Okay…so…um, yeah. Here we are at chapter four and there's really nothing to say about this…Ah, okay, so, I'm trying to get as many of these done as possible so when I do post them, they'll be a lot for you people to read. For those of you waiting patiently for updates, thank you, I love you tons…!

Four: Burning Up

Raz sat curled in a filthy cage, chains clamped on his wrists. A heavy black blanket was draped over the cage, blocking out the light, muffling the sounds of millions of voices and bodies shuffling around. He curled up, trying to be as small as possible, knowing what was coming. With a flourish, the darkness was whipped away and red lights blared upon him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with…The Prince of Demons!" Raz peered through his folded arms at the crowd and then at the Side-Show Hostess, dressed in her silver outfit that sparkled in the eerie lights. Lili was as gorgeous as ever.

"Come on, Razputin!" She hissed at him angrily, "Get up! You're the Demon Prince! Get up!" She jabbed him with the baton on one of his sores and he sat up with a jolt. The crowd gasped. He averted his eyes; looking down at his filth-coated claws; knowing they were starring at the demon horns protruding from his forehead and the thick tail ending in a sharp point. His shimmering red and black sleeveless robe and golden crown contrasted with the disgusting element of his cage. He looked sorrowfully down upon the crowd, watching their faces turn from horror to hate; it was always the same. It had been the same since the day they'd captured him.

Razputin was not the Prince of Demons but the humans who ran the circus seemed to think so. They'd found him in a clearing in the forest, stretched out flat, on the verge of sleep. The next thing he'd seen was a net and heard the screams and shouts as he'd tried to claw his way out to no avail.

So Raz had been locked in a cage to be presented as the Prince of Demons for the rest of his days. But there was a catch; the demon had fallen for the princess. The 'princess' being Lili, the Hostess that presented him to the crowds day after day. But Lili hated him. When he'd confessed his love, she'd beaten him, screaming and crying and saying she hated him. It hurt. It hurt really bad. It had hurt worse than anything Raz had ever experienced. It had left him shivering and cold and bleeding and broken inside.

Tonight was no different; he was still shivering, cold, and broken, lying on the floor of his cage in nothing but rags seeing as they took his glittering robes and crown from him every night. Raz lay trembling in the darkness, tears burning his green eyes. He was just starting to drift off when a tremendous heat made him scramble up and stare at the melted bars on his cage. A figure shrouded in a black cloak stood before him.

"Come with me, Razputin, and I'll set you free."

That voice was so familiar.

"Take my hand and together we can be free."

A gloved hand stretched out and Raz clutched it with his own, the chains evaporating like they had never existed.

"That's right. Come with me. Because you belong to me."

The stranger tugged him through the melted front of the cage. Raz made a noise of discontentment as his blistering wounds cracked and split.

"Shhhh. Careful now, Razputin, careful now."

Raz suddenly tripped and found himself pressed against the warm body, the folds of the cloak wrapping around his shaking frame. The figure was no taller than himself.

"It'll be okay, Raz," Fingers stroked his matted hair, "I'll protect you…" The hood slid back as Raz looked up. Green eyes locked with green eyes.

"You…" The young demon whispered hoarsely.

"Hello, Razputin, I've returned…to save you…"

Raz sat up screaming, fingernails digging indents into his sweaty palms, eyes wide. He vaguely heard his little brother asking if he was alright but the youth was in too much shock to notice. In the world of psychics, dreams and nightmares were extremely important, especially to telepaths such as Raz. They usually signified something essential. The young Psychonaut breathed in and out heavily, shaking. The person who'd broken him out of the cage, the person who'd told him everything would be alright, the person who'd held him close, and safe, and warm…was a mirror image of himself.

---

"I heard you had a nightmare, Razputin."

Raz scowled as he put his weight against a rather heavy box, trying to push it out of the trailer to Oji-san Ksuri. Now that the circus had stopped, the news seemed to have spread that the Youngest Psychonaut Ever had awoke screaming the previous night. Many of the members thought this a great laugh and never dropped the opportunity to poke some fun at the boy. Raz himself was opted to blame Ozzy and his big mouth.

"Look, Oji-san, it doesn't matter. It was one little nightmare and I-." He stopped himself, biting his lip as he tipped the crate into the old man's arms. It would be a lie if he said he didn't care. The old fortuneteller sat the box on the grass with a huff.

