A Game of Sound and Light
Up in his observation booth, Mister Savax, the team coach,
is keeping a careful watch on Dorothy's sonic displays.
He is worried because all the computer parameters indicate
a considerable weakening of her sonic wall.
He shares his concern with Nicolas who is with him.
Below, training continues harder than ever as an important game
is scheduled for the same afternoon.
Mr Savax: Have you noticed anything unusual about Dorothy these last few days?
Nicolas: No, is something wrong?
Mr Savax: Yes, I've been paying special attention to her sonic wall
for a few days now and we have a big problem: it's not as strong as it was.
When I ask her if she is tired at the moment, which could explain this handicap,
she tells me that everything is all right. You seem skeptical,
but look at the screen on your left, the line symbolizes the sonic wall
and must remain absolutely flat, otherwise there is a risk of it breaking up
and the ball could go through your defence.
He speaks to Dorothy in the mike: Dorothy, stop Alex's service
with your sonic wall for me, please.
Alex serves while Dorothy throws her shout to form a wall,
the ball crashes into the wall and falls to the ground.
However, the line wobbles.
I can't put my finger on it, but something is upsetting her.
This isn't normal, and if the wall breaks up during your game,
it will be a godsend for your opponents.
Nicolas: Let's hope that it won't, but...
Mr Savax: Go join the others, maybe down in the court
with them you will find something.
Nicolas: I'm off.
He teleports into the training room and appears in front of Dita.
Dita: Oh! You scared me! I will never get used to you appearing out of nowhere,
spare a thought for my heart! Look out, this ball is mine!
She jumps almost up to the ceiling and spikes the ball which is intercepted
by Justin with his Super Speed who passes it to Alex, who spikes.
Nicolas teleports up to the net up to block it and touches the ball
which goes back to the other side of the net.
Suddenly a shout rings out and the ball is stopped
in its tracks by Dorothy's sonic wall.
Click on the picture to "see"
the young lady's sonic vibes.
Jennifer: Well done!
Justin: A magnificent defence.
Dorothy: Stop it or I'll blush!
Nicolas turns around and casts an inquiring glance at Mister SAVAX.
Our friends have separated. Dorothy, Dita and Nicolas are waiting for the rest
of the team in front of the gym.
A gust of wind makes them lower their heads.
Dorothy: That's got to be Justin with his Speed.
The wind weakens and Justin is standing in front of them.
Justin: The two others are coming. Here they are now.
Jennifer: Ready to win?
Dita: You bet!
Alex: Oh oh, the LUMSE team straight ahead.
They walk by without even looking at them, except for Isabelle
who stares at Dorothy for a moment, and then goes away.
Dorothy is taken aback.
Nicolas: Are you OK, Dorothy?
Dorothy in a small voice: Yes, yes, I'm OK.
Jennifer: Are you sure?
Dorothy annoyed: Yes, of course I am. Come on, let's go.
Our friends are getting ready in the gym.
The crowd begins to enter and is becoming excited.
The commentators (a man and a woman) make their last sound tests.
The match is about to begin.
The commentator: Here they come. Team 18 is coming on to the court.
The commentator: The crowd are cheering them in.
Alex carries Jennifer, who is half invisible, over his arm.
Public: Look, there's the Invisible Girl.
Public: Look how strong he is!
Public: It must be great to be able to make yourself invisible.
The commentator: The players shake hands. The match is going to begin.
The commentator: Team 18 should easily have the upper hand but
the LUMSE players surprised us in their last game.
The referee gives the starting whistle.
The commentator: The Invisible Girl's spike gives the service to her team.
The commentator: It's a bad start to give away the first service to a team
who's playing high stakes on it. I'm afraid that LUMSE will be outflanked by
the very varied service to which the players of Team 18 have accustomed us.
As foreseen, the first two sets are won by Team 18.
The surprise services have given results.
