Hey all~! ^_^
So as we enter chapter 7 of this thing, I was curious to see how the contestant count compared to last year. Looks like they are much stronger this time around, cuz we still have 6 contestants left compared with the 3 left standing by chappy 7 last time XD Ah well, it makes for a more interesting competition this way ;D Well, let's continue shall we? :)
Disclaimer: Oh God, if I owned this series how messed up it would be ;)
Just To Say: My school is evil, hence why I haven't updated in ages- no time -_- I am very sorry about that u.u

x~x~x~x~x

Chapter Seven- Let's Go To The Circus!

-Date: Saturday, May-
-Time: 4.05pm-
-Place: Random Field-

"Kyaa~ This competition is the absolute best~! I can't believe that you two actually... KYAAAAAAAA~!" Kay dreamily collapsed back onto the stage while Edgeworth hurled protests at her.

"Don't just assume what you want Kay! I'm sure that you have completely the wrong idea! I will not stand idly by and tolerate such ridiculous assumptions being made about me." He folded his arms to show that he meant business, although the other contestants had no clue what the prosecutor seemed so mad about anyway.

Lang didn't even bother interjecting and merely stood there with a grin on his face. He burst out laughing when Miles nearly unleashed the apocalypse on Kay when she said, "You can't hide the truth from the Yatagarasu! I know exactly what went on!"

"This is not a laughing matter Lang!" Edgeworth sulked childishly as he looked at his boyfriend with an exasperated expression.
"Just lighten up a bit princess," the wolf said cheerfully.
"Stop calling me that!"
"No way," winked Shi-Long.

"While this lovers quarrel is thoroughly adorable or whatever," Lana interrupted, "We do still have a competition to get on with."

"Ms. Skye is right," Kay nodded, composing herself. "Okay, so we still have six of you left, so let's see if we can narrow the playing field further~!"

"Alright! Now you're talking!" Lang said confidently.

"I shall see if anyone over on the Loser's Bench has any suggestions," the young thief said happily as she made her way to the right hand side of the stage. "So, any ideas?" she asked them, but quietly so that the remaining contestants couldn't hear what was being discussed.

"Right, now that my foolish little brother and his mutt have returned, we must do our utmost to remove them from the tournament," Franziska told her two allies to the side of the Random Field. Kay and those that were now out were busy having some sort of top secret collaboration on what was to be the next Lang Zi, so the A.W.E.S.O.M.E members had a chance to have a quick meeting.

"All we have to do is make sure we pass whatever Lang Zi those lot," Lana jerked her thumb in the direction of Kay and company, "Issue and then we can claim the next Lang Zi as our own! Then, naturally-"

"-We can remove the stale coffee beans from this delicious concoction that we are brewing," Godot finished off, ignoring the perplexed expressions displayed on his allies faces while they were trying to decode what he had just said.

"Something feels off," Miles said bluntly, peering over to the opposite end of the field from where he was.
Lang followed his gaze, also noting that something didn't feel quite right.

"What do you think they're doing over there?" the wolf asked, trying to place just why something didn't seem normal.

"I honestly have no idea, but it can't be good," Miles replied.
"We'll just have to keep an eye on 'em I guess," Lang said calmly, putting his hands behind his head.
The prosecutor nodded in agreement and thought, Just what are they up to?

"Alright then~!" Kay sang happily, "We have the best Lang Zi ever so will everyone please gather around?" She grinned as she looked at all the contestants that were still in, and said, "This Lang Zi involves all of you!"

"Oh?" Lang said curiously, quirking an eyebrow slightly. "Well this sounds like it will be interesting."

"You got that right!" the Yatagarasu beamed, "Okay first things first: as there are six of you, you need to split into two teams of three."

"This is a team Lang Zi? Miles asked in confusion, "I thought this was the type of tournament that encouraged 'every man for himself'."

"Well, it kinda is. You see, despite the fact that you're in teams this time, someone will still be out. Basically: the winning team are safe, and someone from the losing team will be out. By the way, I'm the one that chooses who goes out."

"Well, I'm teaming up with Lana and Godot," Franziska said firmly, and of course there were no objections from the other two members of the secret alliance.

"Okay, so that leaves Mr. Edgeworth, Wolfie and Gummy on a team~! This is gonna be so cool!" Kay began twirling around before striking a dramatic pose and saying grandly, "And now I shall announce what you have to do! I'm sure that most of you are aware of a place called Berry Big Circus?"

"Isn't that one of the places my sister ended up last year?" Lana inquired, vaguely recalling a circus of that name.

"That's right! Both of these Lang Zi's take place there. Ms. vK and co. have to get one of you to ride Regent! Mr. Edgeworth and everyone, you have to steal Regina's tiara!"

Now, none of the contestants actually knew what that meant, especially the A.W.E.S.O.M.E alliance who just thought, Who on earth is Regent? However, Franziska vaguely remembered there being a creature of that name when she was a prosecutor for a case that took place at the circus, yet she could not remember just what kind of animal this Regent was (after all, she had prosecuted tons of cases and there was no reason for her to remember something 'foolish' like what animals were at the circus). Kay dismissed them then and bundled them into the limo that had been used earlier, telling them that everything would soon become clear.

