Hi, something I want to say real quick! A9: Side Effects will be posted on December 24 and A10: Secrets will be posted on December 31. Basically Friday and not Saturday. This is because I don't feel like posting on Christmas and I don't want to post on New Years Day, both of which are on a Saturday. So... yea.
Selket, followed by a mutated Kevin, dashed up to the wooden pole, looking around the both naturally and unnaturally made fog. Selket's eye stocks looked in all directions while Kevin landed on the pole, letting his wings rest.
Selket suddenly dashed away as Bugcatcher pounced Kevin, bringing him to the ground. "Hey!" Kevin yelled before Bugcatcher spat a cloud of gas into Kevin's face. He coughed before becoming limp. Bugcatcher crawled off Kevin and back into the thick fog.
EightEight jumped down to Kevin tapped him with a metal stick, forcing Kevin awake. "Get up," EightEight gurgled as Kevin sat up.
"That is disguising," Kevin grimaced.
"What smells worse, Selket or that gas?" EightEight suggested. Kevin didn't answer as he stood up and flickered the bug wings. The Sotoraggian stepped back slightly as Kevin flew back into the air.
-()-
"Glad she's just dealing with the Wyrmlings and not all of us," Kacje commented, watching through the glass dome of the training ground. The tiny Nosedeenian was being held by them, its eyes focused on the fight.
"To be fair, being any species and being in a closed area with your natural predator would be scary," Jewir hummed, crossing his arms. An odd looking creature that appeared as a small, red armored humanoid with rocky cannon-like 'wings' and an electrical charge flowing through it stared at the field as well, its sapphire blue eyes shining more than usual. The sparkle seemed to have disappeared before a small, blue fish-like alien slapped it with its clothed tail.
"How long have they been at this?" the same fish alien asked, turning its tiny body towards the others.
"About… three minutes ago now," Kacje answered before a shrill screech was heard.
"Looks like… what did Cobra call the Lepidopterran form again?- well, whatever the pure Lepidopterran is called got caught," Jewir stated.
"I… believe Selket…?" Kacje said hesitantly. The Nosedeenian in their arms gave a chirp of approval.
"What does Selket mean?" the armored charged alien asked, only to let out a pained chirp as the fish-like slapped him again before falling into a silence.
"Thinking about it, why does Ani like Beu so much?" Kacje audibly wondered.
"No clue why the hybrids like each other," Jewir shrugged, lowering his arms.
"Hey! Not my fault Ani got his-" the armored charged alien started before snapping into silence.
"Oh yea, Ani is male. So are you. Weird," the fish-like alien hissed. Beu didn't reply.
"Isn't his name just the French word for beautiful, just masculine?" Jewir asked.
"That would be beau," the fish-like alien corrected.
"Bow…? And that means beautiful?" Kacje gawked.
"Don't look at me, I mostly only know English and Ickthyperatid," the fish alien replied. "I was originally going to grab French instead of English, so that's why I know about that."
"Ickthyperambuloids, I guess," Jewir shrugged when Kacje continued to stare at the fish alien.
…
A sharp flashing of red before the surge of the light made them look away as a deactivation noise was heard. The fog disappeared, being sucked away as a flash of green followed.
"Just gonna say how the weird maybe-human and Lepidopterran hybrid one was captured by the Buglizard more often than the one from that was made from the Omnitrix," Jewir commented.
"I think the Omnitrix wielder can be hyper focused at times," the marshmallow alien stated. "Just now, in the arena, she was hyper focused on watching her surroundings in watch of the Buglizard."
"Useful in a situation like this, but perhaps not in a real battle," the fish alien added.
A red skinned imp alien looked into the room through the door and asked, "Do any of you guys know what that weird thing just outside of Sparksville is?"
The group looked over to the imp, quiet. "What do you mean?" the marshmallow-like alien questioned.
"It's, like… uh… you know what humans use for camping that's made of cloth? That but larger," the imp answered, tail flicking slightly.
"Got no clue," Jewir replied as the others made odd, confused noises. "Maybe Malice, Tai, or one of the humans would know. Sorry we couldn't help, Allie."
The imp frowned before she nodded. "Kay. Thanks, anyways," Allie said before scattering off.
"... Odd," the fish alien eventually commented after a bit of silence. Kacje looked towards the trapdoor as it opened, EightEight climbing out. They backed away a bit, allowing her and the Wyrmlings to climb out.
EightEight gurgled something, though no one replied. A few seconds after EightEight finished, Rat said, "Sister Afri asked who was just here."
