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The Big Top(#1472RFJ)
The inside of a large coliseum, the circus bustles with thousands of
people. Vendors hawk their wares to families of gawking kids and bored
teenagers stand in line for refreshments. The smell of popcorn and
cotton candy mixes with the musk of the animals, overlaid with a tang
of sawdust. Ropes hang from the ceiling in a confusing mass, like the
strands of a bloated spider's web.
Contents:
Megan
JJ Malone
Terrance
Shea
Michael Powers
Idra
Alexander

Alexander makes room for the three, waving them over toward him and
Marie. "Hey, sit. Join us."
The clock flips past ten minutes. The crowd begins to pack tighter into
the seats, creeping upward. There are seats around Alexander and Marie
still available though. In fact, most of the families with small
children are staying conspiciously away from the ahroun.
Alexander does quick introductions then asks Shea and Megan if either of
them got tickets in the mail, too.
Idra leans over and talks briefly with one of the children next to her,
then gets up, apparently having bribed the boy with her cotton candy
to save her seat on the aisle where the performers will enter. With a
slightly harried look, she makes her way down the steps and around
towards the already-forming line for the women's restroom.
The countdown continues. At five minutes a tone sounds. Those used to
watching sports will recognize it as the loudspeaker horn used for
timeouts in basketball games. The band, conspicious in their red
uniforms, gets into position.
Megan slips into a seat behind Shea and Terrance rather than next to
them. "Not even the mail, actually."
Shea shakes her head as well. "No mailbox," she answers.
Alexander says "But you didn't buy them."
JJ Malone grimaces at the loud blat of the horn. There is space around
her as well, although perhaps not as great as the Shadow Lord ahroun.
The cigarette smoke, surely.
Michael Powers simply glares coldly at anyone who sits too close to him.
Assuming their extremities don't freeze and fall off in his glare,
they're likely to find other, less uncomfortable, places to sit.
A vendor comes close to Terrance. "Balloons, buy your balloons! Balloon,
mister?" The foil balloons, mostly smiling lions and clowns, bob
cheerfully.
One necking couple ignores Michael completely. Another girl looks
uncomfortable, whispering to her date. The pair moves a row over.
Idra emerges from the bathroom, nose wrinkled. She makes her way back up
the crowded aisle, dodging people and vendors, to reclaim her seat.
Shea looks past Terrance, at the balloon man, and follows the strings up
to the metallic animal faces, lip curled faintly. These are supposed
to be cute?
Terrance takes a moment to realize the closer of the omnipresent
vendor-squallings are directed his way, and forthwith ignores them.
Basic marketting avoidance.
Becca and Mosh slip in mere minutes before the show starts, trying not
to draw too much attention their way. The two stop just a few yards
inside, near the bottom of the nearest row of bleachers; Becca's
almost under them, where she's standing.
The balloon salesman, thick-skinned, doesn't seem bothered by Shea's
attitude. He does, however, move on to more fertile audiences. He does
not approach Alexander and Marie.
Alexander leans over to murmur to Shea, "So do you have any clue who
sent the tickets? Or why? Or what the hell's supposed to happen
tonight?"
One of the food vendors sets down his tray a few rows over from Becca
and Mosh, handing out popcorn to a group of eight kids and several
harried adults. One minute sounds. The lights begin to dim.
BJ manages to slip in just as the lights are about to dim and looks for
a spot to perch.
Shea, free to look elsewhere now that the nasty little foil critters are
gone, shakes her head at Alexander. "No clue. There weren't any
addresses or anythin' on the envelopes." She shrugs, and nudges
Terrance's foot with the tip of her own shoe. "No fallin' asleep." She
grins.
Becca looks around, darting a glance nervously past someone who might be
a rent-a-cop security guy. Or maybe it's just shadows that's got her
jumpy. She whispers something to Mosh.
BJ finds a convenient folding chair and perches in it, propping his feet
up on the rail in front of him and tipping back comfortably.
Mosh nods to Becca and sidles a little closer to the popcorn vendor,
reaching in and trying grab a free bag while his attention is secured
on a group of rugrats.
