2015-05-21 - Supergirlpalooza!

It was a pretty interesting day for Leah. It started with having a day to have fun and go cosplay at a comic book convention. Then after a near death experience on the highway, meeting Supergirl. Well, if by 'meet' one means Supergirl saving her from an oncoming 18-wheeler about to crash into her and kill her.

In any case, she made quite the entrance at the convention, mainly since she arrived by way of superhero. Kara settled down the car in front of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center - where they both apparently were going. Kara for some charity event that the Con was having. Apparently the best way to get comic book fans to donate to cancer research was to let them see a superheroine wearing a miniskirt and half-shirt doing feats of superstrength.

There's a lot of cameras taking pictures, and reporters who are asking about Leah. "Oh she's a friend." according to the Girl of Steel. Some reporters put microphones up to Leah.

"So are you Supergirl's Pal?"

"How long have you known her?"

"Are you a superhero too?"

"Are you in a relationship with Supergirl?"

Kara looks around. "Um... I have a boyfriend..." she says, but the reporters are still all swarming around asking questions.

Leah's smile is kind of frozen on her face as she gets out of the car. She looks mildly shocked at all the cameras and reporters. Totally would have made a better costume if she'd known. "Hiiiiiii..." she says, so very eloquently to the people with the microphones. "Do I have to park my car properly or does this get me a bye on violations? I've already got points on my licence." For something that was totally not her fault, too. Damn stop sign.

She looks kind of less like Supergirl than Kara, but then anybody would. And there ARE events waiting. She doesn't even try to answer all the questions, except to wave at the cameras.

Kara Zor-El pauses. "I'll put it somewhere legal then meet you inside okay, Leah?" Kara had been thinking about it - she really didnt have many friends who werent superheroes. There was Sawyer.... and... um... that was pretty much it. And Sawyer was more like someone she met. Probably would be nice to have a regular friend. Clark had lots of friends, both superheroes and normal. Heck, he had regular friends as both Clark AND Superman. It was uncanny how he was able to do that.

Kara lifts up the car and flies around to the parking lot with it, leaving Leah to get through the reporters to get into the convention.

Facing off with the reporters, Leah takes a moment and gets into character. After all, part of cosplaying IS playing to the camera, and she's a SUPERGIRL cosplayer. That's why she came!

"I'm not in a relationship with her, it's just an incredible accident. Barely know her, but she saved my life on the way here and I can honestly say that I've flown in my Supergirl cosplay now so it's that much more authentic." She absolutely beams into the camera, giving a victory-sign for the fans.

"I'm a registered nurse, made my costume myself, and no, no names. My secret identity is just as private as hers is." She points at one of the reporters, winking. Then she turns and heads inside, vowing to be at the Supergirl strength shows. Because hell, free publicity. And gotta cheer on her girl!

More questions flood Leah as she actually answers like a pro. Better than Kara does actually with the press. But when Leah heads into the Javitz Center, the guards tell the reporters to go around to the press entrance instead. Freedom! Meanwhile, as Leah enters the convention, there are lots of different cosplayers all over the place, lots of different events, including the one which Kara's going to be at with a big 'Girl of Steel Power Event' and a little 'For Charity' beneath it. The people taking pictures of Leah inside are at least not reporters, just comic book fans and other cosplayers wanting to do poses with her. Then the real Supergirl taps Leah on the shoulder. "Sorry it took me so long. After I put the car down.... you're in E-12 by the way...." she whispers, "I sort of had to escape the reporters outside without being rude."

Another comic book fan comes over with a camera, "Can I get a picture with both of you? Those are great costumes! Especially yours!" he says, pointing at Leah. Kara looks at her own costume, wondering what's wrong with hers.

Leah says, "Totally with you on that, and I gotta say having you drop me off like that miiiight have amped up the papparazi a teensy bit. Gotta ride the wave in though, if you try and get around them they just start creepshotting you anyway and then the pictures turn out awful. Trust me, it's better to face them head on and control the situation if you can."

"Builds your energy through the roof though!" she says, as the fan comes over and asks for the shot. "Glad to! Kara, get in on the other side here," she directs as she lifts her right heel and poses beside the fan for the shot and flexes her bicep.

Kara Zor-El snaps out of wondering what's wrong with her outfit and nods, grinning. "Um... okay sure!" And she gets on the other side of the guy to make a pose like Leah. Picture taken, the guy grins and says, "Thanks. Seriously, you two have the look down. Did you hear the real Supergirl's going to be doing an exhibition later? You should go to that too."

Kara starts to respond. "Oh um... we're probably going to stop by there and -..."

She's interrupted as a Deadpool cosplayer runs over to Kara, hugs her, yelling "Bea, you're hot again!" then runs off, leaving Kara confused, looking around. "I don't get it." she says, perplexed.

Leah gives the fan a quick hug and sends him off, not letting him stay. "If he only knew," she mumbles absently. The Deadpool cosplayer gets her giggling, then she says, "Oh god, he's at THIS one too! I love the Deadpools, they can get away with, like, anything they want."

She turns to Kara and says, "We should walk. Seriously, I've so considered crossplaying Deadpool myself for the second day of one of these things just so I can act utterly bonkers and de-stress. That's why they do it, because Deadpool is supposed to be insane."

She continues, talking like an old pro. "Most Deadpool cosplayers have really boring, tedious jobs in the normal world, Kara," she says as she pauses and hugs a kid who's staring up at her. "THIS is why we do it though. Every person that gets a picture, or a hug, or anything, will never forget their chance to be with Supergirl. Just for a moment, they get to shine too. So you gotta make it special for them."

