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"WAIT!" EmeraldBlitz yelled as the Predators were leaving
the ice rink with very smug faces. They turned to the fire Krawk to see what
he was yelling about. "They cheated! They used techniques to win! The Predators
used Frost and Scorch moves against Kai and me!"
"I didn't see that," the Chia replied.
"Well maybe if you didn't have to slits for eyes,"
Laeyan muttered under your breath.
"It's true Mr. Referee! I have burns on my fur where
they burnt me! But if it weren't for the burns, I'd have frost bite because
of the frost they used!" the yellow Gelert in the net cried.
"Is this true?" the referee asked the other team.
They looked nervously among themselves. "Um... sorry,"
the Scorchio who had been doing most of the cheating said. "But... uh... we
fessed up, so we can go ahead, right?" The referee shook his head.
"The Light Faerie Elementary School Light Faeries win!"
he yelled.
The Light Faeries erupted in cheers.
***
After their first victory, the Light Faeries continued to improve. The coasted
through more games, winning each one. It wasn't easy, but they managed to teach
those teams a thing or two about the game of Neohockey. The day wore on and
more victories came through. It wasn't long for the Light Faeries to make it
to the finals. But the day had ended, and so both teams got to spend the night
at the Happy Valley Neolodge.
Kyrogi the fire Draik and EmeraldBlitz entered their
room. They dropped their Neohockey gear on the ground and looked around their
room. It looked awfully comfortable. Down the hall they could hear Fleur and
Laeyan arguing about which bed belonged to who, Zeggaro trying to explain to
Kai what trigonometry was and Coach Bridge singing in the shower in his room.
"This is nice," Kyrogi the fire Draik commented as
he flopped down on his bed.
"I agree. Hey, did the coach tell you what team we're
playing against?"
"Uh... I think it's the Ice Storm Elementary School
Snowagers. I think they're from the Ice Caves," Kyrogi replied.
"The Ice Caves? Man, they must be good at skating!"
EmeraldBlitz exclaimed.
Kyrogi shook his head. "They dominate the ice, but
they aren't good at skating. They can slide down the ice, apparently really
fast. I think coach told me they won each game by at least six more points than
the other team did."
EmeraldBlitz gulped. It looked like tomorrow would
prove to be an end to the Light Faeries' winning-spree.
All of a sudden, the two Neopets heard a knock on their
balcony door. EmeraldBlitz cocked an eyebrow and slid the glass door open. The
balcony overlooked the Neolodge's lobby, which was dark and deserted. The hotel
staff were all asleep.
Suddenly, the Krawk felt and icy blast as water was
sprayed all over them. A water balloon had been dropped from the balcony above
them, and EmeraldBlitz could see two Tuskaninnies were looking down from that
balcony.
"Oops, sorry," laughed one of them.
"Yeah, my finger slipped," the other one joined in.
EmeraldBlitz growled and stormed back into his room,
slamming the sliding door closed behind him. They could still hear the taunts
coming from the two other players. "We're going to beat those Tuskaninnies tomorrow!"
he exclaimed.
Kyrogi nodded his head. Then, the doorbell rang. Before
EmeraldBlitz had a chance to stop him, Kyrogi opened the door. Two other Tuskaninies
were there with water guns. They sprayed the Draik with jets of water before
escaping.
His eyes narrowed. "EmeraldBlitz, we're going to make
those Tuskaninnies wish they had never heard the word Neohockey."
***
The sun hadn't even surpassed the trees that dotted the land of Happy Valley
but already the Light Faeries were onto their bus and on their way to the arena,
where the final game of the Annual Polarchuck Neohockey Tournament would be
played. The entire team was nervous, but angry at the same time.
"Those Tuskaninnies were, like, ringing our doorbell
all night!" Fleur exclaimed.
"They kept bouncing on the floor, I was nearly up all
night!" Kai complained.
"They made fun of my singing," Coach Bridge replied
with a forlorn look on his face. "Uh... but we can't let that get to us! We'll
show them!"
The bus pulled up to the arena again. The team stepped
out onto the hold pavement and headed toward the arena. Suddenly, a snowball
shot through the air and hit Fleur in here head.
"My fur, it's like so totally wet!" the Usul exclaimed
as she ran around in circles squealing.
The Light Faeries saw a green Tuskaninny run off around
the arena, laughing. Kai and Kyrogi had to hold Laeyan back from clobbering
that Tuskaninny.
"Don't sink to their level," Coach Bridge stated. "We'll
have a chance to beat those Tuskaninnies, but that'll be during the game."
The team entered the Neohockey arena and headed off
towards the dressing room. All of a sudden, it hit them like a load of bricks.
They were playing for the cup. If they beat the other team by as much as a goal,
the Light Faeries would be declared the winners and would be awarded the coveted
Polarchuck Cup. The six pets put their gear on and didn't say a word. Their
skates, their pads, their pink jerseys. The Light Faeries prepared for the game.
"It's time," the coach said in barely a croak.
They filed out of the dressing room with their nerves
at an utmost high. They walked through the lobby toward the doors to the ice
rink. The team could see six Tuskaninnies, donning black Neohockey jerseys with
a picture of a Snowager on them. After all, their team was called the Snowagers.
"I wish we had jerseys like them," Kai muttered. "They
look so much better than these pink pieces of dung."
The teams walked out into the rink to the roar of the
crowd. The arena was filled with hundreds of Neopets in the stand, each cheering
them on. Both teams skated out onto the ice. Fleur and Zeggaro were much better
skates than they were at the beginning of the tournament. They skated out onto
the ice with ease.
"Welcome, to the final game of the Annual Polarchuck
Neohockey Tournament," the announcer greeted into the loudspeaker. "Today, the
Light Faerie Elementary School Light Faeries will face off against the Ice Storm
Elementary School Snowagers!" The crowd erupted into a sea of boos and cheers.
"I want a fair game," the Chia referee stated as he
skated up to the centre where EmeraldBlitz faced a striped Tuskaninny. The striped
one was the only painted pet on the Snowagers' team, and for some odd reason
that sort of frightened EmeraldBlitz. The referee dropped the puck. "Let the
game begin!"
To be continued...
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