Sit still. Blink sand out of your eyes. Sit still. Blink away sand. More sand. Sit still. And repeat…
Across the track, on the other side of the bankings, was Superball. On Ghost Plasma’s behest, Dragon’s Egg had spent the past fifteen minutes watching them together, unnoticed, from behind one of the emptied-out fan stands. It had not been a fruitful endeavor. Superball was an interesting racer; less so an interesting individual. Dragon’s Egg could only watch them roll back and forth calmly with headphones on for so long before it all felt futile.
“Nothing’s happening, Ghost. Why are we here?” they asked pointedly.
Confidence not similarly knocked, Ghost Plasma responded with a more obstinate smile. “I thought they were floundering in the friendly race, but now that it actually matters, they’re on the podium. What gives? That’s what I want to know.”
“Maybe they were conserving energy.”
Ghost Plasma pouted. “And I wasn’t?”
“Nevermind,” Dragon’s Egg sighed. The obvious answer was no, but their calamitous drop following the failed scuffle for third had clearly wounded Ghost’s pride, and it wasn’t worth saying anything to rub the salt in further. “Still, I think -”
“Look, Dragon, over there – over there!” exclaimed Ghost Plasma, nudging and beckoning with such urgency that Dragon’s Egg forgot to object. It was Cool Moody, kicking up clouds of sand behind them as they descended not the track but the banking slope. Ghost Plasma’s face lit up as Moody came to a stop by Superball’s side, and Superball removed their headphones in acknowledgement. “Let’s listen in.”
“Fine. But this is still stupid,” Dragon’s Egg replied, sounding more alert but no more enthusiastic.
For a moment both pairs were silent, until Cool Moody broke the ice with a terse “Congrats,” tone jarringly far from their usual warmth. “For the medal.”
Superball smiled, but that too was dispirited. “To you too.”
“Nothing worth your congratulations. If I’m not qualified, this entire season is a write-off.”
“That seems… unfair,” concluded Superball. “But I won’t say it if you don’t want me to.”
Cool Moody recoiled. “I’m not asking you to spare my feelings. I only came here to ask you something, anyway.”
“What’s that?”
“You gonna win the season?”
Superball thought on it quietly. “I don’t know. How could I know?”
“Because you’re Superball.”
Superball furrowed their brow, confused. “I still don’t get it.”
“Forget it, then. But you should know that for everyone else, this—” they gestured to the bronze medal Superball still wore “—is a declaration of war.”
Superball took a breath. “…I’ll keep that in mind?”
Though it was clear their message had not been conveyed, Cool Moody departed wordlessly on that awkward note. Still huddled behind the stands, Dragon’s Egg leant close to Ghost Plasma and finally broke the unbearable silence.
“…Could you hear anything they were saying?”
“…No. I was hoping you could,” Ghost Plasma replied, biting back brimming frustration and despair. “Crap! Maybe this was stupid.”
“Good to see we’re finally on the same page,” Dragon’s Egg laughed. “Now let’s go and get dinner. I’m starving, and it’s on you.”
“It said here that it would be a very “Green Day” in this letter, so why was I invited?” Blue Moon pondered to themselves as they read again the invitation Grasshopper themselves gave them. “To the very green day of the underdogs, meet me at my room,” it said with Grasshopper’s signature. They shook off the meaning of ‘green’ and returned to the Athlete’s Village, but not to their room – to Grasshopper’s instead.
After three knocks on the door, Blue Moon was greeted with another green marble, fittingly, Green Turtle. With greetings exchanged, Blue Moon was greeted with decor of green, blue, and yellow, fitting with a waft of the scent of dumplings.
“What is this all about, is it a sort of special day?” Blue Moon asked Grasshopper, who was eagerly waiting for Blue Moon’s arrival. “My greatest gratitudes for you coming here, we shall celebrate our victories as the underdogs,” Grasshopper smiled as they carried a tray of dumplings.
“I thought it was what you call Momo Day?” Blue Moon also asked, in a more joking fashion, although Grasshopper would respond with a nod, without any sense of irony.
“I see that you’re a fan of Momo, given the decorations being their colors, aside from ours,” Green Turtle said, noticing the shared colors of the trio in the room.
Grasshopper nodded. “I personally congratulated them for their achievements during a visit to Om. They shared the philosophies of their strength and resilience, and I’ve learned a lot from them ever since. Isn’t it a nice change of pace to see underdogs win something, if even for a while?”
“It really is,” Blue Moon chuckled, “Say, what did you learn from them?”
“Oh, the many things you can find out about how they train, a lot of things really stem from even the mundane life, from eating, to cleaning, to even a simple stroll…”
“I guess we are gonna stay here for a while, huh?” Blue Moon said to Green Turtle, as Grasshopper continued to chirp about how they train.
Credits
- Writers: Millim, Steel
- Editor: Stynth
- Photo Credits: Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Reference: Marble Rally S7: Round 1 | Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 02/07/2024
Project Marblearth 