"Oh, Allie was asking about something," Jewir replied. "Something about some camping thing but larger."
"You mean a tent?" Cobra asked.
"Ah, that's the name of it. It escaped me," the marshmallow alien commented. The Wyrmlings followed, at the same time, with different reactions.
"There's a traveling circus?" Cobra cheerfully asked.
"A circus tent?" Crow asked, voice laced with confusion.
"T-The circus?" Rat stuttered.
"... Well, that answers Allie's question," the fish commented after a beat. The Nosedeenian in Kacje's arms wiggled out and zipped over to Crow. He stepped back slightly and the Nosedeenian causally decided to sit on his shoulder.
"Looks like Asani likes you, Crow," Kacje commented.
"And don't you dare laugh," Crow added, glancing towards Beu. The hybrid stared back at Crow with bored eyes. Cobra ran out of the room, ducking under Jewir's arm to do so. They watched as EightEight hissed something and ran after her, leaving the room as well.
"Right, she likes the circus," Rat muttered under his breath, shifting slightly. Beu lowered his 'wings' slightly and left the room, sapphire eyes a bit unfocused.
"I suppose she'll be busy with Cobra, correct?" the marshmallow alien asked, looking at Crow and Rat.
"Probably," Crow shrugged.
The pink cloaked alien sighed. "Do either of you want to join them?" it asked.
"Nope," Rat quickly answered.
"Nah. There's more interesting things in the world," Crow replied, lifting a hand to Asani. The small Nosedeenian stared at the hand before touching it with her own hand.
-()-
Gwen ran past Tai and an odd imp, the dino blinking a bit while the imp's tail flicked. The imp went to follow when EightEight followed after the Omnitrix wielder.
Gwen went outside and quickly noticed a circus tent just outside of Sparksville. A hand was put on her shoulder, making her look over to EightEight. The Sotoraggian glared at Gwen, despite her helmet and putting on her ID mask. EightEight moved slightly to face her directly before beginning to move her hands.
'Do not run off, for the love of god,' EightEight signed, the eyes of the African Wild Dog mask seemingly staring into her soul.
"I wanted to see what circus it is," Gwen answered as a humanoid dressed as a peregrine falcon came out.
"That's what that is?" the creature asked, causing Gwen to look at it.
"You haven't been to a circus before?" Gwen asked.
Peregrine-mask shrugged. "I don't know what a circus even is. I'm from Aul-Turrhen and there isn't a word that matches 'circus' in Fortran."
"Really? The circus is a group of traveling entertainers, like clowns and acrobats, who do performances wherever they stop to provide entertainment," Gwen explained. Peregrine-mask nodded a bit. EightEight gurgled something, causing the two to look at her in confusion.
"Do circuses normally look that… what's the word… dark, for a lack of a better term?" Peregrine-mask asked, looking back at the tent. Gwen looked over as well, the Omnitrix seemingly glowing slightly brighter.
"Typically, they're red and white, not grey and purple," Gwen answered. "Sister Afri, can I see what this circus is called?" The disguised Sotoraggian stared at her for a good few seconds, silent.
Peregrine-mask then added, "I can go with Cobra if that makes you feel any better, Afri-mask."
EightEight looked at Peregrine-mask before signing, 'Come back immediately after seeing what it is called.' She then hissed something under her breath.
"Ok, Sister Afri," Gwen nodded before she and Peregrine-mask started towards the tent.
As they walked, Peregrine-mask asked, "Why are these 'circus' things normally colored red and white?"
"I think just because they're vibrant colors," Gwen shrugged. "I'm Gwen."
"Name's Allie. I don't particularly like vibrant colors, I prefer more dull or dark colors, like pale rose and maroon," Peregrine-mask replied. "I guess it's because Aul-Turrhen is mostly ground and tech. Lots of browns, greys, colors like that."
"Really? How did that happen?" Gwen asked.
"Eh, before Planchakules were found by some Arburian Pelarotas, Aul-Turrhen was labeled as a planet for machine dumping," Allie answered.
"I'm guessing you guys have a knack for machinery then?" Gwen continued.
"Yup, though I'm not as bad as other Planchakules, all things considered. Especially compared to Patch, he's a complete idiot when it comes to not blowing stuff to junk," Allie added. "At least he's not in Sparksville."
Gwen nodded slightly as they stopped in front of a sign that hung off of pole and rope barriers. The Omnitrix wielder looked over the sign, reading it.
