(Here's chapter 7. Hope you like it.)

Copyright 2005

Chapter 7: Dodgeball Dodge

(Written by Mat49324)

12:37 p.m. -- Spies' Villa

The girls, Nick, and I were hanging out by the pool. We were all wearing the same swimwear, and so was Bridget.

"Man, it's so good to have you back, Alex," Nick said.

"Same here, Nick," Alex said to Nick.

It was such a beautiful day to be outside. Haruka, Bridget, and the rest of the girls went for a swim in the pool, while Nick and I just lay on the beach chairs and continued to sunbathe.

"Hey, dude," I said to Nick.

"Yeah?" Nick said.

"How do you feel today?" I said.

"Better than when I collapsed back there. I'm lucky to be able to be alive and to still be with Alex, especially after that," Nick answered.

"Oh yeah, for sure," I said, agreeing with him.

After a few hours of playing outside of the water and inside, and even relaxing in the jacuzzi, we all changed clothes and the girls and Nick went inside to watch TV. I decided to go to the First National Memorial Field Coliseum at the Veteran's Dome Stadium Complex that was about 10 miles away from the spies' house. Before I left, I wrote a note to the others saying that I went to go see the commissioner, Rip Torn.

At the Commissioner's office...

"Are you sure you wanna play a game of 'Extreme Dodgeball' Mr. Vasconcellos?" Rip asked me.

"Yes, for sure, Mr. Torn," I said.

"I've been a long time watcher since last year when it premiered on GSN. Honest. And, 'Extreme Dodgeball' is when my 7-year old cousin and I bond together."

"Even though you're not in college yet, I like hearing that you and your cousin bond together by something like 'Extreme Dodgeball'. I'm letting you go out there on the court. Which team do you wanna go on?" Rip asked me.

"I wanna go on the L.A. Armed Response," I answered.

"Okay. That's a very good choice, and at just the right time, too. It seems that Damion Ward (58) has injured his ankle and he'll be out for the rest of the season," Rip said.

"Here's your outfit. Your match is at 7:00. Don't be late."

The outfit that Torn handed me was a black jersey with a police badge inscribed on the right side of the chest area that said L.A. Armed Response on it with a red circle in between the city and the team name, and black shorts. On the back of my jersey had the number 33 inscribed in white.

"Thanks, Mr. Torn. I promise that you or me won't regret it. I'm glad I'm living up to my dream," I said to Rip Torn. Rip handed me a map so I knew where the stadium was.

Meanwhile, back at the spies' house, everyone was looking around for me when I wasn't there.

"Where's Mathew?" Sam asked.

"I hope he didn't get kidnapped by somebody," Bridget said.

"My guess is that he didn't," Haruka said.

"Guys, look. Mat left a note," Nick said.

"What does it say, Nick?" Clover asked.

(Written by S.P.D. Gold Ranger)

"Huh. It says that he went to something called 'Extreme Dodgeball'. Have any of you ever heard of a sport like that?" Nick asked the others.

"Not really," Bridget replied.

"Hey, look at that," Haruka said, pointing to another part of the note. "It also says that he went to meet with the commissioner. Does Mat really know this guy?"

"In any case, we'd better check it out. It may be a trap," Clover responded.

"Just be careful out there if we do happen to run into a dodgeball match, okay, Haruka? I don't want you to get hurt like last time," Nick said to Haruka, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be all right, Nick. I don't wear glasses anymore, especially after that," Haruka replied.

(flashback to 3 years ago)

It was almost pure pandemonium in the school gym, but in a good kind of way.

Beverly Hills Junior High's gym class was having their monthly all-out dodgeball game, and best friends Nick (13 years) and Haruka (12 years) were really tearing up the gym.

Having launched all kinds of amazing special moves for their team, this game seemed to be in the bag for their team.

However, something happened that would completely change the outcome of the game – in more ways than one.

