The door of the Spires villa closed. In the entrance hall, the silence that settled was heavy.

Zayela stood planted in the middle of the room, giving a judging look at Nash. On the floor, the ice cream she had just dropped was finishing melting on the immaculate tiles, creating a small milky puddle.

She superbly ignored the presence of Victoria, Dahlia, Aiko, and the nine other players filling the room. Her hands came to rest on her shapely hips.

"Yo...?" Zayela repeated. "That’s all you have to say, Nash? You go play a Breakball match and come back home with a fucking congregation? What the hell is this?"

Nash scratched the back of his neck.

"That’s a long story," he answered in a flat voice. "They’re staying here for a while. We’re going to have to share the layout."

Zayela let out a little sigh, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the group of girls. Her instinct didn’t lie. She immediately figured what they meant to him. She stepped forward, her chest swaying provocatively, planting her eyes directly into the Nash.

"I think I can guess half the story, busy man? But come on, twelve chicks?" she continued, shaking her head. "... I knew you would be a magnet, but geez... how many exactly did you have in there? I thought your little scoreboard was limited to your Blacklist teammates."

Nash shot a quick glance at Dahlia, who was biting her lip, then at Aiko, who pretended to be interested in the ceiling moldings.

"Actually..." Nash drawled, raising an eyebrow, "including them, there are like three more."

"WTF is wrong with you?!" Zayela gasped. Her massive breasts jiggled obscenely under her t-shirt with the force of her surprise. "Are you a Breakball player or a fucking breeding bull? You planning to bring the entire Underground into the living room?"

The Baby-Boom girls were stunned, at least not by the little drama, rather by the house. Kai nervously clenched her fingers on her bag while Miko curled up behind Rei. The culture clash between the luxury of the Spires and the vulgarity of the streets left them speechless.

Zayela suddenly turned toward them, her divine, ultra-light silhouette dominating the hall. She asserted dominance by puffing out her spectacular chest, the lack of fabric under her t-shirt highlighting nipples hardened by the air conditioning, a weapon of massive destruction aimed straight at the newcomers’ pride.

"Alright, make yourselves at home, girls," Zayela said, crossing her arms. "I don’t care what Nash promised you, but in this house, I’m the Official Title Holder. I am his... Number one. Everything that comes in here goes through my ledger."

Aiko, whose temperament had been boiling since the car, couldn’t help but pick up the gauntlet. She stepped forward, raising a haughty eyebrow despite her rumpled clothes.

"Number One? You’ve got to be kidding, right?" Aiko shot back acidly. "You’re just a girl from the lower blocks squatting in his kitchen. Nash needs a high-level playmaker to be his match, not some chick in an oversized t-shirt... with his SMELL?!.... W-walking around in a thong. How shameful... but, whatever, our link on the court is worth way more than your domestic privileges."

Zayela let her speak, a smile spreading across her full lips. She stepped closer to Aiko, her spectacular, bouncing chest almost level with the blonde’s face, creating a physical and visual pressure that instantly silenced the little idol.

"Little girl, you’re not even close to my level," Zayela murmured in a delighted voice that made Aiko shiver. "I knew Nash long before he had those millions in his account or this star status. I ate the same shit as him in the gutter when we didn’t even have a credit to buy clean water. Our link is sealed in blood and the filth of the Underground. Your surface tantrums and little frigid girl crises are worth nothing here. So you’re going to lower your tone, put away your claws, and if you’re nice, you’ll have my permission to enjoy my man."

Aiko opened her mouth, completely overwhelmed and intimidated by Zayela’s insolent physicality. Her eyes twitched for a micro-second, and she looked away, grumbling between her teeth, defeated by the brunette’s maturity and heavy arguments.

It was Victoria who decided to whistle the end of recess. She stepped into the middle of the living room, removing her black glasses.

"Enough childishness," Victoria said. "We’re not here to audit Blaze’s sexual performances. Nash, the plan we set up in the Red Zone was meant to test Harlan, see what we were dealing with, and measure the extent of his paranoia. In fact, you never gave me the secret final goal of this comedy. I played my part, I slammed the door like you asked, but now I want answers. How did you manage to get what’s in that bundle of documents? How did you force Harlan to hand over the Baby-Boom and subs contracts without Apex intervening?"

Silence fell again. Minus Aiko who already knew the plan, the nine girls tensed, staring at the giant.

Nash stepped toward the large glass coffee table in the living room. With a heavy smack that made Dahlia jump, he threw the bundle of official contracts and certificates he had stolen from Harlan onto the table. He crossed his massive arms over his chest, his eyes sweeping the assembly.

