Ivy and Chrome PbP Forums

After the poker games, which Brad simply couldn't get any good cards, he heads to the clinic to meet up with his dad. He passes Teddy leaving the gym, who nods and seems confident about the fight tomorrow.

Once at the clinic, he sees his dad preparing all of his tools in case an animal gets hurt tomorrow. Sometimes horses get hurt during the races. The greased pig run always ends with the pig being killed for a luau and multiple individuals covered in axel grease. His dad thinks that it's a cruel and barbaric way to end an animal's life.

Doctor Lewis is looking after one of the locals, Mr Fowler, who'd smashed his finger with a hammer. Shane looks at Brad and smiles, "Alright Brad, come look at this."

Greg protests, "Hey! I'm not a spectacle!"

"Hehe, I beg to differ," Wyatt, Brad's dad laughs.

Doctor Lewis is an unusual man, but incredibly gifted in his field. He has darker skin than anyone in town. He's heard that Smith Falls has others like him. Some call it a mutation, but the old timers state that there were dozens like him at one point. As Brad walks over, he gently lifts Greg's hand and shows him the finger, which looks like it could be broken. "I'm going to put it in a splint. It's a hairline fracture. You can tell by how it's starting to swell with the bruising." He encourages Brad to feel the swelling and seems happy once Brad recognises the symptom.

Eventually, Brad's mom arrives, announcing, "Tomorrow is going to be absolutely insane," she states, having been in Smith Falls all day. "It sounds like about half of Smith Falls is coming! That's thousands of people!"

"More games and just so much to do, honey," Brad's dad replies. "Why don't you get Brad home so that he can get up early to enjoy the fun."

Julie takes Brad home, just behind main street and makes him stuffed mushrooms for a snack. He eventually heads to bed, thinking about the day. Eventually he falls asleep, letting the events of the day and poker game play in his head.

In the morning, his mom wakes him, he eats one of her infamous quiche covered in her secret mayo sauce. She slides a list of events today:

Competitions and Gambling:
Horse Races (1st place: 100 cr, second place: 50 credits, 3rd place: 25 credits) and a trophy
Steeple Chasing: (1st place: 100 cr, second place: 50 credits, 3rd place: 25 credits) and a trophy
Arm Wrestling (1st place: 10 credits and a trophy, 2nd Place: 5 credits and a trophy)
Billiards (Winners receive 5 credits and a trophy)
Dart Tournament (Winners receive a bottle of whiskey and a trophy)
Axe Throwing (Winners Receive a chainsaw and a trophy)
Annual Beer drinking games: Winner gets a keg of beer and a trophy
MMA Fights (undetermined matches) : Prizes yet to be determined and a trophy
Barrel Racing: Winner gets a bottle of wine
High Jump: Winner gets either 1 credit or a bale of hay
Tug o War: Winners receive 2 credits each and the rope
Texas Holdem
Poker (5 card draw)
Roulette
Black Jack (played with 5 decks)
Dance off: Winners (top two) receive two credits and an all expense (travel, food, room, some entertainment) paid trip to Smith Falls for a day and night and a trophy.
Singing Competition: (Winner receives 5 credits and a boombox)
Marksman Competition: (Winner receives a newly made 30-06 with a new distancing scope and a trophy)
Archery Competition: (Winner receives a newly made compound bow with a quiver of new metal arrows and a trophy)
Relay Races: (Winners each get 1 credit and a trophy)
Three legged races: (Winners each get 1 credit)
Sack Race: Winner gets a 50# sack of potatoes.
Cooking competition: (Hosted by Phil Williams, popular chef from Smith Falls) Winner receives 5 credits and new professional cookware.
Chess Tournament: (Winner gets a new carved granite chess set)
Checkers Tournament: (Winner gets a new carved granite checkers set)
Cornhole Tournament: (Winner gets their own cornhole game and a trophy)
King of the Ring: (Winner gets 100 credits and a trophy)
Obstacle Course: (Win one credit per checkpoint completed within time limit. Win 1000 credits for completing the course)


