Chapter 4 - The Big Top (Part 1)
In the Airship, the Professor watching them from the monitor, defeating all of his creation.
"Unbelievable! Those wrecked brats ruin everything!" He said in his German accent. "No matter, the battle has just begun."
"Phew! Well at least we have the Warp Star back," Hamtaro commented.
"Yeah, that should make things a bit easier," Kirby replied.
"I wonder how long it'll be before we're-" but before Pikachu could finish, they were teleported back to the shooting gallery.
"I'll never get used to that," Squirtle groaned.
"Don't worry Squirtle, that was the last one before the Big Top, it should be over soon," Kirby reassured as Hamtaro and Pikachu nodded.
"And you were right Kirby," Hamtaro said, walking up to the shooting gallery. "Guess we should see if it's changed."
The curtains of the shooting gallery drew back to reveal that all three of the miniatures had disappeared. They stood there for a moment of confusion before a wooden cutout slowly began to rise out of the gallery. The cutout was painted and shaped to look like the upper-half of a clown — a gaunt white head, sunken eyes peering out, a red nose, and a blue pointed head tilted to the side. The words 'Get Ready!' were painted red on the clown's forehead. Before Hamtaro could comment, the group found themselves drifting in the black and purple void again.
*Dark Void*
You've made it to our main attraction,
The three-ring circus in the Big Top tent.
We hope our clowns will entertain you
Before making you the main event!
Mwahahahahahahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
"Man I really getting tired of that guy..." Hamtaro grunted before he and the 3 heroes were dumped at the Big Top's entrance.
At the entrance, Hamtaro stood in front of a large, yellow wooden box with a window and small table mounted within. Above it the words Box Office were written in a variety of colored letters and styles while below was another sign which read Pay with Your Life!
"Guess you can't beat those prices," Kirby joked.
"Well at least it looks like no one's here," Pikachu said before peering inside the box office.
Suddenly a very short clown jumped onto the box office's table. The clown was no more than 3 ft. tall and wore a little white clown suit with blue buttons along with a blue-rimmed collar. He donned a pointed blue hat, which was tilted to the left, atop his gaunt white head. His eyes were sunken and he wore a red nose just like the cut out in the shooting gallery. Beneath his nose was a pair of ruby lips, baring a set of sharp teeth. The little clown attempted to slash at Hamtaro with his large butcher's knife.
Hamtaro immediately shot several rounds at the little clown until he fell onto the table, blood trickling out his wounds and dripping off.
"He wasn't a very funny clown," Kirby remarked.
Past the box office was a wide open area outside a doorway which led into the Big Top itself. The only thing of note was a large, lit-up sign depicting a gorilla on a green background. Above the gorilla the word 'Tonight!' and below it was a stylized 'APE' with the words 'Final Appearance!' written beneath.
"I really hope we're not going to be fighting an undead gorilla," Hamtaro mumbled, heading through the doorway.
Just past the doorway was a row of red curtains, the ones immediately facing Pikachu had writing on them. The center most one had the words 'The Next Big Star!' written on it with a star containing a question mark in the center. The two curtains opposite both had hands pointing in the opposite direction, both of them with the words 'This Way!' written on them.
Kirby looked right and saw a short hall that led to red curtain with the word 'Entrance' written in yellow letters above it while to the left was a long hall that appeared to lead to another part of the circus. Feeling curious, Kirby and the gang decided to head left and see where the hall led.
Upon heading to the right, Team SuperStar immediately encountered three outhouse-sized structures of descending size standing next to each other. All three of them were white with blue roofs and doors... each door had a single star on it. As Hamtaro walked past them, the first one, which was the largest, opened to reveal another small clown. The small clown jumped and tried to tackle Kid, but he quickly shot him and dodged his corpse.
The second, which was of medium size, opened and revealed it was empty. Finally, the last and shortest one burst open revealing a large clown. The large clown wore a purple outfit with black jack-o-lantern silhouettes on it and a white collar. The clown's face was in a perpetual angry expression with a green outline around its eyes and clenched teeth. The clown wielded a large red and white hammer which it swung at Hamtaro.
