somehow) and gets off the shot before Dani side bumps him, and it's good for 2. Canada is up 2-0. Mary is taking possession this time, as Thom and I head back to our half of the court. She makes a bounce pass to Indiana Holly who then bounce passes it to Jess who is trying for a 3-pointer. It sails way too far to the left, going out of bounds. It'll be Krystal who takes possession for us this time, who immediately bounce passes it to Melinda. I think she's going at their key alone, knowing that her 6-pointer last game was probably a fluke. Does anyone on Team USA even know that she has the ball?

First Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Julie's perspective, Song to put on: Duran Duran – Ordinary World

Good on Melinda to drive for the board so well. Uh oh, Buckethead is coming right for her. Oh good, she bounce passed it to Thom, who upon seeing Holly, bounce passed it to Jason. Wait, he's still inside our half of the court and he's taking a shot? Holy shit it hit the board, we're up 8-0. Coach Ripa has signalled a time out, and the linesmen have granted it. I drive over to the coach's bench, Coach Ripa approaches us first:

Sherry: "Now THAT'S how you play against America: Hit hard, hit often. Keep it going on them and we can go home champions tonight. Keep it simple though, power shots and 3-pointers should always be our bread and butter. Jason, that was an amazing half-court shot...don't ever do it again. Cindy, they're all yours."

Cindy: "Julie, Krystal, don't get overconfident this early: Keep your game simple, take 3 seconds to find someone to pass to. If you can find someone to pass to, great. If not, dump the ball in America's corner. It's still early in the game so we don't need to get fancy. Gregg, take it away."

Gregg: "Are you alright, Julie? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Krystal? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Thom? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Melinda? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jason? Here, have some Gatorade."

Mmmm, that was so tasty. I think Canadian Gatorade. is made different than the stuff in Australia. But anyway, back to the game. Mary is taking possession for the American side, she bounce passes it to Buckethead, who then bounce passes it to Jess who's trying for a 6-point shot of her own. It sails low, I'll take it, it landed on my side of the court.

First Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Krystal's perspective, Song to put on: Apocalyptica feat. Max Cavalera and Matt Tuck – Repressed

OK Julie, remember what Coach Hayden said: 3 seconds to pick a pass, or dump the ball deep in the USA half of the court. OK good, she makes a quick bounce pass to Thom who then drives it down the court. Huh, Melinda is now driving in front, instead of Jason...that's different. I didn't know Melinda could pillow block, and she just did it to Indiana Holly as Thom bounce passed the ball over to Jason. Jason's trying for a long 3-point shot, it sails low. Dani will be taking possession (I'll even give her credit where credit is due, she caught the ball in her racquet before it went out of bounds, that doesn't happen very often in whirlyball). Team USA seems to be running the same 3 second rule that we are (in that she had no one to pass to on her team, so she just dumped it over in Julie's corner of our court. Now she actually lets it goes out of bounds (as she knew that no American could ever get to the ball without Julie at least ramming them into the wall). The linesman tosses it over to her (interesting that it will be the same 3 referees across all of the games, assuming that we even need a third game to decide this whole tournament that is). Julie bounce passes it to...me? OK, a bit unorthodox but in fairness to her, I was the ONLY player open to her. OK, 3 seconds to pick an open player to pass it to. No one open, I'll dump it in the USA court. Crap, Buckethead got enough of it to have it bounce off of his racquet and into Jess's. Time to go work on side slamming her ass.

First Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Melinda's perspective, Song to put on: Alice in Chains – Fear the Voices

Jason and Krystal between them will be enough to stop the jersey girl, I'll obstruct Holly from getting the bounce pass (hopefully Thom can at least slow down the masked one). It's a bit tricky to match her movements, but I do...

...what the fuck is going on? Everything around me looks like a multi-time exposed photograph again. I can still see (and by extension, still block) Holly. But, I can see other things that most of the people in this stadium can't (I hope). It's bad enough that I can't comprehend Isaac Tong working for the circus (in any capacity at all), but Adam Debideen going to school in eastern Europe? That's just surreal. Oddly enough, I can see David Flannagan working in the circus (as he always struck me as a bit of a goofball), but what in the blue hell is Amanda Williams doing drinking blood in a hospital? Can Aaron fix this at all? If I didn't know any better, I would say that this world is somehow fusing together with 2 other worlds and we're seeing the beginnings of a complete collapse of Aaron's creations, if not the entire multiverse itself. OK, the glitches seemed to have stopped (for now). Interesting, the entire crowd and the linesman look disoriented. Was I wrong, can everyone see these glitches and not just Aaron's friends? Has it always been like this, or have the Aaronworlds deteriorated so much now that everyone on the planet can see these glitches on some level? I can even still hear the others, even now. If nothing else, we're entitled to some sort of an explanation from Aaron-Prime, or maybe there's an interdimensional being who is not a complete asshole (or worse). Huh, we have possession of the ball...It's weird how I was able to kind of pay attention as to what was going on during all of that.

First Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Thom's perspective. Song to put on: Black Infinity – Skyline of Fame

OK, I gotta drive around the big guy (again). Where in the hell are my wingers at? Oh, they're blocking Holly and Jess, at least I should have a clean run at...nope, Buckethead just crashed into my front hard enough to make me drop the ball. Good news: it went behind Buckethead, Bad news: Mary got it instead, and she immediately bounce passed it to Holly. Jason couldn't intercept it and she's already inside our half of the court. I reverse my whirlybug and head for her, but I know that Julie and Krystal will get to her before I do. Holly then turns to the middle and is inside our key. Julie hits her front and almost starts pillow blocking her, but Holly gets off a power shot, and it's good. I'm not overly worried about it, as Canada is still up 8-2. Krystal is taking possession of the ball this time, and she's bounce passing it to Melinda. Mel is driving in much the same way that she did when she got the 6-pointer in Game 1. Mel, get the shot off quick, Buckethead is gunning right for you...and he's crashed into her. She's dropped the ball, right into Buckethead's scoop. Now he's driving towards us, and crap, I can't hit him from this angle without risking a penalty for a rear impact hit. Come on Julie and Krystal, get to him as he's inside the key, trying to get into position for a power shot. He gets off the shot, and it's good. America has just cut its' lead in half, 8-4. Krystal is taking the possession, and has arc passed it to me. Shit, it's past my reach...and right into Jess's scoop. Now she's making a break for our net (slipping right by Jason) and successfully gets off a power shot as time expires. The first quarter ends with us in the lead, 8-6.

First Intermission, 3:00-2:00, Gregg's perspective, Song to put on: Faith no more – From out of Nowhere

OK, time for me to ask my team about their injuries (due to a lack of better options):

"Are you injured, Jason?" I asked, he merely shook his head like he did in game 1.

"Are you injured, Julie?" I asked.

"Not at all." replied Julie.

"How are the ribs holding up, Krystal?" I asked

"Hurting, but not as much as the end of Game 1" added Krystal. She lifted up her Team Canada jersey, revealing patches of bruising along and near her diaphragm. I quickly grabbed a roll of white medical tape and wrapped it around Krystal's mid-torso three times tightly. I'm relieved that the bruising from Game 1 has already started going down for her, as if America ever found out about her injury, they would go after her a lot harder (especially that masked guy, he's crazy).

"Are you injured, Melinda?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine." she softly answered. That just leaves Thom for last.

"Are you injured, Mister Phung?" I asked. He merely shook his head at me with 2 minutes and 9 seconds left on the clock.

"They're all yours, Sherry." I shouted as I tilted my head over to the left, to where Miss Ripa was standing.

First Intermission, 2:00-1:00, Sherry's perspective, Song to put on: Alice in Chains – Down in a Hole

There really wasn't much for me to critique out of Thom's, Jason's and Melinda's offence in the first half...until after we scored 8 points and shoved our collective thumbs up our asses. So I approach them with anger, as it's the closest emotion I feel at the moment.

"With only a 2 point lead going into the second quarter, WHY THE HELL ARE WE BECOMING COMPLACENT SO EARLY IN THE GAME? We don't need to dazzle the crowd with 6-point shots (yet), let's keep it to 3-point shots with MAYBE an occasional power shot thrown in just to mix things up. Also, I've noticed that the big guy is getting better at intercepting the ball on the ground as he is when the ball is in the air. So let's keep the ball even farther away from him than we already are. Got all that?"

"Yes, Miss Ripa." replied Thom.

"We will." added Melinda and Jason.

Not entirely satisfied (and with 1 minute and 20 seconds left in the intermission), I turn my attention to the defence: "You 2 need to trust your forwards more with possession. I'm not suggesting that Julie should always pass to Jason or Krystal always pass to Melinda but vary which forward that you pass it to. From now on, only consider dumping the ball after 5 seconds, the court's dimensions are big enough where America won't reach you in 3 seconds."

"Got it." answered Julie, Krystal merely nodded.

"OK Cindy, take it away" I shout.

First Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Cindy's perspective, Song to put on: Godsmack – Awake

I walk over to my team angry as hell. We should still be up 8-0 right now, and I have no problem chewing out my defenders right now:

"Girls (referring to Julie and Krystal), WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU 2 OUT THERE? You still need to vary your location on the court more to make the defence more effective. You 2 should also be more aggressive and aware of who has the ball. Remember ladies, each of Team USA's forwards basically walked right up to our doorstep and played Ding, Dong, Ditch with you guys. Also, Melinda, Thom, Jason, you 3 should watch the girls backs more so that we can maintain our lead. That big guy in the mask is actually getting better as this tournament is progressing, we probably can't steal the ball if he has possession but we have to slow him down somehow. How the hell does he even get inside the whirlybug to play the game? Anyways, do I make myself clear girls?" I ask. Both Julie and Krystal nod and smile (as do the forwards), I can tell that they're happy to still have a lead after the first quarter, but it wasn't well-earned, so I say nothing else except "Team cheer"

The players, other coaches and I joined hands and shouted "GO CANADA!" before the players returned to the court in order to start the second quarter.

Second Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Buckethead's Perspective. Song to put on: Buckethead – The Cuckoo Parade

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I get another tip-off. This is my favourite part of the game, because I always win. I hate being so tall, but it does have its' advantages (namely, that no one can reach me when I hold my scoop high in the air). 1 of the men in the striped shirts is walking toward Thom and I with the ball in his right hand, he tosses it in the air. As I'm almost a whole foot taller than Thom, he'll never have a chance to win the tip-off unless he slashes my arm with his racquet (which would incur a foul from the striped shirt men instantly). I immediately bounce pass it back to Mary (I kind of feel bad for calling the poker hand that eliminated her last night, I'm sorry chiquegeek...wait, why do I see chiquegeek in my mind as just 1 word as opposed to 2 when I look at or think of her?). Mary looks around and bounce passes it to Indiana Holly (which is nice, as she was the closest). Holly then bounce passes it to me (hopefully she doesn't hold a grudge for me winning Ace-5 lowball last night either). I'm far enough ahead of Thom where he won't be an issue (actually, I doubt his wingers Jason and Melinda will reach me either, now that I think about it). I better stop here to make a 3 point shot before Julie and Krystal hit me from the front. Cock back my arm (bending from the elbow and wrist), and...fire. Shit, it went way too high and it went out of bounds. I suppose I should just let all of my shots come from the wrist from now on (as I have more leverage in my shots than any other player on the court). Those doctors in California were right, I really don't know my own strength. I reverse and head back to the American half of the court as Julie takes possession.

Second Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Jess's perspective. Song to put on: Jimi Hendrix – Little Wing

Full reversal, back to my half of the court. Julie's probably going to bounce pass it over to Melinda...nope, she bounce passed it to Thom instead. A little strange but OK, Buckethead can fend him off without any problem. Good god, that guy is freakishly huge. Thom bounce passes it to Jason, I'm less than 5 metres away. I swerve towards the side rail, as that's where Jason and the ball are heading. Interesting, should I side hit him, or go for the pillow block? He has already seen me, so I don't have the element of surprise at all. Pillow block it is, I hit him in the front bumper, but on an angle so that he still goes into the side rail. Unfortunately, I didn't hit him hard enough to make him lose possession of the ball. But I did force him to arc pass in desperation to Melinda, only for it to be intercepted by Holly while she was already driving towards the Canadian half of the court. She passes the half-court line as Julie and Krystal are driving to intercept. I'm still blocking Jason as Holly stops by the halfway point between mid-court and the 3-point key and fires off a shot...it's good. We're now beating Team Canada by a score of 9-8, and it'll be Krystal on their team who will be taking possession. She tries to bounce pass it to Thom, but Buckethead scoops it up first and drives into the Canadian half with ease. Odd, he's only using his wrist to fire a long 3-point shot...wow, he makes it. Team USA is now up 12-8, Team America...FUCK YEAH! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This should make things interesting for the rest of the game.

Second Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Holly's perspective. Song to put on: The Jackson 5 – Back to Indiana

If Buckethead can keep remembering not to use any joint in his arm other than his wrist, we'll even this series in record time. Looks like Julie is taking possession for Team Canada. Just as well...

...oh my goodness, it's happening again. I see Isaac and Laura in the circus, Heather and her (probable?) daughter in Prague. There are so many others that I don't know, but on some level, I do. There may even be more than Aaron has written about. And I think...I think I just felt another me go through me. I think that's a first with...whatever is going on with the multiverse. Which me just walked through me? It's so hard to filter through this multi-time exposed photograph of my life in this and other places. Was it the me from Suspects who was an amateur detective? Would she even know what's going on, as her story takes place later than any of the others that I've read? Was it the me from Mechanisms? Will that world ever have the technology or even the theories to know what the hell is happening to them? Was it the me from South African Highs? Oh god, what if she's going through this...world fusion on the plane ride home from Johannesburg? Would that drive that poor other me to relapse back into heroin?

No...this is a different me altogether. 1 from a story that hasn't been...commonly exposed to the Aaronverse. Shit, she left...maybe if she had stayed in me longer I could pinpoint which Aaronworld that she came from, maybe even figure out how that Aaronworld works compared to this one. Not much has happened in the game of Whirlyball from what I can see, a few attempts at the boards of course, but none of them were successful. I should look around to see who has possession of the ball, and oh good, Dani is looking for someone to bounce pass to.

Second Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Dani's perspective. Song to put on: Alice Cooper – Gimme

Screw it, I'll just bounce pass it to Buckethead. He'll scare Canada a little, if nothing else. He scoops it up after 1 bounce and lifts his scoop as high as he can, knowing full well that no one can reach him at all. He passes the mid-court line, and is rammed hard on the left side by Thom. Buckethead is completely undeterred and still has possession of the ball as he enters their key. Now both Julie and Krystal sandwich Buckethead between their whirlybugs and he STILL gets off a 3-point shot. Granted, it sailed low and too far to the left, but that's determination. Coach Castro has called our timeout for the half. That's probably just as well, as we're about to lose the timeout anyway. I drive on over to our bench. Odd, Mr. Castro calls the timeout, but Miss Chapman is the one starting it? OK, a little unusual but OK.

"Buckethead, are you OK?" she asks.

Buckethead nods.

"Are you sure?" she persists.

Buckethead nods again.

"What about everyone else?" she asks.

"I'm good." I reply.

"I'm fine, thank you." shouted Jess over the noise of the Rio De Janeiro crowd.

"I'm OK, Miss Chapman" replied Mary at about the same volume as Jess.

"I'm fine, Miss Chapman" finished Indiana Holly.

Jane nodded, satisfied with her teams answers. She went and fetched the Gatorade for each of us as Coach Castro approached us next:

"I've never seen anyone stand up to a double defence sandwich before. Way to go, Buckethead. As for the rest of you, keep it going and we even the series. But keep the shots simple, no 6-point heroics. Laura, they're all yours."

Coach Dotson came up last, grinning from ear to ear. "Dani, Mary. Just stay the course, you 2 ladies are doing great."

We all joined hands and shouted "TEAM USA!"

Second Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Mary's Perspective. Song to put on: Tim Burton – Jack's Lament

OK, Julie is taking possession of the ball after our timeout. That seems to be a bit of a pattern for Team Canada, even her bounce passing it to Thom. Thom bounce passes it to Jason (who's already in our half of the court, for some strange reason).

"Dani, floor it to intercept." I scream. I'm sorry, but with Jason sneaking into our half of the court that well, we don't have time for any stealth plans. Wait a minute, he's turning to the middle...towards me? Fine, I guess I'm flooring it then. Hopefully I can...nope, he's inside the key. Well maybe I can pillow block him, nope, he's got off the shot...and it's good. USA is still in the lead over Canada, 12-10.

"You want to take it?" asked Dani, to me. I nod, and the linesman tosses me the ball. I search my forwards, and I guess Jess is the most open (wow, the Canadians are covering Buckethead well for once). I give her a bounce pass, it takes 2 bounces to reach her, but it does. Wow, Holly is already inside the Canadian half, that's sneaky. Oh no, no, NO...don't arc pass it to her. Crap, now Thom intercepts the ball and is heading straight down the middle of the court. Buckethead is pillow blocking him, and Thom rolls right off him and continues, firing a long 3-point shot...and it's good. Well, shit, Canada is now ahead 13-12.

"Dani, take this one" I shout. She nods and the linesman passes her the ball. Shit, she has no options. Dump it in their back court Dani, dump it...YES! She dumps it deep into the Canadian half of the court, hard enough to go out of bounds. It'll be Krystal on their end who takes possession. She arc passes it to Melinda who blows past Buckethead and Jess and she gets off a successful power shot before anyone knows what's going on. Canada is now up 15-12, I take the ball and bounce pass it to Buckethead as time expires.

Second Intermission, 3:00-2:00, Jane's perspective. Song to put on: Lifehouse – Sick Cycle Carousel

There isn't really all that much that I can say or ask my team that I didn't already ask during the timeout. So I approach them with Gatorade in hand, and pretty much treat my 60 seconds as a glorified follow-up appointment that I would have in my normal job duties back home in Ohio:

"How were you able to take a sandwich play and come out not only uninjured, but unshaken?" I ask while staring at Buckethead directly. He's not looking at me directly, but I know that on some level, I have his attention.

"Because I'm so tall, my inner core is generally bigger and can withstand more punishment than most other human beings. Plus, most of the trauma in my life was done to me as a boy. And I will NOT speak about the matter further." he states emphatically. I don't press the issue, and I never will. Quite honestly, I'm amazed that he's even speaking to me at all, much less in this big of a crowd.

"And the rest of you? Is everything OK?" I ask, knowing that my minute is already almost up. Jess, Holly, Dani and Mary all nod at me in turn, saying nothing (they might very well be shocked that Buckethead answered me verbally) so I bow out of the intermission quietly, and turn the floor over to Coach Castro.

Second Intermission, 2:00-1:00, Rudy's perspective. Song to put on: King's X – Complain

It would be better to approach my team with us still being in the lead and all, but I can't change reality (unless I get access to whatever equipment that Aaron-Prime supposedly is using). I approach my players trying to make the best of a bad situation.

"We need to be more relentless out there, especially you, Jess and Holly. We can't keep relying on Buckethead's height as our weapon of choice (as that sandwich play proved). We should also be focusing on short passes to each other for the rest of the game. Mary, Dani, if there's more than 1 option as to which player to pass it to...ALWAYS pick the person that is closest to you. Passing to the diagonally opposite winger opens us up to more interceptions and inaccurate passing leading to Canada gaining possession of the ball more often. Pass the ball over to Buckethead if the winger in front of you is well-covered, but at this point, dumping the ball in the opposite part of the court is not as bad an option as a long pass would be. Sorry to single you out big guy, nothing personal"

Buckethead made a hand waving gesture, which I think means that he understands and is not offended. The girls on the team let their instructions sink in too, I can see it in their eyes as I prepare to turn over the floor, so to speak.