Terrance says "I dunno. The loud roar is pretty soothing, but I'll try
to stay awake."
BJ adjusts his hat so it rides lower on his forehead, almost as if he's
settling in for a nap.
Security does continue to work the crowd, though most of it has found
its seats by now. The lights dim further, until the auditorium is
almost black. The snap of a snare drum roll begins as a hush settles
on the audience.
The circus master's voice booms through the loudspeaker. "Ladies and
gentlemen, boys and girls, I present--the Ringling Brothers Circus!"
Spotlights light up, flaring the entrance flap a brilliant white. Kids
cheers as the first elephant signals the beginning of the parade.
Becca pauses a moment, along enough to give Mosh a chance to do the
deed, and then starts picking a path to a seat before the rent-a-cops
come to harass the two. She picks a spot on the bleachers near to one
of the exits.
Mosh trails after Becca, the snared popcorn firmly in hand as he skips
up the stairs and into his seat. A sneer helps him clear a path
through the littler kids, and he points to the elephants and snickers
to his friend.
Mosh manages the deed in true Gnawer style, though the vendor begins to
turn right as the popcorn disappears from the tray. Distracted by the
loud band nearby and the shoving kids, the vendor makes his escape
upwards.
The parade continues, the white-coated horses prancing after the
lumbering pachyderms. The clowns tumble out soon after, raising an
enthusiastic cheer from anyone under the age of eight.
Shea watches, leaning forward to prop her elbows on her knees, and her
chin in her hands.
The sight is impressive, even for jaded adults. Fire-eaters follow the
clowns, followed by waving trapeze artists and tightrope walkers. The
lion tamer cracks his whip toward the audience, scowling impressively.
Megan looks around, saying to Alexander and Shea, "I suppose we can't
hope it's completely innocuous, can we."
Becca tosses some popcorn into her mouth, working at catching it on the
fly. Her attention wanders through the prancing clowns, picking up
again at the more dangerous acts. She keeps mumbling under her breath
to Mosh every now and again.
Shea asks, absently, "D'you think his hand'll grow back, if that lion
sneezes?" Megan is then answered, without being looked at, "We can
always hope."
One of the light-wand vendors stops near Idra. The parents of the brood
near her wave him over, holding up cash. The necking couples stop long
enough for the parade, though several of them go back to PDAs during
the clowns.
Mosh is in cahoots with Becca, nodding and replying to her low-key
comments as they come. He is busy munching on her popcorn, too, and
scaring off any children that step on his toes or generally intrude
into his space.
Idra ducks, as merchandise is being passed over head. She slouches a bit
in her seat, leaning her head on her hand during the clown act, but
her gaze is clearly riveted by the animal acts.
JJ Malone is settled in a seat up in the upper reaches of the Big Top,
which gives her a good view of the majority of the tent. She seems
rather unimpressed by the sites, however, more intent on slowly
scanning the scene, back and forth.
The ringmaster brings up the end of the parade, staying in the center as
the others disappear. In ringing tones, he announces, "Ladies and
gentlemen, the Ringling Brother clowns!" The clowns drive out in their
too-small car as parents breath a silent sigh of relief at the
attention-grabber.
Terrance comments, maybe in vague relation to the innocuous thing,
"Clowns are evil, that's a given."
Megan gives a glance at Terrance, and asks softly with a wry grin, "You
have a bad experience with a clown as a child?"
These clowns seem more or less harmless, throwing pies and mock-hitting
each other with gleeful abandon. The children laugh as each hit
scores, absorbed in the magic. Only a few, more fascinated with their
goodies or food, don't seem to pay attention. One young girl starts
squalling loudly and is taken out by her mother.
Becca, as the clowns come out, ducks her head down to hear a comment
from Mosh, then elbows him lightly in the ribs as she mouths a reply.
She looks around once or twice at the milling mass of people around
her and, with a shrug, goes back to tossing popcorn into her mouth.
Terrance smiles. "None that I can remember. Makes it all the more
ominous."
