Sonic and Co. © Sega
OCs © Respective Authors
Blitzball © Square Enix
Note: That last disclaimer was because of the Aquaball sport. It's my special version of Blitzball from Final Fantasy X, and Aquaball has some new moves but keeps some of the old ones, so the disclaimer is to prevent any plagiarism. Just a precaution.
Chapter 1: New Sport, New Plan
It had been a month and two weeks since Nega's last defeat at the hands of Amy Rose. During that time, the cities in the world that were hit had been going through a major rebuilding, with the heroes helping and everyone in the world working together. Within three weeks, thanks to the combined efforts of GUN, the heroes, and the people of the world, the cities were all repaired, and people continued their daily lives in peace, without fear of attacks or death by robot. During that time, the heroes resumed their usual lives, with some going on dates, others doing their duties, and the rest just enjoying themselves.
Today was no different in Station birds were chirping, the sun's rays were beaming down onto the earth below, and...a large crowd was gathering around a stadium? That's right. A new stadium had been completed about two weeks ago. The stadium was supposed to contain some chaos-powered bronze rings that kept water into a certain form. In this case, it was a giant sphere pool. Inside the pool were two upside-down triangular goals, one on each side. One was blue, and the other was red. This was the new stadium for a new sport created. Its name was Aquaball, a sport combining soccer and football that was played underwater.
Two teams had been formed, and had gotten some practice in over the next couple of weeks. The teams were the Station Square Aeronites, and the Central City Aquatic Stars. The Aeronites' uniforms consisted of green jerseys, green shorts, and white shoes, as well as green air necklaces. To separate them from one another, each had different colored stripes going down the uniform. The Aquatic Stars' uniforms consisted of 3/4 jeans, light blue jerseys with star patterns on it, yellow shoes, and blue air necklaces. To separate them from one another, the flames on the sides off their jeans were of different colors. Today, an exhibition game would be played so that everyone could watch and enjoy the intensity of the sport that had been mentioned.
In the Aeronites' locker room, located on the right side of the stadium, 6 different players were getting ready. One was the well-known Basil Giles, son of Tobias Novak's best friend Thomas. Ever since hearing rumors about the sport, he has wanted to try it out, and agreed to be a captain in the test game. His uniform was a green jersey, green shorts, and white shoes. He also had a green air necklace sitting near him, which he wasn't going to put on until it was gametime. There were two red stripes going down the sides of his jersey, and the laces on his shoes, as well as his gloves, were red. He and his team had spent two weeks practicing for this test game, and so far, everything had worked out. In this particular game, he was the Left Forward.
He looked over at his teammates, all wearing the same uniform as him, but with different colored laces, gloves, and stripes to tell each other apart. A green crocodile named Carmen was stretching her legs, preparing for the upcoming game. Her color was violet, and she was playing Right Forward. Nearby was the rather calm Adam the Chameleon, a red chameleon. He had the blue color, and was playing Midfielder. Talking about defense were a black beagle named Daren the Dog and a golden-brown rabbit named Samuel. They were playing Left and Right Defenders respectively, and their respective colors were yellow and orange. And near the door, a light-gray armadillo named Shannon was inspecting her equipment, making sure it was all in place. Her color was white.
Basil called over his teammates for a pregame talk.
"Alright, team, this is the first game ever of Aquaball. Remember that this is a test game, so for this game, it doesn't matter whether we win or lose. What matters is that we make this game exciting." Basil told his team. "If this game is great enough, then Aquaball becomes an official sport, and that's something that I'd like. So far, the only two teams are our team, and the Aquatic Stars. More will follow up if the game's a success. So, what do we do?"
"Make the game exciting!" The team responded.
"Does it matter whether or not we win or lose!?" Basil asked.
"No!" The team responded.
"Then let's go!"
While the Aeronites were preparing for the game, the Aquatic Stars, in the locker room on the left side of the stadium, were getting themselves ready. They were just as excited and enthusiastic about this new sport as the Aeronites were. Their leader was a indigo hedgehog named Chase. He had agreed to be one of the captains of the two teams that would be formed for the test game due to the supposed excitement. The Stars' uniforms were white jerseys with 3 stars on each sleeve, 3/4 length white slacks, and white trainers with different colored laces for each player. Their air necklaces were white. The stars on Chase's uniform were purple, as well as his gloves and the laces on his trainers.
He looked over to his team, who were all getting ready as well. The first one he looked at was a black lizard named Drago. He wore the same jersey and jeans as Chase, but the stars on the sleeves of his jersey were orange, as well as his gloves and the laces on his trainers. Drago was the right forward. Chase then looked at a blue-green otter named Opal. She had the same uniform, but the stars on her uniform were of a dark blue, as well as the gloves and laces. He then looked at his two defenders, left and right respectively, and smiled. Alan the Tiger himself was wearing red on his uniform. Chase had it custom-made in order to protect him from the water, and to make it so that his electric powers wouldn't electrify the water. The other defender was a light-gray snow leopard named Bandy Snow. Her color was cyan, as noted on the stars, her gloves, and her laces. They looked like the perfect couple. However, one member of their team was missing.
