9th Act - Boys and girls of every age

[pipers_son]

Who: Come one, come all!
Where: Goldenrod, the Eve's Garden Circus
When: The 3rd - rest of the month
Summary: Just like always, the Circus is busy as usual... But with a bit of a spooky twist added on thanks to their current partnership with a certain Haunted House.
Rating: PG
Log:



The Circus is always bustling with activity, even on the days when the shows in the Big Top aren't on. There's plenty of stalls to enjoy besides those, after all! Games, and food, and stalls with all sorts of interesting things for sale. For those living in Goldenrod or passing through, it's no doubt quickly settled itself as a regular scene.

On the 11th, however... Just as always when the shows are promised to happen, the Circus is more bustling than usual and today there's a twist. On the 3rd, those walking past the Circus' gates will find themselves in QUITE the different atmosphere. Genuine spider webs are strung across the stalls, skulls strung up in them that seem to clack their teeth at passerby. Legions of pumpkins are sprawled throughout the area. At night, their eerie glow lights up twisting paths throughout the circus grounds. Even quite a few of the workers seem to have gotten into the spirit (possibly at their boss' badgering), and wear outfits from the simple masks to the more complex things. Those who were here for last year probably won't be surprised.

Beyond the change in atmosphere, however, there are still the things that are usually about! Food, games, and stalls selling various knickknacks can all be found relatively easy although they're joined by a few other themed goods. There's also, of course, the show that will be playing three times a day in the big tent proper! It also seems like the Litleo hoard has been released onto the grounds once again, with little bags of delicious candy tied around their necks.

One notable addition is what appears to be a small station of sorts with a rather ominous carriage that stops at it every now and then pulled by what appear to be a pair of Rapidash... only colored darkly with bones painted across their heads and what might be actual skulls acting as face covers. Well then! Perhaps you might be interested in letting it take you to the haunted house?

It's a relaxed and fun little adventure... at least, it is until things start getting strange with those weird fusioned Pokemon... The circus grounds are still open, regardless if people are changed or not, but you'll be disappointed if you're expecting any shows from underneath the big top itself. Joker has no interest in putting his performers in danger like that, you see. But then, that just might mean you'll see him wandering around for once and not run so ragged.

Comments

[dressofheaven]

"Yes, it'd basically just a guessing game. A shame, but nothing we can really do anything about unless we figure out how we're being brought here in the first place."

She actually sounds a little wistful there. She'd certainly love to have control over who comes here.

[pipers_son]

"Folks have been here for years and haven't figured it out." Biting into his apple again, Joker thinks on it. He knows he's not particularly brilliant, especially in this kind of world where everything is so much more advanced than he's used to. He's clever, but not smart.

"It happens real regular too, when people come in. Almost like ya can tell seasons. Think ya can blame it on nature? I mean, in this sorta place, nature's pretty..." He makes a vague hand gesture.

[dressofheaven]

"Nature? Well... my guess is it's a Legendary behind it, or maybe more than one. I guess that would sort of count. They're like forces of nature."

Like gods, practically.

[pipers_son]

"Basically."

That seems to remind Joker of something, however, and he pauses with his fingers twitching on the apple stick.

"Ah... But even those things can sorta be controlled, doesn't it seem like?"

[dressofheaven]

She grimaces at that particular memory. It had been fun, but also kind of had some worrying implications...

"Maybe only up to a certain point, though? I doubt anyone could control that Arceus creature."

[pipers_son]

"Ha, yeah..." Joker is still grinning. However, there's an edge of wariness to it now. It'd been fun at the time, but that might have been a whole lot of adrenaline talking.

"I mean, they were there, but they seemed caught up in their own business instead a listenin' ta anyone."

[dressofheaven]

Ilya nods, her expression dark.

"Yes. It really seemed more like those fools in the odd outfits were trying to steer the course of something much larger than them than anything else."

[pipers_son]

"It'd be nice ta know more about what. Ah well..." He gives an easy going shrug. They're not around, they're not his problem anymore.

Until the next time they inevitably are.

"We have our own menace, don't we, yeah? The Rocket bunch."

[dressofheaven]

"I suppose. Though as far as I can remember they haven't tampered with the primal forces of nature."

Then again she doesn't know all that much about what goes on at the higher levels of the organization.

[pipers_son]

"Wish I knew what was goin' on in there, sometimes... Crocker and Snake were in it, did ya know? But they're both gone now, so..."

He bites into his apple again, half to hide how much the loss bothers him.

[dressofheaven]

"Poor Snake. He really never struck me as the type to deal well with such an organization."

Crocker... well, she only spoke with him once or twice and she found him annoying, so her sympathy for him on any issue is kind of low.

[pipers_son]

"He ain't... He's had a bad time a things, but he's good ta the core." Joker sighs.

"Don't know how he got mixed up with 'em. Thought most people showed up in New Bark."

[dressofheaven]

"I could be wrong about this, but I think it's all just kind of random. Some people just have bad luck."

And as she's found, it's just a matter of working with that.

[pipers_son]

"So ya think people just end up in Team Rocket or somethin'?"

He hadn't considered that but, well. If people can randomly show up in some poor woman's house, they can show up wherever a bunch of criminals have set up shop, he guesses.

[dressofheaven]

"I've heard of plenty of perfectly good people winding up there, so I really do believe that's the case."

Certainly she didn't get in there because she'd asked to be.

[pipers_son]

Finishing up his apple, Joker gives it a skillful flick over into a nearby garbage bin.

"Y'know, I can't really think a any similarities between that lot and New Bark. Whatever brings us here is an odd duck, ta be sure." Maybe even literally an odd duck.

[dressofheaven]

"Unquestionably so. But really, have we ever really understood the motives of any of the powers that be in this world?"

Or their own worlds, for that matter.

[pipers_son]

For that, Joker thinks a nice long while... and filches another caramel apple for himself.

"Last time seemed a bit like drownin' everything, ta be honest," he finally offers.

[dressofheaven]

"Wait, you mean the great whale from last year, right? The one that was fighting that... enormous land reptile? I think the rest of us were kind of just in the way there."

[pipers_son]

"Yeah, it was like a really angry lizard, wasn't it?" Joker gestures with his apple. "What on earth was goin' on there?"

[dressofheaven]

"As I recall it was something about land versus ocean... I don't think it would make much more sense if we knew more, honestly."

Ilya takes the last bite out of her own apple and toys with the core for a couple seconds, musing over it.

"Those two teams didn't seem very sensible, after all."

[pipers_son]

"But," he points out with a grin, "fascinatin' sense a style. The ones in blue, they really went for that pirate look, didn't they?"

He's kind of disappointed that he couldn't find a uniform for himself, honestly.

[dressofheaven]

She can't help but laugh a bit at that. "They certainly did! It makes one wonder if there have been actual pirates in this world. Think about it, boarding parties with Tentacruel holding the ships, Blastoises firing jets of water to knock sailors off the deck..."

It'd actually be pretty terrifying, really.

[pipers_son]

"Maybe that's what the Rockets should go back to." Joker sniggers as he swipes some caramel off of his mouth. "Might be a bit more profitable than their current business, don't ya think? If nothin' else, it'd make an impression."

[dressofheaven]

"Careful, Joker. If you keep coming up with such good ideas, they might send someone out to... recruit you."

She's joking, but the idea of a big brute in a black R shirt is simultaneously kind of amusing and the sort of thing that makes her want to smash the perpetrator into dust.