Kara Zor-El walks along with Leah. "I sorta wish I asked him what was missing on my costume. I mean... yours is really nice." She smiles and nods. "That's actually really sweet. Most of the time people take pictures with me it's not like... as nice. I mean... you wouldnt believe how many guys jump off buildings so they can get selfies with me." She pauses. "It's insane that they'd do that. It's been 25 guys just this year."

'Batman' comes over and gruffly says 'I'm Batman'" - he... does not look much like Batman - sort of overweight actually and is with another guy dressed like Superman, who has a better costume, complete with a wig with that little hairlick Clark has. Kara covers her mouth so as not to laugh. She takes a swallow and says, "Gn... N-nice costume, Superman."

She gets a "Yours too! Wow, especially yours" one of them says to Leah. Kara murmurs, "Seriously, why is everyone saying that?"

Leah tilts her head, looking at Kara as they head vaguely toward the first strength thingie. According to the posters, Kara is expected to lift volunteers, which doesn't seem too intimidating. Though the fine print suggests that's just the start.

"Mmm...I think you may need to take some of the classes in cosplay I took starting out, Kara. My best guess would be it's because you're real, though." She pauses long enough to pose for a shot in classic chun-li victory pose, then moves on as if it never happened. "People expect a certain image, in their mind. I made this costume with that image in mind, and it's not the same as the reality."

"Also could be because I have a little bigger boobs..." She frowns a little, then shrugs.

Kara Zor-El smiles a little and shrugs. "I guess I never thought I'd need to take classes on how to be ... well... me." she says, looking down at herself, then looks at Leah. "I...um... guess maybe?" about the last thing.

She takes a moment to look around at people snapping pictures and buying merchandise. Apparently there are several different rooms for different events - a Toon Titans Fan Q and A, some sort of live action comic book improv show, and what's probably the one that has been getting the most attention, the Girl of Steel Displays of Power - Meet the Maid of Might! See some of the Amazing things which Superman's Cousin can do!

Kara groans a little. "Maid of Might? Really? Why... what would make anyone want to call me 'maid of might'?" Long distance to Mia: Kara Zor-El Figures it says other stuff like the whole Armwrestling thing, tug of war, lifting huge weights, lifting volunteers or tests against volunteers, etc.

The pair-up is interrupted suddenly by some LARP'ers who whip through, dressed like some group from Squeenix. Final Fantazone or someting, Tifa and Locke chasing each other with swords. Which is totally out of character, and some guy with spiky dark hair and a gigantic rubber sword stalks after them looking like he's hiding a smile.

"Seriously? You don't see anyone cosplay Zack often, nice choice, dude!" Leah shakes her head, amused by the whole event, then turns back to Kara. "No, the first thing all cosplayers learn, Kara, and you need to know it too." She points to Kara, giving that grin. "I'll never have your skin, your hair is a GOD all on its own, and I'm at least eight years older than you are, damnit, but the primary cosplayer lesson is this."

Leah stands up straight, then says proudly, "The defining feature of all costumes is always the same. It's the attitude of the person inside. You, my very lovely dear," she says, then gives Kara a hug, "are acting a little bit like this is what you do. It's a job. I'm acting like this is what I GET to do. People can see it."

Kara Zor-El watches the Final Fantizone cosplayers. "Is it bad that I have no idea who any of those people are pretending to be? I thought I was getting caught up on the pop culture stuff... Wait. Zack from... the saved by the bell show right? My boyfriend actually showed me a few of those episodes. It looked .... er...." She just shrugs a little, then you start talking about cosplay tips. She looks at her hair a little when she's complimented about her skin and hair, etc. Then looks at Leah when she tells her the secret of cosplaying. "But.." she says confusedly, "this -is- what I do." She gives a little, confused hug back. "Hey.... want to do anything before I go to my event thing? I mean... unless you're going to be busy doing other stuff here? I wouldnt want to keep you if you are?" Leah smiles, realizing she's been babbling to Supergirl, and shakes her head. "Only famous cosplayers have things set up they HAVE to do, Kara. Nobody knows little Leah O'Connell. You want an iced tea?"

A girl in very, very tight shorts who seems to be in the Final Fantazone group comes pelting by, yelling something about being forgotten in the casting of this scene, which makes as little sense to Leah as it probably does to Kara, but Yuna joins the others and they vanish into a hail of Klingons who come around the corner, utterly mixing the genres.

Leah adds, "Saved by the bell...that is SO old I refuse to admit I ever watched it. And no, they're video game characters. If we ever meet again I'll help you figure it out, it's an old and stupidly popular game that I never got into. Probably because I got a job."

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Sure, I could totally go for an iced tea." she says as the FF group runs by. Kara perks up since she knows what Klingons are - Dedrick having made her watch all the Star Trek episodes (Editor's Note: okay not 'made' her - not much can actually force Kara to do something but.... coaxed her into watching them). Then says, "Ohhh video games. Yeah. I've totally played Pac Man and Pole Position." She seems to be serious about saying that. A few minutes later, Kara and Leah are heading to the Toon Titans Q and A - a cartoon that Kara absolutely hates. Largely because of the depiction of her in the show as a hypersexualized sexpot - marketed to children mind you! - who says 'Shadows of Rao' every other sentence and 'Great Galloping Ghosts of Zornak.' Kara murmurs, "Rao's the Kryptonian sun god. Shadows of Rao would just be an eclipse, and I have no idea who 'Zornak' is. It's totally made up!"