"Razputin," He said sternly, "Whatever your problem is it's yours alone to figure out. But letting the comments of your fellow performers get to you is new to me. We're all family here Raz, one measly missed meal isn't gonna kill us."

The youth winced at the words, plopping down at the edge of the trailer and burying his face in his hands. The sun beat down upon his bare arms and legs; sure it was warm after they got off the road.

"And another thing, why aren't you using your psychic powers?"

"Hmph." Raz snorted, a noise slightly muffled by his hands.

"Razputin…" Oji-san said warningly, "It's not like you to be moody either."

"I…" Raz's green eyes sparkled as he looked up at the old man, "Oji-san, promise you won't tell my father but I…I think I'm the one who started the fire in the field…"

Silence.

"Razputin!" A withered old hand smacked him on the back of the head.

"Hey! Ow!"

"Shame on you!" For such a frail looking thing, Oji-san Ksuri seemed to swell with anger, "Shame on you, Razputin, for putting all the blame on yourself! Blame somebody else for once, why don't you!?"

And the old man picked up the box and stalked off in a huff. Raz watched him go in amazement. He was right of course, Raz put all the blame upon himself because he didn't know what had really happened.

"I'm just paranoid." He muttered and picked up another box.

---

Razputin gave an involuntary twitch as the musical cue started up and he knew his father and his little brother and the rest of the acrobats were out there performing. And here he was, the Youngest Psychonaut Ever, one of the most powerful psychics in existence, stuck back-stage like a hired-hand because of emotional problems.

"Raz! Are you listening to me!?" The youth looked up to see a girl no older than himself in a neon pink outfit that sparkled, feathers protruding from her back, and a white poodle in her arms, "I told you to watch Peacock while I get her costume!"

"No."

"And why not!?"

"'Cause I don't have to. 'Sides, I'm helping Toby."

"No you're not! You're just sitting there!"

"Go away, Penny, I'm not your personal slave."

"Tch, just because you're father owns this circus doesn't mean you can act all high and mighty about it, Razputin!"

"I'm not."

Penny stared at him fir a while and then sat down on the boxes next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Raz tensed. He honestly didn't know how to react to something like this from another girl.

"Raz, if there's something bothering you…" Penny's face turned as pink as her outfit, "You know…you can talk to me about it, right? I mean, I'm kind of…there for you…and all that…like everyone else here…"

The boy's green eyes flickered and he turned toward her.

"Penny," He said flatly, "There's nothing wrong. Go get your dog dressed."

"Whatever…!" The girl snorted, waving a hand at him, and stalked off like she'd been angry at him the whole time. Raz grinned and then childishly stuck out his tongue at her receding back. He thought he heard Peacock growl.

"Raz!" Toby, the head stage hand, shuffled into view, dragging a bundle of Devil Sticks with him, "Raz! There you are! Take these out to Candice, will you! She's at the souvenir stand 'round the corner of the Big Top…!"

"Sure thing Toby." The young Psychonaut snatched up the Sticks and pushed his way out into the afternoon air that was thick and humid, burning the inside of his lungs when he took a deep breath to steady himself. Already starting to sweat, Raz started around the back of the Big Top towards the souvenir stand that Toby had mentioned. As he drew nearer, he heard voices.

"And how much are you worth?"

"It's those kind of questions that can get you in trouble around here, sonny!"

"Are you gonna call the 'Strong Man' on us? Ooooooh! I'm scared!"

"Now, now, boys, let's be nice…"

Raz rounded the corner and froze. A group of four men were leaning over the counter of the souvenir stand, leering at Candice who glared back. By the looks of them, they weren't there to buy trinkets as reminders of the circus. One of them reached out to Candice and Raz felt a flash of anger in the back of his mind.

"Hey! Leave her alone! You bunch of scumbags!" He dropped the bundle of Devil Sticks and ran at the gang. One of them looked up and grinned to see a scrawny-looking fifteen year old in an old gray T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and a pair of cut-off shorts running at him.

"Looky here, lads, we've got ourselves a hero…!" And he dodged Raz's fist only to get nicked by the psychic fist that sent him sprawling, "And a smutty psychic too…!" His buddies helped him to his feet.

"Razputin!" Candice shouted, "Don't you dare pick a fight! Get out of here, honey, I can handle myself!"