"Guess it’s time to drop the sauce. Well, girls, you heard right. You are no longer working for Apex," Nash said in his flattest voice. "Harlan validated the ownership transfer. I am your new sole legal owner. Basically, you belong to me."

A monumental, choral "Huh?!" echoed through the villa’s walls.

The Baby-Boom girls’ faces crumbled in a fraction of a second. For these girls, this information was an earthquake that had just shattered the very foundations of their daily hell.

Rei took a step back, her legs buckling against the armrest of the couch. The blood drained from her face in a fraction of a second, leaving her disturbingly pale.

"It’s... it’s impossible," Rei murmured, her fingers trembling so hard she had to clench them against her chest to not collapse. "You’re lying, Nash. Harlan would never give up the roster. This is a trap... this is a trap on your part... It has to be a trap! You orchestrated this fake evacuation to send us to them!"

Hina, Kai, Miko, and the subs stirred behind her, their faces crumbling with fear, looking at Nash like a potential new executioner. They didn’t dare believe it. Hope was too dangerous a commodity in the streets.

Nash sighed and showed the papers.

"Look at the papers, Rei," he said simply. "It’s the official league ledger. This signature is Harlan’s. I’ve already added my digital signature. You no longer belong to them."

"He is telling the truth, Kimura," Victoria intervened, crossing her arms. "As league manager, I know these protocols by heart. Harlan Reiss has officially ceded full ownership rights of the Baby-Boom and the to Nash, and by your contract’s content, your debt to Apex. Everything you owed to Apex is now to Nash, and this document is legal, audited, and unbreakable. You are completely out of Apex’s grip."

Dahlia, still moist on the side, nodded.

"It’s true, Rei... I saw the whole thing. Nash completely robbed him. You’re no longer in danger."

The final touch came from Aiko. The little idol stepped forward. She approached her leader and firmly took Rei’s trembling hands in her own. Her blue eyes locked onto her friend’s panicked gaze.

"It’s true, Rei... It’s really over," Aiko murmured. "My infiltration went really bad... I got caught by that pig. I thought I was done for, that I had screwed everyone. But Nash came... and he fixed everything. He... Um... He did things... And turned that guy’s brain inside out and got us out of there. We’re free, Rei. I swear on my life."

"On Dahlia’s life too," Nash added with a smirk, while Dahlia rolled her eyes but couldn’t get rid of her smile.

At those words, Rei’s last defenses collapsed all at once. Doubt gave way to a wave of tears that instantly flooded her blue eyes. Her entire world shattered. Her strength, the strength that she had built for so long to shield her team, finally failed her.

She fell to her knees on the living room carpet, hiding her face in her hands as she cried openly.

Hina, who had been through a rainbow of mental pressure since Monique promised to make her pay for her seduction in the parlors, let a wave of tears fall down.

Her lips trembled uncontrollably as she stared at Nash. From Butt-bandit to Butt-savior, the guy really did save her ass.

Behind them, the five subs collapsed in tears, united in the same wave of pure relief. The knife they had had at their throats for years had finally been removed.

In that vast living room, all trace of worries had disappeared; the air was full of sobs, emotions, and an eternal life debt engraved in every player’s heart toward the alpha of Blacklist.

Nash let them vent the pressure without a word, before sitting heavily on the large leather armchair. He motioned for Victoria and Zayela to sit down.

Zayela, watching Rei’s tears and the relief now floating through the room, crossed her arms over her chest. Her face softened completely, stripped of its territorial jealousy.

She finally understood that Nash had just closed a monumental case, and saved many lives.

A feeling of pride filled her chest as she realized just how well her man had handled the situation. She approached Nash’s armchair, giving him an amused sideways glance.

"You’re incredible, Nash..." Zayela murmured, squeezing lightly his shoulder. "You handle such heavy shit in silence, never saying anything at home. Come on, spill it, what exactly went down over there?"

The atmosphere was electric; everyone in the living room had fallen silent, staring at Nash, waiting for his explanation.

"I insist too, Nash," Victoria added. "I want to understand how you paralyzed Harlan to the point of making him sign his own death."

Under the weight of all the gazes, Nash remained imperturbable. From the corner of his eye, he caught the reactions of his two accomplices in the staging: Aiko instantly turned beet red, abruptly turning her head away with her usual tsundere pout to hide her total embarrassment, while Dahlia, a crooked smile stretching her caramel lips, suddenly pretended to be very interested in the state of her impeccable nails.

Nash let out a low chuckle, shaking his head with his usual detachment.

"It was nothing special, honestly. Just turning someone’s brain into jelly. It was probably the easiest mindfuck I’ve ever had to pull off," Nash said calmly. "It was actually a lot harder to manipulate you, Victoria, in the office the other day."

