Rule #36a: People have always learnt best through games

"…Hero League Baseball? Really?" Kaminari quirked his brow in disbelief as he shoved his hand into a catcher's mitt.

"This is the best way to recharge your batteries!" Mt Lady chirped, flashing the blonde a pair of peace signs as the heroes readied themselves to play a game of baseball as the sun climbed higher into the sky.

Off to the side, Yoroi seemed far more paranoid & wary as he approached Edgeshot, who stood over by the scoreboard. "What're you planning?"

The shinobi spared the samurai a glance, before turning back to the field where things were settling into place. "Let them have their fun. The Trigger facility won't be clear until nightfall and even without a group this large, that'll be our best time to strike"

"You've put some thought into this, haven't you?"

"They're a stealthy bunch, but it's best to keep things in our favour. So, there's no point in stressing out these kids until they need to be on edge"

"I s'pose there are some wisdom in those words"

"Shall we?"

"Okay! Time to play!" Mineta called from the umpire's seat. Damn whomever thought it was a good idea to give that perv a microphone. "It's The Carmine Agency vs The Lurkers, in a winner takes all match!"

"Oh yeah?" Toga grinned wickedly, "And what do we get when we win?"

"Who says you're going to win?" Zhao retorted in kind. "Don'tcha know that only the winners get bragging rights, my friend, remember that. Victory goes to the players with the most skills—on the field and off"

Toga grinned "So, not a lot of hope for you then?"

"Whatever" Zhao scoffed as she turned on her heel and followed the others out onto the field. "Good luck, or something…"

"Holy crap, what's got them fired up, all of a sudden?" Sero asked of his blonde teammate as he passed.

"Girls are just plain scary" Kaminari replied, shaking his head.

"First, the rules!" Mineta continued unbothered. (Who knew the grape boy was such a baseball fan?). "Each team only has nine players; that means no outside substitutes are allowed during a game! You're allowed to change positions, including substitute runners! Even if a player gets ejected, the game goes on! But if a batter is injured and has to leave, they're automatically considered out! No exceptions!"

"Even better question" Dagger asked as the two teams grouped together before the game could begin. "Where's Major Egghead? Isn't he s'posed to be our coach, or whatever?"

Wicca pointed out into the field where the aforementioned villain lay waiting. "He's over there"

Round and bald, like the name suggested, Major Egghead was a stout man who could change the colours of appearance. It wasn't anything huge or flashy, but it was a certain quirk that helped only in very specific circumstances; like infiltration and intelligence gathering. To be fair, it wasn't exactly going to be quirk that would get him enlisted with the more hands-on regiments like Violet or Brown.

In today's case, Major Egghead had planted himself on the ground, beneath the shade of the trees out in the outfield, blending in with the baseballs strewn out that way. "Yoroi said whatever he was going to do, he couldn't draw attention to himself. So, he's buried himself and disguised his head as a baseball. He'll signal us with the colour of his face"

Dagger's expression fell into a deadpan. "Oh yeah, real smooth"

"Hiya Egg!" Toga waved to the egg-shaped baseball, "Great disguise!"

As if to test their line of communication, Major Egghead quickly flashed through a series of colours for them to translate: Black—Violet—Carmine

"So what did that mean?" Toru asked, uncertain of their colour-coded communication.

"Uh…lemme think…" Dagger mused, "Black is tactical, violet is violence and brown is support, so I think he means we should…kill the enemy?"

"Yes!" Toga cheered.

"Toga, no" Toru retorted, "Aren't we s'posed to be working with these guys, not killing them?"

"You just don't wanna do it, 'cause they're your friends…!" The vampire pouted,

"No, no, Prism's right" Wicca nodded, "We can't end this mission before it's even begun. So, let's treat the other team like their nomus and we can't lose! This'll be excellent practise for when we finally takeover the rest of Japan!"

"With…baseball?"

"Shut up, you know I what I mean"

"Alright, let's do this"

"Let's give them a taste of, what I like to call, PLF baseball!"

This, Toru swallowed as they lined up to start, Is going to be a shit show.

"Okay, folks, it's top of the first inning and the Carmines are up to bat first. Batting now is the Canine Hero, Dagger. And the Lurkers starting pitcher is Chargebolt!" Mineta regaled, really getting into his role. It was strange hearing Dagger being labelled as a hero, but that was true (and part of their ruse) as far as the other agency knew. "Let's see what the first pitcher has in store!"

"Listen up, Bolt" Mt Lady called from the outfield. "There's no need to hold back! Throw like your life depends on it!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kaminari replied, winding his arm back as the ball sparkled with an insane amount of electricity.

"Ma'am?!" Mt Lady spluttered in the background. "Do I look old enough to be a 'ma'am' to you?!"

"I'm not touching that one" Kamui wisely shook his head, backing away as the blonde continue to fume.

"Whoa! And would you look at that! Chargebolt has already electrified the ball!" Mineta commented, "It's the first quirk-enhanced pitch of the game! He throws! It's incredible!"

WHOOSH!

Dagger didn't even get a chance to blink before the ball zoomed passed their cocked arms and nestled itself nicely into the backstop's mitt. "Strike!"

"Damn!" Wicca whistled from the sidelines. "That pitcher's throw comes at you like a frickin' bullet train!"

"His top speed's gotta be in, like, the 140s!" Toru agreed. "Right?"

"Whoa! As in kilometres per hour?! That's insane!"

"And right up there with the pros"

"You play baseball, Prism?"

