'Ladies and Gentlemen listening in at home, tonight, baseball history will be made. All eyes of Middle Brook turn complacently to the baseball diamond behind Oz School waiting for the teams to emerge onto the field. That's right folks, the outcome of this game will determine who goes to the state championships! Let's hear it for both our teams as they take the field! The Ozzies and the Scythes!'
The crowd roared as both teams ran out from their respective dugouts and began their warm ups. Short stops began scuttling around the bases, others scowled imperiously at the crowd trying to look intimidating with their heads bridled. Others just stood staring, bemused at the full park, wondering how they'd got there.
With all the hustle and bustle in the stands and on the field no one even noticed the two men standing at the pitchers mound staring straight up into the sky.
"We made it kid…" Said the taller figure, his shoulder length blonde hair waving slightly in the wind as he closed his eyes and breathed in the ballpark scent he had come to love so much.
The smaller man turned his head to look at his partner. Dipping the bill of his cap down a bit he smiled. "Yeah Solo, we made it…" He said, still too absorbed to register the teams warming up around them.
The boys had been brought to Middle Brook, a small town in the Wisconsin Territory(1), five years ago and had immediately been introduced to the town's favorite pastime. Baseball.
Baseball in Middle Brook was like ice cream in the summer. It was just something no one could live without. And it was the two star players of this small town that stood side by side on the pitchers mound awaiting their chance at the state championships.
The taller and older one was named Solo. He was a junior at Middle Brook High with a police record over twenty feet long. He was an orphan his whole life until he was brought to this town so he had a hard time getting rid of his five-finger discount. Not that the local shops minded too much. Rarely did they ever press charges against him knowing his past, and the fact that he'd bring the stuff back within twenty-four hours after feeling too guilty to keep it, knowing now that he didn't have to steal to survive.
His eyes were stunning green, the shades of emerald, and had shoulder length light blonde hair. He stood at 5'10'' and was Middle Brooks lead pitcher.
The younger one was named Duo. He was a sophomore and was the only person to rival Solo's lengthy police record. Duo ran in with Solo on L2. They starved together, stole together, and tried to live together. They had stayed at a church there for a while when a man by the name of Father Maxwell found them sleeping in the alley a block away from the church. It's not everyday you wake up to see Jesus on the cross right in front of you.
They stayed there until things began to pick up with the upcoming battles on L2. The gangs were at War with each other and it wasn't long before things got too out of hand, and Maxwell church burned to the ground, sending the two orphans to Earth.
Duo had bright violet eyes and a long chestnut colored braid that reached down to his thighs. Coaches thought it would be an issue at first, but when he refused to cut it off they opted that keeping it in a tight bun or in his hat would be fine.
He reached an all time 5'5'' before he stopped growing. The malnutrition had gotten a hold of him and wrapped its chain around his neck for all time. He hadn't grown an inch since eighth grade, and according to the doctors, when he did have his next spurt he was only expected to reach 5'7'' tops. Life was unfair to Duo. But so was everything else.
Solo's arm was known all over California. When his second year at the High school, he'd taken a P.E. class with Duo. That's where they made the legend.
Both Solo and Duo were teased constantly. Their names, their hair, everything seemed to make them the freaks of the town. The fact that they were orphans didn't help much either.
So in walks Michael McDowell on the third day of gym. Michael was what you'd call a jock. He played every sport, got all the girls, and had a five-foot pole stuck up his ass about everything. He'd make snide remarks to the friends in the halls, class, but mostly on the diamond. The line up in P.E. was easy. In the spring, or whenever it was warm enough, you played baseball Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, football on Tuesday, and soccer on Thursday. The students didn't play on the real diamond though. They played on the practice field. It was a normal sized diamond however didn't have stands, and behind the batter stood plywood instead of chain link.
The taunting started even before Michael hit the mound.
Now no one really knows what happened next. Rumor has it that after the first comment Solo threw that ball so hard and fast that it went straight through the plywood, making a neat little hole. Then next ball was thrown by Duo. The teacher threw Solo out of class because he 'threw the ball deliberately at him,' which was really a bunch of shit. He just didn't want anyone hurting the star quarterback for football season, although it wasn't as important as baseball, football was a close second to m.i.s. Most important sport. But that wish didn't come true. The next ball thrown hit him square in the nose, the force of it causing him to fall on his ass clutching his nose in pain while Duo gave a smug smile. Ever since then, they were known as heroes. And after the first season of baseball, they were known as gods.
The gods of power, and speed. They say Duo Maxwell can finish the mile in 4 minutes 45 seconds. No one really knows if he can or not, but no one really seems to care after they've seen him run. They even take seconds off his time just to add to the sure amazement his talent brought them.
Duo could do anything. He never really had one said position. He could fill in where ever he was needed. If the team needed a bunt, he'd bunt, and clear two or three bases while doing it. But while he was small, he still had raw power. Duo was the little guy who could knock one outside of a ballpark. Hit it so far that you wouldn't even be able to see where it landed.