"All yours, Coach Dotson"

Second Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Laura's perspective. Song to put on: Beyonce – Run the world (Girls)

Once again, the lady is not getting paid. And once again, I'm very disappointed in my team's defence. No smile to hide them from my feelings either.

"And this is why we lost game 1: Because our defence completely collapsed and their offence capitalized on us. Do you guys want to go home early? Is that it? Huh? HUH?"

I get a see of dumbfounded faces (except for Buckethead who appears to be crying at the sight of food vendors serving chicken to people in the stadium for some reason). I continue "Pursue, ram, side-hit, pillow block. Never let up on these guys or we'll be the laughing stock of all 56 states moreso than that bitch Kim Davis."

I actually paused speaking at that moment. Not because I condone the actions of a county clerk using the government to serve her religious beliefs (and breaking the law by doing so), but because I have this funny feeling that she's a complete moron on hundreds, if not thousands of Aaronworlds (Did Aaron need someone to point out how stupid he thinks religion is or something?) What a pity, OK enough of that tangent.

"I want to see the Canadians bleed, then I want to send THEM home as a national disgrace, do all of you understand me?"

They all nod, we join hands and shout "USA!"

Third Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Julie's perspective. Song to put on: Sevendust – Live Again

Oh goodie, another Thom vs. Buckethead tip-off. I wonder if Thom could win if I for instance, showed Buckethead my tits or something. Technically, taking my clothes off isn't a rules infraction in whirlyball but I would likely be jailed (or worse).

Julie flashes back to an interview that she saw on vacation in the United States with MTV that featured Buckethead as a member of Guns and Roses from circa 2002. Well...more accurately, it's Buckethead speaking through a puppet of a severed head named Herbie, who is acting as a sort of liaison between Buckethead and the interviewer.

"Buckethead gets a strange feeling around girls. He can't quite explain it."

The camera then cuts to the journalist conducting the interview, Kurt Loder. He was in his late 50's at the time but still looked great wearing an all grey suit and neatly groomed short chestnut-brown hair.

"Maybe it's the whole chick, chicken thing."

Buckethead (and Herbie), looked momentarily surprised at that observation.

"That's a possibility. I never thought of that, I'm sure he (referring to himself, but still speaking as Herbie) hasn't either."

Julie snaps back to reality. "OK, maybe flashing the big guy to help Thom win the tip-off isn't such a good idea after all". Anyways, apparently I missed Buckethead winning the tip-off (again) and...oh wow, Jess is coming my way with the ball in her racquet. So I guess that I missed a pass somewhere in there, too. I drive more or less in a straight line to intercept (even though Jess is nowhere near as good at 3 point shots as she is at the 2-point power shots). Hmm, maybe I should try a pillow block or something. I hit Jess in the front of the car and start flailing my arms about so that she can't really get off a clear shot. She shoots anyway, and it sails high and too wide to the left of the board, going out of bounds. I motion for Krystal to take it, she nods and the linesman tosses it over to her. She searches for someone to pass to (and I'm not an option as Jess is now blocking me). Eventually she bounce passes it to Jason.

Third Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Krystal's perspective. Song to put on: Sepultura – Territory

Oh good, Jason got it (I admit I was little to the left as to where Jason was in my bounce pass). Now he bounce passes it to Thom (and it somehow got by Buckethead) who is already past the half-court line. Holly just rammed his right side, and he just kept driving forward. Mary and Dani are driving to intercept, but they won't reach him in time. He gets inside the key and fires off a successful power shot, Canada is now up 17-12. Thom starts driving back to our half of the court as Mary and Dani play a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock in order to determine who takes possession. Mary shows Spock, Dani shows Paper. As paper disproves Spock, Dani will be taking possession this time. Dani is looking around for a person to pass to, ultimately bounce passing it to Jess (who was closer to the middle of the court than usual, so the pass was a bit easier for her, I'll give America that much at least). Jess is driving with Buckethead just in front of her to help prevent her from getting side-rammed or pillow blocked (especially pillow blocked). They enter our half-court where Thom side rams Buckethead hard enough to knock him out of the way, but it's too late. Jess (as a desperate act), fires off a 3-point shot, and it's good. We're still ahead of the Americans, but only by a score of 17-15. The linesman actually catches the ball before it goes out of bounds:

"Which one of you is going to take it?" he asks Julie and I.

I point at Julie, as it was heading to her side of the court anyway due to an awkward bounce off of the court floor. She nods and looks for someone to pass it to.

Third Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Melinda's perspective. Song to put on: Alice Cooper – Hey Stupid

Huh, I guess I'm taking Julie's bounce pass (to be fair, Thom and Jason were both somewhat obstructed by the Americans). I know that I'm taking a risk by driving so close to the side rail but I'm kind of hoping that no one notices me with the ball in my racquet as Julie really didn't have possession of the ball for very long. Oh good, I'm inside the American half of the court without anyone knowing that I have the ball...

...uh oh, Buckethead just made eye contact with me. He's motioned for all of Team USA to attack me. I was hoping to get close enough for a power shot. But thanks to the masked one, I guess that I'm going to have to try for a 3-pointer instead. Dani was able to pillow block me, but I successfully get off my shot...and it's good. My Canada is now up 20-15. Mary is taking possession of the ball this time, so I full reverse and head back to the Canadian half. She bounce passes it to Holly, which means I don't have to drive that far in order to ram her (thank goodness). Wait, she just arc passed it back to Mary? That is unusual, especially with Mary being farther forward that she should be on the court. In fact, after one quick swerve past Thom, she's already in the Canadian half of the court. Wait a minute, is she trying the Scandinavian 3-pointer defenceman gambit? Wow, I didn't know that there was still any Scandinavian influence left in the state of Norway. Julie and Krystal sandwich her quite well, but she already took her shot, and it's good for 3. Canada is now only up by 2, with a score of 20-18. Jason points at Julie to take the possession, she obliges.

Third Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Thom's perspective. Song to put on: Garbage – Vow

Oh sweet, Julie bounce passes it to me. The masked one seems to be hanging back (closer to his defenders actually) So I have no problems passing into the American half of the court (as my wingers are obstructing their wingers). Buckethead is trying to pillow block me (with Mary and Dani flanking him so that I can't turn to avoid it). It's a nice defensive maneuver, I'll give them that. Unfortunately for them, I just shrug at them and take my 3-point shot. It's a successful shot, and I just put Team Canada up by a score of 23-18. That's odd, Gregg the trainer has actually called for a time out, and he is granted one. That's really weird, a trainer calling a timeout without someone being injured (especially in the second half when we're winning). Actually, I don't recall a match back home in Canada where he made the request for the timeout. Trainers in general tend to be background characters throughout the game (true in every sport, really). I drive on over to the coach's bench. Gregg seems to be scoping out Melinda, as she took a sandwich from the Michigan and Norwegian girls. She appears to be uninjured, so he quickly goes back to his routine, Gatorade bottles and all"

Gregg: "Are you alright, Julie? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Krystal? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Thom? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you sure that you're alright, Melinda? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jason? Here, have some Gatorade. All yours, Sherry"

She approaches us, grinning from ear to ear.

Sherry: "That's how you play America in the second half: Precise shooting from varying distances. Keep it going on them and we can go home champions tonight. Keep it simple though, power shots only now. We don't have to impress anyone now. Cindy, they're all yours."

Cindy: "Julie, Krystal, there's still a lot of game left to play: Expand the time you look for someone to pass to up to 5 seconds. If you can find someone to pass to, great. If not, dump the ball in America's corner. Still no need to get fancy with our defence."

We join hands and shout "Go Canada Go!", then return to the game. The rest of my segment goes by without incident...wait, segment?

Third Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Jason's perspective. Song to put on: Iced Earth – Burning Times

Oh god no, not these stupid interdimensional glitches again. I think I'm getting it slightly easier than the others as I don't recognize many of these (for lack of a better word) phantoms. I saw that David Flannagan guy once...at a party...maybe 5 or 6 years ago (though it is cool to see him as a talented juggler). The woman stirring the cauldron is a woman I'm VAGUELY aware of named Tamara Costa, but I don't think many me's have met many hers.

Now this is interesting, as I definitely know these next 2 phantoms over here as Heather Stitt and her daughter, Aisling. But either they're versions from earlier stories I've read, or they're from a yet to be read by me Aaronworld somewhere. Why can't this be like the mixed poker book and everyone has their Aaronworld numbers on their foreheads?

"Because you're not in Nth-Dimensional space at the moment, you dumbass" came a voice from inside my mind. Jesus, is Aaron aware that all of this is going on? And if so, what the hell is he doing about it? Wow, these glitches are getting so bad that Buckethead accidentally hit Holly's whirlybug on the American side while Melinda accidentally hit Thom's on the Canadian side. I guess my eyes can filter through what's from this world and what's a glitch better than most. OK, the glitches seem to have stopped (for now). I guess I'm not as good at filtering through things as I thought I was as I don't even know who has possession of the ball at the moment (even the coaches look confused). Oh, it's Julie, that's good. It's better than America having possession, then again, there's only 3 seconds left. 2...1...

ENN!

I drive over to the Coach's bench for the last intermission of the game, and maybe the series.

Third Intermission, 3:00-2:00, Sherry's perspective. Song to put on: Scott Weiland – We will rock you

There really wasn't anything for me at all to critique out of Thom's, Jason's and Melinda's offence in this quarter. So I approach them with a smile on my face, they've earned that.

"With a 5 point lead going into the last quarter, we've improved but we're not quite home just yet. We still don't need to dazzle the crowd with 6-point shots (and probably won't for the rest of the game), let's keep it to 2-point power shots with MAYBE an occasional 3-pointer thrown in just to mix things up. The big guy also needs to be rammed and pillow blocked more, so put him in his place. Got that?"

"Yes, Miss Ripa." replied Thom.

"We will." added Melinda and Jason.

Satisfied (and with 2 minutes and 15 seconds left in the intermission), I turn my attention to the defence: "You 2, thank you for listening to my request from the first intermission regarding pass variance. It's definitely keeping Team USA guessing. Keep it going."

"Got it." answered Krystal, Julie merely nodded.

"OK Cindy, take it away" I shout.

Third Intermission, 2:00-1:00, Cindy's perspective. Song to put on: Rush – Witch Hunt

I walk over to my team more or less calmed down. A 5 point lead is much more satisfactory to me than the 2-point edge that we had at the end of the 1st quarter. I approach Julie and Krystal with the intention of being more encouraging:

"Girls (referring to Julie and Krystal), now that's more like it! You should still vary your location on the court about as much as you have been when it comes to the 4th quarter to make the defence more effective. You 2 should also be maintaining how aggressive you are and be aware of who has the ball at any given moment. Remember ladies, each of Team USA's forwards could score a 6-pointer and take the lead late in the game. Also, Melinda, Thom, Jason, you 3 should keep watching the girls backs more so that we can maintain our lead throughout the fourth quarter. That guy in the mask is now probably the key to the entire series (neutralize him, neutralize America). Anyways, do I make myself clear?" I ask. Both Julie and Krystal nod and smile (as do the forwards), I can tell that they're happy to still have a lead after the third quarter, but the last quarter of any given match tends to be the most productive, so I say nothing else except "Take it away, Gregg"

Third Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Gregg's perspective. Song to put on: The Modern Lovers – I'm straight

My first priority is to scan Melinda. I know that she told me that she was fine earlier, but let's be honest: Whirlyball is an adrenaline-based sport (as all sports should be). Just because she felt fine, doesn't mean that she actually is fine. I've seen quite a few retire from the sport prematurely in my time, and I don't want someone forced out of the game on an international level. I pull out the scanner (which I regret not doing during the timeout) and point it at Melinda.

"All level injury and trauma scans...negative." replied the robotic voice. I make it a note to quickly survey the others.

"Are you injured, Jason?" I asked, he merely shook his head.

"Are you injured, Julie and Krystal?" I asked.

"Not at all." replied Julie.

"I'm fine." added Krystal. That just leaves Thom for last.

"Are you injured, Mister Phung?" I asked. He merely shook his head with 12 seconds left on the clock.

"Hands in the middle for the team chant." I announce, as there's really nothing else that I can do. The players put their hands in almost as quickly as I do, then Cindy, then Sherry.

"Go, Canada, GO!"

Fourth Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Jess's perspective. Song to put on: Misfits – Last Caress

And the big guy wins another tip-off against Thom, and he bounce passes it to me. Are any members of Team Canada taller than 5 "10'? I'm driving down close to my side rail (mostly because I think that Team Canada is used to my driving more in the middle of the court by now. Buckethead seems to have picked up on that and is driving zig-zagged in an effort to keep Thom and Jason away from ramming me into the wall. At least that's what I think that he's doing. He could have (as some of his musician friends have said over the years, namely Bootsy Collins) "flown the coop". No one really knows with that guy (maybe not even himself), and maybe that's as it should be. I'm about halfway between the half-court line and the key on the Canadian side of the court when I notice that Julie and Krystal are close enough to pillow block me where I doubt that I will ever be able to get inside the key in order to make my typical power shot. I guess that I'm taking my chances and firing off my 3-point shot. OK Jess, wrist and elbow only, cock back and fire. Crap, too much elbow grease, it sailed way too high. And it went out of bounds, shit. I think that Julie will be taking possession this time, as I drive back to the American half. I see Melinda take the bounce pass out of the corner of my right eye. Holly is really close by, I guess Julie was desperate to avoid dumping the ball in the American half of the court, and even though we're on opposite teams, I can't really say as I blame her. Uh-oh, Melinda got by Holly's side ramming...

Fourth Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Holly's perspective. Song to put on: Saliva – Turn the table

That was weird, I knew that I hit her hard enough. It doesn't look like she's greasing, that would be when a Whirlyball player rubs something slippery all over their bumpers in order to prevent or minimize being rammed by other Whirlybugs. It's very rare, very frowned upon and most of those who are caught doing it get banned from their respective whirlyball leagues for life (the lightest punishment that I ever heard of was a suspension for the rest of the season and 1 full season afterwards). I point at Buckethead, Dani and Mary and motion to zoom in on Melinda, hoping that 1 of them can succeed where I failed in side ramming her (or maybe even pillow block her). I'm certain that Dani and Mary paid attention, but one can never be too sure with the big guy. Thom and Jason are now converging to help Melinda get by, but there's really no chance that they'll make it. Dani pillow blocks, but Melinda gets off a shot anyway. It sails low, and goes out of bounds. Dani screams "Take it" to Mary, referring to possession of the ball. Mary nods as we all head back to (more or less) our respective positions. Mary can't find anyone to make a clean pass to, so she (quite rightly) dumps it deep into the Canadian zone. A pity that Melinda was blocking me somewhat, we're kind of running out of time to catch up and I REALLY don't want to go home without at least a rubber match in the series. Wow, Mary tossed it so far with her racquet that it went out of bounds in the Canadian half of the court...WITHOUT the ball bouncing first. A pity that she doesn't play baseball, she'd kill in the outfield.

Fourth Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Dani's perspective. Song to put on: Backstreet Boys – Quit playing games with my heart

I'm...in shock. I'm staring at Mary, my other defender. Good god, she has an amazing arm. I can't even go coast to coast AND go out of bounds without the ball bouncing at least once first. Mary is taking heavy, angry breaths, like she just murdered someone in a fit of rage. I shake my head a little bit, in order to regain my focus, and I focus on my Canadian counterparts. It looks like Krystal will be taking possession of the ball. After she looks for an open teammate, she bounce passes it to Jason. What the hell is the matter with Jess? She was within less than an arms reach of intercepting the pass, we could've had an extra chance of closing the lead (or even taking it with a 6-point shot). Is she trying to hand the series over to Canada? I know she played in Quebec for a few years, maybe she's still sympathetic towards them. No I can't think that, that's just what Canada wants. Besides, the American Whirlyball Association wouldn't have picked her if she had (the background checks were very extensive for all of us).

Anyways, Jason gets off a 3-point shot, and it sails high. I stare at Mary and say "I'll take this one, putting it out of bounds just slows the game down more". Mary merely shrugs her shoulders and backs off as the linesman tosses me the ball. I catch it in my scoop and I look for someone to pass to. It takes him 2 seconds to shake off Thom, but I choose to bounce pass it to Buckethead. He gets it after one bounce and then holds it in his scoop with arm stretched as high as it can, knowing that no one can get it off of him directly.

Fourth Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Mary's perspective. Song to put on: Danny Elfman – All is Lost

Please Buckethead, please get off a 6-pointer (or at least a 3-point shot so that we still have a chance of beating Canada at the last second...or even tying them in order to force the game to go into overtime). He's inside Canada's half of the court having survived side hits from Thom and Melinda without dropping the ball. I guess the big guy isn't as confident of making a 6-pointer on the court as he is at...clocking people's hands and actions in Ace-5 triple draw lowball. Fuck, that hurt when he knocked me out. Still, he's as misunderstood as Aaron says he is, and I'm happy to have broken the walls down in my mind in an effort to get to know him better. He takes the shot and, it sails high, FUCK! Mercifully, Coach Castro has called for our last time out, and the linesmen have granted it. I drive over to the Coach's bench, Coach Castro is basically throwing his hands up in the air as he speaks:

"Screw it, we're down to the wire so if you have ever successfully made a 6-point shot in your life, now's the time to make another. Is there anyone who hasn't?"

I raise my hand, as does Dani (stands to reason, as we're both defenders and not used to taking an offensive role unless we have to). "OK girls, you 2 feed the ball to any winger or Buckethead that you can find. Big guy, don't be afraid to stay in our half in order to fire off the shot. Everyone understand their order?"

I nod, as does the rest of the team. "Jane, make it quick for Coach Dotson."

Jane comes out, and predictably does her Gatorade. spiel: "Are you alright, Mary? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Dani? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Holly? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jess? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Mr. Buckethead? Here, have some Gatorade."

Jane didn't need to be quick for Coach Dotson who just shouts "What Castro said". We join hands in the middle and chant "Team USA". The next minute or so is completely uneventful.

Fourth Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Buckethead's perspective. Song to put on: Buckethead – Whale on this

The glitches are happening again, but it doesn't affect me quite as much as it seems to affect the others in the game (or the stadium for that matter). My brain is stranger than pretty much anyone's on this world (not all that dissimilar from Maestro Collins himself, actually). Also, I really don't know anyone in the Aaronverse all that well. I have some dreams now and again of that other me who played cards with a lot of the Aaronverse (although I suspect that a lot of them have been "written out" as per the wishes of Maestro Collins) but where I (the local me) is concerned, my first encounter with anyone Aaron knew was when I first met Coach Dotson a few days ago when she took me out of jail. I knew what she looked like from the poker book and from TV in prison of course (the convicts LOVE storage wars, especially the multi-lifers and those on death row), and when we arrived here I recognized my wingers, Holly and Jess from the poker book, but everyone else is new (Technically that includes the Ohio lady as we never really had direct contact in that dark place in South Africa). They must've come into the Aaronverse after the 10-game mix.

I don't have any significant friends in the Aaronverse, except for Maestro Collins himself. He might be OK with having few friends, but even masked crazy people like me get lonely in the coop. I hope that I can one day sit down with all of them and bond with them, maybe even take them all to Bucketheadland. Oh, the glitches have stopped just as I hit Thom (and it wasn't in the front or the side either, but the linesmen didn't notice that I made what people call a rear-impact hit). Huh, I somehow got possession of the ball and I'm behind the half court line with 4 seconds to spare. Might as well shoot, I fire before the buzzer goes off...and IT'S GOOD! I JUST WON THE GAME 24-23 FOR TEAM AMERICA! THEY'RE ALL RUNNING TOWARDS ME AND HUGGING ME IN CONGRATULATIONS AS CANADA SLOWLY GETS OFF THE COURT!

