Matt didn't answer, but he heard. The next time both teams were up inside the first-fourth line, Matt dropped his striker and went after Gorilla. Matt tossed his racquet aside to free up his hands and took one powerful swing, punching Gorilla right under his chest armor. Gorilla slumped forward a bit under the blow and the buzzer called a foul. Gorilla needed only a second to get his breath back and then went after Matt. Matt backpedaled away from his giant hands, putting as many people between him and Gorilla as he could. Gorilla shoved his teammates out of the way as he chased Matt across the court.

As soon as Matt passed the goal, Andrew stepped into Gorilla's path. He looked ridiculously small as he watched Gorilla bear down on him, but he stood his ground and waited with his racquet at his side. Gorilla jerked a beefy hand at him in a demand to move, but Andrew stayed silent and still. Neil held his breath, waiting for Gorilla to move Andrew with force. Andrew might be psychotic, but he was also half Gorilla's size. One perfect punch from Gorilla would crush his skull.

Luckily the referees got there before things could escalate. Matt accepted his yellow card without argument and flashed Kevin a thumbs-up. Through the open court doors Neil could hear the crowd jeering and cheering the short fight. Matt jogged off the court to let Nicky on and was greeted by the home crowd like a returning champion. Gorilla left the court through the Jackals' side a couple seconds later. Neil saw him limping through the wall.

"Matt can hit," Neil said.

Dan smiled. "His mother's a professional boxer. She taught him a couple tricks. Now what…?" Neil followed her distraction to the court door where Wymack still waited. It was almost time for Allison to come on for Dan, but Wymack had both Seth and Allison with him. Wymack gestured between them, leaving the choice to Dan. It only took Dan a second to catch on and she whipped around, looking for Kevin.

Kevin was standing with Andrew inside the goal line, left hand out so Andrew could tug at his outer glove. Andrew undid the straps and peeled it off, then hooked it under his arm so he could take off Kevin's arm guard. He left Kevin's under-glove on, but unhooked the loop from Kevin's middle finger so he could slide the black cloth to Kevin's wrist. Kevin flexed his fingers slowly, staring at his scars, then turned his hand over and flexed his fingers again.

"Kevin!" Dan said.