"Remember," she said before they all drove off, "Someone on the losing team will be out, so give it your best everyone! Also, Ms. vK, Godot and Ms. Skye win the moment one of them successfully rides Regent, but in order for the other team to win you actually have to bring the tiara back to the limo."

"So what kind of place is Berry Big Circus?" Lana asked Franziska and Gumshoe, knowing that they had both been there before.
"All I recall is the case being extremely annoying," she replied, unable to shake the feeling that this Lang Zi was going to be a complete pain.
"I can't remember much about it either pal, all I know is that it got so crazy that I completely lost track of everything!"

"Heh, how hard can something at a circus be?" Lang smirked, thinking that this Lang Zi would be extremely easy.

He was about to be proven wrong...

Meanwhile, back at the Random Field, Kay had once again managed to tap into cameras so that she and everyone else would be able to watch the events unfold at the circus.
Ema and Maggey were watching with extreme intrigue, because both of them had had to endure the crazy people there last year. One thing was certain: this would be exceptionally interesting.

x~x~x~x~x

-Date: Saturday, May-
-Time: 4.20pm-
-Place: Berry Big Circus-

Once the limo had dropped the contestants outside of the circus, both teams immediately split up, determined to beat their opposition.

-A.W.E.S.O.M.E-

"Right, who knows what Regent is?" Lana asked, "Because if we have to ride it, it'll probably be a horse or something right?"

"You'd think so," replied Franziska, "Trust the loser's to come up with such a foolish Lang Zi."

Godot didn't say anything, but he did feel slight unease. Surely their Lang Zi couldn't be as easy as they were imagining it to be.

"Hey, look there!" the district prosecutor pointed to a nearby sign.

"'Regent's pen'... Sounds like that is just what we are looking for," Godot said coolly, holding his hand up and making a cup of coffee appear. He sipped at it as they followed the signs on their way to this Regent creature, not really paying much attention as his female allies were busy laughing at how easy this was going to be.

However, before they could reach their destination, a voice sounded. "Hey, what are you doing?" asked a curious voice.

The three alliance members whirled around and immediately clapped eyes on a clown, or as Franziska called him, "A foolishly foolish fool."

"Hey there," the clown smiled, "The name's Moe."

"How utterly ridiculous," Franziska mumbled, before taking a closer look at the clown named Moe. "Is that a carrot on your hat?"

"Yup," he said, "Cool right?"

"Foolish." That's right... I remember this foolish clown now! Looks as though he's as infuriating as ever, Franzy thought as she glared at the circus performer.

"Hey, no need to be so sulky," the clown said before pausing and saying, "Why so blue? Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Get it? 'Cause your hair is blue! Aha! Aha! Aha!"

While the clown was having a fit of laughter at the absolutely horrifically bad joke, Franziska readied her whip and practically growled, "Are you mocking me?"

It was at this point that Godot stepped in, because Franziska killing the vexatious clown would most likely result in them getting kicked off of the premises. "I was wondering," he said in his velvet smooth voice, "If you would be so kind as to inform us on how we are supposed to reach Regent."

"Regent?" the clown repeated.
"Yes," said Godot.
"Yes," said Moe.
"Yes what?" the coffee lover pressed.
"Yes what?" was all Moe said in return.

It appears that he is mimicking you," Lana sighed; she never was a fan of clowns.

"This is needlessly foolish! I'll soon whip some sense into him!" The prosecuting prodigy cracked her whip against the ground and was all set to whack the orange out of the clown's hair before he stopped copying Godot and said, "Sorry, you can't just get to see Regent."

"What? Is there any way we can see him?" Diego asked.

"Of course there is," said Moe, before snickering slightly. The reason as to why he was snickering soon became obvious when he said, "I would ad-visor you to get a ticket! Aha! Aha! Aha! 'Cause you wear a visor! Aha! Aha!"

"I've just about had enough of this," Franzy said angrily, but just before she could unleash her rage, a brownish-orangyish blur whizzed passed, nearly knocking Lana off of her feet.

"Wh-what on earth was that?" she asked in confusion, before looking down and exclaiming, "Hey! One of my medals has gone!"

"What?" asked Franziska, peering at where Lana's medals hung on her jacket. Sure enough, one was definitely missing.

"Oh, that'll be Money," said the clown, nodding seriously.

"And Money is?" asked Godot, raising an eyebrow.

"The circus monkey!" grinned Moe, "He really loves shiny things, so he'll have taken it."

"Urgh, we don't have time for this!" Franziska growled, "Those foolish idiots are going to beat us at this rate!"

"We can't just leave my medal behind!" Lana protested.

"I know I know. Looks like we'll have to get it back first, then find that Regent animal." Franzy turned to face the annoying circus performer who had a silly grin on his face. The grin soon disappeared as she grabbed him by that ruffly thing around his neck and said threateningly, "Enough is enough clown, where did the monkey go?"

