The Tarantula above the arena played the fanfare to signal the start of the show as PT made his opening appearance.
"Greetings ladies and gentlebugs! Welcome to the great PT Flea's Circus! I am your host and ringmaster, PT Flea! I am here to give you a great show tonight! Be sure to enjoy it! Now for the first act, the famous, FLAMING DEATH!"
The crowd applauded as the act began. The Flaming Death act was invented by PT himself 3 years ago. The trick did not originally go according to plan and PT Flea ended up getting burned by accident. By and large, it turned out to be a happy accident due to the act's increase in popularity.
Now they were attempting the same trick again as they have since then. This time, the stunt went smoothly without any mishaps. When the act finished, the crowd cheered and applauded.
PT Flea was so excited he bounced around, congratulating himself. "Yoo-hoo! The Flaming Death act went well again! I'm gonna be the richest flea in the entire bug world! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Shortly after the Flaming Death Act, Molt, Hopper's younger brother, performed next. He joined PT Flea's Circus as a strongman 3 years earlier. Molt performed an act in which he lifted one coin with each of his second set of arms and a silver cylinder shaped object overhead as he flew upwards into a hover, then slowly lowered himself to the ground again.
PT bounced onto the stage. "Thank you, Tiny! Now for our final act, here's Major Manny the Magnificent and his lovely assistant, Gypsy," PT Flea announced as he hit the gong, signaling Manny's entrance.
"From the most mysterious regions of uncharted Asia…" Manny said as he waved his hands in mystical fashion. "I give you the Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis!" Manny paused for a moment. "Now I need one volunteer for this special magic trick." Manny went up to the audience with his eyes closed. When he stopped and opened his eyes he saw his finger pointing at a young female leaf bug who happened to stand out among the flies.
"Me?" the leaf bug asked, pointing at herself.
"Yes, you Miss," Manny replied as he reached for her hand. "Now follow me to the Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis." Manny walked the young leaf bug to the ring. "Alright my dear, just walk inside the box and Gypsy and I will perform the magic trick. Go on, don't be afraid."
"Okay," the leaf bug replied. She climbed inside the box and sat at the bottom. Gypsy was already waiting inside.
"Oh hello, you must be the lucky volunteer. What's your name," said Gypsy.
"Vera," replied the leaf bug.
"I'm Gypsy." Gypsy paused for a couple of seconds. "Here's the deal," she continued softly. "When Manny gives the signal, that's my cue to pop out of the box. In the meantime, wait here. We'll get you out after the magic act, okay?"
"Got it," replied Vera as she raised her thumb.
Manny spun the box. "I call upon the ancient Szechuan spirits to inhabit the body of our volunteer!" Manny began waving his hands. "Transformation, transformation, transformation! And now! Insectus transformacious!"
Just then, the box magically popped open, and Gypsy came shooting out into the air. Gypsy turned around and slowly descended into the ring, fluttering her wings. She linked hands with Manny as they both took a series of bows. "Thank you, thank you," Gypsy said.
"Aren't I just the greatest," Manny said as he made a pose.
One of the flies in the audience made a face in disgust. "You give us a headache! Get off the stage, you hack!"
But Manny just ignored him and finished his act.
Vera was still in the Chinese box and having trouble getting out. "Manny! A little help please," Vera called, knocking on the side of the box.
Manny heard Vera's voice and promptly approached the box. He tipped over the box with help from Gypsy and Dim. The box fell on its side and popped open. Then Vera came bouncing out.
"Wow! Thanks," Vera said as she stood up and brushed herself off.
"You're most welcome, my dear," Manny replied. "Say… what's your name, young lady?"
"I'm Vera."
"Well, Vera, I'm delighted to meet you. Gypsy and I want to thank you for participating in our magic act today."
"You are most certainly welcome, Major Manny," Vera replied with a bow.
Vera looked around. "Uh-oh! Where's my handbag?"
Slim, who just emerged from backstage to clean up the ring and found the handbag, approached Vera to return it. It's right here."
At that moment, Slim and Vera briefly locked gazes. They returned to reality, and Vera decided to break the silence. "I like all your jokes."
Slim was taken aback. "Yeah? I'm just casted as a prop."
"Don't beat yourself up. You have more wit than you give yourself credit for."
"Thank you, Miss." Slim said as he escorted the young leaf bug out of the tent. "My name is Slim. What's yours?"
"I'm Vera." They reached the front entrance to the tent. "Would you like to meet outside the circus?"
"How about tonight?" said Slim.
"I'd like that. Where?"
"At the bug bar."
Vera smiled. "I will see you then, good looking."
Slim blushed. "Great! Bye!"
"Come on Slim! The ring isn't going to clean itself!" PT Flea shouted.
Slim whirled around and ran back into the tent. "I'm coming!"
Once back inside the tent Francis punched Slim in the arm.
The walking stick was caught off guard. "What was that all about?" Slim asked as he clutched his arm.
"I saw that." Francis said.
"Saw what?"
"You've got it bad."
"What are you talking about?"
"I saw the way you looked at her."
"You have an active imagination."
"I don't think so."
"I think so."
"No, I don't think so. It's obvious to me, you and that leaf bug have something going on. By the way, good luck with your first date."
Realizing he couldn't keep up the pretence, Slim sighed. "Thanks Francis."
After cleaning up the ring, PT Flea and the troupe proceeded backstage to work on closing chores for the evening.