Circo de la Luna
I own nothing and I don't intend on it!
Okay... guys this is serious. We get to see a really cool chapter! The smashers actually performing! Please use your imaginations and remember I poured my heart and soul into this story. I love it so much.
So... yay! I hope you really enjoy the chapter and you try visualise this circus as best as possible. Remember... this is considered a common, ordinary performance for the circus and if I think of anything special (Like a 'guest victim' or a new gruesome act), you'll so totally know it!
Let's start!
With one step the Master of the Circo De la Luna turned his back and clapped his hands, making the curtain in front of him begin to rise up. Bright light started to flood into the shady little room from behind the curtain, forming strong, grisly shadows over the Ringleader's face.
As the curtain rose, uncovering the Ringleader he could see his precious lion, Link clawing the ground under his claws impatiently, crawling down like he was ready to pounce on the ringleader and rip off his guts. He was ready to play.
He was ready to kill.
The Ringleader noticed this and slashed the ground before Link with his whip, making the lion jerk back a bit, glancing angrily at his master. The glance was answered by a warning frown from the Ringmaster and Link couldn't help but jerk back a bit more, silently agreeing to stay back.
Even though Ike understood his pet's excitement, he couldn't let it ruin the show's schedule. Of course Link would have his time to perform with the him, he surely deserved it, but the time wasn't yet.
After the first slash of the whip the audience had already stood up and started cheering, but when the Ringmaster stepped forward and raised his hands into the air the cheering grew even louder. Everyone at the audience was staring at the Ringmaster, who grinned remarkably and shouted over the applause and cheers, trying not to look at their excited, ugly faces: "Welcome to the Circo De la Luna's night show extravaganza! The circus that plays under the ever changing moon! We are here to serve you your deepest and darkest dreams, to lead you into the world of the unknown and unseen! I'm your host of the evening, the master of this merry troupe. I'm going to drive you on the edge of your sanity, push you down from it and let you drown in your own mind's twists and quirks.' People excitedly screamed at this announcement, letting the atmosphere of the circus take hold of them in an icy grip.
Ike smirked to himself. They wouldn't be smiling for long.
"I'm more than pleased to tell you that tonight we have something special to offer to you - for Lady Peach Mario has agreed to sing to you for today's show!" the Ringmaster's voice boomed over the audience, the hand-made spot lights following his hands as he waved upwards. Finally some attention was turned to the woman.
There was Peach; still in the cloak she had worn to hide her body before the show. She had been out and about giving fortunes and some people recognized her. The audience was silent, waiting in wonder what was going to happen. They weren't left waiting long as Peach then suddenly ripped off her cloak, leaving her mighty Lucario parts exposed. The audience gasped as they saw the blindfolded woman, showing herself to the world; her face was dark and her hair had been tightly braided to act as chains. From her head, they extended in a multitude of directions and were each looped around the bars of the steel cage.
The ringmaster could already see who in the audience was squeamish. All the gazes laid on Peach gave Ike the impression that they felt uneasy and nervous. He couldn't actually see the eyes staring at Peach up close, but he could feel there was something else there beside fear... something wicked in the gazes - some kind of twisted hunger and waiting.
They weren't all cowards after all eh? Well it was time to test them.
"Doesn't she look lovely folks? See how she is tied up like that so? She is as human as I am and yet, she has Pokemon traits in her. She can see the future and sound so menacing... yet she has a beautiful voice." Ike raised his hand, "Would you like to hear her folks?"
The crowd yelled again and the Ringmaster flourished his wrist. There was no music, but the second Peach opened her mouth and began singing her haunting melody- the anthem to the Circo De la Luna-, no one cared. They were all transfixed to the flowing, delicate voice.
"Deep, deep in the heart of the forest, there you'll find that circus
With its ringmaster, wide-eyed and fierce to all
The performers are so happy, though their appearances are bizarre
The Circo De la Luna is such fun!
Come see the two-headed freak and the wondrous siren and watch as the blonde beast eats dreadful things
Fire, agility and impossible strength feats feature here.
Blood and laughter is what will mingle with fear.
It's not that we wished to be born into these forms. Why are you looking at us like that? What a rotten face.
"This life is horrid, yes; it can't help but be so." That's what she said; and yet, the show goes on
What fun, what fun, this circus is great
You can see it in our rotting faces, melting eyes, and festering skin
That now the Circo De la Luna shall begin."
The antromorphic audience was shocked. Mouths open and agape, they stared. Looking more than pleased to this reaction, the Ringmaster let his wide, trademark smirk wide across his sharp face, as he spoke up again: "Now, what do you think of that, ladies and gentlemen? Let me hear you me hear you scream!"
As if someone had clicked a switch, a massive wave of different shouts and yells filled the tent, mixing up, making it hard to separate them from each other. Still it was easy to hear that they weren't just cheers or praises. As these voices surrounded them, Peach couldn't help but gasp for air yet again. Just what kind of brutal and primitive people lived in this world? Every time she sung, she found about how horrible these people were.
Again, Ike raised his hand to make the audience silent, stepping right underneath Peach. The blue haired ringmaster looked at his audience, dark eyes twinkling as he looked at their faces, filled with anticipation.
"I think, our talk is cheap... you want entertainment?" the man asked, malevolence echoing strongly in his words, This opinion was answered by a loud, approving cheer by both, the audience and the other circus crew from backstage. Grinning in a satisfied manner, Ike announced in a proud, strong voice: "Let the show begin!"
At these words the bright eyed, blue haired clown flipped onto the performance area and smiled cutely at the audience. All around the tent, girls of all species began squealing at the innocent look on the boy's face and the way he toed silently the ground, as if nervous.
"I see you like my little clown." Ike laughed, his voice somehow managing to echo over the ragingly loud audience. He liked using Marth first... it brought the people to a false sense of security. The impression that this was a nice normal circus... "Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at; and Marth here will try and see what characters you lot are. Isn't that right boy?"
"Yes ringmaster!" Marth responded, faking a smile. "I'm here to have fun! Are all of you going to have fun with me?"
The fangirls screamed again (The men rolled their eyes or laughed/cringed) while the ringmaster 'titched' and backed off to the side of the stage so Marth was able to do his performance. By the look of his face, he was pretty much screaming to start.
