Luca Anderson received the pass effortlessly and started making his way to the basket. Neon's Dragons Small Foward Jonathan Pope stood in his way, causing Luca to come to a screeching halt all the while still bouncing the ball at a rhythmic pace. Sweat had built up on his forehead due to the intensity of the game, it was a fairly easy one as the Metro Wolves were ahead of the Neon Dragons by a wide margin. Luca glanced quickly at the huge screen above to reveal the score line. The Metro Wolves were leading by A Hundred And Twenty Points to A Fifty Two Points for the Neon Dragons. He returned his focus back to the game with a proud grin on his face. At this point, he had lost count of how many points he scored and he was just having fun.
The crowd would always go wild whenever Luca held the ball in his possession, this fueled his game play. Luca dribbled to the left and crossed the over to his right and then in between the legs of Jonathan Pope easily without any hassle.
"Wahhhhooooo! Oh my God this little boys ain't no match for Luca Anderson" Jackson taunted as him and the rest of the Metro Wolves cheered for that display of brilliance.
On going past him, Luca came to realize that the Neon Dragons Center was standing pinned under the basket waiting for him to make the lay up. Luca saw through this tactic as he is no match for the giant of a man. He dropped his speed, and the center reached for the ball, seeing his opening, Luca turned full three hundred and sixty degrees to shoot the ball with a fade away. The ball went up and over and into the basket.
The buzzer sounded.
"Wonderful, what a play by Luca bro..." Jackson said referring to his friend Matteo. "I'm pretty sure I can do a lot more than this Neon Dragons team... Hell look at that guy Jaxon Lin, he hasn't made one single basket all game and even the Neon Dragons fans are booing him. How embarrassing" he finished with a laugh.
The old man seating beside the two boys smiled, cracking up his old, rinkled lips. "Is that soo..."
"Huh"
"You think you can play better than Jaxon Lin?" The old man asked.
"Of course!" Jackson mocked. "Look... He is a shooting guard and he can't even make a three point shot! I know I can do better than him, he's shit" Jackson finished.
"I see, we'll see about that...." The old man replied with an eerie chuckle and faced the game.
The game time only remained a few seconds and Luca Anderson was still on the attack. He made another basket from beyond the three point line and immediately after the buzzer sounded marking the end of the game with both the victor and the vanquished breathing a huge sigh of relief due to the exhaustion of the match. The score line stood at A Hundred and Fifty points for the Metro Wolves and Sixty points for the Neon Dragons. A commanding performance by the reigning and defending champions of the league.
The fans chanted Luca Anderson's name throughout the arena as he was responsible for most of the goals and he gave head way in the assisting department helping his teammates score too.
Jackson and Matteo were still there taunting the Neon Dragons, more especially Jaxon Lin for being the only player on the court that couldn't register a single point
Players of both teams were existing the court into the tunnel and Luca Anderson and Jaxon Lin could be seen talking to each other on their way to the tunnel.
"How's that for a game huh!!" Jackson blurted out as he watched Luca Anderson disappear into the tunnel with Jaxon Lin. "Haaaa! Luca showed them who's boss".
"That game was amazing! It's like Luca scored a million points" Matteo clamored with excitement as both of them exited their seats making their way outside of the arena.
The old man who sat beside the boys seemed to be paused in time as he was still as ever, eyes facing Foward with mighty focus and without a single blink, he kept humming like he was performing a citation and then, with a twitch of an eye brow, his eyes rolled to the left quickly and he exposed his crooked, ivory colored teeth in a menacing, eerie chuckle.
***
On exciting the building, the air was buzzing with excitement as Jackson and Matteo stepped out of the crowded arena, their voices carrying the energy of the game they'd just watched.
"Did you see that last play, bro?" Jackson was saying, his eyes wide with thrill. "Man, that was insane! I swear, that guy was flying! Nobody saw it coming."
Matteo chuckled, though his gaze was wandering elsewhere. "Yeah, that was sick, man. But you know... hey, hold up a sec."
Jackson kept talking, oblivious to his friend's sudden distraction. His feet continued moving forward, mind racing with every play that had just gone down on the court. He didn't realize Matteo had stopped, frozen at the curb with his eyes fixed on a girl standing across the street. She had that kind of effortless beauty that demanded attention, and Matteo's jaw had practically dropped.
Meanwhile, Jackson was halfway across the main road, still caught up in his own world of basketball highlights, until he suddenly noticed he was alone. He stopped, looked over his shoulder with a confused grin. "Yo, Matteo! Where'd you go, man?"
Matteo looked back, startled. "Hey, Jackson, wait—!"
But the screech of tires filled the air before Matteo could get another word out. Jackson barely had time to turn back before the car plowed into him, sending him sprawling onto the pavement. Time seemed to slow down, the sound of impact ringing in Matteo's ears as he stood frozen, unable to process what he was seeing.
A crowd began to gather, but Matteo didn't move. The girl he'd been staring at was long forgotten. All he could focus on was Jackson lying motionless in the middle of the road, his excitement now replaced with a silence that settled heavy in the air.
The situation remained the way it was for a couple minutes until the sound of sirens started to inch closer and closer- An ambulance, but not just one, two of them showed up. One stopped right on the spot Jackson was taken down and the other drove around the back towards the parking lot.
In the shadows of the night, the steel coating of the oxygen tank the old man seating beside the two boys gleamed, reflecting any spec of light that hits it. He saw everything unfold, and he let out a huge smile exposing his rotten set of thirty two in satisfaction.
"One part better... One part weak... Let's see you be all the parts..." He mumured to himself and continued to hum while he wheeled his oxygen tank away.