Rexcalibur

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Uhhh pepperoni, mushrooms, and (at the request of my brother) jalapenos. Which I promptly picked out of all my slices and dumped on his lol.

Anyhoo, I'm gonna head out to work now for a bit. I'll update when I'm back and able to post - though just a fair warning that I'll probably take anywhere between 2-3 hours for this round, since I'm thinking it might turn into a big one, but I still don't know exactly what I'm doing yet. ^^; I'll think about it while I'm commuting/working though so hopefully I'll have a good idea of where to take things this/next round!

That being said, I'm not calling next post atm XD, so whoever is able to post before me, feel free to, as it'll be a while before I'm back, and I may or may not take quite some time to write. :) Cheers!

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: the Big Top - Audience (Back)

"WHAT" Trixie called out with a sputter - along with a bunch of other audience members seated nearby her. Did that - did that lady's arms just... pop right out of her shoulder sockets!? Was that normal? There wasn't any blood either!? Heck, she didn't even look like she was in pain! Once again, Trixie tugged on her pigtails. What the!?

The prankster began to heave, a mix between exasperation and shock, as her contorted face glanced around everywhere. Like the cheat codes were lost in the air somewhere. "I didn't know we could do that!" she slumped back into her chair, and promptly began yanking on Estelle's arm. "Supersis! How come no one ever told me arms could do that!?"

---

On Stage

"And there you have it, folks!" Sammie announced with a wide smile. She motioned with her arms as she called out the performers' names. "Give it up for Max and Poppy!"

The audience roared with laughter. Even Lucien was close to dropping the bucket of popcorn to the floor in shock. These performers... were something else entirely. Flexibility and gimmicks were one thing - but the way that human cannon flung himself around, the acrobat detached her arms, the beast tamer juggled his pets like they were bowling pins... it was no wonder this circus garnered so much attention even as a stationary attraction.

Anyone who wasn't blind could see the sheer look of joy on their faces - well, most of their faces. One of the acrobats looked stern while the other seemed to space out halfway through her own act, but even then, there was no fear or shame in their visage. They knew what they were doing (for the most part). They had the skills and choreography to prove it.

Trixie was among the audience that screamed with uncontrollable enthusiasm. Even she was drawn into how sincere their performance looked, having completely forgotten the reason why they were there in the first place.

Below the tightrope and trapezes stood Cammie, holding his ("her" to everyone else) cape out in front of him. He waved it up and down a few times, rippling it like a flag in a breeze. But his deadpan eyes remained set on the audience before him, as opposed to whatever shenanigans were going on around or above him. His twin sister Sammie snickered from behind him.



And still no sign of that crazy arsonist.

---

Back at Morris...

The two guilders left behind - Marcus and Amy - walked down the paved roads at a comfortable but cautious pace. During the time that had passed, they had done their own investigation within Morris. They checked out whatever clues they could lay their eyes and ears on - calmly searching the town for missing faces, eavesdropping on passersby for any information on the circus or missing people, asking villagers simple questions on what they know about them.

While they had reached a couple whose daughter had gone missing overnight sometime ago, they had no info whatsoever that could point in any kidnapper's direction. Their house had already been spotchecked for fingerprints, strands of hair or clothing, and any other incriminating evidence. It seemed as though their home had been completely untouched - even their crops were left without a single scratch.

At some point during the Pride members' walk and calm conversations, their communicator buzzed with noise. Xandra's voice. Though it was difficult to make out exactly what she was saying due to the background noise (and surely Marcus' voice was barely going through as well), there was no mistaking that something bothered the metallurgist. Had they found something?

The background noise soon died down, and her voice was much clearer. Some static still interrupted the signal due to the communicators' distance, but each side was much more audible to one another now.

Amy and Marcus locked eyes for a moment, a sense of dread evident it Amy's own, before the mage handed her the communicator. She brought it close to her mouth and paused for a moment before speaking.



"Xandra, what is it?"

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

EDIT: No worries, Kei! :) Just wrapped mine up. Post was getting a bit longer than what I wanted, so I forwent the performers' scene and instead left some setup onstage for Pacman/Buns should they decide to use it. (Or not, totally up to you! ;D)

Also can we just

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Glad you're safe, Kei ^^ Welcome back! I could only imagine how fatigued and overwhelmed you feel, weather shenanigans and all. I hope your grandparents are all right. :( Best of luck with the catastrophe going on in the Phils right now.