Chapter 5: Pressing the Impacts

Song to put on: Mastodon – March of the Fire Ants

The media room of the Maracana Stadium was 7 metres tall from floor to ceiling, while the other 2 dimensions of the room were 9 metres each. Every wall was painted black, and measures were taken to ensure that this room was acoustically perfect. Press from all over the world watched in their blue folding metal chairs as Team Canada entered the room from a door in the Northwest corner and Team America enter from a door in the Northeast corner. Both teams were silent, which disturbed the press corps to no end. They took their seats on an elevated stage (with microphones in front of them) while a man in a black suit entered the room and stood between the teams.

"Who is that?" asked Mary to Dani in a whisper. Laura leaned behind them and whispered "Max Cavalera, he's an Ambassador to sporting development in Brazil and will be acting as our translator from English to Portugese."

He stood there (sporting lown brown and dirty blonde dreadlocks, a beard, but maintaining a high level of professionalism throughout as the press conference progressed) and began handing out Bluetooth headsets to every member of the team: "This will translate the questions to English for you, which will make my job a lot easier." he whispered before he took to the podium microphone and began speaking:

"Everyone please take your seats. I gave out pieces of paper to determine the questions. Whoever drew #1, please stand up and ask 1 question, no more."

He didn't speak in Portugese as there was no local media (or media from Portugal for that matter) A woman stood up wearing a grey business suit with a man holding a black Maximum HD Tablet camera with the letters BBC etched on it: "My question is for Team America: How can you take pride in a victory tainted by Buckethead's rear impact hit on Thom Phung in the dying seconds of the game?"

Rudy waved off Laura in an effort to take the question personally: "That hit, while borderline, was a clean hit. If it wasn't, why didn't any of the 3 linesmen blow the whistle?"

The BBC woman pushed a button on her watch and a video screen behind the 2 whirlyball teams lowered from the ceiling. It showed a loop of footage of Buckethead CLEARLY hitting Thom on the rear of the Whirlybug, followed by a camera in the Maracana Stadium parking lot showing all 3 linesmen being given suitcases from 3 men with their backs turned to the camera. Upon the linesmen becoming the only men in the camera's field of view, they open the cases, revealing over 1 million U.S. dollars in each case. In the stunned silence of the media room, the parking lot camera broadcasts the following audio: "It feels so good, to fuck over the Canadians"

To say that everyone in the room was shocked and outraged, was an understatement. Then came footage of Prime Minister Mulcair and President Obama sitting in the White House private office.

"We hereby issue a joint executive order that while the second game will stand, all of the linesmen are hereby fired and both teams will be formally investigated for conspiracy to commit a confidence game."

Team Canada's outrage grew (as they felt that they should be awarded the game automatically), whereas Team USA struggled to save face from this embarrassing situation. Ultimately, it was Laura Dotson who stepped forward "I can personally assure you that no one on my team had any knowledge of corruption amongst the linesmen and formally apologize to Team Canada and by extension, the world for this turn of events. I hope that game 3 can be played under a new understanding of peace and co-operation."

The Canadians...weren't buying it at all. It was Coach Hayden who was the first to stand up on the Canadian side, with Coach Ripa physically restraining her as best that she could "Fuck Peace, confess that you were in on it."

"Come on guys, this completely goes against..." started Julie but it was too late. Every member of Team Canada and USA we're in a free-for-all brawl. Max Cavalera quickly escorted the press out of the room (as it obstructed building security and local police from reaching the fight in order to stop it). Sherry, Cindy, Julie, Krystal and Melinda were in an all-out catfight against Laura, Jane, Jess, Holly, Dani and Mary (where despite the slight numbers advantage for the Americans, it was basically a draw). On the male side, it was Thom, Jason and Gregg vs. Rudy and Buckethead. Canada was winning the male half...

...until Buckethead broke out his nunchuks. He began twirling them in a demonstration of skill as the women's catfight moved to behind where Buckethead was standing. In an instant of carelessness, Buckethead's nunchuks (while being twirled behind him), hit Krystal in the face, sending her falling off the stage into the empty press chairs, knocking her unconscious. The police arrived and arrested everyone (save Krystal, who was taken to St. Felipe's hospital next door as a precautionary measure).

There was only 1 holding cell in Rio's 22 police division, and all 15 in the fight that weren't named Krystal had to share it.

"Happy now? We may risk being kept here for the rest of our lives because of your false accusations." stated Jane.

"I am happy, actually. That press conference was broadcast live all over the world. Canada just became martyrs. Even if there is a game 3, and even if Team USA wins it, you'll be hated by literally every other country in the world (especially if they have whirlyball)...moreso than you already are. Whether you're guilty of conspiring with those who bought off the refs or not, the people are at least 10:1 on our side now." replied Sherry in a way that was calm and dignified.

Just then, Thomas Bach appeared with what appeared to be a low-ranking police officer (who said nothing as he unlocked the holding cell).

"You're all free to go. Our thermal lie detectors caught the entire broadcast. No one on Team USA is guilty of conspiracy to commit a confidence game, whereas the International Whirlyball Association has determined that Canada beating America in game 3 without help from new linesmen would be an even bigger vindication of their superiority whereas America will suffer more in international relations should they win game 3 in any circumstance than any punishment that the International Whirlyball Association could possibly hand down. You must now leave prison immediately, with Team America going straight back to the hotel, and Team Canada going straight to the hospital to check on Krystal. There are 4 cars outside, 2 for each of you."

All 15 nodded and left, saying nothing.

Krystal was induced into a chemical coma while the virtual doctors scanned and fixed her. They were robots half the size of normal doctors who were operated by humans in a different wing of the hospital. The scans revealed a broken nose, jaw and 4 teeth, but thankfully no serious brain trauma. While asleep, Krystal couldn't tell if the medication was bringing about such vivid dreams, but something inside of her suspected that this wasn't the case at all.

Her first dream was that of a former friend throwing knives at a young Scandinavian lady:

With James being right-handed, he decided not to try throwing with the left (although he did on occasion as a way of scaring Miriam and his previous assistants).

"The trick Amir, is to throw all 5 blades at once. If I miss Miriam, I will likely miss her with all 5. If I hit her with the first or even the second blade, the rest of them will put hopefully put out of her misery."

James took a deep breath and began throwing, there was no sweeter sound in the world the sound of a knife hitting the wheel...5 consecutive times (With no blood-curdling screams in between throws). The crowd roared as none of the blades were even close to cutting Miriam. James took off the blindfold, and raised Amir's hand.

"Keep it going for Amir, great job kid. You can sit down now."

Amir smiled and nodded and ran back towards his parents as James walked over to his wheel and unrestrained Miriam. She waved at the crowd with a huge grin on her face, and after she and James took a bow, they ran backstage together. Joe looked at Jeanie and pointed to the crowd:

"Halftime show, you're up again."

Her second dream saw her looking at a slightly...inhuman version of the love of her life: "Whoa, you must have been close to your inner Zombie starting to eat itself in order to survive." observed the other patient. His voice was very familiar to Allan, and not just because they were both immigrants of Canada (albeit at opposite sides of each other). Allan grabbed a nearby paper towel to wipe his mouth clean, then focused on the other patient.

"Film-tier, right?" asked Allan.

"Oh my god, yes. How are you?" exclaimed the werewolf in excitement.

"I'm better now. You're Mr. Welsh, right?"

Allan had no idea that Justin Welsh lived here, as the last time that they met they were in Toronto, Manitoba being interviewed by a mutual friend for a story he was writing. Allan walked over to him and they exchanged handshakes as Barash read over Justin's paperwork.

"I didn't know you lived here now." exclaimed Allan.

"Yeah, Matrix Logistics transferred me here when I was 'changed' a couple of years ago." replied Justin.

"Well, I hope your night goes smoothly. I better head home."

"OK, I better get locked in. It was good seeing you again, Allan."

"Likewise Justin. Barash, if you would like to scan me now."

Krystal (asleep and all), felt an injection go into her left arm. She was awake almost instantly, surrounded by the rest of Team Canada.

"We need to win Game 3 more than ever now. And help Aaron anywhere we can with whatever...other-worldly crap is going on." were Krystal's first words.

Sherry, Cindy, Gregg, Thom, Jason, Melinda and Julie nodded in agreement as Krystal looked around at the all white and stainless steel intensive care room, searching for a surface reflective enough to show her her own face. Upon finding one, she saw that she looked exactly as she did before Buckethead hit her in the face with his nunchuks.

"Wow, that worked out well. It's as if nothing happened" she whispered.

"Anything we can do to cheer you up? You're being discharged in less than 30 minutes."

Krystal could only think of 1 answer: "Pot-Limit 6 Card Omaha."

Chapter 6: A new kind of high

Cindy and Melinda were killing time by watching TV together (a streamed signal from Canada's CTV that they had requested from the room itself). It was showing a highlight reel of Game 2, focusing on Thom being hit in the rear and the 3 linesmen blatantly ignoring the call in order to ensure an American victory. While the hit itself was shown multiple times (from multiple camera angles and would be for days), the focus was more on the reaction of average citizens back home. Most of them exclaimed (very justified) verbal outrage and disbelief at what happened and its' aftermath, a few however...gathered to Dundas Square in Toronto:

The TV cuts to an amateur cell phone filming a gathering of people looting a store called "Nations of the world" and stealing every American flag in the store, then lighting all of them on fire in the streets.

"We should probably head downstairs now." mused Melinda.

"Agreed" replied Cindy, not wanting to see such atypical behaviour of her fellow Canadians.

"How's your face?" asked Julie to Krystal in their room as she grabbed each of them a bottle of Singha Beer out of the fridge (both of them silently wondering why Thailand beer was even available in Brazil).

"Like brand new, how's Australia handling the news over Game 2?" asked Krystal while Julie was viewing news coverage via her pair of Google lenses.

"It's about a 50/50 split, actually. The Pro-Americans are ignoring it completely as they tend to not like Whirlyball anyway. The Pro-Canadians are already calling it the 'Rio Screwjob'"

"Ready to head down, play some PLO 6 (the short form name for Pot-Limit 6-Card Omaha)?" asked Krystal.

"Never played, I hope the basics are at least glossed over." replied Julie nervously.

"Did his rear hit injure you?" asked Jason to Thom in their room.

"Nah bro, I'm good. Krystal got it worse than any of us in that fight at the press conference. Besides, I'm more pissed at the refs for being paid to not do their job. It reminds me of 90% of the staff at any given Tim Horton's" replied Thom as he grabbed 2 bottles of water out of the fridge, handing one to Jason. Jason merely nodded as a silent thank you.

"You're a more resilient man than I, sir" stated Jason.

"One has to be in this 'verse my old friend created. Especially when you've been in it as long as I have."

"Says the guy who wasn't even in Suspects or Film-Tier." teased Jason.

"I'm not sure what...Aaron-Prime was doing at first. And I don't think that the Aaronworld-Prime version of me knew what he was doing either. By the time that Mixed Poker was being developed, I knew that that didn't matter anymore. There are things bigger than our world out there in the multiverse, and the differences between each member of the Aaronverse, between each version of each member of the Aaronverse, doesn't matter. Mixed Poker changed things across the multiverse, so did it's subsequent fallout. Sooner, rather than later, we'll probably be facing judgement day." ranted Thom.

Jason nodded in agreement, adding "I'm prepared. At least our version of Aaron is still alive somewhere. I just finished reading Tokyocon and I think that little girl is right: A lot of Aarons are dead. Anyways, let's head down and play some PLO 6."

"So let me get this straight: You will never consume any narcotic, alcohol or tobacco of any kind?" asked Sherry to Gregg in their room. Gregg merely shook his head from side to side, saying nothing.

"But you don't care if other people do it around you?" she continued asking.

"No. Just because I have chosen this lifestyle, doesn't mean I judge those who engage in those things. Straight Edge caught something of a bad reputation in the 1990's because of the more extreme members of this lifestyle who would actively harass or even assault those who weren't straight edge. Now a lot of us more moderate and respectful members are cleaning up the stigma that they created. It's quite an uphill battle, thank you global media bias."

Gregg chuckled slightly.

"What's so funny?" asked Sherry.

"Oh, the last time I talked to Aaron. He called the hardline straight edge people and their actions in the 90's...what was that term he used? Oh, right: a near multiversal constant."

It was Sherry's turn to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked Gregg.

"He said the same thing about this poker league some me's and some him's played at together. I don't really remember what he called the league itself (although I see fish in my head whenever I think about it), but this is supposedly 1 of the only worlds where I met him by some other means. Come on, let's head downstairs."

"It was nice of hotel management to let us use their conference room." remarked Gregg as he looked around the room. All blue-grey walls with lithium lighting in the ceiling, a long, rectangular Oak conference table that could easily seat 16 people and small palm trees in every corner.

"I think that we're the only guests in the hotel room, other than Team USA, of course." replied Cindy.

The door knocked four times.

"That'll be them, have robotic preparations on stand-by, COME IN!" shouted Sherry. The team entered, wearing various combinations of street clothes.

"I'm not one to mince words, we got fucked out of our rightful sweep, and the entire enlightened world knows it. But with no practice time scheduled, I can really only say: For game 3, we really need to mix it up and let out our anger on the Americans in every legal way available to us. Especially as it pertains to Buckethead, how the hell did we allow him to score a 6-pointer after the rear-impact hit on Thom that got ignored?"

The entire team stared at the hardwood floor in embarrassment, Cindy stepped forward "But enough about whirlyball. We need to relax and come together as team."

"Hotel robot, prepare the conference table for poker." announced Gregg. A robot emerged from behind one of the plants. It began talking to the group "Please state the specifics regarding the game type, stakes, payouts, rules and seating."

Sherry took a moment to remember the request made by Krystal at the hospital "Pot-Limit 6 card Omaha High, 25 Real per player (with the winner receiving 150 and 2nd place receiving 50), standard Las Vegas rules, 1 table of 8."

"ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! Pot-Limit 6 Card Omaha can only be played with a maximum of 7 players per table with a standard 52-card deck. 7 players times 6 private cards plus the 5 community cards plus the 3 burn cards needed in between each round of betting already uses 50 out of 52 cards. Please adjust your table and seating requests." stated the robot.

Gregg laughed and said "Please set on a non-precedential basis the following variable: The player seated to the left of the big blind sits out the hand until at least 1 player has been eliminated. That would allow 8 people to play at the same table"

"Variable...approved." stated the robot as it began making the needed arrangements. As the robot was stacking chips, Julie looked around the other people in the game and mumbled "I...don't...know how play any of the Omaha poker variants."

Cindy cleared her throat, preparing for a rant: "Pot-Limit means that you can only bet or raise the size of the pot at any given moment."

Sherry realized that she probably had to break things down even further as it was entirely possible that a few of the other players didn't know how to play poker at all. She continued where Cindy left off "Play begins with each player being dealt 6 cards face down. Each player may observe those 6 cards that they're dealt, but not the cards dealt to other players. The hand begins with a pre-draw betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind, or in the case of our table of 8, the person 2 seats to the left of the big blind..."

"...That's the bigger of the 2 forced bets in the hand, right?" asked Julie. Sherry nodded and continued "Play then continues clockwise. Each player must either call the amount of the big blind, fold, or raise. Betting in 6 card Omaha is pot-limit which Cindy has already explained. When all players have wagered the same amount of money into the pot or folded from being further involved in the hand, play proceeds to the community rounds. The dealer will deal a dead card face down, then 3 live community cards face up, called 'the flop'. After another round of betting, the dealer will then deal another dead card face down, followed by 1 more community card face up, called 'the turn'. After another round of betting, the dealer will deal another dead card face down, followed by one last community card face up, called 'the river'. After one last betting round, those who are still in the hand must show their private cards. Now, with all of the variations of Omaha, one must ONLY use EXACTLY 2 of their private cards and EXACTLY 3 of the board. The blind levels go up each time someone gets eliminated. Seating is determined by our robot friend. I assume it has our names already"

The robot nodded and pointed to an HD screen in its' chest that displayed seating arrangements:

Table 1: Gregg, Krystal, Cindy, Sherry, Jason, Thom, Melinda, Julie

"Seating is in order. Do you require me to deal?" it asked.

"Oh, yes please." answered Gregg pre-emptively. Sherry and Cindy nodded in approval. Then Gregg added "Robots, add the following as house rules for our game: The first out has to inspect our whirlybugs before the rest of us arrive."

"Added." replied the robot.

Level 1, Final Table. 1-2 Blinds, All stacks even.

Hand #1 began with Sherry sitting out the hand, Jason quietly folding the Ace/Queen/4 of Clubs, the King/6 of Diamonds and the 10 of Spades from the under the gun, Thom announcing "I fold" with the Ace of Spades, the King/Jack/9/7 of Hearts and the 8 of Clubs, Melinda quietly folding the Ace/Queen/3 of Diamonds, the King of Clubs, the 4 of Spades and the 4 of Hearts, Julie whispering "I'm...folding" from the cutoff seat with the King/9 of Spades and the Jack/10/7/3 of Clubs, Gregg quietly calling from the Button with the 9/6 of Clubs, the 8/7/5 of Diamonds and the 6 of Spades, Krystal mumbling "Call" from the Small Blind with the Ace/8 of Hearts, the Jack/8 of Spades, the Jack of Diamonds and the 5 of Clubs while Cindy knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the Queen/6 of Hearts, the Queen/5/3 of Spades and the 4 of Diamonds. The pot is 6.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 7 of Spades, the 5 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds.

"It's your betting option, Krystal." declared the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy. Gregg knocked the table times, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 9 of Diamonds as the turn card.

"It's your betting option, Krystal." declared the dealer.

"I check." she replied.

Cindy knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check. "I check." added Gregg.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 2 of Spades as the river card.

"It's your betting option, Krystal." declared the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

"I check" stated Gregg.

"Time to show your cards, everyone." announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Jacks and 2's" stated Krystal as she turned her hand face up, nervous that she was seriously beat.

"2 pairs, Queens and 2's" countered Cindy as she turned her hand face up.

"I have the straight." announced Gregg as he turned his hand face up, and began raking in his pot of 6.

"Nice hand" said Julie with a smile.

"Not really, that was brutal." replied Thom.

"I agree. In 6 card Omaha, the 5th best possible hand almost never wins." concurred Sherry.

"Is that because of all of the extra private cards that are dealt to the players?" asked Jason.

"Exactly" responded Melinda.

Hand #2 began with Jason sitting out the hand, Thom quietly folding the Ace/6/4 of Hearts, the 8/5 of Spades and the 6 of Clubs from under the gun, Melinda asking the robotic dealer "Sir, could you please define the parameters of pot-limit betting? Julie is a 1st-timer in this game."

As with casinos, the robotic dealer is happy to oblige (as it's in his programming subroutines), "You can only bet what the pot is at any given moment, if there hasn't been an established bet put in place. However, in a game involving blinds, you must also factor in the act of calling the pot BEFORE the raise of the pot itself. Therefore, should 1 choose to declare 'raise pot' right now it would consist of the actions of a) calling the big blind of 2 (which makes the total pot 5 as of that moment) followed by raising the pot of 5 to make what you would need to bet to 7."

Melinda nodded and announced "OK, I raise the pot" with the Ace/3 of Diamonds, the Queen/Jack of Spades, the Jack of Hearts and the 3 of Clubs. Julie quietly folded the Queen of Diamonds, the 9/7/3 of Hearts, the 7 of Spades and the 7 of Clubs. Gregg announcing "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the King/10/2 of Hearts, the 4 of Spades, the 4 of Diamonds and the 4 of Clubs. Krystal quietly folded the Ace/9 of Clubs, the King/6 of Spades and the 7/2 of Diamonds from the Button. Cindy quietly called from the Small Blind with the Queen/Jack/10 of Clubs, the Queen of Hearts, the 8 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades. Whereas Sherry declared "not worth defending with, I'm out" from the Big Blind with the King/2 of Clubs, the 10 of Diamonds, the 9/3 of Spades and the 8 of Hearts. The pot was 16.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 6 of Diamonds, the 5 of Hearts and the 5 of Clubs.

