Before hitting Marto's Pizza for the customary post-game celebratory meal, we were each seen by a qualified medical carer. I received a proper wrist splint and a stronger dose of painkiller. The latter precluded me from answering any questions from the immediate media ambush, which was a pleasant perk. I smiled and nodded while my team repeated pleasantries regarding how pleased we were with the outcome, how relieved we were that no one was hurt too badly, how mysterious it was that I achieved so much despite my 'medical status', and that we respected Blue Lightning for earning the victory.
Eventually the interrogation was forcibly halted and we were free to answer the call of cheesy goodness. I joked about hexing my armour to feed me pizza, but we collectively decided that was unsanitary. Skids took on the role of pizza lifter. It did not go well. At first sa tried holding the pizza by the crust, which predictably ended with the topping sliding off. Subsequent attempts tended to involve the pizza meeting my face, or my teeth meeting Skids' fingers. In the end it wasn't much less messy than eating it directly off a plate, nor much more sanitary than using magically articulated armour. Howver, it was great fun and very delicious.
We did not speak about the match until we'd all consumed our fill of the delicious food. The pizzas were prepared elsewhere and frozen to be magically thawed and baked on demand, but this process had not detracted from the quality in any way. Punnt was the last to finish eating, as dro had worked up the biggest appetite and no one wanted to rush the eating experience. Scaff was second to last, because jur and dro started feeding one another after observing Skids helping me eat. Broth rolled ra's eyes at that and shot a look at Swipe with one clear meaning: don't even dare.
Broth leaned uncomfortably close to Swipe. "What are you afraid of? Think you'll catch conjurer germs?"
"Sit back down, Broth. Eating is meant to be a relaxing experience."
Punnt spoke through a mouthful of crust and tiny fish. "Actually this is meant to be celebratory!"
"And I choose to celebrate by eating in an orderly fashion."
"Well you'd at least better try a fun drink," Broth said, grinning. "Perhaps an Unmixing Lemon-Lime Twist?"
Swipe made an expecially sour face. "Not a chance."
After a few minutes of back and forth ribbing we decided on drinks. Idle chatter continued as we sipped them. Skids had decided to be adventurous and try a Seer Poppo Cherry, while I'd made the mistake of attempting to drink a Speloj Max Grape Gloop through a straw.
"How? How did you get that all over your face? You're drinking from a straw!" Skids looked like sa was about to fall out of sa's seat from sheer mirth.
"I know what I'm drinking from, you big goof. Would you please wipe it off me before it turns my skin green?"
"Yeah, yeah, only because you asked so nicely. But seriously, how did you spill a drink up through a straw?"
"I don't know! This drink's all weird and gloopy and doesn't flow right and reacts to pressure all wron—Mmmph!" My protests were stopped by the damp paper napkin in Skids' hand.
Swipe rapped the table for our attention. "Looks like you're all full, so it's time for business."
"I could fit another piece!" Punnt protested while attempting to adopt a hungry look.
Scaff pushed the plate of leftovers out of dro's reach. "You'd really better not. Now hush and let Swipe speak, yeah?"
Punnt tried to pout but was foiled by a loud belch.
"Ahem," Swipe restarted. "Well done out there, everyone. We didn't lose, we ended the game, we didn't let Dead Drop push us around, and no one got too badly hurt in the process. I call that a win, and you can too. We started as a bunch of old and new players and became a team this hive can be proud of. Thank you, every one of you, for your efforts. I've seen how hard you've each worked, all the time and effort you put into training. Whether you continue playing or move on to focus on other things, this outcome is a great boost to your careers. As for myself, I plan to stay on in my current role, after a well-deserved break, of course."
We all made encouraging sounds at the mention of a break, and some clapped for Swipe's continuance. I would have clapped. Instead I tapped my shoe on the floor.
"Skids, you were the driving force that formed this team. Do you have a few words to share?"
"Yeah, I do, thanks Swipe. Uh, I'm not really big on fancy speeches so I'll keep it simple. Thanks, everyone, for trusting my far out idea of putting together a team. Swipe, I'm glad I could convince you to have a go at passing on your expertise to a new set of players. Scaff too, and you did great work with all our gear. Kept us in one piece, mostly. Punnt, it's really great to see you back under the dome, and to be there beside you. Broth, thanks for giving this a go, and for keeping us in great shape even when we complained about the flavour of your concoctions. And Drift, I'm really glad you joined up like I hoped and promised the others you would. Er, sorry about that, everyone. Uh... you performed some serious magic out there, Drift. Pulled all our butts out of the fire. Fortunately not literally, this time."
Skids' comments were returned with a variety of nods, grins and ultimately laughter.
