Character Carnival

Alice failed to hide the fact that she was eying Cyrus' knife with covetous interest. Silver... an odd choice, no doubt anti-paranormal, a primitive version of her own crystalline knife. Far better balance, though, having been forged, not grown, and unlike the her knife, it would be possible to reproduce. She had literally killed people for lesser weapons. Then again, those people had been idiots — third rate hitmen, aging Yakuza upper management, and so forth. Cyrus clearly knew what he was doing; he wouldn't be worth the effort, though she secretly hoped he'd die, leaving her to claim his blade. Realizing she'd been staring, she rapidly turned her attention to his halo, gaping like an awe-struck child. It seemed perfectly reasonable she'd stare at something like that. Finally, she stammered, "wha... what... are you an angel?"

edited 22nd Apr '11 3:34:27 PM by KillerClowns

"City?" Mary said, raising an eyebrow. She was actually amused at this newcomer, which overrided her confusion, "The nearest city is several miles away. You are in the Malone Carnival."

She then glanced at the window, "Or...what used to be the Malond Carnival."

She let go of the door and walked back to the kitchen, she looked at the newcomer and said, "Come on in. You're not the first person who happened to be stranded in this storm."

The magician watched the boy running towards his direction, slashing the air, trying to get him. He wasn't stunned by his actions, but also wasn't completely unfazed. Judging by the boy's actions, he could tell he was still fully invisible. He also knew he wasn't in the mood to run and that if he didn't do anything soon he'd get stabbed by the knife.

As a mean to defend himself, the magician threw his cape to the boy's direction, temporarily obstructing the slasher's vision. That proved to be enough to ensure his escape. He also made the mental note to come back to retrieve the cape he had to leave behind, not that it had any particular use other than making him look charming - according to his standards. It didn't have the same important function of infinite storage as his top-hat and it didn't affect any of his tricks, but he liked it.

He chose a random direction and walked towards it, still with the same usual smile on his face. Leaving the boy holding a knife behind.

This place has proven to be fun. I wonder what's happening in the house right now.

He grinned and almost laughed aloud, but suppressed it. If the boy and the exorcist were of any indication, things were about to get interesting. Who knew what might pop next?

edited 22nd Apr '11 4:17:10 PM by Fancolors

An abandoned amusement park in the middle of nowhere? Must be America with its wacky sense of scale. Right, she did say 'miles', didn't she?

He let himself be led further inside. If the nearest city was truly miles away it was probably for the best indeed to have some shelter. Even if it was shelter at the home of some odd woman living far away from any other human settlement.

The kitchen appeared homely enough, though several of its appliances seemed to severly out of date. A round table was in the middle, and two people already sat there, a girl and a male teenager. The teenager wore a tunic and a cape, making him look totally out of place. And what were children and youths doing out here anyway? He wondered if there were more to their being here, where they came from. Was there a magical concentration here maybe? Something that led people to here?

He sat down at the table and nodded as a greeting. "Good Evening," he said, "Name's Konrad. Konrad Klein. Seems like we're all caught in this storm. How did you come to here?"

edited 22nd Apr '11 3:40:49 PM by Octo

Reiner slashed at the huge thing coming towards him, that landed on him, this was the void he had heard, this was it this was it —

Oh wait. It was just a big piece of cloth. Some old-style clothes, it looked like. Reiners body trembled as he sniffed the cloak ferally, trying to pick up the scent of evil. And this had it all over it. He put it over his shoulders, still shaking from adrenaline and lack of food, the cloak keeping him a bit warmer despite the large slash in the back. What was he looking for? Right. Food. Maybe he could pass for one of the wicked with this thing on, join them and get food and leave...

OOC: I have to go to a dinner. I'll be back in a few hours!

Eyeing the knife. This girl was not normal.

Cyrus peered at Alice from his right, letting out a small scoff.

"Little girl, you think I look like an angel?"

He just gave a passing glance at the new guy.

His halo's light was wavering in and out.