"It's your betting option, Cindy." declared the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Melinda knocked the table times, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 9 of Diamonds as the turn card.

"It's your betting option, Cindy." declared the dealer.

"I check." she replied.

"I check." added Melinda.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the Jack of Diamonds as the river card.

"It's your betting option, Cindy." declared the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Melinda.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Queens and 5's and 2's" stated Cindy as she turned her hand face up, nervous that she was seriously beat.

"Full house. Jacks over 5's" countered Melinda as she turned her hand face up and began raking in her pot of 16.

"Interesting." whispered Gregg.

"Was that closer to what tends to happen in this game?" asked Julie with a smile.

"More or less, although having seen even Full Houses broken by quads or better, I've seen even more chaotic outcomes than this one." replied Thom.

"I agree. In 6 card Omaha, the 2nd best possible hand winning happens much less often in than it does in Texas Hold 'em, and even 4 or 5 card Omaha." concurred Sherry.

"Here? Not so much" stated Krystal.

"Wish that there was a published treatise on the game until we get a strategy guide" responded Jason.

Hand #3 began with Thom sitting out the hand, Melinda quietly folding the King/Queen/6 of Diamonds, the Jack of Clubs and the 9/4 of Spades from under the gun, Julie announcing "I'm out" with the Ace/10/4/2 of Diamonds, the Jack of Spades and the 3 of Hearts, Gregg quietly folding the Ace/Queen of Hearts, the 9/5 of Diamonds, the 7 of Clubs and the 6 of Spades, Krystal whispering "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the King of Hearts, the Queen/5/2 of Spades, the 9 of Clubs and the 8 of Diamonds, Cindy announcing "I raise the pot" from the Button with the Ace/5/3 of Clubs, the King of Spades and the 8/5 of Hearts, Sherry quietly folding the King/Queen of Clubs, the 10/3 of Spades, the 7 of Hearts and the 3 of Diamonds in the Small Blind while Jason whispered "Not even close to a hand worth defending my Big Blind with, I'm out" with the Jack/2 of Hearts, the 10/6/4 of Clubs and the 7 of Diamonds. Cindy awkwardly collected her pot of 10.

"What's wrong, coach?" asked Julie.

"I raised with an (at best), speculative hand. A voice in my head told me that, I had the best hand at the table." replied Cindy (looking quite clearly frightened by the experience).

Hand #4 began with Melinda sitting out the hand, Julie quietly folding the 9/3/2 of Diamonds, the 6 of Hearts and the 4/2 of Spades from under the gun, Gregg announcing "I'm out" with the King/8 of Diamonds, the 10/6 of Spades, the 7 of Clubs and the 5 of Hearts, Krystal quietly folding the Queen/10/8 of Clubs, the 9/3 of Hearts and the 3 of Spades, Cindy announcing "I raise the pot" from the cutoff seat with the King/Jack/2 of Clubs, the Queen/Jack of Hearts and the 4 of Diamonds, Sherry whispering "I fold" from the Button with the Ace/8 of Hearts and Queen/7/6/5 of Diamonds, Jason announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the King/Jack of Spades, the Jack of Diamonds, the 8/3 of Clubs and the 7 of Hearts while Thom quietly folded the Ace/5 of Clubs, the 10/2 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs from the Big Blind. The pot was 16.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Ace of Spades, the Ace of Diamonds and the King of Hearts.

"It's your betting option, Jason." declared the dealer.

"I check" he replied. Cindy knocked the table times, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 9 of Clubs as the turn card.

"It's your betting option, Jason." declared the dealer.

"I check." he replied.

"I check." added Jason.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the Queen of Spades as the river card.

"It's your betting option, Jason." declared the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

"Time to show your cards." announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Aces and Jacks" stated Jason as he turned his hand face up.

"2 pairs. Aces and Kings" countered Cindy as she turned her hand face up and began raking in her pot of 16.

"That was...anti-climactic" stated Gregg awkwardly.

"OK, even I was expecting a Quad or a Full House. Fuck, even a straight would've been alright" said Julie with a smile.

"Agreed." replied Thom.

"Yeah, what the hell is going on? Is another effect of all these glitches that we've been seeing of our world?" concurred Sherry.

"No, I think this is just a slow game." countered Melinda.

"Yeah, a medium-high flush is about the average hand needed to win PLO 6. This is most unusual" added Krystal.

Hand #5 began with Julie sitting out the hand, Gregg quietly folding the King/9 of Clubs, the 8/6/5 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds from under the gun, Krystal announcing "I raise the pot" with the Ace of Clubs, the 5/4 of Hearts, the 4/2 of Spades and the 3 of Diamonds, Cindy announcing "I fold" with the 10 of Spades, the 8 of Diamonds, the 7/6/3 of Hearts and the 7 of Clubs, Sherry quietly folding the Jack/8/6/5 of Clubs, the 7 of Diamonds and the 2 of Hearts from the cutoff seat, Jason whispering "I call" from the Button with the Ace/King of Diamonds, the Ace/King of Spades and the 7/3 of Spades, Thom quietly calling from the Small Blind with the Queen/10/4/2 of Clubs and the Queen/10 of Hearts Melinda declared "Nope, not even worth defending" from the Big Blind with the Ace/King/Jack of Spades, the Queen/4 of Diamonds and the 9 of Hearts. The pot was 23.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Queen of Spades, the Jack of Diamonds and the 9 of Spades.

"It's your betting option, Thom." declared the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Krystal. Jason knocked the table times, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 8 of Hearts as the turn card.

"It's your betting option, Thom." declared the dealer.

"I check." he replied.

Krystal knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check. "I check." added Jason.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 3 of Clubs as the river card.

"It's your betting option, Thom." declared the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Krystal.

"I check" stated Jason.

"Time to show your cards, everyone." announced the dealer.

"I have the Queen high straight" stated Thom as he turned her hand face up, nervous that he was beat by the potential King high straight.

"Beats my pair of 4's" countered Krystal as she turned her hand face up.

"And my pair of Aces." added Jason as he turned his hand face up. Thom let out a sigh of relief and began raking in his pot of 23.

"Nice hand" said Melinda.

"Not really, I was expecting the King high straight." replied Thom.

"I agree." concurred Sherry.

"Hopefully, we'll see some better hands soon" asked Gregg.

"I hope so" responded Cindy.

Hand #6 began with Gregg sitting out the hand, Krystal quietly folding the Jack of Clubs, the 9/6/5 of Diamonds, the 7 of Spades and the 4 of Hearts from under the gun, Cindy announced "I fold" with the Ace/Jack/10/8 of Diamonds and the Queen/2 of Spades, Sherry quietly folding the Queen/2 of Diamonds, the 10/9/3 of Hearts and the 6 of Clubs, Jason whispering "I'm out." from the cutoff seat with the Ace/10/4 of Spades and the 9/8/7 of Clubs, Thom quietly folding the Ace/5 of Clubs, the King/7 of Diamonds, the 8 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs from the Button, Melinda announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the King/Jack/7 of Hearts, the King/6 of Spades and the 10 of Clubs while Julie knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the 9/5 of Spades, the 5/2 of Hearts and the 4/2 of Clubs. The pot was 4.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Ace of Hearts, the Jack of Spades and the 8 of Hearts.

"It's your betting option, Melinda." declared the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Julie.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 3 of Diamonds as the turn card.

"It's your betting option, Melinda." declared the dealer.

"I check." she replied.

Julie knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the King of Clubs as the river card.

"It's your betting option, Melinda." declared the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Julie.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." announced the dealer.

"3 Kings" stated Melinda as she turned her hand face up, nervous that Julie had 3 Aces.

"Beats my pair of 5's" countered Julie as she turned her hand face up. Melinda smiled as she raked in her pot of 4.

"Nice hand" said Gregg.

"Not really, that's the 4th hand out of 6 that had no possible flush on the board." replied Krystal.

"That's scary." concurred Sherry.

"What's next? A board with no straight draws?" asked Jason.

"Exactly" responded Cindy and Thom simultaneously.

Hand #7 began with Krystal sitting out the hand, Cindy quietly folding the King/5 of Diamonds, the Jack of Spades, the 10/5 of Clubs and the 7 of Hearts from under the gun, Sherry announced "I'm out" with the Ace/9 of Hearts, the King/10 of Spades and the Jack/2 of Clubs, Jason quietly folding the King of Clubs, the Queen/Jack of Hearts, the 6/3 of Spades and the 6 of Diamonds. Thom announcing "I raise the pot" from the cutoff seat with the 9/8/7 of Diamonds and the 8/6/3 of Clubs, Melinda quietly folded the 10/2 of Diamonds, the 9/8 of Spades, the 7 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts on the Button, Julie whispering "I fold" from the Small Blind with the King/6 of Hearts, the Queen/3 of Diamonds, the 7 of Spades and the 4 of Clubs while Gregg quietly folded the Ace/5/2 of Spades, the Queen of Clubs and the 10/2 of Hearts in the Big Blind. Thom shrugged as he raked in a pot of 10.

"I pretty much won that hand by default, didn't I?" asked Thom. Every other player (and the robotic dealer for some strange reason) nodded.

Hand #8 began with Cindy sitting out the hand, Sherry quietly folded the Queen/9/5 of Hearts, the Jack/6 of Clubs and the 3 of Diamonds from under the gun, Jason announced "I fold" with the King/Jack/10 of Spades, the 4 of Clubs, the 2 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds, Thom quietly folded the Ace of Clubs, the King/10/8 of Hearts and the Jack/4 of Diamonds, Melinda announced "I raise the pot" from the cutoff seat with the 8/6 of Diamonds, the 7 of Spades, the 6/3 of Hearts and the 3 of Clubs, Julie quietly folded the King/9 of Diamonds and the Queen/10/7/2 of Clubs on the Button, Gregg announced "I call the additional 6" from the Small Blind with the Ace/8/5 of Spades, the Ace/7 of Diamonds and the 7 of Hearts while Krystal laughed while saying "not even close" as she folded the Ace of Hearts, the Queen/4/2 of Spades, the 8 of Clubs and the 5 of Diamonds in the Big Blind. The pot is 16.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the King of Clubs, the 10 of Diamonds and the 4 of Hearts.

"It's your betting option, Gregg." declared the dealer.

"I bet the pot" he replied, sliding 16 into the pot, making the pot 32.

"I raise the pot" replied Melinda. She called the initial 16, making the pot 48. Then she slid another 48 into the pot, making the pot 96 (and 64 for Gregg to call). Gregg looked at his last 79 in chips and announced "I'm all-in". Melinda called instantly, as she was pot committed (needing to put in 15 of her remaining 22 chips in order to stay in the hand).

"Turn your cards face up, starting with Gregg" announced the robot.

Gregg obliged, turning over his hand (an overpair of Aces). Melinda went next (showing that she had a pair of 6's).

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 9 of Spades as the turn card.

"Still holding on" stated Gregg.

"Short of me catching a 6 or a 3, I just doubled you up and my chip stack is almost empty" replied Melinda.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 3 of Spades as the river card.

"Well shit, I guess I'm getting up early tomorrow morning" stated Gregg.

"Wow, I was really not expecting to win that hand. What with the way that the hands have been going lately." responded Melinda as she raked in her pot of 206.

"Gregg Davis has been eliminated, the 8th player sitting out the hand rule has been...deleted." announced the dealer. Gregg got up and began saying his goodbyes.

"Goodnight Gregg, I thought that you had her" stated Krystal.

"So did I" he replied.

"It's better that 1 of us coaches is out, our players need their sleep for the big rubber match" added Cindy.

"Goodnight Gregg. Wow, only 1 straight draw and no flush draws...this game is really weird by PLO 6 standards" announced Sherry as she shook Gregg's hand.

"Nice hand" said Julie with a smile, shaking Gregg's hand (trying to suppress the joy that she was feeling that she wasn't the first eliminated in her first game.

"Not really, that was another brutal." replied Thom as he shook Gregg's hand.

"Goodnight, G-Money" stated Jason, not knowing where that nickname came from.

Level 2, Final Table, 2-4 Blinds. Chip stacks for the table: Melinda – 213, Thom – 117, Cindy – 103, Sherry – 97, Julie – 97, Krystal – 89, Jason – 84

The robot dealer announced "As Gregg was supposed to be on the Button to start this hand but was eliminated in the last hand, Julie will be on the Button for the second consecutive hand"

Julie smiled, everyone else frowned, but accepted it as it was Las Vegas rules.

Hand #1 began with Sherry quietly folding the King/5 of Clubs, the 9/2 of Hearts and the 5/3 of Spades from under the gun, Jason announcing "I fold" with the Ace/Jack/6 of Hearts, the 8 of Spades, the 7 of Diamonds and the 2 of Clubs, Thom quietly folding the King/Jack/6/2 of Spades, the 10 of Clubs and the 8 of Hearts, Melinda announcing "I'm out" from the cutoff seat with the Ace of Spades, the Queen/2 of Diamonds, the 7 of Clubs and the 4/3 of Hearts, Julie quietly calling from the Button with the Ace/3 of Clubs, the Queen/4 of Spades, the Queen of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds, Krystal mumbling "I fold" from the Small Blind with the 9 of Spades, the 8/6 of Clubs and the 8/5/4 of Diamonds while Cindy knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the Ace/Jack/3 of Diamonds, the Jack of Clubs and the 7/5 of Hearts. The pot was 10

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop of the 10 of Diamonds, the 7 of Spades and the 4 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Julie knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the King of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Julie knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The robotic dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 6 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" stated Julie.

"Time to show your cards, ladies" announced the dealer.

"Ace high flush" declared Cindy as she turned her hand face up.

"Beats my pair of Queens" replied Julie as she tossed her hand into the muck. Cindy smiled as she raked in her pot of 10.

"Nice hand" mumbled Krystal.

"Yes, the best possible hand won" added Sherry.

"Much more typical of PLO 6" stated Jason with a nod.

"A taste of things to come?" asked Thom.

"I hope so" countered Melinda.

Hand #2 began with Jason quietly folding the King/8/2 of Spades, the Jack of Diamonds, the 7 of Hearts and the 3 of Clubs from under the gun, Thom announced "I raise the pot, so 14 in total" with the Ace/3 of Diamonds, the Ace of Clubs, the Queen/7 of Spades and the 2 of Hearts, Melinda quietly folding the King/5/3 of Hearts, the 10 of Spades, the 5 of Hearts and the 5 of Clubs, Julie announcing "I call" from the cutoff seat with the Ace/4 of Spades, the Queen/10 of Clubs, the Queen of Diamonds and the 6 of Hearts, Krystal quietly calling with the King/Jack/6 of Clubs and the Queen/Jack/4 of Hearts from the Button, Cindy announcing "I'm out" from the Small Blind with the King/10/7 of Diamonds, the 9 of Spades, the 9 of Clubs and the 8 of Hearts, while Sherry quietly folded the 10 of Hearts, the 8/6/5 of Diamonds and the 7/2 of Clubs from the Big Blind. The plot was 48.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Jack/6/5 of Spades.

"Your betting option, Thom" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Julie. Krystal knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 9 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Thom" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Julie. Krystal knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 8 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Thom" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Julie.

"I check" whispered Krystal.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"Queen High flush" declared Thom as he turned his cards face up.

"Ace High flush" countered Julie as she turned her cards face up.

"Well, that beats my trip Jacks, take it" added Krystal as she tossed her hand into the muck. Julie smiled as she raked in her pot of 48.

"Now that was much better" stated Cindy.

"Agreed. I'm amazed that someone didn't go all-in" added Sherry.

"More like a possible double all-in" countered Jason.

"I'm with Jason on this one" finished Melinda.

Hand #3 began with Thom quietly folding the King of Diamonds, the Jack/10/8 of Clubs, the 9 of Hearts and the 5 of Spades from under the gun, Melinda announced "I raise the pot, 14 total" with the Ace of Diamonds, the Ace/4 of Spades, the Jack of Hearts and the 7/6 of Clubs, Julie quietly folding the Queen/7 of Hearts, the 8/5 of Clubs, the 6 of Spades and the 4 of Diamonds, Krystal announced "I'm out" as she folded the King of Hearts, the Queen/10/9/6 of Diamonds and the 3 of Clubs from the cutoff seat, Cindy quietly calling from the Button with the Queen/2 of Spades, the Queen of Clubs, the 10 of Hearts and the 8/5 of Diamonds. Sherry announced "I fold" from the Small Blind with the Ace/2 of Clubs, the Jack of Diamonds, the 9 of Spades and the 6/3 of Hearts while Julie tossed her King of Clubs, the Jack/10 of Spades, the 7 of Diamonds and the 4/2 of Hearts in the Big Blind. The pot is 34.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the King of Spades, 9 of Clubs and the 8 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 7 of Spades.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 3 of Spades.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"Ace High flush" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up.

"Take it, it seems that bluffing is unprofitable in this game" countered Julie as she tossed her hand into the muck. Melinda smiled as she raked in her pot of 34.

"An Ace high flush wins it" stated Krystal.

"Agreed. I'm amazed that someone didn't go all-in this time either" added Sherry.

"Still not as crazy as the last hand" countered Julie.

"I'm with Julie on this one" finished Melinda.

"Let's focus on the future hand instead of the past" stated Thom with authority.

Hand #4 began with Melinda quietly folding the Jack/8/7 of Hearts, the 9/8 of Clubs and 4 of Diamonds from under the gun, Julie announcing "I fold" with the Ace of Clubs, the King/4 of Spades, the 8/6 of Diamonds and the 3 of Hearts, Krystal quietly folding the Queen/7/5 of Spades, the 6/4 of Hearts and the 2 of Clubs, Cindy announcing "I raise the pot, so 14 in total" from the cutoff seat with the Ace of Spades, the King/Queen of Clubs, the King/9 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds, Sherry quietly folding the Jack of Clubs, the 9/8/2 of Spades and the 9/7 of Diamonds from the Button, Jason announcing "I'm out" from the Small Blind with the Jack of Diamonds, the 10 of Hearts, the 7/6/4 of Clubs and the 6 of Spades while Thom quietly folded the Ace/Queen/5 of Hearts, the 5/3 of Clubs and the 5 of Diamonds from the Big Blind. Cindy grinned as she raked in her pot of 20, but that grin quickly vanished.

"I was the only one with a playable hand, wasn't I?" she asked the table. The other 6 players and the robotic dealer nodded in unison.

Hand #5 began with Julie quietly folding the Ace/King of Diamonds, the Jack/5/3 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades from under the gun, Krystal announcing "I fold" with the King/Jack/9 of Clubs, the Queen of Spades, the 2 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds, Cindy quietly folding the Ace/10/6 of Spades, the 9/7 of Diamonds and the 7 of Hearts, Sherry announcing "I raise the pot, so 14 in total" from the cutoff seat with the Queen/10 of Hearts and the Queen/7/4/2 of Clubs, Jason quietly folding the Ace/9 of Hearts, the 8/3 of Diamonds, the 4 of Spades and the 3 of Clubs from the Button, Thom announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the Jack/8/5 of Spades, the Jack/6 of Diamonds and the 4 of Hearts while Melinda quietly folded the Ace of Clubs, the King of Hearts, the Queen/4 of Diamonds and the 9/2 of Spades in the Big Blind. The pot was 32.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 8 of Hearts, 6 of Clubs and the 5 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Thom" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Sherry.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 10 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Thom" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Sherry.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 8 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Thom" announced the dealer.

"I..." he started...

...then a voice came inside his head, saying "Don't bet, you're beat. And if she bets, fold quickly"

"I check" finished Thom.

"I..." started Sherry...

...then a voice came inside her head, saying "You've crippled the deck, no bet you make matters"

"I check" finished Sherry

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"Full house, 8's over 6's" declared Thom as he turned his cards face up.