Suddenly, Allie chirped, "I can't read English, what does it say?"
"Zomobozo's Circus of Laughs," Gwen answered.
"... None of that translates into Fortran, should I be scared?" Allie deadpanned.
"Your language doesn't have 'laugh'?" Gwen gawked.
"That's what one of the words is? There isn't any other word for 'laugh' other than just…" Allie stopped slightly, tapped her mask, then squeaked something that roughly sounded like, "sisthen."
"... what?" Gwen blinked.
Allie tapped her mask again before saying, "The Fortran word for laugh. What's the difference between laugh and… whatever the word you said that was also laugh?"
"Oh, it was plural," Gwen explained.
"... How can an action be plural?" Allie questioned.
"English is weird like that," Gwen shrugged.
"Uh, when does it say it's happening?" Allie asked.
Gwen looked back at the sign before answering, "Three days from now at noon."
"That's a while," Allie commented. Gwen nodded and a beat followed. "Let's head back, I don't like the way that weird looking human is looking at us."
Gwen looked in the direction Allie was looking, seeing a bulky man with an odd fingernail-like plate on his forehead staring at them while its hands were paused on a cart. She blinked before replying, "Yea, sure." The duo went back, not noticing the man tilting his head at them.
-()-
He stared at the two oddly dressed humans as they walked away from the border.
"Thumbskull, hurry up!" a high pitched voice chirped from the tent. Thumbskull grunted in reply before pushing the cart into the tent.
The inside of the tent was currently mostly empty, with the exception of a few carts. He pushed the cart to be next to the one a slender female stood on top of. Said female had pale skin and vibrant orange hair with an orb at the end of each chunk.
Another man, with one eye sunk in and missing teeth, looked over as the cart stopped. "Why does the boss insist on bringing that in last?" their friend commented.
Thumbskull once again grunted as the lady replied, "Beats me, Acidbreath. Speaking of which, why'd you stall, Thumbskull?"
Thumbskull tilted his head in the direction of the town they stopped by.
"Got noticed?" Acidbreath asked. Thumbskull nodded, growling slightly.
"Oh joy~" the lady hissed.
"It isn't that big of a setback, Frightwig. Of anything, it may mean more will come," Acidbreath suggested. Thumbskull grunted something.
"Or someone might find us suspicious," Frightwig added, jumping down. "We're 'creepy' for goodness sake. Why else would Zombozo hire us to stick around?"
"And I don't see how freaky can be funny," Acidbreath added.
A sudden voice said, "The crazier it is, the more interest it'll get!" The three turned towards the voice, seeing a man dressed like a clown in darker colors. His bright orange hair was wild under the black top hat. "Besides, more emotions to devour!"
Acidbreath and Frightwig stared at Zombozo, nodding slightly. Thumbskull grunted after a few seconds, getting their attention before making a circle with one hand and making an odd shape with the other in front of one of the open spaces of the circle.
"He has a point," Frightwig shrugged. "This place is better than that weird… void… thing."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know that the agency was working on that gun portal thing?" Acidbreath countered.
"On the bright side," Zombozo started, the trio looking back to him, "we aren't getting caught like the times before the void."
"You… aren't wrong, boss," Acidbreath replied, tilting his head slightly.
Zombozo clapped his gloved hands together before chirping, "Well, let's finish this up so we can be on schedule!"
-()-
"Thanks, Feraska," Ben said, looking at the marshmallow alien.
Feraska looked at EightEight and stated, "If you need to do something, for the love of the Celestialsapiens make sure someone's there to make sure the Wyrmlings don't get into trouble."
"Hey," Kevin gawked. Gwen shrugged.
EightEight simply stared at Feraska before gurgling, "Very well. You three, come with me." She motioned for the trio to follow before walking away. Ben walked after her, followed by Gwen. Kevin glanced at Feraska, who sighed and floated away, before following the others.
"What now?" Gwen asked, coming up next to EightEight.
The Sotoraggian gurgled, "Since that counted as your break, we're continuing to train."
"Sister Afri said that we'll continue training," Ben restated, looking at his cousin.
"Fun," Kevin deadpanned.
…
Alke jumped to the side, avoiding the web shot from Hexadeca. She growled at the Spideros, staring into its sixteen eyes. Hexadeca let out a sharp screech, a different tone from each mouth, lifting up his front legs, the right one being higher than the other. He jumped towards Alke, the Tetramand shifting a leg back and watching. The left leg slammed down on her escape path before the right leg swung down upon her. Alke's hands went up and barely caught the leg just before it hit her, growling slightly as she held up the leg.