"Ah, uhhh..." the orange haired guy hesitated briefly, but when it looked as though the prosecutor was about to kill him, or in the very least seriously maim him, he managed to stutter out, "A-Acro's room!" He pointed in the direction they needed to go, and the blue haired female released him with a smirk. "Now was that so difficult?" she asked, stalking off in the direction she'd been told. The other two A.W.E.S.O.M.E members followed, and poor Moe was left to wonder what on earth had just happened.

-Edgey, Lang, Gummy-

Meanwhile, the opposing trio were completely lost.

"Where do we even begin in a place this big?" Miles asked, not really directing it at anyone but just thinking aloud.

"Why not just start in the tent?" Lang suggested, "It's worth a shot right?"

"Yeah!" Gumshoe said enthusiastically, "I'll go find the entrance pal!" He began to wander off before Edgeworth called, "Wait! This is a team event, we need to stick together!"

"I know that's the ideal situation," the wolf said, "But it would be quicker if we just split up."

"I wonder if there's anyone we can ask for directions pal," Gumshoe said.
As if in answer, a man came into view. He was quite a distance away, but it was obvious that he was a circus performer because despite the distance, the three men could see the huge, red bow tie clearly.

"Guess he's as good as any," shrugged the wolf, before calling out, "Hey! You with the bow tie! Yeah you! C'mere!"
"Because he's really going to want to come to us if you're that polite," Miles said sarcastically.

Shockingly, the man actually did deign to approach the trio.

Apart from the eccentric bow tie, he doesn't seem like the type of person who'd fit in at a circus, Edgeworth thought, looking the man up and down. Overall he was rather plain, clad in a blue blouse and white blazer with a haircut that just seemed normal and average. I wonder what his act is...

The silver haired on needn't have pondered the question for long, because it soon became clear just what this man's role in the circus was.

"Yo, thanks for coming over man," Shi-Long said, the very epitome of cool. "I was wondering if you knew where we could find some girl called Regina."

The man didn't reply and just looked at the three of them blankly.

"Umm... Do you know Regina pal?" Gumshoe pressed, but still there was no reply.

"What the hell?" mumbled the wolf, moving his hand in front of the man's face to see if he would blink, or give any kind of reaction whatsoever. It was then that, without warning, the man pulled out a wooden puppet.

"Ah, I see," Edgeworth said, "Clearly this man is a Ventriloquist."

"Oh, no shit Sherlock," the man said... or was it the puppet?

"E-Excuse me?" the prosecutor asked, completely taken aback at being spoken to like that.

"What, are you freaking deaf?" the puppet said in a mocking tone.
The man with the puppet looked as though he was about to tell the puppet off, but before he even got a chance he started pummeling himself with it. "I know what you're gonna say, but I ain't gonna 'mind my manners'!" the puppet screeched.

"I... I'm confused pal," Gumshoe said.
"Well, I'm with you there," Lang agreed, looking at the scene playing out in front of him in confusion.

All of a sudden, the puppet turned towards the agent and jeered at him. "Oi! What're you looking at?"

"Oh you can't be serious," Lang chuckled, looking thoroughly amused, "Am I seriously getting attitude from a block of wood?"

"You want a piece of me?" it screamed.

"Now now, let's all try and be civil with one another," Miles said, trying to diffuse the tension. "Now then," he looked at the puppet, "May I know how I should address you?" I can't believe I'm actually talking to a puppet...

"Hmph! The name's Trilo," the puppet announced, "What's it to ya Mr. Girly Frills?"

"G-Girly Frills? I'll have you know that this is a cravat!"

"Whatever, you're still a girl for wearing pink!"

"I am not of the female gender! How dare you insult me? And it's not pink, it's magenta!" Miles gave his infamous death glare, but the puppet merely cackled.

"Just lay off," Lang warned the puppet, "Don't make me use a lighter on you."

"You wouldn't dare!" Trilo said defiantly, before punching the mute man operating him and saying, "Don't you dare let them hurt me, you got that?"

"Look you damn tree stump, just tell us where Regina is and we can be on our way!" Shi-Long growled.

"Regina?" the puppet asked, all anger suddenly draining away. "You want to know where my wife is?"

"Your... wife?"

"Well, soon to be wife. I plan to marry her someday!"
The wolf couldn't help but burst our laughing upon hearing this, earning him an angry, "What the hell's so funny?" from Trilo.
"N-Nothing," he said between his laughs. "But seriously, where can we find her?"

"Wait a second," Trilo said, "How do I know that I can trust you?"

"I assure you that we do not have any ill intentions," Edgeworth chimed in.
"Yeah pal, we're not here to cause trouble," Gumshoe added.

After a couple of minutes trying to reason with what is essentially a piece of wood, the trio finally earned Trilo's trust and found out that Regina would most likely be in the Big Top, and that the entrance was straight forward and to the left from where they were.

