13138/The Midnight Carnival

The Midnight Carnival
Date of Scene:	22 October 2022
Location:	In a tent inside a tent inside a park in St. Martins. And possibly somewhere else.
Synopsis:	Some Titans and friends go to visit the Midnight Carnival. For those who enter the red tent, the finale is distinctly on the spooky side.
Cast of Characters:	Donna Troy, Diana Prince, Caitlin Fairchild, Kaida Connolly, Dawn Granger, Victor Stone, Billy Kaplan

---

Donna Troy has posed:
    It's odd that there's so little in the media about it. The tickets for a VIP pre-opening visit the Midnight Carnival had arrived at the Tower just a few days ago, and there are really not many details for an event that seems to have taken a fair bit of organizing. The carnival, which opens at exactly midnight, is held in a huge 'big top' style circus tent in one of the parks on St Martin's upmarket East Side. The leaflet accompanying it had promised 'extraordinary acrobats, mechanical marvels and wonders of the imagination' and had mentioned something about a cooperation between world-famous French, Australian and Polish circus groups. Yet you'd hardly know it -- a few mentions here and there on the web, a few posters stuck around town, but nothing that would imply the degree of organization involved that is readily visible as soon as one enters the park. Not just the giant tent itself, but the large number of vehicles parked up behind it, the wide assortment of acrobats, jugglers and fire-eaters walking through the milling crowds, and the giant mechanical elephant, made from recycled wood, that parades around.

    Still, it should be fun. A midnight carnival! It's not entirely clear what it entails, but a stack of invites had been sent to the tower for this VIP opening, enough for anyone who wants one to come along, and bring their friends. Or sisters, as is the case for Donna who appears to have persuaded Diana that it'll be a fun change of pace from wrangling Star Ports.

    The air is filled with the scents of cotton candy, popcorn and mulled wine. There's no music playing, but in the dim light cast by dozens of flaming tiki torches scattered throughout the grounds, the small crowd of attendees find themselves speaking in hushed if excited tones, the hubbub of gentle conversation making a music of its own.

    "I guess we just make our way to the tent?" Donna says dubiously, checking around to see that nobody has got lost in the darkness. "I'm curious to know what a midnight carnival is, but I think 'organized' is what it is not."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana had not expected to have to interrogate a Shi'ar alien to this world, mere weeks after the Starport was opened. But, she has, and that's a thing now. Thus, yes, she's here for a nice change of pace from those thoughts, and that head space...

The Princess is dressed in a black denim jacket, over a white top, a pair of black leather pants, and a pair of boots that have one-inch heels, the boots a black suede that goe up to mid-shin level over her black pants.

Over her eyes, Diana is wearing a pair of thick framed glasses, black frames, with lenses that don't even have a prescription in them, it's all just for style. Her dark hair tied back in a loose pony, the tall woman just smiles at the tiki torches.

"It would seem so." She quietly says back to Donna, walking alongside she and the other Titans here this evening.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
It is cool enough in New York for even Caitlin to make the switch away from dresses to denim. She's in good rugged jeans and a pair of cavalry boots with a sensible riding heel, made by one of Themyscira's cobblers with a nod for New York fashion but out of rugged, specially-treated Kanga hide. She wears a pale turquoise blouse over a white t-shirt, and her hair's been combed out and ironed flat.

"All I know is, I will need more of these," Caitlin informs the sisters-- she's got a candied apple in her hands and takes the last few bites of it with a dreamily happy expression, then pitches the stick and core into the trash. She bought one, ate it on the spot, then took two more to go while they headed to the big top. She digs in her purse for some wetwipe and carefully scrubs the caramel off her fingertips and lips, and tosses the wipe into the trash as well.

"So midnight carnival, I figured you two knew what it was," she accuses mostly Donna. "This isn't gonna turn out to be something weird, is it?"

Kaida Connolly has posed:
"Of course it'll be weird!" Kaida zips by Cait, spinning in the air as she leaps by the large woman's face and laughs before landing and spinning again. She zips up to the top of a post and casually stands on it, sideways while she points at the group.

"A carnival appears near to Titan's Tower, giving out VIP passes and calling itself the Midnight Carnival! How could it not be weird?" She then spins down the post and lands with a smile before looking around, "I am eagerly awaiting to find out just what they are up to. Will it be thrills? Chills? Excitement or perhaps?" She turns quickly and leaps up to stare at Cait, "Murder most foul?" She then laughs and walks forward.

"I for one can't wait to find out."