Hexadeca lowered his heads, the lower head's eyes seemingly staring into her soul. Alke didn't seem to notice, focused on the leg nearly ready to crush her. The upper head smiled before lifting up the right leg. Alke's eyes widened, just before Hexadeca slammed her to the ground. The lower head came down to her.
A bolt crashed into his side, causing Hexadeca to falter and step away. Alke stood and ran towards Kevin as Hexadeca shook both heads. Hexadeca turned towards the duo before letting out a similar two-toned screech, lifting up both heads.
"What are you, scared?" both of Hexadeca's heads asked, stepping towards the duo.
Alke clenched her lower hands as Kevin lifted up a hand, electricity jumping around it. A grin broke on Kevin's face before he stated, "Why should I?"
Hexadeca rushed towards the duo, but suddenly stopped when EightEight dropped in. Kevin groaned, lowering his hand. Alke breathed, unclenching her hands and standing up straight.
The Sotoraggian looked towards Alke before signing, 'You become too hyper focused. If you weren't saved, in the wild, you would be dead.' Alke looked away, golden eyes looking towards the wall. EightEight then turned to Hexadeca and gurgled, "Hold yourself back, would you?"
Hexadeca stared at EightEight as both symbols began to flash. Alke and Hexadeca transformed back to normal. Ben replied, "You said to follow the form's instincts more, so I did."
EightEight stared at Ben before lifting a hand, then dropping it. She turned towards Kevin and chirped, "Be more aware of your teammate. In a real situation, you would want to save them as quickly as possible."
Kevin stared at EightEight, causing Ben to relay, "Pay more attention." The human scoffed, crossing his arms.
"What's next?" Gwen asked, looking back to the others. The Sotoraggian was silent for a moment as Kevin released a small bolt towards the watches.
EightEight eventually signed, 'You use speed lizard. Crow will not transform.' She turned to Ben and gurgled, "You become Dracula." The duo nodded before activating the watches.
Gwen stalled slightly and turned to Kevin, "Afri said that you won't transform." Kevin shrugged as a red light surrounded Ben.
"Dracula!" the vampire-like alien proclaimed, the light disappearing. A green light quickly followed.
When the light disappeared, Kleodora stood. "Really? Kleodora?" Kleodora commented, looking at the Omnitrix's symbol.
"The time you didn't want Kleodora, you became Kleodora. The time you wanted Kleodora, you didn't become Kleodora. Weird," Kevin commented.
"Probably pure coincidence," Kleodora replied.
"Welp," Dracula hummed, tilting his head towards EightEight. The Sotoraggian sighed.
"Does the Predatrix even mistransform?" Kleodora questioned, looking back and forth between Dracula and EightEight.
"Hasn't happened to me yet," Dracula answered as EightEight shrugged.
She then gurgled, "Dracula, fly up to the ceiling." He nodded before doing so, the other three watching.
"So… what are we doing?" Kevin asked.
Dracula looked down from his place on the ceiling, muttering, "This robe sucks for this."
EightEight turned to Kleodora and Kevin before signing, 'Try to attack vampire with projectiles. He will dodge. Start when I make a signal. If he is hit, stop.' Kleodora nodded while Kevin just blinked. The Sotoraggian looked up at Dracula and gurgled, "Dodge the projectiles they throw at you."
"Joy," Dracula whispered, nodding slightly.
EightEight lifted a hand and looked towards Kleodora. She nodded, causing Kevin to chirp, "I would like to be in the loop, please." No one answered him as the Sotoraggian lowered her hand.
Immediately, Kleodora launched three sharp, crystalline projectiles at Dracula. Kevin smiled as Dracula managed to dodge said projectiles. He followed up with a bolt of electricity being shot towards the vampire. Dracula randomly shapeshifted into a small bat, flying out of the way of the bolt.
Either Kleodora didn't care or managed to hide her emotions excellently, but the other two flinched at the change. "What the hell?" Kevin questioned as Kleodora threw more crystals at Dracula.
"That doesn't help…" EightEight hissed.
-(…)-
The disguised Spring Florauna stared at the odd clown, the clown's seemingly soulless eyes staring into him. "Why are you here," he simply stated.
"We just wanted to perform here, bring entertainment to this dreary town," the clown said, taking off the top hat- huh, a full head of hair- and bowing a performer's bow.
