Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

It... it worked. He didn't quite understand how, but it worked. That guilder chick didn't physically follow up as he had anticipated - but somehow Isabella's retaliation had completely missed, while Crispin landed his blow. Before he could even look to Aria for a brief thumbs-up, however, he himself flew off to the side as well. A blow to the stomach for a blow to the face - the tradeoff was not worth it.



Tammie yelped in response as Crispin came crashing by her. She hopped out of the way in time to watch him skid right by herself and Estelle along the ground. The magician leaned back to get a closer look at the brawler as he slid out of sight and eventually came to a stop. Judging from his battered face and gross moans... "Ouch. Abram's such a meanie when he wants to be, you know."

Ooh! She couldn't forget the task at hand! "By the way! I'm gonna do that! To you! In like four seconds if you don't surrender!" She brandished her katana, stepping towards Estelle. As soon as Tammie's blade was too close for comfort to Estelle's nose, she began to shake the blade. Wildly. She coughed to the side between sentences - there was still ample smoke along the ceiling. "I'm not scared to swing this at you! Don't move or else I'll--HEY YOU MOVED! I JUST TOLD YOU NOT TO!"

After all her blade-trembling, she held her weapon back then swung it like a baseball bat, hoping to cleave it right into Estelle's face.

As if a trigger-finger witch wasn't bad enough, a certain panda was charging down the aisle straight after Estelle.

---

Phillis Circus: Outskirts

"EEEEEEK!" A shrill from within the smog gave away its owner's position in a flash. "Get it off, get it off, get it offfffff!" Just when Trixie thought she managed to scare off both spidey-hands with her guns, one of them still managed to latch onto her and creep its way up her leg. She started to dance, shooting off her guns and shaking her limbs as the screams continued much to Xandra's dismay. Wherever she was within the smog.

Though it wasn't necessary, it did help out the patrolmen locate her faster. Lily shot off her laser again without hesitation - though Trixie, in all her anxiety, managed to dance out of the way in time. Lily cursed under her breath as she waited for it to recharge, and Stevie followed up with his own laser after his sister's failed shot.

Once again, Trixie dodged it in time. The moment she felt some itchy tingly icky feeling squirming over her belly, she flopped right onto her stomach in hopes of squishing it.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Guinevere's Room

"Gwee, what are you doing!?"

"Brother, please - please allow me a moment. Just a minute more."

Vance turned away from the curtain on the spot, glaring the backside of his sister. Rage boiled under his skin. He spoke slowly to her, each syllable pronounced with harshness. "Gwee, both you and I will incinerate alive if we do not make haste now."

Smoke continued seeping into the room. Though the majority of flames from the performance stage had been put out by now, no thanks to Crispin's fiery reflex, its produced smog roamed free within the large tent as there was no wind nor breeze to push it all out. Guinevere, however, flitted to and fro from the shelves along her room, wiping its shelves clean of its contents and into her arms.

"If you could, Vance, please." Before Vance could respond beyond a gasp full of air, Guinevere lodged something over her shoulder at the man. He snatched it out the air with a single hand, bringing it to his face... and frowned. He looked up to be met with his sister's backside again, as she continued roaming through her shelves. "Sir Theodore is not fond of large groups... he is rather claustrophobic. But his dear lady Phoebe O'Cutie"--she tossed another item his way, this time a mouse plushie in a polkadot dress--"must know where he is at all times, elsewise she has tantrums worse than Madam Tuttleneck's child and--"

"Don't be ridiculous, Gwee! What in the name of the gods do you think you're doing!?" The mouse within one hand and the rabbit in the other squeezed under Vance's fingers. "Our tent, our beloved home is lit aflame. You say you need to retrieve some items of importance - but your 'companions'? Those are of more significance than catching our perpetrator!?"

During his rant, the man made his way towards Guinevere's mahogany desk, adorned with equally cutesy decor. Picture frames, a circus wheel statuette moving on its own, miniature glass animal figures, a mug full of glittery princess pink writing utensils. Porcelain dolls of replicated expressions. A flowery placemat with nothing atop it. Ignoring all else, Vance herded both animal plushes into a folded arm while his free hand roamed over the placemat. Towards the corner, his fingers curled along something before bringing it to his back and tucking it onto the back of his coat.