"Well... I'm sorry but I don't have much to do," He said widening his eyes to the audience, looking as cute as a baby panda, "I must warn you... I'm not as fun as the others..." Ike rolled his eyes, hearing the sad cries or the few rare giggles. Marth may have not met his standards for the circus... but Samus was right. He did have his uses. "...forgive me?"
Again, the audience cooed and cheered for Marth as he gave another happy grin. He smiled and began flipping forwards as fast as he could. "You know, some of you say that for a human to do this is impossible... you're probably right." Marth said as he began backward flipping. "Whoever said nothing is impossible never tried to slam a revolving door." People laughed at the joke and Marth began to spill more out. Some were funny, some were corny such as 'Thank god I'm a clown. Cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny."
However, as he kept flipping, the ringmaster took out a banana peal (looking suspiciously red with bits of fur on it) and tossed it on the ground, causing the blue haired clown to slip down and wince. The audience gasped, laughed or gave a sympathetic 'awwwww' at the clown.
"I like bananas, but they lose their appeal quickly." He got a weak chuckle "Master! That was mean!"
"Tough Toberone." The red clad man responded bluntly. Marth stuck his tongue out and grabbed the unicycle that was just lying on the stage. He hopped up on it and began cycling, making people laugh at the faces he pulled while cycling. "Everyone! Please look!" he grinned, acting half his age and getting twice the amount of cheers he expected. Nodding to his master, the ringmaster took out a small ball and tossed it at Marth. The clown caught it and began juggling with it as he rode around the round, circus arena. Each time the bluenette passed the other, the ringleader would toss over another oddity until Marth was carefully juggling a baseball bat, a glove, a ball, a live chicken and a glass bottle.
Marth then dropped the bottle clumsily, making the others laugh as the clown shrugged and gave his own jolly laugh. "Mistakes are made from time to time. Without them, some of us would have never been born!" The audience (that understood the joke) cracked up with laughter as Marth stopped juggling and balanced on his unicycle for a while. However, he tripped again and the audience laughed.
The ringmaster found it amusing how they enjoyed Marth's failures.
The clown sighed as he looked at the broken unicycle before he addressed the spectators. "You know folks, there's a simple way to solve everything and you only need three essential tools: duct tape, WD40 and a hammer. If something is moving and it shouldn't be, duct tape it. If it isn't moving and it should be, use WD40. If it still doesn't move, hit it with a hammer. If it breaks, tape it back together with the duct tape." Again, laughter. People were echoing with laughter throughout the whole tent.
"Let's give a round of applause to Marth for his... entertaining act." Ike said at long last. "I think Marth has had enough injuries for one day."
Marth bowed as the audience cracked up again (the bluenette imitated kicking his ringmaster) and laughed at them. "Thank you, thank you. You've been too kind to little old me. I'll be here after the show to give hugs to everyone."
"For a small payment of five dollars... seriously."
"Drive home safely and beware of the trees, the idiots and the maniacs on the road. Remember, anyone going slower than you are an idiot, but anyone going faster is a maniac." The audience clapped again as Marth ran out, taking his leave.
The ringmaster smiled and called to the audience. "Did you like that folks? Did you like our opening act?"
"YES!"
"I can't hear you... did you like our opening act?"
"YES!"
"Do you want to see what the people at the Circo De la Luna can really do?"
"YES!"
"Alright! Then let me hear you scream!" The ringmaster Ike yelled. He listened as the audience went ballistic... but he was so unsatisfied. He wanted agony screams... screams of pain. And he would get them thanks to his bitch.
"For the next act, we'll need a volunteer! This act is a little dangerous so I assure you, the medical bills will be paid out of our clown's paycheck." The audience laughed but the ringmaster, despite his wide smile, was very serious. The next act was dangerous and he loved saying the sweet words of 'I told you so.' He didn't care to be honest; the sooner they were wiped off the face of the earth... the better. Also... Marth didn't get paid. "Now... be careful who you send out. I don't want to be paying any funeral expenses now..."
Hands went up and the ringmaster's eyes swept the audience before he spotted a fine, vixen-like woman in a blue catsuit. She looked very... haughty in a way which made the ringmaster very excited that her hand was up.
"Little lady in the blue pick up! Come on down!" the ringmaster said, pointing the end of his cane at her. The vixen looked at him in surprise before jumping up and coming towards him, looking smug. When she had elegantly come next to the red-clad ringmaster, Ike flicked the white beads in her hair and the silver diadem before smirking. "What's your name?"
"Krystal." she said, smiling back at him. No fear in her voice... oh she'll be fun to break.
"Krystal," the master said, trying the name on his tongue, "have you been to the show before?"
"No... It's my first time here. I really loved the clown act and I really hope I live to see the next act." She was joking, of course, but Ike knew it was really up to his bitch's mood to decide if she lived or died.
"Well then... you're in for a treat. Now... ladies' and gentlemen, see this board behind me?"
The audience screamed a 'yes' as Ike offered his large hand to Krystal. The vixen placed her paw on his and he gently led her to the board and attached her to it. Roughly, Ike raised the board vertically so that Krystal could be seen for all.
"Can you see any special contraptions folks? Can you see anyway for our next act to be a trick?" the ringmaster yelled out to the audience.
"NO! BRING ON THE SHOW!" the people chorused.
Suddenly all the lights shut down, soon returning back slowly with a red tint. Krystal winced in pain as her shackles suddenly tightened, stretching her painfully over the board she was chained on. She felt the board was pushed forward, and just moments later the blonde scandalously dressed jumped gracefully before her, bathing in the shady, red light. The chained vixen narrowed her eyes, spotting something shiny in the girl's hands. Knives. And if that wasn't already enough, the girl flashed a wide, malicious grin at her, leaving no guessing to whom she was - Sheik, the ringmaster's loyal knife-thrower.
Another red-shaded spotlight flashed on, revealing the Ringleader from the shadows.
"We all know how the cold steel hungers for blood, for the humankind has known the beauty of red against silver since the first time a man created a blade", Ike's voice sounded like a ghostly whisper, hanging menacingly in the air of the darkened tent. "But not so many men know how to tame the cold steel, let alone the fair woman."
