Ok, the score is Oogy to Boogy

[more_surreal]

WHO: Calvin & OPEN
WHERE: Outside the Xavier's Institute. Possibly inside if we want to make the staff tear their hair out.
WHEN: Sunday morning.
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: Celebratory Calvinball!
FORMAT: The rules of Calvinball are basically that you make it up as you go along. The format of the log will reflect that: no posting order, no

Comments

[bluepurrymuffin]

Hank landed on the field feet-first, very excited for the game. These sort of activities always used to be his favorite thing about the X-Men back in the day, and there was no way he'd miss the opportunity to participate in one now. It really drove home for him how different things were here, and he relished that.

He'd prefer it remained unsaid that he'd spent all night modding a football helmet to fit his snout, but the yellow jersey and it's big black 'X' across the chest ('08 McCoy' on the back) spoke for itself. He'd considered a catcher's mitt, but everything he found was too small and made for fur fingers, wasn't worth the bother. He was, as usual, barefoot, and he had a backpack in one hand.

"So, how are we doing this, then?"

[more_surreal]

"Doctor McCoy! You brought a helmet, that's great!" Helmets were always a valuable addition to a game of Calvinball, regardless of how necessary or even useful they might be in the actual game itself. "Okay, here's how the field is set up. That there is the Calvinball, in between the Calvinposts." He pointed at the volleyball and cones.

"Touching that broomstick activates the Invulnerability Sphere, which keeps you from being hit by the Calvinball, unless someone wraps you in the Dispelling Ropes. They're hanging from the Mondo-Tree there. Note how the tennis balls are in a pentagon shape. That is very important because we're playing on a Sunday. See, when one ball goes through a wicket backwards, it scores Q-squared, which means the remaining balls need to be re-arranged into a square before you get hit by the Calvinball. Note how the readily available sign materials. Those are for when the game enters Picasso Mode, and of course for making signs. Now, the paint has a special use

[bluepurrymuffin]

Hank follows along without much trouble, making mental notes as they go along for little ways to make each item easier to remember. As Calvin goes on, he gives little acknowledgements of understanding, and "I see, yes" here, an "Oh, that makes sense now" there, and the occasional "Ahhh, interesting!"

When Calvin was done, Hank took the opportunity for one last clarification. Holding up the backpack he'd brought, "And what do I use this for?"

[more_surreal]

Calvin just shrugged. "Whatever you make up for it! Just think of something fun and different to do with it. Everybody gets to make up new rules, that's how the game works." He turned around, looking over the field. "Now, where's everybody else?"

[bluepurrymuffin]

"Perhaps a protective Calvinball holster? Ah! But every occasion on which the backpack is taken from me, I must surrender a quarter, and when I've run out of quarters I can no longer be quarterback. Perhaps I'll have to hang from the Mondo-Tree, upside-down, for the remainder of the round...or however periods or intervals are measured in this game."

He glanced around the field, sniffing the air a bit. "Hmm, I'd assumed I must simply have been early. Is there a penalty for lateness?"

[more_surreal]

"No, but I'm gonna make a penalty if this keeps up!" The boy snapped, beginning to fume. It had only been a few minutes, but that could be an eternity to a six-year old, especially Calvin. "At least your rule is a good idea. Hanging upside-down from stuff is always fun." And so were quarters. "Calvinball is traditionally a two-player game anyway, so I guess it's not that big a deal if nobody else comes."

[bluepurrymuffin]

"Should that be the case, then I suppose you'll have won if I lose all of my quarters! Or the game ends, at least." He pulled out his comm and started sending out a few texts to see where everyone else was.

/jumps in

[microwavemutant]

"Sorry I'm late!"

Angie was bundled up in as many coats and sweaters as she could find, trying desperately to compensate for her lost ability to generate extra heat. She hoped her powers would return to her quickly, but in the mean time she'd been spending an awful lot of time hoarding Pietro's sweatshirts and parked under blankets.

"You haven't started without me, have you?" She waddled over to them, rubbing her gloved hands together quickly.

[more_surreal]

"No, but you missed everything getting explained!" Calvin said. He was glad to see her, but struggled to maintain a stern face anyway. "As penalty, now you'll just have to figure stuff out as you go along." That always made a good penalty in Calvinball, since usually the player in question eventually found it easier to make up their own rules than learn the ones they'd miss out on. That made things really interesting.

[bluepurrymuffin]

"That sounds fair!" They couldn't just stand here forever, after all. "So, this'll be the whole game, then, just the three of us?"

sorry for delay

[more_surreal]

"Three is all we need!" Calvin was excited. "Let's get started. Game's on in 3... 2... 1... IHAVETHECALVINBALL!" There was a kid-shaped blur, and then Calvin was off with the volleyball clutched in his arms, leaving one of the traffic cones knocked over in his wake. According to the labyrinthine rules he'd set up beforehand, he was getting points as long as he held onto it, until someone got it away from him... or just changed the rules.