Iron Determination
A/N: Yep, it's a – le gasp – GBA Mario Golf Advance Tour fic, revolving around Kid and Gene. (Oh, wait, it's "The Gene". Stupid me. ;D) Let me say now that I'm only halfway through the game, having the Links Doubles Cup and having defeated not only Gene and Kid in doubles match play but Kid in singles match play; however, I cannot remember why Gene is whining about having his "precious singles title" "stolen from him" if I only beat him in a doubles match play (unless, of course, my brother beat him, but he says he didn't). And I can't really recall dialogues from each character, so I tried my best to make Kid and Gene canon as much as possible; hopefully they're not too OC (as far as I'm concerned, Kid's a rather good sport and Gene's an unpredictable perfectionist spaz), and I'm also not a golf lingo expert.
Disclaimer: I don't own Mario Golf Advance Tour (well, technically speaking, I do, but you know what I mean), the characters in MGAT, or anything else Mario related, and I'm not making any profits from this story, so don't sue, please.
"It's just IMPOSSIBLE!"
The man with the black baseball cap over his brown hair, and who wore the red shirt and white pants, raised an eyebrow at his doubles partner, who gripped his 4-iron club angrily. "Gene, face it," Kid pointed out, standing up from a crouched position. "Neil beat us fair and square."
Gene Yuss scowled, and snatched another golf ball from his bag and set it on the tee. He wound up and swung his club. The tee flew in the air, as did the ball, which flew against the find and landed out of bounds from the Links training course. He gritted his teeth and continued gripping his club; if he were as strong as Tiny, he'd probably crush it easily, Kid thought to himself. Even when Gene was younger, he was a rather sore loser.
"C'mon, you have to admit, Neil has gained some really sweet golfing skills," remarked Kid, giving a proud smile.
The brown-haired man with a brown hat, a red vest, and tight pants, did not return that smile. "No thanks to you," Gene muttered, turning away and digging furiously into his golf bag for another ball.
Kid's smile faded, and he gave a long, exasperated sigh. "Why can't you just accept the loss?" he wondered, placing a ball on his tee. He fixed the white glove on his left hand and gripped a 4-wedge club in his other. "I mean, you CAN get back your title, Gene."
"THAT is exactly what I am attempting to do, Kid!" Gene snapped, shooting a glare at Kid. "What Neil did was completely inexcusable! The Gene will not accept defeat! That student of yours STOLE my title, my one and only, prized and respected title that I, The Gene, have proved to deserve!"
Oh, great, Kid thought, trying hard not to roll his eyes. Here we go again with the whole "one and only, prized and respected title that I, The Gene, have blah blah and so on" thing. At times, Gene was rather irritating when he boasted and argued about earning his glorious victories.
"Well, just remember, you're not the only one who got beat," Kid reminded him, winding up to hit the ball. "I lost against Neil too." He swung forward, and a few seconds later his ball landed right in a bunker. He frowned. "He's really improved, and not just in singles. We BOTH got beat by Neil and Ella."
"I just cannot fully comprehend how they got the Links Doubles Cup!" marveled Gene, or protested, whichever fits him better, Kid thought. "A bunch of amateurs come out of nowhere and then all of a sudden STEAL the title!"
"To you, everyone's a thief, and nobody truly earns anything. Besides, it was about two or three months before they won the Links," Kid defended, fumbling for a ball in his bag. "I'm pretty sure they had all the time to practice and become really amazing."
Gene growled. "Just wait until I take him on again," he hissed, clenching his hands into fists. A fierce, determined flame flickered in his blue eyes. He grabbed a 3-iron club and approached another tee. "BOTH of them!"
"Both of – " Kid spluttered, eyes widening as he pulled an umpteenth ball from his golf bag. "Gene, you KNOW you're better at singles. People are gonna think that you're as crazy as Bowser!"
"But of course," Gene shot back, placing a ball on the tee. He swung back. "And if you earn a better, more unexpected title, then you will be greater than just great!" He swung forward and whiffed, barely hitting Kid's head with the head of his club. Gene groaned loudly and smote his forehead with his right hand.
