Out of the Sidelines

Marvin groaned. His head really hurt after being hit by his own ship's ramp, and the ice pack Bugs had given him hadn't helped a bit.
Well, it wasn't his fault. It was Bugs'. Apparently being a Tune didn't make you count as family. Even Elmer Fudd was on the team. But him? He was on the sidelines because Bugs had told him he just "wasn't family" because he "was from space and only wanted the Earth to blow it up."
That was what Bugs thought of him? Seriously? He'd given up on that whole Earth thing decades ago. Being an actor was much easier. Mostly.
Marvin took his phone out of his pocket and looked at his lockscreen. It was a picture of Tyr'ahnee's actress, Terra Starr, back from when he'd acted on Duck Dodgers. She hadn't contacted him since the show had ended. He missed her terribly. What would she think of him now, banged up and confined to the sidelines?
Marvin glanced briefly at the crowd and gulped. There was a very scary clown staring right at him from the bleachers. There were other aggressive-looking weirdos in the crowd as well. Was it worth going onto the court if these freaks would be silently judging him?
What would Terra do? Marvin wondered. Despite playing the damsel in distress at times in the show, she was fearless. She wouldn't let a dumb bunny hold her back. She's be on that court scoring for the Tunes. That's exactly what I have to do.
Then he saw Bugs walk into the locker room, as terribly banged up as Marvin was. Marvin gulped again. What was going on out there? Who had hurt the Tunes? He hopped softly from the sidelines and crept into the locker room, curious as to what was going on.
Penelope Pussycat was handing out water bottles and towels, which the Tunes rabidly accepted. Marvin snuck closer. It wasn't just Bugs who was beat up. Everyone was sporting at least three bandages on their bodies. Marvin wasn't worried-Tunes were capable of surviving anything-but he was flabbergasted. Who exactly were they up against?
At that moment, Bugs turned and saw him. "Eh, what's up, Marv?"
Marvin scowled and crossed his arms. "You've made me very angry, Rabbit. Shouldn't you be talking to that sweetheart of yours? Because she's 'family' and I'm not?"
Bugs tensed. "It's not that ya ain't family, Marv-you just don't fit in with the other Tunes. Face it, pal, you're an alien. You just don't have what it takes to be one of us."
Marvin's eyes filled with tears, though he tried to ignore them. He clenched his hands into fists. "Don't come crying for me when you lose the game, Rabbit. You'll be sorry!"
Bugs opened his mouth to reply, but Marvin stormed out without another word. Not only did Bugs not consider him family, but he thought he would never be one of 'them'? How callous! How cruel!
Marvin slumped in his seat at the sidelines and tried to ignore the clown in the crowd. The real clown here is Bugs, Marvin thought. Well I'll show him. If he begs me to come out on that court, well then he can eat his own words.
As the game progressed, Marvin realized the Tunes were losing badly. He didn't care about that Lebron guy's kid, but he did care about his so-called friends. Even Daffy looked concerned, and he wasn't playing either. They need someone to step up, Marvin realized. Right now, they need a hero bigger than that Lebron guy. Someone like m-
No. He wasn't going to give in. Bugs had said he wasn't even fit to be considered a Tune. Why should they deserve him? They'd just have to find a hero somewhere else. If they lost, who cared. It was only what they deserved for treating him like that.
As the game wore on, the Tunes picked up their pace. Lola was especially impressive. Marvin made a mental note to ask her out later. But the Tunes were still far behind. They were only a few points away from winning, but the competition was rough. A snake woman and a being made of both fire and water-who could go up against those monsters and come out alive?
Marvin leaned forward in his seat, his fingers crossed. If they didn't win...what would happen?
Then the ball passed his seat, and despite it all, he knew what he had to do.
Marvin laced up his sneakers, charged out of the sidelines, and started to dribble.
He admitted to himself that he barely knew the rules of basketball at all-how he'd been chosen as referee at the last match was a complete mystery to him-but he knew how to score. The monstrous beings were guarding their hoop carefully. Marvin had to do everything right if he was to score the winning point.
Well, nobody said he couldn't play a little dirty.
Marvin took out his ray gun and fired a shot into the air. As soon as the monsters were distracted, he dropped his gun on the floor, ran as fast as he could, leapt...and scored the final point for the Tunes.
Except as he fell back down to Earth, something went wrong. He felt a hand twisting his ankle and glanced down to see the snake woman clinging to him. His gun was far too out of reach to grab. He was going to have to fight his way back to his friends.
Although in pain, Marvin put on a brave face. "Mad that we won?"
"You cheated," hissed the snake woman. She twisted his ankle even tighter, and Marvin let out a cry of pain.
Marvin was about to say that there was nothing in the rules about distracting an opponent and that Tunes couldn't use their natural abilities when he felt something slam into his chest. Before he could catch his breath, another blow came, then another. He realized in horror that the monsters were trying to kill him.
Guess since I'm not family, I'll have to handle this myself, Marvin thought. He gritted his teeth and tried to fight back, but he barely got any reprieve. The strikes came fast and hard and he couldn't keep up with them. The only choice he had was to scream for help and hope someone answered.
Before he could open his mouth, he felt someone grab him around his bad ankle and hold him up high. Marvin gasped. Some of the spectators had burst through the barrier, and who was holding him but the scary clown. He was really in for it now. This is it, he thought. Killed by a maniacal clown. This wasn't how I'd planned on going out...
Then he heard a familiar voice shouting. "Let go of him, ya big brute! That Martian is one of us!"
It was Bugs. And apparently the clown listened, because Marvin felt himself falling towards the ground at what felt like light speed. He didn't have much time to be grateful, though, because he hit his head hard on the shiny wooden floor. Marvin let out a squeak of pain as stars filled his vision. He felt someone grab his arm, and then everything went black.

.......

"He was a good Martian and hey, he tried to blow us up on multiple occasions, but boy will I miss him..."
Marvin blinked. He was lying on his back on the floor, and everything looked a little blurry. He blinked again and saw that the other Tunes were gathered around him, wiping tears from their eyes. And who was giving such a touching eulogy? Why, Bugs Bunny!
Marvin sat up and tapped Bugs on the shoulder. "Uhhh, thank you, but I'm still alive. Did we...did we win?"
Before Marvin could think of anything else to say, he felt himself lifted above the cheering crowd of Tunes. "Three cheers for our very own Martian!" Bugs said. And as the other Tunes joined in, Marvin felt something he hadn't felt in forever: A sense of belonging.
There was getting dunked in Gatorade, getting personally hugged and thanked by that Lebron guy, and cake. Marvin ate so much cake he couldn't eat anything else for the rest of the night.
But that was far from the best thing that happened that night.
No, the best part of the night was when Bugs looked Marvin in the eyes, and he knew the rabbit was proud of him. That he accepted him. That he was sorry he ever doubted him.
And Marvin forgave him. Well, at least a little.
Marvin was proud of his team, but he was most proud of himself. He'd proved himself and shown Bugs that he was wrong. That he was as much a Tune as anyone else. That he deserved to stay by their sides from then on. Now and forever.
He wondered if Lola would ever go on a date with him. Or if he'd ever meet Terra again.
But right now that didn't matter, because what mattered was that he'd been accepted into a family at last.
Definitely never going to try to blow up this planet again. After all, I'm home now and I always will be.