Welcome to town!

[Ragnar]

"Well, plenty of things look different on TV," Ike says to Action Kid. He puts a decent amount of food on his plate, and starts walking to a chair. He looks up at Foxglove and remarks hopefully, "I don't suppose you have any prune whip, do you?"

[Brian]

"Prune whip?" she asks with a blink.  "I don't think I've ever even-"

"Behind the pie," Raye interrupts, pointing.

"Oh.  Right."  Foxglove looks behind herself to where Raye is surveying the table.  "Any luck finding the captain?"

Action Kid manages to tear his gaze away from the Guardian at that.  "Is he coming?" he asks excitedly.

"Soon," Raye agrees.  "Real soon.  He just had some last things ta finish talkin' 'bout with Ares."

[Halbarad]

"Um..." Balrog thinks for a minute. "I don't actually eat much, so I'll just pass for now."

The fact that quite a few of Misery's comments about his eating habits were... less than pleasant doesn't even cross his mind. Nope, didn't think about that at ALL.

[Brian]

The double-doors at one side of the room open up, admitting the tall and burning figure of Ares, wreathed in flame.  At his side (only, two thirds his height) is the Distr-Action!-Man himself, though, the two are caught up in a debate.

"...more credence," Captain Ash says, shooting his taller, more fiery companion a stern look.

Ares's voice is filled with the sound of raging fire, but he says, "I run this operation, and you will run yours.  They're separate, and that-"  He cuts off, suddenly, turning to look at the assembled prospective heroes.  Ares himself and the Captain are about equally prominent.  Something about the Captain just draws the eye.  And of course, Ares is about ten feet tall, and on fire.  Kind of hard to miss, that.  Coughing quietly, Ares brushes one hand through the ever-burning flame of the plumes on his fiery helm.  "Er," he says, instead, eyes lingering on Balrog and the Gargoyle before he focuses on Action Kid.

Action Kid has frozen statue-rigid, eyes locked on the Captain.  Face splitting in a wide grin, the Captain poses briefly, and says, "Welcome!"

[Bjorn]

The Gargoyle waves a claw in greeting.  "Hi," he manages, the flames in the depths of his maw temporarily concealed by a surfeit of potatoes.

[Edward]

"Thank you," the Shoveller answers.

[Brian]

"Right," Ares says, frowning.  "I'll leave this to you, then, Ash."

"Thank you," the Distr-Action!-Man says, beaming a smile at his prospective new team.  "Let's get this started!  Okay, first up, so ... tall, toothy, and stony, what makes you want to be a hero?"

[Bjorn]

The Gargoyle blinks, and scratches at his horns -- the sound is probably what Satan's chalkboard would sound like.   "Uh," he says eloquently.  "I mean, everyone wants to do something useful with their life, and there's not really a lot of other job opportunities for a guy like me?"

[Brian]

"Being a hero is the best vocation!" he agrees quickly.  He scans across the room, and then settles his gaze on the Shoveller.  "Now, you I think I've seen somewhere before.  You look very familiar...."

[Edward]

"I get that a lot," the Shoveller answers with a smile.

"I suspect I'm not the only one." He gestures towards Ike.

[Brian]

The captain nods his agreement at that.  "I'm sure I know you," he says to Eisenpower with a grin.  "Well...."  He trails off and blinks, looking at Action Kid.  "Er.  A bit young to be a hero, aren't you?"

"I'm not a hero!" Action Kid protests, shaking nervously, his eyes wide with awe and hero-worship.  "I'm a sidekick!"

"That's great!  Who are you a sidekick for?"

At that, Action Kid locks up, unable to form a reply beyond stuttering and looking to Ike and the Shoveller for support.

[Edward]

"I think he's applying for the position of sidekick," the Shoveller says.

[Brian]

"Yeah," Action Kid manages, spurred into action by the Shoveler.  "That's right!  I want to be a sidekick!"

"Woah, now," Captain Ash says, his smile fading.  "Being a sidekick is dangerous business, you know."

"I know, but....  But I'm really good with tools!  See, I made my own protective cape!"  He flourishes it over his head and hides behind it.  It looks, realistically, no different from a normal cape, if it does have protective properties.  "See, an electrostatic shield hardens the cloth like iron!" he says, though his voice is muffled.  Then he tips over, and his cape 'clangs' against the ground while he says, "Ow!"

Ash moves to help the boy up, but apparently Action Kid hits the release for the power, and the cape goes back to normal.  He springs to his feet and says, "Ta--dah!"

Rubbing his chin, the former Distr-Action!-Man asks, "Well....  If we're going to be a superhero team, what do you all think about this?"

[Ragnar]

"Sounds good to me, I guess," says Dwight, pausing while enjoying the prune whip. "Um... anyone else?"

[Edward]

"That sounds good to me, too," the Shoveller adds.