Book Read Free

The Galactic Goal (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #4)

Page 2

by Geronimo Stilton

Hi,

  Cuz!

  ” He snickered at the look

  of shock on my snout. “Did you see how

  many fabumouse candidates we have here?

  Picking the players is going to be a blast!”

  ALMOST THERE . . .

  THIS WAY!

  Rat-munching robots! I should have

  known that this was all Trap’s doing!

  “Um, yes, there sure are a lot of

  them

  ,” I squeaked. “Too bad that I have so

  much to do in the control room today — you

  know, captain stuff . . .”

  He smirked. “The only work you’re doing

  today is as TEAM CAPTAIN! Grandfather

  William ordered Thea to take over

  command of the ship for you. He was the

  one who told me to organize the TRYOUTS,

  too. If we had waited for you to do it, we

  wouldn’t be ready for

  LIGHT-YEARS

  !”

  Before I could even squeak, Trap patted

  me on the back. “Cheer up, Gerrykins!

  Finally, you’re going to have a little fun

  instead of staying holed up writing that

  long, boring BOOK of yours.”

  What could I do? Resigned, I followed

  Trap and the hopeful soccerix players to the

  MouseStar 1’s TECHNOGYM. We

  started by selecting the goalie and the center

  fielders. It took two astrohours, but in the

  end we chose TIM WHISKERKICKS as

  the goalie and the TAILTWISTER twins —

  David and Alex — as midfielders.

  The forwards lined up to take

  some shots toward the goal.

  What a cosmic disaster!

  BONK!

  OUCH!

  The whole thing ended

  with:

  1. a plasma screen in

  SHATTERS

  .

  2. a ball LAUNCHED

  into the galaxy.

  3. another ball FLYING

  into my snout!

  Trap frowned. “No,

  this is no good. There’s

  only one solution.”

  A

  chill

  ran down my

  tail. What fur-brained

  plan did my cousin

  have in mind?

  Trap announced, “We need some Dog

  Star fondue

  ! With full stomachs, we’ll

  be able to judge the players better.”

  I breathed a SIGH of relief as we

  headed to the Space Yum Café. Food was a

  good idea.

  Squizzy, our onboard cook, greeted us

  happily. “Hello! I’ve prepared a menu rich

  in protein for you — BOILED BLUE ALGAE!”

  Yuck!

  We protested, “But we want

  fondue!”

  Squizzy looked at us sharply. “No, you need

  to nourish yourselves like athletes— under

  ORDERS from your coach, William Stiltonix!”

  start, sprInt,

  sHoot!

  The next morning was our first TEAM

  practice. We hadn’t found any alternate

  players yet, but at least there were seven

  of us to start with— me, Trap, Bugsy,

  Benjamin, Whiskerkicks, and the

  Tailtwister twins!

  I woke up, ready as I would ever be to head

  to the technogym. Assistatrix

  handed me my clothes, but something was

  wrong!

  “This isn’t my

  gym outfit

  ,” I said,

  shaking my snout.

  “This is your soccerix uniform, Captain,”

  Assistatrix explained. “An astrotaxi

  is waiting to take you to the practice field.

  You’re already late!”

  With that, Assistatrix grabbed me by the

  tail and dragged me to the ASTROTAXI.

  I was off!

  Out on the field, my teammates were

  already

  RUNNING LAPS

  to warm

  up. Sally de Wrench was there, too. She’d

  offered to be an alternate player, since she

  was too busy with her regular work to

  FROM THE ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA

  (FASHION SECTION)

  SOCCERIX UNIFORM

  Thermal tear-proof shirt

  Anti-cramping shorts

  Springy, elastic sneakers

  TEAM FORMATION

  Geronimo Stiltonix (defender)

  Trap Stiltonix (defender)

  Benjamin Stiltonix (forward)

  Bugsy Wugsy (forward)

  David Tailtwister (midfielder)

  Alex Tailtwister (midfielder)

  Tim Whiskerkicks (goalie)

  Sally de Wrench (alternate)

  play full-time. I GAWKED at her

  in admiration —

  holey

  craters

  , what a

  multitalented mouse!

  Before I could squeak, a

  METALIC

  VOICE

  startled me. “Captain, you’re late!

  Start running! SPRINT, SPRINT,

  SPRINT!

  ”

  I spun around. “Robotix! What are you

  doing here?”

  “He’s my assistant, you cosmic

  cheesebrain!” my grandfather boomed.

  “Now don’t waste another moment. Just

  follow the orders. SPRINT, SPRINT,

  SPRINT!

  ”

  I ran up behind

  the others. By the

  time I finished one

  lap

  around the

  field, my legs were

  as wobbly as a stick of Martian mozzarella.

