4218/Baskin My Glory

Baskin My Glory
Date of Scene:	24 November 2020
Location:	Baskin Robbins
Synopsis:	Scott's ice cream endorsement hits a snag. Thankfully Hank is there to bail him out, and Power-Girl to scare the ever-living daylights out of him.
Cast of Characters:	Scott Lang, Karen Starr, Hank Pym

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Scott Lang has posed:
     There was nothing particularly special about the little stand-alone ice cream shop located in the suburbs of New York. A neat, clean, little one-story building with its Baskin Robbins sign set up on the side of the road and a few cars in its tiny parking lot. But there was an EVENT taking place as evidenced by the fact there was a pop-up tent likely bought from a Wal-Mart down the road and a couple of banners hastily strung up, along with signs printed out on someone's home printer taped to the glass doors. Banners and signs alike proclaiming, "Meet Ant-Man! The Smallest Avenger!" while underneath in smaller print is "And try all your favorite flavors with new Ant sprinkles for a Limited Time!"
     The tacky bit of advertising alas doesn't seem to be to Scott's liking as he stands behind a folding table under the pop-up tent, a pile of mostly untouched headshots of himself and a few Ant-Man bits of memorabilia strewn about the table. In costume but with his helmet down he sighs and rubs at the bridge of his nose while a nonplussed portly man in a white button shirt stands next to him, their nametag confirming them as 'Store Manager Greg.'
     "Greg I just, OK first of all Smallest Avenger, that is not a good tagline. I don't know, why wouldn't you clear that past me? And secondly, ant sprinkles? They're not real ants are they?"
     "No of course not. They're just black sprinkles, we just upped the charge on them for a week."
     "Yeah, yeah that about sounds right," responds Scott as a young child walks up, Scott smiling as he signs an autograph, only to get asked a half dozen questions about Thor before the boy is ushered away by his mother. Now frowning even harder he leans back in his seat and looks over to Cassie sitting beside him, a bowl of ice cream set in front of her that looks to weigh half as much as she does. "Having fun kiddo?" he asks ruffling her hair with a grin. It wasn't all bad, the young blonde girl simply smiling and continuing to eat.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Serendipity is a funny thing. Mid-day on a weekday in New York is not at all peak Crime Time. This means that despite that Power Girl is doing her due diligence as an Avenger, there's not much of that diligence to do. The result is a great deal of free time to be taken while in costume.

    She descends from the sky in silence, landing some distance behind the tent. She'd seen it, of course- even heard Scott's complaints about the particulars of the promotion- and while she didn't necessarily feel like crashing the party, as it were, she also isn't from New York.

    So this is the only Baskin Robbins she knows of, and she's not going to go searching for another one. Imagine the paperwork. 'Yes, I know I was zipping around through New York at mach XXXII but I had to find a different Baskin Robbins because this one had ant.'

    So, because of this, she sort of skips over the tent, landing not -exactly- stealthily to the rear and without a word, making her way into the ice-cream shoppe.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym has a soft spot. Many people tried to find it over the years, usually wit sharp knives. The idea of Ant-Man needing a few bucks tugged at his heart f not his wallet. In any case a dad trying to get some money for his kid he can sympathize with. He recently laid out a bundle for a platinum necklace for instance. He looks at the isign and frowns, looking very similar to Scott for a moment. The poster gets scrutinized. Okay not done on his printer. Smallest Avenger. Sheesh. Janet or Nadia is the ismallest. He isn't sure which. Nadia was still growing... probably. The Size Changing Avenger! The Insectoid Avenger! The Smarte... no that's me.

Hank approaches the table with a hoodie, the disguise that replaced the trench coat and slouch hat in disguising superheroes. He bought it at a store Nadoa seemed to like. It might even be in style. Periodic table on the back with Brooklyn neighborhoods replacing the elements. As he isteps up to the table, reddish lenses gleaming and hiding his eyes he ismiles and extends a small bouquet of flowers to Cassie. "Hey guys. How goes it?" Scott might not recognize him as he is smiling and not at all... Hank.

