Chapter 54

Dan stayed silent as he headed over to the locker room to change into his gear. In all honesty, he was nervous. Confrontation was usually best to be avoided. He knew things would just cause problems, likely for him. He was the low man on the totem pole, after all. However, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction at what was about to happen. He didn’t know what Peter was going to do, but given who it was, he had no doubt in his mind that Ben was going to regret, to some degree, his antics regarding Dan. And, Dan would be lying to himself if he hadn’t missed practicing tennis. Sure, soccer had been amazing, and he’d been able to make some great gains regarding his power system, but he had to wonder just how high his tennis skills could have gotten over an entire week of practice.

He mulled all these over, as he took his time getting ready. Peter had made his way to the tennis courts immediately, the Senior’s mood dark after mentioning his brother. That was likely not going to bode well for the tennis team. Peter’s normally good mood seemed to darken immensely with the revelation of that secret, and if he had to guess, Peter was about to use this as quite the opportunity to de-stress.

Once he was back in his tennis gear, having traded out his shin guards and cleats from the week of soccer to instead the tennis shoes Peter recommended he get, he glanced at his stats. More importantly, he glanced, with amusement, at the prompt he got looking at his shoes. He’d almost forgotten that equipment he used, that was specialized for the sport, applied bonuses. And, judging by the bonus on the shoes, he could almost kiss Peter for the recommendation.

Asic’s Court FF- -5% Stamina consumption while playing Tennis

That -5% consumption would be huge. Especially if it applied to his use of the Auto-Battle Feature. At the very least, given how taxing a tennis match could be, anything that reduced Stamina consumption would be a god send. And, with that, he pushed aside the remaining bit of hesitance he’d been having regarding returning to the court and left the locker room.

Dan heard the commotion almost as soon as he was out of the locker room. He’d only been in there for what, five, maybe ten minutes? However, it seemed Peter was all about acting fast, and come to think of it, that fit the Senior. He was not the sit around and wait type. When he said something was going to happen, he made it happen.

Which was why, while alarming, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Peter would shake things up the moment, he reached the court. The size of the commotion thought, was what had Dan the most surprised. All of the members of the girl’s tennis team had left their courts and were standing around the fences that represented the boys’ courts. Meanwhile, all of the members of the boy’s team were lined up at the gate to the court, single file, looking extremely uncomfortable. On the middle court, Peter stood. Across from him, a very aggravated Ben.

“Come on Benny.” Peter’s voice was tinged with anger, the humor gone. Peter had a tennis ball in his hand, and from where he was standing, Dan could tell he was getting ready to serve. “If you think you’re good enough to make decisions behind my back, surely the least you can do is return one of my serves.” The ball was tossed up, and with blinding speed Peter sent the ball rocketing towards the service box on Ben’s side. The ball seemed to blink it moved so fast, hitting the service box in the far, left hand corner, before it blasted upwards. Peter’s serve bounced and flew past an unmoving Ben, smashing into the fence with such force it actually stuck in the chain-link.

“That’s game, Benny.” Peter said as he dropped the two balls from his pocket onto the court, walking with a ferocity in his step that terrified Dan. He’d seen his father get mad a few times in life. And this, this was on par with that. A boiling, absolute rage that seemed to radiate off of every movement. A fury that threatened to lash out at any moment. A wild, destructive force, even more terrifying in the fact Peter was channeling it all into his actions, empowering them in a pure show of skill and force.

“You know what happens if you don’t score a single point, don’t you?” Peter said loudly as he took up his position. They’d just switched courts, meaning that had to be the… Dan’s thought process trailed off as he looked at the tube used to track scores on the court. Peter had already won three games? It hadn’t even been ten minutes.

“Come on Benny.” Peter continued as he crouched low, his eyes fixated on the other Varsity player. Ben’s movements, in stark contrast to Peter’s, were scared. Dan could tell as he reached the fence, his eyes looking at the number 2 member of the team, that Ben was terrified. He was practically ghost white, his hands shaking, his eyes that of a cornered animal. “You want to act big and bad, you’ve got to have the ability to back it up.”

