The Ravens wheeled back to their starting points with triumphant whoops. The Foxes were slower to react, and Neil didn't budge until he saw Andrew move. Andrew was half-turned as he stared at the red wall behind him. They were only two minutes into the first half; it was the fastest anyone had ever scored against Andrew.

Andrew waited until the glow completely faded before facing forward again. Neil hoped the loss would galvanize him. Andrew was still riding the coattails of his drugs and wouldn't start fading for another fifteen minutes or so. He probably thought it funny to be scored on so quickly, but there was the slim chance he would perk up and now see the Ravens as an interesting challenge.

"Let's go," the dealer yelled, and Neil obediently went to the half-court line.

The buzzer got them moving again, and the teams slammed into each other once more. The Foxes were a little shaken by getting scored on so quickly. They fought harder, but it wasn't enough. Five minutes later Riko scored again.

"This is humiliating," the other Raven striker said as he headed past Neil for half-court. "I can't believe we're wasting our time here."

Neil contemplated throwing his racquet at the man's head, but he couldn't take his eyes off Riko. Riko wasn't going back to his starting spot but was headed for Andrew. Andrew moved to meet him and they faced each other with just the goal line between them. Andrew waved off whatever Riko said to him with a careless waggle of his hand, but Riko didn't leave. The referees gave them a couple seconds to speak, then thumped on the court door in warning. Riko finally turned away and got in place for the next play.

The Foxes pushed up as fast and far as they could, but the Ravens shoved them back. Neil could only watch as the ball made it back to the Ravens' offense line. His stomach shredded to bits as he watched the strikers pass to one another. Riko snagged it and fired at the goal. Neil's shoulders went tense in preparation for another lost point, but Andrew slammed the ball away from his goal as hard as he could. Neil used his intense rush of relief as extra fuel to chase after the ball.

The Ravens didn't score again for another fifteen minutes, but it wasn't for lack of trying. They were so much better than the Foxes were that Neil couldn't help but feel humiliated. This was worse than Breckenridge's brute force. The Ravens made the Foxes look like clumsy children. Riko was simply too fast for Nicky to compete with. He could catch and pass in one easy flick, and his aim was scarily accurate no matter how quickly he moved. The only reason the Foxes weren't getting completely slaughtered was because Andrew had their goal, but he'd start going through withdrawal soon.