Codi timed her jump to perfection and wrested the ball from Gareth's grasp, spinning to find a team mate. She let fly in almost the same motion, finding a pass to Ripple just as two strong arms snapped around her legs in a tackle. Hitting the ground with a grunt, she rolled clear and scrambled back to her feet, following the ball down towards the other team's goal.

The players split off into pairs, the team in possession trying to find open space and make their way to the goal. Accordingly, Codi twisted away from Gareth and started running a diagonal course across the centre of the pitch. Ripple streamed down the left flank and hurled a bullet-like pass cross court to find a boy on their team. As he caught it, however, Gareth came in like a freight train and speared him, knocking the ball free. A player on the other team scooped it up and set off.

Now it was Codi's turn. She watched and waited for her opportunity. Gareth had left her unmarked to make his hit – a tactical risk that the torpedo player would often take. So she ignored him in turn and watched the eyes of the ball carrier. He glanced left and right before slinging a looping pass over the middle of the court. A girl on the team leapt high to snag the ball and when she landed, Codi was there to meet her.

She delivered the hit with mechanical precision, planting a shoulder into the other player's gut and snapping her arms tight around her opponent's legs. With a grunt of exertion Codi drove the girl hard into the floor, but she managed to cling on to the ball through the impact.

"Deadlock!" the referee shouted.

Immediately Codi let go and rolled away, scrambling to her feet. The other girl did the same and the court started seething with motion as the respective players tried to elude their markers. Codi waited, standing a few yards away, not allowed to pick up another player until the pass had been thrown.

Eventually the girl let fly, but before the ball reached its target a nimble figure leapt high and snagged it. Codi blinked in surprise as Leela set off like a rocket, tearing down the left flank of the court towards the goal. Gareth went to tackle her, but she made a sudden jink and spin, completely wrong-footing him. Chasing down the middle, Codi dashed into the semi-circular scoring area and raised a hand.

"Open!" she shouted. Leela didn't hear, or didn't care. She tossed the ball up into the air and clubbed it toward the goal with a clenched fist. It was a good strike, but the boy playing anchor for the other team was ready. He managed to deflect the ball with his fingertips, causing it to ricochet off the post and bounce into the waiting arms of another defender.

Codi bit back a frustrated curse and started backpedaling, eyes darting left and right as she tried to follow the explosion of movement. She realised that Chris hadn't been kidding. The Battlecast teams played the game with a professional fervour that was amazing to see. The onlookers whooped or groaned depending on which side they were backing. She was gratified to find that the split was roughly equal.

The ball was now racing towards her goal and she struggled to find a worthwhile target. The contact rules were fairly fluid, often left open to the discretion of the referee as to what was legal and what was not. If she mis-timed a challenge they could penalise her heavily for what was simply termed a 'spite-foul.'

Gareth's team moved seamlessly, zipping passes left and right and she saw the other team's gunner slip away from Leela and break into the open. The boy was built like an iron coil, thin but hard, and he sprinted hard towards their team's box. Codi spun and ran a course to meet him, but it was too late. A meticulous pass threaded through between the defenders and found the gunner, who immediately spun and thwacked the ball on target, an instant before Codi crashed into him.

Even as they both hit the ground Codi winced upon hearing the outbreak of cheers from Gareth's supporters. Evidently the shot had found its mark. She cursed inwardly but managed to retain enough sportsmanship to help the boy she'd just tackled back to his feet.

"Sorry," Leela panted shaking her head. "I didn't-,"

"Forget about it," Codi said, not willing to admit defeat quite so easily. "We'll get it back." She returned to the centre of the court and found Gareth waiting, smiling like he'd just pulled off the perfect bank robbery. She cocked an eyebrow and looked to the referee.

The ball was tossed high and again she got a better jump than her opponent. This time, however, an elbow jammed into her side on the way up and she let out a yelp of surprise. Her timing was thrown, just for an instant, and Gareth snagged the ball. He flung it back towards his team before even hitting the ground and Codi held back the urge to just tackle him anyway. His moment would come soon enough.

Again the other team surged forward, slinging bullet-like passes left and right as they came. This time, however, one of them was deflected by a defender and went spiralling crazily towards an empty piece of the court. Codi was on it in an instant, diving into a roll and scooping the ball up as she went. But when she looked up, Gareth was two steps away.

She had just enough time to brace herself and secure the ball before he slammed into her at full tilt, shoulder first, the sheer momentum knocking her backwards through the air until she hit the ground. The onlookers sucked in a breath and she felt pain jolt through her whole body from the impact. She clung onto the ball, however, and the referee called deadlock again. Codi stood, tossing the ball from hand to hand and meeting Gareth's gaze as he backed away, a smug grin stamped on his face.

"You'll need to try harder than that," she grated, ignoring the ache in her back. "Don't worry, I'll show you how to tackle properly."

Then, to the shock of everyone in the gymnasium, she threw the ball at Gareth.

He reacted in time to catch it but the move had taken him by surprise. Codi was already moving and by the time he'd figured out what was happening she'd reached him.

She went low, planting a shoulder against his thigh, wrapping her arms around him and pumping her legs like two pistons. With a snarl of exertion and anger she lifted the boy off the ground and even carried him for a few steps before finishing off the tackle. Twisting, she turned him downwards and rammed his body against the floor with as much force as she could muster, throwing her entire body weight behind the motion. He gasped in pain as they landed and the ball was knocked free.

Codi rolled away and saw Leela zip past, collecting the ball en route. She left Gareth on the ground and joined the sudden breakaway opportunity she'd just created. A string of passes advanced their team into the scoring area, where Ripple slung a precision pass into towards Leela. The youngest member of the team volleyed it with a double-handed club,sending it rocketing into the top corner of the net.

