[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Thursday
13:03
SDN Claremont
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[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Carnival Run[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[color=yellow][center][h2][i][b]Lightning Girl[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

(Collab with [@SonnetNSunbeam])

[color=gold]"Asteroid, you want a lift to the carnival? I ain't pooled with you yet."[/color]

When she offers her hand, he keeps his glove on and nods. [color=mediumpurple]“Yeah- it’ll probably take four times as long to jump there based on recent experience.”[/color] He laughs a bit, and tilts his head in Blackstar’s direction. The motion is jerky, like someone who is used to the weight of a helmet. *

Lightning Girl beamed a white enameled smile back and nodded to him, noting Blackstar too, guessing the same as anyone did here they were a thing. Of course, the others now thought that of her and Eclipse…

And headed onto the balcony, into the blazing sunshine, the white seemed to pop on the heroine's tall, yet almost stereotypical silhouette. Asteroid was shorter than her, not by much, mind.

[color=gold]“At least you can leap really far. That's pretty cool. No licence needed. What a loophole….”[/color] She remarked nonchalantly with a cool tail off, flicking her cape back over, eyeing him up. All white kept her cool in the sun, but the costume was not made for this heat. She was as ever, energetic and trying to put that energy to bring a friendly, outward self. 

[color=gold]“Okay, given Blackstar has eyes for you and you're basically Pam and Jim, and yes, I am aware of all the rumours….bridal may not be the best way to carry you. I find peeled under arm works best. Are you comfortable with that?”[/color] She asked, hand in rubber gloves, presented as she got ready to carry him. She was being a tease. More awkward, really. She felt awkward.

[color=gold]“Okay, maybe not that far. Like Leslie and Ben. From Parks and Rec? Ahh, okay, I'll stop. I'm awful! I mean you're probably friends cos of all the cosmic stuff and…yeah I've dug myself a hole.”[/color] She was still talkative, as she let Asteroid come close, as she adjusted her mask. [color=gold]“But honestly, good to head out with you. We haven't been dispatched together yet, which is craaaazy.”[/color] The energy from her was palpable, which did make sense. She had electricity pulsing from her feet, and with barely a push, she'd be skybound.

Jet’s heart skips a beat at the first comment. He’s sure he just ceases to exist for a quarter of a second. Pam and Jim from the Office? Was he that obvious? Who is he kidding, he’s that obvious. And a romantic. But he was trying to keep that tied up in his closet at home.

As Lightning Girl talks herself down to Parks and Rec and to ‘all the cosmic stuff’, he’s kind of spiraling in his head. He respects Lightning Girl- so playing it off- feels like lying. Maybe he hadn’t committed to anything yet- sure. But Blackstar? There was something about her.[color=mediumpurple] “Uh-.”[/color] He tries. [color=mediumpurple] “Blackstar is somebody special- I think, and I kind of need to keep this job.”[/color] An awkward laugh is forced out of his lungs. He’s glad to be hiding his blush beneath his mask. 

Lightening Girl’s face turned to a shit eating grin, as she gave a nudge and zapped him gently with her elbow, as little as one could. [color=gold]“Oh I'm totally running into HR, they'll totally…..nah just fucking with you.”[/color] She giggled, pulling him in close and arm around, no electricity bar her resonant static, turned close, lips to ear. 

Jet jumps at the zap and rubs the point of contact. His pulse races before realizing she’s joking- then all the air in his lungs bursts from his chest. A joke! Okay! [color=mediumpurple]“You got me.”[/color] He laughs lifting his arms.

[color=gold]“I'm no snitch, Asteroid. It's fine. Most beautiful things start slow, and you're right, she's a good egg. Just take your time and remember, she's new to this. Anyway…..right. Where were we?”[/color] She said, tightening her grip into his arm, wrapping him under her right arm and with barely a step, pushing up, and into the cloudless sky, white hair and cape pluming.

Once safely in the air, he continues- [color=mediumpurple]“Technically I’m new too- I’ve only been here a few months. But yeah- I’ll be respectful, I’ve been out of the dating scene for quite a while anyway.”[/color] It’s having a hero, one that he respects a lot, that’s pressing the information out like a juicer. 

So it’s easy to stumble into the next part. LG already has a hold on him- how much more vulnerable can he get? [color=mediumpurple]“She’s just- so nice to be around- and the ring of green in her eyes is just-.”[/color] That’s when his mouth falls open, shocked at himself. Oh- it’s worse than he thought. He coughs. [color=mediumpurple]“Okay- yeah that’s- that’s going to be an issue.”[/color]

All of the thoughts in his head seem to tumble out. He chews on a thumb through the fabric of his mask and glove. Fuck calling Rey, he was going to jump to his house after work directly. This couldn’t wait. 

Lightning Girl wasn’t sure where he was going, but well, all the awkwardness of earlier seemed to metabolise into something else.

[color=gold]“Hey, what’s between you two is between you. I’m not gonna ask.”[/color] She replied, cape fluttering as she turned, not going as fast as she could, so as not to terrify the living crap out of him.
[color=gold]“I mean when you talk about her like that, you are making me wanna ask, I suppose. You are falling for her aren’t you. Though……you saw into her eyes? She was comfortable enough to take her mask off around you? Okay, that’s……fuck. Uhhh, she likes you then, Asteroid. And she’s more shy than Felix when I saw him this morning.”[/color] Sophie chuckled, shaking her head, taking another turn, taking a scenic route to where they were going. It wasn’t that much further after all, and she wanted to keep her electricity to hand. [color=gold]“Know the feeling too well. It’s like what I remember having goosebumps. So….yeah. My lips are sealed.“[/color] She smiled, a polite, cute one, as she sped up a little. 

