The next day, Brady and Boomer barely spoke. They ignored each other and Brady left early to train with the Junga ball team. Boz had overslept, though, and Brady went ahead without him. He had to learn from Boomer, who still couldn't forgive him for picking Brady's side. He told the guard in training out of the room. Boz, who did not want to escalate the situation even further, left his brother in peace. It was time to go to practice, anyway.
Not even a minute later, he crossed Lanny in the hallway. He was walking toward the kings' bedroom – and though there was no rule the prince wasn't allowed there, Boz still questioned his motives.
"Hi, Lanny," he greeted the boy. "What are you doing over here?"
Lanny turned to Boz. He shot the guard in training an annoyed look. He did not want to be interrupted.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm still friends with the kings," Boz said. "For now just Brady, because Boomer is a little mad. You heard what happened, right?"
"Yeah, I did," Lanny said and he nodded. "That's why I came here."
He took a couple of steps away from Boz, toward the bedroom where Boomer was alone, in an emotional state, off-guard. Any suggestion Lanny might make would be a welcome one. Boz had no idea what the prince would whisper in his ear, but Boz did not like the thought of that.
"Really?" he said, using the same annoyed tone Lanny had used before. "You think now's the right time?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Lanny said, not even stopping. Boz caught up with him and blocked his path. Lanny tried to find a way around the young man but did not fit anywhere. He glared at Boz – but this was important enough to endure his devious glares.
"Look, you can keep playing coy if you like," Boz said. "I don't mind, but it's annoying. Do you really have to try something now?" Lanny stared at him still – Boz could almost see the cogs in his mind turning, looking for a snide remark for when Boz was done talking. Wasn't it easier for him to admit what he was trying to do? "The big Junga Cup finals are coming closer. Can't you wait until, like, after we've played the final? I'm sure you'd like Kinkow to finally beat Kipi Kipi too, right? Right?"
Because when push came to shove, whether Lanada existed or if he liked the people or not, Kinkow was his home. Even those who were not usually patriotic supported a national team in an international endeavor. He heard visitors from all over the islands say they don't care for lava sledding, for Junga ball, for any sports activity – but as soon as their island's team played against another team, they were all sporting their banners and chanting how their team was the best, equally disappointed by a loss as overjoyed with a win.
Lanny blinked once. "I've never liked Junga ball."
Boz let the hobbit through. There was no point in keeping him any longer. Who knows, maybe what he had in mind wasn't so bad after all.
Also, Boz was really running late and he didn't want to waste more time and energy trying to prevent something from happening that definitely was going to happen anyway.
As it turns out, Brady was a tyrannical trainer. He was more than willing to use his whistle and point out any mistakes, whether they were actual mistakes or not. He believed he knew the rules of Junga ball, yet made many errors and claimed he was right. He yelled at his players, insulted them, never good enough. He was irritable, lashed out when someone pointed out what he said was factually false.
It got on Boz's nerves.
This was not the person he came back for. This was not the person he'd had in mind at all. He thought he was meeting with a girl-crazy, somewhat dimwitted king with a heart of gold. Nobody ever told him about this side of the king: competitive, irritable, all-around terrible person to be around. Boz especially didn't like how Brady tried to give him advice on something he knew nothing about. It made Boz wonder why he didn't stick with the devil he knew, or even whether Brady was worth traveling back for.
After several hours of practice, which at points felt like torture, Brady whistled for no apparent reason. The whole team took it as a way to take a break – there hadn't been many. So the players stood aside, taking their rest, while Boz kept an eye on Brady, who in turn looked at Boomer and Lanny, who'd arrived.
Boz sighed. What had Lanny done now?
"It must be quitting time," Brady said, "because there's a quitter here."
Boomer laughed sarcastically, but the serious look in his eyes persisted when the fake laughter died down.
"Your jokes are almost as hilarious as your Junga ball skills," Boomer said. "I got a question for you cappie: do you really think you have the best team on Kinkow?"
"Ha!" Brady spread his arms as if to motion to the general surroundings. "Do you see another one?"
"Own, you step right in, bro!"
