The paper on the desk was white and crisp.

Alex looked at Question Five.

Explain how the Spinning Jenny increased productivity during the Industrial Revolution.

Alex smiled. He picked up his pen.

The Spinning Jenny was a machine. It allowed one worker to spin eight threads at once. It was about multiplication. It was about rotation. It was about doing more with less effort.

Alex wrote down the answer.

It used rotation to create efficiency. It turned one movement into many results.

He put his pen down. He was the first one finished.

Mr. Harrison looked up from his newspaper. "Done already, Mr. Finch?"

"Yes, Sir," Alex said. "It is all about the mechanics."

"Good," Mr. Harrison said. "Because tonight, you have a practical exam. Atletico Madrid are back."

Alex nodded.

The first leg in Madrid had been a street fight. Arsenal had won 2-0. But Atletico were not dead. They were wounded animals. And wounded animals bite.

School finished. Alex walked out into the cool London air.

Milo was waiting by the gate. He was wearing a helmet. A full medieval knight helmet.

"Milo," Alex said. "Why are you dressed for a joust?"

"PROTECTION!" Milo shouted through the metal visor. "THE DARK ARTS ARE COMING! ATLETICO ARE COMING! I AM SELLING ARMOR! 'THE FINCH PLATE'! GUARANTEED TO STOP A STAD! ONLY FIFTY POUNDS!"

"I think the referee might object to armor, Milo," Alex said.

"THE REFEREE IS PART OF THE SYSTEM!" Milo yelled, clanking away.

Alex walked to the car park.

Mark was there.

He was not on a horse. He was not in a monster truck.

He was wrapped in bubble wrap.

Layers and layers of clear plastic bubble wrap. He looked like a giant, walking balloon.

"I AM INVINCIBLE!" Mark screamed. "HIT ME! I DARE YOU!"

"Mark," Alex sighed. "You cannot play football in bubble wrap."

"Safety first, Professor!" Mark said, waddling towards the car. "They pinch. They kick. They pull hair. Today, I bounce!"

"You look like a package that got lost in the post," Alex said.

"I am a package of SPEED!" Mark retorted. He tried to sit in the car but he bounced off the seat.

The Emirates Stadium was nervous.

A 2-0 lead was dangerous. If Atletico scored one goal, the panic would start. If they scored two, the nightmare would begin.

Steve, the manager, stood in the dressing room.

"They will come for you," Steve said. "They will try to break the rhythm. They will waste time. They will argue. Do not listen."

He looked at Alex.

"Professor. You studied the Spinning Jenny?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Good. Because today, we need rotation. If you stand still, they will kill you. You must spin. You must move. Make them dizzy."

Alex nodded. "Multiple threads. One machine."

They walked out.

The Champions League anthem played. The Chaaampions.

Simeone, the Atletico manager, was dressed all in black. He looked like a villain from a silent movie. He was already shouting at the fourth official.

The whistle blew.

Atletico did not defend this time. They attacked.

They pressed high. They ran hard.

In the fifth minute, Griezmann got the ball. He crossed it.

Morata jumped. He elbowed Gabriel in the face (accidentally, of course). He headed the ball.

Goal.

One zero to Atletico.

The aggregate score was 2-1.

The stadium went silent. The fear was real.

"WAKE UP!" Mark yelled. He was not wearing the bubble wrap anymore, sadly. "THEY ARE STEALING OUR LUNCH MONEY!"

Atletico celebrated. Then they started the Dark Arts.

They took two minutes to restart the game. The goalkeeper tied his shoelaces. The defenders had sudden cramps.

They were killing the clock. And there were eighty five minutes left.

Alex looked at the midfield. Koke and De Paul were blocking every path. They were a wall.

"We need to spin," Alex whispered to Jude.

"Like a washing machine?" Jude asked.

"Exactly," Alex said. "Cycle fast."

The game restarted.

Alex got the ball. Koke came to tackle him.

Alex did not pass backward. He did not pass sideways.

He spun.

He used the sole of his foot to drag the ball. He turned 360 degrees.

The "Marseille Turn". The Roulette.

Koke tackled the space where Alex used to be.

Alex came out of the spin with the ball.

The crowd cheered.

"Keep spinning!" Alex yelled to the team.

Arsenal started to rotate.

Mark ran from the right wing to the left. Antoine ran from the left to the center. Jude ran from the center to the striker position.

The Atletico defenders were confused. They were used to marking zones. But the zones kept changing.

"Who do I mark?" Savic yelled. "The fast one or the hair one?"

"Mark everyone!" Oblak screamed from the goal.

Thirty fifth minute.

Alex had the ball deep.

He saw the pattern. The threads were moving.