Leah watches Kara with more than a little interest in what the girl's saying, needing a lot of coaching on how real supergirl is, after all. "Sometimes I forget that you're not a cosplayer, Kara," she says with a slightly hushed voice. In a much quieter voice, she says to herself 'please be kidding about pac-man...'

Kara Zor-El responds with "Nope. Not kidding. I got all the way to level 256 and then it sort of gets... um... glitchy." Oh yeah, she has super-earing, doesnt she. Plus she got to and finished the last level of PacMan? About 30 minutes later, it's around time for Kara to get to her event, although there was an amusing little bit during the Toon Titans Q and A where Kara actually asked a question about 'Zornak' and 'shadows of Rao' - she had gotten some made of stuff about how they used a creative process to come up with that name, and 'Shadows of Rao' just 'seemed like something Supergirl would say, and that she should ask Supergirl since she was going to be here. Kara alsostarted to ask why they made Supergirl's skirt so short - for which she was boo'ed by a bunch of fanboys who claimed that Supergirl's skirt was suppoed to be that short. At which point Kara murmured to Leah 'Okay um... lets go before I heat vision them...'

In the Supergirl Event, it was set up pretty impressively, and there were a LOT of people attending - they needed the biggest room for it, in fact. It also was a room which actually had a lot of fangirls who seemed more excited than some of the boys, although most people in here seemed pretty stoked to begin with. Apparently there was going to be armwrestling with some huge guys, tug-of-war, in which there could also be audience participation in addition to the planned matchups, there was a decommissioned tank there for some reason, Some clearly heavy-looking weights, a huge block of steel, and various other things which was planned for charity. There was also an easel with a cover over it. Kara wasnt curious enough to user her X-ray vision though. Too bad - she might have seen the 'auction for a date with supergirl' thing which she did not realize she had agreed to when she agreed to this charitable event. Or she would have at least told Dedrick about it.

Arriving at the scene of the accident waiting to happen, Leah peeks in the doorway, then says, "It's your scene girl. I'm underqualified. Be cheering you on all the way though." She waves Kara into the room, where Kara is greeted with enough applause to make Leah have to stick her fingers in her ears, though she's grinning wide enough to crack a tooth.

The podium is set up to one side, and the room is probably slightly overbooked with audience members, even at it's size. The announcer however, is ready. "Here we are, ladies and gentlemen, because if I called you anything else she'd probably hurt me, the one you've been waiting for, Supergirl!" Which is barely audible, actually. The audience knew she was there and was already cheering. The path up through the crowd is open, but just barely, as Kara is nearly mobbed when barely entering!

Kara Zor-El waves a little to everyone as they rather quickly mob her. Then floats up overhead and flies over the crowd to the podium - mainly because it's quicker than making her way through hundreds of people in the room. She lands with her feet lightly touching the ground again, grinning a bit and waving to the crowds. "Thanks everyone for coming today. And thank you my new friend Leah, for showing me around ComicCon - this place really is great. And um.. thank you for setting this up." she says to the person who announced her. They... didn't actually have cancer from the planet I came from, Krypton. And I'm hoping we can make that the way it is on this planet as well."

Naming Leah as a friend gets her noticed as well. It's kind of like the Queen of England naming someone as being a worthy mate for her son; on that kind of level. She squeaks a little and waves to try to get things to move on, telling folks she's just a cosplayer.

Luckily, they do and Kara is quickly presented with the fine, strapping young bodybuilders who are grinning from the side of the podium. "With your permission, Supergirl, we have some volunteers here who'd like to see if you measure up to legend." The announcer seems to be playing up to the crowd, and starting easy, but the three guys actually do kind of look like they're wondering if they'll hurt this little slip of a lady.

The podium is set up for armwrestling, and the guy who looks like Lou Ferrigno steps up to it. He poses for the crowd, next to Supergirl. Obviously a professional bodybuilder, he can probably press 350.

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Sure thing." she says to the announcer, then says in a quieter voice to the bodybuilders, "Don't worry guys - seriously, you won't hurt me. Trust me. Feel free to try your best." She sits at the armwrestlign table. "Oh okay, I know how to do this thing actually... good." she says, mostly to herself. She's armwrestled with those four guys at the diner (at the same time), and armwrestling Dedrick to decide on movies to see was a regular thing. Given that Dedrick was able to bench over 200 tons.... yeah it really didnt matter - they always saw the movie she wanted to see, and Dedrick was ususally too exhausted afterwards from effort to protest it. Kara puts her arm up on the table. "Like this, right?" she asks.

Lou nods, moving into place across from Kara, his bulk dwarfing the blonde. "I generally don't arm-wrestle ladies," he says, putting his arm into spot. There's an immediate problem, though: His arm is so long that he has issues getting a good grip on Kara's hand!

After a swift table adjustment, he faces off against Kara, grinning at her, while his partners glance at her skirt. She IS a cute girl after all, but the crowd seems to bypass that and starts chanting Kara's name. She looks to be the underdog here.

Kara Zor-El smiles as she takes ahold of Lou's hand. She says to him, "I don't usually arm-wrestle men or women. Except my boyfriend. And once with my cousin. Though when I have it's sort of fun." The Kryptonian teenager obviously doesnt seem at all worried about this. She makes sure not to grip the guy's hand too tightly. She'd learned a while ago just how much to hold back when it came to normal human beings - it was always the superpowered ones where she wasnt sure how much to hold back with her strength.

"And, GO!"

