Re: DEATHGAME 9000 [S!3] Round Two: Interplanetary Circus
12-30-2012, 03:51 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-20-2013, 10:26 PM by Solaris.)
Originally posted on MSPA by Solaris.
As had increasingly become the norm, Vigil was not very pleased with how events had played out.
The latest object of his displeasure was his containment suit, which was thrust upon him despite his many objections. Though his argument of 'being magic' was in fact enough to protect him from the vacuum of Hwael's cage, Trisha was stubborn, and insisted, countering his excuse with a concern about Hwael potentially catching any of Vigil's magic. Before the bunny could object on the grounds that you can't catch magic, he was dressed in an inexplicably bunny sized suit and deemed absolutely adorable.
Vigil did not like being called adorable.
As Trisha collected a myriad of veterinary tools and carefully diagnosed her patient, the magical bunny's mind went to the excitable girl he had recently converted into a potentially all powerful magical warrior. He had to admit, that despite her rather explosive performance, she was doing very well for someone new to the realm of magic. She would need some help in controlling magic, but at least she was a natural at summoning it up.
Still, Vigil couldn't help but doubt if he had done the right thing. He comforted himself with the knowledge that at least it seemed like the circus would treat her better than the Spettro's did Lynette.
Mind still wandering, Vigil turned his thoughts to the matter of the woman he had seen, who was she, why did she look like Trisha? Should he talk to Trisha about it?
At that moment, the veterinarian herself called the rabbit over, her hands full with tools and machines, presumably for Hwael. "Vigil, I didn't stuff you in that suit just to make you look cute. I will admit that it was a contributing factor, but we should probably talk about our situation given that we have quite a while until we can help poor Hwael."
Vigil snapped out of his mulling and sighed, but followed Trisha into the decompression chamber. After giving Double-M the thumbs up, Trisha tapped a button, sparking the containment suits' communication modules to life, "So what happened with you and Eris?"
Vigil did the same and began, "Well, at first, we weren't sure of where we were going, everything looked the same, absent, then there was a bar," Vigil paused for a moment, remembering his slapstick entrance into the establishment, and then his other, more embarrassing actions in The Last Checkpoint. Not wanting to risk a single giggle from Trisha, and also making sure to avoid talking about his outburst, Vigil decided it would be beneficial to fudge the details just a little...
"And uh, you know how people at bars can be... and how Eris can be..." There was an awkward silence as Vigil realized that obfuscating the perfect storm of events that occurred in that bar would be a bit more difficult for him than he thought...
===
As the Other Jolene and Lynette walked through the busy streets of the Interplanetary Circus, they found their worried feelings, not exactly lost, but hidden under the very heavy cover of the attractions' bright lights, loud noises, and miscellaneous inanity. It was a fun distraction from what the two had to deal with so far, but it didn't quite make their choice of action any more concrete.
"So... let's go see a show, get our mind off things, or maybe try to get some.. uh, food?" The Other Jolene decided she didn't quite want to think about if she could eat and instead focused on guiding the still woozy Lynette through the crowds.
"I could probably use some food, but... doesn't that usually cost money?"
"Oh I'm sure that there has to be some sort of free food here, right?"
There wasn't. None of the vendors that the girls encountered was willing to part with even a free sample, which made Lynette less enthused and the Other Jolene more irritated.
"Come on, look at her, can't you spare a single damn piece?"
The vendor looked at Lynette and though he felt a bit of guilt, remained adamant in his choice, "I'm sorry hon."
Though she was not pleased, The Other Jolene only clenched her free fist and turned away when a male voice spoke, "If you would please give me three orders of your finest MeatSpace Nuggets? I can't stand having such lovely ladies go hungry."
As the vendor retreated into his stand to prepare the food, the Other Jolene turned to the man who had made the purchase, initially to thank him. However, upon looking at their savoir, she felt a bit suspicious.
There was something about his face that she just couldn't pin down, as if he wasn't fully there. Still, he seemed to be friendly enough, even if the Other Jolene started to think that there could have been something off with his interjection.
Still, The Other Jolene had some manners to keep, "Thanks Mister..."
"That's not very important right now," he grabbed the newly finished MeatSpace Nuggets, gave two of them to the Other Jolene, and then started to walk, motioning the girls to follow while he started to sample his nuggets.
The Other Jolene was skeptical, but Lynette nodded, so the two started to follow him.