Scott Lang has posed:
     The whoosh of a flying Kryptonian landing nearby doesn't sound all that different from some of the large trucks occasionally passing by. It doesn't exactly get Scott to look at least. No it was Hank's 'inconspicuous' outfit, an older man wearing a hoodie with tinted glasses, and holding flowers smiling at his daughter like he knows her that sets off every father alarm bell in his head. And the creep was hanging around an ice cream parlor no less!
     "Hey! Hey hey whoa, I don't know who you think you are bud..." Scott's defensive parenting as the slightly more aware Cassie pipes up, "Thank you Uncle Hank." His 6 year old's voice makes Scott finally do a double-take and peer with almost twice as much suspiscion as when he'd just thought Hank was a pedophile. "Hank? What the heck are you doing out here? Do you even eat sweets?" Scott questions.
     Of course while he's oblivious to Power Girl's almost stealthy arrival, the other people around are not. "It's POWER GIRL!" comes the cry from the store manager Greg, the 40+ year old man gushing like a teen girl at a popstar concert, bumping the table and scattering the Ant-Man merch both on and off the table as he and a half dozen other people flock to Karen with far more enthusiasm than they'd shown Scott.
     "Hey Hank, how do you know when your tank of self-esteem is on empty? Cause I think I'm puttering out here pal," Scott mumbles while staring at the scene of hero adoration. Cassie meanwhile keeps eating her ice cream but only after carefully organizing the flowers neatly on the table next to her bowl.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym peers into the store. Then he stoops and picks up the merch and sets it on the table. He takes a moment while close to Scott to whisper. "You have all the self esteem you need in that bundle of love next to you. And yes, I like the occasional ice cream or confection. Now put your helmet on, walk over there like she does... uhm in the sense like you own the place. Greet her warmly, and bring her back here and trust in things working out. But whatever happens, keep your poise. Keep your head high. I'm going to have a word with the lout who printed up those signs. And get some ice cream." He pauses a moment to hug Cassie.

Why yes, Hank is aiming his vitriol at someone other than Scott. Get the man an MRI.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Within the shop itself, Power Girl is pulling the payment for a rather gratuitous sundae from a small compartment in the gauntlet on her wrist. It's a good two or three times what anyone else would typically purchase. Her plan, as it were, is to buy the ice cream, give a few smiles if she's recognized, but inevitably disappear into the sky to consume in relative peace.

    These plans evaporate as she hears Greg scream her name and some chunk of people comes rushing in to meet her. Power Girl is not beloved by the press. She doesn't give- or hasn't given, at least- many interviews. She mostly just shows up and punches things before heading off to the next thing to punch. If nothing else, she could be called all business, but she's not rude. When they cluster, she offers a little sigh, before turning towards the crowd while holding her sundae.

    "Yes, it's Power Girl. Figured I'd stop by for a quick bite of ice cream." she admits, moving to make her way through the crowd and, quite purposefully, try and bring them back towards the person they should be here to see.

    "Ant-Man. And, uh, Ant-Man." she states, as she walks up. Quietly, she takes the first large bite of her sundae.

