NOTE: Welcome back! Sorry, this took so long to get out! There will be OCs in this story eventually, so just a warning in case you guys don't like OCs. We'll get another alien reveal in this chapter, so look forward to it!
Enjoy and Review!
Chapter 4: Circus Fright
Sirens echoed through the night as police cars raced down the streets of Ryukyu, the object of their desperation was recklessly barreling through the night. The escape car thieves were shooting at the police to keep them off their backs as they made off with whatever valuables had been stolen.
One of the guys tossed out a Molotov, causing one of the police cars to halt before they could get caught in the explosion of flames. This sudden stop almost caused an accident with the other two police vehicles. The police could only watch as the criminals escaped, turning the corner for the docks.
"Home free now, boys!" The driver yelled. "We just gotta reach the boat I got hidden at the docks and we'll be cruising in no time-"
"Yup, cruising to your heart's content in a jail cell!"
"Eh?" The men looked out of the window to see a bipedal dinosaur alien running just head-to-head with their car. "What the hell are you?!"
"Just your friendly neighborhood superhero who's too tired to deal with criminals on a school night!"
"What-GYAAA!" One of the criminals in the backseat was yanked out of the car in the blink of an eye. He wasn't the only one as the other two thugs were yoinked comically as well, leaving the driver by himself.
"Y-you monster! I'm not letting you take me!" He declared, dangerously swerving the car to try and impede Velocity. The speedy alien easily kept pace with the moving vehicle, glaring at the guy from behind her mask.
"Hey! Who are you calling a monster?! I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly normal-"
"Die!" He pointed his gun at her, but the weapon was easily smacked away.
"-Don't interrupt others, that's rude. As I was saying, I'm a perfectly normal-"
"AAAHHH!"
"UGH! Are you seriously going to keep interrupting me?!" Velocity demanded, pouting childishly.
"WALL!"
"Eh?" She turned ahead to see that they were very quickly approaching a wall. "Uh oh! No time to chat!" In the blink of an eye, she grabbed both the criminal and the loot, and sped away from the car before it smashed violently into the wall. Velocity plopped the terrified criminal next to his unconscious partners. The criminal huddled his legs to his chest, looking up at his savior and stopper. "W-who are you?! O-one of those Circus Freaks?!"
Velocity pulled up her mask and smiled at him. "A perfectly normal girl!"
BOOM!
The demolished car exploded into a bright flame, giving the superheroine a devilish aura that caused the guy to pass out. Velocity tilted her head, confused by his weird reaction, but settled for the fact that criminals were just weird. She heard police sirens approaching their location. "Uh oh! Got to run!" As she took off from the crime scene, she couldn't help but think of what the criminal had called her. "The heck is a Circus Freak?"
After the long-winded school day, the Morning Glory family sits down at the table to enjoy their dinner time. Little Izumi pays more attention to the television as Mame rests his head on her lap, the voices of her family becoming background noise. She was enjoying a rerun of her favorite Magical Girl anime until the show had gone to commercial break. Izumi blinked in surprise as a weird looking clown jumped in front of the screen.
"COME ON, COME ALL!"
"Woah! A circus!" Izumi's exclamation got her family's attention, all of them looking at the television.
"FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY THE ZOMBOZO'S CIRCUS OF TRAVELING LAUGHS IS COMING HERE TO OUR VERY OWN TOWN! HERE TO BRING US A MERRY JOINT OF LAUGHS!"
The announcer moved so that the Clown Prince could take in the center of the screen. His black and dark blue clothing made him stand out in the bright circus tent. His big blue nose was his most defining feature. His dark eyes stared directly into the camera before a sickening smile graced his lips. "That's a Zombozo guarantee!"
"TICKETS ON SALE NOW!"
"A circus! I've never been to a circus before!" Izumi cried, wiggling with excitement. She wasn't the only one as the rest of the kids were all just as excited about the prospect of a circus coming to their island. Considering how young they all were and the tragedies that befell their original families, there wasn't much time for them to enjoy things like this.
"How about it, Uncle Kaz? Can we go see this circus?" Haruka asked.
"I was gonna suggest we take a little family outing this weekend." Kiryu said. "Seems like the perfect chance for it."
"Even after the last one we took?" Ayako reminds him of the whole fishing incident.
"Never hurts to try and have another go at a peaceful outing." The Dragon responded. "I'll go look at my laptop to see if I can still buy some tickets." He stood up from the table to leave for his room.
"Yes! You rock, Uncle Kaz!" Taichi exclaimed.
"What do circuses normally have?" Izumi asked.
