Bang!
The heavy double doors of the stadium slammed open once again, the loud crash echoing off the distant concrete walls and high metal rafters.
Director Miller stumbled awkwardly onto the lacquered court floor, his face exceptionally pale and covered in a thick layer of nervous sweat.
Right behind his heels walked a sharp-suited man with a sleek digital tablet tucked tightly under his arm, his entire posture oozing bureaucratic arrogance.
"Jaxon! We have a serious problem!" Miller gasped, catching his breath on the baseline as he frantically dabbed his neck with a crumpled handkerchief.
The two men stopped exactly five feet away. The regional official glanced down at his tablet screen with a visible sneer before locking his eyes onto Jaxon with deep disdain.
"Jaxon Miller?" the man announced, his voice loud, raspy, and filled with self-importance. "I’m Inspector Vane from the Regional Licensing Board. Your recent two-million-dollar wire transfer for the purchase of this stadium has been flagged by our main terminal for immediate corporate fraud and money laundering. This entire athletic facility is now under an immediate regulatory freeze."
Jaxon didn’t even bother to shift his stance. He stood completely relaxed in the center of the court, his face settled into a cold, indifferent mask, his hands resting easily inside his tracksuit pockets.
Inspector Vane.
Jaxon mentally scoffed, a wave of dry, calculated amusement settling into his chest.
He remembered this exact corrupt bureaucrat from his original notebook drafts. Jonathan Vance always used Vane as his personal corporate attack dog whenever an outsider tried to buy real estate in the athletic district. It was a standard, underhanded legal frame-up tactic designed to bully low-tier extras into submission.
How completely pathetic, Jaxon thought, a cold, unbothered smirk touching his lips. You honestly think cheap legal threats and fraudulent paperwork are going to work here? I wrote the very laws governing your agency, Vane. My card has an infinite cosmic credit stream.
Grip!
In pure, desperate desperation, Coach Vivienne reached out and tightly grabbed Jaxon’s right arm, her manicured nails digging into the grey tracksuit fabric.
Her rapid, shallow breathing caused the tight fabric of her morning athletic pullover to strain exceptionally hard against her massive, heavy breasts, pressing them flush against Jaxon’s newly broadened, solid shoulder. The intense heat radiating off her mature body cut through her gear, her striking hazel eyes wide with a raw terror as she looked at the inspector.
"Jax, if they freeze the legal deed, the entire basketball program is dead," Vivienne whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she held onto him for support. "The championship tournament is in two weeks. If we lose our facility rights, everything gets handed straight back to the Vance Sports Group."
Jaxon casually leaned back against her, entirely unbothered by the bureaucratic pressure as the hyper-voluptuous head coach clung to his frame.
"Relax, Vivienne," Jaxon said smoothly, his voice deep, solid, and carrying an absolute alpha authority that seemed to steady her shaking shoulders. "Nobody is taking a single piece of hardwood from this court."
"Are you completely deaf, kid?!" Vane barked, taking a menacing step closer as his thumb tapped aggressively against his digital tablet screen. "You have exactly thirty seconds to hand over the original corporate title documents or I am calling the regional marshals to seize the main gates! You’re nothing but broke campus trash playing games with money you can’t possibly afford!"
Jaxon didn’t even bother wasting his breath on an argument.
Bzzzzt.
He casually raised his left hand, his index finger tapping a transparent, neon-blue system screen floating directly in his field of vision, completely hidden from the rest of the room.
[System Banking Terminal Activated!]
[Total Corporate Valuation: $15,000,000 USD]
[Executing Hostile Corporate Takeover Protocol...]
Vane scoffed loudly from the baseline, completely misinterpreting Jaxon’s quiet silence as a sign of total defeat and submission.
"Yeah, stand there and choke on it," Vane sneered, pulling up a digital arrest draft on his terminal with a smug look. "You’re absolutely done, Jax."
"Am I?" Jaxon murmured, his charcoal-grey eyes glowing with a dark, unyielding confidence as his finger hovered a millimeter away from the pulsing interface box.
[Confirm Hostile Corporate Buyout for $15,000,000 Cash?]
[Transaction Authorization: 100% Approved by ’Goddess of Wealth’]
Jaxon tapped the glass cleanly.
Beep!
"Effective exactly two seconds ago," Jaxon said, his voice flat as he looked Vane dead in his bloodshot eyes with a ruthless smirk. "I don’t just own the arena floor, Vane. I just bought out your entire employer."