"For that I, Sheik, am here", the knife-thrower continued from her boss' words, cocking her head proudly upwards a bit. There was a metallic flash as Sheik threw one of her knives high in the air, tied a black bandana quickly over her eyes and skillfully grabbed the falling knife back to her pale hand. Without cutting the smooth impression of movement, she turned around and threw the knife towards her target - the wooden board on which Krystal was chained. The chained woman didn't even have time to scream in surprise before the knife hit the wood just centimeters away from her face, lightly brushing her front locks with air current. As if that wasn't horrifying enough, Krystal couldn't even recover from the first shock before a bunch of other knives sunk into the wood around her body. She could only see how the flashing pieces of deadly sharp metal flew towards her.
A sudden, sharp pain interrupted Krystal's thoughts as the last knife cut a shallow wound on her left cheek. After a moment she could feel how a few drops of warm blood dripped on her cheek, slowly sliding on the pale fur. Her heart was beating so fast and hard she thought it would break through her ribs. "Whoops, that last was a close one", a sudden chuckle startled Krystal, for she had been too shocked to notice that Sheik had walked right in front of her. "I know you're the fling of Fox... Are you enjoying yourself?" the knife-thrower asked in a chatty tone, pulling her knives back from the wooden board. Because of horrified gasps of air, Krystal was unable to answer, so she just tried to create even somewhat angry expression on her face. The audience 'oohed' and 'ahed' at the spectacle. They probably thought this was all planned, or that Krystal was hired to be part of a dangerous stunt. The ringmaster knew that what the audience was applauding and cheering for was real. He may have chosen Krystal specifically... but there were no plans to the knife-thrower's stunt. He loved seeing the gruesome, laughing or shocked expressions plastered on his watchers' faces.
Whether Krystal managed to pull a face or not, a satisfied smirk crooked the lips of the pale woman before him. Pulling the last knife from the board, Sheik leaned closer to the blue vixen and whispered: "I know I sure as hell am, and we're not nearly finished yet, bitch." With that and a slink movement, the knife-thrower turned around and returned to her previous spot.
"Well, that surely looked fun", again, the red flashlight made the Ringleader appear from the shadows, right next to the Krystal. This time the chained woman even managed to direct a proper glare at the red-clad man, only to be totally ignored. Ike leaned against the board and smirked, "But wouldn't it be even more entertaining if the target moved a bit?" Accompanied by the audience's cheers and applauds, Sheik flipped a knife in her hand and chuckled: "Bring it on."
Her boss smirked and reached behind the target board. There was a faint clicking sound, probably only for the vixen to hear, as if something had been unlocked. Before the psychic fox could even properly guess what had caused the sound, the Ringmaster grabbed the side of the target board and pulled it - making the whole board spin around and also getting a surprised shriek from the furry chained on it.
In the meantime the pale knife-thrower had tightened the bandana over her eyes again. For a moment Sheik waited, listening to the faint, whirring sound the board made as it spin around and around, before throwing the first set of knives. Every single one of them hit the board, passing the woman's vital veins and tail only by few, mere centimeters. This time the fox wasn't able to hold back horrified whimpers, which escaped from her lips every time a blade sunk into the wood around him. The sight of a knife-filled, red and spinning world was just simply too much, far too much. Pressing her eyes tightly shut, enthusiastic screams of the audience ringing on her ears, Krystal silently wished she would faint because of the continuous, spinning movement, which was already making her feel sick and dizzy.
No such thing happened. The knives just kept on going and the world kept spinning. Every tauntingly gentle air current caused by the flying knives made her flinch on the board, causing the muscles of the stretched body to ache. It felt horrible, but the amused, mocking shouts and cheers of the audience made it feel even more horrible. How could they know the amazing spectacle was more real and horrible then they had imagined? Even if her head was painfully throbbing because of the spinning, Krystal could still clearly hear every bit of admiration and awe at Sheik's skills and envy for her being performed. Oh, how much she wanted to scream and demand every one to shut up, but she couldn't open her mouth, for she'd probably threw up if she did so.
When the board's kinetic energy finally came to an end, the vixen didn't even know which direction was up, which down, nor even if she was still conscious. Only faintly she could hear how the knife-thrower spoke to the audience: "Any good master knows to reward his servants when they've done good job. What do you think, have my knives deserved a reward?" An enthusiastically shouted "YES" made Krystal's head throb more painfully, making her whimper silently.
"And for what do the blades hunger?" this time it was the Ringleader's dark and strong voice that echoed in the tent.
"BLOOD" someone yelled. Again, a loud shout felt like a hammer hitting on Krystal's head, but it was quickly overflowed by sharp waves of pain as two knives pierced her palms. Even greater cheers and applauds filled the tent when a miserable shriek of pain escaped from the lungs of the chained woman. No one could actually see her bleed... but she was...
After giving the final bows to the audience, Sheik walked in front of the still trembling vixen and harshly pulled the knives out of the woman's palms. It looked like the knife-thrower almost drank the dark red liquid flowing from the wounds with her eyes, a twisted pleased grin on her thin lips. "If only you knew how long I've wanted to get your oh-so-mighty blood on my knives... tell Fox that was from my father", the pale, blonde Sheikah chuckled and licked another one of the knives clean before picking a terrified Krystal up and disappearing from sight.
"Don't worry about her folks! We're just having her health checked out and she'll be back where she belongs in no time." The ringmaster lied, reassuring his audience. With a smile, they nodded and gave small, worried smiles. Oh, the vixen would be back where she belongs... six feet under the ground.
"Few people can tame the beast that is fire and that's what is our next act is about. For anyone who can breathe fire in the audience knows it's tough. Even for the experts... so let's see an idiot tame the painful energy."
"HEY! I'm not an idiot!" the red haired boy yelled.
"Folks... you must be very stupid or very brave to do what my friend is going to do," Ike said, "he's shooting himself without a helmet." The ringmaster ducked as the pyro flew out of the cannon towards one of the poles holding up the tent. The audience winced collaboratively as the muscled youth smashed into the metal structure. He slumped down and people looked at the kid to see if he was alright. Finally, he stood up and rubbed his head.
"Lucky my head is so hard. Otherwise I really could have hurt myself." he grinned. The crowd gave a sigh of relief.
"You didn't want to see much more blood? Didn't you?" He asked to his guests. "Well we're all going to just see fire. See in his hand, how he has a flank full of gas in his hand and a torch in his right?"
"YES!"
