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A/N- I'm so, so, so sorry for the wait! I tried to make this a quick update, but obviously that didn't happen because of life getting in the way and crappy internet. It is shorter than I wanted but I know I needed to update before you guys gave up on me. I added some relevant info about the story to my profile. If anyone sees any mistakes about baseball terms, rules or anything else, please tell me so I can fix it. I am saddened by the lack of reviews from the last chapter: ShadowWolfDagger, witch20, and Kate were the only ones kind enough to leave me a review. Thank you for reviewing! I am glad to know there are at least three people reading. Everyone else, please tell me that you are still reading by letting me know what you like, or even more important, what you don't like about the story. Suggestions, and questions, are always welcomed! Now to the story! Read and Review! (the more reviews, the faster the update! promise.)
The Rise of Vampires Ch. 9
The meeting with the wolves had gone pretty well all things considered. As soon as the meeting was called to an end Matt shimmered off to the Underworld to spy and gain as much information as possible. Chris and Melinda went to explain to their family everything going on and Wyatt, Jasper, and Edward were making plans for the training, Asyra had to get to the gym for practice because there was a big meet coming up next week. Unsurprisingly, Piper had blown a gasket, and a pitcher of tea, when she heard what her children had been keeping from her, especially when she got a call from the school nurse just a few minutes ago asking how Chris was feeling. Chris was very vague in his explanation and Melinda had been glad to let him do the talking. Phoebe was obviously worried and Paige had paled a little bit at the mention of vampires, but was otherwise level headed. The sisters agreed with the part about sending the younger children to Magic School, but were skeptical about the practical training. After Chris's vague explanation and excuses for not mentioning his new power sooner, Piper was still steaming and the sisters sent Melinda off to look over the younger children.
"So what exactly is the plan?" asked Piper as she tried to calm down after Melinda left the room. She knew her middle child would not be coming to her now if he did not already have at least one complete plan and a start of plan B already thought up.
"Tonight everyone goes and trains as soon as the sun starts to set. I don't know exactly what training will involve tonight because Wyatt is with the others now trying to figure out the best way to train with us very different species without killing anyone, but still be effective." Chris answered. Seeing the unsure faces on the three the Charmed Ones, he continued. "Believe me, I don't want my little cousins and sister in danger any more than the three of you, but the only way for us to win this is to have as many of us there as possible. Putting Junior in the fight gives us more fire power which we will need, he might be young still, but with training he will be fine. If everyone trains, then Prue, Penny, and the twins will have an idea of what to do if something goes wrong. Sending them to Magic School during the fight will be the safest thing to do, but they will come home eventually and with darklighters possibly being involved there is always a chance of them getting into the school." Chris further explained.
"Alright." Paige agreed.
"Alright? What is alright with this? We are putting our children in danger!" Phoebe protested.
"Look, he has a point and the plan is good so far. We can't take the chance of our kids being caught unprepared any more than we can send them into battle without all the help possible." Paige argued.
"Fine, but I still don't like it." Phoebe said finally giving in.
"None of us do but it is our best option." Piper said, bringing the conversation to a close as she too gave in to the situation at hand.
"Okay, I have an idea for tonight, but it is a little strange." Bella said excitedly.
"What is it?" Edward asked.
"What if we just play a game of baseball? Everything goes, you can use whatever powers and abilities you have. It will let us get use to each others' powers and then we will be able figure out how each power can best be use." Bella explain.
"That is definitely a different approach." Jasper said.
"I like it." Emmett and Wyatt said at the same time, they then started laughing.
"Then let's do it." Edward agreed.
"I'll tell Chris to bring our gear." Wyatt said. "Chris, we're gonna need our baseball gear."
"Why?" Chris asked.
"You'll see. Tell Junior and the Twins to bring their stuff too. " Wyatt answered.
"Fine. I'll bring it."
"I'll tell Jake to get the wolves' gear together." Renesme said as she pulled out her phone. She left the room and made the call.
"Good thing Alice already told me there would be a storm tonight." Jasper stated.
"Why?" Wyatt asked.
"You'll see." Edward said with a smirk as the rest of the vampires started laughing remembering when Bella had asked the same question years ago.
"How stocked is the kitchen?" Wyatt asked, knowing his mom would want to make a full gourmet meal for their 'training' session.
"Why?" Esme asked as she came into the room from her hunt, Alice was right behind her. They were not going to train with mortals while hungry.
"My mom is a profession chef and I know she will want to make food for everyone." Wyatt explained.
"It's fully stocked with everything she will need. I saw it earlier today so I went shopping. The only thing missing from our kitchen is the world-class chef that is your mom." Alice gleefully proclaimed.
"Okay. I'll have Chris relay the message." Wyatt said. "Tell mom the Cullens already have everything she will need for whatever it is that she decided to cook."
"Will do. She hasn't mentioned cooking, but we both know mom likes to cook when she is nervous." Chris agreed.
"Well I'm not complaining."
"Me neither."
By six pm the Cullen house had been filled to capacity with Halliwells and wolves. It was now seven and there were several delicious smells coming from the kitchen where Piper was at work cooking enough of her marvelous food to feed an army, which is exactly what the gathering translated to, with help from Chris and Alice. Chris's message had surprised the Halliwell matriarch, and Piper did not want to admit it, but the pixie like vampire was beginning to grow on her. The coming storm was not due till eight so they still had time to kill. A game of Uno had been started by the younger children half an hour ago while the adults and older children were playing Monopoly.
