This is a request for a story where Muffet puts on a circus show with her spiders, and asks someone to put on a very special, grand finale. ;)
The circus tent was huge, patterned with indigo and pale blue stripes, tracing all the way from the bottom to the tippy top of the tent, where two pointed flags with donut pictures on them stood atop the massive structure. It was beautiful, magnificent, and overall, pretty enchanting to the skeleton, fish woman, and human standing right outside of it.
"IS THIS THE PLACE?" Papyrus asks in awe, his eyes wide and sparkling at the sight before him. He had dressed nicely for this occasion, even putting on his "Cool Dude" outfit with a stylish basketball cap to top it off.
"You sure bet it is, punk!" Undyne grins, putting an arm around both the skeleton and Frisk's shoulders. Compared to the thought that Papyrus had put into his outfit, neither the human nor Undyne had put much extra effort into their attire, choosing instead to just stick with what they normally wore.
Frisk gives a confused look at Undyne before pointing at Papyrus, then bringing their hand down, like they're trying to measure something shorter than him.
"HUMAN, ARE YOU ASKING WHERE SANS IS?" Frisk nods. "THE LAZYBONES WOULDN'T COME! AT THE LAST SECOND HE TOLD ME HE HAD SOMETHING TO DO TONIGHT, AND COULDN'T MAKE IT." Papyrus shakes his head disapprovingly. "SOMETIMES, I WONDER WHAT GOES ON IN THAT HEAD OF HIS."
"Geez, stop worrying about him already!" Undyne jabs a thumb at their group, looking confident. "Tonight is our night! We don't need Sans to distract us from having fun!"
Papyrus stands up a little straighter. "OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HAVE ALL THE FUN I CAN! NYEH!"
"Now then!" Undyne flashes a grin. "No more stalling! Let's get in there!" Arm in arms, the group very stylishly struts into the opening of the circus tent.
The three were suddenly immersed into a slightly darker, more mysterious place: the inside of the circus tent. All around them, the stands were jam-packed with monsters of all different shapes and sizes. They were laughing and chatting and joking, and most of them were snacking on pastry treats or popcorn.
"HAS IT STARTED YET?" Papyrus asks, looking a bit worried, but Undyne gives him a quick hearty pat on the back. It was actually more of a slap.
"'Course not!" Undyne grins. "Like they would actually start without us! C'mon, let's go find ourselves a seat." The three clamber onto the stands, ducking and winding between monsters as they tried to find an open spot.
Finally, they sat themselves down. Almost immediately, a few tiny spiders had crawled up next to them, holding up a small cardboard box of pastries. They consisted of donuts and croissants, probably made for, from, and of spiders.
"DONUTS?" Papyrus guesses.
"Yeah," Undyne nods, crossing her arms. "I heard Muffet was making a fundraiser from this show by selling pastry treats…"
"DO YOU WANT ONE?"
"Me?" Undyne waves her hand. "Nah, I'm good."
However, Frisk is trying to get the two monsters' attention. "YOU WOULD LIKE ONE, HUMAN?" After a quick nod, the group makes a deal with the spiders. In exchange for a couple of gold coins, the human receives their goods. They munch on the pastries decisively, almost like they're trying to judge the taste before they start gobbling it up.
"When the hell is this show starting?!" Undyne yells suddenly, looking impatient. Almost exactly on cue, the lights around the rim of the space dim, and a huge spotlight appears in the center of the tent. Enthusiastic cheering ensues, filling the air with a loud and approving aura as the eight-legged star of the show rises up from the center platform.
"Welcome, my dearies!~" Muffet announces in her singsong voice as she speaks into the mike held by one of her many arms. A smoking cigar was hanging out of her mouth, billowing interesting shapes into the air above her. These days, Muffet was seldom seen without a giant stogie dangling from her mouth, a priceless addition to her store-keeper aura, and frankly? Not many monsters seemed to dislike the change, instead appreciating how it made the pastry-selling spider look more like a mysterious down-to-business merchant.
For once, Muffet's hair was not tied into pigtails, instead let loose over her shoulders. Her silky black hair reached all the way down to her waist, shining brilliantly in the light, and one could not possibly deny that she was a beautiful spider. Then, not to mention the fact that her outfit was absolutely gorgeous! It was still poofy and held theme colors that closely resembled her original clothes, but with a twist, using a fancier and more sparkly look. It was no doubt the work of Dr. Alphys, and the design of Mettaton. Muffet was going to be the perfect host for a perfect circus show.
"Welcome to the show you've all been waiting for!" She continues, two thin arms gesturing to the crowd as the smoke of the cigar continued to create a mysterious cloud of aura around her. "The one and only, amazing, Muffet's Marvelous Miracles Circus Show!" Even stronger shouts followed the fantastic introduction, created by none other than the boisterous crowd.
"First, I would like a shoutout to all my loyal spiders!~" A huge wave of tiny, black spiders suddenly erupt from the stands, surrounding the perimeter of Muffet's platform. "And their hard work and dedication to keep this show going, and to help raise money for charities around the world!" Hearing this, more hands raised up from the crowd, requesting to buy pastries. The spiders scurried off to do their work as Muffet chuckled. "Thank you all, for being so thoughtful and amicable!~
"And tonight, a whole array of acts that've been set up by us will be performed, just for you dearies!~" Cue more excited cheers from the stands. "And I promise you…" A wink, as her smoke started forming heart shapes. "You won't be disappointed!
