SonnetNSunbeam

Hello again!

Hello! Welcome to the guild! What books have you been reading/games have you been playing?

Majestic Site Bravo

Hope you can find a good partner for this! Sounds interesting!!

Dungeon Crawler Carl: Twin Suns

Good to know! None on the top of my head but if something new and creepy is coming up, I'll try to tw it at the beginning maybe.

Your descriptions are just fine! Like I said, just don't linger too long on the grotesque and I'm good. Hell I wrote about the janitor and a gnarly decomposing body lol.

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I like her items too! The crown of overflowing chalice is really neat, and I love the Outlaw's grit ability.

I'm in love with Loralie's shield lol. I can't wait for NPCs to start dropping!

As far as Zoe- I think she's been a little mysterious in your writing so far, but that kind of plays into who she is? Also- I think as her and Hannah's relationship changes and plots ebb and flow, we'll see a lot of different stuff. Also- you've been taking on a lot of the dungeon rules exposition- which is really important- but also takes time! Can't wait to see how they change more!

Me too! Seems like Zoe and Hannah are kind of crushing it to be honest, which is a nice FOIL to Loralie absolutely being off her rocker. She's kind of playing a bit more 'mad'(crazy) than I'd originally intended, but I'm gonna keep morphing it here toward the anger angle. I'm not used to tapping into those emotions really- so it's new for me, so I'm really glad it's landing for you!

You're doing a crazy good job at getting the rules of the dungeon laid out, and I'm really thankful! Hopefully it doesn't feel inequitable at all- just let me know if you want some help/etc!

As always having a great time here!

Dungeon Crawler Carl: Twin Suns

Not sure what possessed me to stay up so late working on this- but posted earlier than anticipated!

Dungeon Crawler Carl: Twin Suns

L O R A L I E & S H A R O D

pre6 days, 20 hours and 26 minutes and counting to floor collapse post6 days, 19 hours and 42 minutes and counting to floor collapse Floor 1 Viewers: 0 | Followers: 0 | Favorites: 0

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These five spiders are the toughest they’ve faced yet. Loralie and Sharod work to rinse and repeat their technique. It’s only partially successful- two of the skating arachnids bowl over the top of Loralie’s shield. The other three have just enough time to divert their paths. Two go around either side of the shield and the last stops in front of the shield. It lets out a low hissing sound.

Sharod is ready to intercept the spider on the right of the shield. Loralie attempts to intercept the left with her machete. She cleaves one of the skates from its body before it’s on her. ”We might be taking out the top team here.”

”Now there’s definitely going to be a bigger fish.” Sharod’s blood cools at the image of Obi-Wan Kenobi sitting in an underwater transport being chased by a bigger fish, to only be saved by the appetite of an even bigger fish. He shivers. It feels like his life- running from the injustices of his entire life, upon his family, upon his people. Only to be eaten by the bigger, more devastating and disgusting alien media empire.

It’s disgust that powers his punch to the spider’s face. The blade of his knuckles cleaves it in two. Crack- just like a crab leg, the exoskeleton splits. Its internals are pierced immediately and the spider emits a kind of squeal, falling dead. On his left, Loralie is hacking limbs from spiders as they approach. The pair use her shield to cover them from one side of combat.

It takes a few minutes- and some minor wounds, but they survive. “It’s weird you haven’t keeled over yet.” Back in Harrisburg Loralie would sometimes sneeze and feel faint. It had to be an aggressive one, but it’d happened enough that the effort from her body was entirely unexpected.

Loralie had noticed, and forced it down into a box. What if it was just a good heart day? Could she have good heart days?

Horror- what if the dungeon didn’t kill her at all. What if her disease did? Suddenly the thing that brought her so much sadness shifted inside her. It coiled up and snapped like a snake. Turning to Sharod- ”If I do that takes Hannah out too- right? You’re an asshole by the way.” Loralie knocks into him before digging into another rollerskate for the spider’s inventory. Not much to work with, but the experience they gain is nearly enough to get them to Level 3. Nearly.

”For what, pointing out the elephant in the dungeon? Loralie- I carried your ass up the stairs for a month after you fell and busted your head open on the stairs. I think out of everybody-” A pointed look- ”that at least gives me the license to acknowledge it.”

A skate flies through the air, falling short of his shins. Loralie’s strength is infinitesimal from her lack of being able to consistently exercise. ”Okay- that’s crazy. You’re not acting right.” Sharod approaches Loralie like she’s a scared animal.

”You don’t have license for anything just-because you took care of me. Are you hearing yourself? She stalks up to him and shoves a finger into his chest.

”Are you hearing me?- Lor I’m asking about your health because I don’t know what is going on in this place either!” Sharod’s voice raises to meet her where she’s at. ”You forget, I can’t read your mind Lor! I only know what you tell me here, so tell me. Is this space magic keeping you upright, or are we going to have to be prepped for you to lie in bed for an extended amount of time tomorrow.” His eyebrows are drawn together, and his chest is rising slightly faster than normal.

