by Lee Morgan
“If you have watched baseball you know it’s polite for the captains to shake hands out of respect and for a clean game.” Connor took a step forward and grabbed Xaon’s large right index finger. He gripped it tightly and stepped back to shake it. Xaon’s eyes were wide, just as all of his teammates were. “This is customary as a normal human greeting as well.”
“I thought that they were trying to judge each other’s strength when they did this… You learn something new every day.” Connor let go and Xaon stood up. “Let’s have a real game now!”
The teams turned away from each other and walked to their dugouts.
Several minutes later, noon arrived. Since there were no microphones in the entire stadium, they used a Keeper for being a commentator. She sat behind the fence that was behind the catcher and referee. She was in a paneled booth along with a male Changer who was keeping the score and the lineup roster. The pink robed Keeper stood up and roared. The stadium silenced even more quickly when she spoke with her telepathy. “Mammals and Reptiles, this a first for us all. The Elder to be, Xaon, has challenged a group who are comprised of four Balancers, two Changers and the Honored Mother, Veronica. There has never been an odd blending of talents before and I expect this to be one of the most memorable events that has ever happened for one of our meetings.
“The team captain for team Rampage is none other than our very own, Xaon!” The crowds erupted as he stepped up onto the field. He smiled at all the attention. “The captain for team Equal is the newcomer, Connor!” He stepped out as well and was shocked to hear the same kind of cheering that Xaon received.
The Keeper referee attired a black and white striped robe. He stepped forward and mentally shouted “Play Ball!” He turned to look at Connor. “Team Equal will be the first on the field.”
He turned to his team. “You know your positions.” He couldn’t suppress his wide, evil grin. “Show them no mercy.”
Everyone grinned the same way and ran out into their exact positions. Once Kara and Mark made it to their designated positions they began to change into a wingless wolf. Flying is prohibited in baseball. Once they finished, they each decided to stay down on all fours.
Connor walked to his catcher’s position while collecting water out of the air. When he made it to the catcher’s area a cool glove of water encased his entire left hand. He didn’t need it, but he did for the time being, after all Keepers were the strongest and it would be insane to catch a ball a Keeper would throw without protection. Tool didn’t get in the way as Connor stood. He knew that the batters had a much larger strike zone than team Equal did so he didn’t need to crouch, jumping was also required. The referee tossed Veronica the ball and she caught it effortlessly. She did some warm-up pitches with Connor until her shoulder was loose. Every now and then he would throw the ball to the three basemen. It took Jillian two tries to learn how to catch the ball with water and not drop it.
After two more minutes of practice the referee announced “Batter up!”
The first player stepped up to the plate and took two swings before getting into the correct position. Connor looked at Veronica and gave her two hand signals and she knew that the first signal was a fake. She took her stance and threw a slow ball.
He connected easily with the hit and Connor could feel the wind following it. It flew out into left field, but it wasn’t high enough. Mark jumped up twelve feet and caught the ball in both of his claws. He landed and threw the ball back to Veronica. “First out!” The ref said. Connor smiled at Veronica and she knew that he wanted the opposing them to underestimate them first.
The next batter wasn’t any exception. Jack caught the ball with his fire whip. Connor remained telling her to keep throwing slowly for every pitch, but not to look to be holding back. Two Keepers managed to get on to first and third base.
The next batter was none other than Xaon himself. “If that is all your pitcher can do, then this will be all too easy.”
Connor looked at Veronica and gave her a new hand sign. She nodded once. She took her stance and hid her grip on the ball with her left hand. She threw it with all she had and it was coming right at them. The spin she put on the ball began it taking its effect. It broke from a fastball and into a slider. “Strike one!” The crowd went silent. Xaon became speechless. He just realized they were holding back, but not any longer. The game could now begin in earnest. She threw a fastball and he dinged the ball with the top of his bat and Connor caught it with the water glove. “Strike two!” The next hand sign made Veronica grin. Her partner silently moved back and to the right for this pitch and the batter was oblivious. She threw a fast pitch and Connor caught it off to the side, Xaon swung. “Strike three! Switch!” He swung at a pitch he could never have hit.
The crowd was in shellshock, as was Xaon. He suddenly began to laugh a few seconds later. “Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. This team really knows how to play properly.” He turned to his companions. “Come on boys, we can finally enjoy this one and play to our best!”
Team Equal returned to the dugout and waited while the other team warmed up. Everyone had excitement written all over their faces. A few minutes later the referee turned and said “Batter up!” First one up to bat was Jillian, Xaon struck her out in three blinding pitches. Kara was the same way. Connor noticed that they weren’t listening to what he told them and were looking for the ball.
Mark began the approach next and Connor grabbed his furry tail, jerking him to a sudden halt. Mark looked up at his friend and Connor whispered so only he could hear. “Watch for the twitch of his tail to begin your swing.” Mark nodded and trotted over to retrieve the bat from his mate. Kara looked a little depressed because she didn’t manage to even come close to landing a hit. Mark whispered in her ear with his muzzle and Connor could hear him telling her what he was told. Kara’s eyes widened and she hit the top of her fur covered head with the palm of her hand, sticking her long tongue off to the side. She quickly trotted back into the dugout.
