"Five! Six! Seven! Eight!" the children shouted as they spin Madison around, who was laughing and wearing a blindfold, "Nine! Ten!"

"Now you have to find us!" the girl shouted.

"And don't take the blindfold!" the boy shouted.

Madison giggled and she felt dizzy but stood her ground as she tries to hear any noises. She slowly took some steps as she was still blindfolded but smiled.

"Make any noise!" she said until she heard a few giggles.

She turned around and try following the sounds but heard the sound of movement from behind. Madison chuckled and turned to followed to where the sound.

"Where are you now?" she asked playfully as she heard more giggles until she heard footsteps, "I can hear you now."

Madison turned to where she heard the footsteps until she touched something.

"Found you." she said as she was touching the cloth but realized that it wasn't a kid.

Madison starts tracing the clothing. It was a sleeve but when she reached to wear the shoulder was, there was another clothing. Madison's smile started to fade as she felt more of the second clothing. It was a vest. She quickly took the blindfold off to see who she was facing.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she jumped back, "Tulio!"

It was indeed Tulio. But he wasn't alone because Chel was standing beside him. The man looked at her with a stern look which gave Madison a fright. He grabbed her arm and starts dragging her.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!" she shouted but Tulio ignored her.

Her heart was pounding fast that she felt like having a panic attack. She didn't like trouble, but she was out before Tulio and Miguel got back to the temple until Miguel was out. Straight ahead, Madison saw Miguel still playing the ball with the kids including the chief. While the chief hit the ball high from his hip, Miguel start running after it, having the time of his life but then stopped as he saw Tulio glaring at him and grabbed Madison. The ball hit Tulio's head which almost caused Madison to laugh but kept a straight face as he was looking at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" he growled at the two.

"Lying low." Miguel answered.

Tulio glared at the two which Madison hid behind Miguel, but the black hair calm himself down.

"Look, change of plans. We have to grab what we can carry and get out of here now!" he whispered to the two.

"What? Why?" Miguel asked in confusion.

"Because the high priest is nuts! He wants..."

"This is unacceptable!" Tzekel-Kan spoked as he was behind Tulio.

Madison knew what the next scene. Hoping she won't be part of it.

"Yeah. Yeah. Like he said." Tulio acted as he was agreeing the priest.

"The gods should not be playing ball like this!"

"Well, exactly!"

The scene changed as they were in a ball court. Madison was sitting to where the chief and the high priest would be at. She looked at the court to see her friends with the chief and Tzekel-Kan was standing in the middle.

"This is how the gods should play ball!" the priest spoke.

The whole crowd was cheering, and the sound of the horn was blowing. Miguel was looking around with mouth dropped but turned to see Tulio glaring at him.

"Well, don't blame me."

"I blame you." Tulio growled and muttered, "What is the object of this game, pray tell?"

"You've gotta knock the ball through the hoop." Chel explained.

"What hoop?"

"That hoop." she pointed.

The guys looked up to see how high the hoop is. And difficult to get the ball through it.

"That's impossible. We're gonna lose." said Tulio.

"Gods don't lose." Chel corrected.

Madison looked at the hoops from the distance. It looks like basketball but a lot different because the hoop is the other way around and they had to kick and use the hips instead of hands. Kind of like soccer. But as she saw Tzekel-Kan snapped his fingers, fifteen men appeared in a rush. They looked fierce and tough and that concerns her.

"My lords, Chief Tannabok's warriors are the finest ballplayers in the city." the priest spoke as he introduced the con men to the warriors, "Fifteen mere mortals against two gods."

Miguel and Tulio felt scared with their sheepish smiles and gulped.

"I realize it's a bit uneven, but I do hope they'll challenge you enough to make the game... interesting. Play ball!" the priest shouted as he placed the ball in the middle of the court, "Crush them into the dust. Enjoy."

As soon as the game started, Madison looked to the direction where Tzekel-Kan and the chief came to their seats. The priest sat beside her while the chief was behind.

"I do hope you enjoy this game, my lady. This is the kind of entertainment you should watch." the priest spoke to her.