His statements momentarily stun her. But when she returns to her body, she launches herself at him. Loralie attempts to knock him to the floor, but he catches her wrists and shakes her. ”Man if you don’t get it together- right now.”

Sharod presses a button in his HUD, and a healing spell is applied to his friend. It doesn’t seem to have an immediate impact until her eyes well with tears. ”We, k-k” she gets stuck on the ‘K’, shivering for a moment. ”killed somebody Shar. How are you keeping it together right now?

He releases one wrist and pulls her into a hug. ”Because for it to mean anything, we have to survive Lor. For anyone to remember her, we have to live.” She sobs quietly for a moment, and then when he releases her she’s stopped.

The bottom water lines of her eyes are blood red when she fixes her gaze on him after. ”No. I don’t think my heart is going to be a problem for me anymore.” It’s quite, and Sharod only nods in response. ”Okay- lets work on that level three then.” She sounds resigned, the foreign burst of anger coming from a well she never knew she had. The look on Sharod’s face when she threw the skate sticks with her. It’s not that it was Sharod that is making her feel this next thing. As she unwraps the bubble wrap on this new source of anger, she’s surprised to find that it makes her feel secure in her ability to be taken seriously.

That maybe- she should be a little more angry. Under her breath she says something that she maybe eventually would come to regret- ”If they’re going to kill me- it’s going to mean something.” That nail in the coffin didn’t feel so sharp then- but in the future. It would.

---

Sharod keeps them moving. He spots a Wingsnob in the distance. Shouldn’t that be- Wingstop? Maybe it’s a dungeon thing. ”Didn’t think we’d have boneless chicken wings for cafeteria food down here.”

The blonde saddles up to the counter and just blinks at the creature behind it. It’s a gnome? Sort of? He introduces himself as Maxlo, begrudgingly explains the deal with the saferoom. They sit in the cafeteria and eat for a moment in relative silence. Sharod gets some soda named “Squarberry Squish”, while she gets “Bzarker Cola” which she runs back to poor out pretty much immediately. It’s enough trying new stuff for her for now- so she settles on water.

When they finish up- they rent and pop into their rental hall room they rent. Sharod jumps out of his skin when Igva is waiting on the other side of the door. ”Certainly took your time, you missed the other girls by just a few minutes. Let’s get through your boxes- and then you’re right back out there.”

New ACHIEVEMENT! – Loralie Last Limb Standing You cleaved a skate clean off a spider mid-charge. That's either very skilled or very lucky. We're leaning lucky. REWARD! Silver Butcher's Box Contents: 1x Cleaver (upgrade from machete — slightly heavier, slightly more satisfying), 1x health potion

New ACHIEVEMENT! – Loralie Riot. Five of them. Hollywood Undead. You survived the mosh pit. Did you even like this song before today? Reward: Gold Mosh Pit Box Contents: 1x Setlist Bracelet — Passive: When you take damage from 3 or more enemies in a single combat, gain +1 to Strength for the remainder of that fight. Stacks twice.

New ACHIEVEMENT! – Sharod Qui-gon was right. There's always a bigger fish, Obi-Sharod Kenobi. Trust the force, you should. Reward: Silver There's Always A Bigger Fish Box Contents: 1x Sonar Ping (consumable — reveals all enemies in a 100ft radius for 30 seconds. Single use.), 1x health potion

Dungeon Crawler Carl: Twin Suns

Heyo- sorry I haven't jumped back in yet! I've been working on this and will be hopefully getting something posted tomorrow!

It's been a little while since I read the first book, so I'm okay with how you wrote them. Maybe we could upkeep a little micro description about stuff like 'places' too?

LOVE the bit with the sodas- it was really a good touch. I'd be interested to see if someone got a soda media deal or something. I'm thinking of like Taco Bell promos with stickers of the crawlers in their 'powered up' hero poses haha.

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Omg! Glad to hear you like them, I wish I'd known so I could dodge it for ya lol! I'll leave these silly guys as my only arachnid variety. Any other things we should maybe avoid? I'm not down with super mega body horror (short bursts are fine! - but I don't wanna hear about how eyeballs melt for more than 1 sentence ya feel- which I once got a full 6 sentences of that from my library bargain bin oof).

Yo a slushie themed monster would be very cool. Purple could be acid ie: pokemon even lol. You could even sponsor some of them to be like your soda situation hah. Us planning a marketing campaign for alien space soda that doesn't exist rofl.

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As long as you let me know if we go longer than a week without a post- I'm chillin' :) Not going anywhere here. This RP does require more brain on average for me to write though- which is why I think I've been struggling with speed here haha. I'll try to pick up the pace once we get more into the interpersonal/plot stuff rather than the mega mechanics building we have to do first.

Red tagged entities (Monsters, NPCs, and Crawlers) can no longer see your HP bar!