Shea squints at the clowns, and their slapstick routine. "Aye, well,
they're pretty scary, this lot."
The clowns construct a house mock-up. Red light begins to lick at the
base of the house, sending the 'female' clown in the upstairs into
hysterics.
Megan grins at the reply, easing back out of her lean slightly to work
out a kink in her back. "Only if they wind up like Pennywise." A hand
goes through her hair, as she watches with avid interest.
The firemen clowns drown the house (and, not incidently, the female
clown) with water hoses. The children cheer as the clowns raise their
hands in victory and climb back into their car. One clown doesn't get
inside and chases the car out the exit.
The lights dim again as stagehands hurry to clean the props and set up
for the next act. The ringmaster's voice calls from the darkness.
"There is time for laughter, and there is time for fear. Gabriel
Williams doesn't know the meaning of the word fear, however, as he
enters the cage with beasts that could kill him with one blow. Ladies
and gentlemen, Gabriel and the big cats!" During the voice, the rattle
of the cages as the cats file in underscores his words. As it
finishes, the spotlight picks out the lion tamer, standing with whip
upraised outside the cage. The crowd thunders a cheer.
Becca snorts. Whispers something to Mosh.
Shea murmurs under her breath, "Doesn't know the meanin' of fear. In a
cage full of trained animals, I guess not."
Idra,almost unconsciously, sits forward to watch.
Megan leans down to suddenly whisper something to Shea, "Wasn't there
some story a few weeks ago about a runaway lion in downtown? About the
same time I found our guest?"
Shawn McCrohan sits forward as well, lacing his fingers together. His
face reflects a kind of admiration.
Terrance frowns at the act, expression the distracted set of someone
trying to wrestle something from the tip of their brain.

Shawn McCrohan(#2960Pcr)
Shawn McCrohan peers at life through pale green eyes, set high over a
straight classical nose. His hair is brown and cut neatly, with a
shimmering undertone of red. Physically, he is unremarkable: a shade
under six feet tall, neither overweight nor overmuscled, with
thin-fingered hands. His dress could be termed 'dressy casual;' he
wears a short-sleeved Brooks Brothers shirt and Duckhead khaki pants,
with soft leather dress shoes. His skin is a light tan, and he wears a
gold watch on his right wrist.

Shea arches an eyebrow at the question. "I didn't hear anythin' about
it. Doesn't mean it isn't so." She leans over, nudging Terrance
lightly, and maybe jostling a thought or two loose. "Did you hear
anythin' about loose lions in the city?"
Terrance answers with a none-too-eloquent "Huh?" To expand on that, he
adds, "I don't think so."
Gabriel sends the lions and tigers through their paces, encouraging his
verbal commands with flicks of his thin whip. One tiger snarls
irritably, batting at the air between himself and the trainer with one
clawed paw.
The tiger gives in and jumps the barrier. The trainer lights the hoop
and sends one of the lionesses jumping through, to the cheer of the
crowd.
The tiger follows the lioness. After a few more tricks, the act is over.
The cats are sent back into their cages. "Ladies and gentleman,
Gabriel Williams!" The lion tamer poses, then runs backstage.
Shea claps, glances at Megan, and shrugs. "So far, so quiet, yeah?"
Idra glances quickly at the little boy next to her, playing with his
light wand, then returns her attention to the lions.
Marie Talbert looks toward Shea, then Alexander. She then turns back to
the floor show.
Megan claps politely along with the crowd, then scratches her cheek
lightly. "Appears so. I think I'll be more worried if nothing
happens."
Terrance suggests, "Psychological torture. They sent you tickets to make
you squirm." Hard to tell if he's serious or not.
The ringmaster's voice convers the interium of the cage dismantling and
the stringing of a safety net. "And now for those that face a
different kind of danger, sixty feet above the circus floor, ladies
and gentlemen, boys and girls, the tightrope walkers!"
Shea snorts. "Wouldn't put it past 'em. Whoever 'them' is."
Megan grins in agreement with Shea, tilting her head back to look up
part of those sixty feet to the platforms set up for the tightrope
walkers. Reflexively, she looks back down, scanning the floor and
crowds, before looking back up again.