"I will be enjoying it." she spoke to him as a hidden smirk was on her face, 'I always know the gods will indeed be won with some luck.' she thought.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and Madison saw the warriors heading straight towards the ball. With one kick, Tulio ducked, and ball almost hit Chel, but she is alright. Chel face palmed on that movement and the warriors watched the ball bounced a couple of times.

"My lords," Tzekel-Kan spoke as he got off from his seat, "were you not supposed to put the ball into play?"

"Ohh!" Tulio spoke as he got up, "Well, no, no, no, no, no... We were merely demonstrating the, um, traditional, uh, first avoidance maneuver."

'Nice cover on the excuse.' Madison thought as she and the chief looked at Tzekel-Kan.

"I've never heard of such a thing." he said as he was taking it.

"Excuse me." Miguel spoke in a question face, "Who invented this game?"

'Oh, Miguel.' Madison though as she shook her head, 'You shouldn't have asked that.'

"Why, the gods, of course." Tzekel-Kan chuckled.

Madison looked at her friends and as she saw Miguel serve the ball, the game started. One by one, the warriors kicked the ball, even hitting it with their hips. Miguel hit the ball it went straight towards the hoop. It didn't go through, but it was close.

"Tulio! The hip! The hip!" Chel shouted as she was showing him how with the armadillo.

Tulio did what she said but the ball was so hard that it hurt his hip. It was even close to the hoop.

"This... is impossible." said Tulio as he was talking to Miguel and catching his breath.

But as the two turned, one of the warriors have the ball through the hoop. They cheered as they score a point, leaving the guys' jaws dropped in shock.

As the game kept on going, Madison watched until the warriors scored another point. She moved her eyes to the side to see Tzekel-Kan frowning like something's not right. That made her feel nervous but decided not to show it. The warriors kept on going but as they went past Tulio and Miguel, a gust of breeze came through that cause their hair to poof out. Madison almost chuckled but kept a straight face.

Seven points later, the warriors were now up to nine points and for the con men... nothing. One more point, the game be over, and Tzekel-Kan may do something. Miguel and Tulio looked so exhausted as they tried to reach for the ball, but the warriors beat them to it.

"Foul! That was a foul!" Chel yelled.

The guys tried to get the ball again but still, the warriors beat them to it. Madison continued watching until she saw the ball coming towards to where she was but almost hit Chel and that's when she knew what's going to happen next as she could tell the armadillo curled up into a ball.

"New ball!" the warrior shouted.

Tulio and Miguel were really exhausted from the sport. They were catching their breath while Chel approached to them with the armadillo ball.

"How long does this go on anyway?" Tulio panted.

"The game is over when the shadow touches this line." Chel explained as she pointed at the shadow.

"We need a miracle." said Miguel.

"No, we need to cheat." said Tulio.

Chel showed the guys the ball as the armadillo's eyes peeked through the hole. The boys were confused but as the game started, the warriors ran straight towards them.

Madison watched as the ball jumped from Tulio's hands and moved around. The warriors tried to kick it, but the armadillo ball dodged from them. It went towards around Miguel as it was on him but with one great leap, it went through the other side of the hoop. The horn blow loudly and the crowd cheered including Madison. The next game, the warriors tried to score through the hoop, but armadillo pushed back from it, leaving them confuse.

They kept on kicking but the armadillo dodge and heading straight towards Tulio. With his hip, he hit the ball and flew through the hoop. Tzekel-Kan clapped with enjoyment while Chel jumped for cheer. Madison smiled as she saw the guys' points going up but also watched the armadillo ball kept on going through the hoop back and forth. Now it was a tie between the warriors and the guys.

This amazed Tzekel-Kan as he said to make the game interesting. Madison watched her friends cheering and was close to victory but as she saw the armadillo go back to where Chel was. She couldn't see but saw Chel throwing the ball back. Altivo decided to join in the game as he hit the ball to pass it to the guys on his back. The two were having the time of their lives until something happened.

Madison watched as the two reacted in shocked and knew what happened. Chel threw the wrong ball, and it wasn't the armadillo. Madison was on the edge of her seat as Altivo jumped high. She saw Miguel jumped off the horse's back and starts hitting the ball to the hoop. The crowd gasped and Madison grew concern along with the chief but saw the ball was stuck.

