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The large, muscular skunk Kyrii paced in front of the line
of seven Neopets. They stood there, nervous about what was about to happen. Suddenly,
the Kyrii stopped pacing and turned to the pets. He was wearing black shorts and
a black and white vertical striped shirt that matched his fur. What normally would
be his long Kyrii hair was short and cut into a buzz cut. He had his silver whistle
tied around his neck. "OK, I'm Mr. Bridge, but here in the gymnasium you'll be
calling me Coach Bridge," instructed the Kyrii. "The principal--bless her evil
soul--has ordered me to set up a different NeoHockey team this year. The team
will be used as a punishment to misbehaving pets. You're going to step up and
tell me why you're here, each of you seven! I'll start with you," he said as he
jerked his head in the direction of a small, yellow Gelert.
The yellow Gelert stepped up. He smiled at the
other pets. "Hey, I'm kai_hawittari, but you can call me Kai. Um... I was sent
here as a punishment by the math teacher because I was drawing in class," explained
the Gelert. A couple of laughs escaped the mouths of the other pets.
Then, a purple Blumaroo stood up. He had round
glasses on his face. "Salutations! My name is Zeggaro. I came to be here voluntarily
but it was recommended by the principal. My Physical Education mark has been
dropping at a rate of 4.2 percent each term and to bring it back up I was advised
to join the team. In my spare time I enjoy playing the best board game ever,
Dungeons and Draiks."
After Zeggaro, a female orange Aisha stepped
up. She looked very angry at even being there. "I'm Laeyan, OK? I was sent here
because my stupid teacher caught me passing notes in class. I didn't! How would
she know anyway, standing at the front of the room droning on and on about math
and junk." She made a threatening gesture toward Zeggaro when a giggle emitted
his mouth. The Blumaroo cowered in her presence.
A skunk Usul walked up after Zeggaro. She was
apparently chatting on a cell phone to someone. She saw the disgruntled face
of the coach. "OK, sorry I have to go now," she said as she put the phone in
her hand bad. "My name is like FleurDelacour67... but you can like call me Fleur.
I was put on the team because I was caught applying makeup in class, and when
the teacher told me to stop I said I was doing it, so I didn't end up looking
like her. For some reason that like really miffed her and she like sent me here
which is like totally unfair because NeoHockey is like for losers and stuff.
Anyway, the other day I went to the mall and--"
"Enough," grunted Coach Bridge. "You, it's your
turn." The Kyrii pointed to a fire Draik.
"Um... hi. My name is Kiyrogi," the Draik mumbled.
"I was sent here because the teacher caught be daydreaming in class four times
in one day." The Draik's face turned red.
Finally, a fire Krawk stepped up. "Hey, my name
is EmeraldBlitz. I'm here because coach took me aside and whispered to me that
it was my job to make sure the team isn't a total failu--"
"OK class," the coach interrupted. "The rules
of NeoHockey are simple enough. Just try to get the puck in the opposite team's
net. Got it? Good. There's details such as offsides and penalties which we'll
go over later on. We'll start by breaking off into two teams. Zeggaro, Laeyan
and Kai on one team, while EmeraldBlitz, Fleur and Kyrogi go on the other team.
Understood?" coach asked. Everyone nodded in reply. "Good, EmeraldBlitz's team
can get jerseys on while Zeggaro's team stays without them."
EmeraldBlitz walked over and picked an old practice
blue jersey off the pile. It had faded orange trim around the waist, neck and
hands. It also had 01 in big orange letters. The jersey had the disgusting aroma
of mothballs and it had holes all over it. He was reluctant to put it on, but
he slipped it on anyway and Fleur and Kyrogi did the same. Everyone picked up
a pair of goggles off the pile and a wooden hockey stick. EmeraldBlitz wished
it was a real arena because then he'd be able to wear hockey skates. But skates
wouldn't have much use on the ceramic floor.
"Guys, huddle," EmeraldBlitz whispered. Fleur
and Kyrogi huddled around the Krawk. "If we're going to win, we need to play
as a team. I'll be center because I have the best shot at getting a goal. Fleur,
I don't think you're the running type judging by the fact you wore platform
shoes into gym class. You can be net. Kyrogi, I'm going to depend on you in
case I'm in a jam. I'll pass to you and if you can take a shot, shoot. If you
can't, wait for everyone to crowd towards you and then pass back to me. Understood?"
EmeraldBlitz asked. Fleur and Kyrogi nodded.
On the other side of the gym, the other team
was huddling. "OK," Laeyan whispered. "I'm not going to let you two screw me
up. Air head, you--"
"I'm not air head, I'm Kai," the Gelert growled.
"Whatever! You're going to be goalie because
I don't think you can hold a stick and run being a four-legged pet," the Aisha
said.
"I believe the correct term is quadruped," corrected
Zeggaro.
"I don't care!" Laeyan snapped. "Blumaroo nerd,
you're going to be defense. If someone tries to shoot, you get the puck from
them before they get a chance. Got it?" Zeggaro and Kai nodded in reply.
The two teams stepped up. Kai the Gelert and
Fleur the Usul were goalies. Zeggaro the Blumaroo stood in front of Kai as defense
and Kyrogi did the same in front of Fleur. Finally, Laeyan the Aisha and EmeraldBlitz
the Krawk stood face to face. Coach Bridge walked up with puck in hand. He dropped
it in front of the two pets.
It didn't take long for mass chaos to break out.
Zeggaro ran up with his eyes closed, swinging
his hockey stick in the air. He hit Laeyan in the arm and nearly dealt EmeraldBlitz
a blow to the head. The puck slid out toward Fleur. She picked it up in her
hands and started running over to the opposite net leaving her stick behind.
EmeraldBlitz tried to stop her but tripped over Kyrogi who was huddling in fear
on the ground. Kai ran up and tried to grab the rubber puck out of Fleur's hands.
The pulled back and forth.
"STOP!" roared Coach Bridge. He grabbed the stick
out of Zeggaro's hands, checked Laeyan's bruised arm, checked EmeraldBlitz and
Kyrogi who were on the ground and pulled the puck away from Kai and Fleur. He
stood there, breathing heavily, staring at the six silent pets. "Good practice,
hit the showers."
As the pets walked off, a smile broke through
on the coach's face. He couldn't believe it! The way that Blumaroo had played
so strongly, the way Kyrogi managed to trip the star player, the way Laeyan
and EmeraldBlitz could recover from getting hit and tripped and the way Fleur
and Kai would do anything to protect their nets from being scored on. Maybe,
just maybe, there was a chance in these pets after all.
To be continued...
Author's Note: All of the characters in this story are real pets, with the
exception of Coach Bridge who is actually based off of a *certain* Phys Ed teacher.
EmeraldBlitz is my Krawk, Zeggaro is one of the pets in a spare account of mine,
Laeyan is owned by stormydreamer, FleurDelacour67 is owned by bubbles7431, Kyrogi
is owned by orieyl and finally kai_hawittari is owned by jay_hawittari. Phew,
that's a lot of pets.
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