"So why exactly does it look like we are going to be playing baseball?" Jacob asked. He was very curious when Nessie had called him to tell him to bring baseball gear.
"Because we are." Nessie answered. "It was mom's idea so I think she should explain."
"Okay." Jacob responded now more curious than before.
"I figured a game of baseball would allow everyone to test out their abilities and provide an opportunity for friendly competition as well as to encourage team work, again, allowing everyone to use their powers and experiment on each other in a non-lethal environment." Bella explained.
"That actually makes sense." Jacob said. "When are we gonna start the game?" he asked ready for action. He was having trouble focusing on Monopoly, especially since Wyatt was beating him and seemed to have all the luck, which was probably due to Wyatt's incessant use of magic, but the wolf didn't know that which had Matt chuckling because he knew exactly how his best friend was winning.
"After everyone gets their fill of the food I just spent almost two hours cooking." Piper answered coming to the living to announce the food was ready. She smiled as all of the wolves started to salivate, along with her oldest son, at the scent of the food. She knew Chris had been sneaking mouthfuls while they were cooking.
Now everyone was headed to the kitchen to enjoy the food. The Cullens politely declined the meal, but they did join everyone in the dinning room to participate in conversation. There were two tables set up in order to accommodate the nine Cullens, six wolves, and the fifteen Halliwells plus Matt. Sam and Paul would be joining the large group once the 'training' started in order to represent Sam's pack. As the promised storm started to make its presence known the food started disappearing at an even faster rate than before. The excitement in the room was growing with each passing second making the empaths, Jasper, Phoebe, and Penny, extra bubbly.
"So how are we dividing teams?" Quil asked.
"Well, Leo, Henry and Coop will be umpires because of their lack of powers. That leaves thirty players," Jasper began to explain. "We are going to have three teams of ten players each composed of four Halliwells, three Cullens, and three wolves. Matt, you are being counted as a wolf to make things easier because of the three species that is where your abilities best fit. Since there are three teams we will play three games of five innings each. Team one will be myself, Emmett, Esme, Piper, Wyatt, Chris, Asyra, Matt, Quil, and Paul. Team two will be Paige, Junior, Hailey, Hannah, Alice, Edward, Bella, Seth, Leah, and Embry. Team three will be Carlisle, Rosalie, Nessie, Jacob, Fred, Sam, Phoebe, Melinda, Prue, and Penny." With the food consumed and the storm underway, everyone divided up into the appropriate teams for game one and quickly headed outside towards the large clearing where Chris had first seen Jacob and Nessie.
Once everyone had made it to the clearing the equipment was divided up among the teams. Wyatt then began to give the rules. "Okay just a few rules before we start. One, this is to be played like any normal game of baseball, but using supernatural abilities and a bigger playing area. Two, since it is a bigger playing field and with exceptional players, there will be four outfielders, so no one will have to sit out. Three, you may not use any powers to physically affect a player while they are hitting, other than that you may use any powers however you want. Okay, Teams one and two will play first."
Team one was chosen to play outfield first. Chris was their chosen starting pitcher after a very interesting game of rock, paper, scissors between he and Alice. Alice knew that they would be playing, but her visions had kept changing and of course Chris saw everything she saw with his telepathy. After a few draws Chris chose paper when Alice chose rock and ended up the winner. "Darn half-breeds" Alice mumble. So Chris was pitching with Alice at first, Jasper at third, Matt at second, Paul as shortstop, Wyatt catching, Piper, Ray, Emmett, and Quil in the outfield. As the oldest, Leo was chosen as the head umpire at home plate and Coop and Henry were at first base and the pitcher's mound respectively. Seth was at bat.
"Play!" Leo yelled and the first game started.
"We have to do this mortal style, signals only, shields up." Chris said to Wyatt and Ray.
"Agreed." Wyatt and Ray responded. With that Wyatt gave Chris the signal for a simple fast ball. They needed to see what the wolf was capable of. Chris gave a small, quick nod and threw the ball. Seth easily hit the ball, using all his strength to send it flying in Emmett's direction, who easily jumped up and caught the ball in mid-air. Seth had only made it half way to first when Emmett caught it.
"Out." Leo called. Edward then took his place at bat. This time Wyatt gave Chris the sign for a curve ball, but then signed the letters T and K, which Chris interpreted to mean 'add some telekinesis'. Chris liked this idea and so did as his catcher told him smirking the whole time. As the ball neared the plate, Chris used his power to raise the ball just slightly as Edward swung. The bat passed just under the ball. "Strike one." Leo called. It took Edward a second to realize what happened, then he smirked along with the two brothers. Wyatt returned the ball to Chris and signaled for a fast ball. This time the bat connected with the ball and flew just between Emmett and Quil who both jumped for the ball. They collided mid-air and the ball fell between them. Quil recovered first and quickly grab the ball and threw it to Jasper who then tagged Edward just before he reached third. "Out!" Leo yelled. Henry Jr. was the next batter in line. Chris and Wyatt knew that he was a strong hitter, but they also knew what his weakness was from years of playing together. Junior did not expect his cousin to use telekinesis to move the ball, so that caused him a strike. After a second strike and a ball, Junior hit the ball hard, but a little low. The ball flew straight to Asyra who easily caught it without having to jump. "That's three outs. Switch!" Leo announced.
The two teams switched positions. For team two, Seth was pitching with Esme catching; Hailey at first, Embry at second, Junior as shortstop, Hannah at third, in the outfield was Leah, Edward, Bella, and Paige. Jasper was first at bat for team one.
