November 21st, 2024: 9:20, Eccentric’s Apartment
Like many Balls of Chaos fans out here in Hunluen, I was shocked by the sudden rumors that sprung up this morning that the long tenured coach of our Balls of Chaos, Harmony, was stepping down. Did Harmony finally give up on our heroes? Did Entropy give Harmony the boot to try to shake up the organization? Questions swirled like the colors in my sphere, but I knew I had to get to the official press conference to find out more.
The conference was slated for later today and it was the origin of all these rumors, though until this morning none of them seemed to be too impactful. I’m always the first to the scoop, and to get beaten to reporting on the big rumors was simply unforgivable! I glanced at the time… 9:20? The conference is at 11:00! I’m halfway across the city, and have to deal with rush hour Hunluen traffic… without a moment to lose, I darted out of my modest apartment. My breakfast-in-a-can would have to wait; on a morning like today, I don’t even have the time to spare on the time savers!
No, no, no! I’m so incredibly late! If I ever see whichever hack of a civil architect designed those interchanges next time I’m on the road, I’m rolling them over! I finally burst through the doors of the press room, only to hear my rivals already deep into badgering Harmony with their drivel.
“This is Arbitrary, representing ‘Chaos Concourse.’ You’re stepping down because you want more time to enjoy that new Momo Dumpling shop down 35.7th, right? I’ve seen you there. Why are you hiding from us?”
“I don’t-” Harmony barely can fit in a word before another mic is thrust in front of them:
“Fractal, ‘Citizen Chaos.’ Is it true that Disarray has incriminating photos of you and Pinky Rosa? Were you blackmailed to leave so that Disarray could become the new coach?”
“Disarray? What even-”
“Precipice. Inquiring minds over at ‘Revolution Now!’ want to know: Why are you bad at your job?”
Finally, Harmony raised their voice. “Nope! That’s it. This was a waste of my time. To summarize: I resign from my position as the coach of the Balls of Chaos indefinitely. There will be no further questions at this time. Good riddance to all of you.”
The conference room fell into a stunned silence as Harmony rolled backstage, and my heart sank. I’d completely missed my chance. But wait, what was that Arbitrary said about a dumpling shop down 35.7th (that fiend! How did they learn that first)? If Harmony can be found there, maybe I could try my luck there later…
November 22nd, 2024: 9:47, Eccentric’s Apartment
As the sun rose on another day, I had a new mission in mind. In the afternoon of yesterday, what we heard in the press conference became official: Harmony was out as the coach of the Balls of Chaos, while an unknown new face, Yuan Rong, assumed the missing position. Most of the press had moved on to badgering Entropy for more details. Good luck to them! I’ve tried it before, and they’d have better luck getting Imar to try using a Purple for once. Others have tried to seek out this mysterious new “Yuan Rong” individual, but with qualifiers so close, access to the staff quarters of the Chaos for All facility has got to be locked down. Instead, I’m going to live by something Anarchy told me long ago when I was just starting my career: “If you want the unexpected, don’t start by looking somewhere obvious.” It was time to see if I could find a familiar face in the new Momo Dumpling shop. This time, I’ll take the public skyrail.
November 22nd, 2024: 11:50, Outside Momo’s Dumplings
If you were to guess where 35.7th street would be in Hunluen, you’d be forgiven for guessing somewhere in the vicinity of 35th and 36th. But that’s not quite the way this city rolls. I got close to where it should have been, but from there, tracing the steps of the nearby marbles carrying take-out dumpling orders revealed the true location of the new restaurant. On the patio, sitting alone at Table #6 (ordered tables! What a foreign concept!), was a strange marble with thick rimmed glasses and… a fake mustache? But looking carefully, the clean and bundled streaks of color in the marble revealed this to be none other than Harmony, trying to stay low key. Not revealing that I had found them out, I approached: “Mind if I join your table?”
Harmony looked up, silent as I felt them stare into my soul. A single moment stretched into an eternity while I kept my friendly demeanor, revealing nothing. Finally, Harmony broke the silence: “Sure. I haven’t ordered anything yet, though.”