"I'll be performing the dragon's breath! A technique only to do by the professionals, it's very risky and very difficult to do."
"And this is why I pay three times the amount of insurance." The ringmaster remarked, causing more laughs.
"... hey!" the people laughed again at Roy's slow reaction as the ringmaster patted the boy on the head with a small, malevolent grin on his face. "Alright. Have fun Roy..."
"I will master!" The red head chirped. "Okay! Here we go..." Roy inhaled a huge breath of air before taking a swing of the gas. He then lit the torch and held it over his mouth before letting go the gas slowly, bit by bit in an erratic upturned stream. The audience inched back in their seats as the fire was just close enough so that they could feel the heat but not enough to burn. The cheered as Roy moved his breath upwards and launched it into the sky.
"Did you like that?" Roy asked "Did you like facing the prospect of death? I maybe a professional..."
"Not."
"Stop heckling me ringmaster!" More giggles and snickers, "Anyway... death and burning... the possibility is there. One step too close, one too many sips of gasoline, one wrong spout of flames and we're all burned." The audience nodded as Roy continued the words he and spouted so many times.
"It's all on me. I could bring this place to the ground. Turn this tent into a pile of hopeless ash... but I won't! I'm here to make you wonder at the miracles of fire." He said.
"Caveman."
"HEY! Meanie! For that... I'm going to aim my next fire trick with you! Ringmaster! I'm going to 'Fart' at you." The audience burst out laughing as the man grimaced. Roy bent over, stuck head between legs with torch behind the legs, and breathed backwards through the legs causing a stream of dancing red hurtling towards the man. Ike sighed and back flipped over it, landing on his cane and standing on it. The audience clapped as the ringmaster got down.
Roy continued dazzling the audience with more of his tricks; the Carousel which involved a long horizontal blast of fire while Roy rotated in a full circle. 'Hell Fire' which was when Roy's fireball was breathed straight down while crouched before he rose as the flames engulfed him. The 'Ground Lifter' which dazzled everyone as one fire ball is breathed upwards, followed by a second larger fire ball, lifting the first one and igniting unlit mist and the 'Serpent' which was when the pyro breathed up and down in horizontal oscillation while walking.
In between acts, he did some juggling with fire but he continuously amazed the audience with his fiery skills. Unfortunately, the ringmaster was right to predict tragedy, as a pink hedgehog, dressed in mourning black, had dwindled far too close to the front of the circus arena and her heavy black outfit caught fire. The hedgehog began shrieking horribly and everyone around her began to panic, running away from the thrashing creature. Her pain was like a plague. The searing, burning torture started out almost innocently enough, but soon it was spreading through her whole body, bringing chaos and panic throughout.
She jumped towards Roy and screamed in agony as her skin charred and peeled off her body like newspaper on a barbecue pit. The pyro did nothing, in fact, he jumped back away from the terrified creature as she burned, watching in fascination of the dancing colors. Fire was such a beautiful thing to him. His mind was completely blank.
The audience screamed in horror as watched her burn; most of them were unsure if they were more horrified by the hedgehog's chilling screams as smoke from her own burning flesh filled her lungs and began to take away her screams of morbid horror.
To the end, she was screaming... crying... roaring a single name, 'Sonic.' The word meant nothing to Roy as the hedgehog's lips rolled back, amongst the charred edges, revealing a gleaming morbid smile that the skeleton always pulled. The hedgehog continued to beat at the flames, crying for anyone to help her as she rolled on the ground, trying to suffocate the flames. Her mind was beyond all proper thought as the flames began eating at her sanity, consuming her whole with the scorching torture of the hungry tongues.
If you asked the audience after the show, they would not answer why not one of them rushed out to help the suffering woman as her arms shriveled as she clutched them close to her chest, protecting herself from further material danger. The crowd would look at you blankly as they asked you why they didn't stop or run away from the circus that allowed a living being's skin turn crisp and brittle, ready to break apart and fall apart like autumn leaves.
The observers were no more then trapped observers, watching the pink fur of the hedgehog slowly fall to a charred blackness. Her corpse dropped to the ground, the starved flames still eating at her until she finally was an unrecognizable pile of dust.
Terrifying, yet in a morbid sense, beautiful.
When he had breathed the last of his gasoline, he burped a small flame and bowed to the audience, causing them all to mindlessly cheer, the ones in the front to be thankful that the horrifying incident was over.
"See ya later guys!" Roy smirked as he disappeared.
"Well... I bet we're all a lot warmer on this cold night." the ringmaster said, despite him wearing no shirt at the start of the show. He had noticed that many people had taken off their jackets and he couldn't blame them. He wanted to take his off too. "So... are we having a good night?"
"YEP!"
"So... what's next? Ah! Strength. The definition of strength varies among people. Some people believe that strength comes from being superior. Winning all the time, making others lose, pointing their weaknesses, and condescending them. They believe that strength comes from how much they don't fall... but we're not here to be metaphorical." The audience chuckled as they watched the man outstretch his arms, as if to invite them deeper into the horrors of the circus. "Today we are here to see feats of physical strength, and there is no stronger beast, human or creature ever to exist then the one that I will show you today." The audience held it's breath in anticipation and the ringmaster gave a maniacal grin.
"So it's my pleasure to introduce you to our next act! Introducing the strongest creature alive, Pit Icarus!" The ringmaster yelled as he pointed straight above him. Everyone turned up their heads to see a brunette with long, outstretched white wings flying above them all. Everyone stared at the angelic human before he somersaulted and landed, with a large grin on his face. "Nice to meet you all!"
The audience stared as Ike whistled back stage, immediately, all of the Circus crew (the twins in a large hood, similar to Peach's) pulled out at least sixty slabs of concrete attached to some metal plank on wheels. The audience looked on with interest as the other circus members ran or flipped off, leaving Ike and Pit as the center of attention.
"Yes folks, the puny, small, wimpy-looking..."
"HEY! I'm right here!" Again, the audience laughed as the ringmaster chuckled and backed off the field, leaving the strongman to his own agenda. "Okay... now... I have nothing up my sleeves but that's obviously not important. Do you know why?"
"WHY?"
