Yes! I do play football. Defensive Lineman. Tackling is what I live for. (That and fan fiction.) Thanks for the reviews on Chapter 1. I hope this one is ten times better than the firs chapter.

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Ring.

That was the bell to end school. Knuckles and Shadow left their classes and headed straight for the football field. Being returning players from last year, they were sure to make the team, anyway. Sonic waited around for Silver before heading out to the football field. For some reason, Tails went with them, but Sonic was unsure what the reason was.

When they reached the football field, it seemed like many kids had shown up. A gray hedgehog was busy warming up by doing push-ups. A silver fox was doing crunches. Many of the others were stretching their legs and arms. Silver, Sonic, and Tails went over to where Knuckles and Shadow were. They changed into more appropriate clothing. Tails put on goggles, which made a few guys laugh when they saw him.

"Glad to see that you didn't wuss out," said Shadow.

"Never that," said Sonic. Silver nodded in agreement.

"What are you doing here, Tails?" asked Knuckles.

"I need a reputation boost. I don't want people to think that I'm a nerd," said Tails.

"But, you are a nerd," snickered Shadow.

Tails frowned at this. He wondered if Cream thought he was just a nerd, too.

All of a sudden, a tall, long, green crocodile walked onto the field. He wore blue and gray shorts, a baseball cap, and a sleeveless shirt. He had the look of a fierce animal. In his eyes, you could tell that he expected nothing but the best. There was no smile on his face, or an expression at all. He was surely coach material. As he marched over to the bleachers where all the guys had assembled, everyone got quiet.

"Hi. My name is Coach Vector. You may call me Coach Vector, not coach, Vector, Vec, or Coach Vec. It's Coach Vector. Understand?"

The guys nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now, the first order of business is to let you know a few things. I run a tight ship. Everyone will be expected to do his part. There will be no stragglers on this team. If you're not able to work your ass off, leave now to avoid further embarrassment."

He gave it a second to see if anyone was going to leave, but nobody moved.

"I'm glad to see that I'm dealing with men here and not boys. If you survive tryouts and prove yourself worthy, you will have the privilege of calling yourself a Tornado. Now, first of all, where are Knuckles and Shadow?" he asked.

Shadow and Knuckles raised their hands.

"These two guys right here are your team captains. Shadow is the offensive captain, and Knuckles runs the defense. Follow in their footsteps and one day, you might become great, too. Shadow and Knuckles, come here."

Shadow and Knuckles got down from the bleachers and walked over to Coach Vector. Shadow stood on his left, and Knuckles stood on his right.

"All who are going out for offense, please stand over here by Shadow. All who are going out for defense, stand over here by Knuckles."

All the guys suddenly got up from the bleachers and went to stand by either Shadow or Knuckles. Tails took off his glasses and put them in his backpack. One guy fell as he left the bleachers. Vector saw that.

"It looks like I might have to make some cuts. It seems as if some guys can't even get out of the bleachers without messing up. Now, let's go."

Sonic, Tails, and Silver all lined up behind Shadow. They were all going out for offense. Knuckles had some guys on his side as well.

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"First up is the speed test. You must run a 40 yard dash while I time you," said Coach Vector.

Coach Vector walked to the 40 yard line. Shadow stayed by the starting point for observation. A red hedgehog went first. He was pretty fast. He clocked in at 5.1 seconds. Next, a fat, albino cat stepped up. He ran very slowly, clocking in at 7.8 seconds. Silver went next. His speed was very moderate. He clocked in at 5.3 seconds. Tails went next. He was very uncoordinated and slow. His time was 6.8 seconds. Coach Vector shook his head at this. After Tails, a blue rabbit went, then a green mongoose, and after him, the gray hedgehog that was doing push-ups at the beginning went. Sonic was next. He looked very determined.

"Go," said Coach Vector, blowing his whistle.

Sonic took off like a rocket. His feet moved quickly. It didn't take him any time to get down to the 40 yard line. The coach looked at his time. A big grin came on his face. Sonic's time was 4.4 seconds. Even Shadow managed a brisk smile at his friend.

A small group of girls emerged and went to sit on the bleachers. They had come to watch the boys tryout. In that group were Amy, Rouge, Tikal, Cream, Sally, Mina, and Julie-Su. Each girl had her eyes on someone in particular.

Tails looked back at the bleachers and saw Cream staring at him from the second row. He blushed. Now, it was time for him to work his hardest.

"Next up is the catching test. You will run a simple post pattern, and Shadow will throw you the ball. Let's go."

Shadow grabbed the loose football and stepped up to the starting point.

"Hike!" said Shadow.

The red hedgehog took off. Shadow threw him the ball, but he missed. The ball slipped right through his fingers. Next, the silver fox went. He caught the ball gracefully. Sonic went next. He ran the route, but it was a little crooked. He caught the ball, but then dropped the pass as it slipped out of his hands. Tails was next. He ran the pattern slowly as Shadow threw him the ball. Tails raised his hands to catch, but he was too late. The ball collided with his head, and he fell to the ground. He could hear the girls laughing from the stands. He felt humiliated, but remained silent. He got up, brushed himself off, and went back into the group. Coach Vector shook his head again. Silver was next.

"Hike!"

He ran the route perfectly. Shadow lobbed the ball up into the air. Silver must have grown wings because he jumped at least four feet into the air to catch the ball. It was a perfect catch as well. All the other guys awed at Silver for his catch. Tikal gave him a smile. She liked how he looked catching that ball in his muscle shirt and gray shorts.

"How can you jump so high?" asked Shadow.

"I play a lot of basketball," said Silver.

"Well, that explains the jersey," added Sonic.