Lightning Girl’s surprise almost pushes Jet into a panic over Blackstar potentially liking him. She barely knows him- there’s no way. [color=mediumpurple]“Thanks, I owe you one.”[/color] After that Jet redirects the conversation. [color=mediumpurple]“Thanks for your help with getting Felix settled by the way. That was cool of you. Hopefully James was okay with it?”[/color]

[color=mediumpurple]“Those paws are just so tiny.”[/color] He says it with a weird kind of reverence. Jet’s only recently discovered what it’s like to have a pet so he’s losing his mind with how cute animals are right now. [color=mediumpurple]“I got a fish named Ducky recently- that’s the only pet I’ve had before.”[/color] He’s proud of keeping it alive for the few months since he started at SDN.

Sophie laughed, barely scraping over the cloud in the sky, the moisture wicking both.

[color=gold]“Yeah, James is okay with Felix, for sure. I know him. He’s stubborn but he eventually relents over stuff like that. That tabby is so cute, like, when you brought him in…..yeah how could we not keep him.“[/color] She started, stopping, trying to get her bearings. [color=gold]“Right, where were we? Sorry. I took the scenic route”[/color] Lightning Girl adjusted, struggling to believe Asteroid had a pet fish. They were above Claremont to the north, in the mountains, Lightning Girl distracted by conversation despite the speed they took.

[color=gold]“Didn’t take you for an animal person, Asteroid. A pet fish too…..okay, that’s where the fish food reference came from. Thought you had some insane craving.”[/color] Sophie chuckled, clambering up a bit more.

They’re cruising along in the sky and the sun being out is a much different experience while flying. Before he knows it, he’s day dreaming about Alaine pulling him through the sky. Memories twisted into vignettes of a drunken haze. He’s mortified at his brain fixating on a woman he literally just met. He wonders if his powers would hold out at a height this high.[color=mediumpurple] “I actually kind of want to try falling at this height. But I don’t have my helmet- so that’s a bad idea.”[/color]

Memories of his old uniform. The villain one- black boots- red bottoms. Black zip up jacket that came together at the side rather than down the front middle. Most of all, his black full coverage motorcycle helmet. [color=mediumpurple]“I actually used to wear a motorcycle helmet when I ran with the other crowd.”[/color] He trips through this part, suddenly feeling awkward for mentioning his time as a villain to a hero. 

 [color=mediumpurple]“Before I figured it out, I’d fall and hit my head all the time. Not sure if that’s a problem you have when learning to fly?”[/color] He asks.

Sophie chuckled, shaking her head. [color=gold]“I fell in a canal when I first tried it. I leapt up, had nowhere near as much power as I thought I needed, and fell to earth from about five storeys high and thought I broke every bone in my body. It takes a lot of focus. Now it’s just second nature. I just think about the limb I want all the static to pour out of and it reacts, static pours and I don’t electrocute the people I carry…so long as you’re insulated when I carry you. Less the head injuries that worry me, I seem to…..well, I’ve taken some hits that a fast metabolising body seems to take more time to heal.”[/color] Lightning Girl rambled, answering that question with the depth she hoped would put that one away. [color=gold]“I reckon you would be fine. I mean, small window to get it right, but…..practice I guess may make perfect. That was not a suggestion for you to do it. Please don’t do what Madcap did. Fuck that gave me a scare the first…..anyway. I can’t imagine you with a motorbike helmet on ... .menacing as it would be I suppose…”[/color]  She cut herself off, as she looked at him, still cradled tight against her arm.

[color=gold]“Sorry, I’m rambling. How about you? How did you get your powers if you don’t mind me asking? And how did you end up being a Phoenix? You seem more hero than villain to me. No offense. Or at least, I hope it doesn’t come off that way.”[/color] Lightning Girl asked, letting Asteroid reply as they flew along. Lightning Girl was polite, sometimes to the chase, but never one to not talk something up.

[color=mediumpurple]“I got my powers in 10th grade. No idea where they came from, they were a real surprise to me. That was my first physics class though.”[/color] He trails off in thought for a second before continuing- [color=mediumpurple]“It took me 10 years to really get the hang of them.”[/color] Busting jewelry out of cases without having to physically touch anything was a really great villain power. Crushed glass under his boots, glass-break alarms ringing hugely in his ears. The gold chain he wore to the bar last night came from that break in. 

[color=gold]“Damn. Yeah….you definitely learn that normal forces don’t….sorry, carry on, you were saying about mastering it?”[/color] She replied, letting him go on.

[color=mediumpurple]“Yeah- I spent the first 5 years in prison for nearly killing my tennis opponent. I tried to move small stuff while I was there. Then the next 4 running with villains is where I started figuring it out, and the last 4 in prison before the SDN popped in.”[/color] A weight settles on him as he speaks. [color=mediumpurple]“I was just looking to feed myself and that’s a slope more slippery than you'd expect.”[/color] He gets a little more quiet after that. His mention of SDN was soft, an appreciation for the phoenix program.

[color=gold]“Fuck. That’s….rough. You spent a lot of time behind bars. Like…..shit. I can’t believe how much.”[/color] The response was not one Lightning Girl expected. It was strange to pivot from mastering to him nearly killing someone with a tennis ball. A black sort of humour, but, it wasn’t intended at all. Shit…..ah well!

Turning a little, the lights and the display of the carnival were ahead, even in daylight, a tiny glow. [color=gold]“Sorry to hear it. But, you’re here now. It’s….good you have an opportunity. And it sounds like you’re doing well with the team, so, hopefully it’s a new leaf. I find it’s best to focus on the future. Past’s the past. You’re with us and you are good at what you do, Asteroid.” [/color]Lightning Girl was not always the brightest, but she was a ray of hope, at least, she tried to portray herself as that. 

She gave a beaming smile to him, and while Lightning Girl was not perhaps infatuated with him, platonically, there was this warmth and buzz to her that would make him certainly feel like there was a part of her that cared. A big part of that was being filled with electricity, that heightened everything she was, to an nth degree, but it felt sincere. It felt like it made her more grateful for never being in prison, never going down that path, being good. 