The guards on the team sensed something was going to happen. They came closer but stayed behind their team captain. Boz joined the team in their efforts. Boomer and Lanny turned their attention to the north court, where the gates lead out of the castle. Fog appeared out of nowhere as the doors opened and some sort of music played from a radio Lanny held. The team was confused – when did they have the time to set that up? How did they do so without the team noticing?
Boz had a bad feeling about this.
Boomer danced a little to the music, grinning widely in glee at the gate.
"Come on out, fellows!" Boomer said. One by one, Boomer introduced the members of his new Kinkow team. One by one, they ran in and showed their strengths to the original team, in an effort to intimidate. Boz noted that this strategy worked, he almost shat his pants.
Boomer had picked anyone willing to play. Boz was sure Lanny had a hand in it, as well. First came the pirate Badbeard, who had a passion for punching. Then a Flaji followed, Hiro. Quick, quiet, deadly when invisible. Hibachi came next, a long-haired dwarf who cheated at Shredder beach. The last player was Wally, also known as Bone-cracker. The team danced to the music Boomer provided – a band of misfits, coming together out of Boomer's spite, whispered into his ear by Lanny.
Boz was worried. He noticed Mahuma was, too. But Brady was still confident.
"So, you think these guys can beat us?" he laughed at Boomer's team. "I'm so not scared."
As if on cue, Wally snatched the ball from Mason's hands. He passed it to nowhere, but Hiro caught it easily. The ball continued from Hiro to Hibachi, who stood next to Badbeard. The pirate sunk through his knees, allowing Hibachi to dunk the ball in the hoop by hopping onto the pirate's back.
Brady watched with an open mouth at their efficiency. "Okay, now I'm scared."
Boz had to agree – Boomer's team was a dream team. How did he find these people so quickly? Did they just learn this trick to intimidate Brady, or were they actually good players? Either way, Boomer had created the effect he wanted to create and was visibly happy. He and Lanny walked towards Brady and his team.
"What's wrong, Brady?" Boomer teased his brother. "You look speechless. Let me help you." He imitated Brady by continuing in a higher voice. "Oh, Boomer, your team is so awesome!"
Brady smirked. "That was so not what I was gonna say." When he leaned closer to Mason, there was confusion, fear, and a hint of admiration. He did admit that Boomer's team was awesome and that his own team needed a theme song for some reason. Would that make them cooler than Boomer's team? Not in Boz's opinion. They had a Flaji, for crying out loud.
"I, captain Boomer, challenge you to a duel," Boomer said, inching ever so slowly to his brother. "The winner plays Kipi Kipi for the Junga cup."
"And the losing team throws itself into Mount Spew!" Lanny added. "Kings first!"
Boz wasn't sure if Lanny saw the disappointed and annoyed look on Boz's face, but he didn't need to see it to know what Boz thought about his efforts to kill the kings. Brady and Boomer were still clueless about Lanny's true intentions, and in this case, they even completely ignored their cousin in favor of glaring at their brother.
"I'm sorry, buddy, but the team's already been chosen," Brady said. "The king has spoken."
To end the conversation, he and his team walked to the castle doors, to go inside. The conversation was over, as far as Brady was concerned. But Boomer wasn't finished yet;
"Boomer rebutted Brady by making chicken noises – the universal sign of calling the other party a coward, or a 'chicken', something that Brady was especially vulnerable to. Brady promptly turned around, seething with rage. Lanny saw the perfect opportunity.
"In case there's any doubt," Lanny added, "he just called you a chicken. Punch him in the head!"
Luckily, Brady knew a little self-restraint. He wasn't punching Boomer in the face, even if he really, really wanted to. Instead, he turned to Mason.
"Mason, would you please let this riffraff out of the plaza?"
One of Brady's guards was coincidentally also nicknamed "riffraff'. Brady had to clarify to Stan that he could stay and that Brady was talking about Boomer and his team. After that was resolved, Brady waited for Mason to go out there and disperse Boomer's team.
"I'm afraid I can't," Mason said. "King Boomer has a right to challenge you and frankly, for the good of the island, it may help us to be more competitive."
"Besides, you could beat him," Boz added. "That'd be fun." By this point, Boz wanted all of this fighting to stop so they could go to playing Junga ball together. It would be easy for Brady and Boomer to let all their anger out and put it to good use as their team's Screamers.
