Pedro Davids/IF-28.982
Origins in the Reckoning
Pedro Davids originally came to Baltimore to research the Olde One and the process of Carcinization I in Baltimore. When everyone turned on the Olde one Davids was conflicted. This is what he'd been studying, this is what he came to Baltimore for, but he couldn't help her, and he couldn't help his teammates and friends because doing so, supporting either side, would invalidate his research.
Since he couldn't insert himself into the act without spoiling the work he had been doing over the last decade all he could do was watch and take notes. This is why he insists on the carpool to pick everyone up for games or road trips - He couldn't protect them in that moment but he can from thereon out. He still feels connected to the Olde One and takes on her role of keeping watch over the city.
RV Swap
Davids hosted a biannual RV swap meet in Baltimore. He pays for dry cleaning and the mechanic bill for whoever chooses his former camper. Regular attendees and those from the Baltimore area understand why David’s trailer needs the additional work, though the people coming in from farther are a little disturbed by the...detritus that needs to be removed for it to function as a regular vehicle again. Over time Davids has acquired bigger RVs and passes down his current model to a new owner, much the same as a hermit crab does when it finds a new shell.
Writing to Goobie Ballson
An unexpected Pen pal, Davids began writing to Goobie Ballson shortly after the 12 game series that the firefighters played against the Crabs in season 8. While Davids maintained his usually writing style in these letters, Ballson primarily sent short letters, often consisting of single words. Reportedly Davids has received:
- A mix CD made by Ballson
- A cool rock he found
- A label from a local brewery bottle
- Items from the gift shops of other team's stadiums (that they both play at regularly)
- One package of sticky hands
- A collection of Chicago Firefighters merchandise to decorate David’s RV
- A what appeared to be a human skull
Ballson’s death in Season 22 hit Davids unexpectedly hard as he had grown fond of their strange correspondence.
Outgrowing the Shell
While in the Big Leagues, Davids outgrew his current camper. Rather than risk getting ingrown into this one he decided to perform a complicated ritual using all the resources available to the Crabs to try and rework his own carcinization.
While it is unclear whether something went wrong with the ritual or the Olde One couldn't reach the Big Leagues effectively, the result was a molt that took a significant toll on his body. Before his next game his teammates Silvaire Roadhouse, Luis Acevedo, and (unfortunately) Evelton McBlase II put together a serviceable exoskeleton before the next game, and have since worked on a combination of retaining/improving mobility, pruning malignant carapace, and adding some strict "improvements" such as the wings (a work in progress) or trying to make it more comfortable for Davids.
Regardless of the outcome Davids has said he is committed to keep on keeping on. Admit it or not, but he still carries the team.
After Ascension
When the Crabs returned to the ILB after their long hiatus, Davids was eager to put to work the many things he had planned while away with the Crabs. He took advantage of the Crab’s late return to spend a considerable amount of time in Season 12’s lateseason with Valentine Games, and while it’s not common knowledge exactly what was shared between them, it seemed that many things that had been long left unsaid were finally put to words. The two of them stayed in close contact even as the Crabs began their season 13 run for the championship, where Davids and Valentine met in the finals.
It was soon after that however that the Crabs ran into troubling times, with theme captain Kennedy Loser becoming haunted, and the loss of many of their team members across season 15. This left Davids to take on a leadership role alongside Silvaire Roadhouse and the newly traded Parker Meng. Even with his time occupied trying to keep the team together, he still exchanged letters frequently with Valentine, and even with increased frequency as the league learned the fate of legendary players in the league, and Valentine’s prominence on the idol board.
An Enduring Loss
In the Season 19 MVP call, Valentine Games was made legendary and removed from the ILB. Despite the two of them attempting to make peace with it in advance, Davids was still devastated by the loss, and as replicas of Valentine Games began to appear in the league, Davids found it difficult to continue to play, and was shadowed in the Season 20 elections.
While he did eventually return to play, Davids was slow to recover. Despite promising his partner that he would not remain fixated on “cracking the vault” after they were gone, Davids still found himself combing the league for information - often comparing notes with teammate Avila Guzman who was investigating the redactions across the league on her end. Eventually he began to do what he had always done and began writing letters to Games that they would never receive (much as Games had done for him while the Crabs were ascended). While blaseball spun onwards, Davids found himself stuck on the loss.
In an effort to help Davids deal with the loss, Silvaire Roadhouse Sr. invited Davids to move into the farmhouse. This served as both a way to give Davids a change of scenery, and a way for Roadhouse Sr. to have some company with Roadhouse Jr. in Boston. The two found it easy to get along, and Davids presence was a support for Roadhouse Sr. when his granddaughter became debted in Boston, spreading instability throughout the league. When Roadhouse Jr was traded back to the Crabs, Davids confronted her about the behaviour - having seen how it affected her grandfather firsthand. The two former co-captains fought bitterly on the subject of Roadhouse Jr’s debt, with Roadhouse firing back that Davids was the last person to be lecturing about “letting go of things”. While it was difficult for them to reconcile completely, the surge of eclipses in season 24 combined with the responsibilities of getting the team to safety overshadowed their disagreements. They had made it through Ascension before, so they could make it through this.
Towards the Event Horizon
The moment the Vault appeared in the team’s site Pedro Davids knew what he had to do. Before that however, he, Kennedy Loser, and Finn James discussed what the best choice for the team was. While they knew the Hall held many old friends, the Vault represented safety, and of course Valentine Games (and Tillman Henderson). After terse discussion and disagreement, the three of them agreed that the team needed to go to the Horizon, off to the place that held them at the very start of the season. Davids however, knew that once the team had arrived safely, he would be departing for the Vault to reunite with Games.
As the team worked towards reaching the Black Hole (Black Hole) Davids approached Zeruel Kramer about building a ship to reach the Vault. Plagued by zir own fears of the threat of being nullified or forgotten, Kramer signed onto the project, though ze did express that ze wasn’t sure Games would appreciate the attempt as, even though ze never met Games, ze “knew her through her art - the idea of travel and becoming something new was essential, and stillness brought only entropy”. Davids declined to invite Kramer to continue, but ze showed up to help until the day that the Pies were swallowed by the Black Hole, at which point ze reworked their ship to be a single passenger vessel so it could be completed on time, trusting that even if the rest of the team were nullified, at least Davids could remember them all for zir.
The day the Black Hold began to swallow the Crabs, Davids departed from the top of the Crabitat, disappearing into the distance as the Crabs were Nullified. In the end he made it, arriving just as the Black Hole expanded to cover the universe. Davids however did not belong in the vault, and whether that is a punishment or a mercy, those were his last thoughts as he saw his goal fading before him and the void go bright and redshift into blood as he fell forever towards his team - a falling star returning to the sky where it all began.
