277/The Greatest Show on Earth!

The Greatest Show on Earth!
Date of Scene:	04 May 2017
Location:	Metropolis
Synopsis:	A new attraction arrives in Metropolis run by Gothams own joker and a collection of curious creatures. Can anyone stop the creatures, and save them all? Or will they be lost to the cavalcade of catastrophic catastrophes?
Cast of Characters:	Joker, 187, Oracle, Krystina Jordan

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Joker has posed:
     A lone homeless man sets on a worn stone bench. He's dressed in little more then rags as he looks up into that brilliant blue cloudless skies. His face is wrapped up in blankets even as the warm spring breeze rolls through the green trees of Centennial park.

     In all his unwashed glory he proves a stark contrast to the beauty of a park, where rolling greenery and perfectly protected flowers meet with soft waters. His own appearance proves a bit of a blight on the whole region as he forces himself up to a drunken stand.

     Stumbling along he half falls down with each step, only barely keeping himself with that forward momentum. Even with such a light wind he bobs as a metronome able to swing back to a stand moments before each potential gin soaked fall, while he makes his way.

     It's only as he crests the hill that he finally falls over on the spot, right back down onto his hindquarters. Eyes go wide, and he looks down towards the bottle in his right hand at what he see's: A truck left setting in the middle of a large patch of grass, doors left open, with circus folk all around it.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford felt a bit of nostalgia as he quietly traipsed through the campus. He wasn't a student, and certainly shouldn't be here... but with him being on the run, his options were a bit limited. University libraries always had good resources, and typically for free if you could pass for a student. He used to study to become a chiropractor, but his acting career took off and left little time for that. He suspected he could still pass as a good student type, though.

    As he passed by the drunken man, he grimaced a bit. Poor fellow... even in his current state, Ford wanted to make sure he got somewhere safe. Pushing his sunglasses up on his face, Ford paced back and kept an eye on him before he collapsed... and the unpacking truck with a whole bunch of circus folk suddenly had more of his attention. What... in the world was going on? Was it a funfair? Wierd... Ford knew he should be going, but he was admittedly curious to see what they were up to.

Oracle has posed:
    Even Bats needed a break every once in a while. And with a few more nicks and bruises from that bank robbery she helped bust up a day or two ago, Barbara Gordon felt she needed a vacation. And there were plenty of people concerned, more or less, with the bandage over her right temple, where a pipe had impacted her skull. It had hurt. A lot. And she still had a bit of a headache from time to time.

    But the park. Barbara was taking a break in the park. Holding a coffee in her hands as a bolster against the slight chill of this spring-almost-summer night, she was wearing a dark purple jacket over a blouse, and a long skirt - her heels traded in for shoes as she walks across the way. It was Ford that draws her attention first, her brow furrowing a bit as she glances his way - and doubly so as she spies the drunk. A frown touches her lips. This was New Troy - the homeless were everywhere, but she felt compelled to walk over the man's way, reaching out a hand to rest on his shoulder...

    "Hey, are you alright?"

    It was only then that she saw the carnival setting up - it was only then that her eyes track up to the splendor. But she doesn't think anything of it. Beyond a furrowing of her brows, and a "Hmm... must be getting set up for summer," murmured under her breath.

Krystina Jordan has posed:
    Back to school...or, at least making her way to campur, Krystina blinks as she notices the.....fair. She doesn't remember one being scheduled, but that's nothing new, or, at least one being set up. She walked up next to Barbara and tilted her head at the fair. "Did you know there was one coming here?" She says softly as she looks about at the things being set up.

Joker has posed:
     Muttering to himself the man on the grass sputters out. "He took it..." Eyes gone wide as he slurrs his speech, a clearly battered and worn down look to the homeless man, as he tries to force himself back to a stand. His eyes are focused on the fairly normal Carnival setup far bellow. "I need it back." As he moves over to try and grab ahold of Barbara only to miss.

     He calls out louder that look of madness in his eyes "He took it! He took it!" Practically shouting as he half falls back over once again, his hair overgrown with bits of trash his twirly mustache only now visible. He looks a complete mess in more ways then one. "I can't... he took.."

     And it's at this point far bellow that a man steps out from the back of the truck. Hitting the ground with grace and poise the first thing one might notice is the extravagant feathered purple tophat, with a golden skull broach holding two strange bird feathers to the side.

     His jacket is a matching purple felt with bright yellow stripes, that highlight the lines and a striped undershirt that seems to curve perfectly to his form. On his neck is a solid gold bow tie, with a clowns face on it grimacing.

