Chapter 418: Titan Drops: Blacklist VS Colossus

The silence filled the arena. The only thing you could hear was the heavy, nervous breathing of the crowd.

The ref held the ball up, glancing one last time between Nash and Seth.

Seth got into position, knees bent, his whole body dead still. Nash was the same way, just staring at the ball.

The ref blew the whistle and tossed the ball up.

Both of them leaped at the exact same time. No more thinking, time to show their raw explosive power. But ten centimeters and a slightly better jump made all the difference. Nash’s hand hit the ball first, slapping it right back toward his teammates.

Seth landed on the floor. His face was calm as usual, but he frowned for a split second. He wasn’t used to losing a duel like that, even in clear biological disadvantage.

A wave of shocked whispers swept through the crowd.

Nash didn’t even wait to land fully before he was sprinting. He caught the pass from Aiko and took off. His long strides ate up the court dangerously fast.

On the other side, Jaz was already sprinting for the counter-attack. Her long legs were covering the ground fast, and there was a huge gap opening up for her toward the circle.

Nash fired a long laser pass. It flew across half the court in an instant, landing perfectly in Jaz’s hands just as she reached the paint. She leaped up and whipped the ball between her legs in mid-air, a flashy-as-hell move to declare war.

But that’s when Vex answered with his own declaration of war.

Nobody in the crowd saw the Colossus center retreat that fast. He was a massive guy, but he seemed to glide across the floor, his huge legs covered the distance with a speed that shouldn’t be physically possible for someone his size.

Jaz realized the danger a fraction of a second too late.

Vex’s giant hand slammed down on the ball in mid-flight, swatting it way back toward the half-court line. The impact was so violent it actually made the front row of the audience stand up.

"AND THAT’S THE COLOSSUS WALL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the commentator screamed.

The crowd went absolutely wild.

Jaz landed, a little bit shocked, staring at Vex with a look of frustration.

"No fucking way..."

Vex didn’t even react. He just grabbed the rebound with a casual, bored expression. He brought the ball back up the court, doing two high dribbles over Jaz, who was desperately trying to get back on defense, before finding Kael open at the three-point line. Kael caught the ball, set his feet, and let it fly.

The ball traced a perfect arc before snapping cleanly through the net.

[Colossus 3-0 Blacklist] way to go.

Jaz retreated, her eyes meeting Nash’s for a second.

"Sorry," she panted.

"Don’t sweat it," Nash replied with a calm smile. "We’re just getting started."

On the other side, Rei grabbed the ball from the sideline and brought it up slowly. The game slowed down as both teams tried to find their rhythm, until Cross stepped out to intercept the ball from Rei.

"So," Cross said, a smirk playing on his lips, "we going straight to the serious stuff?"

"Shut up and play," Rei snapped back, her legs already bent in a defensive stance.

Cross started with a low dribble, the ball slapping hard against the floor, then, he slammed his right foot down, faked a drive to the left, and instantly pivoted, exploding to the right.

Rei tried to keep up, but Cross was already two steps ahead. He drove straight to the hoop for an easy layup, the ball rolling softly around the rim before dropping in.

[Colossus 5-0 Blacklist]

"Shit," Rei whispered, getting back into position with a bit of frustration in her voice.

On the Blacklist bench, Dahlia frowned, focusing intensely on her tablet and scribbling down adjustments. Victoria, meanwhile, just sat there with her legs crossed, looking bored, or relax, depending on the team you’d cheer for.

The game resumed. This time, Blacklist set up their play. The ball moved smoothly from Rei to Jaz, then to Aiko, simple, almost boring passes. Jaz drove toward the basket, and Vex immediately shifted to block her. Aiko stepped in to set a hard screen, forcing Vex to slow down for a split second.

Aiko bounced the ball once and fired it back toward Nash. The ball had barely touched his fingers before it zoomed away at an insane speed, crossing half the court before anyone in the stands or on the court could even track it, landing perfectly in Miko’s hands.

