//EVENT025.EXE

[reparator]

Who: Everyone who chooses to go to the fun, new alien carnival (and those who don't, but end up there anyway)
When: OOC: 1/26 - 1/30 ; IC: 5/13 - 5/15
Where: Entertainment District, Temporary Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk
What: The circus is in town! Temporarily. Everything is fine.
Rating/Warning: PG-13 for violence and some scary situations; please let the mods know if the rating needs to go up or the log needs to be locked!

---

//event025.EXE

Bright lights! An abundance of color! A cacophony of laughter and delighted (?) shrieks! Welcome, everyone, to the carnival! Enough of those nonsense protein shakes and that hoity-toity recycling; it's time to let loose, have some fun, and live a little! No judgment will be allowed today, not when everyone’s dressed up in ridiculous costumes and eating those unnecessarily huge turkey legs (it... is turkey, right?). For you see, CERES has invited the Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk (they hail from a different planet, but here's a hint: the h is silent) to bring some joy to the colonists. This is a safe place to let your inner wild child out, really. Definitely safe. Promise. Yet for those who are a little less easily convinced to follow the sounds of laughter and amusement (bless your sensible hearts), they will find themselves grabbed and forcibly dragged by a pair of friendly souls in matching costumes. Everyone should be able to enjoy the festivities, don’t you think? Can’t have them missing out on all this jolly good, innocent fun! The Public Announcement System crackles with... well, a fit of coughing first. But then a gravelly voice speaks! It seems the ringmaster has an announcement for you all. What joyous news can he bring? Listen... I know that we’re supposed to keep these idiots entertained for at least another day or two but the machinery’s starting to complain. I think I heard the gates of the petting zoo groan – they’re on their last legs. ... Wait, this isn’t the direct line Oh. Ohohoho!! Have a great time, everyone! Everything is perfectly fine!

