Saturday dawned, and Trixie and her friends wasted no time in getting to the park. When they arrived, Xavier was having a pleasant chat with Natalie- they seemed to get along quite well after having reminisced for a while. Chessmaster and Brianna were there as well, and were having a nice picnic. Seemed things had worked out between the two since the last time they’d been seen together. Onto the scene came Pinkie and Amanda, who seemed ready to get things underway. Xavier turned to everyone, breaking off his chat with Natalie. He would have to continue this later. But first… “Hey, you! You just going to leer at us from up there?”
Their attention was drawn to the ruffling of feathers from the trees. A dark yellow griffon anthro lept out, her black-tipped tail flicking behind her. She was silent for a moment, gauging their reactions. She then shrugged as she leaned up against the tree she’d lept from. “Doesn’t matter where I watch from, I suppose. Sky said you’re chill, so I’ll be chill.” Her light orange eyes glistened as she smiled. “You can call me ‘Hawk-blood’. It’s a pleasure.”
The reasoning behind this designation was readily apparent by the more hawk-like features of her head, beak and wings in comparison to other griffons they’d seen in the show. Chessmaster and Brianna were the most surprised by this newcomer, seeing as they had been largely elsewhere for a long while. With a bit of trepidation, Chessmaster broached the subject. “Just who are you? Why are you here? Maestro’s told me a bit of your comrades, but…”
Turning to him, “Hawk-blood” deliberated for a bit. Sky hadn’t told them much, which is what “Slighthand” had implored they stick with. But would a tiny hint be so wrong? She sighed, looking at the two of them. “Well, I can’t tell you the full reason- ‘Slighthand’ wouldn’t be very happy about that if I did. But I’ll give you a little hint. Y’see, we’ve come an awful long way to get here- and we’re here to help, albeit in our own fashion. But it’s not just you guys that we’re trying to help. Our friends that couldn’t quite make it here, they’re a part of this too. We’re helping them too, by helping you. It’s… otherwise complicated.”
Though it cleared up a few things, what “Hawk-blood” had said raised quite a few questions. But by the look on her face, she was unwilling to answer any of them. The group as a whole seemed a bit wary, but Chessmaster and Brianna were calm, much like Maestro was back when the group first met “Skyreach”. Something bigger was at play, but as to what it was, all were unsure. For now, they decided to leave it be, and instead focus on what they had come here for.
Deciding to shake things up, Natalie approached the subject first. “To truly understand how to cheer up others, you need to understand that not everyone will be overly cheery about what you try and do for them. Sometimes, you need to accept that some people just have a quiet or subdued response, and that’s all right.”
Xavier understood that perfectly. It was a reasonable thing to expect, after all. He nodded slightly. “I think I understand a bit better what you guys were trying to get at last time, as well. If you don’t know the right time to approach somebody, it could blow up in your face quite badly.”
Pleased that Xavier was starting to understand, Cheryl opened up a new point. “Being like the Bearer of Laughter is more than just jokes and gags- there's a certain.... nuance to it. You have to know that there are no universal ways to cheer everyone up at a given moment- everyone has different things that bring them a smile, and those things may not work if they’re in the wrong kind of mood. Sometimes, you may have to leave them be for a bit before trying to cheer them up- you just have to assess it based on the situation.”
This was an angle that Xavier hadn’t quite considered before, and now that he thought about it, it did make quite a bit of sense. “I never considered that so much thought went into it… Yet, for some it seems so… natural. How do you do it?”
Considering for a moment, Amanda let Pinkie answer that one. “Well, one might believe that I might not be the best to talk about this seeing as it seems to come me naturally, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The thing is, I have an easier time assessing others because of how long I’ve been doing this. But my advice, if you’re starting out? Pay attention to the body language- that often speaks more volumes than words.”
Experience, huh? That certainly explained why Pinkie was so confident in what she did. As for Xavier, however, he didn’t know how long it would take him to reach the same or similar kind of level. There was probably something else he was missing. “While all of this is well and good, I don’t think that’s all there is to it. I feel like I’m missing something…”
Feeling confident, Amanda took the stage. “Cheering others up is hard when you yourself aren’t feeling it. If you don’t have the right demeanor, it won’t be quite the same. If you force yourself, people will be able to tell, and well… I think that you can figure out the rest from there.”