"Coming up first, the bartender we all know and love, performing for us live, a ferocious fire show! Let's give it up for…" Cue dramatic tension buildup as Muffet pauses... "Grillby!"
Loud whoop's and screams of excitement ensued as Muffet left the descending podium, and was replaced by a fire elementalist monster: Grillby. Even he had dressed up in a costume for the act he was about to give, put into a bright outfit made of warm colors that cut off into jagged edges. On any other monster, it may have looked like a gangster that was trying too hard, but on Grillby, it looked like a blazing sparking fire ready to burn.
"Just be sure not to burn the tent down," Muffet teased as she left the spotlight to Grillby. "Ahuhuhuhu~"
Taking out two thick sticks, Grillby lit each end of them with his hands before holding onto the non-fired end. Then, the act began. It started out simply enough, with some complicated twirls that rotated around the fire monster, making it look like he was surrounded by a ring of fire. Then, it was circling his sides, then above his head. Every once in awhile, he would toss the stick upwards before catching it, making the crowd tense up with anticipation before grinning with delight as his amazing feats. Seeing that the crowd liked it, Grillby continued with the tosses, even throwing behind his shoulder, turning, then catching it with his other hand behind his back while he did it again.
The flames were definitely dancing. Everyone watched with wide, amazed eyes as he danced with the flames, spinning and turning and tossing and catching. No one had even noticed how it happened, but at one point, Grillby had even attained a third flame stick, throwing them around like it was nobody's business. They traveled around him so quickly, it didn't even look like he was touching them. Every time they flew into the air, they would create a beautiful smoke trail of intricately detailed patterns that drew pictures. It was absolutely dazzling to the audience. As the crowd "oohed" and "ahhed," Grillby suddenly started to juggle with the sticks, sparks flying.
After a while, the crowd looked at one another, confused. They had liked the other tricks better than the simple juggling. Of course, even this was not a simple task. Whenever catching the stick of fire, Grillby always made sure to catch the non-lit end, and even in the air, the fire still looked amazing. It was not a simple feat, but the crowd was still unimpressed. Where was the tension, the vigor?
Their question was quickly answered. On the other side of the arena, another shorter figure was approaching. At first, half covered behind the shadows and with the distracting fire show display by Grillby, one could not have possibly noticed him. But then, he was out in the open. To gain a slightly higher height advantage, he stepped onto a platform.
Beaming with his comical grin and wearing his very own flame costume and mask was another performer! In his own hands, he held three, no, four burning sticks as well, as he began to juggle. Was he proposing a challenge?
"WAIT A SECOND..." With his squinty suspicion-filled eyes, Papyrus was basically standing now, with a few people behind him telling him to sit the frick down so that they could see. "THAT FIGURE LOOKS AWFULLY FAMILIAR…"
Turning to face him, Grillby's flames burned brighter, accepting the challenge. Off to the side, a few small spiders threw him another stick of fire, to which he quickly grabbed ahold of and included into his three-some. Now, both the fire elementalist and the skeleton were juggling four dangerous sticks of fire.
But they weren't done yet. More spiders off to the other side threw another flame stick at the short monster, and he went along with it easily, now juggling five. Another was tossed to Grillby, and it was evened out again. The crowd watched with slowly building anticipation as mystery monster was thrown a sixth stick, to which he quickly grew accustomed to. Grillby was no different. Their hands were moving so fast now, they were practically a blur. The two seemed basically equally matched, both too skilled and proud to quit.
But then, a wink was signalled from the shorter monster, and Grillby nodded. Then something bizarre happened. The masked figure started throwing his fire sticks at Grillby! But the fire monster wasn't daunted, only starting to throw his at the opponent as well. All seemed lost, that was, until the crowd noticed that they were still throwing, despite having definitely tossed more than six by now. How was this happening?
It was juggling, but between both the mysterious figure and Grillby! It was glamorous to watch the sticks of fire sail in twirls as the reached the other monster, before they grabbed it, changed hands, then tossed it back. The crackling fire was all the crowd could hear, and they stared with wonder and fascination at the beauty before them. Seeing the flames dance back and forth between the two monsters in such an organized and magnificent fashion filled Frisk with determination.
This felt like the climax of the act. So Grillby started to puff out his cheeks, preparing a finale. The other monster, seeing the warning signs, nodded. Then, Grillby let out a huge burst of yellow-orange colors, erupting from his mouth into the tendrils of an unforgiving flame as he filled the entire center of the tent with fire, burning the sticks into a crisp. It was so large and hot, like a humongous campfire, that even the crowd could feel the heat. When the fire dispersed, all that was left was some ashes, a lot of smoke, and a cool (as in rad, not chilly) Grillby. The mysterious figure was nowhere to be seen.
After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted into an intense deafening roar of cheers, shouting and screaming wildly with applause. Some of the crowd could also be heard calling Grillby "hot." Giving a very majestic bow, Grillby leaves the stage, and Muffet reenters, this time riding something as she reclaims the stage. Turns out, it's her very large cupcake pet, Mr. Tuffet. With six thin legs, this monster scurries onto the stage, giving Muffet a higher standpoint as she faces the crowd.
