Welcome to Gaia! ::

The air was thrumming with anticipation as the lights of the parking lot and front entrance were doubled, and the lights of the Carnival itself began to switch on in sequence, starting from the ticket booth and stretching back and out into the park like a pool of water down a hill.

Standing at the ticket booth was a stoic looking man dressed in red and black, a top hat sitting on his head. He looked at the gathered crowd and grinned, which would be stark and strange for anyone that actually knew him, as he spread his arms wide.

"Welcome to the Carnival!" He said with a look of excitement burning in his eyes that, even with his smile, didn't quite reach his face. He was bad with emotions, at least his own, though he did honestly feel them. Chester owned this place, and was excited to see it open, glad to see those that had come out for it, and was hoping for a good night.

He had no idea, of course, that his opening night event had been the perfect target for a certain Negaverse General.

She was perched inside the park already, watching the events from a distance. She saw the motions Chester made and the show with the lights, understanding that the park was now open. Good. Let them all come in, let them start to enjoy themselves. Get the food cooking and the games running. Then the real night would begin.

Her soldiers were likely getting to their posts. This would be a night to remember, a night for the Negaverse to establish all that power and the sense of threat they had lost while hiding in the shadows. While she was glad to see them coming to their senses about the need for energy, it was not enough.

No, they needed a show of strength.

The Fun House, where she was perching on the roof, was closed tonight because of some unforeseen technical difficulties. Painite had ensured that much. She would spend the night aiding her troops, already knowing that no senshi or knight would just let them have their fun. And that was part of it. Maybe they could take out some of those infernal Order brats through all this.

Wouldn't that be nice?

With the Fun House waiting for the Main Event, Painite took to the park. She would make herself available should any of her soldiers need her. And not to forget the youma they would need. Painite grinned as a few kids ran by her, some of the first in the Carnival, not paying any mind to what they assumed was a worker there.

Oh, it was going to be a good night.


The entrance to the carnival has a large archway of lights, with the word 'Fate' emblazoned on it. The colors are deep and rich, purple, red, silver, and they run throughout the entire park. The ticket booth has only a few lanes for traffic, but once inside, the park immediately opens up. There are different paths to pick from right from the start, toward each specific part of the park, which include:

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The Big Top:

• Located at the center of the carnival, this is one of the largest places in the grounds. It is where all the big shows happen! It is circular in shape, with stadium like seating benches all the way around, save for aisles for the entrances and exits. The main entrance to the Big Top has a ticket booth, though there are no extra charges to seeing shows there. One simply needs to get a ticket to each showing before hand from electronic dispensers nearby, to regulate seating limitations. In the center is the performance ring, decorated in a classic style reminiscent to circus' people run away to. High above, there is an elaborate framework of trapeze and tightropes, planks and other contraptions for various shows. Above that are the catwalks for crew, and the lightening/video equipment attached. There is a smaller tent attached to the big top at it's northern end, the 'back', where performers go to dress, prepare, and rest for or after their shows. There is a walkway attached for the animals to pass through, but that part of the tent is usually kept zipped up as another wall unless animals need to be moved before or after shows.

The Animal Pens:

• This is where the animals are kept during the day, for audience members to come and see when they are not in performances or at rest. There are only a small number of animals, including horses and large cats. There are two tigers and one lion, and every animal seems to be in good health. There is a bear living there, as well, but he does not appear in shows and his story is posted on a little placard beside his cage. All the animals have larger pens behind the cages, where they are exercised, fed, and where they sleep. This area is for staff only. The cages themselves are displayed under a large canopy that matches the Big Top in colors and design, with iron fences flanking the walk way to discourage guests from getting too close.

The Rides:

• This area of the carnival is well lit from hanging lanterns, and everything is painted in the same purple and golds to match the Big Top and other tents. There are a number of small and medium sized rides here, as well as a large ferris wheel. There is a ride that spins three sets of circular seats on an axis, so that the seats are rotating as well, independent of the whole axis spinning. It's designed to go fast, and give thrill seekers that rush of nausea they seem to crave. There is a large swinging ride as well, where a few rows of people can sit and be swung back and forth at a dizzying height. Near that is the dropper, a standard tall pole that patrons ride upwards in chairs and then get 'dropped' a few times, being jolted up and down the pole at different speeds and distances until the big drop at the end. There is a smaller ride for children, a mini Merry Go Round where some of the seats lift up and down and others rock back and forth. Lastly, there is a canopy covered tent of bumper cars. It is not a huge track, but the ride is fun and the cars control well enough.

