Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2021 00:20:52 -0400 From: Mark Arsenault Subject: I Woke Up 165 I Woke Up 165 by M.P. Arsent Copyright to this story remain strictly that of the author. No other publication or use of this story is allowed without the consent of the author. This story contains male on male sexual content both implied and explicit. If this offends you please do not continue. All characters and implied situations are strictly those of the author and are not based on any real life events or characters. If you are under 18 years of age please exit this story now. I welcome all responses to my stories. Please make sure that you list the name of the story in the email line. If your email is to alert me of misspelled words or improper punctuation or grammar save your time because it will be deleted. I hope you enjoy my vivid imagination. Please let me know what you think at mparsent@gmail.com and don't forget to donate to Nifty as they do an amazing job. Al had his credentials and was sitting with the team. I got his attention and he came over to see what was going on. "The two hot freshmen that made their team this year are missing from the lineup. I don't know just what that means to anybodies plan, but something sure as hell isn't right. Stimson needs to check." "Son of a bitch." Now I had a moment to consider just what it did mean. Were we supposed to win the allstate and had that been the intent all along? There had certainly been enough circumstances to argue against that,but just as many to argue for it......almost as if....two factions were fighting it out. "AL! What if this is a power struggle?" "Between Andros and who?" "How the hell should I know? That's your job." He was still on the phone with Stimson so passed the observation along. "He thinks it makes more sense than some other things......What? Ok boss I'll let him know." Al hung up the phone. "Those two freshmen flunked out on their finals so they were cut from the team." "Could be true or intentional. Either way it looks like we're now going to be the ones to beat." My phone started buzzing. what gives? they flunked out. convienent for somebody no way to know who at this point thought that obvious? new theory power struggle There was along pause before Karl responded to that. almost makes more sense let me get back to the comp lover. best of luck lover thx later I hung up my phone and got my head back in the game as they say. The morning session worked its way through to the end and the Dresmire team ended up way down in fifth place. As far as I could see they were well out of it. The team to beat was from the other side of the state as things stood at the moment. When the lunch break was called we had to give the morning teams 30 minutes to clear out before we could move into the locker rooms. We moved into the locker area and the place was buzzing with how badly Dresmire had performed after the season they had. I was still trying to think of just what the repurcussions were going to be, or for that matter what they were meant to be? Coach called us together before we went to the warm up gym. "Ok guys,with Dresmire down the list so far we have a damn good chance of taking the whole thing. Don't let that go your heads. Concentrate on what you're doing. We've come a long way this year and we're almost at the end. Let's not blow it now." We headed into the warm up area along with the other teams and got in as much time as we could. Soon enough we were called to the main arena. The crowd was appreciative of all of us, but I could have sworn it got louder when our team was announced. I briefly wondered if somebody had organized a group trip. But now it was down to business. We moved to out first rotation which was the pommel horse for us. I was in the middle of the rotation and focused on what I was doing. I remembered to point my toes during my flair work and went straight on through to my dismount without a problem. Parrallel bars and rings went just as well if what I was hearing from the crowd was any indication. My vaults were landed solidly and the floor excercise went well as could be expected. As usual I wasn't paying any attention at all to the scoreboard. Now it was getting late in the afternoon and down to the high bar. Before I went to the bar I looked at Coach. He nodded in the affirmative today. As I said I hadn't been watching the scoreboard or even the other competitors. I found out later that there had been a few attempts at the triple dismount today, all of which had not ended all of that well. I concentrated on the whole routine and when it came time for the dismount I put everything I had into it. I spotted my landing and planted my feet and held my position. People must have been watching as the whole place seemed to go wild. I made my acknowlegdements to the officials and went to the sideline to a lot of back slapping from my teammates. I was done and could now look a the board. So far, with just a couple of my teammates to go, mine was the highest score so far. There were still a few rotations going on but it looked like we were going to at least be on the podium. The rest of the team did their final routines and then it was just a matter of waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It