  Oh, for the love of cheese. I still had to do

  jumps, sprints, push-ups . . . and

  then actually play some soccerix!

  After a while, Robotix announced,

  “Now it is time to try some passes and try

  shooting at the goal.”

  MY

  BLOCK!

  MY . . . HEADER!

  MY

  KICK!

  boing

  boing

  boing

  BONK

  Thwack

  Huh?

  After my many

  awkward

  attempts

  to kick the ball, Benjamin came over

  and showed me what to do. I tried a big

  kick —I absolutely did NOT want to let

  my nephew down! And this time, I managed

  to connect my foot with the ball . . . but it

  sailed right over the goal and out of

  bounds. Rats!

  a stellar

  soccerIx plaYer

  Benjamin clapped his paws and cheered.

  “Good job, Uncle! You

  kicked

  it

  that time!”

  “But now I have to go find the ball!”

  Robotix grumbled.

  Before he could move, the ball appeared

  again, lit up bright and fiery red. It sailed back

  over the field —and headed STRAIGHT

  into the goal!

  “COSMIC CHEDDAR!” I exclaimed.

  “Who kicked that incredible shot?”

  Benjamin squeaked, “It was a galactic

  goal!”

  “A galactic . . . what?” I asked.

  “There’s a special spot on the ball,”

  Benjamin explained. “If you kick that spot,

  it doubles in speed and POWER —you get a

  surefire goal! But only true champions

  can do it.”

  While Benjamin was explaining, a little

  mouse
appeared on the sideline. He grinned

  and waved his paw.

  “Hey! What’s your name?” Trap asked.

  The little mouse answered, “LIONEL.

  Lionel Ratessi.”

  “And I’m Penny, his mom,” said a rodent,

  walking up behind the young mouse.

  Trap shook her paw enthusiastically.

  “Based on that GALACTIC GOAL

  we just saw, your son seems to be an out-of-

  this-world soccerix player!”

  Penny gave a small smile. “Yes, he’s

  GOOD

  with a ball. It’s a shame he isn’t

  quite as good at school!” She LOOKED

  at Lionel reproachfully.

  GRANDFATHER WILLIAM

  walked up and asked, “Ma’am, would you

  let your son

  kick

  the ball with

  us for a bit?”

  “No, we were just going —”

  Penny began.

  But then Lionel

  jumped in, begging,

  “Please, Mom? Just a

  few kicks!”

  “Oh, all right!” his

  mother said with a sigh.

  “I’m going to buy some spare parts for our

  shine-all robot, but as soon as I come

  back, we’re heading home.” She waved and

  walked away.

  With a huge grin, Lionel grabbed the ball

  and showed off his SKILLS.

  “Lionel, you’re really a fabumouse player!”

  said Grandfather William, watching in awe.

  The time flew by, but soon Penny came

  back to get Lionel.

  Grandfather walked up to Lionel’s

  mother and said, “We would like your

  son to officially join the SPACEMICE

  SOCCERIX TEAM. We’re preparing

  for the championship, and he’s the all-star

  forward we were missing!”

  Penny frowned and crossed her arms. “I’m

  sorry, but I’m afraid not. Lionel needs to do

  his ROBOTICS

  *

  homework.”

  As they were walking away, I suddenly

  had a STELLAR IDEA! “Penny,

  wait!” I called. “Let Lionel play with us,

  and I promise that when we get back, he

  can do an accelerated robotics course with

  Sally de Wrench, our official onboard

  technician.”

  Penny narrowed her eyes. “Hmmm. Is

  Miss de Wrench experienced?”

  “She is the most experienced on the

  spaceship —I mean, in all the galaxy— no,

  in the whole universe!” I said confidently.

  “Well, in that case . . .” Penny said with a

  small smile. “All right.”

  *

  Robotics is a subject exploring how to create and program robots.

  tIme to

  Blast off!

  We practiced all day, every day for twelve

  days. It was astronomically tiring!

  But now we seemed almost like a real

  team, even if Grandfather William still

  HOLLERED at me every once in a while

  because of my silly mistakes. Luckily, we

  had Lionel, who always stunned us with his

  CHAMPION-CALIBER kicks!

  The day we were leaving for the

  tournament, Thea arrived to transport

  us to the planet ATHLETICA in her

  little space pod. The whole team was there,

  including MouseStar 1’s cook, Squizzy!

  Huh?

  “You’re coming, too?” I asked him.

  “Of course!” Squizzy said. “You’re going

  to need my boiled algae. After all,

  a balanced diet is essential for any self-

  respecting athlete!”

  I was about to go COSMIC, but Trap

  whispered in my ear. “Don’t

  WORRY

  , Gerry

  Berry. My bag is stuffed with aged cheeses!”

