"Not yet," Jackal admits. He was open to the possibilities, given what the last two years brought. "I'd be surprised if we got a first-year Ace" -- this was punctuated with a swipe through Akaya's curls, trying to get him to pay attention -- "or a Big Three for the third year in a row."

Lightning didn't strike that conveniently.

Akaya swatted at his hand and missed.

"I'm not impressed by anybody, only one of them has done any preparation and he's scrawny."