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[Bojikstan]

WELCOME TO BSN
YOUR HOME FOR THE NEWEST POWER IN THE MULTIVERSE... AND MAYBE SOME BREAKING NEWS FROM BEYOND?
Posted by BSNstaff

All of the sporting news from Bojikstan, compiled in one location. From Liga B to Liga B2 to national team updates, to American football, to everything else! It's all here, for historical documentation purposes as Bojikstan’s sporting scene grows into something internationally noteworthy. BSN is also the main source of breaking news on the sports scene in Bojikstan, and is the largest sports media corporation in the country. A subsidiary of the Strasburg Broadcasting Company, the company is based in Morievo and has offices and reporters everywhere else in the country, from the western shores to the eastern hills, and the forests in the middle of the country. This is the online international edition of the network, providing content of interest for the worldwide audience.

NATIONAL TEAM RECORD

Independents Cup 3: 4-0-3, fourth place

LIGA B RECORD

Liga B introduction and winners
2017 Season Review
2017 MVP voting results

GALLIAN UNION

Union Premier League Cycle 67 Results
Mariner Cup Cycle 67
Regional Leagues & Expansion Announcement

Familia, Part One

MISC.

Fire and Water, Parts 1 & 2
Fire and Water, Parts 3 & 4
Fire and Water, Part 5
Fire and Water, Part 6
Breaking Kayfabe 1

[Bojikstan]

reserved for misc stuff

[Bojikstan]

LIGA B INTRODUCTION
Or, a quick foreigner's guide to what will probably be the best league in the multiverse eventually
Posted by BSNstaff

What is Liga B? It’s a grand story that brings together a country that’s split by many other lines off of the football pitch. It unites at some times, and fires up conflicts at others with its passion and regional nature. It’s the country’s favorite tradition, but it’s also new and on the cutting edge of advancement. There’s plenty of studs up tackles and physical play, but there’s also a growing amount of science and stats, with every team hunting for an advantage. There’s order, with three teams from top cities historically having the advantage over the field, but there’s also chaos, with underdogs surprising the favorites and making history almost every year.

So what is Liga B? It’s the first tier of football in Bojikstan, a league where one team is crowned champion and one team is sent down to B2. Clubs battle through Liga B3 East or West to get to B2, and then grind their way through the second tier to make it here… Once they do, it’s always a fight to stay, and it’s never an easy one, but the rewards are excellent for those who win. Foreigners are barred from entering the league, ensuring that there’s also a competition for spots on the new national team… Liga B is the biggest do or die battle for supremacy since the Bojikstani Civil War.

List of professional football winners in Bojikstan
1990: FC Strasburg
1991: FC Strasburg
1992: 1898 Odena
1993: SC Selta
1994: 1898 Odena
1995: Vorsji Athletic
1996: FC Strasburg
1997: LSK Odena
1998: FC Strasburg
1999: 1898 Odena
2000: 1898 Odena
2001: 1898 Odena
2002: Vorsji Athletic
2003: FC Strasburg
2004: 1898 Odena
2005: SC Selta
2006: SC Morievo
2008: Vorsji Devils
2009: FC Strasburg
2010: Vorsji Athletic
2011: SC Selta
2012: 1898 Odena
2013: Vorsji Athletic
2014: FC Strasburg
2015: FC Strasburg
2016: FC Strasburg
2017: Strasburg Saints

[Bojikstan]

LIGA B 2017 SEASON RESULTS

   Liga B                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Strasburg Saints       36   19   9   8    79   61  +18    66
 2 FC Strasburg           36   17  12   7    84   62  +22    63
 3 SC Morievo             36   17  10   9    76   60  +16    61
 4 1898 Odena             36   17   9  10    84   64  +20    60
 5 Athletic Vorsji        36   17   8  11    74   61  +13    59
 6 Selmby IK              36   13  10  13    73   68   +5    49
 7 Vorsji Devils          36   11   9  16    69   83  −14    42
 8 LSK Odena              36   10   8  18    65   80  −15    38
 9 SC Selta               36    8   9  19    50   80  −30    33
10 Cordona FC             36    4  10  22    62   97  −35    22

More analysis coming soon...

[Bojikstan]

TOP PLAYERS OF THE LIGA B 2017 SEASON

The Liga B is a league with a number of stars, despite not being known to foreigners. The top teams of this league can boast star studded lineups featuring millionaires, while the lower ranked clubs are typically experts at staying up through developing their own talents. Even in the mid table, most clubs have at least one player that acts as their face, representing them as the most recognizable and most loved member of the squad. Here’s BSN’s list of the top five players, which culminates with the league MVP award.

NUMBER FIVE - ARTEM DELACRUZ - SC SELTA: Delacruz is only twenty-three, but Selta wouldn’t have stayed up without him. The young national team forward has been with the club since he was a twenty year old that came over from the second division’s Odena Reds. This season, however, was his coming out party. He isn’t a big bruising striker, but his technical skills are second to none and he knows how to get the ball past the last defender. He started in thirty-three of the thirty-six matches played, and scored twenty-one to go with six assists.

NUMBER FOUR - ERIC DERN - SC MORIEVO: The first playmaker on the list is Eric Dern, who ran Morievo’s dominant midfield and was all over the pitch during almost every game. His average position heat map shows that he really was everywhere, and the impact of that was shown on his stats sheet. Despite only scoring four, he finished the season with seventeen assists and led the team in overall match rating in the vast majority of their games. He wasn’t a defensive liability either, getting back when the situation called for it and having a high enough football IQ to not just chase goals and assists.

NUMBER THREE - VIKTORIA AYALA - FC STRASBURG: Keeper hasn’t always been their strongest position, but Strasburg has a star in her prime that they can build a defense around for a long time to come. At twenty-five, Viktoria Ayala was a late bloomer that only just now claimed her starting job full time, but once she established herself, there was no question that she would hold onto the job. One of the players that considers herself too good to play for the national team with citizens of the other region of Bojikstan, she does alot of things that teams look for in keepers these days. She’s rangy, has strong leaping, and she can play the ball well at her feet. This year, she led the league in saves.

NUMBER TWO - JASON HOVDENAK - SC MORIEVO: The only defender on this list is Jason Hovdenak, who was at the heart of the league best Morievo defense. If there’s such thing as a central defender with the football IQ of a top level midfielder, it’s Hovdenak. He’s a pure athlete, as any defender needs to be, but one of his biggest weapons is his mind and his ability to read space and tell where he needs to be to get in the best position to shut down chances. This season, he did that more times than any other central defender, and his presence was the most crucial thing in Morievo victories. With his impressive play at a valuable position, Hovdenak is the favorite to become the first Bojik player to make a move abroad.

NUMBER ONE - ALEXY HESSE - FC STRASBURG: Strasburg has two players in the top three, with the second being Alexy Hesse, the star of their midfield and the man that’s also become the face of the national team for his play in between the midfield and forwards. Hesse is a shifty figure that’s hard to bring down when the ball is at his feet, and even though he can attack by himself, his vision is what really makes him great. He doesn’t sacrifice his vision when attacking, and it makes him one of the most dynamic players in the country. It also helps that his top quality teammates have been good enough to finish most of the chances that he’s created for him, compared to other teams with strong midfields and weak attacks. The MVP award is much deserved for him.

BONUS: YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - LIV ANDRADE - FC STRASBURG/DEVILS: The young player of the year is another member of the FC Strasburg organization, though she was loaned out to the Vorsji Devils after failing to break through in the first team squad under Marco Christensen. Andrade, who has eight appearances for FC Strasburg, plays with a reckless abandon that’s a throwback to the days of old. She frequently uses street moves and technical skill on the ball, and plays with wild hustle off of it. That hustle quickly endeared her to the Devils team, where she started most of their matches and scored nine goals, also finishing with thirteen assists as an attacking midfielder.

[Rushmori Bojikstan]

TERRITORIAL LEAGUE 2017 RESULTS

  Territorial League         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Providentia United          20   13   5   2    50   29  +21    44
2 South Prov. FC              20   10   7   3    45   36   +9    37
3 Providentia Shamrock        20   11   3   6    52   40  +12    36
4 Goldtown FC                 20    8   1  11    37   47  −10    25
5 Sporting Goldtown           20    3   5  12    33   44  −11    14
6 College of Providentia      20    3   3  14    36   57  −21    12

Taking place on the two main islands that make up Rushmori Bojikstan, the Territorial League is a growing competition that is receiving increased funding from the BFF. The traditional big three teams, Providentia United, Providentia Shamrock, and Goldtown FC, are professional. The bottom half of the league is semi professional at best. The stadiums are also smaller and everything in general is smaller than Liga B, especially outside of the rich city of Providentia, which was mostly settled by Bojikstani migrants. Providentia, located on the island of the same name, is where the airport and the largest population is. Golden Atoll, the home of Goldtown, has produced many players that have went on to play in Liga B, however, an also has a higher percentage of fans attending the matches. These days, though, Zhirov Oil is moving further and further into the region, even funding the Territorial League in exchange for some shady drilling rights in Golden Atoll.

Providentia United remained the most successful team in the territory, finishing with forty-four points and playing dominantly in the process, with a front line featuring hot prospect Cheng Yang and a defense that utilized the young Catia Resendes Andrade, who is notably the sixteen year old sister of the much more famous Livia Andrade. Rivals SPFC did give them a title challenge, however, which is a change from certain past seasons... As always, there's a focus on development in this league, and the real intrigue will come from where certain players choose to play, particularly the ones moving to Bojikstan at the window.

More season info coming soon...

[Bojikstan]

BOXING: LBL MAKES CALL TO INTERNATIONAL FIGHTERS; CRUISERWEIGHT, HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENTS COMING SOON

ODENA, BOJIKSTAN --- One of the two top boxing associations in Bojikstan, the Legends Boxing League, has opened its doors to foreigners for the first time after receiving word that the government will approve work visas for foreign fighters. Based in Odena, the organization is one of the top three most popular sports leagues in the country, behind Liga B and the Bojikstani Combat Association, which promotes martial arts. The LBL will be holding two tournaments outside of the main rankings of the competition, for the cruiserweight and heavyweight classes. The cruiserweight tournament will be held at the National Health Fieldhouse in Morievo, and the heavyweight tournament will be held at Bojik Bank Arena in downtown Odena.

The tournament numbers are not yet finalized, but the format has been dubbed as 'Bojikstan versus the world'. At least one side of the bracket will be made exclusively from Bojikstani fighters, meaning that the other side of the bracket gives a chance for there to be a foreigner vs native final. The winner of each tournament will receive a million dollar prize, courtesy of Zhirov Oil and their recent sports investment program. Other fighters will receive purses based on how far they advance into the tournament. with the runner ups receiving 500k each. In Bojikstani tradition, all fights will be held with 4 oz. gloves.

The LBL has released an application for any foreign fighters that wish to participate in the tournaments, with the Bojikstani section being chosen by the league itself based on their own rankings. They have directed that applications be sent to LBLoffice@bmail.com(TG Bojikstan).

FIGHTER APPLICATION

NAME:

PROFESSIONAL RECORD:

NATIONALITY:

NATION TRIGRAM:

AGE:

GENDER:

WEIGHT CLASS:

STANCE:

TEMPERAMENT:

BACKGROUND:

---

OOC Info: This is a smaller thing that I'm holding for fun and to test interest in some future ideas. It's going to be scored in xkoranate with the boxing formula, and since there's no previous history of this tournament, the ranks will be mostly even. There will be a moderate bonus for getting creative with the background section(and the temperament section) and not just filling it out with one or two lines. Preferably, everyone will enter at least one heavyweight and one cruiserweight. A few fighters might get left out, or a few Bojikstani ones might have to be added to the international bracket. We'll see. Depends on the size. The schedule is also TBA.

[Bojikstan]

NATIONAL YOUTH LEAGUE: 2017 SEASON RESULTS

   National Youth League          Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 National Academy Odena          52   28  16   8   109   75  +34   100
 2 National Academy Strasburg      52   26  14  12   116   85  +31    92
 3 Stefanov FC                     52   26  14  12   105   83  +22    92
 4 Milosevic United                52   26  11  15   106   98   +8    89
 5 Petersen AF                     52   25  13  14   114   83  +31    88
 6 National Academy Morievo        52   24  10  18   105   82  +23    82
 7 Deportes Juvenil                52   22  16  14   122  101  +21    82
 8 National Academy Selta          52   23  12  17   108   97  +11    81
 9 Northern Tigres                 52   16  18  18    85   94   −9    66
10 Gomez FC                        52   16  16  20    84  104  −20    64
11 SC Morievo C                    52   13  11  28    96  125  −29    50
12 1898 Odena C                    52    9  12  31    94  137  −43    39
13 FC Strasburg C                  52    7  16  29    67  107  −40    37
14 SC Selta C                      52    7  13  32    61  101  −40    34

The National Youth League is the premier youth competition in Bojikstan, and is where most U-21 players who haven't been signed to pro teams play. Players can sign contracts with teams as free agents, or they can be loaned to the NYL by their parent clubs to get more experience. There's been more investment in the league recently as a result of the sports investment initiative, and now the teams are a mix of clubs owned by the National Football Academy, family owned regional clubs, and the C teams of some of the Liga B sides. This season, the National Academy at Odena took home the title, scoring one hundred points and taking the crown of best youth football city from their archrivals in Strasburg.

