Looking around with his pupil less eyes, Kurt took a large gulp. He was
nervous. For more than one reason.
Pyro stood about ten feet in front of him, with a small match flickering in his hand. He was also shirtless. Smaller than some of the enormous men who helped out around the circus, John underplayed how nice of a body he had because he wasn't as massive as guys like the Strong Man.
Kurt decided he liked his guys a little thinner. He remembered the times he and John had spent together, first out of necessity, then out of something more.
"Okay Kurt, remember, the fire can't hurt ya, all right?" John concentrated and the fire crawled over the match and his hand, down his body to the ground. It collected there in a small pile before spreading slowly around Kurt, who stood stock-still. His tail thrashed around behind him, and he clenched his fists and dug his toes into the ground. He wanted to close his eyes and port away, but he knew he shouldn't. John was going to help him, he had to trust him.
"Kurt, your instincts are telling you to do something. If you let them control you...how about we not think about that." Pyro turned the fire down a bit, letting it crawl around the Nightcrawler like a snake in the grass. It completed the firey ring, before growing bolder and taller as it's master relaxed his hold.
Kurt felt his chest moving faster, his heart pounding in his ears. He was afraid. But he wasn't sure why. He knew he should be afraid of fire, but he'd been in countless battles with explosions, and he'd grown up around fire in the circus. After he had been rescued from being burned alive by John, he had had terrible nightmares, but only for the first few nights.
John raised the fire, keeping the temperature so low that it couldn't even light the grasses it crawled over. He slowly contracted the circle around Kurt, letting it go from ten feet away from the mutant, to seven, then to five. His tail began to thrash more wildly, and he had one eye closed, panting heavily. Run. Hide. Attack. Run. Attack. Run.
The panic grew inside Kurt's mind, and soon he fell to his knees, letting out a soft whimper of struggle.
"What are your instincts telling you to do Kurt?" He heard Pyro's voice yell through all the others in his head. Those annoying voices which never made words. He tried to make them stop, focused only on the redhead approaching him through the fire.
John knelt next to Kurt, and placed his hands softly on the edgy boy's head. He forced the fires to again calm, hoping that this would calm his friend down as well. Pyro closed his eyes, and felt inside Nightcrawler's mind. Being a pyrokenetic was different than some mutations, because fire itself had the closest thing to a mind as any element. It raged, it followed it's own path, and to completely control fire, John had to be able to communicate with it's very essence. He could send the fire, the images and memory of the flames within Kurt's mind. Most stemmed from his near death, and the faces of the villagers were becoming embodied in Kurt's memories. In his mind, he wasn't able to think rationally, his instincts took over. Fear, anger, and vengeance were all that his instinctual self could feel.
John quickly extinguished the fires around him, feeling their disappointment as they were snuffed out. The shivering mutant in front of him seemed to calm down, and slowly rose to his feet.
"Sorry." He stretched out, brushing off the invisible dirt that he had gotten on himself. Shaded white eyes focused on the rocks beneath his feet as they shuffled around.
"Kurt, you did fine. It's just that....your instincts are out of whack buddy. You went psycho because you get angry and want to kill when you think about fire."
Pyro wrapped his arm around Kurt and the two began to walk towards the trailers.
"If you want....you can stay with me tonight....and I can help you with your problem."
"How could you?" Kurt stared up at him, trying to keep his eyes from wandering down the boy's chest, which he was pressed quite tightly against.
"Well, if you have a nightmare involving fire, I'll be able to talk to you in your sleep. Kind of. The fire will talk to you." Kurt's jaw hung open, and somewhere under his coat of fur, all the color in his face drained away.
"Why does this not sound like such a good idea?"
"Don't worry about it man. It'll go fine." The two approached where all the changing room trailers were and the circus performers milled about them. The fortuneteller smiled her crooked grin at Kurt and nodded to him before sitting down to begin her fortune telling. The other performers, with suits and jackets over their costumes, went to the front of the circus to sell tickets and admit entrance to the crowd which was slowly forming. A man in a top hat and red coat stepped out of the trailer. His large bushy brown beard made him seem wild and burly.
"Why, if it isn't the Nightcrawler? Where'd you find him John?"
"He followed me home. Can I keep him? Please?"
Kurt pouted and playfully smacked at John. Stepping up to the ringmaster, Kurt smiled. No one here shrunk away in fear of him. They even dared to joke with him. The X-Men were kind to him, and he knew that they didn't look down on him for being a mutant, but instead they walked on eggshells around him. He hated it.
"The return of the amazing Nightcrawler. Come on boss, we'll sell out this town."
Kurt stared at John. 'What?'
"Alright Kurt. Suit up. We'll put you in as the closing act, after John. Just do the old routine, and if you forget something just improvise, no one will notice." The ringmaster strode off, heading for the big top to check on his first few acts. Poking his head this way and that, he also managed to check every single stand and ensure that it was ready for the hungry customers.
Putting a hand on the middle of the shorter boy's back, John forced him through the door and into the trailer. "Come on Kurt. Time to get you ready for show time."
Kurt's eyes adjusted quickly to the dark and cramped trailer. The male acrobats were all still inside the trailer, putting on their spandex and specially made shoes. They were all knew to the circus, they had entered after Kurt's disappearance. And still, the arrival of the blue fuzzy demon boy didn't faze any of them. They went on about their business, a few giving him polite smiles and hellos.
"Here ya go." A pair of pants were rudely thrown into Kurt's face.
"Hey!"
"I hope you haven't put on any weight Kurt. That costume has to still fit."