The act goes on, punctuated with music from the band. The tricks grow
impressively harder, including a balancing act on a unicycle.
The circus continues. The high wire act ends, followed by the elephants.
These, in run, are followed by smaller acts in three hoops--horses,
fire-eaters, and sword-eaters. Then the announcer calls another of the
high-attention acts, "Ladies and gentlement, the Flying Carusones!"
Alexander applauds with the rest of the crowd, leaning in to whisper
something to Marie.
Megan says absently to Terrence, "Any comment about trapeze artists?" as
she looks up once more.
Terrance says "None offhand."
Daring twists and catches ensure--the standard fare of any trapeze act.
Then the announcer calls, "And tonight, performing the triple twist
yet again, but this time with no safety net. Ladies and gentlemen, I
ask for your silence please." Indeed, the stagehands are pulling away
the net.
Becca leans forward expectantly in the bleachers, this being exactly
what she'd babbled to Mosh about, earlier.
JJ Malone is silent, but smoke curls up from the cigarette burning
between her fingers.
Shawn McCrohan also watches with interest, fingers laced losely
together.
BJ tips his hat back to get a clearer view.
Alexander goes silent to watch this.
Michael Powers eyes the various bits of rope and cable appraisingly.
Idra finally sits up for a non-animal act.
A child's laugh shrills out as the crowd hushes obediently. The young
woman's form twists and turns, making the move flawlessly. The crowd
applaudes enthusastically as the ringmaster calls out the name in
triumph. The woman swings back, firm in the grasp of the catcher,
rising high over the naked floor.
Idra eyes the laughing child next to her sharply.
Mosh watches, rapt, his glassy eyes clearing just a little as he is held
by the spectacle high above.
The catcher holds the woman, but suddenly spasms in pain. The young
woman grimaces in terror and grasps at his forearms, but she has
slipped too far. Screams ring out as she falls and hits with a
sickening crunch.
Marie Talbert whispers, "Oh my god."
Mosh is stunned, into a dull silence for the moment. It passes with a
ring of screams around him and he lets loose with, "Holy. Shit."
Becca side-whispers something to Mosh as she rises a little, looking
over some snot-nosed kid's head.
Megan half-rises out of her seat, muttering, "Couldn't be boring." She
looks up at the holder for a moment, then around the crowd.
Alexander just watches in silence as the woman falls, then looks around.
First to Marie, then Shea and Megan.
BJ rolls to his feet and leaps over the rail, heading for the fallen
woman.
Marie Talbert looks horror-struck, free hand at her mouth.
Idra starts out of her seat as the woman falls, then falls back into it,
staring.
JJ Malone goes to her feet, head turning quickly to scan the crowd and
environs from behind the mirrored lenses of her sunglasses.
The carnival folk are in their own panic, some calling for the emergency
medical team, others trying to control the crowd. One burly stagehand
grabs BJbefore he gets close to the woman. Some of the audience,
especially with children, are going for the exits.
Michael Powers sinks back into the shadows and watches more intently.
BJ looks over toward the woman and mutters, "Looks like first aid
wouldn't do her much good anyway."
Mosh stands himself, rising onto to stand on his seat to look out over
the now milling crowd. He watches BJ intently for a moment before
turning to check the exit nearby, making sure it is still within reach
and somewhat clear.
The catcher, forgotten in the sudden emergency, manages to stumble back
to one of the platforms. He keeps one hand over his chest. In the
bright lights, he looks positively bleached.
Megan looks between Alexander and Shea, then says, "Someone obviously
wanted us here, and something happened. Votes on playing cool, or
going and trying to find out what caused this?"
Michael Powers pages: How much shadow can I get? Enough to hide in while
bulking up?
Alexander shrugs, and asks Shea, "You smell anything?"
Marie Talbert gives Megan an incredulous look, her face still pale.
Michael Powers pages: Worth risking.
Becca follows Mosh's glance, nervously eyeing the tent flap out. "We
should cut out," she mumbles to him, "before the fucking cops show
up."