[Bojikstan]

LIGA B: 2017 SEASON REVIEW

   Liga B                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Strasburg Saints       36   19   9   8    79   61  +18    66 - Champions Cup
 2 FC Strasburg           36   17  12   7    84   62  +22    63 - Globe Cup
 3 SC Morievo             36   17  10   9    76   60  +16    61 - Globe Cup
 4 1898 Odena             36   17   9  10    84   64  +20    60 - Globe Cup
 5 Athletic Vorsji        36   17   8  11    74   61  +13    59
 6 Selmby IK              36   13  10  13    73   68   +5    49
 7 Vorsji Devils          36   11   9  16    69   83  −14    42
 8 LSK Odena              36   10   8  18    65   80  −15    38
 9 SC Selta               36    8   9  19    50   80  −30    33
10 Cordona FC             36    4  10  22    62   97  −35    22 - Relegated to Liga B2

The 2017 season of action saw historic streaks broken, and new blood rise in Liga B as FC Strasburg failed to make their title run four straight and their rivals from across the city rose up and took the championship from them for the first time ever. It was turbulent, with some of the big names such as Morievo and Athletic Vorsji going to the mid table, and with UICA places on the line, there was the added pressure of qualifying for a competition that offers exposure and cash and a chance to play with the best in the world.

In other words, it was one of the best Liga B seasons that we’ve ever seen.

At the top, we have a team that hasn’t been there before. The Strasburg Saints have a payroll that’s only about seventy five percent of what their rivals have, but after they were bought out by the eccentric Zoe Del Rosario and Odena Electronics, they’ve invested smartly and put their funds into underrated players that can help them to the top. National team reserve keeper Sam Horn gave them an anchor to build around in the back, and they had the second best defense in the league behind SC Morievo. Their main defensive engine was fullback Jorg Eugenio, who played at both ends and was the team’s biggest impact player because of it. Eugenio and Johann Salopek worked in tandem from the fullback spots, and balanced each other out well, with Eugenio being the better defender and Salopek creating more chances.

Eric Dern dominated the midfield with his combination of great passing range and good physicality, playing as the main central player in a 4-4-2 with Hector Febo, Santino Enriquez, and Marius Dulin. Additionally, he contributed to the scoring and put the ball in the back of the net six times, finishing with twenty one assists and taking the title of assist king for this year. Up front, the Saints didn’t have anyone prolific. Dirk Lozen and Bram Vaum are both manageable strikers, and Dirk finished with twenty two goals while playing every match. Bradley Kopperud had his team play a very fast and high pressure style that doesn’t let the opponent settle, and it worked. They stopped the attacks of teams such as FC Strasburg, 1898 Odena, and SC Morievo, while frustrating lower ranked teams into giving up big chances that various players were able to convert into goals, with those goals coming from various locatins: the wings, the central attack, the midfield.

The Saints are well deserving of their title, and the Northeast Strasburg club celebrated their title for the first time in their modern era history. They’d come close before, but unlike the other famous little brother team, LSK Odena, they had never survived the last stretch of the season and taken the title. This time, they turned the tables in the city after seeing their rivals win the previous three titles.

Those rivals, FC Strasburg, came in second place. They had a somewhat expensive team, built around stars such as Alexy Hesse and Viktoria Ayala, but it isn’t like their teams of the past. They didn’t retain all of their talent from the title winning seasons, and it came back to bite them hard when they needed that talent to put matches away. They had a league high twelve draws, and no other team had more than eleven. Most of those draws would come against clubs that are considered lesser.

Manager Marco Christensen entered the season under pressure, because of not receiving credit for his role in continuing Strasburg’s dominance after joining in the middle of their three-peat, and because of allowing talent to walk away in the offseason, and finishing second place with an expensive squad isn’t exactly helping his case. But just because the players are expensive doesn’t mean they’re good, and Gunnar Barreras was a big disappointment while playing in the critical DM spot in the 4-4-2 diamond formation. Marco Christensen’s teams often employ a defensive midfielder that can break up the other team’s attack and initiate attacks for the midfield, but without someone good at that position, there were numerous defensive mistakes from the Blues.

Alexey Hesse was his usual great self in the attacking midfielder spot, and twenty five year old Maria Paula Lone proved to be a revelation in the left striker spot and scored twenty four in her first season as the full time starter, but Christensen still complained to the board midway through the season that they weren’t spending money on the right areas. According to him, the midfield and the defense needed to be patched up, but they rejected his request for transfer funds and left him to his own devices.

The result was a second place finish that has many Strasburg fans wanting to see the Blues and Bojikstani national team manager sacked. They just didn’t do well enough against the mid table to take the title, and the Strasburg press and fans are notoriously aggressive and fickle. The club hasn’t yet issued a statement on the managerial situation, but several players have come out saying that the result is better than the fans think and that they’re in position to compete for another title with a few big transfers over the summer. After all, they only ended up falling short by three points, partly because of their inability to beat their crosstown rivals.

In third, SC Morievo is exactly where they were projected. But they felt that they could have done more, with a strong midfield powered by national team members Ricardo Hale and Mara Mandaric. They had other, somewhat underrated players, too. Ethan Loredo led the attack and put himself on the radar at twenty nine years old, with a twenty six goal and five assist season. The striker was the next in a line of smart signings for Morievo, and he’d just arrived at the team from LSK Odena, where he’d come up through the academy and then become a first team starter.

Manager Damian Marovich changed up tactics and played a very fast game that saw the Wolfpack transition from end to end quickly and effectively. Mara Mandaric was a key piece in that game plan, using her speed and aggression to win the ball and move it up the pitch before the defense can position itself. Ricardo Hale played closer to the forwards, and was often the one to make the last pass. When he was in the lineup, that is. Marovich didn’t believe that Hale was ready for the full time starting job, and used him as a super sub and rotation player rather than a full time starter, something that Hale was reportedly very bitter about.

Marovich failed, however, to create a giant slaying team that could take out teams like FC Strasburg and 1898 Odena, or even Athletic Vorsji, who have higher payrolls and expectations and more fans filling their stadiums. They were only one loss away from finishing in the mid table instead of in third place, and they didn’t defend the Den as well as they’ve done in past seasons. Overall, it was a very frustrating season for a team that’s so close but so far from the title. Everyone knew they were in the conversation, but nobody thought that they would actually win the whole thing.

1898 Odena is going through a retooling phase and despite bringing Niko Komarov into a starting role for the second half of the season, and watching him score eighteen goals and seven assists, they were never in the title conversation. It was their most disappointing season in recent memory, because no matter how they actually do, the giants from Odena are always in the conversation. At least they were. This year was almost unprecedented, and shook the faith that the fans have in fourth year manager Victor Beltre, who has watched a team from Strasburg win the title every year that he has managed the Phoenix.

The club has already said, though, that they will give Beltre another year and wait to see what happens at the transfer window, where they will be looking to bring in some of the top talents of the national team to create another one of the stacked teams that can be found throughout their history. They’re linked with Artem Delacruz, but they’re also supposedly talking to the federation about lifting the transfer embargo on foreign players, which has ended the tradition of Gallians playing in Bojikstan and has encouraged the development of Bojikstani talents.

It wasn’t all dark for the Phoenix, though. They have a strong partnership in the front of their 4-3-3, with Niko Komarov at striker and Miguel Bedoya at left winger. The two have torn some of the better defenses in the league apart, causing Bedoya to finish third in Young Player of the Year voting behind Liv Andrade and the National Academy at Odena’s Dimitar Kozlov. Club chairman Noah Devin has promised investment in players to support these two, and has also said that they should win a title within the next two seasons.

Athletic Vorsji finished better than they should have, as they had the second worst GD of any team that didn’t finish with a negative one. And with their owners being Vorsji Auto, they’re expected to do better. They had a lot of money that they blew on transfers that didn’t work out, and their board has admitted that they should put more effort into playing their academy players over the coming seasons instead of looking for outside talent. However, they’ve lost a lot of youth talent to their crosstown enemy from the eastern half of Vorsji.

Selmby IK is only in sixth, but they were the overachievers because of operating in a small city with high unemployment and a slow economy. Selmby is the part of the west that the government wants everyone to ignore, and their club operated on a shoestring budget, but their attack was something else for a club of their size. Heinz Veltin and Sam Velde were dominant wingers who dragged the team up in the standings, and Vorsji and 1898 Odena should be after both of them by the time the window is here.

The Vorsji Devils play in the half of Vorsji that’s located in the eastern part of Bojikstan, and they showed eastern grit this season when they comfortably stayed out of the relegation battle for the entire season and once again used a big loan talent to boost their results. Their undisputed best player was twenty year old Liv Andrade, who ran their midfield and won Young Player of the Year while on loan from Strasburg. While her play is chaotic and many thought that she doesn’t have her fundamentals down, Devils didn’t have many other options and Andrade at least excited their fanbase with dazzling tricks and flashy assists.

LSK Odena became the first club this season to fire their manager, after another disappointing season where nobody even thought that they would make the mid table and challenge for the Globe Cup. They’re the little brother in Odena again, even with their sponsorship with Odena Electronics giving them some new money to spend. However, they couldn’t attract good players, and they once again find themselves near the bottom, while their rivals also struggled.

SC Selta stayed up because of having Artem and Rain Delacruz break into the first team as full time starters, and Artem especially put on dominant performances and was one of the top five players in MVP voting. His role in keeping Selta up led to him starting for the national team, and we all know that the jump to the international level worked out well. Rain Delacruz and her influence can’t be counted out, either. Her vision was a major factor in many Selta attacks this season.

Cordona FC was having money problems, and had waning fan support that stems from being a long standing immigrant city where most people don’t have roots in the city and support other teams. They’d dodged relegation for a few years, but they’re going to have to spend some time in B2 rethinking things after this season when they couldn’t pull out a miracle and stay up over a Selta team that had two national team stars helping them out. They’ll be replaced by dominant Liga B2 champions Khorzev Energy FC, who are owned by the Khorzev Energy drink company and had a historic performance in the last Liga B2 season.

[Bojikstan]

Fire And Water
Tales from Bojikstan and the Gallian Union.

One. Oh When The Saints.

Dirk Lozon

It's one of the biggest games of your life. The third week of the season, and you're on the road in Strasburg, playing at the same stadium that the national team calls home. It's full. Most of the fans are there to see your biggest rivals, FC Strasburg, and you only have about 3,000 traveling fans standing in the corner on the upper deck, surrounded by a security escort fit for a leader. They're a rowdy group, though. Viktoria Alaya scoops the ball up and gets ready for a goal kick, and you can hear them even down here with their insults. “Eeeeehhhhh Puta!” they shout as the booming goal kick is launched downfield, and you turn and chase it and you run hard into their midfielder to try to beat him to it. On the sideline, Bradley Kopperud claps and praises you on the hustle. You nod towards him in acknowledgement, before laying yourself out for a big tackle to win the ball away from a surging Blues attack.

Bram Vaum is charging forward, and when you get back to your feet, you boot the ball forward and try to connect with him. He knocks the ball back and down, and you run forward for the overlapping run, just in time to receive a through ball that sets you up to go one on one with Viktoria Ayala. Perfect. You've always wanted to go one versus one with her, because the Strasburg press won't shut the hell up about how special she is. She's become the city’s favorite daughter, but those of you from the northeast side think that she's overrated. And you're fed up of hearing about how you aren't going to be able to put any goals past her. You'll show her, and prove them all wrong… You have to. With the Blues leading the Saints 1-0, you can't afford to bottle this chance, roughly eighty minutes in. The fans just won't forgive you for it, and Ayala will have another highlight play on the front page of BSN.

She starts to rush out to stop you before you get too close to the box, but you sharply cut to the side and shift the ball to your right foot, and before she can make a recovery move and come back to block the shot, you loft the ball high into the air and chip it towards goal. Ayala turns and her face changes instantly, as she realizes that she came out too far and that there's no way to get back in time to do anything about the chip, and the crowd goes completely silent before roaring in anger as the ball crosses the line. You can't quite believe it, yourself, but you start running in celebration as the adrenaline pumps through your body harder than it ever has before. You're screaming, but you can't hear yourself over the crowd noise from both sets of fans, and you run over the advertising boards and to the track that separates the Strasburg fans from the pitch. Their stands are elevated, and they have a spot in the middle where there's a large bell, which is rung by the ultras whenever they score.

You run up the stairs and dodge a couple of FCS fans wearing black shirts and bowl hats, denoting their status as some of the hardcore ultras, and you leap to the bell’s stand and grab the rope that hangs from it, yanking it as hard as you can and filling the arena with the sound of the ringing. You turn and see the Blues fans coming for you, and you can count at least ten bowl hats in the incoming group, so you jump from the stand and run back towards your teammates, who look shocked that you attempted the dangerous celebration. In the corner, the traveling Saints fans are going insane, singing your name and making sure you know what they think about you winding up their biggest rivals. “Dirk Lozon! Woah! Dirk Lozon! Woah! He's from the Northeast Side! He made the Blues fans cry!”

“You're crazy!” says Jorg Eugenio, after you meet up with your teammates. You've won some respect with them, too. “Those guys in the black shirts are going to try to shank you in the parking lot for that, though, I’d watch my back at your next training. Hell, I’d watch my back for the next few weeks. Strasburg fans don't forgive or forget easily.”

“Worth it, mate. The Blues fans already hated me, but I'm going to be a legend when I get back on the northeast side,” you say, grinning from ear to ear and high fiving your teammates one by one. “I don't think I'm ever going to have to pay for a beer over there again.”

Two. Godspeed.

Liv Andrade

Football truly is your medicine and your drug. Off of the pitch, you're a wreck sometimes. You hear a number of voices in your head and you have to fight hard to not become a social outcast because of it. You suffer from paranoia. The voices tell you to be wary of everyone, and you know they aren't telling the truth, but sometimes you listen to them anyway because they sound so convincing and they speak so loudly. Most of the time, you talk to yourself in your head. Sometimes, you talk to yourself out loud, and people see it occasionally. But that's not the only reason that you're an outcast, a lone wolf who isn't that way by choice.

