Counter Attack

//Last post for the day. I'll post the final post some time tomorrow. Second quarter, first half, 2:05 left. The score is 2-4. Juno silently curses himself after a failed attempt to block a shot leads to Dragonautica gaining a 2 point lead. Playing two on three, with their center, and defender out has been tough on the two remaining members of Attack on Mango. Juno has tried his best to fill in for Nar, but Ruby hasn't practiced any defense. She's just getting battered all over the rink when she tries to close in for a play. Juno's gaze shifts from the three dragons, celebrating together, to Ruby, who's head is lowered in defeat. Seems like she's already given up, and it's not even halfway through the game. He makes his way over to her, and opens his mouth to speak, but he just doesn't know what to say. Words tumble in his mind, but none of them seem like they'd be the right thing to say in this situation. Desperation begins to set in. Juno's eyes begin to wander, looking for something, anything that he could use to cheer up Ruby. The crowd? No. There's no way to tell who they're cheering for at the moment. The time left in the half? Maybe a break was what she needed? Gather herself for a bit, and come back refreshed? That wouldn't change the situation in the rink though. Wait. Time. Again, Juno's eyes fixate on the screen above the rink, displaying the current score, game time, and... the power play! That's it! Ruby feels a hand gently clap her shoulder. When she looks up, she finds Juno giving her a determined stare. She's not entirely sure what he's trying to do, but she thinks she might have an idea as to what when he motions towards the penalty box with his head. Then, a light bulb goes off. Ruby looks to the scoreboard. Her eyes follow Juno's as he directs her towards the power play timer. The two then look back to each other, and nod. They're still in this. (https://youtu.be/Lt7P6NT7ejQ?si=ls0kzf3ia5YPlRgL) The sound of the roaring crowd emboldens Ryuji as he approaches the face off circle. Thoughts of how the band will celebrate after their win tonight swell in his mind. There will be tons of alcohol, women, and food. Lots of it. Well, after they put Wiggy to bed at least. Yep. Just 25 or so more minutes, and they can party the night away. Ryuji locks eyes with Juno as the two ready for the face off. Where before Juno's face showed frustration, there was now a stark determination. Whatever. He'd crush that determination soon enough. The puck is dropped, and Juno manages to win the face off. Ruby gains control of the puck, but quickly passes it back to Juno. Ryuji goes to block his path, but finds himself confused when Juno flicks his wrist, and sends the puck forward, and to his left. His eyes follow the path of the puck, believing that maybe he was gambling on Ruby getting tot he puck before someone else. What he finds however, is Nar, sprinting out from the penalty box to take control of the puck, and dash towards the right side of the goal. Shit! He forgot about the power play time! Ryuji shouts to Sapphire to stop him, but she's not close enough. Nar glides close to the right side of the goal. The goalie inches forwards, ready to poke the puck out of Nar's possession. Time seems to slow for Ryuji as the goalie's stick begins to move forward. A quick flick of the wrist, and the puck jumps up, and over the goalie's shoulder. He flashes out with his glove in a desperate attempt to block the shot, but is too late. The puck barely manages to avoid the crossbar, and land inside the net. The horn sounds, and Nar leans his head back to unleash a roar into the air. Once he's finished, he slowly turns back to his bandmates, who have not approached. Nar looks to Juno, and simply lifts a finger. Juno's response is a nod, and a lifting of two fingers.  Shock, and anger well up within Ryuji. He can't believe he lost track of the power play time! Fuck! He got too cocky! Well, they still had a one point lead. All they have to do is keep the lead. With both teams down a defender though, it'll come down to who has the better offense. Ryuji could score by himself just fine, but Wiggy was far more concerned with just slapping the puck around than actually scoring. Not to mention, Sapphire was so adverse to the idea of taking a hit that she always passed before she could risk taking one. That left Ryuji as the only reliable scorer on his team. Meanwhile, both Nar, and Juno had shown that they're able to take shots on goal. They've also shown that they have some tricks up their sleeve too. Even with Ruby primarily acting as an in-between for the two, they still have more opportunities to score than Dragonautica does. Even with that, Sapphire refused to actually do any defending outside of poking with her stick, but Wiggy was good at intercepting passes, and getting some sneaky poke checks in. Yet, all three members of the other team had shown the willingness to defend, and had already made some defensive plays themselves. All in all, Dragonautica was at a disadvantage without Noxian. Ryuji silently curses the dumbass for getting himself ejected as he readies for the next face off. The puck drops. Ryuji manages to win the face off, but when he passes to Sapphire, she immediately tries to pass it back as Ruby closes in for a check. Nar reacts quickly, and the pass is intercepted. Ryuji attempts a check, but Nar leans into the hit, bumping Ryuji away just enough for some breathing room. Nar then breaks out into a dash. No! Ryuji isn't going to let him pull that shit again! Ryuji breaks out into a sprint of his own, quickly beginning to close the distance. However, just as Ryuji closes in enough for a check, Nar flicks the puck to his right. Ryuji bowls Nar over, and turns to watch the play. Wiggy attempts to intercept the pass, but he's going too fast, and the puck sails behind him. Behind him now stands Juno, stick raised, and ready for a slap shot. A sudden burst of speed sends Ryuji flying into Juno's shot path. The puck nears. Juno's stick rockets down towards it. The two collide, and the puck is sent flying towards the goal. Despite his attempt to block the shot, Juno manages to thread the needle, and send the puck flying between his legs. When Ryuji looks back, he is met with the sound of a horn from above, and his goalie giving him a disapproving shake of his head. In his haste to block the shot, he blocked the goalie's vision, and cost them a goal. Puffs of mist escape Ryuji's maw. His heavy breathing sends occasional clouds of smoke into the air. Looking to his teammates, Ryuji finds them in a similar state of exhaustion. They've been playing hard, and fast since the beginning of the match, and now it's starting to catch up to them. Even Ruby seems to be fairly worn out. When he turns his gaze to his opponents, Ryuji finds Nar, and Juno staring back at him. Their eyes are aflame with determination, and their stares pierce him like daggers. They don't seem nearly as worn out as everyone else in the rink. For a moment, Ryuji finds himself questioning how that's even possible. Only to then remember, they have experience. They played hockey in high school, and joined a rec league when they moved to Vanhoover. Of course they know how to pace themselves. Even in a match so wildly different from an average hockey game. Actually, that explains why they hadn't made any plays like this until just now. They were saving their energy until the final quarter. Let Dragonautica tire themselves out, then use their energy to capitalize, and turn the game around. Clever bastards. When the celebration has ended, Ryuji pulls his two teammates together, and they form a plan. For the rest of the quarter, they need to focus entirely on defense. Rest as much as they can, and come into the third quarter ready to go all out. At the moment, it's about the only plan Ryuji thinks might work, and the others don't have any suggestions. Following their agreement, the three make their way back to their positions. Now, all they needed to do was stay alive long enough to prepare a counter attack of their own.