Puppet Theater[Gabe]

Jingle Jingle. The bells announced the approaching presence of a Jester, one who gleefully wished for mischief and fun in that dark night. Yet no establishment but this den of wickedness and debauchery would accept him like that. Well maybe not as wicked or debased as he wished to be, the damned were surprisingly more moralist and idealistic than what he had hoped for. But regardless! With a cackle he slid into the Purple Crackhouse while cackling.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" He spoke loudly, drawing attention to himself. "Tonight! You have been visited by the master of humor! The performer of the dance without end! King of the slapstick and the best clown in town. I am the laughing rogue!" With each title and exclamation came a deliberate exaggerated body movement, it all ended with a clapping. And then was initiated yet again by a long play about a noble who is tempted by the devil into stealing a magic potion from the court wizard. All characters were played by him, though he only played the noble while the other two characters were sock-puppted through two masks of appropriate appearance. Though at any time someone could interject by either joining the play themselves or just straight up stopping, either should be funny for the Forgotten.

In the background, there was Gabe shuffling a pair of cards at the table. He seemed to be by himself for the moment, but that was only because he felt like he needed to be there whenever someone came on over to check out the playhouse. If larsinny was the boss and the mascot, Gabe would also want to be a good influence and representation of what the playhouse represented.

"Welcome....oh...I believe that we did meet before. When those demons attacked that woman, you were there to help if I recall. Laughing Rouge? Can I call you Rouge for short?"

He continued to shuffle as he invited the Rouge to sit with him. "I'm called Shotaro, if you haven't remembered my name. It looks like you skipped the important meeting, but I'll tell you about it another time. Other than that, how are you getting used to your powers?"

"Hm?" He would look over his shoulder when the familiar voice had beckoned him. It was the gambler in the top hat from the run in with a giant lady. Like seriously that girl's height was freaky! If there was proof of a lack of a loving god in human physical form, it was her. He chuckled at Shotaro as he put the two other masks away, they would hang from his belt alongside other 3, each one having a different face craved into it. "It was a lovely show, was it not? They feasted on the innocent, so we turned that bull on a nice skewered BBQ." He would perform a stabbing motion with one of his hands, chuckles were had.

He would of course sit with Shotaro, it would be rude not to.

"I learned of the meeting at the broken crackhouse when it was already too late. But alas, i am here now. I have been quiet enjoying my time as one of the damned, quite the relief from the mundane daily grind."

"It's quite alright, we had a run-in with an old face of the playhouse that seems to be someone we can count on. As the members grow, the pressure is also continuing to be put on. People are starting to believe, or at least the people that can FIGHT back, or are willing to. Those that can't or ponder the true existence of what's in store, they watch. The attempt of continued success, in the endeavors of terrorism, I'm holding all of that into account. "

Gabe was hoping the pressure would make him perform better.

"Your style reminds me a lot of the plays I used to watch as a young lad in regards to the Shakespearian times. Even such things as that, which invited new ideas and prospects, could have easily been taking into account with the nobles as an outrage for him to dare to be different or have different ideas. With each face that you have on your persons, tell me, which is the one you are most likely to make at this moment?"

"Hmhmhm... Well, seems like you got lucky, recruiting people to this cause seems like quite the risky endeavor. Getting ousted by the unenlightened masses for speaking against the government. So... What's the name of this veteran you speak of?" His head tilted, and with the motion his bells jingled again. The voidful black eyes of the mask stared in expectancy. Admittedly, Archibald wasn't passionate about any particular causes. His goal was to have fun, and chronicle the stories of the Damned, and perhaps this "veteran" had some interesting tales under their belt.

He would listen as the Shotaro spoke, he took interest in Archibald's tomfoolery. That showed some degree of affinity between the Gambler and the Jester.

"I suppose i am a bit 'old school' as they say." He'd perform air quotations. "But the act of shit talking is as timeless as is disliking someone, some people hone it to art heheh. This government we have right now, its a bore, so goddamn tired of the 'government approved' moe blob shit, so sterile and safe. As answering your question, i am currently the Jester. But i could be a Noble for tonight."

"The veteran's name is Mad Dogg, I doubt that you may have heard of him. As a matter of fact, I never necessarily heard of him either until I met him on that day. The other group of terrorists led by skelker in the past was talked up, but with the majority of people joining skelker's old group, I truly want to believe that this is a man that I can trust. "

Gabe didn't want to show any doubts about the Mad Dogg, so he just left it there for the time being. In any case, he hoped that things will work itself out.

"Have you ever thought about what would happen after we won? I wanted to bring the discussion up the other day, but I wasn't sure if that would dissuade people. The idea of things going back to normal with all of what was changed. A government did exist, with a democracy, voting,  some laws to keep things in check. The idea of capturing the essence of life before the divide. The decision here is whether we should go backwards or forward. And if forward, towards what? What should we keep? What should change? I'd want something in place immediately after all of this was over. "

"Insane Canine, got it." The Jester snapped his fingers and gave an exaggerated nod to the other Terrorist. Apparently there was another group of terrorists who caused a schism among the Damned of the Broken down Whore house. Unsurprising, among political movements its not uncommon for people to have different ideas of how things should be done and no revolution is a homogeneous movement. Interesting how history repeats itself even now, after hell was released upon the earth.  "Though even if he is reliable, do not give away trust blindly. Our kind is on shrouded in deception and lies." He'd lightly tap his own mask.