Taking the pants and attachments off of his head, Kurt walked over to an empty part of the trailer. He wondered why his costume hadn't been thrown out when it became obvious that he wasn't coming back. Shrugging off the thought until later, Kurt stared at the daunting task of getting into his old leather pants.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Thanks a lot. I'll meet you around 8." Kitty slammed the phone down on the hook and ran through the kitchen wall out into the foyer. A few of the X- Men were milling about and trying to find something interesting to do on their Saturday.
"Hey guys! I just got a call from Jean. She was out with Duncan and found out that there's a circus tonight."
"Circus huh? Where is it?" Evan piped up as he strolled in on the conversation. A small crowd was beginning to form, courtesy of it being a boring Saturday.
"Down at the fair grounds. Jean and Duncan are, like, gonna meet us there."
"Okay. I'll go see if anyone else is up for coming." Scott walked up the stairs to find the straggling teenagers who needed something to keep them occupied. In the end, he was disappointed to find that a lot of the newbies were gone. He just hoped that all the vehicles were still inside the mansion, and that they weren't causing too much trouble.
Rogue, Kitty, Evan, Amara, Bobby, and Scott boarded the X-van an hour or two later, planning to meet up with Jean and Duncan at the circus. Scott turned the key, and the van revved into action as they pulled out of the mansion and headed for the fair grounds.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Kurt stepped out of the trailer and immediately felt stupid. His costume still fit, much to his chagrin. Maybe if he destroyed the costume, he could get out of doing this. A soft finger poked him in the back and Kurt turned to see Pyro, also sporting his circus costume.
Loose, bell bottom like pants hung low on John's hips. They were black leather, with red and orange flames along the bottom, that swirled with each other up to where his knees where. He wore large boots, black and covered in buckles. Instead of a shirt, a plain black leather vest pretended to cover the boy's chest. He wore a silver chain that hung to his collarbone, a small kanji hanging on it that meant fire.
The breath he was midway to taking caught in Kurt's throat. Pyro's costume was exactly as it had been years ago, and it still made his knees weak.
"What are you staring at?"
"Y-Your hair." Kurt finally snapped out of his trance and realized he was staring at Pyro's red hair, which was spiked elegantly up, leaving just a few gelled strands to hang on his forehead. "Shouldn't you be worried about your hair catching on fire?"
"Ha. The fire couldn't burn my hair unless I let it." Now it was John's turn to let his eyes wander over the devilish costume his counterpart wore.
The black leather pants were tight and made to look scuffed and dirty, but still made Kurt look good, complimenting his long legs. They were torn to shreds around mid-calf, letting the attention be brought to his feet. There were rips on parts of the pants, allowing small tufts of blue fur to poke through. On his chest were two chains, made of light aluminum, that tied to the front and back of his pants, crossing over his chest. A manacle, made of the same lightweight metal was hooked securely to one of his wrists, and the chain from there connected to the ones crossing his chest. Fake black spikes were tied onto Kurt's back with thin pieces of string, completely invisible to an audience member. All they could see were the large triangular spikes that rose from his back and trailed off as they neared the waist of his pants, were his tail poked through a hole in the leather. The finishing touch was a string that was tied behind Kurt's head, with two demonic black horns attached to it. They sat nicely on Kurt's head, protruding right behind his bangs.
"Well, good to see your costume still fits. Now we better go get in position, don't want to miss your cue." John nudged Kurt forward and took him to the performer's entrance on the side of the tent.
"I know where I'm going Pyro." Kurt laughed as the boy's strong hand continued to rest on his back and push him forward.
"You're the finishing act. Same as we used to do, the ringmaster will announce you after my act is done. Just stay out of site until then." John leaned over and gave a small peck on the cheek to the younger mutant. "Break a leg."
Kurt felt strange, like he was leading his friend on, by letting all of these affections be given to him, so he didn't respond to the kiss. His white eyes stared into the darkness of the big top, the seats empty except for the popcorn and hot dog venders preparing for their nightly task.
When the flaps of the tent finally opened, the people who had begun to gather around the big top poured in. Children dragged their parents eagerly forward, impatient for the animals and acrobats. Kurt pulled further into the shadows, his natural ability to hide himself taking over. The clowns entered behind him and tipped their strangely shaped hats at him, before spreading out to entertain the crowd as the big top filled.
"Attention everyone. The Big Top performance will be starting in ten minutes. Please report to the front entrance if you have a ticket. Enjoy the show!" The loudspeaker boomed and echoed across the fields.
Jean looked up as she saw a flash of red and locked eyes with Scott, waving him over. Following Scott was the group, with the exception of Kitty. Scott came up and looked around for the dumb blond football player, but couldn't seem to find him.
"Be nice Scott. And Duncan had to leave, something about his parents needing him to run some errands." Jean grinned. She hadn't meant to, but when Duncan gave the lame excuse and she could sense that he was lying, she did a little probing. Who would have thought that he was deathly afraid of clowns?
"Like, wait up!" Kitty came running up, carrying a huge stick of cotton candy. The bulbous pink blob was teetering back and forth as Kitty picked at it and devoured it.
"Yum. Gimme some." Bobby reached out and found his hand going straight through the cotton candy. Kitty stuck her tongue out and brought the cotton candy out of the Iceman's hand, savoring it in front of the deprived boy.
"Come on guys, we don't wanna miss the show." Evan waved the others forward and the X-Men strode into the dark tent. Kitty stepped over one pair of shoes, then another, but the third pair had it out for her.
