| DC/Marvel: Age of Infinite Heroes | ||||||||||
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Well, hopefully no more time travel antics! One can hope! It's a new night at the Carnival. An acrobatics showing is being ran, along with the Freaks show. Hope isn't bothered about the Freaks' show personally, but is interested in the acrobatics showing and the game playing! The acrobatics show hasn't started just yet, but it is due soon.
In the meantime, the light poles shine artificial light down upon the Carnival, as popcorn and cotton candy decorate the park ground with trash. Hope herself is crossing her arms over her chest and smirking at Nathaniel, "I thought you said you could throw a softball?"
Poor Nathaniel is currently working to figure out the math to get the ball into the wooden bin without it bouncing back out! It already bounced out once, but he has two more balls.
Hope left a message at Xavier's Institute that she was going out to the carnival for the acrobatics showing and that others were welcome to join her and Nathaniel. She wears her tote over one shoulder, criss-crossing over her body. It of course holds an energy weapon handgun as it typical does.
Hank was watching Nathaniel working out of the math. He crosses his arms and grins and he starts examining things without trying to draw attention to himself.
Nocturne walks about the carnival, inspecting one thing or another at her own pace, hands stuffed into the pockets of her hoodie. The hood itself is down, hair free. That tail sways behind her, and if not for the different curves and lighter coloration she could yet fool a few people who may think she's someone else. With the acrobatics mentioned, she's headed closer to that area.
"I threw it, right?" Just not the right place. But Nathaniel didn't promise anything, you can't prove it! Now, he could leave to the armor computers to calculate this, but that kind of cheating would make his unavoidable triumph less... triumphant. So he tries again. Of course the ball is not balanced, and the bin is irregular too.
He tosses, misses. Grumps.
At least Hope looks happy and distracted. Even if she is avoiding the problems for once.
Beast walks up to the booth to stand next to Nathaniel. He pays for 3 balls. Then studying the angles. Hank holds the ball just right and with a effortless toss he causes the ball to arch up through the air and lands in the box. "It's quite elementary."
A smirk from Hope, "Maybe I should have Dr. McCoy win me a prize." She's really ribbing Nathaniel right now! But she unfolds her arms just so she can reach out to tug on Beast's ponytail playfully, smiling impishly as she does so. "How you do that?"
Light applause is heard as TJ withdraws her hands to clap for Beast. "Well done, but I'd almost think you know how to beat these games," she says, adding, "I've seen how they rig them or make it so you have almost no chance at winning, and people waste their money for a two-dollar piece of junk just to impress their friends."
Nathaniel glares at McCoy. "Are you are a telekinetic too?" He mutters, half-joking. "But... I still have a ball." This time he takes some more time to calculate. Takes aim carefully, tosses it.
And misses again. Well, this time he was very close, but the ball bounced the wrong way on the edge of the bin. Or maybe the right way for the carnival workers. He glances at Nocturne, surprised by her appearance for a second. "Friend of yours?" He asks Hope. "Yes, they are rigged, but not unbeatable, as Doctor McCoy just demonstrated. I need more practice."
Hope giggles at Nathaniel, "Don't go broke." But she then looks back at Noc, "But isn't that part of the fun? I see a lot of ribbing going on...," but she halts in speaking as the catawalling of the announcer is heard about the Acrobatic display starting!
"Doc! You better hurry with those balls," and Hope winks. "The show is about to start."
Beast looks at TJ and shakes his head at the mentioning rigged. "No no... these are legit games." He doesn't want to piss off the carnies... yet. He takes another throw and sinks the ball. "No, I just am quite a bit more agile than you. I also took a few moments to study this than you are taking. Stop and look at it from another Angle."
Nocturne's head tilts at Nathaniel's question, explaining, "You could say I've been around, and she and I have something in common that way." At least, she sounds fairly certain of that. Beast just gets a knowing grin and she gestures toward the acrobatic show. "I'm gonna go see how they are." One might get the sense she wants to critique.
The Carnie that tends the game hides his curses, realizing that the furry dude actually knows the 'trick'. "Hey now, a man has to make a profit, let them figure it out," and he smirks. "It's good for their self-esteem or something."
"The margin for error is much smaller than it looks," yes Nathaniel is aware. There are no carnivals in the 40th Century. But most people spend the bulk of their long, long lives playing meaningless games, some of which are of absurd complexity. He understands games, he was an expert up until her early teens. He no longer has any interest in games. Usually.
But Hope wanted to play, instead of talking and plotting about her armored future self. Maybe she needs a break of an overly complicated life. And Nathaniel is trying to help. Playing.
"So now you want to see the acrobats? Alright. But we will be returning here afterwards. Yes, even if I have go broke."