Dawn Granger has posed:
    Little media or not, Dawn was certainly aware of the way word of mouth could spread an event. The fact that there are a lot of people isn't too surprising to her, but the layout isn't exactly one she's a fan of. "You would think they'd have maps or something given the size," she says as she looks around and tries to mentally map out where things are. "I've been to a 'night market' before, but never a midnight carnival. I suppose they might take advantage of having darkness to use lights or something in the shows."

    Dressed in a simple pair of jeans, a pair of boots, and a snug-fitting pink long sleeved shirt under her long jacket, she seems comfortable enough. The smells of the carnival cause her to smile. "Hank would probably have a blast with this. He took me to Coney Island for the first time recently and the vibe seems very similar." She glances back to their small group. "It's weird, sure, but I'm excited. Big tent seems to be the most obvious first stop. They might give us directions to where other things might be at too."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic's in a track suit tonight, a normal enough thing for him to wear when he's not "on the job." Not that it makes him stand out less, so much as that he makes it look good. And it's cold. Even cyborgs get cold.

    "Carnivals are fun, but I've never been to a midnight one," he says. "Last one I went to was with the football team before..." Well, before he was Cyborg. "I won a giant duck at some ring-tossing game. I wonder where that went, anyway?" He shrugs, and takes another bite of cotton candy. Of course he has cotton candy. Why /wouldn't/ he have cotton candy?

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy can't quite remember where he picked up the flyer, to be honest. It has been a tense few weeks chez Kaplan, or rather chez Billy Kaplan's head. He is carrying a heavy secret- that he is the son of the Scarlet Witch and... and...

Well. The Vision.

And he has a brother. A twin.

Even though they were both born to different women and fathers. While still having the same face.

Anyone who has met Tommy will understand why Billy has reservations about how to convey this information to the speedster. So he has been taking a break, asking his unknowing brother for a week or two to 'take care of some things' before having a sit-down over pizza(s) to discuss a few things.

Somewhere in all the multiple things he had been doing to distract himself from thinking about how exactly he is going to do what he wants to do, he picked up the flyer and the ticket.

And so, Billy is making his merry, but perturbed, way towards the big tent, absent-mindedly munching on cotton candy with crystallized sugar that spanned the whole gamut of the rainbow, which was fitting, come to think of it.

This was his first time at a midnight carnival, and he secretly hopes he read the flyer correctly and this was just a carnival and not... well, one heard stories of weird things happening at shows like these. He just wanted to see acrobats, clowns, and things to keep his mind off things for a little longer before he had to put his mind /on/ things again.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Everything turns out wierd," Donna replies to Caitlin. Donna, like Vic, has cotton candy, which fascinates her. "This is America. Let's hope for the thrills and chills, but not the murder most foul."

    Perhaps there's not that much call for a map -- it's all pretty random outside, and while there are a few impressive performers to watch, they're wandering the grounds rather than staying in one place. The food stands are pretty much the only fixed points apart from the tent itself -- so tent it is. Whereupon the group of Titans and Diana meet Billy, entering at the same time. "Hey Wiccan!" Donna calls out. "Come join us. Have you met my sister Diana? Cait and Vic I'm sure you've met. Not so sure about Dawn or Kaida."

    The opening to the tent leads into a curtained off antechamber, in which three men march around on horseback. Two of the men are dressed in white rags and their faces done up in black and white makeup to look like skulls, and their horses are dark and draped in what looks like cobwebs. The third, a huge man perhaps seven foot tall, is dressed all in scarlet, with leather pants, a silk shirt and a rather enormous top hat, accessorized steampunk style with an assortment of brasswork. His makeup is more subtle, but somewhat creepier, making his eyes seem very hollow and widening his mouth to an unnatural degree. "Welcome, welcome!" he calls out as the group enters the tent, trotting his horse over to meet them. "Welcome to the Midnight Carnival. Your tickets please, ladies and gentlemen." His accent is a little hard to place. Perhaps one of the Poles. Donna reaches up and hands him the tickets, which he examines briefly before tearing off the corners and returning them to her. "Ah, you have red tickets," he says. "This way, this way, and prepare yourself for marvels."

    He trots over to one of the curtained walls, and pulls the curtains aside, to reveal the interior of the tent.

