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Slidr had been wandering around aimlessly for the last hour or so.

If it wasn’t bad before, things between him and Alexandre were becoming increasingly strained. Before he would have chalked it up to being overworked or not getting off until the sun had already set, but Slidr knew better. The depression and anxiety he was feeling lately had nothing to do with the long nights or colder weather but rather it had everything to do with the lack of communication between him and his partner.

At least Alex was trying… or at least it seemed like he was especially after trying to invite him to a haunted house. But Slidr, on his part, just felt done. Tired of the lies or feeling like he couldn’t come home because there was some new vehicle parked in front of their house. Least he could do is tell me if he plans to have company… was that really too much to ask.

Slidr’s hand balled into a fist before twisting his body and punching a tree. It remained upright, unwavering under the impact and while his knuckles probably bled under his glove, he really couldn’t bring himself to care. “Damn it…” he hissed between clenched teeth before leaning his head against the rough bark.

He stood in silence for what felt like a half-hour before the sound of a carousel coming alive met his ears.

The Page of Mercury turned his head in the direction of the music curiously. “Strange...The ride should be closed for now…” It was a place he had considered bringing his boyfriend once he had heard that the renovation was soon to be completed but then s**t hit the fan and the idea was thrown out the window along with the garbage bag.

Needing a distraction he followed the haunted sound until he felt an order aura feather the edge of his sense. The aura was definitely stronger than his own but on the other side of that same coin, it did not come close to Delphi’s either, if anything it floated somewhere between them. It had been long enough since he was active in his duty that he had actually forgotten what ranks there were and what their signatures felt like; a little concerning but something he would have to relearn quickly if he wanted to survive. However, in the meantime, he simply approached the carousel and leaned his elbows against the railing as he watched a senshi pick out a horse then look in his direction.

Slidr nodded his head in greeting but otherwise didn’t say as the ride began to move.

Slidr looked at the ride operator with a raised brow. He was about to wave his hand dismissively and tell him to start it without him but figured he would be a stubborn man and insist he get on anyway.

With a deep sigh, the Page combed his fingers through inky hair and in doing so removed his fur-lined hood. “Ok…” He seemed less than pleased to be getting on a kids ride but what other choice did he have.

Walking over to a grey appaloosa with a rose thorn saddle he stood beside the porcelain painted horse and held onto the pole that kept it in place. None of the other ridders seemed to so much as give him a second glance as he passed by, probably because his uniform, to some, looked more like warm jogging gear.

“Slidr,” he offered in short reply.

“Is there a reason you’re out here riding a carousel? It seems a bit late for kid rides.” The world around them spun at a constant pace, ribbons of lights passed by horizontally. While most everything was a bit of a blur cloaked in a dark shadow, the one thing he could constantly spot with clarity was the wide white toothy grin of the ride operator.

Music from the carousel began to shift from the normal tune to something that one would expect to be played in a horror movie, especially with the added scream effect that echoed from where the line should be. What the hell? the Page of Mercury wondered to himself but ultimately just shook his head assuming it was just thematic music to go along with the Halloween theme.

From where he stood Slidr didn’t sense anything powered, nothing youma or Negaverse related, and could only assume that this was just some Halloween ploy to spook the guests, a trick of mirrors like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney Land. However, there was no smoke or mirrors that could be seen.

And so, he let go of the carousel pole he had been holding on to and wove his way between the blackened horses to where the man struggled to get off the ride.

Ghosts... apparitions... whatever they were, ran pas, or through them, in a blur of color and horrified expressions and yet the ride operator did not seem inclined to stop the ride just yet.

“Hey, Etamin!” Slidr nodded with his yead to the side. “Think you can try to turn this thing off.” Yes they were spinning at a rapid rate and the ability to see past the rail was limited due to the shadows but as a powered senshi, he should have no problem jumping high or far enough to avoid getting tripped up over anything.

Slidr groaned.

“I’d say this is more than a problem.” He kept his eyes focused on Etamin, trying to ignore the background spinning behind him in a blur of motion that made the world seem like a colorful stroke of paint from an artist’s brush.

Fast speeds didn’t bother him as long as it was in a straight line, as long as he had a spot on the horizon to focus on everything else may as well not exist, at least that was how he looked at it when he went zipping down the freeway going 110 MPH. But this was a different beast and aside from jumping off and praying they didn’t fly into a tree or another person, Slidr had no idea how to make this ride to stop spinning.

The operator was gone and the controls were missing, which meant there was nothing for him to try and throw his weapon at. Plus, the cane was simply a large piece of ice that broke moderately easily, it would likely shatter upon impact if thrown before it could break anything anyway. “Do you have any thoughts on how to stop this thing?”

Slidr’s brows furrowed in confusion when the senshi began asking odd questions. From where he stood on the carousel he couldn’t see the ghost he was talking to. “What I want is to get off,” he replied curtly.

As the ride continued to spin at a constant speed he carefully reached out towards the next horse’s safety buckle for kids when they sit on it to steady himself and stepped forward. Only then did he see who Etamin was directing his questions to.

The Page of Mercury cleared his throat, ashamed by his former irritation. “Sorry… Continue...” he looked away sheepishly, clearly embarrassed by his earlier reply.

"That's an understatement." Slidr looked around, trying to find a spot on the horizon to focus on so he'd stop feeling so dizzy. "I think this is our cue to take off before everyone else wakes up." Last thing either of them needed were the civilians to bring around unwanted attention because there were terrorists at the carnival.

"Etamin, take care." He brought a finger to his brow and tipped his head in the direction of the White Moon Senshi before hopping off the ride and powering down so he could better blend in with the crowd so he could pretend like he was one of the victims if asked questions about what happened.