Perfect Synergy
"Out of need springs desire, and out of desire springs the energy and the will to win." – Denis Waitley
"Uhh... yes, that's a soccer ball."
"We should use it."
"What?"
"We should have a mutant soccer game!"
"I don't know... I haven't... haven't played in a couple of y-years."
"All the more reason for us to play! Come on, Hank, don't be a stick in the mud!"
"I-I guess it could be... fun?"
"That's the spirit! Now we need to find everyone else!"
Little did I know that that light-hearted conversation would have led to what it did. After it quite literally took us five hours to find everyone I got them on board the soccer train. And that led us to the only place large enough to sponsor our latest endeavour. So, there we stood. In the open lawn that housed that weird golfball structure. Three on three with Angel cheering us on, she didn't pack any shoes appropriate for running. We had decided that the teams would be Raven, Darwin, and I versus Alex, Sean, and Hank respectively. During our trip to find the others I also happened to discover, and by discover I mean I forced it out of him, that Hank was a star soccer player on every team he played with. Sexy. Did I really just say that? Actually, I did when he told me. Do I even need to mention the fact that he blushed? No? Good. But he did. And it was adorable.
Again, there we stood. Sean and myself had taken off our shoes to serve as the team's goal posts. And may I just say that his feet smelled like rotten oranges dipped in vinegar? Yes? Good. Because they seriously did. And it was rancid. So as we all suffocated on the disgusting foot odor we were deciding how to tell the difference between the teams. We couldn't do the colour of the shirts we were wearing because we were all wearing completely different colours. I personally wanted to do shirts versus skins. Not because I wanted to see Alex shirtless or anything like that. Sorry Hank. I was rooting for the street fighter who had wicked biceps. Seeing as we were getting nowhere, guess I would voice my opinion.
"How about shirts versus skins? The boys'll be skins, and Raven, Darwin, and I'll be shirts." I suggested not so innocently. I'm not going to deny any ulterior motives I had that day. They were there. And the force was strong with these ones.
The guys seemed okay with the situation dealt to them, except for Hank, of course. He did not feel comfortable with taking off his shirt. Honestly he could barely stand taking off his shoes much less his clothes. He actually raised his hand slightly. "Umm... could we not...?" He muttered.
I lowered him the most sarcastic look I could muster. "Hank, I'm sure no one is going to make fun of you for your physique. I actually think that Sean is skinnier than you." I offered. Again, sorry Hank, I reeeeally wanted Alex to take his shirt off! Ahem. Anyways!
Hank blushed but he looked like he was going to comply. He turned towards his team who were already stripping their shirts. With trembling fingers he began working at the buttons of his flannel. Not that I actually noticed, I was too busy checking out Alex, and Sean surprisingly. I was right, Alex had a smoking body. Don't think that I was crushing on the angry blonde or anything; I just appreciated a well-toned bod. I appreciated that shit like fine art. Even Sean wasn't a complete bum; he had some abs, nice abs, runner's abs. I heard Raven giggle behind me. These boys were turning out to be a right treat to look at! And I actually meant all of the boys. Hank had shed his tie, shirt, and glasses giving him the sexiest stature I had ever seen. Who knew that underneath his sheltered exterior he had a true soccer boy physique? His hair was slightly ruffled, his face and neck were nice and flush, and I couldn't help but notice the faint six-pac that he was sporting. Yes. That day was a good day.
"Now that that's settled," I paused to rip off my own shirt, "let the games begin!"
Too bad the game couldn't begin because the guys were all staring at me like I was practically naked. I had my ace bandages secured around my chest so I wasn't exposed or anything but that didn't stop them from firmly planting their jaws on the ground. With a traditional roll of my eyes I picked up Hank's soccer ball off the ground.
"Yes, I'm shirtless. Can we please get on with this soccer game before I turn thirty?" I asked sarcastically as I juggled the ball on my knees.
"Just wondering..." Alex started. "Why did you opt to be shirts if you were just going to rip yours off anyway?"
"Because, my angry darling blonde, I wanted to see you shirtless so you guys got skins." I gave him a sweet smile and he blushed the slightest in return. How cute. He wasn't the total badass he wanted us all to believe he was.
With a glance towards Hank I saw that he looked a little dejected. "You're not too hard to look at either, Hank." I gave him a wink and continued to juggle the soccer ball.
Finally, someone else spoke. "Can we please get this game started?" Raven complained from behind me. Guess she could be a little annoying but she had a point. We were spending more time talking and less time shoving each other into the mud. Yes, mud. It was probably raining a couple of days prior. I stopped juggling the ball in time to notice Hank was taking off his shoes. It was probably easier for him to run without his feet being cramped into the shoes he insisted on wearing.