She was completely alone behind the three-point line, in the one spot nobody was guarding.

She didn’t even need to settle the ball, her shot was already in the air.

Swish. Three points.

[Colossus 5-3 Blacklist]

"WAIT, WHAT?!" the commentator screamed, his voice almost cracking. "WHERE THE HELL DID THAT PASS COME FROM?!"

The crowd erupted. Rain, sitting with the Falcons, nodded slowly, impressed despite his usual "I don’t care" vibe. A ghost player assist master recognizing another ghost player assist master, except that this ghost was 6 feet and could go berzerk and turn the game around.

Two of his teammates next to him looked at each other in total shock, also recognizing that same attribute. In their private box, Mirage let out a little laugh and turned to Kaito and Maya.

"Now that," he said, "is the kind of play you never see in our team."

"Have you tried becoming useful for the team?" Maya shot back.

On his side, Snow just raised an eyebrow, actually interested for once, though his face stayed bored.

"OMG, DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Chloé screamed next to him, almost jumping out of her seat.

"I saw, I saw... no need to scream," Snow replied bluntly.

On the opposing bench, the assistant coach blinked, turning to his boss.

"How the fuck did he do that?"

The head coach didn’t answer. He just watched Nash casually walking back on defense, his face as neutral as ever.

Vex brought the ball back up, this time pushing his way toward the circle. Jaz stepped up to him, refusing to give up an inch of space, her legs bent and her center of gravity low.

"Cute," Vex said, his voice sounding almost like a dad talking to a kid. "But we aren’t in the same league, girl."

"We’re literally playing in the same league, dumbass," Jaz snapped back.

Vex pivoted once, and Jaz followed, sticking to him like glue. He pivoted a second time, the other way, and Jaz was still there, stubbornly refusing to budge. Vex looked almost amused. He simply lifted the ball high over his head, way out of Jaz’s reach, and dropped in a perfectly calculated hook shot.

[Colossus 7-3 Blacklist]

"Shit," Jaz muttered, frustrated, stomping her foot on the floor.

Aiko and Miko immediately surrounded her.

"You held your own," Aiko told her.

"Yeah," Miko added, "you’ll get him next time."

Jaz wiped her forehead with her jersey, shaking her head.

"It’s not enough. I gotta find a way, otherwise I’m not scoring a single fucking point today. This guy is a goddamn mountain."

Not so far, Vex, having heard everything, rolled his shoulders in a theatrical way.

"Dancing like a fucking rhino-sized duck," Jaz groaned.

"It’ll be fine," Miko said with a small smile. "If you can’t do it, nobody can."

The game continued.

In the second half of the quarter, Cross completely took over the offense.

He went straight for Rei, starting with a sharp crossover, changing direction so violently that Rei barely managed to keep up. Then came a second move, even faster, with Cross adding a shot fake that knocked Rei off balance. It was just enough for him to dive toward the rim and score an easy bucket.

"Too easy," he bragged, a mocking smile on his face.

Rei clenched her jaw, stepping back into place without saying a word.

Nash watched the whole thing from across the court. He noticed that the same pattern was repeating, almost identical every time. He didn’t say anything, but he silently adjusted his own defensive positioning.

On the next possession, Cross had the ball facing Rei again.

"Here we go again," he said with a wink, repeating the exact same move: a crossover followed by a burst to the right.

Except this time, Nash had already slid silently closer. His hand shot out at the exact right moment, grazing the ball and knocking it slightly off course.

"WHAT—" Cross gasped, losing his balance for a split second. That was all Rei needed to close the gap and force him into a panicked pass.

The ball landed right in Nash’s hands.

"SHIT!" Cross yelled, realizing his mistake instantly.

Immediate counter-attack. The ball zipped from Nash to Rei, then to Aiko in a flash, before landing back with Nash who immediately fired a laser pass to Jaz, already in the air, catching Vex completely off guard, grabbing the ball in mid-stride and slamming it home with a powerful dunk.