"Whoa!" Falling forward she had to phase the cotton candy through a woman's leg. Rogue rolled her eyes and was thankful for the darkness that hid the klutz's mistake. She reached down and forcefully pulled the girl up, pushing her back into the line as they found seats for the whole group. Sitting down on the hard wooden bench, the lights began to darken into pitch black as the show was about to start. Music filtered through the people, changing it's pace and pitch to fit each act.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Kurt wrung his hands nervously. Pyro's act was about to begin, which meant that there was only one left before his turn. His tail was tapping against the nearby wall, unable to stop, like a twitch. The thunderous voice of the ringmaster brought his attention, along with everyone else's, to the center ring.
"Ladies and gentlemen. If any of you have weak hearts or stomachs, I suggest you leave now. Now, presenting the impossible, the improbable, the inflammable himself. The fire charmer. ......Pyro!"
The lights all went out at exactly the same moment, and only one small point of light remained in the center of the big top. It was small and orange, and flickered with the slightest breath of wind. It moved back and forth, like a small nervous animal. Up and down, side to side, it danced around the ring, enthralling everyone in it's seeming innocence.
The circus gasped, as the flame exploded in a huge fireball and fell to the ground of the ring. It raced outwards, stopping at the edge of the ring and toning itself down. The fire stayed along the ground, not careening upwards as it had in the explosion. In the center, a thin figure stood with his arms outstretched and his head held down. The crowd wooed together as the figure lifted his head and looked around the entire big top.
The boy reached down to his feet and picked up three batons, each with a white cloth on the end of it. The crowd watched intently as the boy knelt down and patted his hand on his knee, as if calling a dog to himself. The fire formed a path and spread to him, stopping obediently in front of him. The crowd awed and applauded as he lit the ends of all three batons and sent the fire back into the circle with a flick of his wrist.
The flaming ends of the batons flew threw the air and twirled to make circles of orange and gold in the air as Pyro began to juggle them all. To the crowd, it appeared that he was such a good juggler that he could perform difficult tricks, like throwing one up into the air and catching it behind his back without looking. But to Kurt and the other circus performers, they knew that he was constantly touching the fire on the batons. Even if he had put one of the batons in a puddle of gasoline, it wouldn't have started a fire since he had complete control over it.
Catching all three batons and holding them up, John waited for the applause to quiet down. Then he smirked and hung his head back, staring up into the top of the tent. Slowly, he brought the baton over his mouth, the flickering flame hanging a few inches from his mouth. The crowd gasped and watched with wide eyes as he lowered the baton into his mouth and closed around it. When his mouth opened again, only the smoldering remains of a fire left his mouth. He continued and did this with each until two snuffed out batons were on the floor and he only had one flame left.
Pyro gathered the crowd's attention and softly stroked the fire, barely touching it. Then, he hung his head once and again and extinguished the fire in his mouth. This time though, he took the baton out and closed his mouth fast, throwing the baton to the ground but pointing to his cheeks when the crowd tried to applaud.
Pyro breathed out and a huge flame burst out of his mouth, causing the crowd to jump back in alarm. But the fire disappeared into the air as quickly as it had come and the audience went wild.
John motioned to the performers entrance to the ring and a small girl, dressed in orange with red and gold feathers on the back of her costume, trailing her like a wedding gown's train. She smiled and waved to the crowd before approaching the ring which was still on fire.
John snapped his fingers and the fire created an opening for her to step through, then quickly sealed her in again. She moved sensually towards Pyro, but as she approached him, the fire of the ring raced out and created a wall between them. She pretended to try and break through the wall, but recoiled from the heat. Extending his hand, the fire swirled around the girl, creating a wall around her. Gasps escaped the mouths of the nervous crowd, but Kurt leaned against the wall, too engrossed in the look on John's face as he was in his element.
Using his pyrokinesis to it's limit, Pyro's green eyes became solid orange as the fire swirled up and completely encased his "lovely assistant". Then the fire returned, creating a small dome over the girl. He could tell by the sounds and whispers in the audience that they worried for the girl's safety.
Strolling up the small dome of fire, Pyro extended his hands over it and threw his arms apart to the sides. The excess flames flew back to the circle around them, leaving a form on the floor. As the fire stood up, it attained the shape of the beautiful young girl, made completely of fire. She walked forward and extended her hand, cupping Pyro's face as he leaned into her touch. Then he took her hand, holding it in the air as he reached down with his free hand and touched the ground.
The fire that remained around the outside of the ring rushed at him, making a straight line for him and leaving the outside of the ring and every part of the big top black. It crawled up his arms and his legs, engulfing him slowly. Now the audience sounded truly scared as they watched with their own eyes as the fire spread on his body.
Covering the last inches of him, the only light in the entire circus came from the two bodies, made completely of fire standing in the center of the ring, their hands still entwined and held up for all to see. The drumbeat of the music pulsed louder and faster, becoming crazed and unpredictable. With the climax of the song, and on the final drumbeat, Pyro turned to the girl and put his hand on her hip, pulling her in for an abrupt kiss. As soon as their lips touched, the fire spread out in a brief but magnificent flame and disappeared, throwing the entire tent back into pitch black.
The applause was deafening from the crowd as it roared and people screamed and whistled for the amazing young fire charmer. The lights came back on, and both John and the girl stood in the center of the ring, completely unscathed as they took a bow to the crowd and walked off towards the performer's entrance as the ringmaster returned to his place.
"Well my friends, on a normal night, that amazing performance by our resident fire charmer would have been our closing act. But tonight, and tonight only, we have a special offer for you folks. The return of our most popular act of all time. I must urge you, stay in your seats during this entire act and please ......don't be afraid." The ringmaster lowered his voice at the end of this, sounded sinister and frightening with his low grating voice.