Haruka smiled as she tried to think of an answer. Obviously, her experience with such things was just as small as the rest of her siblings but as the oldest she had to try and come up with something. "Well, they have clowns, animals, balloons…and cotton candy-"
"COTTON CANDY?! YES!" Izumi cheered with her brothers. The boys were more than happy to dance along to the idea of getting cotton candy.
The only one who wasn't jumping with joy was Eri, who looked pretty spooked from the face of that creepy clown. The only reason she didn't voice her opinion on the matter was the fear of making everyone else mad at her. She didn't want to ruin their fun…no matter how much the idea of clowns scared her.
Haruka smiled at the huge circus that took up the plaza, several vendors, attractions, and people swarmed the area. This was a first for herself and her family, so it was important that they have fun tonight. And judging from the way her little siblings were bouncing all over the place it seemed like she didn't have much to worry about.
Mitsuo walked up to the whack-a-mole game, picking up the toy hammer. He turned to Riona and smirked confidently. "Check it out! I'll get the highest score and get you a prize!" He boasted.
She folded her arms and raised a brow. "Uh huh. I heard that these games are usually rigged."
"Pfft! As if!" The dark-skinned boy scoffed. He nodded at the attendant, who shrugged and activated the game. Mitsuo waited for the first mole to pop up and brought down his hammer, but the thing quickly vanished before he could hit it. "Huh?!"
"Pfft." Riona tried to stifle her own laughs, which just made the boy blush.
"Alright! That's it! No more Mr. Nice Guy!" He declared as if powering up.
Unfortunately, he did not hit a single mole.
As Mitsuo continued to fail at whack-a-mole, Taichi and Koji were with Kiryu at a shooting game. The kids held the toy guns in their hands, examining them as if they were actual weapons. Their goal in this game was to shoot out little quarks at the targets to win a prize, they both would get three shots each.
Koji looked up at his caretaker. "Have you ever used a gun, Uncle Kaz?"
Flashbacks to picking up random guns in the middle of fights and beating down thugs or other Yakuza came to mind. But he obviously wasn't going to admit that in a public place in front of the kids, so the dragon shrugged. "Not really."
"It can't be that hard." Taichi said as he recklessly held the gun with one hand and pulled the trigger. The quark flew towards one of the targets, but ended up missing, and bouncing off the edge of the prize counter instead. It flew past their heads and into the crowd of people, smacking into the back of some guy's head, causing him to fall face first into some woman's chest.
"KYA!" She screamed loudly, kicking him in the nuts with blinding fast speeds that sent the man flying cartoonishly into the air.
Kiryu and his kids watched the scene take place. "Hm…something about that feels familiar." The Dragon of Dojima muttered. He felt as if some familiar guy should've approached him by now about taking photos of that for inspiration.
"I think you should put the gun down, Taichi." Koji advised.
"Y-yeah…" Taichi wisely put the toy gun down, slowly backing away from the game.
Ayako handed Shiro and Izumi their share of cotton candy, then grabbed her own share from the food attendant. "I hope you two enjoy!" She giggled.
"Thanks, Ayako!" Izumi giggled, happily biting into her cotton candy.
"Yeah, I appreciate it." Shiro bit into the pink fluffy goodness.
Izumi looked a bit upset about something. "I wish we could've brought Mame with us."
"Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us bring a dog to the show. But we can tell him all about the show once we get back home." Ayako cheered up her little sister.
"Yeah! I'll spend the whole night telling him everything and even give him some cotton candy!"
"Don't do that last part." Shiro sighed.
Haruka was about to join the others for all the fun until she saw Eri, who was standing off to the side. The younger girl was shaking a bit as she stared at the loud circus-filled lot. Haruka walked over to her, looking concerned. "Eri? Are you okay?"
"E-eh?!" The frightful girl jumped. "H-Haruka?! How long have you been standing there?!"
"I've been here for a few minutes now."
"O-oh."
"But, I'm more concerned about you, Eri. Why are you going around with all of the others?" She asked carefully.
Not wanting to admit the truth in fear of ruining the others' fun, Eri quickly lied. "U-uh, I'm just a little cold! Hard to move around!" She faked a laugh.
Haruka didn't seem to buy it. "Eri, you know you can-"
"STEP RIGHT UP!"
Everyone's attention was immediately taken to see a man with a top hat and cane standing on a stage, the spotlight shining down on him. "Oh, it's starting!" The heroine exclaimed. "C'mon, let's meet up with the others, Eri!" Haruka dragged her unwilling little sister along towards the stage.
"Step right up to see a freak of nature! Who's strength knows no bounds! Thumbskull!" A large man with greenish skin, dressed in a black and white striped prison stood inside of the first cage. The weirdest part about him wasn't his skin, but the large toenail on his forehead. Thumbskull grabbed a metal pole and bent it in half.
