The appearance of many Original Characters (OCs). Don't worry, none of them will have an Innocence or some super secret power that's way better than the canon characters. I don't like Mary-Sues (or Gary-Stus).

This is the 2nd installment of the Black Circus arc. Kanda's humiliation time will appear...not this chapter. Sorry.

Read and review whenever possible. Thanks, and enjoy.


Tag

Before the albino spoke another word, he was knocked down with a single push- uh, hug, from an overly excited girl. Incredulously, her grip was tighter than she looks, as said Exorcist had to squirm to get out of her unyielding squeeze.

"Noah!" Hand on his hammer hilt and eyes glaring at the hugger, Lavi quickly composed a battle stance, intent on defeating the Earl's allies once and for all. That is, before Robin reminded him of his current location. The only Finder in the group was dumbstruck; never in his whole entire career had he encountered a Noah. No one would suspect her, of all people, a little girl with an innocent face, of being a sadistic killing machine.

"I missed you so much!" Road gave the devastated Allen a peck, resulting in a series of gawks. Allen himself tried to push away from the girl, to no avail. Questions were forming in his mind, and the one that rang loudly: how can he get rid of this Noah, hopefully, once and for all?

Clap-

The sound of two hands encountering each other brought the bickering to a freeze. Heads turned around to the source of the sound. Fists were clenched as they finally saw the person who made the clap.

"Tyki Mikk!" This time, nothing would stop Lavi from going on a complete rampage. With a quick motion, he punched the smug-faced Noah straight on his right cheek. Lavi would do much more, though; he'll even kill the damn man, even if it meant being accused of murder and much more in front of hundreds of watchers. Since he literally killed Allen once before, his hatred was more than just a mere 'hatred'.

It was a pure, murderous intent.

Several people passing by the odd group gasped and shook their heads in disapproval, but continued to do their own fleeting business. The Noah glanced at the passing crowd and regained his composure. Rubbing his cheek with a free hand, Tyki smiled calmly and bowed just slightly, like a proper gentleman would greet others. "Greetings, Exorcists," he spoke in a regal manner. Only Robin and Kristopher were appalled by this behaviour, since they both never knew or saw him before the current encounter.

"What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Calm down, Exorcist." Tyki raised both of his hands in a gesture that he meant no harm whatsoever. "We're not here to pick a fight."

"Yep!" Road entered the conversation with a wide grin, already standing next to Tyki. "We're here to greet you!"

Silence.

"Why?" Allen raised a finger in questioning. "Aren't you supposed to fight us?"

The two Noahs stared at him before bursting into small giggles and laughter. Somehow, the young Exorcist's words sounded funny enough to amuse them.

"What exactly do you find funny from my statement?" Allen asked again, this time even more confused than before.

"The fact that you classify us as mindless attackers."

"You killed many of our comrades!" Lavi made a quick mental note not to punch the Noah again. "How the hell are we supposed to forget that!?"

"Those people were insignificant." Road grinned cheekily before appearing in front of a wide-eyed Allen and whispering with a sing-song voice: "We'd never kill our precious Exorcists – maybe."

"Ngh-!" Stepping backwards, Allen gritted his teeth and restrained his urge to activate Crowned Clown.

"Road, our mission is not to greet them," Tyki spoke suddenly in an exasperated tone. How he wished he was back in his room, lounging around while finishing that book about machinery. "Our mission is to fetch what the Earl asked for." He was stalled just at the part where the two crazy men tried to reconstruct a miniature cannon launcher.

"Oh!" Road squealed in delight. "Is it Allen?" With those words, said Exorcist executed an immediate guarding stance.

"Not this time. But the Earl sends his regards to you." Tyki turned his attention towards the cautious group and gestured slowly at one of the Exorcists. "We're here to take Robin with us."

Everyone froze and looked at the aforementioned boy almost instantaneously. A single grin spread across Road's petite face. The girl scanned the four faces and stopped just on the astonished Robin.

"Who are they?" He whispered to Allen while staring at the strange girl looking straight at him. Before he even got an answer, Tyki lunged forward and took his hand.

"We'll be leaving now."

"You-!"

A dangerously smiling face looked back at the enraged, yet unmoving Allen. The others watched in shock as a hand, concealed by the short distance when seen from afar, punctured the younger boy's chest. Not a single drop of blood trickled, but they knew that he won't hesitate to pull out the Exorcist's still-beating heart at the sight of a rebellious action. No one spoke; the noise came only from the constantly-moving crowds around them, and the large clock that kept ticking in its own pace.

"You don't want to die again, do you, boy?" He retracted his hand and brushed off invisible specks of dust on his coat.

Everyone knew the answer to that question.

"Who are you people?" Robin snatched away his hand after collecting his thoughts and moved back cautiously towards the Exorcists' side.

"Ah, of course you don't know us." Tyki bowed even lower than before, tipping his hat just slightly. "My name is Tyki Mikk. I am, what you Exorcists call, a Noah."

