[hr][center][h2][color=#FF69B4]MEET YOUR HEROES[/color][/h2][sub]Mentioned - [@FourtyTwo][@Pragia12][@cosmiccowgirl][@BigPapaBelial][@SonnetNSunbeam][@Redking0380][@Thayr][/sub][/center][hr]
[A SLIDESHOW OF THE SDN'S A-TEAM ROSTER, POSED HEROICALLY AGAINST A RAINBOW BACKGROUND.]

[color=#FF69B4]"Have your KIDS meet their HEROES in Giggle's Playground for Little Heroes, like Lightning WOMAN. She is a grown woman who shoots LIGHTNING out of her [i]FINGERS.[/i]"[/color]

[AN IMAGE OF LIGHTNING GIRL FLASHES ON SCREEN. THE NEXT IMAGE IS OF HAT TRICK.]

[color=#FF69B4]"And HAT TRIP. He is a [b]HOCKEY MAN[/b] with ice POWERS."[/color]

[AN IMAGE OF ASTEROID IS THROWN ON SCREEN.]

[color=#FF69B4]"AND METEORITE. Gravity MAN. He has gravity POWERS, but cannot make your kid FLOAT. We do not offer [i]REFUNDS[/i] if he cannot make your kid [i]FLOAT.[/i]"[/color]

[color=#FF69B4]"He is also Phoenix PROGRAM, but he is safer around your CHILDREN, so give us your [b]MONEY [/b]for [i][b]PHOTOS.[/b][/i]"[/color]

[AN IMAGE OF BLACKSTAR NEXT.]

[color=#FF69B4]"AND DARKSTAR. She has POWERS like a STAR and can FLY."[/color]

[PHOENIX PROGRAM HERO IMAGES ASSEMBLE ON SCREEN. PRINCESS'S PHOTO IS LABELED: QUEEN. PAYBACK'S PHOTO IS LABELED: PAYBARK. MADCAP'S PHOTO IS LABELED: MATPAT. ECLIPSE'S PHOTO IS LABELED: ELLIPSES.]

[color=#FF69B4]"And the Phoenix Program heroes, because we did not have the budget to pay a video editor to make a longer video. [b]DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN NEAR THEM. THEY WILL STEAL YOUR WALLETS AND SELL YOU THINGS.[/b]"[/color]

[IMAGE OF FENOM POSED HEROICALLY.]

[color=#FF69B4]"Fenom-man."[/color] 

[color=#FF69B4]"Do not let your CHILDREN speak to Fenom-man, he is for pictures [b]ONLY.[/b]"[/color]
[hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/3NhTdsYR/eclipse-banner.png[/img][h2][color=gray]Claremont Rooftop, SDN Office[/color][/h2][sub]Interactions - [@FourtyTwo][@cosmiccowgirl][/sub][/center][hr]Everyone's clocked in. 

Mostly. 

Just waiting on a few more heroes and villains. Then James talks about some paperwork or something, Eclipse has already completed his, just waiting for it to be delivered. He stifles a laugh; he wishes he could see the look on James's face once his paperwork gets to him. It would've been hilarious.

A static shock wakes him back to reality, a slight buzz on his armor. Lightning Girl sits beside him. 

[quote][color=gold]"This is my schtick. You saw me on the roof thinking you could do it. Admit it. You're a little envious."[/color][/quote]
[color=gray]"Envious? Be honest, I do it a lot better than you."[/color] Eclipse leans back, helmet resting on his lap. [color=gray]"It's better at midnight. The helmet's eyes glow crimson, the rest of the suit blends into the night."[/color]

He purses his lips, Lightning Girl reaches for his Cheetos, and he playfully smacks her with the bag after.

[quote][color=gold]"Yum. Thanks. And....cheers for the other night. I wasn't all myself. But, you probably saved me from doing something really stupid."[/color] She retorted, smiling to him, looking out. [color=gold]"I appreciate that. Very heroic of you. Bet you fucking hate it, don't you. You wanna be nothing but shadowy rather than that. You would fit in perfectly in Manchester with all of how grey it is and people don't talk as much as me."[/color][/quote]
Eclipse furrows his brows at her. [color=gray]"Hm.[/color]"

If it were anyone else, he would've cut them by now. [color=gray]"You make a lot of assumptions."[/color] 

Helping an ally isn't heroic by any means, not in his eyes, not at all. It comes naturally--he's done it before in Red Ring, he's been saved and held back a few times in Red Ring, too, it all came with the job, really. What Lightning Girl deemed heroic was just Tuesday for him.

Maybe he [i]was[/i] cut out for hero work. Maybe not. But Lightning Girl's constant reinforcement of him being a hero, or at least mildly heroic, was something to go by.

Maybe he was starting to believe it.

Lightning Girl walks off to recharge herself, throwing herself onto a nearby power transformer, and is promptly thrashed around as if she were an oversized pill bottle. He might've seen her bones as she electrocuted herself; it was [i]that[/i] cartoony. But, [i]fuck,[/i] if it wasn't strangely hot all the same. Reminded him of that one night where another electricity girl zapped everyone at the same time while.... By now, Eclipse is staring far too strangely and far too long as Lightning Girl walks back over, an aura of power around her. 