But that wasn't what made them so fun to watch. That was their style. They rarely even knew who they were. All they knew was baseball. And all the people knew was that they were the legends, heroes, and the gods of the sport. And everyone knew it.
Both Oz and Middle Brook had undefeated seasons, besides counting the times they faced each other. Middle Brook High hadn't even made it to the championship game in over ten years. They were the long shot, the underdog, and the love of the crowd. The two gods paved the way for their team, and now that they had made it they were planning to pave over the seven-year record holding Ozzies out for the championships.
"Oy! Duo!" The loud, blundering voice from the stands shook the two men from their stupor. Duo turned to see his blonde friend hanging over the guardrail near the team dug out with his boyfriend Trowa trying to pull him back down into his seat. Smiling, Duo turned away from Solo and jogged over to where Quatre was trying his best to fend off Trowa.
"Trowa, shouldn't you be doing that in private?" He asked, slowing down his pace as he neared the fence. Resting both arms upon it, he blinked flirtatiously towards the two and loud catcall.
Trowa immediately dropped his hold on Quatre's arms and sunk back into his seat while turning a nice pink color.
"I thought you guys couldn't make it out tonight? Big date or somethin'?" The two in question had threatened to not show up to the big game in order to pay Duo back for all his 'evil doings' to them. But Quatre just smiled and stretched his arm down to pull his cap off his head and began twirling it around on his index finger.
"This is the big date!" Quatre laughed throwing the hat back at Duo. He laughed as he threw his hands up to defend himself from the flying head ware.
"Duo, hurry up!" Duo turned towards the voice to see Solo halfway in the dugout waving him over. The coach was due to give them the 'if you don't do well, I'll run you until you puke next practice' pep talk. It was funny, most coaches threatened the team with guilt, and shame, and theirs threatened them with involuntary upchucking.
Duo gave a little wave back to signal he was coming. "Well guys, I guess this is where I sign off for now!" Replacing the cap back on, he took off in a light jog to the dugout. "Wish me luck!"
"…And here's your dresser and desk, the showers are down the hall and viola! I think that's pretty much all you need to know."
Heero took another look around the small dorm room before placing his bags onto the unmade bed. Turning his head back a little to get a glance in over his shoulder, he noticed his roommate, Chang Wufei fidgeting towards the door more than normal for a human.
Turning to face him, Wufei stopped his fidgeting to stare. "If you have somewhere to be you don't have to stick around you know." Wufei sighed and took a seat down on the bed. "It's really not like that."
Wufei looked into Heero's eyes and felt the guilt start to weld up inside him. The dean had told him literally just a few hours ago that he would be receiving a new roommate and would need to show him around. Of course, this all had to happen right in the second inning of Duo's baseball game.
"My best friend's playing baseball tonight over at the diamond. I promised I'd go see him play." He muttered the last part, remembering how poorly his friend found lying.
"Then why don't you go?" Heero asked as he began putting things into his dresser. "You've shown me pretty much everything, there's no reason for you to be here."
Wufei sighed and started rubbing his temples. "The games almost over anyway. If I go it will only be just in time to get screamed at by Duo and glared at by Solo." Heero set the last pair of pants into the drawer and closed it. "Those are rather odd names."
"Well they ought to be," Wufei said smiling. "They named themselves after all."
"I can't fucking believe Wufei didn't fucking come!" Duo slammed his beer down on the cheap end table between Quatre's and his bed. All ready distraught from the loss of the game, Duo decided to go back to their room and do the losers victory as it came to be called. It consisted of getting drunk, smoking, and getting possibly stoned.
Well the correct statement would be they used to get stoned. When Duo and Quatre first met up they took an instant liking to each other. The shared common interests and began experimenting with different things. Mostly just alcohol, cigarettes, and pot. Nothing very heavy or extremely life threatening. However, both Trowa and Solo became very protective of the two and made them quit the smoking and the drinking. All other drugs were eliminated, and after the seven hour-long lectures they got on the badness of drugs, they didn't even want to look at another one... or so they made it seem.
Tonight was a loser's victory. Duo played catcher the last inning, one point ahead with two outs and two runners. The first guy, who started on second, made it home to score before Duo even got to touch the ball. The second guy rammed into him, hit home, where Duo dropped the ball.
"He fucking jinxed me!"
Quatre laughed as he pulled out a pallmall and bounced down onto the bed with Duo. Lighting up he said, "It wasn't Wufei that jinxed you. It's just those damn Ozzies play so dirty." After taking a long drag he handed Duo the cigarette and light up another for himself.
"This is all my fault Kat. We lost because of me. Baseball is Solo's only fucking ticket out of here and I blew it for him." Putting his face in his hands, Duo wondered when he became such an idiot.
Quatre grabbed Duo's hands and set them down at his sides and gave his cheek a big, sloppy, wet kiss before giving him a giant bear hug. He knew of all people that it was bad news to let Duo get depressed about something.
He sighed warily. "You know it isn't your fault Duo. Please don't think that. And besides, there's always next year. This wasn't Solo's last shot! And even if you guys lose next year, it'll still work out okay. You know how I know?" He felt Duo shake his head against his chest and smiled. "Because you two worked too damn hard to spend the rest of your lives here. You'll both be fine. Okay?"