I thought this bit of and this item was interesting, wanna see what Hannah does with it!

Pines Holler [Not Accepting]

Recent Flashback @ Smokers Paradise Smoke Shop - Interaction: Mollie | Collab with @Moon Child
Clark's General Store - Interaction: Silvester | @Pumpkin Jackdaw

“Hey bitch! How’s it been?”

The familiar greeting from a friend brought a smile to manager Mollie’s lips. The young woman had sought employment at Smoker’s Paradise two months after her husband’s passing, desperate to find a distraction from the grief that had consumed her for those eight long weeks. She had risen through the smoke shop’s ranks rather quickly, proving her trustworthy and responsible nature to the owner within the first six weeks of her employment and getting promoted to manager as of two months ago.

From the opening day of Pines’ new establishment, the young father had been a loyal customer of Smoker’s. Initially, Lee and Mollie had limited themselves to exchanging polite pleasantries and limited conversation to whatever requests the man had. But with enough frequent visits, time passed and rapport built, the two’s casual relationship had grown into a genuine friendship. Nowadays, Mollie actually looked forward to Lee’s visits. They were a welcome distraction from the grief and chaos around her.

“Hey, Lee,” Mollie greeted the man from behind the counter with a welcoming grin. “Will it be your usual today, or are you in the mood for something new? We got some new product in yesterday that’s really good. I think you might like it if you’re in for trying it out!”

The speakers play Crazy Train by AC/DC and he starts bobbing his head and grooving to the beat. “This one is definitely on my repeat list lately! Good taste, girl.” he smiles a big toothy grin. He holds up an arm for a side arm hug over the counter, which the blonde happily reciprocates.

Mollie’s chuckle filled the air. “AC/DC was one of Kent’s favorite bands, so I play their music whenever I want to feel closer to him,” she explained, copying Lee and bobbing her own head to the rock song playing across the small store. The sound of the vintage band’s song blasting through the Pines Holler silence had always been a sure way of knowing when Kent was in the vicinity or when he’d arrived somewhere. When the grief started to rear its ugly head, the young woman played one of their songs to find comfort within the familiarity of the beats and the lyrics. “How are things, though, hun? How are Sally and your mom doing?”

As she talks, he digs through the bucket of cheaper lighters looking for a yellow one. But as he digs, it starts to feel like maybe he’s sold her out of them already. Maybe he needs one of those retractable lighters on a badge clip, a frown filters over his lips. Lee notes the Kent mention but rather than ask he chickens out. Instead, he makes a mental note to ask later. He files it with post it #12 saying the exact same thing.

“Mom’s alright- getting worried about her knees, but she’s been happy to have Sandy mostly home for the Summer. Sandy- she's smart. Taking Summer classes for extra credits.” The last part of his statement is lower- even so he’s unable to keep the wavering from his voice.

Clearing his throat, he changes the subject. “How are you holdin’ up?” He turns to pick out a tab of papers from the shelf behind him, and then pulls out cash to cover it. He leans on the shelf beside the corner, knocks something over, and just barely catches it before it hits the ground. A soft apologetic laugh escapes him.

Mollie was quiet for a second, thinking of the best way to answer Lee’s question. “It’s… It’s getting better,” she admitted with honesty. “There are days and there are days, like anything else. I’m just trying to keep my head u–”

Before she could finish her sentence, every electric-powered item and device in the room suddenly shut down. “Goddamn it…” she muttered under her breath, brows furrowing in annoyance. Another power outage. How lovely! Leave it to Pines’ shitty electric grid to ruin what otherwise could’ve been a perfectly good day of sales. ‘This never would’ve happened in Vegas…’ Mol found herself thinking before she could stop herself.

When the power goes out, he feels his anxiety ratchet up a full click. “You gotta be kidding me.” His hands rise nearly to his face before they softly slap down to his thighs. “Every goddamn time.” It’s pure exasperation.

The air around them begins to still and he looks up to refocus on his friend. “Want me to grab ya a bag of ice from the gas station?” He’s gotta grab some for Ma anyway, plus some just in case for Clark’s.

“That would be amazing, thank you!” Mollie answered, sighing gratefully. She was sure Dallas would appreciate the gesture back at the house, too.

“Alright- be back.” On the way out the door he chastises himself for not asking about Kent again. It had been a door wide open, and instead of taking it, he’d cowered at the entrance. Just like always.

When he returns with the ice, he’s worked up the courage for one thing though- “Hey, Sandy’s Gran is having family dinner again at our place next week sometime.” He sets the ice beside the counter entrance, and slowly backs up toward the door. “Open chair if you’re interested.”

He’s hoping she’ll come to the family dinner, and that will prove he cares. Yeah, action over words right? Lee can maybe do that.

The blonde’s face lit up with a bright smile at the warm invitation, and she was quick to nod her acceptance of the kind offer. “Sure! Just let me know the details and I’ll make sure to be there.”

