| “ | GYM CLASS!
— Coach Oop to his students (Chapter 5, Page 26
 ) |
” |
The Gym is a location in Mayview Middle School. It is the main setting of the first half of Chapter 5, where a Hijack-possessed Jeff Flavors attempts to injure Johnny Jhonny in order to gain access to the teacher's lounge.
Overview[]
Appearance[]
The gym is an open-space with tall, purple bleachers sitting on either end[1]. Above the gym's entrance hangs a purple banner with yellow lettering that reads "GO MAYVIEW MILDCATS!!"[2]. The gymnasium's ceiling holds a network of lighting fixtures, and a climbing rope is located near the entrance.[2]
Right of the gym's entrance is Coach Oop's office[3], which contains a desk holding his computer and a framed picture.[4] A glass window separates the gym and Coach Oop's office, allowing him to supervise his students while there.
Hitball[]
- Main article: Hitball
The Golden Switch.
| “ | ('cause DODGING was never the IMPORTANT PART of the sport anyways.)
— Coach Oop to his students (Chapter 5, Page 27
) |
” |
After dodgeball was placed under a district-wide ban due to parental complaints[3], hitball was created as a loophole to the rule. The rules of hitball are generally the same as a standard dodgeball game: if one is hit by a ball from the opposing team, they are eliminated, but if someone catches it before it hits the floor, the thrower is eliminated instead.
The main distinction between the two games is the inclusion of a special ball called the Golden Switch; if one is hit by the ball, they are forced to switch teams, but if someone on the target's team catches the ball, then their eliminated players are sent back into the game.
Paranatural[]
Chapter 5[]
Coach Oop demonstrates the rules of Hitball to the 7th grade class, using his son Ollie as an example. When Ollie returns to his seat, Johnny, Ollie and RJ discuss the photo of the Activity Club "floating" (riding the Ghost Train) that RJ had taken the previous day, and lament Stephen's suspension. Coach Oop then calls up Johnny and Isabel Guerra as team captains, and the game begins shortly thereafter, with Johnny's team being dubbed the Burnhounds and Isabel's the Shockodiles.
Isabel manages to hit Lisa with the Golden Switch, causing her to switch teams. Meanwhile, Cody notices that Jeff is acting oddly and asks him if he's OK, and Jeff's cry of "Star Wars!" seems to placate him. Cody then demonstrates his reflexes and leaves to, in his words, "carry the team"[5]. Max also demonstrates his parkour skills by dodging a volley of balls, and exchanges banter with Isabel before she expresses concern that he might've gotten the wrong idea from what she had told him about ghosts the previous night. Max then attempts to back out of the conversation, and Suzy takes the opportunity to lead him away.
Ed turns to his spirit, Muse, for guidance, and after exercising, he's told that ditching Isabel the previous night was the correct decision since he's too weak (physically and mentally) to properly fight her grandfather. Upset by this, Ed blocks a ball for Isabel with his body, and Muse gives Ed more advice: bravery without the strength to back it up is just foolishness, and Ed should either accept his lot in life or become strong enough to back up his efforts. Ed is then hit by a ball and sent to the bleachers. Ed's act of jumping in front of the ball causes Johnny to realize that he's one of the "floating kids" from RJ's picture.
In a corner of the gym, Suzy blackmails Max using the pictures she got of his bus jumping from the previous two days. She tells Max that the Student Council is searching for the bus-jumper, and that she's going to give him a wire so that she can find out what the Activity Club's deal is. Johnny manages to hit Max with the Golden Switch, and as he's walking to the other side, Max hears a voice from above him. Before he can place who it is, the voice screams at him to duck, and Max hastily complies. He and Johnny's gang (sans Stephen) barely avoid a throw by Jeff that puts a hole in the bleachers. The children stare at the throw in shock, sans for Cody who ruins the mood, and Violet (who had previously benched herself on purpose) runs to get Coach Oop to stop the game.
Isabel tries to hit Jeff with a spectral energy mallet, but it goes right through him. Instead, she takes as many balls away from him as possible while giving off a message to end the game using her spectral energy. This idea is noticed by both Max and Dimitri Danger, who decides to use Max and Johnny to put his plan into action. Johnny hastily tries to throw a ball at Jeff but has the ball knocked out of his hands by one of Cody's throws, and Cody declares himself to be their opponent. Johnny's subsequent attempts to hit Cody fail due to the latter's quick reflexes, and Serge takes the opportunity to induct the three into the Student Council's plan to eliminate Jeff.
Jeff's arms are strung up by a disguised Vice Principal DuNacht, and after a misunderstanding where he briefly thinks that she knows what he's up to, the boy calls for Cody in response. Dimitri realizes that the Student Council's plan is doomed to fail because it relies on brute force and subsequently ditches it, roping Max and Johnny into his own plan. Meanwhile, Isabel tries to hold back and reason with Cody, who acknowledges Jeff's throws as abnormal but chalks it up to him working really hard to strengthen himself. The Student Council launches their attack, which turns out to be a regular throw, to the chagrin of Dimitri, Max and Johnny.
