Scoreboard: Vorpal Basket 102 – Portsmouth Vultures 54
Time Remaining: 1:38 | 4th Quarter
The air was thick with tension.
Not from uncertainty
But from certainty.
The crowd didn't cheer. Didn't shout.
They just watched, silent, holding their breath.
All eyes locked on the court.
On him.
Ethan Albarado.
He stood still, near half-court, like a conductor before the final note.
The ball rested against his right hip, fingers loose on the leather, head bowed slightly.
Sweat traced clean lines down his face. His yellow hair stuck to his brow, glinting under the stadium lights.
His chest rose and fell with calm, even rhythm.
Too calm.
No one scores twelve straight in under two minutes and breathes like this.
But Ethan wasn't anyone.
Across from him, Jamie Lin took slow steps forward, arms low, body tense, eyes never leaving Ethan's.
The scoreboard loomed above them like a monument.
The Vultures had already been buried.
