Character Carnival

Valentine shook her head. "Wouldn't be better to put someone who is trained to keep an eye out in front?" She stepped forward, "Unless a SWAT team member walks in here, I'm your best bet."

Internally, Valentine panicked. Whoa, wait a minute. Did I just volunteer to check out the insanely creepy looking place first? Jesus, I'm suprising myself all the time here

Externally, however, Vallentine maintained an air of confidence. "Now then, If there are any objections, I'll give you ten seconds to make them known." She looked at her wrist as if she were wearing her watch. "Starting... now."

edited 26th Apr '11 9:12:42 PM by GIG

Polly humored Valentine by waiting out the ten seconds. When it was over, she nodded.

“I guess you’re it,” she said. “But don’t worry, we’ll be right behind you." For clarification, she turned to Mary. “There will be room enough for the three of us, right?”

She stretched a bit and cracked her knuckles, preparing herself to enter the Hall of Mirrors. Polly wasn’t scared, but she needed to be ready. In case there was something in the building, she would have to be the one to take care of it. She had to protect Mary and Valentine.

No pressure.

edited 26th Apr '11 9:17:37 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

Mary counted for ten seconds in her mind. The only sound that could be heard was the rain falling, and her breathing.

After ten seconds, she stepped to the side. She shoved her keys back into her backpack and zipped it back up. "Go ahead," she said, with a normal tone of voice. She gestured at the door, "I asked you guys if you wanted to lead, because I'm not a good fighter, compared with you two. However, I know the layout of the place by heart, but I bet some of the walls had fallen over in the last few years. And yes, there will be room."

She got out her flashlight again and turned it on. They will really need it.

Going off.

edited 26th Apr '11 9:20:59 PM by chihuahua0

Jack had some fun running up the aisle and playing what games he could play without anyone manning the stand and taking a stuffed animal when he won.

At last, he tried out that game where you fire pellets at a target to win, thinking it would be easy, but nooooo. The guns they used in the game handled nothing at all like real guns and no aiming technique worked. The pattern was random and unpredictable.

Out of frustration, Jack popped some earplugs, pulled out his revolver, and shot the target the three times he needed, then collected his prize.

As he slipped an adorable little rabbit into his pocket, he slapped himself on the forehead. Duh! That was stupid. What if someone heard?

edited 26th Apr '11 9:42:01 PM by annebeeche

They continued walking past the weathered, sun-faded game booths, backed by the sound of the rain and the cracks of a few gunshots.

Ignore it for now.

Finally, a lull in paranormal activity. Now Cyrus could think clearly-

"My name's Elise. What's your name, Mister Exorcist?"

Fine. "It's Cyrus."

"Hi Mister Cyrus.~" She curtsied.

Anyways, where was he? Oh, that's right. That bastard from before, what was he prating about earlier? Demons... apparently Elise summoned one, and it devoured Amy's sister's soul. Yum. However, as much as he wanted to believe that kids actually were just evil little hellspawns underneath a diabetes-saturated exterior, he had to take the guy's claims for a grain of salt. And... he didn't exactly seem like a paragon of mental health, as it was.

As Cyrus pondered, Elise took to observing her surroundings under the light of idealism, imagining the bright and vibrant illustrations in the backs and the cheerful carnies inviting her to try to win a toy. Like any five-year-old, really, a behavior that would bring kind smiles to her from all nearby adults.

Adults who weren't Cyrus.

As she looked around, she looked deeply into the gray sky, as though she was imagining the clouds to clear any second, but her little game stopped when she saw... things... falling from the sky.

She stopped, grabbing the end of Cyrus' cloak.

"What?"

She merely pointed. But they were gone by the time he turned to look.

"What is it?"

"There were things falling from the sky!"

"You mean rain."

"No, they were green!"

"That's nice." Cyrus kept walking, taking her with him as she sadly gazed back up in the sky for the green froggies, so she could show them to him.

Turning in for the night~

edited 26th Apr '11 9:53:46 PM by CrystalGlacia

Hearing a gunshot in the distance, Valentine froze. Gunshots? Didn't sound like Angel Carny's weapon or Grimm's rifle She turned towards Polly and Mary. "Alright, new plan! How about we hold off on the Mirrors and instead see if that gun is in friendly hands or not?"

Valentine of course had an other reason to investigate. THANK YOU! THANK YOU WHOEVER-YOU-ARE! Now I dont have to investigate the exceedingly creepy Hall of Weird! I could almost kiss you, Whoever-You-Are!

Valentine cleared her throat before speaking, "Any objections? Again?"

edited 26th Apr '11 9:56:50 PM by GIG

Pleased with his purchases, Jack skipped down the aisles, singing to himself like a five-year-old.

He located a wall with protrusions for climbing, and started to scale it. He found himself sitting on the top of the little climbing tower within 20 minutes, kicking his legs happily into the air.

He could see the roofs of the tents from here, but wasn't really high up enough for a nice view.

Kiora froze as she heard the gunshots. They sounded different from before, not Cyrus' silver weapon.

"I'm not crazy, right?" she asked Grimm. "You heard that too?"