"8 high STRAIGHT FLUSH" countered Sherry as she turned her hand face up. The entire table (minus the robot) applauded as she raked in her pot of 32.

"Best hand of the night" stated Krystal.

"Agreed. I'm amazed that someone didn't go all-in this time either" added Cindy, deliberately mirroring Sherry's statement from a previous hand.

"Now THAT, was crazy" added Julie.

"I'm with Julie on this one...again" finished Melinda.

"Let's continue, maybe we'll get a royal flush later" suggested Jason.

Hand #6 began with Krystal quietly folding the 10/8/2 of Diamonds and the 9/8/6 of Hearts from the under the gun, Cindy announcing "I fold" with the Ace/9/8 of Spades and the 8/7/3 of Clubs, Sherry quietly folding the King of Spades, the Queen of Diamonds, the Jack/5/2 of Clubs and the 5 of Hearts, Jason announcing "I'm out" from the cutoff seat with the Jack/10 of Spades and the 7/6/5/3 of Diamonds, Thom quietly folding the King of Hearts, the 7/4/3 of Spades, the 7 of Diamonds and the 2 of Hearts from the Button while Melinda announced "Julie, you get a walk" as she folded the Ace/Jack/9 of Diamonds, the 6 of Clubs, 5 of Spades and the 4 of Hearts from the Small Blind. Julie was about to toss her hand away from the Big Blind without looking at it, then she peaked at it anyway: It was the Ace/10 of Hearts, the Queen of Spades, the 10/9 of Clubs and the 4 of Diamonds.

"I would've defended my Big Blind if any of you had raised me" she remarked.

"No one's arguing with you" replied Melinda. She was joined by the unified nods of the rest of the table.

Hand #7 began with Cindy quietly folding the King/6/3 of Diamonds, the 7 of Hearts and the 5/4 of Clubs from under the gun, Sherry announced "I raise the pot, 14 total" with the Jack/4 of Spades, the Jack of Clubs, the 9/8 of Hearts and the 4 of Diamonds, Jason quietly calling with the Queen of Spades, the Queen of Clubs, the Jack/3 of Hearts and the 10/9 of Diamonds, Thom announcing "I call" from the cutoff seat with the Ace/King of Clubs, the Ace/2 of Spades, the 7 of Diamonds and the 4 of Hearts, Melinda quietly folding from the Button with the King/10/8/6 of Spades, the 9 of Clubs and the 2 of hearts, Julie announcing "I'm out" from the Small Blind with the Ace/Jack of Diamonds, the Queen of Hearts and the 7/6/3 of Clubs while Krystal quietly folded the Ace/10 of Hearts, the 9 of Spades, the 8/2 of Clubs and the 5 of Diamonds from the Big Blind. The pot was 48.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 8 of Diamonds, the 3 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Jason. Thom knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the Queen of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Jason. Thom knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the King of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Jason.

"I bet the pot, 48 total." announced Thom as he slid the chips into the pot.

"That's it, I'm getting out of here." declared Sherry as she folded her cards very quickly.

Jason went into the tank, thinking:

"I've got this in the bag. And I only have 16 left anyway."

"I'm all-in" announced Jason.

"I call" responded Thom.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"King High flush" declared Jason as he turned his cards face up.

"Beats my pair of Aces, it's all yours" countered Thom as he tossed his hand into the muck. Jason smiled as he raked in his pot of 176.

"That was insane" stated Krystal.

"Agreed. I'm glad I folded" added Sherry.

"Thom only has 7 chips left" countered Julie.

"A chip and a chair is all that he needs" finished Melinda.

"Yeah, but he's still crippled" stated Jason with authority.

Hand #8 began with Sherry quietly calling from under the gun with the Ace/Jack of Diamonds, the Ace/9 of Clubs, the 6 of Hearts and the 4 of Spades, Jason announced "I fold" with the King of Clubs, the 10/8 of Spades, the 8 of Hearts and the 6/5 of Diamonds, Thom quietly tossed in his last 7 in chips, putting himself all-in with the Ace/King/5 of Hearts, the Jack of Clubs, the Jack of Spades and the 9 of Diamonds, Melinda announced "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the Ace of Spades, the Jack/10 of Hearts, the 8/3 of Diamonds and the 3 of Clubs, Julie quietly folded the King/6 of Spades, the Queen/2 of Hearts, the 7 of Clubs and the 2 of Diamonds while on the Button, Krystal quietly folded the Queen/9/3/2 of Spades, the 8 of Clubs and the 4 of Diamonds from the Small Blind, Cindy announcing "Only 3 more to me, I call" from the Big Blind with the Queen/7 of Diamonds, the Queen/2 of Clubs and the 9/4 of Hearts. Sherry just called the extra 3, making the pot 23.

"Ladies, please don't turn up your cards as you 2 can still bet into a side pot with each other" announced the robot as it dealt a burn card face down, then a flop consisting of the 10 of Clubs, the 7 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Sherry knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a 4 of Clubs as the turn card.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Sherry knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt the 3 of Hearts as the river card.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Sherry.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"Queen High Flush" replied Cindy as she turned her hand face up.

"Ace High Flush" countered Sherry as she turned her hand face up.

"And I'm out, as I only have a pair of Jacks. Good luck, ladies." stated Thom as he stood up, a defeated man.

"Good night, Thom." replied both Sherry and Cindy simultaneously.

"Bye everyone" added Thom to the rest of the table. Krystal, Julie, Melinda and Jason waved in unison as Thom exited the room.

Level 3, Final table, 3-6 Blinds. Chip stacks for the table: Melinda – 227, Jason – 176, Julie – 127, Sherry – 111, Cindy – 92, Krystal – 67

Hand #1 began with Jason quietly folding the Ace of Diamonds, the King/7 of Hearts, the 8/2 of Clubs and the 4 of Spades from under the gun, Melinda announcing "I raise the pot, 21 total" with the Ace/King/5 of Clubs, the Ace/9 of Hearts and the 4 of Diamonds, Julie quietly folding the Queen/7/6 of Diamonds, the 9/3 of Spades and the 2 of Hearts from the cutoff seat, Krystal announcing "I call" from the Button with the Queen/Jack/10/9 of Clubs and the Queen/8 of Spades, Cindy quietly calling from the Small Blind with the Jack/10 of Spades, the Jack/9 of Diamonds and the 5/4 of Spades, while Sherry whispered "Nope, not even worth defending. I'm out" from the Big Blind with the Queen/8/6 of Hearts, the 10/5 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades. The pot was 69.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 7 of Spades, the 4 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Melinda. Krystal knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the King of Spades.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Melinda. Krystal knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 7 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Cindy" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Melinda.

"I check." announced Krystal.

"Time to show your cards, ladies" announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Jacks and 7's" declared Cindy as she turned her cards face up.

"2 pairs, Aces and 7's" countered Melinda as she turned her hand face up.

"Beats my 2 pairs of Queens and 7's, take it Mel" added Krystal as she tossed her cards into the muck. Melinda smiled as she raked in her pot of 69.

"Wow, Aces up won a hand" stated Julie.

"I'm pissed, I folded a straight" added Sherry.

"Yeah, but how many times would your hand have missed the board for every time that it hit the board?" asked Jason rhetorically.

Hand #2 began with Melinda quietly folding the King/Jack of Diamonds, the 8/2 of Hearts, the 4 of Clubs and the 2 of Spades from under the gun, Julie announcing "I fold" with the King/3 of Spades, the Queen/10/5 of Hearts and the 8 of Diamonds, Krystal quietly folding the Queen/8 of Spades, the Jack/9/7 of Clubs and the 6 of Diamonds from the cutoff seat, Cindy declaring "I raise the pot, 21 total" from the Button with the Ace/9 of Hearts, the 10 of Diamonds, the 9 of Spades and the 5/3 of Clubs, Sherry quietly folding the Ace/9/5/4 of Diamonds and the 7/6 of Spades from the Small Blind while Jason laughed as he otherwise folded the King/6/4/3 of Hearts, the 7 of Spades and the 6 of Clubs in the Big Blind. Cindy shrugged as she raked in her pot of 30.

"Another win by default?" asked Julie.

"Perhaps, but putting in 21 chips to win 30...doesn't seem worth it, does it?" asked Krystal.

Hand #3 began with Julie quietly folding the Queen/7/4 of Diamonds, the Jack of Hearts, the 7 of Spades and the 3 of Clubs while under the gun, Krystal announcing "I raise the pot. 21 total" with the King/Queen/10 of Spades, the 10/5 of Hearts and the 7 of Clubs, Cindy quietly folding the King/8/4/3 of Hearts, the Jack of Spades and the 9 of Diamonds from the cutoff seat, Sherry announcing "not even in last position will I play this crap" as she folded the Ace/Jack/10/8 of Diamonds, the King of Clubs and the Queen of Hearts while on the Button, Jason quietly called from the Small Blind with the Ace/6 of Hearts, the Ace/3 of Spades, the 5 of Diamonds and the 4 of Clubs while Melinda shook her head as she folded the 10/6 of Clubs, the 9 of Hearts, the 6/4 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds in the Big Blind. The pot was 48.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the King of Diamonds, the 8 of Clubs and the 6 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Jason" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Krystal.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 8 of Spades.

"Your betting option, Jason" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check" added Krystal.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 2 of Spades.

"Your betting option, Jason" announced the dealer.

"I check" he replied.

"I check." announced Krystal.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Aces and 8's" declared Jason as he turned his hand face up.

"Beats my 2 pairs of Kings and 8's, take it Jason" added Krystal as she tossed her cards into the muck. Jason smiled as he raked in his pot of 48.

"Wow, Aces up won another hand" stated Julie.

"I'm pissed, I folded a full house this time" added Sherry.

"Yeah, but how many times would your hand have missed the board for every time that it hit the board?" asked Cindy rhetorically, deliberately repeating what Jason had asked 2 hands ago.

"That's the thing with Pot-limit and No-Limit games: one doesn't often have the right pot odds to call with a bad or even a marginal hand" finished Melinda.

Hand #4 began with Krystal quietly folding the 10/6 of Diamonds, the 5 of Hearts, the 4/3 of Clubs and the 3 of Spades from under the gun, Cindy announcing "I raise the pot, 21 total" with the 8/7/5 of Clubs, the 7 of Spades and the 5/2 of Diamonds, Sherry quietly folding the King of Clubs, the Queen of Spades, the Jack/8/4 of Diamonds and the 6 of Spades from the cutoff seat, Jason whispered "I call" from the Button with the Ace of Diamonds, the Queen/10 of Clubs, the Queen/9 of Hearts and the 6 of Spades, Melinda quietly calling from the Small Blind with the Ace/Jack of Clubs, the Ace/2 of Spades, the King of Hearts and the King of Diamonds while Julie laughed as she folded the Ace/2 of Hearts, the 9/5 of Spades, the 7 of Diamonds and the 6 of Clubs from the Big Blind. The pot was 69.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 8 of Hearts, the 7 of Hearts and the 3 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy. Jason knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 4 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy. Jason knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 4 of Spades.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

"I check." announced Jason.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Aces and 4's" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up.

"Full house, 7's and 4's" countered Cindy as she turned her hand face up.

"Beats my Queen High Flush, take it Cindy" added Jason as he tossed his cards into the muck. Cindy smiled as she raked in her pot of 69.

"Wow, a draw to a Quad AND a Straight Flush and a full house is enough to win?" stated Julie.

"I buried the 6 of Hearts needed to make that straight flush" added Sherry.

"Shrewd" stated Krystal.

Hand #5 began with Cindy quietly folding the Queen/10 of Clubs, the 9/5 of Spades, the 9 of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds from under the gun, Sherry announcing "I raise the pot, 21 total" with the King/10/3/2 of Spades, the 10 of Diamonds, and the 5 of Hearts, Jason quietly folding the Ace/Queen/Jack of Spades, the 9/3 of Clubs and the 2 of Hearts from the cutoff seat, Melinda announcing "I'm out" from the Button with the King of Clubs, the Jack/7/2 of Diamonds and the 7/6 of Hearts, Julie quietly folding the 8/3 of Hearts, the 8/2 of Clubs, the 8 of Diamonds and the 4 of Spades from the Small Blind while Krystal declared "Not even worth defending, I fold" as she folded the King/5/4 of Diamonds, the Jack of Hearts, the 6 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs from the Big Blind. Sherry made a depressed sigh as she raked in her pot of 30.

"Not content to just steal blinds, are we?" teased Cindy.

Hand #6 began with Sherry announcing "I raise the pot, 21 total." from under the gun with the King/8 of Diamonds, the Jack/6 of Spades and the Jack/6 of Hearts, Jason quietly folding the Ace/Jack/10/3/2 of Diamonds and the King of Spades, Melinda announcing "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the Ace/10/6/3 of Clubs, the 6 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades, Julie quietly folding the Jack/8/4 of Clubs, the 7/5 of Diamonds and the 3 of Hearts from the Button, Krystal declaring "I don't have enough to call the full bet, so I guess I'm all-in" as she slid the last of her chips into the middle of the table from the Small Blind with the King/7/2 of Clubs, the Queen of Spades, the Queen of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds while Cindy shook her head as she folded the Ace/7/4 of Spades and the 10/4/2 of Hearts from the Big Blind. The robot dealer announced "Due to Krystal not having enough chips to meet Sherry's pot-sized raise, I will now return 2 chips to Sherry as a partial refund". It then gently slid over the chips, making the pot 44.

"Please turn over all of your cards face up" announced the dealer. Sherry and Krystal obliged, then the dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, followed by dealing the flop face up consisting of the Queen of Clubs, the 8 of Hearts and the 5 of Clubs.

"Krystal now has 3 Queens and a King High Flush draw" observed Cindy.

"Sherry pretty much needs running cards in order to win the hand, and none of them can be Clubs as that would complete Krystal's flush" countered Jason.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, followed by dealing the turn card face up of the 9 of Spades.

"Well, that eliminated the chance at a Heart Flush for Sherry." observed Melinda.

"There's only 1 card that can eliminate Krystal, the 7 of Hearts. As that would give Sherry a straight but NOT Krystal a flush" added Julie (who got salutes from the entire table as she was supposed to be the new player to this game).

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, followed by dealing the river card of...

...THE 7 OF HEARTS!

"Jesus fucking Christ" announced Cindy.

"Krystal has been eliminated" announced both the robot dealer and Jason at the same time.

"That...was a bloody nail biter" observed Melinda.

"Here here" stated Julie as Sherry raked in her pot of 44 and Krystal stood up to say goodbye.

"Great hand" said Krystal to Sherry.

"Sucks that you picked the game and got eliminated before reaching the money" replied Sherry as they shook hands.

"Goodnight Krystal" added Cindy.

"See you tomorrow" finished Jason, Melinda and Sherry in order as Krystal left.

Level 4, Final Table, 4-8 Blinds. Chip stacks for the table: Melinda – 248, Jason – 176, Sherry – 136, Cindy – 122, Julie – 118

Hand #1 began with Melinda quietly folding the Queen/4 of Spades, the 9/3 of Clubs, the 5 of Diamonds and the 5 of Hearts from under the gun, Julie announcing "I raise the pot, 28 total" from the cutoff seat with the King/Jack/6 of Diamonds, the Jack of Hearts, the 5 of Spades and the 5 of Clubs, Cindy quietly folding the Queen/Jack/10/6/4 of Clubs and the 9 of Spades from the Button, Sherry declaring "I'm out" from the Small Blind as she folded the Ace/10/9 of Hearts, the King of Clubs and the Queen/2 of Diamonds while Jason merely shook his head in disgust as he folded the Ace/Jack of Spades, the King/8 of Hearts and the 8/7 of Clubs in the Big Blind. Julie smiled as she raked in a pot of 40.

"Another win by default, I presume?" asked Cindy.

"No, she had something." replied Melinda.

"Nothing premium, but something worth taking a flop over" added Sherry.

"Agreed. She might've just called with a pocket pair of Aces, which is very dangerous to do in this game" finished Jason.

Hand #2 began with Julie quietly called from under the gun with the Jack/7/3 of Spades, the Jack/3 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts, Cindy whispering "I fold" from the cutoff seat with the Ace/2 of Clubs, the 10/9/2 of Hearts and the 3 of Diamonds, Sherry quietly calling from the Button with the King/8/5 of Hearts, the 8 of Clubs, the 4 of Diamonds and the 4 of Spades, Jason announcing "I fold" from the Small Blind with the Ace of Spades, the 10/7/2 of Diamonds and the 7/6 of Hearts while Melinda knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the Ace/6 of Diamonds, the King/Queen/9 of Clubs and the Queen of Spades. The pot is 28.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 6 of Spades, the 5 of Spades and the 4 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Julie. Sherry knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the Ace of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Julie. Sherry knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the King of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Julie.

"I check." announced Sherry.

"Time to show your cards, ladies" announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Aces and Kings" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up.

"No good. Because I have the 7-High straight" countered Julie as she turned her hand face up.

"Beats my three of a kind, take it Julie" added Sherry as she tossed her cards into the muck. Julie smiled as she raked in her pot of 28.

"Wow, no flush draw AND no one was keeping note as to when they didn't receive a 7-8 combination with 4 other private, worthy cards?" asked Julie.

"I buried two completely different 7's needed to make that straight" countered Jason.

Hand #3 began with Cindy quietly folding the King of Spades, the Jack/10/3 of Hearts, the 9 of Clubs and the 3 of Diamonds from under the gun, Sherry announcing "I call" from the cutoff seat with the Ace/8 of Spades, the Ace of Hearts, the King of Diamonds and the Jack/2 of Clubs, Jason quietly calling from the Button with the Queen/8/3 of Clubs, the Queen/2 of Spades and the 8 of Hearts, Melinda whispering "I fold" from the Small Blind with the 10 of Diamonds, the 9/6/4 of Spades and the 5/4 of Clubs while Julie knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the 9/6 of Hearts, the 8/6/5 of Diamonds and the 5 of Spades. The pot was 28.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 6 of Clubs, the 4 of Hearts and the 2 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Julie" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Sherry. Jason knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 9 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Julie" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Sherry. Jason knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the Ace of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Julie" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Sherry.

"I check." announced Jason.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"Trip Sixes" declared Julie as she turned her cards face up.

"Trip Aces" countered Sherry as she turned her hand face up.

"Beats my pair of Queens, take it Sherry" added Jason as he tossed his cards into the muck. Sherry smiled as she raked in her pot of 28.

"Wow, there actually wasn't much in the way of potential drawing options" stated Cindy.

"Yeah, there was 1 draw to a straight and...that was pretty much it" added Melinda.

Hand #4 began with Sherry announcing "I raise the pot, 28 total" from under the gun with the Queen/10 of Diamonds, the Jack/10/2 of Hearts and the Jack of Clubs, Jason whispering "I call" from the cutoff seat with the King/3 of Clubs, the Jack/6/2 of Hearts and the Jack of Diamonds, Melinda quietly folding from the Button with the 10/9/2 of Clubs, the 7/3 of Hearts and the 6 of Spades, Julie quietly folding the Queen/7 of Spades, the 9/8/4 of Hearts and the 3 of Diamonds from the Small Blind while Cindy shook her head as she folded the King/10 of Spades, the Queen of Hearts, the 8/4 of Diamonds and the 4 of Clubs from the Big Blind. The pot is 68.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Ace of Clubs, the 5 of Hearts and the 5 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Jason knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the Queen of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Jason knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 9 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check." announced Jason.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, Queens and 5's" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up.

"Beats my Jacks and 5's, take it Sherry" added Jason as he tossed his cards into the muck. Sherry smiled as she raked in her pot of 68.

"Wow, that one didn't even have a straight draw, much less a flush draw" stated Julie.