The Florauna stared at the clown as it stood back to its full height. He informed, "By law, you need to have planned this with the city at least five months in advance. As the mayor of Sparksville, I never got knowledge of any of this."
"Can't we have this one show, then we'll be out of your hair!" the clown smiled, clasping its hands together and leaning forwards a bit.
The clown met his eyes, plantish blue meeting dead grey. He then said, "If you aren't gone by midnight tonight, I have ways to get you away from Sparksville."
The clown stared at him in blank shock as he turned and walked away. He ignored the clown's sputtering, taking out his phone as he did so.
He entered back into the mayoral building, ripping off his ID mask once the door was closed. He lifted up the phone to his ear and waited.
A few seconds passed before a voice said, "What came up, Thornapple?"
"Can the Wyrmlings take care of some clowns who probably won't leave by midnight?" he asked. An odd silence passed before a roaring laugh came over the phone. Thornapple smiled, his single eye becoming sharp.
"Drive 'em out of the town," the voice confirmed.
"Will do, Dragua," Thornapple nodded.
…
EightEight looked towards the odd tent, still seeing it standing as the moon hung over it. "Get on your ID masks," Thornapple said, lifting his ID mask to mess with it. The Wyrmlings followed, the soulless eyes of the African Wild Dog mask turning to face Thornapple. The Spring Florauna put on the ID mask, covering his body in a humanoid shark appearance.
"So… what now?" Crow asked, fake golden eyes looking at Thornapple. Thornapple motioned for them to follow before going over to a door. The Florauna opened the door, revealing a ladder and climbing up. Cobra and Rat glanced at each other before Rat went to follow. Crow went after, then Cobra and EightEight.
They came to the roof of the building. EightEight looked around under the moonlight, seeing the rest of the town was sleepy and silent.
"See that over there? That circus thing?" Thornapple started, pointing towards the tent. The quartet looked over at it. "They need to get out and they haven't yet."
"But why the name of Kindog are we doing this at moonpoint?" EightEight asked.
"What's a moonpoint?" Rat blinked.
"Another word for midnight," Thornapple said. His focus turned towards EightEight and he stated, "I threatened them."
EightEight was silent.
"So… we just need to drive them out of town?" Cobra asked.
"Basically," Thornapple shrugged. "Do what you need to do so."
EightEight nodded before gurgling, "Wyrmlings, follow me." She then turned and walked to the edge of the roof.
"Er… Sister Afri said to follow her," Rat repeated. Thornapple scoffed slightly as the Wyrmlings did so, though they stalled when EightEight just dropped off. He turned around and went back into the building.
-()-
EightEight looked up as Kevin followed off first, grabbing the pipe slightly before dropping to the ground. Ben went next, simply deciding to go down using the pipe. As he touched the ground, Gwen looked at the trio like they were crazy.
"We don't have all night," Kevin pointed out when Gwen didn't move. She shifted slightly before trying to do the same thing as Ben. However, her grip slipped and she fell. EightEight quickly dashed over and caught her before he landed on the ground.
"S…Sorry, Sister EightEight," Gwen breathed as the Sotoraggian put her on the ground. EightEight nodded before she stood up and looked towards the other two. Kevin just blinked while Ben was staring at the two.
EightEight looked towards Gwen and signed, 'You will be fine. Get up.' She looked at Ben and gurgled, "She'll be fine. Let's go." Gwen pushed herself up as EightEight began to walk away. Kevin quickly followed, Ben stalling slightly for Gwen before the two cousins did so as well.
They came to the pole and rope border around the tent, silent. EightEight looked at the tent before pulling out a talon. She looked towards the Wyrmlings and said, "Ben, transform into Belltail." EightEight then signed, 'Cobra, transform into ghost.' The duo nodded before going to the watches.
Gwen stalled slightly before asking, "What about Kevin?" EightEight just shrugged. A red light shined and in Ben's place was an Anurian Shadow.
"Belltail…" he hissed, floating off the ground slightly. Gwen blinked slightly before lifting up the Omnitrix and activating it. After a few seconds of turning the dial, she pressed down and green light bursted from around her.
The light faded and she autotunely chirped, "Again? Really?" When the light was finally gone, it was revealed she transformed into Theia.
"Wow, it really doesn't like you, huh?" Kevin commented. Theia turned and effectively glared at him.
EightEight simply stared before turning to Belltail and nodding. Belltail stalled slightly before slashing down on the rope barrier, letting the now unconnected ropes fall to the ground. He flew over to the tent itself, but stalled once more.