Asteroid smiles- surprised by the compliment. [color=mediumpurple]“Just gotta make sure the past wants to stay in the past.”[/color] He mumbles that bit to himself before more loudly clarifying. [color=mediumpurple]“Honestly- LG? Is LG okay? That means a lot coming from a bonafide superhero like yourself.”[/color] His voice takes on a teasing tone at ‘bonafide superhero’. [color=mediumpurple]“You’ve definitely been an influence on me getting my shit together. They put you, Brainbook, Blonde Blazer, and Quickdraw in all the promotional material for the Phoenix Program.”[/color]

Lightning Girl giggled, nodding. [color=gold]“No problem, Asteroid….that’s gonna power me and my ego all day! Bona-fide superhero…..you are trying to make me blush. I’d almost think you were trying to chat me up if you weren’t talking about…..yeah. And the promo material, yeah I…..still can’t believe that happened. She is amazing, by the way. Like every story you’ve heard about Blazer, believe me, it’s true, she’s endlessly sweet. I didn’t actually meet Quickdraw for the shoots but I did see him the other night and he is everything you think he is too. They say don’t meet your heroes, well, definitely do…..”[/color] She stopped herself, catching her breath, it suddenly sinking all in. Holy shit. Yeah, that happened. That face of hers on a billboard. The photo shoot. Oh, yeah, of course. Quickdraw.

[color=gold]“And LG is fine.  I can’t believe I ended up with a name this long either. But what you see is what you get…..girl who spews lightning. Woman would be more…..I dunno, more age appropriate now? Corporate? Not sure.”[/color] She chuckled, blushing a little, catching her bearings, thinking about his comment. [color=gold]“But yeah. Anytime. It’s not easy doing this but you’ll be one too. That’s up to you.”[/color] She didn’t have words of inspiration like earlier, but, she put the ball back in his court, with something small at least.

[color=gold]“Man that was a crazy night of work…..and the drinks….”[/color] She reflected, thinking back to all of it. Quickdraw, the night at the bar….Tsunami…..and the chaotic dispatches between them.

[color=mediumpurple]“Yeah- I’m not a light weight by any means but I was certainly at my line.”[/color] Clearing his throat for a second, he decides against telling LG that Blackstar flew him home that night.[color=mediumpurple] “But- yeah about Tsunami- do I need to sync up with Eclipse on how to get rid of her or?”[/color] Jet’s tone is very clearly joking, and he’s ready to back down at the first sign of LG being uncomfortable. [color=mediumpurple]“I mean- you probably can take care of it yourself. I just assume he and I could make it happen, with a- more practiced hand?”[/color] Damn- weren’t they just talking about how he was a superhero now? He had a lot of doors to close behind him still it seems.

Lightning Girl shook her head, gently on approach into the carnival. Her reply felt uncertain, the first time maybe Asteroid would notice it. The usually bubbly, confident, assured, almost totally set heroine didn’t completely have it all together in that moment. 

[color=gold]“Oh yeah, that. Uhh….you don’t have to. I get it’s…..honestly, it’s fine, and I suppose I needed to calm down. I guess I overreacted when James got hit. He used to dispatch me back in London. If he hadn’t have moved, I’d probably put myself in prison if I did what I did next. Or worse.”[/color] She covered for the fact that he was actually her brother, which meant it wasn’t a lie, not really, but, not quite the entire truth. And she wasn’t the best liar, but, she was good enough to be economical with what she said. She let Asteroid sit on the fact he thought he was a villain trying to turn page, more than what she was trying to cover. Another small, white lie to add, but one that greased any wheel of any human truth. 

[color=gold]“And Tsunami I guess hates my guts because I hit her with electricity when she was chasing a perp that I tried to stun. And water scatters voltage. So……yeah. It wasn’t my intent but I guess she wanted to see if she could fuck my career over. Any infraction, Asteroid, and I don’t get suspended, I possibly get deported, if you can’t tell from my accent, I’m not a local. And while I miss home, I like LA a lot more than Manchester.”[/color] Lightning Girl opened up a void she hadn’t expected to, the stakes of it all completely sinking in as she said it out loud. [color=gold]“SDN paid me to come here and I guess I couldn’t say no to the dream of being a hero in LA so I guess she used that against me. Even pissed she knew what she was doing..”[/color] She replied, sighing, the wind taken from her sails. She was open about that. She was a corporate heroine, no doubt about it, it was just what people like her with powers that she had would do. What was the alternative? Work for the local electricity distribution board? In a world that had a few heroes in it, it made sense that those with powers, used them for some sort of good. At least, where they could.

[color=gold]“Heroes don’t start fights, they end them, Asteroid. Or some cliche like that. It’s fine. Honestly.”[/color] She smiled, brushing it off as best as she could, wanting to gently move the topic away.

[color=gold]“Anyway…..how did you get your name, Asteroid?”[/color]

Sensing that she wasn’t going further- and having way more information than he already knew what to do with- he pivoted as well. [color=mediumpurple]“Uh, marketing?”[/color] He laughs a bit. [color=mediumpurple]“Somebody said that when I jumped I looked like a meteor shooting through the sky- but then somebody said ‘meat-eater’ I knew that wasn’t going to cut it, kids, ya know.”[/color] He’d had a nightmare about a bunch of teenagers making jokes at his expense. That was technically before he’d been let out of jail. Asteroid felt much more refined to him somehow.[color=mediumpurple] “I don’t know who threw Asteroid in the ring, but that felt right almost immediately.”[/color]

Lightning Girl chuckling would have sent a small pulse into him, like a cat purring blended with an electric fence, in her embrace, that close making her absolutely light up.
[color=gold]“Meat-eat-or……okay, there’s so many ways that joke goes!”[/color] She paused herself, clearing her throat, the white-haired, grey suited heroine getting back to being serious. [color=gold]“Asteroid seems way better. Gravity powers, black suit, yeah, that feels right. Dammit marketing are good. Most of the time. 80% of the time they get it right 100% of the time.”[/color] She giggled, a little less tension in her body than before.