"That was certainly interesting," Lang said as he folded his arms behind his head, now out of earshot of the Ventriloquist.
"That isn't the word I'd have opted for," Edgeworth said coldly, "I cannot believe that he would talk to me in that manner. I really wish you did set that infernal puppet on fire!"
"At least we're gonna get that tiara thing soon though," the detective said, trying to make his friend see the positive side of things. "If we get it quickly, then we win and we're all safe, right Mr. Edgeworth?"
"I suppose so," he said bitterly, still annoyed at the extremely rude puppet.

-A.W.E.S.O.M.E-

Elsewhere, the A.W.E.S.O.M.E Alliance wasn't faring as well. They had to walk in the completely opposite direction from where Regent supposedly was (and they still had no clue what kind of animal Regent was anyway), and were busy trying to find a room that belonged to some guy called Acro. After a few minutes of walking around completely lost and angry mumbling from Franziska on how they were foolishly wasting time, they finally happened upon the place they were searching for.

"Well then, let us proceed and see how this current blend will turn out," Godot said as he sipped at some coffee. He opened the door and walked in without bothering to knock, followed by the other two members. Armando was the first to lay eyes on the man who he assumed was Acro, noting the wheelchair and the Indian style this man seemed to have going on.

"Acro I presume?" he asked smoothly.

"Ah, why hello there," the man said, turning around form where he had been gazing out of the window to look at the three people now in his room. "I am indeed Acro but... may I ask who you are?"
"Some clown told us that a monkey would bring my medal to you," Lana stepped forward and addressed the man, scanning the area for said medal.
"Oh, I wondered whom that belonged to," Acro said kindly, reaching towards the windowsill and holding the medal he retrieved there out for the district prosecutor. "I apologise for Money's rudeness, he doesn't mean any ill."

"Well... I guess that's alright," Lana said, unable to stay mad for long because Acro had such a kind smile. He beamed when he heard her say that, and birds flew in through the open window to perch on his shoulders and sing him affectionate tunes.

Where on earth did they all come from? they all wondered, but ultimately gave up trying to figure that out because the people at this circus were all clearly insane.

"What a nice man," Lana whispered to her two friends.
"I agree," Godot said, nodding his approval before taking in some more coffee.

Franziska on the other hand, didn't feel quite right. It was only a few seconds before the reason for that clicked. "Hang on a minute! How are you here, you should be in jail!"
"What?" asked Lana, shocked that such a kind man would possibly be put behind bars.
"This man was the killer back on the Berry Big Circus case I took! He should still be locked up!" The prosecuting prodigy eyed Acro suspiciously.

"Ah, I wondered why you looked so familiar," he said, his smile staying even but his eyes became slightly guarded.

"So, why are you here?" she pressed.
"I got let out early on good behaviour," he smiled, the birds singing a sweet tune as he did so.
"The criminal justice system is foolishly flawed if they let killers out on good behaviour," she said coldly, not trusting the man before her one bit.

"I assure you that I am a changed man," he said, before saying, "But why are you here again?"
Remembering the whole reason that they were at the circus in the first place, Franziska decided to drop matters on Acro's release and said, "We are looking to get to Regent, can you help?"

"Of course," he said, the smile still fixed perfectly into place. He looked at the birds on his shoulder and said, "Formation X!"
The birds rose up off of his shoulder and began to circle around madly, chirping continuously. More birds flew in through the window and when there were too many to count, they began ordering themselves. The eventual result of this was an ultimate robot looking thing comprised entirely of birds. "The birds will show you the way," he said profoundly, while the A.W.E.S.O.M.E members were speechless.

"Y-You guys are seeing this right?" Lana asked in total disbelief.
"Yeah..." Godot said, his usually calm voice actually showing a hint of shock as he looked at his coffee suspiciously. "Is this coffee bad or something?" he muttered to himself.
"W-What foolishness is this?" Franziska quizzed, choosing not to believe the image her eyes were displaying. How on earth is that even possible?

"This is the ultimate final form my birds take," Acro said cheerily, "They will take you to Regent. Have fun~"

And with that, the Bird Transformer thing made it's way out of the room, and the alliance members had no choice but to follow it and question everything they knew about life at the same time.

-Edgey, Lang, Gummy-

"Wow, this place is much bigger than I expected it to be," Lang noted as he stepped into the big top.
"Berry Big Circus is a totally big attraction pal!" Gumshoe said enthusiastically, "So they can afford to make this place so huge."
"We appear to be making good time," Miles nodded at his watch before looking around the big top. "Now all we have to do is ask to borrow Ms. Regina's tiara and victory is ours."
"Heh, this is so easy," Lang chuckled happily, "But I ain't gonna complain."

After the three of them had spent a good few minutes walking around the area, they suddenly heard a squealed, "Omigosh yay~! Visitors!"
They all turned around and saw a young girl with long blonde hair beaming at them. "Hi there~!" she said happily as she waved the star wand in her hands around, "Who are you?"

She began jumping up and down, completely full of energy. She was giggling, and the way her long blonde curls would flounce up and down in smooth wavy motions was almost hypnotic. It was then that Miles noticed the tiara upon the girl's head.

