(Design Credit: Yume)
A silver medal finish would be worthy of celebration to many. It wasn’t gold by any means, but to have beaten fourteen other teams and given the chance to stand on the podium was usually just enough to drown out the woes of what could have been.
Usually, anyways; if you happened to be Thunder after the relay, there would be no celebration.
Team Momo had graciously offered the Thunderbolts the chance to escape the presses and unwind at their place within the athletes’ village. And while Thunder appreciated the gesture, it stung. Of course the event winners by the slimmest of margins had to be the ones to show them kindness.
“Are you alright?” Momomo suddenly asked. “You seem so… out of it.”
“Just fine,” Thunder lied. “Congrats on the gold. Would have been nice…”
The rest of the Team Momo members rolled a little closer as did the other Thunderbolts. “Are you upset over the results?” asked Momo.
Thunder looked away; an indirect yes towards the other captain.
“It’s alright to be down, I get it. It always hurts to think of what could have been, but–”
“You don’t get it,” Thunder interrupted, “it’s been five years since we’ve gotten to stand atop the podium. The last time this team got to do that was with the roster that’s not even competing anymore. Me and the rest of the team are happy for you, don’t get me wrong… but it’s so frustrating to lose out like that. A silver medal can’t even get us out of last place!” They sighed. “Pain.”
After a bit of silence, they received another bump. “The season isn’t over, right?” Momomomo asked. “There’s six more events. Who knows, you could get six gold medals in a row and win the whole thing. Silver may hurt now, but trust me when I say it’ll give you needed momentum and the experience that came with it will mean more than the color of the medal.”
Thunder looked at the Team Momo members curiously. “What experience are you talking about?”
“Beating the Speeders in this event,” Mo blurted out. “I mean, ten of us did that… but it never hurts to have a little hardware to make it feel that much better and much more real.”
For the first time since the event concluded, Thunder laughed. “Y’know what? You’re right. Better watch out for when we get our revenge and you’re the ones wearing silver!”
All the marbles in the room toasted to the declaration, Thunder now unbothered at seeing long overdue gold around the green marbles.
A few hours had passed since the end of the relay, and Team Galactic had retired back to their space within the athletes’ village to celebrate their long-awaited first medal of the season with tea and snacks. A subdued celebration suited them much better than a loud party, particularly when it was a medal earned by the whole team. Nursing a steaming teacup under the lamplight, playing a no-stakes card game, and listening to music from back home in Polaria was the sort of relaxation worthy of finally beating their medal drought.
“I was getting worried, honestly,” Cosmo commented offhandedly, sacrificing a few cards to the pile in the middle thanks to a clever move from Pulsar. “We’re no strangers to droughts, after all.”
“And yet you said the opposite. We won’t go medalless. Something’s going to fall into place soon. Right?” replied Starry.
True to Starry’s impressive memory, it was a direct quotation. Cosmo immediately remembered speaking those exact words after their disappointing Triathlon finish, just a few days prior.
“Well, that’s true…”
Pouring more hot water from the kettle until another teabag was submerged, Starry continued. “You weren’t sure of that — of course you weren’t. It’s impossible. But after failing to repeat one of last year’s medals, you said it just to encourage us.”
Embarrassed, Cosmo could only avert their gaze. “I just don’t want us to lose our nerve.”
“It’s not a criticism. I knew you couldn’t truly promise us a medal, but hearing you sound so confident cheered me enough to give my all… In a way, you were able to make that statement come true.”
“Starry’s right,” added Pulsar, shifting in their beanbag. “Yeah, I was beginning to lose confidence too, but I figured if you’re that if you’re not worried, why worry?”
“It can’t be as simple as manifesting a medal,” Cosmo objected.
“Of course not. That’s unscientific. But you have less to worry about if you truly believe things are going to fall into place.”
“So, Cosmo just has to tell us that we’re going to get a medal every event?” asked Quasar playfully.
“No, that’s not what I…nevermind. You understand, don’t you?” Starry replied.
Cosmo took a warm sip of the tea, dark as the night sky. “I think I do.”
“Good, because we’ll be looking for your encouragement even more from now on.”
Seldom did marbles stay at the stadium long after the day’s event and celebrations have concluded. Most times anyone staying long after the lights went down was an incredibly lost fan or an athlete who had gotten devastatingly swept up in post-event press.
Speedy was none of that.
They knew where they were and why; they were looking out at the relay course from the Speeders fan section near the ending of the track, a prime view for fans to have witnessed the best to ever run the relay fall flat in the heats.
They all saw it.
They all saw what would soon become an unsightly blemish on their legacy when it came to this event. They all saw hope for their third title swing back to the hosts. They all saw a horrific showing that would likely never be forgotten for years.
Superhive Stadium carried with it a much different atmosphere now that lights gave way to darkness and the usual buzz of the crowd was now complete silence. At least it made for reflecting on mistakes that should have never occurred easier and–
“Speedy?”
Speedy didn’t tear their gaze from the track. They knew it was Bumble from voice alone, but maybe if they ignored them they’d go away.
“What are you doing here?” Bumble asked as they got next to them. “You know it’s getting late, right?”
Still nothing from the Speeders captain.
“Are you okay? I know you’re probably mad about the results, but–”
“I’m not mad,” Speedy snapped. They finally turned away from the track and asked, “what do you want?”
“I just wanted to ask if you were interested in attending a party me and the rest of the Bumblebees are hosting. I think it’s exciting that every team now has a medal this early in the season, so I wanna celebrate all of us rolling away as winners no matter what happens the rest of the season!” The look in their eyes was one of excitement. “Every other team said yes, so I wanna know if your team would like to —”
They started to roll away from the conversation and towards the nearest exit.
“Hey, can you at least answer me before storming off?” Bumble asked, trying to keep pace with them. “You wanna come or not?”
Speedy paused and shot a glare at Bumble. “We’re winning your Marble League. I refuse to waste my time on your premature victory parade.”
“It’s not —”
Before Bumble could finish their statement they rolled away once more, the stadium returning to silence.
Credits
- Writers: Millim, Momoikkai
- Copyeditor/Editor: Stynth
- Graphic Designer: Yume
- Reference: Marble League 2023 Event 10: 5 Meter Relay | Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 15/11/2024
Project Marblearth 