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I [ 1100 ] Come one, come all!! There’s quite a large amount of people here, isn’t there? You’ll find yourself tugged this way and that – up until you get dragged right into a changing booth. The helpful attendant meets you with a worryingly large grin – how is her face not breaking? – before pushing you right through the curtain. Then you’ll be given your choice of one of these lovely garments to change into. Look, one of them has to match your skintone, right? Don’t be picky about it! You also have... 90 seconds to figure out how to wear it before you’re tossed out into the middle of the crowd again. Have a good festival! If you’re not willing to put on the outfits though, that’s fine. Instead, they’ll top you off with a cape and crown, shoving you out onto a... stage? Your adoring public cheers for you, yells your name, and throws confetti in your honor! Then a jester appears again, announcing your grand title: The Ugliest in All of Cerealia. Don't worry, that's just your introduction to the carnival; enjoy the rest of your time here! (They may or may not have given you back your clothing.) PHASE II [ 1600 ] Do you hear that? Cymbals crashing together, trumpets blaring off-tune, the march of absurdly tired feet – a parade is coming! Best move off to the side before an acrobat quite literally tumbles into you. If you are an unfortunate casualty, they’ll actually just start to fall asleep on you because they’re tired… so very, very tired. Yet the parade continues to march on without them and you can let yourself be distracted by the impressive jumping around and festive partygoers (who seem to be joining in the parade as they please, in various states of undress). But be wary. Distraction will only make you easier prey for the very hungry caterpillar that’s coming up the street next. Run if you can, but it has so very many legs and it’s coming after you. For those unable to make it away from the caterpillar, they will find themselves gulped right into its gross, drooling mouth – and about five minutes later, they’ll be released out again onto the streets covered in a pink slime. It looks like you won't be able to free yourself from the stuff, so hopefully you can find a friend to get some help! Or one of the strangers around you? Unfortunately, when a kind soul finally comes by to pull you out of the slime, they’ll find that the outside of the gunk is not only immensely sticky but also slippery. If they're not careful, you'll both end up stuck to the gunk together. You both better get out of that stuff quick because once someone joins you, the slime starts to move. Quick and gooey, it'll pull you and the hapless soul with you down the street at a much too quick pace. Hopefully you won't slide into too many people as you skid your way through the streets of the Entertainment District like some sort of demented Katamari Ball. This is why you should never trust giant bugs! PHASE III [ xxxx ] In a smaller booth, toward the outskirts of the carnival, some may find a familiar face manning a quiet little shack on her own. Although those who have been in the colony long enough may have first encountered her as an 8-bit version of herself, Aria the fortune-teller is now back and more than willing to drag unsuspecting people into her hands again. Once you step into her stall, she takes one long look at you before sliding over a fortune cookie and a mask. What do you mean you didn’t ask for a mask? That's too bad, because it's yours now. She won't say anything more than that, giving nothing more than a quiet dismissal with a hand and an enigmatic smile to match. When you step back outside, you’ll find that you just can’t get rid of the mask. If you toss it into a trash bin, it’ll be right back in your pocket. Throw it at a friend? It’ll be in your hand in the next second. Throw it away enough times and it’ll suddenly plant itself on your face -- which leads to all the alien carnival goers in the nearby vicinity suddenly going still with fear before moving to get as far away from you as quickly as possible. Well... you seem to be able to take it off for now if you still want to enjoy the carnival. It just won't go away, and every time you try to throw it away, it'll attach itself to your face. Might as well just keep it. But... still, it's strange how none of the aliens running the carnival will look you in the eye now, isn't it? PHASE IV [ 1200 ] For those who aren’t interested in dealing with the abundance of people, there’s also an assortment of critters gathered around for the petting zoo! They all seem to follow a general theme… kind of. That might be floppy ears and a tail if you... squint. The alien staff is right there and quick to ask you not to worry, they're perfectly harmless -- they don't eat humans! It would be bad for their diet, so feel free to pet them, if you can gather enough courage to do so. Unfortunately, it seems as though this part of the circus was not put together very well; the rickety fences and cages don't really seem to do much against these giant...creatures. Towards the end of the circus' time here, it looks like those cages will start breaking down more and more, too. The animals rattle the makeshift fences of the petting zoo, until finally, the fences just... collapse. Oops. The ground shakes as the animals stomp and immediately move to break out of their little ring. Well, would you look at that? You’ve apparently found yourself in the middle of a little stampede -- and those warnings about these animals not eating humans doesn't seem to hold much weight when now they're looking at you -- and they look pretty hungry. BONUS [ why o'clock ] Left and right, there are voices shouting for your attention. "Hey pretty young miss!" or "Excuse me, you stud!" or "Look at this, jackass!" – that said, aliens think that you all manage to look the same, so who knows if they’re yelling at you in particular – and they’re all daring you to come and try your hand at their carnival game. It’s run of the mill stuff: shooting games, tests of strength, and knocking down a couple of milk bottles. You might actually be doing well! Or... you might be embarrassing yourself in front of whatever cute person you’re trying to impress! But regardless, in the last allotted ten seconds of your game, no matter what, you’ll find your point score plummeting right into the negatives. Did you get a bullseye? What do you know, that’s now worth -1000 points! You missed? -5000 points. The stall assistant seems to be having a grand old time, laughing at your pain and when the clock finally runs out, they'll give you a large grin. "Look at that score! Well, you know what that means, don’t you? Now, we win you!" With that, metallic tentacles suddenly sprout from the booth itself, looking to capture you and whoever you’re with. Welcome to the carnival, now you're one of the prizes. And it seems you'll be here for quite some time. That is, of course, unless someone can win you back from these really horribly rigged games. Looks like you'd better get comfortable hanging motionless from a display, like an oversized stuffed animal. You'll be here for a while. [ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to Cerealia's JANUARY event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will last from 1/26 to 1/30, or IC 5/13 to 5/15. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you!

Comments

ota;

[flaredo]

[ PHASE I. ]

[ The last time this place did anything amusement park-like, Yang punched out things on a roller coaster and got bitten by a spider. This time, she's prepared.