"Woah! That guy looks strong!" Izumi gasped.
"Tch! Uncle Kaz is way stronger than that." Taichi bragged. "Right, Uncle Kaz?"
Kiryu shrugged his shoulders. "Probably." He didn't really care too much if he was.
"Up next, we have Frightwig!" A red tendril with a black ball ripped the metal pipe out of Thumbskull's hands. Inside of the next cage was a woman with five long red tendrils of hair. She was dressed in a black one piece outfit that showed off her shoulders, with black and yellow sleeves. "When this woman lets down her hair there's no telling what could happen!" She bent the metal like a pretzel with just her hair.
"I can't imagine having hair like that." Riona gagged. "Seems untameable." She touched her much shorter hair.
"I get what you mean, Riona." Ayako agreed. "I like long hair, but that looks a little too much for me."
"Same." Mitsuo touched his faded cut, earning odd stares from the girls.
Frightwig used her hair to toss the pretzel into the last cage on top of a stand. "Last but not least! The freak whose unique skill is as vile as his attitude! Acid Breath!" The disturbing looking man took off his mask and released a toxic fume from his mouth. The gas had melted the pipe and the stand completely.
Let's just say…everyone was disgusted by the display shown by Acid Breath. Haruka looked down at two of her little brothers. "Koji, Taichi, make sure you brush your teeth from now on."
"What?! I always brush my teeth! It's Taichi who doesn't!" Koji argued.
"Hey! I brush my teeth at least 3 times a week!"
"DO IT MORE!" The others comically yelled at him.
Eri, who was too scared to even comment on what was happening chose that moment to sneak away from the group. She was hoping to find some quiet corner to try and shake her fears away, but she knew it was a futile effort. The frightful girl was just too scared of all these circus attractions and clowns. "T-those Circus Freaks or whatever they're called were just way too much! The others can have their fun, but I just want to go back home!"
"Knock 'em dead…!"
"E-eh?" Eri paused, realizing she had wandered close to one of the far smaller tents. Curiosity got the better of her, she sneaked closed to the open flap. She gasped quietly as she watched Zombozo mutter to himself in front of a mirror.
"You're gonna knock 'em dead, old Zombozo! Hehehe…" He giggled some more. A sickening smile growing even wider than she thought possible. "All the way to the grave…!"
"Okay… I want to go home!" Eri squealed mentally. She frantically started rushing away from the tent, hoping that Zombozo hadn't noticed her. Eyes closed, legs moving at supersonic speeds, Eri kept her hands close to her heart to try and control its rampant beating.
CRASH!
"Eep!" She squealed after she crashed into a wall(?).
"Eri? There you are." Looking up, the young girl found the comforting eyes of her Uncle Kaz staring back at her. Not only him, because the rest of her siblings also looked worried about her behavior. "Why did you run off, Eri? It's easy to get lost."
"I-I-I-" As scared as she was, Eri didn't want to admit to wanting to leave. Her siblings would never let her live it down if she ruined their weekend because of some fear of clowns. "I was looking for the bathroom…"
Seeming to buy the lie, Kiryu nodded his head. "Alright, just make sure to let us know where you're going so that we don't worry."
"R-right, sorry, Uncle Kaz."
Since she understood what he was telling her, Kiryu addressed the rest of his kids. "Alright, let's hurry up and find our seats for the show."
"Yeah!" As the group loudly hurried towards the Big Top, Haruka slowed her pace to keep an eye on Eri. The hero's big sister senses were blaring in her head, telling her that there was clearly something wrong with her little sister.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Children of all ages! The Circus of Laughter is proud to present! The Saulten of Smiles! The Crowned Prince of Chuckles! The Grim Tickler himself! The Star of our Circus! ZOMBOZO THE CLOWN!"
A tiny race car zoomed into the tent and exiting from the tiny mobile was the clown himself, Zombozo. The crowd laughed loudly at Zombozo's entrance, except Eri, who sat there confused at what was so funny.
The car suddenly took off to get some distance from the clown. Zombozo was surprised but soon challenged the car with a grin. He pulled a red cape out of his glove and whipped it like a matador challenging a bull. When the car hit the cape, it exploded into confetti. Everyone was laughing hysterically at the act.
"If you love clowns, then this is the place to be! You're gonna die laughing!" Zombozo exclaimed. Behind him was a large machine with multiple curricular cases on it. The machine began to glow as the laughter increased. "That's a Zombozo guarantee!"