Lee nods to her before heading out the door in a hurry- a tiny win for today.

---

Inside Clarks, Lee was sweeping their limited produce section out of the display racks and shoving them into a cooler. He’d preemptively packed the bottom of it with ice and added a layer of cardboard. It was a relatively fast task, but he was going slowly so as to not bruise the tomatoes or greens from the local farm they just got delivered.

He’d been working here for most of his adulthood. It’d been basically the same thing every Summer. Clark trusted him at this point- which was very much not the case when he’d been a punk ass kid that was barely 17. Lee was grateful to Clark. He took a chance on a teen dad.

It’s when he’s moving the last tomato, he leans up to see someone walk into the front door. The sign is flipped to Closed, but Lee recognizes him immediately. Silvester. Owner of Belasco's Antiquaries- he was close in age to Clark- and he noticed they occasionally caught up. Lee thought he had the kindest smile in town- so of course he developed a micro-crush on the man. It was pretty common for Lee to crush on people based on just the way they treated others.

But it wasn’t just that with Silvester- Lee thought he was handsome handsome in the same way his Uncle Jack used to say was ‘classic’ before he moved to the city.

Lee was happy to see him around. Quickly heading over, he unlocks and holds the door for Silvester. Extremely aware of the heat that began to creep into the store, he fans the bottom of his shirt away from his stomach a few times. The synthetic fabric sticks to him each time and it rides his shirt up a little before he pulls it back down.

“Hey- been a minute- store’s closed since the power’s out. Are you looking for Clark?” Lee’s voice is creeping into customer service voice territory. “If you’re looking for something, I can still check you out with cash?” Conscious of the tension in his shoulders, he tries to shake it off as he heads for whatever Silvester asks for.

If Clark is coming out, or Silvester has a few items he purchases- Lee attempts small talk over that interaction. “So- any new finds lately?” Lee’s never been into Silvester’s shop. The idea of being around so many breakable objects freaked him out. Expensive objects to boot.

“Know anybody trying to get rid of one of those dorm style beds that is lofted, or a futon?” Since Sandy got older, Lee started sleeping on the couch in the living room. His Ma was pressuring him to find a more sustainable solution. He figured without floor space, he could always get something lofted or foldable. “Only so much room in the trailer-” he jokes, puffing out a laugh that is mostly air.

Dispatch: Heroes of Claremont

T H E G A L A X Y I S A
H U G E T A R G E T

_{Alternatively titled: Murder Bathroom, Torture Basement
Collab with- | Madcap (@Auragreedia)| Eclipse (@Auragreedia) |}

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The employee’s only room Madcap found himself was a stale, empty bathroom. He kicks a few stall doors open, searching for something—what exactly, he wasn’t sure—but he was looking for something, and that was enough of a reason to search. A bang echoes throughout the hollow bathroom, each and every faucet turned on at the same time, toilets flushed one after the other as if he’d unlock some kind of secret room so long as his timing was right.

It’s silly, really, to think that a villain wouldn’t be hiding some sort of evil scheme within the confines of an innocent carnival. All the glitter and crappy carnival food was just a distraction—it’s a classic villain scheme! He’d do the same if he was… Giggle, the evil clown balloon on all the advertising and merchandise! It was only natural, really.

Madcap slams his fists against a cool wall, aimlessly scratching the back of his neck as he scans the bathroom once again.

Jet is on the other side of said wall, and the initial bang is enough for him to stumble back a few feet. What in the world? He notices the employees only sign and the hairs on his neck rise. He does one lap around the building and decides to chance it. Worst comes to worst he can say he was hiding from children for five minutes.

He twists the knob and finds himself staring into a creepy bathroom. “Okay- definitely a murder bathroom.” Asteroid whispers, before checking over his shoulder to see if anyone followed him in. It's a rookie mistake, really.

Gloved hands claw into the fabric of Jet’s costume, a bug-eyed face stealing his sight. “STAND DOWN, VILLAIN!” Thrashed around like a broken doll, it takes a few seconds for Jet to be released.

A higher than his normal range- sound escapes Jet's mouth “Aaaaa! What the hell dude? Are you subbing in for whatever murderer usually works in this bathroom?” Jets face is beet red, his chest is heaving, and he's taken a step back defensively.

“Oops, sorryyy, it’s just you.” Madcap dusts his hands on his pants, and fluffs his pink fur coat afterward. “You see, detective Madcap has come to scope out the scene! And with his ever crafty assistant Asteroid by his side, there’s no mystery they can’t solve together!”

Jet questions the statement under his breath, “assistant?”

The fluff of his coat arm feels itchy against Jet’s shoulder. Madcap continues, raising an L shaped hand at the mirrors. “If we just flush the toilets all at the same time while the water is running, and spin around three times while chanting ‘giggles’ with the lights off, then we’re sure to uncover a clue! And maybe cool off with some of the fresh sink water before you do it.”

