Nanosuit and Soul Magic: A Crysis/RWBY crossover

chapter 26

You know, I never really got to go to carnivals much as a kid. They were a dying breed, anyway, and after the economic crash it became really hard to justify unnecessary expenses like that. I still know what they’re like, of course, twenty-odd years of pop-culture osmosis has that handled for me, and you know what?

This is almost exactly like I imagined it would be like.

Tents set up all over a big, grassy area about a five-minute walk away from Beacon, holding everything from games, to food, to toys, to shops. Kids running around everywhere with themed balloons, parents with an equal mixture of exasperation and happiness on their faces trying to chase them down, little mini games set up in booths offering FABULOUS PRIZES to anyone who can beat the challenge...

It’s not a perfect wonderland, though. I can see those Atlesian guard-bots patrolling in twos around the fairgrounds, with actual soldiers interspersed in the routes. 

I even see one of the ‘bots running a booth. Looks like its selling little Atlas Military-themed toys, models of soldiers and robots and stuff. As I watch, a little boy with round, fuzzy ears on top of his head starts walking up, before his mom grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him away.

Hearts and minds, Ironwood. At least you’re trying.

The girls and their friends are still chattering away, but I’ve mostly dropped out of the conversation by now. Crowds are a goddamned nightmare. Most of the people aren’t armed, and most of the ones that are look like other students, but I can’t see low-tech gear as well as I can sniff out chemicals and energy signatures. I’m tempted to ask everyone to bring their shields up, just as a precaution, but I don’t want to tire them out ahead of time in case there’s an actual fight that might spring up.

There’s a checkpoint to get in, of course, and security is pretty decent, all things considered, but if I just took safety for granted, I might wind up getting them all killed. Still, this place seems pretty secure. Enough for me to not have to carry weapons out and unholstered.

“Oh, hey, what about this one?!” Nora near-yells, pointing at one of the game booths. It looks like a mockup shooting range, one of those thingies with the pellet guns shooting at little silhouettes. You knock ‘em down, you get points. Almost exactly like something you’d see in a fairground back on Earth, except that the targets were shaped like Grimm.

Nora took off, physically dragging Ren along with her. We all exchanged glances and followed suit. 

The attendant looks actually happy to be there, which was an expression I’m guessing is going to change over the next few days. He explains the rules, with only a slight glance to where I’m silently looming in the background. “Alright, step right up! Four people can compete at a time, and whoever knocks down the most of the targets in front of their position wins the prize! However, if one person can hit fifteen targets in a single round, they can get a special prize, one of a kind!” He makes a theatric gesture over a big, flashy looking box to the side of the booth. A person could comfortably stand up in there. Well, guess I know what I’m gonna try to bring home.

Nora whirls around to the rest of us. “Guys, guys, guys! Let’s have a tournament! First Team Juniper can go, then you guys, then the top two face off, then those two face off, and the winner keeps all the prizes!”

Ruby tentatively raised a hand to get her attention. “That sounds like a lot of fun, but there’s nine of us. Not eight.”

Nora paused for a moment, and then ran over to me. “Ohmygod I’m so sorry I totally forgot to ask if you wanted to play since you’re so quiet and keep glaring at stuff or at least I think you’re glaring because you’ve got that thingy on your face and do you want to take my turn?”