"Presenting.....the amazing Nightcrawler!"
Kurt took a deep breath and ported.
The X-Men's jaw's and the lights both dropped at the same time.
"Hey, someone stole Kurt's name." Amara whispered to Bobby.
"Yeah man. He should sue." Evan piped in.
Jean had a bad feeling about this, and Scott did as well. Both stared intently towards the center ring, trying to pick out anything in the darkness.
The spotlight turned on and focused in on the center of the ring. Nothing was there. The crowd muttered in confusion and the spotlight seemed to feel the same. It began to swing around, focusing on other parts of the ring, and even onto members of the audience who giggled and smiled, looking embarrassed. After a few more swings, the light returned to the center of the ring and then slowly began to climb directly up the side of the tent.
Reaching the center of the ceiling, it stopped on a blue figure, hanging onto the tent like a gecko.
"What the hell...." Scott halfway stood up out of surprise, but Jean quickly grabbed him and sat him down.
With a bamf and a cloud of smoke, Kurt landed on the center of the ring. The spotlight followed him perfectly now, the routine being the same as it had been years ago. He stood on all fours, swaying his tail above him to bring attention to it. He was crouched down like an animal, and let his fangs be bared. Then he took off running on all fours and did a forward flip in midair, landing on the edge of the ring.
There, he stood up, purposely rattling the chains to draw attention to them.
"We have to get him out of here." Rogue leaned over and whispered to Scott. He nodded and was about to get up when Jean again forced him back into his seat.
"No Scott. That will just bring attention to him and us. Let the people think it's just a costume and parlor tricks." Rogue huffed loudly and crossed her arms angrily. She didn't like the way Kurt was letting himself be gawked at like this.
With another puff of blue smoke, Kurt was suddenly crouching on the trapeze platform. The spotlight showed him and a drum role began. Spreading his arms and tail out, Kurt stepped forward and leapt off the platform into midair. He hung suspended for a second as the crowd gasped before he fell like a rock, head first towards the ground. The wing whipped his hair back and for a second he was afraid that his horns would be pulled off. Ten feet from the ground, he teleported and the blue smoke was thrown into the ground of the center ring, leaving the audience confused again.
A few seconds later, Kurt appeared, standing perfectly straight and unharmed in the middle of the center ring.
"There he is!" A man in a uniform shouted from the one of the guest entrances. He had dark sunglasses and a police hat over his head, hiding his identity from the crowd. The very sharp ones may have noticed his massive size and connected him with the Strong Man they had seen outside and the animal tamer that had performed not an hour earlier. John, and two other men stepped up as well, all in police uniforms and carrying clubs.
Kurt looked from one to the other, turning in circles and growling like a wild animal. They approached him slowly, but once all four had him surrounded around the ring, they rushed at him, clubs held high.
He ported and all four ended up smacking against each other and coughing in the cloud of sulfur. They looked around before hearing someone blowing raspberries at them. They all looked to the now spotlighted entranceway, where Nightcrawler hung over the doorway, sticking his tongue out at them. They rushed at him again, but when they were a few feet away he leapt from the wall and spun over their heads, landing behind them and doing back flips all the way back into the center of the ring.
The four rounded on the demonic mutant slowly, and Pyro stepped forward, tapping his club against his hand in a warning. Kurt just stood up and began to circle him. John rushed forward, brandishing his club like a sword, but Kurt easily jumped into the air above him and landed feather soft on top of his head. John slammed himself against the floor, feigning unconsciousness from the supposedly hard hit.
Landing on all fours, Kurt bared his sharp fangs and flashed his white eyes at the three remaining officers. Two rushed at him, both thing acrobats, and one tried to tackle him around his stomach. The turned and grabbed the man's arms by his tail, flinging him around with a quick turn of his waist. He ended up on top of John's body, lying still as well.
The other man who had charged tried to punch Kurt, but only found his fist in the remains of a teleported mutant. Kurt appeared in the air behind him and kicked him the back with his powerful legs as he fell, sending the man to join the growing pile.
The last man was the Strong Man, easily twice the size of Kurt and just as much wide. The two danced around each other, Kurt lashing his tail out and causing a few gasps from the crowd every time he did. The music began to pulse louder and louder as the fight dragged on. The hulking man finally raced at him, and Kurt leapt up, putting his hands on the man's shoulders and springing over him, landing behind him in a crouch position.
The two turned to face each other again and Nightcrawler took off at a gallop at the man. He looked frightened then put his arms up to guard himself and looked determined to stand his ground. Kurt's large toes thumped against the ground and his chains rattled as he propelled himself forward. Then his powerful legs sprung and he threw himself directly at his foe.
In the last second, Kurt disappeared again. The Strong Man stood up and scratched his head in confusion before an audible bamf echoed through the circus. Kurt hung in midair behind the man and grabbed him around the waist from behind and fell onto his back, throwing the man over his head to land on the top of the pile.
Panting and standing on all fours, Nightcrawler slowly made his way to the pile of men and stood up as he stepped onto the top of it. Looking around to the crowd one last time, Kurt reached down and placed his three fingered hands onto the man's chest and concentrated. All five disappeared and the crowd cheered to the empty ring and tent.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
::Sigh::: sorry that took so long. School just ended, so you can expect more and more often. ^_^ I hope you liked it. The whole Pyro act was kinda inspired by me watching a lot of Cirque De Soleil lately. They're so cool and artistic. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Review. Hehe, please?
