THE MOMENT
"Oh, yeah...," Riot looked around at the group in front of her. She asked her five teammates to join her in the gym during lunch. They sat on the glowing white floor and gave her their full attention; but, she quickly found a problem. "..I hadn't considered that none of you know who she was."
"I've seen the Sharp name everywhere in the multiverse," Turbo shrugged. "I didn't know it was an actual person." The rest of the group mumbled their agreement with the sentiment. Riot nodded.
"Ms. Sharp was amazing. She's the whole reason we can have this school," Riot gestured at the gym around them. "Almost every student here is from a different universe, that couldn't happen without her. Ms. Sharp invented the AlterNet; and, she standardized a timestream to keep universes coordinated."
"Then...what's the problem?" Vivi asked. "If everyone loves her, why would our team name be a big deal?" Riot shook her head.
"That's the problem. As much good as she's done; she made some mistakes...," she sighed. Riot glanced at her best friend for support; and Petunia never let her down. She gave Riot an encouraging nod. The night before, Riot told Petunia everything that happened. It was a lot to take in, but a good night's sleep helped.
"Her biggest mistake, the one everyone hates her for, happened about five years ago at a tournament. It was called the Pineapple Cup." Riot paused and gave her teammates a chance to register the name.
"Oh!" Tama looked surprised. "Is that what that is? I've heard some students mention it, but it scares everyone else away." Riot nodded.
"Yeah, it's a sensitive subject for everyone that was watching the tournament. I was there," she said.
"So, what happened?" Vivi asked. Riot sighed.
"A lot...," she said. She took a few moments to gather herself. "A big part of why no one wants to talk about it is because there's no proof. All recordings of the tournament were erased from everywhere, in every universe. So, I can't prove anything that I'm going to tell you."
"We trust you!" Petunia said. Riot smiled and shook her head.
"Sorry, Nia; you can't speak for the whole group on that."
"She can," Tama said.
"We do," Vivi added.
"Yeah," Moose spoke, finally. Riot was growing worried about his approval since he hadn't said a word yet. When he joined the team he seemed very friendly and talkative; but, he missed a few team practices and seemed quieter the week before. The fact that he still said he trusted her, put Riot at ease.
"Eh, I don't distrust you," Turbo smirked playfully. Riot smiled at him and nodded.
"So, it's called the Pineapple Cup because that's where it took place an Earth called Pineapple. This isn't common knowledge; but, I was in a Sharp Development school when this all happened, so I got a bit of inside information. If her team, the Luchadoras, won the tournament; then, Ms. Sharp won that Earth."
"Whoa.. she must have really wanted to win..," Turbo said. Riot nodded.
"She almost did but the game was interrupted," she said.
"What? What was the interruption? Why didn't they finish after it got cleared up?" Turbo asked.
"Because she died," Riot said, then she shook her head. "She was killed on live TV before they could restart."
"No way..," Turbo said.
"No wonder...," Vivi said.
"I wouldn't want to talk about it either...," Tama said. But, Riot shook her head.
"Ms. Sharp's public death isn't why no one talks about it. It's the interruption that they're avoiding." Riot chuckled to herself. "I guess I kind of am too," she said.
"Okay," she looked at her team. "I want to use the name Luchadoras; because Dread was on that team. I've wanted to be on a team with her since I learned about roller derby, and this is as close as I can get right now. But, you deserve to know exactly what happened and why so many people are going to hate us for it. We wont' use the name if enough of your are uncomfortable about it."
"WHAT HAPPENED!?" Turbo raised his voice for the question. Riot nodded.
"Thousands of universes were watching the Pineapple Cup. And, everyone that saw it happens knows it was true. On live TV, in front of at least trillions of people...," Riot sighed, and closed her eyes. "Ms. Sharp proved that God was real; because he's the one that interrupted the match."
"What, like Ballisea?" Turbo asked. Riot shook her head, and opened her eyes.
"Not a Unique powerful enough to be considered a god. The one and only capital G himself. I felt it, knew it as soon as he appeared on the track. I'm sure everyone did too."
The group went quiet for several seconds while they processed the new information. Not only did God actually exist; he'd already made a TV appearance. Then, Turbo was the first to sort through his thoughts.
"So what? Isn't that a good thing? Why is everyone mad at Ms. Sharp? She solved the greatest mystery ever by proving he's real." Riot nodded and closed her eyes again. She hung her head in second-hand shame.
"Yeah, she did prove that in front of everyone...," Riot said. "...and then she tried to kill him."