Huzzah! I love it that I got a review almost instantly! Danke Catgirl! -huggle- Ah, the joys of being a fiction-ka... and the splendid agony of coming to school. Yup, I'm back in school. Blast it all. I really want to come, but don't want to come, if that makes any sense. At least I can still update and read stories and such. With any luck, the school filter won't block you guys. I do not own Slayers, Major League Baseball or anything that is not a by-product of my own brain. Read, review and enjoy!
Ni
A Manager's Worst Nightmare! The Signing of Liam and Kurt!
The next two months in Lina's life after hearing the radio announcement saw a great change in her habits. She woke up early every day to practice at the baseball field by her house, even with the snow on the ground. With her never ending arsenal of orange-painted baseballs and a pitching machine, she had batting practice for an hour and a half before being picked up by Amelia to go to work. Half of Lina's lunch break consisted of running about town and during work she lifted all of the heavy items for Sander so that she worked out her arm muscles. Old Man Farquain noticed Lina's change in habit and attitude, for she was generally much nicer to the customers than usual. Finally, March 5th came around just as cold and blustery as it had been expected to be.
"Miss Lina!" Amelia called out, banging on the door to Lina's apartment. "We have to hurry fi you want to get to the stadium on time!. It was five-thirty in the morning and Amelia knew it was going to take both of them a long time to get to Portland by car.
"I'm here," Lina moaned as she opened the door, bat bag in hand and all ready dressed in her hooded sweatshirt and loose blue jeans that she had planned on wearing to the tryouts.
"Good, now come on," Amelia said. She yanked her friend from the doorway and barely let her close up the apartment before dragging her down the stairs and out to the small car she had borrowed from her father for the day.
"Come on. Do we really have to leave this early?" Lina yawned as she put her equipment bag in the trunk of the car.
"Yes," Amelia said frankly as she got behind the wheel. "We need to get on the road before any traffic does and do you realize how far away Portland is?"
Amelia waited for an answer from Lina, yet did not receive one. Lina was fast asleep in the seat next to her. Sighing, Amelia just took a sip of her Bawls energy drink and started off towards their destination.
80808080808080808
It was noon at Jones Soda Stadium in Portland and everything was just calming down from a very hectic morning. There were close to about forty-five men there that made it past the initial screening and allowed to convene out on the field. It was still chilly, despite the midday sun, forcing the men to just stand around in a circle and talk.
"Look at them all down there," an red-haired old man said wheezily from his lofty skybox seat, high above the men. He was seated in a wheelchair and had a red blanket over his lap for warmth. His manner reflected one of a past great, of a nameless athlete lost to the ages. Another man stood next to him. He wore a dark purple suit, an odd grin on his face and an unusual haircut. "They all want to be that lucky man who is going to join the team. Too bad I have to send all but one away."
"Yes, it is a shame Mr. Graywords," the other man said. "I would throughly enjoy it if I could manage all of them down there, yet I agree that most have to go."
"Metallium," Rezzo coughed. "What do you think that we should do to pick the best?"
"I am not sure. What do you believe we should do sir?"
"I think that you should go straight home Grandfather," a voice said out of nowhere. Xellos jumped and turned around quickly to find that the voice was that of Rezzo's adult grandson Zelgadis Graywords standing there in the skybox entrance looking highly perturbed. "I thought I told you that your cough was too bad for you to go out."
"Well, I had to come and oversee the tryouts!" Rezzo retorted. "This is my team!"
"...and it will not be your team for much longer if you ignore that cold of yours," Zelgadis moaned with a frustrated sigh. "I swear Grandfather, you are going to kill yourself if you keep this kind of stuff up!"
"What sort stuff do you mean?" Rezzo asked innocently.
"We'll start by going out of the house when you are not healthy," Zelgadis scolded as he walked over to Rezzo and Xellos. "I don't even know why you decided to take on this damn team to begin with."
"I think I'll leave you two to talk," Xellos said uncomfortably. He walked out and closed the door behind him, intent on starting the process of choosing who to send home and who to keep out of the contenders on the field.
"Zelgadis," Rezzo began. "You know that I love this sport. I was a hair's breadth away from being a starting shortstop, yet..."
"You met Grandmother," Zelgadis cut in. He had heard the story dozens upon dozens of times before. This talk always started the tale of how his grandparents met and fell in love. Rezzo would go on and on about how he left baseball to start his own business binding books in order to make a life for him and the love of his life. It was a story that grated on Zelgadis's nerves since he heard it so much. Rezzo heaved a deep sigh as he realized Zelgadis was not ready to listen to the story one more time.