"I'm Road Kamelot!" The other Noah grinned and twirled around her purple umbrella. "We're the Earl's family!"

At the mention of the Earl, Robin's eyes widened a centimetre. His sole enemy, the Earl of Millennium, was a comrade of these people.

"Get away, Robin!" Allen moved forward and stationed his body between the Noahs and his Exorcist companion. "The Noah Clan won't hesitate to kill Exorcists!"

Road mock-frowned in response to his words. "We don't kill people without a reason, you know!"

"Road, this is a mission," Tyki reminded her calmly, fearing that she might (he shuddered at the thought) do something extremely reckless that could sabotage the whole of their plan. "Be a good girl and do what the Earl tells you to do."

"But, Tyki! It's so boring!" she replied with a frown. "The Exorcists aren't exactly winning, anyway! I want to play! I'm tired of all my homework!"

Tyki resisted the urge to hit the girl's head. Who do you think makes your homework for you…

"And besides, we're much stronger than humans, right?"

Tyki sighed at her reply and held up his hands in frustration. "I don't know what the Earl's going to say…"

"Whatever!" Road retorted quickly, averting her attention towards the enemy. "Exorcists! Let's play a game!"

"We don't have time to play around!" Allen exclaimed quickly, clenching his hands tightly.

"But I promise it'll be good!" Road replied happily, ignoring the incredulous stares she got from the others. "You should know what tag is, right?"

"What's the catch?" Kristopher raised his voice, the first time ever since his encounter with the two Noahs. "You wouldn't be offering us a free chance of escaping, would you?"

"It seems this Finder doesn't believe us," Adjusting his hat, Tyki stepped back a few paces and smirked at the Exorcists. "No catch. Although the normal rules apply, of course. We're obviously It. You have about a twenty-minute head start."

"And if you're It…" Twirling Lero, she pranced about with a creepy grin. "We'll kill you!"

"Five-minute head-start."

"That's all we have!?" Lavi grasped his hammer and sheathed it back into his pocket.

"Obviously! Now then…three –"

"Wait!"

" – Two"

"We're not ready!"

"One."

As the last number was spoken, the Exorcists had gathered their legs and ran away as fast as they could, onboard a nearby train leading to who knows where. The two Noahs looked on as their foes disappeared out of sight and out of range. Tyki sighed as he saw them run away. So close, yet because of Road's game, they couldn't just finish their mission fair and square.

"Game on, Exorcists…" murmured the tall, dark-skinned man.

Game on.


"Safe, for awhile…"

"Yeah."

Onboard the Corail Foix, Third Class – 14.10 PM

Allen was shuffling his cards calmly, assessing the people staring at his group. Robin fingered with his music box; the one that he always brought everywhere. Lavi whistled at any beautiful woman he saw, occasionally bearing a heart mark on his uncovered eye and a distinct 'STRIKE' sign on his green headband. As for Kristopher, he was busy noting their encounter with the Noahs.

It was a normal train ride; in fact, their first normal train ride since they became members of the Black Order. If summarised in a few words: it was an unpleasant one.

"Tell me again why we had to ride Third Class?" Lavi avoided a strong-looking man's glare after he had checked out yet another woman: his wife, apparently.

Kristopher answered, never averting his eyes from the folder in front of his eyes. "To win this so-called game of tag, we must lie low and not be found out."

Good point.


"Five minutes…" Tyki glanced at the large station clock and then at his companion.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Road smiled and pulled on her uncle's sleeve, dragging his reluctant form towards the ticket booth. Looking through the glass, she smiled at the unsuspecting ticket seller and asked a simple question.

"Excuse me, have you seen my brother?"

The man at the other side replied cheerfully. "If you can tell me what he looks like, I might know where he went."

Road grinned again and described a certain white-haired boy's features quickly, ending with a "He's always getting lost!"

"Oh, that strange boy?" He frowned slightly, trying to remember where the aforementioned 'brother' left. After a few seconds, he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the schedule.

"I think he bought a Third Class train heading towards Valence. If you board the Express Train, you might be able to catch up."

Road's eyes glittered with delight. "Then I'll have two First Class tickets, please!" She handed the money, took the tickets gratefully, and dashed towards Tyki, who was sitting on a wooden bench.

"Tyki! Let's hurry!" Road grabbed the man's sleeve again and dragged him, this time into a large, new train. All the while, Tyki wondered why he didn't just kill everyone there with his Tease to vent out his frustration.

And the Noah succumbs to the persuasive powers of a young girl. Bookman Junior, you should've noted this down…


"ACHOO!"

"Are you alright, Lavi?"

The red-head nodded and smiled.

"Someone must be talking about me!"

Hope it's not those two bastards…


Onboard the L'Express Maubeuge, First Class – 14.46 PM

Somewhere in a large and cosy cabin, Road and Tyki sneezed simultaneously.

"Bless you," they spoke in unison.


