(A/N) Hey guys, can't believe this is going up so late and I'd like to apologise about that, just been so busy that I've lost track of time lately. As a result, this is only going up now, and the Phase One: Genesis chapter that was due to go up today will instead go up tomorrow. Apologies to all, I take full responsibility. Now, get ready for a big chapter, from the smallest of our Grifball ladies. Miss Kiara Thomas, step forward!

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine – Talk Show

Kiara Thomas

Written by Minaethiel

"What we say is important… for in most cases the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." - Jim Beggs

I was scared of many things in life. Needles, zombies, and relationships to be more specific. However the thing I feared most, even more than relationships, was public speaking. I couldn't exactly pinpoint why I feared speaking so much. Perhaps it was being the center of attention, or maybe it was the idea of being judged by so many people at once. Maybe it went down to just that unnerving feeling of having so many eyes on you. Whatever the cause was, it didn't matter much as I smoothed over my knitted blue dress and black leggings.

Normally I wouldn't bother wearing such nice clothes unless I was going out- after all, with all the publicity the female players were getting, I was kind of terrified of being stalked by the press- but today was, well, a special occasion. Occasionally I could hear the clapping of the crowd over the booming voice of the host outside, and when I did I could only wring my hands in nervousness. There were a LOT of people out there.

What if I said something stupid? What if I made a fool of myself? If they tried asking about Rampancy's strategies going into the season, what was I supposed to say? Should I tease the crowd or exude a confident "you'll see?" I sighed shakily, and jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. A short, feminine laugh followed, and I turned to see Ellen giving me a sympathetic smile.

"Nervous, Kiara?"

"You have no idea… I'm not exactly great at speeches."

I felt a frown crease my face.

"Hey, don't worry, we're not going to be lecturing like at a college or anything. We're just going to answer a few questions. Just be yourself."

She gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder and moved away to discuss something with Will, who was looking quite classy in a tux and tie. I resumed wringing my hands, stopping only when the host of the show, Stu Stuman, announced what I was dreading.

"Next up on Stu's Corner, we'll be talking to Rampancy runner, Will Weissman, and two of the first women on Rampancy: Kiara Thomas, and Ellen Thompson. And no, those two are NOT related."

The crowd laughed, and I couldn't help but crack a smile, remembering that Ellen had joked about our similar names when we had met.

"Hey! Kiara!"

Turning, I could see Will beckoning me over to wear he and Ellen were standing. Silver linings, Kiara, this situation could have been a LOT worse. Coach could have sent just you here. Arika, Alex, and Jackson had been chosen to stay because Coach had wanted to run over some Tank and Runner strategies with them. Since Will and I were on the bench for the first game, and Ellen was a Defender, Coach had decided to send the three of us to appear on Stu's show. Will looked the both of us over and smirked lazily.

"Looking good, ladies, almost as good as me. Anyways, just some basic ground rules for this interview. Don't give away any strategies, and don't bring up how the first training session ended. The fans want a strong team, and I'm sure the other coaches will want to see some weaknesses. Let's try not to give that to them, or else Coach will have us running laps until we drop. Oh, and Stu finds it funny to make his guests squirm a little. Just be cool, and don't act like he bothers you, even if all you want to do is punch him."

I cracked a nervous grin.

"Are you the voice of experience for that, Will?"

"Maybe. Who wants to know?"

He was trying hard to keep up a serious façade, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Otherwise, just be yourselves you two."

Be yourself. I was a shy individual. Talking to large crowds was a scary thing to do, and with this appearance I was being asked to be the opposite of myself. Sighing, I looked towards where a coordinator was beckoning us. Ellen gave us all an excited grin.

"Well, this is it!"

Just as she finished, Stu's voice started up again.

"And welcome back to Stu's Corner! Now I'd like to introduce my three special guests for today. Everyone give a warm welcome to Will Weissman, Ellen Thompson, and Kiara Thomas of Team Rampancy!"

A round of applause started, and the coordinator ushered us out. Will, ever used to attention, smiled and waved at the crowd like this was all one big party. Ellen seemed more reserved, but also did her part of greeting the crowd, and me… well, I tried my best to be that ideal bubbly and outgoing person that fans love, but I found myself looking everywhere but the crowd. Cheeks going red with embarrassment, I woodenly shook Stu's hand and settled into one of the posh chairs he offered for the three of us. Ellen was on my right, and Will chose the chair on the left, closer to Stu and his little set up. The clapping eventually faded off, and Stu looked at each of us.

"Welcome to Stu's Corner, you three. The scene outside of the Rampancy training center was quite a spectacle when you three ladies arrived. Have you been as well received by the fans as you have by the press?"

Ellen looked at me, a silent question on whether or not we had been gifted with a courteous entrance into the world of pro Grifball. The face of Ethan, our first naysayer, popped into my head, and I shrugged silently in response. Ellen turned to Stu.

