Chapter 3
On that same advance, Marcie remained on the tower all the way to the opposing goal. Her team won by KO. Nothing could have gone better.
Well, except for Angel confronting her.
"That was cheap," Angel said mere moments after the tower reached the goal and a whistle ended the battle. She had been firing up at her, desperately trying to splat her, but as Marcie's team's score ticked down to zero, Angel threw her bucket to the ground in frustration. Now she stood just below Marcie, looking up with her arms crossed.
"I-I'm sorry," Marcie responded, not knowing how to act. The true gravity of her actions was just beginning to descend on her. She had blatantly broken the rules by shoving the pretty girl she had a crush on off the tower, and that lapse in fairness had led to her victory. That...really did not look good.
"You're sorry? Then report yourself to the official," Angel said, beginning to turn away.
Marcie struggled to fashion a response, instead jumping off the tower and running after Angel. "Wait, Angel, you don't understand. I didn't mean to."
Angel turned and looked at her once again, that same look of betrayal she had sported the moment after Marcie had shoved her etched on her face. "You didn't mean to? You just happened to, what, lose your balance at a really convenient time?"
Marcie hung her head and sighed, realizing just how stupid her excuse sounded. "Okay, look, I'm sorry. I was unfair, but...winning this first battle was really important to me. I don't want to get sent home after day one."
"Oh, yeah? Well, losing certainly didn't help me much," Angel said, shaking her head. "I'm glad I found out how selfish you are now than later. To think I was actually in to you."
Marcie felt an instant lump in her throat. "In to me? Like..."
"Don't worry about it now. Congrats on the win." She turned away once again. "Good luck on Day 2."
Marcie watched as Angel headed back to the staging room, feeling freezing cold despite the intense battle that had just ended.
I...really, really screwed up.
"Dang, she told you," a voice behind her said.
"Wha?!" Marcie turned toward the source of the voice. It was her teammate with the Squiffer.
The girl shrugged. She wore a maroon hoodie and shorts. "I mean, I sucked pretty bad during that, but...dang, you got shot down."
Marcie facepalmed and waved her hand. "Please, just...don't rub it in."
"You should probably tell the official," she said.
Marcie stiffened. "Tell the official? That would negate our victory."
"Yeah, but..." the girl shrugged again. "You did break the rules. Integrity, you know?"
Marcie nodded, but she immediately thought of the consequences. If she fessed up to cheating, there was no way she'd survive the first cut. She would watch the Draft from her apartment while crying into a tub of Inkopolitan ice cream.
"My name's Thea, by the way," the girl said, extending her hand.
Marcie sighed and shook her hand. "Marcie." She stepped away. "I need to find someone."
"Well, alright," Thea said. "Good luck."
Marcie turned and ran back to the waiting room, dropping her N'Zap as she ran up the path to a slightly less crowded staging room. She scanned the area and found Jamie sitting on a bench toward the corner. She went over to him.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, nice battle! You looked like a real profreshio—wah—!"
Marcie grabbed his wrist and pulled him along toward the concourse. "I need to talk to you."
"Well, alright, you could've just said so," he stammered as he followed her back out to the arena concourse. They found an out-of-the-way alcove behind a trash bin. "So, what's up?"
"I cheated," Marcie deadpanned.
Jamie blinked. "Cheated? How?"
Marcie sighed. "Angel and I were on the tower. I ran out of ink, so I panicked, and I shoved her off." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm so stupid."
"You shoved her?" Jamie asked. "And the referee didn't see?"
"No," Marcie shook her head. "After the battle, Angel confronted me, basically told me she liked me before but now thinks I'm selfish for cheating to win." She rubbed her eyes. "I want to the tell the official but I don't want to get sent home. This is my dream, Jamie, my life's work. I don't want to have to wait two years to have another chance."
Jamie reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Marce, listen. You're overthinking this. It's simple." He sighed. "You tell the official."
"But..." she struggled to respond. "But I'll out myself as a cheater—"
"You didn't cheat. You panicked," Jamie corrected. "The pressure of today is effecting us all. A mistake like that will happen. It's okay."
