Mittens rubs her chin in thought.  "Crammed into a grave.  So you were slated for cremation but buried anyway.  This does not bode well.  By the way, I'm impressed with your composure.  Good job keeping your cool in all this."

She turns to Maverick.  "This mystery exceeds my amateur Sherlock skill, so I suggest we take him to a detective ASAP."

She looks back to Matt.  "You rather walk?  Or are you willing to trust my portal powers?"

Maverick says, "It's a little weird and made me dizzy the first few times, but doesn't hurt."

  "Well, I guess it saves on burial plot space or something?  Grandma was cremated and she's not on a mantle anywhere^*.  I got my freakouts done in advance.  It's a real moment of awkward self consciousness when you are alone in a dark graveyard screaming and then you realize 'I have no mouth, and I still scream'"

  He considers Mittens.  "Since you've warned me ahead of time, I'm pretty sure it will work out.  Space time bent into a pretzel needs my permission to ask my permission.  Or something, it's a bit hazy and more instinctual there than neat bullet point list."

Weston P.D. -->

OOC: ^* The case for us in RL.  Also, you may assume Matt follows through portal made.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:51, Fri 31 Aug 2012.

"Talking without a mouth," Mittens echoes, "Now that you mention it...  How do you do that?  And what do you mean space time pretzels need your permission?  In any case, I'll open up a door for ya to walk through.  Should be completely dizzy-free.  I just tend to enjoy more roller-coaster methods of teleporting around."

She opens up a portal for the group that's about the size of a normal door.

OOC: Looking again at the wording of Matt's powers, it could easily be argued "Haha Matt's power trumps yours" for just about any superpower there is, making Matt the most Powerful Man in the Universe!  That said, instant kill for thinking "The blood in your heart is now solid" type shenanigans, while easily argued, is sooo not Matt's player's style.  But even so, because I can't predict to what degree every player will attempt to assert their power, I will pre-emptively assert that "Nobody's power (Not just Matt's) can be used to auto-hit Mittens or her posessions / prevent her from breathing / prevent her from using her own power / etc.  Not even a little bit.  In the same way, Mittens won't / can't use her power to teleport a nice river of lava over their heads."

This message was deleted by the player at 21:48, Fri 31 Aug 2012.

  There were booths set up all along the sidewalks, and at least ten different types of bouncy houses set up in the grassy areas.  Food booths, information booths, booths to promote literacy and ones for babysitting.  Face painting stations, a petting zoo, several little carnival rides for the littler children, and a number of smaller ball pits for the kids to play in.  The usual assortment of booths where one can toss rings or balls or shoot water guns to win prizes of stuffed animals and other things, as well as several little shop-booths that had toys galore and were a parent's worst nightmare at any street faire or festival. A stage with music and lights, as well as a booth from the local radio station where they were playing child-friendly dance music and giving out goofy little prizes for kids if they spun a prize wheel.

Maverick was there with his parents, some friends and the friends' parents. He already has some cotton candy in hand and a smile on his face while heading away from the petting zoo. He has a pet rat at home, but he certainly doesn't have a pet goat or pet pig, so he had enjoyed going to the petting zoo. But now he is heading to the ring toss booth.

Due to his appearance, most assume his friends are older siblings, but Mav doesn't mind. "I'd like to try the ring toss." he comments to his friends and parents to further cement where he is headed.

Mits heard there was going to be a petting zoo, so she was sure to wear a thematic shirt.  ( http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/...5560-0-1/s-l1000.jpg )  Also, to avoid drawing too much attention to herself, and consequently drawing attention away from all the fun to be had at the fair, she completed the look with a fake police hat and sunglasses.  Surely no one will recognize the TV and YouTube star, (just imagine all the views her channel gets when she posts up the many hilarious ways she catches villains and humiliates them,) through such a perfect disguise!

"Oooh!  Yummy kabob!  I'll take one!"

Kitty performs magic trick to make money appear out of thin air.  Pays vendor.  Now haz kabob.  Nom!

  There were already crowds of people there with children, after all, when one has small children, and there is free food, free entertainment, and a chance for Mommy or Daddy to get two minutes of time to think without hearing fussing, squealing, or "mommy mommy mommy daddy daddy daddy!!" it is a huge draw.  The police were there, mostly to help keep stray kids from wandering off, and weren't expecting any real trouble.

Maverick goes up behind Mittens. "Hey Mitts!" he says happily. "Wanna join me on ring toss?"

Just because you've mastered space zen danger sense doesn't mean you can't be startled by a harmless kid...  (At least, harmless to a hero.)

Mits' hair and tail stand up in shock!  "Gah!"

The fumbled kabob begins to tumble to the ground, but stops half way.  The poorly disguised hero grabs the the hovering kabob as nonchalantly as possible and turns to face the familiar voice.

"Why hello there!  Omf."

A mouth full of kabob is less likely to gather feet.  Why is it so hard to keep from saying, 'Why hello there, young child who's totally NOT an amazingly awesome super-stealth immortal who's years older than he looks?'  Many years of space samurai training has at least paid off in the fact that Mits managed to not blurt that out this time.