"I find that most of the fans are willing to give us a shot. Obviously not everyone believes that, but us Rampancy ladies can't wait to prove to them that we're just as good as the men."

Ellen's voice held so much confidence and belief that I couldn't help but smirk in agreement. After our mock matches a few days ago, I thought we were even beginning to get Jackson to warm up to us a little. If we could impress him, we could impress anybody probably. The audience sure seemed to be impressed, and gave her a short burst of clapping. Stu then turned his attention to Will.

"Mr. Weissman, how are the women performing compared to yourself, Mr. Rothe, and Mr. Cross in training?

Will looked us over and seemed to appraise us. I met his eyes squarely, partly because I was confident in my abilities, and partly because he was something to focus on besides the crowd. After just a moment, Will gave us a lazy smile and turned back to Stu.

"Obviously they're going to need a bit of practice to make it up to "pro" standards, but they've proven to be gifted players during training, and we're happy to have them on the team."

I smiled proudly, and Ellen looked just as happy to hear Will vouching for us. An image of the crowds cheering for us popped into my head, and I found myself sitting up a little straighter. Stu caught sight of this movement and turned to me, with what was supposed to be a charming smile.

"You've been quiet, Miss Thomas. Care to tell everyone where you got that scar above your eye?"

My hand absentmindedly went to my right eye, and my smile got a little bit bigger.

"You could say that this was my first Grifball injury. Do you want the long version, or the short version?"

"Preferably the version that doesn't interfere with commercial times."

I smiled tightly, trying to refrain from rolling my eyes. It was all time and money to commentators. Some things never change. I cleared my throat, and began to speak.

"Well, let's see here… I remember it like it happened yesterday…"

"Hey, Kiara! Clear the way for me!"

The commanding voice of my older brother, Brian, broke into my focus, and I turned to see where he was. His two friends, Kyle and Felix, were advancing on him with makeshift gravity hammers. Well, if you could count a golfing driver as a gravity hammer. The sticks we were using as swords were taped to their belts for easy access. Re-taping my "sword" to my belt, I grabbed my driver from the harness on my back and charged forward. Two on two Grifball was not an ideal number for a game, but no one else in the neighborhood was as interested as we were in playing. All four of us shared the dream of getting good enough to make our own pro team. We had even already come up with a team name: Whirlwind.

My brother Brian had already pretty much claimed the title of team captain and runner. Felix and I were more of the 'tank' type of people, and Kyle enjoyed playing Defender or back up runner. On this particular day, we were pumped for the championship game between Maverick and Overcharge.

I slammed my "hammer" down near them, and called out, "Respawn!"

Kyle and Felix turned around and immediately ran back to the other side of the yard, and I veered to run in front of Brian to help clear his path.

"Don't worry, Brian, I'll protect you!"

"Good to know that my baby sister has my back, Kiara."

"I'm not a baby! I'm eight years old, Brian!"

"Whatever you say, Ki."

He laughed, and a frown creased my face. I was no baby! As Kyle and Felix finished counting out the 'respawn' time, I put my club back into the harness and un-taped my 'sword.' Both boys rushed towards me, and I could hear Brian behind me.

"Kiara…"

Ignoring him, I ran towards Kyle and Felix, who were both giving me confused looks. However their confusion didn't last long, and both rushed me. Kyle was the first to reach me, and he began to swing his club towards the ground. Thinking I could make the distance and dodge the blow, I leapt towards him with my sword only to feel an immense pain on the back of my head, and see the world go black.

Honestly, when I woke up, I didn't remember at all what had happened. All I knew was that my head hurt, my face hurt, and my brother looked really relieved. My dad was also present and he looked more worried than anything.

"Kiara? Sweetie? How do you feel? What hurts?"

"My-my head hurts, and my eye feels puffy."

"Let me see…"

And that was how I ended up visiting the emergency room. However, as we left, me toting new stitches above my eye and holding an ice pack to my head, I couldn't help but give a toothy grin to my brother and dad.

"My first Grifball injury!"

By the time I finished telling the story it was getting hard to control my laughter. Being injured wasn't funny at the time that it happened, but as the years went on and my career in Grifball took off, I realized that what had happened was generally minor compared to most injuries. Well that and the fact that I had been one stupid kid. The audience had started laughing too, and I felt just a bit of my fear begin to melt away. Will and Ellen were smiling in amusement, but Stu seemed more annoyed than anything. I guess I had taken too long. Oh well, at least the audience enjoyed the story.

"That was an entertaining account of your accident, Miss Thomas. However we've also dug up some injuries from your time in the amateur league. Your worst one was a near arm amputation after the respawn system failed during one of your games, am I correct?"

I flinched involuntarily, remembering that day well. My opponent and I had been locked in a sword fight, and one of his teammates had nearly lopped my arm off. Luckily he had only gone for a stab instead of a full-on slash, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been given the chance to play for Rampancy. Nonetheless, it took a lot of physical therapy to recover and get back into the game. Although injuries like mine were fairly common when the respawn system failed. I couldn't see a motive for him bringing up injuries.