... Yes, and by prepared, we mean she's just idly sauntering out of the changing booth in a bright orange belly dancer outfit, gauntlets fully activated-- before she's giving whoever's closest a tap on the shoulder and a casual smile. Someone, at least, looks perfectly comfortable in this get-up. ]

Don't worry. Even if they steal your clothes, there's probably something in there to bring out your eyes. And those guys look flimsy enough to shake 'em down later.


[ PHASE IV. ]

[ It couldn't have been the tiger-striped thing with the colorful feathers, huh. That one had actually been kind of cute. But noooo, as the lovely toothy thing with the angler-fish kind of appearance stampedes towards you, it's getting knocked back by an explosive shot. Fired by a belly dancer wearing gauntlets, apparently. Don't judge, don't judge. ]

How are you at animal control?

[ ... is all she says next. Followed by: ]

And if it's 'bad', then how are you at running?


[ BONUS. ]

[ There's really nothing to be said here. Except that a certain someone may have "lost" a game. And is now dangling from one of the displays as you're invited to step right up and win her by hitting balloons with darts.

It's a shame that the alien assistant hasn't noticed that this particular prize didn't always have glowing hair. Or... embers.

Actually, is that stuffed alien koala bear starting to burn-- ]

phase i

[dawnsprincess]

[Yona jumps in surprise when Yang suddenly taps her on the shoulder.]

Oh, Yang! You look beautiful! [She is honestly in awe of how well the belly dancer outfit suits the other girl. Goodness knows she herself doesn't fill her red one out nearly as well...]

[flaredo]

Thanks! You're looking pretty sizzling yourself, Yona.

[ Coupled with a playful hip bump, show some confidence. ]

bonus

[masakados]

[Naoki's first thought is that alien is going to get it. His second thought is I wanna kick its ass too now that I'm on the subject. What he actually does is approach and stand there, looking up toward Yang.

There's an odd sense of pressure beginning to emanate from him. That alien might be feeling it sooner rather than later. No big deal. He's just letting his inner demon out. A tiny bit.]

Need a hand? [He'll total this stall. Just say the word, girlfriend.]

bonus

[heiroglyphs]

[Oh hey, Yang's here too. This is becoming quite the hangout spot. Weiss is casually hanging on the hook above her, groaning and huffing at everyone that walks by. This is humiliating.]

Hey. Come here often?

[Weiss was that your attempt at a joke.]

phase i

[seakingbait]

[Keimi quietly squirms in discomfort, having been forced into a pearly white dancer's outfit. The trailing sleeves do a great job to accentuate her tail, but it's the top that really draws attention to her incredibly large... eyes? Neckline? Yeah, that.

That being said, she's thrilled to see a familiar face. Even better that one that looks so confident wearing these ridiculous clothes.]

Yang-chin, are you really okay wearing this stuff?

phase i!

[adornmental]

[Yang will have to be confident enough for both of them today, because Kashuu is for SOME REASON extremely neurotic about baring any skin... He's hiding behind a rack of skimpy outfits, just barely peeking around the side.]

I can't get my clothes back when those guys are all the way over there, though!

[That would mean he has to be seen in this?!]

bonus!!!

[hoasen]

[Vietnam was just walking past when she saw that Yang was about to set fire to the stall.

...She could easily win her, but at the same time, maybe she should let her do her thing? Which means it's time to provide a distraction.

Look at her pretend to think so focus will be on herself.] Hmm, hmm...

phase iv

[beaconed]

[ Never fear, fellow monster fighter Jaune Arc (in normal clothes thankfully) is here to fight by your side!! ]

Yang!! We gotta--

Wh... [ DOUBLE TAKE. ]

What, what're you wearing? What's that? Why...

bonus

[covenantal]

[ He's tossing a ball up and down, watching her with head canted and a small smile on his face. ]

I'd offer to help, but it looks like you've got this pretty well taken care of.