    There is no seating inside -- this appears to be an open plan affair. Within the great tent are pools of light scattered around the place, creating small 'islands' of interest. In one place, a wall of white curtain, lit from behind, reveals the silhouettes of a group of perhaps four people, narrating a silent story in shadow play through ingenious contortions of their bodies. In another, a dance troupe dressed neck to toe in LED covered fabric dances in the darkness, the combination of their dance moves and the constantly shifting patterns on their costumes making them seem to dance impossible moves; making extraordinary leaps, vanishing and reappearing, two dancers becoming one and one becoming two. At another spot a streetlight shines down on a bench with two people seated on it, conversing in hushed tones in a dramatic tableau, ignoring the patrons walking past and stopping to listen in to their conversation. Elsewhere, video projectors shine moving images onto geometric shapes suspended from the roof, creating the illusion of an impossible geometric landscape around which acrobats perform extraordinary stunts. Nearby a group of mechanical animals, none shorter than ten foot tall, constructed from wood and metalwork manipulated by men and women inside them, parades around. And scattered throughout the exhibits are four smaller tents, identical but for the metallic moons atop each one; one red, one blue, one yellow, one green.

    "When you have seen your fill of the rest, make your way into the red tent," the ringmaster says as the group passes through the curtain and into the tent beyond. "But be warned; what takes place within the tents is wonder beyond the other wonders. If you find, when you have performed your circuit of the rest, that you have seen enough -- we will understand. We will not mock you if you choose to leave then, fulfilled. What is within the tents is not for everyone." He lets the curtain fall once the group has all got inside, but his voice remains. "Wonder," he calls through, "and enjoy!"

Diana Prince has posed:
On the way toward the entrance of the tent, Diana looks over to the others with them. She notes Victor's story, and offers him a small smile. "You must make new memories at places like this, to help build the brightness of the now to be as bright as the past." She tells him before they pass another cotton candy vendor, who offers her a bundle of the fluffy treat. "Oh fine..." Diana says then, reaching in to her pocket to pull out the money that she hands over to the vendor with a smile.

Thus, as the tent is being showed off to them, Diana is popping a puff of pink cotton candy in to her mouth, and her eyes widening at what is seen beyond.

Once inside, she's turning her head this way and that, before glancing to Donna. "Maybe I should have joined the circus years ago. It would be easier than what I have chosen." She says with a growing grin.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Walking along with the group, Kaida casually offers her multi-folded ticket if requested but often she is overlooked. Few look that far down for a guest or patron. She still goes with all the same, staring at the various displays of feat and grandeur before finally she glances to Diana.

"Repetitive actions and public interactions likely offer their own form of hardship." Kaida nods sagely before looking back to the displays of people and art, "Never assume someone has it easier simply because you assume you could do what they do." She grins up at Diana and shrugs before turning her eyes forward.

"All envy the humble mouse until they must face the cat."

Dawn Granger has posed:
"I can't say I've had the pleasure of meeting her," Dawn says, offering a small wave to Diana. "Very nice to meet you, I'm Dawn, as Donna said." As soon as she's done with that, she turns back to face the men at the tent. She seems mildly excited at the idea of 'marvels' whatever they are. The various exhibits in the tent draw her attention, but the mention of the red tent is certainly of interest.

"Definitely want to head inside of that tent after this, if anyone wants to come. I'm a little too curious about that." The acrobats get her attention, followed by the dancers. She nods a little, cracking a smile at the use of the LEDs. "They've definitely done their job making the most of the darkness and light, it's very creative."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "If everything turns out weird, is it really weird anymore? Doesn't 'normal' become 'weird' in that context?" Vic grins at Donna, but he's only half-joking. He's been thinking a lot about this stuff lately. Philosophy, that is. He casually eats some more cotton candy and hands over his ticket before they enter the tent.

    He waves to Billy as the young man joins them, and then takes some time to look around at acrobats and dancers. He appreciates the artistry, but he nods to Dawn. "Yeah, I'm curious too. What could they have in there?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy stops with a rainbow half-way to his mouth when his codename is called out. He stays in that surprised position, mouth half-way open, through Donna's invitation, only to snap out of it as the group starts moving. "Oh! Oh, yes, sure! Thank you!" he calls out.

Trotting into place with the group, he processes. Cait and Victor get a wave and a smile, having met them before, "How are you?" it has been some time since the wiz-kid has been to the Tower, what with being in New York and hanging out with the Titans-Adjacent team of troublemaking kids. Dawn gets another smile and a "Pleased to meet you!" and he says the same to Donna's sister. He has a moment's difficulty locating Kaida, until his eyes land on the carrying shoulder. "Hello!" he says, his voice conveying surprise and delight.

Of course he knows who Kaida is- this is Billy Kaplan, Captain Nerd Extraordinare, curator of several pages on HeroWiki (where he also happens to be one of the admins, shhh) and one of the most active trackers of cape activity. And if you are wondering- yes, he does, in fact, refrain from correcting his own page, meager though it might be, even if it means allowing several glaring inaccuracies to remain (such as speculation that he is the son of, of all people, Zatanna Zatara, which is absolutely idiotic because it would have meant that she had him when she was SIX), as much as it may pain him.