"Ah, are you perhaps Ms. Regina?" he asked politely.

"Yep!" she grinned, "How do you know my name? Are you a fan of me?"

"Err, well... We're actually here to ask a favour of you."

"A favour?" she asked, stopping her mad bouncing to look at them full of curiosity. Any movement the girl made caused little glints to shine off of her, courtesy of the numerous diamanté's that were studded throughout her pink skimpy leotard.
Just how old is this girl? Miles wondered, surely for someone so young to be wearing something like that is a bit... inappropriate.

Lang began chuckling and looked at Miles as he said, "Pink outfits with diamantés sure are popular today. You'll have to remind me to ask the young Yatagarasu to let us keep that dress you wore earlier."
"Don't be ridiculous," Miles said dismissively, doing his best to block out the trauma of having to wear female clothing again this year, "Even if you somehow obtain it, I'm going to burn it."
"Aw, but it looked so good~" the wolf insisted, to which he got an infamous Edgey death glare.

"Can we borrow your tiara pal?" Gumshoe asked, getting straight to the point.

"My tiara?" the blonde said quizzically, "Why would you want my tiara?"

"We only need it for a day at most, we will return it to you immediately," Miles said, "But as to why we actually need it is a bit complicated to explain."

Regina cocked her head to the side, her big blue eyes full of wonder. "But I need my tiara for my shows."

"I appreciate that, but please could you just let us borrow it for a short while?"
She considered before she shook her head, sending her blonde curls flying all over the place. "I really need to hang onto it~" she hummed, beginning to jump up and down once again.

"Damn, this is getting us nowhere," Lang said quietly to the others.
"We are this close to obtaining the tiara, there must be something we can do to get it."
"...You hold her down, I grab the tiara?" Shi-Long suggested, only half joking. The look Miles gave the wolf signalled that they would not even begin to try that idea.

"Hmm..." Gumshoe scratched his head as if deep in thought, although the other two didn't really pay him much attention because the detective wasn't exactly renowned for coming up with ingenious plans. However, he soon proved that wrong when he suggested, "Hey why don't you try the host treatment on her, Mr. Edgeworth?"
"Host treatment?" Lang asked, but he didn't get a reply because Miles was currently thinking the idea through.

"That... That just might work Detective Gumshoe," he said slowly. "Yes, it is definitely worth a shot. Good work."
Scruffy grinned at the rare compliment, but the agent was still confused as to what was about to happen.

"Lang, I'm only doing this so that we can get the tiara so please do not think anything of it," the silver haired one said before he moved closer to Regina.
"Huh?" he wondered, looking on with curiosity.
"Oh man this is gonna be great," Gummy said in anticipation, "Just wait till you see this pal!"

Miles took a deep breath, before he started to practically glow. "Regina," he said softly, gazing at the animal tamer before him intensely.
"E-err..." Regina faltered at this sudden change with the prosecutor, and a light blush crept onto her face as she stopped the bouncing she had been doing.
"I would really appreciate it if you would just let me borrow that exquisite tiara of yours for a while," he purred.

"But... I really do need it," she said uncertainly.
"But haven't you ever thought about just how amazing you'd look without it?" Edgeworth asked with a devastatingly handsome smile. "That tiara is distracting attention away from your luscious hair, it really is beautiful, just like you."
"Oh, well, I am pretty aren't I?" She smiled warmly at the compliment. "You really think my hair would look better without the tiara?"
"I know so," the prosecutor said in a husky voice.

Regina blushed more, seriously considering giving her tiara to Miles by this point.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Lang asked, shocked at what he was seeing.
"This is Mr. Edgeworth's host routine!" Gumshoe said happily. "He always was a big hit with the ladies, but he always acted awkward around them. One day though, he really needed to check out a piece of evidence for a case he was working on but the woman at the precinct wouldn't let him. That's when Mr. Edgeworth pulled together all of his great chivalrous points and came up with the host routine so that he could charm his way past! He's able to influence almost every female pal," Gumshoe said proudly.

"Someone like you is destined for great things," Miles said in a low, sexy voice, "You really are a true princess."
Regina giggled nervously, utterly captivated by the silver haired one. "Well, father always did say I was special."
"Your father was completely correct. However," Miles pulled Regina close to him, "This tiara is the only thing preventing you from achieving your true potential..." He carefully placed his hand atop the tiara and asked, "May I?"
The blonde had absolutely no protests to give and readily handed over the item in question, smiling cutely.

"Thank you so much my dear," he said with a sweet smile, taking the tiara before Regina changed her mind. "I will return in to you shortly, but until then you should attain the greatness you so deserve."
"Right!" she said happily, a light blush on her cheeks. "I'll work hard to be a better princess!" And with that, she skipped off, clutching her star wand closely as she sang, "I'll be the greatest princess ever~"

Miles looked at the tiara and sighed, "Well, at least we have this now."

