So I was watching the Red Wings/Blue Jackets game on Saturdayand saw that there was a player on the Colombus Blue Jackets roster named Jason Chimera. CHIMERA. I just thought that was so awesome, I had to tell everyone. It would have been better if his number was 79 and played goal, but alas, no. Alright! to the story who's character I do not own!
Kyu
"Get the puck! Get the puck!" Lina screamed. Headed over into their own defensive zone, Gourry, Nathaniel Cor and Volker Ton streaked past her like black and green bolts of lighting. The game had just began and things were already off to a bleak start.
Gourry and one of the Russians slammed into the boards together, making them wobble and shake with fear. Both men tried to claim possession of the precious puck, yet in the end, the Russian man won. He passed it to a teammate and that teammate ended up forfeiting the puck to Lyman Van Dyne as he and his brother Frank passed it back and forth to each other, ultimately ending up giving it up to Volker as he shot towards the Russian goalie. He pulled his stick back for a slapshot and...
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Elsewhere, in the little broom cupboard, Amelia and Zelgadis were getting ready to leave. They both made sure they had everything they came in with and turned on a little light in the one corner.
"Oh... your collar is not right Zelgadis," Amelia said lovingly as she reached up and fixed the collar on Zelgadis's shirt. As if it was his cue, Zelgadis went and deeply kissed Amelia as she got close to him. Their plan to escape the little broom cupboard was foiled. She kissed him back, turned off the little light and soon, the position of the collar really did not matter anymore to either of them...
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"What in the hell do you think you are doing? Are you blind?" Lina yelled at Referee Sunny. She had just called a tripping penalty that Lina really did not deem critical
"Jones clearly tripped his Russian counterpart," Sunny said frankly. It was true. Willy Jones did purposely trip a Russian player, but Lina did not see it. Her ego was just being hyperactive again. "Now calm down Coach Inverse or I shall have to eject you from the game!"
"Frederick! Get your offense ready!" Lina yelled towards the other end of the bench. The ever obedient Frederick acted immediately, taking in Gourry, Nathaniel and Volker and putting out Sander River, Jaques Monreal and Vladimir Sarionov.
"Let's move team!" he yelled out encouragingly. "Come on! Let's..."
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"...go. We have to go now Amelia. Everyone is probably worried sick about us," Zelgadis said, feeling absolutely exhausted. Next to him was Amelia, eyes closed, breathing deeply and with a blissful smile on her face. It took Zelgadis a few silent moments to realize that Amelia was fast asleep. He carefully cradled her in his arms as she slumbered on.
Damn, I was told that guys are supposed to be sleepy afterward, not the other way around, he thought. Oh well. Best not disturb her.
So with that, Zelgadis closed his own eyes and drifted off into wondrous dreams of his own, playing ice hockey and being with his Amelia.
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"How are we even surviving out there?" Lina screamed as her athletes sat in the locker room during the first intermission. Everyone was worn out from trying to keep up with the fast Russian skaters, especially Gourry. He had been skating up and down the ice all period long.
"We can't do it," Goran Nerski groaned, placing his goalie's mask on the bench next to him. "I do not know how Stone Wall keeps the net like that. I just am not up to his standards."
"You should all be ashamed of yourselves!" Lina barked. "How do you think Seiryuun would act if she heard you lot say such things as quitting and that they are too much! She would flood the streets with her tears, that's what!"
"How can Seiryuun cry if Seiryuun is a country?" Edwin Cay panted.
"By being a country. The people cries, so does the country. That is what I meant," Lina sighed. She knew that Edwin must have been tired to pull a question like that from his hat, for those usually were the work of Gourry. Muttering under her breath, she wondered if they were going to survive to see even the sun rise, let alone the finals.
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Amelia bolted upright, sweating beads of ice. Squinting in the dark, she tried to make out where she was. The memory came to her vividly, yet still struck her as strange. She glanced over next to her to see Zelgadis, fast asleep as she was just moments ago. They were both fully clothed and in what just appeared to be a mild cuddle, not what she remembered to have happened.
"Zelgadis," Amelia whispered. She lightly shook him. "Zelgadis, I think we need to go now."
