Episode 11: Circus Freaks
Sounds of cheering and shrieks of joy echoed throughout the air as the people of Kelna, of all ages, sat in the ship of the greatest intergalactic circus that was parked just outside the protective dome. Suddenly a blast of smoke and lights and the the great Inel Clovn, the ringmaster of the circus appeared on the stage.
"Come one, come all o the greatest show in the galaxy!" He exclaimed. Three giant creatures suddenly ran into the ring and preformed tricks. Sat in the crowd, enjoying the show, were Querl and his friends.
"Hey Querl, what kind of creatures are those?" Abel smiled.
"Well, about five years ago this space circus decided to change the world and get a leg up over their competition by mix together the DNA of non-sentient creatures from all over the galaxy to create their unique show animals; it's impressive stuff." He explained.
"It's sick is what it is!" Kopi gagged. "Forcing those poor creatures to perform those stupid tricks for people's amusement!"
"No one forced ya to come." Sorun glared. "And I don't think those things no any better anyway, the only reason they exist is because of this circus, so why shouldn't they earn they keep?" He smirked as he and Tam cheered.
They were so excited, however, that they accidently knocked their drinks and snacks over and right onto Querl.
"I'm gonna go get cleaned up." He glared before getting up and storming off. Kopi, Abel and Kiara sent Tam and Sorun glares, but they were having to good a time to notice or care...
The next morning things were very quiet. Sorun and Tam were playing video games while Kiara and Kopi gossiped. Just then, Abel stepped into the 'living room' with a worried look on his face.
"Have any of you seen Querl?" He asked.
"No, why?" Kiara asked.
"He promised me that he'd have a look at... something, but I can't find him anywhere."
"Don't worry Abel, I'm sure he just needed some air after somebody threw their food all over him last night!" Kopi snarled over at the other boys.
"It was an accident!" Tam exclaimed.
"He probably couldn't take your whining about those creatures anymore!" Sorun glared. Suddenly the room was suddenly flooded with a bright red light as the alarming started ringing loudly.
"What's going on?!" Kiara cried.
"Something's broken in!" Kopi glared just as a vent popped open and something crawled out. The team ready themselves for a fight as the creature crawled into the light. They all slumped in confusion when they saw what it was. It was a small animal with snowy white fur and a pair of large black eyes. It had the body and two front legs of a monkey, the tail of a snake, three fluffy antenna on top of its head and the back legs of a cat.
It suddenly squawked like a parrot when Sorun dashed over and grabbed it by the scruff.
"What is it?" Tam asked.
"Well, whatever it is, it's going back outside." Sorun huffed as he stepped towards to door, only to cry out when the creature suddenly bit down hard on his wrist. He fell to his knees, clutching his wrist, as the creature jumped into Abel's arms.
"Aw, I think it likes you Abel." Kiara laughed.
"What's that?" Tam asked as he pointed to the collar around the creature's neck.
"Looks like it came from that circus, poor thing must've gotten lost." Kiara replied as he examined it.
"More like escaped, who knows what they do to their animals." Kopi glared.
"Who cares!? It's probably infested with galactic rabies and fleas!" Sorun cried. "Get rid of it!"
"Let's just take it back to the circus." Abel sighed as he went to find something to put the creature in...
It wasn't long before the team was walking up to the entrance of the galactic circus. They had stuffed the monkey creature into a flimsy crate that was being carried by Tam and as they got closer to the ship, the creature got more and more agitated.
"Oh, shut up you white rat!" Sorun growled.
"It's probably wanting to get as far away from this hell-hole as possible." Kopi scoffed.
"Will you give this a rest?! We're taking the freak back to the freakshow and it better stay!" Sorun glared as they stopped right at the entrance. The only problem was that they had no clue how to get in.
"We could knock?" Tam suggested, only to flinch when they all sent him glares.
"There's got to be a back door somewhere." Kiara frowned as they started walking around the ship, trying to find a way in.
"Um, isn't that breaking and entering?" Kopi glared.