You've managed to isolate yourself from every group, one way or another. Your parents came over from Sameba for a better life, but they want you to get a job that's a surefire path to money and prominence. They don't want you to chase this crazy dream of being a football star, and they think that it's a bad environment for you. Well, you told them quite bluntly where they could stick those ideas, and you ran off to Strasburg by yourself after secretly agreeing to join FC Strasburg’s youth team, transferring from the Cordona academy for a fee that turned out to be a couple of million baht. Your relationship with them hasn't been repaired, and they don't even let you talk to your younger sister Catia, who you are highly protective and supportive of. It's not the only relationship you've ruined. Strasburg is a very liberal and left leaning place, and your teammates there don't like it that you proudly consider yourself to be Sameban, not Bojikstani. They tell you to keep quiet about politics, and not to speak about your support of your home country’s actions in Rushmore. They also don't like your attitude, and how you walked in like you own the place.

You've made enemies with the management because of your attitude and your distaste for training and working out, the players for your opinions about the situation in Terranea and for your cockiness in the locker room, and with your own family for your career choice. Even if you weren't going insane, you wouldn't be the most popular person. But it all goes away when you step on the football pitch, and under the watchful eye of Bruno Cain at Vorsji Devils, you blossom into a player that’s at least understood. Even though everyone thinks of you as troubled, they look at you as more of a misunderstood genius than as a problem. You make grown men cry with your play. The opposing fans because you tear their favorite teams apart and humiliate their heroes, and your own fans because the typically gritty and pragmatic Devils haven't seen anyone with play as beautiful as yours in many, many years. Maybe not ever. You've faced the best defenders while playing for the first team here, and you consider yourself undefeated. You've never been bested one versus one, whether the team as a whole wins or not.

It's why Bruno Cain has a shocked look on his face when you tell him that you aren't going to come back to Devils for another season on loan, with FC Strasburg still paying your contract. “I'm handing in my transfer request as soon as I get back to Strasburg. I don't think I'm going to be able to come back here for the last year of my contract,” you say, standing at the edge of the room while he sits at his desk and goes through paperwork.

“You don't want to wait until you're a free agent? I don't know about this, Liv. You've had one good season. Are you ready to make the jump to a bigger club? It's not that I'm trying to keep you for myself, but I wouldn't want you to adapt poorly, like you did when you moved from Cordona to Strasburg in the first place. No offense. The press in the big cities is different than it is here, and the fans are more unforgiving. You aren't going to be special to them. They've seen plenty of players like you come and go in the past, and they're going to have higher demands because of it.”

“No offense taken. But you see, Bruno, I've always imagined myself playing under lights, and I want to chase that while my stock is at it's highest. You're right, I don't know what's going to happen. But I’m in position to get a big deal from some team that's looking to gamble on future potential. I don't have that advantage next season unless I top this one.”

“I'm not able to stop you, but I'm just saying to think about it and not make an impulse decision. Think about your health, and not just your career-”

“I can't hide from my problems in Vorsji for my whole life,” you say, and as you do, the voices in your head intensify and cause you to close your eyes for a moment, focusing as hard as you can on dispelling them. “And it's the football that's cured me, not living here. I'll be fine if I start playing well somewhere else-”

“But what about the challenges that come with adapting to a new city? You have friends and a support system here-”

“And I can build one abroad.”

“You're thinking of going abroad.”

“I want to play on the biggest stage, Bruno. You don't understand. Going abroad wasn't even an option when you were a player. But now everyone wants to do it, and I want to be one of the first. My agent is telling me that it's the best thing for me and I trust him, and I think the change of scenes from Bojikstan can help me sort my head out away from the media and away from the local fans,” you explain, and you turn to the door and look at your watch. “I have to leave for my flight soon. I'm going to say a few more goodbyes. I didn't come here to argue, I just wanted to not leave without saying anything. I'll see you again sometime, Bruno. But for now… Thanks for everything you've done for me.”

You open the door, but Bruno calls out to you. “Liv?”

“Yeah?”

“Just because I'm afraid for you doesn't mean you won't have success. Godspeed, Livia.”

[Bojikstan]

Fire And Water
Tales from Bojikstan and the Gallian Union.

Three. This Speaks To Me.

Liv Andrade

You’ve handed in your transfer request at FC Strasburg, and you’re leaving their suburban training ground for what might be the last time. You’re going to stay in the city for a bit longer and talk with some contacts who your agent recommended to you, but you don’t think you’ll ever call this place home because of football again. They never accepted you, on or off of the pitch, and you’re glad that you’re getting this over with. If they don’t let you go, you’re going to force your way out by refusing to play or go on loan.

You stop to look back at the indoor part of the training complex, and the statues that are outside of it, on the walkway that leads to the parking lot. They do love their statues, in Strasburg. And why wouldn’t they? They’re a club with some of the biggest legends in the Bojikstani game. Even before the Liga B era, their teams had a reputation for bringing some of the big stars together to create some of the most entertaining teams that had played in this country.

You look to the statue of Christian Kovacich in particular, remembering his plays from the early days of Liga B and wondering if you would have been the next one in line to play his role at Strasburg. They never really replaced him, and his number ten doesn’t even belong to any member of the current squad. It’s unofficially retired, but only because they haven’t found a worthy heir for it.

“You could have been the next number ten.”

It looks like the statue is talking, and you jump because of it. This is just another one of your delusions, you tell yourself, even though they usually stick to coming in audio form and not visual. At least this time, it’s obvious that what you’re seeing isn’t real. “No, I couldn’t.”

“How do you know? You never truly gave Strasburg a chance.”

The statue is still again, like it was before you looked at it, and you stand there for a few more seconds before turning and walking back towards the parking lot. Your mind is playing games with you again, that’s all. But how accurate is your subconscious? Even you know deep down in the ‘insane’ part of your mind that this whole situation is more on you than the club. Your agent, James Almeda, is waiting in the car, and you sit down next to him in the passenger seat. Apparently, you look more shaken than you know. “You feeling alright?”

“I just saw the weirdest thing,” you say, looking back at the training complex one more time. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

Four. Niko’s Charm.

Niko Komarov

“Shit, shit, shit! Pull over, before we get into more trouble!” says Liv Andrade, who is riding in the passenger seat next to you in your GT car. James Almeda said that you two should meet up, because you’re one of the players that he thinks could act as a good foil to her if you can manage to bring her to Odena or follow her abroad, and you accepted his request and you were taking her to one of the better clubs in Strasburg. On the way, you may have pushed the car a little too much, in an attempt to show her how quick it is.

“Calm down. Just let me assess the situation,” you mutter, slowing the car and pulling to the side of the road, reaching for the pistol that’s sitting besides you and hiding it away under the seat. The cops turn their sirens off and you can hear the driver side door opening as one of them gets out. You look into the side view mirror, and you can see that you’ve been stopped by two female cops. “These officers are women. I might be able to charm myself out of trouble…”

“I can’t get in trouble again, with my record-”

“Let me talk to them.”

The cop is at your window now, and you roll it down and put on your best poker face, forcing a smile that both of you now isn’t genuine. “What can I do for you, officer?” you ask, but your tone is level and calm, showing no signs of panic.

“I’m going to need you to hand me your ID-”

“Have I done something wrong?”

“You were doing sixty, and the limit in this neighborhood is thirty. I’m also smelling marijuana in this car, and while that isn’t a crime, driving under the influence is. Can you and your passenger both hand me your IDs?”

“Yes, miss.”

You get your own ID out, and then you look to Liv, who glares at you for a few seconds before digging through her bag and finding her own, shoving it roughly into your hand. She already has a bad reputation, with multiple arrests for vandalism and other petty crimes in her childhood, so she’s quite pissed that you might get her in trouble right now. You hand both cards to the officer, who examines them before looking back to you. “Nikolai Ilyich Komarov and Livia Resendes Andrade. I almost didn’t recognize either of you.”

“Most people don’t recognize me, when I cut my hair,” you remark, and then you smile slightly. “Are you still going to arrest me?”

“I’d watch myself if I were you. We aren’t fans of you, around here in Strasburg.”

“Good thing you aren’t from Strasburg.”

“Pardon?”

You grin again, happy that you were able to stall and draw some curiosity. “You’re from Selta. I can tell from the way that you talk, pronouncing every syllable and drawing your words out. Other places rush through their sentences, but I’ve always found that speech in Selta is still… Very pure, and clear. You people aren’t always in a rush, like those from the big cities. It’s charming, in a way.”

“And what if I said you were wrong and that I’m from right here in Strasburg-”

“You’re not. Everyone in Strasburg speaks quickly without ever using full stops. You’re from the east, and like I said, you’re probably from Selta.”

The cop folds her arms, contemplating the situation. You can tell that you were right about her being an easterner, and she’s going to be reluctant to arrest one of the east’s best players. You take the silence as your chance to cut a deal. “Don’t know what to say?” you ask. “Well, you could tell your partner that you were mistaken about us speeding, and when your shift is over, you can come down to Club Strasburg, in the middle of downtown. Bring your partner, too, and tell the bouncers that you’re with my entourage. I’ll tell them to look for you.”

“You’re trying to bribe me?”

“What’s your first name, Officer Kolberg?”

“Justine.”

“I’ll tell the bouncers that if a Justine Kolberg shows up, they should bring her to the VIP room immediately. I’m going to be there, and Liv is going to be there, and other celebrities are going to be there, I’m sure. And of course, I’ll buy you some drinks once you’re there.”

Justine freezes, and you can see her weighing the pros and cons of your request. Eventually, she hands your ID cards back and lowers her flashlight, looking back to the cop car. “Don’t let me catch you doing something like this again,” she says. “Oh, and get some eye drops next time. You need them.”

You let out a sigh of relief as she walks back to her car, and you speed away and glance over at Liv. “Oh you of little faith.”

“You have to teach me that, for when I run into some male cops…”

“Hey, I’m sure if you come to Odena, you’ll learn a lot from me.”

[Bojikstan]

Fire And Water
Tales from Bojikstan and the Gallian Union.

Five. I Am The Huntress.

???

You are the Huntress. One of the most feared names on the women’s side of the underground fighting scene in the Gallian Union. While everyone in Bojikstan, or at least the eastern half of it, is fine with a good street fight, the Union isn’t so accepting of combat sports. MMA promotions are still outlawed, but just because they’re like that in name doesn’t mean they don’t exist in a shady world that’s only seen in seedy buildings and internet clips that go up when everything's said and done.

The top ‘secret promotion’ is known as the Gallian Prizefighting League, and you’ve been destroying their women’s bantamweight roster from top to bottom. Your first fight was on the undercard, at one of their larger events. They paid you fifty dollars to show, and they gave you another fifty when you finished your opponent by TKO in the first round, with a vicious ground and pound sequence. After that, you faced the number fifteen bantamweight, and then the number five one, in the span of a few months. You finished both of them inside the first two rounds, by TKO and by guillotine choke.

Now, you’re one of the headline fighters of the event, and the abandoned warehouse is full of people that want to see you finish the GPL’s best female power puncher, Ellie Maxton. The fact that they don’t know who you are only adds to your intrigue. You fight in a luchador mask, one that’s black with the blue of Bojikstan making up the highlights. Other than your brownish hair, there’s no clues as to what you look like under it. The promoters themselves haven’t seen you without it, and the other fighters haven’t, either.

Your entourage is small, made up of some members of your inner circle. Your agent, Alison Lillegard is there. On the other side of you, there’s your trainer, Iker Fehn. They’re the only ones that have seen your face, and you trust them to keep the secret. “You ready to walk out?” Alison asks you, and you adjust your mask one more time before picking up your Bojikstani flag and draping it over your shoulders, nodding and grinning.

“Let’s go knock this bitch out.”

You run out of the makeshift locker room, which is really just a side storage room that has a couple of bouncers guarding it, and into the lights of the warehouse. It’s a large place with a few balconies that are full of fans, and the lights make it seem like there’s a concert or a big party going on. In a way, it is sort of like a huge party. But it’s one with a lot more violence. There’s actually a cage, which isn’t something that you can take for granted in underground fights like this, and you step into it and look for the camera, which is about four or five times smaller than the ones that are used to record real fights. You make a throat cutting gesture, before pointing to your mouthguard, which displays a set of golden fangs. The crowd roars, but you realize that they aren’t roaring for you, but for Maxton.

Your opponent steps inside the cage and gestures for the crowd to make some noise, and they respond in kind. This is her home country, and with the hostility between Bojikstan and the Gallian Union, the crowd is naturally going to cheer harder for their local fighter. You can tell that Maxton has the bigger career, just from looking at her. You have a simple black sports bra and a simple blue pair of shorts. She has a rash guard that's covered in sponsor logos from local companies. You don't have a banner, just a Bojikstani flag draped behind you. She has a large one filled with her accomplishments.

“Fight fans, let's get ready to rumble! This is the first of our two main events of the night, so make some noise! Introducing first, in the blue corner… A twenty year old street fighter with a professional record of eight wins and no losses, with every win coming by finish. She stands at five feet and ten inches tall, weighing in at one hundred and thirty two pounds. Training out of Fehn MMA in Lindon, by way of Odena, Bojikstan! She is.... The Huntress!”

You point to your mouthpiece again, standing calmly and waiting to get this over with. Your eyes scan the crowd and you think you see a familiar face, but you stop and focus on the fight. The ring announcer is turning to your opponent, and the crowd is going crazy now.

“Introducing second, fighting out of the red corner… A twenty four year old kickboxer with a professional record of seventeen wins and one loss. She is the former GPL atomweight champion. The former flyweight champion in two promotions. The former strawweight champion in two promotions. She is the only fighter in the GPL to hold four belts at once, and she is the former Gallia Underground kickboxing champion in the super featherweight division,” the announcer says, and Maxton’s corner is holding up all of her belts. What they attempt to accomplish by showing off a number of belts from lower weight classes, you don’t know. “And now, she is the sixth ranked fighter in the women’s bantamweight class. She is the fighting pride of New West Gallia… Ellie ‘the Tigress’ Maxton!”

