Okay, I know I should be working on "The Second Shrunken Detective" right now, but I hit writer's block, and it ain't givin' up without a fight. This plot bunny hit me about a week ago, but it started out as a song drabble and kinda mutated from there. Based off of the vocaloid song "Dark Woods Circus" (which you should look up, this will make much more sense if you do.) Disclaimer: I don't own DC or Vocaloid. C'mon, didja really think I did? Enjoy!!
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Footsteps cut through the stifling silence of the forest as Touyama Kazuha trudged along the barely visible path. Why did I think this was a good idea? Kazuha thought miserably, shivering in the chill of the night. She stole a glance behind her, rubbing her hands against her bare arms in an attempt to warm up. There was only one reason why she was throwing common sense to the wind like this: curiosity. It did kill the cat... But cats have nine lives. Stupidity killed it the next eight times. Just an hour ago, she had been walking through the busiest part of town when two clowns (They looked like children! What kind of person would force a child to join the circus?!) doing a "Siamese Twin" type act (They were wearing one costume, Kazuha recalled, and finishing each other's sentences) had offered her a flyer. "Here, neechan!" The girl clown had chirped, an ominous twinkle in her eye. "Come see the circus!" The boy clown said, and Kazuha could've sworn she heard misery in his tone. The two had skipped away towards the forest, leaving behind only a set of footprints. Not two, one. Kazuha shivered, but followed.
So here she was, traveling through the Dark Forest at night (Which was utter stupidity in itself) headed towards a circus that she had a very bad feeling about. She mentally berated herself for stupidity for the hundredth time since leaving town.
There's nothing out here anyways! I guess I should head back…
As she started to turn around, however, a flash of white caught her eye. Confused, she turned back, and let out a gasp.
A man on stilts (At least she assumed that he was on stilts.) wearing a pure white suit and top hat came into her line of sight. His partner, a messy-haired woman in a blue dress, stood next to him, holding his hand. "The circus is this way, ojou-sama!" The man said, gesturing behind him with a flourish as his companion looked on with sad eyes. Kazuha nodded numbly, walking past their legs in the direction the stilt-walker had indicated.
A yellow and red striped tent soon came into view, and Kazuha picked up her pace slightly, pushing past the tent flap to the inside.
The tent seemed smaller from the inside, the main section was set up like a stage, a blank space of floor with elevated seats running all the way around, while a section in the back—cut off with more tent fabric—seemed to be a living space, if the noises coming from it were any indication.
Against her better judgment, she walked towards the closed off section and, noticing a hole in the fabric, dared a peek at the occupants. Her eyes widened in shock and horror.
There were numerous cages scattered across the "room", but that wasn't the worst part. The occupants were human, or at least mostly human. She covered her mouth with one hand to stifle a cry. The closest cage had a girl (Who looked to be around her own age.) in it. She was blindfolded, wearing a once-elegant pink ball-gown that had obviously gone under scissors a few times, and her long brown hair pooled around her on the floor of her cage. Blearily, Kazuha noticed that the girl's legs were more like that of a horse or goat. The next cage contained a boy (Again, around her age. There was something heart-achingly familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place it.) with dark skin and wild hair, his torso was covered in a straight jacket, and his legs were fettered. He looked through the bars of his cage with wild eyes, lips parting slightly to reveal wickedly pointed teeth.
Kazuha took an involuntary step backwards, tears springing to her eyes. This is horrible! She thought angrily. Who would do something like this?!
There was a shuffling noise, then the clowns from earlier stepped into view. Kazuha stifled herself once more to keep from crying out at the sight. The two appeared to have been surgically attached at the shoulder; each had one arm and one leg. The pair appeared to be about nine years old and shuffled along stiffly, as if trying not to rip out stitches. The tears spilled out of her eyes and down her face, this was by far the worst. The clown (Clown…? Clowns…? She wasn't sure how to refer to them.) crouched by the cage of the goat-legged girl.
"Ran," the boy head called softly, "It's me, Shinichi."
The girl lifted her head up, shifting closer to the bars of her cage, "Shinichi." She whimpered, a tear escaping the blindfold to run down her cheek. "Is it time for a performance?"
The boy smiled sadly, "No, Ran." He said quietly, "I just wanted to see you."
The girl head's expression remained impassive, cold blue eyes carefully averted, her hand reaching up to brush at her jaw-length hair.
Shinichi turned to her, a pleading look on his face and the girl head nodded, the ungainly pair shifting closer to the older girl's cage. They both reached out to Ran, carefully removing her blindfold. She smiled shakily at them, "I wish we could get out of here." She whispered brokenly, reaching out to touch Shinichi's face. He leaned into it with a sigh, "If it weren't for me, none of us would have been experimented on." He muttered, expression darkening with self-hate. The girl head made a protesting sound, "Don't take all of the blame for yourself, Kudo-kun." She said, her tone mature and icy, "If I hadn't created the Apotoxin, they wouldn't have tested it on you, on us, and we would have had a better chance at escaping." Ran smiled gently, "Blaming yourself will get us nowhere, Shiho, what's done is done, and neither of us blames you for it."
Shiho hung her head silently, "Thank you, Ran-chan." She whispered, suddenly looking old beyond her years.
There was a whimper from the boy in the straight-jacket, all of the other room's occupants turned to look. "What's wrong, Hattori?" Shinichi called out. The dark skinned boy's eyes focused, turning to look at the assembled group. "I hate this." He growled, "I hate being a monster!" Angry tears sprung to his eyes and he turned away. Kazuha could see that his entire mouth was filled with the dangerously sharp teeth of a carnivore and she inadvertently shuddered. "We'll try and get you some normal food, Heiji-kun." Shiho said, offering the boy a half-smile. The smile was returned, but a lot more strained, "Thanks."
Kazuha choked on a sob, it was all she could do to restrain herself from running in there, offering help or something, anything to help this group, anything!
A shadow was abruptly cast on the wall in front of her, she turned around slowly, coming face-to-face with a sinister looking man with silver hair, dressed all in black. He made a small "tsk" noise, "Naughty girl, sneaking in here like this." He said, undertones as dark as his clothes. A chill ran down Kazuha's spine, her heart beating a nervous tattoo against her chest, and she took a tentative step backwards; her back encountering the fabric of the divider. Her mind froze in terror (She knew she shouldn't have come here, it was a bad idea from the start.)
"Oh, well." The man chuckled, "It looks like we have a new addition to the show." He drew a gun out of a pocket in his coat, which Kazuha could see was loaded with tranquilizers, he pulled the trigger and Kazuha felt the darkness surrounding her as she fell.
"Sweet dreams, princess."
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Saturday morning in Town Square was one of the busiest days of the whole week. People from all over the city would often collect here to shop, to sell their wares, or merely walk around to admire the sheer number of people. Amidst the hustle and bustle, a teenaged girl in a red dress, her brown hair tied in a ponytail with a red ribbon, pushed her way through the crowd, a bundle of flyers in hand. She stopped in the middle of the square, proffering flyers to anyone that walked past. Despite the crowd, not many people actually stopped, so she began to approach people at random. "Come see the Dark Woods Circus!" She chirped to a passerby, painted lips quirking into an eerie grin, eyes betraying her emotions, pleading to the unfortunate victim to stay away. "It's fun!!"
(Curiosity killed the cat. I wonder how many more victims she will take.)
So, what did you think? It's probably not that great…. -_-; Please tell me what you think, I need all the constructive criticism I can get. Thank you so much for reading! –bows-