2015-11-06 - Blueberries and Forgiveness

"Hear ye, hear ye! Gather all participants for today's race of races, the one and the only Honorable Judge Stone presiding! Let the battle commence, and may everyone get messy!"

A cheer rises up from the crowd, standing underneath the banner that proclaims this to be the Great National Pie-Eating Contest for Charity. Which charity they're helping is kind of vague, but the pies are already being put out on

tables. The fact that there's a very nice prize, a Starkbox One Million, has drawn a few people.

Most of the rest are here because of the heroes.

Yes, this one's drawn in a few names. Janet Van Dyne, also known as Wasp, against all odds. Supergirl has shown, and has a crowd around her as well. Some celebrities, a tv star or two. It's really pulled out the crowds.

There might be a few lesser-known heroes as well, but Nico's just trying to figure out what she's doing here. Aside from watching Asia. "I can't win this! That's SUPERGIRL! What was Molly thinking?" She looks at her crew, only a few

feet away from the costumed heroes. She's entered, against her better judgement, and has been given a place right across from Janet and Kara.

Asia grins and looks up to Nico and giggles a bit. "Uh hu yew can win!" she says cheering her on, and bouncing, because she decided she ws going to wear her bunny pjs today, and no ones going to tell her other wise, today the plant baby

is a bunny baby and she's happy about that. We keep Asia happy!

Kara Zor-El waves a little, then leans over to Janet and whispers, "Thanks for coming to this thing.... Cassie didn't want to, Starfire said wanted mustard pies, and they said they wanted real superheroes, not cosplay ones so they didnt

want Leah for this. She looks around. "And apparently Kon bailed on this..." She goes bck to waving to the crowd.

Meanwhile, in the crowd, Molly cheers on Nico. "YAY NICO! STARKBOX ONE MILLION!" She says to Klara, "And that game is going to be awesome! They have this one kitty cat character that's dressed like scorpion and throws a blade into the

other person's heart and makes them explode into glitter!"

"Think nothing of it, Kara, dear..." Janet chuckles softly besides the Kryptonian as she takes a moment to eye the crowd. She isn't dressed as Janet Van Dyne, fashion designer, today. No...today she is the Wasp, Avenger Chairperson, as

per the request. Superheroine complete with costume. "It is for charity. I would have done it anyways...though...perhaps not quite this contest." Pie eating is good...in moderation.

In the crowd, Klara sits back watching with Molly. She leans in, curiosity running rampant. "So, all Ms. Nico has to do is eat the pastries faster than everyone else?" She looks on to the competition...then shakes her head. "She doesn't

stand a chance, Molly. You know who is out there, don't you?"

Nico Minoru is noticing everything. The fact that the pie in front of her is kind of disgusting isn't the issue. The fact that the table is full of people, all of whom are probably bigger eaters than the slightly underweight Japanese

girl is taking up all of her worry right now. But hell...she's not a quitter. And Runaways are tacticians.

So the cameras taking in the combatants get a surprise, with a freaking Goth Lolita in full regalia settling across from Supergirl and Wasp! They zoom in on her, and the announcers get a bit of a laugh.

"Oh, appears we've drawn in a few from overseas as well. Did you know that New York is one of the tourist capitals of the world, Janice?"

"Yes. Yes, I did, Luke." Chase would be proud; Janice the announcer manages to jam an undertone of 'you idiot' in there so hard it almost breaks the microphone.

Nico says, "Hi," to Kara and Janet, giving them a timid smile. "Nice to see you again, Kara. Ma'am." That last, to Ms. Van Dyne. Can't be rude, after all.

Asia looks around and wonders if there a kidlet version, she would totally domiante. She glances around and Squees there's Kara! she waves a lot, then she sees Janet she always waves even more. Wow this is a good outing. she toddles

over to them, yep that's what she does going to go see Kara and Janet.

Kara Zor-El sits down at the table along with the others. Celebrities from the movies and TV, superheroes, 10 'normal' people, and Takeru Kobayashi, who is always at every competitive eating event on the planet because that's the rule.

Other rules included no utensils, no using hands, although you could have a drink to wash down the pie and use hands for that. There was also pepto bismol available.

Molly looks back at Klara. "It's fiiine. I have this all figured out. See, Wasp would only win if she turns big, but she turns small, not big, because I think she doesnt like turning big, because then she'd think she's fat. And

Supergirl... um... supergirl's an alien so she's not going to like blueberry pie, because I read on the internet that aliens don't like blueberry pie. I asked Karolina and she said she doesnt like blueberry pie, and she's an alien, so

I've done my research on this. Xavin doesnt like blueberry pie either. And um... and... hey is that Asia there? I thought this was for 16 and older! No fair! I could have been eating pies! Oh ... And Kobiyashi only eats hot dogs fast,

and these are pies, not hot dogs, unless they are hot dog pies. Wait.. are they hot dog pies? That could be a flaw in my plan!"

