Good morning!  C&C this, please.  I have an ugly feeling about this. :)

Until tomorrow.
---
Caught in the Sun
A 2002 World Cup / Anime Fanfic Series
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)

Episode One: Playing Hurt
Group E: Germany v Saudi Arabia @ Sapporo
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic

"We are having a dandy of a time at the Sapporo Dome, where three points
are at stake on this second night of group play at the 2002 World Cup.
The not-so-fancied Saudi Arabian side having their way with perennial
contender Germany, and as we approach the beginning of the second half,
the green shirts enjoy a one-nil advantage."
"There is a story developing, though, over reports and otherwise
speculation that the Germans, prior to taking the pitch tonight, are
suffering from a very slight case of food poisioning.  Much like in the
debacle in the NBA playoffs back home, officials are checking into the
shipments that were funneled into the Dome and at the team's hotel for the
past few days.  Germany had one last practice on the field to get a sense
of the environment, and the 23-man squad had a final meal catered to them
at the Dome before the official ceremonies earlier tonight.  As a result
of what may be bad food, they have been sluggish against Saudi Arabia,
especially in midfield, where the backline has had to come in to assist,
paying the price off a foolish offsides trap and falling behind by a
goal."
"Two years of preparation for this night, where the Germans thought to
pick up some easy points off the Saudis.  One can only imagine how it has
come to this."
---
"--And put those in the locker room, they'll sort it all out later," the
foreman said.
The staff did what they were told, ferrying around all sorts of supplies,
all of them for the upcoming game.  One man stopped what he was doing, and
eyed a peculiar item atop a stack of boxes.
"What're you doing?" the second man asked.
"Someone must've left this here," he replied.
"Are you kidding?  That's the team's catering, don't fool around with
that!"
"You sure?"
"Yeah, and so what?  Just put it the locker room with all the other
stuff."
He walked away, leaving the first man to still wonder about something so
out of place.  No matter, he thought, as he did what he was asked to do,
hoisting the entire stack on top of a cart and taking it where it needed
to go.
---
"Hey!" Akane cried, "Which one of you was holding our food?"
Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other under a pretense of innocence.
"Do you have it?"
"Me?  Uh, no, I thought you were holding it."
"What do I look like, a bagman?"
Akane scoffed at the two of them, and walked away, saying, "Ugh, you men!
And to think I spent hours making it for our trip here!"
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, having successfully ditched the goods.
He then looked over one shoulder with a blank stare at his surroundings.
"What's up?"
"Nothing," Ranma said, "Just wondering when Pops ran off to.  Must've went
with Nabiki."
"Isn't she trying to place a couple of bets?"
---
"When this is all over, I'm going to kill you," Nabiki said, deadpan.
"What?" Ranma asked as he settled back down into his seat, "What did I
do?"
"I was gonna make some major profit off Germany.  You know where that food
went."
"Whatever, they'll shake it off."
"They'd better.  I've got a ton of money on the line here."
Of course, Nabiki wasn't going to lay a finger on Ranma, but as he watched
the second half begin, he grew some concerns in the back of his mind that
she just might try something troublesome to save her lousy bet.  In the
meantime, he looked around and still had not seen his father since long
before kickoff.

"Fifty-first minute now, and the Saudis continue to lay down the pressure
as the Germans continue to struggle on both ends of the pitch.  Saudi
Arabia has outshot Germany eight to four as--alright, this is a serious
shot again.  The green shirts in midfield feeding their lead striker with
the ball, he's beaten the first two defenders!  He takes a shot from
fifteen yards--oh, my word!  A giant panda made the huge save for
Germany!"

The crowd erupted in jubilation as the ball landed in Genma's hands.  The
forwards stood in disbelief as the panda worked the huge crowd that filled
the stadium.
Nabiki and Ranma were the only ones in their seats.  One was rather
pleased; the other had the wide-eyed expression of bewilderment.
"Well," the fairweather fan in Nabiki said, "You don't see that everyday."