[Colossus 7-5 Blacklist]

"In your," she screamed, still hanging from the rim, "FUCKING LEAGUE!"

She let go, landing right in front of Vex, who was wiping sweat from his face with his arm.

"Lucky," Vex muttered.

"Wait my boom Shakalaka over your head, I’ll show you luck," Jaz grinned.

"Okay," Cross murmured, his smile finally disappearing. "You want to play like that? Fine. Let’s go."

He immediately changed his approach, adding an extra fake to trick Nash’s anticipation. This time, the move worked. Cross broke free enough to take a mid-range shot that went in cleanly.

[Colossus 9-5 Blacklist]

"AND CROSS TAKES OVER AGAIN!" the commentator yelled, the crowd exploding once more.

On the Blacklist bench, the girls whispered in surprise.

"Did he just get past Nash?" Yuna asked, unable to believe it.

Back at the mansion, Zayela leaned forward, her hands gripping her knees. Nash stayed perfectly calm despite the point, giving a small, subtle nod.

On the next defensive possession, Cross tried to go at Rei again. But this time, Aiko stepped in to help, squeezing the space on one side while Rei covered the other. Cross was trapped in a pincer movement, forced to make a rushed pass that Nash intercepted cleanly.

Nash immediately drove the ball, using two quick steps to get past the Hall before delivering a laser pass to the other side of the court, where Jaz could deliver an easy dunk.

[Colossus 9-7 Blacklist]

"Great read," Aiko said with a satisfied smile, catching Nash’s eye.

"Papa’s gotta level up when he’s playing with Mama, right?" he replied.

Aiko burst out laughing and smacked his arm.

"Stop it right now," she said.

Rei walked past, giving Nash a friendly pat on the back for the assist before immediately refocusing on the next possession.

The Colossus coach called for a timeout to break Blacklist’s momentum. He was starting to get visibly agitated, his eyes jumping between the scoreboard and Nash’s behavior on the court.

"Look at him," the coach whispered to his assistant. "He always scan the court. And every time we find something that works, he finds the counter just a few possessions later. What’s his game here? I expected him to go early on the offense."

"We’re still leading," the assistant replied, not really worried.

"Exactly," the coach said. "We should be leading by twenty, not ten. And he hasn’t even started playing for real yet."

Cross, hearing the end of the conversation as he headed back to the bench for a quick rotation, shrugged and wiped sweat from his forehead with his arm.

"Chill, coach. Everything is under control, I got him."

"That’s not what I’m seeing," the coach replied sharply.

The coach then shifted his gaze to Seth, who remained silent on the bench, his eyes never truly leaving Nash, even from a distance.

The game resumed. Rei became much more aggressive in defense against Cross, refusing to give him any easy space, which forced a contested shot that missed.

"THAT’S IT! Good job," Nash yelled, the first time he’d actually raised his voice, pointing at Rei.

She turned to him, a proud smile appearing.

"I did great, didn’t I?"

"Keep doing exactly that," Nash said. "You’re wearing him out more than he can understand."

Rei nodded, a new wave of determination on her face, her shoulders squaring up.

On the rebound, Vex grabbed the ball and brought it up the court calmly before finding Cross open. Cross took a three-pointer, a quick, almost casual motion, and the ball passed through.

[Colossus 12-7 Blacklist]

"CROSS AGAIN!" the commentator screamed.

Blacklist responded immediately. Aiko knocked down two perfect free throws after a foul was called on her.

[Colossus 12-9 Blacklist]

The real problem for Blacklist was becoming obvious as the quarter went on. On defense, they were holding their own, giving a point for a point and refusing to totally collapse. But on offense, if Nash wasn’t passing the ball, nothing worked naturally. Every attempt to play one-on-one against Colossus ended in failure; the physical difference made individual plays almost useless.

On the next possession, Cross drove straight for the hoop, clearly trying to force contact rather than avoid it.

Nash stepped into his path, absorbing the hit without budging a single centimeter. The whistle blew almost instantly.