[quote][color=gold]"I appreciate what you said you'd be willing to do. You don't have to do that for me.....but....thanks. See you at work."[/color][/quote]
Eclipse cracks a wry smile as she leaves. 
[hr]10 minutes pass.

By now, Eclipse is standing up and getting ready to leave for the break room. He tosses the last bit of his Cheetos at a few late employees, who begrudgingly tolerate his hazing and mutter a few curses as they step inside.

[quote][color=gray][b]"Waste of perfectly good Cheetos,"[/b][/color][/quote]
He turns face-to-face with an upside-down Blackstar. Flyers always love to show off. [color=gray]"Try it sometime, it's fun."[/color] By now, he's more than eager to get his helmet on and head into the break room, only sticking around because he felt Blackstar had more to say.

[quote][color=gray][b]"Tell Lightning Girl I said hi,"[/b][/color][/quote]
He lets out a tired sigh as Blackstar hurriedly escapes the rooftop.
[hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/HxzDbDBL/jointbanner-MCn-E.png[/img][h2][color=#191970]Break Room, Claremont SDN[/color][/h2][sub]Shut this guy up already, will ya?[/sub][/center][hr]
Everyone funnels into the break room, little by little. James announces the carnival job, and the room seems to deflate. Eclipse gets especially pissy, and the shadow around his corner seems to darken as he sulks. Madcap, ironically, is neither excited or annoyed by the news, just lost in thought, though he does raise a hand when Asteroid breaks his question to the others.

The news goes back to normal, Madcap gets up and stretches, and approaches Eclipse as everyone else figures out a way out to the carnival.

[color=dodgerblue]"Hey,"[/color] Madcap wraps an arm around Eclipse's shoulder, his frown is heard clearly. [color=dodgerblue]" Can you take me to the carnival? I don't wanna be left out."[/color] 

Eclipse nods his head, and Madcap's feet begin to sink into the floor. It's a slow descent into darkness, and Madcap feels the cold envelope him, but persists as he manages to yap Eclipse's ears off. [color=dodgerblue]"You saw the ad, right? ' Cuz I've seen it a thousand times, and something is really wrong with it. Total villain plotline. Something will go wrong at the carnival, and a bunch of people are gonna die, but then we gotta save the day cause we're already there."[/color]

Madcap pokes his chest. [color=dodgerblue]"You probably know that already though, 'cuz you're an ex-villain and all, you've probably done stuff like this [i]sooo[/i] many times before."[/color]

[color=gray]"Shut up."[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"Okay,"[/color] Madcap sniffles, sinking further alongside Eclipse, [color=dodgerblue][i][b]"IT'S SO COLD!"[/b][/i][/color]
[hr][center][h2][color=gray]Dispatching Corner[/color][/h2][sub][@FourtyTwo][/sub][/center][hr]James gets all of his requested paperwork, some later than others. Regardless, he has it all, and while it's hard to fit on his desk, it's there. All he was missing was Eclipse's time sheet and dispatch... logs...

A short, shadowy creature, like some kind of bipedal, stout rabbit, stumbles up to James's feet, the cat sniffing it tentatively. The creature holds a stack of papers over its head, and the moment James grabs it, it melts into a black stain.

Well, that's... certainly a way to get a time sheet and dispatch log.

The cat's ears sink, and it lets out a confused meow.
[hr][center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019ccfd5-9125-72bd-b243-d0110031a237.webp[/img][h2][color=FF69B4]WELCOME TO THE CARNIVAL![/color][/h2][sub]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06LNBK4ZfWM]Warped Carousel[/url][/sub][/center][hr]
The carnival is lively and seems to pulse with a life of its own; kids run around with gleeful abandon, and parents are somehow comfortable within the colorful borders of the attraction despite the abundance of clowns. A Ferris wheel sticks out in the distance, alongside various other carnival rides, all themed after big-name SDN heroes. Phenomaman's face is practically plastered on the side of each and every ride.

A merry-go-round rests in the middle of all the chaos, the animals aboard it being themed after horses dressed as clowns, a tired worker managing it all as a horde of kids stumble aboard.

Eclipse and Madcap manifest just a little walk away from the carnival, and head inside, almost losing each other in the horde of kids before finding their place within the madness. Eclipse found himself in the darkest spot he could manage, a corn dog food stall to the side of it all, and decided it was better to work on cooking than it was dealing with hordes of screaming kids. The employees in there, however, seemed a bit put off by his arrival, but tolerated him nonetheless.

Madcap, on the other hand, ran off into an employee's only room, probably in the back of some odd attraction, and began searching the whole thing from top-to-bottom. He was absolutely convinced [i]something[/i] was up with this carnival, and no amount of convincing could change his mind. As long as he wasn't pestering any of the kids, then it was probably fine to let him conduct a quick search...

The other A-Team heroes, however, would have to find their place among the ever-growing crowd.

It should be an easy dispatch, right?

Just don't be weird, and everything would be a-okay!