"I guess you have heard my spinnings enough to know," he said wearily. "Zelgadis, please make an old man happy and let me be. I know that I should not be here, but I feel obligated to my team. This recent ailment is not going to effect the level of involvement I had originally planned on..."
"I promised my mother on her death bed that I would take good care of you."
"My boy, you were only eleven..."
"I told her I would take care of you! How do you think I feel when you go and simply disappear on me?" Zelgadis snapped. "I know you want to be involved with the team, that is just the way you are, yet I'll put you under house arrest if you do not rest up and allow yourself to get better!" He folded his arms and leaned against the window, allowing the light to illuminate his silvery hair and green long-sleeved shirt.
Rezzo sighed again. It was useless to fight with his grandson. He was stubborn, exactly like his grandmother and mother were when they were still alive.
"Just let me finish out the day," Rezzo pleaded.
"Fine," Zelgadis scoffed. "Then you are going back home and staying there until you are in better health."
"Agreed," Rezzo smiled. He then looked out the window to the field below. "Oh my, would you look at that."
Zelgadis peered out the window to see what was happening below. A fight seemed have broken out amongst the candidates and there was a martial-arts style fistfight occurring at that very second.
"Damn it all," Zelgadis moaned once he noted on how Xellos was part of the skirmish. "If this is Metallium's version of a joke, I am not definitely not laughing."
"Oh, come on," Rezzo laughed. "What Xellos decides to do is not within our power at the moment. Besides, this is fun to watch." It was true. Rezzo had not seen that good of a fistfight in a good twenty-odd years.
80808080808080808
So what if she stumbled in late? It was not Lina's fault that there was last-minute construction on the expressway and Amelia did not know her way around town. Right after arriving at the ballpark, Lina had jumped out of the car and bolted into the complex, going right past the screeners and leaving Amelia to fend for herself in the sea of rejected applicants. It was just Lina's luck though to have come in when that weird guy arrogantly asked for a volunteer to fight him. Since no one stepped up, she was immediately picked as she awkwardly entered the field. The idiot fighting her probably did not even know she was female, for her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and hidden in the hooded sweatshirt she wore.
"You yellow bastard! Come back here and take what's coming to you!" Lina shouted as her opponent made a slight retreat. The man turned his head to look at her and gave an arrogant grin.
"What are you going to do, hmm? Bite my legs off?" he chuckled, his purple eyes glinting with amusement.
This is the one, he thought to himself. This is the man I am going to sign to play in the Major Leagues. My mind has been made up.
Lina did not like the manner of this man at all. His haircut was weird, she was barely able to mess his violet suit and he just seemed way too cocky. She had to put him in his place, for she was determined to make it to the big leagues and some whack-job loony who wanted to fight was not about to pummel her before she could even try out.
Without warning, he charged. Lina quickly dropped to the ground as his fist cut through the air. Using her new angle, she swung her leg about and tripped him. She hopped up and held down her opponent.
"You win," he chuckled into the grass and dirt. "Welcome to the team."
"What?" Lina half-whispered as she released him. The man stood up, dusted off his suit and held out his hand.
"My name is Xellos Metallium and I am the manager for the Portland Slayers. That was a test to see who would be brave enough to fight me. You won. Everyone else can go home," he said. Everyone else around them shirked off, irritated that they were not able to see the trick. Only one man stayed behind, stubbornly staying put. "Go home," Xellos repeated.
"I won't," the man replied. "I want to play. Let me fight you too."
"That is not going to be necessary," Xellos answered.
"...but I'm not going home!"
"Then come on with us," Xellos said as he walked away towards the dugout, motioning for Lina and the other ballplayer to follow. Obediently they did and followed him into the tunnel that led to the locker room. From there was an intricate labyrinth of hallways to follow Xellos through until they got to the skybox where Rezzo was seated. He looked quite pleased, two contracts and pens sitting on a table in front of him. Zelgadis was not in the room, but somewhere else at that moment.
"Ah, my two new stars... my name is Rezzo Graywords and I am the owner of the Portland Slayers," Rezzo grinned. He let out a hacking cough and then beckoned Lina and her counterpart to sit down. They did and each eyeballed their contract over with increasing pleasure.
"You, in the sweatshirt," Rezzo said. Lina looked up from reading the fine print.
"Yes sir?"
"You are a shortstop, are you not?"
"Why, yes I am. How did you know?"
"I was a shortstop once," Rezzo explained. "I know how shortstops move and I watched you fight Metallium down there." He turned to the other man. "You have to be a catcher, right?"
"I have been told I give off that impression," the man smirked, "even though I play outfield."
"Good. Good... are you two signed?" Rezzo asked impatiently.
"Yes!" both Lina and the other man said at once, triumphantly holding up their signing pens. Xellos took the contracts and read them over.