"Ahuhuhu!~" She giggles, while balancing two bowling pins on two hands, one finger balancing each pin. Her smoke was now making the shapes of slightly deformed cupcakes. "Wasn't that quite the show, dearies?" The crowd responds in loud, hearty agreement. "I'm glad we can all acknowledge Grillby's talent, though now I wonder if anyone can top it off? I suppose we'll have to see for ourselves, with our next balancing act! I suppose we'd better…" She puts on a devious grin, the cigar making her look like a bad-ass cowboy. "Hand it to them?~"
As Muffet leaves the stage once again, the pun is soon understood by the crowd as the next performer steps up. It was Receptionist Hand (RH), blue skinned with red finger nails, who had originally worked at MTT Resort, but had now decided that a circus career was their line of work. Wearing a bright blue uniform with a dashing black tie, the crowd roots for this quirky monster. What kind of a show would they bring to these action-hungry monsters?
Spiders off-stage begin to bring in the props, quickly setting up two tall ladders across from one another, then connecting it with a single, thick string of white-gray rope made of the strongest cobweb. They worked quickly and steadily, and in less than a whole minute, the entire tight-rope act was ready for presenting. Giving a quick bow, RH proceeds to ascend the very tall ladder. The whole way up was nerve-wracking, even for the audience. Would he fall right away? Was the structure built by the spiders steady? RH swiftly reaches the top, and prepares for their performance.
To start it off, RH practically skips across the rope with his nifty boots, looking like a ballerina dancer. Some tense, background music was starting to play in the background of the scene. The crowd watches silently, with tense anticipation. After all, there was no safety mat underneath the tightrope. Should RH fail and fall, they would meet a terrible fate.
But no, RH was a skilled hand, having practiced far too much to fail now. Teasing the crowd with his long face fingers, he begins making slight hops while spinning 180's, putting the entire crowd on the edge of their seats. Then to create more angst, they started full-out hopping, then started rotating 360's, yet all the same, never failed to land on the rope and keep their balance. Taking out a few balls, he even started juggling on the rope while jumping around. This performance was giving the entire crowd jitters, yet, they were still filled with utter fascination.
Now, just simply standing around on a rope was not bound to keep the audience occupied for long, oh no. Giving the signal, some spiders crawl up the ladders and throw a thinner rope to RH, and he catches it with his nimble face fingers. Then using his normal hands, RH holds it like a jump-rope. Before the crowd can even anticipate his moves, he begins jump-roping with the rope on the rope! The crowd claps quiety, not wanting to disturb the magnificent scene before them. It wasn't just normal jump-roping either; there was criss-cross jumps, double-swing jumps, and even backward jumps! After a while of non-stop applause, RH stops, and throws down the rope.
More miraculous acts followed, where RH was able to perform several tricks with a chair while riding a unicycle on the thin rope while juggling at the same time. To add on to his feats, several hoops were positioned by Muffet's spiders above the rope. RH jumped through all of them in one smooth motion, landing precisely on the other side. Then, a hoop was handed to RH, in which he jumped through his own hoop and flipped upside-down! By now, the crowd was basically ready to fall off their seats from being so close to the edge. Finally, three black swords with glinting points were thrown up to RH, and he caught all of them, one in each hand. The crowd was confused by the choice of props. Was RH going to juggle these dangerous weapons?
Once again, the question was quickly answered by another spotlight, focused on a stout figure climbing up the opposite side on the other ladder. Grinning with the mask over his face, and adorned with even his own tie, was another performer!
"It's that short dude again!" Undyne points out quickly and loudly, standing up with Papyrus. More murmured complaints were voiced behind them.
Reaching the top and with his hands in pockets, the new challenger stepped onto the rope with his white socks. The crowd watched, expecting the chubby figure to fall straight off. But to everyone's surprise, he didn't!
RH pointed all three swords at the intruder, but the figure didn't even flinch. Putting his arms out to the side, he caught three white swords as they were thrown up to him, catching and balancing the third one on his head. The crowd was whistling with anticipation. Were the two going to fight? The sight was ridiculous, seeing two performers with three swords each both standing on a tightrope – what a show! In one swift motion, the two leaped towards one another –
Only to stop right when they were face-to-face, or uh, face-to-hand in this scenario. They were both balancing the swords by the blunt edge, one on their heads and the other two on the tips of their fingers. Exclamations of surprise and awe came from the crowd. What a fight, indeed! Staring each other down, the two skirted on the rope, always keeping the objects balanced on their bodies.
Before anyone could even comprehend what was happening, more objects were being thrown up at the performers. There were rubber balls, teddy bears, pineapples, pinecones, donuts, and an all assortment of things. Instead of dodging them, however, the competitors would catch them on the tips of their swords! Although some were stabbed, like the fruits, others were legit balanced. It was an impossible task! Yet these two were doing these wondrous feats right in front of the crowd's eyes like it was the easiest thing in the world to them.
After what seemed like forever, the objects stopped coming, and the balancers were left with whatever they had left. It was astounding, seeing three overwhelming piles of the most randomest objects, balanced on these two professionals' heads and hands. They were both standing up to it pretty well, looking very steady and collected. But suddenly, RH seemed to lose balance, slightly tipping towards the competitor.
Seeing the warning signs, the shorter figure leapt out of the way and off the rope, in the process, dropping everything he had been balancing. Everything was suddenly in chaos, and all the random objects were falling from the sky…
But with precise and accurate aim, RH stuck out his arms, hand, and single leg to grab at all the objects in the sky. It was so quick and fast, with lightning-speed reflexes, RH darted his limbs left and right to reach and catch the things. It was only but a few moments later when the objects stopped falling, but none of them had landed on the ground.
