4748/The Sweet Laughter of Children (2)

The Sweet Laughter of Children (2)
Date of Scene:	04 November 2016
Location:	The Secret World <TSW>
Synopsis:	TSW Halloween 2016, part 2.
Cast of Characters:	Wuyin Tsai, 518, 1028, Kotone Yamakawa

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Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The clowns laugh again, voices retreating into the distance as the gap between you and them extends. "H-HA-HA-A-HA-H-HA-HA-A-AH-HAAA"

The path towards the Ferris Wheel winds east, moving past overgrown benches and flickering lamp posts on a dirt walkway that's slowly being reclaimed by the island. There's a rise at a bend in the path where a set of those quarter-use binoculars stand, a curved wooden railing broken in one place like something broke through it and fell down the cliff below. In the distance, the fog roils, the curtain around the island visible from this point, with darker shapes like enormous, slowly-writhing tendrils of some titanic beast move just beyond a point of clear recognition.

The path continues on to a fork. One way leads to a big, roofed enclosure with a picture of a cartoonish car smashing into a second one in a place of rusted prominence. The other goes instead to what appears to be a roller coaster, chain-link fence surrounding it with the only way in (barring vandalism or superpowers) being passing through another turn-style gate like the ones at the front of the Park.

Both ways seem to lead closer to the Ferris Wheel, eventually. The atmosphere is oppressive no matter where you turn.

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    A roller coaster? But it's barred up! Fenced off! This is certainly a sign, much like a square with the words 'Keep Out' is a sign. Yes, there's a turnstyle thing but it looks rusty and really what's there to do on a Roller Coaster? Sit down? Be on a ride? A Wild Ride? Awful.

    Yuuki Kuran knows what she wants to ride. She wants to ride the FERRIS WHEEL, and to get there, MESSING AROUND on a THING THAT GOES BACK TO START is a waste of time.

    "Well... That was a little weird. Let's keep going!" Yuuki encourages, before tromping off in her rather sturdy comfy snowboots towards the BUMPER CARS.

    "This place is so gloomy, I kind of don't want to stop for very long until we get to the Ferris Wheel..."

    "Are you okay?" She asks to Mashu, glancing to Kotone to make sure the other woman was on with the plan.

Shielder (1028) has posed:
    Sadly, seeing a child get kidnapped (slash maybe die? very unclear, but she's going to remain positive for now) did take a lot of wind out of Mashu's sails when it comes to wanting to play here. It's also possible it's because she's transformed into Shielder, although transformed is a generous word. She has armor and a gigantic shield now, really, and isn't wearing glasses anymore. Still, her demeanor's definitely changed. Stiffer movements, more focus.

    "I'm fine. I agree, let's not stop longer than we have to. There might be more than one life at stake here, more people about to fall into those traps!" No more stuttering, either. Is that confidence in her eyes?

    With the clanking of her boots on the ground as she follows Yuuki with heavy steps, there's no chance to lose sight of the girl, at least. "I wonder who runs this place, and why they're doing this?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The Laughing Clown does nothing to make Kotone feel any better it makes her feel worse, she knows there's a children in danger. She took a deep breath and ws also still thinking about her two companion's suddenly getting series, she looks at the roofed enclosure for a moment at the bummer car park and the roller coaster either option doesn't seem to make her smile. The roller coaster was just asking for trouble. She looks to Yuukia for a moment. "Right I'm not staying alone here and I have to agree. This place is as bad off as the rest of the coast is. Yet? I don't know something feels even worse here."

Kotone is totally with the plan of not stopping much if they can help it.

"So far as I know this place was closed down long before the fog rolled in. If we wanted to know more we'd have to go talk to the survivors at the Police Station. The Sheriff would likely know more. I'm not even sure I want to know the why about this one."

She notes to both Shielder and to Yuuki. She seems intent to get going too and doesn't look like she's going to stray from the other two women at all.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The path down to the bumper cars leads to... well, to the bumper cars. They come to paved ground and a ticketer-slash-operator's booth, equipped with a control panel with a knife switch (presently in the 'off' position), unoccupied and with trash littering the floor. It doesn't look like anyone has been here in quite some time... but at least there's no lines.

The bumper car arena itself is long and rectangular, filled with two-seat cars in all manner of colors, with long antenna-like wires connecting them to the ceiling. The sides of the arena have waist-high walls and then chain-link fence a few feet outside that going to rooftop height, with support pillars and buttresses of metal along the edges designed to give a fanciful look to the whole place.

Two things stand out. First, a hole in the wall in the back left side of the arena, where the wall has been buckled outward, apparently by an impact, with skid marks leading to a path up the low cliffs and into the trees. The path looks like it heads towards the Ferris Wheel, and any way around seems blocked off.

