At the stadium, during a game…
“So this is where you guys made it during the playoffs, huh?” Keiji asked as he bit into a chili dog.
“Damn right,” Aria replied confidently, “Though it wasn’t just my badass batting skills. It was thanks to ol’ Ajax’s pitching that we were able to get the win.”
“Ajax? Who’s that?” Keiji asked.
“Eh, just one of my classmates,” she went on with a sigh, “Poor guy had to transfer due to getting accepted into a major league team across the country. Now we’ll need someone else to fill the void of his skillful rumble pitch.”
Keiji frowned in response. “Ah…that sucks. Hope he’s okay wherever he is. Do you still keep in contact with him?”
“Oh yeah we chat sometimes, don’t worry--” Aria’s attention wa stolen by the game going on down in the field. “Yo, look! They’re about to steal and get a game-winning point!”
Keiji watched with bated excitement and a hint of skepticism. “...I dunno. That third baseman is gonna tag him before he--”
CRACK!
“Yoooooo!” Aria rose out of her seat and started clapping for the player running the bases to the end, scoring enough points for the Canterlot Professional Home Team to win. “Yes! We did it! We beat the Griffonstones!”
From his seat, Keiji simply chuckled in response to Aria’s outburst. “...never seen you this happy before, Aria.”
“...Yeah well…” she blushed rolled her eyes, “I can get excited for stuff too.”
“I’m joking,” he said with a grin, “You made a good prediction there. I think you’ll go pro just fine one day.”
Aria sat back down and ruffled his hair with her hand. “Heh. Thanks little bro.”
“...stahp.”
With Micro Chips…
“...Your father wants to congratulate me for my efforts? That really isn’t necessary…”
Tasty put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards the office. “Please. He insists. You don’t wanna be rude now do you?”
“...I s-suppose not,” Micro replied, his voice shaky as his heart started to race from anxiety. “I’ll see what he wants from me.”
“...You’d better,” Tatsu muttered before disappearing seemingly from out of nowhere, which caused Micro to turn around and dart his eyes out of fear.
“...Wha…?”
With Flash…
He was on his way to the baseball stadium, driving as fast as he could while abiding the traffic signals until he got a call from Sunset which he activated from the digital call screen on the dashboard.
“Go ahead,” he said.
But it wasn’t just Sunset this time. Thankfully, Twilight had joined in and was right at her side.
“I’m here. As much as I wanna be out there helping you, I can see why you didn’t exactly want us to join in--they’d spot us from a mile away,” Twilight explained with a sigh, “Guess we really can’t do everything ourselves…but that’s besides the point. I think I’ve found what you’re looking for, Flash.”
“Do you have any leads on MC’s location?” Flash questioned in an urgent tone as he rounded a corner.
“According to what I’m seeing here, he’s located in the northwestern side of the stadium. Possibly in or around some kind of office…?”
“Argh…I was afraid of that. Looks like I have no choice,” Flash muttered.
Worried by his words, Sunset would ask, “...wait, what do you mean?”
“No time to explain. I have to hurry if I’m gonna save him,” was all he replied with before hanging up. Then, he’d send Micro Chips a quick text message…
With Micro…
He took a quick look at his watch and received a message that read:
‘Meet me on the roof in ten minutes. You’ll know when I’m here.’
Since he didn’t have much of a choice in that moment, Micro stowed his fear and stepped into the office.
“...You wanted to see me, sir?”
Tatsu and Shinji’s father--Hattori was sitting at his desk and got up when Micro entered. “Ah. There you are. I just wanted to thank you for the work you’ve been doing around my lovely little stadium.”
“...Thank me?” Micro replied hesitantly, unsure what to make of the man’s words just yet. “Er…thank you, sir? I know I’m still new but I’m trying my best to keep things clean around here. Baseball is a huge passion of mine--I even collect the cards and--”
“Very nice,” the older gentleman interrupted him as he walked towards Micro. “Fancy a walk with me to the roof? There’s something I want to show you up there regarding the ventilation systems.”
“...Odd. I wasn’t initially assigned for roof cleaning. Something’s off,” Micro kept those thoughts to himself and answered casually. “Oh. Sure. No problem.”