"No, just a draw at a four of a kind and some sweet chances at a full house" added Sherry.

"Agreed" stated Melinda.

Hand #5 began with Jason announcing "I raise the pot, 28 total" from under the gun with the Jack/10 of Clubs, the 10 of Spades, the 7/3 of Hearts and the 2 of Diamonds, Melinda quietly folding the Queen/9/7/5/3 of Spades and the 8 of Hearts from the cutoff seat, Julie announcing "I fold" from the Button with the Ace/10/4 of Diamonds, the King/2 of Clubs and the Queen of Hearts, Cindy quietly folding the Ace/5/3 of Clubs, the King/2 of Hearts and the 4 of Spades from the Small Blind while Sherry exclaimed "Sure, I'll defend for once" from the Big Blind with the 8/6 of Spades, the 7/5 of Diamonds and the 6/5 of Hearts. The pot is 60.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Queen of Clubs, the 10 of Hearts and the 3 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Sherry" announced the dealer.

"I bet the pot" she replied as she slid 60 into the pot.

Jason went into the tank, thinking:

"I have middle set right now, and she's not stupid enough to chase a backdoor flush draw. Does she have an open-ended straight draw? A different set? Well, if she has trip Queens, I'll pay it off."

"I'm all-in. It's another 40 to you" he announced.

"11:2 pot odds? You bet your ass that I'm calling" replied Sherry.

"Please turn over your cards" instructed the dealer. They both obliged.

"Wow, Sherry needs to backdoor straight or a full house to win." stated Julie.

"Yeah, not even the flush option works for her as Jason has a better draw to it." replied Cindy while nodding her head in agreement with Julie.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the Ace of Hearts.

"Sherry's drawing dead, Jason just doubled up" announced Melinda.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 8 of Diamonds. Jason smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as he raked in his pot of 260.

"I bluffed, he caught me. Nice hand, Jason" said Sherry.

Hand #6 began with Melinda announcing "I raise the pot, 28 in total" from under the gun with the Ace/2 of Spades, the Queen/7 of Diamonds, the Queen of Clubs and the 4 of Hearts, Julie quietly folding the King/Jack of Hearts, the 9/5 of Clubs, the 4 of Spades and the 3 of Diamonds from the cutoff seat, Cindy announcing "I'm out" from the Button with the King/10 of Diamonds, the 7/5 of Spades and the 6/4 of Clubs, Sherry declaring "I'm all-in, 28 more for Melinda, 48 more for Jason if he wants to stay in the hand" from the Small Blind with the Ace/Queen/10 of Hearts, the Queen/6 of Spades and the 8 of Clubs, Jason shook his head as he folded the Jack/2 of Diamonds, the 5/3/2 of Hearts and the 10 of Spades from the Big Blind. Melinda went into the tank, thinking:

"She's on tilt from the last hand and would basically play anything even remotely good. I'll take her out."

"I call". The pot was 120.

"Please turn your cards face up, ladies." announced the dealer. They obliged.

"Oh that's funny, they both have a pair of Queens in their private cards" said Julie as she giggled.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 10 of Clubs, the 8 of Diamonds and the 3 of Spades.

"And Sherry just flopped 2 pair 10's and 8's" commented Cindy.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 9 of Spades.

"Any Spade that is not a 10 will now give Melinda an Ace high flush." whispered Jason.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the King of Spades.

"Melinda wins with a Flush, Sherry has been eliminated" announced the dealer.

"And I'm out. Great hand, Melinda" said Sherry as they shook hands.

"It was an honour" she replied.

"Goodnight, Sherry" whispered Cindy.

"See you tomorrow" added Jason.

"Goodnight" finished Julie as Sherry exited the room.

Level 5, Final Table, 5-10 Blinds. Chip Stacks for the table: Melinda – 300, Jason – 252, Julie – 138, Cindy – 110

Hand #1 began with Cindy announcing "I raise the pot, 35 total" from under the gun with the 8/4 of Diamonds, the 5/4/3 of Clubs and the 3 of Spades, Jason quietly calling from the Button with the Ace of Clubs, the Jack/9 of Hearts, the 9/2 of Spades and the 6 of Diamonds, Melinda whispering "I call" from the Small Blind with the 7/6 of Spades, the 7 of Clubs, the 7 of Hearts and the 6/5 of Diamonds while Julie shook her head as she quietly folded the Ace/Queen/5 of Spades, the King/9 of Diamonds and the 8 of Clubs from the Big Blind. The pot was 115.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Ace of Hearts, the Jack of Clubs and the 6 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy. Jason knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the King of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy. Jason knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the Queen of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" added Cindy.

"I check." announced Jason.

"Time to show your cards" announced the dealer.

"A pair of 7's" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up.

"Sadly, that beats my pair of 4's" countered Cindy as she tossed her hand into the muck.

"Jack High Flush" added Jason as he raked in his pot of 115.

"That's probably the least action we've had all night" stated Julie.

Hand #2 began with Jason quietly folding the Ace of Hearts, the 8/5/4 of Diamonds, the 5 of Spades and the 2 of Clubs from under the gun, Melinda quietly folding the Ace/7 of Spades and the 9/6/5/4 of Hearts from the Button, Julie announcing "I raise the pot, 35 total" from the Small Blind with the King of Diamonds, the 8/4/3 of Clubs and the 8/6 of Spades while Cindy declared "Not even close, I'm out" as she folded the Queen/3 of Spades, the 10/5 of Clubs and the 9/7 of Diamonds from the Big Blind. Julie shrugged as she raked in her pot of 45.

"Were you just blind stealing?" asked Melinda.

"No. I had a marginal hand by full table standards, but decent enough in short-handed play" replied Julie.

"I believe you" whispered Cindy (without a hint of sarcasm).

"Still beat me, even if you are lying to us" finished Jason.

Hand #3 began with Melinda announcing "I raise the pot, 35 total" from under the gun with the Ace of Spades, the 10 of Diamonds, the 6/5 of Hearts and the 6/2 of Clubs, Julie quietly calling from the Button with the Jack of Diamonds, the 9/7 of Spades, the 9 of Clubs and the 4/2 of Hearts, Cindy declaring "Nope, I'm out" from the Small Blind with the Ace/6/5/4 of Diamonds, the 10 of Clubs and the 2 of Spades while Jason quietly folded the Ace/King of Clubs, the Queen/5 of Spades, the 8 of Diamonds and the 3 of Hearts from the Big Blind. The pot was 85.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the King of Spades, the 8 of Hearts, and the 8 of Clubs.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Julie knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the Queen of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied. Julie knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 9 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check." announced Julie.

"Time to show your cards, ladies" announced the dealer.

"2 pairs, 8's and 6's" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up.

"Three 9's" added Julie as she raked in her pot of 85.

"Wow, another draw to a Quad AND a 3 of a kind is enough to win?" asked Jason.

"I folded a straight" added Cindy.

Hand #4 began with Julie quietly folding the King of Spades, the Queen/10/6 of Diamonds and the 3/2 of Hearts from under the gun, Cindy quietly folding the Ace of Diamonds, the King/Jack/9 of Clubs, the 8 of Spades and the 4 of Hearts, Jason announcing "I call" from the Small Blind with the Queen/3 of Clubs, the 9/6 of Hearts, the 9 of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades while Melinda knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check from the Big Blind with the King/7 of Hearts, the King/4/3 of Diamonds and the 10 of Spades. The pot is 20.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 6 of Clubs, the 4 of Spades and the 2 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Jason" announced the dealer.

"I bet the pot" he replied, adding 20 to the pot.

"I raise the pot" added Melinda. It took her a moment to figure out that a pot-sized raise in this case was calling the initial 20, then raising an additional 60 (making the pot 120). Jason quietly called, making the pot 180.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 7 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Jason" announced the dealer.

"I'm putting you all-in, 132 total" he replied.

"I call" added Melinda. The pot was now 444.

"Please turn your cards face up" requested the dealer. They obliged.

"OK, so 2 pairs 6's and 2's for Jason" observed Cindy.

"Versus 2 pairs 7's and 4's and a flush draw for Melinda." countered Julie.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 8 of Diamonds.

"King high flush for Melinda, Melinda wins" announced the dealer.

"And I'm crippled. Nice hand, Mel" replied Jason as Melinda raked in a pot of 444.

"Well, that was paradigm shifting" whispered Cindy.

"Indeed" finished Julie.

Hand #5 began with Cindy quietly calling from under the gun with the King/Jack/3 of Spades, Jack/4 of Clubs and the 9 of Diamonds, Jason announcing "I call" from the Button with the Ace/Queen of Clubs, the Queen/4/2 of Spades and the 4 of Hearts, Melinda quietly calling from the Small Blind with the King/10/8/6 of Clubs, the 6 of Spades and the 5 of Diamonds while Julie simply shrugged and said "Sure why not, let's have a family pot" as she knocked the table three times, indicating a check from the Big Blind with the Ace/Jack/4 of Diamonds, the Ace/10 of Hearts and the 7 of Spades. The pot was 40.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the 9 of Hearts, the 6 of Diamonds and the 2 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" whispered Julie.

"I check" added Cindy. Jason knocked the table three times, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 7 of Diamonds.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I check" she replied.

"I check" whispered Julie.

"I check" added Cindy. Jason knocked the table twice, indicating a silent check.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 6 of Hearts.

"Your betting option, Melinda" announced the dealer.

"I bet the pot" she replied as she put 40 chips into the pot.

"I raise the pot" countered Julie as she called the initial 40, then put in an additional 120, making the pot 240.

"I'm out" added Cindy.

"Me too." announced Jason.

"I'm putting you all-in, it'll cost you another...18 in chips" whispered Melinda as she sized up what was left of Julie's chip stack.

"I call" responded Julie.

"Time to show your cards, ladies" announced the dealer.

"Quad 6's" declared Melinda as she turned her cards face up, eliciting a standing ovation from Cindy and Jason.

"Beats my Ace High Flush, take it Melinda. Oh right, I'm eliminated" added Julie as she turned her cards into the muck. Melinda smiled as she raked in her pot of 396. Julie stood up and said her goodbyes.

"Great hand, Melinda" whispered Julie.

"Indeed it was, goodnight Julie" replied Melinda.

"Goodnight" added Cindy and Jason simultaneously as Julie exited the room.

Level 6, Final Table. Chip stacks for the table: Melinda – 660, Jason – 90, Cindy – 50

Hand #1 began with Melinda announcing "I raise the pot, 70 total" from under the gun with the 8/6 of Hearts, the 6/4/3 of Diamonds and the 5 of Spades, Cindy replying "I'm all-in as I don't even have enough to cover the raise that Melinda just made" from the Small Blind with the Ace/Queen of Clubs, the Jack/9/3 of Hearts and the 9 of Spades. Jason merely shrugged and said "Screw it, I'm all-in as well. Only another 20 chips to you, Melinda" from the Big Blind with the Queen/7 of Spades, the 9/8/7 of Diamonds and the 5 of Clubs. Melinda quietly called. The robotic dealer made 2 pots, announcing "The main pot of 150 will be contested between all 3 of you, whereas the side pot of 80 will only be contested between Jason and Melinda. May all 3 of you please turn your cards face up?"

All 3 players obliged. The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a flop consisting of the Ace of Diamonds, the 3 of Clubs and the 2 of Clubs.

"Oh sweet, top pair and an Ace High Flush draw" remarked Cindy.

"Just a pair of 7's for me" replied Jason.

"Nut straight for me" added Melinda with a smile.

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a turn card of the 5 of Diamonds.

"Come on Club, I don't want to bust out on the bubble" whispered Cindy.

"Come on 7 of Hearts, I want at least second place for my troubles" added Jason.

Melinda took a moment to look at all of the exposed cards before stating "So 20 out of 29 cards will win me the whole tournament. Not counting the burn cards, of course"

The dealer nodded, dealt a burn card face down, then dealt a river card of the 2 of Spades.

"I win" shouted Melinda.

"At least I made some money by coming in second place" added Jason.

"Well shit, I busted out on the bubble. It was almost worth it to come in last place." finished Cindy.

"Melinda wins both the Main pot and the Side pot. Due to Jason having more chips than Cindy, he is awarded second place money." announced the robotic dealer. It got up from the table and handed 50 Real (Brazil's currency) over to Jason, then 150 Real over to Melinda.

"Congratulations, to the both of you" said Cindy.

"You played very well throughout the whole game" replied Melinda. Jason merely nodded in agreement.

"I can clean up?" stated the robot. Cindy, Jason and Melinda nodded as they each exited the room (Cindy first, then Jason and Melinda) then were walking down the hallway...

...as both Cindy and Jason had to grab the wall.

"Guys, what's wrong?" asked Melinda, tempted to scream out for help to get them to the local hospital.

"Do you know how Aaron says we have different friends in different places in different stories?" they asked while crying. Melinda nodded.

"All I see are 3 images on a loop: Some of them in one place, dancing in a poorly lit club to music that I can't even begin to comprehend. Others are driving around in...an ancient caravan in a travelling circus? And the image of 3 planets crashing into each other. It's OK, they're gone now." ranted Cindy.

"Same here, I'm fine, I promise" added Jason

"Are you sure?" asked Melinda.

"Yes, I'll be fine." nodded Cindy reassuringly.

"Me too." added Jason.

They each reached their rooms without any further incident from either one of them.

Chapter 7: Third time's the harm

Song to put on: Spineshank – Beginning of the End

We go to a temporary broadcast booth set up at Rio De Janeiro's Maracana Stadium for both the USA and the CBC network. It's navy blue with both of the USA and CBC logos front and 1 metre apart from each other on each side (USA on the left, CBC on the right). Seated at it are 1 American and 1 Canadian, 1 with a black 200x resistol cowboy hat, the other is not wearing a hat at all, allowing his well-groomed short grey hair to be shown. They are otherwise dressed in all black (dress shirts, pants and shoes) that fit to within 1 cm, in accordance to Brazilian by-laws.

"Morning everyone, I'm Jim Ross and to my left is my new broadcasting partner (and representative of the nation of Canada), Mister Don Cherry"

Don salutes the audience, Jim continues "With Game 2 in the books, Team USA has now evened the games at 1 apiece as they took the second game from Canada (albeit very controversially) by a score of 24-23 on account of some last minute offence from American centre, Buckethead."

Don shakes his head in complete disgust over what he feels is his new partner ignoring the obvious and takes over speaking duties "Once again, an American downplays its' guilt when it's in the wrong regarding an international situation. Yeah, Buckethead got in the offence alright, he illegally hit Thom Phung, a good kid whose family came over to Canada from Vietnam decades ago. And I don't care that it was proven that Team USA weren't involved in the bribing of the linesmen, America not immediately forfeiting the rest of the tournament is a testament to your country's complete inability to admit when it's wrong in the face of global affairs. No matter what happens now: If you lose, America becomes a laughing stock in the Whirlyball world for years. If you win, your win is very tainted (much like those who break world records in regards to human performance but need performance enhancing drugs in order to break them). Canada needs to take revenge, and they need to take revenge right now if they want to win Game 3"

Jim tips his hat at Don, indicating agreement "I have no argument with any of that, sir. What the linesmen did in the face of corrupted ignorance flies in the face of everything that Whirlyball stands for. I'm going to get into a lot of hot water on social media and with my employers when I get home for what I'm about to say, but folks, I'm saying what's right: On behalf of the United States of America, Canada, I'm sorry. America needs to win this one fairly to even try to salvage its' spoiled reputation around the world."

Don (after a moment), nods, accepting his apology. "Let's go to the graphics"

The TV screens cut to a display of the breakdown of time.

Don began "OK, let's go to the breakdown: The game will be played in four quarters of 10 minutes each, followed by 3 minute breaks. There will be no halftimes in any of the games."

The screens then change to a graphic of the USA side of the whirlyball court, listing team surnames and their respective places on the field.

J.R. takes over talking duties, saying "Team USA will be keeping the experimental 3-2 configuration that it used in Game 2 on the court with the big guy, Buckethead, serving once again as centre. Alongside him are the wingers, Jess Oresto on the left and Holly Rapp on the right. Behind them and closer together are the defence, with Dani Stafford playing left back. On right back, is Marita Holm who is the team's token "outsider". Mr. Cherry, do the honours for Team Canada if you please."

The screens then change to a graphic of the Canada side of the whirlyball court, listing team surnames and their respective places on the field.

Don began talking on cue "Melinda and Jason have requested that Canada switch back to the 3-2 configuration today that it had in Game 1, and the coaches have granted it. The 3 forwards from left to right are Melinda Hughes, Thom Phung and Jason Carman. On the defensive side of things, Krystal Dinn will be playing left back, hoping to pillow block America some more. Julie Bourke will be playing right back as Team Canada's token outsider."

"The TV screen changes to a graphic listing the rules of the game."

Don continues talking "2 points per successful shot inside the key, 3 points from outside the key but within half-court, 6 points for successful shots from behind half court (and the whirlybug cannot touch the half-court line for those shots). Players can request that the time clock be paused at any time in the game but only once per player per half. The coaches have 1 timeout each country, each half for 60 seconds each. Any requests for clock stoppage not used in the first half DO NOT carry over to the second half and if a player is injured, a linesman can call for an indefinite stoppage while the injured player is tended to. No stoppage time will be added. Mr. Ross, would you please be so kind as to go over what will get players in the penalty box, or worse? Assuming that the referees are incorruptible this time."

J.R. nodded (ignoring the cheap shot that Don Cherry just made) and began "A player who leaves their car while the clock is running or touches the ball with their hands will spend 2 minutes in the box. A four-point deduction and a 5 minute penalty for any rear-impact collisions or physical contact with an opposing player. Other than that, pretty much anything goes. Both Canada and the United States have agreed to play with the no-offside rule again today, which I prefer as offsides tend to slow down the game."

The TV then cuts to alternating shots of all 4 coaches going over first quarter strategies with their respective players. Their is no audio of their conversations, only stock orchestra music.

Jim took his turn, announcing "There's Coaches Dotson, Castro, Hayden and Ripa going over last minute strategy. Gregg Davis and Jane Chapman are elsewhere, preparing Gatorade, bandages and towels for their respective teams."

An announcement is heard over the PA system over all of Maracana Stadium "Attention, will Teams Canada and USA please make their way to the court"

"The whirlybugs, as per tradition, are parked at the back ends of each half of the court and here come Canada and the United States." said Don.

"1 way or another, it ends today." replied J.R. Don nodded, and they even shook hands despite the tension between them.

A voice comes over the P.A. system across all of the Maracana stadium. It's Thomas Bach, the President of the International Whirlyball Association. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my esteemed privilege to announce that today's game has set a...NEW...single day ticketed sporting event world record of...200,097. Give yourselves, a very big hand"

"Wow" exclaimed Don Cherry.

"That's awesome. Thank you for having us, Brazil" added J.R.

First Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Holly's perspective. Song to put on: Testament – Return to Serenity

OK good, Buckethead wins another tipoff to start Game 3 (at this point it's a formality, Canada should just give Buckethead the ball at the beginning of every period as he pretty much can't lose the tipoff on account of his massive height). He immediately arch passes it to me (all in one motion from the tipoff too, how nice?). I'm heading more towards the middle of the court as I drive forward (no need to risk a harder side hit by driving near the metal rail this early in the game). I'm between the half-court line and the three point key inside the American half of the court when I notice that both Julie and Krystal are gunning right for me. Jess is actually ahead of me, but on the other side of the court. If I arch pass it to her, Thom could intercept it for Team Canada. Actually, that's true if I try a bounce pass to Jess too (and with the masked one behind me and Dani and Mary behind him, passing to them is basically pointless). What should I do? Well, their defence is almost closing in on me so I better try...the arch pass to Jess (as it's the least risky of my available options). Oh good, it got past Thom (not to mention Jason and Melinda, who were close by as well). Jess has it (although it was almost out of her reach) and is inside the key so that she can do her signature power shot. She takes the shot, and IT'S GOOD! We're up 2-0 over Canada to start the game. I distinctly hear Julie say that she'll take the possession for the Canadians as I drive back to the American half of the court. That's probably just as well, I personally think that she's better at both passing the ball and dumping it into the opposing team's corner than Krystal is.

First Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Dani's perspective. Song to put on: Iggy Pop feat. Sum 41 – Little Know it All

These glitches in reality are getting really annoying. It must be even worse for people on Team Canada (as well as my teammates on Team USA) as they know all of these...phantoms in some way or another better than I do. Other than the grey-haired ringmaster over to my left, I don't really know anyone in the Aaronverse at all (other than who's on the court, of course). And even with him, I don't think any of the me's know any of the him's very well at all (maybe one chance meeting or an online chat on some social media platform, but that's it). I'm curious as to who among us here knows the most of these phantoms (maybe Jess? Maybe one of the Canadians?), and when will we stop seeing them?

OK, that's better. Whoa, Thom just scored a 3-point shot against us. I guess Canada is now beating us 3-2. Mary drives up to me, stopping about 10 feet away from my whirlybug to shout "Do you want to take it?" I nod, and the linesman tosses it to me. With no easy pass to Holly, Jess or Buckethead, I elect to just dump it as deep into Team Canada's half of the court as I can. I take aim and throw, it goes well inside the Canadian half, but not out of bounds as Krystal collects the ball in time after 1 bounce. She looks around for someone to pass it to, ultimately making a bounce pass to Jason who takes aim and fires from beyond the half-court line. Jesus, he just made a successful 6 point shot against us (I didn't know that he had it in him). Canada is now ahead of us by a score of 9-2, what in the blue hell is going on here? I motion towards Mary to take possession of the ball, but Coach Dotson is signalling to each of the linesmen for a timeout, which is granted. So I drive over to the Team USA bench instead.

First Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Mary's perspective. Song to put on: Machinehead – A Farewell To Arms

I'm kind of curious as to why our coaches are calling for a timeout now (so early in the first half) but Coach Dotson and Coach Castro look furious at us. Coach Dotson was first:

"OK, so now JASON is scoring 6-pointers against us? We don't have the luxury of a conservative defence anymore. Mary, Dani, both of you ladies need to bring yourselves further up the court. Half way between where you are now and where the forwards are, Got that?"

Everyone nods, including myself. Coach Castro is out next, and he actually looks angrier than Coach Dotson did:

"Once you're inside their half, take a shot. Canada is beginning to slaughter us out there, and we need to prove that we can win at least 1 game out there against them clean. Is that clear?"

Dani and I both nod at him. Coach Castro whistles as a cue for Miss Chapman to arrive.

Jane: "Are you alright, Mary? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Dani? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Holly? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jess? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Mr. Buckethead? Here, have some Gatorade. Oh good, you're finally taking part of your mask off in order to not spill your drink all over yourself. Bravo, Mr. Buckethead."

We all join hands and shout "Go USA!" before driving back to our relative positions on the court prior to the timeout being called. The linesman tosses the ball to me (for a second time, like the first time never happened). I look around and see no clear pass to any of my fellow Americans, so I do my typical "Dump the ball out of bounds on the other side of the court" play. The next minute and 40 seconds go by without any incident at all.

First Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Buckethead's perspective. Song to put on: Buckethead – Critter

OK, so the Aussie lady on the other team has taken possession of the ball and is looking for a clean pass to any of the Canadian forwards. I'm going to be all sneaky like and keep away from Thom for a little bit, so that she thinks she can bounce pass it to him, then I'll use my reach advantage to steal the ball from him. She looks at him, and has taken the bait. She bounce passes it to Thom and...it worked! (But...ow, that really hurt in a way that I've never experienced before) I steal possession of the ball and quickly arch pass it over to the Jersey lady (Both she and the Indiana lady are inside Canada's 2-point zone but the defence is focused more on the Indiana lady for some strange reason). Jersey lady catches the ball cleanly in her scoop and takes a shot in one clear motion...it's good! We're still behind the Canadians, but only by a score of 9-4 now.

I distinctly hear the Aussie lady and the Newfoundland (I think?) lady arguing as to who is taking possession of the ball. Finally...Krystal is the one who takes it, she tosses it deep into our zone, but not deep enough for it to have much of a chance of it going out of bounds (but farther in the back of the court than where...Dani and Mary are now located thanks to the timeout speech from Coach Castro). Which leads to basically all of us (myself included) scrambling for the ball in our own half of the court, and Mary gets there first (2 metres from the out of bounds metal bumper located at each end of the court). Mary looks around and eventually bounce passes it to Indiana lady (...HOLLY! That's her name. Wow, if Mister Collins ever writes me again, I hope that he writes my inability to remember people's names as a subplot as to how severe my...what did the doctor call it when I was in my 20's...oh right, Asperger's syndrome, truly is).

First Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Jess's perspective. Song to put on: Stone Temple Pilots – Tripping on a hole in a paper heart

Oh come on Mary, passing the ball to Holly when I was more open? What in the blue fuck are you thinking? Well, at least she's closer to the Canadian half of the court than I was, I'll give her that. Wow, that was weird. The glitches happened again, but only for 1 brief moment. I still saw that Kate girl bend her poor body in ways that can't be imagined by conventional people, Heather sewing what I think is a little girl's...superhero outfit back together? Weird...Oh, and I saw Tamara stirring stuff into a cauldron and laughing, then Isaac helping prepare a...circus cannon? OK Jess, focus on the game again. Holly (sensing that Buckethead is too far behind her and that the Canadian defencewomen are closer to ramming her than she initially thought) bounce passes it across the court over to me. I catch it, raise my scooping arm (the left arm, which is a bit of a change for me) and take my shot. It's GOOD! I just cut the lead that Canada has to 9-6, hopefully that will shut up the coaches a little bit when it comes to our first intermission. I doubt it, but I can dream, can't I? Anyways, it'll be Julie who is taking possession for Team Canada, as I drive back to the USA half of the court. She throws pretty deep into the Team USA zone, but not deep enough for Dani to not scoop it up before it went out of bounds. I don't expect much to happen on this possession, as there is only 18 seconds left on the clock. Dani bounce passes it to Buckethead who drives forward, trying to end the quarter on a high note. Knowing that we're running out of time, he just shoots it from outside the key, hoping for a last second 3 pointer in order to tie up the game. It sails low as the buzzer sounds.

First Intermission, 3:00-2:00, Rudy's perspective. Song to put on: Toby Keith – As good as I once was

I approach my players trying to make the best of a bad situation. We're still down by three points after 1 quarter, but considering that Jason fellow literally pulled a 6-point shot out of his ass to start the game for Canada, I suppose things could be a lot worse for us Americans right now.

"We need to keep the pressure on them for the rest of the game, but I like where you forwards are going with varying who takes the shot, as we may finally keep Canada guessing long enough to win a game clean. Now I'm actually going to contradict myself a little bit compared to the last game: Buckethead, use your height and reach to your advantage but ONLY during tipoffs, when you have possession or when you have a clean steal like you did against Thom. Jess, Holly...just, play to your strengths. Jess, you need to focus on making the 2-point power shots again. Actually, Holly, you need to do the same thing. Whatever happened that night to give you 30 points in one half, we need back today more than anything else. Everyone got that?"

The entire U.S. team nodded.

"All yours, Coach Dotson"

First Intermission, 2:00-1:00, Laura's perspective. Song to put on: Down – Losing All

OK, so my defence was rough in the beginning of the quarter, but once I brought my girls forward, things settled down quite a bit and we're within victory again. I smile as I head to my team, but not a complete smile (that I would give if we were winning).

"Now that's a little more like it. Dani, Mary, don't head towards to the back of our half of the court again. My plan to keep the pressure on Canada with you 2 closer to your forwards is working so no need to change it. Also, Buckethead, try to keep your eyes on them if you don't have possession of the ball. With them being brought up towards the forwards, they'll need a fair bit more protection from Canada for the rest of the game, got it?"

Dani and Mary nod, as does Buckethead. Time to re-assure them:

"It's OK, it's not over yet. Like the football player Yogi Berra may or may not have said 'it ain't over 'til it's over. Just keep your heads in the game, especially if there's a bucket on them."

I could tell that I embarrassed the big guy a little bit, but I didn't mean to. "All yours, Miss Chapman."

First Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Jane's perspective. Song to put on: Corrosion of Conformity – Clean my wounds

Still not much that I can say to my team. I guess that I should just quickly assess them for injuries and let them get back out there for the second quarter.

"Are you OK, Dani?" I ask.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." she replied with a smile.

"Are you OK, Mary?" I ask.

"Yes Miss Chapman, I'm OK." she answered while nodding.

"Are you OK, Jess?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm great." she answered with a grin.

"And you Holly, are you OK?" I ask.

"Mmmmhmmm" she mumbled.

I dread ever asking Mr. Head anything (as do Coaches Dotson and Castro, I think) but it's part of my job.

"Are you OK, Mr. Head?" I ask.

He points to his right shoulder, it looks a little longer than his left. It's not supposed to be, he has a dislocated shoulder. I scramble to find the automated shoulder brace (that is programmed to put the shoulder back in and THEN immobilize him), and eventually I find it in my med bag. I walk over to him and lift the right side of his clothes (trying to avoid hurting him more). I then slide the brace on and speak "begin analysis and relocation". It does so within 3 seconds and after a brief squeal of pain from Buckethead, I quickly slide his clothes back on and we join hands while shouting "Go USA!"

Second Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Krystal's perspective. Song to put on: Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball

Oh joy, Buckethead wins yet another tipoff and tosses the ball from his scoop in 1 motion? (and he's now doing it with his left hand instead of his right hand). It's sailing quite high but it's dropping fast and...holy shit, Buckethead just made a 6-pointer from the tipoff, America now leads Canada 12-9. I don't care that he's my opponent, that's the fifth time in Whirlyball history that someone made a successful 6-point shot right from the tipoff, and that's amazing. I can hear Julie shouting at me "Wanna take it?" but I motion for her to do the honours as the ball landed on her side of the court. Julie nods and the linesman tosses it to her. She bounce passes it to Melinda. It's odd that the new linesmen were not even introduced to the crowd or any of us players by name. Maybe it's because they're backups and if there's enough of a spotlight shown on them, they might get accused of being corrupt like their predecessors. Melinda bounce passes it to Thom, who then bounce passes it to Jason as he was about to get rammed by Jess. Jason gets inside the key (as he was already ahead of all of the forwards, Holly in particular) and makes a power shot...that sails low. It lands in Mary's half of the court, but goes out of bounds before she or anyone else can snag it. She takes it (without discussion with Dani) and bounce passes it to Holly (a little different, but OK). Shit, there's another quick glitch. What's Justin doing in a cage? Holly is inside our half, Julie and I drive to intercept but it's no use. She tries for a 3-point shot that sails too high and too far to the left, going out of bounds. I motion to Julie to take the possession.

Second Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Melinda's perspective. Song to put on: Aerosmith – The other side

Julie looks around for a clean pass, electing to bounce pass it to me instead of Thom or Jason. I decide to just drive within half a metre of the side rail, which I know is risky but I'm hoping that Jess, Holly and especially the big guy are sufficiently obstructed by my wingers to get to me. I wonder why Dani and Mary are further up the court than the defence usually is. Is it some kind of blitz strategy meant to keep the pressure on us? Wow, that won't work if we increase our pass variance. To which I will now demonstrate by bounce passing it to Thom, my centre. Mary rams me into the wall as Thom takes his power shot, and it's good. We're now within 1 by a score of 12-11. 1 of the linesman is now cautioning Mary to break it off with me, which she obliges. Dani elects to take possession of the ball as Canada (including me) drives back to its' half of the court. Dani bounce passes it to Buckethead, who does his usual "hold the scoop up high knowing that literally no one in Whirlyball can steal it from him because of his body frame". Still, everyone on team Canada (again, including me) is heading right for him. The son of a bitch should've been ejected along with the linesmen after game 2 for what he did to Thom. It's actually Julie and Krystal who hit him in the front of his whirlybug as he makes a try at a power shot. It goes too high and too far to the left, and Krystal will be taking possession. After a few seconds of searching the landscape, she chooses to bounce pass it over to Thom.

Second Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Thom's perspective. Song to put on: Godsmack – Running Blind

Thank you, Mel. I think a straight drive down the middle of the court is the least risky path (Centres almost never drive near the rails, that's the wingers jobs). Hopefully the big guy doesn't reach me before I get the shot off. Actually, that's wishful thinking on my part. The way he hid and scooped that interception in the first quarter was...very impressive, to say the least. I'm not going to make it, and Melinda is too far behind me for a pass to be effective. Wait...OK...there's Jason in the corner of my eye. I never thought I would have to try a no look pass, but the big guy's staring right at me and I know that the rest of Team USA is gunning for my sorry ass. OK, I close my eyes and bounce pass it to Jason. All I hear is Jason shouting "A little wide left but I got it, thanks" as Holly and Jess ram me (after Buckethead hits me in the front)...that's the good news. The bad news is that Dani and Mary are now going after Jason. He's inside the key with the ball, he takes the shot (as the defencewomen ram him on each side)...and it's GOOD! Team Canada has re-taken the lead with a score of 14-13. I can't believe that the no look pass actually worked (and from what I can hear of Team USA, they can't really believe it either). It'll be Dani who takes possession of the ball for the Americans as Jason, Melinda and I head back to the Canadian half of the court. She makes a long arch pass over to Holly (admittedly it's a bit blocked in the middle of the court right now with more whirlybug traffic than usual), who gets rammed in the side by Melinda hard enough for her to drop the ball, and Jason scooped it up.

Second Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Jason's perspective. Song to put on: Iced Earth – Resistance

Thank you Melinda for that well-timed ramming, off I go to try for another power shot. Jess and Holly are stunned enough to buy me approximately 3 seconds of worry-free driving. The masked one on the other hand, is heading right for me with Dani and Mary in tow. I swerve right to avoid the big guy (and because Dani is less aggressive than Mary when it comes to impacts). He misses me by a couple of feet, and I'm inside the key with Dani nearing me. I take aim and fire off a power shot, it's GOOD! Team Canada is now leading USA by a score of 16-13. The crowd is going insane for us in regards to our comeback, waves are starting. Mary will be taking possession on the American side, as we drive back to the Canadian half...

...OK, really? The glitches have started again? We have a Scottish school teacher (wait a minute, is that the girl who invented the name "Mr. Pirate"?), and a woman who is disfigured by (what I'm guessing) is multiple viruses inside her blodd stream that alter humans at the cellular level. Also, who is the girl watching Doctor Who with the alternate universe Mary? Wow, that's new (or maybe old...that could be Mary-Prime that I'm looking at)...

...OK, that's better. Mary has elected to dump the ball in the back part of the Canadian half of the court (just as well, either because she had no clean pass or she saw the glitches too and panicked. If that's the case, I can't say as I blame her at all). Julie caught the ball before it went out of bounds (I guess Mary can only dump the ball out of boundsm on the opposing half of the court without a bounce once a series, then her arm gets fatigued). I wonder who she's going to pass it to...

Second Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Julie's perspective. Song to put on: Fleetwood Mac – Go your own way

...I wonder who I'm going to pass it to. I guess Thom is my best option. He's well inside our half of the court, but he's not being blocked by any of the Americans (something I can't say for Jason or Melinda, who are heavily covered by Jess and Holly but are inside the American half of the court). Here comes the bounce pass to my centre, it lands square in his scoop after 1 bounce. Well, at least that part went smoothly. I really hope that I don't see those glitches again. Thom has made it through to their half of the court, Buckethead seems distracted, so do Dani and Mary for that matter. Come on Thom, just a few more metres and you will be inside the key. Wow, they don't even notice that he's there, are they seeing the glitches now? Or did they just not see my pass to them. He's inside the key, he fires, and it's GOOD! We're now beating the Americans 18-13 as Coach Ripa calls for time...with only a minute and change on the clock? Well, I guess in regards to our timeouts, we have to use it or we lose it. I drive over to the coaches bench. Coach Ripa is out first:

"Now THAT'S how we're bringing this series home. Constant power shots, constant pressure. Keep this up in the second half and we go home champions. Got that?"

I nod, as does the rest of the team. Coach Hayden is next:

"I say we fight fire with fire. They brought Dani and Mary closer to the middle, now I'm bringing you (she says as she points at me) and you (she says as she points at Krystal) closer to the middle. Got that?"

I nod, as does the rest of the team. Mr. Davis is out with his Gatorade bottles:

Gregg: "Are you alright, Julie? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Krystal? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Thom? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Melinda? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jason? Here, have some Gatorade."

The remainder of the first half goes by without incident.

Second Intermission, 3:00-2:00, Cindy's perspective. Song to put on: Lynyrd Skynyrd – Still Unbroken

Maybe I should start using a clipboard when I get back to Newmarket, it would definitely help me keep my thoughts in order, that much I learned from being a coach for Team Canada. I walked over to my team with good feelings: Happy that our defence was the primary cause for us having a lead, turning down a 1-point deficit into a 5-point lead over the course of 1 quarter.

"Girls (referring to Julie and Krystal), I only have 1 critique of you: Keep yourselves further up than you were in the beginning of the game. Remember ladies, you each have several hundred square feet of room to guard between your forwards and the board, use it, they can come at you from anywhere. Also, Thom, start running point between your wingers and your defence more often. That big guy is still something of a problem for us, but as long as we keep locking down everyone around him, he'll have to go it alone for the rest of the game. Do I make myself clear girls?" I ask. Both Julie and Krystal nod and smile. "Got that, Thom?" I ask my centre, and he nods and smiles at me. I can tell that they're happy to be in the lead after the first half, and it was well-earned of them, so I say nothing else except "Take it away, Gregg."

Second Intermission, 2:00-1:00, Gregg's perspective. Song to put on: Joe Walsh – In the City

I still don't have time to do much of anything as a trainer with only 60 seconds to work with (I wish we had agreed on a 6 minute intermission, at least then I'd have 2 minutes each quarter for my team). I can't really make them stretch or the like as they're already getting a hell of a workout out there. Perhaps I should inquire about any injury sustained by any of them in the second quarter.

"Are you injured, Jason?" I asked.

"No Mr. Davis, I'm fine. Thanks for asking" he replied. I believe him.

"Are you injured, Julie?" I asked.

"Not at all." replied Julie. I accept that.

"How are the ribs, Krystal?" I ask.

"Holding up quite well, thank you for asking." responded Krystal. I believe her (if she's lying to me, the pain that she's about to endure in the second half will be punishment enough for her).

"Are you injured, Melinda?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine." she softly answered. I accept that, That just leaves Thom for last.

"Are you injured, Mister Phung?" I asked. He merely shook his head with 1 minute and 14 seconds left on the clock.

"They're all yours, Sherry." I shouted as I tilted my head over to the left, to where Miss Ripa was standing.

Second Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Sherry's perspective. Song to put on: Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth

There really was nothing for me to critique out of Thom's, Jason's and Melinda's offence in the first half (at all, and I was looking really hard to find some small critique of them somewhere). So I approach them with a somewhat different tactic.

"With a 5 point lead going into the second half, I must stress to each of you not to take unneeded risks out there. We don't need to dazzle the crowd with 6-point shots at this point in the game, let's keep it to power shots only, not even any 3-point shots either (unless you're about to get rammed). Also, I've noticed that the big guy is now looking for the ball on the ground so, let's try passing the ball in the air from now on in order to confuse him. So let's work around that everyone, let's eliminate bounce passes from our game entirely and go entirely on arch passes unless it's Julie or Krystal giving it to a forward. Got that?"

"Yes, Miss Ripa." replied Thom.

"We will." added Melinda and Jason.

"Got it" finished Julie and Krystal.

