Yes yes, chapter three. I still hope you'll enjoy it.

Jean dragged back her legs in shock, for the first time tonight telling herself that she shouldn't have worn a short skirt.

Jean had just warned Scott about something touching her as the light came back to life and they were starring at a tiger standing too close for comfort before them. It turned its head to look at them, barring its teeth and let out a growl. If they had reached out their hands, they could have touched the orange head. Scott almost reached up to tear off his glasses to protect the people in the tent.

A sharp snap echoed over their heads and the large feline turned and walked closer to the centre of the stage. Maliz walked over to it, keeping his focus more on the audience than on the beast he had running loose around him. Jean couldn't help but frown a bit. This Mr. Maliz was a bit too self-centred to work with something as dangerous as this. He didn't even seem to care that it was a predator he had circling around him.

The kid and his companions came out on the stage again, bringing out a series of rings standing on metal piles. The boys set one of them on flames and ran back into the shadows of the back. The tiger, upon seeing the ring light up, crouched down uneasily and growled. Maliz, on the contrary, seemed to light up just as the flames did with the rings and instantly snapped the whip.

The tiger hissed, but circled to the other side, jumping through the burning ring in one leap and landing steadily on the other side. Maliz snapped the whip again and a boy came running in to set the second ring on fire and place it next to the other to form a longer tube. After letting the whip rip through the air, the tiger jumped through the two rings at once and Maliz waited for the boy to come back and light the last ring. The boy's black hair bounced as he ran closer and he suddenly looked out from under it to the tiger. He stopped dead in his tracks, as the tiger turned its head and growled at him, taking a step in the kid's direction. It lowered its head, like it was hunting for its prey. Maliz, having had his attention on the audience, turned around to see the tiger take yet another step. He raised the whip and let it smack the tiger's back, making the large cat roar out in shock and turning around in a swift jump. He glared at the boy, who hurried to set the last ring on fire, get it in place and ran as fast as he could out of the ring. The tiger hesitated, looking at the rings blazing. Maliz made a snap with the whip, but the tiger didn't move at once. With a growl like an animal, the human took a step forward and lashed out at the tiger's paw with the whip. It jumped instantly, passing through the first two rings. As it came out on the other side of the third ring, its back legs hit the bottom of the ring. Only few had probably noticed anything, for they clapped at the man who bowed to all sides and took in the applaud. The tiger squatted a bit, clearly having hurt its feet on the ring.

"That is all for tonight. We hope you have enjoyed the show!" the chubby man called to the audience. Jean looked back to see where the tiger had gotten. Maliz walked up beside it, grabbing it in the neck and dragged it forward by force.

"You brute…" a voice said close by. Jean looked around, but no one was looking at the stage as of now.

"That hurts," the voice said again, and something suddenly dawned on Jean as she followed Scott and the rest of the audience out of the tent. As soon as it was possible, she dragged Scott to the side and away from the stream of people leaving to either head home with their kids or see the rest of the carnival before it closed down.

Scott almost tripped upon being dragged to the side, and he looked at Jean in an attempt to figure out what was on the loose. She had a tight grip on his hand, leading him around the tent. She had a determined look in her eyes, as she got to the other side of the tent just in time to see Maliz almost throw the tiger into the back of a circus wagon while yelling at the animal.

"You almost ruined it, you stupid cat," he hissed at it, smacking the door shut with a loud blow and put the lock on, "There's no food for you until we reach the next city." The tiger looked much less savage now, its head slumped down as it followed the human with its eyes.

"Jean, would you please tell me what this is about?" Scott tried, but Jean had her eyes focused on Maliz and some of the other circus people who ran around to get their things packed up. Maliz opened the door to the driver's seat and was about to get in.

"I'll explain later," Jean said in a hurried voice, dragging her friend with her towards the wagon. Maliz looked back to see a woman with red hair and a man with glasses coming his way. He turned to them, keeping his hand on the door.

"Can I help you?" his rough voice asked, eyeing them up and down. He was bigger than they had both thought him to be, but Jean had no intension of turning back now.

"Ehm, yes, you can," she started, her eyes wandering from the bulky man to the wagon cage, "We want to buy your tiger."

"You what?" Maliz asked.

"We what?!" Scott asked in an even more surprised tone, staring at Jean with his mouth open. What the heck was she doing? He received a push from her elbow, closing his mouth.

"God, don't tell me you're one of those freaky animal activists. It's just a dumb beast, it's not like it has any feelings." Maliz said coldly and prepared to get into the driver's seat.

"No no, we're not, it's just," Jean paused. What the heck was she going to say? She tried to think of something, knowing that this plan wasn't very well thought through. "It's just, we really want it. Money's not a problem."

Maliz actually looked like he considered it for a moment, but then broke into a grin.

"Hah! You almost got me there, girlie," he chuckled half heartedly, "You won't get this little kitty, so I suggest you just go home."

Jean just looked at Maliz walking into the driver's house, all hope lost. She felt Scott tugging on her shoulder and she turned to look at him.

"Come on, let's go," he encouraged her and she gave in, walking away.

After a few yards, Scott coughed. "What was that about? I know he didn't treat them good, but…"

Jean shook her head and looked up at him. He could still see the urgency in her green eyes, and he slowly started to understand that there was more to it than he thought.

"Scott, that wasn't an animal," she tried to explain, looking at Scott tilting his head, "I think it's a mutant."

Scott opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he could think of nothing good to say. The words slowly sunk in, as he watched Jean fumble for words as well.

"I heard its thoughts, you have to believe me."

"I believe you," Scott instantly replied, placing his hands on her shoulders. He blinked twice, realisation hitting him, "We have to call the professor."