"Come on blue, just think, if we do get in you might find some 'incriminating' evidence to get this place shut down and take all these 'mistreated' creatures to a beautiful paradise so they can all hold hands and sing kumbaya!" Sorun laughed.
Only to get punch in the gut...
It didn't take a long time for them to find a way into the ship. For a place full of priceless, one of a kind creatures the circus wasn't very secure. They all dropped down into the zoo of the ship, where all the creatures were kept. Kopi sneered at the poor hybrids that were locked in concrete boxes with nothing but straw for comfort.
"This is sick." She gagged.
"You're really getting on my last nerves Kopi." Sorun glared as Tam set the box on the ground. Abel smiled as he lifted the monkey out of the box and set the shaking animal on the floor.
"You're free to go little one." The boy smiled, but the creature didn't move.
"Oh come on! There's got to be a worker here somewhere!" Sorun growled as he grabbed the animal by the scruff.
He looked around and grinned when he saw bright, flashing lights coming from under a heavy steel door at the far end at the hall. They walked up to the door and Abel quickly hacked the lock. When they stepped inside they gasped when they saw a giant dome-like machine in the centre of the room attached to another, slightly smaller glass dome.
"What is this thing?" Tam asked as Abel examined the machine.
"I think this is the machine they use to create their creatures." The child said with a frown. "But something doesn't add up."
"What's wrong?" Kiara asked.
"According to this machine, they use a humanoid species DNA as the base gene." He explained as he hacked into the machine's data mine.
"What does that mean?" Sorun asked.
"It means that they've been using people in their experiments! They've been splicing their DNA with animals on the zoological spectrum; not only that but this machine can also scrabble brainwaves and remove powers!"
"Wait, so let me get this straight, these freaks were once people!?" Sorun cried just as the door shot open and the monkey creature took off running. Before any of them could react, however, they were suddenly hit with an electric shock, sending them into unconsciousness...
Kopi groaned as she and the others slowly woke up again, only to realise that they were in the glass dome. As the fog lifted from their minds, they saw Inel Clovn smirking at them from the otherside of the glass.
"Well, glad to see you're all awake, I wouldn't want you all to miss this." He laughed.
"What?" Sorun glared as he shot at the glass, hoping to shattered it, but instead he simple bounced off.
"Don't bother my lad, I specially designed this dome to withstand any power." The ringmaster sneered.
"Why are you doing this?" Kiara asked.
"You think people enjoy watching clowns and acrobats anymore? Ha! I had to watch my parents scrape the bottom of the barrel to keep this place afloat, but when I inherited this place I swore I would make sure this place would be the greatest circus in all the galaxies!" He smiled. "When Dr. Londo presented his research to the UP, I knew this was the answer to my problems; I truly did try and create beasts from scratch, but it would never work, not until one of my workers was unfortunate enough to get locked in the dome without my knowledge and I finally created my first creature! The rest of my workers and a few unlucky strays I find wandering around after a show quickly followed. You all should be honour, this is the first time I've ever done a group session." He cackled.
"Your out of your mind!" Tam snarled as he banged on the thick glass.
"He's right, you're insane!" Abel cried.
"I am not insane, I am the greatest showman in the universe, I'm trying to make sure my legacy lives on!" He exclaimed as he started up the machine with a sinister smirk. "Oh, by the way, this is going to hurt." He warned before pulling the lever.
The teens watched in horror as light filled up the large tube that led into to top of the dome. The inside of the dome was suddenly filled with powerful electricity and they all collapsed to the ground, howling in pain. It took a great deal of effort, but Kopi managed to power up her gauntlets and sent a blast directly at the tube.
Inel gasped as the machine began to overload and the dome started to crack.
Suddenly the machine and the dome exploded, sending the ringmaster and the team into the hall with the cages. The teens all groaned as their bodies ached and burned. As the thick smoke started to clear and their senses started to come back, they all got a good look at each other and screamed. They'd been turned into freaks!