"Offensive foul," the ref announced, pointing at Cross.

Cross let out a groan of frustration, throwing his hands up.

"Like fucking seriously?" he snapped.

"Yeah, fucking seriously," the ref confirmed.

Nash patted his shirt, as if brushing off a piece of dust.

"Come on, You gotta try harder than that," he said. "I barely felt a thing."

Rei joined him, leaning her arm on his shoulder with her arms crossed.

"The shame, that must hurt," she teased Cross with a smirk.

Cross glared at them his jaw working overtime.

In the stands, the energy was electric. Chloé, who was basically just staring at Nash in a trance, found herself clenching her fists during every Blacklist possession, making a little moan sounding noise everytime something went wrong for Blacklist.

"Are you rooting for Blacklist now?" Snow asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I-I-I’m not rooting for anyone!" she replied a bit too quickly, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "I’m just... analyzing! With a lot of emotional investment!"

"He is a real point guard, I can say it," Snow admitted reluctantly. "But he needs to step up his game."

"He is so cool!" Chloé added, totally ignoring Snow’s analysis. "Like, look at how he stays calm, he never screams, it’s like he can see the whole court without..."

And there, Snow lost the last bit of interest he had, maybe just to counterbalance the Nash’s glazing. He looked down and noticed Chloé’s feet were literally resting on her notebook, crushing it into the floor. She didn’t even notice.

He rolled his eyes and looked back at the court.

"I’m not helping you meet him," he said flatly.

"Huh? WHY NOT???"

"Just because. And besides, it’s not a good time for him right now," Snow replied. "He needs to wake up soon. The monster facing him hasn’t truly woken up either."

A bit further away, Maya was watching the Blacklist bench with a little smirk.

"Do you think they’ll finally bring out the big guns?" she asked, turning to Mirage and Kaito. "I mean Nash and Seth. It’s been a while and they’re total herbivores."

"They’re probably just waiting for the other side to tire out first," Mirage replied. "Technically, Nash is the one under pressure. Colossus has dominated the score since the start. Seth doesn’t even need to do much right now."

"But I doubt he’ll be satisfied with that for long," Kaito added.

Over on the Falcons bench, Rain watched the scene in silence while Alexia followed every play with growing intensity.

"Do you think we’ll ever have that kind of energy?" she finally asked Rain.

"Maybe," he replied. "First, we’d have to actually win a game against one of those two teams."

Griffin, sitting on the other side, let out a bitter sigh, his fists still tightly clenched.

The game kept swapping. Vex found himself facing Jaz again, and she refused to give up. This time, she changed her approach, stepping back intentionally to create space and attempting a jump shot, out of Vex’s immediate reach.

The ball went in cleanly.

[Colossus 12-11 Blacklist]

Jaz punched the air in pure satisfaction.

"FINA FUCKING LLY!"

Vex let out an annoyed sigh, shaking his head slightly.

Both teams kept trading points. Cross took the ball facing Nash directly this time, a provocative smirk on his face.

"Come on," he teased, "show me what you’ve actually got."

He started driving, trying to blow past him, but Aiko suddenly popped up from his blind spot, forcing him into a compromised position. Trapped, Cross still managed to pull off a flashy behind-the-back dribble to break free, drawing a roar of excitement from the entire arena.

Facing Rei now, he jumped for a fading three-pointer, a risky, impressive move that ended up hitting the rim.

"Damn!" He shouted.

On the rebound, Rei found herself facing Hall, who easily overpowered her, snatched the ball away, and scored immediately.

[Colossus 14-11 Blacklist]

Cross’s teammates were openly making fun of him for missing that shot, even though Hall got the rebound.

"Did you see your face in the air?" Kael joked with a smirk. "You looked like a pussycat missing a jump."

"Shut up," Cross replied, but he was already smiling. "At least I tried something classy. You’ve just been doing the same shot boring since the start of the game."

"The same shot that goes in every time," Kael shot back.

Hall gave him a heavy slap on the back.

