New Mexico, Saturday Evening
"Ladies and gentlemen, miscellaneous of all ages!"
The announcer's voice bounced off the colorfully shaded walls, complimenting the cheering, screaming audience. People leaned on the edge of their seats, their voices in complete, jumbled up ruckus as the excitement in the room spread like wildfire. All eyes tainted on the heavy figure in the middle of the stage, garmented in a red coachmen suit with a microphone in hand. It being the only thing they could see, with the rest of the tent a pitch black shade and a single spotlight on the man.
"We've travelled all over the world in this tour, and now, it's your turn Mexico!" He boomed into the mic, the enthusiasm radiating off him becoming contagious. "Here now for your eyes only to witness the death defying, heart racing, teeth clenching, I'm talking about fall-off-your-seat stunning..."
He then raised his hands in the air, giving out a final outburst;
"Spiral Serenade Circus!"
At once was the tent filled with multicolored lights, showing off the now illuminated performers, each of them stacked on top of the other in a complex shape, letting out a few 'ooh's and 'aah's from the already awing audience. One by one did they soon come apart into separate groups, some of them jumping onto high platforms via trapeze poles and the rest dividing on the ground to perform their own routine. Some were in charge of ignited batons which were spun around rhythmically, and the others were in place of cartwheeling into the most ridiculous hoop sizes. All the while were others who spun and flipped in the air, performing the most vast of moves as acrobats.
Usually with something this grand happening in front of one's eyes, it would be spectacular, something that you may only get to see once in a long time.
For a certain Ranz Maefair, it was pretty much another ordinary night. And that was definitely saying a lot, considering that she was actually one of the star performers.
Sure, she loved the attention; all of the audience eyes looming over you in complete awe, the never ending cheers and applauds so intense that they'd have to get a guard just to push them back to their seats and prevent them from nearly tearing you into starstruck shreds, the whole fun out of doing all these tricks just for the heck of it, but with time you come to realize how repetitive it felt. Especially since she's been doing it nearly her entire life. It was basically the same routine, over and over, just with different locations, surroundings, and people. Just for this once shall she wish for real excitement, something new to just pop out of nowhere for all she cared. By now, she'd take anything.
The spotlight moved to shine on the brunette, snapping her out of her yearnings and back to her current position in the show.
"And now, may I present to you, 'The Spiral From The Sky' herself!" The announcer bellowed, doubling over the ruckus in the crowd from the sight of the elegant acrobat, precariously perched near the edge of the higher platform nearing the rooftop.
Seeing this as her time to shine once again, she slowly extended her two arms to the side, feeling the breeze around her from the top part of the tent with a content grin. Behind her, someone came forward with a blindfold in hand. It was only then when the blindfold was actually being tied around her eyes when parts of the audience stopped to gasp in shock, all too suddenly aware of where this was possibly going.
The acrobat couldn't help but let an amused smirk play on her lips with the heard reaction. They had no idea what was going on in her head by this time, and it was hilarious.
Ranz took a while to let the anticipation sink into the air, leaving the audience chocked on their own breaths. Then, in one swift movement, she tipped herself forward, her body falling to what seemed her impending doom. Well, supposedly her doom, if it wasn't for two more acrobats hanging on a trapeze pole to catch her by their hands alone. They swung back to the opposite side, sending her into the air once again until she caught the other pole next to them, now hanging upside down by her feet alone. She repeated the swing on her own, again and again, each time in perfect synchronization while blindfolded.
The crowd was in complete frenzy. Some of their hands were practically red from clapping, throats sore from shouting, others, just simply astonished. The smallest of whispers could be made out of the screaming crowd if you listened hard enough (without your eardrums shattering of course), them being about how it's almost inhumanly possible for that to happen. But really, time made it like looking at the back of your hand in the acrobat's case.
The show was approaching its end, and everyone was as amazed until the climax; Ranz has balanced herself on one hand on the thin pole, doing a split in midair. Luckily the crowd was too awestruck to notice her slight shaking while doing the trick (she hasn't really quite mastered it yet, but it will do). Then, she moved downwards and continuously spun herself around as the pole lowered itself to the ground, and landed right in the middle of a ring of flame dancers, her removing the blindfold at that second and cueing the final applause.
Ranz took deep breaths as she stared at the crowd in the traditional 'ta-da' position. The praise given to her in that last pose seemed to be a blur to her; just the same as always, nothing special. Not wanting to reveal it to the public, she tried her best to hide her disappointment with a genetic show grin. But there was a longing in her now exposed eyes; a deep longing for something new.
The tent soon emptied out as soon as the curtains opened, but never did anyone notice the one figure who pressed himself to the outside tent, covered in the shadows. It lifted a phone to the side of its head, speaking secretively;
"Administrator? Yes, it's me. Listen; we've found her."
With the night of performances finished, Ranz came back to her trailer, finally free of the wild crowd from moments ago. It has been relatively a long night, and parts of her head still ached from all the excitement. She swore, if she doesn't get out of this place soon, her eardrums are going to break out of all the ruckus.
The acrobat was currently in the middle of removing her safety hand tape when the jingle of her door being pushed open alerted her senses.
"Look kid, if you want my autograph that badly you should just-"
"A good evening to you, Miss Maefair."
Ranz raised a brow at the unrecognizable voice, turning around to see a woman in a purple dress; certainly someone she didn't know. The woman adjusted her black rimmed glasses, taking a few steps forward towards the performer.