"Hey, where's Breeze?" Chase asked.
"Sorry, Captain Chase! I had a hard time getting here." A voice said from the doorway.
The voice belonged to a white female squirrel. Her name was Breeze, and she was wearing black stars on her jersey, and had black gloves and laces on her trainers. She was playing goalie for the Stars. Once she was with her team, Chase gave his team a pre-game talk, which was basically identical to the one Basil gave the Aeronites, and they headed out to the sphere pool.
Meanwhile, outside the large stadium, which had a steel bowl-shaped exterior with steel supports holding it up, there was a large crowd gathering. They had come to see just what the sport was all about. Those that weren't attending would be watching the game by television. Even some of the heroes would be watching the game, if only because two other heroes they knew were playing: Basil and Alan. The other team members had been met by the heroes earlier in the week. There was a large steel door blocking the way in, and wouldn't open until near gametime.
"Man, I cannot wait to see just how this Aquaball game is played." Sonic said. "It better be as exciting as the rumors say, because there are other things that I can be doing right now."
"You mean things that you've done during this whole time of peace?" Shadow asked
"Uhh...no?" Sonic said, unsure of himself.
"Yeah, right." Shadow replied. "As for me, I'm not one for these types of events, but in this case, I might just sit back and watch."
"Some of us are here for a reason other than just the game." Armand spoke up. "Basil is playing in this game, which is why Tails, Axel, and I are here. Alan's playing, which was enough for Emily and Vash to come along."
"And what about the rest of us heroes?" Sonic asked.
"Listen, if you don't want to watch, then go do whatever it is you wanted to do!" Shadow said, annoyed.
"Nah, I'll watch." Sonic said. "Besides, it's something new, and I like new things sometimes."
"That wasn't your reaction earlier..." Shadow muttered inaudibly.
Just then, the large metal doors opened, clearing the way to the stands. Looking inside, the sphere pool was halfway filled up. Four water spouts were shooting out water, and the chaos-powered ring at the edge of the water kept it in its form. It was a sight to behold. In fact, once the doors opened all the way, people started pouring into the stands, some tripping over others, and a few people shoving others out of the way. Inside the stands, anyone could see both teams standing on opposite sides of the large ring that served as the entry point, looking at one another in a glare of competition.
It wasn't long before the sphere pool was complete, and by that time, the stands had been filled to capacity. Once everyone had been seated, the twelve players entered the sphere pool. The water had been set to a level that wasn't too hot or too cold, and the players, having trained for the past two weeks, swam gracefully through the water, with hardly any hindrance. The two teams, save for the goalies, met in the center. The two captains looked at each other for a brief moment, slowly kicking their feet to stay suspended in the water, as with the rest of the team.
"Good luck to you in this game, Basil." Chase said.
"Same to you, Chase." Basil replied. "And even though it doesn't matter who wins or loses in this game, I will try my best to win."
"I wouldn't expect anything less from the son of Tobias Novak's best friend." Chase replied with a smile.
The two captains then shook hands, and the teams returned to their sides for final talks. The talks were nothing important. The players then split to their positions. On the Aeronites' side, Basil looked around at his teammates. Carmen was already in position, ready to get the ball and score. Adam was calmly preparing for the ball launch, at which he would face off against Opal. Daren the Dog was doing flips in the water, to which Basil told him to cut it out. Samuel was in his position, prepared to prevent the ball from getting past. Shannon looked calm as ever as she got ready. The Stars were the same on the other side, with Alan getting a bit excited. Basil then got down in a sprinter's stance, as did the others except for the goalies, and awaited the ball launch.
The positions where they were at were yellow arrow-shaped platforms that were actually holographic, but the players looked like they were standing on solid ground. This was because they had gotten used to this. In the direct center of the sphere pool was a white circular platform with blue and orange outlines. Located in the center was a rubber ball about the size of a soccer ball, and it contained bumps on it for grip. Up above, there was a waterproof scoreboard with a metal frame around it. The scores were randomizing before being set to zero each, and the timer was set to 0:00. Up above the scores were the symbols for the teams. The Aeronites' symbol was a cloud shape, and the Stars' symbol was...well, a star.
Once the scores were set to 0 and the timer was at 0:00, the buzzer sounded. The ball rapidly spun around, then launched up into the upper sphere. Opal and Adam looked at each other for a split second, then both of them jumped for the ball. Both players reached a hand out for it, trying to get it before the other did. The other players had moved from their positions, ready to get the ball once it was in possession of a team.