"Because I am going break sixty slabs of concrete with my forehead!" The audience gasped as Pit bowed. "I would have done more but I'm running out of concrete." The audience gave a wave of chuckles as Pit took off a bit of his robe and placed it on top of the pile. "This towel won't make it easier for me to break it by the way, it's just going to prevent me from suffering eternal head trauma." More laughs, "So without further ado, let's begin!"
From backstage, Roy began the drumroll as Pit bowed to the audience and then to the slab of concrete. "HIYA!"
The audience gasped as the brunette's forehead made contact on the concrete. Each slab was destroyed directly through the center. If that wasn't amazing enough, then the fact that Pit had also managed to smash the metal underneath the concrete, with the amount of brute force he used. The remaining blocks collapsed on the ground.
"Tah dah!"
The crowd cheered at this amazing feat. They knew it was hard enough for one of their own to do this, let alone a human. However, not all were impressed as, when the cheers died down, there was someone hurling insults at the strongman.
"Cheat! No one can dare do that! This circus is a fake! Booooo! No one can be as strong as that!" Ike narrowed his eyes and pointed his cane at the voice. His ears were sensitive enough to pick out the exact creature that yelled.
"You sir. Do you think you can do better?"
"Yes I can! You probably rigged that! I'm stronger then any petty human." The ringmaster looked at his strongman who gave a cocky grin.
"Okay! Then come on down and we can show you that there are no tricks here!" The figure got up and sauntered its way on the stage. It was a Pokemon. A bipedal Pokémon and with four extremely muscled, arms. Its skin color is bluish-gray and it has red colored eyes. On its head, there are three ridges right above its eyes, which are also right above its frog-like mouth. It wore a leg-less black girdle. It was a mighty Machamp. However, there was no power saving belt on it. "So... you really want to test my strongman's abilities?"
"Of course. I want to squish the runt."
"I'm still here you know." Ike ignored him and grinned at the fighting type Pokemon.
"There will be three tests of strength, the standard arm wrestling contest, the weightlifting contest, and the tug of war. Not against each other, but against a max number of people whoever has more people on the end of the rope after 5 minutes of pulling, wins. It's that easy. If Pit does indeed win this contest, then you'll all know that I speak no lies when I say that Pit as the strongest human being on planet Earth. Do you accept these terms?"
"The fight is on." Pit said, without a slight hint of hesitation.
"Yes, get ready to be beaten puny human." The Machamp said with the utmost of confidence.
The ringleader whistled and Sheik, Samus, Roy and Marth brought out a large table, set it on the ground and ran off the arena. The ringmaster walked up to it and tapped it with his cane, giving off a definite, solid sound that rung through the tent. "See this table folks? This is where the first match will take place!" Ike said, tapping the 4 feet by 4 feet table again. "This thick, strong, tough steel-like material will make sure that nothing will break while these two clash."
"Okay, do you need any kind of thing to even up the arms, Machamp?" Ike asked, getting a laugh from the audience. It was pretty funny, asking the four armed Pokemon if he needed one against the fragile looking angel.
"No, I don't need anything, I don't want to give myself any advantages against this scrawny one."
"None for me either master, I want to prove, even with his advantages in height, weight, and arms, it won't be enough because I have a definite advantage in power."
With a nod, the two stood on opposite ends of the table, they clasped on hand in the other and stared at each other. The audience began screaming for their favorites, most going to the blue Pokemon. Boy, they were in for a surprise.
"On three, then. Ready, 1...2...3 Go!"
It was quite apparent that the Machamp had started, his face was grimacing, his muscular arm was tense, yet there was no movement. Pit was blowing on the fingers of his other hand, looking as though he was getting a manicure. He looked around, first to Machamp, then almost innocently to the ringmaster.
"I'm sorry, you said go, and I wasn't paying attention. Are you really trying with all your might against little old me? Why don't you use both hands, maybe you'll have a fair shot then, hmmm?" Pit mocked, his voice carrying out to the small audience. Again, he was greeted with laughter from them.
The fighting Pokemon couldn't believe his ears, or his eyes, and Ike couldn't blame him. Pit was a much shorter then him and probably about a quarter of the macho Pokemon's weight, but he didn't even feel his huge, powerful arm pushing against his tiny right hand. Wanting to prove the tiny pipsqueak wrong, he put his left hand against the joined hands and started pulling with all the power he possessed in his huge body, he jerked this way and that, trying to get his hand to move even a little.
"Pathetic, you call yourself a strong man, Marth the clown could put up more of a fight."
The Machamp placed all of his arms and tried to push and pull down Pit's hand. Meanwhile, Pit took his little finger out of the tight grip that the Machamp had on his fingers except his itty bitty, little pinky. He smiled brightly up at him and pushed his hands down to the table, using just his little finger against all of the fighter's hands, basically the power of Machamp's whole body was put up against the power of his pinky, and he had lost.
"How? How is this possible? You're so small, but you're at least 20 times stronger than I am." The Pokemon stammered.
"You don't challenge the strongman." Pit laughed as he knocked him over and broke the solid metal table. He then stepped on top of the Machamp. Most of the audience cheered for the angel as he raised his arms in triumph over the Pokemon.
"So folks," Ringmaster Ike called, stepping out once again "should we give him another chance to humiliate himself again?" The audience cheered its approval while Machamp tried to raise his face off the ground and refuse.
"No more... peace..." he muttered.
"You don't deserve these arms. You're not strong at all!" Laughed Pit as he grabbed the top two arms and ripped them clean off his body. People shrieked and some fainted as the Pokemon roared. Blood spewed out and soaked the earth below, causing it to turn a pale red. The ringmaster stepped in front and began to speak, his voice being able to be heard over the loud racket.
"If anyone needs to leave, you may so now." However, as Pit noted when he was dragging the Machamp off by his feet, no one left the big top. They all just remained transfixed, now silent, staring at the ringmaster.
Ike had that effect on people...
"Now... let's move on to something a little more morbid. As we feed your dark desires, know that it is you who willingly decided to come to the circus. We all know about being born with several... extra parts when we were born right?
Well, meet the two twins that were simply normal at birth... and not so normal now. So say hello to the one, the only... Ice Jester! I introduce you to Popo and Nana Climber!"
The audience turned to the side where they saw the two headed brunette. They stared as the horrid creature looked at them with dead eyes and evil smiles.
"I hope you're all enjoying the circus." the female said with a brilliant, pearly white smile.
