Eason watched more action take place. Chasers were flying left and right, and Irving was searching madly for the snitch. He wondered if their own seeker was going to work on that, too. Usually James was the seeker, but their new kid was apparently so good, James had been moved to chaser. Not that it was a bad move, because he killed it. But just as the thought crossed his mind, he watched Pennyapple slam a bludger right at him, and it wasn't going to miss.

In an attempt to fight back, Eason sped off on his broom to the other bludger, bat in hand and ready to slam it. Seeing an open chance at Grimalken, he decided to play this shot up with some circus acrobatics. Grabbing his broom firm in his right hand, he lunged himself off the broom, dangling in the air (2 p.), and made a solid bash (8 p.) with the bat in his left hand, right at Grimalken. "Eat it, gremlin!"

Remaining A.P. = 80

Eyes narrowed, Laney Irving’s attention was fully devoted to the vast stretch of sky before her. She did not catch Forrester in her peripheral until it was too late. She turned halfway in his direction, quick enough only to see William’s barreling bludger headed straight at the bastard. And, unfortunately, at Laney herself.

Bracing for impact, for she knew not even the speed of lightning could help her out of this one, she turned her cheek and gritted her teeth. She felt a blow to her stomach-- but luckily it was Forrester, and not the very round, very dense death bullet from her own team’s attractive Beater. She’d taken the injury secondhand, and spiraled toward the press box tangled in up in a whirlwind of brooms and limbs and gear.

When she found her balance again, it was her feet and not her broom that kept her up. She stumbled away from a narrowly-dodged crowd of terrified witches and wizards, and growled at Forrester. Clutching her broom in one hand and her wand in the other, Laney had to remind herself that the little tricks she’d been able to get away with at Hogwarts wouldn’t work in a professional stadium. At least not while surrounded by this mass of civilians. She brushed the hair from her eyes and jumped back on her broom, ignoring the pain in her leg and the tear in her robes. She wasn’t about to cry and call fowl, knowing that Forrester’s intended dirty tricks had been foiled by William’s attempt to help. She was only thankful William's shot had worked.

Up, up, up-- she ignored the wooziness in her head, and looked for the Tornadoes' Seeker. But before she could find her target, a glint of gold sent her flying south.

“!$@!!$” James cursed.  Though his check on Irving was successful, the bludger had dismounted him, and somehow Irving had gotten tangled up with his broom as well.  All of them seemed to be heading for the pressbox, and James had taken the fall properly since Irving was nice enough to soften the bludger hit for him.  He saw a golden object to the South, and if he saw it, he knew Irving would be after it shortly.  Sure enough, she shot off like a rocket to that direction.  As James grabbed his broom to leap back into the charlie-foxtrot of brooms, bodies, and balls, he wondered how that quick and impromptu exchange in the pressbox would turn out.  He assumed that only time would tell.  He wondered if he had successfully baited the opposing beater.  He decided to insult him, and see what happened.

“Hey Pennyapple! I realize you bat for the other team and all, but could you stop hitting on me?  Though I am a lefty, I am not a switch-batter,” James yelled, making sure he had that completely mocking tone correct. 

Grimalken, distracted by Cuddyer's pass and the loose quaffle, had stopped tracking Tornado's beater Ripley.  Consequently, she didn't see it until the last moment.  It was going to be a big hit.  All she managed to do was to hunker down tight over her broom (4) to avoid being dismounted.

She was hit hard in the thigh and was for a moment thrown way off course.  Shouting with the rush of adrenaline, she took a wide sweeping turn only to see the quaffle had not reached a Tornadoe Chaser! Forrester was occupied with Pennyapple's bludger!

It was time for another shot at Cuddyer.  She scooped up the quaffle and reared for another shot.  With enough free space, she was able to set up well.  She came in strong and low and faked right, only to pop the quaffle out left. (10)  She hoped the shot would fake out Cuddyer.

Remaining Action Points: 67

Ian cursed under his breath as he saw that the quaffle was loose and he watched with wide eyes as it was the chaser from the Magpies who came up with it. He righted himself before the three rings and prepared for what was to be another full fledged assault.

Cuddyer was a keeper that was known for his reflexes, but even he was fail-able and when Grimalken moved right, so did he. Even after he realized that she had faked him out, his response in countering the move was too late. He changed directions as quickly as he could and did manage to touch the quaffle, except it jammed his fingers and went sailing through the corresponding hoop (4).

He cursed again, more from the searing pain that was moving through his hand than the bruising to his ego that the ball had gotten by him. With little time to lament, he sped off to retrieve the quaffle and seeking out Forrester, he made sure to send it to him with an accurate pass (10).

Action Points Remaining: 70

Inwardly, James cursed.  He knew he should have paid more attention to the game.  Next time, he would not spend so much time taunting Pennyapple.  Irving was already back in play, and he had hoped to buy his seeker a little more time with that body check.   Focusing back on the present, James was amazed at the accuracy of the pass. Cuddyer passed the quaffle him in flight and James took off like a rocket.  Wanting to at least even the score, James adjusted his grip on the quaffle, and shot a hard and fast knuckleball towards the hoops(10 AP).   James hoped that the random trajectory would confuse Snark.  Idly, James wondered where the !@#& Amherst had gone.  It seemed like they were not playing with a full team.  He guessed it did not matter, but decided that he would make sure he was covering Grimalken on defense from now on. 

