⇨ INVASION!

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone! But especially HARBINGERS!
When: S2:D16-22
Where: All over Wismuth!
What: As the Harbingers reveal themselves, those among the carnival that Creation has chosen will start to discover new powers within themselves. It's because they're magical girls, yo.
Warnings: Harbingers being assholes.

HARBINGERS OF VOID↴ On Day 16, the Harbingers begin revealing their new selves... in the form of wreaking havoc on the city! CY-Ren isn't looking for mass panic or serious structural damage - instead she wants constant annoyances and distractions, of the sort that will keep those that might be on her tail distracted from her true plans. However, when Creation is faced with the threat of twelve new Harbingers, it will have to fight in kind... ► HARBINGERS: Your job is to use your powers to create messes for other people to clean up! CY-Ren gives no specific instructions outside of a general framework... flex your powers! See what you can do. Don't destroy the city or anything, but give Creation a run for its money. She needs these civilians alive for her later plans. ► STAR GUARDIANS: Twelve members of the carnival have been chosen by Creation to fight in its name, even if they don't realize it yet. When confronted by the Harbinger's chaos, their Sparks will make themselves known in whatever form is appropriate to the character - and they will be asked if they are willing to use the power of their soul to fight the darkness. How this scene plays out can be flexible, but essentially they will find themselves faced with the question: are they willing to fight for the preservation of life? If they say yes, their Spark will emerge, and they will be able to trigger a magical girl transformation, as you do. ► CHARITY CONCERT: While everyone else is busy with the sudden rise of the Harbingers, CY-Ren's PR team is releasing a statement -- they will say that new information has revealed that there had been bomb threats made against the canceled concert, which are now being blamed for the damages. CY-Ren will make a personal statement, saying that in order to apologize for the failure of her previous performances, a new free to attend event is being planned for the near future - people who had tickets to the previous event and had to go home early get top priority!

Comments

[atouts]

Ah, but that's where you're wrong. We would be saving them.

[ Childermass shoulders his way away from the lamppost he's been leaning against and steps towards Strange, letting the cards in his hands tumble out of his grip rather than putting them away.

They don't fall to the ground, however. No, they get caught up by some unseen force and begin floating instead, keeping some idle orbit above the hand he lifts up, holds out off to one side. If there weren't something so sinister about the sleek black and silver cards, it might actually be an amazing card trick in its own right. ]

Let's be honest with ourselves, Strange. You aren't going to break your curse and anything I discover is unlikely to aid you. The only future you and Mr. Norrell have is your black tower, for however long you live, and your wife will die, sad, old, and utterly alone from waiting for you. [ Because, yeah, he noted that glance. He knows who's actually on his mind. ] Why drag that out? Do you really believe making her suffer for the rest of her life is saving her?

[kingsroads]

[ Strange tenses up. He's getting a terrible feeling about this. There's nothing he can do to go on the offensive if Childermass throws a card at his face or whatever the hell he's planning on doing with those. So, he's readying himself to turn to smoke should any projectiles or anything of that sort fling in his direction.

One thing's for certain: having Childermass vocalize some of Strange's worst fears only makes him clench his fist with rage. Because there's always that part of his brain that worries about just that. ]

I am the greatest magician of the age. And I have become even greater due to my time with the carnival. Of course I'm going to break my curse—I simply need to figure out how.

[ There's a bit of that typical Jonathan Strange overwhelming arrogance in his words. But Strange's tone of voice is more like he's repeating facts, like if he says this enough, he'll believe it. ]

[atouts]

Only because the Raven King made it so but he hasn't bothered with coming back, either, now has he? [ And if all their lives were just a part of an absent king's spell, does it really count? Who knows. ] You won't. You even refuse to consider the Ringmaster's help because you think you're better at this than the fae, even after everything you've seen, experienced.