Events and Attractions:
Fortune Teller: Costs 1 credit
Massage and spa tents
Chiropractic Tent
At least a dozen food vendors
Constant Live Music with Dancing
Balloon Pop (Prizes vary)
Bottle Break
Helter Skelter Slide
Roller Coaster
Tilt-a-whirl
Ferris Wheel
Carousel
Ring Toss
Magic Show
Mirror Maze
Petting zoo
High Striker
Egg Toss (Winner gets 1 credit and a basket of eggs)
Boxing Exhibition Match (Vi "Warwick" Trent vs Teddy "The Terror" Swenson) Prize: 20 credits
Grease Pig Run: Winner gets free food for the rest of the day (wear disposable clothing)
Greased Pole Climb: Prizes are on the pole (wear disposable clothing)
Credit hunt (up to 50 credits: Age limit (no one under 2 or over 10)
Produce Judging and prizes
Theatre Drama Show
Art Show and Judging
Human Piñata
Bingo

There is a knock at the door. His mom asks him to answer it. As Brad opens the door, he sees three deputies, including Dane's dad, and sheriff Ericson standing outside with serious expressions, "Is your mother home, Brad?" The sheriff asks as he notices Julie and pushes past Brad.

Dane's dad, Deputy Stryker, without warning, pulls Brad outside and gives him a reassuring look, "Everything's going to be okay, son. Just stay with me." Yet, Brad already knows that something isn't right.

A large commotion can be heard from the house as his mom runs from the house in a full tilt sprint. The sheriff hot on her tail, suddenly stops, pulls his revolver and shouts, "We don't need your kind here!" as he shoots her in the back. Brad wants to believe so much that this is a prank, but she falls, a red circle growing from a dark red hole in her white shirt. The sheriff turns to Brad, "We can't afford your kind here, son." He levels his revolver at Brad, finger on the trigger.

************

Brad is woken up by his mom, who's stroking his hair, "Bad dream? Brad?"

'Well, that was disturbing,' is his first thought upon waking.

To his mom he says, "yeah, kinda weird one. Dunno what brought it on."

oO(Well, that was disturbing)Oo is his first thought upon waking. "Yeah, kinda weird one. Dunno what brought it on," Brad replies.

"Do I need to take you to the Doc? You've been having more and more of these episodes lately." His mom looks genuinely concerned. He's had multiple nightmares but he can barely remember most of them. The ones he can remember involve the townsfolk being angry with him for something. Another dream was about the local hermit, Dusty Sky, in a shootout with one of the locals. A stray bullet was headed towards him, like slow motion. He could actually see the bullet spiralling towards him before he'd woken up.

Sometimes the daydreams are bad too. Brad has learned to keep mostly busy to avoid falling too deeply into thought. Dreams, while he enjoys most nights, like this one that make him wary to even shut his eyes. He's even seen Megana in one of his dreams. She avoided him for a few days after, even though he'd never talked to her about it. Like she knew what happened.

"Come on, Brad," she pulls the sheets down to get him up, "I made your favorite. Quiche!" she says excitedly. He can smell the aroma of the egg, cheese and bacon pie with the crumbly crust. "I might come into town and join you in the festivities after I get some housework done. Do you want to see the doctor? He has experience with these sort of things."

"No need to bother the Doc. My nightmare had the Sheriff angry at me, it was probably just nerves about playing in the poker tournament. It's not like he's unaware of how long my odds are," Brad finishes with a roll of his eyes.

He does perk up at the thought of the food and starts getting ready for the day.

OOC: *shakes head* I really need to get back in the habit of checking this forum daily.

OOC2: not sure if I should be reading the other character's threads or not.

OOC: you may read any thread u like. If it's meant to be private, then it'll be through pms. Also, don't forget about EotC.

After enjoying his breakfast, Brad grabs his first aid kit (in case of emergencies) and head over to the fairgrounds. There's so much to see, and he ponders if he wants to sign up to try anything.

OOC: ugh, last couple days have been super busy.