Lou hears the announcer give the go-ahead and decides to take Kara at her word. Normally he wouldn't, but he did just see her fly! He gives it a lot more power than he normally would have, just in case she's going to put an effort right away and make him look foolish. Not all he's got, but THAT changes fast too when he realizes nearly instantly that 'not all he's got' isn't going to be enough. Not. Even. Close.

Lou is straining against Kara's hand very quickly, and the crowd goes silent.

Kara Zor-El looks around then asks the announcer for the microphone when she notices the crowd is silent. Then takes the microphone - obviously not needing a grip with the other hand against Lou the bodybuilder. Kara's not only not straining - it doesnt seem like she's even bothered to tense her arm. She takes the microphone. "I was thinking maybe the audience could ask some questions if they wanted?" Again, it's sort of the barest of acknowledgments that the guy is straining against her hand without getting it to budge or even shake a fraction of an inch.

Mr. Ferrigno (not really, he's retired) is working at Kara with his other hand gripping the table in the designated grip location. The other bodybuilders aren't staring at her behind anymore. They're staring at the hands and what Kara is doing to that massive guy without even paying attention.

One hand raises, then a bunch of others, but the first kid speaks up with a question. "How are you doing that?" he asks, kind of amazed at how Kara is holding him like that, and many hands go down. Apparently it was a popular question.

In his defense, Lou IS still trying. He hasn't given up yet.

Kara Zor-El looks at the kid who asks the question. "Doing what?" She looks over at Lou, who's still really trying hard, then back at the kid. "Well... I'm Kryptonian. We're really strong. Especially on a planet like Earth that has a yellow sun. I mean... I've done more before. Last summer I lifted an entire island. I mean... he could use both hands and have his friends help, and it would be pretty much the same."

You say, "Next question? You - in the grey hat?"

Two minutes later, all three of the big, hulking guys are pulling like CRAZY on Kara's arm, all at once. They look absolutely ridiculous as not only aren't they moving her, they're kind of sliding around as they lose grip, getting in each other's ways because they're so darn BIG. Even when they do manage to really get things working, it doesn't move Kara at all.

The crowd is absolutely howling, cheering Kara on as she fields questions amidst the guys' efforts. "Guys actually jump off buildings to get pictures with you, or is that just a rumour? I'd think you'd be busy sometimes and people would really get hurt!" Apparently this fan in the crowd has been on the forums.

Kara Zor-El nods emphatically, making a lot more effort at that nod than she is at the three bodybuilders using all six hands to try to still budge the slim blonde teenager's arm. "Yes, they do it all the time, and honestly they shouldnt. I mean, sure I can hear people all over, but there's always a chance that I might be in a situation where I can't get there in time, or I might be in space where there's no sound travelling and...." She pauses to look at the bodyguards and asks quietly, "You guys are okay right?" She pauses to look them over, then looks back at the audience. "Anyway, and ... just don't do it. It's never safe, and even me and my cousin can't always be everywhere at once. Next question?"

Leah is giggling in the background, inaudible to everyone except for Kara and the guy taking a picture of her butt from behind. She's unaware of it, and is just enjoying the event as the three burly menfolk start swearing and sweating and grunting mightily at the teensy arm of Kara Zor-El, visitor from another planet.

A small hand goes up and is pointed to by the announcer who's trying to keep things organized, and a girl fan wearing a blue t-shirt with an 'S' on her chest asks, "Can I grow up to be special like you?"

Kara Zor-El smiles a lot at the little girl. "Rao, you're adorable! Um... well... I think you're special already, and I think anyone can be a hero. And it doesnt mean you have to like.... punch out bad guys or...." She pauses to look at the guys still struggling and grunting and swearing, and she whispers, "Guys.. cmon... language - kids here okay?" Then goes back to talking to the little girl, her voice not even the slightest bit strained. She might as well be armwrestling air. "... or do something like this...." she nudges her head a bit at the bodybuilders. "You can do all sorts of things and be a hero. You can be a doctor or a firewoman or a policewoman, or a nurse like my friend Leah - she helped this one guy even on the way over here in ways that I wouldnt have known how to do, because she's a nurse."

The guy creepshotting Kara grins and goes to show his celphone to his mates in the back row, as Leah gets even MORE praise. She's blushing in her row, as people start to give her a bit more respectful space. The kid lowers her arm, obviously not entirely satisfied with the answer, but she says, "thank you," politely anyway. She really wanted to be told that she could learn to beat up three guys with one arm too! Ah well, maybe she will someday.

The next question comes from an elderly man with clear eyes and a military bearing. He says, gently, "First, thank you for coming. You're wrestling my son, by the way." He grins amusedly at the three guys who are most definitely watching their language NOW! "Why don't you fix things? I know there's ways you could change the world, not just put out fires, metaphorically speaking." Ooh, he's been thinking about that one for a while.

Kara Zor-El bites her lip a bit. "Well... um... first, your son really is very strong. I can tell. Honestly, no one should judge him based on this - it's really not a fair competition. But I actually asked my cousin once about what you just asked me, and... well... people on Earth... human beings... they shouldnt have to rely on me or my cousin to solve all the world's problems. We're just here to help, not to do everything for you. I mean.... you can't have someone take care of all the world's problems and still have important things like freedom and choice. And freedom and choice are really important - I mean... people need to be able to make their own choices and their own mistakes. That's what my cousin told me when I asked why we didnt do more." She doesnt mention how she often DOES want to do more. She definitely doesnt mention being from a society 1000 years ahead of Earth, though maybe she could use that whole Prime Directive thing to explain that. That might go over well.