Grimm nodded, the stock of his rifle firmly against his shoulder. "Think we should check it out?"

"Better there than here," Kiora said, gesturing at the Ferris wheel and the small wooden coaster beyond it. "I don't see anything here."

She let the soldier take point, leading with his rifle as they searched for the source of the gunshots.

OOC: Not that it matters, but I'm going to bed. Anyone near Valentine is free to use her as a sockpuppet if I'm not back by an convinent time tomorrow.

edited 26th Apr '11 11:44:20 PM by GIG

OOC: From this point on, be prepared. Things are about to get... meta, I guess.

Something had annoyed him.

At the base of his brain it had picked since he had first heard the group begin to speak in that other room. Muffled as they were, he had spent enough time in far less amenable spaces to eavesdropping that each word seemed clear as the air. He had heard it, early on, and yet then it had seemed unimportant, but now...

Three words.

"Evan's not here."

He had never told her his name.

It was then that he began to dwell on the nature of fiction.

With the passing of minutes, he was no longer irritated. It was more than that. For the first time in decades, Evan was afraid. Afraid, and angry.

Polly stared down at the flashlight that Mary had given her. She craned her neck to see inside the Hall of Mirrors before she heard gunshots.

To Polly, the sound of gunshots wasn't anything new. A bit scary, of course, but from a young age she had learned to drown out the noise and disassociate it from the people one either side of the barrel. But in the eerie solitude of the Malone Carnival, the noise cut through quickly. She dropped the flashlight as she heard Valentine’s hands clap together.

“All right, new plan!” Valentine had a slight trace of excitement in her voice. “How about we hold off on the Mirrors and see if that gun is in friendly hands or not?”

“Good idea,” Polly said, reaching down to grab Mary’s flashlight. “Let’s go see where it came from. Make sure everybody is all right.”

edited 27th Apr '11 4:47:02 AM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

Mary pulled her flashlight away from her and said, "How about I lead then? We'll be in an open space, and I doubt that they would try a frontal attack."

She turned towards the gunshot was and started to walk to the source. Unlike Polly and Valentine, she was relieved. She was actually exasperated that she was being distracted from the main task. None of the less, it was necessary to check, just in case an Ax-Crazy spirit was on the loose. If people started being shot down like clay pigeons, she would have to take responsibility somehow. She didn't want to reach that point.

She looked up at the sky. The lightning was still dancing in the clouds.

He could see a female figure coming up the aisle from the other side of the carnival. Oh snap, someone was here!

He thought about making a break for it, but it would look too suspicious. His eyeshine had probably already given him away anyway. Damn, he knew he should have taken his shades.

Jack straightened out the front panels of his overcoat and walked calmly towards the approaching individual.

Your character know's Jack's name?

edited 27th Apr '11 6:15:46 AM by annebeeche

Whoops. Fixed.

Mary could spot Cyrus standing near a booth, trying to get a better look at the guy without showing off his bright white, crescent-shaped halo. Because Elise was about a foot away from him.

It was futile. The guy probably already saw the halo before Cyrus noticed him.

He turned to Mary, then turned back to that guy before he lost him.

Huh. Fearless, isn't he. Can't be too cautious, though. He casually rested his hand on his left, near his supply pouch so he could grab a dart if things came to that... which, given how his day had gone so far, was a fair assumption.

Elise watched Mary come towards them before turning back towards him, assuming that neither of them could see her.

edited 27th Apr '11 1:06:34 PM by CrystalGlacia

Mary saw two figures ahead of them. One of them looked like Cyrus, while another was smaller than any of the visitors she seen so far. Both of them were looking pass a booth. The exorcist was taking something out, while the small figure was peeking up from the booth table.

Mary walked closer, holding her flashlight out. She could now see that the small figure was a girl. A ghostly girl, like the ghost that passed her before the frogs fell from the sky. When she was ten feet away from her, she said, "What are you looking at?"

Jack continued to approach the man who stood nearby, and appeared to have an odd glowing light over his head. Once he was in good hearing range, he waved to him and greeted, "Good Evening!" with a hearty smile.

He walked up to him, putting his hands in his pockets and looking up at the sky. "Bit of a rainy night, eh?"

edited 27th Apr '11 2:15:40 PM by annebeeche

Oh, annebeeche, we have a trope page and character list for these threads now. Come check them out!

Cyrus stared blankly at him.

"Oh, really? Like I couldn't figure that out myself."

Weird. He just took to observing this guy for now, though. So far, he was either a harmless idiot or he was lulling everyone into a false sense of security, a la Viktor. It was fun watching that guy infuriate people into irrationality by just standing there and looking nice and approachable.

Elise, meanwhile, heard a voice directed at her. Startled, she turned towards Mary, who had been looking right at her.

"Wait... you can see me?"

"Guess we missed the party," Kiora said as she and Grimm approached the gathering. "We didn't see anything by the Ferris wheel or roller coaster, that area's clear for now."

She noticed the new member of their group. "Who's he?" she asked. "He the one making all the noise?"

"Jeez, I was just trying to be friendly," he said to the man with the light over his head, "You really don't have to be so sarcastic."