     The world grows slightly colder for a moment, as he drags a large megaphone from the back of the truck, and makes his way to a small wooden plinth. His face is powder white, with a long flowing moustache to either side, spun round itself a-la snydly whiplash.

     After a moment a conjoined twin strawman moves behind him, lifting the plinth high overhead. The rest of his little group of mutants gathering round with smiling painted faces, a person for every facet of the archetypal carnival.

     "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls!" The figure calls out through the megaphone his voice echoing out in all directions across the park. "Come one come all, to the greatest show on earth!" A quick flick of the wrist and he's holding a jewl encrusted cane with a gold skull on the top. Its eyes are precious gemstones and it seems to be glancing about...

     The ground begins to rumble lightly as the roof of the truck slowly begins to roll open to either side. From inside a neon green and purple circus tent begins to grow up and outwards. It all happens in a flash, booths spring out from the ground, the tent raises up into the air.

     A massive sign springs right up out from the ground with the gormless grin of a vile looking clown, done up with bright red lips and neon green hair. "See furious freaks and curious critters all gathered together in one place for your entertainment Metropolis!" Everywhere one looks there are booths cropping up, the mutants cheering as they see the sights and the ring master lets out a bone chilling laugh.

     Twisted sights, terrifying stalls, a large wall around that section of park all seemingly springing from nowhere at all! An eery organ plays out happy and cheerful songs from thin air seeming to originate from the very circus itself, booming out in all directions.

     At at the center of it all: A lone massive big-top pierces its way high into the sky as pitch black clouds begin to form. An unnatural darkness rolls in high overhead as thunder crashes out loud. The perfect backing for a place that seems to have been drug kicking and screaming right from a nightmare.

     Speaking up again the Ringmaster calls "It's an experience that's... to die for!" An echoing laugh rings even louder then before as he throws arms either side into the air soft light bursting from either sleeve, before he falls backwards into the waiting arms of a pair of carnival freaks who carry him back further into the newly formed fairground.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford felt a knot in his stomach as he noticed the look of the ringmaster. It was... frighteningly familiar. Joker... it had to be. Who else would wear such a loud purple outfit with white face make up like that? But as the fair ground begins to spring literally up from the ground, Ford found himself trapped within the walls of the new fun fair. How in the world did he do THAT!? Was it... magic? No... no, it had to be a logical... something! And that homeless guy was wandering into the midst of it all.

    At least he wasn't alone... not that that itself was good. Witnesses who might recognize him as the wanted actor that he was. Sometimes, being a well known star was /really/ hard. Particularly if you wanted to be stealthy.

    Luckily, he still had his backpack, with what meager possessions he still had. This looked more like a job for his new alter ego: Mr. Amazing! Looking about, Ford found a stall that sprang up that looked fairly empty, running for it to clamber inside, lock the door, and dig the costume he'd managed to save out of his pack. Right... just like his TV show...

Oracle has posed:
    The homeless man had no hope of grasping Barbara - well, he had a hope, but his fingers slip on her forearm as she twists it in a practiced way - martial arts preventing the grasp of his hand. "What... did he take?" The twirly mustache, perhaps, reminding her of the one down on the man below, the ringmaster...

    Brilliantly blue eyes narrow, and Barbara takes a step away from the man as she focuses down on the circus below, her jaw set at an angle. A long breath in, and out. Was she thinking Joker? No, not yet - it certainly fit the man's style. But magic? Illusion, mutation?

    Bringing up a little earpiece, Barbara sets it into her right ear, her left bringing up her smartphone, a few swift taps of opening a hidden app - and she presses her thumb to the screen, waiting until the thing boots the app - lines of scrolling green code flashing down the screen. And the code solidifies into a neon green face. Her Oracle avatar that she used online.

    "Dial 'Home away from home'," she murmurs into the earpiece, letting her eyes track upon the display set up in front of her.

    "Yeah," she murmurs under her breath. "I don't know if it's him, but I know - that whatever is going on down there is no good. I'm going to go gear up - and check it out. Send backup?" she says, hanging up the phone with a swipe of her thumb.

Krystina Jordan has posed:
    Thankfully Krysti had walked away from Barbara to listen, and listen to the Clown Prince of Gotham....who was in Metropolis. Krysti had a glimmer of knowledge because of the news. But, she didn't know how to deal with him. She took a breath as she looked around. She hoped she wouldn't have to take action.....

