2021-05-29 - Carousel Craziness

It's a lovely day in Addington Park. The skies are clear (putting the lie to Cliff Bass' predictions?), parents and kids are out in the mild, cool temps. Food carts abound: candied nuts, fruit juice, taco truck, even a banana stand (not much money in this one, though).

So perhaps it's a wonder why shouts of surprise erupt from the direction of the broken carousel. There are signs up announcing this fact and pleading with parents to keep their kids off it, won't be responsible for their injuries, etc. No one should be over there!

If only. There's a ruckus, a proper commotion. August is getting himself a smoothie from the fruit stand, half-turns when he hears the noise, frowning.

The weather was so nice that Fern had held her yoga class in the park today. The class had just wrapped up and she was walking her way to the smoothie truck when she hears the commotion. Her brow furrowed as she looked over. "Why do people not read the signs?" She asked to no one in particular, but August and a few others were within ear shot. Her hair is piled up in a messy bun and she's wearing a pair of black yoga pants with a neon blue athletic tank top. She moves to take a few steps in the direction of the commotion to get a better peek.

August looks askance at Fern, can't help but sigh in agreement. He pays for his smoothie, starts walking that way, wary, alert.

Any hope this might be a normal situation is dashed when someone begins shouting, "Bear! BEAR!!"

Then comes, "Oh my God what is that? Violet honey stay away!"

And, "It's a kitty, mommy!"

...and finally, a strange, musical bellow. "Fuck," August says, setting his smoothie on a trashcan lid and heading that way.

"Well what is it? A bear or a kitty?" Fern mumbled, making her way after August to be able to see what exactly is being dealt with. Hell, what could have made that noise? She wiggles her fingers a bit in preparation just in case she might need to utilize her powers.

Hopefully she wouldn't. Maybe it was just a really over sized kitten..

Unlikely.

It is neither a kitten, nor a bear. It is...a carousel animal. One that's come alive, though it's still wooden and gleaming with plastic jewels and metallic paints. This one is a manticore, complete with bat wings, wreath of horns, scorpion tail, and strange, musical voice.

It's not particularly big, having been a carousel animal, yet its claws certainly look real enough, as do its teeth. And that tail, well...

A little girl has a hand stretched out towards it. A mother is trying to drag her back. The manticore is flashing its huge fangs, wooden bat-wings spread. ...what if it can fly?

August stops at the railing that theoretically should have keep 'Violet' out of the carousel. Through gritted teeth he says, "What the Christ," yanks said railing open to head in there. A man who maybe is no relation to Violet and here mother is cowering away from the manticore, too terrified to move clear.

Fern's eyes widen as she sees the carousel animal come to life. To be honest? It's not the weirdest or scariest thing she's ever seen. Especially because it still looks like a carousel animal. On the other hand, she has 0 desire to get attacked by those claws. She follows August in and subtlety tries to see if she can use her powers to keep the manticore in place for the moment. After all it's still maybe technically an inanimate object? Or made of inorganic material.

"I thought this stuff wasn't supposed to happen all public like this." She offers to August. What happened to the good old days of just going to sleep and waking up in a twisted version of Candyland or something?

"Well, damn," says a familiar voice. There's Joe, in t-shirt and jeans, peering bewildered at the animal come to life. For all that one might think he'd be used to this by now....no, no, he's not. He's got cigarette and lighter in hand, but he hasn't lit up - just staring in bemusement at the beast.

August looks askance at Fern; he doesn't exactly recognize her, but Glimmer, that he knows well enough. "Oh, shit happens in front of people all the time. Their minds just, make up excuses." Okay, that's an exaggeration. Sort of. But it's definitely been happening a lot more recently.

The Manticore makes another of those musical roars, like a marching band all out of tune, swipes at the cowering man--and Fern's grip on the carousel pole through its back makes it pull up short with a grunt. The man wails, wraps his arms over his head.