EightEight stared slightly at the nervous display before gurgling, "Check to see if those… clowns are near." Belltail nodded slightly before floating towards the tent again and fading from sight.
The Sotoraggian came up to where Belltail faded, followed by Kevin and Theia. A good minute passed before Belltail came back to visibility next to them.
The Anurian Shadow wisped, "They're gathered at the center. I couldn't understand what they were saying."
"Did you see any machines?" Theia asked.
Belltail was silent for a moment before answering, "Only one, also near the center."
EightEight nodded before she looked at Theia and Kevin. She signed, 'Are you ready?'
"I guess?" Theia replied.
"What did she say?" Kevin asked.
EightEight looked towards Belltail and said, "Go to the other side and start a fire to distract them." Belltail nodded before fading from visibility.
Theia waited until Belltail disappeared before replying, "She asked if we're ready."
"Hell yeah," Kevin smirked.
EightEight nodded before going over to the tent and kneeling. Kevin and Theia joined her as she took the talon and ripped a hole in the tent. She looked inside, seeing the four clowns in a gathering at the center, like Belltail said.
She spotted smoke behind one of the carts on the other side, but the clowns didn't seem to notice. EightEight blinked slightly as Theia slid under her, effectively becoming a moving puddle.
One of the clowns, the one with the sunken eye suddenly sniffed the air and said something. The female clown and the hat wearing one gained confused looks while the largest looked around. The largest one then made an odd noise and pointed towards the smoke. The other three looked towards where the largest was pointing.
The cart caught on fire, causing the hat wearing one to tilt its head while the largest and the other male went towards the fire. She waited until one of them reached the cart, in which Belltail snapped back to existence and slashed at the other male. The largest roared as the female made a mad dash towards them and the hat wearing one freaked.
EightEight took out her other talon and ripped a hole in the tent and stepped through. Kevin quickly followed, the tent ripping more as he launched a bolt towards the dark ringleader.
-()-
"You guys smell that?" Acidbreath randomly mentioned, lifting his head up.
"What do you mean?" Frightwig questioned as Zombozo tilted his head and Thumbskull looked around.
Thumbskull then grunted and pointed towards the carts. Frightwig, Acidbreath, and Zombozo turned towards where their friend was pointing. Smoke bellowed from behind one of the carts. Zombozo opened his mouth, but no noise came out as the cart suddenly erupted into flames.
"Excuse me?" Zombozo questioned as Acidbreath and Thumbskull approached the cart.
"Did we leave anything flammable over there?" Acidbreath asked. Thumbskull shrugged.
"… I don't get it," Frightwig commented.
Suddenly, a black dragon-headed ghost appeared and slashed at Acidbreath. The acid-making man screeched, but it was easily covered by Thumbskull's roar.
"Never mind," Frightwig growled as she dashed over.
"What in the name of Tartusus?!" Zombozo chirped.
The wisp let out a horrid screech, smoke pouring out of its mouth and its tail flicking around. A bell sounded from the end of its tail as it flicked. Thumbskull went to punch it, but the fist just went through the wisp's body. Frightwig lashed her whip-like hair at it, but it went through just like the fist. Acidbreath stumbled back as the wisp flew around the trio.
Zombozo growled and tried to step towards the scene, but was stopped when a bolt struck him. He yelped in pain before he and Acidbreath turned towards where the bolt came from.
A crow dressed human jumped forward, releasing another bolt towards Zombozo as a dog-looking animal dressed human stared at them holding two odd daggers. Zombozo managed to dodge the bolt, but he gained a mad grin.
"Well, well, well," Zombozo hummed. He glanced at the trio, seeing a wall of fire and smoke separating Acidbreath from the other two. Acidbreath saw the newcomers and began towards them. Zombozo returned his attention to the dog dressed one, the crow immediately went towards Acidbreath.
The dog ran towards him, gurgling something unintelligible. Zombozo pulled out a mallet from who knows where and his grin seemed to grow. He jumped off the machine and faced the dog dressed one.
"Looks like there's someone here to ruin our party," Zombozo stated, the dog dressed one coming to a stop.
It seemed to tilt its head at him, gurgling something.
Thumbskull roared again, ignoring the smoke surrounding him. He punched towards the ghost again, but it just laughed as the hit never landed. The wisp continued to laugh as Frightwig whipped her hair-whips at it.