The Carnie that tends the game hides his curses, realizing that the large dude known as Doc actually knows the 'trick'. "Hey now, a man has to make a profit, let them figure it out," and he smirks. "It's good for their self-esteem or something."
Hope just huhs at Nocturne, "Been around? This is the first Carnival I've ever been too." But Hope then claps when Hank gets another ball in, "Go Dr. McCoy!" Hope mmms, "Yes, after Doc throws his last ball, let's go on over to the show."
Nocturne smiles at Hope, perhaps in a mysterious way, and her tail flicks side to side. "Didn't mean the carnival, but it's cool. Too bad Clarice isn't here. I told her she needs to learn how to unwind a little." She whistles innocently through her fangy teeth, hands back in her pockets. Unlike Hank, she isn't hiding who she is one bit.
"I guess you are from Xavier's too," comments Nathaniel looking at Nocturne. "I am Nathaniel Richards. Hope never introduces me to her friends, little barbarian girl she is. I am one of the Avenger Academy students."
Beast grins at the carny, "Nah it's all skill." He says landing the third ball in the bin. "I'll take the cookie monster stuffed animal." He says with a grin.
"Don't make me hit you, HARD, Nathaniel," Hope warns as she sticks her tongue out at the young man briefly. "Cookie monster?" Hope stares at it, and her eyes get wide, "He's seriously cute!" But then she's distracted as the announcement for them starting rings across the carnival. "Come on!" She moves to grab Nathaniel's hand and starts to drag him away toward the stage, dodging away from the Freak Show tent. There aren't enough seats, so Hope ends up standing with Nathaniel.
A small troupe of only three people come out on stage, one young man with a slender build, one pretty woman, and one slender girl. The bow and introductions are called out as they prance around in their sparkling outfits and perform some flips and cartwheels on the ground.
"Well, I'm not a student if that's what you're wondering about," TJ answers Nathaniel. "Nice to meet you, though." A hand is offered to shake, a rather unique hand at that. "Let's just say I've been helping out with some things." She comes off as amused at the interplay between the others, then she settles in for the acrobats as they go through a few flips and things. "Eeeeasy," she whispers with a playful grin.
Nathaniel shakes Nocturne's hand with an easy smile. But then he gets dragged away. Acrobats, uh? Well, he can respect skill, so he watches and applauds to particularly good displays of acrobatic prowess. Wait, easy? "He peers at Nocturne. Do tell?"
Beast watches the acrobats. He looks over at TJ, "If things go bad, you rescuing them or am I?" He says quietly and looks to their set up he shakes his head, "I need to build something cool."
A snort at that, "Will you stop jinxing the Carnival people!" Hope sounds annoyed at that. But her eyes then watch the stage.
The stage isn't that large really, and one of the people moves to stand atop a ladder that is beside a pole. The other pole has a rope stretched between them. Not quite one story off from the ground. The announcer jokes around about there not being any net! It's DANGEROUS! This draws a couple of laughs.
But the young girl goes on first, and as she walks across the rope, she pauses and spins upon it, and then twists her leg about elegantly while balancing on one foot as if dancing upon the rope. Her arms move in an artistic manner, her back arching, and her hair whips about as she turns back around and moves backwards along the rope. There is music playing to the rhythm in which she moves.
Nocturne gives 'Beast' a grin. "I'm sure they'll be fine," she says with sincerity before murmuring back to Nathaniel, "You could say I've done a bit of this stuff before. Kind of one of my things, given my daddy."
Beast grins, "Alright." He brushes his ponytail out of the way and reshifts his cookie monster watching the show.
Nathaniel nods, "they look talented enough, but I am no expert." He has no idea of who Nocturne's dad could be, but no reason to doubt her words. "I suppose if they were really good they would be performing in a better stage. But what they do doesn't seem easy at all to me," he adds with a grin.
Hope reaches out to hold Nathaniel's arm, "Not easy to me either. That's actually kinda beautiful, how she is dancing on the rope."
The girl moves about the rope still, until the music ends, and with a few careful steps, she leaps off the rope onto the top of the ladder at the other pole and heads down. The young man has moved up the other ladder and a new song starts. This time when he moves onto it however, he walks onto it carefully, and takes a deep breath and when a high note hits, he actually flips backwards and lands on the rope again! His arms spread wide as the rope sways a bit and he fights to keep his balance, but he does, and he takes another step forward, slow, so slowly bending backwards till he touches the rope with his hands and then moves to stand back up. The young man shows just how flexible he is by sliding his feet apart along the rope while keeping his balance, seeming to almost do a split.
