Aaaargh! My younger brother deleted most of the chapter! -chibi Nez chases off chibi brother- He was the one who was supposed to be "helping" me with the facts on this one too! -grumps- Anyways... here is the chapter that has Lina's MLB debut! Oh, so that everyone knows, Gourry might appear some time around Late February/early March by my calculations and if my schedule is kept. -grins- Don't worry, the wait is necessary. Everything shall be fine in the end my trad fans. I do not own the anime Slayers, Major League Baseball, Portland, Oregon, the Detroit Tigers, any of their athletes, my faithful reviewers, so please do not hurt the Nehszriah. Now... let the baseball jargon begin!

Go

Opening Day At Jones's Place! Liam's First Game!

"...o'er the land of the freeeeeeeeee..." sang the young woman who was standing on the home dugout, cameras focused upon her. It was all Lina had to not cover her ears in disgust. The singer hit such a squeaky, high-pitched note that she probably could have broken Aaron Reed's eyeglasses if the man were standing closer to her.

Desecration, desecration, you should be shot for desecration of the bloody song you damn bitch! Lina thought, trying her best to keep a straight face and remain with a solemnly fixated gaze upon the American flag. She hated it when people who sang the "Star Spangled Banner" tried to make the song their own by singing at impossibly high octaves or dragging out the notes for three or four, even ten beats longer than they were supposed to be held. The goddamn song should not take more than a single minute to sing... I demand that you be tried and hung for treason.

"...and the hooooooome of theeeeeeeeee braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave!" the young woman finally belted out, causing not only Lina's face to screw up, but some of her teammates' faces showed their clear discontent... and a couple hundred of the spectator's actually covered their ears.

Who in the hell is this bitch? Lina thought as she and all of the other ball players ran into the dugouts. Well, it does not matter anymore. All I need to do is wait for Old Man Graywords to throw out the ceremonial first pitch and the game can finally get started.

"Come on you guys!" Xellos yelled at the Slayers once the opening pitch was thrown with much applause and they were all in their dugout. "I want to be able to brag to Leyland later about whooping his team good on the first game of our careers. Now Polous, Fuchs, Inverse, Scott, Reeds, Rook, Takeda, Oisterwijk and White... out there now! Haul ass you pansies!" The team, infuriated by the mere fact that Xellos just called every single one of them "pansies", reluctantly took the field.

"Hey Liam," Kenny Rook, the third baseman, whispered to Lina as they went over to their positions on the field. "Want to go and beat up Metallium with Gary and me after the game?"

"As long as we get Murdoc to come too," Lina laughed, mentioning the massively aggressive Hispanic first baseman still sitting on the bench. "Everyone knows that he'll kill us if he misses a good fight."

Kenny grinned evilly and left Lina at her spot between him and Gary Polous. That was the only thing that kept most of the team from completely loathing Lina: she could beat up their manager and Xellos would not fight back for even one second. It was a satisfying feeling for Lina, knowing that she could bond with her teammates over their mutual hatred for Xellos. A smile slid across her lips as the umpire yelled "Play ball!"

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A tall woman with long black hair and a very full chest walked into the pressbox. She puzzled most of the men in the tiered room, for she was the only female in there. After chuckling to herself for just a moment, she took a seat next to a man with an interestingly punkish haircut and the small white dog that was at his feet.

"Óla babe," the man smiled, covering the microphone in front of him. "You're just in time for the first pitch."

"Thanks AirJay," she replied casually, making sure she did not speak loud enough for the microphone in front of her to pick up her voice.

"Now then," AirJay said into the microphone in an animated fashion. "Hello folks and welcome to the first game of the 2006 MLB season for these two teams: the brand new Portland Slayers and the visiting Detroit Tigers. My name is AirJay Andrades and here with me is my lovely co-anchor Naga the Serpent, broadcasting live from Jones Soda Stadium for FSN Northwest."

"It looks as if we are going to have an interesting game today," Naga added. "The Slayers, being a brand new team, really want to prove themselves to be able to compete in the big leagues. Detroit is just searching for a formidable opponent and to find themselves as a team that could hopefully reach the World Series and win another title, which would be their first since the 1984 season."

