“It’s funny, when you’ve been struggling to meet your expectations, and the harder you try, the worse everything crumbles around you.” Gloomo spoke to no one in particular, sheltered in the corner of a dark room with a bottle of water, listening vaguely to the sounds of laughter and camaraderie of fellow athletes the next room over. They were having a group meal all together to celebrate the end of the second event, the second week of racing.
The second week. All it took was two weeks and Team Plasma were out of the running entirely. They had just about scraped through the previous week, albeit not particularly well, and had got off to a fairly average start. But it fell apart.
“At least I didn’t ‘DNF’,” Gloomo muttered, once more into the darkness. They had stepped out to get some quiet. There was something difficult about smiling in the presence of others who didn’t feel your pain or understand your frustrations. Which was silly, Gloomo reflected, every marble athlete faced their failures alongside their triumphs. This was just one of those failures that Team Plasma had to face. But it didn’t make it any easier, especially as they were still trying to get rolling properly having returned to main competitions.
The shadows wavered and Gloomo paused to take note of their surroundings. It seemed to be some extra dining room that came off from the main one. Tables lurked like statues, the chairs piled on top sat silently and still, a slightly unnerving sight through the small beams of light that flickered in through the door. Yes, this was definitely the end of Gloomo’s run in this competition, but that didn’t mean it was the end. Sighing, Gloomo sipped some more water then hesitated.
“Don’t stop rolling, just because someone has put an obstacle in your way. Get through it. Like Mandarin did at the end of the race before last. And they are still going.” Gloomo smiled and rolled towards the door, ready to embrace the friendship that had made this bitter defeat much easier than it otherwise would have been.
Blaze returned to their room following the meal and paused by their bedside table, smiling at a picture of their family. What they wouldn’t give to go to them right this second, and to their wonderful team who had been by their side since that first day they got together on Sunspot Beach. This competition had been a wonderful opportunity and, while short lived, had been an excellent experience that Blaze had enjoyed every second of. Of course there was some disappointment, every marble wants to prove themself, but Blaze had no doubts that their efforts would be celebrated by their team when Blaze returned to them.
Blaze gazed out of the window and watched the stars begin to twinkle high in the sky above, as the sunset rippled through the sky like a blanket that covered the world first in beautiful oranges and reds, and then in a fascinating darkness. It was still unbelievable to Blaze that, as reserve, they had been personally selected by Coach Eclipse, but then Blaze had always put lots of effort into matching the team’s skill and striving for greatness. “And that’s a wonderful thing,” Eclipse had smiled at them.
In the end, while Blaze looked back to the room in which they had been staying for the competition, a defeat was never the end of the road. Competitions never stop for marbles, and the Solar Flares were determined to find their way out of the Marble League Showdown and especially do better than they had done in previous competitions. There was no better time than now.
Credits:
- Writer: Phoenix
- Artist: Momoikkai
- Reference: Marble Race: Marble Survival 100 – R14 ❌ ELIMINATION ROUND ❌
- Release: 23/03/2024
Project Marblearth 
🙂
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