Scott Lang has posed:
     "Yeah, sure, poise. Dammit Hank you know I'm not...good around people with actual superpowers," Scott whispers mostly to himself as Hank is already off it seems to give the manager an earful. "Cassie, uh, stay here, be good..." Scott parents with his usual level of specificity, Cassie seeming quite content as she were. With the press of a button on his collar his shiny helmet snaps up into place giving him, if not a more heroic look at least a more unique one as he steps closer to Power-Girl and raises one arm.
     "Yes, yes, settle down folks. Just one of my many allies. We're just like you you know, everyone loves ice cream." For just a second he seems about to put his other arm around Power-Girl's shoulder, before it turns into an awkward hover-hand that finally drops back to his side entirely though nobody seems to notice. True Power-Girl might not have the press coverage others did, but anyone that could fly without wings was certainly higher on the hero totem pole than the one who could talk to ants. The snaps of a few smartphone cameras can be heard now as well, Scott thankful for the helmet which hides his expression. Despite the crowd he turns his head and softly mumbles, "Sorry about all this."
     Still at least it doesn't seem in danger of getting any more awkward, most people soon realizing that despite two (well three heroes though nobody besides Karen and Cassie seem to have recognized Hank in his hoodie) heroes there, that didn't mean anything exciting was actually going to happen, a few already starting to wander off, only a couple looking for autographs. Scott was actually feeling relieved not to have been made a bigger looking nitwit in front of the stronger hero. All of which comes crashing down a bit as there's a soft girlish voice from behind him and Karen, Cassie up on tip toe to literally tug at...well it wasn't Superman's cape as the song goes but pretty close in equivalent, with a bit of ice cream on Cassie's fingers despite her using a spoon.
     "Don't you get cold flying high up? You should wear a jacket," the 6 year old wisely advises, having spent too much time around heroes to be impressed by the sight of one now, her child-like innocence drawing a mix of 'awwws' and snickers from the crowd while Scott flushes furiously under the helmet.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym is about to give George an earful. Then he sees Scott and boy does he know that feeling. Like being, I dunno on a mega yacht with a bunch of people and being lost. He wasn't lost as Ant-Man though. He shrinks down and zips through the big stupid feet. He grows back to normal and goes to Cassie again. "Cassie, honey, we need to help daddy show everyone how... special he is. So some people might be a little weirded out by what I'm doing but... you're used to it. Just show them this is all for fun, ok?" He holds a cupped hand out to Cassie, then goes over to Scott.

"Ant-Man... Sir! Your /friends/ are here to start their show." He holds a hand out to Scott, then produces a baton. For once his smile extends to his eyes. It says everything will be all right.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl nods a couple of times when Scott approaches. "Yeah, it's alright. Didn't mean to step on anything, but I couldn't find a Cold Stone anywhere nearby." she offers, a sort of lighthearted jab, in a way. Regardless of that, she doesn't fight him when he's calling her an ally- because it's the truth, regardless of what others may think. Friends are friends as long as they're fighting the good fight. No matter the scale.

    She turns, though, as Cassie tugs on her cape. It's like yanking on cloth pinned to steel, and she doesn't seem to mind at all that Cassie hasn't cleaned her hands before doing so. Instead, she kneels down, dropping to one knee next to the child to make her height less imposing. She is six-three, after all.

    "Not at all. I don't get cold when I fly up there. The sun, you see, always keeps me warm. Even when it's night, I just have to find it. So I let other people have the jackets, they get baned up anyway. I don't want to take any from the people that need them more than I do." She pats the girl on the shoulder, and offers this friendly smile, before rising back to her feet properly, just as Hank comes back by.

    "You've got a whole show planned?" she asks Scott, not entirely sure he ever did.