Haruka had just launched a rolling attack, making sure to duck the next incoming red sphere. She bent down to pick up a stray ball, when all of a sudden, Haruka got a strange feeling that something wasn't right. Adjusting her glasses so they wouldn't fall off of her face, she grabbed the ball, stood up...

...and was met with a flying sphere that slammed straight into her face, making her drop the ball she was holding just as she let out a yell before falling flat on her back. Her glasses had been shattered on impact, but thankfully, none of the glass had hurt her.

Nick saw this and ran over to Haruka's side, dodging all kinds of flying spheres to reach his best friend. As he helped her up, he began looking around for whoever had thrown that ball at her.

All of a sudden, he could see a ball coming straight for him, but he caught it easily. As Haruka steadied herself on the retractable stands nearby, Nick dropped the ball and struck it with his foot, sending the red sphere flying towards the other side. With that out of the way, he rushed back to Haruka.

"Are you okay, Haruka?" he asked his friend.

"Aside from the fact that my glasses are done like dinner, I should be okay," she replied, holding what was left of her glasses.

"We'd better ask your mom if she can get you a new pair," Nick said, taking Haruka's hand and leading her out of the gym, so as to avoid any more sneak attacks.

(end flashback)

About 10 minutes later, Nick, Haruka, Bridget, Sam, Alex, and Clover had arrived at the First National Stadium Complex in downtown Beverly Hills, all curious as to just what Mathew was up to.

Suddenly, Nick could hear someone throwing something nearby. Peeking around the corner, Nick could eventually see Mathew throwing balls at other people in the arena.

Wait. I think I recognize this sport now. Didn't Mat say something about this "Extreme Dodgeball" that was coming to Beverly Hills in October? This must be what he was talking about! Nick thought.

"Hey, Mat!" Nick shouted, drawing Mathew's attention. He signaled to the other players he was practicing with and walked up to the group.

"Hey, guys!" Mathew exclaimed.

"What's going on, Mathew? Where did you go?" Sam asked.

"Well, Sammy, to put it simply, the commissioner of 'Extreme Dodgeball' needed someone to replace one of the injured players on one of its teams, so he asked me, and I accepted. My first match is tomorrow night!" Mathew explained enthusiastically.

"That's awesome!" Clover replied.

"Which team are you gonna be on?" Nick asked.

"The L.A. Armed Response," Mathew replied.

"Wait. Didn't they say that the Armed Response would be the USA's representative at the World Competition this year?" Nick asked again.

(Note from S.P.D. Gold Ranger: I don't know much about Extreme Dodgeball, so just bear with me. If you want to know stuff about it, ask Mat. He knows a LOT more than I do about ED.)

"The one and the same," Mathew replied.

"Wow. You must be really lucky," Nick said, giving Mathew a high-five.

"It's always been my dream to play Extreme Dodgeball," Mathew replied enthusiastically.

"That's no big surprise, since we all know how big a sports fan you are," Bridget added.

"Would you guys like to come to my first match tomorrow night?" Mathew asked the group.

"Would we ever!" Nick, Sam, Alex, Clover, Haruka, and Bridget all exclaimed at the same time.

"Wait a minute," Haruka said as we all looked at her.

"What?" Mathew said to her.

"What team are you facing?" Haruka asked.

"The Denver Hurlers," Mathew answered.

"Weird name," Sam commented.

Fast-forward to the next night...

The First National Memorial Field Coliseum at the Veteran's Dome Stadium Complex was jam-packed the following night as the L.A. Armed Response was getting ready to play its 5th game of the season after hearing from Mathew that they had lost their first 4 games of their season -- 2 to New York Bling, 1 to the Chicago Hitmen, and the first one to the Denver Hurlers.

High above the field, Sam, Alex, and Clover were already seated, munching on buttered popcorn.

Suddenly, Alex noticed that the 3 seats beside the girls were vacant. "Hey, where's Nick and the others?" Alex asked.

"They went to get our sodas," Clover replied dreamily, her eyes full of hearts. Apparently, she'd spotted a really cute boy sitting a few rows above them.

By the concession stands not too far away, Nick, Haruka, and Bridget were carrying the group's sodas.

"Thanks for buying me my soda, Bridge," Nick said, using his pet name for Bridget.

"It's no problem, Nick. It's the least we could do after you helped save this whole city," Bridget replied, smiling brightly.

Thankfully for the three of them, everyone that was around them didn't overhear it.

"Let's head back, guys. The girls are probably worried. Plus, the game's about to start," Haruka said.

"Good idea," Nick and Bridget said at the same time.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Somebody said.

(written by Mat49324)

(Mathew's P.O.V.)

It was the "Extreme Dodgeball" sideline reporter, Michele Merkin. She was standing on the blue side of the court, which was the right side; the other side was orange colored.

"Now entering the arena, the team that represents the bunny slopes in snowboarding, it's the Denver Hurlers!"

The Hurlers entered the arena. They were led by celebrity captain, X-games gold medalist snowboarder, #1 Tara Dakides. She was followed up by #41 Micah Moses, #94 Bobby Roe, #34 Danno Kingman, #69 Gary "Spaz" Davis, #75 Adrian "The Ghoul" Quihuis, and #13 Kelly Lovato.

"Now entering the arena," Michele continued.

"The only dodgeball police squad in the entire world, heating it up, it's the L.A. Armed Response!"

The Armed Response team entered the arena. They were led by celebrity captain, actor and talk show host, #1 Mario Lopez. He was followed by #50 David "The Animal" Benedetto, then came #18 Tanya Fenderbosch, #26 Sebastien Sciotti, #99 Kel Watrin, #61 Mandy Sommers, and then I came out last.

"Go, L.A.!" Nick and the others cheered.

"I hope my Mathew's starting," Sam said.

"We're all gonna keep an eye out to see if he is," Bridget said.

"Good idea, girl," Haruka said to Bridget.

As the girls and Nick looked over at the orange side of the court, which is where my team was at, it turned out that L.A. wasn't going to start me. They were starting Fenderbosch, Benedetto, Sciotti, Watrin and Lopez. Denver was starting Dakides, Roe, Kingman, Moses, and Davis. Fortunately for me, I would be the first one to come in if someone caught a ball only if there were less than 4 people on the court, or I would get regenerated after 30 seconds if only one person was on the court. I was on the bench with Mandy Sommers.

"It looks like he isn't," Nick said, a little dejected as was Sam.

"Let's just hope he comes in soon," Haruka said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will," Bridget replied.

2 balls (one red and one blue) were set on the white center line. 2 referees were standing on each side of the white line. The one in front of us, and the only one we could see was the head ref, Jim Burns, with the other ref, Chris Pierce on the other side.

"Denver, are you ready?" Burns said, looking at the orange side of the court.

Everyone on Denver gave him a cheer, and a "yes".

"L.A. are you ready?" Burns said to us.

Everyone on L.A. did the same thing as them.

"On the whistle," Burns continued, holding a whistle on his left hand. Burns blew it and the match was under way with the opening rush. 3 players for L.A. went for balls, while 2 players rushed to the center line for Denver.

(written by Mat49324 and S.P.D. Gold Ranger. I did the conversation part; Mat did the dodgeball match part.)

In the stands, Nick and the others were cheering the Armed Response on along with all the other fans in the packed stadium.

It was a crapshoot of who would win. To start off, L.A. came out of the gate firing. Under the leadership of David "The Animal" Benedetto, Sebeastien Sciotti, and Kel Watrin, L.A. killed almost all of the 5 players on the Denver side of the court before one minute passed. Micah Moses was the last man standing for Denver. Just when Denver got close to L.A.'s lead, "The Animal" got a yellow card for delay of game.

"Oh no, this is huge," Haruka said, looking a little scared as Benedetto went into the penalty box and going for a catch.

"Yeah," Sam said.

Bobby Roe took the free shot at Benedetto and he almost had the catch. One point was awarded to Denver and they were down by one point.

"Oh no," Clover said.

"I hope they can hang on," Nick said.

"They better, after their very terrible start to the season," Bridget agreed.

L.A.'s captain Mario Lopez helped out the Armed Response with a regeneration of myself and I threw down my first 3 kills of the season on Dakides, Davis, and Moses. Unfortunately, Danno Kingman knocked me out, throwing a ball and hitting me in the elbow. As I left the court, I banged the plexiglas knowing better than that. To make matters worse, Lopez was the last man standing 3 times for L.A., and stepped on the center line twice in two different regeneration possibilities.

(Meanwhile, in the commentary booth with Bil Dwyer and Zach Selwyn)

Zach: GSN and Burger King want you to have it your way by picking the best dodgeballer of the game, so keep your thoughts handy because later on in the show, you'll have a chance to vote for the Burger King King of the Court. (Quick A/n: Yes you will have an opportunity to vote, but for me to tally up the percentage of votes, I will need a minimum of 10 votes because each vote will be worth 10 percent. When I get 10 votes or more -- which I hope I will get, I'll convert the number of votes into a percentage. Sound good?)

(back to the match/story)

A little ways into the last minutes of the first quarter, Nick decided to start up a conversation.

"So, girls, you excited about this?" Nick asked.

"You bet we are!" Alex replied enthusiastically. "It's been so long since we've gone to a sporting event."

"Hey, speaking of which, didn't one of our past missions involve a sporting event?" Haruka asked, keeping her voice low enough so none of the other fans would hear the mission part.

"Yeah, you're right, Haruka," Nick said, recounting one of Nick and Haruka's previous missions. In it, they'd been assigned to protect a NASCAR driver who had almost been kidnapped by a mysterious motorcyclist. After a while (and after Haruka had been kidnapped by the same motorcyclist), Nick had found the culprit on the cycle: an ex-NASCAR driver whose career had ended after a rather horrific accident wound him in the hospital for a few weeks. His plan was to kidnap the best drivers in the NASCAR league and force them to race on his so-called "ultimate race track" - a death-filled gauntlet filled with the craziest racing gimmicks anyone had ever seen. Thankfully, Nick had arrived just in time to shut down the fatal race, save Haruka and all the drivers, and send the villain packing.

"Wow," was all Clover was able to say.

"That guy must have been pretty ticked that he lost his career," Sam said.

"He was way off his rocker, huh?" Bridget added in.

"No doubt about it," Haruka replied. "I've always wanted to race, but not like that."

"I can't believe that she fainted when she heard about the track race the next day," Nick said, chuckling slightly.

Suddenly, a large cheer rose up from the fans of L.A.; the Armed Response had just scored once again, and Nick and the girls cheered along with the crowd.

"All right, L.A.! Show Denver how it's done!" Nick shouted.

Suddenly, Nick felt about 7 or 8 ice cubes fall onto his head. Someone above had just dumped the remains of his soda on Nick.

"You don't know squat! That was pure luck! Denver rules!" the obvious Hurlers fan above said to Nick.

"For your info, that was pure skill out there. And furthermore, did I ask you?" Nick snapped back.

"Just let it go, Nick," Haruka said, drawing Nick's attention away from the straggler above him.

"I'm sorry, Haruka. It's just that people like him always tick me off whenever I'm at a sports game," Nick replied. "Mom and I used to run into those guys all the time whenever we'd go to the basketball games."

"Really?" Bridget said in wonder.

"Oh, yeah," Nick replied. "Those kind of guys annoyed me to no end."

"It happens," Sam said. "They're just jerks."

"That's true," Alex added, munching on some popcorn.

Soon enough, the first quarter was over, with the Armed Response leading 14-9. But, no one knew what was about to happen next. Would L.A. win their first game of the season? Would they go 0-5? Would Denver mount a comeback?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Next Time:

Log 8: Psychic Paradox

When the second quarter starts, trouble arises, as Nick seems to have somehow lost control of his psychic powers. Can the girls get Nick to safety before something bad happens?

Cya next time,

Mat49324 and S.P.D. Gold Ranger