"Indeed. I am Popo-"
"And I am Nana. Together-"
"We are-"
"The Ice Jester!" The two said together in a fit of laughs as they waved to the unnerved audience.
"We are here to-"
"-show you what-"
"-ice can do. We have-"
"-seen the spectacles of-"
"-fire. Now to see the rigid beauty of ice." Again, in perfect synch, the twins looked at each other and rolled the other's sleeves up so that the audience could see that they had nothing to hide. What magic they were about to see was no trick. As the two brunettes prepared their icicle spectacle, the ringmaster addressed the audience again.
"Magnificent aren't they? They are the first of their kind... they say that two heads are better then one and when they show you what they can do, you will not be able to disagree with me. So, let's give the youngest members of our circus a round of applause as they prep themselves up!" Nervously, the audience clapped. It was slow at first but Ike could see the speed growing up with them. From the few creatures he had made eye contact with, he had seen the disgust they were feeling. Mostly directed at themselves.
It... had fascinated the first members of their circus that people hated what they didn't understand. It further intrigued them, and their descendants, that people hated if they liked their objects of disgust. The ringmaster could see that most people of the crowd were very uneasy, knowing that they should be horrified with what they had seen, yet they couldn't help but watch. Disgusted but interested them. Repulsed them but amused them.
After a few minutes, the Ice Jester nodded to indicate that they were ready to start. "I shall bid you farewell for now. Unless I want to be blasted by ice in the same way I had fire at me... I should be going." With that, the ringmaster walked off, leaving the people within the clutches of the Ice Jester. The two gave a small grin.
"So for-"
"-our first trick-"
"We shall-"
"Start with the 'Fountain of Fear!" the two laughed together, eerily to make their audience shiver internally.
The two headed jester span around and blew into the air, forming said fountain of ice. From almost the air itself, shards came out and began raining all around the duo. The audience flinched back and gave screams as the ice fell all around them, attacking them. Some people yelled in horror as pieces of sharp icicles penetrated the twins' skin and caused their clothes to rip open. What possibly could have scared them the most was that Nana was laughing through the whole time while Popo had a face that looked like he was purring in content.
When they had finished forming an ice fountain, the two jumped up onto the fountain and swung on it. They were moving in perfect synch. Almost as if they were two halves of the same whole. The audience could see that and were unnerved.
Yet, like so many acts before this one, the crowd was transfixed. Beheld in the wonder and horror that was the joined Ice Jester and the dangerous beauty of the ice. Like before, they are disgusted at even liking such a performance yet they enjoy it. They all know they should all be horrified at the spectacle but yet they all still watched.
From the top of the fountain, the sheer joy of the twins in the spotlight couldn't be contained as, like two ice skaters, began to spin and blow their blizzard to the audience. People marveled at how they did it and how each snow flake stung them like angry wasps.
"I do love the ice. It takes you away... it holds and preserves things..." Nana laughed as she took her twin's hand and began creating an ice slide for them to slip on. The twins weren't looking as terrifying as the others but as they performed and played in their winter wonderland, it still gave an unnerving feeling to the audience.
Especially when the ice all suddenly melted when Popo stabbed Nana with a shard of it. The icicle went straight through her body, leaving a large, gaping hole in her arm. People fainted and others screamed.
"Ice has always been the preserver!" Popo yelled to the audience as he extended his hands, letting his ice powers go towards the audience. Nana followed suit and smiled as the frost began to extend towards the stands. Two unlucky fools were caught in the ice beam blast while others only caught the biting frost.
The two screamed as they began to become incased in ice. Their body temperature quickly decreased and within the span of two seconds. The two creatures went from warm and alive to frozen and in a state of living death. It could be assumed the two were in extreme pain, judging by their eyes, but no one could tell until the Ice Jester flipped over and looked at the frozen figures. They smiled and like curious children, they began poking the person. The duo began laughing as they tapped a few fingers of each furry, causing their brittle fingers to fall off.
Then the two laughed.
"When not used to create beauty, it heals the broken and the injured"
As if to prove this, Nana raised her hand so everyone could see through the bleeding, gaping hole that the ice had created previously. Then Popo took her arm and placed his glove over it. Ice began to form over it, and when the hot atmosphere of the arena had melted it, their bodies were completely healed.
"It's unbelievable."
"A human being able to do such a thing."
"Yet we have done it folks... we can control the ice and we can heal... we can fight. Welcome to your nightmares."
"We hopw you enjoy your stay!"
Creatures had always feared the humans, and now some were terrified as the two headed twin walked off, leaving the ringmaster to come back on with water coming up to his ankles. He grinned and chuckled at the audience and gave them a low bow, sparking a new type of curiosity within all of them with the flashing of his eyes.
"Gravity is often the only force that keeps our heads to the earth. There are some of us with wings that defy gravity, but what happens when a human with no powers or upgrades, defy the laws of physics themselves?" Ike questioned. "Ladies' and gentlemen, may I introduce the lovely yet cheeky, Samus Aran." The audience clapped as they looked up where Ike was pointing to see Samus already on a post in the air. She was clad in her usual circus outfit instead of the French Maid outfit. It was a pity that Samus couldn't do her act in heels. The ringmaster wanted to see their reactions to her.
Samus grinned at the audience. She was born to fly and had been in the business of defying gravity for as long as she could remember. She began doing cartwheels on the wire and, though she didn't have a net below her; making this act life threatening, Samus didn't fail or even falter. She most enjoyed the thrill of doing fantastic things that no one else could.
Samus grinned and made the audience gasp as she sprung up and grabbed on to a beam above her to swing around to stand on it.
"Every time, you always watch carefully for your cue to perform." she smiled as she took a running jump to the next beam. "Because one slip up... could make you fall!" The blonde haired woman then pretended to slip off the beam. The audience gasped as the acrobat plummeted to the ground, but, just before she was about to die, the purple silk she had attached to her body caught the beam above and she stopped just before the floor. The crowd was shocked for a second before beginning to cheer loudly.
"In the Circo De la Luna, you find you can do things more extravagant than anything you've ever done in any normal circus." Samus said seductively as she began pulling herself up by her legs, allowing the silk to hug her perfect body. "Our world is a world of mystery... some you need to... lift up to see."