"Huh?" Zelgadis moaned as he stirred from his slumber. Slowly sitting upright, he gave a nice, long yawn-and-stretch and then looked around the little broom cupboard. It was still very dark and secluded, just like they both had planned, but Zelgadis could tell that something was different.
"What is the matter?" Amelia asked as she and Zelgadis stood up.
"Something is not the same," he said. Suddenly, Zelgadis knew what was different. His arm no longer hurt. The feeling seemed so foreign to him, yet so right. "My arm is better," he whispered.
"What?" Amelia asked.
"My arm feels better. It does not hurt like it did when we were at the ice rink."
Amelia and Zelgadis both were rendered speechless. If Zelgadis's arm did not hurt anymore, did that mean that...? Nah... it couldn't have been what caused his arm to get better. Who ever heard of intimacy of that kind curing an ailment? That was just crazy-talk. Slightly nervous, they both exited the little broom cupboard in silence, being careful not to be seen by anyone. Almost as soon as they got to the locker room hallway, the timer rang to signal the end of the second intermission. The Seiryuun Slayers walked out of the locker room and shuffled back to the ice to begin play again.
"Zelgadis-kun! Amelia-chan! There you two are!" Lina yelled when she spotted them. "Zelgadis-kun, suit up. Nerski is starting to give in. The game is tied at one-to-one and we're being worn down quickly." Zelgadis went to protest, but Lina stopped him by pointing at the locker room door and then puffing off to the bench so the game could get underway once again.
"I should do as she says," Zelgadis groaned as he opened the locker room door.
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Zelgadis came out of the locker room dressed in his full game equipment. Amelia was still waiting for him in the hall. She looked at him as if he were her knight in shining white armor.
"Amelia, please go and sit with your father," Zelgadis said gently. Smiling brightly, she kissed him lightly and burst off down the hall.
"Play well Zelgadis!" Amelia said as she ran down the hallway. It pleased Zelgadis to see such a smile on her face. Now if he could only ask her…
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"Amelia! Where have you been!" Prince Phil exclaimed as Amelia entered the small skybox room. Down below was the hockey game, paused by a hooking penalty on Russia, called by Referee Ramon. The player on the other end of the call was furious, going nutters and causing quite a commotion.
"Oh, don't worry Daddy," Amelia assured. "Everything is fine."
"Good," Prince Phil said as his daughter sat down. "At least you got here in time to see Zelgadis play."
"Zelgadis...?" Amelia whispered. She looked out the window to see a goalie stretching out on the ice with a green 79 on the back of the jersey, making her heart skip a beat.
Zelgadis, she thought, smiling down upon the ice.
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Back in the announcer's booth, AirJay and Naga were being... well... AirJay and Naga.
"Come on now!" AirJay yelled out. "Let us see some fists fly! Fight! Punch him!" He was punching the air dramatically as he spoke.
"Stop it AirJay," Naga sighed. "We are still on the air."
"I don't care! I want to see a fight!"
"This is the Olympics. Sportsmanship is generally a requirement."
"That did not stop Seiryuun's Gabriev a few days ago," AirJay protested.
"Speaking of," Naga said suddenly, "looks like there is a goalie change for Seiryuun. Zelgadis Graywords in back in the net. Good thing too. Goran Nerski was looking pretty worn out."
"All right! Stone Wall's back!" AirJay cheered. After a short dance of celebration, he sat back down, nearly stepping on the underfoot Kiko.
"Rufff!" Idiot!
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"Zelgadis!" Gourry cried out. He went over and tackled his friend, nearly sending him into the goalpost. "How come you are playing?"
"Coach told me to change."
"Weren't you still injured?"
"I'll tell you about that later," the chimera grinned. He then was heartily welcomed by the rest of the team on the ice. Sean Axel, Constantine Michev, Zach Zimmerman and Edwin Cay joined Gourry and Zelgadis in a huddle by the goalie net while the Russian man was still trying to be calmed.
"What are we going to do about those Russians?" Constantine asked.
"Yeah, we have ten minutes to score a goal, or else there's going to be a shootout," Sean added.
"Our goaltending is covered now," Gourry said in a very official voice and motioning over towards Zelgadis. "Now I know that it is tiring trying to keep up with them, but we just have to push ourselves."