Pyro stood about ten feet in front of him, with a small match flickering in his hand. He was also shirtless. Smaller than some of the enormous men who helped out around the circus, John underplayed how nice of a body he had because he wasn't as massive as guys like the Strong Man.
Kurt decided he liked his guys a little thinner. He remembered the times he and John had spent together, first out of necessity, then out of something more.
"Okay Kurt, remember, the fire can't hurt ya, all right?" John concentrated and the fire crawled over the match and his hand, down his body to the ground. It collected there in a small pile before spreading slowly around Kurt, who stood stock-still. His tail thrashed around behind him, and he clenched his fists and dug his toes into the ground. He wanted to close his eyes and port away, but he knew he shouldn't. John was going to help him, he had to trust him.
"Kurt, your instincts are telling you to do something. If you let them control you...how about we not think about that." Pyro turned the fire down a bit, letting it crawl around the Nightcrawler like a snake in the grass. It completed the firey ring, before growing bolder and taller as it's master relaxed his hold.
Kurt felt his chest moving faster, his heart pounding in his ears. He was afraid. But he wasn't sure why. He knew he should be afraid of fire, but he'd been in countless battles with explosions, and he'd grown up around fire in the circus. After he had been rescued from being burned alive by John, he had had terrible nightmares, but only for the first few nights.
John raised the fire, keeping the temperature so low that it couldn't even light the grasses it crawled over. He slowly contracted the circle around Kurt, letting it go from ten feet away from the mutant, to seven, then to five. His tail began to thrash more wildly, and he had one eye closed, panting heavily. Run. Hide. Attack. Run. Attack. Run.
The panic grew inside Kurt's mind, and soon he fell to his knees, letting out a soft whimper of struggle.
"What are your instincts telling you to do Kurt?" He heard Pyro's voice yell through all the others in his head. Those annoying voices which never made words. He tried to make them stop, focused only on the redhead approaching him through the fire.
John knelt next to Kurt, and placed his hands softly on the edgy boy's head. He forced the fires to again calm, hoping that this would calm his friend down as well. Pyro closed his eyes, and felt inside Nightcrawler's mind. Being a pyrokenetic was different than some mutations, because fire itself had the closest thing to a mind as any element. It raged, it followed it's own path, and to completely control fire, John had to be able to communicate with it's very essence. He could send the fire, the images and memory of the flames within Kurt's mind. Most stemmed from his near death, and the faces of the villagers were becoming embodied in Kurt's memories. In his mind, he wasn't able to think rationally, his instincts took over. Fear, anger, and vengeance were all that his instinctual self could feel.
John quickly extinguished the fires around him, feeling their disappointment as they were snuffed out. The shivering mutant in front of him seemed to calm down, and slowly rose to his feet.
"Sorry." He stretched out, brushing off the invisible dirt that he had gotten on himself. Shaded white eyes focused on the rocks beneath his feet as they shuffled around.
"Kurt, you did fine. It's just that....your instincts are out of whack buddy. You went psycho because you get angry and want to kill when you think about fire."
Pyro wrapped his arm around Kurt and the two began to walk towards the trailers.
"If you want....you can stay with me tonight....and I can help you with your problem."
"How could you?" Kurt stared up at him, trying to keep his eyes from wandering down the boy's chest, which he was pressed quite tightly against.
"Well, if you have a nightmare involving fire, I'll be able to talk to you in your sleep. Kind of. The fire will talk to you." Kurt's jaw hung open, and somewhere under his coat of fur, all the color in his face drained away.
"Why does this not sound like such a good idea?"
"Don't worry about it man. It'll go fine." The two approached where all the changing room trailers were and the circus performers milled about them. The fortuneteller smiled her crooked grin at Kurt and nodded to him before sitting down to begin her fortune telling. The other performers, with suits and jackets over their costumes, went to the front of the circus to sell tickets and admit entrance to the crowd which was slowly forming. A man in a top hat and red coat stepped out of the trailer. His large bushy brown beard made him seem wild and burly.
"Why, if it isn't the Nightcrawler? Where'd you find him John?"
"He followed me home. Can I keep him? Please?"
Kurt pouted and playfully smacked at John. Stepping up to the ringmaster, Kurt smiled. No one here shrunk away in fear of him. They even dared to joke with him. The X-Men were kind to him, and he knew that they didn't look down on him for being a mutant, but instead they walked on eggshells around him. He hated it.
"The return of the amazing Nightcrawler. Come on boss, we'll sell out this town."
Kurt stared at John. 'What?'
"Alright Kurt. Suit up. We'll put you in as the closing act, after John. Just do the old routine, and if you forget something just improvise, no one will notice." The ringmaster strode off, heading for the big top to check on his first few acts. Poking his head this way and that, he also managed to check every single stand and ensure that it was ready for the hungry customers.
Putting a hand on the middle of the shorter boy's back, John forced him through the door and into the trailer. "Come on Kurt. Time to get you ready for show time."
Kurt's eyes adjusted quickly to the dark and cramped trailer. The male acrobats were all still inside the trailer, putting on their spandex and specially made shoes. They were all knew to the circus, they had entered after Kurt's disappearance. And still, the arrival of the blue fuzzy demon boy didn't faze any of them. They went on about their business, a few giving him polite smiles and hellos.
"Here ya go." A pair of pants were rudely thrown into Kurt's face.
"Hey!"
"I hope you haven't put on any weight Kurt. That costume has to still fit."
