Blood, blood everywhere.

The dust of the field, the cheering crowd, the Coaches yelling from the sidelines.

And then the boot, a big black boot stomping right on his face...

... Banshee wakes up from his nightmeres screaming in the dark.

"I'm alive" is his first thought, the second is "The match!". Only then Banshee realises he's not alone, he turns his head - it hurts like hell to move it - to see Coach Uedder Street, standing beside his bed.

"Did we win?" is the first thing he asks, the broad smile widening on his coach's face speaks more than the word "YES".

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" Banshee lets go his wildest scream, almost collapsing again from the spikes of pain running through his brain.

"Take it easy boy, you got hurt pretty bad..."

"How bad?" Banshee asks, unwilling to believe what is body is telling him.

"Doc sais you cracked your skull, whatever that means... freaking apo wanted to fix it with a watermelon... I smashed it into his head, see by himself how bad a cracked skull is..."

Banshee tries to laugh, but every movement hurts. "What about the others, how are they?"

"They're fine... everybody's fine" coach Street replies in a fatherly tone.

"What??? I've seen James being cut in half with a chainsaw! And Kyle's head was rolling accross the field... How can they be fine? Did apo fix them?"

Coach Street barely contains himself from laughing at the idea of allowing the apo to save a lineman. "Oh, yeah... those guys... may their scream be heard... what I meant was everybody ELSE is fine..."

A moment silence falls upon them as they recall their fallen brothers. (Coach Street is actually yawning).

"So, when's our next match coach?" Banshee finally asks

"It's tonight. - 22.30 bbtime - We're playing an Underworld team with a badass blitzer and a nasty troll."

"Tongiht? I got to get ready for the game!" Banshee abruptly tries to get on his feet, but stumbles to his knees, his head spinning.

"You're not coming, Banshee. You can't play in this shape. Doc said you'll be back for the next game."

Banshee shakes his head in desolation "You have to win this! You have to!"

"We'll do our best - Coach Street smiles as he stands, gathering his stuff and walking towards the door - Oh, one last thing before I leave... Doc said you'll be as strong and agile as always, but with that cracked skull, just one blow could be enough to get you in the dugout. Doc said you're gonna be 'fragile as a fling'".

And then Coach Street is gone, leaving Banshee alone with that awful thought.

"Fragile as a fling - Banshe murmurs by himself - to hell! I'm gonna Tough as a fling!".

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