"All it takes is some practice, maybe a little natural agility and flexibility too," TJ explains. Her tail sways slowly behind as she watches the performance. "I'm not saying they're bad, though," the fuzzy blue elf grins. "Not just anyone can do that." She gestures toward the pair.
Late to the party, as usual, Rogue makes her way to the carnival. It's the first time she was out in public for a while...even since the 'incident'. The promise of a carnival was just too much to pass up. The acrobatic show has already started...and the southern belle is just close enough to make out the audience. She doesn't seem in that much of a hurry to reach the show as the lights and music do enough to distract her. She isn't really hiding in plain sight, either. Rogue is in her regular outfit...completely covered. Because old habits die hard.
Nathaniel nods to TJ. Well, she called it 'easy'. Maybe it is for her. For him it seems the most interesting thing he has seen from the carnival. Genuine display of human skill, not primitive mechanical contraptions or simple (and rigged) games of accuracy and manual dexterity. "Yeah, they make it look good," he comments Hope.
Hope mmms as she watches happily, getting to witness something she has never seen before! "You know, I don't even think I can bend like that, and I'm a -GIRL-."
In the meantime, Rogue will feel a bump from behind, and then a quiet and with an unusual accent, "Pardon me." It's polite, and when Rogue looks behind her she will see about a 15-16 year old young man. He's black with a perfectly smooth head. His eyes are dark, and he wears a dark blue tunic with black pants and boots. The style of them is a little unusual.
Beast watches quietly at the performance.
The bump seems rather innocent and Rogue doesn't seem to pay it much mind. She offers a smile to the young man. "Doncha worry about it, sugah. No harm done." Of course, Rogue gives the person another look, her expression slightly perplexed...though if it is because of the wardrobe or the person himself is unknown. Rogue starts to move away, heading her way towards the stage, but even slower than she was before, as if she is trying to pull some thoughts together.
"Wait a moment," as the woman appears nice, Emil moves toward her, but doesn't reach out to touch her. "Do...you know where this place is? There are so many people here," as if the thought is...strange to him, and he glances about warily at the crowd of people. He appears confused, and a bit dazed.
Nathaniel chuckles at Hope's words. "You do not think you can, but you are not sure? I think you must be... acrobatic enough, if you get anything close. But hey, maybe you could get some lessons from your blue friend."
"Where? Ya not sure where ya are, hon?" Well...that is certainly a question Rogue didn't expect. It is certainly a question that causes Rogue to stop in her tracks. "Hmm, yer in North Salem. Normally it's kinda quiet...but da carnival's in town." She focuses on the young man's face. "Are ya alright, hon? Ya seem a bit outta it, if Ah may say so..."
"Carnival?" It sounds as if the young man has never heard of such a thing! "North Salem?" His dark eyes are thoughtful and wary. "I do not believe I could dream such at this," he says thoughtfully. Emil seems unsure at first, but he then steals his shoulders and asks, "Do you know where Hope is? She has red hair," and he motions to a bob cut to shoulders rather than the long hair Hope has now, "and green eyes that show the intensity of a warrior." It makes perfect sense to Emil, the description! There is a mixture of hope and fear in his eyes about Rogue's response.
A quiet hrm, "I'm not quite sure I can bend her way either Nathaniel, it's one of her 'gifts', same as her dad's. They feel a lot alike, but a little different underneath the skin I guess you can say." As if that makes sense to anyone except Hope.
The slender man finishes his own displays, and new music starts. It is upbeat and powerful, as the slender woman gets upon the latter. When she moves, it is completely different from the other two. She slides onto the rope, and carries a staff. She whirls it about and when she drops, she does it purposefully, and twists about the rope before somehow finding her feet beneath her again after using her fabric clad leg to whirl around it in a full 360! She twirls the staff as she moves across the rope, and does a little hop and taps her feet together before she lands upon the rope again, twirling the staff to keep her balance.
Hank sniffs at the wind as something catches his attention. He frowns and mutters, "No Hank. Brood eggs in the funnel cake batter."
"Ah definitely know a Hope. Hair's longer than dat, but definitely red. And yer dead on about da eyes." The slight confusion Rogue had before has cleared up. Obviously this is someone from Hope's past. "Yer talkin' about Hope Summers." It is a statement of fact...no doubt within her voice. "Ah think she's around 'ere somewhere. Ah would bet dat she's at the acrobatic stage show. Come on...Ah'll take ya there." With that, she extends a hand to the young person.
Nathaniel glances at Hank, wondering why he is still clinging to the joke. But... the older man seems serious. Hmm. "I still do not know her name," he mentions Hope. Because, really, not introducing him her pretty friends, unfair. She failed to introduce him to Rachel, too!