Second, the light. An overhead light comes on, shining like a spotlight down at the far end of the arena. In the middle of the floor sits another child, a girl wearing a white robe decorated with red geometric shapes and with extra bits sewn into the hood for cat ears. She's bound by the ankles and sitting with her head against her arms on her knees, looking up with a start when the light comes on. She sees the silhouettes of the three of you in the distance, and starts to squirm away, obviously frightened.

The magically-attuned will feel a weird charge in the air. It's feels like... the spot behind the booth, with the other kid. THere's no pattern though -- at least... not yet.

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    Thankfully, Yuuki has not only PERFECT(ly Normal) vision in the dark but totally isn't somehow remotely viewing the area around them somehow - it's how she remains more or less unsurprised by the changing landscape and SPOOPY NATURE, even if the stale air and foggy nature messes with her perceptions just as much as with the others'.

    It's like the soupy fog is magically spoopy in nature!

    However, she stops at the edge of the Bumper Car area, peering deeply inside, and seems startled with the light turning on. "Ah, another child." She murmurs to her two companions, as if seemingly remembering that other people may have not noticed her before.

    "Mashu, wasn't it? Why don't you try to calm the child down? I'll wait here, to try to stop any strange things, if I can? We don't know if this one is... uh, a 'spooky trick', too?"

    There's a concern there. "And try not to hurt yourselves, ok?"

Shielder (1028) has posed:
    Mashu nods to Yuuki, simply, though she also adds: "That area there with the marks. It looks like something happened. Someone should check that out, but be careful! Please!"

    To everyone's benefit, Shielder's presence does provide a passive increase in defense, now that she's got her guard up. It's nothing major, but it might help if something nasty (like a zombie, or a zombie clown) is hiding behind the trees or something.

    Either way, Mashu will approach the child, slowly, step by step and trying to look as harmless as she can. "There, there, please. It's alright, don't move. I'm Mashu, we're here to get you away from this place. Can you tell us how you got here?"

    She's more than ready to act if some runes flare up, this time. She'll pit her magic resistance, and another trick or three, up against whatever magic might try to harm this child if it comes down to it.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The Bumper Cars are the better call than the roller coaster. A very much better call than the roller coaster but still she'd rather not have been here. It doesn't take long for Kotone to start to look around and notices the signs of a crash. She scowls a little bit but she does closer look at the crash but then the light comes on and there's another child. She sees that Mashu is going to hopefully handle the child while Kotone starts to look around and be ready for anything that might come, she's not pulled the SMG she's had all this time out, with the possibility of innocents about she wants to be damn sure before she opens fire and uses it.

"...I'll scout about to see if I can find anything."

So that's what Kotone is going to do and she's quite thankful for Shielder's added protection given the nature of the savage cost let alone the park? Messes with most of her scanning systems save visuals and she's much easier to ambush here.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Scouting ahead is... not exactly easy. The fence closes off the back half of the area. There's a gate, but there's also a thick chain wrapped around it. Kotone would have to find a way to force it; it doesn't look like it's got a lock so much as it's just... solid. Weird.

The child looks up. Her eyes are bright and wet, puffy from crying and unsteady while she looks at the slowly approaching Shielder. She starts to squirm away, but she doesn't get far. She tugs at the bindings, but there's a glint of metal from here. Cable? "S-s-s-stay away!" she squeaks. "You're just another nightmare!"

There's a flicker at the edge of your vision. An unpleasant sight, a tall figure with a tall hat, black-clothed, grey-skinned and with an unnaturally large smile like rotted piano keys. He lifts a twisted hand and places it on the control panel, throwing the switch with a 'CRACK' and a hum of electricity. The headlights from the cars start to come on, two by two, pockets of brightness in the gloom.

The figure disappears with nary a word.

The cars start to rush across the arena wildly. Two of them charge down Shielder from either direction, solid metal and going much faster than something that size maybe should be in here. Two more clip each other near the gap. One spins out, flipping towards the girl. She raises her arms. The child shrieks --

The pattern on the ground lights up, a thrumming red mass of circuit-like tracery that creeps along the spot the girl sits on. She doesn't seem to be going anywhere -- but you'd have a couple of seconds to figure that out and make a move either way.

Shielder (1028) has posed:
    Mashu is not an experienced person. Or fighter. Or decision-maker. She's pretty green, actually, and liable to take stupid decisions like this one. Luckily, her body remembers things she never experienced, and while SHE completely lacks those skills, something deep within her doesn't, and while she's 'a Servant' it takes over her movements. That's why they seem so... stiff. Almost robotic. They're not her movements. They're the muscle memory of someone else.

