Chapter CXCI: Jioball ~Naaro

As the Spectrum pulled into Yoshitopia Arena, the crowd cheered wildly. They knew nothing about Rexxor taking over the arena...they just wanted their game. Rexxor was the first to step from the train. As he did, five Shadow Rexlings walked up to him, tails swinging over the dirt of the arena as they walked. Naaro and the Spectrum's Jioball players stepped off the train next. An attendant came and showed them to their locker rooms, as another attendant took Rexxor and his squad to theirs. On the way to the locker room, Lich walked beside Naaro, having some questions for him.

"Naaro," asked Lich, "don't those people know Rexxor's taken over the stadium?" Naaro shook his head.

"No, Lich, they don't know," he replied. "Rexxor wants this to be a typical Jioball game."

"Can't we try and kill his minions?" Lich inquired.

"Too risky," Naaro answered. "If we do, then Rexxor will order whatever other minions he has to start killing, and everything'll go into havoc. We'll just have to play his game."

Lich nodded, and the two were silent as they continued to the locker room.

"Hurry, hurry!" The attendant cried, aware of the restlessness of the crowd. "We've been waiting for hours, the crowd's going to revolt if you don't get out there now!"

Naaro and Lich attached their Doflokta boards to their wrists, while Timber grew his own. Sebastion and Artanis slid on the Bladiga wristblades, and Kaye put the jai alai-like net glove over her hand for the Myndika position. The attendant then rushed them out onto the field. As they took their positions, Rexxor's squad came out. As Rexxor and Naaro stood face-to-face in the center of the arena, they exchanged a few words.

"Hope you enjoy the brutal beating you're about to receive, Karmali," Rexxor growled.

"You're the one who's gonna get the beating, Rexxor," Naaro replied, his mind in a determined state of concentration.

The remaining crew of the Spectrum had taken places in the arena, making sure to spread themselves out in case Rexxor tried something. With the players on the field, the Zelindrika was brought out by one of the attendants. Up in the Elders' Skybox, Morph Rex stood with a claw to the back of the Yoshitopian Elder's neck.

"Stand and announce the beginning of the game...make it convincing, or your life ends," Morph Rex hissed.

The Elder nodded and stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Yoshitopia, Karmali, and all of Yoshin!" The Elder shouted, broadcasting his voice across the arena and trying desperately not to have his voice crack due to his nervousness. The people cheered, snapshots being taken of the arena and of the Elder. "Today, we witness a great event in our world's history! Here before us, the Yoshitopia Makos, represented by Rexxor and his Shadow Rexlings, face the Karmalia Beserkers, represented by the Karmali leader and his friends!"

The players remained with their eyes focused on their respective opponents.

Beads of sweat began to break out on the Elder's head as he continued. "I believe we have all waited long enough for the beginning of the game...so...BEGIN!"

The Elder pointed to the attendant, and the attendant nodded, throwing the Zelindrika into the air. Rexxor roared, and his Bladigas slammed into Naaro, toppling him over and allowing Rexxor to knock the ball into the air and above a hole. It nearly fell in, but Kaye was there, catching the ball and throwing it to Lich. Lich deflected the ball skyward, over one of the holes, and was subsequently slashed by one of the Bladigas.

He fell backwards, holding the wound in pain. A Shadow Rexling Doflokta saw his opportunity, and slammed the ball toward one of the holes. Kaye tried to get it, but wasn't fast enough, and the ball flew into the hole. The Rexlings and their master roared in triumph as Naaro and the others helped Lich to his feet.

"It hurts..." Lich moaned, the blade having cut deep into his chest.

"We have to go on," Naaro urged, adding, "We can't heal the wound until the Sigmat ends." Lich nodded, and took his position. The Zelindrika was thrown back into play, and this time Naaro won the draw. He knocked the Zelindrika toward a hole, and the Rexling Myndika dove for it. He would've had it, except he neglected to calculate for the ball's speed, and was nailed in the face, hitting the side of the hole and falling in with the Zelindrika. It was the Beserkers' turn to celebrate.

For the next several minutes of the game, things stayed pretty much even. By the end of the Sigmat, Lich was in great need of healing. Rynn rushed to him as soon as the time was up, and healed him immediately. After a minute or so of recuperation, Lich was ready to get back into the game.