Only, there was nothing in his hand nor anything behind his back either.

Guinevere finally turned around to see him, her arms full of the most colorful assortment of stuffed animals ever to be seen with a woman aged over 40. Her Victorian dress and room's pink walls only added to the vibrancy. If her soft frown had only been a smile, she would easily be mistaken for a little girl. "Vance... dear brother." She held her chin up, taking a much more stern expression now as she strode to him. "Please do not fret. We will catch them."

The sister ringmaster made her way out of the curtain, as Vance held it open for her, but did not look back to her brother as she continued forward. Her brother followed after her. They backtracked towards the stage as initially planned, and were soon met with the very same wall from earlier.

Vance placed his palm onto the invisible wall before them, feeling around it. Grinning, he pulled his hand back and reached for the back of his coat - or rather, the small space above it. He curled his fingers around the empty space and held his hand out to the side. "Our Precious little Baltimore. What a star you've proven to be."

With that, he swung his half-fist forward and-- a loud shatter sounded off, but there was no glass within sight. As Vance stepped forward, chinks crinkled and crushed beneath his feet. His sister followed along without a cue. "Seems she has forgotten the importance of rehearsals. Tsk."

Phillus Circus-Big Top

She had certainly not expected for Isabella to catch the knives by the toes, and had expected even less that she could throw them back that way. One sailed just back her shoulder, but the other one struck her in the shoulder, embedding firmly as she let out a gasp of pain jut as Crispin managed to hit his target. Their little victory was quickly cut short as Crispin was sent flying by the man who had been juggling animals.

"Crispin!"

She whipped her head in the direction the man had been sent flying, panicked as to how he could have managed a hit by such a strong person, but the trunk wrapping around her waist barely give her time to worry about herself before she was flung high into the air, arms flailing in an attempt to grab onto something, anything that might slow her fall. Aria barely caught the tightrope as she started to fall, gasping as the dagger dug deeper into her shoulder from the exertion. Her grip was slipping, and she barely noticed the rope trembling under her fingers until she spotted Isabella stalking towards her. The woman's face betrayed no emotion but the knives in her hands clearly stated her intention.

Unfortunately, Aria had never had much experience with the tightrope but it looked like there wasn't much choice but for her to learn right now. She struggled to lift herself up onto the rope, right arm shuddering under the stress and pain as her eyes never left Isabella's approaching figure. Somehow she managed to crouch on the rope without tipping off the side and slowly stood, taking a small wobbly step back. She didn't even dare look down, not wanting a case of vertigo to add to the situation at hand. The illusionist was well aware of the fact that there was no safety underneath, and that if she fell even the least damage would be some broken bones unless she was really lucky.

She redrew her fans, hoping that the weight of each would help her balance, and perhaps she would be able to at least block any attack that Isabella would throw- though it would most likely end with her falling. The platform was still a ways away- the elephant had thrown her only slightly off of the smack-dab middle of the rope. Maybe she could always try to make a dash for that?

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Pit

Okay, so far, so good. At least that was what Lute believed as he hurtled out of the giant tent, seeing that none of his limbs were in flames. Still, the crazy chick was after him- just as he hoped- but boy oh boy, did she complicate matters. She summoned that strangely apathetic lookalike of hers and next thing the virtuoso knew an oversized towel was being flung at his face. Acting purely out of repulsion and instinct, Lute jumped away from the mysterious cape and the bacteria it held then spun towards the opposite direction. The last thing he saw was that batshit insane girl screaming and lunging at him before they fell to the ground.

Where Lute would have normally tried to calm her down, he opted to keep his mouth shut and pry the magician’s hands away from her face. Her nails were quite sharp and they hurt, not to mention that she really enjoyed yanking his hair by the roots every chance she got. In the end, Sammie’s wrath won over and Lute just covered his face, allowing the girl to torture him as she wished. That was, of course, before Delilah got pissed off.

A loud, ear-splitting shriek erupted from the virtuoso’s fists, disorienting the magician and her twin (?) who was approaching the duo. While the nearby refugees screamed at the commotion Lute took the opportunity to roll away and reclaim ground, the thin trails on his skin almost as red as the flames in the Big Top. “Last warning, sister. Back off. I’m not the enemy here,” He snapped, sidestepping the two until his back was facing the tent’s exit. If they let him go, he’d rush back and help the others.