Taking the pants and attachments off of his head, Kurt walked over to an empty part of the trailer. He wondered why his costume hadn't been thrown out when it became obvious that he wasn't coming back. Shrugging off the thought until later, Kurt stared at the daunting task of getting into his old leather pants.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Thanks a lot. I'll meet you around 8." Kitty slammed the phone down on the hook and ran through the kitchen wall out into the foyer. A few of the X- Men were milling about and trying to find something interesting to do on their Saturday.
"Hey guys! I just got a call from Jean. She was out with Duncan and found out that there's a circus tonight."
"Circus huh? Where is it?" Evan piped up as he strolled in on the conversation. A small crowd was beginning to form, courtesy of it being a boring Saturday.
"Down at the fair grounds. Jean and Duncan are, like, gonna meet us there."
"Okay. I'll go see if anyone else is up for coming." Scott walked up the stairs to find the straggling teenagers who needed something to keep them occupied. In the end, he was disappointed to find that a lot of the newbies were gone. He just hoped that all the vehicles were still inside the mansion, and that they weren't causing too much trouble.
Rogue, Kitty, Evan, Amara, Bobby, and Scott boarded the X-van an hour or two later, planning to meet up with Jean and Duncan at the circus. Scott turned the key, and the van revved into action as they pulled out of the mansion and headed for the fair grounds.
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Kurt stepped out of the trailer and immediately felt stupid. His costume still fit, much to his chagrin. Maybe if he destroyed the costume, he could get out of doing this. A soft finger poked him in the back and Kurt turned to see Pyro, also sporting his circus costume.
Loose, bell bottom like pants hung low on John's hips. They were black leather, with red and orange flames along the bottom, that swirled with each other up to where his knees where. He wore large boots, black and covered in buckles. Instead of a shirt, a plain black leather vest pretended to cover the boy's chest. He wore a silver chain that hung to his collarbone, a small kanji hanging on it that meant fire.
The breath he was midway to taking caught in Kurt's throat. Pyro's costume was exactly as it had been years ago, and it still made his knees weak.
"What are you staring at?"
"Y-Your hair." Kurt finally snapped out of his trance and realized he was staring at Pyro's red hair, which was spiked elegantly up, leaving just a few gelled strands to hang on his forehead. "Shouldn't you be worried about your hair catching on fire?"
"Ha. The fire couldn't burn my hair unless I let it." Now it was John's turn to let his eyes wander over the devilish costume his counterpart wore.
The black leather pants were tight and made to look scuffed and dirty, but still made Kurt look good, complimenting his long legs. They were torn to shreds around mid-calf, letting the attention be brought to his feet. There were rips on parts of the pants, allowing small tufts of blue fur to poke through. On his chest were two chains, made of light aluminum, that tied to the front and back of his pants, crossing over his chest. A manacle, made of the same lightweight metal was hooked securely to one of his wrists, and the chain from there connected to the ones crossing his chest. Fake black spikes were tied onto Kurt's back with thin pieces of string, completely invisible to an audience member. All they could see were the large triangular spikes that rose from his back and trailed off as they neared the waist of his pants, were his tail poked through a hole in the leather. The finishing touch was a string that was tied behind Kurt's head, with two demonic black horns attached to it. They sat nicely on Kurt's head, protruding right behind his bangs.
"Well, good to see your costume still fits. Now we better go get in position, don't want to miss your cue." John nudged Kurt forward and took him to the performer's entrance on the side of the tent.
"I know where I'm going Pyro." Kurt laughed as the boy's strong hand continued to rest on his back and push him forward.
"You're the finishing act. Same as we used to do, the ringmaster will announce you after my act is done. Just stay out of site until then." John leaned over and gave a small peck on the cheek to the younger mutant. "Break a leg."
Kurt felt strange, like he was leading his friend on, by letting all of these affections be given to him, so he didn't respond to the kiss. His white eyes stared into the darkness of the big top, the seats empty except for the popcorn and hot dog venders preparing for their nightly task.
When the flaps of the tent finally opened, the people who had begun to gather around the big top poured in. Children dragged their parents eagerly forward, impatient for the animals and acrobats. Kurt pulled further into the shadows, his natural ability to hide himself taking over. The clowns entered behind him and tipped their strangely shaped hats at him, before spreading out to entertain the crowd as the big top filled.
"Attention everyone. The Big Top performance will be starting in ten minutes. Please report to the front entrance if you have a ticket. Enjoy the show!" The loudspeaker boomed and echoed across the fields.
Jean looked up as she saw a flash of red and locked eyes with Scott, waving him over. Following Scott was the group, with the exception of Kitty. Scott came up and looked around for the dumb blond football player, but couldn't seem to find him.
"Be nice Scott. And Duncan had to leave, something about his parents needing him to run some errands." Jean grinned. She hadn't meant to, but when Duncan gave the lame excuse and she could sense that he was lying, she did a little probing. Who would have thought that he was deathly afraid of clowns?
"Like, wait up!" Kitty came running up, carrying a huge stick of cotton candy. The bulbous pink blob was teetering back and forth as Kitty picked at it and devoured it.
"Yum. Gimme some." Bobby reached out and found his hand going straight through the cotton candy. Kitty stuck her tongue out and brought the cotton candy out of the Iceman's hand, savoring it in front of the deprived boy.
"Come on guys, we don't wanna miss the show." Evan waved the others forward and the X-Men strode into the dark tent. Kitty stepped over one pair of shoes, then another, but the third pair had it out for her.