For the next three Sigmats, the game was deadlocked. Rynn performed as a Restara excellently, healing the wounded Beserkers as needed. The Rexlings were vicious, and the referees were too afraid of them to make any calls against them. In the fourth Sigmat, Timber struck, catching the Makos' Myndika off-guard and bringing Rexxor and his minions down another point. During the breaktime between the fourth and fifth Sigmat, Rexxor began to plot.

"I want you five Rexlings to find their Restara and kidnap her. Without a Restara, we can easily beat them." The leader of the five Rexlings Rexxor was giving orders to snarled a reply, and he and his fellows took off for the Beserkers' locker room. When breaktime ended, the teams hurried out onto the field. Rynn was the last out.

"This is a violent game," she remarked to herself, silently. She looked worriedly at Naaro as he walked back out onto the arena. "I hope he doesn't get hurt...I know I can heal him, but still..."

She sighed, and began to follow, when one of the Rexlings sprang from the shadows and grabbed her, putting a hand over her mouth and muffling her scream. He then dragged her away, taking her to someplace deep within the Arena...

Naaro looked around for Rynn, noticing she wasn't there.

"What happened to her?" he thought to himself. "Rexxor must've done something..." Naaro growled, and took his position.

The Zelindrika was served, and Rexxor ripped into Naaro with a backscythe, putting a deep cut in his chest and stomach. Naaro doubled back, then dropped. Rexxor cackled, and sent the Zelindrika screaming toward one of the holes. Kaye attempted to catch it, but one of the Bladigas caught her in the back with his claws and flung her backward, allowing the Zelindrika to fly in. Naaro groaned as Rexxor cackled.

"No Restara to help you now!" he chuckled.

Naaro reluctantly got to his feet and faced Rexxor. As the Zelindrika was served, Rexxor slammed Naaro across the face with his board, knocking him unconscious. As Naaro lay out cold and bleeding on the dirt and Kaye attempted to keep up with play, the Beserkers barely held on, falling three points by the end of the sixth Sigmat. Things looked bad, and the Beserkers only had half their roster, with Naaro, Kaye, and Sebastion down.

"We have to do something," Sapphire said to 6400. The God of Warriors shook his head.

"We can't. If we interfere, then Rexxor will kill everyone here," he said, trying to keep Sapphire from doing anything that might anger the Tyranosaurian.

"I can be the Restara! I can substitute!" she cried.

"Rexxor will kill everyone if you do tha–" 6400 began, but he couldn't stop Sapphire as she unstrapped herself and fell to the arena. She landed in a crouch, her landing causing her a bit of pain, but nothing serious. Lich looked over at her.

"Saph, what are you doing?" he cried.

"I'm substituting as the Restara," she replied, going to Sebastion and healing him. She then went to Naaro. Rexxor saw this, and growled.

"No! They got another Restara?!" he roared. Sapphire had now healed Kaye, and was working on Naaro. He slowly opened his eyes as his wound sealed.

"Ugh," he groaned. "What did he hit me with?"

"Some kind of bladed weapon," Sapphire replied. "You're OK now though."

Naaro looked at Sapphire.

"You're our new Restara?" he asked.

She gave a nod.

Naaro smiled, and said, "Well, thanks for the heal."

She smiled back, and helped Naaro to his feet. The Karmali turned to a rather angry Rexxor, and smirked.

"Now, Tyranosaurian, it's time for a real game."

The Zelindrika was served, and the Beserkers went full-force. Naaro won the serve, and slammed the Zelindrika high into the air.

"Hah, what a waste of shot!" Rexxor cackled. He was quickly silenced as the Zelindrika soared back down and went right into one of the holes, unstoppable. The Beserkers dominated for the next several minutes until the Makos brought them down by another point with a late slam by Rexxor, putting the score at -5 Beserkers, -3 Makos. It looked like it was all over, but the Beserkers didn't give up. On the next serve, Naaro slammed the Zelindrika to Timber, who deflected it right past the Myndika and into the hole. With 55 seconds left in the game, the last serve was made. Rexxor won the serve, knocking the Zelindrika to one of his Rexlings, but Artanis was there, slashing the beast clean in half.

I'm not going to go unheralded in this game, he psionically remarked.

Lich moved toward the Zelindrika, and prepared to knock it toward one of the holes, but Naaro saw the Myndika waiting. He looked at the clock...28 seconds. They weren't going to make it...