"Don't hurt it," Violet says, still refusing to be hauled off by her mother. She might be all of eight years old, but she's protestor dead-weighting for all she's worth. ...or, perhaps she's using Glimmer to stick her shoes to the ground.

Glancing at Joe, August says, "Yeah, not sure I've seen something like this before." Yet there was the house of dolls under this very carousel, so this isn't a total surprise either.

He sighs, sets to soothing the freaked out guy. "Come on, buddy, we need to get you out of there."

"Welcome to the party." Fern offers to Joe. Having 0 idea who he was but he didn't seem terrified by the manticore like the majority and he seemed to know August. So might as well. She focuses a little harder, trying to scoot the manticore back towards it's original spot. "Hurt it?" She offers to the kid. "'Course not. I used to train these guys back in the day." No, not manticores. Bears! And well, she didn't really train the bears either...but she had worked with them some in her circus days. But particulars don't matter right now. "You should go with your mom. Come back when it's in the mood to play."

Or read the damn sign and stay away from it! But Fern knows that won't happen.

The lighter gets tucked away in a pocket, the cigarette behind an ear to be smoked later. "Nobody wants to hurt it, sugar," Joe informs Violet, patiently. "Here..." And he's heading staunchly over to try and drag the frozen man away from the thing. No sense leaving some poor mundane in range of it, even if it is just made of wood.

Fern drags the manticore back to the empty spot on the carousel. Its claws dig into the flooring, leaving gouges. The manticore's voice ratchets up a notch, discordant noise beginning to weigh on the three of them. The mother and the girl seem uneffected. The terrified man, well, who can be sure.

Violet huffs, hands on her hips. "But you are!" she insists. Her mother loops an arm around her waist.

"Honey, this is too dangerous, let's go."

"But mooooom!"

August's attempts to calm him are half-successful, enough so that the guy is willing to move with Joe. Not quickly enough, however--in its frustration and rage, it swipes at Joe and the man, swings its tail around at Fern to jab her.

"Hah!" Fern makes a sound of victory as she slides the manticore back. And then it was just getting, well, angrier. There were benefits to being a literal acrobat. Like deftly dodging out of the way by briefly contorting your body into what must be a very uncomfortable position while a manicore's stinger tries to go right for you. "Why can't you just SHUT UP!" She shouts at the manticore as she unbends from the dodging position and focuses on trying to keep it in place. One shoulder arched upward though as if to try and cover one ear.

Joe says something obscene in Russian, almost under his breath. He's nowhere near as lithe as Fern, and the thing's claws rake his side. Not badly, but enough to tear his shirt and leave weals on the pale skin of his side. Then he's trying to shove the terrified man towards the exit of the park. "Man, get out of here," he orders him, putting as much of the weight of command into his voice as he possibly can.

The manticore makes another jab attempt, this time at August, but Fern's continued dragging ruins its aim. Well, and August gets the hell out of the way, of course; that probably helped. Joe's efforts are valiant, yet poorly rewarded: he shoves the terrified man clear of the manticore's claws, but not himself, and it rips open his shirt, leaving a few lines of splinters. The man yelps as he hits the ground, srambles to his feet, and bolts without a backwards glance. Sorry Joe.

"Mom they're hurting it!" Violet's shoes release the pavement...because she's decided to help her new kitty friend. "Stop!" she shouts, and waves a hand like she expects something to happen.

And happen something does; Fern feels the carousel pole buck under her Glimmer as Violet attempts to wrest control from her. Violet's nowhere near as strong as Fern, though, and for the most part all she does is impede Fern's progress.

August scrambles over to Joe to help him up clear of those claws. "It's not too bad," he assures Joe.

The manticore's mismatched green and purple eyes (did one fall out and get haphazardly replaced? probably) lock onto Fern when she covers an ear. They glitter with a new idea forming. How can a carousel animal be this expressive?

It takes in a deep breath and roars, a wash of musical sound that hammers their minds.