Michael Powers slips further into the shadows.
Michael Powers contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Terrance looks simply grim, somewhat shaken.
Senye, a dark-haired girl sitting near Terrance and a gathering of
University students, stands to get a look out over the sudden chaos.
After a glance at the fallen woman, she looks up at the catcher, and
her eyes narrow. One hand reaches into a pocket of her jeans, and
comes up empty after a moment--but her eyes don't leave the man on the
rigging.
The Fianna theurge after a short exchange of trying to figure out what
Alexander's aiming at indicates she can't, but Megan says. "In this
crowd, and near you, it'd be hard to find anything specific, unless it
was right on top of us."
Alexander mutters, "Or really fucking big. Well, I'm open to
suggestions. Leaving," he says, looking down at the people rushing for
the exits, "isn't exactly an option just yet."
Mosh nods dully to his packmate's suggestion, still fixed to the
accident in the ring but already starting to move to the exit.
JJ Malone continues to look around, pulling a set of portable, cordless
radio headphones from a pocket of her leather jacket, unfolding them
to place over her ears.
Becca pauses on the way down her aisle of bleachers, to snatch up a
large cup of Coke someone left behind in their rush to leave. It's
still over half full, and only slightly warm. "C'mon," she mumbles,
giving Mosh a poke in the back. "Beat feet quicker."
Senye rakes a hand back into her hair, glances toward the crowding
exits, and sits up on the back of her seat.
Megan pulls her arms close into her body. "Place stinks. Nothing
unexpected. Wish it wasn't crescent."
Idra sits, still shocked, letting the crowds rush by her down the aisle.
Mosh doesn't need the encouragement; the punk has started clearing the
short path to the tent-exit by pushing and shoving, trying to make a
path for himself and his injured friend.
A team with a stretcher comes and takes the girl away. One of the other
trapeze artists notices the recovering catcher and begins to climb up
to him. Fluries of curses and shaking of radios happens among the
overstressed security guards as they try to still the mob. The
ringmaster calls for calm, but is largely ignored.
BJ scans the bleachers, as if looking for something.
Frowning, Senye turns to scan the seats around her. She comes to a
decision, evidently, and vaults over the next row of seat down to head
for an exit, ducking and slipping through the crowd, obviously in a
rush to leave.
Alexander looks around the crowds but, finding nothing unusual, he
finally sits back down to wait.
The Jackal finds an access ladder and swarms up into the darkness above.
Becca and Becca make their way out of the circus area as part of a
migrating wave of people, soon to slip from sight among the crowd.
Megan settles back into her seat as well, eyes still roaming the crowd.
A hand runs through her hair in a frustrated gesture.
Shawn McCrohan allows a slight smile to touch his lips. He does,
however, wait in his seat for the mob to die down. The stretcher is
borne away.
Idra stares at the child, surprised eyes narrowing in thought as she
watches him out of sight.
BJ looked at me.
For a time, the ringmaster blusters that the show will go on. After a
glance at his tramatized staff and emptying audience, he finally stops
that line of thought. Some children and even adults are hurt in the
press of bodies. The guards continue to fight the unequal battle.
As the crowd empties out, JJ Malone looks over and notices Alexander
amidst the group of people staying behind. She waits to see if his
gaze moves to her, nodding if it does, before she finally leaves
herself, once the main press of the crowd dies down enough for her to
exit without trouble.
Alexander waits until the place has pretty much emptied out, and then
files out with the others if nothing turns up.
Marie Talbert goes with Alexander. Though she hasn't panicked, the
woman's death seems to have shaken her.
Idra sits until she realizes that the crowd in the aisle next to her has
thinned to a trickle, then gets to her feet and leaves.
Terrance follows in the general stunned exodus.
BJ slips back into the stands, still scanning the arena.
Shawn McCrohan waits himself. When the coast has thinned, he cracks his
knuckles together and saunters out.
BJ wanders over and leans against one of the support cables, muttering
under his breath.
Megan follows after, parting company with the two couples shortly after
exiting the tent.
BJ grumbles and wanders out of the place.

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