Jennifer, serving, has begun to run, throws the ball,
then making herself invisible, spikes.
The others, not seeing the shot in time, lose the point they could have had.
Nicolas does the same thing as Jennifer but one never knows exactly
where he is going to send the ball, to the right, to the left,
up at the net or in a dive, he catches his opponents out with his Teleport power.
Dita has improved her normal dive attack with her Super Jumps.
Justin always plays on his Speed. Just you try to take a service
which hurtles at you like a cannon ball.
Jennifer and Nicolas use their surprise tactics at the net;
they appear suddenly and spike. The opposite team have no time to make the slightest move.
Alex is stronger than Tom.
Laurent tries hard to block Nicolas's spike, but how can he win
against somebody who can teleport anywhere? Even when flying, it is difficult.
Mario uses his Delta power.
With his hands he makes a triangle which shoots out at top speed
and can be used to spike the ball by giving it a great deal of force and speed,
or can help in receiving. But his spike is easily intercepted by Justin.
Team 18 has realized that Monique's power can only help her in attack.
In fact, her power consists not in flying, but in neutralizing her force of gravity.
In other words, she glides like a kite and at the slightest shock, she is knocked away,
which is very inconvenient when she is at the net and wants to make a wall.
Either she decides to take her force of gravity back and won't be able to block
the Teleport's attack, or she uses her power and floats off the court with the ball,
caught up in the momentum of its speed and force. So they concentrate their attacks on Monique.
They are dominating the game. The third set seems to be going the same way as the first two.
The commentator: Team 18 never fails to surprise me by the variety of their attack combinations.
The commentator: This is Justin's reception but what is happening?
The ball seems to be going right over the net and onto the LUMSE side, but,
wow, now a fantastic spike from Jennifer who has just become visible on the ground.
The commentator: It looks like nothing can upset their game.
Mario: Isabelle, we have to do something. We can't go on like this.
Isabelle: I'll take care of it. Dorothy, when I am at the net,
your team will be helpless and so will you.
Nicolas: Do you know her?
Dorothy: Yes, I do.
Isabelle: I assure you I'm not kidding. Remember that.
The game continues, Nicolas teleports high in the air,
sends the ball to Dita at the net who sends it back to him.
He spikes and we have a terrific second line attack.
Alex gets another ball back, throws to Jennifer who lifts it high
so that Dorothy can mark the point but she hears Isabelle's voice
in her head and drops the ball.
Jennifer very angry: Do you often let such easy balls through?
Justin: Forget it, we are well in the lead.
Isabelle: That's what you think, Justin, and everybody knows that at the net
you aren't nearly so dangerous, because you lose speed as soon as
your feet leave the ground.
Isabelle didn't look as if she was joking. Mario uses his Delta power to spike
and neither Dita nor Nicolas can block them.
LUMSE piles on the points and with Nicolas in defence,
Laurent is able to surprise with his power to fly.
Justin, Jennifer and Alex can't form a wall.
Paul uses his Super Agility to repel all attacks from the Invisible Girl,
and Monique scores a good number of points.
The LUMSE team's score is rising dangerously, and Dorothy makes more and more
tactical faults in her own group.
Jennifer raises four fingers, and Nicolas cottons on. Dita receives the ball,
sends it to Jennifer, who pretends to spike but directs it upwards so that
Nicolas can do a diagonal dive but just as he reaches the ball by teleportation
and gets ready to spike, he is dazzled by a great flash of light. He hits out and misses.
Isabelle: Why don't you try and score with your eyes shut?
Everybody is stunned and one after another, the players of Team 18
give way to Isabelle's light.
Each time they try to attack, they are stopped dead by her Light effects.
Isabelle produces non-stop light (photon streams and flashes so intense
they blind everyone in the gym, strobes). Alex sees all his movements in slow motion.
Justin: If we can't see to score, we have to try to keep them from scoring, too.
