The tension in the Graviton Ghosts' locker room was palpable. They had just survived the Aura Knights' defensive stall, but the fear of the Echo System's digital war and Ryoma's relentless scrutiny was eating at their focus.
"The system is escalating its defense," Kenji stated, pointing to the softly glowing interface of the ancient Grav-Gauntlet. "It's successfully fighting the League's historical data scans, but it's causing minor gravitational feedback right here in the practice dome."
Riku, jumping to test his gauntlet, felt a sudden, momentary spike in his personal gravity, stumbling slightly. "I felt that! It was like a sudden burst of weight."
"Exactly," Kenji confirmed. "The digital conflict is manifesting as tiny, unpredictable 'Echo Glitches' in the local Aether field. They're random, lasting less than a second, but enough to throw off a high-speed Grav-Dash or a precise Grav-Pulse."
This was the new, terrifying obstacle: internal sabotage caused by their own secret weapon.
The Unseen Opponent
Their next match was against the Thunder Hawks, a fast-paced, aggressive team known for their acrobatic Grav-Dodging and rapid-fire passing. A single Echo Glitch could mean a broken ankle or a critical missed pass.
"We have to adapt," Kenji instructed, his mind racing. "Hiroshi, analyze the Echo Glitch patterns. They might be random in location, but they're systematic in origin. Find a frequency, a timing, anything."
Hiroshi was instantly engrossed in the data feed from Kenji's gauntlet. "The glitches seem tied to peak network activity. If we predict when the system is scrambling data, we can anticipate the Gravitational spike."
During the match, the Ghosts were playing against two teams: the Thunder Hawks and the unpredictable Echo Glitches.
The game was a chaotic, high-stakes ballet. Riku, launching into a powerful Grav-Leap to intercept a pass, suddenly dropped an extra foot mid-air as an Echo Glitch hit his sector. He managed to recover with a desperate, energy-wasting correction, but the opportunity was lost.
"Riku, delay your pulse!" Hiroshi yelled from the bench, his eyes glued to Kenji's gauntlet, which showed a spike in digital activity. "Glitch incoming in three... two... now!"
Riku felt the sudden weight, but having been warned, he compensated by under-charging his jump just before the spike. The glitch made up the difference, effectively giving him a free, powerful boost that startled the Thunder Hawks' defense.
Akari, realizing the potential, began to use the glitches as a weapon. When a Glitch hit her, she didn't just compensate; she integrated it into her maneuvers. Instead of using a strong Grav-Pulse to send the Aetherball, she'd use a light touch, waiting for a Glitch to suddenly amplify the ball's momentum, sending it off in an unexpected, glitch-powered trajectory.
Ryoma's New Game
Meanwhile, Ryoma Sato, watching the broadcast with his analysts, saw the anomalies. But this time, they weren't Kenji's signature precision; they were randomized gravitational spikes affecting both teams.
"Look at that dip in Riku's gravity!" one analyst exclaimed. "It's momentary, localized, and the opposing team felt it too!"
Ryoma frowned. "It's not an external control device... it's a field destabilization. But why? And why are the Graviton Ghosts reacting to it faster than anyone else?"
He realized Kenji wasn't cheating by controlling the field; he was cheating by predicting and exploiting its instability. The technical review had cleared them, but Ryoma knew Kenji was behind this new form of chaos. If he couldn't prove Kenji was manipulating the Aether, he'd have to prove Kenji was causing the Aether's collapse.
The Sacrifice of the Past
Despite their brilliance in adapting to the Glitches, the Ghosts were still struggling. The constant focus on compensation and anticipation was exhausting their mental and physical reserves.
As the match entered its final period, Kenji watched Riku stumble badly after a Glitch, barely avoiding a collision. He knew he couldn't keep pushing his team to dance around a ticking time bomb.
He looked at the Echo System, which was now flashing a critical warning:
[CORE SYSTEM INTEGRITY AT 55%. CONTINUED AGGRESSIVE SCRAMBLE IS UNTENABLE. FAILURE IMMINENT.]
"Hiroshi," Kenji commanded, his voice barely a whisper, "tell the others we're ending the Glitches now. Final push."
Kenji reached for the interface. The only way to stop the digital war, the Glitches, and the threat of catastrophic feedback was to shut down the aggressive scramble protocol. But that meant sacrificing the system's protection and allowing the League's servers to re-index all the data about his past—including the devastating footage of the Collapse.
He knew what he had to do. With a grim finality, Kenji typed the command: [PROTOCOL: SCRAMBLE ABORT. CORE SYSTEM TO DORMANT MODE.]
The ancient gauntlet pulsed violently, then fell silent. The ethereal light of the Echo interface winked out.
On the court, the subtle, random spikes in gravity vanished instantly. The Aether field stabilized.
Riku, suddenly free of the unpredictable weights, launched into a clean, uncompensated Grav-Leap, his true, powerful form finally unleashed. Akari, with a now-pure and precise Curving Echo, sent the Aetherball soaring towards the Gravi-Net.
GHOSTS: 20 - HAWKS: 19.
They won. But as the buzzer sounded, Kenji felt the sickening lurch of loss. The Echo System was silent. He had exposed himself to the past to save his team.
As Ryoma watched the clean, non-anomalous winning shot, he knew his chance to expose the "Glitch" was gone. But then, a notification flashed on his tablet from the League's main server: "Historical Record: Kenji Tanaka - Data Restoration Complete."
Ryoma smiled, cold and predatory. He hadn't caught the system, but he had forced Kenji to give him back his history. And now, Ryoma had the weapon he needed.
"The Glitches may be over," Ryoma muttered, "but the price for those kids has just been paid. And Kenji Tanaka is about to face his past in front of the entire League."