The Roller Coaster:

• The largest of the rides in the park, and the one that took the longest and most care to build, the Roller Coaster is a point of pride in the park. It is made of wood and steel, and conforms to every safety standard despite its harrowing appearance. The tracks twist and there are a few loops, as well as sudden drops and turns that leave stomachs in places other than their original locations. The train cars are four long, with four people in each car (seated two in front and two behind in individual seats). It is not recommended for children, and there is a minimum height requirement. The line is kept inside a tent for the most part, unless it's a busy day, between winding chains and poles until they reach an attendant and the controls, where the ride and the riders are monitored.

House of Mirrors:

• A building next door to the Fun House, attached but with two entrances and multiple paths inside. It is more a labyrinth of mirrors than anything else, dimly lit and difficult to navigate, even by people who know the path. It is filtered with air conditioning to keep it just below comfortably cold, and the ambient music ranges from creepy to welcoming, depending on the time of day. There is a second story where employees monitor the activities within, and security cameras that cover most, but not all, of the corners the mirrors create. It is sometimes difficult to discern what is and is not a reflection, however. There is a cat walk that leads to a ladder that the staff use to access the security room, but the door is at the beginning of the maze, and is off limits. It is hidden by a mirror, though the doorknob gives it away.

The Picnic Area:

• The Picnic Area is not much beyond its name. It is a place with tables and benches, covered by purple umbrellas or not depending on what people prefer, where guests can bring their food to eat. There are food stands lining the area, where carnival fair is offered at reasonable enough prices, for a theme park of sorts. Burgers, hot dogs, cotton candy and popcorn are staples of any day trip locale, plus more localized and themed food can be purchased here. There area lines the bank of a small lake, and though access to the water is gated off and restricted to personnel only, the view is natural and the breeze that comes off the water can be refreshing. Large dumpsters are locate just beyond the area, next to a security and park information building.

The Children's Area:

• Near to the Picnic Area is a children's area, for the tired parents that need a bit of a sit down, and for the kids with boundless energy. It is mostly a carnival themed park, with slides and swings and other such playground staples. There is a small petting zoo as well, though the animals available only range from goats to rabbits, with nothing in between. There is an ancient donkey, but he is usually walking the park, or resting in the larger animal pens. He makes scheduled appearances for feeding and pictures, and small rides for light and younger children. There are a number of spots designed in the theme of the carnival where parents can take pictures of their children poking their heads through wooden cutouts, or standing on a small representation of the Big Top's arena with a statue of a lion.

The Game Boardwalk:

• Running along the lake, the Boardwalk is where all the games are located. Classic ring and bean bag tosses, water gun races, ski ball contests and whack-a-mole: all the classics, and more, are available here. Plushed animal prizes of surprising variety can be won and traded, and near the center of the game stands is a building where a small arcade can be found. Old school electronic quarter games are available within, with some newer, more popular machines as well. In here there are prizes behind and displayed in a counter, and can be won by exchanged the paper tickets the games spit out depending on how high ones score is in the game. This Boardwalk is always alive with employees calling out games and announcing challenges, and speakers mounted on the light posts fill the area with energetic music.

This part of the night is yours! Enjoy it! Due to work and schedule issues, the next part of the event will begin in full swing on Monday, May 20. For now, feel free to RP here, or have your own RPs anywhere within the park! There is no time limit on when these RPs should be completed, so long as you bear in mind that they will need to be in their assigned areas before the next part of the event begins!

If anyone has any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please PM me!

Anyone who wishes to join late may do so as a civilian only!

***Chaos Agents are still being accepted!***
HAVE FUN!!

A carnival? Of course Haley had to make an appearance. After her disappointing and totally unfair loss in the city council elections, she was looking for something like this to pick up her mood.

It had been a hard few weeks since losing the election! Obviously, the first matter of business was to fire the b***h of a psychic who had told her she was going to win the thing. It was lying psychics like that who made the entire science seem like a hoax. Luckily, Haley had two other psychics she saw on a semi-regular basis, so it wasn't like she was some kind of idiot who didn't know the future. She couldn't even imagine what that would be like.

Three of her closest friends - Desiree, Michael and Ricky - tried to cheer her up, but mostly to no avail, until they suggested a trip to the carnival. They had smoked up in Michael's car out in the parking lot, but Michael and Desiree stayed back to fool around some in the backseat, leaving Haley and Ricky high and lost in a carnival and unlikely to meet up with them again later, as was the usual case on their group outings.

