Yes, chapter two - hope you enjoy.

Scott couldn't help but raise an eyebrow behind the sunglasses. The price for getting into the circus was relatively high, but his curiosity, and the opportunity to be relatively alone with Jean, made him pay anyhow. The red-haired woman grabbed his arm as they walked into the large tent. As Scott looked around for a good seat, he breathed in the smells around him. It had been a while since he had been to see a show in a real circus. Suddenly, he felt Jean dragging at his arm, pointing to a spot up in front.

"Let's go over there," she encouraged him, and Scott followed without hesitation. Why the spots hadn't been taken was a mystery – it was the only remaining space not occupied on the front row.

'And best of all, no X-kids,' he thought to himself.

They could just barely sit there, but it was none the less magnificent seats. The tent filled up quickly, the seats crowded with people and the voices filled up the large tent. He could spot Kitty and Kurt at another seat, and Kurt waved at them.

A spotlight illuminated the space in the middle, making the entire crowd silent. A small man with a big belly raised his arms to the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man called in a loud voice, "Prepare to be amazed by our great artists. First, let me introduce our magnificent Trapeze artists!"

The crowd looked up, as the spotlights lit up the air above them. Two men and a woman stood on small planks several meters above them and with no net for security below them. The music started and one of the men threw himself out into the open air, making the audience gasp. Before anyone could react, the woman swung out from her plank, standing on a trapeze that just in time made it out for the man to catch it. The three of them swung, jumped and dazzled the crowd of people with their wild stunts in the air, several times leading the audience to believe that one of them was going to fall to the ground.

One show was brought in after the other and the people on the plank seats applauded and whistled in awe.

"And now, the grand finale: Our brave animal tamer, Mr. Maliz!" The light faded once again and came back in a matter of mere seconds. A tall, muscular and bold man stood with a whip raised over his head in a beam of light. His skin was dark and he had a pair of piercing eyes that could probably scare anyone to death if they met him on a dark rainy night. He took his time to let his gaze run over the audience, before he took a few steps backwards and grabbed a hold on a cloth hanging over some kind of big cube. Dragging the cloth aside, a huge brown bear threw itself against the metal bars of the cage it was in. The metal creaked under the blow, making the crowd gasp out of fear for it to break and unlock the savage animal.

Mr. Maliz raised his hand to silence the crowd and flashed a grin. The cage was pushed further into the stage, showing that it was quite large. The animal tamer handed the whip over to a young kid who had apparently helped with pushing the cage – and then he simply opened the cage and walked in to the growling bear, not concerning himself with closing the door behind him. The kid jumped back, fear and amazement flashing in his eyes. Behind him, Scott could make out the expressions of the other circus artists in the dark. They didn't look scared, but he could still see some tension in their faces. It had to mean that it wasn't just a trick with a tamed bear.

The animal eyed Maliz dangerously, a snarl growing on its snout as it stood up on its hind legs. Its head touched the ceiling of the cage and it lifted its front paws, ready to strike with its claws. Scott was sure that the man was going to receive a blow to his head.

Maliz raised his hand and placed it around the snout of the bear, dragging it downwards and making the bear lay its head flat on the floor. Again, Maliz flashed a grin at the audience on the other side of the bars, letting his hand slip away from the snout of the beast.

"It's all about letting them know who is in charge," he called out to the crowd and took a step away from the bear and turned his back to it. There was a minor flaw that Scott couldn't help but worry about – if the bear jumped straight forward, it would flew right through the opening and out to the people who didn't have a chance to know how to "make the bear know who was in charge".

And surely, the bear lifted its head, clearly looking at the exit. Slowly it rose to standing on all four, its head turning to Maliz' back. The crowd started to mumble uneasily to each other. Should they call out to him that the bear was moving? That they were afraid of it coming out to them?

Perhaps it was the tension or a sixth sense, but as soon as the bear lifted its paw from the floor, Maliz spun around and slapped it across the snout, making the bear back with a low roar.

He performed a few more tricks with it. Showing the fangs by opening the bear's mouth by force and showing how he could stick his hand into its mouth without it biting it off. At last he stepped out and closed the metal door behind him, making the audience sigh in relief. He watched the cage being dragged backwards and the small, chubby man jumped back in on the stage again to address the people.

"Our last performance tonight and last performance in Bayville. Please, be not afraid; Mr. Maliz has everything under control." And with that, the light faded. Scott couldn't help but wonder what it was they could be afraid of. Not unless the animal was running freely around the-

A loud roar echoed through the tent, the crowd sitting tensely in their seats. Suddenly Jean gasped, grabbing a hold on Scott's arm.

"Scott, something just brushed against my legs!"