ic Opening Day (IC)

[Poncho]

The crowd cheered happily as The Patriot entered the arena. Each wave drew more raucous applause from the group being waved to. If someone caught the trick on the pen, it wouldn't be people in the crowd, at least not without greater than human eyesight. It might get mentioned on a sports talk show later though; surely many youtubers would be doing breakdowns of The Patriot's opening pitch. 

 

But while the atmosphere was loud and heightened, it wasn't dangerous, at least it seemed so. There was security and guards; at entrances, doing walks, but obviously none would compare to the Freedom Leaguer. But she wasn't alone in being concerned or in caring about public safety.

 

And when she gestured to the catcher, the applause got louder, and the catcher slapped his mitt with his palm, resdy for the pitch.

 

All the while, Golden Star set with Puma and watched. He put his hand around her shoulder and grinned, soaking up the atmosphere as much as anyone 

 

"Moon stuff, huh? I wonder if I could fly to the Moon...might be quiet for awhile." He said idly. "I can see why it'd be nice. Just a place to be quiet and think...Hrm, I'll give it a chance sometime." Then he focused.back on the Patriot. "She's probably gonna throw a perfect strike isn't she."

[Avenger Assembled]

Up on the mound, Ashley reflected back on her own past. She'd always preferred contact sports and target practice for her personal entertainment and fitness. But there had been a time, a long time ago, when Ashley Tran had been the captain of the 5th-6th grade girl's softball team. (That was one reason she made so much use of grenades in her combat with the rest of the Freedom League.) Thinking of her dad in the stands, cheering her on, she faltered for a barely perceptible instant before she stepped back into her throwing stance. This one's for you, Dad. New Orleans! She reared back and threw, a powerful fastball that rocketed from her hand and smack into the catcher's mitt. As the crowd cheered, she took a moment to blow a kiss towards the camera and yell "I love you, baby!" Her wife and son were watching too, after all. 

[MoonSimply]

"You think you can? Fly out to space like that? Isn't there no air at all outs there, like a vacuum of sorts?" she responds back to him as she watched more of the fanfare with him. Baseball and futbol was something that she watched and played plenty of, especially before she had transitioned into her curse at a young age. Such it was, that as she watched Patriot throw the ball right into the catcher's mitt, she'd uncharacteristically jump for joy. Puma would get out of her seat to cheer her mentor, celebrating the opening of the game with the ceremonial first pitch.

 

Clapping as she eventually sat back down, "You saw that!" she spoke excitedly towards Michael.

[Poncho]

"Yeah, I uh...not to be too weird about it, I uh...haven't had to eat or drink in awhile, and I don't have to breathe. Like I still do it, but I don't have to anymore, I guess." He said in a combination of awkward and nonchalant about his powers; what his powers could do or would do was still a complete unknown, something he had been honest with Carmen about before; no one was 100% sure how his powers would keep going. "...I don't really get it either."

 

But then the Patriot threw the baseball directly into the mitt and he jumped up and clapped as well.

 

"That was perfect! So many people can't make it there, but that's the Patriot difference, isn't it!?" he cheered, joining the rest of the crowd in raucous applause for The Patriot. She got a handshake from the catcher and the mascots, and then was led out by them as the two teams took to the field. It had only taken a few minutes for the entire spectacle to go through, but it had been a defining sequence for many young children in the stands and watching across the nation; to remind people that the Superheroes are out there, that they're still here to protect them, and that watchful eye will never cease.

 

An absolutely successful public showing for The Patriot.

[Avenger Assembled]

Once she was done, the Patriot headed off-stage and out of the camera's eye. She thanked her staff for a job well-done, smiled at the text from her wife and son, and disappeared into her private washroom for a shower and a change of clothes. She had asked for, and gotten, a section of the stadium with several exits in private areas. This made it easy for a Eurasian woman of average height and muscular build, her red and blue hair the most shocking thing about her, to appear among the late arrivals in the stadium. (The hair was no worry here - after all, lots of people were wearing red white and blue on a scene where the Patriot had recently been.) Now if she could just find where she'd parked those teenagers! Still vibrating with the success of a big public move, she went looking.  

[MoonSimply]

Carmen was getting a sort of sensory overload of sorts, having typically been one to keep to herself and avoid the crowds as it was. It seemed at the least that this was buoyed by Michael being with her, snuggling up as she now got to watch the game proper once the first pitch was thrown by her mentor. Pushing up against him, it seemed personal space was simply not held back with as she tried to feed him some popcorn, "Jeez, I wish I could do that out in space," she responded in a delayed manner as she watched Patriot slink through the crowd and away, greeting those around her with raucous applause. The fame that a true superhero sworn to protect the people could receive. Meanwhile most people seemed to ignore them, with the occasional look their way as beyond Patriot, Puma and Golden Star were the only ones wearing some sort of heroic costume of sorts.

 

"Here, take some, I can't eat it all," she says, pushing the kernel against his cheek in a playful manner. In fact, there wasn't much popcorn left to begin with.

[Poncho]

"It's weird to do it...and it's not like I can 'go' anywhere, if that makes sense. The distances involved are really long; I'd lose all my energy and suffocate way before I got to the Moon or even the Lighthouse. Not that I'd try to use it to sneak back into the Lighthouse or anything. It's just also not something I can do." he laughed. "Not that I'm not thankful for it either just...I dunno. It feels weird to not have to do stuff people have to do." he blabbered a little.

 

Even without his glowing, he was a superhero in a bright gold, red, and white costume, so he wasn't going anywhere sneakily, plus given his size and the fact he was sitting next to a catgirl. When the popcorn got pushed into his face he playfully wrapped his fingers around hers and, not forcefully but teasingly, acted like she was going to put it directly in his mouth. "Okay, okay. Ahhh."