The Dons returned to the field. A notably quieter reception welcomed them, but some boys turned their attention to the upper decks of the dome as if faintly hearing enthusiastic cries.
Most of the team went to the sidelines, though Chris led the special teams unit onto the field for the kickoff. The Dons had already done the hard part of any comeback—stopping the opposing team from scoring—now they just had to chip away at the lead, and that could start with Chris's return.
A low rumble filled the stadium as the Longhorns' Kicker charged in and booted the ball towards the end-zone. Chris caught it right at the edge of the playing field and rushed forward.
The Longhorns were still fierce and disciplined. Even with their large lead they hadn't slackened their efforts at all, and a wall of them rushed towards Chris. But there were gaps, and he wouldn't go down easy.
He darted ahead, squeezing past one Longhorn as another snagged his ankle. Hopping, pulling, stretching, Chris dragged the Longhorn forward, but couldn't break free. He fell like someone should've cried out "timber!" and crashed at the 29-yard line; his best return of the day, but still not good enough.
Though there wasn't any time to worry about such failings, as the rest of the offence made their way onto the field. Still, the crowd was muted. One drive could change that; one drive could restore the people's hope.
'We ready?' Jay asked, looking around as the others took their strange new formation.
Cam and JJ flanked him, reaching out to bump fists, and Chris gave a thumbs up from his position behind them all. The formation left another decision to be made about using TEs. However, the Dons had decided against it, wanting more aerial versatility as they kept Stephen and Cole out wide on either wing of the formation.
Confusion rippled through the Longhorns, who had returned to their standard defence for the second half. Pippen cast a worried glance back at Adam, though Adam looked stern and unfazed. He beckoned for the team to close in, and the Safeties dropped lower. Maybe it was obvious what the Dons were planning… but even if the Longhorns knew what was coming, that didn't mean they could stop it.
'Set…hike.'
Jay caught the snap, and turned to Chris, handing the ball over. Chris burst towards the left, following Cam, who slid around the edge of the Line, and knocked a bewildered Pippen off his post, clearing the way for Chris.
But Adam was up to the task. He rushed forward, even as Cam stumbled on to get out in front of Chris again. There was so much space out wide, Chris might not've needed Cam, but it certainly helped, as he faked cutting back in under Cam's block, forcing Adam to put himself more in Cam's path. Bursting back out carried Chris past Adam and into even more open space.
Juan broke away from Stephen's block, and lunged at Chris's side, taking a stiff-arm right to the chest. He fell, latching onto Chris's legs, though could only cling on for a moment. But that was enough to disrupt Chris's stride; slow him down. Jimmy swooped in, squaring Chris up, and speared him into the turf, stopping the run at a gain of 11.
Stephen lumbered over, shoving Jimmy aside, helping Chris to his feet. Officials rushed in, blowing whistles as Jimmy got back in Stephen's face.
'How 'bout you get a fucking catch instead of hiding behind your Running Back, you big bitch,' Jimmy said.
Chris laughed, turning away, pushing Stephen towards the Dons' slowly-forming huddle. 'Ignore him. He's just pissed he's finally having to do anything instead of sitting back and watching like a cuck.'
Stephen snickered, grinning back at an incensed Jimmy as the three went their separate ways.
The Dons were ecstatic with the result, though some said it should've been expected—Coach Short's plans always worked out. All were eager to get back into formation and try again so they could replicate their success.
'Get Lachlan out there!' Coach Bourne shouted. Even Adam was calling for the sturdy NT to join the fold.
Lachlan hurried out as quickly as he could, taking his place in the middle of the Line, huffing quietly as he settled into his stance. With him clogging up the middle, the rest of the Longhorns could stay out wide and contain runs to the outside… at least that was the idea.
Jay glanced around at his brothers and grinned. He moved up to the Center, shielding his mouth with a hand as he whispered to the Linemen. When Jay turned away, the Center had a grin on his face that worried Lachlan just a touch.
The ball was snapped, and then, instead of lunging forward like one normally would on a run play, the Center darted to the side, pushing through to engage the LE, leaving the middle of the Line open. But it wasn't Lachlan who charged through the opening—partially because he was stunned by the tactic—it was JJ and Cam. They smashed through, combining their strength to topple the Iron Block, and continue on their path through the Longhorns.
Pippen was cut off by the double-team clogging the left side of the Line, and Chris had a clear path ahead. He hurdled over the fallen wreckage of Lachlan, then sped away past Adam, who was engaged with JJ, fighting and clawing but unable to get a fingertip to Chris. Cam led the way as they burst into the Longhorns' Secondary. There Jimmy London waited. He backpedalled, waiting for the right opportunity, then fearlessly dove past Cam, straight for Chris's legs, tripping both Dons up at once, causing them all to crash into one another in a jumbled heap.