The machine only did a part of it's job and made them humanoid animal hybrids
Kopi had the body and head of a lioness yet the scaled arms, legs and tail of an alligator, Sorun had the fur and face of a cheetah with the bushy tail and pointed ears of a fox, Tam had the body of a gorilla and the hoofed feet and tusks of a boar, Abel had the body of a squirrel yet he had the large antlers and back legs of a deer and Kiara had the body and legs of a rabbit with the face, ears and tail of a mouse.
"You fools!" Inel shrieked as he began marching towards them. "You destroyed my machine! You're going to pay for this!" He snarled as he pressed a button and all the cages opened. The team began to panic as the creatures began to surround them.
"Be careful guys, we can't hurt them." Kopi hissed when one of them suddenly charged them.
"That's easier said than done!" Tam growled as he punched it in the head as hard he could, only to cry out in pain and shock when the hit almost broke his hand. He screamed once again, only this time it was because he suddenly sent the vicious creature into the wall with a brain blast! Sorun attempted to run rings around a few of the creatures and confuse them.
But when he tried to run he found himself running at normal speeds.
He attempted to focus on his power when his hands started glowing! His fingers accidentally brushed against one of the amphibian themed creatures. He was about to scream in frustration when he tongue suddenly shot out like a frog's and attached itself to the far wall. His eyes went wide as he was suddenly shot into the wall face first.
He crumbled the floor in pain and humiliation.
Abel ran to help Sorun, only to scream when his legs started running at an unnatural speed, sending him running around the hall, desperately trying to avoid hitting either the walls or his friends. Kiara was in shock. She instantly tried to focus her telepathy to try and get through to these poor people, but gasped when she couldn't feel anything.
She tried to focus some kind of power but nothing happened.
She was completely powerless. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she failed to see one of the creature's running towards her. Seconds before it reached her, however, Abel suddenly ran into her, sending both her and himself skating across the floor. Sorun snarled in anger as he picked one of Kopi's blasters off the floor and fired it at Inel.
The madman simple laughed and activated a forcefield, causing the blast to bounce off and hit the ceiling, which crumbled and buried Kopi under the tons of steel and stone.
"Kopi! Kopi! Speak to me!" Sorun cried in horror as he ran over to the giant pile of rubble, but couldn't see the blue hair teen, and collapsed to his knees by the pile. "Sh-She's gone! And it's all my fault..." He whimpered. "I'm sorry Kopi, I'm sorry for calling you a stuck up brat, I'm sorry for stealing all your Halloween candy last week."
"So it was you!" A voice suddenly shouted. Sorun gasped as the entire pile of rubble was suddenly lifted up by Kopi. "I suspected it was you, but Querl said I couldn't just accuse you without any proof? It's been bugging me for ages! I don't know why I'm surprised, really, you are one teammate who would stoop so low It would definitely be you!"
"I liked you better when you were a six feet under a bunch of rocks." He growled in frustration.
A sudden cry pulled their attention to Abel and Kiara, who were both cornered by two creatures. Kopi narrowed her eyes as she threw the pile right at the creatures and at Inel. When the ringmaster finally dug himself out of the rubble, the team were long gone...
The team had made their way to the old junk yard to gather their thoughts and lick their wounds. They had no idea how they were going to get their heads around not only their transformation, but also the power switch.
"Alright Abel, what is going on?!" Sorun cried.
"Well, the shot from Kopi's blaster caused a disruption in the machine's energy flow that was altering our DNA and caused the power supply to overload, destroying the machine." The boy explained. "But not before the machine scrabbled a small portion of our own genetic makeup, lucky it didn't scrabble our minds as well, but it did somehow switch out powers."
"I can't live like this!" Tam cried.
"I'll be the laughing stock of the city!" Sorun added. As he and Tam continued to freak out, there was a suddenly crash from the shadows. Everyone froze as a shadow was coming their way. They were all ready to attack, but relaxed when the white monkey creature from before stepped into the light, looking up at them with wide, innocent eyes.
