Batman was adamant about Damian staying at the school. Though they did end up catching most of the recruitment members, there was still the possibility of there being more at school. So even though a week has passed, the young man had no choice but to stay and keep his eyes open for trouble. Leading to this situation:
"A dodgeball game?" Damian repeated, earning an eager nod from Trisha.
"Yeah. Since senior finals are coming up, the rest of the school gets to relax, blow off some steam. The student council even signed off on all the underclassmen to make some groups to participate in the dodgeball tournament," Trisha quickly explained.
"I get that," Damian stated, picking up the sandwich Alfred made for him this morning. "But why do you want me to sign off on it?"
"So you can play with us, duh!" Blake jumped into the conversation, taking the seat next to Trisha. "We heard about what you did to Jason – and to be honest, we can all agree: the dick deserved it. But you got skills bruh! Skillz with a 'z'!"
"We could totally use you!"
"Plus, Trisha already placed bets on us winning." Blake finally admitted, earning a thwack on the head.
Damian couldn't help but sigh. "So the true reason comes out."
"It's not that bad," Jack chipped in, flipping a page in her book. Damian figured she wasn't listening in, but she did have a habit of giving that impression. "We got third place last year."
"Yeah but barely," Trisha complained, crossing her arms. "I almost lost because jackass stepped the line and got himself out."
"'We'?" Damian repeated, glancing at Jack as she put her book down to properly join the conversation.
Blake shook his head at the accusation. "It was a crap call!"
Jack nodded, shifting a bit so she could properly answer Damian. "Yeah, I played in it last year. Didn't get that far."
"Jack tripped on her ass and got pelted by dodgeballs."
Said female glared at the blonde. "Thanks for reminding me, Blake."
A grin was her response. "Anytime!"
Trisha then scooted in her seat, sliding the sign in sheet closer to the raven-haired boy. "So… Are you in or what?"
Flashes of those people from the other day came to mind before he asked, "Are those people from the mall going to play as well?"
Blake scoffed, rolling his ice-blue eyes. "You mean Rick and the 'Varsity Throwbacks'?"
Trisha grinned, clicking her pen and placing it on the table. "They play every year and win."
Damian smirked right back, taking the pen before signing his name. "Then let's break that streak of theirs, shall we?"
The dodgeball game was fairly easy for Damian. The matches were only two minutes, three rounds and his team was fairly… decent. Trisha managed to convince two able-bodied students to join their game – one of them was even in softball. So it was Trisha, Damian, Blake, Jack and two strangers. Trisha was ruthless, her balls famously smacking her target with more force than necessary, one time knocking a girl on her ass. Blake was good at deflecting and defending his team; always a good skill. Jack was agile enough (probably trying to make up for last year), though was often targeted because of her lack of participation, making her an easy target.
Damian however, was their star player, able to take out as many people as possible and not getting out. He tried to keep his skills down, just so the others could have some enjoyment, but that didn't mean he didn't show off.
Then they made it to the top two. Trisha, for her part, was 'shockingly' modest. Laughing manically, the girl had a large group of students crowd her, most of them irritated and disheartened. "That's right fools! Cork it over!" She then snapped her fingers at one boy in particular. "You too Dante, don't bitch out now."
Jack was next to him, reading a book on 'body language', so she answered his silent question. "Trisha made a bet that we'd make it to the finals. Of course, when she told everyone I was going to be on her team, they'd all bet against her."
Damian quirked a brow. "But you're doing quite well so far."
"I know," Was her simple answer as she placed her book back in her bag before standing. "But believe it or not, I wasn't always this good with sports. Now look at us."
Blake sighed when the team got together. Across the basketball court was the opposite team, co-ed like their own. The Varsity Throwbacks, containing the same group of people that insulted Jack and Damian just a few days prior. The athletes, according to Trisha, mainly focused on football and track, so they had to be careful of harsh quick throws and make sure their balls don't get caught.