Fern looks mildly confused as she is suddenly struggling a bit. She grits her teeth and exerts a bit more energy to double down on her efforts. "Get out of here, kid!" She shouts - though is sure it will fall to deaf ears. The louder roar left her breathless and shocked but she managed to keep her ground. Then had an idea of her own. Her eyes narrowed at the manticore and she tries to shut its mouth. That fails, of course. So instead? Well, sorry kid. She tries to fling the manticore into the center of the carousel to at least temporarily quiet it.

The sailor twitches and spasms in pain....but it's not severe. More startlement than anything. He's confirmed that the man he was trying to help has bolted - that's all to the good. One less civilian to worry about. Then he's peering at it, in turn....and reaching out with Mental to see if it's enough of an actual beast that he can control it that way.

Violet is startled by the jangling, musical roar, stops fighting Fern for the pole. Her mother is finally able to grab her around the waist and cart her off. "Kitty!" Violet cries.

This is a good thing, as Fern's attempt to toss the manticore isn't successful, but it also loses its footing in the sudden shift of midline tension, legs splaying and wings flapping. Those mismatched eyes are locked on to Fern. One is absolutely newer than the other; the green eye is perfectly clean, might have been just put in today.

The mind Joe finds within the carousel figure is...oddly malleable. Or, he thinks it would be. It's something like a cat's mind, though it's slippery, eeling out of his attempts to grasp it.

August covers his ears, wincing. He's watching Joe, though, and looks from Joe to the manticore. "Okay--yeah. Let's..." He doesn't try to use his mental powers as well, though; he just gives Joe a bit of a boost. "Bad kitty," he says under his breath.

Fern stared back at the manticore with a determination. "We need to get the eye! The green one!' She called to the other two. She tries again to pin the manticore in place with her powers as she advances cautiously closer. She had no idea how to remove eyes from carousel creatures. But hopefully between the three of them they could figure it out.

There's an odd tightness in the older man's face...and then a grimace of frustration, as he feels his mental grip slip. "It's enough like a real animal I think I can get it," Joe tells her, voice tight. "Hold on a sec..." August gets a grateful look, then he's reaching out with his powers again. Let's see if we can....

Fern's job gets a lot easier as Joe's mind Glimmer, with help from August, calms the manticore's flailing. None to soon, because people are starting to move this way. The sooner they can get this sorted, the better. Who wants to explain to park staff what happened? None of them.

Unfortunately, August's push for Joe's power is a bit too good. He makes a sound of surprise, staggers into the fencing, ashen and sweating. "Okay I think I overshot just a little." He leans there, trembling.

The eye. He gauges Fern for half a second, regrets it immediately and shuts his eyes. "The--use, shaping. Pop it out. Either one of you." Yes, he did in fact just tell them to use spirit to yank the thing's eye out. Let it not be said the man's not a little hardcore.

"Shaping?" What the heck was that? And why did he think she could do such a thing? She glances towards Joe, then August before focusing back on the eye. "Uh, I guess I can try?" She was hesitant but she'd spent decades relying on her instincts to guide her so this time is no different. She tries to work on instinct and do this shaping thing that August was shouting about.

Joe gets it, flicking another of those bemused looks at the other man. "I gotcha," he says....and he's reaching out again with it. He's got just enough of that aspect to feasibly do something, especially with the boost he was just given. He even makes a reaching gesture, as if that might help.

It's a good thing Fern manages to sort it out on her own, because August looks a little out of sorts to be explaining himself. Joe's figured it out as well, and between the two of them, that bright green gem pops on out onto the ground.

The second it does, the mind Joe had been controlling winks out of existence. The resistance Fern felt to using her movement Art on any other part of it fades as well; it's just a carousel animal she can pick up.

The gem clatters onto the carousel platform with a plink-tink-tink sound. No bit of faux jewelry, this, not with that shine and cut. It puts an emerald to shame with that poisonous green lustre.

August levers himself to his feet. "Just...like that, yeah."