For a moment, Asteroid remains in the doorway, stunned. Think on your feet here, Jet. He takes slow steps after Madcap as he explains the process. “Okay, I'll get the left half, you get the right half, and we will see what happens.” The black and gold hero gets into position, ready to flush on command.

“Okay! On three, one, two…”

Jet is just hoping there isn't a hidden camera. How would he explain this to James, found Madcap out of reality in a bathroom? Just joined in for fun? No. He'd have to come up with something better. “Hey Madcap, what's the go-” but Madcap has given the signal and of course Asteroid is following the script.

“Three!” Madcap skips across the right half of the bathroom, sandals crashing onto flush levers with reckless abandon. “Bang, bang, BANG!”

“And SPINNN!” He reunites with Asteroid in front of the mirrors, the lights flickering off, an arm once again slamming onto Jet's shoulder. “And spin, and spin, and,” He keeps a steady rhythm—well, steady for nobody but himself—he skips a few beats here and there, perhaps causing Jet to stumble once or twice.

Mid-twirl Asteroid realizes he could have definitely flushed the toilets at once. It'd take some complicated math to target that many objects, each with their own handle tilt. But he could do it no problem. “Giggles-” he sounds very even keel, intentionally putting effort in neutrality.

“And—WOAH!”

On the third twirl, Jet loses his balance and knocks into Madcap, not too hard, but enough to fall up against the sink.

The sink Jet crashes into locks in place, a carefully disguised lever (though the logic there was about as clear as the carnival itself), and water spills out into shallow puddles on the floor. Madcap groans, the bottom of his clothes soaked as he picks himself up.

“No freakin’ way!”

A tunnel reveals itself at the end of the bathroom—a dim crawl space leading to… somewhere.

“The Mighty Madcap and the Astronomical Asteroid save the day once again!” He pumps his fist into the air. “Another win for teamwork—now get in there, and get exploring! I’ll be right behind you.”

Asteroid is shifting his weight, trying to test his shoes' water worthiness. Several questions start and stop. “What- Do- Are- Madcap what are we getting ourselves into?” He takes a few steps towards the mechanism and attempts to investigate its workings. The last thing he wants is to be trapped in a secret tunnel, and he's suddenly considering that Madcap may indeed shut him in there. Out of absent mindedness, or maybe confusion. But malice? He turns and evaluates the buzzing energy around his coworker. Madcap probably just means well, he takes a few steps down into the dripping tunnel.

Jet's boots squelch once and he nearly gags at the sensation of water seeping inside. Its stairs that lead down into a decrepit basement. Most of the floor is standing water, with a dry rise of cement leading forward into a few racks of boxes and storage.

But that isn't where it ends.

A tunnel is barely visible, and that wigs him out a little. Asteroid walked the perimeter of the building and this definitely leads away. “Uh- Madcap, all clear. But there's a creepy tunnel?” He swallows looking back up the stairs.

The light from the bathroom is blocked out as Madcap seals the exit, a click on the other side of the wall. For a moment, it seems Jet is locked inside, left to his own devices. That’s what happens when you trust a madman, at least, that seemed to be the case until the Great Madcap leapt down the flight of stairs–a triumphant splash and an awesome pose–you can’t beat that! Picking himself up beside Asteroid, he fluffs his coat once more, surveying the odd basement. “So, creepy basement and creepy tunnel… typical villain escape route.”

He jams his finger under a box flap and forces it open–just old employee aprons and various clown gear, nothing noteworthy. Some of the other boxes have scary masks and wigs inside, but they’re worn and dirtied with time, and from the general state of the basement, this wasn’t somewhere employees tracked frequently. This was probably worth reporting to SDN, the odd secrecy, the fact all the water on the ground screamed potential disaster, and even stranger, the tunnel that led further out of the premises.

And let SDN take all the fame? Yeah, right, as if he’d do something like that. Creepiness and secrecy aside, he can’t find anything incriminating. No hidden armory, no dead bodies, no hostages, no culprit, just a near empty and moldy storage room with an even stranger tunnel.

The puddle reflects the red light of his helmet’s eyes, and for a moment he wrings his fist. This would be a great place to kill someone.

“Or torture room.” Madcap adds lazily. He turns around and grabs Jet by the hand, leading him further into the tunnel–no turning back now. “By the end of this tunnel, the Magnificent Madcap presumes there will be action. Loads, and LOADS OF PURE, BADASS ACTION!... What happened yesterday, anyway?”

He didn’t clock in yesterday for personal reasons. Overslept, maybe. Something in his shoulder begins to ache, but he hides it with another smear of grandiosity. “‘Cuz I couldn’t make it, doing hero business and all. I’m getting back into doing vigilante work on the side outside of SDN.”

There’s a certain listlessness to his tone, a far contrast to the few other times Asteroid’s seen or spoke to him. It’s obvious he’s tired, or maybe just comfortable enough to let his mask down. Why, though, was beyond simple observation.

