The leagues, the plaque round: the meta speaks — the player plaque, the goal line, the way-up tag, the centred ceremony

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/beats.js

@@ -666,7 +666,10 @@ function matchOpponent() {
   const cup = G.match.cup;
   showModal({ title: zb.foe.name, color: UI.hot, icon: 'z_' + zb.fam + 'head', iconH: 64,
     body: [zb.foe.line].concat(cup ? [cup.rounds[cup.round].name + (cup.rounds[cup.round].need > 1
-      ? ' · FIRST TO ' + cup.rounds[cup.round].need + ' GAMES' : '')] : []) });
+      ? ' · FIRST TO ' + cup.rounds[cup.round].need + ' GAMES' : '')]
+      // the top of the band walking BACK on is the arcade's natural "what now?" moment — the
+      // intro answers it in place (THE LEAGUES: the cup is the only promotion)
+      : G.match.again ? ['NOBODY STRONGER IS LEFT', 'THE CUP IS THE WAY UP'] : []) });
   // ...and a fresh body has read NOTHING yet: the habit tracker starts clean (see THE READ, config)
   G.match.laneRun = 0; G.match.lastLane = undefined; G.match.surprised = G.match.expected = false;
   // a FLAT pool per body: with regicide gone the body is pure scoreboard (matchPoint takes a
@@ -793,8 +796,12 @@ function matchGameWon(zb, banked = false) {
   if (!G.net && !d.train) {
     d.felled = (d.felled || 0) + 1;                  // bodies actually felled (the board's number)
     // ...and the ladder climbs only inside the league's band: past its top rung the league has
-    // nobody stronger, so the top body walks back on (THE LEAGUES — the cup is the way up)
-    d.opp = Math.min(d.opp + 1, leagueOf(G.league).band[1]);
+    // nobody stronger, so the top body walks back on (THE LEAGUES — the cup is the way up).
+    // `d.again` marks exactly that moment — the felled body WAS the top — so its walk-on modal
+    // can answer the "what now?" the repeat would otherwise pose (see matchOpponent).
+    const top = leagueOf(G.league).band[1];
+    d.again = d.opp >= top;
+    d.opp = Math.min(d.opp + 1, top);
   }
   // ALTERNATING SERVICE, as the sport has it. The match calls advancePoint directly, which banks
   // the game but never touches the server — that flip lives in tennis's own pointTo, which the