The Azra-El Series Ch. 18.2

"Roberta Maiaflower or Bobby Maiaflower is quite a pitcher, folks. Don't be confused by her resemblance to her twin Theodora, though. She is a pure pitcher and has picked up five outs in her previous game. She has been quite consistent throughout the year. However, though she has picked up Blaze's out in a previous game, Blaze scored a 98 against her team. Will Blaze repeat a similar performance? It is a necessity to even attempt reaching 2E's total.

"How to tell the difference between the Maiaflower sisters, you ask? You can tell them apart by their build. Teddy has bulkier arms. Bobby has the bigger bust."

The crowd's cheering rose in volume when they saw Blaze at the mound. He glanced towards Jie Er and Rebecca and found them giving him encouraging smiles. The angels in his dugout were watching with nervous anticipation.

Then he looked at MF1 and tuned everything else out.

First Rule of Berserking -- Focus.

He pushed away the urge to start every innings with a big hit. He was going to watch, wait, and build up an innings. MF1 was too good of a pitcher to take unnecessary risks.

MF1 wound up her arm and pitched. Contrary to Blaze's expectations, it was an easy fastball, straight down the middle, and he treated it with as much respect as it deserved -- none. Patience didn't mean letting go of juicy pitches.

Thwack! The ball scuttled across the ground like a bullet, cutting between all the fielders on the left field.

"Groundslam!" the umpire declared.

"Shot! That was crude, powerful, and had all the elegance of an Arctot. The ball's been bludgeoned down the ground for a groundslam. Seems like the Fury needs no technique to send the ball out of the stadium. Technique vs Power. Which shall triumph?"

Blaze didn't hear the crowd's roar nor see the players' reactions. There were only two things in his focus -- Mean Face 1 and the flyball. Both their booties looked exceptionally delicious in that moment.

The next pitch was a slurve -- a curveball with more lateral movement. Blaze nudged it between the infielders and called out to Kida. She was already halfway down the pitch and Blaze sprang towards the other end, to quickly complete their single.

Kida stood by the mound and showed her teeth to the pitcher, copying the hungry grin that she had seen Blaze give the pitchers on numerous occasions. However, since he wasn't doing it now, she felt it was her duty to fill his shoes. For all she cared, if someone looked like MF2, she was MF2 -- she disliked MF2.

"What a cute little junior! However, she seems to have a mean, mean look. It strangely fits her tiny figure and makes me want to cuddle her!"

MF1 pitched a good sharp sinker, but Kida's only goal was to go nuts. She bent her knees and picked the ball two inches off the ground with her bat and swung it straight over the pitcher's head.

For a relatively small angel, Kida possessed tremendous arm strength. The ball soared ten feet past the boundary line.

The pitcher's eyes followed the ball and when the umpire declared the Slam, she looked back towards Kida in amazement. She found the little angel giving her a mad grin that sent a shiver down her spine.

"What a Slam! Where did all that power coming from? Maybe she drinks a lot of milk? I hear it makes bones stronger and builds up muscle in all the right places. But, this junior still has a lot of room to grow. However, I love that cute smile of hers!"

"That is the little brat's doing, right?" Rebecca said to Jie Er and Elyssa in the stands, pointing at Kida's very unsettling smile. "What the Hela is he teaching his innocent classmates?"

"Yep," Elyssa laughed, shaking her head. "I've seen Blaze give that very grin to his opponents during his other games. I didn't think Kida would pick that up of all things. Honestly, it looks scarier on her."

"Everyone needs a battle glare," Jie Er laughed.

Kida hit another Slam and a groundslam before taking a single off the last pitch.

Class 1A -- 26/0 -- 1 Round. 239 required to win from 19 rounds.

"Twenty-Six off the first round, folks! That's the same exact score 2E had after their first over. Looks like 2E has to watch out for this tiny little angel more than the Fury."

Kida maintained her aggressive batting through the following rounds. Blaze only gave her encouraging words, while focusing on his own batting. He observed and memorized the pitching actions of the pitchers and the speed with which their different pitches approached. When he got the chance to bat, he mostly nudged the ball around for singles and doubles, and only attempted big shots when the pitch was particularly easy.

On the 9^th pitch of the fifth over, Kida hit a massive Slam over the center left field, reaching her fifty in exceptional style.

