Someone shook Nabiki awake. "Huh...? Wassit? Lemme sleep..."
"Miss Nabiki, we have arrived! Please, we have to go! We must execute our plan."
"Yeah, yeah.. I'm awake, I'm awake..." Damn! She hated mornings without her trusty cup of morning coffee. "Where are we?" she asked while looking out of the scuttle.
"We're approaching the port of Luca," the tall Al Bhed man replied.
"Okay then..." she grabbed her alchemist's gun. "It's showtime..."
----
Savage growling and hissing came out of the cage behind Goba Guado. He snickered. "Don't worry, my beautiful test subject! You will be able to play pretty soon... But you have to be patient... We have to wait for the right time to strike! Maester Seymour is counting on us, you see?"
The shadowy figure inside the cage muttered in a growling voice: "Kill... let me out... to kill..."
----
"Okay, we're all set! This is our big chance! But be careful: The Luca Goers are still a formidable team, and the Aurochs have two excellent new players that seemed to have brought the rest of the team back into shape... so be on guard!"
"Don't worry, cap'n," the goalie of the Kilika Beasts said. "We will be careful. I'll just keep the balls out of our goal until our new shooter is ready... Got it, Ukyo?"
The newest team member of the Beasts grinned. "You can count on me, sugar!"
----
Luca port was stuffed with ships from all over Spira. The streets were filled with humans, Ronso and Guado alike. Even a few Hypellos managed to come to the great event... The great blitzball tournament!
And while the visitor from every town tried to get another free seat in the stadium, the two stadium speaker's voices could be heard from every loudspeaker and sphere screen in the city:
"Ah, over there! The ships carrying the players have arrived now! This would be dock number 2. All the way from Kilika, it's the Kilika Beasts! High Summoner Ohalland used to play for them - a big name to live up to. Their hometown was recently attacked by Sin. Isn't that right, Jimma?"
"Yes, Bobba! But, as we heard, they came with a brand new star player that is supposed to help them win the cup this year! Who knows what this young girl could show us today? No one ever heard of her before... But, although she's a newbie, she seems to know what she's doing!"
"Exciting, isn't it, folks? Our next team off the ramp is... Well, well, if it isn't the Besaid Aurochs! They're a living, breathing, statistical impossibility. I've never seen a team this bad! That's right! In twenty-three years, they've never made it past the first round! Only a few die-hard fans are in the audience today."
"Well, it looks like they have a few new players as well. Let's see if it's going to help them this time, Bobba! Best of luch to them, and a safe journey back to Besaid."
"Right, Jimma! Moving right along, our next team is... Here they are, folks! Our very own Luca Goers! They've got power! They've got speed! They've got teamwork! They're an all-around first-class team! And they're back home in Luca!"
"Without a doubt, they're the favorite this year, Bobba! And after the way they dominated last year, it'd take a miracle for them to lose today!"
"You can say that again, Jimma! Look at the crows, folks! Look at the crowd! They know, I know and you know, folks! The Luca Goers are number one!"
----
The Besaid Aurochs were huddled in a small corner of the harbor, behind some crates. Yuna and her guardians were standing next to them.
"It's like this every year, ya?" Wakka resignedly said. "Don't let it bother you."
Ranma has already changed into girl form and into the Auroch's blitz uniform. After all, the people of Spira WOULD see her play as a girl, there was no way around that.
Tidus didn't put on a new uniform. He preferred his old blitzball clothes from Zanarkand!
Ranma smirked at Tidus. "Wanna heat up the crowd?" she asked.
He grinned. "Thought you never asked!" They grabbed themselves a megaphone and climbed on the crates.
"Stop it right there, Goers!" Tidus yelled over the heads of the crowd. "You guys are smilin' now, but not for long!"
Ranma took the megaphone from him. "Yeah," she added. "Cause this year, us Aurochs are taking the cup! And there's nothing you can do about it!"
Afterwards, their cap'n Wakka was scolding them: "What in Yevon's name were you doing up there?"
"We sure stood out, though," Datto commented.
"Yeah," Letty nodded. "We were on the sphere!"
Ranma grinned. "There's nothing wrong about a little challenging speech before the game! Martial artists do this all the time!"
Suddenly, numerous people were running past them.
"Maester Mika is here," they could hear one man say.
"Really?" a woman answered.
"The number 3 dock," another man shouted.
"What's up now?" Akane asked.
"Maester Mika has arrived, that's what!"
"What's a... maester?" Ranma asked.
"Maester Mika is the leader of all the people of Spira," Yuna explained. He's come all the way from Bevelle! The tournament is being held to honor his fifty years as maester."
"Fifty years?" Tidus asked. "Shouldn't he be, uh... retired by now?"
"Hey! Mind your mouth, now!" Wakka sternly said.
Yuna was very excited. "Let's all go see him!" she said.
----
Inside Ranma's mind...
'All these people...' Fenrir grumbled.
'What do you expect?' Carbuncle asked. 'This sport is pretty popular in this world.'
'I don't like big crowds...' the wolf shuddered. 'I feel all cramped!'
'Be thankful that Ranma didn't let us roam freely. Think about how many people would have stepped on your paws by now!'
Fenrir whimpered.
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(Posted Sat, 15 Jul 2006 10:33)
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