seemed to go on forever but in actuality was only a few minutes. The results were posted and we had taken the gold! I swore I heard Karl over everybody else in the stadium. There was again a lot of backslapping going on before we would be called to the podium. The presentations were made and then the press coverage started. It looked like we were going to be here for quite a while. We eventually got back to the locker room and the practicality of the situation. It was time to pee in the cup. I went through to get my cup and instead of giving me the next cup in line the guy reached to the back of the stack for mine. It struck me as rather strange. It did Al as well as he had his badge out and took the guy by the hand while he still had the cup in it. "Why don't we run that cup with some saline as a control?" The guy turned white as a ghost as Al escorted him away to who knows where. He was back soon enough to see me to the bus and back to the Y. It was late so there wasn't going to be any going out, but Karl and the family were all there and Bobbie wanted to see my gold medal. "Out frigging standing!" But Karl could easily see that something was bothering me. "What gives Den?" "Somehow I don't think the bullshit is over even now." I told him about the incident with the testing. "This just ain't going away is it lover?" "Doesn't look like it and if I'm right and this is a power struggle of some kind there's no telling just what the hell is going to happen next." "Dennis, do you think it wise to continue on with this competition?" "Do I think it wise? No Stan I don't, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let a weasal like Teramedies or his ilk put me off of it either. I've worked to damn hard for this." At that point the press had shown up again and there was no privacy to be had for sometime. When there finally was there was just enough time for me to find a corner for our good night kiss and get up to my room for bed check. The next morning I as up and getting ready to go to the high school individual all around competition when there was a knock on my door. It was Al and the coach. "Dennis, we think it the wise course of action for you to stay right here today." "Is this and order coach?" "Does it have to be?" "Bluntly, yes sir. It's what I told others last night. I've worked to damn hard this year to get here and I'm not going to let anybody intimidate me into staying away from it." "Very well Dennis, but be sure to wear that damn bulletproof vest." "Have been right along coach. It's gotten me some pretty strange looks in the locker room though." "I have no doubt. Just wear it and try and stay safe." "Yes sir." Coach left but Al was right there. "What?" "That cup the guy tried to give you last night was laced with steroids,enough to kill a moose." "So the bullshit isn't over yet." "Seems not. Two more days of it at least." "I can only hope to hell it ends there." We went down and got our breakfast and boarded the bus and headed out to the stadium. Soon enough we were seated in the competitors gallery and the individual all around competitions began. I kept an eye on the guys from my old home team and they all seemed to be doing pretty well today. Steve and Eddie really seemed to be on fire today and I thought either one of them had a decent chance to take several of the individual medals and the overall gold as well. At the end of the morning session Eddie and Steve were sitting one and two. My phone buzzed Think it will stand? hope so lunch? see you in a few I headed out to try and hook up with Karl with Al right behind me. We were making our way through the crowd when I heard Al behind me go "oof". Somebody had apparently run into him. "You ok?" "Yeah just some clod." We eventually hooked up with Karl and the family and got something to eat. "The guys have been working damn hard it looks like." "Yeah I can imagine what kind of merry hell will erupt at home if they stay one and two." "You had better expect the same thing if you get any kind of medal lover." "Yeah and I don't suppose this time I can tell them to go away." "Time to start heading back in I guess." "I'll try to catch you at the Y later lover." "Ok." We started back towards our seats but Al seemed a little distracted. "You ok?" "Yeah just a little headache." We made it back to our seats but Al was looking worse by the minute and I found myself watching him instead of the competition. He started sweating profusely and I got coachs attention. We got Al and started to make our way out to the gallery. We had made it to the main entrance when Al collapsed between us. I reached into my pocket and pressed the panic button. It was only a minute or two before we were surrounded by agents, Stimson being right there. "Any ideas?" "Somebody ran into him while we were getting lunch, so I'm betting if anything you're looking for a puncture wound." "Get him to an ER. Dennis you are out of here." "The hell I am." "Mr Sawyer, don't make me place you under a material witness hold." "Witness to what? You don't need me for the bank robbery and all of the rest is unsubstantiated. I told Al and coach just this morning. I've worked to damn hard for this to walk away now." We stood there the rock wall and the unmoveable force.