[ But if Strange is going to continue disagreeing, then so be it. He only takes one more step towards the other magician before stopping to draw a card from the floating deck, but it's not to throw or fling about. If anything, it's a gesture that causes a transition. The world had already been growing gradually darker as he took those steps towards him, the shadows lengthening, but now it's much more obvious when the world around them gives a visible shudder and the shadows themselves gather around Childermass, engulfing him as he pulls the tarot card.

Strange may not have been there to see the concert himself but it's more or less like when CY-Ren changed, only instead of the entire 'cutting yourself open with a violin bow and having a musical number (thank god for that, this man sure cannot sing worth a dime)', the edge of the card he picks gleams briefly with a pale blue color and the shadows reshape as a brand new and somewhat outrageous outfit. It's all black and that same — faintly glowing — blue color along with plenty of silver. ]

What a waste. [ He sighs after all of this, still watching Strange sharply, now with a disapproving frown and a furrowed brow. ] I gave you your chance, but I suppose I shall just have to get rid of you first.

[kingsroads]

[ A brief expression of confusion flits across Strange's face (the Raven King made it so? What the hell is he talking about?). And that expression of confusion just deepens because...okay, Childermass has suddenly magically changed clothes. And he's wearing a weird coat. And he's got feathers all over the place?

Like the jerk he is, Strange teases Childermass about it. ]

At least when I was enthralled, I wasn't wearing something so ridiculous. You look like an oversized crow.

[ Though hmm. He is enthralled. He doesn't know the magic fairly well so Strange doesn't exactly know how well it would work, but if he saw enough of it that he could piece out some of the inner workings, perhaps he could break whatever spell's on Childermass.

No matter what, it's gonna be a wizard fight. Bring it, jerkwad. ]

[atouts]

[ As like with nearly all teasing, that rolls straight off of him. He just raises an eyebrow, glances at the card he drew on making his little costume change, and then— with a short, quiet laugh, even — turns it for Strange to see. ]

The Fool. How apt.

[ And then he takes the card between two fingers and makes a sharp and overall grand gesture with it to the side, like a sweeping motion. Why will become readily apparent when the wind picks up out of the blue and slams its way down the boardwalk at a frightening speed. People get thrown off-balance, hot dog carts knocked straight over, birds slammed up into the air or even out of it and into buildings, beach umbrellas go wild; there's screaming, yelling, all while Childremass remains entirely unruffled when the wall of wind finally reaches them.

Strange, however, may not be so lucky. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange is already muttering a spell as soon as he sees what the wall of wind is. It's elemental, he can work with this, and so the wind hits him with less impact that it's hit some of the birds and hot dog carts. He skids back about six or so inches closer to the edge, pushed back by the wind, but remains mostly upright and entirely on the pier.

And Strange gestures at Childermass, throwing his hands in the other magician's direction, as some of the wind does an about-face, swirling towards Childermass in an attempt to knock him over. ]

[atouts]

[ That... should have been expected, actually. It's no secret the man likes to throw the elements around for shits and giggles. Strange redirects the wind and, for a brief second or two, Childermass's eyes widen and he honestly does look startled. The wall of wind hits him just as he snatches another card from his collection out of the air and—

One second he's there, the next he's gone. At some point, the wind must have destroyed the wooden railing that had been lining the boardwalk behind him but that's been lost somewhere between point a and point b. ]

Oh, so close. [ If Strange had hoped for that moment immediately following that Childermass had gone over into the water with the wind and the railing, he's immediately disappointed by a voice right. by. his ear. ] You should work on your aim, Mr. Strange.

[ Yeah, that jerk is totally lurking up close right behind him now. ]

[kingsroads]

[ There's one brief flicker of hope that Childermass went over into the water and all Strange has to do is call up the ocean floor to hold him steady. But that flicker dies as he hears Childermass's voice right behind him.

God, that's creepy.

Strange tenses as he spins around. He stumbles backwards, just trying to back the hell away from Childermass. As he does, he already starts muttering a different spell. The cards are the problem: both of his attacks came from them. If he can just cast this fireball spell quick enough, perhaps he could take a few of them out. ]

[atouts]

Careful now.