I need to see Beetlejuice too @.@

Yessss Buns thank you for posting. I was hoping my lagging behind on timing wouldn't prevent you from doing so since there were some things still to work with, and I'm super glad you went on with your IC without waiting for me hahaha. :)

I call my posts too though I do tend to take up to two hours max with my writing - either cuz I'm picky and end up rewriting like *everything* twice or thrice, or because something redonk happens and I have to break away for a brief period. I'm usually good about updating if I have to break away cuz of something like mama calling me or dogs being up to something. ^^ Otherwise my posts are as quick as like 40 minutes. If I don't call it though it means I'm totally fine with someone else posting before I finish mine, for whatever reason. :)

At any rate - I'm gonna order some pizza, read Buns' post, then start writing. However if anyone would like to post first, feel free to call it and I'll wait. ^^

guys we need a steampunk zombie chapter

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Is this the gif you're looking for, Aki? :3

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: the Big Top - Performance Stage

Throughout Trixie's mini panic scene, Sammie the emcee detailed just what else the human cannonball was to do as the man set himself up again in the cannon. The audience cooed along with Sammie's words, as she confidently motioned with her hands just who was going where and what would follow.

"...towards the tightrope, to my dear sister in the eastern end!"

An irate magician girl standing high up at one end of the tightrope, atop a stabilized stand, flicked her wrist at the audience. She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly as opposed to greeting the audience back with enthusiasm.

"And once he reaches her, he'll be flung directly across the tightrope to the opposite end, where our younger sister stands!"

Indeed on the opposite end stood another magician girl, bearing the same exact clothing and body structure - though a lot more jolly than the other magicians. She winked and waved brightly to the audience gawking and cheering at her.

"And then! Once he reaches her, he will--"

BOOM!

Before Sammie could even finish her explanation, Max burst out of his cannon. The entire audience gasped in unity. Sammie merely pinched her eyes shut and plugged her ears to avoid any potential deafening. "Go Max, goooo!" she called out.

Just as was explained, the human rocket flew at an impeccable speed to the magician girl at the eastern end of the rope. She grumbled to herself as she held out her cape from behind her to the side, as if she were a matador fighting a bull.



Once Max was close enough, Cammie twirled with perfect timing - and swung her cape at him like a baseball batter. In an instant, Max's flight was redirected to the western end of the tightrope. He hadn't lost any of his momentum, instead soaring faster and faster through the still airs. The audience cheered him on even more during his solo flight to the other magician girl. She bounced foot to foot, waiting for Max to come closer and closer.



With precise timing but a lot slower speed, Tammie also held her cape to the side and swung with it as well. And in an instant... the human rocket was gone. The audience as a whole gasped once again.

But Max was not gone for long. In the midst of this, Sammie had removed her hat and held it out to the side, as far away from her as she could get. The smug on her face unfailing, she stood upright and kept her eyes on the audience the whole time. Once Max was hit with Tammie's cape, he suddenly flew right out of Sammie's hat back towards the ceiling. Though her clothing and hair blew to the side as a result from Max's speed, she stood unfazed.

Max began to descend once reaching his peak height, summoning incredible applause and screams from the audience once again.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: the Big Top - Audience (Back)

Trixie followed in immediately after Estelle, taking the empty seat beside her towards the back of the room. She leaned over to the redhead and cupped her mouth, about to whisper her stupendous idea... until realization dawned and her expression dropped. "Wait... our weapons though!" she squeaked instead, nearly bouncing in her seat. They had never covered what they were gonna do about those! Even considering Crispin's dumb plan, was the Pride of any use without their weapons? Boss said she'd be unable to hide hers, and Trixie's were always visible on her as well.

"Wha... how do we..."

She understood one thing well enough, though: everyone will freak out over the big top being lit on fire. It was clear that some of the Pride members would have to escort the innocent audience members before they get hurt - and Trixie assumed that's what Estelle wanted to do since she was in the back.

But what about the tall security people outside? And the performers in general? Would they... try to help? Or... they're not so bad guys that they'd try to kill everyone or something during the panic, would they!? Being the exaggerative runt that she was, Trixie began to nibble on her exposed fingernails, worry etched in her eyes. So who were the good guys and who were the bad guys? Could they really know!? Like - what if the bad circus guys weren't bad guys at all and that fiery dude was actually the bad one and this was his grand scheme to kill everyone at once and...!?