Eri stared at the clown in fear striken silence, shaking so much you would think it was below freezing temperature in the place. Her breathing grew erratic, feeling as if she were going to pass out. Luckily, Haruka was right next to her and grabbed the shaking girl by the shoulders. The action caused Eri to momentarily snap out of her fear, feeling herself getting pulled up to her feet.
"Uncle Kaz! I'm going to take Eri to get some air!" Haruka yelled over the intense laughing fit of the crowd.
Kiryu, who hadn't laughed once at the spectacle, looked at the rest of his laughing children then back at Haruka. "Stay safe!"
"We will!" Haruka responded before gently moving Eri towards the stairs. "C'mon, let's get some fresh air." Eri didn't say a word, but nodded her head in agreement.
After a few moments of quiet air, Haruka decided to ask the question she's been pondering for a bit. "Eri…?"
"I-I'm okay, Haruka." The black haired girl interrupted her. "I just needed some space."
"That's good and I'm glad you're okay, but that's not what I was going to ask."
"What is it?"
"Eri, are you afraid of the circus?" Haruka asked gently.
"E-eh?!"
"You looked like you've been ready to run in fear the entire time since we've been here." Haruka explained her reasoning.
Eri froze in place, terrified that she had been so obvious with her fears. Maybe it would be best to confess her fears now-
SHATTER!
Both girls jumped from the sound of glass shattering, they hurried down towards the empty street to see what was going on. As they were hiding behind a car, the two gasped in shock at the Circus Freaks, who were robbing several ATMs. "Woah…! The freaks are felons!" Haruka whispered.
"W-what are we gonna do?!" Eri asked. Then she realized it was a pretty dumb question to ask after hearing the watch being activated.
"I'm gonna close the curtains on this act!" Haruka smirked at her quip. "Heh! And the boys said I couldn't make good one-liners."
FLASH!
Wildmutt jumped onto the car, roaring loudly to gain the freak's attention. The three turned around confused by the sight of the large orange dog. "What the hell is that thing?" Frightwig questioned.
"Ragh!" Wildmutt attempted to answer, confusing them more. Eri stayed behind the car, hoping to remain hidden as Haruka took down the criminal freaks.
Wildmutt charged towards Thumbskull, making the big guy back away nervously. "Okay…nice doggy-GUH!" Wildmutt headbutted him into the wall, disorienting the brute.
Frightwig attempted to smack Wildmutt away with her hair, but the Vulpimancer dodged out of the way. Biting down on Frightwig's hairballs, trapping them inside of her mouth. The female freak chuckled nervously. "...Sorry?"
"Rnnngh!" Wildmutt growled before using her powerful jaws to lift Frightwig off of her feet. She slammed the woman down onto the concrete, cracking the ground underneath. Frightwig groaned in pain as she tried to get back up.
Wildmutt released the hair from her mouth, then tried to tear open their getaway car. Acid Breath rushed in to help his fellow freaks.
"No mutt is gonna steal my loot!" Acid Breath prepared to unleash his rancid breath onto Wildmutt. Thankfully, her sense picked up the danger quickly enough for her to backflip over the gas and behind him. She lifted her paw and bashed him away further down the street.
Thumbskull got back up, tearing a lamppost out of the ground, he raised it up like a bat to swing. "Time for the puppy to get pounded!" He swung the lamppost with all of his might. What he didn't expect was for Wildmutt's teeth to tear right through it, making his efforts useless.
Wildmutt spat out the metal and growled threateningly at him, forcing the brute to back away in fear. Frightwig got to her feet, also scared by the approaching hero.
Eri allowed herself to smile, silently cheering for her sister's victory. So caught up in the action that she failed to notice the wide smiled shadow looming over her. It started low, but the shadow's laughter grew louder, sending a chill down the young girl's spine. Eri turned around and screamed as she came face to face with the object of her fears.
Wildmutt stopped focusing on the two Circus Freaks after hearing the screams of her little sister. The Vulpimancer screamed with fury and fear as Zombozo with Acid Breath at his side approached with Eri held captive.
"I leave you bozos alone for a few minutes and you can't even take care of one little puppy?" Zombozo scolded his freaks. Wildmutt tried to jump at him, but Zombozo stopped her by squeezing Eri's head, eliciting cries from her. "Ah, ah, ah! Don't move or I'll crush her head like a balloon!" With the alien dog staying put, the clown tossed the girl at Frightwig to keep captive. "Now, let's teach this puppy some new tricks!" Zombozo laughed with a malicious smile.
POW!
BAM!
SLAM!
WHAM!
Eri watched in horror as her elder sister was brutally beaten down by Zombozo. Guilty tears pouring down her face for causing this to happen. Her crying didn't last long when Frightwig tightened her hold. "Quit your sniffling, brat!"