The next pitch she hit the ball straight into the hands of the center fielder in the outfield.

"Out!"

"Oh No! My precious, you were supposed to be the saving grace of these juniors! Ahem... I mean, Kida, the batter, was supposed to be the one who led her team to victory. Her batting had all the ebullience that was needed to get 1A to victory. Unfortunately, she has fallen a little early."

Class 1A -- 71/1 - 5 Rounds. Kida out for 52. 194 required from 15 rounds.

Kida angrily swept her bat at the air and started walking back to the dugout. Blaze quickly ran up to her. "You did your job, Kid. Big Bro's got the rest," he consoled her with a pat on her back and sent her off with a friendly slap on the butt.

Bi sauntered in with her usual stoic grace.

"Play your game, Bi. Don't worry about the score," he said, meeting her at pitching pole. Receiving her affirmation, he ran up to the batting mound.

Second Rule of Berserking: Momentum.

The 1^st pitch of the sixth round was a screwball that curved into his body, and Blaze simply defended it. The next pitch was a cutter, and Blaze cut it between the cover fielder and the guard fielder, towards the back right of the batting pole. The ball raced to the boundary.

"Groundslam!"

"Cracking Shot! But... Where are all the Slams that I've been promised from the Fury? I heard that she could hit the ball out of the park! However, she seems to be content with hitting down the ground. It is the smarter thing to do, but not as exciting, though. This senior wants to hear that ball crack!"

Blaze's previous hit had been more of a cricket shot than a baseball hit. Though Blaze had never played cricket, he had seen it a few times. Since the Flyball field was circular, he had been practicing a few cricket shots over the past couple of quarters.

With Bi playing, the scoring slowed down a little, but Blaze's batting began to pick up momentum. With singles, twos, and ground slams, the two of them steadily ticked down the score.

By the end of the tenth round, the score was 132/1, with Bi on strike for the next round. Blaze's score had crossed the fifty mark in the previous round, but he didn't even notice it, nor did Ria make a big deal of it. She was instead going on and on about how his batting style was too boring.

"Ten rounds gone, and the score is 132/1, folks. 1A is managing to keep themselves alive, folks. But, I need to remind you. Hitting in Flyball gets tougher as the game goes on. The second half of these runs are going to be a lot harder to get than the first half. It will be tough for the Fury and her partner to cross the finish line if they continue playing in this fashion. The Fury doesn't seem all that furious to me, though!"

MF2 returned to pitch on the 11^th. She had only pitched the 1^st and 3rd rounds, and thus, came back energized.

Her first five pitches were sharp, crisp, and varying. Bi, who had been constantly rotating strike with singles, was suddenly unable to score. If it was any other game, she would've weathered the round, but a target of 264 meant that they couldn't waste too many pitches.

She forced a shot on the 6^th pitch. The knuckle ball caught the top of her bat and the ball raced into the keeper's gloves.

"Out!"

"Forced Error, folks. Sometimes, smart and consistent pitching is all it takes to get outs. 1A in trouble? They have enough batters, but not enough pitches."

Aahna walked out to bat and staved off the next four pitches.

Class 1A -- 132/2 -- 11 Rounds. Bi out for 21. 133 required to win from 9 rounds.

Blaze walked to the mound, mentally switching to a higher gear. He was about to face the weakest of Class 2E's five main pitchers. It was honestly a poor decision on the opponent team's part. They needed to put pressure on his team, instead of saving their best for the last.

He turned towards the pitcher with a grin that arose a sense of foreboding in the pitcher and the opposition captain.

Third Rule of Berserking -- Berserk (aka Go Nuts)

"Ah My Goddess, that's the devilish grin from before! It's not so cute on the Fury, though. And what does it mean? Will the Fury finally start attacking?"

Knowing that Blaze was weak against bodyline pitches, the pitcher threw a nervous curveball at his body. Blaze knew it was coming even before she threw it, and he didn't give a rat's ass about its line. He sidestepped to his left and heaved the ball literally out of the park.

"THAT IS... GONE! The ball's out of the stadium! Disappeared! What a massive, massive hit! It's sending shivers down my spine. This is POWER! This is what I've come to watch."

The crowd went up in an all-encompassing roar as the ball disappeared into the woods behind the stadium. It was truly a massive hit -- over 450 feet.

