Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.
Neo-Domino's Dark Woods Circus for Freaks and Monsters
Standing over Placido and I is three … entities. One with fair skin and silver hair, one with dark skin and hair and one with bright skin and hair. Do they even have names? They grab Placido and me by the hands and lead us into the too tall tent. With teeth far too long they smile.
"Let's show you the twins." The bright one says.
"Aw, are you not enjoying the circus dear?" The light one asks.
"I never will." The bright one replies.
The dark one smiles again and beckons us to a small cage.
"The circus is so much fun! With rotten fruit to burn you to your core and hands to pull you apart! I want to stay here f-f-f-f-f—f-f—f-f-orever." The male one says.
I step back and see that they are not Siamese twins at all but stitched together. They have black thread sticking out of their torsos and legs.
"A being with two fully thinking heads." The dark one says.
"They are HIDEOUS!" The light one smirks.
"No, no they're not." The bright one mutters.
They lead us to another cage. Placido's eyes are filled with fear.
"I don't need to stay, you can't make me." Placido says.
"Ah but we can." The light one laughs.
Placido opens his mouth and slams it shut immediately. I hold his hand and smile awkwardly. We walk with no other choice. They lead us to a cage with a blue-haired man with dead grey eyes lying in a puddle of blood and drool.
"The blue beast that loves to eat things cold." The light one smiles.
"B-Bruno?" Placido whimpers.
"Why yes, I believe that was his name." The dark one answers.
Placido slams himself against the bars. There are tears spilling from his red eyes onto the metal floor.
Bruno coughs and shifts around. He looks at Placido and smiles a smile full of sharp teeth.
"Pwacido!" He growls cheerfully trying to form the word.
Placido gives him a small smile.
"Yes, Placido." He says.
Our hands get pulled again as we are taken to the next cage. There lies a blonde with purple eyes and spikey blonde hair and a man without eyes. I know them both, Jack Atlus and Yuusei Fudo. I stare at his face where his blue, blue eyes used to lie.
"RUN! I know what they are going to do to you!" Jack coughs.
"Shut up cow." The dark one yells.
The light one pulls a small bottle out of his pocket and throws it at the goat-legged man. The bottle strikes burning and scratching Jack's face.
"Sing." The bright one commands.
"Does anyone even care that I exist? Am I so flawed that I must be kept here? I am such a sad thing left in this place where I belong. I can hardly even remember what I was before." Jack sings.
"You were absolutely nothing." The dark one snarls.
"Lucciano." Yuusei says. "Placido. Hello. I can see you."
"A deformed diva and a man that can see without eyes." The dark one narrates.
They grab our hands and drag us off to the next place. There in a cage is a woman with twisted horns sticking out of her head and bat wings with fractures in them growing out of her back. She is covered with serpentine tattoos.
"Sherry, the twisted knight." The bright one says.
"Oh God Sherry." Placido moans.
He reaches his hand through the bars and brushes her hair with his hand.
"It's painful." Sherry whispers in a tiny voice.
"I'm sorry." I say.
Placido smells her hair and we are taken to another room. I glance back and see her crying blood onto the soiled metal floor beneath her.
"A man whose very heart is made of steel." The bright one drawls.
"Ah the brother of the blue beast!" The dark one announces.
"Yes he depends on this visor to even think for himself." The light one smirks.
We look inside and see a man with blue-hair and dull grey eyes. He is wearing a tight metallic suit.
"Antinomy!" Placido screams.
He tries to climb inside only to get sharply punched in the solar plexus by the dark one.
"No trying to 'comfort' the attractions." The light one says.
And Placido cries as he is take away with me.
"ANTINOMY! ANTINOMY! ANTINOMY!" He shrieks.
I shake my head. I wave to Antinomy and his visor blocked eyes glance at me and he mouths.
"You should never have entered here."
We get our hands tugged out as they take us to yet another cage. There lies a man with spikey blonde hair and green eyes. He has spines sticking out of his back and wrists and ankles.
"The spiked man!" The light one screams.
When they announce him he laughs.
"Hello Placido, Lucciano. How has it been? You see I have not been quite well. It's painful but I know it will go numb soon. Have you seen Aporia? Well you will. He and Z-ONE are the final attractions you know." Paradox chuckles.
I look up at him with my two green eyes finally wet with tears.
"T-that's where y-you g-g-guys w-went? I-I th-ought y-you died." I sob. "Why!"
"It's okay Lucciano." Paradox smiles crookedly.
I try to touch him and the spikes lengthen and shoot out. Placido gets hit in the eye with one and lets out a piercing scream. I have one jammed in my eye and can't even think.
"Don't touch me, Don't EVER touch me." Paradox growls.
I look at him with blood streaming down his face and he softens.
"I didn't mean to yell at you." He whispers.
He stretches out his hand and pulls it out. Placido takes his out on his own. Paradox smiles as we are dragged off.
"And for…" The light one starts.
"The final attraction." The dark one finishes.
"The world's most beautiful men." The bright one says.
How bad could that be.
"I know what you're thinking, everyone else is horribly disfigured why are we not going to be? Well that's because we are going to castrate you Lucciano and use these on you Placido." The light one says pulling out a set of heel-like prosthetics. "We will also be using surgery to fix the … imperfections."
They grab a pair of pliers and a saw and get set to their work. The bright one sobs the entire time.
On a road far past the forest Placido and I wait for Aporia and Z-ONE. They walk up and look at Placido's legs, our eye pieces and flawless faces.
"I hurts to walk you know." Placido says.
"I can finally sing a woman's part!" I laugh with a high-pitched sound.
"Come to the circus with us! Paradox and Antinomy and Bruno and Sherry are there." We scream in unison.
Z-ONE reaches for Placido and touches his face causing it to crack and reveal machinery.
"I haven't gotten my upgrade yet." Placido whimpers.
We run off into the dark woods with Z-ONE and Aporia chasing after us. They reach the tent and look up seeing Crow and Aki.
"Hey little guys! Welcome to Neo-Domino's Circus for Freaks and Monsters!" Crow says bitterly.
"They will dissolve you, manipulate you, break you, eat you, tear into you, lengthen you, flaw you, DEFORM YOU!" Aki sobs.
"THE DEFORMITY!" Crow shrieks.
They waltz off.
"I'm sorry." I cry.
Placido leans down and hugs me with oil running down his face into the forest. The ringleaders come out.