"GRAH!" Wildmutt cried as she smashed into a cell site. She struggled to keep herself standing, wincing from the painful blows delivered.
"What do we do about this one, boss?" Acid Breath pointed at Eri.
Zombozo got a good look at the terrified child, taking some amusement from the way she stared at him with fear. Such a thing was different from what he was truly after, but it fascinated him a little too much. "Keep her and show her the true joys of the circus!"
"W-what?!" Eri cried, terrified.
"Now bring the curtain down on this side show!" Zombozo ordered, pointing at Wildmutt. His freaks listened and used their abilities to bring the cell site down on Wildmutt, burying her in rubble.
"NO!" Eri screamed until the rest of Frightwig's hair covered her up, silencing the child. There was nothing Eri could do but sit still as Zombozo and the freaks escaped with their loot and herself as their prisoner.
Wildmutt slowly climbed her way out of the wreckage just as the watch started beeping. A flash of red light turned her back to normal. Haruka held her head, which was throbbing in pain, but she couldn't focus on it for long. "T-those jerks…! I have to save Eri!"
Haruka made her way back towards the circus, only to gasp loudly at the empty lot. "W-what happened to the circus?! Where is everyone?!" Running into the lot, Haruka noticed that there were still some people around, but what took her attention the most was the familiar group near the entrance. "Everyone!"
"H-H-Haruka-snrk!" Ayako laughed humorlessly. She wasn't the only one as the rest of their siblings were in similar states. They were all surrounding the unconscious body of their Uncle Kaz.
"Uncle Kaz?!" Haruka rushed down to Kiryu, shaking him enough to cause the man to stir awake. "Uncle Kaz!"
"H-Haruka…? Ugh…" Kiryu said groggily, sitting up with the help of his kids. "W-what happened?"
"What happened?! That's what I'd like to know! The whole circus is gone!"
Kiryu shook his head, thinking back to everything that happened prior. "All I can remember was everyone laughing, then they started bringing out some weird machine. And suddenly everything went white."
"Hehe… It was so funny…so very funny…" Riona laughed just as lifelessly.
"B-best circus ever…hehe…" Izumi muttered, leaning on Taichi.
Kiryu observed the weird state of the children before realizing that someone was missing. "Haruka, where's Eri?"
"Zombozo…! He took her!" Haruka growled, blaming herself for once again getting one of her little siblings put in danger.
"What?!" Kiryu exclaimed, anger building inside.
"Yeah, turns out this circus was just some big elaborate plan for Zombozo and his freaks to rob everyone blind. They took Eri and it's all my fault." Haruka stared at the ground.
"It's not your fault, Haruka. Beating yourself up is the last thing you should be doing, because right now we need to focus on saving Eri." Kiryu advised his daughter.
"Right! We need to save her and whoever else Zombozo took with him!" Haruka exclaimed. She looked at Ayako, who was doing her best out of all of her siblings when it came to keeping herself together. "Ayako, do you remember anything specific before the Big Top vanished?"
"A-all I remember was joy…then sudden emptiness. I-I think Zombozo robs people of their joy…" Ayako did her best to explain.
"Robs them of their joy…? Is that what he plans to do to Eri?" Haruka questioned. The more she thought about what Zombozo has done and plans to do the more she grew angry. "We need to find Zombozo and fast, but how are we supposed to do that?"
Kiryu looked down at the ground, noticing the tire tracks leading away from the lot. "Seems he had left in a hurry. If we follow these tracks we should be able to get to him and Eri."
"Then let's go!" Haruka activated the watch, selecting the necessary form.
FLASH!
Velocity motioned towards her back. "Grab on, Uncle Kaz! I'll get us there in a flash!"
"Yeah!" Kiryu nodded his head, then turned back to Ayako. "I know that you're in just as terrible a shape as the others, but you need to contact the police and watch over your siblings. Okay, Ayako?"
"I… I'll do my best, Uncle Kaz…" Ayako yawned. As tired as she was, she did find the sight of Velocity carrying Kiryu hilarious.
Haruka and Kiryu arrived at the spooky circus hideout of Zombozo, they quietly snuck their way through the area. Hiding behind some crates the two saw the Circus Freaks standing guard outside of the Big Top. "How should we handle this, Uncle Kaz? Take them down together?"
"No." Kiryu responded. "I'll handle the three out here, while you go and save Eri. We don't have time to waste when her life is in danger."
"Right! But…uh…you don't hit women, Uncle Kaz." Haruka pointed at Frightwig.
"Just let me handle that. Now get going." She nodded her head, trusting his judgment. Haruka snuck around behind the crates as Kiryu walked forward to make himself known. "Hey!"