It made sense now. Xavier’d dismissed such thoughts in the past, but he was willing to entertain them now. He smiled, and nodded his head. However, just as he was about to thank them… “Well now, look who it is.” The group was a bit surprised, and turned to see a group of humans, all wearing biker gang attire. Among them was a familiar face, that of Leon. However, it was clear that he wasn’t the one who’d addressed them, as the voice they heard had been female- and there was only one among the gang. She was a tall black woman, with piercing green eyes and dyed pink hair. She commanded quite the presence, inferring that she was the leader. “At first, I wasn’t sure that I could believe the lummox, but It seems Leon was right, for once.” She sneered. “If it isn’t The Reaper, and his little astral girlfriend! I never thought I’d see the day!”
Abashed, Natalie looked away. “I’m not his girlfriend, Ramona! Unless…” She shakes her head. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
One of her goons stepped forward, glaring with his amber eyes accenting his light brown hair. “That's none of your business, sheila! The boss don't answer to you!”
However, Ramona seemed amused that Natalie had asked. “Reel it in, Markus. I choose for myself what to answer. If she's so curious as to why we're here, I see no harm in telling her. Though, before I consider it, tell me…” She stood tall, to her full height of 6'6”. She leered at Natalie, full of disappointment. “Why? You were far closer to normalcy than the reaper over there. You could've had it all, if you'd stuck with us. We would've even let the whole astral stuff slide! You could have been somebody!”
Natalie sighed as she crossed her arms. “Look, I don’t know if you could understand. I highly regretted siding with you against Xavier. That’s why I bailed. I had to make things right. Somebody like you, who considers people to be tools- I don’t know if you could ever hope to understand.”
Irritated at the accusation against his boss, a goon with dyed green hair spoke out. “Ya take that back! All 'o us are important to 'er! The boss'd never toss us out!” He glared intensely with his pale blue eyes, practically daring her to refute him.
Sighing, Remona spoke up. “I appreciate the thought Arnold, but I can defend myself, thank you very much. I’ll address her accusations head-on.” She laid a hand on one of her hips. “While it is true that many of the people that I’ve surrounded myself with over the years have left, It’s often due to issues with their acclamation into the gang. There has been the odd person that left because of me, something I will not deny. But even then, they left because of a disagreement- not because they outlived their usefulness.” She shook her head dismissively. “I know that you don’t have the best opinion of me, but don’t go jumping to conclusions just because some old faces aren’t here to greet you.” She then smiled, pushing aside her earlier exasperation. “You answered my question, and I suppose fair is fair. We aren’t here for much, honestly. Just a small group trip to celebrate graduation. Finding you and Xavier was just an added bonus. We didn’t intend to come pester you, it just worked out that way.” Her grin grew wide. “And what a treat it is.”
Just as things looked like they might get violent, Maestro stepped onto the scene. “I think that’s quite enough. No need for any bruises today.” He sauntered over to Natalie, and glared at Ramona. “I’d also appreciate if you backed off of my cousin, thank you very much.” For a split second, his eyes became heterochromatic, but soon shifted back. “If you don’t, I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
The last of her goons that they hadn’t met yet scoffed, and tried to get a rise out of Maestro. “Oooh, I’m sooo scared! What are ya gonna do to us, lift us in the air? Bet that’s all you can do to us, you freak!”
However, Maestro remained calm. “I’ll make you wish that I let you get hurt after I’m done with you. That is, unless you apologize to Natalie and Xavier. That’s all you need do. A simple thing, to be sure. However, I will know if you’re insincere.”
Mary also came onto the scene, as if from nowhere. “You should be scared.” she grinned with malice, ready to terrorize them.
Scoffing audibly, Ramona stepped forward. “Ichabod may be thick sometimes, but he’s got a point. I don’t see why we should listen to you. We’re the Raging Bulls! We don’t appease anyone aside from ourselves!” She crossed her arms. “I highly doubt you’ll really do anything- all of you anthros are too concerned with ‘looking like good people’ to do anything that would tarnish that façade.”
Maestro was unsure of what Mary had in mind. He had this covered, but maybe she could help. The two shared a look, full of deliberation. Maestro didn’t trust her, but if she wanted to help, who was he to refuse her? Whatever she had planned might not work on its own, so he decided to roll with it. “Listen up. You have a choice here. We can do this the easy way, the harder way, or I can let Mary deal with you. I’d rather you just apologize, but something tells me that you won’t.” His horn and hand glowed with Nightmare Magic, as he started to construct the spell. “I’m giving you one last warning- Apologize, or I will use my magic on you.”