Acidbreath stared at the crow before breathing in and releasing a breath of acid. The crow backed up, said something in… English he wanted to say- he never learned English- before launching a bolt of lightning at him. He ducked under the volt as his mind filtered what this person could do.
Zombozo smiled as he dashed towards the dog dressed one. The dog sidestepped as he swung the mallet down, causing the mallet to crash into the ground. The dog promptly kicked him in the face, seemingly furred boot feeling like metal. Zombozo stumbled back, yanking the mallet out of the ground. He growled and lifted his mallet.
That's when the machine he jumped off of suddenly began to move.
-()-
Theia glanced between the hat wearing clown and the machine, spotting Kevin in a match with the fog breathing one and Belltail ringing circles around the last two clowns. She lifted herself to the machine and melted into it. Her liquid body quickly covered the machine, swiftly followed by her moving the machine to better fit what she wished to do.
The hat wearing clown turned and yelled something in Japanese, causing the other three clowns to look over. The one Kevin was fighting yelled out something while Belltail slammed his bell on the head of the female clown. Theia looked at the hat wearing one, gaining its attention as Theia finished making her modifications.
The upgraded machine jumped from its post, landing on four mechanical legs. The many tubes of the machine were now whipping around like crazy, kicking up dirt. The pale tan of the machine was replaced with a mechanical black with many wire-like green, glowing lines. Theia put her face on the end of one of the tentacle-tubes and looked at the hat wearing one.
EightEight quickly dashed out of the way as Theia began to crawl towards the hat wearing clown as the machine. It turned to face her before yelling in English, "What are you doing with my Psyclown machine?!" Theia didn't reply, simply staring at the clown.
Kevin regained the attention of the fog creating one via striking it with a bolt. It turned towards him, before EightEight suddenly dashed up behind it and pinched something on the clown's shoulder. The fog breathing clown froze before collapsing to the floor.
"What the…" Kevin blinked before EightEight moved towards the largest clown.
Belltail flew around the buff man, bell ringing and intangibility focused. The man growled and kept trying to punch him, but it always faded through him. He laughed slightly to keep the large clown's attention on him, glancing slightly at EightEight. He continued to do so until the man collapsed due to EightEight.
Belltail and EightEight looked over at Theia, Kevin, and the last clown. The hat wearing clown kept jumping around and dodging their attacks. The tentacles on Theia's altered machine thrashed about, continually reaching out to the clown but always missing. Kevin kept throwing bolts, but he soon stopped to breathe.
EightEight ran over to help Theia while Belltail floated over to Kevin. "Are you alright?" Belltail wisped.
"I'll be fine," Kevin breathed. "Just drained. Literally."
Belltail nodded slightly before turning towards the other two. He couldn't see EightEight due to the machine Theia took over thrashing about.
Just then a harsh beeping came from the Predatrix. Belltail froze up as the timeout happened and he was forced back to normal. He scattered back towards Kevin as a beeping from the Omnitrix sounded as well.
A red light flashed and the machine crashed and crumbled to the floor, blue lights suddenly rushing out of it with chirps of happiness. The clown suddenly laughed, ignoring the blue lights dashing away from the scene.
The clown dashed towards the edge of the tent, EightEight running after it. The clown then randomly turned around and snapped his fingers.
Ben froze as the area around him changed to a closed off room full of odd mirrors. He looked at them, seeing nothing until the clown made itself clear.
The clown grinned and announced, "I am Zombozo the Clown! Welcome to my Circus of Laughs! Let's see how much you can take!" A hellish laugh followed, spiking the fear within him.
Kevin tried to kick at one of the mirrors, but suddenly he was in a dark void. He stepped back slightly before a storm of wind filled it up, the view turning into clouds. He looked around, silent. The wind roared, shifting into a beastly bee-spider-shark thing and staring at him. Kevin stared back for a moment before reaching into what little energy he had left and throwing a bolt at it. When it touched the beast, it faded from existence and seemed to ignore it entirely. The beast whipped and roared around him as he watched it, fist clenched.
EightEight blinked and looked around. A roaring bark of a Sotoricity caused her to turn around and she froze. A teen Sotoricity, still having the shoulder bolts but already traded most of the fur for scales, struck and seemingly killed a young Sotoraggian. The other young one cried out something that her mind refused to register. The older two Sotoraggians yelled something before the oldest Sotoricity, practically a dragon, destroyed a container containing some sort of liquid. The liquid spilled onto the smaller of the older Sotoraggians as a much younger Sotoricity jumped onto the other older one- oh dear Celestialsapiens she recognized this. It almost felt like those chains were wrapped around her now while SixSix screeched in utter pain while a Sotoricity tore apart ThreeThree and another killed NineNine. She could almost hear FourFour crying at her, asking if everything will be ok while TwoTwo cowered next to herself.
