2nd Annual Charity Carnival and Celebrity Date Auction!

[stanleecameo]

Who: Everyone
What: 2nd Annual Carnival and Date Auction Charity Benefit
When: the week of July 4th
Where: Gotham
Interactions: OPEN
Warnings: This is an open event thread. Thread jacking, hopping, character romance, violence, and any and all things in between are possible. (But if you're going to do some private intimate things please make a separate thread about it)



The first most noticeable thing was the lights. In a perpetually dreary place like Gotham they could stay on no matter the time of day, casting a warm glow all about the streets and parks that had been connected to create the Charity Carnival. The streets were opened up during the day so that people could get to and from work, then in the evening they were blocked off so that pedestrians could meander about freely withoiut worrying about the cross walks. But whether in cars or on foot; they could always see the lights.

In the inter connected parks scattered around the Wayne Resilient tower there were myriad attractions:

Boothes where games could be played for prizes,
Rides,
Foods of all kinds (mostlly either fried or sugar coated),
and even a small section where locals had rented tables to sell arts and crafts that had been hand made.

And at the center of it all was the Wayne Resilient tower which contained a 5 star restaurant that was the staging area for the Celebrity Date Auction to be held later in the week.

Even the first two floors of the building had been repurposed into a kind of exhibit featuring current and upcoming Waynetech devices designed to improve the lives of the people who used them. Including the prototype for a brand new line of Waynetech smart cars. The event was in honor of the 4th of July but the entire week had been scheduled and included things like live music, fire breathers, gymnasts and a petting zoo.

And on the night of the 4th of course; a fantastic fireworks display arranged by Wayne Resilient with another new innovation of theirs; safe fireworks. Specially designed for sound and color and burst with no heat behind it to endanger fireworks handlers or civilians.

With everything that had been planned and all the staffing involved it was truly looking to be a week to remember.

Comments

[theotherspeedy]

Someone made the mistake of letting Mia play a game set up as a live-action version of Angry Birds using a slingshot. Now she had several giant, spherical plush birds and a pig wearing a crown to lug home with her. Maybe she could give them to Lian? Yeah, she'd probably do that... though, given who the girl's father was, her room was probably already filled to the brim with prizes won for her in aim-based carnival games.

Okay, time to find some corn dogs. She was starving.

[barbara_gordon]

The girl had some great aim. Pepper found herself amused as the young woman nailed games that most people would feel lucky to get a small prize from. That was the glory of carnivals though. The people that worked there were almost expected to rig the games against the players. For whatever reason they had gained an acceptance in their craft that no other business could ever hope for. Pepper had to wonder if the girl worked in law enforcement or something with skills like that. Maybe she was available for recruitment? She was heading toward one of the food courts now so that might be a good chance to make her acquaintance. That is if the girl didn't already know she was there anyway. She wasn't trying to hide her presence or anything after all and a woman in a shiny white and green wheelchair wasn't exactly incognito.

And as she wheeled herself in the same direction Mia had gone in she could almost hear the random fallen leaves that had blown across the paved gravel park walkways crunching beneath her wheels.

[kara_zor_l]

The place was certainly impressive. Kara couldn't help but admire the many technological devices on display in the lobby of the Wayne Resilient tower. A Carnival for Charity was an unusual place to have a business meeting but no matter. She was just lucky she was already in Gotham still on the trail of her missing ward. She had managed to find out from the train station that the girl had bought a ticket for the west coast but there was a lot of west coast to cover. So she'd been hoping to talk to fellow Justice Avengers Society member Iron Bat while she was there. He had a reputation as a world class detective and that was definitely what she could use just then.

Instead though Kara had been side tracked when she'd received a text message from Pepper Gordon, the C.O.O. of Wayne Resilient who had been talking with her about having Resilient and Starrware collaborate with each other for their mutual benefit. She'd finally arranged for a meeting with C.E.O. and Celebrity Playboy Anthony Wayne. Which brought the woman's thought process full circle as she stopped to examine the incredibly impressive Waynetech Smart Car. Kara could easily imagine the grey goo mass producing these beautiful machines. The idea brought a smile to her face as she waited for Mr. Waynes arrival, other visitors coming and going intermittently as they each paused for a moment to gape and gawk at the car in turn.

[iron_bat]

Having been a part of the funding enabled Tony to designate Gotham City as the place to be. Normally, any other person funding such an event would have a strategic motive for doing so. Usually involving advertisement/marketing to draw in more revenue. Not for Tony Wayne.

With nothing other than using the huge carnival as a setting for his meeting with Karen Starr, another effect to enhance his own personal atmosphere and first impression.