A little antsy, Leon spoke up. “Y’know boss, maybe it won’ be so bad t’pologize t’ them. I mean, they’z lookin’ awful serious about this…”
Ramona would have none of it, however. “Grow a spine, Leon! They’re just talking big! And right when I thought you’d gotten a lick of sense in you, too…” She stood defiantly. “We won’t back down! The Raging Bulls won’t be intimidated!” Her goons cheered, but Leon seemed half-hearted about it.
Maestro’s eyes glowed full of power, a firm frown on his face. “So be it.” His palm opened as he cast the spell. “Nightmare Illusion!” Dark fog spread rapidly from his hand, seeking out the members of Ramona’s gang and coiling around them. They all had various reactions of shock before the fog entered their bodies, causing them to fall unconscious. Dissipating the magic, Maestro sighed. “Maybe that will teach at least a few of them some humility, maybe even empathy and compassion.”
As his spell tossed their minds into a nightmare, He noticed that Mary was using a spell of her own, now. She made exact duplicates of their forms, but if one looked close enough, they could tell that they were dolls. The originals vanished from sight, and Maestro looked at Mary, quirking an eyebrow. Just what was she up to?
Smiling, Mary cooed. “Aww, you’re being too nice to them. I think that they need to learn that if you’re going to try and mess with someone else’s feelings, then she should feel what it’s like on the receiving end of it. So-”
But before she could do anything, Maestro intervened. “What do you think my Nightmare Magic did to them? I sent their minds to a place where the roles are reversed- In essence, I applied the Golden Rule to them. I don’t see what you’re trying to accomplish, but I think I made a grave error in allowing you to do anything.” He tapped into some Chaos Magic, and then snapped his fingers to cause the dolls to dissipate, and bring back the unconscious forms of the gang members. “There shall be no violence today, fake or otherwise.” He glared at Mary. She was troublesome, to be sure. Was she trying to goad him into breaking his promise? He refused to take the bait, if that was the case. He sighed, and shook his head. “If you think that you can reel it in on the violence factor, I’ll let you proceed- but as soon as I see you trying to hurt somebody, I will intervene again. Are we clear?”
Mary sighed in disappointment, but nodded anyway. “Fine by me. Now, as I was saying- without further ado…” (not noticing that her dolls are gone) “Let the show begin! ‘Puppeteer play!’” the gang members get up and start beating each other up.
However, it soon became apparent that these were not her dolls, as the members of the gang started to come to during the brawl. They were astonished that they had no control over their bodies, and their faces were set with panic. Many of the gang members were desperate to gain control of their bodies, and they voiced this handedly.
“Hey now, I’m a reasonable bloke! I’ll apologize, if it means that much to you!”
“Ya stop doin’ that freaky magic! First the dream, now this! Let me go!”
“I’z don’ wan’ this no more! I’z sorry, I’z sorry!”
“I’m really freaking out! Why can’t I control my body?! Somebody, make it stop!”
Gritting her teeth, Ramona weighed her options. She knew that some of her gang would take the way out provided. Heck, she saw that Maestro character use his magic to release Markus and Leon after they swore up and down that they would never do this again, and she saw even Arnold and Ichabod considering doing the same out of desperation. She was not one to back down, however. Gathering her will, she tried to force her way out. As she tried to force her body to break free, she saw Arnold and Ichabod apologize to Natalie and Xavier, and promise that they’d try to be better. They were set free by Maestro, and he then turned his attention to her. But she only saw red. They had tossed aside their pride! The Raging Bulls were supposed to be better than this! She erupted with primal emotion, shattering the spell controlling her body by sheer force of will. This caused Maestro and the others to step back in surprise- nobody had thought it possible for a human to shake off magic like that. Mary tried to bring her back under her control, but Ramona now seemed completely unaffected. She snorted in rage as she regarded her former gang members. “You spineless, snivelling pieces of trash! I don’t need you! I don’t anyone! You will all regret this day!” She stormed off in a huff, too quickly for any of them to catch up.
