First story submission of the year! Yaay!

This is a collab between me and  nightfirex
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Come 10 PM, Alaska Airlines Stadium was alight with a spectrum of colours and lights flashing and blaring, the speakers booming out rhythmic and entrancing beats as furs of all kinds gathered after the game to enjoy themselves in dance, drink and lounging. Up on the stage was DJ Nightfire (Squnx, GM, SPO) running the turntables, dressed in a fine, flashy crusader t-shirt and tripp pants with glowing bracelets, as was his unique style. It was rare to see him playing in front of a large crowd though – especially to a crowd who knows him as a manager of a basketball team.


Feres (Lynx, GM, ALK) was on the dance floor with the crowd, dressed in casual clothing and had glow-sticks on hand, swinging to the tune when he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and dragged him off – he tensed at first, but when he saw who grabbed him he relaxed and followed.


“Can’t catch a break, can I?” The lynx watched the crowd from the large premiere box seats, sitting with a glass of sparkling grape juice. His ears flicked uncomfortably, annoyed as his canine companion, Fangloup poured his own glass.

“You’ll want to hear this.” The red wolf cut straight to the chase. Feres rolled his eyes.

“Let’s hear it, then.”

“Few hours ago in the Alaskan State Tennis game, Rana White, a dachshund pro was caught having maletophine in her locker.’

Feres nearly spat out his drink. He settled for a painful gulp instead. He immediately jumped up his seat and warily stared down at the dance floor – counting all his players. Cliff was there sitting besides Bobby off to the side with the tables, Fernandez was dancing…

“And do the newspeople know?” He asked, still accounting for the players that said they would attend.

“FNN’s already got it.”

“Damnit.” The lynx rubbed his temple. “Alright. What’s the evidence? Did she possess it or was it—“

“She claimed she was prescribed it.”

Feres pondered this for a moment, trying to wonder if it matched to the case in the FBA – but no, that wasn’t relevant to maletophine at all.
“Alright. What’s the plan?”

“Just warning you, that’s all.”

“I’ve got all my eyes on my players. I’m going to warn Mr. Kitsura.”

“Why not tell him who you work for while you’re at it?” the red wolf joked, grinning.

“I wouldn’t tell him something *that* sensitive…a fair warning’s all the same. GMs tell each other secrets, they trust each other more…”

The lynx’s eyes caught Nightfire having a break between songs, discussing something with the Alaskan team’s raven center, Constantine Jones. The corvid, dressed for the occasion of being the other disk jockey of the night seemed to be nodding and grinning. Feres’ eyebrows raised and an ear carefully flicked. “If that’s all, I’m gonna get back to dancing, and have a little chat with a squnx. Keep me informed, Loup.”


It was a few hours of partying before the clock chimed 12, and Nightfire handed the turntable over to Jones before Feres, quite tired after a good dance with Fernandez – the honeybear which never seemed to tire – invited Nightfire to the same box seat room.

"Well well, if it isn't my 'old' arch-nemesis Mr. Svenlocke...” The squnx quipped as they entered the room. “So what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to a rave party..." as soon as the lynx shut the door, the two could hear each other much better. Feres moved over to the table where sat his bottle of grape juice, uncorking it.

"Old?" Feres grins. "I've been replaced, have I?" he was actually tired himself, having been dancing at the rave for a fair bit. The lynx poured a glass of sparkling white grape juice for both of them. "Sorry that my personal collection doesn't have wine. I still need to drive home," he chuckled.

"No no, this is fine.” The squnx took the glass with a nod. “Well first, happy new year... I am glad that you had a wonderful time…” He said, eying the silver fur’s tired countenance. “Second, good job on your team winning the game... I am sure they are quite happy with the victory."

The lynx nodded. "Yes, happy new year to you too. I think the team's pretty excited to be back on the .5 line again," he smiled dryly. "Your team played well," he looked down at the arena, trying to see if he could spot any of Spokane's players at the dance floor or the seats.

As Feres looked down he caught sight of Xavier Knutten on the floor with a glowstick dancing along side with Gloria Johnson, and looking over at one of the table he see Ezra Rosenbaum sitting down enjoying a drink with Jorge Vilata and Theodore Sanftner. Radrab was talking to some girls at the bar. The lynx eyed them curiously as Nightfire finally spoke up. "You say that but do you honestly mean it Feres?"

The lynx smirked. He had meant it, but to elaborate would just sound like he was forcing himself to please the squnx. "There are worse teams out there, but at the end of the day, you and I? We still have to face Montana."