"It's always about sex with them, you know? I mean, everywhere we go they have sex. We're at the movies and they're having sex. We're at the mall and their in the dressing room having sex. We're at dinner and they're in the bathroom having sex," she rambled on to who she thought was Ricky, but then turned to actually look and realize it was a strange old woman in The Picnic Area.

Crap. Where the hell was Ricky?


Crap. Where the hell was Haley?

Ricky was never good high. Sober? He moved the world as a loud, abrasive, lost and confused puppy in the body of an adult man. Drunk? He was just louder and more abrasive. High? He was just more lost and confused. Also, hungry. He had picked up a big soft pretzel in the picnic area - which at the time, tasted like the best damn soft pretzel he ever had in his entire life. In fact, he spoke on and on about this for about ten minutes to who he thought was Haley, but was actually just a balloon.

Ever the shameless one, he departed from the balloon despite the excellent bond they had developed. Wandering aimlessly through the park, wholly unaware of his surroundings, he decided that the best thing to do would be to stay put in one central location - and the House of Mirrors looked like a good place for someone lost and high to find a friend! He crossed through the pathway into house, bumping hard into some dude in a suit on the way.

The guy didn't even apologize for making him drop his pretzel, the best pretzel.

"Douche," he muttered.

"a*****e," he muttered.

Some kid just dropped a nasty looking pretzel on his shoe. This is why Tag didn't go to these stupid carnivals. Way too many teenagers - as if there weren't enough of them in his life - acting like reckless idiots. As if that should be encouraged. He knew that Chelsea and Mike were planning on bringing his son Liam to the carnival, so he tried to keep an eye out for that bright spot at least.

Except for Mike. He hated that guy.

But alas, he had work to do. The station wanted him to attend and check things out, keep a look out in case anything happened that might be worthy of a story. Of course, he wasn't planning on covering anything unless he had to - he'd rather not expose the Negaverse operation that was going on behind the scenes. He wanted to snuff out the story before it leaked.

Still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary yet, so he thought he might have some time to kill and swing by the Children's Area to see if Liam and Chelsea were around, and if maybe Mike died in a fire or something else that's pleasant.

[Anybody who wants to RP with Penelope or Serpentine before it all goes to whatever Hell Painite has planned, just quote me! :3]

Penelope did not want to go into the House of Mirrors. Of all the things she and her best friend could be doing at the Carnival, Harper really wanted to go into the House of Mirrors? They could ride the Roller Coaster or go pet some animals or... or get a carbonated soda at the snack bar! She was just... torn.

She wanted to be with Harper. With the recent election, she had not had much opportuntity to be with her. But... the House of Mirrors? It was guaranteed to be dark and scary, and Penelope had been trying so very, very hard to steer away from dark and scary things. But if the stubborn teal-headed girl was going in... then the only way to get what she wanted was to go in too.

"Are.. are you sure?"



===

edit: I updated Serpentine's response to meet the requirements for a solo - this new version is about 100 words longer than the original post.
Total Word Count: 456

Serpentine knew that Buddingtonite was a fan of games--all sorts of games, in fact. The lieutenant preferred athletics himself. On the soccer field, strategy, skill, and teamwork were all put to the test. Which team had prepared better? Which team would fight harder? Oh, "luck" played some small part of it... but all the luck in the world would not help whichever had prepared the least. He did not deny that there was skill to certain games, even carnival games such as those that littered the The Game Boardwalk to which he had been assigned. But just as many relied on luck, and he doubted that many spent the hours of dedicated training to learn the exact timing of Whack-A-Mole or the air speed velocity of a slightly patched beanbag.

It was the first time in a long time that he was seperated from his partner. Buddingtonite would have chattered about the lights, or how poorly someone was doing at a game, or point out the finest of the fine asses on a 1 to 100 scale. In a way--though he would never admit it out loud--Serpentine sort of missed his presence. For now, all he had was the electronic sounds of the arcade and the bright lights to distract him from the slight creaking sound of the rubber snake being wound and unwound around his hand.

Well, there were also the two new faces to observe... and that made the seperation easier. General Painite had personally given him the order to be here, and from what he had seen of the woman thus far... he approved. Captain Natron he knew nothing about, but back up was back up. Not one to lie to himself, however, the Lieutenant knew what he really wanted. He wanted the fight he had been promised to begin. Action, the chance to use the power he had been given--properly, no one could argue this time that he was not doing it properly--was all he had ever wanted.