Ben served, and even though he was shaken, even though he was definitely beyond scared, his form was good. The serve was nowhere near as powerful as Peter’s, and nowhere near as accurate. However, it landed in the appropriate service box, and had good pace to it. A strong flat serve that Dan was confident he wouldn’t have been able to either execute or return. Ben, after all, was a good player.

But, compared to Peter, he was a nobody. Peter returned the serve like it was nothing, sending it directly back towards Ben, the ball arcing over the net and dipping down just at the right time to land in front of Ben’s feet, not even an inch away from the baseline. It kicked up, and smashed into Ben’s gut with enough force to make the kid grunt.

“You’ll have to better than that Benny.” Peter said without even glancing in Ben’s direction as he got himself in position for the next serve. “It’s 3-0, Love-fifteen. You’re over halfway to your consequence. I’d recommend you do better. But we both know you can’t.”

Dan glanced around, though he hated to look away. Everyone was watching, the members of the boy’s team all nervously shifting their weight from side to side as they waited in line. The girls all had a variety of looks on the faces, a few amused, but most surprised and concerned. Dan spotted Sophia and Ashly and made his way over to them. So fixated was everyone on the match, not a single person glanced in his direction as he made his way to the duo.

“What’s going on?” Dan asked in a hushed whisper as he reached the two. They both jumped, as if his arrival had pulled them from some sort of trance. In the short amount of time he’d walked towards the two, Peter had claimed another game. It was 4-0 Peter, and Ben hadn’t scored a single point.

“Peter’s pissed off.” Ashly commented. “Seems he didn’t take too kindly to Ben’s treatment of you.”

“I can see that much.” Dan said, looking at the two girls. “But what is he going on about?” Peter hadn’t looked towards the crowd as he continued, his sole focus Ben, and what he was doing to that poor kid. Ben had treated Dan like crap, but this, whatever this was, seemed a bit much.

“Peter rules these courts.” Sophia said softly. “Even the coach doesn’t intervene. Its why Peter can do as he pleases. And, ever since Freshman year, Peter’s had a few specific rules set in place, to maintain order on the team.”

“Such as?” Dan pressed. The sound of another tennis ball sticking into the fence made him instinctively wince for Ben.

“Most of them are actually quite appropriate. Meant to ensure they treat each other fairly, and that players are given an environment they can grow in. Hell, Peter even offers to do practice matches against them if they want, though most are too scared to ever take him up on it.” Sophia continued. “However, his iron clad rule is his punishment system. If he catches wind of hazing, the perpetrator has to play against him in a single Set to Six.”

“Which is what’s going on here?” Dan asked.

“Mhmm.” Sophia watched, her eyes flinching as Peter blasted another flawless serve towards Ben. It almost looked like they were getting faster. How was that even possible.

“Obviously, no one can beat Peter.” Ashly commented. “But the rules are simple. If they lose, but score a point on him, they will face one week of punishment, in which they’ve got to clean up the courts, fetch balls for the other players, and such. A lesson in humility or whatnot.” Ashly chuckled darkly. “But if they can’t score a single point against Peter, the punishment is a lot steeper.”

“Final Game Benny.” Peter’s voice was venom. “Really hope, for your sake, you can do something.”

“And what if they lose without scoring a point?” Dan asked, watching Ben carefully. His toss went high, and it was clear it was a bad toss. Yet the player went for it, and the resulting serve clipped the net and dropped off his side again. Double fault.

“They’re banned from the team until Peter deems otherwise, and they forfeit their racquet as well.” Sophia responded. Ben’s next serve went over but was blasted back towards him immediately after. Peter’s intention was clear. Ben wasn’t going to get a point.

“That seems a bit harsh.” Dan said softly. Sure, Ben had kept him from playing for a week. But should he really be kicked off the team? That just didn’t seem right.

“Usually, Peter lets them score, at least once on him.” Sophia said. “But he seems really mad this time.” Another serve, and this time Peter’s aim sent the ball on a trajectory that once it hit the court, it bounced up and crashed into Ben’s hand. The force actually made Ben drop his racquet.

“Love-Forty Ben.” Peter said, his voice cold. “Enjoy your final serve on these courts. You’ll never step foot on them again.”