No! In fact, RH had caught every single last one of them. Standing on one trembling leg upon the tightrope, he had somehow managed to balance all the objects with his limbs. Seeing this incredible sight before them of utmost skill and profession, the crowd sent out entire waves of applause, surging with congratulations and appreciation for this master before them. Indeed, RH was quite an adept tight-rope walker!
Finally, some small spiders wheeled a giant wagon container underneath the tightrope, in which RH dropped all the offending objects. Then he gave one last bow on his tightrope before nimbly jumping into the wagon himself and disappearing into the tub of random stuff. Then the spiders carried him away as the other arachnids stepped forward to take apart the tightrope set-up.
"Well that was quite a splendid act, wasn't it, dearies?" Muffet comments as she makes her re-entrance, balancing a bottle of cider, presumably spider-cider, on her head. "Let's hear another round of applause for Receptionist Hand!~" The crowd obliged without fail, eager to impress Muffet with their loud ovation.
"But who in the world was that mysterious figure who keeps appearing out of nowhere?" Undyne turns to her friends, sounding annoyed. "He just keeps barging in uninvited and ruining everything by trying to brag about how talented he is!"
Frisk didn't share the same viewpoint as Undyne. In fact, they were pretty sure the mystery guy had made the acts better, bringing up the competition so the real stars of the performance could display their skills up to their fullest potential.
"I DON'T KNOW." Papyrus muses, rubbing his gloved hand under his skull to think. "BUT HE CERTAINLY LOOKS VERY FAMILIAR!"
"Ah Papyrus, ya goofball!" Undyne grins in a friendly-enough manner, starting to give Papyrus a teasing, but pretty rough, noogie. "You can't see how familiar his face is because he's wearing a gosh-darn mask!"
"Now to continue our show," Muffet continues suspensefully, her purple cigar now puffing smoke in the shape of flowers. "Next up is someone who connects with nature; someone who loves and understands animals. One who will be presenting to us the art of taming and the true meaning of tricks." Muffet raises her arms swiftly, still keeping the cider bottle balanced on her head. "Let's welcome Gerson to the stage!"
As Muffet strides away with a wave of her hands, still grinning playfully, an ancient-looking turtle makes his way to the center. The crowd responds heartily to the introduction, but in all honesty, Gerson had not changed much in appearance. His right eye was still sealed shut, and his pointed white beard did not make him look much younger. Still, he had switched out the archeologist attire with an adventurer's outfit, making him look like the next Indiana Jones, so that was certainly something. He was also carrying a stick lit with fire at the end; a torch.
After Gerson reached the center, he stopped, turning around to face the huge covered object that was slowly being pushed into the arena. With the many small spiders' struggles and might, they had managed to lift and push a gigantic something in front of the old turtle. It was shaking tremendously, and there seemed to be a few growls coming from the object. The crowd mumbled at this sight, wondering what creature could be trapped inside it.
The spiders finally lifted the tarp covering the object, and revealed underneath a metal cage with two roaring kings of the wild; a lion and a tiger. The crowd let out impressed sounds of awe as they saw these two ferocious creatures roam inside the cage, their eyes fixated on the old turtle. The audience's throats hitched up a notch when they heard the clanking of a lock being opened.
Suddenly, the doors of the cage sprang open, and the agile wild cats leapt from their prison. They growled at the turtle, snapping their jaws with hunger and keeping their distance from him, for now. Was this safe? Gerson just watched them with an attentive and interested yellow eye. He was most definitely trapped in this tiny enclosure, with no escapes or doors to run to. He was cornered by these two fierce animals, face-to-face with danger and certain death. How would he deal with this?
With no time to waste, the wild creatures suddenly pounce towards the old turtle, and the crowd waited for the worst. But Gerson knew what he was doing. He snapped up his arm, the one with the torch, and the beasts stopped, warily dropping right to the ground in front of him. What had he done? Why did they stop? Were they scared of fire?
The creatures were still angry, growling and roaring at the turtle before them, yet they could not move. That was when the audience saw it, a slight green glow surrounding the animals. Gerson had used his magic to keep them from attacking him! A few encouraging cheers came from the crowd, applauding his quick reactions and instinct.
"Woah there!" Gerson chuckled in his old-man accent as they continued to snap at him, trying to get a bite of turtle arm. "Easy there, young'in." He reached into the knapsack on his back, suddenly taking out something big and red. "Ya want this, buddy?"
It was a huge, juicy slice of raw steak, dripping teasingly from Gerson's clawed hands. Both of the animals' eyes widened at the delicious sight before them, taking it all in. The couldn't wait to get their claws on that! Whining and growling with hunger, they fight even more against Gerson's magic, but the turtle doesn't look the slightest bit daunted. He only nods, snapping his fingers once before pointing upwards.
At first the wild cats don't seem to understand, continuing to gnash their teeth at this prey with a slice of meat before them. But then, the tiger realized what the turtle was trying to convey. Tired of the teasing and waiting and just wanting to get a bite of the juicy steak, he stands up on his hind legs, paws in front of him like he's begging.
The crowd can only watch with wide, amazed eyes as Gerson cuts off a piece of the steak with his thick claws and throws it to the tiger. Eyes wide with happiness, the tiger swiftly snatches the piece right out of the sky before chewing and swallowing it with eager gulps. The lion can only watch, confused and envious at the prize the tiger had been awarded.