"Nmmhmmm."
"Duo." Quatre warned.
"I said nmmhmmm."
"Duo I mean it."
"NMMGMGMP!"
Quatre glared at the top of Duo's head and contemplated smacking the living daylights out of the passive boy.
"Duo, if you don't answer me, I'm gonna tell Solo your still smoking the dope."
That was when Duo's eyes shot out of their sockets and he pulled away from Quatre's arms.
"You wouldn't dare..."
Laughing as he pushed Duo off of him and the bed, Quatre smiled as Duo sprawled himself on the floor, nursing his hurt ego and cigarette.
"Oh you know I would." Duo glared up at the blonde.
"You do know that if you tell Solo then I'd be forced to tell Trowa as well?"
"You...bitch..."
Duo sat up laughing, and began rummaging under his bed. Pulling out a small black shoebox he opened it and started to frown.
"Man, speaking of dope, we need to get some more. I'm almost outta the weed..." Quatre fell back onto the bed with his arms spread wide. "Duo?" He asked while Duo replaced the lid and pushed it back under the bed. "Hm?"
"Do you think we should quit?"
"What do you mean?"
Quatre fiddled with his fingers. "Well, I mean, everyone thinks that we've quit doing all this junk. And we both know we're gonna get caught eventually. I think we'll get in less trouble if we quit now."
Raising an eyebrow, Duo titled his head and gave Quatre a spectacle look. "You're just messing me aren't you."
"Yeah!" Quatre laughed, "You should have seen the look on your face!"
Duo let out the breath he had been holding and put his hand over his chest. "God don't do that! You scared the shit out of me!"
"Wufei! Wait up!" Wufei and Heero paused in their walking, turning, and seeing a two tall figures flying towards them. "I didn't see you at the game."
Nodding his head towards Heero, Wufei answered. "Heero Yuy, this is Solo Maxwell and Trowa Barton. This is Heero, he's new and I needed to show him around. But speaking of it, how did the game go?"
An uncomfortable silence fell among the four men.
Finally Trowa answered. "... Duo... dropped the ball..."
"Oh... shit... how's he doing?" Solo sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.
"We were actually just going to get him now and take him out for some cheer up pizza or something. He and Quatre went back to their room, you guys are welcome to join us. Then you could get to meet my brother." He added nodding to Heero.
"That sounds good. He's got to be pretty upset." Trowa frowned with his arms crossed around his chest.
"He was. I've never seen him run so fast." Trowa answered as they arrived upon their door.
Duo and Quatre looked up from their cigarette and beer respectfully at the knock on the door.
"Duo, Quatre? Come on out we're going out for something to eat."
"Oh fuck it's my brother!" Both of the boys jumped from their places on the bed and floor and began throwing the cigarette butts and empty beer bottles. "Hide the fucking beer!"
"Hide the fucking beer! Hide the fucking cigarettes!"
Solo pressed his ear to the door. "Trowa?" He asked the slightly taller teen. "Yeah?"
"Do you hear that too?" He pressed his ear to the door next to Solo's and strained to hear what was going on in the small room.
"You mean the clinking of bottles and cabinets slamming shut?"
"I thought so." He said with a sigh. "Duo open the door or I'm opening it for you."
"Solo hold on just a second okay! We're just getting dressed!"
Solo's eyes widened as he glared at the door. "Oh my god are you smoking in there!"
"No!"
Glaring hard at the door, Solo slammed his shoulder into it. Then promptly grabbed with it his other hand. "Holy shit! They make it look so much easier on the TV. Damn!"
Heero stepped up from his spot next to Wufei and walked towards the door. "May I?" Solo turned to him with an illustrious look. "Be my guest man."
Placing his hand over the handle, Heero gave it a swift turn and the lock snapped, letting the door fly open. The four men stared in at the two standing in front of them. Duo in pink Valentines Day boxers with his cheeks puffed out and hand behind his back, while Quatre was in Mrs. Pacman standing there innocently.
Heero was amazed. The creature in front of him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He had long hair, half in a braid and the other half flowing freely over his thin body. Maybe a little too thin for his taste, but their was definite muscle tone under that tight skin. Heero would later find that among his hair, his favorite aspect of Duo's body would be the chibi black angel wings on his shoulder blades.
"Duo..." Heero was snapped from his gaze by the soft growl coming from Solo.
Duo was turning blue, and his cheeks still puffed out like a blowfish. "Breath, Duo."
The boy standing next to him started giggling as the longhaired boy let out his long held breath and the stream of smoke came from his mouth.
Sighing, Solo turned to him again. "Heero, meet my brother, the moron in the pink, and his friend Quatre, the moron having the affair with Mrs. Pacman.
1: Wisconsin territory: well here it's kinda AU. Imagine a world where the war happened, but the gundams didn't exist. Then the US got divided into territories.
A.N. Okay, the Even Worse Arc comes first, but I will try to update this at least once every two weeks.