"Aim for their legs if you have to," Jack provided everyone, returning a glare to one of the girls that gave the group a thumb down. "Maybe their heads."
Blake was ecstatic, bouncing with energy. He clapped his friend on the shoulders. "Alright, Jackie here is getting fired up. Let's do it!"
"Whoever doesn't get called out in the first round." Trisha started, the group already walking to their places. She smirked, "I'll split my money."
"You bet on us to win, didn't you?" One of the strangers grinned back.
The redhead winked, grin widening. "You bet your ass, sweetie."
Damian shook his head, but couldn't help the adrenaline competition brought him. Looking to the other side of the gym, the other team was ready as well.
One of the boys, Rick if he recalled correctly, shouted out: "You're going down!"
"Put your money where your mouth is!" Trisha shouted back.
There was a tense silence as both sides waited for the coach to blow the whistle, but when she did, it all became a blur.
Damian never saw someone move so fast! He was only a second behind the enemy before she managed to grab two balls right from under Damian, the boy having no choice but to retreat.
They only managed to grab one ball, thanks to the stranger of his team, however, when the boy threw it, one of the football players caught it and shouted in victory. "Oh, get that weak stuff out of here!"
That same athlete pointed to Damian, extending his arm back before slinging right at the boy. His reflexes were fast, so the raven-haired boy managed to catch the ball and aim it right at an opposite member, managing to clip her knee.
"You two!" The coach bellowed. "Out!"
5-4, Damian mused. Let's hope this lasts.
It was a close call. The first round, Damian won by a hair's breath; he was holding back due to the fact that if he didn't, he'd seriously break someone or the ball with his throws. Though the second round, he was too slow to evade the rubber ball from bouncing off his shoulder.
So now the score was one to one. The third round called it. It was such a stressful moment, even Trisha was on edge, pacing back and forth with her team like a mother.
Her smile was absent when she spoke, worry thick. "Come one guys, we can do this. Let's not stress now."
One of the members scoffed. "Easy for you to say, you hit Jason upside the head. Twice."
Then the redhead picked up the boy by the collar of his shirt, a panicked gleam in her eyes. "How is this easy for me! I bet 50% of my money on this game and I am not gonna lose!" She finished by tossing him down.
Jack was the one who stood up, calm before the storm. Or so it seemed.
"Everyone, shut the fuck up!" The normally quiet teen shouted, silencing the group and even a few people on the stands behind them. Her glare was fierce and glowing with annoyance. She looked to Trisha. "Trish," She only ever used that shortened version when she's upset. "Stop yelling at everyone just because of your gambling issues – it's annoying." Then she addressed the rest of the team. "Everyone else, calm the heck down. If you guys keep on panicking, it'll only cause you to make more mistakes. You don't have to relax, but be on guard. If we're going to win this, think of your goal and stick to it. For example: If we win, I'll let you guys in the VIP area of the Kobra Club."
That seemed to brighten the group as they all smiled at each other. Even Trisha seemed to crawl out of her dark hole and grin half-heartedly. Swinging an arm around her friends shoulders, the Trisha sang, "throw in some free drinks, and I'm in."
Damian didn't need any pep talk – he already made up his mind to up his game just a tad – but it was nice to see these group of people convince and persevere together. True friends.
As everyone started making their way to the court, Blake turned to the musing green-eyed kid. With a bright grin, Blake ran his hand through blonde hair. "You ready Demion?"
Damian smirked a the variant of his name, standing with ease as she smirked back. "Let's just put these fools in their place."
Yeah, they were true friends, and he was a part of them.
I was having so many flashbacks remembering my high school days, it was so hard. In my senior year, I was in a dodgeball team but I'm such a dork, I tripped and fell on my ass. I heard everyone go: 'Ohhh'. I was so mortified. But my team kind of won, so that's good. But when I was writing this, I had to stop and wail, 'Oh I hate people!'.
