Title: The Performer

Rated: T

Cartoon: Littlest Pet Shop

Pairing(s): a bit of Sunil/Pepper

Genre: Horror/ Angst/ Suspense/ Drama/ Supernatural

Summary: "I am the performer…" He had to repeat that sentence. He had to repeat that sentence over and over or else he would forget. Forget that he shouldn't have any free thinking at all.

WARNING! The contents of this story will contain animal cruelty, animal negligence, and violence. Basically this story is not for the faint of heart.

You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't owned Littlest Pet Shop, Hasbro does. I only owned this story-lined and my OC characters.


Chapter 1: The Phrase

His eyes shot opened from the sound of banging.

"Wake up, its showtime. Rodent."

The small door opened with such speed that he didn't have time to feel two large hands roughly taking him out and dropping him to the ground in the same hard manner.

"Ahhhh…" White spots filled his vision from the sudden action, his head pounding. His whole body was hurting and it didn't help by the sounds of the animals-His neighbors- screaming at the top of their lungs, cursing at the humans who have captured them, shouting empty death threats that they would never accomplished…He doesn't understand why they keep saying those things? He's already accepted his faith, his death…why do they still bother in saying they'll get back at the humans? That they will kill them?

He heard the familiar clicking sound of the leash connecting to his collar; he knew it was time to go. He steeled himself enough to move each of his paws one at a time. His back still hurt from the rude awakening, his long flurry tail still sending streaks of pain throughout his body whenever its move, and each step he took was heavy and hard.

His handler must've thought he was moving too slowly because he tugged on his collar hard, those white spots coming back again just after they all disappeared from his sight. "Move, you stupid rat!" The thug shouted. Ignoring the white spots and the pounding headache he had, he tried harder to move faster for his handler, one of his torturers. Soon, the angry and fearful cries of the animals faded as they went farther away from their prison and was replaced by the increasing sounds of cheering humans and…music…

Oh, he knew that sickly sweet song anywhere and he knew…Oh, he knew what was waiting for him out there.

After all, why would the Charmer bring him out?

'I am the performer…'

'I am the performer…'

A white light blinded his sight. Music and cheers clouded his hearing. His eyes adjusted to the light and right away, his eyes centered on three creatures. They danced to the beat of the Charmer's flute, twisting and waving around their limbless bodies until suddenly….the Charmer stops…

His flute leaves his old lips, his eyes scanned down below makeshift arena where the four animals and one nervous man standing in right now. The audience cheering behind a gated fence, believing they were protected from the deadly creatures inside the small stadium. The Charmer stands on his podium and puts his arms out to the crowd. "My friends…" Right away, the Charmer managed to quiet the loud humans. "It is now time for a real performance but not by me. In this very arena stand the three of the most dangerous snakes known to man…." He then rolls the name in dramatic effect. "…Cobras…"

The crowd was getting antsy as he continued "These creatures are feared purely by their strength, their poison… if one of us was to face these monsters right now, surely he or she would be dead." The crowd was reaching their breaking point and he, one of the Charmer's prisoners was as well. The very moment he saw the cobras, his mind went semi-blank. All his thoughts he had before entering the ring, all his aches and pains he felt of being push out of his cell and into the ring were gone.

All that remained was his instinct to kill, his massive hunger for food, his urges to hunt...

The humans have a name for what he was experiencing right now…

They called it predator mode.

He was right now on the hunt…

"However there is one creature that can kill the deadly cobra." And then, the Charmer waves his hand into the arena, towards his prisoner. "That my friends will be the mongoose…" Cheers came back again. The Charmer shouted. "Release him."

It was time.

Like a man freeing a rampaging bull, the Charmer's thug quickly unhooked the leash from his collar and ran into the hall connecting to the arena. Locking the door behind him with the hopes the venomous reptiles wouldn't get to him.

It was a good thing he did because the very moment the leash was off, the fight between the mongoose and the three cobras have began.

Right away, the mongoose headed to the closest one. In one swift move, he dodged the serpent's bite and delivered his own deadly blow by biting the cobra's neck hard. He wouldn't let go as the cobra tried to twist out of his gasp. Even as he hears the other cobras coming closer to him, he refused to let go. Finally, the cobra went limp.

One cobra was dead, two were still alive.

With the whip of his head, he throws the carcass towards the other serpents, knocking them to the ground. Then, he pounced on one of the snakes, instantly biting the cobra in neck like his fallen comrade. He quickly used his whole frame to trap the snake, using both his back and front paws to keep his prey from getting out of his grasp, digging his sharp claws into the snake flesh. The cobra cried one last hiss of pain before falling dead to the ground.

There was only one left.

His demonic yellow orbs scanned the arena until he spotted the last remaining cobra. He narrowed his eyes. His opponent was fleeing from him! Typical cobra behavior…

The mongoose runs after the snake, jumping two feet into the air and landing one top of the fleeing creature. They rolled around in the dirt until they jump away from each other, glaring daggers at each other as they circled around the death ring.

"You're not running away, you vile creature." The mongoose said. "Fight like a real animal."

The cobra hissed at him. "You should be happy, Mongoose. I was merely sparing you from a humiliating demise."

The mongoose tried to bite him but jump back when the cobra's fangs went too close to his face. The snake hissed at him again, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he did that. "Hmmm…I don't smell fear. How rare… I can see why our king wanted us to fight."

King, Master, Lord… In the eyes of the cobras, the Charmer was entity of great power and control. Whatever the Charmer wanted the cobras to do, the cobras would obey that order like those stupid obedient thugs that enjoy hurting him and his family.