"So thanks for sticking with the weird unknown who turned out to have a... troubling origin. If my source is correct." Sa glanced at me and I shrugged awkwardly.
"I'm pretty sure," I said, having no reason to doubt a bright messenger's reliability or honesty. "We'll find out soon enough."
"That we will," Skids said. "But I've said enough. We'll discuss that after everyone's had a turn at thanking everyone else. Is that what we're doing? No? Er... Swipe, can you take it from here?"
We all looked to Swipe who was finishing a green, celery-scented drink with a straw. A long slurping sound indicated that the drink was finished. Swipe looked back sheepishly. "Errr... I don't really have a plan for this. You're still planning to go to the Titans' Winterfest Open Week, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. We're six weeks out. Show of hands, who plans on tagging along?" Skids asked. "Obviously you too, Drift."
"Obviously," I said as the other four each raised a hand. "So, looks like this is a team outing."
Swipe took on a more serious aspect and tone. "I'm unsure how this will affect our prospects as a team. Anyone who gets augmented is almost certain to be barred from competitive chroma, and even an individual who proves themself to be untouched is going to be looked on with suspicion. I'm not telling you what to do or to not do, but you should be aware of the potential consequences."
I saw a weird, excited look in Skids' eyes right before sa spoke up. "We could become an augmented demonstration team! Demonstration Domination used to be a demonstation team, obviously. That was before they toned down the lethality enough to competitively play against live people instead of maganimated practice dummies." Sa noticed multiple concerned and disgusted stares aimed sa's way. "Er, if anyone wants to be augmented. Which I can see is rather doubtful."
"We're going with you to the place of madness, but not into the madness itself," Scaff said with pointedly deliberate use of the word 'madness'."
"And we're sticking close together to make sure no 'accidents' happen," Punnt added.
"Well that's six weeks away, so no need to decide anything yet. But it would be best not to mention this in any interviews. Yall can bet you'll be asked for a lot of those in the coming weeks. Please try not to say too much, for yall's own good. I recommend we start some light practice sessions two weeks from now, so we all stay sharp and in shape. And it's not strictly necessary but I do hope you each take the time to record yall's thoughts about how each of us played, what we did well or not, and what yall learned from our opponents. While there will be recordings of the match available, it's best to put yall's recollections into words now while they're fresh, then we can discuss it later when we're calm. How does that sound?"
Scaff and Punnt nodded in unison. Broth lazily signed a thumbs-up and Skids made an affirmative hum.
"Yeah, I've got lots of thoughts I need to organise," I said, thinking of all the strange new feats I'd achieved. "Tomorrow though. I'm feeling a bit... hazy."
"We need to let you get to bed, Drift," Skids said with uncharacteristic softness. "I have no idea how you did all that with both arms tied behind your back — metaphorically, of course — but it was utterly amazing. I know we were outclassed on that field and wouldn't have come away with much besides injuries without your extra mascot support."
"Yeah," Punnt said, suspicion replacing Skids' care. "Being wildly fast with hexes doesn't cover what you did tonight. Did you invent a new, hidden way of sending incantations to your scryer and not tell us?"
"Perhaps," I said, hoping to sound enigmatic in a fun way rather than a frightening way. "I'll explain some time but not now."
"You'll have to explain how you got so fast at hexing too," Swipe said. "I've seen hexmages work and I don't believe they could do in an hour what you did in under a minute."
"That's pretty simple," I said. "I got a hex to do that for me."
Beside me Skids scoffed and I turned to witness the end of a major eye-roll. "It's really not simple. Drift spent months on that project."
"Simple to explain, very difficult to do," I said, and yawned deeply.
"Let's get you home before you fall asleep on my shoulder and drool over this new dress," Skids said, pretending to look worried.
"Hey, you can't leave yet, there's still dessert!" Punnt protested.
Skids helped me struggle to my feet. "This may be news to you, but food can wait. Try to save us some cheesecake, yeah?"
"No promises," Punnt said, with a smirk we all knew was meant only in fun.
"That's disgusting. No way can you eat that much after all that pizza!" Scaff said, throwing jur's hands up in exasperation.
"Sure I can. Have you seen how much I work out?"
"You know I have. But..."
I stopped listening to the interplay as Skids guided me out the door. "Thanks. This was fun but it was getting to be a bit much."
"Yeah," Skids said. "They're good people but you look like you desperately need a nap."
"A nap? I could sleep for a week."
Skids chuckled. "I'd like to see you try. Nah, you'll be back to hexing your fingers off by tomorrow. Uh, I mean..."
"I know what you mean," I said, and yawned again. "And you're probably right. I don't want to think about that now."
Skids bundled me onto a two person aetherscooter and we set off for home.