  Whew!

  Speaking of bags . . . where was mine, the

  one with all my

  clothes in it?

  “Holey craters, I forgot my bag! We can’t

  leave yet!” I yelled.

  Grandfather William shot me a

  PIERCING glare. “If you weren’t the

  team captain, I would leave you behind!”

  I turned to scurry to my cabin, but just

  then Assistatrix arrived in a hurry

  with my bag.

  BAM !

  We ran into each other head-on! My

  bag flew into the air —and the stuff inside

  went

  EVERYWHERE

  ! Everyone saw

  my matching cheese-patterned

  pajamas and my lucky

  yellow socks

  Oh, for all

  of Saturn’s

  rings, what a

  fool I made of

  myself!

  let tHe games

  BegIn!

  “Look! There’s ATHLETICA!”

  Benjamin announced, pointing out

  the window of Thea’s ship.

  I peeked out and saw a planet

  that looked a lot like ... a

  soccerix ball!

  I had just begun to

  consult the Encyclopedia

  Galactica to find out

  more about the SEPTIMALS,

  the inhabitants of Athletica, when

  a squawking voice came out of

  the spaceship communicator:

  “Welcome, spacemice!

  You can land in area 158!”

  “Message received!” Thea responded.

  Turning to us, she said, “Fasten your seat

  belts — we’re about to land!”

  A few moments later, the space pod

  touched down on Athletica, and we all

  DISEMBARKED. We waved to Thea—she

  was heading back to pilot the MouseStar 1

  while I was gone.

  When we turned around, a delegation of

  From the Encyclopedia

  Galactica

  THE SEPTIMALS

  These are the inhabitants

  of the planet Athletica.

  They are historic soccerix

  champions! They often win,

  thanks to their blender

  technique: By swirling their

  seven legs, they are able to

  kick the ball incredibly far

  and fast. They even train with

  seven balls at the same time!

  Bonk

  Bonk

  Bonk

  Bonk

  Bonk

  Bonk

  Let

  me

  through!

  Ouch!

  BANG

  SEPTIMALS with welcome banners were

  waiting for us!

  The septimal who had sent us the video

  message

  two weeks earlier walked up to

  me. “In the name of the septimals, I welcome

  you to Athletica. We are so HAPPY that you

  accepted our invitation!”

  He kindly directed us to our hotel so we

  could settle in. On the way, Sally de Wrench

  was SHOVED by a large, green, and very

  unfriendly alien. He didn’t even apologize!

  How

  RUDE

  ! I

  had to say

  something.

  Gathering

  my courage,

  I approached

  the alien and

  said, “Excuse

  me, but you owe Miss de Wrench an

  apology!”

  He peered at me seriously—and then

  laughed in my face! I almost fa
inted because

  his breath was so galactically stinky.

  Then he hissed, “The

  ZOMBORGS

  don’t ever apologize. Remember that, rat!”

  He turned around and left without another

  word. Cosmic cheese balls, how awful!

  Once I regained my senses, Robotix

  explained, “Those are the zomborgs, Captain.

  They are another team that will participate

  in the soccerix tournament. Unfortunately,

  they are very hard to beat!”

  “Especially if they breathe in your

  face,” Trap muttered, chuckling and waving

  a paw in front of his snout.

  But I didn’t feel like laughing. Those aliens

  seemed

  VERY DANGEROUS

  !

  THE ZOMBORGS

  These are the inhabitants of the

  planet Penaltex, famouse for their

  aggressive behavior and rudeness.

  On the soccerix field, they are

  feared for being relentless rule

  breakers.

  From the Encyclopedia

  Galactica

  Lost in thought, I didn’t even notice that

  we had arrived at our hotel. Grandfather

  William decided how we would divide up

  the rooms. I ended up sharing a room

  with Trap— who was famouse among the

  spacemice for his galactic snoring!

  SPACEMICE TAKE

  THE FIELD!

  After a sleepless NIGHT because of

  Trap’s thunderous snoring, I was summoned

  by Robotix at the crack of dawn. It was

  time for the opening game against the

  gelatinix aliens!

  Everyone was impatient to get on the

  field . . . except me!

  Then I heard a familiar holler. It was

  Grandfather William, who looked relaxed

  and REFRESHED after a night in the fancy

  imperial suite on the 112th floor of the hotel.

  “SO, GRANDSON, ARE YOU READY? If

  you make me look foolish today, I may have

  to leave you on this planet!”

  “O-of course, Grandfather!” I stammered.

  At that moment, Sally’s sweet voice cut in.

  “

  ADMIRAL

  STILTONIX

  , the captain

  has made great progress. I am sure he’ll be

  fabumouse in today’s game!”

 

‹ Prev