Divine Celebrity 77 (Patreon)

As I approached the parking lot, I realized that I might have created an even bigger event than I had first predicted. The parking space was crowded. Not full as it was the game night, but still enough that I would have struggled to find a parking spot for myself if I wasn’t using reserved parking. 

The crowd started even before I arrived at the locker room, however. Three of the offensive linemen stood in the corridor, loitering, ready to block my path. 

I just smirked as I walked toward them, not even skipping a step as I closed the distance. They turned toward me, looking at me sharply. I could read their reaction enough that they were playing mind games with no intention of following. 

Though, as I walked, I hid my frown. After the fight, they should have known that I was not the one to pull away from the fight. One of them even had a blackened eye to prove that. 

Then, I noticed their position, right under one of the cameras, and I realized. They didn’t want to fight. They wanted me to start one, right under a security camera. 

Smart. 

Too bad I had no intention of allowing them to succeed. Before even reaching them, I noticed a few defensive players dashing toward me from a corner, no doubt to help me. I gave them the signal to stop. It was a football signal, enough to trigger their habit of listening. 

They looked confused while I continued walking. I stood in front of the offensive as they blocked my path, sneering threateningly. 

Before they could even react, I pulled out my phone and started speaking. “Hi guys, too bad that Kevin is cowardly enough to send thugs to keep me away,” I started. The widening of their eyes was amusing as they beat a hasty retreat. 

“Coward,” mumbled the one with the black eye, only to be replaced with a blush as I turned my phone toward them, revealing it wasn’t recording. 

There was no need to make too big of an enemy out of the offensive players by humiliating them publicly too much, especially the ones that were going to be tasked with my protection if I succeeded in my ploy. 

That was the limit of the chaos I created as I reached the locker room, only to find it filled with defensive players. Interestingly, there were no offensive players. 

“You’re almost late,” Marcus, one of the cornerbacks, and the most senior member of the team after almost a dozen players departed with Coach Bill said. I noted that he was already wearing gloves. 

“There’s no such thing as almost late,” I said with a shrug. “There’s late, and right on time.” 

It earned only laughter from the rest. “It’s a waste of time. You can’t defeat a nerd with words,” said someone, but it lacked the derogatory weight it carried the week before. It seemed that my performance in the match, combined with the show I put in during the fight, managed to earn their allegiance. 

Enough that, even when I declared a seemingly unfitting challenge, they decided to stand behind me rather than trying to make a mess. 

“So, you’re willing to face me on the field,” I said as I turned him, looking in mock anger. 

“Fuck no,” the answer came in an instant, and the locker room filled with laughter once more. A little forced, considering the mood had been extremely low as not only we lost Coach Bill, who was the only thing that was keeping Coach Spencer’s idiotic trips away, but also several of our best players were gone.

The absence of Carter and Thad, in particular, left a gap that required a miracle to solve. 

Luckily for them, I had several miracles in my pocket, ready to be launched and leveraged. I quickly changed into my uniform while the rest of the team chattered, then, I started walking. 

The rest of the defense followed, like we were an army ready to go to war. A hopeless war, one that required a miracle to win. 

Luckily for them, I had a handy miracle dispenser buried in my soul, even if it came together with a rather dubious user manual. 

When we arrived at the field, the nearest seats were already filled, and most of them gathered the side of the offense, which was holding the side we would have used if it was an official match. 

Interestingly, the full practice squad was there on their side as well, which created a great crowd.

Leaving the place of the visitor to the team to us. Which was a strong message, especially since Coach Spencer was in the middle of the team, surrounded by the full cadre of his offensive assistant coaches, almost reaching twenty. 

The situation on the other side was rather more deficient. Only three people waited for us. I recognized Coach Juana among them. “What happened?” I asked Marcus. 

“Coach Spencer decided to make a reorganization effort, and fired anyone hired by Coach Bill, or supported him,” he explained. 

No matter if he was that somber. 

“Such a smart decision,” I said as I snorted in disdain. I had known Coach Spencer was incompetent, but he still managed to surprise me with the full extent of his incompetence, acting like a dictator, and cleaning every candidate. 

I wished that I had the luxury of standing back and watching the intensity of the pyre he would create without Coach Bill to reign in him. 

Pity the shadow assassins that attacked me created an unfortunate urgency. 

When I arrived at their side, one of the other Coaches, another conditioning coach, stepped forward. The body language of Coach Juana showed she didn’t appreciate it, but she said nothing. 

I owed her for creating extra work for her, so ignored him and turned to her instead. “What’s the situation, Coach?” I asked. 

The man looked dissatisfied, but he lacked the confidence to push as several defensive players slotted themselves in between, showing that I wasn’t the only one who recognized the attempted coup. 

And, since my preference was clear, they just followed it. 

“Oh, our great head coach decided, in his infinite wisdom, a simple challenge is not enough to show the caliber of the players, and a true quarterback needed to fight against great odds.” 

“Oh, how interesting,” I said, while the rest of the defense started to shift enthusiastically, enthusiastic enough to put the offense in its place. 

However, my elation didn’t last long, because Coach Juana only frowned more at our enthusiasm. “What’s the catch,” I asked. 

“Coach Spencer wants it to be a fair battle, so instead of offense and defense alternating, or putting both of you on command of the same team, he decided that both teams will run against the practice squad defense.” 

The number of curses rising from the rest was not unfounded. The amount of effort each player put to learn their role was immense. The defense was clearly willing to play offense, and confident that they would win against the offense trying to reverse the role. 

However, trying to match the offense with their own expertise was much more difficult. Our offense was underperforming. 

Just not that much. 

The fact that we were both going to run against the practice squad defense, which was under Coach Spencer’s orders, made it even more unfair. 

I glanced toward the offensive side, only to see Coach Spencer actually looking toward me. It was too far to accurately see his expression, but his posture left no doubt about his childish enjoyment. 

He was like a little boy, proud of his win despite using maphacks. 

Such a childish man. 

Luckily, I was already determined to crush him until he get kicked out of the school. 

But first, I needed to attend to my team, who was getting angry. I raised my hand, and ordered, doing my best to tap into Leadership and Intimidation at the same time. “Silence!” 

It was not a shout, but worked much better than if I tried to shout. “It doesn’t matter,” I said as I turned toward them. “No matter what they do, even the worst of us is better than the best of them, and we can win,” I said. 

“Yes,” they cheered, though their forced enthusiasm told me that they didn’t believe in victory, they wanted not to make too much of a mess in the process. 

“Now, we just need to decide on our strategy,” I said as I turned toward Coach Juana…