"Pretty neat, isn't it?" Tony's question echoed along with his footsteps off the marble floor as he walked into the room. Wearing a traditional black tuxedo with black bow tie, Tony was looking as sharp as ever. Hair coiffed and shiny not unlike his custom Italian shoes. "The Resilient model is just the first big step towards a world running off of free, harmless energy." He topped just short so he could put his hand on the hood which was so well cared for that he could see in his face in it. Or at least, he could if he wasn't giving Karen his full, undivided attention.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked casually. One glance around the room would show that there was nothing that could provide a beverage within the fancy display room of the Resilient car.

[kara_zor_l]

With a little twitch of surprise Kara turned toward the voice that broke the relative silence of the tower lobby. She recognized the man standing next to her, but only from his many television and magazine appearances. The woman gave a slight nod toward the car. "It's really amazing. The people at Starrware would probably {shit a brick} let hair jaws hit the floor if they could get a look at it." One thing Kara hated about the corporate world; she wasn't allowed to say things the way she really wanted to. And he mentioned that the energy used to power it was harmless. So he'd at least read their company manifesto. Starrware, like Resilient had plans to make the world better without sacrificing the environment to do it.

"A drink sounds pretty good right now Mr. Wayne" she agreed even though she didn't see anyone nearby with a service cart or a platter.

[iron_bat]

A small smile was all Tony gave as he opened the driver's side of the Resilient.

"Do you prefer to drive or simply ride?" he asked with some amusement in his voice. Within the luxurious black interior of the car, between the passenger and driver seats were two bottles nestled in an ornate bucket of ice.

"Both wine and sparkling cider." he cleared his throat. "Sobriety and I go good together."

Click click pull

[agentslipper]

Cinderella was back in Gotham after attending to some "business" in Germany. The pretense had been attending another fashion show, though she had her real job to attend to as far as the spy game went. Gotham was quickly becoming a second home to her with how much time she was spending there. She was considering the trip this time to be R&R, though she was ecstatic about checking out the new Wayne tech. Perhaps she could talk her way in or gain access not so legally to "previewing" the equipment that was still underdevelopment.

But for now, she was blending in, playing her hand at some carnival shooting games. She was damn good for a woman in heels. She took care to slip up and miss a few times per round downplay her talent.

[purplehazegirl]

What kid could resist a fair? She tried to tell herself she would go only to keep the peace but as soon as she stepped on the grounds she was overcome with child-like excitement. She bought tickets and immediately started towards a merry go round but veered off course when she smelled the churros, then again when she heard the ping from the shooting gallery.

She stood in line with her tickets and waited until it was her turn to handle a toy gun.

[midnighterknows]

A civilian dressed (but not necessarily civilized) Midnighter was already taking up one of the stalls of the shooting gallery. While other patrons came and went from using the other air guns the vendor had for use, Midnighter maintained his corner position, trading in lower grade prizes for better ones with each round. It was how the system worked. He could just as easily buy the top prize at a normal store, but that wasn't the point.

The air guns at the booth were cheap things, each with their own flaw to benefit the vendor instead of the customer. But that was the system and today Midnighter was a civilian and he would play within the rules as such. Apollo would be proud.

Waiting for the other patrons to take their rushed shots, some boyfriends trying to impress girlfriends, some kids getting their first crack at holding something that resembled a weapon, Midnighter took his shot in his own time; waiting to hit the higher valued targets whenever they popped up.

[voted_dead]

Sometimes life had a funny way of inauspiciously gathering people together. Those who wore masks and gallivanted about at night were especially familiar with this, but even then the masked vigilantes and villains weren't often aware of such stirrings themselves.

This was definitely one of those cases, as even Jason Todd had ventured out as a civilian, unable to resist the call of the shooting galleries he'd lost money to as a kid and fighting the temptation to blow away the competition and gallery alike.

Still, winning decent if not the best prizes was some consolation. He knew there was no challenge here for him, but games weren't the reason he'd come anyway.

[zephyr_rose]

When she had left the house Rose had intended to take a walk in the park to try and clear her head. The things that had been going on in her life lately were frightening and stressful to her and she was having a difficult time dealing with them. Upon arriving to the park however she'd come to discover there was an event going on that the woman hadn't known was going on. Had her personal problems really taken up so much of her attention that she didn't even hear about a party going on in the city? No matter. She was there and maybe this was just the thing she needed.

Wandering through the stalls she was certainly an odd sight to most of the people there. Her green dress and pale yellow shoulder wrap out of place with the patrons who were mostly dressed in jeans and tennis shoes. Suddenly noticing this made the woman self conscious as she realized her clothing may be woefully outdated now. Had it always been that way? How long had Rose been out of step with the rest of the world?