[color=mediumpurple]“I will say- they do tend to skew towards Girl over Woman for some reason.”[/color] He thinks pointedly about Invisigirl from the original Phoenix Program. [color=mediumpurple]“Glad to hear it lands- I feel out of place without my helmet, but the gold embellishments kind of make up for it.”[/color] Feeling the warmth of her electricity he lets it carry him into just being himself- [color=mediumpurple]“These suits are really high quality- I have to admit I was worried they were going to outfit us in trash materials, but SDN really cares about how our suits work for us.”[/color] He points under his arm, knowing damn well from their position that LG can’t really see. [color=mediumpurple]“Like the breathable material here under the arms is just such a good touch.” [/color]

As the carnival comes into view, Jet’s struck by how nice LG really, actually is. One-on-one even more than in a group setting. He thought it was at least some part a show for the team- but no. LG was just- a really nice gal. [color=mediumpurple]“Next time we go to the bar, you and I should definitely do some karaoke.”[/color] It comes out before he can stop himself, but he can’t help hoping that maybe they could be friends in some capacity. 

Maybe Rey was really rubbing off on him- trying to make friends- how about that.

Lightning Girl did not have breathable material on hers. But then again, her suit was pre-SDN. Ballistic cordura meant her suit could take an awful lot of punishment, and giving her suit’s material a feeling of a soft, yet almost Hessian-like abrasive feel, a design made to last and magnify the silvery-like light grey. It meant that she was glad she had absolutely dosed herself in deodorant before the shift started, but also, stank of white-hot ozone rather than giving any impression to Asteroid that she didn’t have that luxury of his.

It was one thing they did spend money on. Dispatch computers, offices that didn’t have leaks? Ehh, mileage varied. She kept quiet on that, listening to him comment about karaoke.

[color=gold]“Well, maybe with a few more strong, hero-grade IPAs in me I might just sing like a songbird. Who knows. We’re almost there. I may have taken the scenic route. But, we’re still gonna beat the others, and, as far as I can tell, we were scheduled for 1:30…..James knows the others will be late if we weren’t sent straight away.”[/color] She giggled, teasingly, appreciating Asteroid’s demeanour. 

He was an ex-villain, but clearly, he wanted to move past what he’d gone through. That many years in prison? Holy shit, how was he not in a cartel, or some white supremacist after everything? She thought about all the documentaries her and James watched, it was…..harrowing. That many years in the clink and he still managed to be this normal. She wasn’t sure how he had done it…..even as a super, in a containment like that, keeping his sanity was an achievement and while she hadn’t really said it out loud, that aspect almost impressed her the most. He was functional for someone who had missed the prime of his life behind bars, and spent everything up to now causing harm, rather than help. And here he was, adapting to it like it was everyday. Sophie had a quiet respect for that. An admiration, and she was glad he was on their side because it would be so easy to give in for him and be bad, or even worse, resentful. Perhaps just knowing he was still human, still able to show his feelings, emote, be normal, that was something more important, almost more than his powers. No wonder Blackstar liked him. Sophie of course, had her eyes on someone else but in a strange, roundabout way, being Blackstar’s introduction to SDN and her port of call, felt it was nice to know Asteroid really was the real thing.

Jet cheered lightly at the acceptance, his track record for getting friends drunk at bars being what it was. [color=mediumpurple]“I’ll hold you to that.”[/color]

When they approach the ground, he taps on LG’s arm and attempts a sort of moon walk to the ground. He’s falling so quickly that it’s off time, and he stumbles to his feet haphazardly. [color=mediumpurple]“Thank you- that was much faster.”[/color] He stretches a bit, touches his toes, and looks around to take in the scenery.

Lightning Girl seems to elegantly drop down, as a few people point and the crowd gathers, Sophie of course, taller than most and pride of place, hands to hips in a classic, typical superhero pose. He takes her lead, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest.

[color=gold]“No worries, Asteroid! Now….we need to look good for cameras. People love a hero.”[/color]

A small crowd began to grow, as Lightning Girl waved, casually among the carnival street walking along, as ever, approachable and her usual pillar of strength, waving, black gloves on, the “safeties” to her power.

[hr]

[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Thursday
13:20
Dispatch Corner
SDN Claremont
[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Rubber Stamp[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[color=skyblue][center][h2][i][b]James Speight[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[@Auragreedia]

The shadowy figure scared James and the cat, who meeped, with paperwork in hand, vanishing away. That was fucking weird.

"Christ." James simply retorted, as he flicked back onto his paperwork.

He was getting alarmingly used to demons like that. He was gonna dissociate from reality at this rate, but, that was why he kept drinking tea. A Earl Grey a day kept the cosmic horror away.

He had to think about what Valerie had said. He waved to Matt as he walked on by with his mop and his bucket, spewing slush onto a nearby desk, holding back a chuckle as the sweet smelling ice was mopped up from the vinyl floor where carpet ran out. There was opportunity, but shit, she was terrifying. Would it be different? Really? Valerie would have to pull on some serious strings. SDN just didn't work that way, he reminded himself.

Flicking through papers to distract from that thought, his phone rang, as he connected it through to his headset, leaning back. The number was unknown, but then again, most were on his phone due to the sheer volume of calls he had to deal with. He had to put on his best SDN voice, even though, he wasn't really an SDN person.

"Hello, SDN Claremont, James speaking?"

"Hey, it's Officer Hayle, from Claremont PD. Is that James, James Speight, dispatcher by the way?" She asked, the voice relatively young, James had to guess she was not often a phoning officer, not an emergency dispatcher, she sounded operational. On the ground.

"Oh, hey. What can I do you for?" The fear hit James. Police. Fuck. Who on his team had gotten something wrong? That badly? SDN were insured, so had they killed someone in cold blood? Had paperwork not hit? Was James on the cuff?