"Really? Ma'am? That makes me feel so old. Just call me Jan....everyone else does." Janet just seems so friendly and at home with people that it is hard to resist her charm. The frantic waving of a tiny Asia gets a smile from her. Jan

returns the wave, lifting her right hand and twitters her fingers towards the plant girl. She leans in to Kara, murmuring softly..."Blueberry pie, hmm? Oh, that stains most fabrics....that's going to be a pain to wash out for all these

people."

The plant whisperer rolls her eyes, listening to Molly. Klara may be from the past...but she is no fool. "If...if you say so, Molly." See? No fool. For it is foolish to try to argue with Molly.

Nico Minoru tried to argue with Molly. How she tried. You can see how much good that did. She's sitting at the table, whimpering internally as she tries to figure out if cheating is allowed so long as you don't get caught, and realizing

that sitting across from two trained superheroes means cheating is out. Which mostly leaves embarrasment.

Lifting Asia up into a chair next to her that she's arranged, she makes sure that the sprout can be seen, and gets her a slice of pie. Because Asia is cute and cute gets what it wants. Damnit, Molly's got me trained.

"Not sure I can do that, Miss Janet. Asia, say hi. I'm a seamstress too by the way." Why did I say that? She probably gets every seamstress in the world coming at her, leave her alone. The stress just radiates off of Nico, here, as she

smiles in front of her pie. "Um...My friends convinced me to try. I've got three kids who really need entertaining and a Starkbox would let me get some sleep." God, I could use a distraction for them. Please god let me win so they'll

let me rest more.

All of this is right on her face, she's no good at hiding it at all. And so tired and honest, she might as well actually be a single mom with three overly sugared girls at home. Because it's close enough.

The baby plant is scooped up and placed right by Nico and she sorta was about to whimper about it but then there's Pie and ya know what Pie makes everything better. Her focus is pure..her enemy is delcious and it will be

devoured...beware of Aslactus..Eater of PIES. NOM NOM NOM NOM.

"On your mark..."

Kara whispers to Wasp, "Aw man... did you hear that? Oh um... maybe you didnt. I think I know that kid, and I met that girl there in San Francisco. I forgot there was a prize." She pauses.

"Get set!"

"EAT!"

Kobiyashi starts gulping down pies like they're hot dogs. Paris Hilton takes a little bite, complains that she's full, then says this whole contest is stupid and quits. Luke Cage is eating his fair share of pies too, as is Rahne, who

has shifted into a werewolf or something and seems pretty comfortable eating without hands.

Kara starts eating her pies at superspeed.

1, 2, 3, 10, 15, 27...

Molly holds her heads. "The pies must not be made of blueberry! Oh god they're made of hot dog I bet!"

There is a slight frown upon Jan's face as she listens to Nico's story. "So...you entered just to get the gaming system? You did have to do tha..." The words trail off as the announcer signals the start of the contest. And...wait a

minute!! Superpowers are allowed?!? With a shake of the head and a grin, Jan stands up, tips a wink to Asia, and steps away....long enough to double her size. It seems to make it easier when the pies are now bite-sized...and, being

bigger, she can eat more, too.

So much for Molly's careful research. Supergirl likes blueberry. Wasp can grow bigger. Hot dog man eats the pies like hot dogs. A sigh escapes from her. "Well...never going to win. Poor Ms. Nico. I told you, Molly. Besides...does Nico

even like pie? Have you seen her eat any?" There is a tilt of the head...listening, before Klara giggles and points to the little plant girl out by Nico. "See that girl there, Molly? I can hear her thoughts. She's having fun out there.

That's what Nico needs to do! Have fun!"

Nico's eyes narrow as she eyes her pie. She looks up as the countdown starts, not really sure who this Kobiyashi guy is anyway. Then she cricks her neck and gets ready. Hands behind her back, fingers locked on her wrists, she looks at

Asia who's actually sitting in a pie and enjoying her life. Oh god, I have to clean that up too. Focus, girl!

The contest starts, and Nico swears. I can do this. She buries her face in the pie, utterly ruining her neckline and her hairpiece almost immediately. Really trying, she bites and gulps, and comes up triumphant! She's finished a pie!

And she sees the fact that she has to eat more than one. And the slightly thin little asian girl almost cries, right there on the table. And leans over, trying to start on a second one. Can do it, can do it. Oh god I'm going to throw

up.

The fact that she's at least ten pies behind already doesn't dawn on her.

"ENOUGH! The contest is over!" The announcer's microphone squeals loudly with that noise it makes when it's badly set up. Feedback cuts through the focus of everyone who's in the contest. It also gives Nico an instant splitting

headache.

