“Do you have the location of the kid?”

“Yes boss, he’s currently in the human plane. As the night gets young, that’s when I’ll strike.”

“Did you gather the Sins? I want them all ready for when the time comes.”

“Yes sir, they are on standby, awaiting your command. If you would wish, I can have one of them accompany me to retrieve the boy.”

“No need for that. They are my most prized weapons. Besides, their existence has been kept a secret for the past decades. No need to alert anyone about their awakening. When I send them out, I want the boy to be surprised.”

“Understood.”

“Good good. Don’t forget, I don’t care about who you have to go through, just make sure you get his Gear, understood?”

“Yes sir. If I may ask, does he have 2 Gears? He’s only 18, that’s never happened before, not even you.”

“Was that an insult !?”

“No no sir, of course not, I just wanted to know if you would bless me with your reasoning on why this kid, specifically, is so important to you?”

The servant looks down, on one knee bowing in front of the Boss, eyes tightly closed, anticipating to be stricken down for rudeness.

“He will lead us to the destruction of the Guardians. He and the others will revolutionize this world into a new era and I wish to be the ignition to this change.”

“Wow boss, you sure are brilliant, I shall be on my way now. I promise no failure.”

As the servant backs away, soon drowning in the darkness, the Boss puts his hand on his chin as in deep thought.

“Now, let’s see what you’ll become Ethan. The pioneer of the new world, or a fool who believes in the simple black and white? The choice will soon be yours boy.”

Meadow City is a town surrounded each way you go by forests. The only escape from the trees is the viewpoint, high above us, where you have to climb your way up to reach it. The bucolic smell of fresh pine trees and the fragrance of the forest engulfed the entirety of the town making every day seem like spring. Only in winter do we get a peek of the neighboring towns and cities, making the outskirts of our town look barren, desolated with lifeless trees creaking and shaking. Life here is quiet, only filled with the chants of football stands and humming from timber mills.

Living in a small town like this doesn’t give much opportunity for bigger events making Football, THE main event if you’re a high schooler like me. The thrill of the seconds coming down to the final play. The competitive nature of everyone on the field, no matter who you are you always have a chance. Unless of course, you’re me. I’m different. NO one gets past me, being the best cornerback I make sure no wide receiver scores or even catches the ball on my watch. No matter how small of yardage it might be.

“Phwwwwwhht” goes the whistle as the referee signals the end of the play.

“GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME ETHAN! Or do you wanna get benched for Kevin?”

God, not Kevin, that kid can barely defend against a child if he had to. I’ve realized that no matter how good you are at football, someones always going to be on your ass. Taking my helmet off so I can talk I reply

“Okay, okay. I got it, coach. Stop worrying so much about it. It was only one catch.”

“Sure, a 32-yard catch is just a catch. There’s barely any time left in this game and crowds of people are here watching us. You really wanna mess this up? Now get your head in the game or you’ll be rethinking your starting position on the team!”

This old man doesn’t know when to stop, always spewing nonsense. He knows no one is taking my job.

“Alright, alright, coach. I got this” putting my helmet back on “Don’t worry. Just watch this next play.”

Homecoming is the biggest game of the year and this year is our home game. Tons of people from not just our school, but scouts and family members too, are watching my every move on the field. Some people may freeze under the immense pressure and get too nervous to make a play, but those people are typically amateurs. Me? I was born for this, made for this, and perhaps might even be the sole reason these scouts are here today. I’m the best cornerback, not just on my team, but in my state and my country. Though that’s just my opinion.

“With the Meadow High Wolves only having a 4 point lead and 7 seconds on the clock, can the West High Badgers overcome this deficit and secure the win!? Higgins to call the snap,” boomed the announcer.

“Ready, ready, white… eighty white… eighty, ready… down set… HIKE!”

“Higgins looking to pass. He sees Williams down the field for a touchdown, he launches the ball, and Willam’s GOT IT-…”

How the ball hung in the air as I followed their receiver. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. I couldn’t hear the chanting or the sideline yelling, telling Williams to catch it. All I heard was my breath, my heartbeat pounding, realizing that this is it. If he catches this ball, it'll be over, and I’ll look like a fool who couldn’t walk the talk. I snapped myself out of it.

Who am I kidding, I am that dude. The guy who shuts both sides of the field down. Ethan Alexander a.k.a Swat Team. No ball that is coming my way will land in the receiver’s hands, especially if it means a touchdown. As I rush down the field with Williams, I see him position his body to make a jump for the ball. Anticipating his next move, I quickly step forward, leaping into the air to grab the ball. I can feel the receiver practically breathing on me as he tries to use his 6’5 frame to box me out. Doesn’t matter though, because, by the time he is even ready to look for the ball, I already know where it's coming. Out of desperation, he swipes down at my left shoulder, but it was too late. The ball lands perfectly in my hands. I grip onto the ball like never before as I come down, bruising my butt in the process.

“Wait no... IT’S INTERCEPTED! Ethan Alexander comes up with the PLAY of the game and with THAT, the Meadow High Wolves will walk off with the win of the season! 34-30 is the final score of the game and this crowd is going CRAZY!”

I jog over to the sideline, with a smug look on my face, bending over while cupping my ears with my hands.

“I don’t know what they thought they were going to get out of that. They forget who I am or something?”

My entire team began jumping with excitement, and the stands began chanting my name.

“ETHAN! ETHAN! ETHAN!”

“What I tell you, coach. Best to ever do it.”

“Yeah, yeah, good job. Now come here.”

As I embrace my coach and teammates, I look over to the opposing team’s sideline and see their coach giving them a mouthful. Probably on how Williams should’ve looked for the ball earlier, and how even though it was a 4 point game, they still couldn’t win the game.

I walk over to their sideline to offer them my “words of sympathy”.

“Hey, y'all. Thanks for the free win tonight. Means a lot.”

“What you say to me!?” One of their players pushed his way past the others to confront me.

He was their linebacker, being one of the stronger and bigger guys on the team, making him seem scary, but in tights and his pads hanging half out he looked like an overgrown stuffed animal.

“Yeah that’s right, come anytime you want a personal ass whooping by the one and only. Ethan Alexander, cornerback number 23. Remember that name when you come up with game plans against me.”

As I walk away from the outbursts coming from their sideline, everything seemed to drown out. All the excitement and the noise began fading away as I stood on the center field, looking up at the score and thinking back to the play of the game.

I look around and see the stands still cheering, waving at me and my teammates signaling congratulations. I take a deep breath in as the chill of the air frosts over my lungs, cooling the heat emitting from my body. I shivered as I looked up into the sky and saw the clouds moving through the sky with a faint glow from the moon, peaking through as if trying to say hi.

This excitement never ceases to bore me. Some people get tired of all the pressure, the partying, the constant high life, but not me. I live for this, the thrill of winning, being the best out there, making sure my name is the last name that’s called when a team walks off the field. I am Ethan Alexander, the smartest, coolest, most handsome, (and albeit the cockiest) cornerback out there.