The Laughing Rogue pondered on Shotaro's question, honestly he hadn't put much forethought. He didn't actually believe the government would be overthrown in his life time, yet he fought to kill his boredom and maybe gain some freedom for artists.

"Those are interesting thoughts. I imagine most would wish to return but the world has fundamentally changed. Perhaps restoring the old order would be mistake, instead give place to other ideas who would have been crushed under capitalism. Like socialism."

"I would like to believe that even in these endless nights that we have with enemies all around the corner, you can at least trust the person that shares the same ideals or goals as you. Or feel comfortable around a person to have a drink with or share a meal with. These little things that I strive for, that level of comradery, is a powerful strength that we have access to that can make use even stronger. It might be naive for me to say this or even believe it, but the desire to proceed into finding out the truth about things isn't a road you take alone. "

Thinking about what Rouge said about socialism, it made Gabe wonder.

"Socialism? We can try it...."

"Hm... I dunno. What do you think Devil?" When the jester said that he pulled another mask, this one was androgynous with handsome features and a pair of horns on top of its head. He held it on his left hand and stared at it.

"I think you should stay alert. People wear many masks, literal and metaphorical masks. You might think you know the person, but each and every human hides dark desires in their hearts, they simply need the opportunity to let it out." The rogue's voice would change as he played the Devil, it was calm and deep. Maybe even a bit sultry. The rogue would then put it away.

"Well, you heard the devil." There was a laugh, loud but short.

"Yeah think about it, socialism has failed either because the capitalist machine crushed successful attempts at it or power hungry individuals corrupting it. The world potencies who would be interested in stopping it are gone and now we got superpowered vigilantes to weed out corruption. It could totally work."

At first, Gabe didn't really know what this jester was doing with the puppets, but changing his voice and actually saying something a bit intellectual in regards to the conversation that they were having has impressed Gabe to the point of actually clapping as soon as the little show was over."

"Wow, I wouldn't be surprised if you said you could do kids parties. Funnily enough, a puppet show would have been something unique to do during the broadcast if we had that kind of time. Well, entertaining..nevertheless."

As for the thoughts on socialism, Gabe said he would think about it, but there were some things that bothered him about it.

"The superpowered individuals part was what bothered me the most about it, you know? how do we avoid another royal family in the sense of the superpowered individuals taking the chance of this as the opportunity of ruling. There is always that one thought of someone abusing the powers we were granted, we can't necessarily govern what it should be used for. "

"Heheh, you could say i put laughter in slaughter." Yeah, the gambler liked his little show off. The jester liked when people appreciated his shenanigans, most people in Endymion found them annoying or off putting and the few who laughed didn't talk to him much. "Oh yeah you were at the broadcast, right? You guys are absolutely crazy! No even i would do that shit, i clap my hands at the brass balls it would take."

"So you are afraid of becoming just like the Queen, eh?" He hummed for a while while pondering on the subject. "Well, if you are going to remove the Queen. You are going to need to take charge for a while to put things in order. A strong leader to glue things together in the first chaotic years, y'know?"

"It was a bit of a gamble in order to try to get that broadcast.  Even after beating superbia, she was still acting violent and aggressive, even her assistant ended up showing up after the fight. After a while, I started to feel a little bit of a rise in spiritual activity, so I don't know what that really means for district leaders. Maybe it means that even if we beat them, they won't stay beat for long, I'm not too sure actually..... but nevertheless, I wanted to spread the right message. I feel like I gotten a little bit better at speaking since then. "

Gabe ended up laughing a bit though, he appreciated the praise.

"But thank you, I think maybe it's one of the reasons why we managed to come across a reliable new comrade like yourself. It's starting to seem like it was worth the risk with each passing day. "

Though the thought of being a leader, believe it or not, always weighed in on Gabe's head.

"A leader? What would they call me? An uncrowned king, not bound by any blood of royalty? Well, if that is the case, would you help me then? If i was to ever lose my way, i'd need someone i can trust. No promises now or anything, just wondering about it if it ever reaches that end, if i make to the end. Right now, as the leader of the playhouse, my concern is for all of you to make it to the end, to see the fruits of our struggles and efforts taking place and changing this city for the better. "

"I'm sure you riled up some people. But imma be real with you, i have been doing this since before the broadcast. I just found it amusing." He too laughed a bit, not the maddened cackle he usually gives, just a simple and short laugh.

His head would tilt the the gambler made the offer, with his left index finger he'd tap the chin of his mask as if he was in deep thought and deliberation.

"I'll have to think about your offer, i like to fly solo myself. And comment on the on going affairs, but you do have something interesting going on. I think for now i'll be going, find some stuff to do. It was nice talkin' to you, Gambler." The jester would stand up from his seat and wave at Gabe as he left the playhouse.

+4 stat points to..

Gabe:

Archibald: