13 Chapter 12: Game Time II

After Sharkboy made that half-court shot, I started reversing time. In reverse, I watched as the ball bounced off of the ground and back toward the net before flying through the hoop, bottom to top, and back into the air. Around five seconds of reversed time had passed once the ball was nearly back in Sharboy's hands. By the time he was in the air, holding the ball in his hands as his release reversed, about six seconds had passed.

As I counted in my head, I was growing frustrated. 'Damn it!' I thought, knowing that despite being able to reverse time, I may not have been able to make it over to him in time. 'I should've reversed time sooner, but I didn't think the little shit would have made that lucky ass shot.'

I wanted more than anything to move forward while I reversed time so I could make it over to him for certain, but that play was out of the question. If I did such a thing, I'd be exposed. I had to be patient.

By the time eight seconds of reversed time had passed, his feet planted on the ground once more and he began dribbling the ball backward behind the half-court line. I was all the way at the three-point line, waiting anxiously for time to continue. If only I could stack time reversals, then I could effectively reverse time by twenty seconds, but that was beyond my abilities at that point in time.

Ten seconds of reversed time had passed, and time resumed. As if my life depended on it, I took off, stepping off of the three-point line and toward half-court. Sharkboy's eyes stared daggers at me as I sprinted toward him. I could see a sly grin forming on his face as I watched him stop at the half-court line.

As he stopped, I found myself just a few feet away from him, holding my hand up in an attempt to block his shot. Once I was close enough, I lept in the air, knowing that he was going to fire a long one from half-court. I was prepared to annihilate the ball with the palm of my hand as I soared through the air, however, the expression on that bastard's face sent a jolt through my chest.

Still smiling like the piece of shit he was, Sharkboy never touched the ball with both hands, simply hesitating without picking up the ball before shifting his body and dribbling around me as I flew past him. 'WHAT!?' I screamed in my own head as I realized I was outsmarted.

Before I could even land, the smug bastard pulled up from the three-point line and sunk the shot as if it were the easiest shot of his life. Nothing but net.

'Damn it. Who cares, I have to let them score some points anyway.' I thought to myself. I usually purposely let the other team score points so that way it didn't look suspicious, so I told myself this was simply the case for this game.

After Sharkboy scored, I could hear people in the crowd chanting his name. "Let's go, Antonio!"

'Antonio.' I mocked in my head, watching as the bastard backpedaled toward me. However, my rage would only grow upon hearing his voice as he backpedaled past me. "Stay in your fucking lane, little boy. Let the big kids play."

My eyes widened upon hearing him, causing me to look directly at him as he smirked at me. 'Who the hell does this little shit think he is!' I thought to myself before storming over toward Ganke as he inbounded the ball. Ganke could tell by the look on my face that I was serious, so he immediately passed the ball to me.

As I dribbled down the court, I could hear the fans cheering me on. At the same time, I could hear fans of the other team booing me. However, my eyes were locked on that bastard Antonio. He was waiting for me at the half-court line, prepared to stop me from firing any more shots from deep, but I didn't care. 'I'm a fucking time warper, I'm not losing to this little bastard.'

Quickly, I stepped forward and started charging toward him, dribbling the ball with my right hand. Once I was just a few feet away, crossed over to my left hand before hesitating and going back to my right. As I did so, that punk-ass kid swiped the ball from my hand. 'Damn it!' I thought to myself before reversing time once more.

Once the ball was back in my hand, I hit him with a spin move instead, getting around him before charging toward the basket. As I did so, I watched as one of his teammates stepped up to contest what would be an open three for me. And so, I simply passed the ball to his man, Miles Morales, who was wide open in the corner.

Almost with the same motion, he caught the ball, Miles rose up and fired a three, making the shot with ease as the crowd went wild. Once the shot went in, Antonio walked past me, and as he did, I had something to say to his ass as well. "Stay in YOUR fucking lane, Sharkboy." I told him quietly, only wanting him to hear and not the refs.

Antonio smirked once more, looking down at me as I walked backward away from him. He didn't say a word, but I could read what he was thinking simply by his facial expression. 'You little shit.' was written in his eyes.

Before long, once again, Antonio was dribbling toward me with nothing but confidence radiating from him. "Iso. Iso." he called out, prompting his teammates to clear the floor. For the uninitiated, calling for an iso was basically saying you wanted to go one on one with your man. He wanted to send a message to me.

Antonio approached me, dribbling the ball between his legs with each step before suddenly taking off toward the basket. 'He's fast!' I thought to myself as he blew past me in an instant. I quickly shuffled my feet to keep up with him, guarding him closely as he drove toward the basket.

However, I was so focused on keeping up with him, I wasn't prepared for him to stop on a dime, prompting me to fall to the ground in front of his feet. As I found myself on my ass, he looked at me and said only one word. "Trash." before pulling up for a jump shot.

Once again infuriated, I reversed time back to right before the moment he stopped in his tracks. Once he stopped, I stopped with him and smothered him, causing him to hold the ball to his hip and begin pivoting. His teammates started coming in to help, but his voice stopped them in their tracks. "Stay the hell back!" he barked as he continued to pivot in my face.