"That's a great stop, came all the way from twenty yards off the sideline,
had no business at all being in the box.  What I wonder is how he was able
to plant his feet and get in position so quickly to put an end to the
Saudi offense."
"Couple hundred pounds of solid defense covered in black and white fur
saves the day for Germany, on the brink of upset, still behind one-nil,
but you gotta think that the Germans have the momentum to rally around
that miracle of a play for their defense."
---
Ryoga heard the cheers from the stands above him as he wandered about
aimlessly in the bowels of the Dome.  Had he been able to make sense of
the markings of the passageways leading to the stands, he might not have
wound up lost inside the stadium.
At last, though, he found a door.  Not out to the seats, but to a
restroom.  He decided to take advantage of it while it was right in front
of him, and as a pair of children darted out of it, laughing
mischievously, he made his way inside to find some relief.
The hallway of that particular section of the Dome was uneventful, save
for the fans going to and from their seats for various concessions.  The
children, of course, were long gone, having plugged up the sinks with the
purpose of flooding the restroom.  Nonetheless, they had a good laugh, as
they heard from afar the sound of water gushing from the restroom and into
the hallway.
---
The longball sailed into midfield while the second half began to wind down
to a close.  Those in the grey shirts ran a furious pace to work the ball
into the net, but were stopped by a very persistent defense.
After the initial goal, Ranma watched the game with only partial interest.
"Looks like you're going to lose the bet," he said.
"Better not," Nabiki replied emotionessly, "That's our grocery money for
the next two weeks.'
Ranma looked up, "What?"
"Well, they were supposed to win!"
"Then they'd better score something, shouldn't they?" he said with
sarcasm.
"Hey, I didn't poison the entire team with Akane's food!"
"What!?" Akane cried.
Ranma and Nabiki looked behind them.  Akane was long ignored throughout
the half, and they had forgotten that she was even there.
"Oh, you're in big trouble, chief," Nabiki whispered.
"Ranma," Akane said, nicely at first, "Did you ditch our lunch?"
"Well, I--you see--it's, uh--"
It was then that tempers flared. "I don't believe you!  I oughta kill
you!"
He saw the look in her eyes and knew that he was suddenly in a tight spot.
He laughed it off, though, same as always, and darted from his seat,
towards the pitch.
"Hey!" Akane cried before chasing after him, "Come back here!"
Inexplicably, the chase took to the field, as both Ranma and Akane
navigated around the players and officials.  Several midfielders were
tripped up as the pursuit continued, as the remaining players looked on in
curiosity.  After a long time of being chased about the field, Ranma found
himself in the penalty area, looking around for his pursuer.
"Over here!" she said, with the ball firmly resting underneath her foot.
With one quick motion, Akane took her foot back and kicked the ball into
the box, leaving Ranma with no time to react.  He stood absolutely frozen
in time until the ball struck him like a bullet.  To everyone's amazement,
he held onto the ball with both hands as he was thrown past the goalkeeper
and into the net.

"Shot and a goal!  And it's a one-one game!"

A standing ovation awaited Akane as, section by section, the stadium
crowds stood up to celebrate this latest goal.  The team that stood in her
debt hoisted Akane, much to her surprise, up on their shoulders and
carried her about the field.  A dazed Ranma, on the other hand, took a
moment before sitting up from his rather flat position in the goal.  His
first sight was the keeper, who shook his head in disappointment over his
inadequate defense.
---
In all the excitement of the game being even again, P-chan went largely
unnoticed by everyone on the sidelines, as they remained too focused on
the ball movements on the field in the closing minutes of the half.  The
diminutive creature squealed as he moved about, as directionless as ever.
His movements flirted with the sideline, where his troubles began as the
midfielder stepped out of the line to take the throw-in.  Startled, P-chan
instinctively ran onto the field, where most of the frantic action took
place.

"Can't explain it, folks, but I think a couple of the players are having
trouble ascertaining where the ball is."
"That sounds about right.  I see something on the pitch, and it's rolling
around quite freely much like the ball that's in play.  Hey, I think
they're mistaking it for the ball!  Look, one of the forwards kicked it
around, thinking he was on onsides!"
"How can you mistake that?  The match ball is gold, and that - whatever it
is - is dark!"

P-chan was quite the distraction, as he was volleyed about the midfield
between both sides.  He was not thrown about with too much force,
thankfully, but just enough to draw enough defenders away from the real
ball.

"Look at this, look at this!  Germany has the ball forward, with only the
keeper to beat!"

The roar of the crowds snapped the players out of their distraction, and
in a manner of seconds, in the brief moments it took to mistake P-chan for
the match ball, the strikers made what the best of their last chance in
the penalty area.

"Goal, and the Germans have done it!  From down one goal to up one in just
minutes!  What a letdown for their opponents!"

P-chan looked up, not quite sure what to make of anything happening around
him.  All he could see, as he scrambled to get off the field and out of
danger, was the celebration of players in grey jerseys all over the pitch.
P-chan took one last look, and collapsed softly onto the grass.
---
"And what a night for soccer, for those of you keeping track at home.  The
Germans were playing hurt for much of the match, and even fell behind
early on.  But a miraculous turn of events reversed the fortunes of
everyone on the field, and the Germans take three points in a critical
Group E match, winning 2-1 over Saudi Arabia.  Bookies all around the
world have to feel relieved that Germany took this match back with a
venegeance."
"I still don't know how that panda was able to stop that ball so
quickly..."
"Are you still fixated on the panda?"
---
"Wasn't that a fun game?" Akane asked as they left the Dome.
Nabiki laughed, patting her rather thick pocketbook. "Absolutely," she
said, "How about you guys?"
Ranma walked behind them, still sore from the incident. "Uh, yeah," he
said, grimacing.  He finally looked over his shoulder at Ryoga, showing a
couple of bruises himself. "What happened to you?"
He held his swollen jaw, as if to hold it in place, saying, "Shut up."

END.

Next match:
Episode Two: Argentina v Sweden @ Saitama
A Mermaid Saga Fanfic
---
Roehl Sybing
"The past is gone but something might be found to take its place" - Gin
Blossoms, Hey Jealousy

Infinite Deferral - http://www.infinitedeferral.com/
 - stories, fanfic, politics, j-pop, and some curling
every-now-and-then-when-it's-in-season


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'