The night is rife with excitement and joy. The opening ceremony is going to start in matter hours and everyone, including myself, can't hold our anticipation. While awaiting the eventual walk of competing teams, I went with Gray and Quill while they circled and bought things from the festival. Gray was a somewhat stout man who gained a keen sense of fashion over these past three months. He already bought bags of autumnal and winter clothing with superhero designs on it. As for Quill, he's from a well off family and that's the reason he's spoiling Gray with all these gifts. Even so, his interests do not align with his boyfriend. He's fond of figurines and superhero memorabilia. What's boggling, however, is that he's buying all this stuff when he could just use his 'Manufacturing' power to make them. He could simply grab a material of similar composition and weight and transform it into anything he wanted. Well, that's a question for another day.
As we were rummaging through the booths, silence washed all over the crowd followed by a wave of screams. I look at my watch and realized that it was already 6 PM. The entrance of champions is already starting and we're about to miss it. So I grabbed Quill's wrist who grabbed Gray's and pulled them to the crowd. I sifted through the mass of people and led them to a shortcut that leads us to the venue.
The place is practically filled to the brim with students and adults. Most come from my university but there are many outsiders as well. Some have signs supporting their chosen champions and some used combined their 'holographic' powers to conjure a 3D image of the famous university quarterback, Richard Pollock, above the bleachers. I brought out my bag of lightbulbs, various circuitry and plastic and signaled Quill that it's time. He brought both of his palms in my package and sparks crackled at the source. A brief flash of light blinded us but when we regained our vision, the bag of junk has now turned into an electronic placard showing our friend Kyle's face on it. Kyle is competing in an obstacle race along with 4 others. He's been practicing for a month and as a good friend, we're here to support him.
The trumpets blared and the confetti rained from the skies above. Several levitating heroes flew at the night sky and filled the air with smoke that flashed the University's insignia. It was followed by an explosion then three superheroes appeared from the center of the logo. The first was Gigabyte, the number one superhero on the Western seaboard who can conjure advanced gadgets from thin air. He's wearing his signature Mecha-2020 armor and levitated using its built-in jetpack. The blue female behind her is Galatia, the Ice sorceress. She could manipulate the weather but she prefers using the cold and ice. And lastly, Nightmare whose name does not describe his looks. He's wearing a plaid tuxedo with a tail reaching his shoes. His face is what I could describe as dreamy. With a subtly defined chin and eyes that could strike a blizzard harsher than Galatia, he's the most handsome hero I have ever seen.
The three of them descended mid-air and made the crowd wild with their welcome. They are the best heroes at this side of the continent and their visit meant that this event would be better than the last. Those three would serve as judges for the last momentous senior event, which would be a one on one arena tournament.
After the introduction judges, the trumpets blared once more and the road leading to the stage lit up in an array of lights. One by one, contestants from different department and university branches line up and walked with grins and waves. They wore their sports clothing and carried their respective gears. Some even displayed their power which riled up their fans. Then from amongst the line, we saw Kyle in their team's green uniforms. I turned on the sign Quill made and shouted our support for their team. Kyle, along with Jessica, Phillip, Jerry, and Tom will compete in an obstacle race whose current team is a maze. We waved in their direction and they seemed to have taken notice and they waved back.
After the welcome of champions, several filler speeches followed and run-down of the events in the week-long festival. It will start with one day of indoor games and followed by two days of outdoor games, including Kyle's obstacle race. The event will ultimately end in the most anticipated part of the festival, which the two-day one-on-one arena tournament. It is divided into the low roster comprised of senior high school students and the high roster which is for college students. Each section from high school and each department from college will have a single champion that will aim to eliminate all opponents from the center stage. There could only be one victor from each roster and the winner can have a chance to apply for the hero agency under the three judges. It was a once in a lifetime chance so everyone is clamoring to get it.
After the event, we met up with Kyle in the locker rooms and wished him good luck. He mentioned that Nightmare will be hosting a pre-event party at the Bootes Hall and their team would join in. Gray was bummed out by this. He was urging us before to join Galatia's party at the Kuiper Gardens south of the University. The section-2 tournament champion, Olivier Tourette is going to go there and Gray wanted to see. As they were deciding where to go, the urge of the midnight booths is calling to you. There are so many things left to buy and to see. Gigabyte set a booth for himself and it's said that he's giving out autographs for a price. So where should I go?