Galaxy Ball

CHP 19: Awaiting

Inside a gym on Yoshi's island Jak ran a laps checking the timer tied around his arm. Thrilled his time had improved by close to forty seconds grinned. Noticing he had an hour before it was time for him to report to the stadium for a meeting. The thought of lifting weights came to mind.

"Whatever I decide to do, it had better be a quick session…over working is something I need to stay away from. It's good that we'll be playing on Sunday night football this upcoming game, but boy the Reindeer are going to be one heck of an opponent." Jak said to himself wrapping a towel around his neck.

So far seven games in the Hammerheads stood at a record of 2-5, but Jak was not ready to give in just yet. He still believed the team could string together a few wins in these next few games and build momentum and try and sneak into the playoffs as a wildcard down the line.

"Oh yeah that's right! I promised to practice throwing routes with Gloshi, I'll skip the lifting and go shower. It shouldn't take but fifteen minutes to get to the stadium." Jak said.

Isle Delfino

Yoshi sat on a bike in the training room working on his legs keeping them churning for long as he could getting a good burn in them. When it got to that point slowed down looking up at the T.V. which sat on the Galaxy wide sports station. The sports anchor on screen talked about something unrelated to the (GFL) Galaxy Football League. Across the room Kej worked on a different machine which related to strengthening his abs. Away from them and out on the field Petey Piranha lined up against one of the offensive linemen. The two of them practiced several tackle drills while the coaches went over their footwork and overall technique.

"Good job, you're both improving…but I still would like to see a better spin move from you," He referred to Petey, "As for you I'd still like to see a little bit more power and you need to keep your shoulders and knees down a lot more. You tend to rise and stiffen."

The second comment was directed toward the left tackle of the offensive line. Both shook their heads knowing fully what it was they needed to improve upon. Mario sat at the edge of his bed inside his hotel room at Sirena beach. Someone knocked at the door. He walked across the room opening the door. Standing in the doorway with a smirk was Rosaline.

"May I?"

"Come right in, but must say I'm sort of busy with my'a playbook. Still you can make yourself at home."

Rosalina entered letting the door close behind her having a seat off to the side of him on the bed looking over his shoulder. She had a good understanding of what they did on offence, but confused by little things here and there. It was understandable given she played on the defensive side of the ball.

"What is that supposed to represent? I mean all of those lines, doesn't it confuse you?" She asked.

Getting up onto the bed she crawled on her knees leaning forward resting her head over his left shoulder. Her actions sent somewhat a chill up his spine, but for the most part didn't bother him. Moving in closer she relaxed her chest over his upper back. Unaffected by Rosalina's actions he thought about her question.

"It was confusing at first but after a couple weeks into training camp got ahold of it. With practice and coaches explanations, became easier with each passing day. But you obviously know about that. The hits throughout a game take a toll, but the guys upfront blocking have done a decent job. What about you on the other side of things?" Mario questioned.

"Oh I see," Re positioning she sat up on her knees resting her hands over his shoulders giving him a massage. Leaning forward she brought her lips next to his right ear.

"Do you have anything on your schedule later? If not, how about you and I spend some time together?"

Massaging his shoulders continually she waited patiently to hear his answer. Setting the playbook off to the side, he gazed up at her. She displayed a puppy face that made him feel snug.

"I can't say for sure, but Imma positive I should be able to make some time. What do you say we go out and get some fresh air? We might even run into a couple teammates along the way."

"Sounds good to me." She replied removing her hands from his shoulders.

Standing from the bed's edge grabbed hold of her wrist leading them to the exit. On the way down the stairs to the main lobby she had her doubts he felt the same about her as she did him. Nevertheless that didn't mean she couldn't find a way to change that. With an idea emerging a grin formed over her face. Noticing this from the corner of his eye, he looked directly at her.

"Everything ok?" Mario asked.

"Of course…things couldn't be better?" She said walking past him with an even wider grin.

Mario didn't think much of it, and truthfully had no clue what went on inside her head. Following her out front they took a seat at one of the tables next to the pool. A menu lied over the tabletop. Looking it over both ordered something to drink. The waiter came by taking their order.