"I don't want to get sent home," Marcie told him.
"Well how would you feel if you made it all the way through to the draft, knowing you did so by virtue of a missed penalty on Day 1?" Jamie stepped a bit closer to her. "Marcie, you are easily one of the best here. You don't need to rely on taking advantage of this to make it. You can fess up, and you can still advance."
Marcie tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. "And if I don't?"
Jamie sighed and let go of her shoulders. "Well, then at least you were honest. I know Angel would appreciate it."
Marcie's breath hitched as her mind reached a realization. She didn't want to go all the way through and be successful knowing what she did in that battle. She would much rather fail, if it meant proving to Angel, and herself, that she was trustworthy, that she was honest. Even if she ended up getting cut, at least she could sleep at night knowing she did her best and was honest when she messed up.
She sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'll go to the official."
Jamie nodded and smiled at her. "I knew you would."
Marcie smiled and began on her way to find the referee. The official usually sat on the sidelines near the center of the battle course, and sure enough, as Marcie began to walk her way down one of the sections of the stadium, she saw the referee sitting in the front row of the stands, wearing the customary beige referee shirt. The woman drank from a water bottle as the next battle was about to begin on the course.
Marcie approached slowly from behind, clearing her throat to get the official's attention. "Uhm, excuse me."
The woman turned, looking up at her with dark brown eyes. "Yes?"
"Uhm..." Marcie struggled to continue. She had never reported herself to a referee. She wasn't sure if she had ever even spoken to an official before. "I'm Marcie Tyler, I was just in that Tower battle."
"Yes, you were the one you rode the tower solo all that way," the official nodded. "Impressive."
Marcie gritted her teeth, not liking the praise considering what she had to report. "Actually, that's what I'm here to talk about, uhm...I'm here to report myself for...I, uh, I committed a foul th-that wasn't called."
The official raised her eyebrows. "Is that so?"
Marcie sighed and nodded, holding her hands behind her back. "Yeah—I mean yes ma'am. I...intentionally shoved an opponent off the tower."
The official scoffed. "How could I have missed that?"
"It was in the narrow part of the stage." She pointed out toward where her shove had occurred. "The high walls probably blocked your view."
The official hummed curiously. "It must have." She turned to look at Marcie. "Well, I commend you for being honest. You do realize that if I take your admission into account, the points penalty would mean your team loses, right?"
Marcie gritted her teeth and sighed. "Yes. That's why I'm here."
The official nodded. "Thank you for your honesty." She turned and grabbed a microphone. "I'll make the announcement to the scouts." She switched the microphone on, and her voice was then broadcast through the arena PA system. "The result of the previous battle has been changed. Due to a previously undetected Illegal Contact penalty by the yellow team's Number 3, a thirty point penalty has been assigned. Therefore, the pink team wins, 79 to 70."
Marcie looked around to see a few scouts look down at their tablets, probably checking who number 3 was. Marcie felt her heart sink as her own stock likely sank with many of her potential clubs. But, as she reminded herself, it was the right thing to do.
"Thank you again," the official said to her. "Good luck with the rest of the Academy."
Marcie nodded and went on her way to find Jamie, but before she found her way back up to the concourse, she noticed her. Angel, standing at the top of the stairway.
Marcie almost felt like trying to avoid her, but she knew that certainly would not endear herself to an already jaded Angel. Marcie gritted her teeth and continued her way up toward the Octoling. "Uhm, hi," she waved.
Angel gestured for her to follow, and Marcie did so as Angel turned and walked out into the concourse. Marcie trailed her as Angel led her toward a women's restroom. They entered the room, and Angel turned back to face her. "Well," she said, chuckling. "I feel kind of dumb."
Marcie shook her head. "Dumb? Why would you—"
"I call you out for being selfish and then you immediately go have the official announce to everyone that you committed a penalty." She leaned back against a sink, partially sitting on it while keeping her feet on the floor. The way her eyes wandered as she spoke was oddly cute. "I kinda feel bad for being so harsh."