As the group enters the twilight wonderland, Billy is transfixed for a moment at the different displays. "Oh, that is cool," he comments on the giant animal puppets, "It's like the Lion King on crack," he says, giving his cotton candy another much. "It's definitely not what I was expecting, but it's pretty cool... what do you think is in that other tent--" he says, looking to Donna's sister. That's when he remembers who Donna's sister is, and he finds himself momentarily at a loss. How do you address her? Miss Woman? Princess Wonder? He /knows/ for a fact she has a name, but he has momentarily forgotten it in one of those blundering moments when you realize you are in the company of pretty cool people like Cyborg, Kaida, Wonder Woman, and Troia and, well, everybody, and your brain decides to conspire into making you look like the biggest dork on the block. Wait. Was it Dinah? No, that's someone els- "Dawn?" he says, rolling for a save and pretending the question was meant for the platinum-haired friend of the team instead, so he can pretend that he did not, just, in fact, forget the name of one of the most famous people in the world.

~Kill me now.~

Despite having made his save, he felt crimson creeping up on his cheeks, and he was thankful for the darkness. Open mouth, insert cotton candy and munch, if you have a mouth full of candy, it's hard to stick your foot in it.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "You'd make the other acrobats jealous, Diana," Donna says. Perhaps the use of her first name will save Billy's blushes. "They did not have the advantage of the Arena of Themyscira to train in for centuries. They would glare at you with envious eyes as you performed impossible stunts, and plot your downfall. Instead of fighting a wide variety of supervillains, you'd be fighting circus villains. That would get boring real quick, whatever Harley says. "

    Kaida's contribution to the discussion gets a smirk. "Not like you'd have much of a problem facing a cat, Kaida. I mean unless it was Terry, in which case there's the whole issue of glitter and fur not being a great mix, but I'm sure you would make him regret it at the least."

    The group wanders through the great open space, from patch of light to patch of light, visiting all the attractions on display. It's a bizarre medley, each thing happening simultaneously, none a clear performance with a beginning and end, just things happening. And such things! It's an impressive display of traditional circus skills and modern; there's some imaginative technology on display, some wonderful costumes and constructions, and a lot of clever modern circus style strangeness. It's a touch surreal even by modern circus standards, which perhaps throws Vic's questions into stark contrast. The couple talking on the bench, for example, are playing out an intensely personal drama of a relationship breaking up - there's no clear narrative, just two characters interacting dramatically. Does it serve a purpose? The artistry in it comes more from how isolated it all seems, the two actors sitting beneath the single spot of light, performing in public a very private debate, with no consideration of the audience. No projection of voices, no addressing the crowd, just talking to each other. Where acrobats move amongst geometric shapes and video projection, the stunts and contortions become more and more abstracted from the sense of what human bodies do, until the entire ensemble, both the strange colored shapes and the human participants fade into an inhuman and even unearthly abstraction.

    And perhaps strangest of all is simply how it's presented. The visitors roam freely from point to point, taking as long with each display as takes their fancy, an ebb and flow of awed humanity without rhyme nor reason, creating a magic of its own.

    Donna finds herself standing watching the dancers, next to Dawn, who's professional interest has obviously been piqued. "Thinking of seeing if you can employ some of these techniques into your own stuff, Dawnie?" she asks with a grin. "You mostly do ballet, right? It would be interesting seeing a ballet with some of this kind of thing worked into the choreography."

    After a little while longer, she nods her head in the direction of the tent decorated with the red moon. "Well, maybe it's time?" she suggests. "I see a few of the others waiting for us there. Let's see if they've saved the best for last, or if it's going to turn out to be the gift shop in there."

Diana Prince has posed:
At the chance to be introduced to Dawn, Diana had smiled to her and offered a hand. "It is a pleasure to meet another Titan, or a friend of the Titans, whichever you may fall in to." She tells the other in a friendly tone before her eyes are drawn to the circus that they're ushered in to.

The odd attractions are all given a quick once over, before Diana looks to Kaida and laughs lyrically at what she says. "Your wisdom is far higher than all of ours, my friend." She then tells the lovely little one.

After another bit of pink and then a bit of blue, cotton candy is stuffed between her slightly parted lips, Diana is enjoying it, her red lips closed, as she looks over to Billy, just watching him as he eventually comes to the realization that he actually does know who she is. Once her palette is cleared, Diana smiles brightly at him, and offers him her hand as well. "Diana, is all I ask anyone to call me." She informs him, before patting his shoulder softly...