"Huh wonder where everyone else is, any idea Mario?" Rosalina asked resting her chin in the palm of her hands.

Shrugging without a clue guessed a good portion of them might be at the stadium working out in the training room. In the next hour he planned to be as well. There were some things he needed to go over for the upcoming game.

In that of Big Blue things were quiet. Silver the hedgehog departed from a hardware store walking alongside Paratroopa with a few tools. Whatever the staff asked the two were willing to help out in any way they could. Upon bringing the tools to the stadium headed for the locker room where they got into their practice gear and pads.

Cool cool mountain/days later

Entering out onto the field the home crowd roared for the home team Mushroom Dashers. So far they sat at a record of three and four and looking to add another win in the column. The 0-3 start didn't make things easy, but they since made the best of it attempting to turn things around. Warming up on the sideline Luigi threw one ball back and forth with a team trainer. Loosening up was important in his mind to get off to a fast start.

On the sideline of the visiting team Shadow the hedgehog practiced running a few routes and catching passes from one of the backup quarterbacks. Over on the bench in deep concentration Sonic reflected on the last two games. There were certain things they did well, but others not so much. The home team won the coin toss electing to differ. With the ball kicked off, Sonic watched his team's returner bring it up to the twenty five before tackled.

Lifting his helmet off the ground Sonic led his offensive unit onto the field. Getting into their positions, Sonic stepped under center looking over the defense. The frosty weather caused him to shiver and knew it could play a huge factor in the outcome. Above them snowed lightly and would continue to do so throughout a majority of the game. Upon breathing the air was visible to every player due to the low temperatures. Having a tough run game in situations such as that was something they worked on all week leading up to the game.

Taking the snap from under center Sonic tripped up as he attempted to hand the ball off tumbling to the ground losing the ball! Luckily the left guard fell on top of it. He was helped up by a few of his teammates dusting himself off.

"And you can see that the turf is icy and slippery because of the wet snowy conditions. Though the Mushroom Dashers are used to it, the Speed Dodgers on the other hand are gonna have to adjust. Playing here in this stadium at this time of year especially can get ugly."

"Agreed the visiting team is gonna have to figure out how to adjust to these conditions or it's going to be one long game if they don't. Their fast paced offence will be hindered by these conditions."

The failed play resulted in a loss of eight. Apologizing to his teammates taking all the blame, Sonic got everyone back into their positions. Dropping back on 2nd and 18 Sonic threw a receiver screen to Tibeo who was unable to hang onto the ball. Placing his hands into the small pouch connected to the lower part of his jersey, Sonic used that as a way of trying to keep them warm. On 3rd he took the snap out of shotgun immediately scrambling to his left for six yards and stepping out of bounds.

"Darn it what a crappy start!" Sonic said to himself kicking at the snowy turf.

Following that the punting unit for the speed Dodgers came out onto the field kicking the ball away to the home team that called for a fair catch at their own 42 yard line. Running out onto the field the home team received several cheers from the audiences throughout the stadium. Huddling up for a few moments they went over the first set of plays they'd run to start things off.

Settling in to their positions Luigi handed off to Wario who took it to the right for a gain of two yards up to the 44 yard line. Standing from the turf he threw the ball over to one of the officials feeling he would have gotten more yards had it not been for the turf. On 2nd Luigi again handed off to Wario who took it up the middle for a gain of 1 yard. Placing his hands into the small pouch Luigi warmed his hands up a bit before they ran the next play. On 3rd he worked from under center looking over the defense and going through his progressions. Taking the snap he faked the handoff to Wario throwing a quick pass to Fox MCcloud who ran a slant up the middle. Fox was instantly tackled after a gain of twelve yards down to the 43 of the visiting team.

