Everyone was satisfied to be back in their bodies and split up, promising not to say a word about what happened. Neige decided to go to see Polyetta to organize the match she wanted to do. He entered in her room but was surprised to see Silv talking with his leader. Without thinking, he took his dagger in hand, ready for anything.

"Silv!? What are you doing here?"

"Calm down, adults are talking."

Neige looked at Polyetta, who still seemed uncomfortable but not as much as he expected. She went next to him and quickly explained everything.

"Silv wants to play Baseball against us, she even said she'd find us our ninth player."

"And it should be tomorrow!" Specified Silv.

Neige didn't believe a word of Silv, expecting a trick from her.

"You think we'll just accept for no reason?"

"Oh no, you'll have a reason, it's no fun to play with no stakes. Don't you want to remember your past Neige?"

"Don't listen to her!" Yelled Polyetta "I-It's not that important for now."

"Are you hiding something 'leader'? That's not nice to hide the truth from your friend. I could also just blow up everything here to convince you if that's what you want."

"And what do you get?" Asked Neige "I suppose you want something from us."

Silv thought for a moment, visibly unsure as to what she wanted.

"I'll take some food from your cook."

"That's is? That's... Unusual."

"You better prepare, me and my team we'll give it our all! I already picked the world we'll go in, it's the world 03106002. It's a jungle, pretty calm, that's why I chose it."

"I think we already went here..." Polyetta said, trying to remember.

"Yeah, you and Neige did, six years ago."

Polyetta suddenly remembered, filling her with a feeling of dread.

"Is that... Why you chose this world?"

"Yeah, but don't get me wrong, I just thought it would be funny. I don't have a plan this time, just very interested in a fair game."

Silv used her watch to disappear right in front of them. However, Neige wasn't focused on that and instead tried to remember.

"We went there? I would have known if we did."

"Don't think too much about it Neige, we should warn the others."

"You're right, I'll go see in Emely's to see if everyone is still there." Neige was about to leave but instead stopped after realizing something "Is it related to what happened after our world was destroyed?"

Polyetta knew she couldn't lie and nodded her head, afraid of her friend's reaction.

"If we win, can you tell me about it?"

"I... Can try. But if it makes you feel bad then I'll stop."

"Fine by me. Try contacting the others, I'll see you later."

Neige smiled at his friend and left, hurrying to gather his friend.

Neige entered Emely's lab in a hurry, remembering to knock on the door only once he opened the door. He was lucky the engineer wasn't in a weird experiment, instead listening to something with Silva, the two of them wearing an earbud each.

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"Hey, what are you listening to?"

"N-Neige!?"

Emely and Silva both panicked, visibly flustered. They tried to hide the phone with difficulties, taking way longer than it normally would. Once it was solved, Emely pointed at him with anger.

"Why didn't you knock on the door!?"

"I will next time but it's urgent, Silv came here."

"Silv?" Silva stood up from the desk she was sitting on, ready to go "Where is she?"

"I don't know, she left. She challenged us to a Baseball match tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? But I don't even know the rules."

"That's why we're going to practice, the leader is gathering the others."

"Do we have to?" Emely laid on the desk she was sitting on, clearly not wanting to move.

"Come on lazy engineer, it will be fun! And I'm not losing against my other self."

Dragged by her friend, Emely had no choice but to follow them to train with the others.

Everyone was there, ready to listen to the explanation from the leader. Polyetta felt visibly intimidated to have everyone's gaze on her but managed to find the courage to talk.

"S-So, as you know, our archenemy challenged us to a game of Baseball. We may not know the rules, but I'm sure we'll-"

"You don't know the rules?" Asked Neige, interrupting his friend.

"I never played Baseball, how could I know?"

"You're kidding me... What about that game you played, doesn't it explain the rules?"

"Maybe, but the main character also uses the power of dragons to-"

"Okay, I understand, so we're doomed... Does anyone here know how to play Baseball?"

