Chapter Four: Jeremy

The wind blew and the birds chirped and the entire field was lit so brightly with a streak of red fire that flew in a circle around the field, then crashed into the ground with a thunderous rumble that shook the hundreds of people gathered around.

One side of the field with a ear-splitting roar as another point for Pui Ching Academy was added to the scoreboard.

Jeremy, in general, did not like Panoball. He did not like how ominous the playing field was. The field, was like a pit, that of Rome's Coliseum with hills sloping down towards it on the long side. The actual playing field stretched about a kilometre at it longest side, and half that across the middle.

He furthermore did not like how easy the game was to understand, but dangerous to play.

The rules of Panoball were quite simple. There were three balls, about the size of a head, made fully of rubber that were thrown into the middle. There were a maximum of ten players for each of the two teams that were allowed on the field at a time. At either end of the playing field, there were two white lines. If you got a ball across your line, you scored a point. The team with the most points at the end of an hour of game time won the game.

It really was quite simple. Do everything that you can to get the ball across the line.

The reality of it was not that simple.

Panoball is a word of two parts, the first being "pan-" coming from the Greek root meaning "all," and the game was just that. Anyone with any ability (with some few exceptions) could play Panoball, and the idea of the game was to use your ability to your team's advantage.

Jeremy watched with a bored face as one girl transformed a rubber ball to ice, skating down through the field before Pui Ching's star player breathed a flame all down her path so that the girl tripped and got some nasty burns that were quickly healed by a passing nurse. Pui Ching failed however, by another player who switched the balls to iron, and a magnetic field that attracted all three of the balls to the opposite side of the field. The boy who was creating this field, suddenly bent down and held his ears however, while another player smirked playfully at him, but didn't notice the... (and so on).

The effect of this was phenomenal, making Panoball the most exciting and popular game to come post-Year Zero. Nearly every school in the world played some form of it, although after the Dissociation Movement of 2076, people lived with and went to school with and formed teams with people with the same abilities. That just ruined the whole point of it. The point of making the best team was having a team with a whole range of abilities that could be used together in creative ways to help win.

The countries that did support large multi-ability communities created their own league for secondary school, university, and eventually college divisions. Unfortunately, Jeremy attended Gerard Clifford Academy, a place that had some serious tradition for the game.

His ears and eyes perked up, however, once the magnetokinetic from Gerard Clifford Academy was taken out for recovery and a girl- no, young lady was put in. She was abnormally perfect, with long and soft dark hair, a kind face, and a smooth walk that was almost a float. She walked slowly through the field, swerving something was coming at her, and arrived at a spot exactly as it was thrown in the air from a Pui Ching player trying not to get pummelled. She caught it with no difficulty, placed it under her arm, and actually whistled as she walked back to the goal, avoiding everyone that went for her with a simple sidestep or something similar.

"Are you taking notes, or are you just going to drool at Valeria all day?" asked Ruby, the girl on the grass sitting next to Jeremy. She had her own notepad, but took this moment to stare at him staring at her.

Jeremy blinked, trying to find what to say, but he really wanted to know how the game was going at that point, and watched Valeria stroll down the middle of the field. "She's just- just... can't I just appreciate her? Her- her body is like a sculpture. She's a piece of art, she is. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful."

"And a breathtaking bitch," said Ruby. "You know, she hasn't gotten any real friends other than the ones who worship her. She's the meanest, most sour, cocky, self-centered person I have ever met in my entire life."

Jeremy continued to watch, nodding to whatever his partner said.

"Listen! Jeremy, listen!" She shook his shoulder.

He had to tear his eyes from the game, but he tried to look at Ruby and concentrate on what she was saying. It was hopeless, though, and within a few seconds, his eyes were back at the girl again.

"Jeremy, listen to me!" Ruby grabbed him, taking both hands on either side of his face to hold him still, although within a few moments of this, she soon felt awkward with it, and dropped the hands. Instead, she looked him straight in the eyes. "You want to make senior editor by sixth year, don't you? We need to focus and get this story. It doesn't matter if Panoball is the most inhumane sport in the entire universe. We still need to cover it in a light that everyone will enjoy, okay?"