"Hey! How could you not tell me about the host routine?" Shi-Long asked, clearly annoyed. He moved closer to his boyfriend as he said, "I knew you had a female following, but why would you encourage them? You're basically acknowledging and accepting their feelings!"
"What on earth are you on about?" Miles asked in confusion, "I only ever do that when absolutely necessary. Shockingly, manipulating people isn't one of my favourite pastimes. Besides, if I didn't do that then we'd still be trying to figure out how to get the tiara while the other team could beat us."
The wolf couldn't really object to that, because the other actually had a point.

Edgeworth looked at his wolf and sighed as he said, "You know as well as I do that it means nothing, but I'm sorry that it bothered you."
"S'kay," the agent muttered before saying, "As long as you're mine and not some chick's then that'll do me."
The prosecutor coughed to hide his embarrassment as he said extremely quietly, "Of course I'm yours." He obviously regretted using such a cliché line because he immediately set off for the exit without waiting for any responses, quickly saying, "Look we've wasted far too much time as it is! We need to get back to the limo now, then that means we've won."

-A.W.E.S.O.M.E-

"Are those foolish idiots trying to get us killed?" Franziska questoined in a tone of death as she finally lay eyes on Regent. The weird bird transformer thing had guided them straight to Regent before leaving them, and currently the A.W.E.S.O.M.E members were shocked that a Lang Zi this dangerous could have possibly been issued. At present, the tiger (not a horse as they had previously thought) was in a big, roomy cage that actually looked rather comfortable. As soon as he had laid eyes on the trio, Regent came over curiously. Needless to say, those in the alliance were at complete unease.

"Well then... who fancies riding a tiger today?" Lana asked, looking at the other two.
"As if I would partake in something so foolish!" the blue haired female said indignantly, "One of you two do it."
"Count me out," Lana said quickly, "Godot is the man here, so he should do it!"

"I am afraid," he said, pausing to sip some of his coffee, "That I am ineligible for this particular feat."
"And just why is that?"
"Well you see: I don't want to do it."
"What kind of foolish reason is that?"

There was a small argument in the alliance over who should ride a potentially dangerous tiger before said tiger roared loudly, scaring all of them.

"This is impossible!" Lana said, her voice full of worry, "There's no way we can do this!"
"At this rate, the fools are going to beat us," Franziska said in anger. "Look, we're just going to have to deal with this okay, so I'll release the tiger and one of you need to ride it." Franzy moved to release the wildcat, ignoring the protests from the other two. As soon as the door was opened, Regent ran out, jumping and running wildly, glad to have new people to play with. However, from the perspective of the A.W.E.S.O.M.E followers, it looked as though the tiger wanted to attack them.

"Well played idiot!" Lana yelled, dodging out of the way as the tiger ran towards her.
"How dare you call me an idiot?" Franziska yelled back. "Stop being foolish and climb on the tiger now!"
"How do you expect us to do that?" Lana asked angrily, "This is just stupid!"

During all of the commotion, Godot had found a rather nice spot atop the cage and was out of Regent's reach. When the other members realised this they angrily yelled, "OI! Be a gentleman and help us out!"
He merely sipped at his coffee and said calmly, "I'll consider it."

-Edgey, Lang, Gummy-

"Heh, we totally have this in the bag!" Lang said triumphantly, throwing his fist into the air as the limo came into view. "This Lang Zi was totally easy!"

"I agree, this all went much smoother than I thought it would. And it looks as though the others haven't completed their task yet," observed the prosecutor.

"Alright! We won!" Gumshoe said happily.

However, it was just as they were about fifty metres away from the limo that disaster struck in the form of a totally camp guy.
A streak of pink rushed before the three of them, blocking their way to the limo. "Stop right there you hooligans!" came a grand voice. When they finally got a good look at just what (or rather who) had blocked their way, Miles, Lang and Gumshoe saw a man with long pink hair with two pinkish-purplish stars on his left cheek glaring at them.

"How dare you steal my darling Regina's crown?" he asked accusingly, pointing at the trio dramatically while playing cards shot out of his sleeve to assault them.

"What the hell?" Lang asked, catching some of the cards in his hand and chucking them back at the strange man. "Who are you?"

"I am Max Galactica!" he announced proudly, "And I have come to retrieve my sweetheart's tiara!" He continued to effectively block their way to the limo, much to their annoyance.

"Ms. Regina gladly handed over the tiara to us," Miles tried to explain, but the eccentric performer wouldn't hear of it.

"Nonsense! My darling Regina would never do such a thing!" He eyed the tiara in the prosecutor's hand, before taking proper note of the man himself. "Wait... You were the prince charming she was going on about?"

"Prince Charming?" Miles, Shi-Long and Gumshoe all said together.

"She claimed that a handsome prince had told her to get rid of her tiara... so that's you?" Sweat began to form on his forehead, and he fanned himself as he muttered, "So then I guess that this guy is my competition, but he's sorely mistaken if he thinks he can steal Regina away from me!"

"Ah, there seems to have been some sort of misunderstanding," the silver haired one began, "I have no intentions on stealing anyone away."

"Lies!" Galactica exclaimed dramatically, pointing once more so that numerous playing cards were flying at them all. He moved in to try and grab the tiara, but Miles just about managed to keep it out of the other's reach and passed it to Shi-Long.