Suddenly, I could feel his body leaning away from me as he took a fadeaway jumper right in my face, knocking down the shot with ease. 'What the fuck!' My inner voice shouted in confusion. I was tempted to reverse time again, but we had the lead so it didn't matter. 'As long as we keep shooting threes, we'll win. It doesn't matter.'

And so, the game continued just like this for the next four quarters. I'd score or if I was double-teamed, I'd pass it off to Miles or Ganke who'd knock down a three-pointer. If they missed, I simply reversed time and passed it to the other of the two or to a different teammate until someone made it.

With my powers, I was completely unstoppable. However, I couldn't say the same about that fucking bastard Antonio. Every time I reversed time on defense, he would still find a way to adjust the last second and score.

If he blows right past me, I'd simply reverse time and cut him off only for him to cross me up and go around me.

If he crosses me up, then I'd simply shift my body to match it, only for him to shift his body the other way with a hesitation or spin move.

He truly was a prodigy, a real student of the game of basketball, unlike anything I had ever seen in person. It turns out, he was a transfer student, coming to the school when his team was down 0-10. Once he joined, they won fifteen straight and ended up 15-10, barely making it into the playoffs.

As I watched him outplay me over and over again, I felt so angry. I felt so bitter. I felt so much hatred bubbling up inside me.

I felt jealous.

I was jealous that he was naturally born with the talent to play basketball, at least, that's what I told myself. I was jealous that even with my ability to warp time, he was still better than me. When it came to fundamentals, I barely had any. Why would I refine my skills if I could just erase all of my mistakes?

Well, with my jealousy bubbling up inside me, I found myself dribbling down the court with just ten seconds left. It was a tie game, and all I needed to do was score a point before the buzzer to win the game.

Half the crowd was chanting defense while the other half cheered me on. I hadn't forgotten about my plan with that girl Stacy, so as I dribbled up the court, I looked right at her and pointed to her, mouthing the words 'This is for you.'

As I did so, I could see her and her friends get all giddy, blushing as they watched me proceed to end this game.

I dribbled forward, of course getting picked up by Antonio who was guarding me closely. I waited for the clock out, standing at the three-point line in isolation with no one but Antonio near me. They did not double-team me because they couldn't risk anyone else being open. It was just me and him.

Five seconds remained as I dribbled in front of him, switching from my left hand to my right repeatedly.

Four seconds remained as I looked deeply into his eyes, looking for a moment of weakness inside of him.

Three seconds remained as I found myself feeling weak upon seeing the undying resolve and confidence in his eyes.

Two seconds remained as I once again regained my own confidence, knowing I could just simply have a doover if I missed the shot. And so, I took a step back and fired a thirty-foot shot.

But Antonio blocked it.

'This fucking stupid prodigy won't give up!' I thought to myself before reversing time once again, this time stepping back even further before firing yet another shot.

Once again, my shot was blocked by the prodigy. 'NO! NO! NO! HOW CAN HE DO THIS TO ME!' I thought, failing to comprehend how a boy with the ability to control time could lose to a normal human.

I reversed time once again, this time going even further back. I tried to then dribble around him, only for him to poke the ball out of my hand. 'What the fuck!' my inner voice screamed before I reversed time again and crossed over, just for it to be poked out of my hands again.

Again and again, I reversed time on repeat, trying strategy after strategy until I eventually gave up. 'I'm not losing to this kid!' I thought to myself before I reversed time once more to the point right after I pointed to Stacy.

Rather than approaching Antonio head-on, I decided to end this game the same way I started it, with a half-court shot. Of course, I missed the first attempt. And the second. And the third. And the fourth and so on.

But eventually, I made it.

I made the half-court bucket right before the buzzer. As the ball released from my hand, I could hear my coach yelling at me, asking what I was doing. My teammates also didn't believe in me, I could see it on their faces, nor did anyone on the other team. However, Miles and Ganke trusted me, looking at me with hope in their eyes before I made the shot.

Once the ball went in, the crowd erupted and I watched as Antonio and his team wallowed in defeat. For the first time, Antonio's permanent smirk on his face was gone. 'Who's laughing now, bitch!' I thought to myself, watching as tears began to well up in his eyes.

He cared so much about winning that game, he cared so much about the game of basketball, and I took that win away from him. At first, it felt amazing seeing that kid cry in front of me, it felt amazing to know that I was superior to him after all that shit he talked. However, that satisfaction soon waned, and all I could feel was guilt overwhelming me.

My team celebrated my winning shot, hoisting me up in the air as they cheered my name, but I felt nothing.

I didn't deserve that win.

As I was lifted into the air, I looked around at the crowd, seeing them cheering me on as well. I felt validation, something I lacked in my last life.

Seeing the smiles on the crowd brought me back to a time in my past life when I was responsible for wiping off the sweat on the basketball court during my high school's basketball games. As I was doing my job, one of the players thought it would be funny to pants me, showing everyone my most vulnerable bits.

Before I could get too far into that memory, refocused back on what was actually in front of me. These people weren't laughing at me, they were happy for me. My family... Bryan, Jessie, and Emily were all smiling and cheering from the stands. They were proud of me...

'But why do I feel like throwing up?' I thought to myself, hoping that with time, that feeling would go away.