The performance of the couple on that bench draws Diana's attention then, and she wanders over there to get a look at it... just quietly standing there, quite tall in those heeled boots, but just as casually dressed as anyone else here tonight.

She does lean to Donna when the chance provides itself. "I very much like this... I do not know what it is, but... I like it. And yes, I also wish Harley was here as well." She tells her sister with a sly grin playing across her lips before another puffy tuft of cotton candy is tossed in to her mouth.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Dawn does give Billy a friendly wave as her name is mentioned, and then her attention is turned back to the show around them. She nods in Vic's direction in turn. "Given how neat the stuff out here is, the red tent sounds like a good time, even if it does sound /spooky/." She is rather distracted as she watches the artistry of the performers. She's brought back into focus as she hears Donna near her and she gives a nod. "Ballet's my most experience, but I learned some various types when I was doing my BA. They try to give you a well-rounded education. I'd love to do something a little more cross-genre. Teaching some classes and it might be fun to get a little creative with this."

The temptation of the red tent is there, though, and she gives Donna a small grin. "Lead the way. Even if it is the gift shop, who knows if it's got some souvenirs that are even more exciting."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "If it's a gift shop I expect there to be some really amazing gifts," Vic comments. It's not that he hasn't been enjoying the surreal performances--he has, quite a bit, watching dancers and acrobats, listening in on the conversation. Is it all a commentary on the nature of performance? Or just something a bit avant-garde?

    Whatever's in the red-marked tent is likely to hold the answer, if nothing else does.

    He finishes off his cotton candy and looks around for somewhere to throw the cone. Finding nothing obvious in the dark, he shrugs, and decides to just hold it for now while he heads for the tent marked with the red moon.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Diana! RIGHT! Diana! Diana. "Yes, Diana. Of course, Diana!" the teen answers the Princes. Billy pauses for a moment. Diana is a Roman name- but aren't the Themyscirans more-

No, Billy, don't think too hard. You're here to have fun hanging out with the Titans and Wonder Woman and friends. For all you know, there were plain-clothes Amazons hiding out in Rome for a bit and someone carried the name back, or something. Who knows?

"You're a dancer?" Billy asks, enthusiastically, "That's so cool." It made sense. The woman carried herself with that particular grace he'd seen in dancers. He'd had a crush on a guy at school who wanted to be a dancer, but he never asked him out. He had gone through a particularly uncoordinated period at one point. There was one particularly embarrasing attempt he made at a party to show off, all in the hopes of impressing him on the dance floor. At first he didn't quite know how it had gone over. Then he heard one of the chaperone parents make allusions to something about 'Elaine from Seinfeld', which he knew was a show his mom watched when she was young, but about which he had absolutely no clue whatsoever.

Then he Googled the phrase.

Suffice to say he never ended up asking the guy out after that.

He nods slowly, agreeing with Vic, "I'm definitely ready to see what comes after all this! It's bound to be spectacular. I hope." He frowns as he follows the group, and then says, "Unless we walk into the red moon tent, the lights go out, and a solitary voice begins to ring out: 'We have been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty...'"

Donna Troy has posed:
    One very short and one very tall Titan are missing, presumably still enjoying the performances, avant-garde as they may be. Perhaps mice and red-headed Amazons just like these kinds of things more than Vic does. However there's enough people gathered at the tent with the red moon now that it doesn't seem worth waiting for them. They can go in later -- or maybe they've already looked inside.

    "It's really quite ingenious," Donna agrees with Diana. "I'm sure Harley would love it. We should send her a couple of tickets. You know, in a way it reminds me a little of the festivities back home. I mean the performers being... the light. When we have a festival after sunset, and it's lit by torchlight... there's something of that atmosphere here. It makes things more intimate, draws you into the performance. Like the light is only on the performance, not the rest of the world, and it makes it feel like reality has given away to the performance for a few moments..."

    She pushes the flap of the red moon tent a little wider, and ushers the group in. There's a canvas curtain a couple of feet inside, creating a kind of double entrance to the smaller tent, as there had been on a much bigger scale with the large tent, though there are no horses in this antechamber. And beyond the second canvas is...

    The outside. A small clearing in a forest. Gnarled trees, denuded of their leaves, edge the clearing, dark against dark. wreathed in mists that coil through the finger-like branches. A glance behind reveals that second canvas to appear as the outside of the tent just entered, the edges dropping rapidly into darkness as they curve away. Only the unnatural brevity of the light, pooled here in the center and fading far too quickly to darkness, gives away the illusion -- it still feels like indoors, even if it looks like outdoors. Only the subconscious mind really notices the flaws, but it's a triumph of tromp l'oeil.

