The Renaissance Rumble
Note: Didn't get it finished in time for the Seasonal Theme WWA challenge, but I did get it finished!
Summary: After the untimely loss of Nabu, Roxy decides that the best way to cheer everyone up is to take them out to the local Renaissance Faire. In costume. May be slightly OOC, but that's what makes it so much fun!
Disclaimer: *Rrriiipppp!* I found the zipper!
At 10 A.M. on a Saturday morning, the Winx girls would normally be either sleeping in or working at their shop, Love and Pet. However, with everyone in a bit of a funk after Nabu sacrificed himself, Roxy decided that the group as a whole (Specialists included) needed to go out and visit the local Renaissance fair to take their minds off the matter. To make it even more fun, she insisted that everyone come in costume…which got some mixed results.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" The fairy of Animals insisted. She herself was dressed up in a period wench costume, complete with corset. "Once you get in there, you'll have a good time."
"Yeah, and we'll bake." Brandon said as, with some help from Sky and Timmy, pulled on his armored chest piece. Yes, our dear Brandon took it upon himself to dress up as a Knight in the middle of May.
"Oh, shnookums, you look so heroic!" Stella gushed. She donned a pink princess dress for this occasion.
"Not as heroic as my man!" Bloom smirked. "He robs the rich to feed the poor!" It seems that Bloom had somehow convinced her fiancé that they should dress as a matching pair. In this case, they bore the clothing of Robin Hood and Maid Marion.
"And he looks so good in those tights." Musa giggled, fixing her top yet again. She wore a red and purple gypsy/belly dancer costume and had her long hair pulled back in a bandana.
"I'm so glad I didn't have to wear tights!" Timmy exclaimed. He dressed in traditional Scottish garb. Including the kilt.
"I never would have thought you'd look so good in a skirt, Timmy." Riven teased. He was dressed as a male gypsy.
"It's not a skirt, it's a kilt!" The bespectacled boy protested. Tecna, dressed as a Scottish lass, nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it's only a skirt if he wears something under it."
"And now we shall all hope there is no wind today." Layla commented. She wore a leather butterfly top, miniskirt, and boots with several (fake, because Roxy insisted) animal pelts hanging off of her skirt and draped over her shoulders.
"I think the weather will be beautiful." Flora smiled. Her outfit was composed of a flowing green and pink dress, a "crown" of daisies and irises, a flowered sash across her hip, and simple brown sandals. Helia, the wandering minstrel of the group, smiled at her before looking up at the sky himself. Sure, clouds drifted overhead, but the sun still managed to peek through every now and again.
"Yeah, it's not going to rain. Last year was miserable." Roxy commented, helping Layla and Flora put the finishing touches on their costumes. "There! Now we're ready!"
"Great! Let's get going before the lines get any longer." Sky stated, straightening his hat as he walked toward the front gate.
"Hey! Wait up! I can't walk very fast in this thing!" Brandon called out, trying—and failing—to run in his suit of armor.
Once inside, the group split off to look at the different shops and stage performers. Layla and Musa, for instance, found the gypsy dancers entertaining, and dragged Riven along with them. Timmy and Tecna found time to inspect some of the period machine displays, and Flora and Helia stopped in every flower shop, candle vendor, and apothecary booth they came across.
"Hey, look!" Stella exclaimed, pointing to one of the many games set up at the fair. "It's a jousting ring!"
A smirk crossed Brandon's face. "Sounds like fun." He looked down at his girlfriend. "Watch as your knight in shining armor dispatches all other suitors who dare seek your affections!"
Stella clasped her hands and made a contented sigh. "Oh, this is so romantic!" She squealed as Brandon strolled up to the fighting circle.
Now, Brandon spent quite a lot of his time at Red Fountain training with swords, both phantoblade and metal, and the shields that went with them. Understandably, he felt he had an advantage over the other competitors. However, he forgot two important facts: He was wearing a bulky metal suit, and everyone had to use the same foam swords.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." He said, looking at the play weapon with distain. "This isn't a joust! It's a kiddy fight!"
"You can do it, Shnookums!" Stella cheered enthusiastically from the sidelines, causing the brown-eyed hero to blush.
"I guess backing out isn't an option anymore." He sighed, taking his place in the ring. His opponent, to his chagrin, was a child of about 12.
"Cool! I get to fight a real knight!" The kid smiled eagerly.