Not that he expected them to do that, really, and to be honest, he’d been itching for a good brawl for quite some time now.

Phillis Circus: Big Top – Audience Seating

“Damnit!” Estelle cursed as she charged forwards, lunging at the katana swinging Tammie as fast as she could and gripping her waist to bring her down to the ground in a sudden tackle before Tammie’s swing could cleave Estelle’s skull in two. It didn’t matter what Estelle’s friends had done to provoke the magician girl, you just don’t attempt to cut an unarmed girl’s face in with a sword, especially one who was actually just trying to help you a second ago!

Tammie landed unceremoniously hard on the floor with her butt, grunting in agony as the katana she had been using clattered on the ground to her side, with Estelle’s body landing on her side right next to Tammie. Tammie’s eyes opened up to see Estelle’s face glaring immediately in front of her, and was then shocked to feel a sudden pain hit her in the stomach as Estelle booted her as far away as she could, whilst simultaneously rolling backwards.



The ground where the pair had been lying on seconds earlier suddenly exploded as the weighty force of Abram’s panda smashed downwards, chunks of shattered and splintered wood flying through the air. Estelle rolled to her feet as quickly as she could, grabbing the wayward katana as she did, and fled past the mess of chairs in her way as she ran as quickly as she could to where Crispin had fell.

“Ooh, you silly panda!” Tammie pouted as she rearranged her magician’s cap just right on her head, completely oblivious to the fact that Estelle had just narrowly saved her life. “You almost squashed me! Move!”

A swing of her cape yielded the sudden vanishing of the panda entirely.

Meanwhile, Estelle jumped over the barrier to the performance ring, and raced as quickly as she could to the fallen Crispin, gripping his shoulder and shaking it rapidly in the hope of stirring him back to consciousness.

“Hey! You! Wake up!” Estelle started shouting. “Get up, you idiot! You started this mess!” There was no immediate reaction to Estelle’s screams and shaking, so she ended up slapping his cheek, hoping that might awaken the fire brawler. “Up! Now!”

She then suddenly froze, as a giant shadow befell both her and Crispin. Gingerly turning around to look over her shoulder, Estelle saw the silhouette of the fearsome Abram tower above them, the whites of his clenched teeth and angry eyes visible before her.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Tightrope

Isabella, upon reaching the tightrope after Aria thanks to Abram’s elephant Elena’s lift, wasted no time in beginning to make her way towards Aria, calmly and confidently withdrawing and readying her knives with which to fight, spinning them in her hands until they were both held in separate directions. As she stalked closer and closer, Aria managed to pull herself up and onto the tightrope as well, only barely managing to balance herself with the aid of her fans and look all around her, hoping against hope for some way out of this god-awful situation she was put within, and not sure what to do. Isabella crept closer and closer, her face betraying no hint of fear or apprehension.

What… what should she do?

What could she do?

Isabella Boss Theme:
Watch Me
Isabella’s walk suddenly became brisker, her feet tiptoeing on and bouncing the rope up and down to unstable Aria’s footing as she crossed the gap between the pair in the span of a single gasp. With one knife raised up overhead, aimed at stabbing downwards in one of the illusionist’s shoulders, the other was swept up low, destined to pierce Aria in her stomach.

Isabella was on the attack.

---

Phillis Circus: Audience Ring

“Raaargaaah!” A mighty paw swept up into the air, before viciously dropping to smack against the roaring, biting opponent below it. As Lidya the lion continued to snap at Lucien’s bear summon as hard as it could, Lucien kept on his attack’s advantage as best he could, using this element of surprise to hopefully knock the lion into submission before it could beat him. But it was easier said then done. His bear summon was powerful and mighty indeed, but he was fighting against a king of the beasts itself. A lion was no joke.