    In the middle of the clearing is an old wooden table, its varnish worn mostly to the wood. On the table are a small scattering of items -- a set of silvery figurines, four skeletons carrying a corpse on a bier; a round goldfish bowl with a thin film of murky water on the bottom, and the skull of some small mammal inside it; and a wood-carved bust of a woman, her features caught in the throes of agony, with water dripping from the eyes as if somehow the wooden bust could cry.

    A figure is seated at the table on a matching wooden chair, but he is slumped across the table with a knife projecting from his back, his white shirt stained with a patch of dark brown like dried blood. A careful eye will notice his ribcage expanding and contracting very slightly, so it's probably all part of the act.

    "Weirdest damn gift shop I ever saw," Donna says to Dawn with a smirk. "D'you think the dead guy is one of the souvenirs? I'm not sure any of the other ones are better."

    Donna reaches towards the set of skeleton pallbearers, but before she can touch it the 'corpse' speaks up in a croaking voice. "Don't touch them," he says, remaining slumped face-down on the table. "They are cursed."

Dawn Granger has posed:
"I love the dark-light motif thing," Dawn says as she heads after Donna. As they enter the red tent, she is distracted for a moment trying to determine exactly how the 'forest' appearance was created. "Huh, this is neat," she murmurs. She's still looking around as they reach the table. She flashes a glance to Donna and the 'corpse'. "Well, okay, glad for the warning," she says, making sure to take a step back. Juuuuust in case. "So, uh, it's supposed to be wonder of wonders but we can't touch it? What's it gonna do?" She's curious. The whole carnival is a bunch of chaos, but it's /interesting/ chaos at least, not overwhelming.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Cyborg's senses aren't quite like other people's. They are, well, cyborg senses. So whatever his /eyes/ tell him, his /other/ senses tell him that they're still inside, that the ambient temperature hasn't changed and the airflow isn't right, and--

    "Huh," he says aloud. "This is really cool, actually. Wonder how they do it?" He looks between the others, takes a moment to peer at a bit of forest, then focuses on the corpse and the table.

    "Is it a puzzle? A story? Or just... a tableau? A man dead at a table full of oddities?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy stares around at the strange theatrical magic that almost made him believe they were truly outside. For a moment, he had almost been ready to summon his costume and staff under the expectation that they had been ambushed by a clever magician.

He felt a little foolish.

"Cursed, huh?" he says, approaching the table and resisting the urge to reach over with a finger and go 'sproioioioioioiiiing' at the knife handle. He is the twin who knows the meaning of 'restraint,' after all.

He glances at the items one by one, prompted by Victor's question. Fingertap on chin, head tilt, and the gears turn. "Skeleton pallbearers. Drowned skull. Grieving bust." He glances over at the 'corpse', "And murder victim. This looks like a collection of mementi mori... maybe?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Dead mean do not choose where they die, unless they die by their own hands," the corpse croaks at Vic. "I did not."

    The body moves -- a sudden, flailing motion as he jerks his body up a few inches and twists his head so that as he crashes back down to the table he faces the group, a motion as if there were only a few muscles he could still move. His eyes open, and he stares straight at Dawn. "What's it gonna do?" he repeats, a faint hint of mockery in his croaking voice. "What do you expect me to do? I'm dead. I cannot perform for you. I cannot juggle or dance or prance. I am dead. Murdered. All I can do is be a corpse, and wait the punishment of those who slew me. They too are dead, but for a crime so bleak and cruel, punishment can reach beyond the grave.

    "Memento Mori?" his sightless eyes roll towards Billy. "Not quite. No... they are the tools of my revenge. But I cannot use them. You must! You must choose one, by which I shall mete my revenge. One of you reached for the catafalque already. Is that the choice of you all? I give you all the chance to name an alternative. Speak fast, or the catafalque it is."

    "Cata what?" Donna asks.

    "The figurines. You chose them."

    "I did not! I was just looking."

    "You chose them," he repeats.

Dawn Granger has posed:
"Well, you look like you were murdered," Dawn notes looking at the corpse man again. She glances over the items and then the figures which they seemed to have unintentionally chosen. "I guess if we've chosen the catafalque, then we'll have to figure out how to use it." She glances towards Victor. "This is like one of those escape room puzzles, I think." She's not sure, however, if this /is/ just an actor. To her, it feels like perhaps a bit of magic.

That's not Dawn's specialty, though, so she focuses on it as a puzzle. "So we're supposed to get revenge on whomever killed you by using figurines?" She steps a touch closer to get a better look.