Not entirely satisfied (and with 20 seconds left in the intermission), I turn my attention to the defence (knowing that I'm either directly repeating or directly contradicting what I said at this point in Game #1): "To clarify, you 2 can still dump the ball if you have no one to pass it to, but keep it away from the big guy and bounce pass it to a forward whenever you can. Understand?"

"Got it." answered Julie, Krystal merely nodded. The players, other coaches and I joined hands and shouted "GO CANADA!" before the players returned to the court in order to start the second half.

Third Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Dani's perspective. Song to put on: Celldweller – First Person Shooter

Yay, Buckethead wins another tipoff. Something tells me that if Aaron ever writes about this, he'll have me or someone else lampshade hang that a lot of our "segments" begin with Buckethead winning the tipoff. Anyways, Buckethead breaks with tradition and actually bounce passes it behind him, to me. I have no idea why he did this, but I quickly bounce pass it to Jess (all while giving Buckethead a puzzled look that he may or may not have seen). Jess is driving dangerously close to the side rail, one side hit and she may need to go to the hospital. She's just inside the Canadian half and makes a long arch pass over to Holly. It sails as high as the mid-section of the audience part of the stadium, but comes down quickly and into Holly's scoop, who immediately makes a long 3-point shot, and it's GOOD! We have pulled within 2 points, only trailing Canada by a score of 18-16. Interesting, because it went in the middle and then out of bounds on their end, Julie and Krystal are playing Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock in order to determine who takes possession of the ball. From what I can see, Julie shows Rock, Krystal shows paper. As rock always beats paper (in any variant of Rock, Paper, Scissors) Krystal takes the ball (from a linesman who looked like he got really impatient with both of them). Krystal takes a few seconds, then bounce passes it to Melinda. Thom appears to drive in front of her in order to protect her, but he crosses into our half of the court and deliberately lets himself be pillow blocked by Buckethead so that Melinda can swerve left before Buckethead can turn to intercept her. She then fires a three-point shot of her own before Mary and I can sandwich her, and it's good. Canada is now winning 21-16.

Third Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Mary's perspective. Song to put on: Kaizers Orchestra – Siste Dans

OK, even I have to admit that that was a great strategy to counter Dani and I moving up the court. I'm taking possession of the ball on this one, and with only 1 of my forwards free, I bounce pass it to Buckethead. Jess and Holly had already started driving forward as soon as the ball was in my scoop, so Buckethead can pass it to them much more easily than I ever could. He arch passes it to Jess (who is already well inside the Canadian half of the court). Oh thank goodness, she's not driving alongside the side rail (like she tends to do). Actually, she's driving more towards the middle (and Holly is ramming Melinda into their side impact rail, until the linesman forces Holly to break the hold). Jess moves inside the Canadian key and takes a power shot...as Thom legally hits her Whirlybug on the side, causing the ball to venture wide left and low before going out of bounds. Krystal elects to take possession of the ball this time, and immediately bounce passes it to Jason. Jess hadn't completely returned to her position before Krystal had made the pass so now she's behind Jason as he enters our half of the court. Dani is heading right for him, as am I (but she's directly in front of him so maybe I can sneak in a side hit as I'm not sure that he can see me). Wow, in order to avoid Dani he turns right towards me. I take a perverse pleasure every time that I see the "Oh Crap" look in my opponent's eyes as I'm about to hit them. I hit him in the front of his whirlybug, just as he makes his shot.

Third Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Buckethead's perspective. Song to put on: Buckethead – Quilted

Oh no, the metal man from Newmarket actually made his 3-point shot. Canada is now beating us 24-16, and dice lady Dani will be taking possession of the ball. Somehow, the ball has been cracked, so the linesman tosses her a fresh ball out of his bag as the rest of my team and I return to our respective positions on the court. After a few seconds of surveying the court, she bounce passes it to the Indiana girl (I have no idea why, I was wide open, but OK). Melinda over on the Canadian side was actually counting on...Holly receiving the ball, and is already pushing her into the wall. Great thinking, defence, just great...NOT!

Oh goodie, these glitches have started up again. I hope to see a lot of the Aaronverse at once like that other me got to experience in that mixed poker book. They all seem like such nice, accepting people. I would probably open up a little more to them, just like Aaron did. Wait, 3 of these...ghosts? Are coming right towards me. All I see of 1 is a skeleton that hides behind a long black coat, wigs, masks and crossbows. The second of them is probably the most well-built member of the entire Aaronverse, and he seems to have his own...magnaverse somewhere in this great multiverse. Now this third one, is both old and new at the same time. She has deep ties to Aaron's past, but I don't think she's been in any of the more well known stories that Aaron has written before. Lovely red hair though, sort of like that opera singer that Aaron knows in some worlds. This isn't her though, she doesn't even seem to be Italian. In fact, if I were to guess, I would say that this one is a descendant of...Uruguay?

Third Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Jess's perspective. Song to put on: Monster Magnet – Into the Void

Wow, that was the most disorienting glitch yet. But at least Holly bounce passed it to me when she was being rammed into the wall (although I give the linesman credit for convincing Melinda to break the hold that she had on Holly). I'm well inside the Canadian half, in fact, I don't think Julie or Krystal even saw the pass take place as they seem to be heading off Buckethead for some strange reason. I get just inside the key and take aim. From a distance, I can distinctly hear Mary laughing (as if she just realized that I somehow pulled a fast one on the Canadians). My shot looks like it might sail high up over the board but...no...it's good. I've cut the lead to 24-18 in favour of the Canadians. Julie has put her tongue back in her mouth, and will be taking possession of the ball as I drive back to the U.S. half of the court. Julie bounce passes it to Thom, which causes me to turn my whirlybug 30 degrees to the right in order to have a clear view of him as I attempt to intercept...

...only I just got hit by Jason from the side. Wow, how did he manage to sneak hit me like that? Well, it rung my bell a little bit, that's for sure. Long enough for Thom to already be cocking back his arm and firing a 3-point shot...and it's good. Well crap, now we're down 27-18. It seems like Dani will be taking possession of the ball at this time. After surveying the court in order to find the best person to pass the ball to, she has decided to bounce pass it to Buckethead.

Third Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Holly's perspective. Song to put on: King's X – Over and Over

OK big guy, try and get us back within striking distance of the lead. Oh, you're bounce passing it to me instead. Alrighty, I think I'll head more into the middle of the court so that I can have the big guy driving as my blocker. Ah see, he's already headed off Thom as I enter the Canadian half of the court. Jason can't get to me without going through the big guy and Melinda thought that I was going to drive by the rail and is struggling to catch up (and likely won't even reach me before I try to take a power shot). I guess all that's left to worry about is Julie and Krystal, but even then, I'm behind the big guy. OK, I'm inside the key and I cock back my forearm. My shot...is GOOD! We're now only down 27-20 as Coach Dotson has the linesman blow the whistle to signal a timeout (I would've save it for the fourth quarter, but that's me). I drive over to the coach's bench and Miss Dotson speaks first:

"Dani, Mary, move back to your usual positions."

Both of them nod. Coach Castro is out next, and he actually looks angrier than Coach Dotson did:

"Forget being inside their half, take a shot when you feel comfortable. Canada is beginning to slaughter us out there, and we need to prove that we can win at least 1 game out there clean. Is that clear?"

Everyone nods. Coach Castro whistles as a cue for Miss Chapman to arrive.

Jane: "Are you alright, Mary? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Dani? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Holly? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jess? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Mr. Buckethead? Here, have some Gatorade. Oh good, you're finally taking part of your mask off in order to not spill your drink all over yourself. Bravo, Mr. Buckethead."

We all join hands and shout "Go USA!" before driving back to our relative positions on the court prior to the timeout being called. The rest of the quarter goes by without any noteworthy incident.

Third Intermission, 3:00-2:00, Laura's perspective. Song to put on: 2pac featuring Dr. Dre – California Love

OK, so my defence isn't working no matter where I put my girls, rear or forward, things won't settle down unless I think of something drastic. I smile as I head to my team, but it's meant to give off a vibe of suppressed rage.

"I think it's time we start playing dirty. If the first set of linesmen 'ignored an accidental rear hit' made by Buckethead. Maybe the second set of linesman will 'ignore an accidental rear hit' made by a cute girl from Michigan...or the state of Norway."

Dani and Mary nod, but seem reluctant. Time to re-assure them:

"Look, we're about to lose anyway. At least this way, we send them home with victory tasting as bitter as defeat."

I could tell that I may be going too far, but we're out of options now. "All yours, Miss Chapman."

Third Intermission, 2:00-1:00, Jane's perspective. Song to put on: Black Sabbath – The Writ

Not much that I can say to my team. I guess that I should just assess them for injuries and let them get back out there for the last quarter.

"Are you OK, Dani?" I ask.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." she replied with a smile.

"Are you OK, Mary?" I ask.

"Yes Miss Chapman, I'm OK." she answered while nodding.

"Are you OK, Jess?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm great." she answered with a grin.

"And you Holly, are you OK?" I ask.

"Mmmmhmmm" she mumbled.

I dread ever asking Mr. Head anything (as do Coaches Dotson and Castro, I think) but it's part of my job.

"Are you OK, Mr. Head?" I ask.

He nods and moves both of his shoulders about in identical directions and speeds, indicating to me that his right shoulder is just fine now. I don't even know how he dislocated one of them in the first place, but at least he told me about it. It's a shame how quiet he usually is, he has such a pleasant speaking voice. But oh well, it's his right to remain silent, and I respect that.

"All yours, Coach Castro"

Third Intermission, 1:00-0:00, Rudy's perspective. Song to put on: Cowboy Junkies – Common Disaster

I approach my players knowing that things have gone from bad to worse since the match started. We're now down by seven points after 3 quarters, but considering that Holly made a nice power shot before the third quarter ended, I guess that it's better that we're not down by 9 points instead.

"We need to take every decent shot that we have the rest of the game, even you 2 on defence should start shooting for the board. Also, passing the ball to Buckethead for 6-point shots should be explored, as we can catch up and surpass Canada in the last quarter that way. That's right Buckethead, you need to shoot the ball more in order to help all of us win. Jess, you still need to focus on making the 2-point power shots. Actually, Holly, you still need to do the same, that last shot was beautiful. But most importantly, we need 6-pointers to be made from the big guy."

The entire U.S. team nodded and joined hands, shouting "U-S-A!" before we drive back to our positions on the court.

Fourth Quarter, 10:00-8:00, Melinda's perspective. Song to put on: The Misfits (Cartoon version on Jem) – Winning is Everything

Well, at least this is the last tipoff that Buckethead can possibly win at this point (unless we go to overtime for some strange reason, which I find highly unlikely if not completely impossible). And he didn't even bother passing it to anyone before he took his shot. Can lightning strike twice? Nope, the ball sailed low, and right into Krystal's scoop before it could go out of bounds. She surveys us for 3 seconds before bounce passing it straight to me. OK, I actually head slightly in reverse so that I can get behind Thom (A play that I know will work better now that Dani and Mary have fallen back to their standard positions on the court). Thom almost immediately gets pillow blocked by Buckethead, to which I turn slightly right in order to avoid crashing into the rear of Thom's whirlybug. Hoping that Jess is too far away in order to hit me (Holly surely is and she would have to drive around Thom and Buckethead in order to get to me anyway), I proceed into the American half of the court all alone. Dani and Mary see me and are heading to do a double ram on each of my sides. Oh, how predictable of you American ladies, I'm just outside their key. I cock my forearm back and fire. Uh-oh, I put too much on it. The ball sails high and goes over the board rather than on it. Well, at least the American defence are now forced to fall back (so are we, but no matter)...

...OK, these glitches are really starting to piss me off. This one was only 3 or 4 seconds long, and I didn't recognize anyone (I couldn't even tell if the young woman I saw was a blonde or had long white hair...looked hot though). It's Mary who's taking possession of the ball this time, and after some surveying as to who is available to pass to, she bounce passes it to Buckethead.

Fourth Quarter, 8:00-6:00, Thom's perspective. Song to put on: Saigon Kick – Hostile Youth

Time to pillow block the big guy...

...Oh great, another interdimensional glitch. It doesn't help that I don't really recognize anyone that is in them. I think that I met this juggling guy (David?) in passing when Aaron and I went to school together. I know the bearded lady (Laurie is her name, if my memory serves me correctly but with the beard she doesn't resemble the Laurie that I know, or even the Laurie that was inside the storm cloud), this Zombie seems familiar (Allan? But he doesn't look much like the Allan that I know or the Allan in the storm cloud either) and I of course will always recognize Mrs. Collins, sorry, Lindsay.

Anyways, I hit Buckethead dead centre on his whirlybug. He shrugs it off completely and fires off a shot (we're about halfway between the mid-court line and the 3 point line on the Canadian half of the court) and it's good. Canada is still up 27-23 as Julie and Krystal argue as to who takes possession of the ball. Julie ultimately gets the ball tossed to her by the linesman (I think these referees were spoken to before the game in light of the scandal during and after Game 2 and are now afraid to make any borderline rulings at all, which would make a lot of sense if that were the case). After a few seconds to check out us forwards, she makes a good bounce pass over to Jason (Buckethead is still close to me, and Melinda seems to be having problems with the crank shaft that steers the Whirlybug). I immediately point to a linesman in an effort to get his attention. Once I have it, I point to Melinda and start to spin my fist in mid-air in a clockwise circular motion. He nods, and blows the whistle to stop the game. I notice that he has an earpiece, and is using it to call for maintenance. It takes them the better part of 5 minutes to get down here, but I notice something awesome. The once 60/40 in favour of Canada crowd is now pretty much unanimously chanting "Go Canada Go!" and are even making the wave again for us, this is unbelievable. The maintenance and next minute or so on the clock go by without incident and ends with Dani taking possession of the ball.

Fourth Quarter, 6:00-4:00, Jason's perspective. Song to put on: Disturbed – Save our last goodbye

Dani just dumped it into the back part of our half of the court, being caught by Julie after 1 bounce. Oh, Julie has chosen to bounce pass it to me without even really looking as to which forward to pass it to. That's nice of her, I guess. I'm going to pull a Melinda and drive dangerously close to the side impact rail. I trust that she and Thom between them can fend off Buckethead, Holly and Jess. Well, I was right about Buckethead and Holly but Jess is coming right for me. Wait, she put the brakes on. It's almost as if...one of the American coaches had instructed her to break the rules and she was unwilling to go along with it. I suppose I should respect that of the Americans, but right now, Canada has a game to win. I've just passed the half court line, with both Dani and Mary driving straight for me. I'm not afraid of them reaching me while I'm in 3-point range (as they have fallen back to their usual spots this quarter) and with Team Canada in the lead, there's no real need for risks. A simple power shot for 2 points will do just fine. I turn towards the middle of the court, crossing the 3-point key almost immediately thereafter. I cock back my right forearm as the American defence close in on me and fire off my power shot attempt. Bad news: It sails too far low to even be close, Good news: With Dani and Mary as close to me as they are, the ball went out of bounds, so play is stopped automatically. They still have possession of the ball, but it's not by interception, so I can live with that. After they drive back to the rear part of the American half of the court, Mary volunteers to take possession. I'm not even halfway back when I realize that Mary has no decent passing options, so she just dumps it into our back end instead.

Fourth Quarter, 4:00-2:00, Julie's perspective. Song to put on: Buckethead – Ghoul 1

OK, I'm sick and tired of America just dumping the ball in our court (especially this late in the game). And I'm especially sick and tired of America thinking that they have a chance to win when we're infinitely superior to them. I'm going for it, I'm going for a 6 pointer that will be the longest shot in the game. I cock my arm back and throw the ball as far as I can (to the objections of my own team, no less). Huh, I actually have a good arch on it, and the crowd has gone completely silent as the ball begins to drop in the air. Oh God, I shot it too low and either Dani or Mary will catch it before it goes out of bounds. HOLY SHIT, I MADE IT! Canada is now up 33-23. Mary will be taking possession of the ball this time (I can't even hear my own teammates now, I just keep hearing the stadium chant "Holy Shit" over and over again, the Brazilains speak English very well, I will say that much for them).

I think that the Norwegian got the message that I was trying to send as she has elected to bounce pass it to Buckethead in lieu of just dumping the ball in either my part or Krystal's part of the back section of the Canadian half of the court. Jason, Melinda and Thom seem to be sick and tired of America thinking that they have a shot to win this too, as ALL 3 OF THEM HAVE JUST PILLOW BLOCKED AND SANDWICHED BUCKETHEAD! Coach Dotson is yelling at the linesman to review for a possible rear hit. 1 of them blows the whistle in order to pause the game (likely just to shut her up as I saw no rear hit from where I was). The linesmen are all on their earpieces to those who review all of the camera angles of the game. It only takes a minute for the centre linesman to announce to the stadium:

"After reviewing 32 different camera angles, it has been unanimously decided that the hits on Buckethead made by Thom Phung, Melinda Hughes and Jason Carman were all on the front and sides of his whirlybug only and thus CLEAN. Play will resume with 2 minutes and 39 seconds on the clock"

The American coaches and trainer are pissed off as the video replays clearly show (from multiple angles) that all 3 hits were clean (and that they had no right to appeal at all) as the last 39 seconds before the 2 minute warning happen without incident.

Fourth Quarter, 2:00-0:00, Krystal's perspective. Song to put on: The Jacksons – Victory

In the fallout of the 3-way hit on Buckethead, Holly had taken an unsuccessful 6-point shot (that sailed low but not low enough for Julie or myself to get it before it went out of bounds. I volunteer to take possession of the ball (I still can't hear Julie or anyone on Team Canada on account of the whole stadium chanting "Go Canada Go!"). I bounce pass it over to Jason who starts driving slowly on purpose (typical of some whirlyball players in an effort to run out the clock at the end of the game when they're winning). Now come the bounce passes between him, Thom and Melinda. Fast bounce passes so that Team USA can't intercept them (god forbid that they make a 10-point comeback with barely a minute to go). After an unsuccessful 6-point shot made by Thom, Coach Hayden calls for a timeout. We all drive to the coach's bench. Cindy is out first, and she's grinning from ear to ear:

"Heads up! Look in my eyes. Do you hear them? Listen to your hosts in Brazil. 60 seconds. 60 Seconds! Defence! Defence! Defence! This is it! This is our destiny! Vamos Canada (Let's go Canada!)."

She then headed into the background as Coach Ripa came forward.

"Um...What she just said."

Gee, I wonder what Gregg the trainer has to say:

Gregg: "Are you alright, Julie? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Krystal? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Thom? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Melinda? Here, have some Gatorade. Are you alright, Jason? Here, have some Gatorade. 1 more minute and we go home guys."

We shouted "Vamos Canada" before returning to the court as a tribute of respect to our hosts in Brazil (and a few of them even hear us and applaud). It turns out that our defence wasn't much of an issue, as Team USA had become complacent, accepting of their fate to finish in second place. When the buzzer went off, all of Team Canada ran onto the courts, and we hugged each other with tears in their eyes.

Silver medal presentation for Team USA. Song to put on: South Park – Blame Canada

The medals were a simple silver with an image of a whirlybug stamped on both sides of them as they draped the Americans necks. Coach Dotson felt a measure of guilt for encouraging dirty play from her players, and was relieved that no one actually listened to her (a sentiment that was shared by Rudy and Jane). As for the players themselves, they were even more accepting in their loss. Mary in particular, had never felt prouder to be an American.

Gold medal presentation for Team Canada. Song to put on: South park – O Canada

Same medal design, different colour that draped the necks of the Canadians. Everyone on the team were in tears as flowers were being thrown by seemingly everyone in Maracana Stadium (Thom even made the traditional "bite the gold medal to see if it's real" pose for the global media). It took hours for Team Canada to stop waving to the Brazilian crowd...

...plenty of time to see more glitches occurring in the Aaronverse.