"Welcome to the team Kurt Fuchs," Xellos said as he looked at the name spot in the contract of the man sitting next to Lina. When he looked at Lina's contract however, he stopped and thought for a minute. "Inverse... wait a second... Liam is it?"
"No," Lina grinned. "My name is Lina Inverse. Where did you ever get the idea my name was Liam?" She put her hood down on her sweatshirt and pulled out her long, red hair for the guys to see.
Xellos had done it. He looked at the signature on the contract again. Over and over he checked it.
Lina. Damn it all! It says LINA! Shit, this is not good, Xellos thought, his face turning as red as the woman's hair in front of him.
"Metallium?" Rezzo asked. "Is something wrong?"
Xellos looked up from the paper. His eyes were bugeyed and he was sweating like a stallion there in his panicked state.
"Yes...?" he asked nervously.
"How are you going to fix this?"
"What are you talking about?" Lina protested.
"Calm yourself Miss Inverse," Rezzo said softly. "You are still going to be a fully active member of this team. Now Xellos, how are you going to correct this?"
"What do you mean?" Xellos squeaked. "There has never been a woman in the MLB before!"
"Yet I am still sure that there have been guys named Liam," Kurt interjected meekly. When Lina was fighting Xellos just minutes before, he had decided on the fact that she was definitely not a person to mess with and it would be a good idea to back her up.
"Exactly," Rezzo said right before another cough. "If we can pass Miss Inverse here off as Liam instead of Lina, then we can give solid evidence that women can play in the big leagues and she would not have any opposition to playing this sport."
"How do you expect to do that sir?" Lina asked.
"Well, it should be easy," Xellos muttered, interrupting Rezzo. "I mean, you are quite flat-chested..."
Lina's temper snapped and she immediately smacked Xellos across the face, making him stagger a little in order to keep balance.
"Miss Inverse," Rezzo said. "Metallium has a point. All you need to do is cut your hair and make sure that you do not change in front of the other team members. The three of us shall keep your secret, right?" He looked at Kurt and Xellos with firm authority and they instantly understood. Lina was to be their secret.
"I need to think about this," Xellos said, a faint tremor in his voice."Good," Rezzo smiled. "Then you can think it over some lunch. I'm starved. Would you two care to join us once my grandson gets back?"
"No thanks sir," Lina said gratefully. "I've got to go now, if that is alright with you."
"Just be back here at three o'clock sharp tomorrow, got it?" Rezzo said. Lina muttered a quick "yes" and bolted into the hallway to find where Amelia went.
"Mr. Graywords," Xellos asked. "Is this wise?"
"I believe so," Rezzo smirked. "I have a feeling that this girl is going to be the start of something much bigger than just a gender battle. She is going to start nothing short of a revolution."
Things To Know
Bawls Energy Drink: No, not "balls", but some odd little energy drink that is supposed to have a high amount of caffeine and such. It had no effect on me twice and then after a third bottle, I was as hyper as our Amelia on Skittles and Coke while giving a justice speech. (I had all three bottles on different days, if it makes anyone feel better.) That's bad thing to do, drink all that caffeine. I love it. -grins-
Jones Soda: Only the most awesome non-caffeinated soda pop in the world! In fact, none of the other non-caffeinated soda pop brands should be called soda pop, for they are all OWNED BY THE JONESY GREATNESS! ...and me Dew. ...and me Bawls.
My Version of Rezzo: All I ask is that I'm not lynched. -cowers-
Zelgadis Being Chimera: Will the Nehszriah make anything out of this? -Xellos-ish grin- Sore wa himitsu desu!
Zelgadis Relationship With His Grandfather: Yeah. I know that this is far from what their relationship was really like in the original Slayers story. I thought that making Zelgadis all caring for his grandfather (purely out of love for his dead mother, which I will eventually explain) and having Rezzo be this helpless old coot would make the story better. -prepares flame retardant suit-
"You yellow bastard! Come back here and take what's coming to you!": A quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is said by the Black Knight. Xellos's response is part of the same quote.
The Quick Signing: This is a ruddy load of bull. Like someone would really be signed as quickly as that. I just wanted to advance the story in an instant. Apologies if it took away, but I really wanted to get to writing future chapters.
Kurt Fuchs: His last name is pronounced like this: -FOOKS- The name is actually German for "fox", so please don't mispronounce it in a not so pleasant way.
Sweating Like A Stallion: I have to tell my English teacher that Arthur Miller's play The Crucible is good for something. -cackles-
Next Update?: Monday. Every Monday. -bobs head to Return and TRY soundtracks- Yeah... I'm keeping to the schedule I set, no matter how hard it is to keep it. -whimpers and wants to post more frequently-