Victoria raised an eyebrow, a half-smile stretching her lips.

"It wasn’t easy, you’re just an anomaly."

Nash didn’t go into the crude details of what had happened on the executive chair, better not spill the details in front of Zayela. He simply explained the pure psychological trick.

"Harlan has money and power in the Underground, but he’s a slave to his impulses," Nash explained. "By using Dahlia and Aiko to ramp up the tension and excite him beyond endurance, I completely liquefied his brain. He was so focused on the exclusive promise of getting Victoria’s body and so blinded by his ego that he signed everything I asked on spot to get my help. The most important part was to isolate him from his goons. With no lucid advisors around to calm him down, the guy though with the wrong head. He traded the Baby-Boom for a simple dream that I will never give to him."

Victoria listened in silence, an invisible shiver running down her spine. This man wasn’t just a physical monster on the basketball court; his Machiavellian intelligence had just outclassed everything she ever seen or pulled off herself.

"You’re all staying here," Nash concluded. "The Spires are ultra-secure. Harlan’s goons can’t come up here without triggering the superior security patrols. Harlan is..."

BZZZ... BZZZ...

Nash’s phone on the coffee table began vibrating violently, its red screen displaying Harlan’s name. The girls froze instantly, silence returning like a lead blanket.

Nash smirked.

"There, post nut clarity."

He answered and put it on speaker.

"BLAZE!!!" Harlan’s voice screamed, distorted by hysterical rage. "You dirty shitty fuck! My men just called me! The hotel rooms are empty! You betrayed me! You robbed my roster! I’m sending my teams down and I’m gonna smoke you, your hangar, and your fucking—"

"Shut your mouth, Harlan, and listen carefully," Nash cut him off in a monumentally cold tone that froze the dealer’s blood on the other end of the line.

Harlan’s silence was immediate, his heavy, wheezing breathing betraying his terror. Nash deployed his psychological manipulation live, under the impressed eyes of the thirteen women present in the room.

"I exfiltrated the girls purely as a precaution, Harlan," Nash lied. "You think I’m stupid? Hector has eyes everywhere. If your goons started moving around the hotel, Apex would have noticed something weird was happening at the Midnight Rest. I hid them somewhere to protect our plan. I was afraid you’d panic and run to spill everything to Hector to save your own ass. My only priority, like I told you, is for you to take Hector’s place at the head of Apex so you can open the Upperworld doors for me. The Baby-Boom are just mutual insurance, just like you keep the Midnight Rest and later Victoria. It’s not over until your dirty ass is on Hector’s seat and mine up there. What are you afraid of, Harlan? Don’t you trust our partnership?"

On the other end, the dealer stammered, his brain once again attacked by Nash’s venom.

His voice became soft like a kid scolded.

"I... it’s crazy, Blaze... Transferring the roster like that, if Hector finds out before we have the files..."

"Hector won’t find out anything if you follow the script," Nash hammered. "The Baby-Boom will play their next two regular season matches under their current banner. I’ll be in charge of their transport and care. They’ll outperform, explode the timber, crush their opponents, and push the circuit’s hype to its peak. All eyes in the league will be on them. And it’s just before the last match between Blacklist and the Colossus that we’ll drop the legal transfer news on the network. The media wave will be too big, Apex will be powerless, and it will force Hector to come down in person to the Underground to handle the crisis. That’s when we’ll corner him with your dirty files. We’re going to take Hector down, Harlan. You’ll have Victoria and Apex’s head, and I’ll have the sky with the stars."

Harlan remained silent, completely intoxicated, his sickly ambition taking over his caution again. His breathing calmed.

"Fuck... Blaze... you’re a demon," Harlan breathed, submissive like Nash’s little bitch. "Alright. We do it like that. But don’t fuck me over... The girls play and they win. I’m trusting you for the rest."

The call ended. Nash placed his phone on the table, his green eyes sweeping the living room where the Baby-Boom stared at him like he was a living god. He turned to Victoria.

"Here’s the plan," almighty Nash announced. "The last three regular season matches will be the turning point of our war against Apex. The Baby-Boom’s next two opponents are manageable. The third match against the Falcons won’t happen, the team will be dissolved by then. You must win those two matches to launch the hype and create the wave. Meanwhile, Blacklist must crush the Falcons in the next match, then the Dust Dogs. After that, we merge the rosters for the final clash against the Colossus and launch the destructive assault on Hector. You’re all living here starting tonight. As a precaution, I’m also relocating Jaz, Nia, and Alicia to the Spires. If necessary, we’ll take a second villa with more bedrooms. Our entire world must be safe and out of reach when the total war against Apex begins."