"They're just trying to prevent inevitable." Darwin said suddenly. "Because, inevitably, we're going to kick their asses!"
"Bring it!" Alex yelled playfully before he ushered his team to get into position. We did the same. Raven headed back into the 'goal' while Darwin and I were playing offense. On the other team, surprisingly, Sean was the goalie and Alex and Hank were on the offensive. Actually, it made sense. The other two boys probably didn't want to have to smell Sean's nasty feet.
I placed the ball on the ground in between Alex and myself. He was grinning deviously at me. Did the boy seriously think he could take me? Hmm. Cute. But this wasn't my first rodeo buster!
We had instructed Angel to shoot a ball of acid into the sky to signal the start of the game. Other than that, she would just be cheering the teams on. We heard the sound of acid leaving her mouth and I quickly got the ball away from Alex and towards Darwin. Once I knew the ball was traveling in the right direction I started heading towards the other teams goal. Hank didn't miss a beat. He was on me the second I took off. Darwin kicked the ball up, kicked it up a bit more and used his head to hit it over to me. I caught it with my chest. I let it bounce off, thank you tiny boobs, and I ran with it. I was getting pretty close to the goal when Hank tried to get the ball from me. He tried a little too late, I gave the ball a swift kick with my left foot and it went straight into the goal. Sean had made a valiant dive for it but he wasn't fast enough. The ball shot off into the distance as I jumped up and down and as Sean went to retrieve the ball before it was lost to us forever.
"Go Max! Woo!" Angel screamed from the side lines. I turned around to acknowledge her but all I saw was Hank with a thin layer of sweat already forming over his pale skin, giving it a slight sheen. Man... was it getting hot or what? I clapped him on the back before running back over to my side of the field. Darwin came over towards me and gave me a high five.
"That was a lucky shot!" Sean cried from off in the distance.
"You wish!" I yelled back.
Raven came out of her goal just then to give me a hug. "You're really good at this, Max! Who knew?"
I gave her a smile as Sean put the ball back in play. 'Time to get back into the game!' I assured myself.
Sean tossed the ball over his head towards Alex who began dribbling it towards Raven, who more than likely than not wouldn't make a true effort to stop the ball. Didn't matter though because Darwin successfully kicked the ball out from under him and towards me. Well, I assume he tried to kick the ball towards me but it ended up right in the path of Hank. And Hank didn't see the ball until it was too late. He stepped right on the ball and I winced in anticipation of what I thought was to come. To my surprise, he didn't fall back on his ass. Hank threw his weight forward, brought his arms down to do a handspring, and just as his body started to follow the direction of his flip he flung the ball right between my shoes and right past Raven. Only one possible explanation for how he was able to grip a ball with his feet.
'Damn cheat! He was holding onto the ball with his mutation!' I yelled in my head. I ran up to the mutant who had just landed on his ass, oh now he lands where he should, and was currently laughing at the spectacle he had just performed. I stopped a couple of feet in front of him; he looked really handsome when he laughed. I allowed myself a minute to appreciate his beauty. He didn't look reserved, he didn't look scared; he looked unabashed and happy. I shook my head and continued to approach him. I offered him a helping hand which he took while laughing, still. Once he was standing again I began pounding on his chest with clenched fists.
"You ass! No using your powers!" I said between pounds. Hank was still laughing. We looked back to everyone else, Darwin was going after the ball, and everyone else was so shocked and impressed by Hank they couldn't speak. Finally, Angel began cheering. Alex was the next to break out of his daze, then Sean, and the two boys ran up to their teammate.
"That was amazing!" Sean beamed.
Hank blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "If I can't use my 'powers' then I won't be able to play." He said with a bit of a smart ass tone to his voice. Sports really do change some people!
"No chance of that! I call Hank for every soccer game after this one!" Alex yelled so everyone could hear. I punched him for that. He rubbed his arm. "Ow! The fuck was that for?"
"That was for being an ass, Mister Grumpy Pants." Childish, I know. But it was the best I could think of. I can't give a witty response to everything now can I? Alex gave me a devilish smirk regardless. He bent over, wrapped his arms around my thighs, and took me down to the ground. I felt mud splatter on my back and it was cold. Alex tried to get up after that but I pulled him back and quickly got up to hide behind Hank. I saw Darwin return at that point only to have a clump of mud splattered on my head. I turned around thinking I would see Sean or Alex. Actually, it was Raven. I gasped just before I tackled her. So much for a soccer game! Soon, we were all covered in mud and wrestling each other to the ground. Mud wrestling with a couple of shirtless guys? I deem that an appropriate substitute to watching a couple of shirtless guys play soccer.