After finding a suitable place to sit, the man began to speak, "Alright, seeing that the last time I tried this it didn't work out too well, I'll cut to the chase, you two are in a battle, I'm in a battle and I'm psychic, any questions."
While Lynette was scarfing down her MeatSpace Nuggets the Other Jolene began with a barrage of questions, "What? What are you talking about? Why can't you give us your name? What do you mean you are psychic? How do you know any of this?"
The psychic rolled his eyes, "Let's do this in reverse order, I'm psychic, I can see the paths that someone can take, and the road that they have walked, the longer I am around someone the more I learn, so that means that I've already picked up Lynette Spettro's name there, although... I'm not so sure about you..." The man took a gloved, nugget bread covered hand around his chin, "In fact, you are pretty murky in general, who are you?"
Normally, the Other Jolene would have been rather annoyed that the so-called psychic asked for her name without giving his in return. On the other hand, his question instead made her go back to her less than comfortable line of thought. Could she really call herself Jolene? The man seemed to easily discern Lynette's name, why couldn't he do the same for her?
The psychic noted that he had hit a rather sore spot, "I see... well, I'll call you whatever you want, you just have to pick something."
The Other Jolene remained silent, and once again looked down at her companion, who had eaten her nuggets and was now thinking about the current predicament. "I think that I agree with him, you should pick a name, a name for you. It... it is scary to say, but Jolene... died. You aren't her, not fully anyway..." Lynette couldn't help but feel guilt for what she had done, she had allowed Jolene to live in some form, but...
"Alright... I'll pick a new name..."
A new name. No longer just an Other of Jolene Kamiensky. Did she even deserve one? Maybe, just maybe, she did.
But if so, what? What could she be? The Other Jolene thought for a while, leaving an odd silence surrounded by the crowd's murmurs and
"Call me... Aria"
"Alright then, with that settled I think that now's the time to move on, I can feel trouble coming by, I've felt it ever since we got here, there's something weird going on in the circus..." The psychic paused for a bit, "Wait, there's something else... familiarity? I don't like it, let's move"
As the group stood up, Lynette paused for a moment, "Wait, we never said we'd go along with you? You say that you are in a battle, but how do we know that? If you are as psychic as you say, you could be making that up!
The psychic sighed as the uncertain feeling of familiarity started to grow. Someone familiar to someone around him was going to come by, but not only was he unsure of who, he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted them to, "Well, if my guess is right, it looks like, you'll find out soon enough." Or not, he thought to himself.
===
"So I don't get it, why did you transform Galatea? If you are as magic as you claim, can't you use that to find Lynette?"
At the moment, the pair was inside Hwael's cage, safely decompressed and hard at work. Or to be more accurate, Trisha was hard at work while Vigil continued to talk and talk. The two had traded their respective version of events since splitting in the GAS Staduim, Vigil ended up leaving only his outburst, still mentioning Hard Snake's trickery and other embarrassing moments with Eris, while Trisha was much more open, hardly hesitating when she informed Vigil of which of the two Christian's she thought was hotter, much to Vigil's discomfort. (It was first one.)
At the moment, the pair had gotten into a very nice and easy routine where Vigil would grab whichever tool Trisha needed and she would use it to make Hwael's life a little better.
"That isn't quite how it works... and stop that. But to answer your question, while Ragazza magica are characterized by their unique potential for magic, there are some universal similarities with them, constants among each and every one."
"So one of these constants is tracking each other down?"
"Well, not exactly. Hmm, how do I put this... Let's say that each Ragazza emits a pulse, a weak but constant signal that doesn't do anything until another Ragazza is near. When two signals overlap, events conspire so that the two girls will meet."
Trisha wasn't sure if she was satisfied with that explanation, "If the girls send out a signal-" she noted that she finished treating another of Hwael's growths, "-pass me the sealpresser-" after being handed the tool and starting on recovering Hwael's skin, she continued, "if they send out a signal, why can't you use it to find her?"
"I can't do that, the only time I could detect a magical girl is the first time they send the signal out, or when they first transform."
"That hardly makes sense."
"You say to the talking, orange rabbit who gives girls magical powers."
Trisha scoffed, "Oh give me some credit, I don't think that you are lying, it just doesn't make sense! If the girl agreed to become a magical girl or whatever, why shouldn't you be able to find them?"
"A Ragazza magica, is the official term," Vigil looked aside, and lowered his voice, "and there's a good reason for it."
As the containment suits were very sensitive, Vigil's lowered tone of voice meant very little, "Really? Why?" Trisha noticed that she finished sealing, "Oh, and the scanner please."
