Extra Basket

Chapter 314 301: Vorpal vs Wildcats (13) Unpredictable

Louie Davas stepped into the dribble like a spark touching gasoline.

He wasn't the fastest on the team.

He wasn't the strongest.

He wasn't the smartest tactician.

But he had the one thing nobody could train

instinct.

Street-born, concrete-raised, chaos-forged instinct.

"C'mon then, pretty boy," Louie muttered as he lowered his stance. "You think I'm scared of some anime-protagonist-footwork?"

Miho's shadow slid across the floor.

Not his body

his shadow.

The Wildcats' bench stiffened.

Armi leaned forward. "He's already syncing with Miho's steps."

Kenji cracked his knuckles.

"True Sync Phase One… the sensory lock."

Louie didn't know the terminology.

He didn't understand the layers.

He just saw Miho closing in

So, he snapped the ball behind his back, dragging his foot like he was carving graffiti into hardwood.

"WHOOO!! STREET SAUCE!" Louie whooped.

Coonie, watching from the corner, yelled, "Babe you're not cooking anything! He's right on your ass!"

But Louie wasn't backing down.

He juked left

twisted right

then faked a step-back so dramatic Evan would've slapped him for overacting.

Miho didn't bite on any of it.

His eyes stayed unblinking.

His steps stayed silent.

He simply matched Louie's rhythm perfectly.

No

he overlapped it.

Louie felt his breath stick.

"Damn… he's copying me before I even do the move?!"

Miho exhaled softly.

"You're unpredictable. But True Sync isn't about prediction."

Louie's sneakers screeched.

Miho's voice stayed calm, floating like smoke.

"It's about inevitability."

Then he disappeared.

Louie blinked

No, he thought he blinked.

Because Miho was in front of him a moment ago—

and now he was at Louie's hip.

Louie gasped.

"HUH?! BRO I DIDN'T EVEN SEE"

The ball was gone.

Kenji was already sprinting the other way.

The Wildcats' bench erupted.

Jun Seo slapped Davis' shoulder. "FAST BREAK!"

Armi howled, "PHASE SHIFT!"

Kenji darted forward, Miho pacing him like they shared the same tendon.

One heartbeat.

One rhythm.

One kill-shot.

Ryan tried to rotate in time

But Davis bulldozed through him.

Brandon stepped up

But Armi cut the passing angle.

Jeremy tried to contest

But Jun Seo mirrored him step for step, forcing him wide.

Kenji flicked the lob.

Miho rose.

Not jumped.

Rose.

As if the gravity beneath him politely stepped aside.

CRACK

Two hands slammed it down.

VORPAL 46 – WILDCATS 43.

The gym trembled.

Vorpal's bench players froze for half a second

Then Louie yelled loud enough to rattle the bleachers.

"OKAY. OKAY. OKAAAAAY! BRO YOU GOT ME! I TOLD Y'ALL HE GOT THE MAIN-CHARACTER FILTER ON!"

He slapped his cheeks twice.

"But I ain't folding! I'm the side character who steals the spotlight, baby!"

Coonie snorted.

"Side character? You sure you're not the comedic relief dying in Episode 3?"

Louie gasped dramatically.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU PASTEL-WEARING BOOTLEG DIVA!"

Jeremy whispered to Brandon, "Should… should we stop them?"

Brandon sighed. "No. This is normal."

But Ethan watching from the bench smiled.

Because Louie wasn't rattled.

He was alive.

He bounced on his toes, fire in his eyes.

"Eyo! Give me that ball again! I'm not done cooking!"

Josh Turner inbounded to him cautiously.

"Louie… maybe slow down."

"SLOW DOWN? JOSH, BABY, WE DOWN BAD! SPEED IS ALL I GOT!"

Louie didn't wait.

He sprinted.

No thoughts.

No hesitation.

Just rhythm drilled into him from Manila street courts, cracked asphalt, chain-link nets, and older kids who hit harder than screens.

He burst past half-court.

Miho stepped into his path again.

Louie grinned, showing all his teeth.

"Let's dance again, rhythm boy."

Miho's expression didn't change.

True Sync hummed through him like a quiet storm.

Armi, Davis, Kenji, and Jun Seo were already drifting into the perfect defensive formation

but Louie wasn't scared.

He dribbled low.

Then lower.

Then lower

until the ball was barely clearing the floor.

Ryan leapt up from the bench.

"He's going street mode!"

Ethan's eyes widened.

"That low…? That's a streetball ghost dribble."

Louie snapped the ball sideways with a loud POP

Then spun, planting a foot so sharp the wood groaned.

Miho matched him

But only for the first half of the move.

Because Louie didn't complete the spin.

He stopped.

Dead.

Like a vinyl record scratch.

Miho's foot slid half an inch too far.

Louie whispered:

"Got you."

A crossover so mean it might have violated school rules cracked the air open.

Louie launched past him.

"STREET PRODIGY, BABYYYY!"

Even the Wildcats' bench flinched.

Jun Seo muttered, "What… what was that angle?!"

Kenji's jaw dropped.

"That wasn't in the scouting report."

Armi actually let out a "DAAAAAMN."

Louie charged toward the paint

Davis blocked the lane.

Brandon called out, "I GOT YOU!" but he was still fighting for position.

Louie didn't slow.

He didn't flinch.

He just cocked the ball back

"NO WAY…HE'S NOT…" Jeremy shrieked.

Louie screamed,

"I'M HIM FOR TEN SECONDS!"

He launched.

The gym gasped.

Louie's body twisted mid-air, legs flailing in streetball chaos, arm swinging like he was throwing a punch at gravity and he flipped the ball around Davis' forearm.

