It was nice to have some normal performances after the huge bloodbath and its resulting chaos that was the Flapper’s “act”. It was insulting to call it that, even with the air quotations in place. Oberan had spent the later half of his childhood among a traveling troupe of performers –acrobats, strongmen, fire breathers, knife throwers—and they had occasionally used animals when they gained temporary members along the way. The difference was that the beasts had been tamed and trained for the stage, getting used to being among a crowd of people, which was a very stressful situation for a wild animal to be in, so he had been told by Thi’ur the Tiger Tamer all those arcs ago. If Oberan trusted anyone to be in touch with the animals, it was that particular Sev’ryn.
The man would have been seeing red if he’d been among the crowd watching Nightshade’s bloodbath unfolding. Possibly, he’d have stepped onto the stage to stand right in front of the Flapper, and would have punched her so hard in the face, her grandchildren would be born bearing the mark of his fist on their cheek. Knowing the man, he’d have then gone off in search of the one who’d set the animals loose in the first place.
The Mortalborn couldn’t help but smile. It was a shame he was long gone. Oberan had quite liked the man, and his fondness had only grown over time as he’d remembered that Thi’ur hadn’t gotten along well with Hank.
Anyway, if Bran had to rate Nightshade’s performance on a scale of one to ten, he’d give her a solid disaster rating. Not only was it mindless slaughter, but the audience had been scared out of their mind, with many having fled the scene altogether, and some having been trampled by the panicking masses. Utter chaos. Perhaps if the judge was some psychopath this act might end up winning, but in Oberan’s eyes it failed to meet any and all criteria a performance was to be measured by.
In comparison, the acts that followed were great, even if they would have been only passable or decent at best. There was a guy that did flips, there was a couple that danced. There were some musicians, and there was someone who did improv theatre. Barring the last few people that were still waiting their turn, that was it. The other contestants had apparently dropped out, either killed or injured during Nightshade’s turn, or they had fled. Couldn’t really blame them, there wasn’t even half the original crowd left. Oberan wondered when the Blackjacks would show up to assess this mess.
As he thought on what would happen if the guard did appear, a girl and a man stepped on stage, and delivered a stunning act. There were visual effects, there was music –well, a bad song, but that did count—and the girl FUCKING LEVITATED. Obviously there was some sort of trick at work here, either a harness with wires and a pulley system, or a paranormal ability…magic or something like his own powers. The man in the background made it seem like the former. He stood rather out of sight, so this would be the logical explanation.
Some people didn’t appreciate it though. One guy tried to expose the trick like a fucking dickhead, unable to put his macho-man attitude aside and let the girl do her thing. No, instead he had to step up and show how clever he was for having seen through the act, simultaneously ruining it for everyone who hadn’t. There were no snapping wires though, and the man was instead hurled through the room. Oberan was the first to cheer, and did his best to get the crowd to join him in applauding.
Then they too stepped down the stage, and the last contestants stepped up. It wouldn’t be too long before the winner was announced. The Mortalborn was genuinely curious to what would be awarded the first prize; there had been some pretty decent and interesting performances among the bunch.
The man would have been seeing red if he’d been among the crowd watching Nightshade’s bloodbath unfolding. Possibly, he’d have stepped onto the stage to stand right in front of the Flapper, and would have punched her so hard in the face, her grandchildren would be born bearing the mark of his fist on their cheek. Knowing the man, he’d have then gone off in search of the one who’d set the animals loose in the first place.
The Mortalborn couldn’t help but smile. It was a shame he was long gone. Oberan had quite liked the man, and his fondness had only grown over time as he’d remembered that Thi’ur hadn’t gotten along well with Hank.
Anyway, if Bran had to rate Nightshade’s performance on a scale of one to ten, he’d give her a solid disaster rating. Not only was it mindless slaughter, but the audience had been scared out of their mind, with many having fled the scene altogether, and some having been trampled by the panicking masses. Utter chaos. Perhaps if the judge was some psychopath this act might end up winning, but in Oberan’s eyes it failed to meet any and all criteria a performance was to be measured by.
In comparison, the acts that followed were great, even if they would have been only passable or decent at best. There was a guy that did flips, there was a couple that danced. There were some musicians, and there was someone who did improv theatre. Barring the last few people that were still waiting their turn, that was it. The other contestants had apparently dropped out, either killed or injured during Nightshade’s turn, or they had fled. Couldn’t really blame them, there wasn’t even half the original crowd left. Oberan wondered when the Blackjacks would show up to assess this mess.
As he thought on what would happen if the guard did appear, a girl and a man stepped on stage, and delivered a stunning act. There were visual effects, there was music –well, a bad song, but that did count—and the girl FUCKING LEVITATED. Obviously there was some sort of trick at work here, either a harness with wires and a pulley system, or a paranormal ability…magic or something like his own powers. The man in the background made it seem like the former. He stood rather out of sight, so this would be the logical explanation.
Some people didn’t appreciate it though. One guy tried to expose the trick like a fucking dickhead, unable to put his macho-man attitude aside and let the girl do her thing. No, instead he had to step up and show how clever he was for having seen through the act, simultaneously ruining it for everyone who hadn’t. There were no snapping wires though, and the man was instead hurled through the room. Oberan was the first to cheer, and did his best to get the crowd to join him in applauding.
Then they too stepped down the stage, and the last contestants stepped up. It wouldn’t be too long before the winner was announced. The Mortalborn was genuinely curious to what would be awarded the first prize; there had been some pretty decent and interesting performances among the bunch.
