Author's Note: Someone on Discord gave me this idea. Belgium + dark circus= good times. That's right, Belgium is the newest addition to the Wasteland universe. I actually liked how this one turned out. There seems to be a whole lot of fog in the European countries lately. This is also the second time we've seen a dark circus. Could we see a theme going on this season? You might have to stick around and see. Speaking of which, next week we will see how Ju and her clan are doing. We haven't checked in on them in weeks. For now, enjoy this week's match.


Match Nine: Dark Circus:

The fog has reached Belgium as well. Laura tried to go about a normal day. She has just walked out of her local market. Her brothers wanted a stew today. Laura didn't argue. Anything to feel normal.

The woman walked out into the fogged streets. There weren't many people around. In fact, Laura was the only one outside. The employees in the market looked surprised to see her.

"Where is everyone?" she asked the cashier.

"Inside somewhere," he said. He didn't look her in the eye. Laura had the feeling that something was wrong. She didn't know how to ask in a genteel way. Instead, she paid for her groceries and walked out.

Now, she wondered if she should've ordered everything online. No. This particular market didn't have a site to order from for some reason. Laura pushed that thought from her head. Something inside of her told her that she had to get home and fast. Laura took in a breath.

Right.

This fog was so weird. How many days has this been out here? By now, people stopped noticing it. The population stopped going outside unless they had to. This all felt familiar to Laura for some reason. She couldn't place her finger on it.

Suddenly, Laura paused. A small black rabbit stood in her path. The little creature's ears twitched as it wriggled its nose.

"Hello?" Laura asked. She slowly took steps towards the bunny.

"Where did you come from?" she asked. The bunny looked up with its red eyes. It watched as Laura held out her hand as she walked closer to it. What was a little rabbit doing in the middle of the city? Maybe someone lost a pet?

"Are you lost?" Laura asked as if talking to a small child. She closed the distance between her and the rabbit.

The bunny turned and hopped away.

"Huh? Little bunny!" Laura shouted. "Where are you going?" She took off running after the little black bunny.


Somehow, Laura ended out running out of the city and into the woods. She had been so busy chasing down that rabbit to look at her surroundings. Laura only noticed when she slowed to a stop to look around.

"Huh? When did I end up in the woods?" she asked. The woman put her hands on her hips. She frowned to herself. That's when she saw that little rabbit again. This time, it stood in front of a tall iron gate. The little rabbit hopped through the open gap. Laura ran up to the gate.

"Where did this come from?" she asked as she grabbed onto the bars. Laura looked down when she heard a click. She backed up as the gate opened. Before the Belgian woman could say a word, she found herself drawn inside. A faint tune played on calliope began to play. The gate closed behind Laura.

The next thing Laura knew she was standing in front of a giant black tent. She had no idea where she was or how she got here. Laura looked around.

"Where am I?" she asked. It didn't take her long to notice that she wasn't alone. An Asian woman danced in front of her at the opening of the tent. Her body was covered in black tattoos. White rope covered her upper torso and held a turnable key in her back. The back of her hair was up in a back knot. She moved around like she was dancing on strings. Laura stared at her with a confused look on her face.

"Uh… who are you?" she asked. The living doll didn't answer. She danced around with an empty look on her face. Her long limbs moved with unnerving grace. The woman started to dance into the tent. As if in a trance, Laura walked into the black tent.

Inside was pitch black. Laura walked around, trying to look for the exit.

"Hello?" she asked. "Is anybody here? Hello? Hello?" She paused when she heard that music again. The sounds of people joined the calliope sounds. Wait… was that clapping? Laura turned around. Pale faces sat in an audience. The doll-like woman appeared beside the Belgian woman. Laura jumped back, shouting. The living doll had a painted-on smile as she pushed the Belgian woman back into a seat. Laura looked around the whole time as she sat down. The living doll danced back to the stage.

Bright lights popped on overhead. The living doll held up her hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a voice off-stage shouted. "Welcome to the show! Please enjoy!" The living doll danced away. Three figures dropped down silently. One of them looked like a clown dressed in white. Another one was dressed like a soldier from World War II. The last one was dressed up like a princess in a white dress. The woman covered in tattoos dressed around the trio. She buried her head in her hands as if to weep. The clown turned to the soldier. He hopped and turned around. He pointed to the soldier.

"I challenge you to a duel!" a voice shouted off-stage. The soldier jumped up, prepared to fight.

"I accept your challenge!" another voice shouted off-stage. The clown and the soldier drew what looked like fake swords. The audience gasped. Laura sat watching. Something did not seem right. The actors didn't move naturally. Their faces had painted on smiles.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The clown and the soldier looked like a tangled mess as they fought. It was then Laura noticed something in their eyes. The soldier looked like he was in pain. He looked ready to cry but couldn't. His sword came down onto the clown's sword. The princess covered her mouth in a gasp.

"Prepare to die!" another voice shouted off-stage.

"No, please spare me!" another voice shouted back.

"Save me! Save me!" a new voice shouted from off-stage. The princess' hands flew up into the air. The audience went wild.

Please! Help us!

Laura about jumped in her seat. The princess was staring straight at her. Her eyes started to well up with tears. That smile painted on her face made it all the worse. It was then Laura saw the strings all three "actors" were being controlled by. Of course, that would be the cause. Their bodies looked so stiff with each movement. The soldier was moving in to stab the clown. Laura slowly looked up. Her eyes widened in shock and horror.

A giant black widow spider clung from the top of the tent. All of the strings were coming from its mouth. The soldier brought down his sword on the clown's head. The clown dropped to the ground; limbs sprawled out everywhere.

"You… got… me…" the voice for the clown said. The clown dropped his head and went limp. The soldier put away his sword. The audience clapped wildly.

"My hero!" the voice for the princess shouted. She hopped over to the soldier. They shared an awkward kiss. Then the lights went out. The clapping grew louder. The lights came back on. The "actors" stood back in the places they started. The show was about to start again.

"I can't stay here," Laura said to herself. She got up and ran out of the tent. The woman worried that someone or something was going to chase after her. She didn't even look back to see. Laura kept running when she saw light in front of her. The Belgian woman pushed herself to keep going.

There was fog outside. Laura was out of the tent, but she wasn't back in the town. The woman looked around. The dead-looking trees and the dim green grass told her that she was back in the woods.

"How do I get out of here?" Laura asked as she tried to calm herself down. There had to be a road nearby. There had to be. The sound of carnival music drew her attention forward. Against her better judgment, Laura looked in front of her.

A lone carousal stood in the middle of the forest. It looked like it had been sitting there for over fifty years. The colors looked faded to a pale white while the gears looked weathered and rusted away. Despite all of this, the carousal was spinning around. There was nobody on it. The dying music made Laura wince. She wanted to run away, but she felt herself getting drawn in. The Belgian woman reached out to touch a chipped wooden horse.

Turn back!

Laura leaped and turned around. That little black rabbit stood inches away from her.

"It's you!" she said. The Belgian woman didn't know what or how to feel about this little creature who led her to this disturbing place. The little bunny turned and hopped away.

"Come back here!" Laura shouted. She took off running after the little rabbit.


Laura looked around all of a sudden. She found herself back on the street. There was no little rabbit or creepy circus in sight. She couldn't tell if she dreamt the whole thing or not. It didn't feel like it. How long had she even been gone?

She looked down to see that she still had her groceries in hand. Oh, that's right, she was cooking a stew today. She should get home before her brothers got worried.

Right.

Laura resumed her walk home. She walked by a missing person's file. The woman with the auburn hair in the picture looked just like the princess in the show.