Written in support of the Kelviniana forum Summer's Up challenge.
Up ahead, at the top of the green field, Sonic could see his opponent, the malicious Dr Eggman, wielding his latest mechanical monstrosity; a four armed device capable of firing powerful shots against anyone brave enough, or perhaps foolish enough to dare challenge him.
Sonic couldn't resist such a challenge, and had responded to Eggman's calling card, partly on principle, partly out of curiosity, mostly out of the sense of fun that always came with thrashing Dr Eggman, especially when the human was the one to invite the hedgehog into a battle.
"Welcome Sonic," Eggman said, introducing his challenger to all those who might happen to be watching, "I see you brought your weapon as well," the scientist said referring to a small wire covered stick Sonic was holding, "I assure you, it's no match for my latest, and greatest creation, the Egg Server!"
"What does it do, wait tables?" Sonic mocked sarcastically, "Am I getting a cooked breakfast here, or have we gonna fight?"
"Fine, we'll get started," Eggman smirked, "See if you can deal with this." With that, the machine whirred into life, all four of its arms stretching out fully before reaching the ready position. Without hesitation Eggman fired his first shot. It scorched towards the hedgehog, and instinctively the blue blur darted out of the way.
"Fifteen love,"
Eggman readied his serve again, bouncing the bright green ball against the grass of the tennis court, his machine once again ready to blast another serve towards his arch enemy.
Sonic tightened the grip on his racquet. He hadn't got off to a great start. Focusing he watched the serve, carefully timing where the ball would go. The blue hedgehog smacked the ball back as hard as he could, straight back to the where Eggman stood. The human was ready, and whacked the ball to the opposite corner. Now it was to Sonic's advantage. As the fastest thing alive surely he could get to the corner first.
"Thirty love,"
Evidently, the hedgehog could get there, but he wasn't capable of getting the racquet there. In his eagerness he'd dropped it for the sprint. Eggman merely smirked as the ball boy grabbed the ball. Once again Eggman clutched his racquets, bounced the ball, and served.
The ball went flying, ricocheting towards the hedgehog. Sonic, fighting the urge to dodge instead thrust his racquet towards it. It struck the ball with a satisfying amount of force and returned back to Eggman.
"Forty love,"
That was the plan anyway. While Sonic did indeed strike the ball this time, it also struck the net, resulting in another point against the super speedster. Sonic gently tapped his head with the racquet, trying to get into focus.
"Have you ever even played this game before?"
"Once," Sonic replied, "I think. The complicated scoring system seems familiar anyway."
"I'll go easy on you then," the doctor responded, almost embarrassed by how Sonic was underperforming. He had expected a lot more from his adversary.
Firing off one more serve, Eggman could only guess how Sonic would respond. True to form, Sonic hadn't lived up to the human's expectations, and this serve was no different. As the ball bounced into the hedgehog's half, the human could only watch as Sonic rolled to attempt to get the ball, missed yet again, and somehow ended up face first in the grass.
"Game, Doctor Eggman,"
Sonic offered his excuse, "I tripped on my laces."
"They're buckled shoes," Eggman observed, before tossing Sonic the ball, "your turn to serve now."
"Alright," Sonic grinned, "Now I'll show you the super awesome power of how tennis works!"
Sonic bounced the ball on the ground. He wasn't sure why, but he'd noticed Eggman doing it, and assumed it made the ball work better. Lobbing it into the air, Sonic pelted it as hard as he could to the other side of the court, as far away from Eggman as he could.
"Fault,"
"What?" Sonic cried in disbelief.
"Do you even know the rules of tennis?" Eggman asked, "When you serve, you have to get it in these lines," Eggman explained, pointing them out with all four of his arms. "Try again."
"You cannot be serious."
"Oh I am," Eggman said, "Now serve again."
Once again the hedgehog gripped the ball, and swung, this time aiming it squarely at the grinning jerk stood opposite. But Eggman had other ideas, and simply stepped out of the way, allowing the ball to once again sail clean past, not once touching the ground.
"Double fault, love 15"
"Ah, I got some points at last," Sonic cried out triumphant."
"Actually," Eggman replied, "Those are mine. The server's point's, that's yours, are read first. You really are a prime server today," Eggman taunted, "Now let's get on with it."
"Grr," Sonic grumbled, before tossing the ball once again into the air. This time he focused squarely on hitting it just behind the net, sure he could at least not score a triple fault for that. Carefully the ball bounced into Eggman's half. It landed cleanly in his side.
"Fault,"
"Now what?!" Sonic screamed,
"Your foot was inside your half," Eggman replied, "That's not allowed."
"Gah," Sonic yelled, "Forget this. This game is stupid and too complicated." Angrily the hedgehog slammed his racquet to the floor.
By default, Eggman had won. And he hadn't even needed his remote controlled tennis balls.
A/N: Tennis, to this day, still sucks. It's not cricket, but it's still appalling.