Victor Stone has posed:
    "A catafalque supports a coffin--not sure that's the way to go," Vic says with a frown, peering at the figures. It's the bowl with the mammal's skull he's drawn to, for some reason, and he reaches out to it briefly before looking to the others.

    "You all good with Donna's choice? Or do we go another way? Drowned skull calls to me, personally, but then again--there's four of us. Could fit the catafalque."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Doesn't that mean we'd have to carry the corpse, if it's one skeleton per person?" Billy asks, glancing at the objects once again, seeing how Victor gravitates to the fish bowl. The apprentice sorcerer glances at the bust for some time, and frowns. "Do we have to go for revenge? Wouldn't justice be preferred instead?" he asks. And then he briefly muses on the fact that he is part of a team that goes by the young /Avengers/, and decides not to think about the implications of the name.

"In any case, she seems to be wracked by guilt," he points a finger toward the bust, "Which suggests being tormented by a guilty conscience? I kind of am more ok with that than... well, drowning. Or..."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Two voices for the catafalque then, one undecided, one for the drowned skull, and one for the bust. " the corpse croaks. "Very well. It shall be the Catafalque." He falls silent.

    Nothing happens. Donna clears her throat. "Uh... what next?" she says. The corpse does not respond. She glances around at the others. "I guess... that's it?" she asks with a shrug. "I think this one was too abstract for me. I don't get it.

    The corpse does not respond. "I don't mean to be rude," Donna says. "But I kind of feel like this needs -- something? It's not narratively satisfying." Silence. "The way you decorated the tent is really impressive though." Still no response.

    "Okaaay," Donna says. "Let's go find the others. Or the real gift shop." She pushes through the flap into -- or rather out of the tent.

    A second later Donna turns back and holds the tent flap open. "Uh... guys?" she says quietly. "Take a look."

    As they step out of the smaller tent, they find the larger tent, and all the exhibits and displays, have gone. There are no food trucks, no tiki lights, no vehicles parked up behind, just the single lone tent in the middle of the field. A crumpled cone, matching the cotton candy cone Vic put in his pocket earlier, swirls past on the breeze, chased by one of the carnival flyers. There are many footprints on the ground, but no sign of anyone else. The first streaks of dawn's blood red light mar the sky like scars, as if they had been in the tent not for a few minutes but for several hours.

    Billy and the Titans step out into the thin, wan light and the emptiness of the park, but before they have gone more than a few steps, the sound of tearing canvas draws their attention back to the tent.

    The tent is falling, the canvas collapsing in shreds as if it had been cut with a hundred knives. There's no sign of the table, the trees or even a support post to indicate that anything had kept the tent up, but out from the collapsing canvas steps a shape that had not been in there before. The corpse lies atop a bizarre structure, a canopied bier on great articulated legs six foot high, that steps towards them. The base of the beir is a frame of spines and arm bones, with a skull at each corner. The canopy above it is made of rib cages. The legs, triple jointed, each consist of a pair of skeletal legs, one attached atop the other, with skeletal feet pointing forwards and backwards at the base of each one.

    "This then is my murderer's punishment," the corpse croaks out. "To bear me to the afterlife thus!"

    The skeletal contraption, an eerie echo of the mechanical animals seen earlier, rattles forwards on great hopping strides, running past the group and out into the darkness, fading from view as it goes.

Dawn Granger has posed:
"I was hoping this would be more wonder-filled," Dawn muses, but as there's no answer to the puzzle, it's Donna's quiet words that cause her to make her way over. When she steps out with the others, she tenses up and takes a moment to gaze over both the scene in front of them and the scene disappearing behind them. She goes wide-eyed at the strange skeletal display before she glances back towards the others. "Okay, so I guess that... was basically us picking what ending we wanted to the carnival?"

Given that no one seemed to be around or attacking, she doesn't feel the need to go on the defensive. "... now I'm a little concerned what happened if we picked one of the other ones. I can see why they gave a warning for the tent, though." Dawn gazes around them at the empty carnival. "Guess they have to do that last so it doesn't freak out any other carnival goers." She sounds thoughtful. "That's... actually a really well put together act. I suppose I'm just used to getting /attacked/ when stuff like this happens."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic blinks, looking around as they come out of the tent to--nothing. Nothing at all. "How--?"

    Shortly, the catafalque is taking off and he watches it go, blinking in confusion. Aside to Dawn he says, "Yeah, but--that doesn't explain--how did we spend all that /time/ in there?! Where would they have kept any of it? None of that--it couldn't be a /normal/ illusion, is all I'm saying."