Kara looks back at the bodybuilders, and says quietly, "Good job guys, really." as she pushes all their hands down to the table pretty easily. She smiles a bit at them, having made sure not to push down TOO fast - she didnt want to break any arms accidentally.

The older man nods as he listens. He says to his daughter, a young lady who came with him, "There you go hon. The same reason God doesn't force us to stop wars. Because we can stop ourselves if we try."

The three guys, carefully pinned and then released, stand up and look at Kara abashedly. Yes, embarrased, but mostly they're filing Kara into 'not a girl' in their heads. Because if she's not a girl, they don't have to stop being big and tough guys because she beat them so blatantly in front of everyone.

Kind of missed the point, really, but the announcer steps in to save them and says, "Supergirl, ladies and gentlemen!" and the crowd erupts in applause again! And in the background the large metal block is being prepared for Kara's abilities to work over.

The sound of an engine starting up draws attention as the people running this event get the propane going on the forklift. It picks up the metal block by a metal pallet underneath, moving it into position. The floor doesn't creak, but then it's going to have a tank on it later so it's pretty sturdy. That being said, having to move the block into place with a forklift suggests that it's...pretty solid.

"This block of steel was donated to the Cancer Society by A-One Scrap, downtown. Your best place to take your waste, and happy to help out with cancer research efforts. Yes, I'm plugging them, they gave us free stuff." The announcer grins at the crowd, then motions to Kara. "Whatever you want to do with it, miss Supergirl. It's your show."

Kara Zor-El smiles a bit. "Um... okay, well... anyone from the audience want me to do anything in particular?"

"Throw it into space!"

Kara pauses at that. "um... then it wouldnt be here for other stuff, and I think the owners of the building might not want me making a hole in the roof..."

"Make it come to life!"

Kara pauses. "uh... I can't do that."

"But you did it in Toon Titans episode 42, with a tree."

Kara rubs the bridge of her nose.

"Heat vision!"

Kara looks up, "Okay, heat vision. Well.... me and my cousin can actually make heat vision come from our eyes - it can be hotter than the core of the sun, but for this, it probably wouldnt need to be more than 2500 degrees."

Kara's eyes then glow red, and she fires out twin beams of heat, sort of like highly focused lases across the middle of the steel, as it cuts through it like a hot knife through butter. "The tricky part is making sure to use just enough heat to cut through the block, without cutting through everything behind it." she says with a smile as she slices the steel block in half with a turn of her head. Her eyes go back to their normal lovely blue color, and Kara walks over to the steel block and lifts the top half off from the bottom, holding it over her head with one hand. "Any other requests?"

One guy says, "Oooh, make a folded katana like they do in Japan." Which Kara may or may not even know how to do, and since there's no real other materials to fold it with...kind of ridiculous. But noone said fans were realistic.

Leah, from the back area, calls out, "I saw you bend steel with your bare hands on tv, can you do that?" She's trying to help.

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Um... sure. I could do that... I mean... the sword thing - I've never made a sword before, but ... here" she says when Leah gives her something a lot easier to do. She places the steel block back on top of the other steel block then, using just her bare hands - no heat vision, she rips off part of the block, as if it was made of playdough. She then uses just her hand to start bending and molding the steel a bit until she bends and folds it into... a very,very amateurish sword. "In my defense, I'm not a swordmaker." She then takes the laughable attempt at a sword, and bends it into a pretzel. "Oh... I know what I can do with this thing next..."

The guy who wanted a sword gets poked teasingly by his friends, and he takes it pretty well, beaming at the sword. He aaws when Kara destroys it though, having hoped he could have it as a souvenir, but him and his friends get a laugh out of it and it gets the crowd smiling.

"What use would Supergirl have for a sword?" someone says, which gets heads nodding.

Kara Zor-El breaks off a little piece of steel and sets it aside, then starts flying around the large steel block, pounding at it from all sides with her fists. It seems to get smaller and smaller from the repeated punches, then she stops flying around it and starts compressing it once it's easier to do that in her hands. The amount of pressure being placed on the steel must be incredibly extreme, as the steel seems to glow white hot in her hands from pressure alone, the smaller it gets. It doesnt seem to bother Kara's hands, though, and within a minute or so, the formerly large block of steel has been compressed down to the size of a soccer ball... then a baseball as she compresses it even further. She pauses, then blows on it with some freeze breath to cool it down, then sets it down on the stage, next to the piece of steel that she had ripped off. "Can I get a volunteer from the audience? Mr Sword guy maybe?" she says with a smile.

Well. A guy can't turn down a direct invitation from Supergirl. Not in front of all his friends. Besides, she's still a gorgeous blonde. He comes up on stage; about five foot six and not exactly a big buff guy, he probably asked for a katana because he's a fan of Japanese culture or such. Running his fingers through his hair, he grins at the crowd, then looks at Kara. And the ball. "That's amazing all over, Supergirl!"

Kara Zor-El smiles. "So what's your name?" she asks as she picks up the piece of steel that she broke off, molding it into a ball WITHOUT crushing it down, before putting it back on the ground by the other sphere of steel. "They look the same size roughly, right?"

The kid says, "Denim," grinning at Kara. He's about fifteenish and is wearing a shirt that says, "High Fashion Ice-Cream" and looks like he's pretty awestruck to be talking to someone like this. Famous, powerful. His friends catcall and whistle, and the crowd seems amused. "Go Denim!" Apparently that's his name.

Looking at the balls, Denim hunches down and looks at them, then looks up at Kara from his heels. "Basically, yeah. Can I touch them?"