She nods vigorously enough to make her pigtails dance.  Then, after swallowing the latest yummy morsel, continues enthusiastically with a raised fist, "Those bottles won't know what hit 'em!"

And why is it so tempting to cheat at ring toss?  Sheesh.  Self-discipline is haaard!

Maverick headed over to the ring toss with Mittens. He had no idea cheating was tempting Mittens. Actually, for him, it's the opposite... he's tempted to do worse than he is capable of because of the need to hide his identity.

Maverick smiles as his parents pay for a chance at the ring toss and offer him the rings. He figures throwing rings in a ring toss is not the same as getting into an epic martial arts battle on live tv, so he decides he'll actually give it his all.

He takes a deep breathe, gets a serious look and gives a toss. The ring lands perfectly. But you get three tosses, so he isn't done. He gives the second toss just as careful a toss, not taking it for granted and it lands well enough, though it looked like it could have fallen off. His look goes stern and even the tiniest hint of annoyance can be read on his face. Another deep breath, a look of serenity on his face and he tosses the last one, which lands as perfectly as the first. He breaks the oh-so-serious look with a bright smile and a cheer! "Yeah! Three out of three!"

He gives high-fives all around to his parents and Mittens. "Your turn, Mitts."

He picks a prize; a panda plushy.

https://l7.alamy.com/zooms/292...al-prizes-e6g80m.jpg

  Hey kids, it's Mittens's other cat friend, 'Legally distinct from Garfield!'... Okay, so it's just Matt, who swung by the face painting booth.  We should all be thankful his request did not result in the horrific visage of Bill The Cat on his not face.

  "It's good to see even years later, you still respect the three second rule Mittens.  And your short pal has won more games than I have" He totally could have won shooting clown faces with water sprays, but clearly his balloon was rigged to not break-wait, he's pretty sure he did that to himself.

Mits once again kicks herself for having gone for so long not figuring out that there was something up with Maverick beyond unusually high levels of determination.  Three for three in a ring toss may not be legendary, but certainly not something any old kid can do, let alone beat up on themselves for the one that was a close call.  Getting one out of three without superpowers is something to brag about among mere mortals.

"Way to go, Maverick!  Nice pick for the prize.  I'm aiming to win the Rastafarian banana."

Mits turns a sheepish smile to Matt, wondering if getting face painted was his idea of teasing himself.  Hard to read a guy with a perfectly deadpan not-face covered in a cute kitty painting.  Willpower... Failing...

Mits busts out laughing!  "OMG love the face painting!"

After collecting herself she tries the ring toss.  0 for 3.

Oh well.  At least I didn't cheat.

Upon seeing Matt with cat decorations on his not-face, Maverick smiles. "Good choice, Matt. I was trying to figure out what I'd like painted on my face. They have so many cool options."

It isn't that Maverick's thing is accuracy or anything. But in his mind, being able to get a ring on its mark from this distance is like minimum stuff for if you're going to do superhero stu- and Mitts misses all three. The little boy widens his eyes in shock when she misses even one. Then two.. after the third, he gets an "ooooh ok" expression. She's missing on purpose.

He smiles at her. "...you didn't hafta miss all three just to make me feel good, Mitts. But thanks."

Or wait... maybe it was the fact Matt was just so hilarious to look at right now that threw her off. Mav didn't have that distraction.

From across the park a shout of "HEY! Mav!" Can be heard. If the group turns to look they will see a young boy clad in red and waving vigorously. Accompanying him are an older gentleman dressed in a suit, a young girl clad in purple a few years older than the boy, and another girl of similar age to the first one in a butterfly print dress.

Donnie turns to speak to his Grandpa, who nods, then runs towards Maverick and company. "Hi Mav!" He exhaled slightly out of breath. "Enjoying the Festival? Oh, and Grandpa wants to talk to you in private when you get a sec."

  Matt still has yet to figure out what the odds of missing are increased more by.  It being melodramatic, or being funny.  But today is certainly favoring the latter.

 "Mittens, I know it makes sense that Maverick is popular.  But how often do you think he gets people almost as excited as you are to see him?"  Sorry Donnie, you only displayed perfectly reasonable amounts of enthusiasm.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Fri 27 Sept 2019.

  Diantha smiled at her brother's enthusiasm to see his friend, and she waved to Mav, Mittens and Matt.  She told her Grandpa "Looks like he's going to be hanging out with them, does that mean Tori and I can drag you over to the crafts and food area?"

Mits is taken aback by Mav insinuating that she deliberately missed all three...  Actually, yeah!  That's a fantastic idea!

"Um, yes!  Mittens deliberately missed all three.  On purpose.  That was totally not her best effort at ring toss.  Because if it were, the rings would be crying for mercy right now."  (Shifty eyes.)

Have we mentioned Mittens is among the worst liars in the galaxy?  Usually.  It's amazing what people will believe when you wave your hand at them while lying about droids.