"Not a chance!" The first man snatched Raz off the ground by the collar of his shirt, "I don't like psychics…and I don't like the way you're looking at me, kid…!" And he swung his fist up, punching Raz in the side of the face and sending the boy flying into the Devil Sticks he'd dropped. They laughed.

Raz's vision swam, he felt blood trickling from a split lip and his eye was already swelling into what was sure to be a nasty shiner. He tried to push himself up but his limbs felt like lead. He could hear Candice shouting and the men laughing but it was all turning into a sort of static noise. A flash of red orange, a severe pain in his head, and then darkness covered everything.

"RAZPUTIN!!"

---

It was hot. Really hot. Hotter than when he'd stepped outside of the Big Top to deliver the Devil Sticks. Terrifyingly hot. A burning heat that was as immense as the fire that spread across the field, threatening the circus. So very, very hot.

But now it was disappearing, ebbing away and leaving him feeling slightly chilled. Something touched his shoulder and he twitched, his eyes shut against the blare of the sun.

"Raz! Raz, are you alright!?" He squinted and saw Candice leaning over him, "I've never seen anything like it! Are you going to be okay? Can you move?"

The teen sat up groggily, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. His lower lip stung, he could barely see out of his left eye, his arms were sore, his head ached, and he felt cold after the burning heat that had flowed through his body. He looked down at his hands and saw that his fingers were sprinkled with ash.

"What…happened…?"

"Geez, hun, that's something I'd hardly forget!" Candice sat back, a smile on her face now that she knew Raz was alright, "After that punk knocked you down, I thought you'd gone out like a light but you got right back up and glared daggers at him, honey! Next thing you know, you've set the end of them Devil Sticks on fire and are spinning them through the air without even touching 'em!"

"I…I…"

"And you kept saying 'how dare you, how dare you' and muttering things under your breath! Those guys nearly wet themselves trying to get away from you!" She laughed and Raz grinned weakly; he didn't recall any of this.

"But when you turned to me, honey, you sort just…crumpled and whispered really soft 'it's all her fault' and fell down."

Now that he looked around, Razputin could see the scorched Devil Sticks lying strewn around him. He had no honest memory of doing anything like setting them on fire. It could have been another outburst of his emotionally charged psychic energy but that wouldn't explain why he'd been walking around and talking.

"Razputin?" Now his father appeared on the scene, "Razputin, are you alright, son!?"

"I…I'm…I'm okay…!" Said the boy, pushing himself to his feet, wincing, "Just…some punks picking on Candice…"

"Candice, clean up this mess please, I'm taking Raz back to the caravan to get something for his injuries."

"Dad, I'm not injured! It's just some bruises-!"

"Alright! See you later, Raz!"

"Dad!" The young Psychonaut whined, tugging against his father's hold on his arm, "Dad! I'm fine!"

"This isn't about what those ruffians did, Razputin, it's about what you did…!"

"Wh…what I did!?"

"Indeed…" His father swung him around behind the caravan so that the boy's back was to the wall and he was looking his father right in the eye, "Razputin, listen to me! You can't keep using your psychic powers so carelessly! You may be a Psychonaut now but there are people out there that will do things to you that are worse than death!"

"But I-!"

"I just want to protect you from our family's enemies."

Raz bit his lip on impulse but stopped when it stung harshly, hanging his head. How could he explain that it was his uncontrollable psychic energies that had started it all. Fire. It all had to do with fire. His rage at Lili was burning at the world around him.

There has to be a way to suppress it… Raz started, accidentally picking up on his father's thoughts, I never wanted this for anyone…

"Dad…" Raz whispered, "I'll leave, if…I'm getting in the way…ya' know…I can go to Head Quarters and-."

"No." His father responded, smiling at him, "No, it's fine. Just…be careful from now on. And watch what you're doing, okay?"

"'K...!"

There was a heavy silence and Raz looked anywhere but at his father.

"You'd better get some ice on that eye…" His dad said and Raz nodded absently.

"Sure." He looked up and grinned, wincing when it hurt his lip and his swollen eye, "Yeah, some ice would be really nice." He laughed with his father, even though it wasn't really all that funny. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he vaguely heard someone laughing too but it might have just been his imagination.

---

Hey, you made it to the end of chapter four! Yeah! You're probably getting tired of all these drawn out scenes but I'm really trying to paste this together. Plus, you won't have to wait much longer…it is coming! What, you ask? Why, the answer! Well…sort of…not the whole answer. We have a ways to go before getting there…