"We've got something that we think we need to talk through with you. You're not in trouble." The voice reassured, realising maybe too late it had to.

James let the sweat go, breathing out, playing it cool. 

This was fine. He wasn't going to prison. Where he was probably going to get assaulted by at least two dozen villains on day one if they even remotely knew his line of work.

"Oh, right. Uhhh, sure, over the phone or...."

"No, is it....is it okay if we come by tomorrow morning? We had a few bits of follow up about a few villains we have in custody, I know we're meant to wait to next week for all the paperwork, but we did have some enquiries we hope you could help us with." She asked, as James took his pen and paper, scrolling through his laptop to his side, checking dates.

"Uhhhh.....yeah, we can do that. Does 11:30 work?" He replied, scrambling his Mont Blanc pen and clicking it on, scribbling over some old meeting notes with it. You didn't say no to the police. Not when they were your top contract you held.

"Yeah. Sounds good. We gotta go, but yeah, see you tomor..." The line went dead. James sighed when the disconnect sounded, as he put it aside, headset off.

What was going on? Earpiece back in. Okay, at least the song was good. And funny, in a way.....oh, fate had a funny way of hitting shuffle.

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcX2KTiqXMM]The Smiths- What Difference Does It Make?[/url]
[/b]

He had a mountain of work to do, as he looked to his side, and started taking folders and going through dispatch reports. A lot for Claremont PD, some for the city, some for insurers. All for him to fill in, because Kat needed help. She was rather busy on calls all day, so, James was more or less, left to it. 

With the gentle hum of a soundtrack, he clicked the pen twice, off and on, and started scribbling. Normally admin would do this, but, best he does one of these rounds of Dispatch Logs. He's already done the rest of the work he had to do this morning, so he may as well use the chargeable time he has to be busy. He knew no other mode.

Bit by bit, filling it all through. The hand getting cut off. The door getting damaged. The car registration.....god this was fucking mundane.

The dulcet tones of The Smiths weren't helping. But he just felt in that mood.

More paperwork. The ceramics theft. The specific one that was saved. The chess club. Okay, borderline waste of time, but they were subs and.....yeah. 

Classic 80s music wasn't stopping his existential error. And as the clock crept forwards, it wasn't like some people imagined. He wasn't bored, hoping the hours were gonna go.

It was that they did. They vanished, no sooner had he gone from one massive batch of paperwork which he cleared like a fucking ninja with a sword through bamboo, to another, time had just leapt forwards. 

And that caught him by surprise when he could see his face as the paperwork pile was put on a cart to his left.

He looked at the black mirror of his laptop, that had since gone into standby, and pondered his life over.

What was he doing? He stopped, and for a moment, actually took a moment. He walked through the office, at faces, people he didn't actually know. He hadn't introduced himself to them. In his relatively business casual clothing, he was just an anomaly.

A means to an end.

A person they called to fight fires.

Maybe Kat would find someone, just like Valerie asked. And Valerie would find him something else. Or Max and Sarah, the two fairly high level Directors within the firm, who worked in San Jose and New York respectively. The former was a former tech bro, worked at Google, Amazon once upon a time, while the latter actually had a career as Lamplight, a light-based power before choosing a retirement just like Kat.

God, it was so fucking easy for them. He knew they hated powers, but, they could retire. This was retirement for them. Doing good out there and being all powered, meant you could at least put your powers in some good here, and go at 50%. For him, he was at 90% most of the time. Walking through that office, filling his cup of tea with the kettle going clink, teabag in, pack of Bourbon biscuits nobody wanted in his hand, put back on his desk, this was it.

This was life.

His heroes were all dealing with trauma, or horror, or some other shit, and here he was, trying to get a permanent job not being a fixer, but at least, doing something. His phone would every now and then, talk about that startup Valerie mentioned. They tried to get him last month, but, they went with "a different direction". So for now, this was it. 

He reflected on a lot of it. He hadn't been totally honest to Sophie either. He was here because he felt alone. Fuck, he felt isolated, and going home was......an option, but was it? Really? SDN UK was at least civil, but the chance to progress was dead, and there was a long line of directors, and ex-heroes who would cart him out of a window. How did you compete with someone with an IQ of 180? How did you compete with someone who could read your fucking mind? How could you do any of it? 

It was better paid here, by an astonishing margin, and ultimately, SDN here had much bigger problems. That came with the territory. It was hard to be a villain when you had a free healthcare system, James joked to someone before he shut the fuck up before he would get beaten to a pulp by a guy with the power of a carnival strongman.

Oh yeah, they were at one. No messages or alerts. Good so far. Trackers were all there.

James almost felt alone in his thoughts, back at his desk, ticking boxes, crossing Ts and checking Is, sipping tea to remove thought like any good Brit might do. But he was in them too soon. Yeah. Heroes, they had it all. Maybe the Phoenix Programme, he felt truly sorry for them, but could he entirely? He'd booted people off, they were former murderers, carjackers, drug dealers, thugs, some of them simply pure fuckheads who hurt people and were now convinced it was in their best interest to avoid becoming a statistic in a prison system.

He did good by them. He had to, James wasn't exactly gonna bitchslap Payback no less he wanted to get attacked. She was doing what he would do in her shoes, but all that hate wasn't gonna disappear. And he had no control when he could tell them it was all done. They were just here like lackeys to the corporate system, here to earn a buck and then.....

Yeah, that black mirror in his laptop was looking a lot like it. What was he doing?

He hadn't met anyone. He was alone, constantly on the move, enjoying life when he had it but he wasn't settled. The money could have bought him a house with a serious deposit, but what was a house gonna do? Was it gonna fill a hole in his heart and head? This could all fall to shit tomorrow and he'd be on the next flight home. Or Sophie would carry him there. His own ego couldn't let go, but then again, he literally had no choice because he was on an SDN-provided visa. He kept his independent status, nominally, and sure, he'd consulted to local authorities, states, government, police, on hero management and interface. But SDN got the lion's share, and they sent him wherever it was they needed him.