Mark stood up on his back legs and gripped the handle. The moment Xaon’s long tail twitched Mark swung and missed the ball by a few centimeters. The second pitch wasn’t any different. Pitch three was a success as he hit it right between second and third base. The third basemen wasn’t prepared and the ball went right past him in a silvery blur. Mark dropped the bat and himself and rocketed all the way to second base before he could go no further. Xaon was shocked, but then began to grin.
Sarah was up next and before she left, she jumped and kissed her husband’s cheek and glided over to the batter’s box. Fangs moved perfectly with her and her bottom put her mate in a swaying trance. She effortlessly lifted the bat that probably weighed as much as she does. Xaon wasn’t holding back any longer, but neither was Sarah. Connor knew that look in her eye, she wanted to win. She brought her hands into a choke-up on the bat and she took her stance.
When Xaon threw the ball, Connor could see that Sarah saw the ball as easily as he can. She swung the bat perfectly and connected with the ball. Everyone heard the ball break the sound barrier and land on the metal net of the outfield. The ref mentally shouted “Home run!” and Sarah jogged around the bases and she scored the team two points because Mark tagged the home plate first. Now there was utter silence in the arena except from their dugout, Liz, Amber and Ben whistling in the back bleachers and Firon and Clarein roaring behind the Rampage dugout. Sarah stomped on home plate and looked at Xaon. “My mate isn’t the only one athletic in here.”
“Your mate?” Xaon turned to look at Connor grinning right at him. “This keeps getting better and better. I can truly test out my skills properly.” Apparently his voice said he was getting a real challenge for once and thoroughly enjoying the experience. There wasn’t the least bit of malice behind his words though. He was truly enjoying the friendly challenge.
Connor was next and Sarah handed him the bat. “Great hit, Sarah.” She was so proud of herself. He stepped up to the plate and took his stance. Every player on the fie
ld began preparing for this outcome. Bring everything you have gentlemen Connor tightened the grip on the handle.
Xaon threw another Gyroball and was intercepted, but the left fielder jumped straight up and caught it just before it hit the net. “Three outs! Change!”
Bottom of the second resulted in a single run for their team. Mark caught a hit to left field and showed off by doing a back-flip in mid air before landing. Kara scored the last out by out running a Keeper down, going to home. She held the ball in her teeth and tackled the back of his knee, with her left shoulder. The referee was the one to call him out. Each pitch Veronica threw was perfect for someone who learned in a day. Connor couldn’t have been more proud of her. Veronica managed to learn and implement a wide variety of throws and mastered them to a legitimate lethality, but she did have difficulty with the knuckle balls. That was probably due to her curved claws not being able to extend to a perfectly straight degree.
Then it was their turn at bat and Jack scored a run and both Veronica and Jillian struck out. This time when Kara went to the plate she made it to first before getting tossed out. Sarah made a solid hit but was tossed out before she made it to first. She would have made it if she ran full out, but she knew they couldn’t reveal their real speed, even for this game.
It was finally the top of the ninth inning and they were down by one. The score now stood at twenty five to twenty four and there were some amazing plays. One ball went into right field and Sarah used her fire whip, to which she held back its length, size and intensity, and wrapped it securely around the ball. She spun using the momentum of the ball to redirect the ball into Connor’s direction. Once the whip managed to alter the direction of the ball, she cut her power and released the ball like a sonic slingshot. He easily caught it and tagged the runner out before he made it home. Sarah has scored the team five points during the course of the game.
Veronica once threw a fastball which the batter hit directly back at her. She used her amazing reflexes to catch the ball which would have hit her sternum. She scored three runs.
Jillian used her water lasso to bind a fake throw to Kara and the first baseman took the bait and tried to steal second base. The crowd laughed when Jillian pulled the ball back, like a bungee, and tagged the leg of the runner just as he passed her. Jillian received two points for the whole game.
Jack used his fire whip when he dived to his left. The whip caught the ball just before the ball hit the ground and the referee behind second called an out. As long as it remained an extension of the user the play is validated. He made a total of gained four points.
Kara did a very excellent job being the third basemen and she was able to score one point. She wasn’t the least bit upset because she was able to at least add a score for the team. Also her mate Mark used his advanced speed to give them three runs and also kept the outfield rather secure from many would-be homeruns.
During the entire game they gained more and more supporters and joined in for cheering for team Equal. The spectators thought they might get to see a slaughter at first, but apparently this was the best game that they have seen so far. The game wasn’t just about Keepers verses the outcasts anymore, but about the love of the game. Just about everyone went back and forth cheering for one team or the other. Before, everyone didn’t really think they were any good. The team changed their minds and opinions relatively rapidly. For every solid hit and run, the entire room began to reverberate with everyone’s cheering. Chants began gaining strength and volunteers for both talented teams. Connor began to feel like the atmosphere of this meeting might just began to change for the better.
It is now two outs in the top of the ninth inning and Connor was up to bat and the room began to silence into a tense atmosphere. He was able to score the team a total of six points and four of the points were solid home runs. It was now all up to him to tie up the game or lose. He didn’t want to lose by any means. He took a deep breath, calming and made the stance.
