The crowd shouted loud as both teams ca back onto the court. The lights were bright, shining on the floor. Music played from the speakers while fans waved banners and yelled nas.
Blacklist ca out first. Nash led them, Alicia and Nia following close behind, full of energy, Drex and Mac closing. On the bench, Jaz sat with a towel on her shoulders, chest rising slowly, while Jinzo leaned forward, elbows on his knees, fists hanging loose, eyes empty.
His face was pale, tired. The ga was still on, but he had already lost.
The change in the team composition made the crowd louder.
"Nash is back! It’s over for Baby-Boom!" soone yelled.
Phones went up, cara lights flashing everywhere, like stars in a storm. Fans leaned over the rails, waving signs with his na. So threw shirts into the air, others called his na again and again: "Blaze! Blaze! Blaze!"
Razz shouted over the noise, voice cracking through the speakers.
"Yo, people, look who’s back on the hardwood! The prodigy himself, Nash Blaze! Underground’s golden boy!"
Vex laughed roughly, talking fast.
"Yeah, man, man’s barely started his career and already got fans screaming his na. That first ga still had folks hooked, but the question is, can he bring that heat again, or was it just luck, huh?"
Razz snorted.
"Pressure’s real now. Jaz is out, so the genius has no escape this ti. Caras out, crowd crazy, all eyes on Blaze. Let’s see if the hype turns to fire or smoke."
Fans stomped their feet in rhythm, the stands shaking loud. The cara zood close on Nash’s face.
Sweat ran down his neck, but his eyes were calm, locked on the ball. The crowd yelled louder and louder, so waving shirts, others filming with phones. Everyone waited to see if the rising legend could really do it again.
Across the court, Baby-Boom’s girls walked out next. Their steps were quick but stiff. Rei looked serious, Kai’s shoulders tight, Aiko’s eyes down, and Miko fixed her glasses, her hands shaking a little. Hina ca last, pale, no smile this ti, just tired eyes.
Then the whole mood changed.
The cara turned to Baby-Boom’s bench, and the cheering started to fade. Sitting there was soone new. A woman, calm and beautiful, legs crossed, back straight.
Her red dress shone under the lights, fitting tight at the waist and low on the chest. Her golden hair looked perfect, glowing like it had its own light. In her hand, a gold fan opened and closed slowly.
The crowd went silent one by one. Everyone knew that face. She wasn’t just part of Baby-Boom, she was the big shadow behind them, the boss nobody saw often.
"Wait... no way, that’s her!" soone gasped. Another fan shouted, "That’s Monique! Baby-Boom’s manager!"
Gasps spread quickly. People stood up, phones flashing everywhere. So clapped without knowing why, others whispered.
"She never cos here!" "She’s from the Upperworld!" "Why would soone like her co down here?"
Monique stayed still for a few seconds, then raised her chin and smiled. She waved her fan like a queen greeting her crowd.
Applause grew louder, caras flashing all over. When a staff mber ran over with a chair cushion, she nodded slightly, like she was used to being served.
She crossed her legs again, fan resting on her shoulder.
"rci, darlings," she said softly, just loud enough for caras to catch. That made the fans clap even harder, shouting her na now.
Razz lowered his voice on the mic.
"Man, that’s Madam Monique for real... this just got serious." Vex laughed, half impressed.
"An upperworld boss in an underworld ga? That’s wild. Look how she moves, bro, like a real diva."
On Blacklist’s bench, Victoria didn’t move. Her glasses hid her eyes, but her fingers pressed into her knee tightly. Dahlia’s gaze followed the cara and froze when she saw Monique.
"She’s..." she whispered.
Monique’s eyes wandered, then locked on her main target. She smiled slowly, abruptly closing the golden fan in her hand. Then stood up and walked over to Blacklist’s bench.
Two staff mbers rushed to her side: one carrying a small bottle of perfu, which he sprayed around her; the other holding another golden fan, waving it gently to cool Monique’s face.
People turned their heads, watching her glide across the floor like she was walking a runway instead of crossing a court. Even the referees stood frozen for a second.
She reached the Blacklist bench, near Victoria, and lifted her handkerchief to her nose, wrinkling it in disgust.
"Mon Dieu," she said. "The sll of sweat and animals in heat... truly, the underworld never changes."
Victoria didn’t move, didn’t even react. She kept her eyes on the court, arms crossed, as if plain air was talking to her.
Monique leaned forward slightly, her smile widening.
"Always the sa, hm, Victoria? Pretending you don’t see now? Such discipline... or maybe fear? I can’t tell."
Dahlia, sitting beside Victoria, felt the tension. She straightened quickly.
"Madam Monique, it’s an honor to see you here," she said politely. "Madam Victoria is focused on the ga right now. Can I help with sothing?"
Monique slowly turned her eyes to Dahlia, as if looking at a bug. The fan opened again, snapping once.
"And who are you, chérie?" she asked, voice low and amused.
"Dahlia," she said softly. "I handle coordination for Blacklist."
Monique waved her fan once in front of Dahlia’s face.
"Ah, a puppy. How sweet. Still licking her master’s boots, I see." She smiled faintly. "You may speak when soone asks for your bark, darling. Go fetch a bone or sothing."
Dahlia simply nodded and sat back, as if it were Tuesday. The staff around Monique looked tense, still fanning her, too scared to stop. Victoria remained silent, not even blinking behind her glasses.
Monique turned back toward her.
"Nothing to say, Victoria? You used to have such sharp words back then. What happened? Did the mud take your tongue?"
Still, Victoria didn’t answer. Her only response was a quiet exhale through her nose.
Around her, the Blacklist bench shifted awkwardly. Jaz leaned forward a bit, even Jinzo looked up for the first ti in minutes, frowning like he was trying to understand what was going on.
So of the staff whispered softly, exchanging confused looks. They had never seen anyone talk to Victoria like that before.
Out on the court, Alicia glanced back toward the bench, eyebrows raised.
"Yo, what’s going on there?" she muttered.
Nash caught the mont, too. His mind raced for a second, rembering the quests the system had thrown at him days before, the one about himself, and two others, one of them about her, Victoria.
He wondered if this encounter, this strange tension, was sothing in which the system would have involved him in one way or another if he had chosen this quest.
Monique gave a small laugh, then stepped back, flicking her fan open wide.
"Ah, bien. I see you found your place, after all. Dirt fits you. Do enjoy it while it lasts."
She turned away, her staff moving in perfect sync, following her back to Baby-Boom’s bench like trained servants.
The crowd didn’t know what had just happened, but the caras caught enough: the tension, the stare, the queen walking away.
It had started as a match, but now, it was a war.
The referee’s whistle cut through the tension again.
The second half was about to begin.
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