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!
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PHASE I [ 11 00 ] 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.
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no subject
... at least, Yu's hoping he'll realize that.
So:
He smiles and claps, putting on an airy tone. ]
Ganbatte, ganbatte. The hero has appeared to win the precious prize. [ did he just call himself precious
The booth assistant looks rather like she's had enough of this shit and turns her back to try and reel in more customers. ]
no subject
Katsura raises the gun and— fires a few times, trying to hit the targets. In about 4 or 5 shots, he manages to hit.. maybe two targets.
Looking at the booth assistant, he gestures with his finger, lifting it high into the air.. huh. ]
One more go, if I may.
no subject
"Sure, why not?"
Yu, on the other hand, is idly kicking his legs, humming the Junes theme until the assistant takes a paddle and smacks his shins. They're starting to look a little red... ]
no subject
Katsura lowers his hand and holds the gun steadily, bringing it to aim. ]
Three.. two.. one..
[ Oh, he's counting off now, is he?
Seeming out of nowhere, this thing appears around the corner and hops over the booth table without any warning at all.
It instantly goes for Yu, picking him off the shelf and tucking him under the flipper like.. he sincerely was a stuffed animal, or whatever. Elizabeth wasn't too tall, nearly six feet, but whatever he was, he seemed very strong.
Katsura instead aims the gun for the booth assistant, firing. They're like BB guns, but it won't be pleasant if anybody got hit by them and would serve as a good distraction. Elizabeth bounds over the table again, beginning to make a run for it. ]
no subject
Once Katsura starts the countdown, Yu braces himself. Something is about to happen, obviously. And boy, he wasn't wrong. That's the thing that was in his apartment too, wasn't it? The bird... thing. Yu doesn't even make a sound as he's grabbed like a stuffed toy and carted away, instead wrapping his arms around the flipper just to ensure he isn't dropped.
The booth assistant just shrieks and drops to the ground, apparently not having expected to be shot at. Most people have been going along with her scheme so far!!
Mechanical tentacles are coming for you, Zura. You better ... wheel for it??? ... along with Elizabeth if you want to get out of here too. ]
no subject
When suddenly...
The entire thing explodes. They are small explosions, as if somebody set off large firecrackers, but it's on either side of the booth, directly where the tentacles come out of. Will all of them be disabled or only a few? No time to check.
Elizabeth is quick, so he and Yu are completely out of harm's way.
Katsura will whizz towards them to catch up, covered in a bit of dirt and a few abrasions from debris, but nothing critical. ]
Ha hah ha haaa!
[ oh my god?? is he turning (back) into a villain? ]
Narukami-san! How are you today..!?
[ just like that he's going on with a conversation. ]
no subject
[ His voice is hoarse as he yells, though he's mostly drowned out by the sound of the explosions. He can't help but reach back, useless as it is, his mind going immediately to the assistant. She may have kidnapped him and put him up there, but that didn't mean she deserved to...!
Instantly his expression contorts into rage, and he starts struggling against Elizabeth. ]
Put me down! Katsura-san, what were you thinking?!
no subject
Odd enough, it seems nobody really seems to care. That's probably because the rest of these booths do the same exact thing. They're evil booths, Yu!
Anyway, Yu gets set on his feet flat once they have turned a curve and hidden behind another booth, Zura can't help but peer around the corner at what he's done and fixate his attention up at Yu. ]
—Fighting our enemies by a more gentle means.
[ THIS IS NOT MORE GENTLE. ]
Are you not thankful I rescued you?
no subject
[ Yu is looking around the corner too, anxious to run back there, but the booth is fast-burning, and he has nothing he can put the fire out with. A garudyne would make the situation worse, his clothing is loose and very flammable, and by the time he got any water, the booth would have burned to the ground. But he can't afford not to try. Not with a life at stake. There's clear fury on his face as he turns back to Katsura. ]
Wait here. I'll be back.
[ He takes off at a sprint, simply tearing off the fabric on his arms as he goes. There's no time to wrap it up.
He won't be gone long. Once he peers through the flames eating away at the booth, he'll find the assistant is simply ... gone. When he returns, this time at a walk, he's considerably less angry, but his fury has been replaced by an unfriendly coolness. ]
no subject
It was debatable, with him. Coming from a guy who bombed recklessly in retaliation to the change in Japan ever since foreigners from outer space took it over, it's hard to say if he was falling into his old habits or merely just bitter with CERES and everything they have done to him.
Everything they have put him through.
The psychological, physical and emotional torment that he kept so cleverly concealed.
Yu can come back to their spot, but his ungratefulness is off putting, and Katsura doesn't take too well to that concept when he strives to be appreciated all the time— it was almost an obsession.
You're welcome to look for Katsura; it's hard to say if he's around or not (as he is a master escapist; don't let his injury fool you) as he hasn't left any trace of where he has gone. ]