[center][h3]Ballyhoo’s Big Top - Minigame Roulette[/h3]
Level 13 Ms Fortune (160/130) Level 8 Goldlewis (84/80) Level 7 Sandalphon (43/70)
Roland, Sectonia, and the Robot Girls’ [@Archmage MC], Midna and the Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Geralt and Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Pit and the Octopath Travelers’ [@Yankee], Roxas and Ganondorf’s [@Double], Juri’s [@Zoey Boey]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 995[/center]

With a hard time limit in effect, courtesy of the oxygen system, none of the teams who finished their filmmaking challenge needed to wait around for very long. Just after the last quartet’s upload finished and they received their earnings, all of the sky gardens began to warp and dissociate just like the mountainside had in the first minigame. This fascinating new wonderworld, a sharp juxtaposition between idyllic islands and nebulous nightmares, quickly collapsed, and all eighteen Seekers found themselves shunted back to the game lobby alongside their two new acquaintances.

This time, they found Ballyhoo already on the scene when they arrived, eager to deliver the final results. “Welcome back, everyone! Enjoy your time chasing down cryptids in the Old World’s dismal depths? Whenever you’re done playing, make sure to rate our minigames on a scale of one to five stars, so we know what to keep in rotation! And now, without any further ado, THE STANDINGS!” He gave Balan his cue, and the green-haired mystery man sounded off a crisp drumroll from a drum set he’d manifested for just this occasion. “In third place: Bowser Junior, Geralt, Goldlewis, and Midna! In second place: Roland, Sectonia, Therion, and Primrose! And finally, in illustrious first place…Juri, Ganondorf, Sandalphon, and Zenkichi! Congratulations, everyone!” He snapped his fingers and a huge stack of rift tokens piled up atop his palm like pancakes. “And if you didn’t make top three, never fear, ‘cause at least you’re not leaving EMPTY-HANDED! TOKENS FOR EVERYBODY!” His other hand moved at a lightning-fast speed, dealing out rewards like a clay pigeon launcher. After only a moment, everyone had received their just desserts, and it was time to move on to the next step.

By now, everyone knew this song and dance, so Ballyhoo wasted no time in getting straight to it. For a third time the massive roulette wheel spun to life, the ivory-white ball rattling around its wooden circumference again and again until it finally grew tired and began to seek shelter. Nadia watched, a fresh neon green drink from the robotic fridge in hand, as the ball found itself a home in pocket number two. “Wow-ee!” Ballyhoo sang, beside himself with excitement. “Looks like you’re all in luck, because you just won the grand prize: our most popular minigame, KOOKY CABBIES!”

The words exploded in the air behind him as he announced the name of the game. After posing in the air, the gamemaster launched straight into his typical explanation. “This one’s nice and simple! You’ll take on the role of a taxi driver in a big city where LOTS of people need to go PLACES, and FAST! It’s your job to pick them up, drive them there, and drop them off as quickly -and nonlethally- as you can to earn that sweet, sweet MONEY! You’ll start with just ninety seconds on the clock, but you can earn bonus time too, so the better you do, the better you’ll…FARE! AHA! AHA! AHAHAHA!”

Eyes narrowed and arms crossed, Nadia flicked her tail back and forth. “I don’t get it.”

“Passenger difficulty is divided into easy, medium, and hard,” Ballyhoo continued. “Which you’ll see by the color of their markers: green, yellow, and red! Take on harder passengers to get bigger payouts, or do stunts en route to earn extra dough! Whoever’s got the biggest haul when everyone’s out of time, WINS! Ladies and gentlemen, START. YOUR. ENGINES!”

He and Balan began flying circles around the Seekers, posed as if driving invisible cars. As the latter worked his magic, the players’ worlds began to spin as well, and after a moment everything melted away in the surreal centrifuge.

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[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/V7rgmMn.jpeg[/img][/center]

When everything finally stopped spinning, the contestants found themselves spirited away once more to a brand new wonderworld. This time it took the form of a sprawling city spread across two islands connected by a handful of bridges, one a sprawling brick-and-asphalt metropolis of elevated highways and highrises, and the other a tropical island with houses not too unlike Carnival Town’s arrayed around a towering volcano. The sun setting on the oceanic horizon cast everything in gold, from the sparkling water to the clouds in the royal blue sky. This time, everyone appeared separated, scattered across the conjoined islands. Unlike the previous two minigames, it looked like this one would be a free-for-all. However, the competitors weren’t totally alone, either. They all received one stalwart companion: a custom [url=https://i.imgur.com/REjaNA8.png]convertible taxi cab[/url] tailor-made to their dimensions, bright yellow with black and white checkered stripes.

For once, Goldlewis was in luck: out of all the black tech he’d been obliged to use while in Midgar, cars were the only non-magic machines that tended to gel with him. Even in a brand new world, he’d never be able to dispense with that critical aspect of Americana. Figuring it was finally his time to shine, the veteran jumped in to find a key already in the ignition, and when he turned it the engine roared to life. Conversely, Sandalphon surveyed her ride with much less enthusiasm. She tended to prefer public transportation, so even if she could intuit this vehicle’s operation without too much trouble, she doubted that she possessed the skill or the daredevil energy to ace this challenge. Still, the archangel was nothing if not zealous, so she put herself behind the wheel with the resolution to wield this vehicle like a weapon of war.

And of course, Nadia didn’t have the faintest idea how to work an automobile, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying, or failing, or trying again. Everyone in that boat would have to learn as they went, since after just a couple seconds, Ballyhoo’s voice blared through the city’s storm sirens.

“Welcome to Grapital City! Are you ready to RUMBLE? Then put your pedal to the metal, ‘cause it’s ready. Set. GO!”

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXJbFl7bKT4[/youtube][/center]