You both walk to the center of the ring, where the referee is standing. “You both already know the rules. Obey my commands, and protect yourselves at all time. Let’s give the fans what they want, a good and exciting fight. Touch gloves, if you want to do so.”

You extend your gloves, but Maxton ignores you and steps back, before the referee starts the fight. “You ready? You ready? Fight!”

She comes out swinging, just like you expected. You backpedal and duck under a couple of blows, and then when there’s no more room to backpedal without hitting the cage, you lean back and counter a straight right punch with a hard body shot. Maxton leans into her punches, and it gives you a great opening to go after her body. She tries to charge you into the cage, but you come forward and clinch with her. This is where your mind games begin. “How do you want to be finished? Knockout, or tap out?” you ask, positioning yourself right next to her ear. She doesn’t answer, and you bite down on her earlobe quickly enough that the referee can’t see it. “Don’t put me on the fence again,” you say, with the obvious implied threat that you’ll use the same tactic if she does.

That’s enough to get her to back out of the clinch, and you grin and wait for the next charge to come. You come forward and then slide back when the punches come in, exciting the crowd with your movement and your dodges. Maxton throws a combination of four punches that all miss, and you throw a kick into her liver because of the openings that she left. You have her exactly where you want her. You’ve barely thrown any punches compared to her, but your mind games are breaking her, quickly.

You gesture for her to come forward again, lowering your guard and doing a little dance. You shake your ass, and the crowd loves that. You’re starting to turn them in your favor, and all of this is making Maxton angrier and angrier. You’re like a Matador baiting your prey, and the taunt works perfectly. She comes charging in, swinging wildly, and you pivot behind her and climb onto her back. The angle isn’t perfect, but you’re relentless and tireless in situations like this, and you lock in the choke almost immediately. You both go to ground, but you’re still on her back, and the choke is only getting tighter.

Honestly, you have no idea what this position feels like, because you’ve never been choked out like this. You tighten and tighten the grip until you can feel Maxton’s body twitching from lack of oxygen, and you hold the choke like that for three, maybe four seconds. Eventually, the referee signals the stoppage, and you disengage and run to the edge of the cage, jumping onto the fence and raising your arms to the crowd. It’s the greatest feeling in the world, and you feel like your veins are full of one hundred percent adrenaline right now.

You jump down from the fence and move to where Maxton is sitting, hugging her knees and contemplating what went wrong. You don’t have true bad blood with her, and you extend a hand to help her up. “At the end of the day, you still have belts, and I don’t,” you say, thinking back to before the fight when you had nothing to show for compared to her. “Maybe we can grab lunch before I have to go back to Bojikstan tomorrow. You seem like you have a lot of stories to tell.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Your conversation doesn’t last long, though, because Iker is by your side soon, pointing to the entrance to the cage, where someone else is arriving. You recognize her as one of the other fighters, or more specifically, Casey Kelty. The third ranked bantamweight. “The promoters want to see some trash talk between you and your next opponent,” Iker explains.

“They never told me anything about fighting Kelty-”

“Well, she’s the best shot at a title fight that you’re going to get.”

Someone hands her a microphone, and you face off with her and stare her down as she talks. “I hear that there’s a lot of hype behind this Huntress! And that was a nice win, I have to admit. But she hasn’t faced someone like me. I’ve knocked out the best at a hundred and forty five pounds, and I’ve knocked out the biggest contenders in this division, too! I’m the only loss that Ellie Maxton had before tonight, and when me and the Huntress fight for the number one contender spot, I’m going to make sure that she gets her first loss too! We’re going to fight next month in my backyard, Lindon!”

The crowd, which is on your side by now, boos the entire speech, and that rubs Kelty the wrong way. After all, you’re only a trip up the highway from Lindon, the place that’s supposedly her backyard. “I’ll see you there, motherfucker,” you say calmly, but when you turn to walk away, you feel a tug and you turn around to find that Kelty has grabbed and pulled off your mask. Your face is out in the open for everyone to see, and the few cameras in and around the ring definitely catch it. The crowd gasps, and some of them recognize you.

After all, you’re a household name in Bojikstan now, because of your other career. “Fuck.”

As soon as the mask comes off, you’re no longer the Huntress. You’re just Rain Delacruz, the footballer who quit combat sports long ago for a safer career. And it’s not going to take long for the news to reach your friends back home.

[Bojikstan]

GRIDIRON: INTERCONTINENTAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2017 RESULTS

 Gallian Conference           Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
1 Hallenburg Waves              20   16   3   1   347  195 +152    51
2 New West Gallia Kings         20   10   2   8   328  269  +59    32
3 Lindon Sharks                 20    9   4   7   228  217  +11    31
4 Blackmont Blades              20    9   1  10   282  307  −25    28
5 North Blackmont Knights       20    6   3  11   292  322  −30    21
6 Skye Marauders                20    2   3  15   187  354 −167     9

Bojikstan Conference         Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
1 Morievo Wolves                20   15   0   5   409  280 +129    45
2 Odena Ironmakers              20   15   0   5   345  242 +103    45
3 Strasburg Bulls               20   12   2   6   331  243  +88    38
4 Selta Mountaineers            20    9   1  10   311  349  −38    28
5 North Shore Sea Monsters      20    5   2  13   249  375 −126    17
6 Vorsji Battery                20    1   1  18   235  391 −156     4

The intercontinental football league was born out of the days when the sport was amateur in Bojikstan and the Gallian Union, and those who did play the sport needed to band together to pool resources and create a viable league. The result was a competition between two conferences, with a playoff contested by the top four teams for intercontinental glory. The top two teams from each conference qualify, and then play each other, with the winners moving on to the Khorzev Energy Intercontinental Bowl and playing for the Thunder Cup. It’s a league that draws many fans every year and is on the rise, constantly growing and getting better TV deals as the sport becomes more popular in both countries.

The Gallian Conference was dominated by the Hallenburg Waves and their strong offensive line, anchored by the tackles and reinforced by free agent signings at guard. The Waves led the league in wins and only had three losses, with fifty one points by the season’s end. QB Matthew Carson was well protected and finished third in the league in passing yards, with about 4,600 yards. New West Gallia finished in second, but they weren’t anywhere close to the Waves in the actual standings. They had almost twenty points less, and nobody believed they would actually win the conference beyond the first few weeks. Still, they maybe have the best defensive line in the conference.

In the Bojikstan Conference, the Morievo Wolves came out on top behind their fast offensive line and their air raid offense, which has been compared to college teams and called innovative because of the way it’s been adapted to the pro game. They don’t have the best quarterback, either, but their numbers didn’t show it. The Odena Ironmakers also had the same record, but they gained it in the opposite way, through their suffocating pass defense and their conference best overall defense. After the point differential proved to be the tiebreaker between the Wolves and Ironmakers, the playoff matchups were set.

PLAYOFFS

Semifinal #1
Hallenburg Waves 13–20 Odena Ironmakers

Semifinal #2
Morievo Wolves 24–10 New West Gallia Kings

Intercontinental Bowl
Morievo Wolves 20–23 Odena Ironmakers

[Gallian Union]

OOC: I know this isn't a great recap for the size of the league, but I'm pressed for time. I'm going to have more detailed stuff during this cycle, I promise.

GALLIAN UNION: UPL CYCLE 67 RECAP

   Union Premier League    Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Lindon United            30   22   8   0    70   30  +40    74
 2 New West Gallia FC       30   18   8   4    70   44  +26    62
 3 Hallenburg City          30   17   7   6    57   35  +22    58
 4 Hallenburg Spartans      30   15   8   7    39   22  +17    53
 5 UPL North Blackmont      30   16   5   9    55   40  +15    53
 6 UPL Blackmont            30   13  11   6    64   41  +23    50
 7 Lismere FC               30   11  10   9    25   19   +6    43
 8 Lindon Monday FC         30   11   8  11    50   55   −5    41
 9 AFC NWG                  30   10   8  12    54   63   −9    38
10 Blair United             30   10   5  15    52   60   −8    35
11 Aberton Jets             30    8   6  16    46   64  −18    30
12 Broughton Ravens         30    8   6  16    53   81  −28    30
13 Inver Stanton FC         30    6   8  16    43   53  −10    26
14 Shamrock Patrick         30    7   5  18    44   67  −23    26
15 AFC Lochtown             30    5   7  18    52   69  −17    22
16 Southwest Lindon         30    5   6  19    31   62  −31    21

The Union Premier League is one unlike many others. The league doesn’t have a promotion and relegation structure, and instead has a central ownership structure where every team is owned by the league and its investors. When players join the league, they sign directly with the league itself and are assigned to teams by an arcane process that hasn’t been made public. While the rest of the world would laugh at this system, the Gallians accept it because they’ve never really had anything better, and because their past league had a different format and folded.

However, some teams still have an advantage in that they have more money to spend than the others, and those teams are the ones that are usually around the top of the league and located in the big cities. Lindon United, New West Gallia FC, Hallenburg City, UPL Blackmont. This season, the trend continued, and there will be more controversy over league balance. After all, the system is supposed to prevent situations where one team has a dominant performance and finishes undefeated, but that’s what happened with Lindon United.

The preseason favorites entered the season with 4.0 odds to win the title, meaning that this isn’t as surprising as other seasons, but nobody expected them to be unbeaten. That was a shock to even the hardcore Lindon fans, and it elevated this team’s status from a great one to a legendary one. There’s stars all over the lineup, but the strength of Lindon began in their back line, with Christopher Bogie making the league’s best XI and starting almost every game at CB. Up top, their midfield duo of William Finley and Noah McCaskey dominated on both sides of the ball and broke up many opponent attacks, while setting up the front line that was made up of Arlo Lauder, Shaun Vint and Lola Kennison. All of those players are expected to become members of the new national team, when that team is officially formed. Two players, Lauder and Brenda Fulton, are already members of the Blackmont national team that was entered in the latest AOCAF.

Below Lindon United was New West Gallia FC, and they didn’t have a bad season at all. With 62 points, they might have been in a close title race in other circumstances. This wasn’t a normal season, though. Lindon was just dominant in all departments and didn’t let up for the entire season, which caused New West Gallia to fall behind because of lack of consistency in their defense. Their attack, though, was just as good as the one that the champions had, largely because of their forward pairing of Hannah Kinloch and Ennis Leishman, with the 23 and 27 year olds using their contrast to compliment each other. Kinloch is a short center fielder with a low center of gravity and great balance, and Leishman is a target man that’s a danger in the box because of his size and strength. Together, they gave defenses fits all season and became the one combo that couldn’t be game planned for.

Hallenburg City was picked to finish second but ended up one spot below that, falling there late and finishing with 58 points. Their squad was depleted by outgoing transfers, and while they retained Best XI goalkeeper Shea Day, the goalkeeper can’t score goals. They only had 57, which isn’t a ton for a club of their stature that finished in third place. Manager Ollie Safley is falling under pressure, and the red and white side of Hallenburg is a lot more worried for the future than the black and blue side. That side, of course, belongs to the Hallenburg Spartans, who finished one place below City in fourth, with 53 points. Spartans fans will be overjoyed that their team has qualified for international play, but with their cheaper squad and lesser experience, how will they actually do?

At the bottom of the table, Southwest Lindon and AFC Lochtown both put themselves into position to receive help from the league for the coming season. Lochtown, though, has had rumors of a buyout from a different team of the league’s investors swirling around for awhile, and their poor finish will help potential investors see how far they’ve fallen. They have multiple titles, more than much of the league, so it’s easy to imagine that they’ll be back eventually. On the other hand, Southwest Lindon is looking like a worse expansion team every year, and has been making investors wonder why they added them in the first place.

[Bojikstan]

Familia

Part One.

Two people sit by the window in an expensive looking condo in one of the richer parts of Lindon, the largest city in the Gallian Union.

One of them is James Almeda, the Bojikstani agent that seems to have more and more valuable clients every week. He’s dressed for business, with a tailor made suit and tie in Bojikstan blue. The other is Katya Komarova, the twenty six year old sister of Niko Komarov and a budding footballer for Southwest Lindon, who’s resuming her career after quitting in the past to go into agenting full time. She’s dressed more casually, in all white, her more refined sense of style showing. There’s two cups in between them, with gin for Almeda and coffee for Komarova.

“Let me get straight to the point. I’m here looking for a favor, or with a suggestion for your project. Whichever way you want to look at it works,” says Almeda. “I have someone else that I’d like you to take on. Someone that I want you to work your magic for. I’ve helped her a lot, but there’s only so much I can do, as a more traditional agent. I think that you and your work would be more beneficial.”

“You know I’m not in the business of making people famous, as much as I’d like to help you with this favor. I prefer to help people who pull their own weight and give me help in return. I’ve… Been burned in the past by freeloaders, after making the wrong people famous,” shrugs Katya, taking a sip of coffee. “Besides, I’m putting all my focus into football and this… Project.”

“And tell me the specifics of this project, again? Because I think my client is a good addition for it.”

“It’s not hard to understand. I’m taking a bunch of younger, marketable athletes, and moving them all into the same house and turning them into celebrities through the new media. Okay, maybe that’s a little more complicated than I said it would be. But I’m looking for my future beyond sports, and this thing can make all of us rich. After all, it’s never been done before. We’ve seen celebrity athletes and especially celebrity footballers, but has there ever been an entire clan of them, based in one of the entertainment hubs of the country? The Gallians love their celebs, and I’m about to create a lot of them,” Katya explains, putting her feet up on the table as she talks, and looking back at James with a very confident and self assured grin. It’s nearly a smirk, but it’s hard to tell with her.

“How are you going to become stars, when you don’t have contacts with many of the top players in Gallia?”

“We’re going to open our lives to the public and make them feel like they’re with us at the top. The lives of the rich and famous are usually closed off, especially this industry. Well, we’re going to shatter that expectation. We’re going to make millions off of this, too. Ambitious goal, I know, but the revenue from GTube and from our blogs is huge if we angle right. And by we, I mean the group that I’m in the process of assembling.”