Jeremy's head had gravitated towards the game again, and he gave a little nod while the pen next to him floated and wrote illegible words. Ruby gave up, hugged her knees, and watched the game again.

"You do know she wouldn't date anyone like you? She hasn't dated anyone without at least fifteen gifted ancestors, with the exception of Harris Jones, who's got fourteen, but two great-grandparents and a grandmother that were part of the original WTI," Ruby was saying.

"Yeah," Jeremy replied stiffly. "And what am I? A run-of-the-mill eight who wouldn't even be in this school if my Mommy didn't teach here. And even she wouldn't be here if they could find anyone else to teach Classic French. Yeah, I've heard it before."

In reality, Jeremy was a sixth generation, as the effect of having an abnormally old father, but that was all in the package of secrets that were told to no one, not even the exception of a good friend like Ruby. What he'd like to do is punch Harris Jones in the face, screaming to the whole school saying, Know what? Screw your family line! My father ruled the world while all of your grandparents waited on him and his ass. Yeah, I said it. What you gonna do 'bout it?

Jeremy was never very good at acting gangster. That was more of his brother's line of work.

"Hey, isn't that your brother?" asked Ruby, squinting and pointing at the sidelines.

After single-handedly scoring two points, Valeria was taken out with the coach's intention of saving her until the heat of the game. She sat on the bench like a queen, with her hands folded and ankles crossed at the ground. Luke crossed around the back of the bench, looking as longingly at the girl as Jeremy did. At least, he had the better view of the two, and was taking advantage of it.

Luke was always the athletic one, even despite his lack of a physical ability. Had this been a team of Homo sapiens, he would surely be the star player, but since making people forget or remember things in the middle of a Panoball game was not that useful, he was a benchwarmer. At least, Jeremy suggested, he made the team. Luke always talked about how much the coach talked about having a flyer on the team, and how much he thought Jeremy should join the team to just to shut him up. Conversely, Jeremy was never that into sports and preferred activities like journalism instead.

At the moment, however, he was having second doubts. Luke was going around the front of the bench now. He spoke some words to Valeria, and it seemed like... it seemed like she was laughing!

But then, she brought her hands on to her knees in a sickly flirt and Luke sat on the bench next to her, still talking.

Jeremy fumed. He grabbed the binoculars, watching every movement, every expression, every movement that Luke and Valeria made. Luke talked and pointed, being social and minding the players basically trying to kill each other on the field. She just laughed, nodding, and agreeing.

"I can't tell what they're..." he muttered. "Hey Andy!" he called up to a party of friends down the hill. "Andy! Hey Andy!" Jeremy yelled over the crowds.

A confused young man amongst his hooting friends looked behind him. "Yeah? What?" Andy yelled back.

Jeremy cupped his hands and called over the cheering of another point, "What's Luke and Valeria talking- Luke and Valeria! Them, over... over there! What are they talking about?"

Andy turned back around for a moment, while Jeremy waited impatiently. Eventually, he returned with, "She's saying he's a real nice guy! Real funny!"

Jeremy put his binoculars back up, locating the pair. This was an emergency. He gasped when Luke pulled the typical yawn and arm around Valeria's back, and then--

She stood up and slapped him. She started yelling some things that Jeremy could obviously not hear and walked over to the other side of the bench. Luke tried to look cool, running his fingers through his hair and went to cheer his team on.

"Did you see that?" Ruby was doubled over laughing. "Classic!"

Jeremy was on the ground, as well, laughing so hard that he cried. As much as he loved his brother, he would be honest to say that he deserved it.

They laughed and rolled and rolled and laughed until Ruby said they might as well die from laughter right then and there. She said, if she died from laughter at a Panoball game, right there with him, she would be absolutely and perfectly happy. He said he didn't believe her, and missed the hint entirely.


A/N: So I asked myself, what would people play as sports in school? They can't do things like football and track. Of course, the strongmen and the speedsters would beat everyone. It wouldn't be fair.

So this is what I came up with. I believe I was in the car, riding to the mall. And I tried to make it as much like a modern American football game as possible, with all the school spirit, and social scenes with a lack of interest for the actual game. Yeah.