The Circus Freaks stared at the dragon in bewilderment. "Who the hell are you?" Acid Breath asked.
Frightwig looked him up and down, biting her lip. "I don't know, but he's pretty good lookin."
"I don't care how good he looks, anyone who tresspasses gets their teeth knocked in!" Thumbskull cracked his knuckles.
Kiryu glared at the three, his red aura leaking out of him. "I'll give you three one last chance to back down and give me back the child you took."
"Child? Oh, the little girl we brought back, right? Heh, sorry shithead, but I'm sure Zombozo's already drained her dry." Acid Breath's words angered Kiryu even more. "But don't worry, you'll be joining her soon enough!"
Thumbskull charged forward with his massive fist raised to pummel Kiryu. Any lesser man would've been terrified, but for the man who's fought over 1,000 armed Yakuza, another dragon like him, the Mad Dog of Shimano, and other extremely powerful men of the Japanese underworld. These freaks were nothing more than petty thugs. "ORA!" Kiryu's fist moved much faster, slugging Thumbskull across the jaw. The muscle freak was sent flying through the air, crashing into crates behind the other two.
"Holy shit!" Frightwig cursed. "He sent Thumbskull flying!"
"Tch! A lucky shot no doubt!" Acid Breath wasn't scared. "Let's see you handle this!" He rushed forward, pulling his head back and unleashing his disgusting breath.
Kiryu rolled out of the way to avoid getting melted by his attack. The dragon grabbed a discarded baseball on the ground and sent it flying at Acid Breath. Green hot mist melted the ball before it could land, but was enough of an opening for Kiryu to close the distance and uppercut the nasty freak into the air. He grabbed Acid Breath's legs and slammed the freak back down into the hard dirt.
Suddenly, several tendrils of red hair wrapped around his wrist, pulling him away from Acid Breath. Kiryu saw as Frightwig smiled at him, lifting him into the air with her hair and smashing him into some of the crates. Before he could properly get back up, Thumbskull reappeared, wrapping the dragon up in a bear hug. "I got him! Let this punk have it, Frightwig!"
"Nice one, ya big lug!" She applauded. The female freak pulled back her hair before unleashing it in a flurry of blows at the Dragon of Dojima.
Kiryu grunted, using his strength to break free of Thumbskull's hold, then ducking down to avoid getting pummeled. Thumbskull blinked in surprise before the black balls on Frightwig's hair smashed into his face repeatedly. Such force and repetition was enough to knock out the brute.
"Shit! You're gonna pay for that, punk!" Frightwig hissed. She launched her hair back at Kiryu, who dodged the assault and grabbed the long locks of red. With a strong yank, Frightwig was pulled towards him with no way of stopping. With precise timing, Kiryu used her momentum to wrap the woman up in her own hair, tying it tight enough for her to be unable to free herself. Then he tossed her into an open crate filled with confetti, satisfied with the way he managed to handle her.
"I-I'm not done yet!" Acid Breath declared, climbing back up to his feet. Kiryu's eyes widened as the freak took a deep breath, knowing what was about to follow such action. He noticed the baseball bat on the ground and picked it up. Without wasting a moment, Kiryu launched the bat with insane speeds. Acid Breath only had a moment to widen his eyes before the wooden bat smashed into his face, sending him flying through the air.
"Tch! Better hurry after Haruka and Eri!" Kiryu said to himself and hurried towards the entrance of the Big Top, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.
A bit before Haruka and Kiryu arrived, Eri found herself trapped in the darkness of the Big Top. Huddling her knees close to her chest, shaking like a leaf. Eri had no idea what Zombozo had planned for her, but the young girl wanted no part in it! All she wanted was to go home with her family and forget any of this ever happened!
"Oh~? What's with the long face sweetheart?"
"Huh?" Eri looked up, finding the monstrously huge face of Zombozo staring right back at her. "KYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!" She screamed, backing away from the huge clown.
Zombozo clicked his tongue. "Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! That's no way to treat your host, darling! All I want to do is give you the best show ever!"
"L-leave me alone!" Eri cried. She scrambled to her feet, trying to run away from the clown prince.
"Where do you think you're going, sweetheart?" With a snap of his fingers, the ground beneath Eri gave out. Her screams echoed loudly as she fell through the air before landing on some sort of spider web.
"W-what is this?!" Eri tried to break free.
"A little bit of fun! Aren't kids your age interested in that spider-themed superhero?" Eri looked in the direction of the voice and screamed once more. A huge spider with Zombozo's head started crawling towards her. "Don't be like that! I just want to get you to laugh!" She started freaking out as the clown's voice multiplied, more spider-Zombozos started crawling all over the web.