Vigil traded the necessary tool as he sighed, remembering some of the less scrupulous members of his race, "If it wasn't obvious by now, I'm not the only one who can turn girls into Ragazza, there are others... and some of them are not as nice as I am."
There was a small silence before Vigil continued, "How's he looking?"
While Trisha would have liked to ask more about Vigil's species, she sensed that it was a bit of an awkward topic. "Uh, he's a lot better actually, I'm not sure how this could have happened though."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the growths, they don't seem to be natural, as far as I can see there isn't a biological reason that Hwael should have secreted that much odor and bile, I think that something caused this."
"Hmm, come to think of it, I think I did overhear something about someone being behind something at the circus... you think that this could be related?"
"We might want to have a talk with Double-M about who could have gotten near Hwael."
"And then we find Galetea and Lynette."
"Sounds like a plan, now hand me the healant brush, I think that I've found the last one of these growths."
===
Somewhere else entirely, in the lavish Spettro home, sat four people, two boys, two girls, sisters and brothers and cousins, all huddled around a pedestal, waiting.
Some, less patiently than others, "So? Where are they?" One of the two male voices, impatient and firm, but precise, broke the silence.
The charcoal dog statue on top of the pedestal remains frozen, but it manages to respond.
"As I've told you, we need to wait and see, I can't sense him unless he calls, and Vigil was never one to keep in contact." Its voice was slimy and dark, with a tinge of smug self-satisfaction, "Not that it matters."
"Tough words coming from someone who can't move anything but his lips."
Though its status as a statue was a recent one, caused by the combined magic of the four around him, the statue was not phased by the intimidation. "All I ask, David Spettro, is for patience. I am sure that Vigil will make his mark soon enough."
Once again silence filled the room, rarely interrupted except by someone's stirring in their seat.
It would be a while longer, but eventually, the statue's ears pricked up.
In an instant, the four Spettro's dashed around the statue, each of them asking a question that did not need to be asked.
The statue smiled and answered, "I have indeed found him..."
Without another word, the Spettro's began their preparations, they shuffled around the room, leaving the statue to stand alone, wondering just what had caused Vigil to create another Ragazza.
Oh well, I suppose I will find out soon enough, he looked at the Spettro's each so worried, so hopeful, so stupid. But of course, not as soon as any of them think.
As had increasingly become the norm, Vigil was not very pleased with how events had played out.
The latest object of his displeasure was his containment suit, which was thrust upon him despite his many objections. Though his argument of 'being magic' was in fact enough to protect him from the vacuum of Hwael's cage, Trisha was stubborn, and insisted, countering his excuse with a concern about Hwael potentially catching any of Vigil's magic. Before the bunny could object on the grounds that you can't catch magic, he was dressed in an inexplicably bunny sized suit and deemed absolutely adorable.
Vigil did not like being called adorable.
As Trisha collected a myriad of veterinary tools and carefully diagnosed her patient, the magical bunny's mind went to the excitable girl he had recently converted into a potentially all powerful magical warrior. He had to admit, that despite her rather explosive performance, she was doing very well for someone new to the realm of magic. She would need some help in controlling magic, but at least she was a natural at summoning it up.
Still, Vigil couldn't help but doubt if he had done the right thing. He comforted himself with the knowledge that at least it seemed like the circus would treat her better than the Spettro's did Lynette.
Mind still wandering, Vigil turned his thoughts to the matter of the woman he had seen, who was she, why did she look like Trisha? Should he talk to Trisha about it?
At that moment, the veterinarian herself called the rabbit over, her hands full with tools and machines, presumably for Hwael. "Vigil, I didn't stuff you in that suit just to make you look cute. I will admit that it was a contributing factor, but we should probably talk about our situation given that we have quite a while until we can help poor Hwael."
Vigil snapped out of his mulling and sighed, but followed Trisha into the decompression chamber. After giving Double-M the thumbs up, Trisha tapped a button, sparking the containment suits' communication modules to life, "So what happened with you and Eris?"
Vigil did the same and began, "Well, at first, we weren't sure of where we were going, everything looked the same, absent, then there was a bar," Vigil paused for a moment, remembering his slapstick entrance into the establishment, and then his other, more embarrassing actions in The Last Checkpoint. Not wanting to risk a single giggle from Trisha, and also making sure to avoid talking about his outburst, Vigil decided it would be beneficial to fudge the details just a little...
