Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (49 page)

“Ok everyone.” They all turned to look at
Connor
. “It is time.”
Everyone said
he
should be first
to lead
since
he
i
s the captain
after all
. The seven
teammates
all walked from level three
up
to level one
.

When
they
arrived on the top floor
,
each one of
them
stopped. There wasn’t anyone at either the football or wrestling are
n
as
, but thick
lines o
f people
were packed tightly,
just waiting to get a seat in the sta
diu
m
.
S
cattered
,
hundred
s of
long black tails
were
hanging down between the large bleachers. It was a sight
Connor
expected to see i
n person
.
He’s
never been to an actual major league baseball game, but
he’d
seen them on TV. During the playoffs
he had
seen crowed stands
before
, but it was nothing like this. It seemed like everyone
currently
here for the meeting was here
to see this match
, but that
seemed
just
like
a wandering thought. During the night they brought in more lights for lighting up the ball field.
Connor
could easily distinguish people who were excited and those who were pushy. Those people were trying to force
their way through to get to a
better
seat. Even the crowd’s noise level was loud, but
tolerable for his
hearing
. The room felt
like it was vibrating through him
.

It was a sight unlike any other.

“Brother, get a move on!” Kara kicked
his
bottom from behind with her bare foot. Apparently she stubbed her toe as she kicked
him
,
which was instant justice
. She hopped on one foot for a moment until her eyes lit up and healed the minor
toe
injury
, but it was too bad for he had a witty retort
.

Connor
moved the bat off
his
shoulder and held it in both of hands. “Don’t get too lost in the crowd.”
He
said to everyone behind
himself
.

They
made
their
way to the thickening line. Several
people rushed to get ahead of them
even
before
they
made it to the
crowded
line. There were mostly short people or transformed Changers and even Keepers trying to get a good se
at. He
could easily see that there wasn’t any way to get thr
ough
them without flying, but knew
that
it wasn’t an option to reveal
anyone else that ability. There was anothe
r option and she stood
right
behind him. Connor
turned around and looked up. “Veronica!”
he
had to yell
over the crowd
to get her attention. She looked at
him as he
pointed over
his
shoulder at the crow
d. She nodded with a
n evil grin
.

He
stepped back with Sarah as Veronica got up close and personal
with the tightly packed crowd. He
saw her open her massive jaws and take in a tremendous amount of air into her lungs.
Quick thinking saved him from pain as he
plug
ged
his
ears before what was to happen next.
It all came out in a single
,
brain splintering roar. Those too close to her cowered
and fell
in fear and those further in
stantly turned to look at her. Veronica then began
entering in everyone’s
mind
within range.
“Move out of our way! We need to get to the baseball field so we can play! Make room or I’ll do it for you.”
She growled to make her point even more threatening.
It worked
out
perfectly.

Everyone crammed instantly together so that a path opened up
,
just for
them
. She turned her head and quickly winked at
Connor
.
He
knew she
enjoyed that and
wanted
him to go first so he
did.
He
was followed by Sara
h
who walked close behind, Mark and Kara walked side by side, Jillian and Jac
k did the same and Veronica brought up
the rear
since she towered over them all
.
The
stadium
qu
ieted down once they
made
their
way to the fence. The stands were packed
tightly
and in most places was standing room only. The outfield stands still had some room, but they were quickly disappearing. Just about everyone was looking right at
them
.

He
reached up
,
lifted the latch and opened
the
gate to allow everyone to enter the
in
field. The dugout of the home team held the entire Rampage team. They all stopped moving as every
one of team Equal
made
their
way to
the open
dugout.
Once everything was put down
in the visitor’s dugout
the team
s were ready
.

The crowd quickly quieted down as the red
dish
eyed Xaon and his team walked onto the field in a single line.
Knowing it would be proper,
their team
did the same.
The
two teams lined up next to
each other as Xaon and Connor
met at the
pitcher’s
mound.
Team Equal
lined up to
his
left whereas
Xaon’s
lined to his right.
Each Keeper on his team were male and were much larger than Veronica. Connor
looked up at the Keeper a
s
he
peered
down at
him
.

Xaon
bent down on his left knee and spoke first.
“It is good to see you again, Hatchling. Is there anything you need before we have our little rematch?”

“Just one thing. I need to borrow another of your baseball bats. Veronica down there cannot use ours. I had it modified for us to be able to grasp the handle.”

“Very well.”
He looked at the member of his team.
“Go and get them another bat f
rom the supply room
.”
T
he member bowed quickly and set off to do his task. Xaon turned to look at
Connor
.
“
May the better team win.”

“We will.”

Xaon’s leathery lips drew back to reveal his dangerous teeth, but
Connor
knew
that
he was grinning.
“That’s the spirit I’ve been waiting
so long
for!”
Connor
offered
his
hand for a handshake.
Xaon
curiously looked at
the
hand.
“What are you doing with your paw
, Connor
?”

“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 for
ward and grabbed
Xaon’s large
right index
finger.
He
gripped it tightly a
nd 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
minute
s
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 E
lder 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!”
T
he 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!”
H
e 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.
O
nce Kara and Mark made it to their
designated positions
the
y began to change into a
wingless
wolf.
Flying
i
s prohibited in baseball.
O
nce 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
encas
ed
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 w
ould throw without protection.
Tool didn’t get in the
way
as Connor stood. He
knew that the batters had a much larger strik
e zone than t
eam 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.