"C'MON! GIVE US A BIG 'OL SMILE!"
"NOOOO! GET AWAY!" Eri roared, clawing through the web, which caused her to once again descend towards the ground. She sat up on her knees, rubbing her head. Eri looked around to see where Zombozo was, but there wasn't a single spider around. She released a breath until a bright light illuminated the dark behind her. Turning around, Eri saw a huge Zombozo themed truck coming right for her.
"Better start laughing, kid, because this one'll steam roll ya! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zombozo's laugh echoed all around Eri as she sprinted for her life. Unfortunately her legs weren't capable of outrunning a truck, it seemed like her young life was about to reach its end until something yanked on the back of her hoodie. Eri looked up to see that the massive Zombozo was holding her between his thumb and finger, the clown bringing her up to his face.
"What's wrong, kid? Too scared of a little clown to laugh a little?!" He asked, grinning madly.
"...why…?"
"Hm?" Zombozo raised a brow.
"W-why are you doing this to me?! I'm scared, okay! Is that what you want to hear?!" Tears streamed down her face as she confessed to her fears. "I'm scared of clowns, you're the scariest thing I've ever seen!"
For once, Zombozo wasn't laughing, he just stared at the small girl. Then he dropped her, allowing Eri to scream until she hit the floor once again. She blinked a couple of times and realized that she was apparently back inside of the Big Top.
"You asked 'why', right?" Zombozo's voice grabbed her attention, making Eri stare at the floating dark clown. Attached to his back was a large cable that was connected to a large machine with distorted laughter coming from it. "All I want is what every clown worth his floppy shoes wants! To make people laugh! tHeN sUcK oUt ThEiR eNeRgY lIkE a SpOnGe In A pOoL pArTy!" His distorted face spat. "Is that so wrong~?"
"S-suck out their happiness?"
"My Psyclown machine here will be my ticket to the big cities! Millions of people laughing for me as I suck them all dry! Making me stronger than ever! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zombozo laughed mockingly. "But you're different, kid!"
"I-I'm different?"
"Yup! You're so scared of me that my machine wasn't capable of sucking out your happiness! That makes me extremely curious! I want to see just what exactly will make you laugh, so that I can enjoy sucking out every bit of happiness out of you! You'll be my ultimate prize to power!" He floated closer to Eri, who tried to crawl away from him. "Think of all the fun we'll have, each and every day! You weak little, brat! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
As Zombozo's laughter ringed in her ears, Eri felt herself thinking back to a particular night.
"Had a hard time sleeping?" Eri jumped, almost dropping the cup of water she had gotten from the kitchen. She looked over to see Haruka, dressed in her sleepwear, sitting on the edge of their porch.
"H-Haruka? What are you doing awake?" Eri asked carefully.
The oldest sister shrugged her shoulders. I guess I just couldn't sleep tonight. But, I asked you the same thing." She smiled softly at Eri, who took a seat right next to her.
"I-I had a bad dream. It was pretty scary…"
"We all have bad dreams. But they're just dreams, Eri, they can't hurt you." Haruka said.
"But those bad men from before could hurt us, and my dream was…" She didn't finish explaining, because Haruka understood what she was talking about. Eri felt Haruka bring her in closer for a hug.
"I'm sorry that you all had to go through that, Eri. But don't worry, Uncle Kaz protected us from them, we're safe." Haruka comforted her.
"R-right… I'm sorry that I'm bothering you with this."
"It's not a bother, Eri."
"B-but it is! I always get scared so easily by things and trouble others because of it!" Eri cried, kicking the sand beneath their feet.
"There's nothing wrong with being scared."
"B-but you and Uncle Kaz never get scared! When those bad people showed up, you defended us just like how Uncle Kaz would! Uncle Kaz fought all those guys and more to protect us like it was nothing!" Eri felt ashamed at herself for the way she was acting, but she also felt that she was correct with her assumptions.
"I was scared, terrified even." Haruka admitted.
"Huh?" Eri blinked at her.
"When Mine and the Tojo appeared at our doorstep, I was terrified out of my mind. I know from personal experience how dangerous the Yakuza can be and that's something Uncle Kaz and I hoped you all would never have to deal with." Haruka admitted unashamedly.
"B-but, you-"
"Uncle Kaz was scared too. He was afraid of losing more people than he already had. Uncle Kaz has lost so much in his life, so he does his best to fight and keep what he has left." Haruka added.
"If you guys are scared so much, then how can you stand up to people like that? How are you so strong?" Eri asked.
