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!
|
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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Yeah, I guess it is. [ a beat. ] Think you can get your actual clothes back?
[ or did a carnie run off with it... ]
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[Usagi certainly intends to get her clothes back. She's just not sure how likely that will be before the time she would be heading back home from the carnival, exactly. Still, she is grateful for the jacket, pulling it over her a little more.]
You're sure you won't be cold? I can make sure to get it back to you after.
[She doesn't intend on stealing it, after all.]
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he smiles at usagi, understanding her concern, though. admittedly, he would like his jacket back. not right away, of course, but perhaps in the future. ]
If you do get your clothes, that'd be cool. It's my favourite jacket. [ a beat. ] But if you don't, then that's fine. You can give it back to me another time.
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[Wow, that's. So embarrassing and strange to say aloud. But that doesn't make it any less true. Usagi can't help giving a nervous laugh at that, even as grateful as she is. Especially that he still has some long sleeves on to ward off any chill if it might take her longer than she would like to reclaim her clothes.]
I'm Usagi. Tsukino Usagi.
no subject
Nice to meet you. I'm Tadashi Hamada. [ a beat, then: ] Ami and the others told me about you.
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[Thus Usagi can't help being thrilled at this particular meeting. If this is Hiro's brother, she already knows Tadashi is smart and wants to help others, going by Baymax alone.]
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I'm glad he did. He's been doing that a lot lately. But, yeah, I am his brother.
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[Kind of like how if anyone meets any single senshi, they will near immediately also hear all about the others. It's just how families and bffs roll, okay.]
Still, if Ami-chan and the others know you, where you're staying, it should be easy enough to give this back to you.
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[ he lets out a chortle. he's amused by usagi already. she's so nice and helpful. ]
So don't rush in returning it to me. I've got a lot more jackets, anyway.
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[So that really is a relief. Usagi clears her throat a bit, hand over her mouth before she manages a smile.]
So...your world must have a lot of different technology from ours. I mean, Baymax is pretty impressive!
[Even if she did laugh at the image when Hiro described him sans armor as a 'walking marshmallow of vinyl'.]
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[ he lets out a chortle, and he nods towards the direction of a bench. ]
You wanna sit down?
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[Her senshi. Because to them, Usagi is. She hasn't yet been through all that they have. But....well, Usagi doesn't want to unload her feelings on all that to the guy so soon after meeting him. But she does give a nod, following him to the bench. Hugging the jacket over her a bit more when she sits down.]
I guess that isn't surprising though, right? There's all sorts of people...er, codes. From different worlds and times.
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[ he shrugs his shoulders as he takes a seat next to the girl. ]
So I've gotten used to it. Even Hiro's a bit from my future. It's strange, but I'm able to adapt.
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[It is nice to know she isn't the only one though. The only one earlier on in comparison to others from home. If she really wants to talk about it and explore her feelings on the matter in more detail later. Tadashi probably has similar opinions, and could possibly give her advice on it, if she were to ask. He seems like a friendly and helpful enough guy, anyway. ]
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Sometimes, you get sent home for a little while and you remember new memories then. Weird, huh?
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[That would help catch her up on the others. Even when part of her worries for what that even three years might bring, after how harrowing the last one was, in spite of the happiness of meeting the senshi.
But even with that uncertainty, surely if there were big things, the others would fill her in when and if they felt necessary. And even still, she can't imagine there not still being some bright moments in the middle of it all.]
Maybe I will. I know they worry.
[Usagi being behind, not as powerful as them, as she is in their timeline. She wants to hold her own and not have them feel so responsible, if possible. But for now, there's not much choice but to hold them to it when they are more knowledgeable of this place.]
Ah, but that's not something we can choose, is it? So I just have to keep on and if it happens, it happens.
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It'd be nice if we could voluntarily just go back home.
[ it pains him to say it because he has no home to go back to, but hey... at least usagi does. that's what counts right now. ]
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[Which is exactly what she plans to do! Usagi is determined, and ever the optimist, so she's striving to still enjoy herself. That he and everyone else here would too.]