On the other side of the field, Knuckles had his shirt off. A couple of girls, two in particular, were ogling his sweaty body. Knuckles was completely ripped. He had massive upper body strength. His pecs and abs were hard as a rock, and his arms were the size of telephone poles (A/N: I'm exaggerating.). Knuckles went up and charged at a gray wolf. He was demonstrating the proper hitting technique. The wolf's feet actually left the ground as he was thrown back ten yards before falling. Knuckles was a beast out there, but very sportsman-like. He walked over and helped the gray wolf up.

"Good job, Logan," he told the wolf.

The other defensive players were awe struck at Knuckles' raw power. They were glad that they didn't have to get tackled by him.

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The coach then gathered all the players together.

"The final portion of today's tryouts is the scrimmage. Knuckles and Shadow will show you the plays, and you execute. We're doing this to try you out at different positions," said Coach Vector. He blew the whistle.

The two sides lined up. For the first play, Sonic was wide receiver and Tails was the half back. A green chameleon pitched Tails the ball. He tried to run up the field, but was tackled by a big, blue hare for a loss of one yard. On the next play, Silver was half back and Tails was wide receiver. This time, the green chameleon pitched Silver the ball. He was tackled at the 30 yard line for a gain of ten yards. On this play, Silver was wide receiver, Sonic was half back, and Tails was at tight end. Tails had a blocking assignment that play, but got ran over so easily. The green chameleon lobbed the ball up just as he was getting hit. Silver jumped over his opposition and caught the ball with one hand. He was tackled at the 45 yard line in their territory. On the next play, Sonic outran the other players for a 45 yard run and a touchdown. The girls cheered from the stands as Sonic scored.

Coach Vector kept switching up positions until scrimmaging was over. Sonic and Silver did well. Tails, on the other hand, could've used some more practice, but since he was a freshman playing with all the upper classes, his chances of playing on a varsity team were slim, anyways.

"Alright, bring em' in," said Coach Vector.

All the guys kneeled before Coach Vector at center field.

"Great day of tryouts. I will have the roster posted up in the corridor in the school and also on the field house door tomorrow. Most of you will make the team, but a few will be cut. I'm sorry, but we only have enough equipment for a certain amount of players. Those who do not make it may try playing less physical sports like golf because you do not qualify to be a Tornado. Those who do make the team will have their class schedules changed to where Football is the last class of the day. We will practice then and also an hour after school. I'll see you then. Tryouts are over."

He blew his whistle.

The sun was setting when practice was declared over. There was only a little sunlight left. The guys all went to the bleachers to get their things. They were all dirty and sweaty, but Tails was the worst off. He had suffered a lot out there. Sonic was proud of him for it. The girls had left before tryouts were over. Sonic, Silver, Knuckles, Shadow, and Tails got dressed and headed for the parking lot. Knuckles left his shirt off, however.

"How do you think we did?" asked Sonic.

"You did okay, I guess," said Shadow.

Sonic chuckled his trademark chuckle.

"Where are you guys headed now?" asked Knuckles.

"I'm about to go and grab a bite to eat before I go to see Monday," said Shadow.

"You are such a whore," said Sonic.

"Maybe, but I gets mine," said Shadow.

"I know. That's why you stay buying condoms," said Sonic.

"I hate to interrupt, but could one of you guys give me a lift. I don't have a car, and it's a long way to my house," said Silver.

"I got you," said Knuckles.

"Thanks. I'll give you some gas money in the morning," said Silver.

"No charge. You're one of us, now," said Knuckles.

Silver and Knuckles got into his Mustang, Sonic and Tails got into Sonic's Camaro, and Shadow got on his motorcycle. They all rode together to Spanky's with Knuckles' stereo bumping. Spanky's was a café where they hung out. They came in there almost every other day. Knuckles put on his shirt, and they walked in. They walked in and took a seat in their usual booth. Their waitress came up to take their orders.

"Hey, Tikal. How are you?" asked Knuckles.

"Hey, Knuckles. I'm fine. Thanks for asking," said Tikal. She noticed that the silver hedgehog from tryouts was with them. "Who's your new friend?"

"My name is Silver. It's very nice to meet you," said Silver, taking her hand. He gave it a gentle greeting.

"It's… nice to meet you, too," said Tikal, almost melting. She kept smiling at Silver. Knuckles and Shadow saw this and smiled as well. Actually, they laughed to themselves.

"What can I get you?" she asked still looking at Silver.

"What would YOU recommend?" asked Silver.

"My personal favorite is the chicken salad, but a strong guy like you would probably want something like the catfish dinner," said Tikal.

"I guess I'll have that and a medium Pepsi," said Silver.

"Coming right up," said Tikal. She left to place his order.

"Tikal! Tikal! Tikal!" yelled Knuckles across the café. "You forgot to place our orders!" Tikal did not hear a word Knuckles said, even though everyone else heard him and stared at him.

"What?" he said to the people.

They turned around and continued eating.

"I think she likes you, Silver," said Sonic.

"Who? That waitress? You think so?" asked Silver.

"She must like you considering she was so focused on you that she forgot our orders," said Knuckles.

Tikal finally came back and took their orders. After eating, they all went their separate ways. Shadow took his motorcycle to Monday's house and Sonic and Tails went home. Silver showed Knuckles where he lived and Knuckles took him home. He lived in a good-sized house. It was quaint. It was two stories with a basketball court behind it.

"This is me," said Silver. He opened the door and got out. "Thanks, Knuckles."

"No problem, dawg," said Knuckles. "See you tomorrow." He backed his car up and headed towards home himself with his stereo blasting.

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Well, this is chapter 2. I tried not to overdo it with too much football terminology in case some of my readers do not understand football too well. Did you enjoy? Let me know right now.