Grinning while making his way down to the new spot, Luigi loved hearing the home crowd applaud he and his teammates. With a new set of downs Luigi wanted to pick up the pace. On 1st he faked the handoff to Wario rolling out to his left but tripped up and fell. A defender came through the line tagging him down before he could get up and try and advance it. The play resulted in a loss of four yards. Reaching out two of his teammates helped him up to his feet. On 2nd the ball was pitched back to Wario who powered forward for a gain of six yards.

On 3rd Luigi stepped back into shotgun formation and called an audible for the protection up front. Receiving the ball from the center Luigi stood in the pocket waiting for something to develop downfield. Off to his left a defender broke through the line chasing him down. With no one open Luigi threw the ball out of bounds.

"That was a smart play by Luigi to just get rid of the ball and not try to force something. Whenever that happens, turnovers are very likely."

In the following moments the ball was punted off to the visiting Speed Dodgers who called for a fair catch back at their eleven yard line. Over on the bench Sonic stood next to his offensive coordinator going over a few plays and pass protection. Out in the frosty weather both felt the plan coming in would have to be tweaked a bit. They followed the forecast and knew it would be bitter conditions but not to the extreme it was.

Bomb Omb Battlefield

On 1st and 2nd down the offence of the visiting Cheetahs only picked up two yards and were faced with a 3rd down and 8. They stood at their own thirty five yard line with Jet the hawk kneeled behind the center. The wind speeds in the area had made throwing the ball difficult. So far the score sat at 10 to 0 in favor of the Dragons. Taking the snap and running to his left Jet threw the ball to his tight end Sued, who picked up twelve yards and a first down.

Progressing up to the 47 the ball was handed off to Captain Qwark who was stopped in the backfield for a loss of one yard by Zieuk coming in on a corner blitz. On 2nd Jet took the ball from under center punt faking to Chaim the eagle, but as he did Bowser came from the left sacking him for a loss of seven. On 3rd he took the snap trying to throw a quick pass for Jay, but the pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage.

Punting the ball off the home team the returner brought the ball up to the 28 on the other side of the field. With that Koopa and the offence came out onto the field ready to begin. On 1st Koopa faked the handoff to Blooper looking up field and throwing for Koshi, but the pass was tipped and almost intercepted. On 2nd he handed the ball off to Blooper who gained nothing on the play. Shaking his head back and forth Koopa had become irritated with the fails of the offence in the past few weeks. On 3rd he took the snap completing a pass to Coopel but was short of the 1st down.

"That is the one downside to the Dragons is their offence, but they do have the number one defense based on stats to this point which makes up for that in some ways. But even so they're going to need to come up with more production on the offensive side of things."

The ball was kicked back off to the cheetahs receiving the ball at the thirty two yard line of their side but unable to advance it at all. Coming back onto the field on 1st Jet took the snap stepping up and as he did Bowser rushed through the left side of the line sacking and stripping him of the ball!

"It is a fumble by the Dragons! Hulio has picked it up and there is no one in five yards of him…touchdown dragons!"

The defensive end for the Dragons sprinted 32 yards in the other direction for a touchdown adding to the lead of the Dragons. The kicker came out onto the field kicking the extra point straight through the middle putting the Dragons up 17 to 0.

Hyrule

Returning to Ordon village from a short jog, Link climbed his way up into the tree house. He felt good his team didn't have to play till Monday night. What made it even better was they were still undefeated till that point. Entering into his room was surprised Banjo and Crunch weren't around. They were probably out somewhere enjoying the time off if he had to guess.

"I'm glad you finally returned, I thought you might never come."

Without looking knew who spoke, but had no idea why she was away from the castle. Princess Peach stepped out from a corner of the room making her way toward him. She had her hair tied in a ponytail wearing a sky blue tea shirt and dark blue skirt.

"So what's up? What are you doing out of the castle, I don't think Zelda would approve you being so far away?" He asked scratching at his head.

Moving past him sat over the mid-section of his bed laying back and closing her eyes. He honestly wondered what this was all about.

"How long do you think your friends will be away for?" She asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He replied.

Opening her eyes she glared at him and could see the yearning in them which made him gulp. He didn't know for sure why she was there, but had a pretty good idea what it might be.

To Be Continue