The Crowning of Mindy McReady

[etcircenses]

Who| Everyone who's anyone.
What| The Crowning.
Where| A warehouse on the edge of town.
When| Starting from early evening till late into the night.
Warnings/Notes| Be sure to check the linked thread for plot purposes, even if you don't tag into it.

The party is brightly colored.

The theme, subtly, is super heroes. Boldly paints city scapes are splattered across the walls, and hallways are made to look like dingy, potentially crime ridden alleys. From the upper walkways of the warehouse, party goers can get hooked into harnesses and swing out over the dance floor. Above them, tributes and VIPS can find themselves on a clear plastic dance floor levitated above everything, looking like they're hanging in air.

Masks are passed out in plenty, and capes are easy to find, while brightly colored drinks themed around super powers are plentiful. None of them actually work, but many of the Capitol people are happy to pretend, mocking super strength or invisibility with each new beverage.

Under the dance floor a catacomb of tunnels and rooms full of obstacles is splashed with black light receptive colors. Party goers are given vests and laser guns, marked green for villains and red for heros, and set loose to hunt each other in the laser tags playground. The screens in the dance floor keep a running tally of which side is winning, displaying the players on the screens around the room, along with clips from the arenas.

About half way through the night, everyone is gathered to the main stage for a special announcement.

Comments

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I said she was lovable, remember? That doesn't mean she's going to look like some world weary hardened bitch like me. She lived through one of those zombie apocalypse things. I've seen her training. Trust me, she's tough."

That was a shame, that they hadn't gotten to talk more.

"Anyway, she'd tell you."

[justoutrunyou]

Seemed reasonable enough "Alright, if I see her I'll talk to her." Seemed that if Sandy wanted to make any progress she was gonna have to pick up some new tricks from all these people.

"Not right now of course." There was more depressing things to pay attention to.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Huh? Oh fuck no, not right now. Her dad-ish guy is in this bullshit new Arena. That can't be helpful for anyone."

That was the shitty part, of course: her friends still dealing with the Arena.

"We should totally get ice cream later."

[justoutrunyou]

It took Sandy a minute to think over. Ice cream had always been her and Pruna's thing.

"Only if Pruna's OK with it." She decided "If she's still mad at you then no. But I don't think she'll be mad other then not being able to beat you in the next arena."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Pruna's not mad at me actually," Mindy said, looking amused. "I thought she might be, but I think she thins of the Arena like I do: its a place meant to force you to make and break alliances, and then, in the end, you can't escape the killing part."

She shrugged. "I've still offered the training room sessions with her, so she can try to kick my ass all she wants. I'm more than fine with that: she's an amazing opponent."

[justoutrunyou]

"Yeah that sounds like her." Sandy shook her head once again struck by just how strange her girlfriend was by the standards of how Sandy was raised.

"You two would make a stronger team then rivals anyway."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Honestly, Mindy found Pruna's attitude remarkable refreshing. Even when they were fighting, she respected the fact that she might lose at any time, and it had even thrilled her. For once, it wasn't about crippling her or destroying anyone: it was seeing, honestly, who was better.

"Yeah well, they don't have tag team fighting in the Arena. That might actually be interesting."

[justoutrunyou]

"Sure they do." Sandy countered looking puzzled "You just make your own team. It's not like they're stopping you from doing it that way."

Of course this was inching towards another argument about having friends and allies in the arena so Sandy really should know better.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I mean an actually mandated tag team. So that you could actually have two winners instead of only one, you know? Then again, they might randomize it so well that I get paired off with someone I don't like, like Azula or some shit."

And that would just be unbearable.

[justoutrunyou]

Ah, two winners would make for a nice change of pace. She nodded approvingly. The name however came as a surprise, who did Mindy hate?

"Who's that?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

"The bitch that killed me in the first Arena. Gold eyes, black ha always kept tied in a top knot. She's a mentor. Loves putting herself higher than others all the time. She'll make you feel like shit in five words or less. Or try to, anyway."