Mits smiles at the arrival of Donnie and Diantha and waves at the Derring duo.  The other two in the group as well.

To Matt she answers, "Probably as often as one of his younger friends happens to spot him...  So...  exactly as often as Mav allows it to happen."

Mitts lack of ability to lie is an endearing trait to Maverick.

Maverick smiles at seeing Donny and waves back, then notices the others and waves to them as well. He is sure to give Donny a hug.

He looks at his parents and then to Mittens and Matt. He blushes from their making him out to be so cool. He doesn't forget his manners, though. "Thanks for the compliments..."

Mav looks down at Donny. "I just finished a ring toss. Was about to head over to face painting and see if there was something I'd like... maybe we could make it interesting and pick out a design for each other?"

He wonders... if he had said the same thing to Diantha, what would she have chosen for his face? He also wonders who of his friends will want the panda plushy he won, but now that so many are gathered, he figures he'll just hold onto it for now and make a game of it later.

  Matt waves back, not just because of manners, but in approval of Diantha's search of snacks via grandparents.

  "Well Mittens, clearly Maverick is up to the challenge of multitasking. Being noticed by more people, and hanging out with more of them at the same time.""  Plus the twist of Matt Sympathizing with Mittens inability to do Social Thing.  Though who knows, the face painter could have some stuff that is practical for cat fur.

Donnie grinned widely. "That sounds like fun! Grandpa says I should be safe enough with you guys for a bit, plus as long as Diantha's with him I can let him know if I need something." He turns and waves to David, who waves back and starts heading with the girls towards the crafts and food area. "So my Dad's doing the 'Legacy Dinner' this Saturday, he's letting Di have Tori over for a sleepover, and he said I can ask you if you want to spend the night. We'll have movies and games and you can come a little late through a side door, if meeting Uncle Lucas, Uncle Zeke, and Auntie Nokomis is too intimidating. Auntie Katy won't be there though and she's the most intimidating."

OOC: Uncle Lucas= Dragon Fist, Uncle Zeke=Hotwire, Auntie Nokomis=Stormwalker, Auntie Katy= Lady Psyche

Face paint Maverick!  So cuuute!  Unless it's Halloween.  He's got that look that says, "I know where you sleep."  (( https://i.pinimg.com/736x/78/8...oween-halloween-.jpg )) 

Mits smiles and thumbs-ups to Mav's thanks.

Matt's comment makes her chuckle.  Much as she wants to brag that Mav managed to sneak up on the World's Mightiest Hero, that's confidential.  Sometimes pretty tough for Mits to be friends with someone who's got so many secrets.

"Donny's describing Lady Psyche as intimidating takes Mittens by surprise!  First impression of her was: lovely smile, polite words, and warm way of talking.  Total cuteness!"

There she goes again voicing her internal dialogue.  But to make her point, a picture appears of the smile Captain Hanson melted Mittens' heart with upon their first meeting.  ((  Weston Museum msg #228 ))

"Happy to have you along, Donnie!  I'd love to be invited to the fun times too.  And if 'too old to be invited' is a problem, I could argue that according to the time dilation phenomena of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, I'm thousands of times younger than all of you for all the faster than light travel I've done."

"Hey Alien Tech Google.  How old is Mittens taking into consideration time dialation from all her faster-than-light travel?"

Applying the time dialation formula, Mittens is approximately -13.787 billion years old plus or minus .02.  But because time dialation doesn't occur during FTL travel, Mittens' actual age is"THANK YOU Alien Tech Google.  That's more than we needed to hear."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Thu 03 Oct 2019.

Maverick begins walking to the face-painting area.

He glances at Matt. "Thanks. Still not as crazy good at multitasking as Mittens. I sometimes think she either has clones, or has a dozen brains hidden througout her body."

Mav looks to Mittens and says, "I would like having you along, but I think it's more a thing where Di gets to have Tori, so Donny gets to have me. Girl for girl. Boy for boy. And although I'll be impressed if you find some space-age reason why you count as a boy, your gender, age and species won't matter unless you get permission specifically from Donald Senior."

Mav then looks at Donny Jr. He's impressed the little boy used the word intimidate, a word normally on the high end for people twice Donny's age. But then, look at the sister this kid grows up with. "I like sneaking, but when the times comes, I'd rather take the opportunity to meet them instead of avoiding them. I will say hello to them and if they look like they don't want to be disturbed further, I'll just go with you to your room and leave them be."

  "Finding Psyche more cuddly than most could be one of those 'skewed world view' things, Mittens.  Much like how live volcanos don't seem as bad as they used to."

  Sleepover still means 'Stay up all night playing imported fighting games and bootleg anime with questionable subtitle quality', right? Or would that be a combination of outdated in materials and premature for the age bracket?

  "Hey Donnie, it's not like your family and friends would be trying to scare Maverick on purpose or anything, right?" Or maybe they were intending to practice for Halloween early, with 'if it scares Maverick, we can't use it for the normal kids demanding candy'.