"No, don't feel bad," Marcie waved and hand, then gripped her elbow nervously. "You were frustrated. I understand."
Angel sighed. "You know, that took guts. The fact you did that makes me realize, well...I mean, I was wrong about you, first off. I'm sorry for calling you selfish."
Marcie sighed with relief once she got confirmation that Angel was no longer mad at her. "Don't be. I was being selfish."
"But what counts is that you were selfless in the end," Angel smiled at her. "Winning that battle will really help me, but I will feel bad if you don't end up making it through. You are really good, and honestly," she chuckled and shrugged. "I probably would have shoved you in that situation, too."
Marcie chuckled, leaning her back against a wall. "Yeah. Competitive nature I guess."
"Yeah."
They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds. A dripping faucet was the only sound in the room.
"So..." Marcie spoke up. "About you saying...you were into me."
Angel smiled and looked to the side. "That may have...slipped out by accident."
"But...it's true?" Marcie asked, looking at her face closely for any sign of emotion from the Octoling.
"Well...I'll say one thing," Angel chuckled as she began to make her way back to the door. As she began to pass by Marcie she stopped and spoke quieter. "Fighting against you was a lot of fun." She then continued on, reaching the door. "I'll see you around."
Marcie attempted to speak up, but the door had closed behind Angel before she could get a word out. Marcie groaned and rubbed her forehead. "You just...love to leave me hanging, don't you?" She could not help but smile, though. One thing she could be certain of, though: she definitely had not seen the last of Angel.
Several more battles took place, including a victorious Clam Blitz battle for Jamie and his team. At this point, only about half of the battles had taken place, so Marcie and Jamie still had over an hour to wait around for the next phase of the Academy. For the moment, they sat at a table by the one of the arena's restaurants. It was open for the attendees to get dinner, but Marcie and Jamie were both too on-edge to eat at the moment. Instead they sat and talked over the chatter around them. "So, what the heck happened?" Marcie asked.
Jamie chuckled. "So I have a Power Clam, right? I'm heading for the goal, but the other team also has a Power Clam. Turns out, we throw them at the same time, the Power Clams hit the goals at the same time, so both barriers break."
Marcie scoffed and shook her head. "Okay, I have never heard of that ever happening."
"One of my teammates, who was kind of a nerd about rules and stuff, said there is a rule about it. It wasn't a malfunction or anything. That's exactly what's supposed to happen; both barriers are supposed to break."
"That's insane," Marcie laughed. "So both teams were scoring at the same time in a Clam Blitz battle."
"Well," Jamie shrugged and sighed. "That would've been the case, buuuut, I had already splatted two opponents on my way to scoring my Power Clam, so the other team didn't get much scoring in."
"Wow, you didn't do too bad, huh?" Marcie chuckled. "I'm proud of you, young grasshopper."
"Don't," Jamie murmured. "You still need to tell me how that whole thing with the penalty went down."
Marcie sighed. "Well, I—"
"Yeah!" A voice from behind her called. "Tell us about the penalty."
Marcie turned to see two of her teammates from her battle; the Inkling boy with the roller and the Octoling boy with the SSPro. The one who had yelled, the slightly taller Inkling, was pale-complected and wore a Black LS. His accomplice was a dark-complected Octoling who sported a red polo. They both seemed annoyed, to say the least.
"Uhh," Marcie chuckled. "What do you want to know?"
"We won our battle," the Inkling said. "And yet, we didn't win our battle? How'd that happen?"
"You costed us a win with your little 'uncalled penalty' bit," the Octoling accused. "All of that hard work to win our first battle at the Draft Academy wasn't that important to you, huh?"
Marcie gritted her teeth and prepared to rebuke them, but Jamie spoke up first. "Hey, you two need to back off. So what if you lost?"
The Inkling rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Dude, we didn't come all this way to lose just because Lil' Miss Rulebook couldn't handle getting away with a blown call." He pointed a finger towards her. "If I'm one of the one hundred who get kicked out at the end of today, I'm blaming you, and trust me, I keep a grudge."