[ He's noticing the glowing embers. He will help, though, if she asks. ]

Phase IV

[bewrightback]

[There are so many unusual and/or dangerous things about this situation that a panicked Phoenix doesn't quite know what to respond to first.

But ultimately he settles on Yang's actual words, scratching at his head sheepishly as he considers.]

I'm... good at cross-examining animals? ...But I think that I'm a lot better at running from them! [At least he's managed to get this far with just the cape and crown combo.]

I

[failures]

[Larry managed to avoid a second skimpy outfit incident this time, but they still took his tops and forced him into a gaudy and shiny orange cape. He's in the middle of trying to make the kiddie crown look decent with his pointy hair when Yang drops in.

...Oh.

...]

Pretty sure they want people to see more than our just our eyes.

[Potentially awkward conversation topic aside, he realizes something else.]

Hey Yang...didn't we meet during a carnival? Y-You don't think there's gonna be more homicidal robots this time, do you?

IV

[faithfulflame]

[Well. THAT sure was something. A horrible angler-elephant rushing right at her has Rei instinctively drawing on her inner flame, fingers raised up in a claw-like shape. Fire dances on the ends of her fingertips and she's ready to start peppering it...or transform and simply kill it...when there's a roar of sound and a rush of power.

That was certainly an impressive display. Rei looks past the downed...whatever...the hell it was that was charging at her and at the gauntlet-wearing dancer. Her fingers lower, the fire winks out, and she claps a couple of times.]

That was very, very impressive, Yang-san.

[A beat.]

And when you say animal control, how many more?

phase iv

[dereban]

[ She wants to say that she's kind of terrible at both, but she's actually gotten better at running? At least, compared to back at home. Plus, she's kind of outrun a bunch of things to save her life, but that might partially be the adrenaline talking most of the time. ]

... Let's make a run for it.

phase iv!

[geophile]

[ hey, it's one of those girls with the dogs! and while he'd love to ask her about how she's doing or why the heck she's wearing that outfit, it looks like they have other pressing matters to attend to. that lanturn-looking... thing doesn't look very keen on staying put. at her animal control comment, his response is quick. ]

Believe it or not, fair. [ he retrieves a poké ball from his belt, enlarging it and throwing it in the air. ] Aggron!

[ the ball opens up to phase a 7-foot tall monster in front of them, ready to defend. ]

Trap it with Rock Tomb!

[ with a mighty punch to the ground, the aggron's fist creates a fissure that travels towards the monster. when it reaches it, a ring of pointed stones surrounds the creature, stopping its forward movement. but it doesn't seem to like that very much - it'll start ramming at its confinements, and they'll start to crack.

he'll turn to yang, his expression serious. ]

I've only bought us some time. If you're going to run, do so now.

IV

[chaoticwhimsy]

[Lumina wasn't exactly taunting the weirdo monsters, but she wasn't attempting to calm them down either. But unfortunately for her, the kid hadn't noticed the current stampede, her attention on another set of creatures a bit further away, so her eyes went wide as that fireball bullet thing shot past her and knocked back the...fish tooth thing.]

[These were the dumbest monsters. And she came from a world with oozes.]

Uh.

[Okay, it takes her mind a second to catch up, but then she grins.]

Better when they're my monsters. These ones just don't like to do what they're told.

bonus

[pseudonyms]

[She pauses to look back and forth between the stall attendant and the girl she recognizes from her first ViViD game, eyebrows lifting as she notices the subtle amount of smoke. And the glowing hair. Annnnd the fact that Yang looks pretty damn pissed.]

So...how fast could you get yourself out of this? [But fine. She's already collecting a handful of darts anyway just in case.]

bonus;

[fatalstriker]

[yuri is standing there with darts in hand. but, well...]

Get the feeling I'll have a better show watching you take care of this yourself. [though maybe he should pocket the darts to use later, because knowing how things are around here? he'll probably find a use for them.]

phase i!

