Maybe it was the handsome star baseman, or the exotic hitters, or the fact that they came from all these different worlds.

Nah. It was their dragons. Alabaster's Gems had hardly been an 'overnight' success, they had to work hard to achieve their status. For three years they had toured the galaxy and different dimensions, attracting big crowds not just for their play style and winning streak. Their dragons were their crew, attendants and biggest supporters. Literally: and their smallest too. From the huge Camintor to dinky Kelirith, the Gems had everything covered.

Even Tamoth's father on his homeworld had to admit that his son's choice of ... profession... was going smashingly. Lord Fallwood handled merchandising for the team, and occasionally even attended a game. Perhaps what attracted him too, were the dragons. When he first saw Shika Hikaru, the dragon was in his humanoid form. Magics thought lost to the world - any world - were brought to life before his eyes, and the stately stag (with a six-foot wide rack, no less) all but fell to his knees in awe. That this Lord of his world - short of the highest rank purely because the predators often demanded prey be lower than they - would do such a thing even stunned Tamoth.

Shika and his bretherin were never looked upon as beasts of burden, more like team staff. Sometimes, though, they offered the children in the parking lots rides or let them touch their hide or feathers. At one game, taking place on Twoarth near the high school where so many dragon kin and riders attended, a number of other people were there to watch.

"I can't believe you of all people brought me here," Baeris said. Kalkin beside her chuckled.

"I realize it's a bit of a stretch, but what my local self tells me is that they're something to see." In fact a good number of Kalkin - Sanger, whoever he felt like being called - were at this game. It was an exhibition game, not a full competition. It was the off season in the Galactic Softball Federation, but there was never a time when the team wasn't out practicing or hawking their wares. Along with several Sangers, came several Engells. Some of them were softer toward their raven-haired companion than others - but all of them at some point or another liked to get out and have some good plain old fun.

It just so happened that Lord Rider Engell had come along with Baeris and Kalkin, to see what the fuss was. He'd never seen a softball game before, though his local equivalent had, and they were conferring about it all. To have them so close to one another was odd - Engell usually appeared only once in a universe and hardly ever allowed people to realize that he knew of his dopplegangers.

In any case, the few folks locally who knew who he was stayed at a proper distance. Maybe it was the 'local' Sanger (the one who 'broke' the universe and started letting all these different realities mix) playing bodyguard? Out on the wide warm pavement of the parking lot, their dragons stood around watching things. Dulath listened to Sixth chirp about the apartments that were over there, while Tehndarinth kept his eye on his daughter Nitadan. She kept sidling up to the dragons - and eventually a few of them wound up standing on the back of the bleachers looking over the shoulders of many nervous fans, to watch the game.

Enfatuated, Nitadan excitedly talked to Camintor about the game. How was it played? Who all could play it? There were players of really different sizes down there, weren't there ... standards? Or something?

There are standards, but I have seen my rider be outweighed by others, and little Bushish there is not the smallest player in the league.

"Seriously? Well then!" The purple and snowflake marked dragoness got a wild look in her eye. "I think it's time we had a dragon team!"

***

"They will have to be pretty small," Jake Alabaster said, "I mean, as in 'not as big as full ridable sized dragons' small. They can still be, well, your little Dulath is probably the biggest I'd say would be acceptable for the League. It's never really been pushed before. Most species that are interested in the game are of the humanoid-sized variety. Once you get bigger than say, an Orca like the Killer Wave team, sports really aren't the same as we play them."

The interdimensional team owner smiled warmly. "So... can you do it?"

"Well," Baeris said with a shrug, "the dragons have already started pairing off. She managed to find a couple males, on the small side, and I think even Dulath is going to get involved."

"Well I can't wait to see what happens," Jake said with a big grin. "Maybe they'll even get into the League some day. But they've got to hatch first, eh?" He nudged the genetic engineer and her blue eyes were carefully guarded.

"Yes, they will, but they'll also need to be integrated into human society. I notice that they've chosen biped types," Baeris looked at the matchups. She shooed Jake out of the room, and she along with Kalkin got to work. It would be a strange little project, all right. Making human sized bipedal dragons - capable of speech, intelligent conversation, and ... the ability and desire to play intergalactic softball...

***

When the first of the eggs started to hatch, Baeris held her breath. Neither she nor Kalkin knew what might happen - would they be as small as flitters? Or just right? Smart? Dumb as a bag of rocks? That wasn't fair, Sploxioth wasn't that stupid. He was just massively naive. He fathered five of the eggs, while black Tamisra managed four of his own. Dulath, Nitadan, and two more local unbonded females - Dopeth and Trillibeth - volunteered to have their eggs engineered. Trillibeth was a bit of a surprise, she rarely showed herself near humans. Perhaps it'd been long enough and she was getting over her abandonment? Or, she just wanted the chance to mate and lay eggs.

