Mario Tennis, Power Shots: Part I: Ace's Story

Chapter Six: The Adventure Begins!

"'The competition was tough, but the Island Open belonged to academy this year.'"

"'Morning, Ace!" Clay said as he opened the door to Ace's room.

Last night, after Clay and Ace had eaten a huge dinner and dessert, they had returned to their dorms with full stomachs and Clay had said he'd wake her up. He said she wasn't much of a morning person.

"Shh!" Ace said as he let himself in. He was obviously surprised.

"What are you doing?" Clay asked. Ace was sitting in a chair in front of her red mini-television set. He tried to look at the screen, but her brunette pigtails were blocking his view.

"They're doing a documentary on the Island Open," Ace said. "Did you know it was started almost 50 years ago by four schools? They're Factory, Union-"

"Empire and Academy," Clay finished, making a face. "So what? We have to train today!"

Ace turned to glare at him, but she spotted something in his hand. "What's that?"

"Hm?" Clay said, following her gaze. "Oh, it's a magazine."

"Duh," Ace remarked.

"Look at this!" Clay said as he threw the magazine on Ace's table. It was dated from back about three years ago, just after Alex had joined the academy. Ace frowned and turned back to watching the television program.

"So?"

"'So?'" Clay repeated, surprised. "Read this article! It says 'This years competition was amazing at the Island Open as Academy brought home both first-place trophies in singles and doubles. The amazing young boy who managed this was Alex, a first year at the Royal Academy. Officials were stunned when the boy and his teammate, Harry, helped the Royal Academy to bring home both trophies. "The competition was tough,' says 13-year-old Alex. "But the Island Open belonged to academy this year."'"

Ace looked away from the TV, surprised. "He was a rookie?"

"That's not all," Chris said and he continued reading. "'After the boy happily walked away with his tennis double and trophy, his opponents weren't too happy. "It was pure luck," says his teammates, the Costello Brothers from Factory. "That little rookie just got lucky." Despite all the talk, however, the Costello Brothers accepted Elroy as their equal, and they are now rivals of the boy wonder.' Makes you wonder what rookies can do, huh?"

But Ace wasn't paying attention. She could already picture herself on the stage, colorful confetti falling on her as she held the shiny trophy. She could see countless people applauding her, including Alex, the headmaster, Clay, and Kevin. Ace grinned at Kevin, holding the trophy up.

"You must show me how to do it," Kevin said. "You're amazing!" Ace giggled.

"You're just too much, Kevin."

"Ace!"

Ace frowned as Kevin changed into Clay. "What's going on? Where's-?"

"ACE!"

Ace snapped from her imagination. Clay was frowning at her.

"Gosh, I'd rather slap you awake then scream at you daydreaming," Clay said frowning. Ace remembered her mental image of the Island Open and blushed. She hoped she hadn't said Kevin's name out loud.

"So, where do we go now?" Ace said, jumping to her feet and hitting 'off' on the television.

"Whoa, pretty eager, aren't we?" Clay said, grinning. "Are you going to start so soon?"

"If I don't start now I'll never become champ," Ace said. "When's the tournament anyway?"

"They're doing it a little different this year," Clay said. "The doubles tournament will be in the second week of July. The singles tournament will be in the second-to-last week of August."

Ace's mouth dropped open. "I have 30 days to get to the top of varsity!"

"No, you have 23 days," Clay sighed. "Coach Kevin is only going to take the top two ranks in varsity."

"Kevin is taking the varsity players to the Open?" Ace asked, wondering what Kevin was doing with the Open.

"No," Clay said. "Kevin is the varsity coach."

Ace frowned at him. Ace wasn't going to deny her crush on Kevin, but she didn't want him being the one to decide if she could go to the Island Open. After all, if she were Kevin, she'd reject herself even if she had made it to varsity.

"Don't worry," Clay said as he put an arm around her. "You have me, we can do this. But first we have to go to the training courts. If we're going to get to varsity in three weeks then we need to start now."

---

Next time on MT: PS-

"Can we stop with the pointless questions?" Ace said, angry. "I know what I'm doing!"

"It's standard procedure," Mark answered, flatly. "If you skip the training courts you'll have to be quizzed."

"The way this is going," Ace said, not bothering to hold back her temper tantrum. "I won't be able to make it to varsity in three weeks."

Mark was taken aback and Clay moaned. A few of the junior players stopped their games to look at her, some even snickered.

"Are you looking for a game?" came a voice from behind them. Ace spun around. There they were, the rank 4 members of the junior class.