It was for that reason that made the mongoose hate the cobras even more.

"King? I thought 'captor' fitted him more." He mocked at the cobra. The serpent narrowed his eyes, clearly angry at his opponent. "You dared insult our master, our ruler, Mongoose?"

The cobra went towards the mongoose in lighting speed, hoping to bite the mongoose in the face for his insult towards the Charmer.

The cobra just simply quickens his death.

In one second, the mongoose had the deadly serpent's head inside his mouth. In another second later, the mongoose crushed the snake's head with his own fangs. He coughed out the snake's head out of his mouth and smirked at the snake's corpse. Just like that, it was over. The human crowd cheers loudly at the dismay before them, not one of them horrified that they just saw the brutal murder of three animals. He heard the Charmer's distinctive laugh before he talk. "Once again you have proven your worth, Sunil."

The mongoose, Sunil glared at the old man, the cobra's blood going down his mouth. Soon, The Charmer gets up on his podium again and shouts. "Once again, Sunil the Great has proven let again that even the deadest creatures can be killed."

Sunil closed his eyes, absorbing the energy of the cheers. He could hear all the comments the human audience were saying…

"Awesome!" "He got it!" "Oh my god, that's so cool…" "It took him seconds to kill those snakes." "He's fast." "I can't believe he got them all!"

He opened his eyes, staring blankly to the ground. He hated those comments. He always felt something in his stomach when he heard those comments and yet…

He enjoyed it. He enjoyed the humans cheering him, loving him as he performed for them in these life and death battles.

He was the performer for their amusement.

He looks at his bloody front paws. "I am…the… performer…"

"I am…the performer…" he repeated.

He glared up the Charmer who smirked happily at him. The cheers were getting too excitement, too loud… "I am the performer…"

He had to repeat that sentence. He had to repeat that sentence over and over or else he would forget.

Forget that he shouldn't have any free thinking at all.

-#####-#####-

Sunil Nevla awoke with a jolt. His eyes snapped open; his blue fur was littered in sweat. He sat up quickly, looking around his surroundings. He was no longer in the arena or covered in blood. There was no crowd cheering his name. The Charmer was no where to be seen…

He was in the Littlest Pet Shop's play area, lying on top of the big furniture chair next to his magician hat, wand, and stuffed cobra. Though it took Sunil a few minutes to make him realized he was in the shop, not a blood-soaked fighting ring. Once he calm down, he sat up on the chair, hugging his stuffed cobra tightly in his arms. It was a dream, he had to make sure if it was just a dream…

He glanced around to make sure he was alone before taking his hat and looking inside. Pin inside his hat was a faded old red flower hairclip. He unclipped the hairpin, taking it out of the hat. His eyes softened as he stroked the petals of the pin gently.

He sighed in relief. It was just nightmare….

"Sunil!"

Sunil jumped in fright, clawing the ceiling in fear. He gazed down to see a familiar face and let out another sigh of relief. "Minka…Don't do that!"

Minka Mark merely smiles at the frightened mongoose. "Sorry, sorry. I was just wondering if you have seen my new paint set? I just got the perfect idea for a new painting for Pepper's birthday party and I need, need to paint it right now but I can't find my paint set anywhere. I look everywhere! Near the tire swing, near the big fire hydrant, near the-"

"Actually, Minka…" Sunil interrupted. As Minka was talking, he let go of the ceiling, jump back down on the big furniture chair. "I believe I have seen your paint set near the toy box."

"Really? Thanks Sunil. I'll go check there right now." In a flash, Minka runs toward the toy box, hoping to find her paint set. He stares at his monkey friend for awhile before turning to his stuff. Pepper's birthday was four days away and Sunil was planning to perform a new magic trick for his skunk friend. He been practicing the new trick for a week now and yet he still couldn't get it right. He always ended up being covered in black smoke after his trick flops but he wouldn't give up.

'After all…' He thought. 'I am a performer and-'

He stopped his thought process as the recent memory of the nightmare came back into his mind. He frowned as he stares down at his front paws. His freshly cleaned paws... Quite the contrast, of the blood-soaked filthy paws he seen in his nightmare…

Only it wasn't just a nightmare…

"I am the performer…" He whispered. That phrase…

"You are a performer, Sunil. MY performer… You will remember that."

Sunil felt a chill go down his spine. It was like he was here right now, standing over his shoulder, whispering in his ear…

"You know perhaps I should stop practicing my trick today." He said to no one in particular. He was practicing his trick before he decided to take a nap, believing he would feel refresh to continue his rehearsal but after that nightmare…

Suddenly, he just realized something…

Right away, he stared back at his front paws, his empty paws…

"Oh no..." He whispered.

He immediately went to his magician hat and look inside. There was nothing inside. His anxiety began to increase as he went around the chair, not finding the item he was looking for.

'It's not here.'

'It's not here.'

The hairpin was not here.

TBC…


Author's note: I completely and utterly blamed Wormtail96 for inspiring me this idea after reading with his story, Space Monkey and watching the ending of the episode: Gailbreak too many times to the point of researching the mongoose. Now, I can't get the idea out of my head and I had to at least write something down or else. I planned for this story to be less than five to ten chapters but it won't update frequently. I still have other stories that need to be update and I want to finish them.

Also, please review this story. I really want some feedback on this story. Is it good? Is it bad? Should make the rating up due to its violence? Please tell me…

Until then…