He ducked and began shooting at the clown but strangely, every bullet that hit the clown caused it to produce a loud squeaking noise as if he were shooting a large rubber duck. Kirby couldn't help but laugh as Hamtaro shot the squeaking clown until it fell over and died.
"I did not see that one coming…" Hamtaro said, a little befuddled.
"That was grand!" Kirby said, enthusiastically.
"I think this place might be getting to him, let's keep going," Squirtle said as they moved onward.
The rest of the hall was mostly empty up until they came upon an empty concession stand and a sign that read 'Performers Only! Beyond This Point!' in stylized font.
"Do you think we should turn back?" Squirtle asked.
"No, if this is where the performers go, then Tökkentäkker must be somewhere in there," Hamtaro replied before running past the sign and through some purple curtains.
Past the purple curtains and up a few steps was the underside of the seating stands which contained three outhouses. Hamtaro was promptly attacked by two small clowns while a larger clown approached. The two small clowns latched onto Squirtle's legs and attempted to stab at them before he kicked them off and shot both of them in the face, killing them. Squirtle then focused on the large clown, who was already upon him. The large clown slammed its hammer into the side of his head, knocking him onto his side and making him to lose consciousness.
"Squirtle!" They shouted before Hamtaro shoots the large clown. Pikachu then tried to wake Squirtle up while.
"Squirtle! Squirtle wake up!" Pikachu cried as he shook him and smacked him across the face. Eventually, after about 20 seconds or so, he began to stir.
"Ugh damn it, what happened?" He asked as he rubbed his head.
"That big clown hit you in the head but we got him," Kirby explained before changing back into her weapon form.
"I see. " Squirtle asked as he stood up and shook a bit. "Shall we go?"
They nodded as they continued past the out houses.
Upon passing the outhouses, going up a small flight of stairs and through a blue curtain, Kirby was able to get a good view of the circus thanks to his floating. Just as the jester's skull had said it was a three ring circus, each with their own unique attraction. The right ring featured a cannon and a ring of fire, the central ring was empty but was strangely white with a blue star in the center, and the left ring featured three rings of fire with razors within them and long stools. The left ring also had what appeared to be three dogs in them that Hamtaro hoped he wouldn't have to fight. The three rings themselves were surround by empty stands filled with seats.
Upon looking up, Hamtaro saw five long poles which appeared to act as both supports and platforms for the trapeze stunts. Pikachu could also see some vague figures flying near the poles but he couldn't quite make them out. At the center of the Big Top's ceiling was a giant airship with folded wings and three propellers attached to what looked like a boat which seemed to serve as the gondola.
"He must be in there," Hamtaro said to himself, summoning Beelzebub and flying towards the airship.
Suddenly, He heard the sound of a cannon firing by a small clown, who appeared to have been launched by the cannon from the right ring. Hamtaro grunted as he hit the ground and out of the Big Top. Hamtaro shot off the clown's head with his "Fireball" attack before standing up and realizing he was in the left ring, surrounded by the three dogs.
The dogs were about the size of German Shepherds except they looked like deranged poodles. Their fur was pink and they wore large, frilly blue collars although despite their looks, their mouths were equipped with dangerously sharp teeth. The dogs growled and started approaching Hamtaro, getting ready to strike while Hamtaro determined readied himself for the attack.
After several seconds, one of the dogs pounced and Pikachu shot it down before the other two began their attack. Hamtaro managed to kill the second dog but the third managed to knock him down, the dog then tried to maul Hamtaro's face. Hamtaro barely managed to shove his shotgun into the dog's drooling maw and fire three times, killing it.
Past the dogs and the ring, Hamtaro and his teammate noticed another cannon which was aimed at the poles. Curious, he walked up and examined it before looking back at where it was aimed.
"Hey Hamtaro, what are you thinking?" Pikachu asked with concern.
"Well since we can't used the Warp Star because those guys might destroy it and I don't think we can really climb those poles…so..." The Orange Hamster said, trailing off.