Brady had to acknowledge Boz had a point. He also added that Mason always sounded rational and reasonable with his deep voice and how it was starting to get on everybody's nerves. Some of the people in the courtyard disagreed with Brady, and Boz was one of them. Mason had a very soothing voice and that did not get on many people's nerves.
"Alright, enough!" Brady called for silence. When that had returned, he approached Boomer again. "Okay, king quitter, I accept your little challenge."
Excitement rose within Boz. Finally, some Junga ball. Finally some action against another team instead of practicing forever. The only downside was that Boz was on Brady's team – he didn't want to oppose Boomer, even if he chose to be on Brady's team.
Boomer pulled a pirate hat from God knows where and put it on his head.
"It's captain Quitter for you." Boomer saluted his team before turning to Brady again. "Yeah, I got a hat. And I'm gonna give you a spank you'll never forget."
Brady shook his head, a knowing smile on his face. "Bring it on, because I'm wearing a butt-cup. Spank that!"
Brady walked into the castle and his team followed. Boomer and his team stayed in the courtyard, and Boz shot one last glance in their direction. It really was a good team. And no doubt the guards also were very skilled, they were no match against Boomer's band of misfits. They were going to need a lot more training if they ever were going to be ready to face Boomer's team.
Unfortunately, Brady had the same thought.
Brady slaved away. He cared little for the well-being of his team. He wanted to win from Boomer and would do anything to be the victor and fight against Kipi Kipi for the cup. This included standing by the sideline and not doing Screamer training while he yelled at the others to work harder, denying them even more breaks or time to recover.
Boz looked at Brady and saw the worst. He saw a tyrant, with little regard for those around him. A little like Lanny, back when he had Lanada. That was Lanny at his worst, and Boz could not stand to see those same qualities in Brady, a person whom he thought was not like this.
After the last comment about Mason's inability to play like Brady wanted him to, Boz broke. He couldn't stand Brady's abhorrent behavior any longer. He picked up the ball and stared at his trainer.
"When are you gonna do something?" he asked Brady. The other guards folded their arms and looked at Brady – they welcomed this little moment of rebellion against Brady's methods as a break. It was bad this is what they considered a break.
Brady did not appreciate the comment.
"I am doing something," he defended his actions. "I'm training you."
Boz nodded. That's exactly what he had been doing. But that was just one part of two that Boz had problems with.
"Yes, but you're our Screamer and you haven't actually done anything."
Brady only stood by the side. He blew on his whistle and barked insults. He never climbed the tower, never prepared himself in way, shape, or form by trying to defend their hoop and slamming his body into Mason's or Mahuma's. The art of the Screamer was beautiful, its playstyle match deciding. And Brady just stood there and didn't do shit for it. When was he going to train alongside them instead of barking insults?
"I'm taking care of that," Brady said, again using that defensive tone. Boz shook his head – Brady liked the idea but hadn't done anything to make it a reality yet. That was the worst part.
"Are you?" Boz asked. Brady nodded confidently.
"Yeah."
"So you're prepared?"
"Of course."
The arrogance shone in every word he said. Boz nodded again, just once, and pointed to the south Screamer tower.
"Then climb the tower and stop me."
Brady blinked a couple of times. It has been a long time ago since someone talked so brazenly to him, so carelessly. He followed Boz's finger and looked at the south tower. He turned his gaze to Boz again, a disappointed look on his face, shaking his head.
"You know, I'm really disliking your attitude, Boz," Brady deflected – he could not let anyone question his authority. "I expected more of you."
Boz sighed. "And I hoped you would take your role as Screamer seriously."
He tossed the ball to Mason and walked away. Brady was stunned – he had not expected that to happen. After a few seconds, he found his voice again.
"Hey, where are you going?" he yelled. "You're not allowed to go on a break."
"I'm not going on a break," Boz said. "I quit."
"You- you can't quit!" Brady stammered. "In fact, I fire you. you just got fired! You're no longer a Forward."
"Even better."
Those were the last words Boz wanted to spend on this whole ordeal. He was about done with Brady and his horrible attitude. If this was the way he wanted to play Junga ball, Boz wasn't going to let him ruin his favorite sport.
Luckily, someone else also had a team that Boz might be able to join.