Adam made a lunge for the ball, but Opal managed to grab it first. In order to avoid an immediate loss of the ball, she immediately passed it to Alan, who started to swim towards the goal, even though he wasn't a shooter. Alan saw Carmen coming in for a tackle, but he ducked under it and immediately passed it to Bandy, who started moving on her edge of the sphere pool. As she reached the center edge, she was tackled by Basil, knocking the ball loose and sending it down. Daren immediately chased after it, and narrowly dodged a tackle from Opal in order to get the ball. He immediately passed it to Samuel, who immediately knocked it to Carmen.
"Okay, time for the first shot of the...OOF!"
Carmen was attacked by Alan and lost the ball. However, Adam managed to get his hands on it and made it into Stars territory. Dodging an attack from Bandy, he dropped the ball to his right foot and kicked it towards the goal. It headed towards the goal, but Breeze saw it coming, and leapt to her right, letting the ball sail right into her hand. She made a long pass to Drago, who was all the way in Aeronites territory, but Daren managed to intercept the ball and grab it. He passed it to Basil, who tossed it above him and did a slow-moving backflip. He kicked the ball while upside down, and it headed towards the Stars' goal. Breeze jumped for it, but it just brushed her fingertips and sailed in. The buzzer rang, marking the first goal of the game.
"Yes!" Basil yelled. "First goal! This is fun!"
Everyone reset to their positions, and the ball was launched again. Because the Aeronites had scored the recent goal, the Stars got the ball. Opal passed it to Chase, who immediately ran into Basil. However, before the fox could make an attempt to tackle the hedgehog, he passed the ball behind him to Bandy, who swam around Basil and headed for the goal. However, she didn't make it far, because Daren was there, ready to attack her. He spread his arms out and charged forward, tackling Bandy, stealing the ball, and freezing her solid. Daren had just performed an Ice Tackle. He started heading upwards, hoping to avoid a few players, but Alan was already on his way to intercept.
"Oh no you don't!" Alan said.
"What the...!"
Alan then tackled Daren and stole the ball before passing it to Drago. The lizard dodged Carmen, Adam, and Samuel, then dropped the ball in front of him and kicked it towards the Aeronites' goal. Shannon saw the ball coming to her, and she set herself up. As the ball reached her, she kicked it away from her. However, this allowed Chase to set up a volley shot, and he immediately sent the ball back towards the goal. Shannon did not see this coming, and could not prevent the ball from going in. The buzzer sounded, and the score was tied up.
"BOOYA!" Chase yelled. "But that was a good try, Shannon!"
Shannon just nodded and got back in position. Once everyone was in position, the ball was launched again. This time, the Aeronites got possession of it. Adam started moving downwards, managing to jump over Opal's tackle, slipped by Drago's tackle, and ducked Chase's tackle before passing the ball to Carmen. However, during the pass, the ball was covered in a slight green aura. It was a Venom Pass. Alan got a hand on it, and was poisoned. It wasn't lethal, though, but it would drain his stamina. Plus, he wouldn't be able to use any attacks. The ball managed to reach Carmen anyway, and she got close to the goal before kicking the ball at it. Breeze happened to be on the side she shot at, and immediately grabbed the ball...with her tail.
"Whoa!" Carmen said, amazed at Breeze's move.
Breeze proceeded to throw the ball in with her tail after singling out Bandy, who had defrosted after the last goal was made, but before she could throw it in, the buzzer sounded, ending the first half. At that point, all status effects were cleared of any player who had it, and the teams exited the sphere pool for halftime. Meanwhile, the crowd was cheering loudly. This game was popular alright. It would seem that the world had gained a new sport.
In the Aeronites' locker room, Basil was giving his team a talk.
"Well-played first half, team!" Basil commented. "You all put an equal amount of effort out there. But it's not going to get any easier. It sounds like the crowd enjoys the sport, so we just have to keep playing like in the first half. Ready?"
"YEAH!" The team chanted.
"Alright! Let's go!"
In the Stars' locker room, Chase was complimenting his team.
"Way to go out there! We're keeping the score tied!" Chase commented. "But they're probably going to go a bit harder out there in the second half, so we have to do the same. Ready?"
"READY!" The team chanted.
"Then let's get back out there!"
The players headed back into the sphere pool for the second half. Adam and Opal faced off again for the ball launch. This time, Adam was the one who caught it. He resisted Opal's immediate tackle and passed the ball behind him to Samuel. The rabbit started moving down until he was almost at the bottom, then he started moving towards Stars' territory. However, he was met by Drago and Alan, who double-teamed him to get the ball. Alan was the one who took the ball, and passed it to Bandy when he saw her open. However, he didn't see Basil coming in, and when the ball was halfway to the snow leopard, he intercepted it. Basil continued on towards the Stars' goal when Chase caught up to him.
"You want this ball, Chase?" Basil asked.
"Hand it over, Basil!" Chase said as he started to tackle him.