"And uh, you know how people at bars can be... and how Eris can be..." There was an awkward silence as Vigil realized that obfuscating the perfect storm of events that occurred in that bar would be a bit more difficult for him than he thought...
===
As the Other Jolene and Lynette walked through the busy streets of the Interplanetary Circus, they found their worried feelings, not exactly lost, but hidden under the very heavy cover of the attractions' bright lights, loud noises, and miscellaneous inanity. It was a fun distraction from what the two had to deal with so far, but it didn't quite make their choice of action any more concrete.
"So... let's go see a show, get our mind off things, or maybe try to get some.. uh, food?" The Other Jolene decided she didn't quite want to think about if she could eat and instead focused on guiding the still woozy Lynette through the crowds.
"I could probably use some food, but... doesn't that usually cost money?"
"Oh I'm sure that there has to be some sort of free food here, right?"
There wasn't. None of the vendors that the girls encountered was willing to part with even a free sample, which made Lynette less enthused and the Other Jolene more irritated.
"Come on, look at her, can't you spare a single damn piece?"
The vendor looked at Lynette and though he felt a bit of guilt, remained adamant in his choice, "I'm sorry hon."
Though she was not pleased, The Other Jolene only clenched her free fist and turned away when a male voice spoke, "If you would please give me three orders of your finest MeatSpace Nuggets? I can't stand having such lovely ladies go hungry."
As the vendor retreated into his stand to prepare the food, the Other Jolene turned to the man who had made the purchase, initially to thank him. However, upon looking at their savoir, she felt a bit suspicious.
There was something about his face that she just couldn't pin down, as if he wasn't fully there. Still, he seemed to be friendly enough, even if the Other Jolene started to think that there could have been something off with his interjection.
Still, The Other Jolene had some manners to keep, "Thanks Mister..."
"That's not very important right now," he grabbed the newly finished MeatSpace Nuggets, gave two of them to the Other Jolene, and then started to walk, motioning the girls to follow while he started to sample his nuggets.
The Other Jolene was skeptical, but Lynette nodded, so the two started to follow him.
After finding a suitable place to sit, the man began to speak, "Alright, seeing that the last time I tried this it didn't work out too well, I'll cut to the chase, you two are in a battle, I'm in a battle and I'm psychic, any questions."
While Lynette was scarfing down her MeatSpace Nuggets the Other Jolene began with a barrage of questions, "What? What are you talking about? Why can't you give us your name? What do you mean you are psychic? How do you know any of this?"
The psychic rolled his eyes, "Let's do this in reverse order, I'm psychic, I can see the paths that someone can take, and the road that they have walked, the longer I am around someone the more I learn, so that means that I've already picked up Lynette Spettro's name there, although... I'm not so sure about you..." The man took a gloved, nugget bread covered hand around his chin, "In fact, you are pretty murky in general, who are you?"
Normally, the Other Jolene would have been rather annoyed that the so-called psychic asked for her name without giving his in return. On the other hand, his question instead made her go back to her less than comfortable line of thought. Could she really call herself Jolene? The man seemed to easily discern Lynette's name, why couldn't he do the same for her?
The psychic noted that he had hit a rather sore spot, "I see... well, I'll call you whatever you want, you just have to pick something."
The Other Jolene remained silent, and once again looked down at her companion, who had eaten her nuggets and was now thinking about the current predicament. "I think that I agree with him, you should pick a name, a name for you. It... it is scary to say, but Jolene... died. You aren't her, not fully anyway..." Lynette couldn't help but feel guilt for what she had done, she had allowed Jolene to live in some form, but...
"Alright... I'll pick a new name..."
A new name. No longer just an Other of Jolene Kamiensky. Did she even deserve one? Maybe, just maybe, she did.
But if so, what? What could she be? The Other Jolene thought for a while, leaving an odd silence surrounded by the crowd's murmurs and
"Call me... Aria"
"Alright then, with that settled I think that now's the time to move on, I can feel trouble coming by, I've felt it ever since we got here, there's something weird going on in the circus..." The psychic paused for a bit, "Wait, there's something else... familiarity? I don't like it, let's move"
As the group stood up, Lynette paused for a moment, "Wait, we never said we'd go along with you? You say that you are in a battle, but how do we know that? If you are as psychic as you say, you could be making that up!
The psychic sighed as the uncertain feeling of familiarity started to grow. Someone familiar to someone around him was going to come by, but not only was he unsure of who, he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted them to, "Well, if my guess is right, it looks like, you'll find out soon enough." Or not, he thought to himself.