Joker has posed:
     The homeless man stumbles, looking dazed as the sky is now black as night. Other patrons of the park stumble about confused and dazed as the music permeates everything, and in spite of the once warm and inviting spring breeze there's not the harsh chill of an October night.

     Anyone who manages to make their way out of the two massive wrought iron gates would find just a few feet from the park grounds that the world is bright and clear as it had been. This unnatural weather is completely confined to the new walls of the park.

     A number of portable toilets have sprung from the grounds in the dark of an alleyway so it's no trouble finding a place to change for Mr.Benett, yet as he wanders into the purple and green stall he would find that where should be toilet paper is a roll of sandpaper, with that same clown head floating above the toilet paper, the twisted interior of the stall failing to properly align with outside parameters. There's a constant feeling of being watched, of an underlying dread left in the back of the mind from the moment one enters to the moment one leaves.

     Barbara finds herself standing in the middle of a gallery filled one wall to the other with carnival game stalls. At one stall a child plays firing darts at a spinning doll of batman slowly rotating around, at another a man with two heads repeatedly slams a crowbar into recreations of the head of Jason Todd, with his little Robin mask already battered ad bruised in a rather childlike manner. The stall itself is titled "Wack-A-Brat" Each thrust down echoing out the boy calling "You won't get away with this!" as if from some faded recording.

     The sounds of the carnival mix deep in with each-other a scream here or there, the thunderous sounds of a roller-coaster rattling down the track. Everywhere one turns there's more nightmerish imagry with that almost childlike twist to it, innocence perverted and turned on its head, as in one booth further along a child plays with a gun that spews acid towards a collection of small screaming figurines melting them down to almost nothing, before collecting his prize: A small stuffed bear with what looks to be human teeth.

     Other people wander nearby confused as they look for the exit, or cower in fear of the circus freaks. Some stand 12 feet tall, others have heads a constant flame, others still are covered in fur or have the heads of snakes. Unnatural men and women who go beyond the standard selection of mutations with some stacked atop eachother.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford stepped into one of the portable toilets, but the feeling of being watched makes him... well, nervous. So he zips his bag back up and stepped out as soon as he could. The whole thing was just... wrong! Like some kind of great big joke... fitting, it seemed. But rather than change in the stalls, he opted to go around to the back. It was private enough. He just needed to be away from prying eyes... a feeling he couldn't get in the stalls themselves.

    A gray fedora, shirt, black pants, a gray cape, and a black mask and gloves. To think he's found all this on a whim. "Alright... time to be Amazing." he mused, before rushing back up to find people in need. In particular, one of the big, 12 foot tall clowns caught his attention first. Can't imagine why. "Leave 'em be, or you face the power of MR. AMAZING!" he shouted proudly, leaping in between the giant clown and the poor folks he was terrorizing.

Oracle has posed:
    Barbara turns - and... it was a moment where the world seemed to die out. And her footfall seems to echo in eternity in the back of her mind. A beat, and Barbara takes a breath - as if she had blacked out for a moment, and the carnival fades in around her. A moment still, and she freezes, the... sadly human... woman bringing up a hand to push a lock of her red hair back behind an ear, a steady purse touching her lips.

    "Yeah," she says into the phone. "I'll keep the connection, but... hello? Hello?" Bringing up her phone - the green oracle symbol now took on a more sepia tone, and the Batgirl tucks the phone into the pocket of her puffy jacket, taking a moment to secure the earpiece tighter. "There you are... I'm just... yeah. Send backup, quick - I think it's some kind of magic. Or an illusion. Or..."

    Too many things it could be.

    But Babs wasn't the sit around and wait sort of person. Mind roils together, taking in the evidence, and seeing what was different, versus what seemed real - the other people locked in here seemed real enough. And maybe... "Or, you know, maybe that bat gave me a concussion." That 'Wack a brat' game draws her eye the most, and Babs purses her lips, wandering towards it proper, her eyes tracking down towards the child playing the game.

    The child seemed a part of the world, she was going to be careful around him. "Hey. What are you playing?" she asks him, tracking glance from him towards the booth runner.

Krystina Jordan has posed:
    As people made their way towards the exit and the 'freaks' seem to get in their way, Krysti just sighs and moves to give the people a clear path. Any of the taller freaks that try to grab some of the innocent people, will get a stronger punch to their face that they expect.

Joker has posed:
     Standing at the Wack-a-Brat the kid is paused for a long moment before he finally looks back up with a smile. His whole face has been painted in that same chalk white joker esque makeup, yet when he speaks it's in the booming voice of a man who's smoked cigarettes most of his life. "Well toots, I thought it'd be fun to smack around the bats little brat." A light shrug of his shoulders before he just looks towards her and gives a deep bellowing laugh.