"Go get it!" Basil said as he passed it to Daren, who was above him. Daren took the ball and threw it to Adam, but the chameleon couldn't get a grip on it, and lost the ball. Chase saw this as his chance. He swam towards the ball, which had just entered the Aeronites' side of the pool, and did a roundhouse kick on the ball. The ball flew at a high speed towards the goal. Shannon did not expect the ball to be kicked from such a far range, and as such was unprepared for it. She saw it at the last moment and reached out to her left, but the ball was out of her reach, and sailed into the goal, giving the Stars the lead.
"Yes! We're in the lead!" Chase said.
On the next ball launch, Adam took it and swam forward, straight at Opal. The otter did not expect Adam to go right at her, but she tried to tackle him anyway. However, Adam passed the ball down to Basil, who dodged an attack from Alan and kicked the ball towards the goal. Breeze, who had been keeping an eye on the ball, wondered why Basil would make such an attempt. She jumped to the right and managed to deflect the ball...right towards Carmen. The crocodile grabbed the ball and immediately punched it at the goal. Breeze wasn't able to deflect this one, and it sailed past her and into the goal, tying up the game again.
"Who's in the lead now!?" Basil asked, having overheard Chase's gloat after their last goal.
Opal got the ball at the next launch. She started swimming towards her right side, hoping to get by Adam. Unfortunately for her, Carmen got in her path and knocked the ball loose. Basil, Daren, Alan, and Drago were all swimming for it, hoping to get it. However, each of the four did not notice the other three aiming for the ball, and as they reached it, they crashed into each other in a four-player heap, which knocked them all out for the time being. The ball, however, had been moved when the crash happened, and Bandy retrieved it. She looked up at the clock, and saw that time was running short. If the Stars were going to win, she'd have to either make a goal or have Chase or Opal do so. She decided to chance it.
She started swimming forward at a high speed, charging right for the Aeronites' goal. She managed to duck a tackle from Adam. Carmen hit her with a tackle, but the snow leopard held onto the ball. She reached the center of the sphere, where she encountered Samuel. Dodging a tackle from him, she reached the defenders' positions, where she was in range to kick it. She looked to both sides to make sure she had a clear shot, and managed to flip over a tackle that Samuel attempted. She then decided to use a special move herself. She may not have been a shooter, but she could make one last effort to put the Stars in the lead.
Making sure that nobody was around to interfere, she wound up, and started spinning in a circle, counterclockwise. Holding the ball above her head with both hands, she slowly rose up in the water. She then lowered the ball to about chest level while still spinning; by this time, it was hard for anyone to keep up with her. At that point, she dropped the ball and kicked it to the goal. The ball went at high speed, and it was hard for Shannon to keep track of it. The ball was in range, and she jumped for it. The ball brushed her fingertips and was about to go into the goal when the final buzzer sounded, ending the game. Because the ball had not officially gotten past the goalie and went in, the shot did not count. It was a tie game.
The teams met in the center, and the four that had crashed had regained consciousness. The 12 players met in the center of the sphere pool. Basil and Chase shook hands.
"You played a great game, Basil." Chase said.
"You too, Chase." Basil replied.
The Aeronites then shook hands with the Stars player that was playing the same position as them, and the crowd cheered wildly. The sport was definitely popular, and people would definitely want a league started. As the cheering went on, the players exited the sphere pool to rest up. They were glad that the sport was so popular, and were glad to know that there would be a league. After all, it was known that if the sport was popular, a league would be formed. Now people who wanted to become Aquaball players would sign up, train, and hopefully be accepted into the league.
However, somewhere on a large deserted island with seemingly no life, a large violet portal appeared. From it emerged a figure in a floating hovercraft. The figure, clearly a male, entered a secret password into a terminal, and it opened. As he went through the corridors to the main chamber, he looked at the various things being created. Weapons, robots, vehicles...everything necessary for a full-scale war. A large door opened at the end of the corridor path, and inside it were two shadowed figures, both male, but unidentifiable past that.
"How are things going with production, my followers?" The dark figure asked.
"Things are going well, my lord." One of the shadowed figures replied.
"Our destruction force is nearly complete." The other of the two replied. "We shall soon be ready to start the grand war...Eggman Nega."
"Good." The figure said, now known as Eggman Nega as his face was lit up. "Soon this whole world will crumble before my sight. I will not accept penultimate failure this time! In this upcoming conflict, we shall have the advantage, and we shall finally win!"
Nega then laughed an evil laugh that could be heard well throughout the base, startling, and even possibly scaring, those working within. A new conflict...was coming.
End of Chapter 1.
Eggman Nega has returned once more, and he seems to have everything he needs to start an immense war and come out on top. Will the heroes be able to succeed? Or will Nega finally achieve his goal, and ruin the world as everyone knows it? Find out as the story continues.
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