A park employee comes rushing up, eyes on the fallen manticore. "What did you do?" she demands.

Fern quickly swipes up the gem and pockets it (thank you modern technology for pocket-bearing yoga pants) before looking to the park employee. "Wasn't us. You sure this thing isn't on a sink hole or something? It just fell over." She lies, and doesn't seem to quite care if the woman believes her or not as she walks over to August and Joe. "You guys alright?" Looking slightly more concerned for August since he's visibly not looking so great.

Joe pastes on an expression of innocence, comically broad. He even shrugs. "I don't know, ma'am," he says, in his mildest voice. "Not sure at all what happened. Poor thing," He directs a sympathetic look at the fallen manticore. Then he's blinking at Fern, holding out a long hand. "I'm ....mostly okay." The t-shirt is a loss. "I'm Joe. Pleased to meetcha."

Mollified, or at least convinced, that the three aren't useless park goers out to get themselves killed on city property, the park employee--whose name tag identifies her as Charlene--sighs, heavy and exasperated. "I mean, it probably is. Last year some poor couple having a picnic fell into a sinkhole under a tree." She gives the three of them a shrewd, 'I've got my eye on you' sort of look, gestures for them to come down. "Just get on down from there, the city doesn't want any lawsuits." It's fenced off, just the kids keep yanking it open.

August makes a face when Charlene mentions the prior sinkhole, moves to climb down from the carousel like he's fragile. "I'll be fine," he assures Fern, short of breath. "I'll...go to the coffee shop and have a sit down." A long one. Until his wife is ready to drive home from work. He utterly fails to notice Fern pocketing the gem, may not even be thinking about its existence at all.

"August," he adds. "Good work keeping it from tearing up Joe and that guy." He frowns. "The little girl. She was using her power, wasn't she? Thought I felt it."

Fern gives Joe's hand a firm but brief handshake and flashes a friendly smile. Like they totally didn't just fend off a manticore. Though she does look a bit drained. "Fern. Pleasure's mine." She then would get off the carousel as requested and help August if needed. Even Joe if he wanted a hand getting down too. "Thanks. Glad I was able to help." She doesn't mention the gem for now. She wants a closer look at it.

"She was definitely using power. The same sort I used. Tried to overpower me." She shook her head a bit. "Not the weirdest thing I've ever seen...but this was definitely up there."

"Starts early here," Joe says, and by his tone, such precociousness isn't too be welcomed. He makes his way down from the carousel without too much trouble, though August's look gets him a concerned glance. "You don't look so hot. You sure you don't want to just head home? I can call you an Uber or something."

Then he's turning that worried expression on Fern. "You're sure you okay, too, Fern?"

August isn't too proud to accept help, not in his current condition. He's exhausted, emotionally and physically, from other things; this is just icing on a cake of bad times. "Thanks," he says to Fern, sitting heavily, elbows on his legs and head bowed. He glances up at Joe, shakes his head. "I'll be fine. I just need a second. Ellie's...working a shift at the cafe." Which is actually where he's spent most of the day himself, but that's neither here nor there.

He looks from Fern to Joe, nods. "She seemed to want to...protect it? Not sure why, considering what it was trying to do."

He sighs, runs a hand over his hair. "Shit's been getting crazier than usual." He gives each of them a sort of expectant look. "Probably this is just part of it."

"Oh yeah I'm good. I didn't get a stinger to the heart so I think I'll be good." Fern flashed an easy grin. "Wish we'd met under better circumstances but alas. That's just not how this town works." She agreed. "You should let him get you an Uber or give you a ride. Hell, I was leaving anyway I'll give you a ride too if you need." She offered, looking towards Joe with a sort of shared agreement with his assessment of August needing some help.

"Yeah I've been back...well a little over five years now? And it's definitely ramped up in the crazy." Fern agreed. "Dunno why she was trying to help it either." She makes a thoughtful noise. "But hopefully the rest of the animals stay quiet."