As the sun rose above the clouds, a small travelling group came to a halt. Their carriages were stationed in a lush field, just outside a bustling town. This place was to be their next performing location; music, dances, and circus acts. A very out-of-place man stomped annoyed towards a small brown tent, always on the lookout for a certain item he cherished the most.

Outskirts of a French town – 15.38 PM

"Kuso! Give me back my sword!"

A cheeky face grinned back nervously at the angry man. "Make me, stupid Japanese!"

Snap. "I'll kill you!" And the man lunged towards the young boy, who by now was running for his life.

It was one of those days that Kanda Yuu wanted nothing but to meditate and eat soba when he wanted. But no, some stupid Akuma had to copy him and leave him with these circus freaks.

"Adalyn, he's threatening me again!"

Another person came out of a larger tent and sighed at the scene unravelling in front of her eyes. She walked towards the younger of the two and snatched a long item from his hands.

"Pierrot, you can't go snatching people's weapons away!" She hit the child's head once before giving back Kanda's sword. "And you: don't go threatening little children like that!"

With a quick glare, he snatched Mugen and glared at Pierrot. "Tch…Baka."

"I heard that!" Pierrot (who conveniently knew some Japanese words from Raion) spun around once and smirked at the unsuspecting samurai. "Prepare to be tackled!" He ran towards him, only to be met by a piercing glare and a sword pointed dangerously towards his throat.

"Do you have a death wish, boy?" He was answered with a vigorous shake of the head. "Good. Now get out of my sight before I decide to kill you."

Pierrot shook his head again, but backed away quickly. "Nah! You're too fun to play with!"

"Why you…"

"Kanda! Stop threatening him again!"

"Tch…"

People from different sections of the circus stopped and stared at the humorous act, occasionally cheering on one of the two opposing sides. Except that those on Kanda's side must have a death wish.

"You two would make a great act in our next destination!" One of the spectators clapped his hands and averted his attention to Adalyn. "Why not dress him up as a sword dancer? He'd make a great addition to our team."

"What the –"

"That's a great idea, Rowan!" She nodded happily, ignoring the swear words and protests coming out of Kanda's mouth. "Would you like to do it, dear?"

"Hell no!" was all that he said before storming off into a nearby carriage.

"I knew he'd say that…"

Pierrot looked at the depressed woman, then at the invisible trail that Kanda left before. He smirked mischievously before tapping Adalyn's shoulder.

"I think I might have an idea."


Oh, no...now I have to think of the idea...

Footnotes and whatnot.

Corail Foix and L'Express Maubeuge: Trains that I kind of made up myself. Pardon my French, I know no French. At. All.

About Adalyn: Don't ask her last name, she doesn't have one.

Pierrot: Inspired by Allen's childhood in the circus. He's one of the performers in the Cirque Du Noir that was abandoned when he was a child.

Valence: Next town where stuff's going to happen. Again, just randomly taken from some random place. It's a fictional 18th (or 19th?) century world, people.

About the language: The station is international-ish. Even if it isn't, all the staff there are required to be able to speak English.

All OCs are not major characters. They will not have super powers or Innocence, no matter what I write in the story. And yes, all of the Cirque members can speak English due to major travelling.

Notes on other characters:

Allen has many talents, including smacking Link unconscious and dragging him to Komui so he can lock him. And if you're wondering why Link wasn't next to Allen when Robin came, well: Link's also human; he can't be there 24 hours all the time. His duties as a CROW member also counts.

And please recall that Cross is NOT dead yet, but Link is already with Allen. A bit confusing, but the General meeting in the comic - ah, manga, did occur, but after that Cross went away from the Order without resting first. So there you have it - valid story evidence that actually makes sense.

Notes on Kanda (again):

He's not so murderous, is he now? I hope I made him In-Character enough. After all, he can be civil towards others.

And you'll probably be able to guess what town he's near to now.

Notes on the Extra Take (a.k.a. Omake)

This is a reflection on what the Noahs think when the Exorcists say that Noahs will always kill Exorcists at sight.

They can be civil and normal (albeit slightly sadistic -ehemcoughRoad- and eccentric) as well.

---

Extra Take

---

We Noahs are not as bad as you think.

You think we kill for fun.

Well, we only kill because we have to.

And we have to kill people who are insignificant, weak, and a nuisance.

So, we kill people. So what?

It's not like there's a lot of us.

We won't destroy the whole human population or something like that.

We'll leave that matter to the Akumas.

And why do you hate the Earl? He's a fun person.

With a demented smile, bunny ears, and a gigantic fat body.

You say we hate the Exorcists?

They hated us first.

They wanted to kill us since, well, forever.

And we have to defend ourselves.

So, we kill them.

Innocence, you say? We destroy them.

Why? Because it hurts our inner Noahs.

They can kill us, so we prevent that from happening.

We have flaws as well.

We can live and love and share our thoughts as well.

We can think for ourselves. We're not mindless murderers.

We're also human, you know.

Just so much stronger and smarter than you.

---

21/6/09