Asia frowns when she hears enough and she calls out. "Buh ah'm not done yet!" she says dropping her pie and folding her arms, muttering about being interupted. SHe then looks over to Nico gives her a hug. "You done good!" she starts

clapping for her. "YAy! YAy For Nico YAY! YAY!"

And...just like that, the contest is over. The growing larger did seem to help Janet...but even then, it wasn't a complete blow out. As Janet returns to normal size...she looks down at the tins before her. It looks like a lot...but was

it enough? A quick count gives maybe 20? Unless the Avenger misplaced some tins, it can't be enough to beat super speed.

When the stop timer is called, the results are in. The average amount of pies a person can eat in that time is usually a little over one pie. For the contestants....

Kobiyashi has beaten his former record of 14 pies.

Paris Hilton is swearing at people and saying that she's going to buy the place.

Asia had 1/2 pie.

Janet got up to 20 pies.

Luke Cage managed to have 8 pies, with Rahne slightly behind with 6.

Rosanne Barr had 9 pies. She didn't realize there was a contest though.

Nico managed to have one pie and... a bite of the second one before the panicking happened.

Other celebrities and heroes involved had between 1 and 5 pies, except Doc Samson, who had 13.

And Kara had 34 pies and as currently using a napkin to clean her face.

Asia had like half a pie.

Nico slides her pie and the next one over to Asia almost automatically as she closes her eyes against the migraine forming in her skull. She might actually be allergic to blueberries, now that she thinks about it. The black lace around

her neck might not have been a good idea, she realizes, as she tries to wring it out a little. Which just ruins her gloves and does nothing to save the outfit. She's absolutely certain that she's the stupidest person here, and she

manages to not whine about losing. But it's by a narrow margin. Which is more than she can say about how badly she lost the contest. One freaking pie.

"Congratulations," the gothy girl says, holding her head high. For about a second, before she doubles over and throws up into the buckets next to the table which are there for that exact purpose. Because she hasn't eaten that much in

one sitting in two years.

The announcer manages to fix up the microphone, then announces the totals. Starting with Asia, who they proudly give a gift of a card worth two free pies. Because she's the cutest thing at the table.

"And last but certainly not least, Supergirl! Who has won with a solid THIRTY-FOUR pies, a new world record for two minutes! Astounding! We'd like to thank all of our contestants today, and remind you that the chili cook-off is next."

Kara finds herself being presented with the prize, of course. Leah will be thrilled!

Oooh Asia has a card thingy, oooh she has no idea what that is but apparently it makes pies, she sticks it in her backpack. She then starts to eat the offered pie but stops when poor Nico gets sick. She stands up and starts patting her

on da back, and looking at the others with that sorta um..'help' look, Asia has no idea what to do here.

Molly shakes her head. "All my planning, ruined! I thought all pie contests had blueberry pie..." She peers at Nico, who seems to have blueberry pie all over her face, and notices that Nico looks a little ill from eating a whole pie so

fast. "Maybe um... maybe she can cast alkaseltzer...." she says to herself.

One of the contest-runners offers Asia another pie to take back with her since she seemed to want another one.

Kara whispers to Janet, "Can we hang out a little? Need to do something first." then heads over to Nico with the StarkBox. "Hey... Nico? Right? We met in San Francisco? Joe's Diner?"

A quick shrink back to normal size...and Jan does not seem all that eager for pie any more....for some time. She nods over towards Kara, smiling. "of course we can, hon." She pauses as she watches Kara walk over towards Nico...and

follows along. Because she can.

Klara tugs on Molly's sleeve and points over towards the tables. "Lookit, lookit, lookit! Supergirl is walking over to Ms. Nico with the StarkBox. You...you don't think she's going to give that to her, do you?" Excitement seems to take

the girl...it is a definite possibility.

Nico Minoru looks up from her bucket. She wipes her face as well as possible on the available napkins; her eyeshadow is absolutely ruined and she looks like crap. But she nods to Kara, and to Janet, both of whom appear to be coming over

to her. And her tactical mind clicks, and she looks at Molly and Klara for an instant. It does not bode well. But all Kara and Janet see is her glancing at two little anxious girls who seem underfed.

"Hi Kara. I remember. I'm sorry I didn't show up for my last shift...we had to go." There's a story behind that too, but she's not asking for help. Just straightening herself up so she can get back to work, now that she's lost.

Nico Minoru is also blushing a bit. Her outfit. This is NOT the way she'd have liked to meet one of the leading designers in the country! Even if the lines are good, she KNOWS they are. This is one of her best works. Damnit. Damnit.