“Like I said, I have someone that’s good for you. You’re going to have to give her some help, with life in general, but she’s going to be a very marketable name in a few years. Especially back home in Bojikstan, where she’s from.”

“Don’t give me a name yet. Tell me more about this person and I’ll see how she fits into my big plan.”

“She’s twenty. She’s a very entertaining athlete, who has a lot of plays that become highlights. I honestly believe that she has a good heart, but she didn’t have the best surroundings for the past few years and she’s been suffering. You could even say she’s unstable, emotionally, but that makes her very sympathetic if you angle it the right way. The big problem is that her head isn’t right. She… Well, she’s heard voices for a long time, and she has some other delusions sometimes. The psychiatrists say that she’s-”

“Schizophrenic. James, do you really think it’s a good idea to thrust someone with schizophrenia into the spotlight? Do you really think it’s a good idea for her to be a footballer, and a celebrity? It’s going to be hell for her-”

“The football is the only thing that heals her, it seems. She focuses so hard on it that she pushes everything else out of her head, I guess. I don’t know. I’m not a shrink, but I know that this sport has saved her. And she really needs a move away from the city that she’s in now, and while I don’t see her coming to Gallia, she would be a good addition for your little clan.”

“How is she socially?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know… Is she able to get along with other people, even if there’s voices in her head telling her otherwise? Because we’re going to have a lot of interactions with the media, or with fans, and each other, and the last thing we need is someone snapping at the wrong time and getting in the news for the wrong reasons. I think you need to keep her away from the spotlight, not in it-”

“She’s fine on that front. It’s one of the things she learned in Vorsji. You know I’m talking about Livia Resendes Andrade, right?”

“I guessed it early on. Niko told me about her. Said that they were heading to Blackmont with some of the other national team members to train. I’ve also scouted her sister, Catia, but I’m not sure if either of them is right for us. They’re wildcards, James. We need people who won’t destroy our brand by doing something unpredictable.”

“I’m just saying give her a chance, and if you do, I’ll make sure your management agency signs Kovalov.”

“Kovalov?”

“Dimitar Kovalov, who I know you want before the Di Bradini Cup. I’m flying back to Odena tomorrow to talk to his family again, and we’re very close to coming to terms. But I can swing him your way. We can help each other out like this, because honestly, I already have enough youth clients and you need some help right now with your agency. I promise you that you won’t regret this, and I rarely make definite promises of success.”

Katya takes a long pause, finishing her cup of coffee and getting up to put the mug in the sink. When she returns, she stares out of the window and has her best poker face on. “You have yourself a deal. Bring this Liv here and we’ll see how well she fits in with my people, and if it works out, we’ll announce something by the end of the week. Bring Dimitar here, too, he’s pretty high up on my list.”

“Will do. Thank you for saving me again, Kat. We should really join forces once again sometime soon. There was no better team-”

“I think we both outgrew working together, but I appreciate the sentiment. Now, make sure that your client is ready for this. She’s not getting a second chance if she fucks up as soon as she meets us, so be sure that she knows that and that she’s prepared. We might have a little… Interview, coming up for her and Dimitar.”

“I wouldn’t expect any second chances from you. And one more thing. What are you calling this group, or agency, or whatever it is?”

Katya pauses, considering it. “Familia.”

[Gallian Union]

GALLIAN UNION: NEW TEAMS, REGIONAL LEAGUES COMING

Gallian Union lays out plan for regional competition

The Gallian Union is widely known for having a strange league format that doesn’t feature promotion and relegation and where the league contracts all players rather than their clubs. The clubs are also owned by the league’s investors, and while the investors control their clubs as owners, the majority stake is held by the league itself. It effectively creates franchises rather than real football clubs, and elements of the Gallian support have criticized this as well as fans from other countries.

One of the complaints is that this system stifles regional level football by providing no way for the clubs at that level to grow, but the Gallian Football Association has released a statement on their plan to solve this problem. There will now be a dedicated structure for football outside of the Union Premier League, which will run during the offseason. This structure will be made of four regional leagues that represent the four regions of Gallia and the largest cities in each. The east, representing Lindon. The west, representing New West Gallia. The north, representing Hallenburg. And Blackmont, which is in a different region entirely.

The Western, Northern, Eastern, and Blackmont Premier Leagues will begin operation soon and will consist of a combination of normal sides and feeder clubs that are linked to the Union Premier League. Lindon United has already confirmed that there will be a feeder club linked to them participating in the Eastern Premier League, and NWGFC has confirmed that they will have their own feeder club in the Western league.

Youth football in the Union will be impacted by this, because the structure laid out for the youth teams by the GFA has them competing in youth versions of their respective regional leagues. This reduces travel costs, and also makes it easier for scouts to keep an eye on the biggest local talents. There will be no direct promotion and relegation in the regional leagues, but the GFA has said that they will grow in size over time. According to them, more info will be released in the near future about the exact structure.

Union Premier League to expand with new Lindon team and new capital team

The UPL’s structure is based on expansion, and after Southwest Lindon and Alberton Jets were added last time, there’s finally some more clubs joining the biggest competition in the country. One of them will be based in the northern coastal suburbs of Lindon, where there is no team, and another one will be established based on the identity of one of the country’s top corporations.

Gallian Telecom FC is based in central New West Gallia, unlike the other teams there that are based in the suburbs. They had a hard time finding real estate for a new stadium, but while they look for that, they’ll play their matches at Serenity Arena, the national stadium of the Gallian Union. Obviously, they enter with a lot of investment, being the team of the country’s largest telecommunications company. Reportedly, they plan for a big transfer window to build around foreign talent, before looking for the top western local talents to round out their squad and give them a youthful edge.

The other club is owned by Baron Enterprises, a conglomerate that specializes in online retailing. Their main investor is Lilly Baron, the twenty eight year old owner of the company who inherited it from her father and made it even larger. This club, however, has a different story. Their name is Women of Gallia FC, and they are the only professional women’s football club in the country, with most of the clubs being mixed gender. Playing in northern Lindon, they’ve been called Baron’s personal pet project, with the ambitious goal of winning with an all female squad. Analysts have given them only a year or two before they drop the act and transition to being a normal club, but Baron has denied this and says that she expects them to be a power within four years.

Both of these clubs have very strong investment, which makes some ask how much parity is really in the league. After all, Southwest Lindon is still playing at a small 20,000 seater stadium and Women of Gallia FC is already able to bankroll one double that size, because of their ties to Baron Enterprises. And obviously, Gallian Telekom will be able to take to the transfer market straight away and go for some of the better talents available, with a high payroll. And Women of Gallia were already able to start off by bringing in Nepharim manager Sebastian Seward on a big contract.

The eyes of the nation will certainly be on both clubs, as they start operations this offseason and begin play for the season...

[Gallian Union]

GALLIAN UNION: MARINER CUP CYCLE 67 RESULTS

The Mariner Cup is a competition that acts as the main cup event in the Gallian Union, and the top eight teams from the Union Premier League season qualify for it. It typically takes place right after the season concludes, with the higher seeds keeping home pitch advantage in the first two rounds. The final takes place in the capital, at Serenity Place in New West Gallia. Because of a lack of another major cup competition in the country, the winner is the qualifier for the Cygnus Cup.

First Round
Lindon United 1–1 Lindon Monday FC (1–1 AET) (5–3 pen.)
New West Gallia FC 1–2 Lismere FC
Hallenburg City 2–1 UPL Blackmont
Hallenburg Spartans 1–2 UPL North Blackmont

Lindon United had their closest scare when it comes to losing their perfect record this season, but they survived after having to go to penalties and winning 5-3, behind two misses. Monday is their main crosstown rival, of course, and the match was as heated as it always is when those two sides take the pitch. New West Gallia FC always has home field advantage in this competition, but despite the late goal from Hannah Kinloch, they fell 2-1 to Lismere, who barely snuck into the competition by finishing at a respectable seventh place. Spartans was the other higher seed to go down, after a brace from UPL North Blackmont winger Florence Kellow let the visitors shock the home team in the second half.

Semifinal
Lindon United 5–2 Lismere FC
Hallenburg City 3–5 UPL North Blackmont

The semifinals had a mismatchup in the first game, when Shaun Vint ran riot through the weak Lismere defense and scored a hat trick in sixty minutes. Two goals came from his left foot off of crosses, and the other one was headed after a corner kick was deflected his way. The two first half goals from Lismere kept it close, but Christopher Bogie and Brenda Fulton closed down in the second half and prevented any more intrigue by way of another Lismere goal. In the north, UPL North Blackmont remained in Hallenburg to face City, and came out swinging with a pair of Kellow goals in the opening minutes. City's forward duo, Daryn Malcomb and Leo Gillie, managed to tie the match at halftime, and they jumped out to the early second half lead, but in the later stages of this absolute thriller, Kellow scored one from the penalty spot and attacking midfielder Nevin Slight took the lead from a direct free kick. In the end, it was center back Barry Magaw that headed the ball into the back of the net from a corner, ending any hopes that City had of advancing to a cup final against their southeastern rivals.

Final
Lindon United 3–3 UPL North Blackmont (4–3 AET)

North Blackmont had shocked Spartans and City and they showed no fear against the giants from Lindon, but this one was just too much for them. One squad was clearly more drilled and more expensive than the other, despite the UPL's attempts at creating parity, and Arlo Lauder and William Finley both scored first half goals to go into the locker room up 2-1. Brenda Fulton found herself open on an overlapping run and added a third in the sixtieth minute, but Blackmont still had a bit of magic left in them. Nevin Slight blasted a long shot into the back of the net a few minutes later, and nearing injury time, Florence Kellow headed in Slight's volley. However, they wouldn't be able to hold on. In the second half of extra time, Noah McCaskey fired off a hard cross that had a bit too much speed on it and was deflected into the Blackmont goal, winning the match accidentally.

Lindon United lifted the Mariner Cup once again in front of the capital crowd, and they remained undefeated this season in all domestic competitions....

[Bojikstan]

Fire And Water
Tales from Bojikstan and the Gallian Union.

Six. Gang Related.

Dimitar Kovalov

You stand over the ball and prepare for the free kick. It’s the second half, and you’re at home playing Petersen AF. Both PAF and the National Academy at Odena are prestigious youth teams, and with the close race in the standings, either of them could be champion by the end of the season. The field is small, but the stands are full, here in inner city Odena. The place isn’t anything fancy. Four lights keep the pitch visible as the sun sets, and there’s no seats, just a few long bleachers making up the stands. There’s only one stand selling concessions, meaning there’s a long line every halftime.

But even though this place is small, and even though it’s nothing like the large stadiums that are only miles away, where 1898 Odena and LSK Odena play their home games, the atmosphere feels so much bigger. The people in the stands, many of them being journalists or photographers, know that they’re watching the next generation of the stars of Liga B. With the country joining UICA, everyone also knows that these players might be stars abroad someday, too. And many of the journalists and fans are here to see you, after you’ve been picked as the U-21 captain during the international training camps. There’s even coaches here, wearing shirts with the logos of 1898 and LSK. Of course the local clubs are going to be the first ones to check you out in person. Both of them have mastered the art of winning based on local talent.

You run forward for the free kick, and strike the ball at a curling angle that swirls towards goal before being parried back at you by the goalkeeper. You run past your man and head the ball sideways, hoping that someone can get to it, but it’s cleared backwards by one of their defenders for a corner kick. “Pressure in the box, guys! Pressure in the box!” you shout to your teammates, lining up by the far post and getting ready to boost yourself on the shoulders of the nearest opponent if necessary.

One of your fullbacks trots to the corner kick spot, and the referee blows his whistle. You feel a tug on your shirt, and you start to spin out of a hold, looking to the ref to see if he’s noticed your opponent being all over you. But that’s only fair. You’re one of the best players out here, physically, and if your opponent doesn’t bend the rules a bit, he’s not going to have a chance to consistently stop you.

It looks like the corner is about to be taken, but your fullback stops and pauses after there’s a loud bang. It sounds suspiciously like a gunshot, but nobody panics or moves at first, because this is Odena. You’ve all been to the professional matches, where fans set off loud pyrotechnics all the time. You guess that someone brought one of those in, but when you look to the stands, you don’t see any smoke or fire or anything else indicating that this was simple pyro. There’s another bang shortly after, and somebody drops to the ground inside of the box. Their white Petersen shorts are stained red with blood.

Holy shit.

The referee blows his whistle to signal the stoppage of the match, and all of the players are either gathering around the one that fell, or running for the sideline. Well, the Petersen players are gathering around their fallen player. They’re naive, because they don’t come from these streets, but rather from the calmer suburbs of the western country. It doesn’t occur to them that they need to get out of the way if there’s someone shooting, before they become the next targets.

There’s another bang, but this gunshot is off target and strikes nothing. You make yourself low and follow your teammates to the sideline, where you take cover behind the bench. After all, the shots seem to be coming from the other sideline. You look for the thirteen year old Dusan Komarov, who is somewhere around the bench. You know his brother Niko, and you promised that you’d keep him safe. But where is he? Eventually, you find him crouching behind the drink coolers, and you duck next to him and look over your shoulder. “You have any idea what the hell is happening?” you ask, though you don’t expect an answer.

“Some gang related shit,” Dusan mutters, and you see that he’s holding a small pistol in his hand. Of course he is. Seeing a thirteen year old packing heat isn’t at all out of place for this side of Odena, and the fact that something like this can happen shows the reason why it’s like that in the first place.

“That part is obvious.”

“They’re after Maxim Teslow, the Petersen defensive midfielder. He’s from here, and apparently there’s some beef between him and the North Side Narwhals. They’ve been waiting for a long time for him to come back, so they can come after him. I think he was a former member who left on bad terms-”

There’s silence after another gunshot. “Did they hit him? Or was that someone else?”