[ After Strange has stumbled away and picks back up with muttering another spell, Childermass holds up something that should be incredibly familiar to Strange. A gem, gleaming in the Wismuth sunlight (or whatever amount of it his shadows and a melodramatic backdrop of fake 'oh look it's getting darker out here' he has going here.

Somehow, how he had moved so immediately from being the target of his own wind spell to where he is now, he's also managed to pick a pocket completely unnoticed. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange recognizes the gem as soon as Childermass holds it up. That's the gem the Ringmaster gave him! The one that displayed his memories of Arabella. How the hell did Childermass manage to filch that off of him? Strange's expression shifts from incredulous to downright angry.

Right, fuck this, he wants that gem back.

He finishes casting that fireball spell, as a grapefruit sized ball of fire appears in his hand. Except as Strange chucks it at Childermass, he's not aiming for the cards, he's straight up aiming for Childermass's gut. ]

Give that back! [ he snarls, not even concerned that he's trying to charbroil his buddy. ]

[atouts]

[ He'd been expecting Strange to back down, not carry on with the attack, which plays a big part in actually getting hit by that fireball. Childermass can't exactly pull a new card while he's holding the gem up like a shiny little trophy, now can he? ]

Th— [ The fire slams into him, throwing him back against the wall of whatever building is situated at this end of the boardwalk. Oh, there's smoke, but apart from throwing him off-balance, whatever bits of the costume Strange managed to burn regenerate themselves with, again, a gleam of that same pale off-blue light.

With a growl, he pushes off from the wall and, gripping the gem tight in his hand, leaps off from the ground. Guess what those vaguely wing-like parts of his costume do? Yeah, that's right, he can fucking fly and he's going straight up to land and magically balance on the top of that lamppost from before. As for creepy wife gem? That vanishes in his fist, closed fingers having created enough of a shadow around it to just hide it away for now.

From up there, he scowls down at Strange. ] Enough of this.

[ And he reaches up to his cards and pulls another. He doesn't even look at it this time. CY-Ren was right, how easy using these powers would become so quickly. He already knows which one he has. He holds it up over his head with another entirely unnecessary flash of light and overdramatic gesture — The Hanged Man, though whether Strange can see which card it is from down there is debatable. ]

Goodbye, Mr. Strange.

[ This is followed by a sudden rushing sound of water. The ocean around the walk rises up, suddenly, with little warning, in just this end of the boardwalk (more so Strange has less time to counter it than anything else), to sweep through the area where the other magician stands. It's fast, fast enough to drag a grown man off his feet and right back out into the ocean with it, which is exactly what Childermass is trying to do. ]

[kingsroads]

[ of course he can fly, Strange has already had an amazingly shitty past few days, might as well throw flying Childermass on top of that, THANKS UNIVERSE, YOU'RE THE BEST.

Strange is already starting to cast the spell again, as another fireball starts to appear in his hand. Can he hit Childermass up on that lamppost? Hell if he knows, but Strange is definitely going to try and hit Childermass because fuck you, buddy.

But, water beats fire. He's got no idea what that card is and, as such, has no idea how to even prepare for it. As the ocean slams into Strange, his concentration's broken and the spell dissipates. His downright murderous glare turns into a look of confusion and panic as he's shoved off the boardwalk. For the second time in a few days, Strange is dropped into a body of water, as he lands in the ocean with a solid splash. ]

[atouts]

[ But that's not all, Strange! On top of getting dunked into a large body of water FOR A SECOND TIME, the water seems intent on pulling the poor man out as far as it can before the spell wanes and the false current disperses. It won't be far enough that swimming back is impossible but he's in for a bad time.

The one silver lining is that now that he's out of sight? He's out of mind. Childermass watches a moment longer before looking down to check where he'd been hit. It seems fine, so... Fine. Fine, there, that's done. While there's a tinge of regret over Strange not wanting to join him, it can't be helped.

Instead of lingering to see if Strange will drown or get back to shore, he'll turn and take off, shifting from ridiculously dressed man to crow in the blink of an eye. ]