[osuni]

[Okuni looks up at the tap! It didn't take long for her to figure out to put the outfit on... there's only like three pieces of clothing?? She considers the advice, then smiles at the words shake 'em down later. it's so much better to see confident gals than upset ones...]

I've never worn anything like this before myself. It's pretty interesting. [and new things are THE BEST] But I'm ready to hunt them down now.

[HUNT....] Care to join me?

iv

[buttonedup]

( As soon as the wall collapsed, Cassandra had instinctively drawn her sword. Her attention, however, is redirected to what seems like the mini-explosion caused by the oddly-dressed young woman to the right. )

I'm good at killing them. ( Not that she makes a habit of it, but if they attack first, well. No mercy. She nods at the girl's weapon. )

What is that?

and now for something completely different

[undaunts]

Yang, Yang, look at this!

[Yeah, Ruby's feeling awkward in a similar, but red, costume, but... shhhh, we're not thinking about this. Instead, Ruby's grabbing Yang's hand to tow her towards... a food stand?

A food stand filled with........ what appears to be tiny sugar monsters.

No they are literally tiny monsters made of sugar.]

Look at them.

iv.

[sortileges]

[ The explosion makes him jump a mile, heart racing as he instinctively ducks and tries to cover his head. Because that would help with a gunshot, right? Hearing Yang's voice, at least, helps him realise that it came from her and there's no need to be trying to hide in case these elephant things can actually do something crazy. You never know. ]

I can't say I've tried. [ There are plenty of beasts they've had to kill for the safety of Camelot but... giant things with sharp teeth like that one facing them isn't one of them. That's when he glances over and thankfully the fact that they're in danger doesn't make him comment on the fact that she's hardly wearing anything and more on the option to run. ]

What are you going to do? [ Because believe it or not, after she helped him get out of that shack when he arrived, he's not about to leave her to fight alone either. ]

phase iv;

[liven]

[ Shijima eyes the alien animals, uncertain. She seems to have escaped the clothing swap (or stolen her clothes back or ditched a crown and cape...) and looks...cutely fashionable. Which is not at all her own doing; the braid her unruly white hair is pulled back into is equally not her own choice, although she's content with the change. ]

Excellent, if they speak the language of beasts. [ Are alien animals alike enough to Earth animals...? The tiny girl leans forward, snarling. ]

...However, they may be too dumb for that...

Phase IV

[cutebutexpendable]

[ Oh, Styx ain't judging. He's too busy trying not to die to care about anyone's state of dress right now- except for his own, since they handed him a cape about ten sizes too large and he's tripped flat on his face, trying to get the damn thing off before he's crushed by- ]

[ Oh, hey, an explosion. ]

Holy hell, was THAT ever a timely assist!

[ The goblin finally just slices 2/3rds of the cape off and clambers to his feet, daggers in hand. ]

So... is animal control a euphemism for murdering the damn things? Because if yes, I can probably take out these things' eyes right quick.

IV

[zombiedude]

[Nico's starting to get used to having Cerberus around, and is even close to admitting he's glad for the animal's companionship, but now is not one of those times. Now, Nico is cursing under his breath trying to get the dog to listen to him and attempting to get his arms around the animal so he can just pick him up.

A barking and squirming three-headed Rottweiler is not the most easiest thing to get a hold of, and of course Cerberus isn't deterred by the fact that he's the size of a regular dog at the moment. Something is threatening his master's son, and he's determined to protect the boy, no matter if what's running at them could probably squish him in one step.

Needless to say, Nico is grateful when Yang shows up. And then she asks about animal control while he's trying to control his dog. If they weren't in a big, troublesome situation, he might have laughed. Instead, he gives up on trying to pick Cerberus up and just holds onto his collar with both hands, answering quickly.]

I can scare it off. I... I have something I can do. [It's the simplest way to explain one of his powers in a short amount of time.] If you could keep an eye on him for a second...? [He jerks his head down to Cerberus. He remembers she's one of the girls with that combat corgi, so he's hoping she can handle a pint-sized guardian of the Underworld for a moment or two.]