Either way, it was one of her eggs with Sploxioth that hatched first. A bright canary-yellow nose emerged, followed by little clawed hands that pushed the egg open. He had the starts of a strong crest like his sire, and even though his color would have told someone else 'female' Baeris knew better. Still she held her breath: if he met their eyes and required a mental bond, it would all be for nothing. He crept from his smallish egg carefully, disoriented but not blinded - this hatching was being done in a small, dimly lit warmed room. Finally he blinked and coughed out some goo, and said, "I would like some food, please..."

Everyone let out their breath, and he was given access to whatever he needed. Food, water, and a quick warm bath to get the egg goo from his sunlight colored hide. Next to hatch was one of Tamisra's brood, she had indigo colored skin with a scaley belly, horn buds, and a wide almost dopey looking muzzle. Clearly, Dopeth's daughter. She rolled out of her egg and simply grasped for the bowl of food that was nearby.

The two eggs that Dulath had laid for Sploxioth both shook open at the same time, and two excitable little dragonets began babbling to each other about how nice it was to be out of that cramped eggshell, how good it was to breathe air, and how funny it was that their crests were drooping over their opposite eye. "I curved to the right," said the hazel-green female. "I kind of went right down the middle," admitted her tan colored brother.

Nitadan nudged one of her three eggs, and a deeply shaded crimson-colored scale-bellied dragonet came out. Baeris had to reserve any judgement, she knew that there was something odd about the way the gender genes had arranged themselves in that dragon. He was for the time being a 'he', with dark markings on his wings almost opposite his dam's shiny snowflakes. Another of her offspring, with Sploxioth this time, came strongly out of his shell. He was almost the same shade as the ivory shell, with snowy markings and his father's loud voice shrilly wondering why everyone was looking at him!

Trillibeth's second egg, with Tamisra, cracked open to reveal a darkly brown colored female. Horn buds and all, she almost stood straight up - bipedal to an extreme! The last of Tamisra's eggs hatched, and a bluish-violet, black marked twin to the crimson male came out. "It is not nearly warm enough in here," she muttered.

"I think it's great!" Bellowed an aqua colored and somewhat chunky looking hatchling. He'd emerged suddenly and with the same explosive force that Sploxioth had many years before. He had mismatched eyes, like his father, and swirly patterns on his hide that had 'Dopeth' written all over them.

"We require names," the canary colored one said. He seemed so utterly opposite his sire in almost every way. Calm, quiet, ... smart.

"Well... that's odd," Baeris said. "You didn't hatch with names?"

The group looked at one another and shrugged. There were nine of them - each about the size of a cat, perhaps a dog. Less than half the size that Dulath had been when she hatched, they would be small. Baeris cleared her throat and looked at each of them in turn.

"I suppose... let's see. Shargath, is that all right with you? It means yellow." She asked of the canary male, who nodded. "And you," she said to the aqua male, "Terkejuth. A surprise."

He nodded furiously at that, happily joined by the twin tan and hazel pair. She named them Kozepeth and Mengananth, center and right respectively. Baeris was starting to get a strange feeling in her gut. She named the white from Sploxioth's clutch Hakujin - white. It was true their names were fairly obvious but they didn't know how many names might already be taken!

The brown female nosed up to Baeris, coughed once, and waited. "Matength?" Baeris said. She nodded, and another took her place. She named the blue-violet twin Mashodika, her crimson 'brother' Nohara. Lastly was the indigo, Pakarna - the catcher.

How did she know? Half the members of this little 'team' were already squared off with their role? Quickly it became obvious that the nature of the Healing Den itself was to allow for this behavior. Their parents wanted a team, they were a team.

But now, they had to sleep, and grow.

***

They grew quickly, easily learning to stand on their hind legs if they didn't already, to talk (if they weren't already as talkative as they could be), and finally to fly. Within half a year, the group was ready to be introduced to their new digs:

Carramba High.

While they would return to the Den via the school's nexus portals - as many resident students did - all their classes would be on Twoarth. They'd get used to real time passing, the sun, day and night... All kinds of things that the Den just didn't have. Shargath took control over his destiny first: he walked up to the admissions desk and asked to see the class schedule.

The group of dragons were nowhere near full grown, they did seem a little young even for a school like this. But they would grow faster than most kids, and likely reach their maturity within two or three years. So they had about three years worth of studies to do. Maybe they'd make it through all four years of Carramba High?

As long as Terkejuth didn't get them kicked out, that is...