"Whoa!" Falling forward she had to phase the cotton candy through a woman's leg. Rogue rolled her eyes and was thankful for the darkness that hid the klutz's mistake. She reached down and forcefully pulled the girl up, pushing her back into the line as they found seats for the whole group. Sitting down on the hard wooden bench, the lights began to darken into pitch black as the show was about to start. Music filtered through the people, changing it's pace and pitch to fit each act.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Kurt wrung his hands nervously. Pyro's act was about to begin, which meant that there was only one left before his turn. His tail was tapping against the nearby wall, unable to stop, like a twitch. The thunderous voice of the ringmaster brought his attention, along with everyone else's, to the center ring.
"Ladies and gentlemen. If any of you have weak hearts or stomachs, I suggest you leave now. Now, presenting the impossible, the improbable, the inflammable himself. The fire charmer. ......Pyro!"
The lights all went out at exactly the same moment, and only one small point of light remained in the center of the big top. It was small and orange, and flickered with the slightest breath of wind. It moved back and forth, like a small nervous animal. Up and down, side to side, it danced around the ring, enthralling everyone in it's seeming innocence.
The circus gasped, as the flame exploded in a huge fireball and fell to the ground of the ring. It raced outwards, stopping at the edge of the ring and toning itself down. The fire stayed along the ground, not careening upwards as it had in the explosion. In the center, a thin figure stood with his arms outstretched and his head held down. The crowd wooed together as the figure lifted his head and looked around the entire big top.
The boy reached down to his feet and picked up three batons, each with a white cloth on the end of it. The crowd watched intently as the boy knelt down and patted his hand on his knee, as if calling a dog to himself. The fire formed a path and spread to him, stopping obediently in front of him. The crowd awed and applauded as he lit the ends of all three batons and sent the fire back into the circle with a flick of his wrist.
The flaming ends of the batons flew threw the air and twirled to make circles of orange and gold in the air as Pyro began to juggle them all. To the crowd, it appeared that he was such a good juggler that he could perform difficult tricks, like throwing one up into the air and catching it behind his back without looking. But to Kurt and the other circus performers, they knew that he was constantly touching the fire on the batons. Even if he had put one of the batons in a puddle of gasoline, it wouldn't have started a fire since he had complete control over it.
Catching all three batons and holding them up, John waited for the applause to quiet down. Then he smirked and hung his head back, staring up into the top of the tent. Slowly, he brought the baton over his mouth, the flickering flame hanging a few inches from his mouth. The crowd gasped and watched with wide eyes as he lowered the baton into his mouth and closed around it. When his mouth opened again, only the smoldering remains of a fire left his mouth. He continued and did this with each until two snuffed out batons were on the floor and he only had one flame left.
Pyro gathered the crowd's attention and softly stroked the fire, barely touching it. Then, he hung his head once and again and extinguished the fire in his mouth. This time though, he took the baton out and closed his mouth fast, throwing the baton to the ground but pointing to his cheeks when the crowd tried to applaud.
Pyro breathed out and a huge flame burst out of his mouth, causing the crowd to jump back in alarm. But the fire disappeared into the air as quickly as it had come and the audience went wild.
John motioned to the performers entrance to the ring and a small girl, dressed in orange with red and gold feathers on the back of her costume, trailing her like a wedding gown's train. She smiled and waved to the crowd before approaching the ring which was still on fire.
John snapped his fingers and the fire created an opening for her to step through, then quickly sealed her in again. She moved sensually towards Pyro, but as she approached him, the fire of the ring raced out and created a wall between them. She pretended to try and break through the wall, but recoiled from the heat. Extending his hand, the fire swirled around the girl, creating a wall around her. Gasps escaped the mouths of the nervous crowd, but Kurt leaned against the wall, too engrossed in the look on John's face as he was in his element.
Using his pyrokinesis to it's limit, Pyro's green eyes became solid orange as the fire swirled up and completely encased his "lovely assistant". Then the fire returned, creating a small dome over the girl. He could tell by the sounds and whispers in the audience that they worried for the girl's safety.
Strolling up the small dome of fire, Pyro extended his hands over it and threw his arms apart to the sides. The excess flames flew back to the circle around them, leaving a form on the floor. As the fire stood up, it attained the shape of the beautiful young girl, made completely of fire. She walked forward and extended her hand, cupping Pyro's face as he leaned into her touch. Then he took her hand, holding it in the air as he reached down with his free hand and touched the ground.
The fire that remained around the outside of the ring rushed at him, making a straight line for him and leaving the outside of the ring and every part of the big top black. It crawled up his arms and his legs, engulfing him slowly. Now the audience sounded truly scared as they watched with their own eyes as the fire spread on his body.
Covering the last inches of him, the only light in the entire circus came from the two bodies, made completely of fire standing in the center of the ring, their hands still entwined and held up for all to see. The drumbeat of the music pulsed louder and faster, becoming crazed and unpredictable. With the climax of the song, and on the final drumbeat, Pyro turned to the girl and put his hand on her hip, pulling her in for an abrupt kiss. As soon as their lips touched, the fire spread out in a brief but magnificent flame and disappeared, throwing the entire tent back into pitch black.
The applause was deafening from the crowd as it roared and people screamed and whistled for the amazing young fire charmer. The lights came back on, and both John and the girl stood in the center of the ring, completely unscathed as they took a bow to the crowd and walked off towards the performer's entrance as the ringmaster returned to his place.
"Well my friends, on a normal night, that amazing performance by our resident fire charmer would have been our closing act. But tonight, and tonight only, we have a special offer for you folks. The return of our most popular act of all time. I must urge you, stay in your seats during this entire act and please ......don't be afraid." The ringmaster lowered his voice at the end of this, sounded sinister and frightening with his low grating voice.