Serpentine made certain that he stuck to the shadows. If any Order aligned enemies were around, then they would not protect him… but thus far, he saw only everyday members of Destiny City. Families and friends seeking fun, little girls squeezing over the big, fluffy unicorn prizes that they hoped their big, strong fathers could help them obtain. Attacking here would certainly deliver a statement to these citizens, as well as to the Negaverse’s enemies. He did not question the need for energy draining, as it had been brought up at the recent meetings.

Still, the truth of the matter was that watching the Carnival around him made him wonder only one thing. When would the true game begin?

"Gwen!" A voice called from the crowd, a teen working her way between strangers to join someone she knew and called friend.

"Did you come alone to the carnival?" Orah said as she greeted the other girl with a smile, adjusting the strap of her purse as it crossed her chest. Dressed in a cute pink tank and a soft skirt, she was ready for a night out, away from school and the shop and all the responsibility of being a senshi. Tonight was for fun, the seriousness was for later

"I love Carnivals, I'm so excited to see this new one open."

There were power signatures here and there, but all Chaos thus far, so Buddingtonite wasn't too worried when he felt one approaching him. He knew it to be an ally though the question was which one. And as much as he wanted to play the guessing game, it seemed he was short on time, as Amethyst reached him. He tipped his hat off to the young lieutenant, his tone jovial and merry, completely contradicting the impending attack that he and many of his fellow officers were going to be participating in very shortly. "Good evening to you too, Amethyst! What luck that the two of us got stationed together here, wouldn't you agree?"

When given a compliment, what else could Buddingtonite do but accept them with open arms? All of it would fuel his ego, and given how little praise he felt he received from others, he was going to milk this cow for all its worth. "Thank you- it's about time someone noticed! Hopefully I look less of the role of Nazi and more of a... oh, what's the word I'm looking for? Don't tell me, I'll think of it eventually..."

But now was not the time for idle chatter. They had to wait for Painite's signal, but telling the captain to not run his mouth would be like telling a fish to breathe on land. Perhaps for a short burst, but eventually he'd have to yield. "Seems like just yesterday I carried you to my condo and showed you the ropes, and here you are, about to dive neck deep into draining and maiming... you think you're ready for this, Amethyst?"



Gwen had been about to check her cellphone, just to see if Anandi or Maddy had texted her, when she heard a familiar voice, and she beamed at the sight of Orah approaching her. It hadn't been that long that she had seen her friend, but that didn't make her jubilation any less meaningful.

"I always go to a party alone but it never stays that way for long," Gwen said with a beaming grin, before giving a wink. "But it's okay. I always like to have friends at a party!"

Especially ones that she had made a pact with, one that Gwen was taking seriously, despite the ordeal being fresh in her mind. It was interesting to see two of the three members of PSSG there, even if only in civilian form for the moment. She hoped it'd remain that way...

"I've been to a few back home, but this is the first one I've been to in forever. I think I was... erm... eight, when I went to one last? I threw up on the rides, though... today, I'm just here to see the animals and the bear."

Especially the bear... she may have loved big cats, but she'd never had the chance to be so close to a bear. "Come with?"

"I'm really sorry, okay?" Christopher Gallo tried once again to apologize to his two, uh.... dates. "Really. I didn't mean for either of you to feel like I was trying to ignore you. And you're not third wheels!" he practically whined, not liking the mental image of a tricycle, with him at the lead. It made him uncomfortable and feel... rather pig-ish. "I'll make it up to you, okay Paris? Zee?"

They should know that he was always good on his promises. He already felt horrible that the two of them might not have as good a time as they were going to, but circumstances changed and now he ended up with, well... two dates. Sort of. Zia was his best friend, and Paris was his partner, so.... that was okay, right? He was totally allowed to have two dates.... right??

"I'm sorry, I really am," he begged again, getting desperate. "If there's anything you wanted to do... Just tell me, okay? We can head down the boardwalk and then hit up the rides and then go to the big top, okay??" he asked them, trying to put together a list of places they should see so they would all be happy.

If it keeps up like this, he will end up being the third wheel.

Trevor looked around the carnival, who knew a first annual Destiny City carnival would be a huge hit. It seemed like whoever organized it would debate whether to hold each year or not. He smiled to himself enjoying the time spent with his girlfriend. He beamed as they walked around.

He glanced over at the House of Mirrors and nodded his head "sounds like a good idea, im hoping it won't throw off our balance once we get out" he said, he too was a little nervous about going in there mainly because he was worried they would get separated and lost.