The fight song wasn't half-over before Kevin and his mark were brawling. It took Matt, Dan, and three Jackals to tear them apart. By the time they put a safe distance between the two the referees were there. The yellow card went to the Jackal for throwing the first punch, and the crowd cheered. Overhead on the screens a cartoon jackal got brained by an oversized hammer. The Jackal fans booed, but their anger was drowned out by the home crowd.

When the teams were set up in starting spot, the referees left. Dan served to get the game moving.

They were twenty minutes in when Gorilla crushed Seth up against the wall. Fans roared with hatred and excitement as Gorilla raced after the ball unguarded. Neil expected Seth to go after him, but Seth scrabbled ineffectually at the wall for a second and then crumpled to the ground.

"David," Abby said, but Wymack was already running down the wall to stand opposite Seth. One of the referees crouched beside him and gestured through the wall at Seth. Wymack hit the wall to get Seth's attention. Seth painstakingly pushed himself onto his hands and knees. Neil looked from him to the game in helpless frustration. Until Seth signaled the referees to call him out, the game was still going, which meant Kevin suddenly had two backliners riding him.

It didn't take Dan long to notice Kevin's predicament. She spun in a circle, wasting precious seconds and losing track of the ball to find her missing striker. Halfway across the court from her, Kevin got sandwiched between the Jackal backliners. He lost the ball and his racquet but somehow kept his feet.

"Call it, Seth!" Nicky yelled, kicking the wall.

Seth finally lifted his racquet, alerting the referees he was unable to continue the period. An alarm went off to stop the game. Matt had just caught the ball, so he passed it to Andrew for safekeeping. The crowd went silent to watch as Seth struggled to his feet. He stumbled sideways into the wall and leaned heavily against it, waiting to get his balance back before trying to walk. Dan ran to help him, and Allison kept pace with him on the outside of the court. Abby hurried ahead of her to the door.

Wymack smacked Neil's shoulder. "Move it."

A flicker of nerves turned Neil's stomach cold. Now that he'd seen the teams in action, it proved what he'd said all along: he wasn't ready to play with a team like this. He didn't have much of a choice, though, so he grabbed his racquet and ran after Allison to the court door.

"Get some!" Nicky called after him.