On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Sandorias I

"We will now be warping."

Shinsuke was given the seat between Aoi and Tetsukado. Just as they made themselves comfortable, safety handles went over their heads, almost like they were on a roller coaster.

"Counting down, T-minus 20 seconds to warp."

"If we're warping to get there, it must be a pretty far-off planet!" Shinsuke said. "This is kind of exciting!"

Tetsukado smiled down on him. "Yeah!"

"Soccer on other planets, huh..." Shindou muttered.

"Everyone, we should watch out for spaceship sickness." Manabe warned.

"We'll get spaceship sickness?" Konoha asked.

"It's very possible."

"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4..."

"Honestly, it can't be any different from time jumping."

Before anyone could ask what Kimiko meant, they suddenly started going even faster. Despite traveling at lightspeed before, with the gravity control, they felt as if nothing had changed from being on Earth. But in the warp zone, they were unable to open their eyes as they felt their own weight being pressed against their seats.

"Warp has ended. Normal airspace has been restored."

They all slid down their seats, taking deep breaths and holding their heads up to keep themselves from feeling sick for too long.

None of them remembered anything about the countdown.

"We have arrived at the planet Sandorias, galaxy coordinates 5867-3071."

In front of them was a red planet, looking a little bit like Mars, but much larger, and with white clouds surrounding it. Their view was obstructed by a hologram of a familiar alien.

"I see you have arrived safely."

"Ozrock!"

"The sand planet, Sandorias. They will be your first opponent for Grand Celesta Galaxy."

"We will now be landing in Sandorias."

As they headed down, they were suddenly blinded by a bright light. The train also started shaking violently.

"We've entered Sandorias' atmosphere!"

Yes, thank you for that obvious statement, Manabe!

"Strong winds are always blowing in Sandorias, and the ground surface is mainly a desert." Ozrock continued to explain. "Through evolving in these harsh conditions, the Sandorians have acquired strong bodies and high athletic skill. They will be an intimidating opponent for you Earthlings."

Once through the rough winds, they managed to glide down steadily into a tunnel within a rock, where the Sandorias Station was. It was the perfect length for their train, so much that it was as if the station was built just for it.

... Then again, it could just be that there are other interstellar trains out there that they had just never seen before because they're from Earth.

"Now, the main tournament for Grand Celesta Galaxy is to begin. I don't believe I need to repeat this, but the fate of your planet depends on the outcome of this match. I wish you luck."

"The fate of our planet..."

~~~~~

Something wrong?

Tsurugi cast his friend a glance before going down the steps off the train. It felt like... someone was watching me?

But no one's around, aside from us.