"Eh…not really" She shrugged, "But there was a baseball nut in my junior high and we had to play the exhibition game every year, on sports days. I guess some of it stuck"

"Is it me or does this feel like a crappy away game?" Dagger murmured to themselves as they readied to swing again. In the distance, Major Egghead was signalling them again: Carmine—Black—Violet. Dagger nodded once, message received, before a smirk graced their lips and they called out the pitcher. "Let's go! Hit me!"

"Oh ho! Nobody said that the batter doesn't have attitude!" Mineta crowed. "Chargebolt winds up for his second pitch, and there it is—!"

WHOOSH!

"W-what?!" Kaminari spluttered as Dagger simply bunted the electrified ball back into the field. Clearly they had been expecting the hound to either swing & miss or not even both hitting it in the first place. But no sooner had the ball bounced off of the bat, did Dagger make a sprint for first base.

"What? Unbelievable!" Mineta agreed with the pitcher, "Dagger just bunted the ball and is making a run for first base!"

"Oh, is that what Egghead was trying to say before?" Toru asked, "That we should all be bunting?"

"Kinda" Wicca hummed, "See, Dagger is the fastest runner in Carmine and now that our opponents are caught off-guard, first base is theirs"

"Oh! I get it!"

"I thought you'd played before?"

"Nah, that was just the boys; the girls just watched. But I know the basics"

"Hm"

"Whoa! Who saw that coming?!" Said Mineta as Dagger skidded over first base before they could be called out.

"Yeah!" Dagger howled in triumph. "Can't catch me, bitch!"

"Carmine has zero outs on the first inning!"

"Whey…" Kaminari, now quickly out of juice, swayed in place as he was set upon by their excitable captain.

"Hey! I thought I told you to do it like your life depended on it!" Mt Lady scolded as she hoisted the flimsy pitcher off of the mound with ease. "And what was that about calling me an old lady, huh?!"

"D-dying…dying…right now…" Kaminari wheezed as he hung in the air like puppy being held up by the scruff.

"Ugh! Cheeky little brat!" Mt Lady scowled as the next person made their way up to bat and a new pitcher took the blonde's place.

"Pitcher substitution! After just two pitches, Mr Smith takes the mound! Now, what kind of pitching is he going to show us?" Reported Mineta as Makabe switched places with Kaminari. "Well, here we go! Batter number two is the Twinkling Hero: Twinkling Star!"

This time Aoyama stepped up to the plate and again, Major Egghead signalled from far afield: Carmine—Black—Violet. And again, the ball was bunted to the side allowing the glittery hero to rush for first base whilst Dagger made their way to second. It was quickly becoming clear, that despite having the man power, the Lurkers were feeling a little out of their depth in the face of the Carmine's psychological warfare. And they had only just begun.

"Hehe!" Wicca chortled secretively to herself, "They're good, I'll give them that, but they're still just high school kids! Even Pros get discombobulated by bunts!"

"…But there's nowhere to throw it!" Mineta despaired, "No Carmine outs! Runners on first and second! What the hell?!"

"I, uh, I don't think I care for how this game is going…" Sero murmured in the background.

"Impressive!" Edgeshot murmured, "To be able to bunt a fastball like Mr Smith's and get it go where you want it to. Not many can be able to boast such a skill"

"You guys play often?" Toru asked.

"More often than I'd like…" Kaminari murmured from the ground where he was slowly recovering.

"So far, so good, Egg" Wicca murmured, flashing the Major a thumbs up. "Nice job!"

"…And we have another bunt from batter number three! And what's this? It's a fair ball! Astounding! It's come to a dead stop right on the line! Batter three is safe!" Mineta wailed as the players simply walked to the next available base. "Am I seeing this right?! Carmine has zero outs and the bases are loaded! I have no idea what's happening! Maybe Mr Smith's just not feeling well?"

"Wow, you guys really do play a lot, don'tcha?" Toru hummed as she took up the bat. It was her turn next.

"Batter number four is the Invisible Hero: Prism! Play ball!"

Violet—Black—Brown

Got it. Toru nodded, a wicked grin splitting her face as she fell into a bunting stance.

"Mr Smith readies for the next pitch and—what's this? Prism plans to bunt! What the hell is going on with Carmine?! Are they playing baseball…or something else?!"

Something else is right. Toru smirked as Makabe became stuck in the imaginary crosshairs of the first, second, third and home bases. It didn't take a doctor to see the sweat dripping down his forehead or how their psychological tactics were slowly wearing them down. I know I have nothing on the strength of your throwing arm, but real strength is a different story. Just like Koro-sensei taught us, it isn't about striking hard or often, real strength is about striking true!

WHACK!

"Head's up!" Toru called as she swung the bat, hitting the harden ball so dead center that the forest echoed with an almighty crack. It was a good thing they had spare balls and a metal bat, because a wooden one would've most certainly broken under the pressure of that pitch.

"Well" Mineta swallowed thickly as the ball soared overhead and deep into outfield. "Fuck me… That's an out-of-the-park home run! We're sure to run out of balls at this rate…"

"I know, right?" Toga smirked, unable to help herself as Toru took off for a mad dash of a home run. "Fuck you!"

"Hey!"

Sero shrugged."Eh, you kinda walked into that one, Grape Juice"

"Anyway…" Mineta pushed on, "You're not seeing things, folks! We've just had a base-clearing triple! This is unprecedented, but Carmine has scored the first three runs of the game! What has the world come too?"

And the game had only just begun.

HERO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION STATUS REPORT
 PARANORMAL LIBERATION FRONT INFILTRATION

HERO: PRISM

Away mission to Trigger facility in Amazon Rainforest, Kaflin
Aim: to investigate the engineers whom have gone rogue. Encouraged to use extreme force, with prejudice.
[Agency] Team Up with The Lurkers

More to follow