Janet, a black cat, trotted out of the black portal and into an endless wheat field. A golden sun hung high in the bright blue sky but the swaying wheat stopped the light from reaching her on the ground. She sighed when she realized she couldn’t see anything above the stalks. Her fur disappeared as her body stretched and grew upward. In an instant, she became a short, portly woman with a red skull tattooed on the top of her bald head. She spun around scouting the area and spotted Justice’s pink hair. The girl was waiting next to a giant glowing, red orb. The magical ball was large enough for Justice to fit into it and it hovered off the ground. Janet walked toward the girl and she looked up at the approaching woman.
“Team meeting,” Janet said to explain her presence. The girl smiled and nodded.
“Perfect! We can take our new member!” she pointed at the red glowing sphere. “Andrea’s making her character but she’s probably almost done.” Janet sighed heavily to let Justice now how impatient she was; then the short woman shook her head.
“No new members. Team’s full,” she said.
“Full? There’s only four of us! The rules say we need six.”
“The rules suggest six to give everyone a chance to rotate out and get some rest. The minimum is four,” Janet said.
“Why are we sticking to the minimum? What if someone gets knocked out?” Justice asked. She tried to use a general term but both of them knew if anyone was going to get knocked off the track it would be the team’s weakest link: her. Janet shrugged.
“You’re sticking to the minimum because that’s the minimum required to compete. Gravewatch has four members because you can’t compete with less. If it were allowed,” Janet shrugged. “Oren could win the tournament by himself.”
“Well okay, even better. If it doesn’t matter whether she’s there or not why can’t she join the team?”
“Well…you never asked. This is a professional derby team, not an afterschool club. You can’t sign your friends up because they’re your friends. All candidates need to be approved by Ms. Sharp before they even try-out.”