Dorothy, why don't you try your sonic wall? You managed to stop Alex's service with it,
and I'm sure you can do something here.
We have to take up the same positions we had at the beginning of the game.
Nicolas: You will be able to stop the Delta spike.
Jennifer: And we can get back to attacking.
Alex: And as for Isabelle, she won't be able to blind us after all with her Light.
Isabelle: Well, Dorothy, I did warn you. When I'm at the net,
your team will be powerless.
Dita: The game's not over yet.
Nicolas to himself: It's not like Dorothy to let anyone walk over her.
She must already be concentrating on her sonic wall.
You are going to get a big surprise, Isabelle.
The play goes on, and LUMSE are getting ready to attack for the last point to draw,
with two sets to each team. Mario gets ready for his Delta spike.
Isabelle sees Dorothy and quickly understands the stratagem.
Isabelle: No point in using your sonic wall. It won't do you any good.
Mario spikes while Isabelle shoots a great burst of light towards Dorothy
who was installing her sonic wall.
Everybody is dazzled and only Dorothy's shout can be heard.
The Delta triangle and the ball have broken the sonic wall up!
Jennifer : No, this is impossible.
The public can't get over it. Dorothy is paralyzed. There is a time-out.
Isabelle: I knew that the discomfort caused by my Light combined with Mario's Delta spike
would cause you problems, but this is more than I hoped for.
You always were good-for-nothing.
Justin: And you're letting her get away with that?
Nicolas: Forget it, Dorothy, what's the matter? Isabelle seems to know you pretty well.
Dorothy: True. We used to play together on the same team.
My power hadn't revealed itself yet and Isabelle was the star of the team - you can see why
by her Light effects. Then my powers appeared, and she had to share the glory,
but we were a great duo, me the Sound, her the Light, until one day, during an important game,
we were at match point, and I gave her a sonic pass, but she had jumped too soon,
and the ball went into the net, and we lost. It was our first defeat, and she has always refused
to admit that it wasn't entirely my fault that we lost, but also hers.
The atmosphere in the team changed for the worse, and she did all she could
to make me look like a fool. Then when we moved it was almost a blessing to leave and
not have to face the blame in her eyes every day.
Nicolas: But you're afraid of her.
Dorothy: I don't know what to do anymore.
When I found out that we were going to play against them,
I lost my nerve, and that's when my wall shattered.
It's true that I put my hand in front of my eyes, and that my shout was hampered by my hand
but that shouldn't have made such a big difference.
Justin: We have to find a way round this light.
Dita: But how?
Mister Savax asks for time out.
Mr Savax: The sonic wall is the only thing that can save you.
Try to concentrate more on that. You can do it!
The commentator: The players come back onto the court. Dorothy looks totally dispirited.
The commentator: We can understand her feelings. Who would have thought the tables
would be turned like this?
Jennifer: Dorothy, we are a team, volleyball is not an individual sport and
remember that we are your friends.
Justin: We have faith in you.
Nicolas: Right.
Nevertheless the LUMSE team continue to dominate.
Team 18 are becoming quarrelsome and discouraged.
Dita: It's hopeless.
Jennifer: Couldn't you have lifted the ball a bit higher?
Alex: I would have liked to, but Dorothy didn't move and
Nicolas could have spiked then.
Nicolas: WHOA there, I can't see at night like cats do,
and Isabelle sends all her light in my face, so how can I touch the ball if I'm dazzled?
I don't have sonar like bats.
Isabelle: Great, they're quarrelling.
Dorothy to herself: That's it! That's an idea, a sonar, but I'll have to find
the correct frequency to fight the light,and won't need my eyes.
She gets her confidence back. Isabelle mustn't find out what I am going to try,
neither must my team, even if it means putting on an act for them. Let's hope for the best.
The game starts up again. Dorothy signals to Justin that she is going
to use her sonic wall. She gets ready to throw her shout,
Isabelle blinds her, but no sound comes from her throat.