Then, Gerson snaps and points down. The tiger, having been too busy trying to digest his steak, paid attention too late, and the lion bent down first, having learned from what he had just seen. Grinning, Gerson snapped and pointed up. Against his better judgement, the lion also heeded to the command. He was awarded with a slightly bigger piece of steak.
This kind of pattern continued, with Gerson pointing directions and teaching the beasts tricks by granting them pieces of steak. Before the crowd knew it, the old turtle had managed to completely control how he wanted the animals to perform, even without the award of food. Usually, just a pat on the head or a soft scratching on the back was enough. Not to mention, the cats had started growing fond of this old turtle. He was basically harmless, and didn't really seem strong enough to hurt or strike them anyway. And he gave them food! He probably didn't even taste that good anyway, with his old-looking skin and all, so there was no need to go attacking him.
The crowd was amazed by how quickly the wild beasts were tamed, and they clapped to Gerson's good work. Then Gerson snapped, and both lion and tiger's attention was suddenly on him. An all assortment of colorful balls were thrown into the ring by spiders, and the two animals let their cat instincts kick in, playing and chasing around these strange rolling objects. Then, Gerson let out a long whistle, and loud, terrifying stomps could suddenly be heard.
With the tent trembling from its appearance, now entering the ring was a giant, terrific elephant! Blowing its long nose and flapping its huge ears, it makes a giant entrance that the crowd can't ignore. There seems to be another shorter figure riding the elephant, but no one notices him, more attracted to how Gerson would react. Before anyone can catch sight of the mystery monster, he's hopped off the elephant's back and disappeared.
Mouths open with delighted surprise, the audience watches as the elephant marches over to the whistler that had called to him. The two wild cats give Gerson curious looks, but the turtle only waves his hand at them.
After an assortment of hand motions to these three creatures, an understanding was passed between them. To the audience's surprise, the elephant easily kneeled down on one of its front legs, laying down its trunk and allowing Gerson to climb up. The other two cats circled the elephant warily before following up afterwards. The crowd watched in stunned silence as the elephant struck a pose, lifting its head up high as it slowly stepped onto a giant ball positioned by the spiders and gingerly balanced its humongous feet onto it. When the crowd hadn't been looking, Gerson had climbed onto the tiger on the elephant's back. The lion had positioned himself closer to the elephant's head, and after the massive creature had managed to balance himself on the unsteady ball, the tiger proceeded to jump – with Gerson on its back – onto the lion's back.
After a full ten seconds of pensive waiting, Gerson raised a fist of triumph, and the crowd cheered like there was no tomorrow. In front of them was a sight never seen before: A turtle sitting on a tiger standing on a lion riding an elephant while being balanced on a huge ball! With cheers continuing to ring in the stadium, the elephant finally stepped off the ball and lowered his trunk, allowing Gerson to gallop down with his tiger, laughing a hearty "Wa ha ha!" as he rode away. The lion and elephant were quick to follow after him, and the spiders regathered the scattered balls as Muffet returned, juggling five balls with four of her arms.
"That was quite the act!" The spider exclaims with mock surprise, and the crowd is quick to agree, nodding and mumbling to themselves. They hadn't quite expected the old turtle to give a show like that!
"Well, at least someone didn't come to ruin it this time." Undyne snorted, apparently not having seen the figure riding the elephant moments after it appeared.
"But don't get too comfortable, dearies!~" Muffet hums suspensefully, her violet cigar now puffing out smoke in the shape of tiny spiders. "You haven't seen anything yet!" The crowd shuffles nervously, looking at one another. Could there possibly be an act better than all the ones they've seen so far?
"Coming forward with the best, most terrifying act yet…" Muffet stops juggling, and dramatically points her arms to the spotlight next to the door, smirking. "Performed by none other than… Burgerpants!"
The crowd cheers as the familiar orange cat makes his appearance in the spotlight, but it was honestly more like laughter. Burgerpants nervously put on a grin and gave a shaky wave, to which the crowd only laughed good-naturedly and cheered harder at.
"Don't worry, hun." Muffet reassures him, passing him and giving him a pat on the shoulder with one of her arms. "You'll do great. That is, assuming you don't fail, ahuhuhu!~"
Twiddling his fingers and more terrified than ever, Burgerpants headed forward to the center where the spiders had started to set up a course of some sort. Now that he was more in view, the crowd could see what he was wearing. It was an ostentatious costume, of course, with bright red and yellow themes and jagged designs. But on Burgerpants, it didn't look very fantastic at all. Instead, it seemed to limp on him, drooping on his thin frame like a zombie's skin. The crowd shook their heads with disapproval.
The crowd had been so busy judging Burgerpants, they hadn't even noticed what the spiders were building. It looked like an obstacle course, but at the same time, it wasn't. Burgerpants would have to begin by climbing a few steps to reach the top of a platform. Then he would have to jump through a few rings, land on a trampoline, dive right through a slightly arched path of more rings, then land on the last trampoline before high jumping a metal bar of 8 feet! This hardly seemed like a challenge compared to all the previous pros, but the crowd was interested nonetheless. How would the contestant do in this act?