    Magic, maybe. Magic is a thing.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
It is quite a bit before Billy says anything. When he speaks, it is with an air of disbelief.

"I think... we just got Edgar Allan P'owned," he says quietly. His awed tone indicates that he does believe that they have been in the presence of magic, and the cast of his mouth shows some degree of perturbation. Is he troubled because, unwittingly, he has been the instrument of some cosmic judgement, some vehement punishment upon unfortunate souls that will forever wander the star-flaming vaults of fire and twilight? Does he, perhaps, feel the all-too common soul-chill that many experience when face to face with the death that refuses to rest? Does he fear, even, for the state of his own immortal being, having been made the plaything of some capricious entity for a night?

He opens his mouth, clarifying any speculation:

"I really have no clue what the hell I'm going to tell mom," he says in a wan voice. His stomach growls.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Definitely magic," Donna says in answer to the unspoken part of Vic's comment. "And why not?" she glances Dawn's direction. "Of course we weren't attacked. I mean you never felt under threat, did you? Never felt the urge to... you know. That's a useful part of it. And they used a mix of traditional dramatic skills and technology, so why wouldn't they use magic too, if they have access to it? That makes sense, if you want to instill a sense of wonder in the audience."

    She starts the trudge back to the street, leading the group through the dim dawn light. "You spent the evening visiting a cultural exhibition with an Amazon, a scientist and a dancer, Billy. Tell your mom that. It was educational." She glances back at the torn remains of the tent. "The thing I can't figure out though, is... well, how this works, practically. We're the only ones here. They had to remove everything and clear out of the park before we left the tent and found everything gone. So how can they do this for everyone else who goes to the Midnight Carnival? The whole spooky talking corpse and skeleton thing was kind of impressive, but it just doesn't make sense as a sideshow."

    "Which makes me wonder whether the corpse guy was here for the carnival, or whether the carnival was here for the corpse guy. Maybe the carnival was all illusion, and this was the real bit. I mean it's going to be a whole lot of work to get the entire carnival set up again for the next performance tomo... tonight. I'm curious to know whether they come back at all."

    "But I'm not sure I want to actually find out."

Dawn Granger has posed:
"True, I figure that magic makes sense to tie into things. Certainly adds to the performance." Dawn cracks a smile as she mentions the lack of threat. "I suppose that's true, I'm just not used to these sort of illusions being fun as much as threatening." She laughs. "It /is/ creepy. They did a good job of it, I just feel bad that it took all our time."

She nods to Donna. "As neat as it would be to see again, I'd rather not lose an entire night and see what was in that /fish tank/ one," she says. Billy does get her attention for a moment. "You were keeping friends company and lost track of time," she says. "I'd say I'd write you an excuse note, but your mom can't possibly be /that/ strict." Well, she doesn't know actually.

Victor Stone has posed:
    "You went to a haunted house," Vic says to Billy with a grin. "Man, that was a pretty damn cool haunted house. Halloween event. Whatever."

    He's contemplative for a moment. "I'm curious too. About all of it. But--probably best to stay away. I mean, maybe it won't be here tomorrow--but if it is, do we /really/ want to know what happens to repeat visitors? Magic's weird."

    He eyes Billy again for a moment, then adds, "Late night tacos? Well. Early morning tacos."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
For a moment, Billy feels tempted to explain Missus Kaplan to the Titans. It's not that his mother is strict. It's not that his mother is overbearing. She isn't any of those things.

It is that his mother /worries/. But she is also a mental health practitioner, a damned good one, and so she knows how to worry in ways that allow for liberty of expression, for growth, for exploring one's boundaries as long as they were done without recklessness. She couldn't be more supportive.

Which made her the absolute nightmare of any superhero with a secret identity, because she could see through excuses like Superman could see through everything, and she knew not to jump to conclusions in a single leap, but if you weren't careful she could get ahead of you faster than a speeding bullet.

He was a superhero, and Mrs. Kaplan would /worry/ if she knew that about Billy. But his constant avoidance and carefully constructed excuses were beginning to look thin, and he suspected that she suspected that he was getting involved with the wrong crowd, or maybe a gang... and she'd worry about /that/, too. No matter which way he turned, it all ended up with the potential future of Rebecca Kaplan waiting up for her son to come back, two cups of steaming consomme on the table, and a 'Let's talk' on her lips.

And, in this case, he realizes that telling the partial truth that he was hanging out with an /Amazon/ would come across as a total lie, unless he went ahead and revealed the rest of his secret to her. So tonight was another notch carved under the 'My Son, Potential Gangster' tally.

He smirks a little, gives a sigh, and nods to Victor.

"Morning Tacos it is."