He passed to Antoine. Antoine flicked it to Jude. Jude backheeled it to Mark.

Mark was on the edge of the box.

He did not shoot. He spun.

He did a clumsy pirouette. He almost fell over.

But it worked. The defender, Hermoso, was so confused he just watched.

Mark poked the ball back to Alex.

Alex was arriving late. The Piston.

He did not stop.

He hit the ball first time.

He sliced across it.

The ball curled away from the keeper. It spun into the top corner.

Goal.

One one. (3-1 on aggregate).

Alex ran to the corner flag. He did a little twirl. The Spinning Jenny celebration.

"REVOLUTION!" Alex shouted.

The stadium breathed again.

Halftime. One one.

"They are getting dizzy," Steve grinned. "Keep moving. Do not let them catch you."

"I am so dizzy I might throw up," Mark admitted, drinking water. "But it is working."

Second half.

Atletico got angry. The tackles got harder.

De Paul stepped on Alex foot.

"Oops," De Paul said.

Alex did not get angry. He smiled.

"Physics," Alex said. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

"What?" De Paul asked.

"You will see," Alex said.

Sixtieth minute.

Atletico pushed everyone forward. They needed two goals now. They were desperate.

They left the back door open.

Alex won the ball near his own box.

He looked up.

Mark was on the halfway line. He was waiting.

"LAUNCH SEQUENCE!" Mark screamed.

Alex hit the ball. A long, high pass.

It went over the heads of the Atletico defenders.

Mark turned on the jets.

He was fast. So fast.

He reached the ball. He was one on one with Oblak.

Simeone was screaming on the touchline. "STOP HIM! TACKLE HIM!"

But you cannot tackle the wind.

Mark ran into the box.

He stopped.

He put his foot on the ball.

He waited for Oblak to dive.

Oblak did not dive. He stood up.

Mark panicked. He did not know what to do.

"SPIN!" Alex yelled from fifty yards away.

Mark obeyed.

He spun around the ball. He did a 360 turn.

His bum hit the defender who was running back. The defender fell over.

Mark looked at the ball. It was still there.

He tapped it into the empty net.

Goal.

Two one to Arsenal. (4-1 on aggregate).

Mark ran to the crowd. He tried to do a breakdance spin on the grass. He got stuck on his shoulder. He looked like a turtle on its back.

"I AM A BEYBLADE!" Mark yelled. "LET IT RIP!"

Jude ran over and picked him up. "You are a disaster, Speed. But you are our disaster."

The game was over. Atletico knew it.

They stopped kicking. They stopped pinching. They just wanted to go home.

The final whistle blew.

Arsenal 2. Atletico 1.

They were in the Quarter Finals.

Alex walked off the pitch. His socks were torn. His shin pads were scratched.

Simeone walked past him.

The scary manager looked at Alex. He nodded once. A sign of respect from the King of Darkness to the Prince of Light.

Milo was waiting in the tunnel.

He was wearing a lab coat and safety goggles.

"THE SCIENTIST!" Milo shouted. "WE HAVE THE FORMULA! ALEX! THE SPIN! I AM SELLING CENTRIFUGES! 'THE FINCH CYCLE'!"

"Milo, why do you have a beaker of green liquid?" Alex asked.

"IT IS ENERGY DRINK!" Milo said. "OR DISH SOAP! I AM NOT SURE YET! BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!"

Alex walked into the dressing room.

The team was singing.

"We are going to Wembley!" they sang. (Even though the final was not at Wembley this year, they sang it anyway).

Alex sat down. He was happy.

He checked his phone.

A text from Maya.

"I analyzed the angular momentum of your goal. You generated 300 joules of rotational energy. Also, Mr. Harrison marked the history tests. You got 100 percent. The Spinning Jenny lives on."

Alex smiled.

He texted back. "Productivity increased."

He packed his bag.

Mark was trying to put his bubble wrap back on.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"The press are outside!" Mark said. "They are dangerous! Flashing lights! Microphones! I need protection!"

"You need a keeper," Jude laughed.

They walked out of the stadium together.

The rain had stopped. The moon was out.

Alex looked at the sky.

He had passed the history test.

He had beaten the dark arts of Atletico.

But the season was long.

And somewhere, in Germany, Bayern Munich was winning 5-0.

Somewhere, in Spain, Real Madrid was waiting.

The Machine. The Kings.

Alex took a deep breath.

"Who is next?" Mark asked, popping a bubble on his suit. Pop.

"Anyone," Alex said. "We are ready."

"Good," Mark said. "Because I am hungry. Does the Spinning Jenny make pizza?"

"No, Mark."

"Useless machine," Mark grumbled. "Let's go to Milo's. He has the dish soap drink."

"Please do not drink that," Alex said.

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