Finally! Another chapter! Read on! (Same disclaimers apply…yada…yada…..review!)
Chapter 10
The circus had run its course right up to intermission. During that time, the extra hands had set up glass panels around the entire ring so that you could see in, but whatever act was going to be in there wouldn't be going out into the crowd.
Inside the ring were several rows of low hurdlers, starting by the entrance panel, and set up in an 'S' form. Then there were five or six high hurdlers near the crowd, located by the back door where the artist would leave the ring. In between was a high pole with a diving board on it. A rope ladder hung to the ground. It was a very odd setup altogether, and it put the audience on edge.
Duo leaned over and whispered to the rest of the group, "What's next? What act is that?" They shushed him, as the ringmaster had just walked out, on the crowd side of the glass.
"And now, the moment you've been waiting for…our main attraction, our master gymnast Trowa Barton and the trained tiger Duchess!" The announcer shouted, with even more emphasis then usual.
The audience cheered, especially a group of couples in the VIP Chairs. All were expectant of the act, as it was well publicized. The entrance door was opened by Dakota; clad in a leotard with a short skirt around it, she looked beautiful. Her hair was done up in a bun; curls hung around it. Trowa walked out of the curtains bare chested and clad in light blue gymnastics pants. There was also a strip of athletic tape around his feet for support. Dakota winked at Trowa for luck, and shut the door behind him.
He did a double back flip to the middle of the ring and took a bow. While the audience was busy clapping, no one noticed the tiger that was walking slowly to the door. They jumped when the tiger pounced, landing just behind Trowa.
While the people watching were not prepared for this, the man in the ring was. He sprung and did back flips over all the little hurdles, the tiger close behind in a full lope. Trowa reached the rope ladder before the beast, grabbing in and swinging himself up and around it to stand backwards at the top, waiting.
Duchess roared when she realized she could not reach the man. Snarling, all of the fur on her long neck stood up in anger. By chance, or well planned acting, her large paw just happened to step on a concealed lever, switching it to active.
Up out of the basement sprung a large set of spiral stairs, leading up to the diving platform that Trowa was standing on, tensed and waiting. By this time, the act was in far enough so that he could not focus on the audience. The tiger was supposed to attack if she could, so if he messed anything up from here on, he could be in real danger.
Seeing the stairs, the tiger roared again, clawing her way up them. Her claws dug easily into the plywood, and only once did the boards threaten to break. At the top, she stopped her mad dash. Now she crept ever so slowly towards her target, knowing he could not safely step off the end of the long diving board.
Trowa watched the tigress with a cool eye. He began to slowly back up as she approached him. With his feet half-off the board, he began to sway up and down, pretending to be losing his balance. Meanwhile the crowd gasped as the tiger crept ever closer.
A black piece marked the place that Duchess would cross before Trowa leapt.
Muscles tensed, she was ready to spring.
His eyes were riveted to the tape, and the tiger perched so near it.
A loud growl met the air as the tiger touched the black tape, stretching her muscles and springing at him. At the same time, he used the animal's momentum to spring himself high into the air and into a series of animated twists to the ground.
Trowa reached the ground a second after the tiger, and cursed softly to himself. She was already running towards him, having landed farther away from the board then he did. Because of this, he didn't have time to pause before leaping away in quick back handsprings.
More hurdlers awaited him ahead, and he picked up speed, pushing off harder and getting more height to get off and over the hurdlers. The tiger ran alongside, swatting at him if he veered too close to her.
Nearing the end of the act now, and facing the most difficult part yet, he prayed to the God that Ralara believed in that he would be able to do his best. Next were the six foot double hurdlers.
Duchess closed in, jumping through the high hurdlers after him. The tiger saw the end as well, and couldn't wait for the snack that Dakota had waiting behind the steel exit door that was beginning to open. However, she also knew that if Trowa missed his jump, she was trained to attack, so the audience would be in even more suspense to see if he could escape. She wouldn't kill him, of course, but humans did seem terribly affected by those large claws, especially on an unprotected chest and abdomen area.
Springing over the last hurdler, Trowa hit ground one last time before springing with all his might. He flew eight feet into the air, twisting twice and landing on top of the exit door, which led to Duchess' cage.
The tiger ran into the cage, her momentum being too strong to stop herself. Trowa slammed the cage door down, silencing her agonizing growl at being caught off guard and missing her prey.
Standing up, the sweat covered man turned to the audience and bowed. There was a great cheer, like all of the acts combined into one. Clapping and cheering, the audience began to stand up. "A standing ovation…on my first performance….wow….thank you God." He murmured a quick prayer of thanks to whatever deity that Ralara had so much faith in.
Dakota came out of a side door in the glass and offered her hand for Trowa to take. He grasped her wrist and pulled her up on to the cage with him. The announcer's voice boomed over the clapping,
"Ladies and gentlemen, Trowa Barton, Duchess the tigress, and her trainer, Dakota Slayer!"
Ever act after that was almost monotone compared to the awe from the Tigress Act. Certainly, the audience applauded, but they didn't pay much attention. All went home that night, still replaying the scene in their minds, enjoying every minute of it.
Back at the Gundam Apartments…
"Dude Trowa, that was so awesome, I mean really, that was really SO cool!" Trowa just rolled his eyes at the braided one's comments. Duo's mouth had been running from the time he'd seen Trowa till now.
"Look, Duo, I know it was great. I enjoyed it too. But I could have done better. And I'm really very tired now, okay? I think I'll go to bed now. I gotta get up in the morning." He explained quietly. Duo looked up at him and smiled.
"Okay." And with that, he strolled into the other room with Sky and sat on the couch, turning on the tube watching some strange Japanese anime rerun.
Ignoring everyone's bulging eyes and shocked expressions, he nodded once at them and walked upstairs to his room. Dakota, Heero, and several others soon followed him, tired from the long day.
Heero, however, couldn't sleep. Looking begrudgingly at his wheelchair, he snarled at it and got in. Using his now-healed arms to push himself, he rolled downstairs.
He was surprised to find that while Duo was still up, Sky was no where to be seen. Ignoring the Sailor Moon* rerun, he sat down on the couch by his best friend.
"Where's Sky?" He asked quietly, startling the boy who had been so absorbed in the T.V. he hadn't noticed anyone come in.
"Oh, she went to bed a while ago. I stayed up to finish the episode. It's a special." He explained.
"Oh." Was his only short remark. I….I don't think I've really done this much. Sit down here with my friends and watch Tv. I wonder….
"Duo?" He asked again.
The long-haired pilot turned to look at him, surprised that he would comment on anything. He never did. Course, he never had amnesia before either…"Yeah, what?"
"Did I ever do this before?"
Now it was Duo's turn to be confused. "Do what before?"
"Sit here and watch t.v. It doesn't…s…eem right." He stuttered a bit over the last bit of his sentence, angrily scolding himself for it.
"No….I don't think you probably did…" He said quietly. A thought sprung to mind at Heero's shocked eyes. Who'd think that he'd ever be shocked to hear that about himself?
"You know Duo…." He said as he got up again, ready now to go to bed, "I don't think I ever want all my memories back. I think I'd hate myself too much. Maybe this is my chance….to make up for everything I've been told I've done. Maybe there is a God, Duo….just maybe."