Muffet, for some reason, hadn't left this time, instead staying to watch the act on the sidelines, mike ready in her hand. Burgerpants took a deep breath before carefully ascending the stairs. It was only when he reached the top platform and looked down at all the things he would have to traverse that he realized what he was about to go through. Tail drooping, Burgerpants could feel sweat starting to break out underneath his fur. He looked at all the people watching him, feeling their judgemental stares on him. People were mumbling, wondering if he was too scared to even do it. He could hear their murmurs of disappointment, hear their jeering laughs.
He couldn't do it. He would fail and mess up and everyone would laugh at him and he would ruin his act and the entire show. It wasn't too late to turn back.
Seeing his reluctance to continue, Muffet brought the mike up to her fanged mouth. "Go on ahead, dearie!" She calls out to him as the smoke of her cigar starts to turn into encouraging thumbs-ups. "We don't have all day!~"
Seeing that Burgerpants needed some help, the audience started to chant words of encouragement at the ginger cat. They cheered and wished him good luck, giving him the support he needed to gain his courage back.
"You can do it!"
"Believe in yourself!"
"Don't give up!"
Ears perked and tail twitching with excitement, Burgerpants listened. Seeing all these people cheering him on and wanting to stimulate him to do this act fueled back some of his courage. Spirits lifted, he stood up a little straighter and puffed out his chest, trying to look stronger for the crowd. He could do it! He could!
"Now we're talking!" Muffet grins, making a wave of her hand. "Light 'em up, darlings!" Just like that, all the rings were rhythmically lit with fire, creating a pathway of doom. "Presenting Burgerpants' act!" Muffet grins devilishly. "The Rings of Fire!~"
Burgerpants took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he faced the rings of fire before him. Thoughts of singed fur and burning cats suddenly sliced through his mind, but he quickly shook his head and dispersed the images, trying to think positively. This was his moment, his pride! He wouldn't ruin it now!
The crowd watched as Burgerpants composed himself, prepared himself, readied himself. As the ginger cat took an even deeper breath while making a few small steps back, Frisk noticed a faint blue glow around him, but before they could even think much on it, Burgerpants had already jumped.
Flabbergasted, the crowd watched as Burgerpants sailed perfectly through the first row of rings, exiting the first obstacle and landing on the trampoline before setting himself off again. Stupefied, the crowd stared as Burgerpants spun into the second arch of circles, twirling and spiraling like the agile cat he was before jumping one last time. Startled, the crowd gasped as Burgerpants went flying right at the bar! But before anyone knew what was happening, the cat had latched himself onto the bar with his paws, whirling around it over and over again like a professional acrobatic gymnast before vaulting off and landing neatly, flipping a bottle, and performing a dab.
The bottle landed perfectly. Glitter was falling over the crowd, definitely Mettaton's doing. After a few stunned moments, the crowd started cheering compliments, crying roasts, and yelling memes. The entire carnival was suddenly filled with the noises of much-too-excited monsters shouting "OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Absolutely stunning, dear!" Muffet clapped with all six of her spider legs as Burgerpants was wheeled away by a small wagon, still in his petrified dab state. Some spiders arrived to take away the props, but they left the platform for Muffet to stand on. "That was amazing, am I right, dearies?~" The crowd leapt into an intense surge of applause, giving shouts of praise and occasional "woots!" to their host.
"Now I'm afraid our show is starting to come to an end." Muffet sighs, shaking her head a little despondently. "But worry not, dears, for we still have one final act! However…" She rubs two of her hands together, using another to take her cigar out for a moment so that she can lick her lips while mischievously scanning the crowd. "I'm going to need a volunteer."
Almost immediately, hands from the audience are shooting up. Waves and shouts of "Pick me! Pick me!" ring across the circus tent. Most of the monsters have started to stand, eagerly waving both of their hands back and forth to catch the spider host's attention. The Great Papyrus was one of those monsters, so excited to be picked that he actually started bouncing up and down like a bunny rabbit.
The spider put one arm under her chin like she was thinking, putting the cigar back where it belongs. She traces her eyes around the excited stadium, seeming to be looking for the perfect volunteer, but it was clear that one of her five eyes had already located her target. "I choose…"
Suddenly, a spotlight shone over the group of three, trained mainly on the human sitting between the much-too-excited skeleton and the disgusted fish. "You!~" Muffet decides, pointing all three arms on one side of her body at Frisk. "Would you please be a dear and come down to the stage?~"
"WOWIE, HUMAN!" Papyrus grinned, giving Frisk a hearty pat on the back. "IT SEEMED THAT WITH MY GREAT PRESENCE ATTRACTING THE ATTENTION OF MUFFET, SHE HAS CHOSEN YOU TO BE HER VOLUNTEER!"
"Ya lucky duck!" Undyne couldn't help cracking a smile at Frisk's misfortune.
Frisk looked at their friends before turning their attention back to Muffet. She was still standing there and giving them an expectant stare, waiting. Although they did not particularly find it in their best interests to be Muffet's volunteer, they realized they didn't have much of a choice. The crowd was already chanting for the human to go, a wave of monsters were parting right before them, and Muffet looked like she was ready to eat them should they refuse to obey.
Frisk wasn't exactly looking forward to getting wrapped up again, so they hopped off their seat and headed to the center.
"Now that's a good human, ahuhuhu.~" Muffet giggled as she pat the top of Frisk's head. Frisk could only watch in fascination at the rings of smoke coming out of Muffet's thick cigar. Then Muffet turned to her spiders. "Bring out the final act!"