Blaze's dugout went wild. They knew that smile, and they knew what it meant. They could also tell that he was in the zone there had been no theatrics besides the disquieting smile.

Aahna didn't even approach him in fear of disturbing his concentration. Several angels from the audience and a couple of teachers went to retrieve the ball from the woods.

"You think you can win the match, huh?" MF2 approached and sneered at him. "Fat chance! Your batting has no class. You are going to get out sooner or later."

"Looks like Teddy is trying to rattle the Fury, folks. A little banter is fair play, right?"

Blaze leaned against his viridian bat and ignored her.

"Are you mute? Or does your highness think that she is too great to speak to us common folk? My mother is a famous Flyball player. You are nothing without your Righteous Fury."

Blaze gazed at the clouds as if he couldn't even hear her. MF2 continued her attempts at incensing him, but she only succeeded in annoying herself. A teacher came back with the ball and the umpire restarted the match.

"Do you think a Deity could hit the ball into the clouds?" Blaze suddenly asked, as MF2 turned around to get back to her fielding position.

"Ooh, The Fury has finally said something. I wish I had an ear on this conversation."

MF2 looked back and found him still staring at the clouds. "Huh?"

"What am I saying? The ball would shatter from such a hit," he shook his head and walked back to his mound.

MF2 looked like she wanted to chuck something big and hard at his head.

"The banter has backfired! It's Teddy who looks more annoyed than the Fury, who looks as immovable as a brick wall."

Blaze had truly tuned out everything except batting. His eyes saw MF2 talking to him, but her words hadn't really registered in his mind. Unaffected by the short break, he continued his onslaught, smashing the ball all around the ground, and making 34 runs in one round.

"34 RUNS IN ONE ROUND! That's the highest I've seen this year. What a domineering display of batting. The Fury doesn't quite look as pleasing on the eyes as Teddy while batting, but she sure can hit the ball farther and harder than her. The game is now looking very different than it was one round ago.

"Ooh. I've just received two interesting tidbits about the Fury. Her classmates claim that she has never played Flyball before this year. This can't be true, can it? Is this real talent? It makes sense in a way but... Never mind, we can think about that after the game.

"The second tidbit is that Blaze has named her bat 'Wonder Boy'. I don't know what it means, but it somehow does justice to the flat-chested, inelegant, brute of a player that she is."

Onee-san, are you cursing me or are you praising me? And, can you stop with the flat chest comments? Not that I mind...

Class 1A -- 166/2 -- 12 Rounds. The game suddenly turned in 1A's favor, despite still needing to score 99 runs in 8 rounds.

That's just over 12 runs per round. Have to focus!

Aahna hit a ground slam on the first ball of MF1's final round-- each pitcher could only pitch a maximum of four rounds.

However, the next pitch was fast, low, and nasty. It would've been an overpitch if Aahna had managed to get out of the way, but the ball curved as if it was intent on seeking her. It hit her left toe and Blaze heard the crack from 24 yards away.

"Ouch!" Ria's empathetic scream did no justice to Aahna's.

Aahna's bat flew out of her hands and she fell to the ground with a loud cry. Blaze ran to her as she writhed and rolled on the ground in pain. He fell by her side and caught her legs to make her stop moving.

"This doesn't look good, folks. The batter seems to be in a lot of pain."

Holding her leg steady, he pulled off her shoe and sock. Her entire toe had turned a blackish blue. Despite her face twisting in pain, Aahna didn't cry. Blaze held her leg and soothingly rubbed her other leg while MF1 kept apologizing from the side.

Tara Maitreya and a couple of teachers came in flying. They took one look at Aahna's toe and carried her away to the infirmary. Aahna was declared retired out.

Minerva was poled out on the first pitch. A nervous Ditti faced five pitches and hit a mistimed and lucky ground slam, before she was caught out by the keeper. Rachel managed to weather the final three pitches without scoring any runs.

Class 1A -- 170/5 -- 13 Rounds. Blaze - 85, not out. 95 required to win from 7 rounds. 4 Outs in hand.

"Three outs in one round! The game's gone right back into 2E's hands. The Fury looks in good touch, but will the rest be able to survive till the end? You need at least two batters on the pitch to keep playing."

Blaze wanted to blast his way to the win, but Class 2E took over the tactic that his own team had used against MF2. They pitched throws that forced him to rotate strike -- slow floaters that couldn't really get him out but also didn't let him hit far. Blaze could only choose to trust his teammates.