It meant he was just the same as them. And maybe it was why he guessed, Payback understood him in that moment, or at least, was willing to accept it beyond all heroics. She was the one that stuck in his memory. Madcap, oh, he was just cooked. Guy was in need of padded walls and a straightjacket, and somehow, James wondered if that had already been tried with no success. The others, they just had flaws, even his sister, that much he still knew from working with her, but it was dawning on him that she was just trying to make it meet until she could figure it out herself. She couldn't return to herself. She had this and not much else. 

Fuck. It was strange, going through her and Asteroid's report of dealing with Pyress, given Eclipse hadn't done well. It was a decent fight. David versus Goliath stuff. Damn. Prison taught them how to fight literal fire with another, he thought to himself, as he went to the last bit of the form relating to Blackstar.

And there she was. She was cold, almost detached, but with the team, she was chirpy. Friendly even. Like she found home. James had something on her dossier, but not the full story. Some random guy had put her into touch with SDN, was it.....Jake, Jack? John? Someone, it was a weird one, but she was trained, competent as hell, for someone that fresh. She understood the game. And it was part of what he loved. Seeing someone like that get turned into a real trooper, he didn't just like turning the bad into good, but good into great. She had the image down, the feeling, all of it. A part of him hoped she'd melt, but as Felix woke, after being terrified of the shadow from earlier and mawed at his ankle, James brought him up, smiling, the kitten gleeful in his hands.

"God. You're enjoying the easy life. Can't say you don't deserve it." James chuckled, giving a gentle stroke, as the kitten gently purred, the teeny bit of cat food on his desk getting poured into Felix's bowl, as he popped him down, being extra careful not to run over his tail. Good on you, Asteroid, he thought to himself. Guy was an enigma to James, much as maybe Sophie had thought- he was far too polished, yet somehow, maybe that was just who he was. Some people kept their sanity in prison, but Asteroid must have had good people. Just best not to repeat old mistakes, and James knew that came from having plenty of distractions.

Another stamp into papers with a signature following, and the pile was clear. He sighed, just ending that train of thought about heroism. He was just a regular, everyday, average motherfucker with a Honda Civic and no discernible hobbies at 33, outside of walking aimlessly in the LA Canyons. He wasn't even some non-supe who had a suit of armour, or nanites, or the superpower that Technocrat had of being a grifting, tech-savvy, billionaire with more money than the Pope and Mormonism's equivalent rolled into one. Nah, he had none of it. And Feno got to be mindless, almost if he didn't have to think on any of it. Nor did Madcap. Eclipse? Eclipse was just someone he felt sorry for, it was hard to reason with a junkie, not one who knew he would be back on the sauce. Not that James was comfortable with the proposition he had.

And Sophie? He didn't know. She told him about Hollywood. That gala. And something about Quickdraw. But she seemed to go quiet. Was she trying to make a network in? Good for her, but.....a part of him hoped it was what she was looking for.

He finished up the next sheet from the smaller pile (his personal one), and sighed. Valerie was terrifying, but it would be worth it, he told himself. It would be. It had to be, or else, no doubt he'd be back in New York next week when some shit went down there for Sarah, or he'd be up in the Bay Area when Max decided he wanted to bring in another company SDN were eying up. For now, he had heroes that he had to manage, and so long as he did that, he could consider retiring early, or maybe, maybe, just doing something else when he had brain capacity for it. He could probably just get in at SDN at some mid level position, like Kat had, but....was that really enough? Or something more to plan for?

Right now, he had none come to mind. He just had to slog on through. 

[hr]


[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Thursday
13:31
Giggle's Carnival
Claremont
[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Fun and Games[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[color=yellow][center][h2][i][b]Lightning Girl[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueH3LRBtJDs]Jungle- Heavy, California[/url]
[/b]

At the carnival, Lightning Girl (LG) smiled, as she held onto the teenager's phone, putting finger to charging point.

"Okay, so watch this!" She says, and with it, the phone magically ratcheted up in battery, as he grinned in excitement, Sophie using her other hand to pass it back to him before she tazed some 12 year old, smiling as his parents smiled, LG giving nothing but a grin and her usual self, posing for a final photo with the kid's mother, before waving goodbye, catching plenty of attention in the main "walkway" of the carnival.

A group of college-age girls wave as she finishes, one of them approaching. Even with the name fuck up, which Lightning Girl was very, very annoyed about inside, her identity was well known enough. She'd been round the block in marketing, other posters, billboards, that she was established here. 

Enough that she wondered if any move in future would be a big no-no from the higher ups. She would absolutely fuck up that entire campaign. So when the college girls saw her, it was instantly recognisable despite anything else.

"Oh hey, you're the hero that saved us from Brick Frog and got us out of the dorms! Oh my god, can we get a photo with you?" One asked, as LG nodded, smiling with a grin as she nodded back.

"Yeah, of course!" Lightning Girl replied, as one of the others joked.

"I can't believe how many bricks he had!"

"Me neither! But you're the real heroes, you held him off that long!" She replied candidly, as the selfie flashed, catching Sophie with her white hair. And she meant that, given they didn't have powers, it was respectable. Brick Frog was one she'd hoped she would dispatch faster, or at least, hoped would have listened to reason, but he got a nasty scar for his trouble.

There's an air that she seems to be giving off. With a walk through the carnival, she waved to anyone and everyone she came across, for a moment, letting the rest of the team do their thing. The sunshine was out in full force, and she, felt, alive. 

Not a single cloud in the sky, and she was absolutely pinned in attention. Sophie wouldn't like this, but with current, all inhibition left. All that part of her that was socially awkward, instead, it just happened. She was just excitable. Happy. Nothing at all like the girl crying on a roof, because she fed on the social electricity that came through let alone the current in her veins.