The mention of torture spikes Jets blood pressure. “Great- murder bathroom, torture basement. Just what every carnival needs.” His voice is slightly higher pitched, the scenario pulling him deep out of his comfort zone. He's not alone. Madcap is a loose cannon sure. But he's still a cannon. Even so, if he disappears, someone would look for him. Right? Rey comes to mind first of course, but Blackstar would probably find it to be weird first. And in the deep tunnel of the basement, he shakes away the warm fuzzies of being witnessed by someone, someone who'd notice if you were murdered in a murder bathroom.

“Yesterday? Seemed like a pretty normal shift. Minus James and you of course.” Jet isn't sure what to make of Madcap's vigilante comment. To some, the hero and villain space was black and gray, lumping everyone who wasn't clearly a hero into the villain bucket. Jet knows things like that are never simple.

Madcap keeps his head forward and lets out a playful quip. “Every day is boring without me! But that’s all I missed? Bummer… I mean, not really ‘cuz I was out saving the day for FREE, so…”

“Oh yeah? Anything interesting?” Jet's voice is at its normal frequency again, but there is genuine interest in whatever seems to power the man, larger than life, beneath the mask. “I used to get up to some more Robin Hood kind of stuff for awhile.” Somehow he thinks it's best to not go deeper on his part, especially with Madcap seeming more level in the dark damp basement.

“Huh.” Madcap falters for a moment, contemplating Asteroid’s previous statement. “Hm… steal from the rich, give to the poor… aw, man, if you were Robin Hood, why’d you quit? Such a cool motto!—What happened after the bar? I can’t remember.”

Jet stops at a point that seems like the material to the tunnel gets newer, or maybe is just better cleaned. “I might have gotten a little too inebriated, Blackstar had to give me a lift home. Saw that you were almost the only other one in the breakroom that actually can be hung over though, so we are kindred spirits for something.” Jet's tone is positive, as he tries to dig around in Madcap’s skull for a connection.

A long pause.

“But hey I know you aren't a fan of alcohol, maybe the next team builder can be something like laser tag. That'd rock.” Jet is a bit more rambly here than usual, excited by having been given an inch of whatever normal could mean for Madcap, but also bracing for blowback. It's an old muscle, being prepared for mood swings, but it puts him on edge. His father had been like that, ready to blow at a moment's notice. A bomb ready to thrash and injure everyone in the same room, mental or otherwise. The tension is visible in his frame, but he tries to hide it by investigating the seam of brickwork. Gray paint flakes off as he scratches at the division lightly.

“Laser tag is fun, but I’m only gonna play on the hero’s side!” Madcap drums a thumb against his chest. “A-team won’t need it though, ‘cause of the gala thing. All the heroes in California meet up in one place, and party, and stuff. I read it in the news, they’re gonna hold it here tomorrow.”

“You’ll go with Blackstar,” he muses aloud, “and I won’t be there ‘cuz heroes like me don’t need off days.”

Jet is opening his mouth to respond before he really thinks about the repercussions of his next statement. “Well I’m not sure it’s about there being an ‘off day’. I think it’s more about celebrating all the ‘hero stuff’ you did accomplish.” He stumbles through ‘hero stuff’ and then looks at Madcap leaving it at that. Stopping himself by realizing, maybe Madcap- being his pipebomb self, might not be the best in a ballroom full of heroes. For better or worse.

The eeriness of the tunnel begins to seep into both his and Jet’s skulls. Water drips from the ceiling, another splash as the two descend deeper into darkness. The room’s purpose is already clear to him, but he’s clouded by doubt as the tunnel comes to a sudden end–not for long, though. He reels his foot back and smashes through the wall with ease, perhaps coming as a bit of a shock for Jet considering Madcap’s smaller frame. He was strong and his presence made him feel larger than life, but standing next to heroes like Lightning Girl and Jet made him look childish in comparison.

Drywall dust is swiped from his clothes as he wipes his hands clean. The end of the tunnel, and arrive…

Into a horrifying fun house filled with raving teenagers and screaming children!

A gaggle of clowns run past, chasing a terrified child. The walls are coated purple and tainted with cobwebs, and a horrifying mummy leaps out from a distant painting, people come in and out of doors that all seem to lead to the same place–Madcap and Jet stand awkwardly in the middle of it all, both ignored and acknowledged by the overactive crowd as they’re promptly chased away. They looked as if they were just part of the attraction, nothing more, nothing less.

It’s obvious the way Madcap flinches as a group of kids run by after taking photos, fingers twitching out awkwardly as he takes a step back.

Two children latch onto Jet’s arms each. “Meat-eater! Meat-eater! We want to fall down too!” His pulse races and he watches his coworkers' fingers twitch. The room seemingly starts to fill with even more people- some children outside perhaps announcing their presence. Asteroid inflates a few orbees at his wrists and slips out of the children’s hold.