AP Remaining: 75

Most of the action had been happening up the top end of the field. "GET IT IN!" Augustus yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to make the sound travel further. Grimalken had just made a shot on target and the cheers from the crowds were, quite frankly, music to Augustus' ears. "YES!" He fist pumped the air. Ten points, and they didn't concede the first goal! Augustus had known that eventually Cuddyer would have a momentary lapse of concentration, and it was then that the Magpies paraded their victory.

Hovering in front of the middle hoop, Augustus braced as he saw Forrester hurtling towards him with the quaffle. Augustus narowed his eyes at the man as it looked as though he would be aiming for the right hoop. As quick as a flash, Augustus was in front of the right hoop, but things seemed to go in slow motion as the quaffle was sent canon-balling towards the left hoop instead.

Augustus' eyes widened as he realised what had happened. Trying to rectify his mistake, he cracked through the air as fast as he could, reaching out in an attempt to save the ball from the ring. His fingertips grazed the side of the quaffle, but had no visible effect on the ball - it carried on through the centre of the ring, like a perfect bullseye. (3ap)

"NO!" Augustus wailed, hearing the rising cheers from the Tornadoes fans. His hands came up and latched onto his face with both fury and frustration. "Rookie mistake, Augustus!" He looped round the goal and dipped down, wrapping his hands around the ball. Looking out into the pitch he saw a couple of his team mates, and aimed a well-polished shot in their direction (10 ap) trying to rectify his momentary mistake.


(AP remaining: 79)

James could hardly believe his luck.  Snark had thrown a pass worthy of omnocular film, but it seemed like both of his teammates were napping.  After the pass went wild, James scooped up the quaffle, and proceeded to fly back towards the Magpie hoops.  Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth,  James took a hard and fast shot to the far hoop (9 AP) , hoping that his shot could outpace Snark.  As soon as the shot was fired, James went careening towards the far hoop, hoping making sure that he could get a rebound if the shot was blocked. 

As James was flying through the air, he wondered what their seekers were doing, and if he should foul Irving again.  Though he had not seen the snitch since the last time he had fouled Irving, he knew that since the snitch had been spotted it was only a matter of time before one of them caught it.  James wondered if he should just keep shooting, or if he should try to buy their seeker more time.  Though this only took a fraction of a second, James realized that tactical thoughts could wait until later.  James still had a shot to follow.

Remaining AP: 66

Forrester's rapidly returned goal sparked an argument among a few of the Magpies.  Grimalken was shouting at the other beater, and their coach was screaming at them.  The yelling continued when not even one of the three Magpies chasers picked up the pass from their own Keeper.  Forrester had taken it up yet again and was wheeling around for another shot.

Juno wasn't going to be embarrassed again.  She turned hard on her broom and aimed to intercept Forrester.  Just as he released and excellent shot on goal, Juno barreled into Forrester (7) on her way to intercept.  She snatched lunged at the quaffle with a feral sort of finesse and intercepted the red ball.  (10)

"Yeah! Ha ha! Take that!"

Remaining AP: 50

James felt Grimalken coming into him before he saw her.  Regardless, he managed to stay on his broom (4 AP) though his momentum was completely lost.  She then proceeded to make an insane acrobatic maneuver, and somehow managed to lunge, extend, stretch, grab, and pull in the quaffle.    Somewhere in the back of his mind, James realized that Grimalken was talking a little smack, but that was not James primary concern.  Grimalken had a fairly solid hold on the quaffle, and James wanted it.  With that thought in mind, James threw an elbow at her, making sure it was subtle enough to look like an attempt to steal the quaffle(3AP).  The ref had been fairly quiescent for most of the game, and James did not want to wake him up. 

Remaining AP: 59

Forrester was on her like black on beetle eyes and she knew he wasn't going to let up. She held her grip on both quaffle and broom (3AP), but knew she had to get this quaffle moving and fast.

She shouted for support from her team, trying to get them moving.  "Pennyapple, let's see some violence, mate!"

She was too far from the hoops to make a good shot and the other chasers were not in position.  Her options were limited! What the bloody hell was she supposed to do!?

All she could do was hold on tighter and fly evasively.  Until she could make a pass or a good shot, it'd be her against bludgers.  That is unless Pennyapple made something happen for the Magpies.

(Remaining AP: 47)

William didn't have much time to analyze what was happening. Within seconds, Forrester was already attacking Juno and the referee was shouting. He snarled and sped after the two fighting chasers. It wasn't long before he noticed the bludger spiraling around the field. William had to get someone bloodied up before Juno got hurt.

With a crackling solid bash ( 8 ), William sent the bludger towards Forrester in attempt to shake him off of the Magpie's chaser. He really was beating on the guy the whole entire game.

He made sure everything else was still in line before he zoomed around the chasers, keeping an eye on his precious Grimalken.

Remaining action points: 75