Cam rolled away from Jimmy and back to his feet, then looked for Chris, helping him up as well. They were both fine, and dusted each other off. Again, the last line of the defence in Jimmy had stopped them, and Cam apologised for not taking care of it, but Chris only grinned. What was there to be sorry about? It was their best run of the day at 17 yards, and it'd brought them right across half-field in no time.
The crowd was coming back to life, and the Dons weren't wasting any time, nor giving the Longhorns any chance to settle. They pushed ahead, and went with another run. Pippen's leash had been pulled, and the OLB was focusing on run defence, but that did little to stop a run that went away from him.
JJ was the lead blocker for this Stretch, and he met Adam head on as Cam protected the back end. Adam lowered his shoulder, but barely budged JJ, only holding him at a stalemate… which just wasn't good enough. His growing frustration was clear in the increasing frantic nature of his bucking and jerking, as he failed to shed JJ's block.
Chris sliced through the defence, getting past Adam thanks to that excellent block. Then there was Jimmy ahead of him again; the roadblock he'd yet to beat. Chris was fearless, and kept sprinting outside, watching and waiting for the moment Jimmy tried to cut him off. When he did, Chris cut back inside, trying to squeeze past his inside shoulder. He was about to turn Jimmy around when the second Safety closed in on, pincering him, and dragging him down.
Again, Chris was stopped by the last line of the Longhorns' defence. Even with a 14-yard run—which put them in the red-zone—he couldn't help but yearn for more, as greedy as that was.
His brothers helped him back to his feet, and kept him locked in on the present; the next run would be better if he put the work in and followed their lead.
Plus, the run away from Pippen set up their next play. At the snap, the Dons surged away from him once more, JJ heading out to the opposite end, with Chris not far behind. Yet just before Jay handed the ball over, Chris slammed on the brakes and shot back towards Pippen's end of the Line.
Pippen was completely wrong-footed. Cam only needed to veer into him at the last second, bumping him when he was already off-balance, sending him careening into his teammates before Cam continued to lead the Dons' charge.
A few steps later and Adam was there, eyes blazing with fury. His energy was more focused, and the Counter hadn't fooled him enough. He smashed through Cam's block, and Chris veered sharply away, running straight into Juan, who met another stiff arm, but Juan latched onto him again, fingers digging at Chris's arm. Stephen rammed into Juan's side, almost lifting the diminutive Longhorn completely off his feet. Still, Chris couldn't break free because Adam was upon him, and there was no escaping his arms, which only tightened around Chris's chest like a boa constrictor.
Stretching the ball out, Chris fell just short of the 5-yard line, setting the Dons up with first-and-goal. The Longhorns' defence was only getting more energetic and determined the harder they were pushed, but the Dons weren't close to giving up; Jay had a plan, and it was one that'd require his brothers' full trust.
He pulled the huddle tight, sharing his conspiracy, and all around him were devious, smiling faces. Clearly, they thought it was the perfect plan; the Longhorns wouldn't know what hit 'em.
The Dons wiped those smiles from their faces as the huddle broke apart and they took their positions once more. Jay steadied himself with a deep exhale, rubbing his hands together until they stopped shaking, then he called for the snap.
Catching the ball, Jay turned and held it out to JJ, who closed his arms around it, but didn't squeeze as he rushed forward. Jay turned his back to the field, hiding the ball against his chest as JJ surged forward, slamming up the middle, trying to push the Center right through Lachlan and into the end-zone.
Cam and Chris hurried forward to assist, selling the fake further. Adam's eyes lit up and he charged forward to put a stop to JJ, hellbent on proving his superiority over his opposite. Even Pippen was pushing over to get in the way as a scrum had formed in the middle of the field.
Which left the outside completely open for Jay, who strolled into the end-zone, untouched by any defender.
It was so casual, and such a shock, that even the crowd took a moment to register what had happened. Only when the officials signalled for the touchdown, despite the scrum collapsing yards short of the end-zone, did most people realise it was Jay who had walked in for six points—the Dons' first points of the game. The stadium erupted with cheers.
Kentavious Senior, having joined the Longhorns' sideline, watched with darkened eyes. He glanced down at his son, but Junior was unperturbed, and took no notice.
Once the rest of the offence had picked themselves back up—Cole and Stephen notwithstanding—they rushed Jay, smothering him in a group hug. With the way they celebrated, you'd have thought they were in overtime and Jay's touchdown had been a walk-off game-winner.
Things settled as they came off the field, though the coaches and other Dons were still revelling. Coach Long pulled each boy from the offence into a hug one after the other, shouting how proud he was of them.
Jay laughed it off, though hugged back. 'Don't thank me… it only worked because of… Coach Short's idea.'
Bella glared at him, though couldn't hold it for long as a smile cracked through her angry facade. She pulled him into a hug as well. 'You're lucky I'm happy enough to ignore you using that name.'
He hugged her back, grinning cheekily.