Men wolf-whistled and some looked on in amazement as Samus bent over backwards and grabbed the ribbon above her. She slid upwards with death defying elegance and made her way up the ribbon until she reached the top of the circus tent. People cheered and roared with praise as Samus gave a final vertical split and hoisted herself up onto the metal circus pole. She then gave a small wink to the audience, which some seemed to sense, as they screamed louder.
"Turns, flips, and any kind of fancy jump you can imagine, they're all available to me, but only in this place." Samus flashed another smile as she leapt off the beam, her arm held high to grab on to another beam above her path so she could swing forward to stand on it. "It's like this place has some kind of magic that makes you more incredible than normal, or maybe it's just that your mind only allows you to be incredible in this place. Don't you agree with me folks?" Samus was entrancing the audience, soothing them... making them happy so they wouldn't give them away to the police. It was amazing how agile she was and how she managed to allure everyone.
Samus moved aside and her flip ended on the beam an impossibly far distance away. With her mind completely blank, she performed a series of flips and leaps so elaborate that the audience didn't know how to describe them, sometimes going to beams behind in order to allow more tricks, and when she was finished, Samus found herself standing on the very top beam of that tangled mess of steel.
Samus flipped backward, landed on one hand, did a mid-air somersault, and landed perfectly on both feet on the thin, metal type rope that extended from one pole to the other. With a fluid motion, Samus snapped out a blindfold and put it over her eyes before, not walking, but flipping over to the other side. As with all of the other tricks Samus performed, there were no extra wires, no safety net. It was all or nothing when it came to her show.
A woman's body shouldn't bend that way; not on such a dangerous arena. She twisted into something beautiful, something exotic. The crowd awed as she continued to cross. When she had reached the other side, she jumped up again, ignoring the wild cheers. She used her silk and attached to an above beam and began swinging. Higher, and swinging faster!
The crowd gasped in fear. Suddenly the bar was before Samus, hanging at the apex like it waited for her, as though it never planned on dropping without her. She couldn't see anything but her adrenaline really began pumping as the bar began to drop ever so slowly as if now playing hard to get. Fingers extending over she closed her hands and felt her entire body begin to lurch around a now semi-stable pivot point.
She swung now, momentum pushing her down and eventually carrying her up. Just before the apex on this side she began to swing her feet up and let go of the bars only to bring her knees up and grab them. The world spun, not once, but twice around until Samus extended her body out to its full length reaching for nothing. The crowd had gasped when Samus released the bars and begun to flip through the air, and they gasped again thinking she would simply fall as there was nothing there to grab.
At what appeared to be the last instant the silk, clamped on to her forearms, caught the next beam. The crowd seemed to relieve a breath that had been held on Samus' behalf and began to applaud. The ringmaster grinning all the way. Samus swung back and forth again, this time when she went to swing herself out she left his body out straight and pulled her arms in to spin around then bent she body so she would end up in a dive towards the ground. The crowd cried out this time, a few of them standing as though they might be able to reach out and save the beautiful blonde themselves.
This time, the silk attached her ankles, making it look almost as though she had gone too far to be saved. She swung back now to the side she started from and leaned back as she reached the top and stretched her arms out to help bring herself up.
She then began to slowly fall over, now more in the direction of the crowd. One grey colored vulpine leaned forward and caught her in his outstretched paws. People around him whistled and cheered as Samus looked at him and began playing with his fur, purring as he stroked her bare back.
Discipline was never a crime here because discipline didn't exist here.
Her arm silk draped around her victim's neck as she bent down and kissed him on the nose before going lower and enticing him with the poison vile that was in her mouth. Samus was in complete control here.
She looked up and everyone noticed her alluring smile, her teeth like light bulbs turned to pearl. The creature holding Samus went in for another kiss before he was stopped by long, soft fingers and a light laugh from the blonde.
She pulled herself off the wolf with a flirtatious wink before moving with grace and leaping off him weightlessly. To another male where she wooed him in the same manner, earning some well deserved love. She had to be quick in order to maintain interest. She was in complete control, making them all beg for more.
After making creatures eager for her to choose them, Samus stopped and somersaulted to the ground.
She bowed and the crowd roared with cheers. The ringmaster clapped and the acrobat skillfully darted off in even more flips to make her exit even more intriguing.
"Let's give our little acrobat a round of applause eh? I'm sure you'll all need to clean yourselves off after drooling so much." The ringmaster laughed as he stunned audience did find themselves gawking. Some laughed sheepishly while others were visibly disgust of the thought of fantasizing over a human.
"So folks, as the night draws closer to dawn, it's time to wrap up the Circo De la Luna before we get to our final act. I thank you all for coming to our realm and allowing us to show you what we humans can really do. My final form of farewell shall be entertainment for you all. So, without further a due, I bring out the lion of the circus... Link."
Heavy breathing echoed down the hall as the audience looked to where the cage was. Then out ran the figure with lighting speed towards the ringmaster. The blue haired mercenary stripped off his jacket -leaving him shirtless- and jumped over the figure. Slowing down to a halt, Link's bare feet skidded around back to face where Ike was. Someone gasped as they saw Link's features, from his savage grin to his long claws and teeth. In comparison to lion-morphs the crowd was used to, he was disfigured, almost half complete.
With his cane in hand, Ike spun in a full circle and flicked the pole. The top half of the pole shifted into a long whip which the audience 'oohed' at. Lion Link pawed the ground. A chattering of claws quickly filled the big tent, as Ike jumped to a sprint again towards Link. The lion teenager looked like he was about to rip the master's head off when the ringmaster ducked, narrowly missing the claws of Link. A high pitched roar rang in everyone's ears as the beast lunged for another attack, just missing his head by a hair.
"Almost got me..." he laughed as Link charged again. The audience gasped as the ringmaster just managed to sidestep the attack and whipped the menacing beast back. The deafening sound cracked through the circus atmosphere and people trembled at the thought of such a... monster like Ike holding it. The lion snarled and leapt back from the black weapon, inching further back as the blue haired man kept smashing it in front of his little pet. The crowd watched in amazement as Ike continued to lash at Link until the boy was out of ways to escape. Cornered towards what looked like a few black hoops.