She began pulling on her pigtails, about to scream in total confusion, but Estelle quickly took notice of her jittering and calmly squeezed the prankster's thigh. The redhead maintained her eyes on the stage, on the lookout especially for that arsonist freak. Trixie took numerous deep breaths before composing herself well enough to speak again.

"Supersis... um... Supersis..." Trixie nudged the arm of her heroine to retain her attention. Despite who the bad guys were and weren't, it was best to focus on the simpler tasks. Lest she start flipping out a second time. "When all the innocent people start running out - I'll go with them. Like I'll pretend I'm a part of them." The elderly couple sitting in front of Trixie looked over their shoulders and hushed her snappily with fingers to their lips, but Trixie ignored them. "I know where our stuff is stashed. I can sneak back in with everything! I'll be quick as a... uh... that cannonball guy. Is that okay??"

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

I hope Kei is all right. :( I've got cousins in the flooded areas as well, things are not going good at all. Damn weather in the PI is horrible... it's the main reason I never want to live there. :/ Stay safe, Kei!

EDIT: 37 minutes to post a hefty size! New record :D

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Posted! I used Xandra and Lucien to help prompt the discussion. As a head's up - I'm not pushing for a particular plan within the Pride re: where they sit or what their plan of action is when (or even before) the performance starts. It's entirely up to you guys and your characters. :) So feel free to have your character(s) promote an idea/plan they like or even begin to seat themselves if they feel like they should get seats immediately (as opposed to just going to the flow or waiting for me or Pacman to set you guys up haha).

A lot of stuff within the chapter had actually gone against what was planned, which makes RPing a lot more fun than going exactly by what was detailed in a synopsis imo. So I'm looking forward to what everyone else might have in mind for how to progress at this part, especially ^^. As always, feel free to hit me or Pacman up via FB or skype if you have any questions!

Hope you're enjoying the skimming, Aki! T__T hahaha

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

Xandra scanned the area around them. Following the blaring trumpets, some guests were making their way to the Big Top immediately - children rushing, with older audiences taking their time. Others did as the emcee recommended, instead making their way to the snack stands and wrapping up their games first. From where the Pride stood, they could see quite a queue building up from outside the portapotties further down the pathway of tents. Trixie scrunched her nose just thinking about how nasty that place must've smelled.

"Seems we still have some time," Lucien grinned, watching as a pair of kids rushed straight passed him and into the tent behind them. Luckily they have gathered within reach of the big top, so there would be no need to rush to sit if their discussion took longer than necessary. Before any chatting could stir up, he held up a finger to excuse himself. "Give me juuust a sec."

He bumbled after the children to poke his head inside the Big Top, if only for a moment. He was joined by Xandra shortly - whether she followed him to keep him out of trouble or check things out herself was left unsaid.



As expected, the audience seating was mostly clear - and the room itself was incredibly massive. While the tent itself was huge just looking at it from the outside, it betrayed just how much it could withstand inside. Dangling lights, tightropes, and trapezes adorned the fabric ceiling, keeping the entire stage well-lit, well prepared, and beautified. The stage was remarkably clean, with many of the larger props having been shoved to the side and hidden beneath large and ~mysterious~ blankets. The audience could only guess what was hiding beneath them. Aside from a few others already getting seated in random areas throughout the tent, there were vacancies in about every section: up front, in the middle, towards the back, to the east, west, and south.

Both guilders returned to the Pride promptly. "Yup yup, it's way bigger on the inside than it looks from out here. If we beat the rush, we have a lot of room to work with." Lucien nodded to himself for reaffirmation.

Xandra followed up with her usual no-nonsense examination. "It's not much to work with, but if we figure out a plan early enough, we can get whatever seats we need to before they fill up. Whether we need to split up, stay together, take the seats towards the front or the back..."

Trixie laughed nervously, catching the others' attentions. Keeping her voice low, she spoke up about what had gone on in the big top - quiet enough that no one else outside of their cluster could hear them. "Might be good to take both the front and back... uhh... that crazy cap guy said he was gonna set stuff on fire when it was his turn."

"Someone's going to... what?" The metallurgist blinked rapidly, unsure of whether she was correctly processing the information she just heard. What fool could possibly even think to set a near stadium on fire that was full of innocent people? Should they not stop him instead?

With another unsure giggle, Trixie shrugged. "That's what he said, right, Supersis? Lucy? Ari?"

Lucien retained his large smile, though sweat was visible across his face and neck. "Yeah yeah, pretty much that... So there's the matter of escorting the audience members safely..."