Old Scars, Chapter 4: Part 3.1

Page 86 Panel 1: Close-up to the center of the field as one of the members of the opposing team moves with a small orange ball ala field hockey.

Panel 2: Moments later, Po comes in from the opposite side with a brutal body check before that player could log a shot-on-goal; the ball beginning to bounce freely away from the scene.

Panel 3: Cut to a shot of T running in a couple of seconds later, skillfully handling the ball with their own stick at full speed. You can see a cocky smirk come across their face, thinking about the endgame to come; the shadow of the other opposing player faintly in the background.

T

(translated from Finnish) Well struck, my dear. Though not as much as this...!

Panel 4: A two-part set of panels that starts out with T flinging the ball up to the sky six feet off the ground, matched by one of her leaps.

Panel 5: In the second part, a split second later, they whack the ball with a considerable amount of power and accuracy...

Panel 6: ...the ball smashing into the back of the net with the same level of power as the previous panel.

Panel 7: Cut to a section of the crowd cheering the goal. You can see a section of the scoreboard highlighting the triple zeroes with the final score of this battle below it: "POT Crew- 3, Panthers- 2."

Page 87

Panel 1: Grem looks on at this whole scene, fascinated and intrigued by the sport as he zips down to find a space to land.

GREM

Didn't know they played ice hockey outdoors.

Caption

(T)

"It's not ice hockey, Gremlin. It's called Bandy..."

Panel 2: Cut to a shot of him, T and Po stepping out of the makeshift arena a short time later, catching up on things since they last chatted.

T

(Cont., to Grem; explanatory) It's kind of a combination of ice hockey and football, played on a wider field than either.

PO

(carrying on from T, to Grem) Usually, it's 11-against-11. 2-on-2 has become popular in recent years; a product of morale boosting from vets who fought for the Allies.

T

(Bubble 2) As champions of Utopia last year, we take on any comers. Sometimes for fun, sometimes for prizes.

GREM

(curious, to Po) What was the prize?

Panel 3: Action shot of Po reaching into her pocket to pull out a pair of tickets, showing them off to T and Grem.

PO

A good chunk of money- 20,000 markka. This year, they also offered front row tickets for tomorrow evening's Toive Kellua- Wish Fling.

Panel 4: Grem looks on with a small degree of trepidation at the tickets. You can see T to the right, looking at their friend with a bit of surprise at his reaction.

T

What's wrong? I thought you'd been looking for a way to get close to the Sampo.

GREM

(nods, to T) Aye, it is. It's just...

T

(Bubble 2) What?

Panel 5: Slight close-up on Mr. Allen a few moments later. Following the brief period of trepidation, the immortal Irishman finds the will to hint at what he's gone through.

GREM

Before I got back to ya, I chatted with someone by the name of Marek over at Ahti's (a nice place- pretty good grilled salmon). I learned something in the course of the interaction that you and your girlfriend should know.

Panel 6: Back to a shot that highlights both T and Po looking over at Grem with a mixture of consternation and curiosity at the statement.

PO

First of all, T and I are not a couple in the traditional sense. Though we do engage in coital like any other couple.

T

Secondly, there's no way we're leaving with this type of cryptic lead-in.