“I don’t know who that was but that wasn’t him. He was the one that was grabbing your shirt before the corner. If you want to risk turning around, you can see him running to the locker room with the others from Petersen.”

It looks like the commotion is over, and you take a deep breath as the sounds of sirens get closer and closer. “Jesus Christ,” you mutter under your breath. “I love Odena and I wouldn’t trade in being here, for anything, but… Sometimes I actually do hate having to play here week in and week out. This… This is why the best Odenans don’t play in Odena, and why we keep seeing them in Strasburg and Morievo and Selta.”

You can’t help but think that they nearly hit you while trying to take out Teslow, and you sigh inwardly as you stand up and start running to the locker room, with Dusan following close behind you. “At least we only have one injury from all of this,” Dusan says, tucking his gun into his waistband.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure. But that seems like a dumb thing to be celebrating. Someone tried to murder one of the players but at least we only have one injury, even though the guy is probably never going to be caught and Maxim Teslow is never going to feel safe in his home city,” you mutter, as you enter the tunnel and let your guard down a bit. “Just another day in the city of Odena.”

[Bojikstan]

Breaking Kayfabe
Notes From Your Editor.

Hello, everyone. Let's take a moment to break character for a bit. I promised I would do some story notes after the Independents Cup, so here they are. It's late, and I doubt a ton of people will actually read them, but here goes nothing. At the very least, these notes are a must read for anyone who wants to work with me in a collab, because they explain the reasons why my characters act the way they do and the reasons behind certain plot aspects. For example, if you want to write one of my characters, these notes have a bit of info that would be useful to figuring out how they would act in a certain situation.

Anyway, Rookies is a series that is posted in unofficial volumes. Each volume generally changes from the last. Volume One took place during the Independents Cup, and Volume Two is currently being written in the AOCAF, with my puppet nation, Blackmont. Blackmont is, of course, the Gallian territory where our cast of heroes is vacationing during the offseason. I want to shed some light on certain things in Volume One, though.

First of all, you may have realized, from the series theme song and from the series poster that was added later, that every character is built around some kind of inner demon or past struggle. Mara Mandaric has her injury and doesn't know what she's going to do with her life, and she's displeased her parents and alienated herself from her family. Artem Delacruz is still haunted by the Bojikstani Civil War, the result of that war, and also has a major flaw that is showing itself right now but won't receive major attention until later on. Rain Delacruz has a number of problems but opens up to nobody about them.

Lucas Alberg has an explosive temper, though he hasn't been eased into the storyline yet after being cut from the first run of chapters in favor of adding Niko Komarov. And Niko is one of the most interesting characters, because he's shown that he constantly needs to be at the center of attention, but we don't know yet what his trauma is. There is one, of course, but Artem hasn't pried enough yet to find out what it is. Even minor characters have defining issues that dictate their behavior. Ricardo Hale feels like Rain is the only one who understands him, and he's willing to follow her to the ends of the Earth, but she doesn't love him and she won't even open up to him as a friend.

In an axed scene that never made the final cut of the story, manager Marco Christensen is insecure about his age(as he's relatively young for a manager of a top club and a national team) and his managerial style, which I wasn't able to go into much because of only being able to fit so much into the story without dragging out the chapters. In another unfinished and unposted scene, Lucas Alberg is insecure about how people think of him in the major market city of Odena, which has a very active press.

Liv Andrade didn't make it into the Rookies series, but her character is the same way. However, instead of having some circumstance of event as her demon, she has herself. As a paranoid schizophrenic, she has a number of delusions that include voices in her head and other things, such as a statue coming alive and talking to her. These delusions, however, almost always reflect back on her inner self. Basically, she's extremely insecure, but she experiences it in a different way. Instead of telling herself that she sucks, she has a bunch of voices living in her head that do that for her. I have a partly written chapter from second person perspective about her, and most of the dialogue is happening inside her head.

But, in a setting like this, have I even made my characters easy to relate to? Well, Rookies Volume One doesn't really show it, but as the story continues, you'll see that more of the problems are symbolic than literal. What I mean is that you might not relate to being a child soldier, but you might relate to something else that it represents. For example, I've never been in a war, but Artem and Rain Delacruz are still somewhat relatable because of it. Why? Because the war left them with no education and no future... And they made something of themselves anyway, even though, as you'll see in Volume Two, they question their choices. And I don't have the circumstances that Mara Mandaric had, either, but clashing with family and being alienated from everyone at times is something I'm not new to.

And Niko? Well, I have the feeling that he's a villain character right now, but that when people see more about his background and the reasons why he's always battling to be the center of attention, they'll relate or at least understand why he is the way he is.

So yeah. That's the point I'm trying to get across. I have these nations with extraordinary circumstances like wars and extraordinary drama and stuff like that, but deep down, I'm going for relatable themes. Those themes might become more clear later, and almost none of them are literal. You might not relate to a band of former child soldiers, a very selfish striker, and a schizophrenic, but hopefully you can relate to a pair of twins who feel like they made bad life choices, a striker with some problems in his past, and a schizophrenic who's more insecure than anything.

Hopefully that was insightful, or at least something that someone read. I'll have more notes like these at the end of volume 2.

[Bojikstan]

(OOC: Cross posting Rookies chapters here for now on for easy access)

The Rookies

Part Nine. In which the gang plans to get back together.

“We just clash too much, man. We’re both alpha personalities. You said it yourself when you said that time that I’m the one who wants to take all of the shots, and I’m never going to back down form it. And you just draw too much attention for us to coexist,” says Niko Komarov, talking with Artem Delacruz as the Bojikstani national team makes their way to the airport to fly back home after their back to back losses to end the Independents Cup. “I’d rather stay in Odena over the offseason, or take a trip out west.”

“It’s just not going to be the same without you, though. You would love Blackmont, too. It’s an upper class place, or at least the part of it that we’re staying at is. There’s a lot of inequality, but James owns a place in the same district as the royals-”

“I know, I know. He’s my agent, after all, and he’s offered it to me in the past. I don’t think I can go with you for now, though. Hasn’t been long enough since we had our disagreements.”

“So what, there’s bad blood between us now?”

“No. Not what I said-”

“Than what are you saying?”

“I’m just saying that we could both use some space, and we probably shouldn’t spend too much more time living in the same place. We just had international duty, give it a bit and we’ll talk.”

“We aren’t leaving for another month or two.”

Niko stops, trailing behind the rest of the group and standing with just Artem, his arms folded. “Why do you care, man? Don’t you have everyone else in the group coming? Lucas, Rain, Mara, Ricardo. Why do I have to come, too? It wasn’t long ago that you were ready to fight me in the middle of a match.”

“Because there’s not any reason for us to be against each other. I don’t know what you mean when you say that we both have alpha personalities… I try to get along with everyone. You included,” Artem says, with a shrug. “Whatever pissed you off, you noticed it and I didn’t.”

“Are you fucking winding me up?”

“No! I’m looking for an explanation!”

“Well, you could say it’s because you’re the most powerful person in the room, no matter what room you’re in. You just draw the most attention, whether you know it or not. And I’d rather avoid people like you. People that take all of the attention for themselves and leave none of it for anyone else.”

“That’s not my intent. It’s never my intent, and you know it-”

“But it’s what happens.”

Artem follows Niko as he starts to walk away, switching approaches. “You know Rain is going to be there. Don’t you want to come for her? You said you wanted to impress her, and this is a time when you can talk to her without the pressure of playing for the national team. Your other friend, Lucas, is coming too. I just want the whole group to be together when we take this trip. And whatever you think of me, you’re still part of that group, and I still think you’re a friend to me. You’re someone that I try to learn from, at least.”

“Fine, fine,” sighs Niko, holding his hands up in concession. “I’ll see what happens. But can I bring my friend Liv and her sister? I had some plans to train with them in the offseason.”

“Sure, there should be extra rooms. By Liv, you mean Liv Andrade?”

“Yeah. She reminds me of myself, to be honest. I promised I would help her along, career wise. It’s not easy being a twenty year old at FC Strasburg, that’s looking for a move abroad, you know. I said we’d do some workouts and go over a few destinations and moves that she can make.”

Artem raises an eyebrow. “I never imagined you having a real friendship with a female. I thought of you as more of a player.”

“Eh? You must not know that my older sister was my best friend growing up,” Niko shrugs, before picking up his pace.

“I didn’t mean to offend, I was just saying. Honestly, I wish I had your talent with girls. Not that I need a ton of help, but you always seem more confident. You have more charisma-”

“Charisma is bullshit, Artem. I don’t have charisma. I just act like I’ve been there before, and that goes for everything. Once you realize how far that can carry you, you’re going to do a lot better. In love, and football.”

They catch up with the others at that point, and Rain pulls Artem aside as they wait to get on the plane. “You and Niko are finally talking again?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious. “That took longer than I was expecting. What did you have to do to get him to talk?”

“Really, I don’t know. But he’s coming with us to Blackmont. He’s also bringing Liv and Catia Andrade.”

“He was hitting on me before, now he’s with Andrade?”

“She’s apparently just a friend of his that he’s helping out, because of how rough her career has been lately. I know, I thought it was weird too. But it looks like there’s more to Niko than either of us knows. I said it was weird to see him being friends with a female, and he said his best friend growing up was his older sister.”

“I didn’t know he had a sister.”

“Well, maybe we’ll learn more about him while we’re in Blackmont a month from now.”

“Yeah… I’m looking forward to having the whole group together again.”

[Bojikstan]

The Rookies

Part Ten. In which they talk about uncomfortable subjects.

“I wish I could tell you that things will pick up for you if you give it a bit of time and hang in there, but that's a lie. That's something that people who haven't actually been at rock bottom say, because if they had ever been in that place, they would know that time can't heal every wound. Some things take more intentional effort, and some things leave a scar. I wish I could tell you how to get rid of those scars, but at this point, I still haven't dealt with my own. Being a member of the Blackmont nobility is the source of most of the good things in my life, and yet, my title has sometimes left me wishing that I was just a commoner, or that I hadn't been born at all. Either scenario would leave me without the problems that are exclusive to those at the top of society. I know that sounds… Ungrateful. And you're most likely upset with me for saying something like that, as you are someone who, and I don't mean any offense by this, comes from nothing. You would probably kill for my title, I'm sure.”

“I'm not offended. I might not understand, but perspective is important, I guess. If you've never had to see what the trenches are like in a civil war, if you've never had to fear for your life in a poor part of a beaten down city… Your struggles that the rest of us would consider petty will seem just as big as those things, to you,” says Rain Delacruz, walking along one of the innermost battlements at Blackmont Palace, where all of the nobility was gathering for the celebration of Crown Day, which marked the restoration of the Blackmontese monarchy and the withdrawal of Gallian colonialism. They were still a territory of Gallia, of course, but the one difference between then and now was that they now had a degree of independence and they now had their own rulers, not foreigners from Rushmore who were elected by a separate people.

“Yes. My own struggles may not have threatened my life in that way that yours have, although the affairs of the royals can sometimes result in blood being spilt, but who is truly better? The proud soldier with an unbroken fighting spirit and the camaraderie of his brothers in arms, or the royal who has everything but finds no happiness in it? The royal who has to put on a happy face for her people, but who is a totally different person around her innermost circle and her closest kin?”

Rain and her noble acquaintance stop walking when they reach the point where they can see Blackmont City in the distance, and they lean against the edge of the battlement and stare off into the distance, somewhat absentmindedly. “What's not to like about your title, though? It's Lady of Red Mountain, right? You have a whole city under you. And you're heir to North Blackmont, if I read all the information on the nobility correctly.”

“You did. But let me tell you this, Rain. There's only a few powerful people in this nation, and the rest of us are all just cogs in the machine. The people of North Blackmont were once proud and free, and we once flew our own banner. But the Lion is more powerful than the Rooster, and thus their sigil is now raised in North Blackmont, reminding us of who really controls these lands. You don't know how my family gained their prominence, do you? Not many seem to remember the correct story.”

“I can't say that I do remember, even though I did my research. I'm sorry,” said Rain, noticing the emotional twinge that her friend’s voice now had.

“No, don't be, because you wouldn't know unless you were from here. Some people that are from here don't know. But the real story is that the two parts of Blackmont went to war. The two major cities did, and the two houses that rule those cities. House Mundell, and House Caroline. And you know what happened? They stormed into Red Mountain within months of the war starting, they put down the northern armies, and then they looked for the one major house in the city that hadn't raised their banner against them. They found us, House Baine, and saw that we hadn't raised our banners for Red Mountain, despite controlling the finances for House Caroline. We're in power because we sold out everyone who supported us, when the time came for the bloodiest event in Blackmont history.”

“Didn't that happen a really long time ago? Way before you were born?”

“Yes, and the effects of it are still here. Let me ask you, Rain, who really has power? The nobles in Red Mountain who gained their status by bending the knee when everyone else fought to the death? It's a farce. The fact that we’re here today to celebrate the Blackmont crown shows that all of us from House Baine are just what I said we are, cogs in the fucking machine that the Mundells have forced all of us into. And don’t ever tell anyone what I’ve told you, but just between you and me, House Adair feels the exact same way. After all, they were the only house to fight the Mundells at one point and still remain one of the major ones.”

“You’re saying that you don’t like being a royal because you’re just a puppet for the King.”

“I’m saying there’s a lot of drawbacks to living the noble life, that most people don’t see, and that there’s barely a benefit for someone like me. I’m saying that life as a commoner is way more simple, and that even though you’re from a worse place than me, I can understand everything you’re going through.”

Rain raises an eyebrow, thinking back to earlier. “I never told you what I was going through.”

“But when you, your brother, and your friends Mara and Niko were at lunch with us, you said that you were tired of everything. You didn’t say that you were sad, angry, or anything like that. You specifically said that you were tired, and those aren’t the words that a happy person says. Those aren’t the words that someone says unless they’re going through something. Trust me, I know.”