“Meat-eater…?” Madcap freezes. “Aw, man, I didn’t know you could do that!”

Jet nearly collides with a clown, who towers over him. Now would be a hell of a time for him to discover a fear of clowns. It’s sensorily overwhelming, and as someone who spent years in a gray box, it’s way too much.

“Come on-” Jet grabs ahold of Madcap’s elbow, pulling him over towards the side of the room. He aims for natural light, but realizes that in doing so, he’s pulled them into one of those mirror-clear plexiglass mazes. Either way, it’s better than being in the crowded disgusting fun room of energy. On their way in, he shoots an orbee out of his gauntlet- and once it hits its mark in the opening of the tunnel, he inflates it. Large enough that no child will be able to accidentally make their way through.

“Good enough for now.” He grumbles before pulling Madcap forward, hoping he’ll accept the uno-reverse from inside the tunnel. “Too many kids.”

“You don’t like them?” Madcap breaks his previous silence, reanimated now that he’s away from the crowd. “Well, I guess a villain’s a villain no matter what! I can’t be around them ‘cuz I’m too strong. My sister’s the same; she can’t transform and be around kids cause she might break their ribs posing with them.”

“But it’s the same with teens too,” he scratches the underside of his helmet. “And adults. It’s all the same if they’re normal.” His energy dissipates for a moment, a hint of his real voice coming out. “They’re all so weak.”

Madcap has timing, because Jet is confronted with a clear vision of himself just in time to hear it. It’s clear as day, and for a second he’s looking at his Dad in the mirror. The taller, greyer, and meaner version of his face. All without his mom’s kind eyes. It’s the first time he’s ‘seen’ his father’s face in five years. He feels like he’s five, ten, sixteen again. And that’s enough to light fire to the bottoms of Asteroid's shoes.

Lost in thought again. Madcap takes his time following Jet along the funhouse maze, staring absentmindedly at his distorted reflections.

For the first two or three turns, Jet looks like he knows what he’s doing. It’s when the panic rocks him that he loses that streak. “Madcap- what-?”

He dodges a mirror in front and goes left- instead of right- and smacks his nose into the plexiglass. “Shit- fuck.” His hand leaves Madcap’s, and both shoot to his nose, pressing on the sides. It stings, and he’s rolling up the bottom of his mask before he really understands what he’s doing. He stops at his nose, and in checking his fingers, he finds no blood.

“I hate these things.” The gravity is normally the sense Jet would trust in here, but the division of paths, and angles make the math too hard to grasp.

Madcap puts his hands over heads and wiggles his fingers while staring at a mirror before punching it down. His sandals crush glass. “And this is where the power of the Mighty Madcap comes in! If we can’t think our way out, then let’s just break our way out!”

He looks back at Jet, another mirror shattered, another newly made path to a potential exit. “And these mirrors are evil anyway, so no harm done!”

Asteroid’s jaw drops- and with his mask rolled up it’s very visible. The light from the exterior streams in, and he quickly rolls down the bottom of his mask. That- had to be property damage. Pushing them forward, he pulls Madcap along by the arm. “Since I know those mirrors were cheap, we’re dodging credit for breaking them. Come on-” Jet really needs this job.

“Waahey!” Madcap stumbles as Jet drags him along, though he could easily break out if he wanted to.

The heroes emerge from the mirror maze somewhere in the middle. A small child stares up at them in fear? Excitement? Jet can’t tell- he just knows they need to get out of here. The longer he stares, the more he is looking at a younger him. Madcap waves awkwardly at the kid and Jet side steps them. Rushing down the steps they duck behind a balloon popping game. It’s fully covered so it gives them space to lose the kids that may have been following them. A few darts hit the board and one balloon pops. Jet’s shoulders tense.

“Okay Madcap. What’s your favorite carnival snack.” Asteroid is business and his question sounds like a statement. His head swivels each direction as discretely as possible. Eyes searching for any potential followers.

“Huh?” Madcap pauses. “Uhh, cotton candy? Hotdogs, but corn dogs are nice too.”

He scratches the back of his neck. “I am kinda hungry after all that… I GOT THIS!”

In the distance, Madcap glimpses a corn dog stall, and promptly drags Asteroid along with him, forcing his way through the crowd. Another cluster of clowns, more kids, disgruntled parents—he spots Lightning Girl and the others in the crowd, but they’re blotted out with more and more clowns. So many clowns. Some look like juggalos, others look like classical circus clowns, but they all have the same clown balloon pin somewhere on their outfits.

The two make it to the corn dog stall in no time, and there’s a particular armored figure sulking in the back of it. A disgruntled employee takes the lead. “Hey—woah, Meteorite and Matpat! Love your videos—it’s just a game theory! Haha… you guys look kinda different from the ad,” they clear their throat. “What can I get for you two today? We got cheese corn dogs, normal corn dogs, mini corn dogs, all kinds.”