Gwen shook her head and pushed up the metal piece, climbing out of the machine. "Ow…" she hissed before planting her feet on the ground looking at the others. She blinked, confusion riddling her. Ben was curled up into a ball, Kevin was seemingly staring at something that wasn't there, and EightEight seemed scared of something.
Zombozo chuckled slightly, ignoring Gwen and walking over to where Ben laid. He lifted a hand over the boy before Ben began to thrash and a blue light began to drain from his body. Gwen's eyes went wide, a hand whipping towards the Omnitrix.
"How dare you!" she screamed, causing the clown to stop and look towards her. The Omnitrix suddenly and randomly flashed green and she activated it.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Zombozo stated, a hungry grin across his face.
She slammed down on the watch and a green light surrounded her. Her skin seemed to fizzle away, her bones growing to replace what was lost. One of her eyes faded out while she blinked the other a few times before it became a piercing bright magenta. An odd cloth surrounded her while the Omnitrix reformed over where her heart would've been in Human form while the bronze necklace formed soon afterwards.
"STYX!" she loudly proclaimed once the light faded, immediately tearing the fingers of the outer skin to reveal sharp talons.
Zombozo raised a brow, but was quickly slashed at by Styx, causing him to yelp and back away. Kevin and EightEight suddenly snapped back into reality, looking around a bit before noticing Styx, Zombozo, and Ben. While Kevin simply observed the happenings, EightEight rushed over to Ben and picked up the child.
Ben blinked rapidly before hiding his face in EightEight arms. She held him close, continuously looking between him and the one sided fight Styx was winning.
The Ectonurite clawed at the clown, tearing his outfit and managing to rip part of his skin. Zombozo growled and tried to bark something, but Styx just struck again. He backed away, growling.
"What abomination are you?!" Zombozo yelled.
"Aw~ Don't tell me you're scared of little old GHOSTFREAK?" Styx chirped in sudden laughter, eye seemingly flickering to purple for a moment.
"I mean, she is kind of a ghost freak right now, so Styx is accurate," Kevin shrugged.
Zombozo fumed. "I thought your quirk was that techno blob thing! How the h-" Zombozo ranted before being clawed by Styx once more.
Styx laughed before saying, "You want to fear? Well, taste some!" She suddenly tore off the rest of the second skin, revealing the freak underneath. A robe-dress thing covered her from her shoulders down to the tail, where it then ripped off to show a striped tentacle tail. Her neck, arms, and hands were bone and long, while her head was an upside down skull with a single eye socket. Tentacles spilled out of her chest, thrashing and twitching. Around the Omnitrix was ripped second skin, but it seemed to stay, unlike the rest. An odd dark blue, almost magic-like aura surrounded Styx as she stared at Zombozo.
He screamed, the clown's voice piercing the air around them. She lifted a sharp hand and slashed down. Zombozo scattered back as the slash hit him, a hand covering his eye.
"Can I help?" Kevin randomly asked.
"Go right ahead," Styx grinned.
EightEight turned away, focusing on Ben. It almost seemed like the emotion and energy that was in him was taken away from the boy. He seemed cold, but unable to move very well.
An odd popping noise came from behind her and she turned her head. Zombozo was gone as blue light spilled from what was left. One of the lights flew over to Ben, sinking back into him. Ben gasped, harshly flinching and trembling slightly.
"… Well that happened," Kevin clicked.
"Ben, are you alright?" EightEight gurgled as Ben shifted and pushed himself out of her arms.
"I-I'm alright," Ben muttered, standing up. EightEight stood up as well and looked again at Kevin and Styx.
…
Acidbreath groaned, pushing himself up and looking around. A grumbling groan from Thumbskull caused him to look over at him. "Thumbskull? You alright, buddy?" Acidbreath questioned. Frightwig shifted, a hand on her head while she ignored him.
Acidbreath stood up and looked around. He blinked, not recognizing where he was. The clown looked around. The tent and random objects were stuffed in different rickety, burnt boxes. They were dumped in some sort of cave near some sort of river.
"Great," Acidbreath deadpanned. A sharp, buzzing noise sounded as the sun hung brightly in the sky.
Ushindi: That's for me to know and you to find out :) As for Heroes United, it's cool.