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Feel free. Try to lift them too. Don't hurt yourself though. The right one's really heavy. Compression of mass doesnt reduce weight."

Giving a poke, Denim rolls the left one, then picks it up easily. Bit of weight, it's still steel, but he can do it. He tosses it into the air about six inches, then catches it and grins at his friends. "This was a sword." He puts it back down, then leans to push on the right ball, still a little misled by how easy the left was to move. His hand slips right off of the ball's top, and the kid has to catch himself a bit. He pokes at it more seriously, then uses both hands, to no avail. Nathin'. "That's one...seriously heavy...you know, we studied dark stars in school but it never really felt like something that could really exist. When you look at things, you kind of get an idea what they weigh."

Apparently tends to ramble a bit.

Kara Zor-El grins as Denim talks. "Well the one on the left is only about 5 pounds, while hte one on the right is..." she looks over at the announcer. "I was told around 5 tons?" She takes the 5 pound ball and quickly rolls it with fingers that don't look like they can possibly squeeze solid steel like it was putty - but here she was doing just that. She molds the steel a bit, then blows on it a little, and hands it over to the teenage boy on stage with her. Apparently she made it into his name in cursive. "Here - sorry, I don't think they'd let you carry around a sword at the con." she jokes.

Denim takes the gift from Supergirl, then pauses. He says 'Thank you' almost as an aside, kind of taken with the thing and not really looking at her for a second. Then he looks up, blushes, and pulls out his celphone. "That's so sick, I got no words. Thank you. Would you...um," he pauses, then looks at the crowd that's waiting, and in the background a steel cable is being laid out for the tug of war. He seems to decide, nah, and clicks his cameraphone off, having decided that he's taken up too much of Supergirl's time already. And his friends roll their eyes.

Kara Zor-El grins and takes Denim's camera from him. "Selfie, right? My friend showed me about it. Sure." She then leans in close to him, snaps a picture of them together, cheek to cheek, then hands back the camera, but not before giving the guy a kiss on his cheek.

Ensuring eternal geek and cool cred.

The newly popular boy gets teased mercilessly by his jealous friends when he's returned, slightly stunned, to the crowd. Seems a decent enough guy, he's even wearing his pants so they won't fall down on him. Not that that's really in style anymore anyway.

"Is that all you wanted to do with the block, Supergirl? Because I don't think we can move the ball even with a forklift now, and we eventually do need to get it out of here." The announcer is off mike now, just asking her, as the cable is set up. "And we're ready to move on when you are."

Kara Zor-El looks at it. "I'll just take it with me when I leave, if that's okay?" She picks up the steel ball and moves it over to the side. Maybe she could use it to play fetch with Krypto or something. She looks back at the announcer. "So... what's next?" she asks curiously.

With Leah in the background giving Denim and his friends hugs and letting them tell her ALL about what just happened, even though she was right freaking there, the announcer nods in appreciation and moves on, picking up the mike again.

"So Supergirl wants to know what's next, folks? I bet you're wondering about the steel cable that our team is trying to get through where you're standing. It's rated to carry buildings, so I'm pretty sure we can get by without it breaking right now. Okay all you people who want to give this a try, let's do a tug of war! Supergirl versus...oh, how about...."

The announcer pauses, then grins evilly. "How about YOU fine gentlemen hiding in the back there! The United States Olympic Gold Medal Weightlifting team, who're here to help out!" A bunch of very, VERY big, strong men and women stand up, towering over the geeks in the crowd. Mostly men, but there are some women who are in no way outclassed by their peers.

The crowd cheers like crazy! Apparently they too have their fans.

Kara Zor-El claps a little too while the Olympic Weightlifting team comes up on stage. She looks over at the announcer quizzically when they also put a big wading pool full of what looks like vanilla pudding in the middle of the stage. She shakes the hands of some of the olympic athletes before going to one side of the steel cable... The area is cleared for the event quickly, and though the Olympians seemed quite respectful of Kara when they shook her hand, they look quite serious as they put on gloves to protect their hands from the cable and get into line. It really is a very impressive sight, though they're not normally working in unison. Weightlifting is very much a solo event in general.

"Now, that's just pudding," the announcer says over the microphone, "and given the way this has gone so far and the astounding things Supergirl has pulled off, it's very possible that we may be seeing how good of sports our team really is in just a moment. Still, they are the best in the world. Might have a chance, if they really give it their all."

The olympic team takes up the cable, waiting for the word to start.

Kara Zor-El holds up a hand. "Wait... I think I might actually need some help with this one. She pauses and points to the little girl who had asked her a question earlier, during the armwrestling. "Would you be able to come up to help me please?"

Kara Zor-El takes ahold of the cable with one of her hands and grips it. "They do look very formidable, I'll admit that." she says to the announcer.

And with that, the announcer asks both teams if they're ready. When they all nod, assuming they all do so, he calls out "GO!" and waves a red flag in the air. And the team of humanity's local strongest HEAVE! Their hands tighten and eight of the toughest mortals ever to lift a weight apply their entire focus and training, mental and physical, to one simple task. To move that white chalk line on the middle of the cable THIS WAY. Even...just a little.

To Kara's credit, she tries not to embarrass them much. She uses both hands, but it seems pretty obvious from how her arms -still- havent even tensed that she could do this the same way with just one hand. And of course, she's not budging a fraction of an inch. She did get told something about using a tank during this as well.

The olympic team digs in their leather boots, not sliding on the floor at all. They're used to hard work and to dealing with things that won't move, unless Kara yanks they won't fall forward. But she's being polite and just being immoveable, so the team plants their power and works against her uselessly.