"Ooh, yeah! Do it! Do it! Do it!" Kirby cheered excitedly.
"I guess if there isn't another way," Squirtle sighed as Hamtaro nodded and climbed into the large cannon with his teammates behind him, which mysteriously fired and launched them onto the first platform.
Immediately in front of them was a trapeze which led to the next platform but before he could grab it, he was assaulted by two flying bat people. The bat people were of a short, muscular build and had hairy bat-like faces with wings on their backs. They wore tight red pants and wielded red pronged pitchforks.
"Hola!" one of the bat people said in a high-pitched voice with a Spanish accent before they started flying towards Kid with their pitchforks aimed at him.
"Don't worry, we'll cover you!" Kirby told them with Squirtle behind him.
"We will?" Squirtle looked at him like if he was crazy, "I mean yeah we will."
Kirby and Squirtle fired each of his guns at the two, hitting them and causing them to fall to their deaths.
"Well they didn't put up much of a fight," Kirby commented before taking the trapeze and swinging to the next platform.
The second platform was attached to the third via a tight rope which was currently occupied by two large clowns heading towards him though they seemed to be having difficulty staying balanced. Hamtaro smirked, amused by the clowns' plight as he carefully made his way across the tight rope. Upon getting close to the first clown, he shot it in the foot, causing it to squeak and fall off. He then did the same to the second clown before making his way to the third platform.
"Come on, let's go!" Hamtaro said as he and his team continues go to the third platform.
The third platform featured a rope ladder leading to the next platform and a large net a few feet in front of it. Hamtaro holstered his weapons in his pockets before he began climbing the rope ladder with his comrades behind him. On their way up, they encountered a short clown dangling from the ladder, who tried to slash at him but Hamtaro simply loosened the clown's grip, causing the clown to fall. Reaching the top of the fourth platform, he looked and saw the fifth platform across from the fourth though it seemed there was no way to reach it. The only other thing of note was that 'the net was beneath both platforms'. After a few moments of thinking, He decided to take a risk and jumped from the platform and onto the net, which bounced downward when he hit it, but then launched him and his friends back up and onto the fifth platform.
"Never thought that would actually work," Hamtaro said.
"What? What did you think would happen?" Pikachu yelled.
"I thought I would just land on the net and have to find another route," he replied.
Suddenly, a bat person appeared and shouted: "You die!" before pushing them off the platform, causing Team SuperStars to fall and hit the ground.
"Are you guys alright?" Kirby asked as Hamtaro slowly stood up.
"Yeah we're fine, damn bat," he replied before seeing a small ambulance with no driver pull up.
"Who in the right mind would possible ride a car this small?" Pikachu asked.
The back of the ambulance opened up and six little clowns began pouring out, all of them heading towards them, their knives at the ready.
"Oh, nevermind then." Pikachu said, backed up towards the center ring as he shot all the clowns, keeping some of them just barely out of reach.
"So, what do you think's coming next?" Kirby asked.
"I'm not sure, but it can't be good," Hamtaro replied before turning to face the central ring.
The lights in the circus then went out, save for a large spotlight over the central ring. The central ring's rim then started shooting sparks as the floor within the ring opened up and a platform rose from the center. The platform looked like a medical center with tiled flooring, various medical-looking devices, diagrams and large overhead lamps. At the center of the platform were two raised operating table with restraints, one with what looked to be an unconscious gorilla with a mini-gun attached to its left hand and another which was empty. Next to the operating tables was a sign which read 'We Need Your Brain!'
"Ok that's creepy!" Squirtle said as he looked at this sight.
"No kidding." Hamtaro replied
Behind the tables and raised above the equipment was a huge circular monitor with the image of a balding man with hair sticking out of his temples like devil horns. He seemed to be a middle-aged man with a mustache and goatee but his most striking feature was the large token over his left eye which seemed to be the to be the token Hamtaro had inserted into the tombstone.
"My name is Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker and you shall be my masterpiece!" the man declared in a thick German accent.