To everyone's surprise, Emely raised her hand. The leader invited the young engineer to trade places, letting her explain the rules.

"So Baseball was pretty popular in my world, I remember watching it a lot on TV. I'll just explain the basics, you'll learn as you play. Each game is split into nine rounds, which we call innit. Each innit, the two teams will alternate between hitting team and fielding teams."

"That sounds so complicated." Complained the leader "Why couldn't we play chess or something?"

"Don't worry, it's not that hard. So the fielding team will have someone throw the ball at a batter from the hitting team. The goal is to hit the ball as hard as you can and run all around the field before the fielding team catches the ball. If you manage to run around the field, your team gets a point, if they catch the ball before getting at one of the three bases or get a point, you're out. Once three batters are out, the innit is over."

Seeing that some of the members didn't understand, Emely let out a sigh before explaining it in a simpler way.

"If you have a bat, hit hard and run fast. If you have a glove, get the ball quick."

"Oh, I understand now." The leader had a satisfied smile on her face, glad to finally understand.

"The thing is that we need nine members, where will we find ours?"

"Silv said she'll get us one." Explained Neige "I'm not sure how much we can trust her though, we'll have to see tomorrow."

"Will she have a team too?" Wondered Silva "I can't imagine her having friends."

"She manages to get quite the group. She was often with Kairo and the anomaly, she even has Emely's other self with her now. I just hope she's not going to get a championship team against us..."

Silva was about to talk but stopped in her thoughts. She turned toward one of the hallways, confusing her friends for a moment until they saw what caught her attention. The anomaly was coming toward them, with heavy bags in her hands. She put them on the ground and waved at Neige with a smile.

"Neige! Silv said we had to play together!"

"Wait, is she our ninth member?" Polyetta said, clearly disagreeing with that choice "You know, maybe we could get cinnamon to count as a member, it's always better than the anomaly."

"Hey, Silv said she'd help me if I played with you. And I don't wanna be alone while everyone is playing!"

"She's literally the thing we're trying to stop! It's in her name, she's the anomaly! I'm not letting her play with us."

Ada seemed saddened by Polyetta's words to the point where she was on the verge of tears. Neige turned toward his leader, trying to relieve her from her worries.

"Don't worry, I'll be safe, I know how she works. As long as she's not mad she's not dangerous."

"You know what, let's vote." Proposed the leader "Those who are for keeping her in the team raise their hand."

To her surprise, Sepide and Silva both raised their hands with Neige. Even Ina did after some hesitation, making it four votes for and four against the anomaly's inclusion in the team.

"I can't believe you all accept her so easily..."

"I just want to kick Silv's ass and prove I'm better at Baseball than her." Explained Silva.

"You didn't even know what was Baseball a week ago... And you Sepide, don't you see how dangerous she is?"

"Kinda, but she has a good heart. She just misses her friend, that's why she's causing problems."

Polyetta turned toward Ina, who quickly explained her reasoning as well.

"I don't know why, I like her."

"You're the only one I don't want to be around..." The anomaly said, trying to avoid Ina's gaze.

"So what now?" Asked Neige "It's four against four."

The leader looked at Gwyn, begging her with her eyes to find a solution. The doctor looked at the anomaly and asked her directly.

"If I let you in, can I make tests on you? I'm curious to know how you work."

"Yeah, for sure."

Hearing the anomaly's answer, Gwyn raised her hand under the annoyed eyes of the leader.

"Five against three, the anomaly is on the team."

Ada cheered while the leader glared at her. Neige looked at the bags and saw a bunch of equipment for the Baseball match made by Silv. Everything was in a good state, even the clothes had their names on them, aside from Silva, who just spelled bitch instead. Everyone decided to stay silent on it, in the hope that Silva wouldn't notice. They were ready to practice for tomorrow's match. Even if it was against their enemy, most of the members felt happy to play in a team together, excited about the match to come.