After enjoying his breakfast, which is wonderfully made. Brad grabs his first aid kit and heads over to the fairgrounds. There's so much to see, and he ponders if he wants to sign up to try anything. He walks outside to be greeted by an assault of sound ranging from cheering, shouting, vendors and mcs announcing events and goods to the mechanical sound of some of the rides and a loud buzzer of some sort. He makes the wise choice to circle the outside of town and enter from the side. It's already almost shoulder to shoulder in town. The second credit hunt has already started. Many of the carnival rides are already constructed or near completion. The closer he gets, the louder it becomes. There are booths, tents, displays and things going on every several feet. He sees a few people that he recognises, but doesn't really hang out with.

He ends up behind the Bottoms Up saloon, where a giant obstacle course has been setup and a significant crowd has gathered around to watch contestants already trying to complete the first of four stages. The final stage is a fifty foot tall tower that dangles a single rope for contestants to climb with an impossible time limit. No one's ever reached the final stage. In all of Fort Hammer history, only a handful of people have ever made it to stage three. Most never complete stage one. But this young lady nearly beat it just now. On her second try, she got just one obstacle short of the finish. Her name is Maya, according to the announcer.

Around town, Brad counts four deputies on horseback, making sure all is under control. It's near impossible to keep the crowd from surging around. This year is one of the biggest festivals yet... if not the actual biggest.

Beyond the obstacle course is the Native American part of the festival. Lord Stein was gracious enough to begin allowing them closer to town this year. While some of their wares and services are questionable, they seem to be popular this year. One of the native kids tried the obstacle course and got just as far as the girl just did; getting tangled in a cargo net.

Brad notices Sheriff Ericson ordering some children, likely from Smith Falls, to get down from the bars of the water tower. Maybe one in twenty people seems familiar to Brad, most of the people in town are from out of town. As Brad scans the crowd, there's a light double tap on his shoulder. The very same girl who was on the obstacle course, Maya, is standing there, sweating and holding a camera. "Excuse me, is your name Brad? Brad Greenwood?"

OOC: Maya's profile and picture can be seen in the Player Profiles "People of Smith Falls" section. Her attempt at the course is also described in the Interludes section.

"Uh, yeah. Can I help you?"
Brad is a little surprised somebody from out of town is looking for him. Maybe she needs medical assistance?

"Uh, yeah. Can I help you?" Brad is a little surprised somebody from out of town is looking for him. oO(Does she need my medical expertise?)Oo

"Yeah. My name is Maya," She points back to Deputy Chala, "Deputy Chala said that you're good at these things," She points towards the obstacle course, "I'll give you two credits if you do and I can take pictures." Brad notices that she looks quite exotic, making her oddly attractive.

Brad then notices more commotion coming from the obstacle course. Vi confidently climbs the steps and stands next to the announcer. After giving her name, he speaks into the microphone, which booms his voice across the crowd, "Next up, we have Violet Trent! A local hero and undefeated boxing champion! She has a match, later today, with another undefeated champion, who is also right after her, Ted Swenson!"

Vi makes sure she has nothing loose that could tangle her up, especially her shoelaces, then braces for a quick start. A quick glance at Teddy shows concern on his face.

The start buzzer blares! She jumps off of the launch pad, jumping over the first quintuple step and landing on the second. She uses her forward momentum to completely leap across to the opposing platform. She doesn't hesitate after analyzing the rails for "Rolling Thunder." She climbs on, like an inexperienced person on a horse, embracing the log and applying the strongest gorilla grip possible. The log rolls as she holds tight when the first surprise drop occurs, her grip slips with her left hand, but manages to recover by the time the second surprise drop occurs. She loses grip with her right hand this time. The log stops rolling by the time she recovers.

She hoists herself up onto the next platform, overlooking a twenty foot wide chasm, where the opposing platform is a few feet higher. She goes to grab the rope and realizes that she's dizzy from the last obstacle. She slightly stumbles as the clock counts down, trying to overcome vertigo. She takes a deep breath at four minutes remaining, grabs the rope, jumps backwards for momentum and swings. She realizes that she didn't swing hard enough and reaches her foot out, grabbing the platform with the tip of her shoe. She strains as she pulls herself closer and leaps to grab the ledge. Instead, she bashes her face against the corner of the platform. Clock shows 3:31.