"Leave the goaltending to me," Zelgadis interjected. Everyone looked at him as if he just suffered a closed-head injury.
"You are the goalie, that is what you do," Zach started.
"I mean: stay on the other side of the rink as much as you can," Zelgadis explained. "You lot have been on the ice near the whole time. I am fresh. Let me worry about the net and you guys stay on the one end..."
"So that we do not get tired as easily!" Gourry said, that little gerbil in his head finally running on his wheel. "Zelgadis! You are a genius!"
"Are you sure about that?" Edwin asked.
"Only occasional help will do," Zelgadis assured. "In fact, all I need is either you or Zach. Just score that goal."
Reluctantly, the team agreed with Zelgadis and went back to begin the power play. Referee Sunny dropped the puck and as the Russians got control, Zelgadis prepared for what would be the most tiring ten minutes of his life.
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"What in the hell are you doing!" Lina screeched. No matter how many times she switched her players, they all stayed far away from Zelgadis and their net. It was as if some invisible wall was preventing them from crossing their blue line. Two munites were left in play and the game was going positively nowhere.
Damn it all, she thought. Zelgadis goes out on the ice and they all let him fend for himself. Stupid men.
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Zelgadis's reflexes were going insane. Shot after shot, rebound after rebound, everything that the Russians shot at him he blocked without fail. It was tiring, yet he knew that it would help the team out.
Damn... it... he thought. This would be the time to help out guys... He slammed the puck with his stick, hurling it down the ice.
You better get it, he thought. Get it, or we are dead.
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Igor Parov sped towards the puck and won control over it. Quickly, he passed it over to Sander River and then Sander took a moment to look around and decide his options. He could take it down to Alexandre Tierski or Lyman Van Dyne and let one of them worry about it. He could try to score himself, which would be anything short of suicide. Sam Penn was coming out to relive Gourry and would not be there for him it time. Sander decided his path in a fraction of a second. He bolted down the ice to pass the puck over to Lyman, keeping a stick's length from the Russian skaters.
"Lyman!" Alexandre cried out. The defenseman's gaze shot upwards and...
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"Van Dyne recives the puck from River, Van Dyne passes to Tierski, now to Penn..." AirJay said excitedly. He was so pumped up with adrenaline that he was standing up next to the embarrassed Naga. "Penn is trying to find help, passes to River, River to Tierski, Tierski to Parov..."
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Acting instinctively, Igor passed the puck away to Sam Penn. Sam, trying to keep the puck safe, made his way towards the goal. Two Russian players rushed at him from behind and forced him onto the ice. The puck was freed, but quickly retrieved by Alexandre. With a hope and a prayer, he drew back his stick and put all of his faith into the one shot, knowing that there was only that one shot and half a minuet left. The black puck connected with the stick, flying through the air and slowing time as it soared. The Russian goalie thrust his catcher glove up to snag the black blur... and there was much rejoicing. Alexandre threw his arms up into the air as his teammates surrounded him in a brotherly embrace. Lina, Frederick and Elena jumped up and down over by the bench. Amelia was so happy that she cried.
There was no joy in Russia, for their goalie was taken out.
Then play started, six on five, Russia hopeful to tie the game.
Oh, alas! The time ran out, thanks to the goalie with the skin of grey.
Parodies/References I Do Not Own So Please Keep Away the Admins of DOOM
Amelia/Zelgadis: Yeah, I like to make the audience's filthy mind kick in during these times. Assume the lemony goodness.
"Damn, I was told that guys are supposed to be sleepy, not the other way around...": I read an article about this in the newspaper. Apparently, right after mating rituals, men are much more likely to conk out and sleep than women are. Quite interesting. I would give credit if I still had the source, but I do not, so just remember that the information is still out there and not property of the Nehszriah.
Russian speed: Yes, Russians, so I've been told, are excellent when needing to sprint down the ice. I've seen it too.
Avoidance of the Three-Letter "S" Word- I really don't want to say it. Saying such a thing is icky. I'd rather imply and let the smarter readers figure it out for themselves.
The Knight-In-Shining-Armor Thing- Please don't kill me.
"There was no joy in Russia, for their goalie was taken out."- Parodied off of "Casey at the Bat", a famous poemy.