"Oh for pitties sake" Rose shook her head in frustration. This was exactly the kind of thing she was trying not to think about. And with a look of almost annoyed determination she marched herself right over to the nearest game booth she could find and decided to throw herself into whatever was over there. The booth she found involved throwing darts at balloons. Which look interesting but turned out to be much more difficult than appearances lead her to believe.

She managed to hit only one out of 5 tries but refused to give up, placing another 2 dollars down on the counter of the booth.

[theatre_of_real]

"My dear lady," a snakeish voice murmured near her ear. "Such a game is far too unrefined for one such as you." He looked just as out of time as she did, with his long cloak and tattered top hat, and walking cane, the tight leather gloves that squeaked as his fingers moved. "But if you have your heart set on a particular prize, it would be an honour to try to win it for you."

[zephyr_rose]

This was an unexpected situation. Rose smiled, shaking her head which caused red locks of hair to swish back and forth slightly. "Nothing in particular sir, no. I was merely passing the time. And idle distraction for a weary mind." She gave him a sidelong glance filled with curiosity. "You don't look as though you would enjoy such games yourself however. What would bring you to such a place?" As the woman spoke, her words carried the rolling sound of an Irish born. Or at the very least one not far removed from her foreign ancestry.

[jack_ass]

David smiled and mentally sighed, looking around the carnival with more than a little distaste, though his smile didn't show his feelings on the matter. He didn't like this sort of thing, and he sure as hell didn't like Gotham. Filthy, crime-riddled cesspool that it was, with a violent vigilante as their 'protector', and sprays of machinegun fire into the night serving as their most reliable way of knowing the cowled crackpot was around. The blonde man took a long drag off his cigar, savouring the burn of tobacco smoke in his lungs as he tapped the ashes away from the end of the fat stogie. People hawking all manner of cheap 'prizes' if only you could guess something, knock something down or shoot something else. Not his thing at all.

The man's sharp eyes scanned the crowd, itching for conlict though he highly doubted he'd find any with so many super people flocking to the event. This sort of thing was pretty much a singles bar for the rich and powerful freakshows that protected their various cities. How else were the capes supposed to get dates, given their normal social lives of punching faces and getting shot at? Another long drag filled his lungs again, warming him in the way only an addiction could, and David hooked his thumbs in his pockets, teeth digging into the end of his cigar while he walked along, taking in the sights.

[towering_cait]

Having access to the Doctor's inter-dimensional doorways made life exceedingly easy. And just a heartbeat after activating one of them Caitlin found herself in Gotham surrounded by cheery lights and the smell of Funnel Cakes frying in oil. Booths lined the parks and everything felt autumn-like even though it was the 4th of July. The entire scene had such a magical feel that Caitlin's face broke out into an extremely jubilant smile as she flounced down the walkways. Gathering looks as she tended to do. She'd grown used to that however. Being 6ft tall and curvy made her stick out like a sore thumb, but not as much as when she grew herself taller. Of course that wasn't going to happen tonight...well the woman hoped not anyway. She wasn't looking for a fight after all.

However she did spot someone interesting among the throngs of ordinary people. He was one of the lucky people. The ones who didn't need saving because they had already realized their potential in the time before time. So the woman did what was natural. She gave a small wave to the blonde man with the cigar and made her way over with a cheerful "Hello there Sir! How are you enjoying the evening?"

[jack_ass]

The blonde looked the woman up and down as she aproached with her small wave, his gaze a thousand yards away despite the apparant interest with which his blue eyes roamed those curves. Still, when he was through inspecting her, David took another long drag off his cigar, letting the smoke trickle out of his mouth for awhile before he spoke, a clear stall, "Hello Miss," David's voice held a carefully neutral tone, even if his smirk was slightly sardonic, amused even. The constant look of slight amusement on his face was a carefully practiced mask, giving the impression that people couldn't surprise him, and making him oh-so-slightly intimidating to some, "I'm doing alright so far, can't complain. It's a bit noisy, but hey, maybe by the time the date auction starts up I'll have found something interesting to do."

Not likely, unless he caught some carnie hitting up a local chick and not taking no for an answer, or worse, David didn't see much chance in seeing any action tonight. Then again, all the capes were supposedly here, from what he'd heard, which meant the place would be ripe with people needing their faces punched.

[purplehazegirl]

(Reply to this)
She looked at the kiddie-coaster. "Awww nuts." Thoughtfully she sipped on her pop and looked around. "What about that?" She pointed at the tower from which hung dozens of swings.

[voted_dead]

"Ferris wheel. Pretty fun to watch fireworks from." Tame compared to most rides, but it did go pretty high up as well. Jason was always one to appreciate a high view, for that matter.

"If you want to, let's go for it. Gotham's not usually this cheery, after all."

