Neil Josten’s adventures in Exy as an (unwilling) Amputee (PT2)
We’re back and wondering how the rest of the first book goes. I’ve changed it so that the foxes do know Neil is an amputee, and Seth is a dick about it
Also just want to point out I’ve been doing research on Amputees just to make sure I can represent amputee!Neil as accurately as possible. If I got something wrong, please let me know. Im trying to show with this AU how sometimes, physically disabled people are treated differently and how that can be a bad thing (Most of it happens in the beginning of the series, especially during Kathy’s talk show) Like I said though, I want to hear your feedback on it all.
Neil forgot how much he enjoyed running until he tested out his blade, he was fast, fast, and the thing moved like his leg was still there
Being fast, though, didn’t stop Kevin from tearing his confidence apart every practice
So summer practice is about to start up, which means Neil’s physical happens, and it goes a little something like this: Abby tells him she has to check his leg to make sure the stump is okay, check for track marks and thats it. Neil is not happy and predicts the horrified expression Abby makes at the knotted burn scars and healed hacks that surrounded the stump. “Neil this isn’t a car crash scar-”
Abby hurries through the rest of the physical and Neil is out of there as fast as he can be
The foxes are friendly enough, a couple asking about how to practice on his new leg is, but most just ignore it.
Except Seth because of course. “Great, now we have two cripples on our team. Fan-fucking-tastic!”
Seth ran over five miles their first practice back
AND WE CANT FORGET THE BEST SCENE IN BOOK ONE
“Put your pet monster on a leash or I will.” “A broken cripple like you?”“Fuck you, you crippled, dead weight has been”
Disabled on Disabled violence now happens often on court. The other members have a drinking game where they have to take a shot everytime Neil or Kevin refer to each other as a ‘cripple’
And then the crew goes out to Colmbia
As soon as Neil cant stand straight from the dust, andrew yanks off Neil’s leg to keep him from running and shoves him into the crowd with Nicky. Neil has no choice but to hold on.
He wakes up with his prosthetic missing in an unfamiliar bed, Nicky at his side and being absolutely terrified. He can’t exactly run and his mom isn’t there to carry him away. They don’t give him back his leg until he says he cant shower without his leg right there when hes done
Now imagine you’re walking past the house, this is what you see: A prosthetic leg flies out the window and lands in the bushes, following is a short and desperate man missing a leg who tumbles out behind it. Just ignore him and walk away
Neil tries not to think about it but he really hopes no one took the slip off of his stump
also this conversation happens: “I took a different route””What’s you do, run here?””walked, luckily. They stole my leg for a bit and I planned on just hitchhiking the whole way if I didn’t get it back”
Wymack gives Neil permission to bash anyones head in if they touch his leg. Neil knew he didn’t need permission but the idea was nice
When Andrew gets Neil’s first truth, Neil does tell Andrew that it wasn’t a car accident that took his leg. That he blamed on his father, who got cocky and the Moriyamas retaliated with a surprise amputation
leading up to their first game neil learns a lot about his leg, as does the team
Like if Neil angles his leg just right he can hook the curve of his blade behind the knees of anyone trying to bodycheck him and send them flying. Matt and him found that out the hard way when they body-checked each other during a scrimmage and Matt faceplanted into the floor
Or that if Neil pushed off on his blade runner he got a couple extra inches on players like Seth jumping for the ball
That didn’t mean he wasn’t a nervous wreck when the first game of the season came, and the ERC dropped the bombshell that was Neil Josten, striker for the Foxes and first college-level Exy player to be sporting a prosthetic leg
And that night when Kevin dragged him out onto the inner court that night, telling Neil not to waste their time, Neil refused to believe that any of the the screams of “hero” and “inspiration” were for him
Neil winced at the noise of the crowd as he stepped up to swap Seth. If they thought that Neil’s leg would somehow save their asses, they would be sorely mistaken
The Jackels threw creative insults at him as they prepared to restart the game. “A National cripple and an amateur cripple, I think old Wymack’s finally gone senile.”