"I'm gonna tell you something that Uncle Kaz taught me some time ago." Haruka grinned. Eri stared at her big sister with a questioning stare. "If you're dealing with something scary, whether it's a dream, a bully, or something else entirely…all you have to do is pull back your fist and-"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA-huh?" Zombozo stopped laughing as Eri slowly stood back up to her feet. He stared at the girl with confusion written on his face, wondering if she was just gonna start running away. "What? Still scared?"
Eri balled her fist, trying to dry her tears. The young girl stared Zombozo down with a bitten lip. "Y-yeah! Yeah, I'm scared of you!"
"Really?! Then I still have some work to do to get you to laugh!" He rushed for her, prepared to trap the girl in his illusions once more.
Eri continued to glare down at the clown, refusing to run or scream in fear. "Yeah… I'm scared of you! But, I'm more scared of you hurting the people I care about! So, I'll pull back my fist and…"
"PUNCH HIS-"
"PUNCH YOUR-"
"LIGHTS OUT/LIGHTS OUT!" Eri's fist smashed into Zombozo's big blue nose, surprisingly managing to knock the clown's head back and making him flop onto his back. A fist-shaped indent could be seen on the clown's nose. Infuriated beyond belief, Zombozo shot into the air with red hot fury.
"THAT'S IT, YOU LITTLE BRAT! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU-huh?" Zombozo's anger paused, realizing that Eri was nowhere to be seen. "W-where did she go?! Did she run away again?!"
"Oh, I wouldn't be worrying about her." A high-pitched voice answered his questions. Zombozo looked around for whoever was responsible. He felt a tap on his shoulder, turning around to be greeted by a blast of pink dust. "GAH?! The hell?!"
"I guess clowns really can be pretty freaky, but you're a special kind, Zombozo."
Zombozo wiped the dust from his face, growling in anger. "Show yourself, freak-show! I'm warning ya!"
"Isn't that ironic! The freaky clown is calling someone else a freak!"
Suddenly, Zombozo felt himself being yanked down towards the ground, the clown unable to stop his inevitable crash with the surface. All of the power from his Psyclown machine slowly draining away from him. "W-what's happening?! How is this happening?!"
"Hm? I don't know, you tell me. I thought you were the master of this circus?" The high-pitched voice mocked him.
"I am the master! The clown prince! I run things around here, not whoever you are!" Zombozo roared.
"Oh, really? Then how about asking them."
"Wha-guh?!" Zombozo felt something grab onto his neck, but it wasn't just one pull, it was multiple. He looked down to see several soul-like beings reaching for him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The soul-like being laughed.
Fear gripped the psychotic clown's heart, he tried to fight back against the grabby souls. "S-stop! Don't you dare touch me!" But no matter what he did they continued to grab his body, yanking him down into the pits of hell. "S-STOP! NO! STOOOOOOP!"
Eri and Kiryu watched as Zombozo, who had been disconnected from his destroyed Psyclown machine, struggled in pain on the ground. Floating next to them was a short fairy-like alien with blue skin. She has purple fairy-like wings, pink spots and blue hair that sticks straight up. She's wearing a pink dress with black zigzags, the bottommost one of which is slightly asymmetrical. Her hands have three fingers with white gloves on them and her feet have two toes. She has pink eyes with eyeliner and blue markings on her cheeks and chin. The watch's symbol is located on her chest.
"One point for Nemuri and zero for the psychotic clown." Nemuri cheered, sticking up a peace sign.
Kiryu looked down at Eri, kneeling down to her height. "Are you okay, Eri?"
The young girl nodded her head. "Y-yeah! I'm just fine, Uncle Kaz! I wouldn't have been if you and Haruka hadn't shown up."
Nemuri fluttered down to face Eri. "I wouldn't say any of that, Eri! I saw that punch that you landed, which bought me my chance to spray Zombozo with my dust. If anything, you're the real hero today. You were the coolest!"
Eri stared at her mini big sister before a small laugh broke out of her. Nemuri and Kiryu stared at her with confusion until Eri gave them the biggest smile possible. "Thanks, Haruka!"
"Heh…no problem."
Chapter End
NOTE: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm kinda surprised someone managed to guess that one of Haruka's aliens was Pesky Dust, but yeah good guess. This was an Eri centric chapter, so I hope her focus wasn't too bad.
Kiryu got to kick ass and not hit women.
Reminder that I'm not going to do every episode of Classic, just the ones I like or feel are important.
Haruka's Aliens:
1. Heatblast
2. Wildmutt
3. Big Chill
4. Tora (Rath)
5. Ripjaws
6 Crystal Girl (Chromastone/Still Pending)
7. Velocity (XLR8)
8. Nemuri (Pesky Dust)