"Hmmm… the Dark Woods Circus?"
"Yes sir. Won't you please come out? Tonight is our special showing."
"Special showing?"
"Yes sir. We will have all of our… deformities… on show tonight. We rarely do this."
"Okay, I will go."
"Thank you so much sir!" A little girl, clad in a red dress and a headband of roses fled to find more people to give flyers to.
I looked past her, and then down to the flyer.
I would go tonight….maybe have some fun…
_ - _ - _
I followed a worn path, that seemed tread on by the thousand. There were rustic orange tents that loomed over me by several feet. On the top of each and every one was a star, shining in the small lights that adorned them. A black banner had the simple word 'circus' written on it that hung in the same spot on the identical tents.
As I exited the tunnel the tents had made, a thundering voice called from above.
"Why hello sir! And welcome to the Dark Woods Circus. I am the chairman of this event. Please enjoy yourself and all we have to offer!"
I looked up and was greeted by two huge white eyes. He had a large smile and the creepiest eyes. A small bowtie were the only thing that stood out against his black skin and clothes.
As I walked away, I could've swore he was ten meters tall…
"Oh, you're here! You're here!" the young girl cried as I found my way through the people. She smiled at me innocently and grabbed hold of my hand. She led me to the main tent. "I want you to have the best seats! You can sit next to me sir."
As she led me on, I looked around. There were several people with long legs and small upper bodies. Two of these people were standing outside of the main tent. One had on a blue and black striped tuxedo, complete with a top hat. He had long sliver hair. The other wore a turquoise dress and had long blonde hair.
"Hello," The little girl smiled coyly at the two as we passed.
_ - _ - _
Our seats were in the very front row, and as other people filed in, I grew wary.
There was a man with a creepy smile on a podium with a microphone.
"Hello all, and welcome to the Dark Woods Circus! Tonight we'll be showing the sad fate that some of this world carry. Children that god has abandoned, relentlessly creeping out the masses. Children who can't even carry the trembling limbs they were born with. Their shaking tongues even cry out, in hopes one would hear their pleas. The crowns of their heads caress the dark clouds. They smile as they dream of a mothers' embrace. Oh the deformity! DEFORMITY!"
I watched as the spotlight shifted onto a child, one with two heads. One had a feminine face, with kind eyes and a happy smile. One with a masculine face and tear filled eyes. They shared blonde hair and a seemingly genderless body. Their clothes were stitched together pieces of tent.
It shifted again to rest on a teenager with lovely green hair that was matted with dirt, blood, and tears. She wore a corset dress that showed off her strangely shaped legs that looked from a deer. Her voice was beautiful but sad.
Again it shifted to rest on a preteen in a straight jacket. He had hungry blue eyes and an empty plate in front of him. When I saw what was placed onto the plate I was nearly sick. The child ate two human arms without remorse before a crowd and begged for more.
I watched the show with curiosity as new children were emerged. Once the show had ended every child had their five minutes to fill up three hours.
"Sir, would you like to meet some of them?" The little girl asked tugging on my hand and pulling me to the stars' tent.
We stopped at the cage of the diva first. Her deformed body hunched up in the enclosed space. The young girl pulled back the visor to reveal to my horror.
The child's face was rotting away.
"Oh…" I breathed.
She looked at me with dead eyes and asked me a question filled with denied innocence. "Doesn't anyone with that I were truly alive? So undesirable I am in this body…" She sobbed silently. "Why do you look at me like that? This face, that has never seen love…"
"You poor child…" I whispered as I was pulled to the next.
It held the boy in the straight jacket. He said nothing but tried to capture a limb through the bars of his cage, whining incoherently for a meal. His body was so slender… he must have been starved, I concluded.
The next was the two headed child. The boy's head was awake at the moment. He looked to us and said. "It's painful, it's so very painful… but it cannot be helped. She said it, we cried it. Yet our cries fell on deaf ears… but still we continue the circus."
The girl's head awoke and chimed in to her opinion. "But it's fun! So much fun, this circus is so fun… but that's what I tell myself. All I eat are rotten fruits that bring rot to our skin. Our skin is festered, it hurts!"
I heard the diva's pleas and sobs as she cling to the bars and all the other children echoed her.
"I want to die! Please kill me so that I may be free of this place! Is it impossible for anyone to say and feel for us?"
I looked to the young girl. She was facing the floor and I could not see her face.
"Why…? Why did you bring me to this place?"
"So you can help us sir. We have been trapped here for so long… we were once normal children, you see. We went to school, played in the park, we were happy. Then they came. They convinced our parents that we all showed signs of a rare mental disease that spread. We were taken away… And locked into separate rooms. Every night one of us were taken away and made into what you see before you. We cannot escape, we have tried and failed."
I looked around and saw all of their sad eyes.
"What do you think that I can do about all of this?"
"You can set us free in the only way you can. Please sir, please set us free." She raised her head and was crying clear tears. They all looked so pained so I did what I had to.
And the moon was soaked red that night.
_ - _ - _
"Hello Master. I have returned."
"Ah, Metal Sonic, just where did you disappear to?"
I sat a flyer on his desk.
"The Dark Woods Circus? Aren't you a little mature for that?"
I looked at his confused form and in the darkness my claws were black.
"I don't know… maybe next time you should come. It's fun."
And as I went to recharge, I noticed I had a red trail following behind me.
_ - _ - _
Thank you for reading.
Metal Sonic © Sega Dark Woods Circus © vocaloid