"I'll try to go easy on ya, kid." Brandon chuckled, clumsily readying his "weapon". A piercing whistle signaled the start of the match. Deciding to be a gentleman, our daring hero let his young challenger make the first move. That was his first mistake, as the child was both smaller and more agile than he. Despite lacking in speed, Brandon blocked the kid's jabs and stabs quite well. However, when Brandon decided to lunge at his young opponent, the little tyke managed to duck under the knight's extended arm and go for the kill shot: right in the groin. The one area Brandon didn't have covered in chain mail or metal plating.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" The specialist moaned, coming as near to folding in half as he could in his heavy stiff metal suit. In an instant, Stella was by his side.
"Oh, Brandon! Sweety, are you okay?"
"Mommy." He whimpered.
Meanwhile, in another part of the faire, Timmy, Riven, Sky and their dates were walking through a clearing when they spied a little girl and a hula hoop. Apparently she'd brought the contraption into the park to kill time, and was now passing it around to the staff. An evil smirk plastered itself on Riven's face.
"Hey, pretty boy! Bet you can't work that thing!" The magenta-haired specialist jerked his thumb at a hula-hooping patron.
"What?" Sky blinked. "Of course I can! I'm a King, you know!"
"You couldn't hula your way out of a wet paper bag!" Riven snorted.
"Neither could Timmy." The blond royal pointed out.
"The man has a point." Musa pointed out.
"Hey!" Timmy protested as Riven spoke up again.
"Then let's make this interesting. The worst of us has to wear a court jester's costume for the rest of the day."
"And what about the winner?" Bloom asked.
"He can be crowned king." Tecna grinned. "It's the only logical prize in this scenario, besides the bragging rights, of course."
"Uh, Tec? I'm not really that coordinated." Timmy stuttered.
"Ready to lose, Prince Hood?" Riven taunted Sky.
"Oh, trust me, it will be you in that jester suit, Jello-head." The blue-eyed man called back as the two advanced the hula hoop ring.
"Something tells me we should have brought a camera." Musa said as Riven stepped boldly towards the hoop. As per usual, the violet-eyed man was eager to prove that his skills were on par or better than Sky's and he made a show out of asking for the hoop. Apparently, however, hula hooping is not a part of the Magical Dimension's P.E. requirements, for Riven barely got it around his hips for one revolution before it fell to the ground. The gathered crowd all either laughed quietly or made "aw" noises as he tried for a second time. And a third. Still, the art of gyrating his hips in time with the plastic hoop eluded him.
"Maybe it's time you took a seat and let a real man show you how it's done." Sky smirked, walking passed his former classmate to get to the hoop.
"Then why don't you find one for me?" Riven called out as the Eraklyonite royal lifted the ring over his head.
Sky blew his squad-mate a very dignified raspberry before attempting to work the hula hoop. Unfortunately for his pride, he fared much worse against his round opponent. Three attempts later he still hadn't managed to keep the hula hoop spinning for a full turn.
"So far Riven's in the lead." Musa said, looking to Tecna. "You think Timmy's gonna be the jester or finish in the middle?"
"Neither." The technology fairy smirked, watching her boyfriend study the hoop before stepping into it. After a few practice swings of the hips, Timmy let the hoop go…and it kept going for one, two, three and a half turns before it hit the ground. Again he tried, and managed to get four turns out of the plastic contraption.
"But…how?" Bloom asked, eyes wide. Tecna gave a hearty chuckle before answering.
"It's a simple matter of applied physics." She stated as her red-headed kilt-wearing date finished his last try and left the hoop for the next person. "He had it won from the start, he just didn't realize it at the time." Pride beamed from her as Timmy walked back over to where the three girls were waiting patiently.
"Did you see me?" He asked nervously. Unable to contain herself, Tecna latched onto him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll take that as a yes." He blushed vividly.
"And Sky and Riven are still going at it." Musa shook her head. "Doesn't Sky realize he's lost already?"
"I think it's one of those 'man pride' things." The red-headed fairy frowned. "Although I do wish they'd give it up and let someone else have a turn."
Then, running up the courtyard, came a woman dressed in a period nun's costume, an older woman in similar garb hot on her heels. As two of the staff members moved to talk to the older, stricter-looking nun, her younger companion gleefully took the hula hoop and began to swing. Her first (and only) go around managed a full 10 rotations, outdoing all the boys' efforts in one fell swoop. But, fearing reprisal from her older mentor, the younger nun quickly lay the hoop back on the ground and walked quickly away.