“You’re sure showing a lot of interest in someone you’d never met before this week.”

“You remind me of myself, that’s why. And besides, we’re both footballers. It makes sense for us to look out for each other. I think I can make an accurate guess that football is one of the things that keeps you sane. It keeps your mind off of other things.”

There’s a long pause, before Rain speaks up again. “So, what are your scars? What makes you think we’re the same?”

“You think I trust you enough to tell you.”

“I don’t know, but you’re the one that interrupted my training to bring me out here to the palace, to talk about… Life. I was doing a good job keeping my mind off of the shit. Plus, you can’t tell me that we’re alike and then not say anything about why. Not fair.”

“Let me flip that question. What are your scars? Why aren’t you on top of the world, after gaining fame from that Independents Cup run?”

Rain shrugs, still staring into the distance. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t know, or don’t want to tell?”

“Sometimes I feel bad about the civil war.”

“And?”

“What do you mean, and?”

The other woman doesn’t respond, and Rain eventually speaks again. “I feel bad about the civil war, and sometimes I think about my life choices and wonder what the hell I’m even doing with my life. You might have seen that MMA fight in Gallia, the one where I barely made any cash but I fought anyway, because it gave me a rush. But most people don’t realize that I cried myself to sleep that night, even though I won, because it made me ask myself, what the fuck am I even doing? Why am I out here hunting for an adrenaline rush? Why the fuck am I so insecure that I had to put on a luchador mask and beat the shit out of someone to prove myself… Not to others, but to me?”

“And?”

“You still want to hear more? I’ve basically given you my life story!” Rain says, her voice raising. “If you want to know something, just ask, but don’t have me tell you everything that’s wrong and then ask for more?”

The woman shrugs. “I’m just waiting to see if you say what I think you were going to say, because I want to see if I’m right about us being the same.”

“Yeah, well, you’re never going to know the full story about me, because I’m too fucking insecure… You know what, fuck it. Fuck this, fuck talking to people about my problems, and fuck your sympathy. I was wrong. You can’t understand this. You’ll never understand me! We’ll never be the same, because you were born in an ivory tower and I was born in a fucking inner city hospital where there’s far more gunshot victims than babies! And that world is all I’ve ever known! Don’t tell me that we’re the same, when your family watched from the sidelines of your conflict, and me and my brother were in the trenches for ours!”

The woman can tell that she struck a nerve, and she shrugs and makes an apologetic gesture. “I’m sorry. I really just wanted to give you advice. I wanted to save you from some of the pain that I went through when I was younger, but if you don’t want the advice-”

They’re interrupted when someone else steps onto the battlement. “Lady Brigid, you’re wanted in the main hall for the Crown Day preparations,” says a man that Rain recognizes as being from the Blackmont football team. “Please come quickly. You know how the Mundells get when their subjects aren’t on time.”

“Thank you, Sir Hannon. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

The knight leaves, and Brigid turns back to Rain. “Know that I’m a friend and that the North of Blackmont has the same plight as the east of Bojikstan. If you want to talk further, you have my number. If not… Good luck with the rest of your life.”

Rain nods without a word, and follows Brigid as she leaves to prepare for Crown Day.

***

“You’re looking very glum for someone that’s on vacation and staying in a nice mansion, Rain,” says Artem, following his sister out of the house as the group gets ready to make the walk to the palace, for the Crown Day festivities. “It’s a holiday, too. Why not lighten up? What could be better than heading to a giant party with all your friends? You normally love this kind of thing.”

“I’m not feeling like myself, lately. And I had this weird conversation with Lady Brigid.”

“Brigid Baines? The one that plays for the Blackmont football team?”

“Yeah. That Brigid. She tried to give me some advice because she thought that we were the same, and that she had been through similar things in the past. But she never told me the whole story with her. Just that she was unhappy and that I reminded her of herself. She tried to get me to open up more, and well… I can’t stop thinking about that conversation.”

“Why’s that? If her advice wasn’t good, why is it still bothering you?”

“What if it is? She was talking about healing from scars… Scars of the mental sort, but I said that she could never understand me because she’s a noble and I’m from the slums. But what if she’s right and I’m going about this wrong and-”

“Why don’t you just talk to her some more, if you’re worried about that?”

Rain sighs, grabbing her hair in frustration. “Because she gives me weird vibes and I hate talking to her! But at the same time, I know I should be listening to her! I just know that she’s not going to tell me what I want to hear, and that… Talking to her, talking about myself to her specifically, is going to bring me a lot more pain before it makes me better.”

Artem grabs his sister by the shoulder, pulling her aside. “You okay? You want to stay in tonight instead of going to the palace? I’ve been busy with my career and with dealing with Niko, I didn’t realize that you were going through things and that you were feeling pain. You want to talk about it?”

“No!” shouts Rain, getting the attention of everyone in the area, before she lowers her voice to a near whisper. “No, I mean. Why would I talk about something that I can’t change? It’s not going to make me feel better. Not now, at least. I just want to get to this party and get drunk and forget about this shit.”

“Okay, we’ll do that-”

Rain is startled when someone jumps onto her back, and she has to suppress an instinctual reaction to spin and throw the person off of her. She thinks it’s Niko Komarov at first, but when she feels the person’s arms around her neck, she realizes that their skin is too soft to belong to an Odenan. She also knows it isn’t Ricardo or Lucas, because both of them are too big, and it can’t be Raquel. Raquel doesn’t do things like this. It’s either Liv or Mara Mandaric, but Liv is usually more withdrawn in social settings like this, at least from what Rain has seen about her so far.

“Jesus, Mara!” Rain screams, as the grip around her neck tightens. Mara is stuck pretty tightly to her back, and Rain almost feels like she’s trapped in a choke hold. Artem is gesturing that Mara might want to get down and not push her any further, but the short girl either doesn’t see or doesn’t listen. Well, she doesn’t listen until Rain starts bending her thumb backwards, at which point she gets the message and jumps to the ground. “The fuck were you doing?”

“I was just messing around!” Mara says, embarrassed now. “I was trying to do that MMA move that you did that time! I was there, you know. Artem told me that you fight, but I guess the secret is out now. Did I do it right?”

She’s embarrassed, but she’s still beaming, hoping for approval from Rain. But she’s not going to get it. “You wouldn’t have taken my back in a real fight,” she snaps, before looking at Artem, her eyes shooting daggers. He’s looking for words to explain why he told Mara, but they aren’t coming. And then Rain starts to storm off.

“Hey, I’m sorry! It was just a joke, why are you so angry?”

“Don’t bother,” says Artem, sympathetically. “She’ll talk to you again when she feels like it. But right now, I have the feeling that she isn’t going to talk to me tonight either. Something’s going on with her, but I can’t say I know what. Unfortunately, I’ve spent more of my time trying to figure out what’s up with Niko. If you do talk to her tonight, though, make sure she doesn’t get into trouble, okay?”

“Will do. And sorry for getting you in trouble with your sister, Artem.”

***

It’s the end of a long dinner, but Rain didn’t eat with the nobles, like Artem and the other footballer guests did. James Almeda, the agent that set this trip up, is close friends with a few of the noble members of the Blackmont football team, but Rain decided not to feast with him and his friends and the others. No, she was at a table with some of the commoners who had found a way here. Some of them worked at the palace, others were knights and soldiers, and others were minor title holders who ruled smaller towns and castles. This table had less of the fancy foods of the nobles and more alcohol, which was the way that Rain wanted it.

When dinner is over, the party breaks into different groups. Some are heading to dance, and others go to the balconies outside the main hall, where they can watch the fireworks that are happening in the distance, in Blackmont City. Prince Darby Mundell, the heir to Blackmont, is giving a speech at the end of the dinner tables. “I’m very happy that all of you could attend, and I hope that you all are able to forget your differences for a day and celebrate the fact that this great country is free. It hasn’t always been this way, but now that it is, let’s not take it for granted. I’m also happy that we can welcome some foreign guests this time, courtesy of our friend, James. Let’s show them some real Blackmontese hospitality…”

Rain slinks away before the speech is over, stepping out one of the northern doors and entering a large and long balcony, which reminds her of the battlement that she had stood on earlier. She saw Lady Brigid enter this door earlier, and she finds her watching the fireworks, a fair distance away from the rest of the crowd that’s gathered. “This world isn’t for me. Nobles, and Princes, and Kings, and Dukes. All of it’s unfamiliar. I feel like a fish out of water, and I’m only slightly drunk right now.”

“There’s still time to correct that, isn’t there?” chuckles Brigid, and that’s when Rain pulls a small bottle from her sack.

“Everyone else is wearing beautiful dresses and perfectly tailored suits, or fancy outfits from the golden age of the nobility, or traditional military uniforms, and what do I have? A skirt that looks like I stole it from a prep school uniform? A plain white blouse? This stupid bag, that looks like something a college student would carry around?”

“This isn’t officially a formal event, you know. You should have brought your own style. It’s better to stand out, anyway. We nobles are expected to dress a certain way, but you have freedom, and you would have turned heads because of it. So yes, Rain. You look like a fish out of water. But only because you tried to imitate us, instead of owning your own look.”

Rain takes a long drink from the bottle of liquor. “I guess I came up here to apologize. I was a bitch earlier, I know. I screamed at you for trying to help me, because I couldn’t… Because I can’t, I mean, own up to myself.”

“I was never offended. But it takes a lot of bravery to say what you said, so thanks. You don’t see many apologies, in Blackmont. Too much pride for that.”

“We’re going to be here for awhile, so there will be plenty of time to talk later. Not tomorrow, though. I think I’m going to be too hammered to talk to anyone, if tonight goes according to plan.”

“You can’t own up to yourself, so you get hammered. Interesting strategy.”

Rain takes another drink. “It’s the offseason. I’ll do what I have to do to get by.”

“It’ll take a toll on you, you know. And your liver. I’d look for a more productive way to get over things, if I were you.”

“Like I said, it’s the offseason. I do some things now that I don’t do normally. I appreciate the concern, though,” says Rain, but her last statement is obviously meant to be sarcastic. “In all seriousness, I’ll be fine. This is meant to be a vacation, anyway.”

There’s a long silence where the only sound is the fireworks and others talking around them. “Why aren’t you with your brother and your friends? Last time I looked in the main hall, they were having a good time on the dance floor. And yet you’re all the way out here, looking for company for your misery. Go have fun, Rain. I’ll be fine by myself.”

“I’m not talking to Artem. I’m pissed at him right now and I don’t know how to talk to him without saying something I’ll regret. There’s… Well, I’m mad at my other friend, too, but I can’t put a finger on why. And if I talk to Niko, he’s just going to try to sleep with me. Maybe another time, but I’m not up for that tonight. Lucas is awkward as shit. It would just be really awkward if we talked. And Ricardo hasn’t talked with me for real since my friends from Odena beat him up over a misunderstanding about a month ago. Those friends are the ones that chose not to come, because they hate formal events. They’re out in Blackmont City somewhere, but here I am, at the palace anyway.”

They make small talk for a few more minutes, before Brigid turns to face the door that leads back to the main hall. “Well, I’d love to stand here and watch the fireworks with you all night, but the rest of my family is going to expect me to do what royals do: engage in some social politicking. I’ll be around the dance floors, hopefully impressing the other families with my skills,” she says, using her tone to make it clear that this is something that she dreads. “Oh, and I see your friend waiting for me to leave, so she can talk to you. Just saying.”

Rain quickly looks away, but it’s less than a minute before Mara Mandaric is at her side, standing at the edge of the balcony with her. “Sorry about earlier. About annoying you with my messing around, I mean. I brought you something to make up for it,” she says quickly, extending her hand and offering a small bag of candy. “They had these at the Prince’s table. They call them dragon eggs, and they’re the hottest candy that I’ve ever tasted.”

Rain just stuffs the bag into her sack, nodding. “Thank you,” she mumbles, avoiding eye contact. “I know I reacted strongly back there. I’m just really pissed about the MMA thing. It was one of the few things I could do without being judged, and my selfish opponent ruins it by pulling my mask off in front of everyone. She could have trash talked all she wanted and I wouldn’t have cared. Hell, I would be the first one to tell her that I respect her and that the trash talk is entertaining, after we fight. But no, she just had to push it too far and pull off my mask. What a bitch…”

“Why did you hide your MMA career? Because it’s illegal in Gallia? You’re so good at it, I would be showing off my fights to everyone if I were you-”

“Well, you aren’t me.”

Awkward silence.

“Rain, I’m really sorry for whatever I did last month that made you mad. I have no idea what it is, and whatever I did, the intent wasn’t to anger you,” Mara blurts out, as she’s leaning on the railing. “And don’t deny that I did something, because I know I did! You’ve been avoiding me, ever since something happened in the Independents Cup… Something that I don’t know about, that I did without meaning to. We used to be close, and now, you won’t even return one of my calls or talk to me at a party like this. I tried breaking the ice earlier and you blew up at me for it. Oh, and don’t get upset at Artem for that. He only told me that you fight because I pushed him for answers. I… I was going to show up in Gallia and talk to you afterwards, but you were so upset about getting unmasked that I backed off and left as soon as the fight was over.”

“It’s just a lot of personal shit-”

“Personal shit that you’re fine talking to that noble about, but not your good friends?”

“The noble won’t judge me-”

“And I won’t either, if you talk to me for once!”

“Just leave me alone if this is how you’re going to act,” Rain remarks, starting to walk back to the main hall. She’s probably going to snatch another bottle of liquor before the servers clean up the dinner area, before leaving early, but she’s stopped when Mara chases after her.