The audience stared. He was going to make the beast jump through three hoops? Seriously. This whole circus had them screaming the whole time and now they were going to do a few simple tricks? The ringmaster noticed this and smirked before he whipped the hoops. The impact from the sharp cracking whip bore flames to the hoops causing the crowd to cheer. Lion Link snarled as the ringleader cracked his whip again and the blonde jumped through the flaming hoops, landing safely on all fours as all cats did. The audience cheered again as Ike whipped the lion again, causing the half figure to jump backwards through the hoops, again landing on all fours.
The duo continued this dangerous jumping until Ike got bored. The audience wasn't but he grew tired of this childish game. He raised his whip again and, instead of hitting Link or the ground, he made a loud whip crack in the air (causing everyone to put their hands over their sensitive ears). A few seconds later, the strongman flew out, grinning and holding a large cage. After giving a silent wave to everyone (silent only because of the glare of his master) the angel left leaving the ringleader alone to climb on the metal cage and address the audience personally.
"What I am about to show you may disturb some of the Pokemon in the audience. We had been recently... attacked and we took prisoners. I want you to know what will happen if any of you dared to cross us... so you can't say I didn't tell you." The ringmaster then opened the cage and the audience screeched as they saw what was inside.
The group mainly consisted of Lopunny and Buneary but a large group of scared Pokemon (of varying ages) came out looking confused. However, the confusion turned into fear as Lion Link gave a new type of roar, one of flesh-loving hunger.
"Learn why you don't screw with the circus."
The voice of the people and the victims in the circus arena screamed and yelled ferociously as one as Lion Link gave a happy growl and bounded after them. The Pokemon yelled as they began to split up and run in panic, Link lazily running after them. The blonde enjoyed playing with his food. He liked making his meat... tender before ripping it.
When they screamed, it gave Link a thrill. The way they squirmed even though they knew they had no chance of survival. It was very... pleasing to Link. It excited his very senses... inflicting torture on them really got them going. He enjoyed causing them pain.
The Pokemon ran around as Link began getting bored at playing games. He was bored... and so hungry. Instantly, he pounced expertly on a bunny, knocking its head off before ripping into its soft neck and hoisting out its lungs before swallowing them whole. People shrieked as the organ slid down the human's throat and how easily and he dropped the dead body before he pounced after another creature, this time, twisting the neck of the creature so it was looking (with dead eyes) the wrong way.
The audience was horrified at the treatment of the... prey.
The blonde didn't stop. It was like a terrifying, never-ending gore frenzy where he ripped with his razor sharp nails and teeth and he smashed the skulls of his prey into the ground. Each creature he killed was sentenced to the afterlife in a different manner; from their eyes being gouged out to their hearts being ripped from their chests.
In a way... it was beautiful, senseless slaughter.
Some people hid their eyes, others watched as the human snatched his prey into his hands and devoured the shrieking creatures. The ringleader, was just watching, an indescribable expression on his face.
A small koopa child watched Link in awestruck fascination. She leaned over the raised edge that separating the crowd from the stage below, in order to get a better understanding of what was happening.
She then fell over the edge.
The koopa fell on the ground, giving a high pitched scream as she landed. Lion Link grinned and turned towards the small child, dropping what was in his mouth and looking at his master. Ike gave a lazy shrug and flicked his hand, causing the person to whimper.
He was so going to enjoy this.
Crouching low, the blonde teen locked onto his target and grinned, showing off his razor sharp fangs. A low growl was ripped from his throat, dangerous yet playful all at once. His muscles contracted and in a single fluid motion, he launched himself in the air, his jaws snapping at the koopa. His tongue flicked in and out of his jaws, as if he was already tasting the tangy flavor of blood and flesh in his mouth.
The koopa kid could only scream once before Link's claws curled around her throat, smashing her vocal chords to bits. The audience watched in horror and amazement as bits of flesh and chunks of muscle were ripped away from the sinew and bone, disappearing in huge hunks down the lion's blood lined gullet. Not a single member of the audience ran forward to help the child as he was slowly ripped away from life itself. Ringmaster Ike watched as the sticky red substance known as blood splattered to the floor as Link gave one final swipe of his claw and threw back his head, roaring his triumph to the world. And it was then that he knew it was time to make an end.
"Hyah!" he yelled, flicking his whip forward. The thong of the weapon caught his pet around the ankle and yanked him out of the ring, right back into the large iron cage Samus and Sheik had dragged out. The knife thrower slammed the door of the cage and padlocked it shut at the moment Link was thrown in, ignoring the half feline's moans and whines.
Ringmaster Ike stepped from the shadows and into the middle of the ring, the slowly dimming spotlights casting an eerie shadow upon his deathly white face. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our show… my circus crew and I hope you have had a wonderful experience at the Circus of the Moon… do come back and witness us again… we will be waiting… and watching for you…"
Without another word, the Ringmaster stepped back and allowed the dark curtains to close in front of him. His dark eyes gave on last menacing glimmer before he disappeared behind the tattered wall of deep red cloth.
The crowd stood up and slowly left the tent; some rubbing their heads while others staring blankly, trying to comprehend what they had just seen. As they left the tent, some paid for the hug that the clown at the entrance was giving, while others found that after catching a short second glimpse of the knife-thrower, their wallets were gone.
Most of them went back home, guided by the rising sun. It wouldn't be until they arrived home and lay on their beds that they realized the true monstrosities that they saw. It wouldn't be until they dreamed of the horrors they saw at the awful circus that they realized how disgusting the images they saw was.
But some found they never got to that place of slumber. Many (especially people planning on telling the police) found that once they had left the circus, they were allured by the seductress acrobat or the calling of the strongman. Ones that weren't charmed were quickly hypnotized by the song of the strange Lucario woman before all of them walked into the metal cage of a certain blood thirsty animal.
The circus would be fed for the next few nights.
When the innocent realized that they had to tell someone about the rippling revulsion that was the Circo De la Luna, the site of the circus ground would disappear; tracks on the ground indicating that the circus had long gone, leaving for their next unknown destination.
It is not whether we are good or evil. If we are right or wrong. It is to fight or die for survival. We've left the point of sanity. We've left the point of morality.
-Annalise Danes 2001
And review! Finally this is done. I want to give a big yell out to PitFTW. My amazing beta reader and buddy who I couldn't work without! Thank you!
Also check out Two Worlds, One Circus! The crossover between this story and the Smash Mansion :D!
Review!