SCOOP.

KISS OFF THE GLASS.

DROP.

VORPAL 48 – WILDCATS 43.

The crowd detonated.

Louie landed, stumbled then flexed like he just dunked over God.

"WHO'S A SIDE CHARACTER NOW? HUH?! HUUUUH?!"

Coonie clapped slowly, sass heavy.

"Okay fine you ate… but like… appetizers only."

Ethan burst out laughing on the bench.

Even Coach Mason wiped his eyes.

"He's—ha—he's insane… but it's working…"

Ayumi yelled from the sideline, "LET'S GO LOOOUIE! SHOW THEM VORPAL ENERGY!"

Lucas smiled proudly.

"That's my guy."

Evan shook his head.

"I don't know whether to praise him or sedate him."

Brandon gave a thumbs-up.

"Good job."

Ryan pointed dramatically at Louie.

"DATE ME."

Louie froze mid-celebration.

"BRO WHAT?!"

The gym howled with laughter.

But Miho didn't.

He simply exhaled.

Then stepped forward.

And the Wildcats reorganized instantly around him.

Jun Seo's smile sharpened.

"Phase Two?"

Armi grinned maliciously.

"Let's break their rhythm again."

Kenji's fingers vibrated around the ball.

"True Sync… accelerating."

Davis cracked his neck slowly.

The air tightened.

Louie felt the shift.

His grin faltered not in fear, but in understanding.

"…ah. So you weren't even serious yet, huh?"

Miho's eyes finally focused directly on him.

"No."

Louie swallowed.

Then smirked.

"Good."

He tightened his headband.

"Means I get to show you even more."

Miho stepped into position, body easing into the perfect True Sync stance.

"Your instincts are strong, Louie Davas."

He lowered himself, gaze sharpening.

"Let's see if they survive Phase Two."

And the ball was checked back in

The gym bracing

Vorpal tightening

Wildcats syncing

And the war of the third quarter roared forward.

Jun Seo took the ball.

And Coonie Smith sarcastic, dramatic, flamboyant Coonie tilted his head with the slowest, sassiest smirk the Wildcats had ever seen.

"Oh please, sweetheart," he said aloud, hands on his hips. "You think I'm scared of your k-pop villain walk?"

Jun Seo blinked.

Kenji blinked.

Even Armi tilted his head like ???

Brandon, under the rim, whispered, "Here he goes…"

Coonie stepped forward with a swagger so exaggerated it looked choreographed, pointing two fingers at Jun Seo like imaginary guns.

"Let me educate you," he announced, pacing left, then right, then left again with hips so loose even the crowd snorted. "This is called misdirection Coonie-style."

Jun Seo narrowed his eyes.

"Try me."

Coonie did.

He stumbled forward on purpose arms flailing, face twisting in dramatic agony like he tripped on his own soul.

"OH LORD JESUS THE FLOOR IS WET"

Kenji instinctively leaned forward to help.

Armi flinched.

Davis stepped half a foot toward the paint.

And in that microsecond

Coonie transformed.

His posture locked.

His balance sharpened.

His eyes turned razor-clear.

He SNATCHED the ball mid-stumble, whipping it backward through his legs with a flick so fast it looked like animation skip-frame.

"Psych."

Josh Turner caught it clean and jumped the lane in transition.

The Wildcats realized it one beat too late.

They had been played.

By the sassiest man on the court.

"GO, JOSH!!" Louie yelled.

Josh drove hard, planted, and rose for a mid-range pull-up. Armi tried to contest, but Brandon boxed Davis out with a full-body wall, opening the angle.

Josh released.

Swish.

VORPAL 48 – WILDCATS 43

The Vorpal bench erupted.

Coonie bowed dramatically at mid-court, blowing a kiss toward the stunned Wildcats.

"My power," he declared, snapping his fingers, "is psychology, babes."

Ayumi on the sideline laughed into her clipboard.

"Coonie, you're unbelievable."

Lucas, catching his breath, grinned.

"He's chaos… but he's OUR chaos."

Ethan, still resting on the bench for the rotation, let out one relieved breath.

"Good. Keep shaking their rhythm."

But across the court

Miho… was smiling.

Not amused.

Not irritated.

Interested.

His eyes followed Coonie with the same focus he used on Ethan earlier.

Kenji jogged past him, voice sharp:

"Captain, they're gaining heat."

Jun Seo frowned.

"He mimicked my footwork angle. On accident? Or intentionally?"

Miho didn't answer.

His voice emerged soft.

"Coonie Smith… Vorpal truly has no weak link."

But then his expression changed.

Just slightly.

The stillness before lightning.

"Then let's tighten the Sync on the next possession."

The Wildcats huddled in formation, each step clicking in with mechanical precision.

Armi cracked his knuckles.

"Time to erase their rhythm."

Kenji's dribble aligned with Davis' foot tap, Jun Seo's shoulder shift, and Miho's breath.

A single heartbeat.

One rhythm.

The True Sync amplified.

And Vorpal felt the temperature drop.

Louie's grin faded.

"…Okay yeah. That looks kinda scary."

Coonie gulped.

"…Sweet mother of Beyoncé."

Brandon lowered his stance.

"Get ready."

Josh wiped sweat from his eyebrow.

"They're serious now."

Jeremy chimed from the bench, voice shaky:

"Guys, maybe we should, uh not die?"

But Louie stepped forward, bouncing on his toes, grin returning with full street-prodigy swagger.

"Relax."

He rolled his shoulders, eyes shining.

"I got next."

The Wildcats crossed half-court

a perfect synchronized wave.

And the third quarter marched forward.

To be continue