“Please. I just don’t want to lose another friend. I don’t want you to hate me forever because of something stupid that I did without realizing. And if you never want to see me again, fine, but at least tell me what I did, so I can make sure to never repeat my mistake,” Mara says, her voice making it clear that she’s close to giving up. “Just tell me, and I’ll never bother you again-”

“I could never hate you, but I needed my space. It’s not something you did,” Rain admits, stopping and finally making eye contact. “But if you want to know why I haven’t been myself lately… And some of the reasons why the fighting thing pissed me off and why I’m still mad about it… Well, I think I’m feeling drunk enough tonight to talk about it. Come on. Let’s find somewhere more quiet, and I’ll explain.”

[Bojikstan]

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[Bojikstan]

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[Bojikstan]

Fire And Water
Tales from Bojikstan and the Gallian Union.

Seven. Football Family.

Will Sorokin

You come from the Sorokin family, and for you, sports has never been fun and games. Your uncle, Jacob, is the starting quarterback for the Bojikstani national gridiron team. Your father, Bogdan, played for Athletic Vorsji and FC Strasburg, becoming a legend in the midfield at both clubs while making stops at a few others during his career. Your mother, Esfir, was a dominant goalkeeper who started out at SC Selta before getting her dream move to Strasburg, which is where she met your father. Your grandfather was one of the country’s top strikers and managed Selta for awhile before retiring.

And those are just the accomplishments from the past generations. Your brother, Fedor, is following after your dad’s little brother and playing gridiron football, and he’s playing in college in Gallia for Lindon Community College. Their name is deceiving, however, because LCC has recently sold out to investors who now own the school privately. They’re on the rise, and Fedor is a big part of their plans to get a team started that can play internationally. You also have a younger sister, Nadine. She plays for the FC Strasburg academy, and according to reports from the media, she’s on the verge of making her debut as a first team striker.

So who are you?

What do you do? Do you throw touchdown passes under the lights, at the biggest stadiums in Bojikstan and Gallia? Do you score amazing goals in the biggest matches, like your grandfather and sister do? Do you make flashy passes that bring the crowd to their feet, bringing you applause as if you’re some maestro masterfully conducting his orchestra? Or are you like your mother, standing between the sticks and acting as a brick wall, stopping everything that comes your way and commanding your defense like an admiral marshalling his ships?

You aren’t like any of them. You’re not the quarterback, and you’re not the goalscorer. You make some great passes, but most of them aren’t going to excite casual fans. You make saves, but not from the goal. Your big plays are only noticed by the trained eye, and the untrained eye sees you as a rough and abrasive player that chases down the other team’s stars and brutally cuts them down, before booting the ball down the pitch for some striker to chase out wide. Sometimes, they see you as the player who chases the ball down when others make mistakes. Sometimes, there will be a bad pass, but the player that it’s intended for steps away and allows you to scoop it up and find a better position for it.

You could say that you are a maestro, but you aren’t a number ten or a number eight. Number five is the one that you call your own. Not a center back’s number, but not an attacker’s number either. You’ve never been an attacker, but many of the goals at the National Academy at Strasburg come from you. So yes, you aren’t a scorer, or a keeper who makes highlight reel saves, but you can say something that not many players, even in your own family, can say.

You are Will, and you are the engine that makes all the other parts in the team work. You’re either a holding midfielder or a regista, depending on what someone wants to call you, but the real word for you is ‘engineer’. Your coaches make the game plan, but when it’s the heat of the moment and the team needs someone to remind them of it, or carry it out perfectly? You’re the first one that they look at.

But as you step off of the plane in Lindon, you know deep down that you’re going to make your own name, finally. And they’re not just going to know you as a holding midfielder, but as a star in your own right, who doesn’t need to lean on his family’s name...

[Bojikstan]

The Rookies

Part Eleven. In which they learn more about themselves.

“So, Niko, how are you doing lately?” asks Artem Delacruz, sitting down next to the bar with Niko Komarov and ordering the same drink that Niko has. It’s some kind of blue and white cocktail, with a lemon at the edge of the cup that contrasts the colors nicely. While the bartender nods and makes the drink, Artem turns his attention to Niko, realizing that he looks… Tired. “You enjoying the trip so far?”

“You’re probably going to get on me if I say no, so yes. In all seriousness, though, it’s been alright. I like hanging out with James when there’s no pressures of the season, sure, but I’m not sure I would have chosen to spend the offseason with you guys if I had a chance to go back,” Niko shrugs. “No offense,” he adds, and when Artem doesn’t say anything, he takes that as a sign to keep going. “When you grow up as the middle child, you want solitude sometimes. It’s not personal.”

“Some of this shit between us seemed personal.”

“And I can assure you that it’s not. You just don’t know the circumstances behind it all,” Niko shrugs, his voice getting quieter. It’s hard to hear him over the noise of the party going on in the background, with music playing and people talking, and fireworks going off in the distance in Blackmont City. “Like I said, it’s a thing that middle children will understand. Well, maybe most middle children have it better than me. That’s probably true. But it’s something you would understand if you grew up in my family. I’m jealous of you and Rain. You’re so close, like best friends instead of siblings. We’re not like that, I can assure you.”

Artem raises an eyebrow as the bartender finishes the drink and sets it down in front of him. “Didn’t you say before that your sister Katya is your best friend? What happened with that?”

“Keyword is was, not is. She was my best friend before she got older and started only caring about herself. She really showed her true colors, I guess, because we’re not even on talking terms right now. She was always our parents’ favorite, but now she hates me because I tried to forge my own path instead of buying into these projects of hers. With her agency, and her blogging stuff, and all. I guess there was a lot of tension, and it hit a tipping point when she tried to force some career moves for me that I didn’t want, because she thought that she knew best. That’s why I have James as my agent now.”

“You don’t talk to your sister anymore because of career stuff?”

“Also because I find her to be an insufferable bitch these days, but yes. She doesn’t give a shit about any of her clients or her friends or even her family. All she cares about is being the most popular and famous and living the high life now that she has some money. She completely forgot what she came from. What we came from. She fucked everyone else over for her own gains, including myself and her closest friends. You know the story behind my transfer to 1898 Odena, back when I was done with youth football?”

“I don’t think so. Didn’t you sign there after playing for the National Academy?”

“Yeah, after I fired Katya as my agent. I fired her because she tried to sign me to SC Morievo, because they were offering her a shitload of money for her agent fee. She tried to fake my signature and agree to terms with them without telling me, and I busted her and told her she was lucky I didn’t sue her. But that’s not even what I’m angry about. She was just another poor kid from the streets, like you and me. I can’t blame her for looking out for herself. The thing that I hated was always the family dynamic, and how she always had to take the fucking glory for herself. In school, in accomplishments, in everything. And how our parents didn’t do a damn thing. During the later years when I was at home, our baby brother Dusan was the one who got the attention… Like I said, growing up with two siblings fucking sucked.”

Artem shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “Well, your siblings aren’t around here now. And aren’t you going to be away from them because of moving clubs, now that 1898 is rebuilding and changing their lineup completely?”

“I’m heading to Valladares for next season, so you’re right,” Niko says. “You might have heard the Alligators rumors, and those are true. But you didn’t ask about my siblings. You asked why I wasn’t happy with hanging out in this group. I gave you the reason.”

“You’re saying that I remind you of your sister?”

“Only at times. I don’t think that you’re an insufferable bitch, Artem. But I do think you have a tendency to steal the spotlight, whether you want to or not. And you’re always wanting to be the popular one, trying to get on everyone’s good side while ignoring all of the tensions and conflicts. You want to be friends with everyone while committing to nobody.”

“I’m not trying to get on everyone’s good side, I just try to help people. I don’t know what’s wrong with that.”

“Whatever. The result is still the same. Why do I want to hang out in another group where I’m stuck in the middle? I’ve experienced those feelings enough as I was growing up and starting off with my career. I don’t need to go through it with you guys, too. And frankly, I feel like there’s not much love for me around here. On the national team in general, really. They don’t like it that I try to play like the last true striker.”

“The last true striker?”

“You know. The kind of player that takes the team on his shoulders, who doesn’t care about flash and style and focuses on doing one thing, putting the ball in the net. But he’s not a poacher, who relies on tap ins. He’s a true number nine, who can push his way through the defense and get past rough tackles and strong central defenders. He’s not one of these modern players that dribbles around you, but one of the old fashioned types who can run through you and still keep the ball at his feet for long enough to finish,” Niko explains, a certain romanticism entering his voice as he talks about it. “He doesn’t dive, he doesn’t bitch to the midfield about not putting the ball on a platter for him, and he doesn’t try to get on the highlight shows with his goals. He just does what he needs to do to get the win for his club, and he doesn’t forget where he’s from. At the end of the day, he’s a blue collared working man, just like anyone else. That, in my opinion, is what being a true striker is all about. At least for Bojikstan.”

“I guess I’m not a true striker, then,” shrugs Artem. “I don’t think I could push my way through a defense to save my life. I’m the type that you mentioned, that dribbles around.”

“You’re not so bad. You don’t dive or look back to the midfield every time a pass is slightly off target, like a bitch,” says Niko, slapping Artem on the back. “You still get on my bad side sometimes, though. I’m surprised you’ve been as persistent as you have. I guess it’s like your style on the pitch.”

There’s awkward tension again, and Artem picks another subject. “So you like Rain.”

“Why would anyone not like Rain? She’s always lifting up everyone around her, even when she has her own shit to deal with. Sometimes I wish I could be more like her, but at the same time, I know the vast majority of people aren’t. And I can relate to her. I guess I feel like two people as insecure as us are perfect for each other. I’m not sure about my chances with her, though.”

“They probably aren’t high. I think you relate to her more than vice versa.”

“Yeah. I know…”

“Speaking of Rain, I wonder what she’s up to right now? I think she left early. I haven’t seen Mara, either, since she talked to her.”

***

On this cold night in Blackmont, things are heating up in one of the dark side rooms of Blackmont Palace. It’s possible to hear the party through the walls, but the two partygoers that have snuck off by themselves aren’t concerned with that. They’re only concerned with each other for now, their bodies pressed against each other and their eyes closed. They can both feel old tensions disappearing as they kiss, replaced with nerves that are there for different reasons. They’re not Blackmontese, but Bojikstani. What they’re doing is still taboo in half of the country, because they aren’t just another couple.

The two girls in the room are Mara Mandaric and Rain Delacruz, and they both know that their reputations will take hits if they get discovered. Both play in the socially conservative east, both come from families that would likely have a problem with what they’re doing, and both of them would face complications in their other relationships if this got out. And both of them still haven’t figured out how to reconcile this with the teachings of the Bojikstani Church. But that hasn’t kept them from being drawn to each other like this, and after weeks of Rain running from Mara to avoid something like this happening, both of them gave in to their desires and decided that it was worth the risk of getting caught. That decision also had something to do with Rain being drunk and fearless as the moment that Mara had talked to her in the main room.

But who would find out about something that had happened during a party in another country, that was nowhere near Bojikstan?

“Do you… Do you do this with other girls?” asks Rain, when the kisses stop and Mara moves back to remove her shirt. While some of the others dressed up formally for the party, Mara didn’t wear anything more than one of her usual outfits, cargo pants and a black sweatshirt. “Is that who you like? Or are you into guys too…?”

“I’m too much of a tomboy to do anything like this with a guy,” shrugs Mara, getting her shirt stuck before finally pulling it off and tossing it aside. “You?”

“I’ve only been with two guys, ever.”

“Yeah, well, I’m about to show you what you’re missing,” Mara says, and their bodies are touching again. And it looks like it’s going to go further, and it probably would have, if Rain hadn’t been alert enough to notice a sound that Mara had missed completely. There’s a camera click, and suddenly, Rain tenses up and instantly looks towards the door. She pushes Mara off of her, with some roughness, and stumbles to her feet. She’s wishing now that she hadn’t gotten drunk, but if she hadn’t, she probably wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. “What? What’s happening?”

“I heard a fucking camera shutter,” Rain replies, buttoning up her blouse and adjusting her skirt before running to the doorway. She leans into the hall, but she’s too late, and she can only see a quick flash of somebody before they disappear around the corner. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. How… How can this be happening right now? You promised me that we weren’t going to get caught, Mara!”

Mara, who still doesn’t have her shirt, follows Rain and puts a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “Did you see someone?”

“Yeah, as they were fucking running away! I’m never going to find out who it is… It could be some media member who followed us here, or it could be someone from the party, with a phone, and there’s no way of knowing who! You know how many people are here? And the most I saw was a shoe, but nothing more that’s going to identify someone!”

“Rain, please, calm down, let’s just go over what you saw,” Mara says. “If you saw a shoe, can you tell me what it looked like, at least?”

“I just saw a flash of it, how am I supposed to know? The person was wearing sneakers, but that doesn’t fucking narrow it down very much, does it? That’s only, like, every person in this building that isn’t part of the nobility! It could have been one of the Palace workers, a journalist, or someone else from the party, or someone we know, or anyone! And now, whoever took a picture is able to ruin us by giving it to the press or posting it online! How do you know they won’t try to sell it to the media back home?”

“I’ll fix it! I promise, but just calm down and let me think about a way to make this better-”

Mara tries to hug Rain, but Rain shoves her away violently, and starts to walk away. “No! Get away from me! What we were doing was wrong, and now we’re getting punished for it! This is obviously punishment for what we were doing, and… You shouldn’t have took advantage of me being drunk like this. You caused this-”

“You’re the one that brought me here to talk-”

“Because I wanted to explain why I was running from you, not give in to my… Desires! But apparently, I’m not good at carrying out a plan when I’m drunk!”

“Maybe giving in isn’t such a bad thing!”

“Yeah? Of course you’d think that! Your family already hates you!” Rain screams, and with that, she runs off down the hall to see if she can find the person who took a photo, stumbling along the way because of her drunken state. As much as Mara would like to help her, she just sighs and stays back. At this point, she knows that talking to Rain more is only going to make things worse. But she does take her phone out and send a text to Artem.

It’s only two lines: Artem, please help Rain. I know what she’s going through, and I think I made it worse.