     Back with Ford, and Krystina it seems that the overly tall individuals trying to block the exit weren't exactly expecting a fight back. While they're paused a few people manage to duck between their legs before the pair pull what seem to be knives from their back pockets, and begin juggling them. A quick toss is given as they pass back from one to the other moving closer as the knives are used to block the exit proper.

     Further into the park lights shine up into the sky, a large image of a bat. For a moment it's the bat symbol, before it twists and turns instead into a smiling face laughing up on the clouds. The same clown as on the front sign just glaring down at the people like ants.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford clenched his fists as the clowns resumed guarding the front entrance. This time by juggling knives between the two of them. A few "guests" managed to get through, but if he was to clear a path, he needed to get them both out of the way! "Juggling knives? Didn't your mothers ever teach you not to play with sharp things!?" he asked, smirking and speaking in his most heroic tone as he drastically improved his density, before swinging a heavy leg to knock one of them off their balance... and hopefully, into the other one! Two clowns! One leg sweep!

    He wasn't neglecting Krysti, however. Brave as she seemed, for all he knew, she was just another person stuck in this carnival of chaos! Not a tight or cape to be seen! "We need to get these folks out of here! Once I clear the path, start helping folks through the gates! Afterwards, I'll go looking for other people."

Krystina Jordan has posed:
    "You're thinking the same thing I am. I'll hit them high if you hit them low." Krystina says as the sound of tearing clothes can be heard......and Krystina dramatically increases in size, quickly matching....then passing the taller guys with the knives. Thankfully, she has a leotard on underneath of her clothes. "You have no idae how hard it is to go to the bathroom wit this on." She says before she grabs one of the tallfellows by the legs, and clubs another with the former.

Joker has posed:
     It's a quick moment. First comes the fall, as knives hit the ground and every other direction one of the two is swept right off his feet by Mr.Amazing, only for him to get right at perfect level for a pickup by the giant woman!

     The moment he's picked up he chimes out in a friendly voice, that sounds a bit goofy. "Wuh-hey there little miss, don't you go doin that." Only to go swinging right towards his co-worker. "Someone might get hurt!"

     As he's swung to the side he makes a sudden impact, there's a feeling of the crunch of the collision, and yet as it hits instead a loud SQUEAKY echos out of a rubber nose being squished as one is slammed into the other.

     The second of the two figures goes flying from the force of the impact, holding onto its gut with both hands the wind knocked right out of em. Yet as they fly up they explode out into a ball of fireworks, the words chiming out from near by speakers "HOME RUN!" As bits of the creature fall back down towards the ground a lone bow-tie floating on the breeze.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford blinked as the tall clowns squeaked at the impact... he wasn't quite sure which one surprised him more, the squeaking or the fact that the lady making them collide had changed into a behemoth of a woman! That was fine... he could get behind that~ "I'd say it suits you quite nice! Looking good always comes with challenges~" he replied, before watching the clowns explode into fireworks! That... was new.

    Okay, assessment time. He had a girl who could turn into a giant, and a bunch of folks trapped in a twisted carnival... he could make this work. "You there! Miss... I'm sorry, I missed the name. But with your size, it'll be easy to see you! Take a quick stroll through the booths and try to get folks to the exit! They'll have a much easier time seeing and hearing you than me! I'll keep the coast clear for more of the Freak Show!"

Krystina Jordan has posed:
    "We'll worry about it after the people are safe." Krysti says as the clown explodes with a squeak in her hand. "I think I can do that. I'll just have to be careful with the buildings." She says as she walks between the buildings to get people away from the games and rides to get them out of the carnival of nutty-time. Hopefully Ford can handle the tall clowns...if there are any left.

Joker has posed:
     And thus we find ourselves at the start of a new carnival, and the end of an old scene. New fiends are found and a perfect start to what will likely prove a harrowing experience!

     Around every corner our heroes find more furious freaks ready to battle to the death for the sake of a good show, twisted and distorted visions of childhood memories ready for the taking turned into unbearable attractions of all sorts.

     It's a regular nightmare come true! And my oh my would you look at all the happy little faces it's made. Of course try as they might the insanity is only just begining!

     Who knows what the future might hold! Whatever awaits our heroes however awaits another time, as we come to a close and hold our breath waiting for the exciting conclusion of Jokers House of Laughs. Where the rides are so terrifying you'll be dieing to get off!