===
"So I don't get it, why did you transform Galatea? If you are as magic as you claim, can't you use that to find Lynette?"
At the moment, the pair was inside Hwael's cage, safely decompressed and hard at work. Or to be more accurate, Trisha was hard at work while Vigil continued to talk and talk. The two had traded their respective version of events since splitting in the GAS Staduim, Vigil ended up leaving only his outburst, still mentioning Hard Snake's trickery and other embarrassing moments with Eris, while Trisha was much more open, hardly hesitating when she informed Vigil of which of the two Christian's she thought was hotter, much to Vigil's discomfort. (It was first one.)
At the moment, the pair had gotten into a very nice and easy routine where Vigil would grab whichever tool Trisha needed and she would use it to make Hwael's life a little better.
"That isn't quite how it works... and stop that. But to answer your question, while Ragazza magica are characterized by their unique potential for magic, there are some universal similarities with them, constants among each and every one."
"So one of these constants is tracking each other down?"
"Well, not exactly. Hmm, how do I put this... Let's say that each Ragazza emits a pulse, a weak but constant signal that doesn't do anything until another Ragazza is near. When two signals overlap, events conspire so that the two girls will meet."
Trisha wasn't sure if she was satisfied with that explanation, "If the girls send out a signal-" she noted that she finished treating another of Hwael's growths, "-pass me the sealpresser-" after being handed the tool and starting on recovering Hwael's skin, she continued, "if they send out a signal, why can't you use it to find her?"
"I can't do that, the only time I could detect a magical girl is the first time they send the signal out, or when they first transform."
"That hardly makes sense."
"You say to the talking, orange rabbit who gives girls magical powers."
Trisha scoffed, "Oh give me some credit, I don't think that you are lying, it just doesn't make sense! If the girl agreed to become a magical girl or whatever, why shouldn't you be able to find them?"
"A Ragazza magica, is the official term," Vigil looked aside, and lowered his voice, "and there's a good reason for it."
As the containment suits were very sensitive, Vigil's lowered tone of voice meant very little, "Really? Why?" Trisha noticed that she finished sealing, "Oh, and the scanner please."
Vigil traded the necessary tool as he sighed, remembering some of the less scrupulous members of his race, "If it wasn't obvious by now, I'm not the only one who can turn girls into Ragazza, there are others... and some of them are not as nice as I am."
There was a small silence before Vigil continued, "How's he looking?"
While Trisha would have liked to ask more about Vigil's species, she sensed that it was a bit of an awkward topic. "Uh, he's a lot better actually, I'm not sure how this could have happened though."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the growths, they don't seem to be natural, as far as I can see there isn't a biological reason that Hwael should have secreted that much odor and bile, I think that something caused this."
"Hmm, come to think of it, I think I did overhear something about someone being behind something at the circus... you think that this could be related?"
"We might want to have a talk with Double-M about who could have gotten near Hwael."
"And then we find Galetea and Lynette."
"Sounds like a plan, now hand me the healant brush, I think that I've found the last one of these growths."
===
Somewhere else entirely, in the lavish Spettro home, sat four people, two boys, two girls, sisters and brothers and cousins, all huddled around a pedestal, waiting.
Some, less patiently than others, "So? Where are they?" One of the two male voices, impatient and firm, but precise, broke the silence.
The charcoal dog statue on top of the pedestal remains frozen, but it manages to respond.
"As I've told you, we need to wait and see, I can't sense him unless he calls, and Vigil was never one to keep in contact." Its voice was slimy and dark, with a tinge of smug self-satisfaction, "Not that it matters."
"Tough words coming from someone who can't move anything but his lips."
Though its status as a statue was a recent one, caused by the combined magic of the four around him, the statue was not phased by the intimidation. "All I ask, David Spettro, is for patience. I am sure that Vigil will make his mark soon enough."
Once again silence filled the room, rarely interrupted except by someone's stirring in their seat.
It would be a while longer, but eventually, the statue's ears pricked up.
In an instant, the four Spettro's dashed around the statue, each of them asking a question that did not need to be asked.
The statue smiled and answered, "I have indeed found him..."
Without another word, the Spettro's began their preparations, they shuffled around the room, leaving the statue to stand alone, wondering just what had caused Vigil to create another Ragazza.
Oh well, I suppose I will find out soon enough, he looked at the Spettro's each so worried, so hopeful, so stupid. But of course, not as soon as any of them think.
Spoiler