Madcap strikes a thinker pose, though his head locks onto Eclipse in the back of the stall. He nudges Jet. “Are you seeing this right now?”

Jet squints, looking into the back of the stall. The corndog stall worker is standing there waiting for an answer. “Uh- yep. What is he doing in there? SDN not paying enough?” He tries not to snicker at his joke but he does anyway.

Asteroid leans forward, fingers on the edge of the cart at around necklevel. It’s like a kid might, and the cashier calls out to correct him. “Hey man- can’t have you leaning on the window like that. Not even Meteorite can bend the window frames.” Jet blinks up at the man and then looks back at Madcap.

“2 regular corn dogs annnddd? I like mustard.” Asteroid asks Madcap before turning back to the cashier. The shining metal of Eclipse flashes again in the background.

“Ketchup!” Madcap chirps.

The cashier nods their head. “Alright, coming right up, just gimme a second.” They step to the back to prepare the corn dogs.

Leaning over, Jet whispers “do we want to mess with him?”

“Do it,” Madcap whispers back.

“Hey! Shiny bastard in the back-” his tone is bright and he hopes that it doesn’t spook the brooding hero. “Did ya get a new job?” The cashier does a double take and nearly trips over his feet toward the corner of the stall furthest from him.

A corndog dripping rack falls and about two dozen corndogs are falling to the floor. Some get underfoot, and the employee nearly falls to the floor. Jet’s covering his face trying not to laugh.

“Idiot!” Eclipse jolts out from his corner at the mess and digs his hand into a nearby shadow, tossing a blade at Madcap, who promptly catches it. “I was working!”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” Eclipse groans, moving the fallen employee out of the way and taking over, a shadowy tendril frying up two regular corn dogs as he takes the front. “Ridiculous. Why are you two even here?”

With the mask, Jet is happy to pretend their escapades in the tunnel and the resulting property damage never happened. Otherwise his very suspicious facial expressions would have given them away. “We just really wanted a corndog- we were helping with crowd control.” He’s laughing through a toothy smile. “How did you end up on corndog duty?”

“It was the darkest place in the park,” Eclipse taps his helmet impatiently, “then you fools ruined it.”

“Not our fault the cashier was clumsy.” Madcap shrugs. “I say, villain decoy! Great work seeing through an evil rouse, trusty assistant,” he offers up a fist bump to Asteroid.

He unclamps the bottom of his helmet, and strangely Eclipse is first to fill the silence. “You didn’t make it yesterday.”

“Vigilante work.”

“Really?”

“He wouldn’t fess up to me either” Jet jumps in but not too loudly.

“Interesting.” Eclipse says. “I never saw either of you as friends.” Except he might have, they did sing together in the bar, right? Or was it Hat Trick and someone else? He can’t remember anything from that night.

“Uh-” Jet sweats, “friends? Well- kinda I guess, sure.” He swallows- what’s the harm in it? Madcap was pretty fun to hang out with- property destruction aside.

“Friends, allies, associates,” he pauses, “stay in villain work long enough and you come to learn there’s no difference.” Jet tilts his head in acknowledgement.

Madcap gawks at Eclipse—the shadow tendril in the back dropping both corn dogs into the bug man’s hands.

“Whatever,” Eclipse hisses through his teeth, “just go, and leave me alone. There’s cleaning to be done.”

He says it with such vitriol that Madcap can’t help but laugh.

After spending the last while with Madcap, Jet can’t hold back a small snicker. But he also starts to reach out into the trailer for corndogs on the floor. He slides them all into a pile, hopefully making it just a little easier for Eclipse. As a last sign of good will and maybe an apology- he sticks a twenty in the tip jar.

When one lands in Jet’s hand a wilhelm scream can be heard from the SDN breakroom fridge. The loss of yet another beautiful meal prepped skipped to consume some kind of junk food. Regardless, the two find their way to a nearby park bench and take a seat, watching the crowd as they begin to eat.

Madcap glances upward, and with his mouthguard off, he can taste something in the air. He purses his lips and takes a bite of his corn dog. “You said we’re friends now?”

Jet has his mask rolled up to his nose- and stops just shy of taking a second bite to look at him. “Yeah man. We can be friends.”

“Then I pronounce you my new sidekick and best friend!” Madcap hugs Asteroid impulsively and motions at the crowd. Jet is as stiff as a board in his grasp. ”The Magnificent Mighty Madcap and his trusty and ever-so-crafty friend Asteroid, shaking up the stars and the galaxy itself… doesn’t that sound totally BADASS?!”

Jet smiles, his mouth uncovered. “The galaxy is a huge target- Madcap.”

He flashes a toothy smile, but his grin falters slightly as his attention turns to a few balloons being tied to the carnival gates, another group of clowns hard at work.

So. Many. Clowns.

HELLO, IM NEW AND HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING, LUV YOU GUYS XD

Welcome to the guild!

Hiya! New here!

Welcome to the guild!