Her former gang members looked to each other, uncertain of how to process that. Their boss had… tossed them aside? They didn’t know what to think about that. Ramona had always been their guide, their reliable leader. But now… the four of them didn’t know where to go from here. Sure, they’d all apologized to Natalie and Xavier, but they’d half-expected Ramona to have followed suit. They looked disheartened as they realized that it was foolish to think that she would ever follow the lead of anyone but herself.
After that little detour, “Hawk-blood” looked apprehensively towards the direction that Ramona had went. “Well, this is troublesome… I’ll see what ‘Slighthand’ has to say about this development…” She shot off into the sky, and was out of sight in seconds.
Maestro shook his head. “I’ve got to get back to my studio. I’ll be seeing you guys later.” With that, he teleported away.
Chessmaster and Brianna had long since left- probably once Mary showed up. Trixie looked at a message from Gearbox on her phone, and smiled. “It’ll be nice to have a little downtime today, after how hectic it was earlier. Sorry I can’t stick around, I’ve got a date to prepare for.” However, she did notice Natalie take aside Xavier before she left. She smirked. I think I know what’s going to happen between those two… She shook her head, and left for home.
She didn’t know how it could’ve gone so wrong. Mary ran as fast as she could, hoping to find Maestro’s shop. After what felt like ages, she found it. It was certainly a colorful building, so she could hardly miss it. She went up to the door, and noticed that the sign on the door said “Open for business!” So, she went inside. She saw Maestro at the counter, arguing with a customer. “For the last time, ma’am. Monopoly Money is not legal tender! I cannot accept it as payment for my work! If you don’t leave right now, I will call the police on you.” The woman left in a huff, claiming that she would tell on him, or some such. Maestro sighed, and massaged his head. “Some people.” He then took notice of Mary in his shop. He looked at her, and shook his head. “It’s not your fault that Ramona stormed off like that earlier. I partially blame myself, I should’ve told you that I’d dispersed your dolls.” He shook his head, then clasped his hands together. “So, can I get you anything, or…?”
Mary was slightly taken aback. Maestro felt partial responsibility for what had happened earlier? She was going to press him on it, but it was clear from his demeanor that he didn’t want to talk about it. So, she decided to let Serine ask what she came here to. With a deep breath, she was Serine again, and she approached Maestro with her question. “Yeah, I’m planning a circus. I was wondering if you could help. Anything you can spare is appreciated.”
Maestro blinked at that. A circus? He thought about it for a moment. Would they have time for something so frivolous with what was to come? His visions may now be unable to see the future as clearly, but what he had garnered showed that more altercations were still to come. He did see the appeal of it, though. Something to ease everyone’s nerves for a bit. However, he was rather busy already… He glanced to his workshop in the back. He still had yet to finish his special work, not to mention some newer pieces that would furnish the walls of the shop soon. He looked back to Serine. She was the one this was most for, he supposed. She’d had a long and difficult life, with no chance for things like these when she was younger, or so he had heard. He still wondered sometimes about the one on this side that had been her analog. That person was supposed to be long gone, yet… the very fact that Serine was here made him somehow doubt that. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He then smiled. “Spare? Please. I may be generous, but I can’t give you what you need for free. Let’s talk payment.” They discussed the topic for a while, until Serine left, satisfied. Maestro sighed. Finally, he could get back to work. He quickly changed the sign on his door as he locked it shut. He then went into the back, and brought out his special project. He made a few doppelgängers, which he used to tackle some of the other work he was doing. He then focused in on this one-of-a-kind work. He worked carefully for hours, making the final adjustments. Carefully, he adjusted the size to be just right. The gemstone was fine tuned, whittled into the correct shape. And finally, the inscription was made, marking its completion. He took the piece, and smiled at his work. It was finished at last. He took out a black unassuming box of small size, and opened it. He then carefully inserted his masterpiece into the slot, and closed the box shut. He held it for a moment. Was he really going to do this? He deliberated a moment, then took out his phone to call. After a few rings, he got through. “Hey, Sarah. I was wondering… you got some time tomorrow? I’ve got something for you. Yeah, after Xavier’s lesson. I’ll be seeing you, then. Ciao!” He hung up, and closed his phone. He exhaled. Tomorrow. It seemed like an eternity away. But, he could wait. He’d waited this long, after all. He then decided to get to work with Serine’s odd request.