[purplehazegirl]

"I'll bet." She ate her pizza first, her feet swinging away as she seemed to not have a care in the world. She scarfed her pizza down quickly, enjoying just how gooey and greasy it was. The stretchy cheese made her giggle. And then she attacked her twinkie. As soon as she bit it her face lit up.

"WHOA! You have to try this!" She held out the non-bitten end to Jason. "It's like everything good in the world that you're not supposed to know about until you're a grown up."

[voted_dead]

[Continued from above]

"Know me? I'm only the guy that saved your butt back there. Besides, we're at the tail end of the hall of mirrors; it won't echo nearly as bad as the entrance would. Trust me when I say Gotham is no place for any kid to be hoofin' it solo. I experienced more than enough of that." Leaning back against a mirror, Jason crossed his arms and offered his own arched eyebrow at Mindy.

"You're suspicious. It's a good thing. But for right now, listen. You probably need a place to stay. You can stay at my apartment. Meanwhile, you can tell me why you're running from Capes, and we'll see what can be done about it. I think you'll find my deal to be the best one on the table."

[purplehazegirl]

Mindy jutted out her bottom jaw in defiance and annoyance. But Jason was probably right. And it wasn't like she didn't want to tell him, she just... It was just...

The last cape that tried to help her denied her vengeance because 'they just don't do that sort of thing'. And if her powers fading then she was running out of time.

She was angry and frustrated and she sniffled, but Mindy was determined not to cry.

"Fine." She thudded back down flat-footed onto the ground. "But I'm not tellin' you nuthin' until I know no one can spy on us."

[voted_dead]

"I can deal with that. Plenty of privacy on the ferris wheel, if you're still interested. You can tell me everything and not have to worry." Less suspicious than just leaving the carnival, too.

[jack_ass]

Sometime earlier, David Blake had left Cait alone with someone who'd conveniently showed up to interrupt, and he'd gone to check out some smoke that he'd seen. Turned out it was nothing, an 'equipment malfunction' according to a vendor, and he was turned away disappointed. Really, he'd been looking forward to busting some heads. Sighing, the man lit his cigar again, smoking as he wandered between the shops and stalls, minding his own business when he heard a struggle going on back toward the dumpsters. It sounded like muffled grunting and heavy blows on a soft target. A grin split his lips as he rushed around the corner, hoping someone was being mugged, or robbed, or beaten, or -something-!

And he wasn't disappointed! As he came around the corner he saw a woman sprawled to one side, bleeding from a swollen lip and dazed, while three burly sorts were roughing up a man in a suit. Her purse had been casually shaken out, and the man's wallet lay on the ground. All that from a cursory glance, as David snapped one arm out and caught his baton as it flew down his coat sleeve. He spun, catching one man in the side of the head with a wet -smack!- noise, and immediately jammed his heel down on the second man's foot. As he shouted in surprised pain, David's elbow came around and up into the man's throat, crushing his windpipe as the sudden savage assault brought it down to two. "Well well," he grinned broadly, the thrill of bloodlust coursing through him, "Time for a bit of an ass kicking, don't'cha think?" to his credit, the last guy looked pretty shaken, and glanced around for a place to run.

[agentslipper]

The man saw his opportunity, or what he thought was it, and made a dash for it only to be roundhoused into a metal dumpster so hard that it dented. A sharp judo chop to the back of the neck made him crumple to the ground if he had not already been knocked out before that.

"Is this what you call charity work?" Cindy peered over her sunglasses at the streetwise hero with a wry smile.

(I couldn't tell if he was in costume or not. Let me know if I need to fix)

It's not a party until a fight breaks out!!

[sarah_rainmaker]

Just as the fireworks began their brilliant display, there came a burst of thunder and a startling flash of lightning. And impressive display all in all. At least that is what Sarah thought. And she did need to make the scene impressive. After all, she'd been tasked with the difficult job of keeping the right hand of Strangefate and her former teammate Caitlin Zuel Grey occupied while the rest of the team invaded his stronghold to end his wonton meddling with the lives of others.

Another bolt shook the skies, this one carefully aimed from her focus gauntlets right toward the woman in question. She missed however. But only because Caitlin saw the bolt at the last second and managed to dash out of the way.

With the first shots fired, Sarah directed herself down into the battle like a projectile as the woman below began to grow in size, her dress shifted into her battle suit as she contorted her face into a displeased pout. "Oh that's just not nice at all missy. You're lucky I wasn't wearing anything that could tear!" As she spoke, she swung a now massive fist at the flying Sarah who now looked tiny compared to her. Of course, this meant that everything and everyone else was tiny as well. And the monster movie scene played out below unnoticed by the red head baring the minor irritation of the occasional kicked over booth (or string of booths).