[justoutrunyou]

"Oh." Sandy shuddered at the thought. "Glad she's not my problem. She sounds kind of awful."

Because Mindy she could forgive with time, but a woman like that sounded unbearable to a girl who grew up on off brand cereal and ramen noodles. Why would anyone like someone like that?

[hit_girl_mindy]

"She my personal pain in the ass," Mindy said, rolling her eyes. "And she better stay that way. If she does something stupid, like bothering someone I give half a shit about, then I'm going to start to care about that."

It sounded light enough, but there was a little menace there. Mindy traded barbs with people all the time but so far the Capitol was the only thing that earned her contempt. No single person had yet, save for Aunamee.

[justoutrunyou]

"I guess I just stay under the radar enough that I don't have anyone like that." She paused and added "Well I dunno how Max feels after what Pruna did to that guy she likes...whatever he is. But she was mad enough to rip my arm off." She'd have to do something about that.

"For how many deaths there are...it doesn't seem like most of the tributes here are like...enjoying it. There's that blond girl from your district, there's Aunamee, and then of course Troll face likes the fighting but not being manipulated..."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"That was still a pretty shitty thing to do, ripping your arm off." Mindy wouldn't tell Sandy how much she cursed when she saw that, or how much she screamed "fuck yeah," when Pruna got her back for that.

"Don't mention Aunamee." Mindy said this rather darkly, with no indication she was being casual at all about it. "Harley is just crazy, she thinks everything is fun. Who the hell is Troll face?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy was perfectly fine not mentioning a boogeyman like Aunamee again but she gave Mindy a skeptical look when it sounded like she was trying to explain away the crazy girls homicidal tendencies.

"Troll Face, the uh...I dunno his full name but he talks all flowery, he's really tall and has face paint." She tried to mimic The Initiates sharp toothed wide eyed expressions and even made claw shapes with her hands.

"He's always "Mutherfucking this and mutherfucking that" and he nicknamed me Sister of Sand, which I thought was pretty boss."

[hit_girl_mindy]

You couldn't really explain Harley. She was just a crazy bitch. Once you expected that, you could pretty much deal with anything from her.

"He sounds pretty funny, actually. Maybe I should look him up. We have a few of those troll people. One of them cut my ass when I was going for a weapon."

[justoutrunyou]

She looked surprised. "You mean your actual butt? Did they miss? What could would a cut there do?" As far as Sandy knew there were no vitals there.

Then again Trolls weren't always the most logical creatures.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"No,not my actual...look, I got scratched to shit. It went kind of deep too. She was scrambling as badly as I was though. It was pretty fucking painful."

[justoutrunyou]

"Ah, OK I get it." She was red in the cheeks now from having made such a simple misunderstanding.

"I dunno if all trolls are like The Grand High Trollface over there." She spotted him in Joker makeup and a suit and pointed. He and Harley were currently throwing bottles at people flying through the air on the ziplines.

"But he's got powers when they let him. Brain powers. I don't think you can fight em."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy snickered a little at seeing the troll and Harley throwing bottles at people. It was such a thing that Harley was likely to do in the first place. If anyone had fun being a total nutbag, it was her.

"Sure you can. Just gotta jam his frequency, probably. Something like that probably takes a lot of concentration."

[justoutrunyou]

"Jam his frequency? What like a radio? I don't think that's how magic works." Then again what did she know? She wasn't much of an expert.

"At least he's on my side...as far as I can tell. Maybe...probably."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"No, I mean, fuck up his concentration. He needs to be doing that, right, otherwise how's he gonna do his mind fuck thing? Just make sure that you don't go against him alone. That way you might have a chance."

She shrugged. "That's what I would do anyway."

[justoutrunyou]

That made more sense.

"I hope it never comes down to that. He already put me through my nightmares. I get enough of those when I'm asleep."

And the Initiate had forced her to embrace those nightmares to some small degree.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy shivered. "That's pretty frightening. I've had more than enough nightmares, here and back home. Somebody made me see those, I might actually go ballistic on them. You're braver than you give yourself credit for."