The Sandlot
By Mutitoon90
Chapter Ten: The Homerun and the Ball.
Tails had snuck into his house without his mother noticing him and entered his stepfather's trophy room.
"Well, so far so good."
With great stealth, the fox managed to grab the very first thing he saw: the signed baseball.
"I got it."
"I got it, guys!" Tails yelled to his teammates as he ran to the sandlot.
Sonic grinned as Tails tried to give him the ball.
"Hey! It's your ball, so it's your turn at bat."
"Really?" The fox asked excitedly.
"Yeah." The hedgehog replied, smiling at the fox.
Tails jumped for joy and ran to home plate.
"All right, Tails." Trunks yelled to the two-tailed fox.
"Here!" Tails yelled as he threw the ball to the pitcher.
"Good throw, Tails." Trunks said, "But you have got to get better to be a good pitcher!"
"Come on!" Naruto yelled, "Let's play ball!"
The members went to their places, although Sonic took Tails' place.
"Hey, Tails, your shoelaces are untied." Naruto said with a wicked grin on his face.
The fox looked down, and the ball whizzed by the fox.
"Strike one!" Naruto said, throwing the ball to Trunks.
"Very funny, Naruto." Tails said, getting ready to bat.
Trunks threw the ball again, but this time Tails hit it, sending it through the air.
"Whoa!" The fox exclaimed.
"Run!" Ranma yelled to the small fox.
The fox obeyed and ran to first base with Naruto yelling to the others, "I taught him everything!"
"No, you didn't!" Trunks yelled at the blonde boy over the cheering of the others, "Sonic taught him!"
"I got it!" Sonic yelled, hoping to keep the ball away from the metal wall, but it was in vain.
The ball sailed into the yard behind the metal fence, which Tails saw, while rounding second base, causing him to forget to go to third base.
"Tails! You go to third base!" Zeke yelled at the shocked fox, "Tails…"
"I think he's shocked by his first home run." Yoh said, concerned about Tails.
"Yeah." Crash agreed.
Sonic ran up to the fox and said to the team, "Who's the big bad batter now, guys?"
"Tails!" The team replied, praising the fox on his first home run.
Tails turned to the teammates and said, "We gotta get the ball back!"
The group just laughed at the idea.
"Right…" Sly said, laughing a little with the others.
Sonic said to the fox, "You're upset and feel like you ruined the day. Don't worry about it; we'll get another ball tomorrow."
"No!" Tails yelled, "That wasn't my ball!"
The team looked at the fox, and Sly asked, "What?"
"That ball wasn't mine." Tails confessed, "It was my stepfather's. But I need the ball back, or he's gonna kill me!"
"Okay!" Sly said, "What's so important about that ball?"
"He just said that!" Yoh said to Sly, who said, "Sorry!"
Tails continued to confess.
"It even had a name on it."
The team looked at the fox and each other as the fox talked.
"Son…Son Go…"
Each member of the team had widened eyes as they realized what name was on the baseball.
"SON GOKU!?"
Then, the boys nearly run over the two-tailed fox, running to the metal fence. Once there, most of the boys climbed the wall, while Naruto looked through the hole on the fence, seeing that the ball Tails sent over the fence was really signed by Son Goku.
"Oh, no!" The blonde boy whimpered as he watched the ball before a giant paw slammed itself onto the autographed baseball.
The boys screamed as they ran away from the metal fence and to Tails, who became very frightened due to the others' reactions. Once close enough to the fox, they confronted him.
"You're dead meat, Tails!" Yoh yelled.
"You mean that you stole a baseball that was signed by Son Goku from your step-dad, and you brought here and played with it?!" Zeke yelled as well to the fox.
Tails tried to tell his case.
"Yeah, but I was gonna give it back!"
"But it was signed by Son Goku!" Trunks yelled at Tails.
"The Super Sayian!" Naruto yelled as well.
"You mean that the Super Sayian and Son Goku are the same guy?" The fox asked, shocking the team.
"Tails," Sonic spoke out, "He was considered to be greater than a man, but less than a god. That ball, you gave to the beast, is worth more than your life."
Hearing this, Tails fell to his knees and said, "I don't feel good."
The teammates used their gloves to fan the fox to give him some air.
"So, what do we do?" Tails asked.
"What do you mean 'we'?" Naruto asked the fox.
"You, me and Trunks are going to help Tails, since the three of us had the ball in our hands, and we didn't see it as a ball signed by Son Goku." Sonic said, pointing out the reason why the blonde boy should help.
"Good point." Naruto replied.
"I'll help." Yoh said, "I didn't get to hold the ball."
"Me too!" Zeke agreed.
"I want to hold the ball too." Sly said.
"It's our duty to get that ball out of the beast's lair." Crash announced to the group.
"But first," Sonic said, turning the fox, "Tails, when does your stepfather came home?"
"He's out of town for the week, but he can come back at any time." The two-tailed fox answered.
"You guys heard him. Look for bottles and cash them in for money to buy a baseball." Sonic announced.
The teammates scrambled out of the sandlot.
It had been an hour since the team went looking for bottles, and they met up at the baseball shop, where baseballs and items that promote the game are sold. Sonic took the money and bought a baseball and took the ball outside.
"Does anyone have a pen?" Sonic asked the team once outside.
"I do." Sly said, causing the others to look at him. "What? My mom made me take it for good luck."
"Well, thank you, Sly's mom." Sonic said, tearing the ball out of the box.
Once the ball was out of the box, Sonic borrowed Sly's pen and wrote, 'Son Goku' on the ball.
"What are you doing?" Tails asked the hedgehog.
"Buying us some time." Sonic replied, finishing writing on the ball. Then, he put the ball in the fox's hand and said, "Put this where the Son Goku ball was at."
"Wouldn't my mom notice that something's wrong?" Tails asked.
"Not as long as you put there before your mom finds out." Sonic explained.
Understanding this, Tails ran off.
Tails had returned home and sneaked pass his mother again, entering the room, where he took the autographed baseball. He had placed the replica ball, when he heard his mother's voice.
"You know that your father doesn't like you playing with his things without his permission."
This statement startled the two-tailed fox, who turned around and saw his mother at the door.
"Hi, mom." Tails greeted causally.
Krystal smiled slyly and said, "Next time, call him before you take a baseball."
Tails was shocked to find out that his mother caught him in the act of taking a baseball, but his fear turned in relief when his mother said, "The baseball looks good from being played around a bit."
"Yeah." The fox played along, hoping not to expose himself of the mistake that he did to his mother.
"Do you know who Son Goku was?" Krystal asked her child.
"No." Tails asked, being somewhat honest.
"Son Goku was the best baseball player. He signed that ball and gave it to Krillin's father, and maybe he'll give it to you someday."
"Neat!" Tails said to his mother; his smile covered the embarrassment that he felt.
"That was some of the salt that was rubbed into the wound; my mom, a grown up vixen, knew who Son Goku was. Great."