A/N: I know, I know, it's the wrong time of year for a football fic (unless you count Arena League as football), but I had a lot of ideas for this fic and I wanted to get it right. I hope you enjoy the new opening, as well as the rest of the fic in general. As always, reviews are welcome, and criticism is encouraged. Here it is!
Note:This is a Yu-gi-oh/YGO GX/Eyeshield 21 crossover.Yeah, I'm wondering how I'm gonna pull this off too. Football terms will be explained as they come up so that readers who don't understand the game can get the whole idea.
Hold That Line!
By:
Black Dragon of the Bayou
Chapter One
May 16, 2005
Harrington Prep Football Leauge Title Game
Windsor White Knights Vs.Tavington Mean Green
Fifty-five seconds left to go in the game, The Mean Green leading the White Knights 21-14 in the Harrington Prep League Football title game. Knights have the ball on the Greenie 21-yard-line and it's fourth down and ten yards to go...Kawada under center...gets the ball...looks around...hit as he throws...caught by Bond at the 13...and he WON'T get the line necessary to get the first down! GREENIES TAKE THE BALL OVER ON DOWNS AND WILL RUN OUT THE CLOCK AND CLINCH THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR 2005! THE "GOLDEN GENERATION" OF WHITE KNIGHT FOOTBALL HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN DETHRONED! The Mean Green will now travel to play Redemptorist High School from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to attempt to reclaim the Harrington Cup, which has been out of the school's possession for nearly twenty years.
Hi, My name is Yuugi Mutou, and I'm a student at Harrington Prepatory Academy. You know, one of those high schools for kids prepping for Ivy League Colleges and the like. Well, anyway, this story is about one of the strange traditions the school has: required athletics. Everybody, regardless of age, height, sex, or physical ability, was required to play at least one sport per semester. The players coach and police themselves, but an adult supervisor would oversee if each child on the team had done their best and was given the opportunity to play by his peers. I'm not a very big person, about 5'1 in height and about 100 pounds, so I found it difficult to find a sport was good at. Basketball? Too short. Baseball? I could barely swing the bat. Tennis? Nowhere near enough hand and eye coordination. Somehow...I don't think I'll ever figure out exactly how...my best friend Joey Wheeler convinced me that football was my thing. I was thinking probably the same thing you are now: How in the blue hell could someone my size go up against a bunch of crazed meat-heads? As I would learn...football isn't exactly about who has the most talent, or the most speed. Or even the best strategy or the most intelligence. It's about heart...
WHAT'S UP HARRINGTON PREP STUDENTS? WELCOME TO OUR OPENING DAY FESTIVITIES FOR THE 2006 INTRAMURAL FOOTBALL SEASON! HERE'S A LIST OF GAMES AND APPROXIMATE START TIMES!
12:00 PM: Windsor SilverKats vs. Tavington Hawkeyes
2:45 PM: Washington Scarlet Storm vs. Windsor White Knights
5:15 PM: Washington Thunder vs. Harrington Tigers
8:00 PM: Tavington Mean Green vs. Harrington Blue Dragons
AND DON'T FORGET, ALL TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE! GET THERE EARLY AND ENTER THE DRAWING FOR TWO FREE TICKETS TO THE 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP!
Markham Field: 6:30 P.M.
Two young men looked at the posterin silence. One, wearing a bandanna emblazoned with the American flag, scoffed as he read it. "The Blue Dragons? More like the Blue 'Drag Queens'! HAHAHA!" He took off his shades to reveal a pair of piercing, ruthless green eyes. "We'll crush those punks! The only one on that team worth a damn is Kaiba, and he almost has to play quarterback. You can rest up for another week, Gregory."
Gregory was a young man with a caramel complexion, surprisingly curly black hair and a compact but very well built body. He was several inches shorter than his counterpart, but appeared to be much stronger. "I'm not concerned with the Dragons...it's just that we have only a couple of weeks until the game with the White Knights. I want to be ready."
Keith frowned in confusion. Gregory was a great athlete and reliable teammate, but was a bit on the strange side. His voice had a soft, eerie quality to it and his hazel eyes seemed almost emotionless. He was damn smart, however, and didn't try to stop him whenever he felt like doing something a little crazy, so he was cool in his book.
"Don't worry about it. We play one of those freshmen teams next week, we'll run through 'em like a knife through butter. Now go get some popcorn and enjoy the show! HAW!"
Gregory shook his head as he watch his teammate walk into the stadium where a game was already going on. "Keith?"
"Yeah?"