It was time to go soon.

edited 22nd Apr '11 3:46:35 PM by CrystalGlacia

This was an Anomaly. Normal people didn't end up here. The crazier the story, the more believable it would be. "I'm Lucy Summers," Alice said, giving her false name with a tone of fake nervousness. "I... uh... no, no, no. Forget it. You're going to think I'm crazy. I'm... I'm not crazy, I don't care what they say..." Oh, yes, it was time for her favorite part of pretending to be a little girl; weaving together sob stories full of bullshit to pull at marks' heartstrings. She let a few crocodile tears well up in her eyes and slide down her cheeks, just to incite their curiosity.

edited 22nd Apr '11 3:51:37 PM by KillerClowns

"This is not my day."

Valentine dejectedly slogged through the rain, mentally cursing at herself. The woman had yet again been called out to a false job. She began to wonder if some people had nothing better to do than prank call her. Honestly, she needed to make a living, and they where not helping. Though, in hindsight, she should have seen something was wrong when the location was listed as a carnival.

So it's also my fault being an idiot. Joy.

She continued on until she came across a house that seemed occupied. She looked it over before heading towards it. Might as well beat herself up out of the rain instead of in it. Seeing a man entering, she hurried.

"Hey!", she shouted, "Hold the door!"

Cyrus wanted to laugh, so badly.

He mentally debated whether if he should leave and go exorcise ghosts, or stick around and listen to the inevitable sob story.

Definitely the sob story.

"Are you okay?" he said with a false, bordering on fake-sounding tone of concern.

edited 22nd Apr '11 3:58:57 PM by CrystalGlacia

He could see how this would frighten a little child. Hell, he was in his mid-30s, and if he had not experience in this sort of thing he would probably be scared shitless, too.

"I don't think you're crazy," he tried to reassure the girl in his most child-friendly voice. "I've heard plenty of weird but true stories in my life. So... tell me yours. I promise I won't call you crazy."

Trying to calm her down, he laid his hand on her shoulder... and felt something odd.

The problem with intuition in things supernatural, such as he had, was that he could feel if something was odd - but not specifically the what or the how. Distrustful thoughts ran through his mind, but for only a short while. Of course she would be odd. Probably we all that we somehow ended up here are, in some way. And Heavens knew, he had dealt with very much weirder persons and... beings in his time. He even called them of some his friends or even... more.

Maybe there was something supernatural about the girl. Maybe. But primarily, she simply seemed to be frightened and lost.

There's not a drop of the supernatural in Alice — aside from the fact that telepathy can't interpret her thoughts, but that's just because she's completely nuts. Though she is carrying a knife made of solid Anti-Magic.

After a few more pitiful sobs, Alice decided to throw some supernatural into her old classic. She said, "I... my step-daddy told me if I kept on being a bad girl, the Goblins would get me. They'd take me away, they'd make me work forever in their mines. I was such a bad girl... when my teachers... when they asked about my bruises, I tried to say I fell... I couldn't tell me it was my step-daddy, punishing me for being a bad girl, for not getting him his beer fast enough, for talking back to him... and one day, I prayed, I prayed that the Goblins would get me... they'd be better than my step-daddy... I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have done that. I woke up here. The Goblins... the Goblins are going to get me, aren't they?" She made an act of looking around in terror.

This would normally be the part where she'd start milking the mark for every cent, or simply pick their pockets if, like that Cyrus fellow, they seemed unlikely to sympathize. But for now, just getting sympathy from this latest batch of marks seemed sufficient. Curious to see how much he resembled herself, Alice turned to Cyrus and said, "you'll protect me, won't you? That's what angels do, right? Protect little girls from Goblins?"

edited 22nd Apr '11 4:14:37 PM by KillerClowns

Ah, I mistook some of your more poetic descriptions in your first post for magical stuff, heh

He had heard such stories often enough. Spirits knew he had. Just the usual, the crappy world being crappy.

Angel? He looked at the boy. An unconvincing, flickering halo was around his head. He did not quite know what to make of him. But then, it didn't matter.