"Unhand that tiara at once!"

"Or else what? You'll throw more cards at me?" Lang asked, a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Do you know who I am? I am Max Galactica! The only human being on this earth that is capable of flight!"

"Yeah yeah, and I'm the Queen Of Sheba," the agent said sarcastically. "Look, we only need to borrow this thing for a bit, so just back off."

"Absolutely not!" Max was resolute in this, looking as if he'd stop at nothing until the tiara was finally in his possession.

"Aw man, and we were so close to winning pal!" pouted the detective.
"Don't worry Scruffy, we'll have this guy dealt with in no time," the wolf said with a glint in his eye.

-A.W.E.S.O.M.E-

"Take that!" Franziska yelled, brandishing her whip and cracking it down on the floor. "Looks like we'll have to tame this thing first!"

"Are you crazy?" Lana practically screeched, "You can't whip a tiger!"

"I don't see you coming up with any alternatives!" Franzy retorted, getting ready strike as the hyperactive tiger was heading towards her. She brought her whip up above her head, but before she could try and land a hit, Lana had literally dived on top of her.

"What foolishness is this?" the blue haired one asked in an outrage, "I had a perfect shot!"
"If you go around whipping tigers not only are you violating animal rights, but you'll also piss of the tiger! Do you want to get eaten?"
"No, but I see no other way aro- AH! GET OFF OF ME AND RUN!" the young von Karma cut herself off when she saw Regent heading towards them as they were sprawled across the floor.

"AHHHHHH!" both women were screaming manically, trying to get up quickly but failing, so that they were rolling and crawling around instead in an attempt to avoid the tiger. To be brutally honest, this was actually hilarious, and Godot conveyed that as he chuckled from his spot atop the cage as he looked on with amusement.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE HELP US!" they both shouted at him.
"Fine, I feel that I am ready to diffuse this situation," he said calmly, finishing off the mug of coffee he was currently drinking. "I shall do it elegantly, just like the sublime taste of my Special Ble-"

"JUST SHUT UP AND HELP!"

-Edgey, Lang, Gummy-

"God dammit! We're running out of time here! Can you please just get the hell outta our way so we can at least get to the limo?" Lang tried to reason with the annoying magician.

"Absolutely not! If you go to that limo then you will take my precious Regina's tiara away and she will never see it again!"

"Who's stealing my wife's crown?" came a very familiar voice. When the trio turned around, they saw that strange Ventriloquist from earlier and an angry Trilo glaring at them all. "Did you steal something from my honey pie?" he screamed, "I'll make you all wish you were never born! I'll break all yer bones!" he hollered.

"Oh dear God, we don't have time for this," Miles sighed. "Look, this is all a misunderstanding. If we could all just calm down for a moment then we-"

"Can it Girly Frills!"

"Do not refer to me like that!"

"Give me that tiara," Max demanded, running up to the wolf and attempting to grab it.

"Hell no!" said Lang as he threw the tiara at Gumshoe. "Scruffy, heads up!"

"I got it pal!" he said, moving to catch it and... missing it by a mile. The item in question began rolling away from the arguing men, and they all watched it for a moment before each and every one of them made a mad dash to get it.

"Outta my way!"
"No way!"
"This is for you, my darling sweet Regina!"
"This is utterly ridiculous, we just need it for a second!"

All of them were yelling at each other and things became rather violent as they all did their best to get their hands on the tiara.

I am a gentleman, and look at what this tournament has reduced me to! Miles thought sadly as he dodged a punch from Trilo, If Kay thinks that she's putting me through all of this again next year then she's sadly mistaken! I'll just fake my death again and disappear to somewhere abroad!

-A.W.E.S.O.M.E-

Godot jumped down from the cage and moved in front of the two other members of the alliance. "Get behind me," he ordered, and they did as they were told because the tiger was heading towards them once again.

"I call upon the coffee God's to lend me their strength," Godot began chanting, his hands making those cool Ninjutsu signs like the Naruto characters. "Lend me your divine and sublimely bitter powers as I call forth the ultimate caffeine infused beverage!"

Lana and Franziska had absolutely no idea what was going on, but Godot began to glow and a strong gust of breeze suddenly swept through the room. "My Special Blend #372, I summon you!" There were brightly coloured sparks flying every which way, the breeze picked up until it was practically a mini hurricane, and Godot was glowing extremely brightly.

"What's going on?" Lana asked, slightly fearing for her life at this point.
"I have no idea," Franziska said matter of factly, but secretly she was just as nervous.

Suddenly, everything went completely still. A calm aura washed over the entire area as Diego stood there with the special mug of coffee he had just summoned up in his hand, a smirk on his face. He was panting slightly and laughed softly as he said, "I never thought I'd have to summon this blend again."

During the summoning process, Regent had stopped running towards the alliance members, but upon things returning back to normal he resumed his mad dash towards them.

"All right, I've only got one shot at this," Armando said determinedly as he set off running towards the tiger.

