Chapter 11: Circus Gothica
The boys all heard M'gann before they saw her. She was being chased by two-dimensional creatures. A bat-like creature managed to get tangled in the green girl's hair. "Someone get these things away from me!"
She tried using her density shifting to get the creature out of her hair but once it would get free, another would get stuck. Telekinesis wasn't working well either, the creature would freeze for a moment before breaking free.
Aqualad and Robin were first to act. Aqualad used his water barers to knock the creatures back. Robin took out a couple birdarangs dipped in the red liquid Kid Flash had taken as souvenirs. If his theory was correct then these things will be seriously injured by it. If only there was more time to test that theory, oh well there'll be no going back once he throws them. Robin threw the birdarangs and the creatures disappeared in a puff of green smoke.
Someone let out a high-pitched screech and a glowing green woman with spiky hair and covered in tattoos and had a spiky mohawk appeared. She glared down at the teen heroes before her tattoos peeled themselves off her skin and swirled around everyone but Kid Flash who managed to run out of the room. By the time he came back with more of the red vials, everyone was gone.
Wally groaned, "Why do I have to be the one to call Batman!"
Batman 02
"Call me what."
Line Break
Frederick Isak Showenhower, or properly known as Freakshow was putting the finishing touches on what he hoped would be a permanent attraction for his circus. It was by chance that Circus Gothica was in Happy Harber, they were supposed to play one more show tonight before heading to Star City then to Gotham.
A small boy wearing oversized gym clothes and unkept shoulder length black hair that went nicely with his currently blood red eyes. He floated down in front of Freakshow before kneeling on the ground. "Ah Phantom right on time." He quickly gives the boy a once over, frowning at the state he was in. "You're a complete mess, one of the clowns will have to hose you down and give you a haircut before you get into your costume. Is there any way you can change your appearance? You don't seem..." The older man thought for a moment. "You don't seem creepy enough."
Danny closed his eyes in concentration, ever so slowly his raven black hair turn to a mesmerizing white. "Excellent, now get a move on the show starts in ten minutes."
Once Danny was gone, Lydia appeared with Superboy, Aqualad, Miss Martian and Robin unconscious, bound and gagged. "Good work Lydia, it's a shame the speedy one got away but if everything goes according to plan we'll see him and a couple other so called heroes at the show tonight. Make sure they don't cause any trouble before the grande finale." Lydia nodded before disappearing with the four heroes.
A couple hours had passed and the circus was in an uproar, the crowd was loving everything so far. Frederick appeared in the center ring in a puff of smoke and grinned at the crowd. "Ladies, gentleman, freaks of all ages! I hope you aren't ready to leave yet because we have one more special performance for you! Please welcome a new member of our family, Reaper!"
The flood lights moved upwards to a small figure wearing a tattered cloak and holding a scythe. Removing the hood, everyone saw it was a small boy with unnaturally white hair and blood red eyes. He walked to the edge of the platform and stepped onto a tightrope, using the scythe for balance. Once in the very middle, Reaper balanced on top of the sharp weapon with one hand. Flipping off the scythe he started twirling it one handed and continued walking down the rest of the tight rope.
Freakshow cut off the applause that had started. "You weirdoes really didn't think that was the entire act did you?" He started laughing hysterically. "No, no, no that was just a warm up! For the remainder of our finale, we'll need four volunteers from the audience." The wicked ringmaster saw the Young Justice members Lydia brought walking down to the center ring, no one else noticing their unnatural red eyes. "It looks like we've already got some!"The four teen heroes were in circus outfits; Superboy was in a strong man suit, Robin and Miss M(in her human form) were both in leotards while Aqualad was dressed as a court jester.
Robin took a rope from nowhere and gave one end to Miss M, both running and flipping around the group until they were all tied up together. Freakshow grinned, "Now that they're tied up, the real show can begin! Don't you agree... Justice League!?" The audience turned to a couple different leaguers disguised as civilians and grinned at them with glowing red eyes.
The leaguers took off their disguises revealing Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow and Black Canary. They tried leaping to the center of the tent but the audience grabbed them and forced the heroes back down. "Ah, ah can't have you trying to save the day. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show..." He pointed his staff at Reaper before disappearing in another puff of smoke.The possessed audience members stared at the struggling heroes and started laughing.
Reaper climbed higher until he reached a trapeze stand. He swung by the back of his legs on the catch bar. Scythe in hands, Reaper used it to take the tied Young Justice members to a nearby platform. Martian Manhunter almost got free from the civilians, but Lydia grabbed him from behind and held him still with her tattoos.
Reaper was doing dangerous flips in the air, holding the scythe with his teeth. It was clear by how the four teens were positioned that the routine would end with a beheading. Just as he got to where he could deliver the finishing blow, a batarang knocked the scythe out of his handstand he had to fix his position so not to get injured landing on the platform beside the team.
Batman dropped down from the tent's support beams onto the platform Danny had first been on earlier. He took out a couple red vials and loaded them onto his grapple gun. "Now Kid Flash!" Kid Flash ran from under the stands and quickly made his way up to where Danny and the team were.
Reaper got into a fighting stance, sending a heavy glare at the red head. KF paused for a moment before giving a subtle nod to Batman and sped past Danny to free the others. He managed to get to his friends but not before the younger boy landed a strong kick to the stomach.
Kid Flash winced in pain when he managed to get to Robin and the others. As soon as they were untied Batman shot the vials into the air and used a batarang to break them. A red mist rained down on the entire tent. Freakshow and his minions had immediately left when the vials were first thrown, except Danny. KF tried to get him outside the tent quickly, but it was too late. The damage was done, the young halfa had been too close to the mist.
Thirty minutes had passed and Danny was still trying to recover from the blood blossom mist. He couldn't remember much from the mind control but he did remember the voice that was probably freakshow's telling him that the people currently trying to 'protect' him were making their own versions of the GIW weapons. The young halfa was on the verge of a panic attack.
When he was still at the GIW facility his emotions had been locked away so he hardly felt hurt by what they would say. But now, thanks to the magician girl, three years of bottled up emotions were bursting out at every moment. There were too many people around, too many voices, literal and physical. The mind control wasn't fully gone, that much Danny was certain of. Especially when he could faintly hear the creepy ringmaster issuing threats and commands at the back of his mind.
The two Martians glanced over at Danny when they felt a huge wave of panic and anxiety. Martian Manhunter floated over to the panicking boy. "Are you alright Daniel? Your sending out a heavy amount of panic and anxiety. Your eyes also appear to be illuminating a bright green." Danny didn't acknowledge that he heard the older male, instead he was looking down at the scars on his arms.
Danny couldn't deal with all of this right now, sure only Martian Manhunter asked if he was alright, but that was one person too many. So before anyone could stop him, Danny took off running. Unfortunately Batman was prepared for this and threw a tranquilizer ball at his arm, knocking the boy out instantly.
A/N I wasn't really happy with the last chapter I wrote, hopefully this one makes up for it. Poor Danny, all these chapters and its only been three days in the story.