In response to the two individuals who just approached, he said, "Oh, I'm just Jack Clive. I've never actually been in a carnival before, so I thought I'd explore."

"Nice to meet you," Mary said, facing Jack, "I'm Mary Malone, the owner of this carnival."

They were gathered once again in the rain. There was certainly some sort of force that was keeping them together. She looked at where Jack came. There was a carnival game booth with some guns attached to the table, with three targets filled with holes. It was a miracle that it survived without rushing out.

"So you checked the Ferris wheel and the wooden roller coaster," Mary said to Grimm, "Polly, Valentine, and I were going to go into the House of Miirors when we heard gunshots." She looked back at the carnival games and said, "It turned out it was just one of the booths then."

Jack looked normal compared with the other visitors. However, Alice looked normal too, and it turned out that she was an assisian.

OOC: And so it begins.

Without permission, she had entered his mind. While there she had taken a name, this much he knew, perhaps more, without equivalent exchange. She had overstepped the boundary and had entered his territory, that no-man's-land that travelled with him in secrecy, unbidden.

And what had she seen?

What could she see?

Was she somehow reading his very thoughts, page-like, as they formed and settled? Could she see them, inked and set in some unseen tome, or hear them read aloud in a bodiless voice?

No.

What am I letting her see?

He noticed then that he was shaking just slightly. Such functions of muscular movement were always gauged perfectly, given constant attention, but not then, not there. He had forgotten himself.

The shivering ceased, and Evan shut his eyes.

Can you hear me?

I hope that you can hear me now, or see these words. How is irrelevant; it is only important that you can and that you do. How is only that you might know this:

You have crossed me.

For every question, there is an answer, and any question given may be fairly returned. I gave you a question, and you refused to answer, after which you took an answer to the same question without asking it.

This will not stand.

As you may now perceive, I am aware of your pithy game and intend to play it against you; whether you wish to play it is irrelevant, as is whether you choose to make your move or to abstain. Either way, you will continue to play. To do nothing is to act, as is to fight, or to give up.

I do not care which one you choose, and regardless of any further statement of intent, you have already chosen.

I, too, have chosen my first move. And in the spirit of sportsmanship, I will even tell you.

It is to make a promise, to myself and to you and to all who would know of it.

It is thus, in nine words, two actions, one sentiment:

I will find you and I will break you.

Again.

I will find you and I will break you.

I will find you and I will break you.

I WILL FIND YOU AND I WILL BREAK YOU.

And again...

edited 27th Apr '11 2:48:06 PM by JHM

And so it does

“Oh, I’m just Jack Clive. I’ve never actually been in a carnival before, so I thought I’d explore.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mary Malone, the owner of this carnival.”

How was it possible for things to be so calm, so still for a moment, before the instance when everything turns on its side.

Polly was on her knees, wet and cold from the storm. Goosebumps covered every exposed inch of her body. She wanted to scream, but the noise wouldn’t do her internal pain any justice. The darkness clouded her head, too heavy for her to organize her thoughts. Someone had broken in. If others turned to help her, she would never be able to tell.

“Can you hear me?”

That voice. So familiar. So sinsiter. Where had she heard it before. He’s talking about a game; what game? Who are you?

‘I will find you and I will break you.”

“Evan...”

Polly stood back up on wobbly legs and turned to the others. She had to get out them out of here. She had to protect them.

“You all need to leave,” she said. “He’s here.”

edited 27th Apr '11 5:08:31 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

Mary also felt a rush go through her body. For a second, her mind was pushed away from her body, disordinating her. Her sight went blurry, and the sounds of raindrops reverb against the concrete ground. However, she was pulled back as quickly as she was gone.

She took a step back. She was confused, but she was going to stand her ground, "Who's here?" she asked.

Kiora watched in stunned silence as the girl landed on her knees. In an instant her Byakugan was activated, scanning the area. The girl climbed back to her feet and spoke.

"You all need to leave," she said. "He's here."

"Kid, I've fought people possessed by demons and an elder vampire," Kiora said. "Nothing in this carnival could possibly take me on."

She twirled the two kunai, given to her by the mysterious magician, by their rings and dropped into a fighting stance.

Polly didn’t have time for any questions. She couldn’t explain.

“Mary,” she put her hands on the older, taller woman’s shoulders. “I need you to get everybody to safety. There is a strong force here, and I don’t want to know what it will do to you if you are exposed. Go. Now.” Polly froze. She caught herself in a lie. She had no true idea where Evan was hiding. And until then, there was no safety.

Polly broke apart from the group. She shut her eyes, put her hands on her temples, and opened her mind.

The ritual was the same as it has always been. There was a process to mind reading. It began slow, like a low-speed Internet connection. She heard silence. The low and high octave voices, sound of the rain hitting the Ferris Wheel, and wind disappeared from Polly’s consciousness. The stream of consciousness began now. She heard Mary, Valentine, Cyrus, Jack, Kiora, and Grimm. The silent one was Evan. He was ready for her.

“Okay,” she signed. “Come on out. I’m ready for you.”