Marcie, feeling a chill run down her back at the sight of the guy's finger poking her personal space, stood up and shoved his hand away. "If you don't make it through it's because you don't know how to run with a roller properly. You looked like you were riding a drunk dolphin trying to control that thing."
"Hey!" The Octoling stepped up, getting in her face. "You don't have any right to call us out when we would have won if not for you!"
Jamie got to his feet as well. "You guys need to back off!"
Marcie shook her head, staring the kid down and doing her best to hide her own intimidation. "Chill, kid. If you get kicked out of here it won't be because of me."
The guy shoved her, sending her stumbling back and knocking over the table they had been sitting at. Marcie managed to keep her balance, but felt far more worried now that she knew these two meant business. She turned to look at them, seeing them step toward her. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Many of the other people there turned and murmured in concern. Some of them called for the two guys to back off, but they seemed beyond help. They had made this physical. "Do you even know who we are?" the Inkling asked loudly.
Jamie stepped up beside Marcie. "What, you two think fighting will help? What are you, ten?"
The Octoling rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Oh, I'm sorry I shoved her. Should I go tell the referee?"
Marcie gritted her teeth. "To answer your question, no, I have no clue who you two are."
"They're a couple of ass-hats is what they are!" From behind the two guys stepped forward a shorter Inkling boy dressed in a Zekko Tee and shorts. His hair tentacles were green and parted to the side, and his eyes were a chilling blue. He stepped between the two bullies and pushed them back. "What the hell are you two doing?"
"We're teaching this bottom-feeder that she needs to keep her mouth shut," The Inkling claimed.
"You know what she did," the Octoling added.
"I don't care. You two are embarrassing me and yourselves." The guy sighed and rubbed his eye. "I swear, don't make me regret bringing you here." He turned to look at Marcie and Jamie. "Sorry about these two. They're idiots."
"Hey!" The Inkling objected.
The guy ignored him, instead extending a hand to Marcie. "I'm Dawson. Dawson Modson. 'Awesome Dawson', if you will."
Marcie raised an eyebrow, thinking most people don't disclose their self-promoting nicknames like that upfront when introducing themselves, but she shook his hand nonetheless. "Marcie Tyler."
Jamie leaned in. "Marcie 'Freakin'' Tyler, if you will."
She elbowed him.
"I saw your fight. Very impressive," Dawson nodded as their hands separated. "You're quite the strategist, I might add."
"Thanks," Marcie shrugged, getting a weird feeling from the praise this guy was giving her.
"Daws," the Inkling behind him said. "She's the one who self-reported."
Dawson raised an eyebrow, but chuckled. "Apologies again. My friends here never introduced themselves. Easton and Weston, and yes, their names are coincidental."
Marcie looked back up at the two guys who had confronted her, shooting them a suspicious glance. "Right. Okay."
"I do hope to see more of you later," he bowed his head a bit before beginning to back away. "In the meantime, good luck. Although, do be careful not to commit anymore penalties today. One's understandable, but two is just embarrassing."
Marcie huffed and shook her head, but she was too flustered to respond immediately. By the time she thought of something to say, Dawson and his posse had already turned to leave. "W-what?" She murmured.
"That..." Jamie exhaled and shook his head. "That was really weird."
"I don't like those guys," Marcie said to him. "They give me a bad feeling."
"'Awesome Dawson.'" Jamie shook his head, but then froze for a moment. "Wait...I feel like I've heard that name before."
Marcie looked at her blue-haired friend. "From where?"
He was silent for a few seconds, thinking. Then he snapped his fingers, his eyes widening. "'Awesome' Dawson Modson. I heard about him on IPC Tonight."
Marcie grimaced. "He was on IPC Tonight?"
"Yeah," Jamie nodded. "There was a whole segment on him. They were saying he's the top prospect of this year's Draft class."
Marcie gasped, looking in the direction Dawson had just left, catching a glimpse of him as he walked through the door to the staging area. "Him?" She asked, looking down, mind racing. "The...top prospect?"