"Presenting.....the amazing Nightcrawler!"
Kurt took a deep breath and ported.
The X-Men's jaw's and the lights both dropped at the same time.
"Hey, someone stole Kurt's name." Amara whispered to Bobby.
"Yeah man. He should sue." Evan piped in.
Jean had a bad feeling about this, and Scott did as well. Both stared intently towards the center ring, trying to pick out anything in the darkness.
The spotlight turned on and focused in on the center of the ring. Nothing was there. The crowd muttered in confusion and the spotlight seemed to feel the same. It began to swing around, focusing on other parts of the ring, and even onto members of the audience who giggled and smiled, looking embarrassed. After a few more swings, the light returned to the center of the ring and then slowly began to climb directly up the side of the tent.
Reaching the center of the ceiling, it stopped on a blue figure, hanging onto the tent like a gecko.
"What the hell...." Scott halfway stood up out of surprise, but Jean quickly grabbed him and sat him down.
With a bamf and a cloud of smoke, Kurt landed on the center of the ring. The spotlight followed him perfectly now, the routine being the same as it had been years ago. He stood on all fours, swaying his tail above him to bring attention to it. He was crouched down like an animal, and let his fangs be bared. Then he took off running on all fours and did a forward flip in midair, landing on the edge of the ring.
There, he stood up, purposely rattling the chains to draw attention to them.
"We have to get him out of here." Rogue leaned over and whispered to Scott. He nodded and was about to get up when Jean again forced him back into his seat.
"No Scott. That will just bring attention to him and us. Let the people think it's just a costume and parlor tricks." Rogue huffed loudly and crossed her arms angrily. She didn't like the way Kurt was letting himself be gawked at like this.
With another puff of blue smoke, Kurt was suddenly crouching on the trapeze platform. The spotlight showed him and a drum role began. Spreading his arms and tail out, Kurt stepped forward and leapt off the platform into midair. He hung suspended for a second as the crowd gasped before he fell like a rock, head first towards the ground. The wing whipped his hair back and for a second he was afraid that his horns would be pulled off. Ten feet from the ground, he teleported and the blue smoke was thrown into the ground of the center ring, leaving the audience confused again.
A few seconds later, Kurt appeared, standing perfectly straight and unharmed in the middle of the center ring.
"There he is!" A man in a uniform shouted from the one of the guest entrances. He had dark sunglasses and a police hat over his head, hiding his identity from the crowd. The very sharp ones may have noticed his massive size and connected him with the Strong Man they had seen outside and the animal tamer that had performed not an hour earlier. John, and two other men stepped up as well, all in police uniforms and carrying clubs.
Kurt looked from one to the other, turning in circles and growling like a wild animal. They approached him slowly, but once all four had him surrounded around the ring, they rushed at him, clubs held high.
He ported and all four ended up smacking against each other and coughing in the cloud of sulfur. They looked around before hearing someone blowing raspberries at them. They all looked to the now spotlighted entranceway, where Nightcrawler hung over the doorway, sticking his tongue out at them. They rushed at him again, but when they were a few feet away he leapt from the wall and spun over their heads, landing behind them and doing back flips all the way back into the center of the ring.
The four rounded on the demonic mutant slowly, and Pyro stepped forward, tapping his club against his hand in a warning. Kurt just stood up and began to circle him. John rushed forward, brandishing his club like a sword, but Kurt easily jumped into the air above him and landed feather soft on top of his head. John slammed himself against the floor, feigning unconsciousness from the supposedly hard hit.
Landing on all fours, Kurt bared his sharp fangs and flashed his white eyes at the three remaining officers. Two rushed at him, both thing acrobats, and one tried to tackle him around his stomach. The turned and grabbed the man's arms by his tail, flinging him around with a quick turn of his waist. He ended up on top of John's body, lying still as well.
The other man who had charged tried to punch Kurt, but only found his fist in the remains of a teleported mutant. Kurt appeared in the air behind him and kicked him the back with his powerful legs as he fell, sending the man to join the growing pile.
The last man was the Strong Man, easily twice the size of Kurt and just as much wide. The two danced around each other, Kurt lashing his tail out and causing a few gasps from the crowd every time he did. The music began to pulse louder and louder as the fight dragged on. The hulking man finally raced at him, and Kurt leapt up, putting his hands on the man's shoulders and springing over him, landing behind him in a crouch position.
The two turned to face each other again and Nightcrawler took off at a gallop at the man. He looked frightened then put his arms up to guard himself and looked determined to stand his ground. Kurt's large toes thumped against the ground and his chains rattled as he propelled himself forward. Then his powerful legs sprung and he threw himself directly at his foe.
In the last second, Kurt disappeared again. The Strong Man stood up and scratched his head in confusion before an audible bamf echoed through the circus. Kurt hung in midair behind the man and grabbed him around the waist from behind and fell onto his back, throwing the man over his head to land on the top of the pile.
Panting and standing on all fours, Nightcrawler slowly made his way to the pile of men and stood up as he stepped onto the top of it. Looking around to the crowd one last time, Kurt reached down and placed his three fingered hands onto the man's chest and concentrated. All five disappeared and the crowd cheered to the empty ring and tent.
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::Sigh::: sorry that took so long. School just ended, so you can expect more and more often. ^_^ I hope you liked it. The whole Pyro act was kinda inspired by me watching a lot of Cirque De Soleil lately. They're so cool and artistic. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Review. Hehe, please?