"You may call me Miss Pauling. I'm here to discuss some... matters with you." She spoke, her grip slightly tightening on the silver briefcase she held in one hand.
"What kind of matters?" Ranz was suspicious now; it wasn't everyday that a mystery person suddenly comes to your trailer car not wanting an autograph. But that was besides the point.
"I'm a specialized secretary at the Mann Co. Industry. We've done our research, and came to the conclusion that, we need someone like you."
"Need someone like me? Sorry, but as you can tell, I'm not the paperwork type."
"Not for that purpose, well, it's a bit more complicated than that." Miss Pauling replied, brushing her ponytailed hair in an attempt for neatness. She seemed a bit tense while doing so.
"How complicated?"
Pauling nodded lightly, then brought the briefcase to hand, opening it a crack just enough for her hand to fit. She shuffled her hand through the case for a few seconds, eventually fishing out a file from its depths and handing it over to Ranz, who took it hesitantly.
"We recommend you look through these documents here, they should give you a brief history of what's going on." She explained, rubbing her arm a bit as the acrobat opened the file up. Ranz took some time looking through it, pausing a few times to look back at the woman in front of her, then back to the file. Pauling, who soon noticed, awkwardly grinned as reply.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't get to do these kind of things solo that much, and it's quite nerve racking."
"Uh-huh."
Ranz shrugged it off, returning to the file. The file, itself, was just about the Mann Co. Company, a tale about the conflict between two brothers, something about some overly muscular guy, and its main focus being placed on about a never ending war between two teams. By the end, the pieces soon connected together on the acrobat's head, as she lowered the file to meet eyes with the secretary.
"Let me get this straight. You want me, to join a supposedly never ending war between two brothers who don't know what sharing is, as a mercenary?"
"That's the idea, yes."
The performer wasted no time pushing the folder back towards its original owner, giving a nonchalant expression. "Sorry, but I rather rot as a circus performer than risk my life fighting a battle without any fighting experience at all."
Pauling blinked a few times, clearly not expecting the said reaction. She tilted her head downwards all too slowly, the transparency in her glasses suddenly shifting into a reflective view, almost as if it were shining.
"Without fighting experience at all? Are you really sure of that, Miss Maefair?"
Ranz stared at her, her eyes lowering in a questioning expression, mostly directed to the noticeable atmosphere change. "What are you implying?"
"We've been observing you, Miss Maefair. Your stats, your skills, your personal life; we've got them all covered."
Miss Pauling paused for a moment, turning around and locking the trailer door, her voice now lowered to a more secretive tone, one that could only echo into the acrobat's ear loud and clear.
"And of course, this includes your criminal record."
The performer visibly flinched at that statement, shock now residing in her features. Inside, her mind was in complete conflict; part of her wanted to thank the woman for locking the door in order of keeping this a secret, and the other wanted to choke the information out of her on why of all things would she say that.
Fortunately, on Pauling's part, the less violent third option came to mind; acceptance and surrender.
"Alright, you caught me red handed; yes, I killed before, yes, I have experience with all sorts of weapons," She stopped to come closer to the woman, looking her dead in the eye. "Yes, I'm a thief."
"And a highly skilled one, at that."
Ranz backed away, literally taken back at that addition. Pauling soon straightened herself up with the given room, continuing her explanation.
"Your crimes have been theft, nothing that seems so large at first, but the way you've carried them out was clearly out of everyone else's league. You've been able to murder, steal, and get away with it like nothing happened at all. It's a unique talent if you ask me."
The secretary herself felt weird saying it out loud, the sentence alone could let someone call her sadistic. Ranz just stood there, unaware whether she should be flattered or offended of crime. Either way didn't matter any longer, as her answer came out as a mixture of the two, her brows furrowing lightly.
"Uh, okay, I suppose that gives you the right to invite me to the war fest." Heck, it even sounded weird when Ranz said it. But the acrobat had one more thing to clear up with the secretary, leaning forward so they would be met at eye level.
"But what makes you think that I'll risk my life out in a war like that?"
Pauling shot her a knowing look, almost as if she were prepared for that specific question. She took a deep breath and sighed, calming herself down from all the tenseness. She got this.
"Two things actually; to use your talent in real combat, earning the experience for justice, and fun, if you're that kind of person, which would result in us considering the clearing of your name."
The acrobat's eyes lit up in interest; it was definitely convincing. It was everything she was hoping for; new experience, a new situation, true excitement with actual consequence, her name having the possibility of being cleared up, it was almost as if her prayers been answered after such a long delay. She was tempted to agree right away, if it wasn't for...
"What's that second thing?"
That strange shine came back to Pauling's glasses, only now the feeling wasn't as overwhelming as before. "Oh, nothing much really... perhaps to even out the odds of an old debt."
That sentence alone was nothing but eerie. Somehow the way the secretary placed it sent chills running down the performer's spine. "What debt are you-"
"It's been a pleasure discussing with you, Ranz." Miss Pauling suddenly cut in, ignoring the last remark as she slid over a slip of paper with various numbers on it towards a dumbfounded Ranz. "This is my boss' number. You may contact her whenever you feel like."
"But what about-"
It was too late however, and the secretary was already by the door, unlocking it and taking a single step outside to the fresh breeze of the night sky. But not before turning back to face the brunette, nodding gently.
"Goodnight, Miss Maefair. I wish all the best in your decision."
And with that, Miss Pauling left the trailer, leaving the dumbfounded acrobat alone with her conflicted thoughts.