The announcer, really having been hired for his stage presence and well-chosen, steps up to the mike while this is happening. He stage-whispers, loud enough for everyone to hear even though the crowd is chanting for whoever they want to win. "This is looking pretty dire for our team. What do you say we get them some....help? Just a little bit, one more team member. I promise."

The tank fires up its engine, rumbling as it slowly backs up to the cable, and the olympic team pauses in its efforts. Some of them even laugh.

Kara Zor-El raises her hand, still keeping the entire olympic team from being able to even pull her arm, let alone the steel cable. "Well this looks like it's going to be a lot tougher for me too now." It really wasnt, but she felt bad about not being able to tell that little girl what she probably wanted to hear. She just didnt feel right telling a little girl that she could grow up to be able to beat up huge, musclebound men. That tended to require superpowers.

Kara points to the little girl. "If they're getting one additional member..." she says, still holding the cable with just the one hand, pretty much as easily as she had been with two, "Then I think I could use another person as well. Could you come up here and help me with this?" she asks to the little girl with the supergirl/superman shirt.

Kara Zor-El pauses, "That is, if it's okay with everyone else for me to get that additional help?"

The little girl is helped up to the cable by her mother, who looks a little worried. She's a mother, it's her job. The crowd cheers the little kid on, and so does the olympic team on the other side who put the cable down long enough to clap for the little girl!

"Well apparently it's alright with her opponents, and I don't see our tank driver saying anything, so let's get this young lady some gloves." The little girl gets on some white cotton gloves her mom had in her purse and stands in front of Kara, looking suitably heroic with her great big S on her chest and the hello kitty shoes. The tank is linked up to the cable and the driver signals the all clear, making sure his path IS clear in case the link snaps and he goes forward into it. Safety first.

Kara Zor-El grins as the little girl comes up, and she whispers in her ear, "okay, I'm counting on you now, but I think we can win this, okay?" She lets the girl get a good grip on the cable.... not that she plans on letting that cable budge at all - she doesnt plan on letting that girl get pulled so much as a centimeter forward. And does plan on pulling a little when it looks like the little girl is trying her hardest.

The tank whines up to speed. Decommissioned or not, it's a tank. It's designed to be a powerhouse. The line goes taut, and the olympic team steps in to add their power to it. They do seem a LITTLE redundant even at their level, but every little bit helps.

The tank starts to put power into the engine, on the lowest gear. The strongest one. The treads start to spin immediately, scratching on the earth. Traction's never been an issue before, this thing goes over buildings. In this case, it's digging grooves in the floor, and the olympic team is basically holding on.

The little girl gets in on it too, watching Kara for the signal to really pull. She's holding the cable kind of watching to be told what to do.

At that point, Leah comes running up and grins, sliding into place with Kara and the girl. "Sue me," she says, "I'm in. Come on, girls! Supergirl team go!"

Kara Zor-El covers her mouth so she doesnt start laughing when Leah runs up as well to 'help.' The tank's assistance seems to be having absolutely no difference in so much as unbending how Kara's arm is holding the cable, let alone pulling either Kara, Leah, or the little girl forward. "Okay well... now they defiitely don't stand a chance. Three supergirls. Cmon now." she says. "Okay... on my signal, pull as hard as you both can, okay? One.... two... three... pull!" Kara waits until she sees Leah and especially the little girl pulling. And that little girl really is trying, she's putting some major effort that her tiny hands can muster into it.

So at that point, Kara tugs the cable back a bit - not wanting to do something that would hurt the bodybuilders or tank operator - just making sure that they are dragged forward. "Hey.. they seem to be giving way... think another pull and we'll have them?"

Kara puts her other hand on the cable, and lets go of her first one, keeping the cable still taut without having budged anyone on 'Team Supergirl'. "And one..... two.... three... pull!" And she makes another quick yank on the cable.

To their credit, the Olympic Team isn't cheating. They keep their places, really putting a world class effort into this. It actually surprises them when they're pulled forward and the first person's foot trips on the wading pool. A big man with muscles of pure awesome, waving his arms awkwardly to try not to overbalance into a pool of vanilla pudding.

Someone with a camera flashes a shot of that, just before the woman behind him gets pulled forward with Kara's (and her team's) next yank, and the first three of the Olympians go facefirst into the wading pool of pudding. The fact that the tank is being dragged closer isn't missed either, and there are celphones filming this all over the freaking place.

Kara Zor-El gives one more little yank to have the olympians fall forward, making sure NOT to pull so hard that the tank would go flying forward or go into the olympians. It's probably the main thing Kara pays attention to in this feat of superstrength - not winning (that part seems a given) but rather making sure no one gets hurt during this display, on either side - including the tank operator.

The tank continues churning up floor for a few more seconds, while Leah shouts "Oh, not so big and tough now, are you!" at the tank, and the Olympians start climbing out of the pool. Mostly good sports, they seem a little uncertain how to take a complete crushing defeat, but after a moment they line up amusedly wearing their vanilla with honor. The tank shuts down, and the crowd goes absolutely berserk.

The little girl is still pulling like crazy though, even though Leah seems to have stopped when it became obvious that they'd won. Kid's going to give herself an anneurism.

Kara Zor-El grins at the little girl and leans over to the girl, "psst... we won. Great job!" She offers the little girl a high five before picking her up and waving to the crowd again, next to Leah, the superior cosplayer. She then goes over to the other side to shake hands, taste the vanilla pudding when she gets her hand back, and nods approvingly. She says to Leah, "If I knew the pudding tasted this good I might have thrown the match..."