Even if Sophie was burning like nothing, she could feel it even past her hair in her scalp, but nothing those rose-coloured cheeks plastered in SPF50 could hold onto for another hour, including the bit of her neck to her collar where the yellow stitching met a yellow and black bumblebee from home, as well as an SDN print on the side of her collar, the same that sat on her yellow hip-pack that was a little to her side at the moment. Sophie was a walking fucking billboard for SDN, as Lightning Girl, because she literally had her face on them too. Was this what Hollywood was like? They were there for show, and right now, she was here, not putting herself to her paces in truly hitting back as a hero. She almost liked it when she did. It felt tangible, real, but then again, this was a part of it. The reward for all the grit.

But, you had to start somewhere. And she could tolerate it more than most because after all, it was a reward. It was why she had an Instagram, as she snapped a picture of herself in front of a horse carousel, posing for camera, right between the gawks she got as a super-influencer would kick in from crowd, because she had more stuff to do. More business cards to give out, strangely, to dads and mums that were concerned, to just posing for cameras, in varying poses. From classic hero poses to goofy ones, she embraced it all.

She wasn't reserved, she didn't mind spotlight, but so long as she had power thrumming in her mind, in her veins, pulsing her heart like he wanted to rip out of her ribcage. She waved to a few more people, posed for selfies, and generally kept an eye on goings on. But nothing was. This was an easy gig. It was a bunch of kids and some clowns that were obviously, terrifying, but who the fuck over 12....in fact, under, didn't find clowns remotely terrifying? The only reassurance that Lightning Girl had about herself was that she had never been in a fight she couldn't win.

That was the problem. She stopped playing football as a kid because she became too.....well, when she got tackled, players literally recoiled off her. And that was a problem. It upset the applecart, and it isolated her. Made her literally unplayable. Alone.

Being told she was special, something extraordinary. Was she? There were plenty of heroes that were too. And in a world that seemed to look up to them, like a pillar of strength, vigilantes turned corporate, they were a slice of something that people wished they could have protecting them. Being made alone, together didn't help, it just reinforced she was this now. But in a strange way, little fazed her. Apart from doors. Or water. Or a lack of current. Or just a realisation that she was playing at something bigger than herself that she couldn't let die.

It was why she backed herself now. With enough power, she could fly all the way home. See Greenland and the giant ice floes, crash for energy in Quebec at a gigantic hydroelectric scheme, then fly across the Great Plains, stopping to grab juice at the Hoover Dam before one last run home. If she could do that, why not do this. Why not dream even higher....why not her? 

But Lightning Girl was thinking that white-haired, white and grey suited heroine that stood taller and more magnificent, from the look of a chrome mirror she caught, yeah, being told that and then living it was strange. It was like she had to. Physiology wise, she'd been shot, lasered, beaten the crap out of, fallen from height, all of it. And it didn't kill her quick. It should have, she remembered a few times waking up in hospital, but the wounds healed. The scars, that ran just below the collar of her neck that she felt with her fingers, never, ever healed. They stayed. She just needed enough energy and anything in her way became doable. Fixable.

And she was here. Why was she at a carnival, not in Hollywood? Wasn't that the original contract? Not even Long Beach? Santa Monica? 

Why was she thinking that? No, you're here to have fun, Sophie. You are literally paid to be here and just make stuff happen. And it's still the dream. Go play a....ah, that one.

Buzzwire! 

Okay. That one, that one was easy. Giant handheld wire, with a giant loop. The guy explaining it took her through it, and was one of the few who hadn't understood Lightning Girl's party trick.

"So, you've gotta move the wire up and down and get to here, without it going buzz."

Lightning Girl realised rather quickly, ah. The static from the field was interfering with her. She wanted to try something.

She felt a bit naughty, but, she saw the giant monkey sitting there looking at her, and realised, she was about to maybe veer into anti-hero. The right thing to do, Lightning Girl, would be not to cheat. It would be to play fair.

Nahhhh, fuck it. A thought of static and as she held the giant stick in her left hand, she felt with her right the EMP-like effect start to build, like a really, really, strong EM that would be completely the opposite to the polarity of whatever Payback had. She didn't need to use it, but, she'd shorted a room or two with it, killing every light through an effect that wasn't like a magnet, but killing their influence by drawing them into her. She was suckering, and pushing power out of her hand, and she kept it incognito, her ungloved right kept right by her hip.

The vendor looked confused, as he looked at his lighting playing up, a light dying as she swooped through. No buzz, no noise, and she had played mostly fair, but she wasn't certain she'd kept it off. The metal rod got to the end, and she popped it down, letting go with her right, smiling at the vendor, expectant.

That was very naughty. But, how did they know? How could you prove it? And also, James would LOVE this thing.

One giant cuddly monkey over shoulder, and Lightning Girl had begun her rampage of a collection of cuddly toys. 

A ball throw wasn't going to fall to her, though there was no way through that kinda scam, and she was a little too eager, which wasn't great when it needed finesse to sink the shots in. She chatted to more people, and gave out more business cards, posed for more photos, and carried on being that presence. 

But the Test Your Strength, with a giant iron and a big bell at the top, well, that was not one she could mess up. She conspired with the vendor, seeing his pile of Polar Bears was a bit high. And after a few kids had a go, she tried to make a big effort of it, theatric as ever, lugging the massive rubber mallet, to a crowd of kids that had failed to get it halfway. And she swung it as gently as she thought she could, aware that when she pulled down, the power pushed into her right hand would turn that thing into an anvil.

And it did. The mallet sent the iron dinging with a shrill, Sophie seeing it was still there and stuck. "Ah." She put a hand out to the vendor and stepped up, cape fluttering as she yoinked it out of the stuck position at the top, to lots of applause.

This rampage wasn't over.

And she spotted an immediate villain.

Tin Can Alley.

Oh. That one. That fucking scam. She remembered it as a 12 year old.

And she cried not being sure why it didn't work.