Sensing an opportunity, I glanced at the menu and offered: “How about the Momomomo special? 4 extra large dumplings, fit to share, and I’ll cover it.” Another week of living off of breakfast-in-a-cans for me, but this profession demands sacrifices.
“A generous offer, Eccentric. I accept.”
What?
“I recognize you from the press group,” they continued. “I can tell my disguise isn’t fooling you, I know you’re here to ask me some questions. But you’re one of the only reporters to interview my athletes, and not have them ask me later to ban you from the facility. That’s worth something. So, I’m willing to play along. Plus, you just offered to buy me lunch. We both know who’s probably doing better right now; I can cover it.”
Flustered and desperately trying to still hold some cards from my rapidly deteriorating strategy, I protested: “No, please, I insist.”
“Suit yourself,” came Harmony’s reply. “But let’s eat first, I’m starving.” Thankful that the Arms of Chaos turned out so well for me today despite my botched entry, I rolled inside to place the order.
November 22nd, 2024: 12:24, Momo’s Dumplings Patio
“Wow, these really are splendid dumplings. But while I finish, feel free to go ahead and start asking” Harmony finally said, after minutes of gorging from the both of us.
“Honestly, I was ready to do a lot of listening,” I replied. “You’ve been the coach of the Balls of Chaos since their inception. Stepping down now feels monumentous, even with their… subpar outings as of late. And at the press conference yesterday, it felt like you barely got a word in amidst all the badgering, though I certainly arrived late. If you’ve got a story to tell, something you think might still give some hope to Hunluen’s fans of chaos, I’d love to hear it.” I was treated to that same cold, evaluating stare I received at the beginning of this restaurant conversation. “So, to start you off, why choose to step down now, mere days from the most important day of the year?” Harmony broke their gaze on me and thought for a long moment.
“Change is chaos. Chaos must change,” they finally replied. “That’s the point I’ve been trying to drive home to the athletes for this entire year, practically. First, I needed to change how the teammates saw each other. Anarchy barely acknowledged Disarray until recently, and I had never put them together in duo events to bridge that gap.”
“The Marbula One roster,” I realized. “I lost sleep trying to figure out why we didn’t at least run Clutter in that.”
“I didn’t want to ease into it,” they continued. “That would open the door to walking it back after a discouraging start, and to keep trodding the same worn-down path. I threw Anarchy and Disarray right into the fire.”
“And they got torched!” I retorted.
“Oh, we knew that Anarchy’s strong suit wasn’t in those kinds of endurance events. Disarray was more of an enigma, but expectations overall weren’t high. My decisions were more long-term thinking. But now they know how to work together, how to train together. Anarchy wanted to prove they weren’t washed up, and Disarray still felt like a reserve at heart, especially with the lack of acknowledgement from their former captain. Tumult was always more diplomatic about teammate relations, but Anarchy’s still got the revolutionary spirit that keeps the Arms of Chaos flowing.” This certainly wasn’t news to me; having interviewed both those marbles on separate occasions, one spiked my heart rate far less. “They’re not happy with how they did together after all that work,” Harmony continued, “and I think that lit a fire under them. I’ve asked Yuan Rong to put them in as a duo for the upcoming Marble League Qualifiers, an opportunity I think they’ll accept.”
“So if getting the former captain and former reserve to work together was part one, what did the former coach do next?” I quipped.
“I’m glad you asked, but I’m almost done with this meal, and I really must be going… No, I jest. I’ll finish my story. It’s nice to speak at length for once without either getting shot down by one of the athletes or asked to fill a tabloid headline by one of your ilk.”
“Hey! The Hunluen Herald doesn’t associate-” I start, but another chuckle across the table stops my complaint. Why was Harmony the one laughing here? I’m not the one eating dumplings in a ridiculous disguise! Though as I glanced around at the restaurant patrons, the comical disguise almost fit right in with all the baffling wardrobes on display and the only marbles that stood out were the staff of the eatery. Harmony might be cleverer than I’ve given them credit for, in many of my deadline-influenced hit pieces…
Harmony continued, snapping me out of my contemplation. “The second part of this former coach’s plan was to turn our Primary rivals into… former rivals.” My mind went racing again, just as soon as it had calmed down.