Dorothy to herself: So far, so good, my ultrasounds are inaudible. I can see the ball.
But the referee whistling to indicate that LUMSE had scored interrupts her.
Dorothy puts her hand to her throat.
The commentator: This is awful. Dorothy has lost her sonic power.
Dorothy: Oh, my God, what's happening to me?
She falls on her knees and winks to Nicolas.
Nicolas: What is she up to??
The rest of the team help her up.
Dorothy: I want to try it one more time.
Isabelle: Pathetic.
Paul: If you want to make an even bigger fool of yourself, feel free!
Dita: I'm going to strangle them.
Nicolas: The match isn't over yet. On we go!
Mario: In less than two minutes, we will have beaten you.
The match starts up again. Dorothy at the net throws her shout, and still no sound is heard.
Monique makes the pass to Laurent.
Isabelle radiates her light, but Dorothy can see the ball perfectly well
in spite of her closed eyes thanks to her ultrasounds.
She reaches out her arm and spikes, marking a point and surprising everyone.
Isabelle: Just a stroke of luck, that's all.
Thanks to this point, the players switch courts and Justin is now back in defence.
The commentator: Things could get dangerous for LUMSE.
Justin is quite able to stop the Delta spike as
he already did during the first two sets.
The commentator: But we mustn't forget that Isabelle is still at the net
to stop the players scoring, but what a stroke of luck Dorothy had there!
The Invisible Girl serving manages to mark several points
to catch up for lost time. But Dita's attack is blocked.
The commentator: How are they going to get the service back?
The commentator: I wonder if Dorothy can repeat her feat.
Monique: You're finished.
Paul makes a service which is taken back by Justin, passed to Nicolas
who tries to spike but is blinded. Mario makes a pass to Tom who throws it to Mario.
Isabelle is blazing with light. Dorothy throws her ultrasonic shout and wins the service for her team.
Isabelle: That's impossible. Team 18 is full of happy faces.
Jennifer: How did you do it?
Dorothy: Just luck.
Justin serving scores a few points bringing the score back to a tie.
The commentator: This game is fascinating. We thought they were finished,
and they're back in the race stronger than ever.
The commentator: Little Dorothy is up to something. Watch out, this is match point.
Isabelle: She hasn't been able to find a way round this. Listen, all of you,
let me score the last point against Dorothy.
Dorothy: I'll be waiting for you. Speaking to her friends
Jennifer, Nicolas, get ready to make a wall.
Justin serves, Mario's Delta triangle blocks it, he makes a pass to Paul
who sends the ball to Isabelle.
Jennifer and Nicolas get into position for the wall. Isabelle releases a great rush of light,
Dorothy throws her inaudible shout, and spikes.
There is an outburst of cheering.
The commentators: This is fantastic.
Dorothy: Well, Isabelle?
Isabelle: How did you do that?
Dorothy : It's very simple, I didn't use my eyes, but my ears, and thanks to my sonic power
I created ultrasounds that told me precisely where the ball was with my eyes shut.
Dita: So you were just putting on an act for us and you still have your sonic power.
Alex: What a stroke of luck! You had us there.
Dorothy: Yes, but Nicolas knew about it. He was the one who gave me the idea with the bats,
so I thought, if they can, why can't I?
Nicolas: I did notice that you had something up your sleeve.
Justin: Fabulous! We won, thanks to you.
Dorothy: We all won together. That's the difference between us, Isabelle.
I am a part of a team and the limelight is for all of us.
Volleyball for us is a team sport and we all use our powers to help the others.
Alex: And to win.
Our friends burst out laughing. But did Isabelle understand the lesson?
next episode: Jennifer Superstar
copyright Jean-François Schwaiger
cartoon: Pascale Rodriguez
Translation: Kimberley Calle and especially Eileen Harris and JF Schwaiger
Proofreading-Editing: Eileen Harris
"Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental
and unintentional."
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