    Seeing the cars come to life, her pace picks up. Impossibly fast, one step after another. A dozen between heartbeats. She doesn't stay away-- she wants to protect that child, and it's far too late to back away. If she lost confidence in her course of action, she'd be a poor Shielder indeed.

    The figure worries her, but she can't spare it any time. Two cars try to pincer her, two more are coming up after, and one is going straight for the child. And that glow. That 'magic' again, whatever it is.

    Her shield glows, an intense white and blue. She leaps, far ahead towards the child, over the first two cars, letting them crash into each other. She lands, in the path of the second set, by the child-- still the target of the fifth car. The blessing of Shielder's shield zips through the air, straight for the girl. Obscurant Wall of Chalk. It puts the target outside the time axis, functionally preventing the next attack. IF it works (requires consent, GM's discretion if it works or not!), the girl'll just phase out while the car passes through her harmlessly, and the glow claims no one. By the time the effect wears off Mashu intends to have reached her, and is counting on her passive bubble of magic resistance to, hopefully, protect the child.

    For NOW, though, she still has two cars to deal with. The shield slams down in the path of one, Mashu standing her ground. The impact likely stops the car in its tracks, but stops her from protecting herself against the second. It hits her, and letting go of her shield she flies a few feet back-- towards the girl-- before crashing onto the ground and rolling for another few feet. Not the most graceful landing but you try landing gracefully after getting hit by a demonic bumper car.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had trusted Shielder to care for the kid, she's likely way more durable than she is. A odd thought at least by the world view of her home world. She could likely smash the lock but that might get attention, also she could vault over the fence but that would seperate her from the others which is not acceptable at all to Kotone, not acceptable at all and then she hears the little girl's terrified words she now turns to see what is just going on with the child.

She's going to turn her way back to get into the madness with the bumper cars, maybe scouting ahead wasn't the best idea she sprints not holding back she's going to try to get into the fry with the bumper cars and will attempt to go after the nearest one. Given Shielder hopefully this will not be needed and will grab hold of it using all her strength to grab and rip and forcefully fling it out of the arena away from girl or any of the group. She's taxing her strength here but she /can/ do it, and there would be a clear strain. Well that's if she's ended up needing to do this in the first place and can get her hands on any of the mobile cars.

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    Yuuki, on the edge of the arena, and thus 'safe' (in the same sense that when you stand far enough away from the boss in an MMO and they don't 'notice' you that you are safe from dying to getting your face clawed off) from all of the hullabaloo and moving cars and crashing bumpers. This is a very reckless set of drivers!!!

    Yuuki turns her head away, her bangs falling around her eyes as she fretfully clasps her hands together as Shielder goes for the girl, and Kotone runs interception on the bumper cars. Symptoms, and a cure.

    "Wow..." She breathes, still not looking directly at the others from the darkness.

    With the Tophatted Man gone, an out-of-place butterfly flutters over to the flipped circuit breaker switch and rests on the handle. Silly tiny butterfly! You would have to be a powerful kineticist to flip that switch! And there's nobody around here that's like that! Good try, though.

    Unless there was SPOOPY MAGIC at work, one would never know.

    "Be careful, you two! Don't... get hurt!"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The cars crash, and they don't exactly bounce. Shielder moves faster than anyone has any right to, interposing the Wall of Chalk between the child and danger. She screams, and the pattern grows brighter, pulsing with a life all it's own. The moment the shield takes hold, though, the pulsing slows nearly to a stop. The car flips, crashing through the space she occupies like she was a ghost. It bounces across the arena and lands on the edge of the wall, tipping unsteadily towards the outside with a metallic creak.

Another one spins out from the other side. Kotone jumps in and grabs it, gripping the bumper and halting it in its track. The wheels spin against the ground, tires squealing as it tries to overpower her artificial strength. It looks for a moment like it's about to, to leap forward and hit the girl from the other side --

A butterfly lands on a switch. The switch must've gotten accidentally flipped, or maybe a catch got tripped or something. It isn't flipped now, though. The butterfly probably had nothing to do with it.

The power, mercifully, cuts out. The cars glide to a stop, the frenzied smashing turning to a darkened stage lit only by the grim red glow. The girl phases back in, and the pulsing starts again, brightening -- and then stopping entirely, glowing steadily. The girl, rather than disappearing, tips over and collapses into a heap. She's out cold... but at least she didn't get hit by a possessed bumper car.

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    As the power turns off - WOW HOW FORTUITOUS! - Yuuki steps into the now-darkened area, slipping around the slowing-down bumpercars of doom gingerly to make her way to Shielder, Kotone, and the downed girl.

    "Is she alright?" She calls, having to wait for two cars to bump sadly against each other with a loud KLONK before continuing.

    "Wow, you're so fast! Did you see a man, on the other end? With a top-hat? I thought I saw someone else..."