"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Bloom blinked as Roxy and Layla joined the group.
"Oh, you mean Sister Mary-Agnes on a hula-hoop?" The youngest fairy asked.
"No, she means Sister Mary-Agnes outdoing Sky, Riven, and Timmy with said hula hoop." Tecna stated.
"Why did they want to hula hoop?" Layla asked. "It's a good work-out but it seems so childish for three grown men to do it."
"Oh, just wait until the Pub Sing tonight. That's childish at its worst." Roxy said as a horn blew in the distance. "Oh! The parade's about to start! Come on, we have to find a good spot to stand!"
Once the group was all together, they settled near an apothecary's shop to watch the cast parade by, with Roxy describing all the main characters.
"And that's the king of Scotland…oh, and here comes Micah the monster hunter. That's why he had the brain on a stick!" Roxy exclaimed as a man with a large pelt draped over his shoulders walked by, leading a pack of made-up zombies around with a fake brain on top of a walking stick. "Usually he just has a bunch of wooden stakes in his boots."
"Do you get many monsters here?" Helia asked.
"Just the fake ones, and usually vampires." The violet-eyed Earthling replied. "I didn't realize it was Zombie Day."
"Nabu?" Layla blinked as a dark-skinned zombie came up to her.
"Layla, sweetie, they're only actors." Flora laid a calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "Nabu's not here. You know that."
"I…you're right. I should have known that all along." The fairy of Tides sighed.
"Don't take it so hard." Roxy said. "If I'd know that it was today, I wouldn't have asked you to come."
"It's not your fault." Layla shook her head. "I should have remembered that he wasn't coming back. I just…you said zombies, and I thought there was a chance."
"Give it time." Helia soothed. "In a while you'll come to terms and move on."
"And until then, we can still enjoy the fair." Tecna said. "Now, I believe the terms of your wager involved a crown and a jester's suit…"
Later that evening, as dusk drew near, a majority of the cast gathered near the pub for an event called "pub sing". Normally, just the staff (usually the pirates) were allowed to join in the first few rounds, but Sky, still sore about losing the hula contest and now half-wasted, had other ideas.
"A limerick!" He called out, the red jesters hat tilting to one side of his head.
"A limerick?" the staff and guests echoed as Bloom groaned.
"Tell me he's not doing this."
"Wish we could." Timmy sighed.
"No we don't." Riven scoffed. "this is the best blackmail ever!"
"There once was a gypsy named Riven!"
"Riven!" the crowd echoed as the subject of the song stared on, dumbfounded.
"Who made a fair king a cretin!"
"Cretin!"
"Oh no he didn't." Riven scowled.
"Oh yes he did." Bloom sighed, placing her head on the table.
"But the king made a deal with a witch for a reel, and now the Gypsy's a kitten."
"that made absolutely no sense." Musa shook her head. "It barely even rhymed!"
"And ol' Sky is drunk out of his mind." Layla observed. "One of us really should stop him…"
"Stop Riven while you're at it." Helia jerked his thumb in the magenta-haired boy's vacant seat.
"This is not my life!" Musa groaned as Riven took the stage.
"A Limerick!" He called to the crowd.
"A limerick!" The staff and crowd called out as Sky looked on in shock.
"There once was a king named Sky."
"Sky!"
"Who told a most evil lie."
"Lie!"
"I object!" Sky shouted.
"Pipe down, Fabio, we can't hear the limerick over you!" An angry patron shouted.
A satisfied smirk graced Riven's features. "And when the people found out, they threw him out and now he must beg for his pie."
"Pie! Aye!" The staff and more inebriated patrons cheered.
"Gotta give the boy credit," Roxy shook her head. "His sense of rhyme is much better than Sky's."
"I think the amount of alcohol in Sky's system has something to do with that." Brandon sighed. "Good thing he's not driving us home tonight."
"Amen!" Bloom declared. "He'd probably run off in a ditch, or worse, hit someone else."
"And now they're starting a bar fight." Musa groaned as she watched Riven and Sky begin to pummel each other.
"Should we stop them?" Flora asked worriedly. Brandon simply waved a hand her direction.
"Nah. Let them fight it out. They'll be easier to deal with on the way home."