"I haven't seen any goblins here," he told the girl. "And I don't think they would come to a house such nice as this. And if they do, we'll all protect you." He smiled a melancholic smile. "Neither the goblins nor your step-father can get you here."

The other guy was probably going to kill him for this, but he couldn't stifle it any longer.

Cyrus' eye narrowed as he smirked at her. He began to chuckle under his breath, then burst into uncontrollable laughter.

That had to be one of the most hilarious things he heard in a long time. Abusive parents, childish fears, sobbing... really?! She thought he'd believe that pathetic dreck of a Freudian Excuse?

He regained his composure. "Little girl... you honestly think I'm an angel." His tone grew condescending.

edited 22nd Apr '11 4:38:24 PM by CrystalGlacia

Cyrus reminded Alice of herself, albeit without her subtlety. Which meant she'd probably end up having to kill him... a shame, really. Still, she couldn't resist an opportunity to amuse herself at Cyrus' expense. Backing away in terror, she blubbered, "wha... you... you're not an angel! What are you?! You're... you're one of the Goblins, aren't you?!" She threw herself behind Konrad. C'mon, Alice thought to herself, kill the bastard so I can take his knife!

Konrad rolled his eyes. Teenagers, the scourge of every society since the Neanderthal. He'd probably have been a bit more annoyed or defensive of Lucy if that boy had been older. But teenagers simply often were... empathy deficient.

Which made it a bit worrying that this teenager was carrying weapons. That were not toys for boys his age, not at all.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked him. "And do something about that light... thing around your head, it doesn't seem to work properly."

edited 22nd Apr '11 4:51:06 PM by Octo

The magician walked around. Looking for anything else that might prove to be fun to him. He considered going to the house and make a prank, but it may be too risky taunting so many targets at the same time without protection or guarantee of escape. Maybe return to retrieve the cape. No, he also had to scratch that from the list, the kid looked he was about to pass out due to the hunger, it wouldn't be as much as entertaining like doing it when he'd be fully recovered.

Then, he decided to return to the Ferris Wheel he was previously on, to see if he could spot any other visitor. When he suddenly had the idea to check the old rusty machinery. He made his way to the big mechanism responsible for the giant wheel's rotation. There he found a pair of buttons, it was relatively simple, one was to initiate the generator, the other commanded the rotation. Next to the two buttons, he found a lever.

Hmm...? I wonder what it does.

Curious to see what was the lever's function, he turned the machine on, it still had some energy left, and pulled the lever.

As a result, music came out from the loud speakers. It was the standard song every amusement park had, annoying and effective to attract attention. It was audible from every corner of the amusement park. He realized what he had done, even if he wasn't in the mood to, he still had to run. Certainly, they'd be coming over to see what triggered it, the perfect opportunity for some personal amusement, though a bit risky.

edited 22nd Apr '11 5:54:15 PM by Fancolors

Cyrus stood up and began to head out of the kitchen.

"Oh, you want to see my halo light up? I'll be happy to go kick the shit out of some ghosts if that was all you wanted to see." He spoke with a sarcastic, mocking tone.

There was a demon coming, and fast. His halo glowed more strongly; the light faded out less often.

Valentine jumped at the sudden noise. Turning around, she saw a man in a top-hat running from the Farris Wheel which was now spouting ear grating music. Deciding to ignore the house for now, she ran over to the wheel to try to figure out what was going on.

This day just gets weirder and weirder...

Upon hearing the music, Alice's first instinct was to investigate. But she was still pretending to be Lucy Summers, the terrified little girl, and so had no choice but to wait until the others left, giving her an excuse to tag along. So she jumped in terror and said, "what's that noise? Where's that music coming from?" Turning to Cyrus, she said, "is it one of those ghosts you kick the... I mean, you fight?"

Sorry, at family.

Mary leaned against the wall, gathering his thoughts. She heard the strange conversation from the kitchen.

"Is this for real?" she thought, "I mean...goblins?"

She watched the rain roll down the window. Three people out of a fantasy book happened to get trap in the same valley, and went to her carnival. How could that happen? They could be pranking her, but there's no reason for them...

Ah, nothing like some mood music.

"Probably." He shrugged, then left to investigate.

Cyrus headed into the main carnival area, relying on his senses instead of his hearing. He had no way of knowing if this demon was benign or not, but it was safer to assume that it was malevolent. He slowed his breaths, conserving himself for the inevitable fight...

Waiting...

There. At nine o'clock.

A translucent, ghostly werewolf-like creature perked up its ears when it sensed Cyrus coming after him. He reeked of anti-demon measures. Of silver.

It was no match for Cyrus, it knew that. The demon froze, its gaping hole of a mouth still hanging open; its eyes glowing a jaundice-like, sickly yellow in sunken eye sockets.

The demon was terrified of its fate already.

Without even turning towards it, he took a silver-tipped dart that was little more than a pin out of his supply pouch and hurled it at the demon, letting his halo aim for him. It screeched in pain, collapsing to the ground and clutching its chest in its clawed hands.

That wasn't fun at all, he thought as he walked casually towards it with one hand in his pocket and the other on his pistol. It looked up at him pathetically before the crack of a gunshot tore through the air, and the bullet was safely inside the demon's skull.

edited 22nd Apr '11 6:12:07 PM by CrystalGlacia

With the cape, Rainer had enough confidence to approach the house. He looked bigger than his actual emaciated figure, and the collar went up past the ten-key pad and screen running from the side of his neck to the back of his head. This was better, this was definitely better. He also had the right smell to approach whatever dark things they were doing in that house. So, approach Rainer did.

Alice gracefully disappeared into the fog, following Cyrus at a distance. Darts — one of her favorite weapons. His aim was impressive. She didn't recognize the creature he had slain, and was a bit annoyed she hadn't been able to test her newest toy on it. No matter. Nobody had followed Cyrus; this was good. Alice crept behind him, pulling out her crystalline Disruptor Knife and readying it in her right hand. She also hid a dart, covered in inky black poison, in her left pocket, ready to throw at a moment's notice. Then, from a distance of about six feet — too close and he might assume she intended to kill him, which was not yet her intention — she softly said, "I think we should both abandon that pitiful little game I've been playing with the rest of those fools. So, tell me what brings you here before that gunshot of yours attracts every imbecile who doesn't know to leave well enough alone, and I might tell you the truth about why I'm here."

Those who were present in Outpost might be familiar with the poison Alice is using.

edited 22nd Apr '11 7:35:44 PM by KillerClowns

XA-3!

Cyrus put his pistol away. That act was hilarious, but a lot more annoying. He was relieved that she gave it up.

Speaking flatly, he began. "My boss sent me here to kick the shit out of demons and send ghosts to the afterlife before they attract more demons. That's basically my job description."

His eye darted to the demon; it was already beginning to stir. Cyrus pulled back all the hair that was covering his left eye, pushing it behind his ear so he could complete the exorcism. An eye with a red iris surrounded by a gold ring, with a black sclera and no pupil stared out at the demon, and the beast dissolved away in low red lights, fading as it sent to Hell.

Alice shrugged and said, "huh. Killing demons seems like an amusing past-time. Though from the looks of things, you can't eat 'em when your done. Or claim trophies. A shame — demon head would look good in my collection." She contemplated where she would put it, scratching her chin, then said, "ah, well. I'm gonna go return to the marks before they realize I'm missing. Have fun with the whole demon-hunting thing. If you die, do me a favor and scream real loud so I can claim your knife. It would be a shame to let some hellspawn steal it."

With that, she disappeared once more into the fog. She quietly returned to the house, resuming her childish demeanor. She stood outside the house, pretending to stare absent-mindedly into the sky, as if looking for shapes in the clouds, or perhaps a rainbow.

edited 22nd Apr '11 8:23:18 PM by KillerClowns