"Ah, speaking of teams, it looks like the starting defense for Portland is taking the field," AirJay said as he noticed Xellos shooing his athletes out of the dugout. "Here is the starting positions: Aaron Reeds at first, Gary Polous on second, Liam Inverse at shortstop, Kenny Rook at third, in the outfield from left to right is Sam Vilsis, Kurt Fuchs and Jan Oisterwijk. The catcher is Takashi Takeda and the starting pitcher is Will Scott."

"...now it looks like lead-off hitter for Detroit is headed up to the plate..." Naga started, right before being rudely interrupted.

"Up at the plate, Placido Planco!" AirJay said, using a heavy accent and lengthening the "do" and "co" in the batter's name by quite a bit. Naga sighed and rested her forehead on her palm.

"This is going to be one long game," she muttered.

"Auu, rufuf," agreed the little white dog known as Kiko. Naga looked beneath the table and saw that Kiko had on his face a look of understanding.

At least someone else knows what this palhaço is capable of, she moaned internally as AirJay did some sort of stance. Whether the stance was heroic or not, none could really tell, not even AirJay himself.

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Lina tensed herself up for the inning ahead of her. This was it: her Major League debut. Well, it was Liam's debut anyways. She looked over at Will Scott as he pitched a perfect strike. It was amazing at how everything worked. Spring Training was only the very tip of the iceberg that was the Major Leagues.

I can't mess up, she thought to herself as a ground ball was shuttled to second base. Gary easily caught it and sent the ball over to Aaron, who almost dropped the ball once he caught it. He held his grip though, making sure the batter was out. I can not slip up. Amelia's watching me, Sander, Martin and their parents are watching me... counting on me...

Suddenly, the baseball screamed in the direction of Lina. She had barely a split second to react. A diving catch caught the ball.

Got to get it to Aaron, Lina told herself as her body was still falling towards the ground. She twisted her body in the air, finally tossing it in the direction of first base just before her side collided with the dirt. Aaron caught the ball as it bounced towards him, tagging the batter out.

Two down, one to go, he thought. Great play Liam.

Lina grinned broadly as she stood up and brushed the dirt off of her front. Her name was being announced on the speaker system for her effort in accumulating the out. The crowd cheered. Lina Inverse found her place in the universe.

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It was the middle of the third inning and Lina was getting ready to take her spot at home plate as the lead-off runner for the inning. In reality, she was seventh in the batting lineup for Portland, but since Kurt was able to get on base last inning, she had to take the responsibility of being the first at-bat. After a few warm-up swings, Lina meandered over to the plate where the umpire Sunny and the Detroit catcher, Ivan Rodriguez, already were situated.

"I want a good game Rookie," Sunny said with authority as Lina squared her shoulder with the plate. "Good luck." Lina looked over at the female umpire and grinned.

Of course I'll play a good game. Also, I don't need your damned luck, she thought, turning her vision over to Jeremy Bonderman on the pitcher's mound. The young man on the mound drew back his arm and...

Pfft, went the sound of the ball on the oiled leather of Rodriguez's mitt as Lina's bat completely missed the ball. She forgot to check her swing, therefore earning her a strike.

Ah, damn it! Lina, you retard, Kurt thought from the bench. Don't choke up! Slam it out of the park!

"Strike two!" Sunny yelled as Lina's bat connected with just air yet again. Lina's face went red as the ball was thrown back to Bonderman. Every muscle in her small body tensed up in anticipation of what she knew was coming.

The wind up... Lina thought as she studied every move her opponent made. The pitch...

CRRRRACK!

Wooden bat connected with ball, sending the small white projectile deep into center field, alerting Curtis Granderson of its presence. After freezing in disbelief for a moment, Lina desperately rushed over to first base. Passing up the red-headed first baseman, she went over to second. He looked towards the back wall as she ran. Granderson jumped up and made an effort to catch the precious ball.

It passed his glove right by.