"We do… and Montana is the face of the league at the moment." Nightfire folded his arms, quietly and slowly speaking. "I can sense by the tone of your voice you are not content with that."

He looked down for a moment staring at Constantine Jones at the turntables. "You were smart to keep him,” he remarked. “Though I ask you what is your goal. We are in the same division, along with Montana… It’d be unwise for us to be at each other’s neck along with Montana."

Feres flicked an ear, approving. "Jones is proving to be valuable. To be honest he was my second choice, but he's performed beyond Coach's expectations," he rubbed his chin. "As for my goal? My goal's simple. I want to turn this team to be stronger than Montana. They've become a whole new beast this year, and Alaska's not able to take them out as well as they did in the past. You're in the same shoes as me, am I right?" he sat back, leaning on his chair and took a sip of the juice, tasting its sourness.

"I am… but like any GM we have plans, ideas, and dreams for our team. I look to see where the flow is heading before I wish to go with it or against it... right now teams want to go after the champs. I agree with you, we want to be stronger then Montana but that also means only one of us can be the division lead." He took a sip of his juice. "I think it would be best if we keep up our rivalry... but work to give Montana a proper challenge."

"Still not too late, the season's still young. You and I take over the top two spots in the division and hold it, we'll both be in the championships." he grinned. "We just need to make sure the two of us can beat Montana every step of the way. The rivalry our teams have will help push them further."

"And that’s the answer I wanted to hear." Nightfire set down his drink. "I won't go further with anything more on the matter but I think right now a friendship will be much more valuable.”

A brief pause came, and Night’s eyes hovered at Jones again. “So in light of that... Even though you prevented me from getting C-Sharpe in a Rapids jersey... I want him on my record label."

"That's what you were talking with him about, eh?" Feres earflicked. "Let's hear the terms then, I don't necessarily own him for what he does outside the court."

Nightfire smiled, his tone becoming fast, and blunt. "1 million dollar advance contract, he will be guaranteed royalties from any album he makes. 3 points per album sold. He will be able to do live shows at my club and I think the Nightfire/C-Sharpe combo will bring some good media on both sides, agreed?"

The lynx barely gave much thought and shrugged. "If he wants to, I don't see why not. I don't think the FBA would have any issues with him doing that. As long as -- is this happening mid-season or?"

"No. Off season. Just want to get the preliminaries out of the way… If he signs the contract, that is."

"Oh, well, consider my approval on it if he agrees!" The lynx smiled.
Nightfire smiled in return and extend a paw "Here’s to a new friendship in the new year!"

Feres shook the paw. "Yes, to the new year,"

He smiled, figuring that he now has Night as another key to reach the top of the league. He thought that Night probably felt the same. His faded when he looked back to his players, recalling the brief meeting with Fangloup. "I actually do have to warn you about something though,"

"Oh? What is it?" Nightfire asked as he poured himself another glass.
"Sometime last night, I got news that a tennis player, Rana White? She's one of the popular faces around here when it comes to tennis. She was caught having maletophine - now, I don't know how much you know about it, but it's an illegal drug. Not saying that you shouldn't trust your players, of course not...I just want to tell you to keep an eye on the locker rooms. Last time that drug was around, it was in New Orleans. Spread around the town quick."

There was a long pause before the squnx nodded. "I see... Well I do trust my players not to take such risk with their bodies but I thank you for the warning. Knowing the orthodox training methods I give my players, I just hope they don’t' come to point they feel they need a drug to survive my training." He then emptied his glass pretty quickly.

The lynx chuckled at that, emptying his. "That's good. Your music was fun to dance to, Mr. Kitsura. Had a blast with it, but the party's not done quite yet, it looks like," he grins standing. The crowd was still full of energy down there, and the music was still blaring. "Enjoy the rest of the evening. Thanks for playing tonight, too!"

Nightfire nodded. "I will...in fact I am heading back down to ask a wonderful lady to dance with me. Thank you again for hosting this...I will make next time if you are in Spokane. Let me know ok?"

Feres raised an eyebrow at the mention of this 'lady'. He nods. "Not necessary, but appreciated! I look forward to going back to Spokane," he nods, slipping out the door and heading back to the dance floor.

Nighfire stretched on his chair, sighing in relief. "OK…another part of the plan complete." The squnx looked down to the stage. "Can't slow down now…have to finish it."

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FBA ©  buckhopper
Alaska Arctics ©  jtigerclaw, GM'd by  rainwhisker
Fangloup & Feres ©  rainwhisker
Spokane Rapids & Nightfire Kitsura ©  Nightfirex
Constantine Jones ©  marcusnoble
All other characters © their respective owners.