Xaon also took a deep breath to shake the stress off. Connor was glad to see that even he could feel the pressure building. Xaon took his stance and threw another Gyroball, but he didn’t bother swinging. “Ball one.” The second throw was a completely different matter. It came as a down the middle fastball which Connor couldn’t pass up and swung with all he had. The bat whistled in protest as it began its approach. It met the ball with the force faster than a bullet train hitting another going in the opposite direction.
The force of the connection made the bat bend back slightly. The ball made a perfect trajectory to right field and broke the sound barrier yet again. Connor watched the ball spin end over end as it aimed directly at the net. The crowd was completely silent and couldn’t really follow the speed of the metal baseball. It was almost at the net…almost…almost…just a little bit more…
A large black cawed and scaled four fingered hand intercepted the path of the ball. The three fingers and thumb wrapped around the ball and Connor could see the impact of catching a solid supersonic metal ball break the thick bones in his hand. The momentum caused his hand to still graze the home run mesh screen, but the outcome was determined.
“Out!” The ref announced.
“The winner of today’s game is TEAM RAMPAGE!!!” The female Keeper commentator mentally yelled to everyone present. The crowd went wild and cheered. Connor looked around the stadium and smiled. “What a truly magnificent game that will not be soon forgotten. Such skill and perseverance will remain with us for centuries to come. I have never seen a game so close and so thrilling in all my years. Give it up for the players who gave it their all.”
All the pressure and tension finally abated off of Connor. He smiled, dropped the bat and spread his arms to the side and dropped flat on his back and into the cool dirt. He closed his eyes and continued smiling. We didn’t win, but I knew that it didn’t matter because I sat out what I meant to do and did it. I had fun.
Then a shadow block the light being filtered by his eyelids and so he opened them slowly. Long brown silky strands were falling over her shoulder as she stooped over him. Her green eyes were sparkling with excitement. “Connor, are you alright?” He smiled brighter. “That was some kind of hit. We didn’t win, but I don’t feel like I lost.”
“That’s because you didn’t, little ones.” Connor turned his head in the sand to see Xaon walking on all fours in their direction. Behind him the crowd still remained going absolutely wild. “Just look at all of them. This was what they all needed… What I needed.” Connor sat and then stood up. Sarah moved behind him and beat off all the red sand from his clothes. “If I may ask, will you all be playing anymore team sports? Maybe we can battle against each other again?”
Connor looked at Sarah and her captivating eyes explained it all. He turned back to the reddish orange eyes were unique to only Xaon. “I’m sorry, but no we will not. I did what I sat out to do and everything turned out extremely well for us. I believe it is time for others to have their chance at glory. We just want to relax and have fun experiencing everything that this place has to offer. Xaon thank you so very much for the amazing game that we were able to play with you.”
He shook his scaly head slowly from side to side slowly as his eyes were closed. He opened them and a purring rumble escaped his throat. “No, it is I who should be doing the thanking, Connor. You have given me a challenge that I haven’t gotten in nearly a millennia. I feel like I’ve gained some honest pride for once thanks to you. I might be next in line, but that kind of pride is superficial compared to fighting a worthy advisory.” Xaon reached forward with one hand while maintaining balance on the other three limbs. He turned his hand to the side as an offering.
Connor was glad to shake his hand again. Then an idea popped into his head as he released the grasp on his clawed finger. “Xaon?” His bulky head turned to look at him again. “Can you take me to the guy who caught my hit? I need to see to something.”
“Follow me.”
Connor turned to look at Sarah who
remained looking up at him. “I will be right back, Princess. This will only take a few minutes and I’ll meet back up with you.” She entered his mind and saw what he planned. She jumped to kiss him on the cheek and ran over to the rest of the team. They were all laughing and having a good time, even though they didn’t win.
He turned to Xaon and nodded.
Connor followed him to their team’s dugout. Xaon stood on his back legs just as he entered the fenced in room. There were three male Keepers standing against the fence with their backs to the field and they were all grinning and grunting. Connor guessed it was their native language, but the dialect was impossible to decode, let alone imitate. There were three other’s sitting on the bench grunting along. They all stopped what they were doing once they realized Connor trailing behind their captain. “Easy guys, he would like to speak with Zeheil for a moment.” That was all that they needed to hear and they became slightly more relaxed with him in their presence.
The middle one sitting on the bench stood up. And Connor saw his right hand resting inside his robe, all the way down to where his black belt tied it all together. He was hiding it and his expression was masking how he felt quite well, but not well enough for Connor’s perception and instincts. His cloudy grey eyes looked down at the Balancer as he said “I am Zeheil. Did you come back to get mocked even more, little one.”
Even his voice hid what he didn’t wish to share.
“Drop the act, Zeheil.” Connor said evenly and his voice dripped with authority. Everyone in the dugout’s eyes widened and their grunting noises stopped at such a command. “Show me your right hand.” He wasn’t playing Zeheil’s verbal sparring game.
He looked back at the rest of his team with worried eyes. Xaon spoke in a tone. “Do as the Hatchling says or I’ll do it for you.” He just figured it out too.