Hope face palms, "There are not Brood eggs in the funnel cake mix, whatever a funnel cake is!" She shakes her head, trying to concentrate on the show display.
"Summers? I'm...not sure, she never talked about another name," Emil confesses. "Stage show?" Emil is curious and worried. He wonders if Hope is really here, the last thing he remembers...but nothing makes sense right now. Emil doesn't accept the hand, actually seeming a bit embarrassed by it, "I'll follow," he says simply, moving to walk beside Rogue. There is a certain maturity to him mixed with the youthfulness.
"Oh, umm...I don't know. Miss Wagner," Hope says hopefully. "I just met her in passing last school year, this is the first time I've seen her...since I like arrived. Or call her Nocturne, I know her by that name at least." She really doesn't remember TJ's first name amusingly enough.
Rogue doesn't seem to mind at all. She offers a nod, then tilts her head over towards the crowd. "Dat way." She throws the young man a smile. "By da way, sugah, mah name's Rogue. Figured ya might wanted ta know." She doesn't bother to ask for a name. She's got a mission now, so Rogue is all focused on that. "Looks like dere's some acrobatics goin' on. Looks like a lotta people dere. As good a place as any ta start."
Beast looks back to Hope, "Sure sure, you heard Rachel. I bet she knows if they do or not. Mind powers." He says with a grin, "Next time we're in New York I'll buy you one."
Nathaniel chuckles. "Nocturne. Good codename." He claps at the new acrobatic display, shaking his head at Hank's comments about food and Brood. Doesn't seem to him two matters that should go together!
"There are not any Brood here, ugh! They freak me out! Not funny." Hope is debating strangling Hank right now.
Emil nods, and does actually offer his name, "Emil Spence, I'm the son of the Commander...," but his words trail off when he hears a voice in the crowd as the clapping dies down. He steps ahead of Rogue and Rogue can see TJ, a holo-induced non-furry Hank McCoy, Hope and Nathaniel standing together. "Hope?" The name is projected and there is confusion there.
Hope let's go of Nathaniel's arm and whips her head about, her eyes widening when she sees Emil and also paling somewhat. "E...Emil?" The name breathless sounding on her mouth.
The young man's face lights up, "Hope!" He races the last few yards for her and without shyness goes to wrap his arms about her. "You are alright! I was so worried you wouldn't get out of the blast radius."
And Hope is shock still at first, before her hands shakily raise to hug Emil back. "How...but you can't...where did you...?" She can't get the words out.
Rogue walks up to Hank, watching the reunion between Emil and Hope. She speaks, not necessarily to Hank directly, but just out loud. "Well...good thing Ah got da right Hope." She then shifts her attention to Hank. "Guy just walked up ta me and asked for Hope. Figured he hadta be someone from her past...our future...or whatevah, just from da way he was actin'." Rogue shakes her head lightly..."time travelin' always gets me confused..."
Nathaniel looks at Emil, who seems harmless enough, and blink when he hugs Hope. "Another student from the school?" He asks. But no, this is not that, he can feel it, he can see Hope's reaction. He can hear Rogue. A brief reading of his armor sensors confirms the presence of residual temporal radiation. "What is going on?" He murmurs. Nathaniel hates not knowing the rules of a game.
Beast smacks his head, "2nd time traveler at this carnival. Well beside the bunch we got running with us. I feel like Doc Brown. You want to play Marty McFly's girl Jennifer? Cause you'd look bad in a life jacket." He watches the boy intently. He doesn't register right in Hanks senses. "Boy doesn't have a scent."
Emil pulls back from Hope, "I don't know what happened either, but everything's going to be alright." He moves a hand to Hope's cheek, cupping it, "You grew," and he laughs a bit. "I think you are a bit taller than me now."
Hope actually has tears in her eyes, lifting one of her hands to rest over Emil's. It's solid, he feels...real. Hank says something about scent, but it doesn't really register. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry....for everything...your dad...your people..."
"Shhhh, that's not your fault Hope. I could never blame the love of my life." And when Emil smiles, it is with not only sincerity, but with his heart in it.
And that is Nathaniel's answer about who the boy is in more ways than one.
Hope can't speak, she just leans forward and hugs the young man, clinging to him. It is going to be a...strange week in total.
Beast frowns not knowing what's going on but will be looking into the matter deeper. There are those who can make illusions like Mastermind. So the Mutant doctor plans to investigate.
Nathaniel is not reacting much. Well, he might be a little paler than normal, and tense. Definitely tense. "I think... we are going to have to cancel our carnival trip. Dr. McCoy, perhaps we should go to Xavier's school. It is closer than the Avengers compound."