"Don’t worry about it, man, I had your back. That’s what teamwork is."

Cross made a theatrical face, sticking his tongue out at Kael before laughing with them. The mood stayed light, even with the tension of the match.

The Colossus continued to widen the gap methodically over the next few plays. Kael added another outside shot, Vex grabbed two more points under the rim, and Blacklist only managed to respond with a few free throws from Aiko before the clock ran dangerously low.

[Colossus 24-13 Blacklist]

Back at the manor, the girls were clearly worried, staring at the screen without saying a word. Even Saya was totally invested, genuinely scared that Blacklist wouldn’t be able to turn things around.

The buzzer for the first quarter sounded shortly after. The scoreboard showed an eleven-point lead for the Colossus.

In the stands, a collective murmur went through the crowd. People were nodding, satisfied that the logic of the game was being followed.

"It was predictable," one guy said. "The Colossus is just physically superior."

Elsewhere in the city, small groups had gathered in front of public screens, arguing about every play.

"Blacklist is solid," one man said, "but Colossus is a real steamroller. It was obvious they’d crush them."

A bit further away, Drex watched the scene, hands deep in his pockets. He nodded slowly, a small, discreet smile appearing on his face. Finally, a bit of honey in his life.

But on the Colossus bench, the coach was the only one not enjoying the lead, or maybe the second person. He stood there for a long time, staring at the scoreboard, a growing frown appearing on his face.

In the circle around him, the players were completely relaxed, almost euphoric. Cross wiped his face with a towel, looking satisfied. Kael and Hall exchanged a quick hug, happy with the pace they had set. Vex just drank water calmly, his heart rate barely elevated despite the intensity of the game.

"We’re handling this easily," Cross said, still a bit out of breath. "We’re crushing them, so that other asparagus is going to enter solo mode sooner or later."

The coach nodded slowly, his gaze passing over each of his players.

"Stay focused," he said. "Something about their attitude is bothering me."

"Everything is under control, coach," Vex assured him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Relax."

"Yeah, and we’re up by eleven," Kael added with a confident smile. "Everything’s rolling."

The coach finally turned to Seth, who had remained silent since the start of the timeout. His face was as unreadable as ever.

"And you, Seth? Your opinion? How do you feel about this match?"

Seth remained silent for a bit longer, his gaze fixed on something beyond the circle formed around him.

"I will do whatever I see," he finally said, before turning away, the conversation clearly closed as far as he was concerned.

On the other side of the court, the Blacklist bench was much more tense.

"Our usual game isn’t working," Jaz said, wiping her face. "Vex’s defense is just too solid under the hoop."

"Outside shots are our best option," Nash said, his gaze already scanning the rest of the team. "But first, we need to tighten up our own defense."

He took a few sips of water, gathering his thoughts.

"I’ve already spotted a few of their weaknesses. Cross wants to do too much," he continued. "Every time we counter him, he doubles down instead of simplifying. We need to push him further in that direction, force him to seek the contact, burn his energy on useless stuff. He’ll exhaust himself if we play our cards right. A small change in defensive style and some yapping would do the job."

He crossed his arms, glancing for a moment at the Colossus bench, staring at Vex who was hydrating calmly.

"As for Vex," he said more slowly, "I think I have an idea. And actually, now is the perfect time to try it."

A bit later, both teams gradually returned to the court, the public regaining their senses after the break.

But something different was going on Blacklist’s side.

Some murmurs propagated through the stands, several spectators leaning toward their neighbors to comment on the change. On the opposing bench, a few Colossus players also exchanged questioning looks.

Jaz slowly backed up toward the center position, exchanging a nod with Nash.

Rei and Aiko approached the sideline together. Kai was already busy tightening her laces, while Nia stretched her arms over her head next to her.

"Go on," Rei said with a tap on Kai’s back, "make them bleed."

"And don’t fuck everything up," Aiko added with a grin, her arms crossed.

"Aye," they answered in one voice, before stepping onto the court together.