Blaze's hundred came and went without any celebration, though the commentator Ria made a note of it. Rachel nicked the ball in the 16^th Round and was caught out by the right cover fielder. Kritti only managed to last three throws before she was poled out.

211/7 -- 16 Rounds. 2 Outs in hand. (Blaze -- 110)

"54 runs required from 4 rounds. Possible, but with only two outs in hand, things look bleak for 1A."

Blaze hit a Slam on the first ball of the 17^th Round, but after patiently searching for a boundary over the next four pitches, he was finally forced to take a single.

Nina managed to push the ball between the right infield and Blaze hurried back to strike. He hit a groundslam on the 9^th pitch and the fielders converged into the infield for the last throw.

Blaze needed to take a single to retain strike. Nina knew it too. The pitcher threw a cutter and Blaze sliced his bat at it. It bounced on the ground and went straight to the fielder.

"NO!" he yelled, but he found Nina halfway down the pitch.

He could only watch as the fielder threw the ball to the pitcher, who touched the pole with it.

"RUN OUT! Classic lower order batter's mistake. I don't blame her, though. Nerves get the better of the best of us. 1A is in real trouble now. One more out and the game is over. It will be a disappointing end to the Fury's fury, but I don't think anyone would disagree that 2E's win is well deserved."

225/8 -- 17 Rounds. 40 required to win from 3 rounds. 1 Out in hand.

As Blaze walked down towards the pitching side pole, he finally looked at his dugout. It was filled with downcast angels, hanging onto a very thin string of hope. Afriel, their teams last player, climbed out with her bat. There was a steely grim determination in her eyes.

No one really expected much from Afriel. She was purely a pitcher and was the last at bat for a reason -- they never expected her to bat. She was also a Malakim. Though she had pitched her heart out in the game, they couldn't hope that she would battle with the same vigor as the rest of them.

"Try your best," Blaze said to her as she paused by him. She nodded and walked to the batting pole.

"Yikes. I don't think this batter knows how to bat, folks. Is this the end of a frankly titillating game?"

Anyone could tell from the way Afriel held her bat that she couldn't bat. The fielders converged on her like lionesses stalking their prey.

2E's second best pitcher wound up and threw a sizzling fast ball. Afriel awkwardly swung her bat as hard as she could, almost losing balance and falling down.

Plonk, the ball floated over the fielder's heads, landed thirty feet inside the boundary and rolled towards it. It hit the rope that was the boundary and stopped.

"Groundslam!" declared the umpire.

"Somehow, only the Goddess can tell, the batter made enough contact on that pitch. Don't tell me... what's her name?... Afriel is going to win the game for 1A? She has pitched very well in the first innings, but her batting has a lot of holes in it, to say the least."

Blaze could only wryly smile at Afriel, but the girl didn't seem to care about anyone's opinion. The next three pitches, she put the bat in front of her pole and defended. She didn't make contact with the ball but neither did the ball make contact with the pole. She survived.

The 5^th pitch was a screwball. Afriel swung her bat and popped the ball into the air, making Blaze's heart pop into his mouth.

"RUN!" her voice reminded him.

He scrambled towards the batting pole as the ball fell inches short of a diving fielders' fingers.

230/8, 35 runs needed.

"Pegasi Whiskers! She's made it. She passed the strike to Blaze! 35 more runs to win. Can Blaze finish it this round and avoid facing the risk of having Afriel bat? Or, will she manage to rotate strike on the last pitch?"

Five Slams in five pitches was possible, but it wasn't probable when the ball was so old, and if the pitchers knew what they were doing.

The knuckle ball that came at Blaze seemed to wobble in the air. The field for him was spread out and focused near the boundaries. He watched the ball until the last moment and gently nudged it towards an empty area.

They ran a quick double before the fielder could reach the ball - Afriel was not a very good batter, but she could run.

He hit two more doubles in the next three pitches. The field converged on him for the final pitch of the round.

Blaze had two options -- one was to somehow find a gap between the fielders and take a single to retain the strike, the other was to make most of the pitch and hope Afriel could give him back the strike the next over. The field was set to prevent the first.

"Looks like Blaze has picked the option of taking a single on the last pitch, folks."