Asia sits back down clearly not sure if she can help, but after the um icky sounds that Nico was making she's no longer in the mood for pie. She slides her thumb in her mouth, shuddering a bit. She glance around, ooh that looks neat.

She stands up and slips under the table hops off stage and into the crowd following whatever it is that caught her eye.

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "Yeah ... it's okay. So... I didnt actually realize there was going to be a prize for winning. I just thought it was for charity so..." She looks over at the girls who seem really anxious, having overheard

what Klara said to Molly, "Would you like this? I'm not really that huge a video game player, plus I have a game system at home already that my roommate uses... and... yeah anyway, here." she say as she offers the StarkBox with game to

Nico. "It wasnt really that fair as a competition anyway and I think those two would appreciate it a whole lot more."

The glance to the two girls in the crowd is caught by Janet....and a frown briefly forms. Jan can see obviously that the girls...all three of them, are just getting by. She turns to Nico, just as Kara passes over the system to the goth,

and offers a little more. "Nico...if the girls over there get tired of that game, let me know. I'll ask Tony for more and I will pass them along." The way Jan says it...so nonchalantly, that one might think she was just talking about a

Tony at a game store, rather than Tony freaking Stark. "It's the least that I can do." Then...a pause, as Janet looks over the lines of Nico's ensemble with that critical eye. She knows that isn't store-bought...and it gets her to

thinking. "Also, if...if you need a job, come see me first. I could use a good seamstress...and I know a good one when I see one. We can work something out so that you can do what you can when you can. Sorta like freelance. I promise,

no strings attached. Just ask and it shall be done." It does seem that Janet knows full well who Nico is, though it may seem curious she is willing to do so much for the young woman.

Nico hugs Asia quickly before the little girl vanishes, or at least tries to. She realizes that she's been ignoring the little sprout and owes her many huggings. Which shall happen. Oh yes.

But looking at Kara and Janet, Nico's jaw kind of drops as she's handed the grand prize. Jaw closes again, and she tries to adjust to the situation like a veteran. "You don't have to...but I'm not turning it down." It sounds like she'd

like to say a lot more, something about finally getting a full night's sleep, but suddenly she's also faced by Janet Van Dyne. Who was an Avenger when they last met.

Captain America was a strong believer in the system; a system that Nico and her friends were put into, as orphans. Into homes with people who abused them, and they ran away. Except for Nico, who nobody would even take, so she spent the

time in an orphanage. The Avengers did that, with the best of hopes and intentions, because that's what you do with kids. So when Nico meets Janet's eyes, she's got a backlog of history in there. But also two years more experience, and

a quiet desperation.

"I'll...think about it," Nico says to Janet. Because she's not as simple as she once was, and she knows that Janet didn't mean to do it. And because having Wasp face off against her is one thing; having Janet Van Dyne tell her that her

sewing rocks...totally different. Her heart is beating faster, and she almost smiles. "Yeah...will totally think about that. But I've got girls to get home, right now."

Asia had the quick hug but ya know shiney, or sparkly or fuzzy something's caught her attention...oh there it is it's fuzzy, she sees a dog, with it's owner and just starts petting the puppy, not saying anything or bothering anyone,

jsut the strange plant baby petting the puppy who seems to be enjoying it.

Kara Zor-El sees Molly and Klara apparently really happy about this turnout. She looks at Asia. "And speaking of which, Asia, your uncle knows where you are right?" She looks back at Nico. "I'm going to probably go, okay? Pretty sure I

need to be somewhere."

Janet Van Dyne puts a hand on Kara's shoulder for a moment, giving the Kryptonian a kiss on the cheek for the gesture that she'd planned to do herself if she'd won the game machine. Then she says, to Nico, "I'm sorry." She knows that

Nico will know what it's for. And then she turns into a little version of herself, salutes, and flies off. Duties to perform never end, after all!

Nico nods to Kara, giving her a squeeze of the hand and says, "Thanks. I know you hear that a lot. Still true." Then smiles at Kara, since she's not really the huggy type. Asia's an exception. And she gathers Asia up if the girl wants

to go. If not, she knows the way home.

Nico walks past Molly and Klara. She hands the game machine to the girls amidst a sudden onslaught of high-pitched girl squealing, knowing that it would take an act of God to get it out of their hands. Literally. But the fact that they

put her in a situation that put her through an emotional wringer to the point of actually throwing up, and the deep-down gut feeling that Molly knew about it from the start? Nico's face is a little closed off.

But she also got a look into what Janet's been feeling all these years, about what happened to her family. And that's huge. And compliments on her sewing. And a maybe job. Because of being put up there. So what she says, as she passes

the ecstatic girls and corrals them to get them back to the Leapfrog and their upcoming gaming bingefest?

"You're forgiven." And she said it with love.