The special teams unit took the field, and extra point was successful; the score read 30–7.
After the kickoff resulted in the Longhorns' return only reaching the 23-yard line—after which Sebastian slammed the ball into the ground like he was trying to dig a hole with it—the Longhorns' offence emerged once more.
Kentavious drifted onto the field, his focus having shifted from Ty to the Dons as a whole. They were such a curious opponent, unlike any he'd fought before. Perhaps the strangest thing about them—and they were strange—was how dissimilar they were to Ty.
Any other team would've been forlorn after the first half, dreading what the second could possibly entail. Yet these Dons were more fired up than they had been at the start of the game. How? They were clearly outmatched; clearly not the best. Even if they got one touchdown back the Longhorns would just keep piling them on. What could make them fight so hard?
Ty was a simple creature in compare. He thought he was the best—and had a good case for it—so he fought to prove he was by defeating the best. Such was his conviction that a few setbacks, no matter how large, wouldn't cause him to quail.
In a way, he was like Kentavious—though Kentavious was far beyond needing to prove himself. He fought now so others realised there was still so much higher to climb before they reached the peak …so he could find one to share that peak with.
Yet Kentavious's thoughts turned back over to the Dons. Their smiles, their laughter, and how quickly both could bleed into such grim determination. He couldn't get the images out of his head. How'd they find the time for such happiness in a game where they were losing so hard?
'Why?' he said. Ty didn't respond to the question at first, so Kentavious repeated and expanded: 'Why do they fight?'
The question was an attack, one that disturbed Ty's focus for a moment before he shook it off. He grunted. 'After I'm done beating you, you can go and ask them.'
Kentavious chuckled. He should've expected as much. Ty was focused, and dangerous; he needed to be as well.
'Maybe after I beat you down again, they'll stop fighting, and I'll have my answer.'
The ball was snapped; Kentavious feinted outside, but no spear came, and when he burst up inside, Ty was there, blocking his path, forcing him to dip lower, squeeze through harder, slowing him. He wasn't stopped completely, but Ty was on his hip, like they were stuck together… it was strange. Like feeling some sort of magnetic pull towards Ty; he'd just have to work harder to break free.
Instead of fighting against the pull, Kentavious pushed into Ty, then cut inside, and when Ty followed—pushing off his back foot—Kentavious skipped ahead, straightening. The double-move bought him the half-step he needed, and Morrison capitalised quickly; Ty wasn't the kind of Corner you could give much time to.
There wouldn't be time to turn. Kentavious just had to leap, high into the air, glancing back over his shoulder as he watched the ball… soar… drift… through the darkened sky, like a satellite lost in space.
No-one else was in sight—not the fans, not his teammates, not the officials, and thankfully not his father. It was just Kentavious, the ball… and Tyrese.
Ty's hand stretched up, a claw raking across the void of space, aiming to tear the satellite from the sky. But Kentavious was there, his hands reached higher. It didn't matter if Ty was in front of him, he wouldn't reach the satellite—ball. It was a ball, Kentavious reminded himself. And it belonged to him.
Yet the ball dipped faster than it should've. Had Kentavious misjudged the trajectory? Did Morrison underthrow? But he should've been worried into overthrowing… whatever the cause, Kentavious's hands darted forward, but it was too late. Ty got a fingertip to the ball. That's it, just a lonely fingertip. The middle one of course, like it was done intentionally for Kentavious's benefit.
Whether through luck or some other supernatural force, the ball flicked up higher into the air, but it's momentum had been sucked away, and Kentavious was still drifting away. The ball went straight upup, and what came up…
Kentavious grabbed at the ball, but only came away with air. Ty fell, and the ball fell with him. Landing, Ty dove forward, and clamped the ball to his chest just before it hit the ground.
The stadium reappeared with a rush of air—a harsh intake of breath from dozens of thousands all at once. Kentavious stumbled, but Ty was getting back up. Kentavious pounced forward, knocking Ty back down just before he scrambled to his feet. Yet that didn't erase the interception, nor his failure. It merely limited it.
Ty rolled forward, then to his feet. He stood, back to Kentavious, but it was clear he was standing over him. Again, there was nothing and nobody else around them, just Kentavious and Ty, though this time the sky was blue, and there was ground beneath them. They stood on the mountaintop, and Ty was perched on the highest rock there was.
'You asked why my brothers fight?' Ty said. Kentavious took a moment to register the words. Ty, with his distant gaze and towering stance, looked as if he was alone in the world. 'They'd say they fight for each other; for their family… but I think its simpler than that—they fight because its fun.'
He turned his head to Kentavious finally, staring down at him with eyes so deep and dark they could've birthed the cosmos, but the grin beneath them—wicked and sharp—spoke only of destruction. Those eyes were twin black holes, ready to consume everything in their sight.
'You should remember to have fun, Kentavious. It's the only thing a loser like you can get out of this game.'