"He's gone insane!" Lana widened her eyes in horror.
"Don't be such a fool!" Franziska called.

But Godot ignored the comments and carried on running, and when he was at a suitable range he threw the liquid contained within the mug at Regent's face.

The big cat suddenly stopped to shake his head and lick himself clean, ingesting some of the blend in the process...

"Now then, I command you to sit," Godot said, and Regent sat. "Heh, good kitty."

"W-What on earth?" asked Lana, making her way to Godot with Franziska. Godot had moved closer to the tiger and began stroking him. "He's really a big softy I guess," he remarked. "Okay then, stand up and allow me to ride you for a bit."

Regent did as he was told, and allowed the coffee drinker to ride him with no issue whatsoever. He started padding around the area happily; listening to all the directions Diego was giving him and obeying them each and every time.

"Just what was in that coffee?" Franzy asked; astonished at what she was seeing.

"My Special Blend #372 is a powerful concoction of caffeine and a secret ingredient only handed down via the coffee Gods," he explained as he commanded Regent to pick up the pace a bit and to circle the other two women. "It has such power that anyone drinking it immediately becomes relaxed and docile, and completely under my control."

"Seriously?" Lana asked in disbelief. "That's amazing! Why don't you use it to influence Edgeworth and the agent to drop out of the tournament?"
"A capital idea!" Franziska agreed, but the man on the tiger disagreed.

"No, I want to play this game without resorting to tactics that underhanded. Besides, you saw how hard it is to summon up that blend; it takes a lot of energy. The power of my Special Blend #372 should never be abused," he said seriously.

-Edgey, Lang, Gummy-

"Got it!" Lang shouted triumphantly as he picked up the tiara and wrestled his way out for the pile of bodies that were wrestling each other. Once free from the mass of tangled and angry men, the wolf successfully retrieved Miles from the pile and the two of them then proceeded to drag Gumshoe out as well. They then all sprinted as fast as they could towards the limo.

"Come back here! I need that tiara for my darling!" Max yelled, giving chase, quickly followed by Trilo who was busy yelling obscenities. However, the trio made it to the limo before the circus performers could catch them.

"Right, we've done your stupid Lang Zi!" the wolf yelled. "I know that you're all watching this on that big screen, so come over here and tell us that we've won already!

-Normal-

"Hehe, hey everyone~" came Kay's voice from up above, accompanied by helicopter noises. She was holding a megaphone as she said, "It's me, Kay!"

"Stating the obvious as always," Miles said sarcastically.

"Well, that was so awesome to watch!" she said happily, laughing as she recalled all of the events that would soon make excellent talk at any dinner parties she attended. The A.W.E.S.O.M.E members heard Kay and so made their way out to see what the outcome was, because they weren't sure who had completed their task first (but before that they put Regent back into his pen).

The helicopter landed just outside the circus and the young thief skipped over to them. "Well, you certainly gave us a show~" she said cheerily, looking at all of the contestants around her. "I shall announce the results when we get back to the Random Field. Oh, by the way," she looked at Lang as she said, "I think you'd better give that tiara back now before they try and kill you Wolfie," she laughed as she pointed towards Max and Trilo who were looking anything but impressed.

x~x~x~x~x

-Date: Saturday, May-
-Time: 4.55pm-
-Place: Random Field-

"Well, gather around everyone," the thief said once they had all got themselves sorted out. "I can now reveal that the winners of that thrilling Lang Zi were..." she paused for dramatic effect before grandly announcing, "Ms vK, Ms. Skye and Godot!"

"Well naturally," Franziska said smugly, although she was secretly relieved.
"That's great news," Lana said happily.
Godot just stood there looking cool.

"And I also award Godot with a Bonus Lang Zi because he was just too epic for words in this Lang Zi!"

"Nice," he said coolly, sipping at some coffee.

"So, that means that someone from the other team needs to go." She turned towards the other three and said, "After careful analysis, I regret to say that Gummy is out."
"Huh? Why me pal?"
"Because you dropped the tiara. If you hadn't, then your team probably would have won. Oh well, now we can chill and laugh at what the remaining guys have to do~"
"You're right pal!" the detective didn't seem sad for his loss and happily joined those on the Loser's Bench.

"Well then, we're down to our final five! It's every man for himself again, so get ready to be hit with loads more Lang Zi's guys!" the Yatagarasu pumped her fist into the air as she said, "This tournament just keeps getting better!"

Thus the hectic Lang Zi at Berry Big Circus was concluded. All of the remaining contestants badly needed a break, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen! The second annual Lang Zi Says Tournament continues!

x~x~x~x~x

Well, I know this is long but whenever I get started on this circus place I just can't stop for whatever reason XD Ahhh! Godot is sooooo cool! :D
Anywho, we have GreatThiefYatagarasuJR to thank for this chapter as they requested the circus and the Lang Zi's and such :P I hope you all liked it, and until next time~ (which should hopefully be sooner cuz I'm on break at the moment :D)

Thank you so much for reading~! ^_^

xx-animeXalchemist-xx