In a rare moment of pure, almost cold vengeance, she was out to end a 17 year streak of getting her ass handed to her by some funfair stall holder in Wythenshawe. She felt bad about earlier. But she was gonna make her young self right.

Walking up to the tin can knockdown, a bunch of them were throwing balls and trying to knock over tins, sometimes missing entirely, sometimes it hitting and the tins barely moving, as they were weighted heavily. She knew this trick. They glued one down, really tight. Then they went to the other so they won the part prize, rather than the gigantic cuddly bear that sat on the wall. The person behind the stall looked almost a little bemused by her presence, as she looked in, some kids not doing so well. 

"Hey, mind if I give this a go? I can show them it works, yeah?" She was toying with him. Oh, that thing was going.

She could see they hadn't prepared for this eventuality. He looked scared.

But he couldn't say no to LG, could he? It would make a scene. Otherwise, she might just zap them over.

It was a rare moment where instead of her powers, she picked up the baseball, and with an overarm throw, sent the ball flying, tried not to put too much effort into it.

And proceeded to send the ball through the tin and the entire pyramid, smashing all apart off with everything else, putting fist to mouth as the ball smacked through canvas and bounced through the other side, to the other through-route.

"Oops. But we know it works now, don't we?" LG chirped looking to the children that had failed at it, picking up the next ball, and this time, not throwing it with as much force. Which meant it stopped at the back tent wall, and obliterated the middle, with the last pyramid getting the same treatment. The guy would no longer be able to glue it down, not at least with the same adhesion as a day-old tin to table with Gorilla Glue That was now blasted into smithereens.

The owner realised the kids would probably realise what was going on if he protested too much, so played along, and with it, a gigantic teddy bear was in her hands, as she looked to one of the kids in awe, passing it down to the one who had just been unsuccessful. She who was over the moon, and ran to her parents, beaming and absolutely over excited, as LG waved, giving a nod before adding it to the her spare left hand. 

She was dual-wielding a monkey, a polar bear, and.....before realising she also got the other prize for 2/3. A giant panda bear. She juggled a bit, and that went into right hand, and the monkey over her shoulder.

More pictures followed and they would contain LG smiling at audience with kids, parents, teenagers, and other carnival goers, with her new 'friends' that spanned the cuddly animal kingdom.

Aww. Okay. There was one person she needed to get this to. She could see her just down the way.

One certain black and white hero. Princess would have also been perfect, but, Blackstar just happened to be there.

But first, important stuff.

Very.

"Can I get two cotton candies please?" The vendor nodded to Lightning Girl as she shuffled forwards in the queue, others talking about her and trying not to stand on her cape in the long grass, getting stomped down by people moving forwards.

Elevator hold music played in Sophie's head as the two sticks were filled up. One dip, another dip. Perfect. She had to now, somehow swing two cotton candy sticks into one hand, which meant that Lightning Girl was now three cuddly toys deep and two cotton candies heavier than before, which flying did jack fucking shit to help, as she walked across with a monkey's foot nearly in her way, approaching Alaine.

No more distractions, time to actually go catch up with another person.

"Cotton candy?" She asked the black-suited, white masked hero, offering out a spare stick, and then, with a spare hand, offering out the panda to Blackstar.

"My new 'friend' reminds me of you with that mask. All yours......I think I shouldn't play funfair games, Blackstar. I'm beginning to think I am a little bit overpowered compared to the last time I was at a funfair when I was like, 12. Or carnival. Sorry, forgot it's different over here!" She giggled with her usual Britishisms, a sarcastic little jab about Blackstar's mask and the Panda's eye patches, but she meant well, standing close to her with a watchful eye on the funfair, a smile back to Blackstar. She was lovely. Shy, maybe a bit brooding, but she seemed to be getting used to this bit by bit.

"This is nice. Makes a nice change from being on the beat. And I mean, worst crime that is being committed is people getting scammed out of money by vendors. This one's for James. Cos.....he's big monkey behind a desk. And the bear is for......actually, where is Hat Trick? I hope he hasn't fought one of these. Big Canadian. Hah. Don't worry, I gave away any other cuddly toys I came into touch with, and Petey the Polar Bear may still find a home!" She pointed up at the Polar Bear on her shoulder, just casually the size of her head and shoulder being lugged around. Maybe a bit of an awkward sweeping statement, but being talkative, she didn't exactly go chill. But still, the thought was what counted, she reasoned, and well, she could guess it would be a better prop in her hand than her overloaded soft toy collection she currently wielded.

Of which she was unashamed to have a small one at home. A giant crochet llama that she'd worked on for like, six months among other crochet animals. Ah yeah, Blackstar.

Without that bottom half of her mask, Blackstar was certainly pretty, so it made sense Asteroid would naturally pick her out. And so far, James had nothing but good things to say about her performance. Even if Blackstar seemed a little less than enthused back, but of course the team weren't going to be at their boss. Sophie was biased, she had to admit that herself, it would take time. But she could at least look after the newbies of the team, and so, from what she gathered of Asteroid's intent, she knew that Blackstar would be safe, and would be okay if anything happened there. She didn't want to of course ask what Blackstar's story was nor anything to do with Asteroid, even the bits he gleaned from the gravity based hero. Nothing about what was going on, why she was so secretive, so all she could do was make her feel comfortable and like Asteroid, make her look forwards to the future.

"How are you getting on? Do you want to...."

Another group of kids ran over before she could even finish that sentence.

"Oh wow, it's Lightning Woman! And Darkstar!" They shrilled, as Lightning Girl had to bend down from her height, kneeling down, a grin on her face.

"Hello! Actually we're.....oh it's okay. Want to take a photo?" She smiled, cape nearly at contact as she stood up, standing beside Blackstar, grinning for a photo, that classic, iconic look, gloves off to give sparks, which Blackstar would feel gently in her shoulder, the sparks lighting them both up under the ferris wheel. 

Lightning Girl is absolutely making the most of the carnival. She is loving every second.