Extra Basket

On the Gods' bench, silence reigned.

Poseidon wiped his hands with a towel, calm but visibly thinking.

Ares sat forward, elbows on knees, glaring at the floor.

"That rebound…" he growled.

"That human read me like a book."

Hades chuckled softly, eyes still glowing faintly from his shadow step.

"You charged too linear, war boy. They're not trying to beat your strength — they're redirecting it."

Ares scowled.

"And what, you want me to float like smoke now?"

Zeus, sitting at the end of the bench, finally spoke, his tone neither angry nor calm. It was measured.

"Adapt."

Ares looked up. "What?"

Zeus's eyes flickered with pale gold.

"They're climbing because they've begun to believe."

He pointed one finger at the court.

"So remind them that belief without power is still only a dream."

Ares' grin returned crooked, eager.

"Then it's time for war."

Back across the gym, Coach Jenkins stood with his hands on his hips, heart pounding like a war drum.

"Keep that fire!" he shouted. "You see that? They blinked! They actually blinked!"

Jalen looked up from his stance, breathing heavy, but eyes steady.

"They're stronger…" he muttered. "But not untouchable."

Tyrese nodded, wiping sweat from his chin.

"So what's next?"

Jalen cracked his neck, looking toward Zeus, who sat still, watching them like an emperor amused by ants.

"Next?" He smiled weakly, exhausted but proud.

"We make them remember this feeling."

Ethan closed his notebook with a soft snap.

His gaze didn't waver from the Gods' bench.

"This is the start," he whispered. "The first ripple before the storm."

Lucas leaned forward, eyes bright.

"You think they can actually push them back?"

Ethan didn't answer immediately.

His voice came low, thoughtful.

"If willpower were measured in stats, Jalen just unlocked a new attribute."

Lucas smirked.

"And what's that called?"

Ethan smiled faintly, eyes glinting.

"Defiance."

SCORE: GODS — 82 | RAPTORS — 45

TIME: 5:59 – 4th Quarter

The ball floated into Ares' hands again.

The crowd noise dimmed not because it got quieter, but because everything else did.

Ares' eyes no longer burned red.

They shimmered gold.

Zeus's gold.

From the sideline, Zeus didn't speak this time.

He just raised one hand fingers spread.

A faint ripple tore through the air like static.

"Adaptation Command," whispered Poseidon under his breath.

Even the Gods stiffened slightly.

And then Ares changed.

The dribble wasn't heavy anymore.

It flowed.

Each bounce came half a beat early, half a beat late unpredictable, erratic, yet perfectly balanced.

It wasn't power now.

It was rhythm disguised as chaos.

Zion's eyes widened, feet ready.

"He's not forcing the drive…"

Ethan, from the bleachers, finished the thought quietly.

"…He's mirroring our pace."

Ares pivoted once left shoulder feint but his angle didn't match human physics anymore.

It was delayed, as if time paused for a heartbeat, letting him choose which moment to exist in.

Zion planted.

Ares vanished into the gap.

Contact too late.

One step, shoulder, knee drive, the basket erupted.

THUD.

The rim trembled. The backboard screamed.

SCORE: GODS — 84 | RAPTORS — 45

Commentators were losing language.

"That, that wasn't power!" one shouted, almost out of breath.

"He, he adjusted his frame mid-motion!"

"You can't train that, he's bending reality's tempo!"

Slow-motion replay showed it:

Ares' frame glitched between keyframes like animation frames missing, skipping the constraints of motion.

The Adaptation Command wasn't physical.

It was authority over mechanics.

Coach Jenkins stood from the bench, eyes wide.

"Don't back down!" he yelled. "He's copying you!"

Malik's jaw tightened.

"Then make him copy pain."

Next possession Raptors ball.

Malik cut inside hard, pushing his body like it owed him everything.

He baited Hades on the wing, pulled the defense, and fired the pass perfect bounce to Kobe.

Kobe caught it, drop step

But Ares was already there.

Not guessing.

Not predicting.

He had adapted.

Ares' hand struck the ball clean mid-lift.

Steel met flesh and flesh lost.

SWAAAAT!

Ball ricocheted into Poseidon's hands, who sent a laser pass to Hades.

Shadow streak.

Layup gone.

SCORE: GODS — 86 | RAPTORS — 45

From the bleachers, Lucas clenched his fists.

"That's not fair! He's using our tempo against us!"

Ethan didn't flinch.

His eyes darted left, right, tracing every angle.

"No…" he said slowly.

"He's not copying. He's learning live."

Lucas turned to him. "What do you mean?"

Ethan flipped his notebook open again, handwriting sharp and fast.

"Adaptation Command, Zeus gives access to his own observational authority. That means Ares sees everything as data movements, micro-reactions, kinetic intent."

He looked up, eyes fierce.

"It's like Zeus is using him as a processor."

Lucas's pupils narrowed.

"So… he's teaching them to evolve mid-game."

Ethan nodded.

"Exactly. The Gods don't play to win. They play to ascend."

4:37 – Possession: Raptors

Jalen walked the ball up, every breath scraping his lungs.

His legs ached. His pulse thundered.

But his eyes his eyes burned clean through the fog.

"Adapt all you want," he muttered.

"I'll rewrite the script myself."

He called the set.

Tyrese flared right. Malik dove baseline. Kobe screened left.

Zion ghosted high post.

Every motion synchronized chaos.

Poseidon stepped up to help, but Jalen snapped his wrist no hesitation.

Behind-the-back fake.

Spin through Poseidon's pressure.

Hades lunged too early.

Midair shift.

Kick-out to Tyrese on the arc.

Release invisible.

The Ghost Shooter's form blurred.

SWISH.

SCORE: GODS — 86 | RAPTORS — 48

The crowd exploded.

Jalen didn't smile.

He just turned, eyes deadlocked on Zeus, whose expression didn't change — only his aura pulsed faintly brighter.

"Adapt to that," Jalen whispered.

From the Gods' bench, Ares laughed.

"Oh, we will."

Zeus finally stood.

His voice carried through the arena, calm and quiet, but the sound rippled air.

"Then we'll evolve again."

He raised one hand — a faint golden halo shimmering behind his head.

Ethan's heart skipped.

"…No…"

Lucas frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Ethan's voice came low.

"He's about to activate the next layer."

The court lights flickered once.

Then twice.

The temperature dropped.

Zeus's aura fractured splitting into four trails that linked to each of his teammates like divine circuitry.

Adaptation Command: Stage II — Symbiosis Mode.

SCORE: GODS — 86 | RAPTORS — 48

TIME: 4:12 – 4th Quarter

The world tilted.

The throne was moving again.

To be continue