The entire stadium’s energy was not like that of any other game, not even a Ravens game. Even the referees were more tuned in than Neil had ever seen, half the stadium’s eyes on him to see what he could do with one leg and what tricks he may have that would get him carded
Neil was doing good, his leg giving him the freedom he needed in a game so intense. He recovered faster after bodychecks and was able to jump and run like he used to. Neil had gotten so used to his leg being a bother, and now it was as if he’d never lost it in the first place
Neil made two goals that night, and thought he knew it was bad, that he wasn’t what the crowd had expected, he made two fucking goals that night with one functioning leg
He wouldn’t call the feeling in his chest pride, he wasn’t proud of their score or himself, but he was content that he could hold his own on a college Exy court
Neil could trust his aching stump of a leg to get him through the season
And then came Kathy’s talk show
The bus ride was fine, Neil had put on his day leg instead of the blade runner but still wished to have the thing nearby. He could escape on it, he trusted it more than his own teammates at that point
Kathy greeted Kevin warmly but had no hesitation in turning her hungry eyes on Neil and eyeing his right leg
“Neil Josten, the walking miracle himself-” Neil inwardly growled, he hated that word-” Did you hear the news, as of last night your name is the highest searched for NCAA Exy Strikers! That beats even Kevin and Riko out! I guess people want to know how someone is able to stand on the court despite his disadvantages!” Neil did not like her at all
And then Neil found out he was going to be on the show and felt like throwing up. All anyone wanted to know would be about his leg, and if someone dug deep enough they could possibly find ends that didn’t match quite right
Unfortunately Neil couldn’t afford to have Kevin dump him like an ex so he was forced to agree
Neil decided he was gonna kill Kathy when he wiggled into his pants and realized just how much of his leg the pants showed
Like a new toy the entire nation was eager to get their hands on
Eventually, Neil forced out the question stuck between his lungs “Why’d you tell the ERC I would make court?”
“Because you will-” Neil’s vision cut out for a sec when it hit him Kevin genuinely believed he would make it to Court.
“I’m a cripple.” He tried, and Kevin only raised his battered hand in response.
“And yet we’re still playing.” “We have nothing else.” Kevin changed the topic after that
It seemed like only seconds passed before he was listening to them talk about him
Kathy: Let’s talk about Neil Josten for a moment, shall we?
Kathy: You really know how to stir up trouble here, don’t you? What were you thinking about recruiting someone as fresh, and excuse my bluntness, not quite as able-bodied as him?
Kevin: Neil is the exact thing the Foxes need right now. His experience is inconsequential, as is his missing leg. Out of the hundred files we went through, he is the only one we approached after Janie. We knew it didn’t matter if he was an amputee or not, he plays well and that is what matters.
Kathy: You took a huge risk to get him all this way. You didn’t tell the ERC anything about him, his condition, or even his name
Kevin: Let me put it this way: Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead. I mean no offense by that, but let’s be honest. Sixteen people are assigned to the ERC and none of them is a coach of a fiercely competitive team. Even gossip shared in confidence can get out and destroy a man’s life.
Kathy: Even if he’s physically disabled, don’t you think they needed to know about that?
Kevin: (laughs) Last year, I would have been considered disabled, but yet here I am. I mean what I said, we all saw last night, he’s like any other member of an Exy team. If he couldn’t keep up, we wouldn’t have selected him. He’s just another Exy player at this point.
Kathy: Such impressive work and effort you’ve put into him, I can’t wait to see what you make of him.
And then Neil was onstage with bright lights and camera’s in his face and an uncomfortable pit of nerves in his stomach
Kathy: Isn’t this an interesting picture? Kevin is not only paired again but with someone taking the first steps, well, step, into uncharted Exy territory. I’m not exaggerating when I say you’re the talk of the nation. An amateur who caught the eye of a national champion while only playing on one leg. Kinda sounds like a fairytale, hm? How does it feel?
The entire show seemed to keep coming back to his leg and it was honestly pissing him off
Neil: Undeserved. I gave Millport everything I had because it was my last chance. Kevin was the last person I expected to see in Arizona.
Kathy: Lucky for us he found you and looked past your leg. You have a natural talent for the game, it’s a pity you started so late. Imagine where’d you be if you started a couple years ago. Maybe Edgar Allen or USC would have beat Kevin to it. Why wait so long to start?
Neil: I never considered doing a sport before, but tried out in Millport because I figured, why not? I was new and wanted to meet more people, and wanted to do more than being regaled to the sidelines as a cripple, I had no idea I would end up here.
(he really hopes she got the message there)(or that his last comment would shift her attention away from him)
Kathy: If it bothers you I can take your spot, I wouldn’t mind cozying up to Kevin.
Kevin: Would you really come between two strikers?
Kathy: Is it possible? It’s no secret there was hostility between you and the Foxes’ strikers last year. You and Seth made that clear last night. But that doesn’t seem to be the case between you two.
Kevin: Seth graduates in May, there’s not a need to rehabilitate or change his style to mine. Neil is just starting out, we have all the time in the world.
Kathy: That implies you see this as a permanent gig. Do you really have no intention to return to Edgar Allen?
Kevin: (beat) I would like to stay as long as Coach Wymack will have me.
The talk show goes on as normal like in the book, Kathy toning down her comments directed at Neil and his leg in favor of digging the gossip out of Kevin
And then the crowd starts chanting, and Riko is there and Neil is praying to whatever God is in the sky that his leg is enough to keep recognition out of his eyes
PART ONE || PART TWO ||PART THREE COMING SOON!