Scott Lang has posed:
     Scott really wanted to hide his head in a hole somewhere as Cassie pipes up with her blunt innocence. He could only wish he had the social ignorance of the 6 year old so he didn't know how awkward the whole thing was, unable to even bring himself to chastise her, only stare with a sort of wide-eyed horror behind his tinted visor. Half expecting Power-Girl to either take off angrily, the other half expecting her to punt him into traffic and THEN take off angrily. He actually has to resist the urge to flinch as she turns about, he'd never gotten to know her that well, and instead is surprised at just how well she handles his daughter.
     "Yea, remember Cassie, everyone is different. She could also have been from Michigan, they don't admit it's cold till there's 2 feet of snow on the ground, and that just means they stop wearing shorts," Scott jests with a dry half chuckle to follow as he looks back and forth between his daughter and the crowd before Hank appears and shows him something in his hands.
     Scott stares a moment and then under the helmet is finally brandishing his first genuine smile. "Huh? Oh, yea, yea of COURSE I have a show planned. A hero doesn't just show up to sign autographs now do they people? You're here to see some MAGIC happen aren't you?" Scott calls out loudly as a deck of playing cards flashes in one of his hands and then with a pittering sound flies across at high speeds into his other palm. With a flourishing spin in the small, half full parking lot he turns his back briefly, hissing, "Cassie, napkins," before turning back to continue, "Ladies and gentleman, I present, AntC/DC!"
     With another flick of his palms the cards are gone, and three ants suddenly grow into the size of greyhounds just in front of him. A few in the crowd scream and step back from the monstrous insects, but the insects aren't the only thing grown. What looks like improvised instruments made of high-tech, expensive equipment is brandished in their front legs, or in some cases attached, the ants breaking into an instrumental version of Thunderstruck, while the baton Hank had passed off earlier is back in action as a conductor's wand.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym looks over at Power Girl and Cassie. "He'll make it. We all start out a little shaky at first. When I started this, I got trapped in an anthill, Cassie. A spider nearly ate me up. A teeny ant saved me. Her name was Ktorr. When your daddy started, he saved you. So he actually got off to a better start than me. He's going to do good things. He just forgets how great he is at times. I'm going to stop my speech now. I'm starting to sound like a certain Mutant I know."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen was a kid once. Previous to the planet exploding thing, at least. Truthfully, she never even really go to grow up before being shunted into the world of punching planets in half and/or preventing people from punching planets in half. She was a big softy when she needed to be.

    "I don't think Michigan would appreciate that statement about people in Michigan." she noted, taking another large hunk of ice cream up on a spoon and starting to chow down. There is a long silence, then, as she watches, a bystander, for Scott's show to begin.

    "Not sure if I'm comfortable with AntC/DC."

    It's all she really has to say about that.

Scott Lang has posed:
     The impromptu does a decent job drawing a few more people over to see just what the hell was going on, smartphones now gone to video instead of camera to film the oddball sights taking place. At least two even put down money on the table, seeming to think it was a busking routine instead of an Avenger sponsorship, but Scott was having too much fun with his 'little' band to care about how that might look even in front of Power-Girl. And as a sponsorship it seemed to be working, more than one person holding a cone or small bowl by the end. Maybe next time Scott would get called to work the BIG ice cream store.
     In fact MAYBE he was feeling a bit too confident as the song winds down and he turns to take a quick bow, a twirl of the baton in hand. The ants only knew one other AC/DC song, no sense letting that practice go to waste. "Thank you, thank you everyone! And now, one more tune before we need to take our leave! Cassie come up here!" Scott drawing his daughter up to pick her up in one arm, the other still holding the baton, about 60 or more people now crowding the lot and growing.
     "Hey everyone lets get some words in it this time! Who wants to hear what my mentor and friend, the original Ant-Man Hank Pym sounds like!? And lets get Power-Girl in on this too am I right?! C'mon!" Scott working the crowd which begin to chant for the other pair of quieter heroes. He doesn't even pretend the baton is necessary as the ants break into a rendition of AC/DC's Hells Bells, Scott holding it like a microphone now as both he and Cassie sing...and oh dear god he's approaching Hank and Power-Girl both and holding it to their mouths and leaning into them with uncomfortable familiarity as he bullies them into being a part of the act.

Hank Pym has posed:
Sing? In public? He's walked out of high level meetings because there were too many people present. Okay there was that karaoke bar the other night but he was already buzzed and had nothing left to lose. But sing here?! Before he even had ice cream? Lang... "No... sorry don't know this song. It's Thor's really. But... I could dance..."

Launches into a club dance, he was married to a party girl. He was expected to dance, or see her dance with others. So he practiced dance, watching videos and movies.

The ants miss a beat, checking to see if their savior and master is all right.

//What is he doing?//

//He does that sort of thing when people aren't around. It's a seizure from loneliness I think... or a spider bit him.//

//Spider! SPIDER! PROTECT THE QUEEN!//

Teeny ant sigh.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Kryptonians have many, many powers. There are plenty that everyone knows about. Strength enough to crush a teammate regardless of how small or giant his physics-breaking particles make him, for instance. Laser vision that could vaporize a teammate even if he's as tall as a building, too. Ice breath, that can be delivered just slow enough to make hypothermia for an ant or a giant- as an example- a painful endeavor. These are well known. Super speed, so that there's no running away. That kind of thing.