Dramatic music started to play in the background as her spiders wheeled in a giant, metal cannon. It must've been old, since it looked like it had been recently repainted to look newer. The colors on the cannon were flashy, but clashing. Frisk thought it was extremely fitting, but could not figure out what the cannon itself was for.
"For our grand finale," Muffet grins, raising her arms, "Our dear volunteer will be blasted to space as a human cannonball!" At this final announcement, the crowd starts to cheer like crazy, and Muffet turns to the human. "Now, Frisk, will you be willing to take the honors?"
They were suddenly starting to have second thoughts. Frisk didn't know what to say. They sheer impossibility of such an act was starting to worry them. They were at a loss for words. Muffet's expression faltered a bit from the lack of response from the human.
After a long moment, Frisk shook their head. "I… I'll do it."
The grin Muffet gave afterwards was impossible not to smile at. "Wonderful, dearie! Just try your best to look like a star, alright?~" Hearing the consent from the human, the spiders prepared the launch, setting up platforms and fuses for a successful take-off. Frisk watched, still slightly wary. Even though they had agreed, they couldn't help but feel that it wasn't very safe.
Muffet bends down a bit to Frisk's eye level, and being so close to Muffet's face, they realize that they have to breathe in the smoke from her cigar. Not wanting to be rude by plugging their nose with their fingers, they prepare themselves for the stench that was sure to come. It was only after taking a breath that they realized it smelled nothing like actual smoke; just a kind of sweet aroma with the smoky scent of warm pastries inside a bakery.
"Don't worry about safety, dear." Muffet winks at the human, almost as if she had just been reading their mind. "We've got that taken care of.~"
Giving a slight nod, they stepped forward onto the platform in front of the cannon. It was a lot larger than they had expected, and there was no doubt that they would fit very nicely. Huffing, Frisk tried to climb into the cannon, but realized that their platform was too low. Seeing that they needed help, Muffet used four of her arms to pick the human up and place them inside the cannon. One of her arms lingered on Frisk's back a little longer than usual, but before Frisk could wonder about it, the spider had let go of them.
The cannon was dark and a little musty-smelling, but Frisk had to admit they fit perfectly. They straightened themselves out so that a bit of their head was poking out the tip of the cannon. Muffet chuckled when Frisk gave them a thumbs up. Muffet cued the spiders by spinning her hand in circles, and the cannon's thin barrel started to extend until it was almost twice its original length. Frisk could only watch with amazement as they rose above the crowd in their tiny new home at the end of the cannon. They could see Papyrus and Undyne waving from the crowd.
"Ready, dear?" Frisk nodded to Muffet's question, and Muffet swiftly walked over to the end of the cannon and held her cigar up to the fuse to light it. Once it was ignited, Muffet smiled and started a countdown, to which the crowd eagerly joined in immediately.
"Ten, nine…" Frisk looked down at the crowd once more, seeing the people's eager faces. "Eight, seven…" Maybe this would be worth it after all, if it was for a good cause of making everyone happy. "Six, five…" Frisk cast one last look at the lingering smoke above Muffet before turning their head skywards at the top of the circus tent. "Four, three…" Frisk suddenly noticed a little square patch of poorly stitched cloth at the top of the tent that they hadn't seen before when they were on the ground. Were they supposed to?... "Two… one!"
"Blastoff!" Muffet grins, and a sudden huge explosion blew up inside the circus tent.
Sparks flying and dark smoke spewing, the crowd coughed and cheered as they saw the human blast out the cannon at lightning speed, straight out of the circus tent while tearing a tiny hole towards the top where the patch had been. When they were gone from the tent and had disappeared into the night sky as a twinkle, the crowd was still roaring, celebrating the amazing feat they had just witnessed with their own eyes.
Meanwhile, somewhere out in the open nighttime sky, Frisk was still slicing through the air like a knife cutting melted butter. Frisk couldn't look back due to the tremendous pressure on their face, but they were more than willing to look upwards at the sky above them. Frisk felt like they were flying, an astronaut sailing to the stars above. It took them a moment to realize that they were actually having a lot of fun. Letting out a delighted laugh, they rocketed upwards to their dreams.
It only became a concern for them when they realized they weren't stopping. Not having lost even a bit of velocity, they were still charging full-speed ahead to the moon. That cannon sure was something! Frisk wondered if they would ever stop, but they just kept on flying upwards.
Soon, Frisk began to feel a searing heat. They were just going faster and faster and faster... at this rate, they might even leave the Earth's atmosphere! Losing all hope, Frisk shut their eyes tight, and waited for the worst.
A loud "pop!" sounded in their ear before they came to an abrupt stop, their speed suddenly kicked down a notch. There were no more sounds, no more wind, no more pressure. Frisk was afraid to look, and it was a pity they didn't at first. Frisk held their breath and shut their eyes tight, conserving their energy. They reasoned that it was safer to try to gather would they could with their senses instead of using their sight. Should they open their eyes, they may be overwhelmed by what they saw. They listened carefully and heard nothing. They moved their limbs but felt in contact with nothing. Could they really be...?
Finally, not able to hold it their curiosity anymore, the opened their eyes.
They were in outer space, drifting in a wide expanse of wondrous stars and serene darkness. Meteorites were floating left and right, while comets were dashing to and fro. The stars twinkled gently and the moon was like a great, white pie in the sky. Frisk stared at the scene before them with wide eyes, absorbing the beauty around them. It was just... so peaceful. Even the chill of space didn't bother them that much, the cool atmosphere around them totally making up for it. Frisk shut their eyes once more, to fully appreciate the silence gifted to them.