"Wait!" Naaro's mind cried aloud, as it clicked on a lightbulb. He turned to Lich, and cried, "Lich, knock it skyward!"

Lich looked over at Naaro and nodded, slamming the Zelindrika in the direction of the roof. Naaro crouched, then pounced, flying high into the air.

"Superheat!" he cried, and his board began to glow red.

He came above the Zelindrika, and began to fall with it. He pulled his arm back, and below, the Myndika growled in delight, thinking it had this one in the bag. Naaro glanced at the clock once more...9 seconds. Rexxor looked up, and his eyes widened...he knew what was coming.

"You dumb beasts, stop him!" Rexxor cried to his Bladigas. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. With 7 seconds to go, Naaro swung. As his superheated board collided with the Zelindrika, it became a meteor, screaming toward the hole. The Myndika held his net at the ready, right where the Zelindrika would go. As the Zelindrika hit the net, the Myndika roared in victory, and hoisted his net...only to see the smoking hole in the bottom. The crowd exploded in a roaring cheer, and the Beserkers raised their arms in triumph. However, all was not over yet...the score was -5 to -5. This game would be decided in Overtime.

The Beserkers returned to the locker room, and rested. Things were quiet until Naaro stood up.

"Guys...I'm going to do the Overtime, as you all probably knew before I said." They all nodded. "Rexxor's holding Rynn someplace...I can't rescue her myself, so I need you guys to do it."

"Won't you need healing?" Sapphire asked. Naaro shook his head.
"No, I'll be fine. I just need you guys to find Rynn. There will probably be a few Rexlings guarding her." The group nodded, showing that they would do so. "There's something else, too..." Naaro said, looking them over.

"What?" asked Lich.

"Rexxor's minions," Naaro replied. "If he loses, he'll have them start killing. We can't allow that. I didn't wanna do it because it's risky, but we have to restrain his minions somehow–"

"Leave that to me," a voice coming from the doorway said. Naaro looked over.

"Who are you?"

The man shook his head. "That's not important," he replied. "What is important is that you win that Overtime. Only one of the Rexes needs to be stopped if you can do that. I can handle that one."

Naaro nodded. "Ok then," Naaro said, "We'll let you handle that one." He then turned back to the group. "I still need you guys to find Rynn though."
"We can do it!" Timber replied enthusiastically. Naaro smiled and nodded.

"Breaktime's up!" the attendant called in the door.

The man who had been there only seconds before was gone.

"Which one of you is going to be the Overtime player?" The attendant asked.

"I am," Naaro replied.

The attendant nodded. "Follow me please," he said as he walked toward the arena.

Naaro followed, and the remaining players set off to find Rynn.

"Oh, by the way," the attendant said as he led Naaro out into the arena, "Rexxor forced us to remove the Restara benefits for both of you...hope you don't die..."

Naaro gulped, and stepped out onto the dirt, Bladiga wristblade on his right arm and Doflokta board on his left. He walked to the middle of the arena, and stood face-to-face with Rexxor. It was time to settle things.

"You're going to die here, Naaro...I'm going to get my revenge," Rexxor hissed.

"Over my dead body you will," Naaro replied.

Rexxor smirked. "Why, that's the idea."

The Jioball was then tossed into play. Rexxor slashed Naaro across the face, and knocked the Jioball into the air. Naaro shook the slash off, and barely stopped the Jioball from going into a hole. Rexxor leaped into the air and slammed the Jioball earthward. Naaro dove and knocked the ball back into the air, sparing himself from certain death.

As the two players fought fiercely against eachother, the other Beserker players had reached the Makos' locker room. Lich made a gesture for the others to be quiet, and took out the Cyan Arc. He held it toward the door, and fired a laser at the handle, cutting it out. As it fell to the floor, he kicked the door open. The twenty Rexlings within turned and roared, charging. Artanis ignited his Psiblades and charged forth, cutting into three of the beasts. Lich wound up and threw the Cyan Arc, taking off the heads of another two. Timber and Kaye unleashed several spells on five charging Rexlings, entangling them in vines and entrapping them in vortexes of wind. Sebastion created a scythe of energy and cut the five in half, bringing the Rexling count to ten. The Rexlings charged Lich, and tackled him, preparing to tear his stomach open.

"Take this!" Sapphire shouted, and she fired a number of arrows at the Rexlings.

The arrows struck, and the beasts gurgled, collapsing and writhing on the ground for several seconds before death claimed them. Lich gave Saph a nod, and pointed the Cyan Arc at one of the remaining Rexlings.

"Have a taste of laser!" he shouted as the Cyan Arc fired another laser.

The beam burned through the Rexling's brain, and it dropped to the ground, flinching. Artanis and Sebastion charged forth and slashed another five to pieces, leaving two Rexlings standing between the group and Rynn. The beasts roared, holding their claws to her neck. Lich stood with his Boomerang ready, Artanis and Sebastion with their weapons prepared to slash. Sapphire had two arrows notched in her bow, and Kaye and Timber had spells at the ready.

We can't risk an attack, Artanis hummed, adding, They'll kill her if we do!

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Lich replied. "But we gotta do something..."

"Cover your eyes!" A voice suddenly cried out.

As the last word was swallowed up by the room, a glowing orb of light crashed to the ground in front of the Rexlings. All the Beserkers had their eyes covered; the Rexlings, unfortunately, were not wise enough to understand. The light scorched their very retinas, and turned the colors of their eyes inside out with a horrible burning sensation that pierced the deepest regions of their brains. Artanis saw his chance, and slashed the heads of both off, cutting their painful bellows short. The headless bodies of the Rexlings dropped to the ground, and the bodies of all the Rexlings in the room faded into the shadows. Lich turned to Saph, Kaye, and Timber.

"I don't know which one of you did that, but nice job!"

The three blinked. "It wasn't us," they replied in unison.

Lich shrugged, and set about freeing Rynn.

Back out on the field, Naaro had barely stopped the Jioball from colliding with the ground and exploding. It was getting closer and closer every time...soon he would miss, and it would all be over. He couldn't let that happen...but how could he win against the mighty Rexxor? That's when an idea hit him. He knocked the ball high into the air, and locked blades with Rexxor.

"It ends now, Rexxor..." he snarled, using all his strength to hold Rexxor's blade.

Rexxor chuckled.

"Yes, it does...but it ends in my victory!"

With those words, Rexxor shoved forth, sending his wristblades into...air. Naaro smirked, and slammed his Doflokta board into the Tyranosaurian's stomach, sending him soaring into the air.

"AAAAGH!" Rexxor cried aloud, turning to see the Jioball. He caught it, and soared with it.

"Heheheh...it didn't explode. I'll win!" Rexxor shouted.

It was then he noticed that his ascent wasn't stopping. His eyes widened, and he realized that he had indeed lost just as the Jioball hit the energy shield protecting the spectators and covering the entire shield with a baptism of fire. In the Elder's Skybox, Morph Rex roared.

"Master Rexxor! Grr...now you die, eld–" Morph Rex did not get to finish its sentence as it heard the cocking of a pistol lever.

"You do, you die," the man said coldly, his arm unwavering.

Naaro panted, and hoisted an arm in victory.

"Naaro!" a familiar voice cried, and the Karmali turned to see Rynn running toward him. He smiled, and she jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. "You're alive!" she cried. "I'm so, so glad!"

Naaro nodded. "Didn't you have faith in me?" he jokingly asked.

Both he and Rynn laughed, and he sat her back on her feet as the Yoshitopian Elder walked up to him.

"Sir Karukylis..." he said, holding a pendant in his hand. "You have saved all of us from Rexxor and his minions, and have simultaneously won the Jioball championship for your people. You have much to be proud of, my friend...and this medal embodies that pride."

Naaro bowed his head low, and around his neck was placed an emerald medal. It read: "Championship, Year 128, Captain's Medal".

Lich, Artanis, Sebastion, Timber, Kaye, Rynn, and Sapphire were presented with similar medals: Lich and Timber received gold medals to symbolize their positions as Dofloktas, Artanis and Sebastion had silver medals to symbolize being Bladigas, Kaye had a sapphire medal to symbolize being a Myndika, and Rynn and Sapphire received amethyst medals for being Restaras.

As celebrations began and the Spectrum went back on its way to Caelum, the man who had aided the Beserkers in preventing Rexxor's slaughter climbed into Gundam J-Vector.

"That boy is trouble, but he'll do me good someday," he remarked to himself.

He closed the cockpit of J-Vector, and ignited its engines, soaring back to wherever he had come from...