“You can’t seriously mean fraternizing with those, those… snobs!” I exclaimed. And to think I was starting to give Harmony credit! But they retorted quickly.
“Let’s not blow that sound bite out of proportion, please. I don’t think a single marble on our team doesn’t enjoy the prospect of a face-off with our similarly colored competitors, myself included. But we’ll never succeed by just focusing on a single team to beat. Take the Savage Speedway GP from this most recent season. You watched it, yes?”
“Ugh, let me think… I don’t remember Anarchy doing well in that race, but I wasn’t assigned to that story. The details are hazy,” I mumbled, Hazers pun notwithstanding.
“Let me fill you in, then. Anarchy started near the bottom, with Aryp close to them near the basement. Anarchy struggled early, while Aryp made some great overtakes and found themselves in the top quarter. That got Anarchy’s competitive spirit firing on all cylinders, and by the midpoint of the race, they managed to pass Aryp and were sitting provisionally in third!” Harmony exclaimed. For the first time in our meeting, Harmony sounded genuinely proud. “But it didn’t last. On the comms, I was trying to help Anarchy find lines to gain ground on Siren, but Anarchy was too concentrated on trying to make sure Aryp didn’t pass them back. It almost felt like Anarchy was letting the rest of the field catch up, just so they could see with their own eyes that they were in front of Aryp. It wasn’t a high bar in the end; Aryp finished that race in 19th, but Anarchy had sunk back down into the bottom half looking for them.”
“A great success for us still, I’d say!” I exclaimed, between bites. Our plates were nearing their end.
“On an imaginary scoreboard, sure,” Harmony replied. “But for the Balls of Chaos to find new success, they need to move beyond just doing well enough to jeer at Team Primary. Leave them in the dust if it comes to it. Because if we’re ever going to win the Marble League, it’s not Secondary’s team we need to beat, but White Eye’s, or Quickly’s.”
Attempting to summarize, I started: “So you wanted to change their friends and their foes. Why step down, then? Did they disagree?”
“I don’t think they’ll ever totally lose their competitive drive against Primary, but overall, they seemed receptive to my ideas. And that’s why I had to step down, as a final strengthening to my point. Everything can change. And chaos must change. I don’t feel like I have anything left to teach that group, so I asked Yuan Rong to take my place.”
“I’ve been wondering who that marble is,” I wondered, “along with the rest of the press. They’re probably trying to find them, which is why I thought I’d try to find you instead.”
“Just a family friend,” Harmony answered. “They’ve always been my outlet for the frustrations the team has put me through, and they’ve had a fair number of criticisms of my methods. I figured they could give it a shot, and I promise you, it’s as hard as you think it is and then some. It’s a fresh perspective for both them and the team, at any rate.”
“Makes sense, but why now and not after the qualifiers?” I wondered aloud.
“Because we can’t react. We must act quickly and in ways that nobody can see coming. For that is the essence of chaos. Now, I think I’m done eating, and you very generously offered to pick up the bill, so if you’ll excuse me.” Harmony was gone before I even had the chance to fully process their final words to me. To act and not react… that was almost a roasting of my entire profession! Maybe Harmony was all talk, and their real goal was to get out of the spotlight fearing another dismal qualifier. But also, maybe they were onto something indeed. It was about time to head back to my apartment in the east, but something about Harmony’s final words still resonated with me. Why be predictable all the time? Maybe it was time to act first, in a new way. I’m sure I’d find my way home eventually, but why not roll north. Just to see what’s there. Should probably pay that bill first, though.
Credits
- Writers: Mesp
- Copyeditors/Editors: Phoenix, Smacg13, Milton
- Artist: Harumi
- Release: 04/01/2025
Project Marblearth 