But they suddenly heard a lot of mumbling and talking people below them. Confused and surprised, Frisk snapped open their eyes. They were back in the circus tent! Still in the air and floating nonetheless, with the crowd cheering below them, but how? It was then that the human noticed a faint blue glow around them. Someone had helped them. As the crowd welcomed Frisk back, the human slowly descended back into the waiting arms of a spider.
"Welcome back, dearie!~" Muffet grins, flashing Frisk a fanged smile. Interestingly enough, her cigar was now puffing out dazzling star-shaped smoke. "How was it?"
Frisk has to blink at her for a few moments before getting their thoughts back together and holding up a thumbs-up. They were grinning radiantly, and their eyes were shining.
"You've heard it yourselves!" Muffet smiles, facing the crowd but still holding onto the human. "It was the fly of their lives!"
Colorful confetti rained down on the crowd as they continued to celebrate with loud cheers, jumps, and applause. Seeing that the audience was distracted, Frisk tugged on Muffet's suit to get her attention. "Yes, dear?" Muffet responded, her five eyes blinking innocently. Frisk pointed at the sky before pointing to themselves and tilting their head in question. "Don't be silly dear, of course I knew where you were! You wouldn't really think I would just blast you off into space without any regards to your comeback, did you?" Giving them a wink, Muffet set them down before tugging something off the back of Frisk's sweatshirt. Frisk saw it out the corner of their eye and realized it was a tracking device, put onto them when Muffet had helped them into the cannon.
Frisk honestly wouldn't have been surprised if Muffet had blasted them off into space without a way for them to come back, but either way, they were glad that it hadn't happened like that.
"I did promise you we had the safety taken care of, didn't we?" Muffet chides playfully, wagging her finger and rings of smoke lingering close to Frisk's forehead.
Frisk scratches the back of their head sheepishly before realizing they had another question about how they had gotten back. They try to get Muffet's attention again, but the spider seemed to have already moved on from their little adventure, and was facing the crowd once again.
Oh well. Frisk didn't need Muffet's confirmation to know that a certain skeleton had been behind the scenes this entire circus show.
"Thank you for entertaining us with such a fantastic final act, dear!" Muffet speaks into the mike, allowing the human to give a very courteous bow. "Let's give one more round of applause to our absolutely terrific volunteer!~" The audience doesn't hesitate to applaud, powerful ripples of claps resonating all throughout the room. Muffet bends down a bit to face the human. "You can go back to your seat now, dear."
Nodding quickly, Frisk scurries back to their two friends waiting for them in the back.
"As I am very sorry to announce," Muffet sighs dramatically, the cigar in her mouth drooping with her. "This ends tonight's production of Muffet's Marvelous Miracles Show!" A sound of obvious disappointment rang throughout the crowd. "But let's thank all our performers for giving us such a wonderful presentation!" The previous performers all appeared once more, stepping into the spotlight shared with Muffet. Grillby, RH, Gerson, and Burgerpants all gave a deep bow, to which the crowd returned with uproarious applause.
"Please buy something on your way out!" Muffet smiles, using her six arms to make a noble bow of her own. "And thank you all for coming!"
Little bonus:
"Oh, dearie!~"
Frisk stopped on her way out, hearing Muffet call out to them. It looked like they would be kept here just a little bit longer. When Papyrus and Undyne offered to stay with the human, Frisk just told them to wait outside for them, and that it wouldn't take long.
"Oh Frisk, dear." Muffet smiled as the human made their way over to her. "I saw how much fun you had with that cannon blast, ahuhuhu~. It was quite a fantastic act, wouldn't you say?"
Frisk, wondering what Muffet was trying to get at, warily nodded their head.
"Let's just say..." She hums, her cigar now spouting question-marked smoke, "your act was really the perfect ending, the perfection for topping off the whole show. It was truly a magnificent feat that I don't plan to lose. So Frisk, my dear friend..." Muffet leans down a bit, eyeing the human. "Would you be willing to join my circus as my final act?"
Frisk blinked, definitely surprised. They weren't sure how to respond to this proposal. Muffet had went out of her way to ask them to join, so would it be rude to?...
The human does a double-take when they see a skeleton way behind Muffet, hiding behind a large stage prop, but it's not Papyrus. He holds up his bony hand, giving an encouraging thumbs-up and a knowing smile. Thinking of him reminds them of the moment they had in space, when they had been floating in that dark abyss alone. However, they remember the stars and the moon, and the feeling of peace they had felt with being alone, having the sky all to themselves. They realized they they would not mind, should they be blasted to space again. If anything, they looked forward to it.
After a moment, Frisk put on a huge grin and raised their own thumbs-up at Muffet. Muffet, smiling with delight at Frisk's answer, clapped her spider hands together with glee. "Yes, dear, fantastic! You'll accomplish great things, I promise you.~"
Frisk nods, making a thank-you gesture at the spider.
"From now on," She winks, happily ruffling the human's hair and (finally) puffing normal smoke. "You will always be my #1 circus act! Ahuhuhu~"
I actually had a lot of fun with this, haha. I also found a smoking Muffet very intriguing, so there's that. (The idea came from Barbacar, in case you're wondering)
I hope you enjoyed, and thank you all for reading! Ahuhuhu~ ;)