Kid shrugged. "I'll see how that works for you," he simply replied, getting ready to drive another ball and ignoring the responding glare.
Gene grimaced. Get a hold of yourself, Gene! he berated to himself, taking a few deep breaths. Remember, focus. Without focus, you will not be able to work under pressure. When you cannot work under pressure, you start making mistakes. When you start making mistakes, you start losing. And, of course, when you start losing, you become a loser! Then, where you're a loser, you -
He realized that he wasn't focused at all, and quickly returned back to reality. He turned back to his golf bag and dug his arm in for another ball, only to realize that all his were out on the course. He looked up at Kid, who swung back, long, and swung forward. To Kid's chagrin, his ball passed the green, bounced off the rough and dunked into the water. Even Kid is under pressure, and I'll admit, he is a rather excellent golfer, Gene observed. After all, he IS legendary.
He picked up his golf bag and held his 3-iron in his left hand. "I need my golf balls back," he told Kid, stepping next to him. "Do you remember where they all landed?"
"Do you think anybody truly knows where their golf balls land?" Kid joked with a smirk, walking away from the tee to get his own bag.
The previous Links champion rolled his eyes at his partner's back. He briefly glanced at the sun, which was setting, causing the sky to turn a shade of orange. When Kid and Gene arrived at the Links course, the sky was more or less the same color, but the sun was just rising at the time. You're not the only one that's "crazy", hmm, Gene? he mused with a small smirk. If so, Kid is rather crazy himself. But there's no way that I'm giving up now; I need as much practice as I can get!
He turned back around towards the course and started walking, picking up the golf balls he remembered he had hit, and if he couldn't remember which ones he had, he picked up others. He had come with seven golf balls, and had made, what, twenty-one trips back and forth from the tee to the course and back again? His legs ached. His muscles were sore. He just wanted to go back to the club lounge, lie down in his bed, and sleep.
But that was a sign of weakness, and great golf players did not have weaknesses, or so he believed. "Will you slow down?" Kid called, running after him. He stopped next to Gene, panting and gasping. "You do realize how hard it is running with a golf bag when you're completely pooped out?"
"Wimp," Gene implied under his breath.
"What was that?" questioned Kid, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the Birdie King.
Gene didn't reply as they continued walking, Kid reaching down to get a few balls from the course. "I think one of mine landed in the water; it's near the green," Kid assumed, heading towards it. Gene ducked as someone called "FORE!", then followed Kid as he looked over from the edge of the green.
"You see it?" Gene asked.
Kid shook his head. "Nope," he replied.
"Well, do hurry up, because I'm heading back to the tee," Gene told him, handling the club in his hand.
Kid's eyes widened again. "Gene, we've been on the course for sunrise to sunset!" he protested. "Do you realize how beat up I am?"
"As a matter of fact, Kid, I do," Gene retorted, rather annoyed. "Your muscles are screaming. Your legs feel like they're going to break. Your arms feel like they're just going to fall off from your shoulders. You're extremely tired, and you just want to call it a day."
A bewildered Kid stared at him with his mouth agape. "Then why DON'T you call it a day?" he gasped, dumbfounded. "We both need rest! People think that we're insane!"
"See the person in front of you?" Gene said, still adopting a frustrated tone. "He is sucking up his pain instead of being a pathetic coward. He doesn't care about what people think about him now. He does, however, think about how people will think of him later, and trust me, they will think of him respectfully."
He crouched down, leaned over the green, and winced, peeking at the surface the water. "I will, however, admit that I am extremely exhausted, enough to fall asleep right here on the green," confessed Gene.
Kid gave a mischievous grin. "Well, then, I guess you need to wake up if you want to continue sucking it up!" he said, and pushed Gene, who screamed as he toppled into the water. The stubborn golf pro came up gasping, staring wide-eyed in disbelief and utter shock at his obviously amused doubles partner.
Kid continued laughing hysterically as Gene yelled, "Oh, you are simply HILARIOUS!" and irritably threw a wet golf ball at the legend's head.
The End :P