Altivo was near the wall as he looked both ways. With a smirk from his long face, he banged his hoof at the wall and with a sudden movement... the ball went through the hoop.

The crowd cheered as the horn was blown. The game was finally over, and Madison jumped out of her seat with a cheer.

"I love this game!" Tzekel-Kan shout with glee.

Madison quickly went down the stairs and rushed toward her friends.

"Guys! You did it! You totally did it!" she said as she hugged Miguel until Tzekel-Kan approached to them.

"My lords, congratulations on your victory." he said to them, "And now, you will, of course, wish to have the losing team... sacrificed to your glory."

"Wait. What?" Madison spoke as she looked at the warriors, bowing down on their knees.

The whole crowd gasped, and the chief was shocked as Madison, but Miguel frowned.

"Not again." he muttered and the spoke up as he faced the high priest, "Look, Tzekel-Kan!"

"Uh, Miguel?" Tulio spoke as he was trying to stop his partner.

"Forget the sacrifices. We don't want any sacrifices."

The high priest looked confused as he looked at him.

"But all of the sacred writings say that you will devour the wicked and the unrighteous." he corrects him.

"Well, I don't see anyone here who fits that description."

Tzekel-Kan's mouth was a gap in shock as he looked at everyone, including the chief, and looked back at Miguel.

"Well, as speaker for the gods, it would be my privilege to point them out."

"The gods are speaking for themselves now! This city and these people have no need for you anymore!" he said. He pushed the priest a side and helped the warriors up on their feet, "There will be no sacrifices! Not now, not ever!"

The crowd cheered for Miguel and Madison smirked at his command while Tzekel-Kan was still shock.

"Get out!" Miguel commanded as he glared at the priest.

Madison smiled at his words to the priest until that smile faded as she saw blood dripping down on Miguel's head and turned to see Tzekel-Kan. He let out a wicked grin and bow.

"As the... gods... command." he said as he was moving back to the shadows.

Once he was gone, the warriors lifted Miguel for his victory and his command while some lifted Tulio up.

"Hey, not bad for my first commandment, huh?" Miguel said to his partner as the warriors took him far from him.

"Miguel, the little voice... Yeah, fine." Tulio shook his head but let out a smirk while the warriors took him to another direction.

Madison watched as the warriors carried around the guys to victory but ran towards to the ones carrying Miguel.

"Excuse me gentlemen, I need to speak to Lord Miguel alone for a moment. If that's alright." she said to them.

"As you wish my lady." one of the warriors spoke.

They gently put Miguel down and walked away to be with their team. Miguel watched them go but then turned to face Madison.

"What's up?" he asked until he felt her hand holding his.

"Come with me." she said dragged him away.

They came to a spot where no one was around, and Madison took her necklace off. Miguel looked confused at first until the crystal went close to his head. It started to glow, and a small beam came around his head until it stopped.

"That felt tingling. What was that for?" he asked.

"Your head was bleeding. Just a small cut." she answered as she put her necklace back on.

"Oh yeah. It must have been where Tulio accidently elbowed me." said Miguel as he was rubbing the side of his.

"But I also want to say I'm proud of you for telling Tzekel-Kan off. I couldn't stand an innocent person get sacrificed."

"Neither do I. I did hear Tulio about that little voice, but he decided to let it slide."

"Perhaps it wasn't the little voice, Miguel. You spoke from your heart. That's what you did." Madison smiled.

Miguel smiled back at his friend and held her hand.

"Maddie, you spoke such wisdom that it makes me smile."

Madison blushed.

"When you travel with adventures, you learn somethings." she said.

"And maybe I'll do that. If Tulio would allow that." said Miguel until they heard voices of cheering.

"They probably need you. Go out there." she said.

Miguel started to walk away but as he stopped, he quickly went back to Madison and kissed her cheek. That really surprised her as she looked at him. He smiled and quickly went back to the court.

Madison was lost for words as she placed her hand on her cheek. No other man except the person she loved, would kiss her on the cheek until she saw her gem glowed a few times as it was teasing her.

"Oh, quiet you. You know I already have someone." she said to it but smirked.

To Be Continued...