"You're too confident. There's something amiss about this game to me...something doesn't feel right."
Keith dismissed his friend's worries with a wave of his hand and walked into the stadium. Us...lose to these losers? What a crock! Kaiba made half the team quit last year, and they didn't even win a game! It'll be a cold day in hell before we lose to this pathetic collection of wimps! And what the hell is Gregory's deal? He thinks he's some kind of psychic or somethin'?
Markham Field, 6:45 P.M.
Yugi looked out of the tunnel nervously into the stadium. Markham Memorial Field had been built in 1942 and stood the test of time. The stadium had four sets of bleachers, set out in the shape of a rectangle with grand oak trees outlining the east and west ends of the stadium. The North and South ends could seat about 600 or so people apiece, and the East and West ends could seat well over a thousand.
"Nervous, Yug?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, Joey. Where's everyone else?"
The blonde started to adjust his jersey while speaking. "Watchin' the game before ours. You wanna go sit down and watch?"
Yugi shook his head. "No thanks. I think I'll just hang out here for a while."
"Suit yourself."
Joey, who Yugi considered to be his best friend, sauntered off into the stands. Yugi watched the players run and push and shove down the field for a few minutes, having about as much a clue about what was going on as Paris Hilton would in a calculus class. That's when he heard a scream from the back end of the corridor he was standing in.
"OWWWWWWWW! MY LEG!"
"Out of my sight you pathetic, worthless excuse for a football player!"
That's when Yugi saw him. Some students thought that he was the son of Satan himself. Others thought that he belonged in a mental institution. Still others thought that he was just plain mean. There he was, dressed in the blue uniform and white pants that he had personally chosen as the team colors. (He considered himself above the team's appointed 'supervisor', so he made uniform orders behind his back).
"Yugi...you're going to play today. Let it be know that it's not because I want to, but it's required under the rules. Don't let me down...Understood?"
The boy with the spiky, three-colored hair gulped audibly. "Um...y-yeah. Sure!"
"Good."
Then he walked away. After barely avoiding wetting himself, Yugi sat down on the grass near the players' entrance into the stadium watching the closing moments of the game in silent thought.
Markham Field ...10:45 P.M.
This has been a bit of a surprise here on the "Mark", as some of the students affectionately call it. The Blue Dragons, who are in the midst of a 12-game losing streak are hanging tough with the defending champion Mean Green (minus co-captain Gregory Stadler) with the score being 6-0 with 2:38 to go in the final period. Seto Kaiba has not played great at quarterback, but the relatively unknown defense that he attempted to build has come up big-time in stopping Keith Howard and the man-child known as Sonny Heyward, holding the "unstoppable" ground attack to only one score, a Heyward 12-yard run in the first period. The teams are retaking the field now; it will be third down and four for the greenies at the Dragon forty-five. The line to make looks to be just inside the forty-one...Keith lining up under center now...calling the play at the line...here's the snap...he hands off to Heyward who is met at about the forty-eight by Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and a host of others. That's a three yard loss, and it will nwo be fourth and seven yards to go. Without Gregory Stadler, this Mean Green rushing attack is nowhere near as fearsome as the one that finished the leauge with a record of 7-1 and put fear into the hearts of every defense that they faced. And so the Greenies will be forced to punt with 2:00 exactly to go in the game...
Next Time: Yugi looks back on what his days at the Academy were like before the game, and an untimely injury forces him into live game action! Could he possibly lift the Blue Dragons to their first win in three years...or will he be completely destroyed!
And now...scouting reports on two of the top players in Harrington's Prep Leauge!
Keith Howard-Quarterback-Mean Green
Height: 6'3''
Weight: 197 pounds
Pros: strong arm, solid mobility, quickly able to read defensive schemes and coverages
Cons: nonchalant attitude (bordering on arrogance), sometimes takes plays off, not a strong leader
Overall grade: (out of 100) 86
----
Seto Kaiba-Quarterback-Blue Dragons
Height: 6'2''
Weight: 186
Pros: almost unshakable when throwing the football, works hard to correct mistakes, above average athlete
Cons: abrasive attitude makes it difficult to communicate with teammates; sometimes puts too much of the load on himself
Overall grade: 82
Well...I hope that was a better opening. I've had a lot on my plate both on my job and in my attempts to go back to college and it's been a pretty bumpy ride. But, I promise you, if you thought that this chapter was sub-par for any reason, let me know and I will RESTORE THE ORDER. Thanks for reading, and until next time...
GOOD NIGHT NOW!