"You!" Sorun snarled. "This is all your fault!" He shouted and made a move to run at the animal, only to trip over his large tail.
"Leave it be Sorun, remember, this poor creature is as much as victim as we are." Kiara scolded.
"Abel, do you think that you could somehow fix the machine?" Kopi asked. "You know, but change so that it could undo what Inel Clovn has done?"
"I might, but I'm not Querl." He mumbled. "It would take me months to try and do something like that alone!"
"Well what about with my assistants and Sorun's speed?" She asked and he thought for a moment.
"I guess maybe an hour." He frowned.
"Alright, while me and Abel are doing that, you guys will have to buy us sometime by keeping that psycho distracted." Kopi said.
"Hold on, who made you boss?" Sorun glared.
"Look, we don't have time for this, if we want our powers and bodies back to normal and all those innocent people changed back then we need a plan and since Querl's not here I'll stepping up, you chose to be here so deal with it and unless you've got any better ideas I suggest you shut up!" She exclaimed, leaving everyone speechless...
Later that night, the team waiting until everything was silent before making their move. Sneaking in through the vents, Sorun, Tam and Kiara found themselves in the almost destroyed hall that led into the machine room. They could only get about halfway down the until both ends were suddenly blocked by the creatures.
"I have to say, I'm surprised." Inel sneered as he stepped out of the crowd. "But you've just made things much easier for me, now, how about you all be good little animals and get in your cages."
"Get lost creep." Kiara glared. "The only one who's going to be in a cage is you!"
"Yeah, Abel and Kopi are already at the police station and soon this whole place will be flooded with cops!" Sorun smirked.
"Get them." Inel snarled and the beasts moved in for the attack. Tam attempted to hit them with a brain blast, only to miss. He growled in frustration.
"Tam, keep calm and focus." Kiara said as she shot the creatures with a blaster. "Pretend he stole your... cash and blast him!" She exclaimed. Tam smiled and focused. A powerful brain blast suddenly sent three of the monsters into the roof. Sorun smirked as he used Kopi's power to absorb one of the creature's many powers.
He turned towards Inel and spat venom at him, but he dodged...
As the others kept Inel Clovn distracted, Kopi and Abel ran into the machine room. The machine was a complete wreck. As he ran around and examined the machine, Abel felt his confidence in his skills growing lower and lower.
"Abel, what do you need me to do?" Kopi asked.
"Well, I need you to hold this up while I put it's circuits back together." He said. She smiled and held up a large portion of the machine. He smiled and pulled out some small tools from his belt. He really shouldn't of doubted himself; with Sorun's speed and Tam's strength, Kopi and Abel managed to repair the machine within fifteen minutes.
"Good job Abel." Kopi smiled. "So how are we gonna turn everyone back?"
"That's easy, we just flip the switch and all of Inel's monsters on this ship will be turned back to normal." He smiled, full of pride. Kopi gave him a friendly pat on the back before running into the hall to see how the others were getting on. She was surprised to all the creatures and the ringmaster lying unconscious with the gang smile in victory.
"Ready when you are Abel!" Sorun called and the boy pulled the lever. A bright shock wave suddenly erupted from the machine and the moment it hit the creatures and the team it instantly returned them to normal. They all instantly tested out their powers and were relieved to find that they all had the right powers.
Suddenly they all heard a familiar squawking sound.
They all turned around and saw the white monkey from before jump down and into the shock waves path. They gasped as the creature began to take a more humanoid form until it transformed into Querl. After standing up and quickly dusting himself off, he turned to smile at his friends.
"I'm back, hello Sorun." He glared as Sorun's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Y-You mean... you...were that monkey?!" He cried nervously. "Uh, you've never looked better." He gulped.
"We need to talk." Querl glared.
"Loved to buddy, but I...uh...gotta get this creep to the police." The speedster stumbled as he grabbed Inel and took off running as fast as he could. The team just stood there for a few moments before laughing...
ROLL CREDITS!