    Power Girl, for a moment, appears to have a glare so intense that self-preservation instincts might kick in enough to implore Scott to live the rest of his life subatomic. He put her on the spot. His -kid- is here, and so are a bunch of other children and parents and people who don't have kids but happened to want ice-cream. The silence extends for long enough that people start to notice.

    Then, with a snap motion of her hand that just might even make an Ant-Man flinch, Power Girl snatches up the microphone, practically- if not literally- ripping it out of Scott's hand.

    She steps in front of the Ant-Band in silence, and starts up a metronome so they know when to begin and...

        "I'm rolling thunder, pouring rain-"
        "I'm coming on like a hurricane-"
        "My lightning's flashing across the sky-"

    She turns, deliberately, looking and -pointing- at Scott.

        "You're only young but you're gonna die-"
        "I won't take no prisoners, spare no lives-"

    She gestures to the crowd as she looks at him, not pausing in the lyrics.

        "Nobody's putting up a fight-"
        "I got my bell, gonna take you to hell-"
        "I'm gonna get ya, P-G gonna get ya-"

    She turns back to the crowd, and hits the right note.

        "HELL'S BELLS!"

    A little known fact, is that Kryptonian muscle control extends to the vocal cords. She's not the original artist, but she hits every note perfectly. Super-Singing. She could make a living just doing covers.

Scott Lang has posed:
     "Well uh, thanks for that Hank! That, that is dancing. In some places," Scott playing the part of DJ and performer as he backpedals from the wildly gesticulating scientist as the ants too sense something is amiss. Still, things couldn't get worse than that is the ill-fated phrase that crosses Scott's mind as he slides over towards Power-Girl and offers up the faux microphone with a beaming smile, Cassie still bobbing her head and waving her arms as holds her up against his side with his other arm. Scott's smile is genuine, some would even say charming! A cheering crowd, music, what wasn't there to love?
     For some it seemed a lot. It wasn't a hot day and the ice cream was flowing freely. But as Scott nears Power-Girl he finds himself breaking into a sweat from the look she gives him. The color fading from his face and his pupils dilate, a survival instinct reaction as his body enters a fight or flight mode. There's the faintest murmur from the crowd as Power-Girl draws the moment out and the faux mic in his hand just begins to quiver when it's torn out of his grip so hard his fingers turn red from the friction burn.
     And yet, in the end it worked. The crowd roars with approval at Power-Girl's perfect pitched performance, most assuming the long pause was some sort of dramatic effect. Scott fairly stumbles backwards, his heart racing as not so veiled threats seemed to be directed at him. He tugs at his suit's collar with one free hand at the feeling of warmth and lets out a nervous laugh before he picks up the lyrics again himself and the song finally draws to an end, Scott keeping his distance from Power-Girl the remainder of it. Cassie is set down, the ants and musical equipment shrunk back to scale and caged.

"Hey umm, thanks guys, both of you, I really appreciate. Really. Like a lot," Scott informs both Hank and Karen, barely meeting her gaze as the dumpy Baskin Robbins manager comes over and hands him a check that swiftly vanishes into his pocket with no mention of offering either of them a cut of the profits. Appreciation only went so far as a couple of bored teens began disassembling the meet and greet.

"Uncle Hank dances funny!"

"I know sweetheart."

"And Power-Girl is really nice! We should get her a jacket still."

"I don't think, I don't think it's a good idea we see her again sweetie. She's uh, she's busy. She's very busy," Scott informs his daughter as he tries to hurry her back to the car, barely getting her strapped in before he leaps into the driver's seat and taking off like he'd just robbed the place.
     His stomach pitching end over end as he hears the rear window roll down and Cassie call out, "Miss Power-Girl! You should come visit us sometime! We're at..."

"Cassie no!" the car squealing into traffic with the sound of burning rubber.