"Fans are also concerned about your win record with… Flashpoint I believe your team was. A half and half record, and that was only the amateur leagues. What do you bring to the table for Rampancy, Miss Thomas?"

I could feel the tension in the room rise a bit. Happy time was over it appeared. However, I wondered if giving away my abilities would give opposing teams an advantage. We were due to play Team Siren soon, the all-female team replacing Hotshot, and no doubt they were going to create a lot of buzz. All of them were wildcards pretty much; we didn't even know their identities.

With a careful tone, I replied, "You'll see what I can do once I get on the court."

Stu smirked, and somehow I could imagine that things were about to get messy.

"We could see what you might bring to Rampancy right now."

The room darkened slightly to allow the audience to see what he would be playing. Clips of my past games appeared, and each one included me fumbling in some way. A botched gravity hammer swing, team kills, and a couple of missed sword swings that even a newbie to Grifball would take advantage of. As each clip played, I could feel my face get redder and redder from embarrassment, and an unsatisfied grumbling could be heard from the crowd. Ellen gave me a sympathetic look, and Will actually looked irritated. His sarcastic voice rang out over the mutterings of the crowd and the sounds of the clips.

"Geez, Stu, I didn't know that Kiara was born a professional Grifball player. I could swear that people always had to be rookies first…"

I took a deep, steadying breath and placed a hand on his shoulder before standing up. Will looked confused, but refrained from making any more comments.

"I know that I've made rookie mistakes and bad plays in my time as a Grifball player, but all of us were there at one time. I've gotten better as the seasons have passed, and under the guidance of Rampancy and Coach Anderson, I swear I'll be a Rampancy player the fans can be proud of. Just give me a chance- hell, give all of the new women a chance- to show that we can keep up with the men," my voice grew a bit harder as I continued, "but don't think that a few naysayers are going to make us go away. We're here to stay whether you like it or not, and that's a promise."

I immediately sat down, saying nothing else. For a second there was silence, until Stu spoke up.

"Strong words from Kiara Thomas of Rampancy! We'll see if Grifball's newest members live up to that promise. Tomorrow, Rampancy will be facing off against the new all-female team in the league by the name of the Sirens. Miss Thompson, how are you feeling about your first friendly match in the big leagues?"

Ellen smoothed over the skirt of the white dress she had decided to wear and adjusted her position into something more comfortable before she replied.

"I'm excited! We haven't run into any other women yet, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other talented people the league pulled from the amateur level. Plus all of our practices are going to finally be put into play. I've been itching to get out on the court."

"Do you believe it will hurt Rampancy's moral if the team gets beat by the Sirens?"

Ellen seemed to consider this for a moment before smiling.

"It might bruise some egos, but nothing more serious than that."

"Well here's to hoping that egos will recover. Now here is a final question for all of you. All of you have mentioned Rampancy this and Rampancy that, but what does it truly mean to be a member of Team Rampancy?"

While Ellen and I contemplated our answers, Will smirked.

"It means being able to successfully pull off a spawn bonk at all times. No, but seriously, it takes heart. Especially when it comes to sitting through Anderson's speeches. Just kidding Coach! You know I love your speeches!"

The crowd laughed at this and applauded a bit, much to Will's delight. Of course neither Ellen nor myself could hold back a chuckle at the shenanigans of our free-spirited teammate. Ellen looked squarely at the crowd as she delivered her response.

"To me, being on Rampancy means that I've been chosen to give my best effort every chance I can to make the team a top competitor this season, and all of the seasons to come."

That was definitely true. Rampancy had lost three players last season to both unfortunate accidents, and just plain player stupidity. We had some big shoes to fill, and it would take our very best effort to fill them in. I thought for just a minute more and spoke up softly, but loud enough for the crowd to hear me.

"Being apart of Rampancy means never giving into the odds, and always being ready to prove doubters wrong. It means having the strength to continue even if you feel like you can't, and it means that, like Ellen said, we're always ready to give our best effort."

I offered a high-five to Will and Ellen, and they both obliged, smiling. The crowd was clapping with approval at our answers, and I couldn't help but notice how this interview hadn't turned out so bad. Getting knocked for some past mistakes had been irritating, but beyond that I felt hopeful that my first season as a pro player was going to go well. Hopefully Brian, Kyle, and Felix would support me as fully in the pro league as they had done in the amateur league.

"Well that about wraps it up today for Stu's Corner. We'll see if Rampancy can give us the show they preach when they take on the Sirens in the first friendly game of the season. Let's hear it for Team Rampancy!"

The clapping of the crowd grew calamitous, and we were ushered off stage as Stu gave a few final words. I turned to the other two, smiling.

"That actually didn't go half as bad as I thought it would!"