Lina jumped up as she touched second base. The crowd in the stands cheered as she jogged to third and then home plate. Her teammates congratulated her as she went back into the dugout. She had just scored the first home run for the game, for Portland, for her career... all within her first at-bat.

"That was absolutely amazing!" Kurt said as Lina sat down next to him. He gave her a brotherly shove, having her knock elbows with Murdoc, who gave her a rather sullen look. "I was almost afraid that you would strike out there."

"Me? Strike out?" Lina laughed. "What ever gave you that idea?" She smiled from ear to ear, not really knowing if she would ever stop smiling.

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"Mr. Liam! You were awesome out there!" Amelia squealed as Lina walked towards her in the hallway by the locker room and players' entrance. "It was so cool! I could barely believe it was really you!"

"Thanks for the encouragement Amelia," Lina moaned. The game had taken a toll on her. Never had she have to work so hard playing baseball. The whole new level of play made her strive and excel during the game, but now that the adrenaline was quickly fading, so was her energy.

"Mr. Liam!" Amelia cried happily, happy for her friend. She ran the five feet that was left between her and Lina and gave her a humongous tackling bear hug that sent both girls to the ground.

"Ugh... Amelia, please get off me..." Lina groaned. Amelia happily obliged and even helped Lina up.

"You look terrible Mr. Liam, are you feeling alright?"

"Of course. I just have to get used to this level," Lina said through a weak smile. She took her gym bag from Amelia and headed into the nearest broom cupboard. Within minutes she emerged, wearing her regular clothes and a wig made out of hair exactly the same color as her own that went down to just past her shoulders.

"Are you sure it is safe to wear that here?" Amelia asked as she and Lina began to walk down the abandoned hallway.

"Of course it is! The guys won't be done changing for another half an hour at the least and the coaches are all too busy with Metallium to be here for another few hours. At least that damned mazoku freak is good for something..."

"Mazoku?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, apparently, it's an inside joke between him and the guys. They make up all sorts of humiliating names for the man. Takashi says that he has heard Metallium's girlfriend call him 'raw garbage' in Japanese! Me, I personally like the terms 'mazoku', 'pricker' and 'wanker'..."

"You should not talk so badly about your manager!" Amelia said defensively. "He could have you sit on the bench for the entire game tomorrow!"

"Why would I be sitting on the bench tomorrow...?"

"Your next game! The last time I checked, a series in baseball always has three games, right?"

"I guess so!" Lina said with a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief that she was so absent-minded. "Hey, I'm famished. Do you want to get something to eat?"

"As long as you pay your own way Miss Lina," Amelia sighed, remembering how expensive it was the last time Lina tricked her into buying dinner. She ran after her friend, praying to the Lord that she would not have to go through the embarrassment of an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.

Things To Know

The National Anthem: I hate people who sing the Star Spangled Banner and absolutely kill it. I could namedrop, but I think I'd get in trouble. The anthem should just be sung in one format, not in seventy-billion different keys and harmonies and styles and... oh what the Hells, I just hate that song because of people who try to make it their own. -grump-

Sunny, AirJay and Kiko: I do not own my ever-faithful reviewers. That would be silly and mean if I did.

AirJay/Naga: Possibly the best OC shipment ever... and also property of Gerao-A.

The Detroit Tigers: This is the team as of December 17th 2005. If there are any really, really big changes in their lineup/staff, I will be correcting such changes in my story and warning everyone about it. -sighs- It is just so hard working with something so large-scale that changes so much. Those are actual members of the ball club, by the way. I want to be as authentic as possible. Their real opening game is April 3rd at Kansas City.

Palhaço: Portuguese for "clown".

The Winter Olympics Are Coming: Yes! The Turin (Torino) Games are nearly here! Saturday people! On Saturday, everything will come together and the Nehszriah shall have her Olympics and come the end of March, I might be able to shut up about all that's gonna happen 'cause I'm driving me family and friends nutters! I've been going on since about mid-June of last year when I first laid out Olympians At Heart and my obsession took off and I should probably shut up now so people can review. DUTCH SKATERS RÖK! THEY RÖK ME SÖKS! -finally snaps and cackles-