Upon catching her breath, ahead of her is a bowl shaped dip ahead of her, leading up the warped wall. A wall which swoops up for about fifteen feet and curves backwards, forcing contestants to leap up and slightly backwards to even grab the ledge. She launches down, getting a very good running start. She runs up the wall, making it almost halfway up and then she jumps. The crowd sees her foot roll sideways at a sickly angle. Her fingers find the ledge and grasp on, she then pulls herself over and sits on the ledge, examining her ankle.

The announcer shows concern as the clock counts down below three minutes. Teddy and several of the obstacle workers rush up and carry her down. Teddy waves to the announcer that he no longer wants to attempt the course as the workers attempt their best first aid. He stands up, looks back to where Brad is talking to the young girl, calling out, "Brad! Get your ass over here! Bring your kit!" He squats back down next to Vi, as they needlessly ask how bad it hurts, poking at the swollen area, forcing her to yelp involuntarily. He brushes her face with the back of his fingers and says something inaudible to her.

"Sorry folks, that was unexpected. Let's hope that Miss Trent is okay and that it's nothing too serious. We'd love to see her try again later!" Even the announcer seems concerned, then turns back to the crowd, "But what a great run from her. Give it up for Vi!" The crowd erupts into a combination of concerned banter and cheering.

"Oh no!" Maya says, "I hope that she's okay."

Moments later, the announcer erupts with excitement, Teddy at his side, preparing... "It looks like Vi is going to be alright! We now have her nemesis... and maybe boyfriend?" Teddy flashes him a look, "In any case, everyone give it up for Teddy!" The enormous crowd, who've come to see Vi, erupts into cheers, "Ted-dy! Ted-dy! Ted-dy!"

Teddy looks down towards Vi and respectfully nods. The buzzer sounds and she finally sees his true reflexes kick in. His reaction time is almost perfect as he breaks into a run for the quintuple steps and breezes over them as fast as Vi did. He leaps onto 'Rolling Thunder' and rolls down without even budging; even through the surprise drops. He doesn't waste time and just uses his forward running momentum and swings out on the rope and lands to Vi's nemesis, the warped wall. He takes a moment to analyze it, then breaks into a run, down the bowl shaped ramp and then, up the wall. He leaps, reaches back and grasps the ledge and pulls himself up.

Teddy takes a moment, looks at the clock, which reads 4:12. He carefully crosses the spinning log, almost falling off on every third step. He looks up at the clock; 3:45. He then glances down to Vi, showing that it's getting harder. He sees the drop to the trampoline, which should launch him into the spider jump and climb. He hops, drops straight into the middle and launches forward but mostly up. He wedges into the two plastic walls and begins hopping forward. He ducks under one obstacle along the wall, then hops over the second.

At the end of the wall, there is no platform to stand on, instead, Teddy realizes that he has to leap out and catch a zipline. His lips become thin with determination as he leaps out as hard as he can and miraculously catches the handles on the zipline. He slides down twenty feet of wire and realizes that he needs to swing out and catch the cargo net. He succeeds! The crowd roars with excitement.

The last obstacle has foiled all but a few contenders who've reached it. Teddy decides to climb under the cargo net. He reaches the platform and pulls himself up, breathing heavily. He managed not to mess up and looks up at the clock; 1:55. He presses the buzzer. Teddy has just defeated the first stage of the festival course.

"Sweet Lord!" The announcer screams, "Our fourth competitor to complete the first stage has been crowned! Who else will join him! Everyone come watch at noon, when Teddy will attempt stage two!"

Teddy ignores the guy and heads back down into the crowd, seemingly looking for Vi.

OOC: Read Megana's thread to find out how she exactly did.

Alittle later, Megana attempts the course and fails at the rope swing on her first try. She fails on quintuple steps on her second attempt. Sam then tries and fails on the spider climb both times.

Frank, Steve and Johnny attempt the course. After a few shaky parts, Frank completes the course. Steve makes the course look like he's done it dozens of times. Johnny wipes out onto the dirt, missing the safety mat.

OOC: Check Franks thread for details, it's actually funny.