1 – 1.

Cheers erupted from their supporters and Leela let out a joyful whoop. Returning to the centre again, Codi was gratified to see that Gareth looked furious. He glared at the girl who was refereeing.

"Did you see that?"

She raised an eyebrow. "See what?"

"She just set me up!"

"You were holding the ball, Gareth," the referee replied. "It was different, yeah, but as far as I'm concerned you were still fair game."

He bristled at that and turned his glare on Codi.

She shrugged. "Things too rough for you?"

"Just play," he growled.

And they did. For the better part of half an hour the teams battled it out in a game of such ferocity people could have been forgiven for thinking they were watching the Gauntlet itself. It was not lost upon any spectators that Codi and Gareth were responsible for most of it. In terms of the actual score things stayed neck and neck – by the time things stood at 3 – 3 Codi had dished out well over a dozen crunching tackles and absorbed her fair share too. The two of them were having their own private war on the tackle-ball field.

To her at least, the game was also achieving its aim. Without the instructors around to watch and reign them in she felt like she could really deal with her frustrations. Each time she managed to land a punishing tackle it was like working out a knotted muscle. Each time she absorbed a vicious impact she felt like she was proving her point that she had every right to be at the academy.

As the ball floated in a high lob across the court she once again found herself vying for it with Gareth. She had two objectives: win the ball and survive the hit. She got the jump and gathered the ball into her chest, but then Gareth did something that truly pushed the boundaries of the game. He hit her in mid air.

Codi felt her body tip and reflexively she let go of the ball with one arm and wrapped it around Gareth in a headlock to steady herself. If she let her body tip all the way there was a real chance she could land on her head or neck. He squirmed in her grip and they both went crashing to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs.

Fury roiled in her again. If his hits were fair she didn't give a damn how much they hurt, but this was too far. Had she landed neck first she could have been seriously injured, out of the Gauntlet before it started. That thought sent her temper into overdrive. She flung the ball away and scrambled to her feet. When Gareth had righted himself she grabbed him by his top and yanked him forward, eyes blazing.

"What the hell was that?!" she yelled.

"Too rough for you?" he shot back.

She could have – and probably would have – buried her fist in his face there and then, had Chris O'Leary not intervened and hauled them apart. To her frustration the girl refereeing said nothing. However, when the game was being reset and she caught Gareth's eye, there was something else there. He still looked angry, but she could see a tiny hint of remorse on his face. It was like looking at a child who knew they'd done something wrong but didn't want to admit it.

That was when she knew for sure that they were getting somewhere.

The game continued on, the tension threatening to boil over. People no longer paid too much attention to the score line; more interested in waiting to see who would land the next booming hit. Codi and Gareth traded punishment for a further half hour, and as the game drew to a close her whole body ached. She could see he was feeling it too. Both of them were breathing heavily, sweating profusely and refusing to let up the furious pace.

With just minutes left in the game Leela intercepted another pass and set about running rings around the other team as they tried to keep her marked. Codi joined the final surge forward as everyone on their team tried to carve out a niche of space in the scoring area. She managed to get a step on Gareth as he moved to mark her and she threw a hand in the air.

"Open!" she shouted.

This time Leela spotted her. The other girl went to pass, but as she did the other team's gunner made a desperate, diving tackle and caught her around the ankles. The ball still flew, but the pass was off target and wobbled through the air like a dying bird. Codi had to crouch low in order to catch it. She managed to get her fingers under the ball and gather it to her before she turned to the goal. As she started to rise again all she saw was Gareth's shoulder.

Bone met bone with a sickening clunk of impact. If she'd been standing up it would have been just another tackle, but being so low after catching the botched pass meant Codi's head was down where her chest ought to have been. Consequently, rather than a clean hit, Gareth's tackle landed high and his shoulder cracked into her jaw like a brick.

Agony exploded in her skull and her head snapped backwards to a concerted gasp of horror from the spectators. She saw stars and the ball tumbled from her grasp. Her legs went weak and she toppled backwards, only just managing to regain enough sense to brace her fall with her hands. On the ground, Codi blinked through a haze of pain. She could taste blood. Something hard was rolling around in her mouth.

She turned onto all fours with a groan and spat out a broken tooth.

Silence filled the gymnasium for the first time as everyone looked on, stunned. Then someone fell to their knees in front of her and she heard a shrill voice in her ears.

"Oh my God, Codi, I'm sorry! Honestly, I didn't...you were so low down and I didn't adjust right!"

She recognised Gareth's voice. He was sorry? With and effort she looked up, her mind beginning to clear. There he was, but his face didn't look angry, or filled with contempt. He looked genuinely shocked.

"I...are you alright?!" His voice was charged with panic.

"Codi, gimme your arm," Ripple's floating monotone slid into the conversation. Codi allowed the girl to take one of her arms across her shoulders and gently pull her upright. She blinked again and touched her free hand to her mouth. It came away stained with blood. She looked at Gareth.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "Believe me, I didn't mean it."

Codi smiled through the pain. "I know," she forced out. She knew what remorse looked like. The absolute horror on Gareth's face at what he'd unwittingly done was all the proof she needed. She looked around at the other faces. People were looking on with a mixture of confusion, anger and shock. Part of her felt the rage but she forced it away. Accidents happened. Strangely, she felt quite good, as though taking this one final blow had finally put all doubts to rest. She had no angry tirade to disgorge, no threats to make; not this time.

Instead she said, "So, are we going to finish the game?"

 Gareth let out a nervous laugh. "I don't think that's a good idea." He stepped forward and took her other arm across his shoulders. "C'mon, I'll take you to the med centre." After a moment a tremor of relieved laughter passed through the crowd. As Gareth helped her off the court it quickly swelled into a thundering storm of cheers.