    "Do we keep going, or turn around? Is that... one of the children? Does this mean the previous one wasn't a trick?"

Shielder (1028) has posed:
    It takes Mashu a few seconds to get back up, sides quite sore from the impact. Lucky for her, Kotone caught that extra car, and things ended pretty well despite the critical mistake in how to approach this. It's something to learn from though.

    "I'm okay. I thought I saw someone, yeah, but I couldn't... I was too busy handling this to get a good look, sorry." She remembers a smile. Or was it a grin? It was certainly malicious, whatever it was. Might have just been the hat, too. It was pretty hard to focus on the figure.

    Mashu reaches down, to pick the child up, princess carry style. No effort needed. "It wasn't a trick... or, this one is a trick too. A really realistic trick." Unlikely, though! The Shielder walks over back to her shield, still planted into the ground like a tall, cross-shaped gravestone made of wood and metal, hefting it up with one hand and adjusting her hold on the girl to be as one-handed as it's possible without harming her. Carrying her is going to put a serious limit on how much she can do, but she is NOT just leaving her behind.

    "We should... try to regroup with the others, since we don't have anywhere safe to put this girl. We can't just leave her here."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa lets go of the bumper car when the power gives out and she she shakes her arms a bit, there's been no serious damage at least on a quick systems check. She shakes her hands a bit and moves to pull a pair of gloves out of a pocket and pull them on over her hands as well.

"Top hat? No I didn't see them I was too focused n the card but ... I don't like the sound of it at all. I'll be fine for the most part I didn't take any major damage.

"It's likely malicous given this island. We're just lucky we haven't had to deal with any Draugr.

She sees Shielder has the kid and she rill fall in with Yuuki and Shielder.

"I agree tht we should and it may be safest to bring her along till we can get out of here."

The nearest safe house was at the school and while she doens't doubt Montag and the others would be willing to let the girl recover there? For now though they need to press onwards.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The child appears to be mostly unharmed. She's bound at the ankles by some kind of wire, or cable, and her costume (well, it looks like one, but who knows?) is rumpled and a bit dusty but not bloody like the last one. There /are/ cuts on her palms, though: small, precise ones, relatively fresh and too even to be accidental. Most importantly, she's warm, breathing, and has enough weight to her that it's next to impossible to doubt her realism. She seems to be here... so what about the other one?

The path onward lies up the hill, through the hole in the wall. The road back seems clear; nothing's shambled up in immediate sight. Standing on the pattern on the ground, though, gives Shielder a weird feeling: a tugging sensation, a pull at life and mana (is there any difference?) that leads back the way they came with the Ferris Wheel 'upstream.' It isn't strong enough to threaten her right now, but it's constant as a beating heart, funneling energy... somewhere.

The bumper cars stand dark. You're in the clear, at least for the moment.

Shielder (1028) has posed:
    Hard to ignore something when it's draining your precious life energy. Mashu does note it to the others though, as she works to remove the girl's bindings before they leave. "These signs on the floor, it's almost like they're trying to pull me towards the ferris wheel. If we're lucky, that means the other child..." Is still alive? Was just teleported, not harmed? That'd be very nice.

    "Do you think the others've already found their way there too...?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
With evertying else that' gone on? She can only wonder what else await them but they will find soon enough. She makes sure to keepo close with Shielder and Yuuki.

"I think they will, Riva and a few of the others have a lot of experiance here."

She takes a deep breath as she looks out to the ruined Ferris Wheel for a moment.

"Just be ready for things to get crazy it's clear the park can be turned against us."

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    Yuuki's overage of dark brown hair still sort of hangs around her eyes, her bangs all sorts of requiring adjustment while she seems curiously preoccupied. It does give her a Certain Look, like she's hanging her head in the dimly lit foggy atmosphere.

    Not like Sadako though. She's got a nice snow jacket on and they just went through an Action Sequence! Totally! Well... Kotone and Shielder did.

    "If you think it's best to bring them, you can. I'd like to keep going, though it may be safer for them if they were taken away? You look like a defense specialist, though... Maybe it'll be fine?" Yuuki reasons, facing out towards the Ferris Wheel and the deepest parts of the park.

    "... She's bleeding, you know. On the hands." Yuuki adds, barely above a murmur. Maybe she just saw her hurt on her approach?

    There's a gentle hand that brushes away the hair around her eyes, and a deep breath focuses her as she stands up a bit straighter. "Well, I mean, probably - the Ferris Wheel is at the back, and both halves of the circle end at it. If we don't find what... we're looking for there, we can always double back. I'm sure it'll be fine."

    Yuuki clenches a hand, letting it fall to her side, as her other points towards the spoked wheel looming in the soupy fog drifts hazily in and out of vision.

    "Once we get to where we were going."