Being professionals who are on camera and generally here for a good cause, the Olympians give Kara their respect. A word or two, a shaken hand, but the female bodybuilders react a little differently than the guys. Mostly. The girls are BEAMING at their loss. The guys, all but one are just smiling. One guy however, says in a whisper, "Always knew girls were strongest." Kinda cryptic, but hey. Whatever works for him.

The tank driver gets out and sits on his tank, saluting the enemy. He's the old guy who had the military bearing and the son who was doing the arm-wrestling. Apparently one of his medals was for heavy equipment.

Leah clasps the little girl's hand proudly just as the mom comes up to claim her offspring. She STILL looks worried. Leah however, has a grin that may never come off. "That was so. Fun."

Kara Zor-El nods. "I'm pretty sure this thing's about over..." she say as Leah heads off the stage. "So I guess we should-"

The announcer cuts in, "Actually we have the last part of this event, and I think it's the one part that a lot of guys here have especially come for!" He motions at the covered easel that Kara hadnt bothered to x-ray to read earlier, then he pulls off the cover. Featuring a sign with a thermometer next to a picture of Supergirl, with monetary levels from $1 to $100,000. So far it's actually already at $80,000 - the amount that people have paid for getting into this event in donations. "The Auction to Win a Date with Supergirl!"

Kara, who's been smiling this whole time, suddely says, "Yeah the - wait what?"

The announcer continues. "The winner of this auction gets to spend an evening where they get to go out with the Girl of Steel herself, who's donated her time in order to help Cancer Research fight this terrible disease!"

"But I..." She pauses, dangit did she agree to this? It's for charity so she can't very well say no now. Lucky thing Dedrick isnt the jealous type.

The announcer says, "and we can start the bidding at...."

One of the people in the audience yells out "$500!"

Leah spreads her hands helplessly, looking at Kara. Can't save her this time, she's not even got pockets in that outfit! And couldn't afford it either way. The fact that bidding goes up from $500 makes her grin though. "Remember Kara, it's for charity! Woo!" She turns just in time to catch someone taking a picture of her butt and says, "Hey! Always ask first. Freaking rude, dude." She's got it under control. Back to the show.

Leah was part of the 'cosplay is not consent' movement that went across the convention world last year. Proud to be part of it. She's a fighter in her own way.

Kara Zor-El doesnt really say anything. She just tries to keep her smile on while people shout out bids. She murmurs to the annoncer, "I agreed to this?" To which he murmurs back, "It was in the pitch..." Then he smiles again to the crowd. "Do I hear $700?"

Another guy yells out "$1000!" - whereupon four college guys murmur to each other about the money they pooled together. "$1350!"

Oh god, she knows those guys - they're the extremely annoying guys who are regulars at Jim's Diner in San Francisco. Why are they in New York. People actually travel cross country for these things? Kara looks around wide-eyed.

The group of kids with Denim are doing the same thing. Pooling their money. Checking to see what they've got. It's apparently a thing.

The announcer coughs at the large bid by the college guys, then says, "One thousand, three hundred fifty dollars generously bid to the cancer foundation and thank you sir for that. It will pay for cancer treatments for months for people in need. Some of our proceeds go to treatments, the rest goes to research. Can anyone beat that bid?"

The room is a pile of murmurs, and the announcer grins, glancing to Kara to see if she's okay with this. He pauses, frowning as he sees that she's really kind of not, then says "Anyone?"

Denim puts his hand up, saying, "Fourteen thousand dollars. And fifty cents." He takes some change from one of his friends to round it out, nodding, then waves at the announcer with a wad of hundreds in his hand. The announcer kind of boggles as the nerd kid waves around enough cash to buy a car.

Kara Zor-El is sort of relieved that she's not going to be on a date with the Annoying College Four, although she's surprised that high school kids had $14,000.50 to put together to get a 'date with Supergirl.' "Wow..." she says to herself. She didnt expect that.

Leah is silent. That says a lot. Not for LONG, mind you, but as the kid hands the money over (there are no competing bids) she says, "Thought I recognized him. Denim, his parents run Levis. THE jeans company." She muses a moment, then adds, "Turned out alright, I totally wasn't expecting that."

And the announcer shouts, not needing the microphone, "We have a winner! And that brings this event to a close, ladies and gentlemen! Unless our lady Supergirl would like to speak to the crowd, of course?" He motions to her questioningly, offering the microphone.

Kara Zor-El shakes her head. "No um... I'm good and ... um... thanks everyone for donating to cancer research and treatments and stuff?" She's a bit flummoxed that people at this sort of event would be spending this sort of money. It's not like it was an event with the wealthy and elite. She pauses before she's about to head off the stage to go pick up the 5 ton steel ball, then heads off the stage to where Denim and his friends are, as well as Leah. "Soo.... hey again?"

And the crowd starts to go to a more chaos that's the standard fare for conventions, as the event ends. Some of them come over to get Kara's autograph, others take their kids to the bathroom. The announcer stops in to quickly thank Kara personally for her help, and asks Leah if she's single. Nice guy, he's up front about it and charming. Overall, the event raised over $150,000 for cancer research, one of the best events of the convention and of the year. Not bad for, as Kara said, not the wealthy and elite. But as Kara goes off to her 'date', she gets a little call from behind, and a little girl in a supergirl shirt gives her a gift to pay it all back.

And Supergirl walks away with a hug from a teeny little hero in training, and a flower she'd picked just then from the foyer. And a smile.