Jeff breaks free of his restraints and the ball knocks out the VP instead, and her disguise's appearance (having bloody "eyes" and missing arms) terrorizes the students, while Violet is shown futilely attempting to wake up Coach Oop. Jeff grabs the ball that was part of the failed plan, and quickly launches it at Johnny, while Max jumps out of the way. Johnny initially reacts with fear, before bracing himself to tank the shot in order to protect his friends. Forge powers up inside Johnny as he braces himself for the impact, but Dimitri jumps in front of Johnny and blocks the shot with his hand, startling the Activity Club and the people on the bleachers and causing Forge to go back to being dormant. Nobody catches the blocked ball, however, so Dimitri heads to the bleachers while telling Max and Johnny to enact his plan: to hit Cody.
As RJ performs a feint and Cody winds back to hit Johnny and Max, Isabel demands answers from the possessed Jeff, and he reveals his name to be Hijack. Suzy interrupts Hijack's monologue by trying to tape the conversation. Meanwhile, Cody's throw is blocked by Ollie jumping up to take the shot, and Johnny and Max take the opportunity to throw a ball. Hijack explains that he needs his puppet to be in the principal's office for his plan, and Cody realizes that Max also threw a ball-the ball that had been flattened into the bleachers. When Hijack attempts to get into the principal's office by hurting Isabel, Suzy grabs his arm before he can make the blow, and is subsequently disgusted by Isabel's gratitude. Isabel forces Jeff to take a shot from the Webcomics Sports Anime Kid, while Cody effortlessly dodges via a backflip; however, by doing so Cody falls victim to the Golden Switch, finally thrown by RJ. Hijack, on the other hand, is able to kick the ball that hit him up into the ceiling and catch it when it falls.
Before Cody can switch teams, Hijack hits him with the ball he caught. He then berates Johnny, Ollie and RJ for acting impulsively and hurting others without a higher purpose, throwing Johnny's earlier words back at him for good measure. Isabel sees an opportunity and hits RJ with a ball, hoping to knock all of the Burnhounds out to prevent further injury, but Johnny ruins this plan by catching the ball Isabel throws at him. Ollie and RJ step in front of Johnny to protect him from Hijack's threats, and Johnny responds by invoking the rules to bench the two of them in order to get them out of harm's way. Max notices this and tells the bully that caring about his friends is "his sole redeeming quality"[6], and Johnny compliments his willingness to stand up against him in previous scuffles. As the two psych themselves up to take down Hijack once and for all, they're interrupted by Cody, who hands them the Golden Switch.
Max pushes Johnny back and hits the Ball Golem with the Golden Switch, in the spot Isabel removed a ball from earlier to nab RJ. As she leaves for the bleachers out of fear, Hijack realizes too late that she holds the remaining balls, but he's unable to grab any. Hijack then picks up the Switch, thinks to himself on the other team's pitiful plan, then quickly throws the ball at high speed. As Dimitri thinks to himself on how Hijack fell right into Max's plan, Max tells Johnny to look up, then takes the ball so that it flies up towards Johnny at a safe speed to catch. At Johnny's boisterous cue, the benched Burnhounds swarm the field, while Lisa holds Hijack in place to prevent his escape. Lisa, upon realizing that Hijack was impersonating Jeff, warns him that there are people in the school he should really avoid offending, and Hijack takes the brunt of almost every ball on the field (with one stray ball hitting Lisa instead). Unable to retain control of his host after the attack, Hijack exits his host and reveals his form: a pink brain with two marionette controller-esque arms.
Before Isabel can capture Hijack, however, the coach (and Violet) return to see the carnage. A mysterious benefactor gives Max a Doctopi for his broken arm, and the coach takes both Max and Jeff out to the hallway. Before they can leave, Violet tries to get a word in with Jeff, which fails, and Johnny confronts Max on taking a shot for him, which Max responds by saying that they were even. As Max leaves, Johnny rallies the crowd into shouting "MVP", but looks back to see if Max heard. In doing so, he spots the Doctopus on Max's arm as a purple blob: his first shade.
Ed asks Muse for advice on handling his guilt. When he asks Isabel if she's mad at him, she gives an unclear response, and Muse answers his next cry for help with an order to do fifty push-ups.
Meanwhile, Johnny is using the rope swing when Ollie asks him about how he's doing and what their plan of action is; Johnny gives no clear answer to the former and responds to the latter by targeting Ed, who is struggling to complete more push ups. As Ollie has to work at the School Store, he can't go with his friends, but wishes them luck. Forge silently apologizes to Johnny in the meantime for what he's going to do using him.
Isabel and Dimitri exchange awkward glances before darting away. Suzy absconds with Collin and Dimitri, and Johnny and RJ shortly leave afterwards, to the bewilderment of Coach Oop. The Coach and Ollie exchange a few words before the former notices the rope swing and the latter leaves for work.
Trivia[]
- The Golden Switch's design appears to be based off both the Yu-Gi-Oh! card Change of Heart and the Golden Snitch from Harry Potter.
- A banner on the gym's walls reveals that one of Mayview Middle School's sports teams is called the Mayview Mildcats.[7]
Gallery[]
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| Mayview | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayview · Corner Store · Mayview Middle School (Paranatural Activity Clubroom · Journalism Clubroom · School Store · Gym) · Slanted Manse · Dojo · Mayview Mini Mall · Mayview Academy | |||||||
| Other | |||||||
| Baxborough · Ghost Train · Dream Hub | |||||||