And it was getting more and more angry by the second. And it wasn’t just the lion, either…

‘No!’ Lucien’s mental cry shrieked through the bear’s mind as he continued to swat and punch Lidya over and over. ‘Stay focused! Focused!’ Through his summoned animal, he was beginning to sink into his own bestial rage at the nature of this fight… his bear summon becoming as feral and vicious as any true wild animal and almost uncontrollable at that. It took all of Lucien’s might to reel it back and keep himself at bay from going too far – the lion scared him, but he didn’t want to kill it. As far as he knew it was a domesticated and pretty talented, traditionally friendly cat at that. It was just protecting its masters. Unconscious, not dead. That’s all he needed to do.

But the bear was fighting him just as hard as Lidya was… and the strain that this was having on his mind as well was almost too much…

And that pain was only escalated by a fresh swath of hurt reverberating across his entire body, as his bear’s body was wracked with bone crushing strength from the gorilla, Olga, who slammed both of its hands together in a two handed punch on the bear’s back.



He staggered off and to the side, dazed and in pain, almost collapsing. Lidya rose back up beside Olga, as angry as ever. Lucien, in his real body, hidden amongst a mass of seats, could barely breathe, with his mouth involuntarily coughing up blood. The pain… the pain was simply unreal…

And the bear –his mind, his control suddenly became lost to him. Gone was any sort of reason and logic the summoner usually had - now nothing more then a ferocious, animalistic beast. The bear and Lucien both unleashed an primal, bone chilling howl, and the bear charged forwards to both Lidya and Olga.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside

“Eh?” Max didn’t managed to walk too far before suddenly stopping, turning back in surprise at the voices that called from the smoking wreckage behind him.

The woman… and some man with her, were both walking and conscious out of the damage he had caused, both still conscious and prepared to fight. What kind of people were they?! Granted his attacks hadn’t intended to be fatal, but he was still surprised to be able to see anyone walk away from it and demand a fight back at him. What on Ddaear were they?

“Stalker? What’re ya talkin’ about?” Max frowned, squinting his eyes at the duo. He then grunted and spat to the side, not really in the mood for caring what the answer might have been, and knowing that trusting people like these to be telling the truth a wasted venture. Lies to distract, as they tried to destroy his home and threaten sweet Tammie. Ain’t gonna happen.

If they wanted more, he’d be glad to oblige and help make sure they slept the rest of the day away yessiree.

He crouched low, one hand punched against the ground. From the tips of his feet up to his ankles and shins, his legs began to throb and glow, building in intensity and heat, as Max focused his magical power on activating his particular gifts. If the lady and fella wanted a show, he’d give it them.

But then suddenly, without warning, shocking both him and Moira and Syed was a chaotically loud erupting sound from somewhere behind them (courtesy of Lute and Delilah’s fight with Sammie and Cammie) and then, from the distance, a sparkling light…

…following by a scorching beam that detonated a small explosion by Syed’s side.

“What the heck?!” Syed jumped. Max too looked confused, but shrugged as he turned his head back around to focus on the two Guilders, his legs glowing even white hotter.

Max Boss Theme:
Let's Go

---

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

“St- stevie?! What happened?”

Lily turned on the spot, looking down at her brother who was no haphazardly sprawled on the ground as her visor’s heat vision capabilities came fully online. Without warning, his stability had been destroyed, and the laser beam he had been charging and prepared to fire at Trixie’s voice thrown widely off course to careen off somewhere else in the circus. He fell to the ground with a harsh grunt, and tried to do what he can to stand back up again, but found it impossible. Through the haze of Trixie’s smoke grenade, he looked down at his stilts, gasping in surprise at the sight he found before him.

One of his stilt’s was terribly warped and bent, almost at a 90° angle, making it impossible to stand on. He simply couldn’t believe it, unable to comprehend how such a thing could happen. He and his sister’s stilts had been handcrafted by them, and were thus built to be flawlessly sturdy and always reliable. How could something bend such metal as that, and so easily?

A certain metallurgist who even now was charging to do the same thing to the stiltman’s sister, that’s who.

Phillis Circus: Outskirts

"Pl, please don't kill me - I don't want to die," Stevie called out from his vulnerable position. His visor began to fog from his outburst of tears. Weakly his hands pulled and pushed at his levers, but nothing was moving his busted stilt leg. Its knee sparked with electrical bits with each touch of its lever. The opposite leg bent and slid along the ground upon command, but Stevie was both too scared and too disoriented to try moving it further. "I'm, I'm just doing my job, please don't kill me..."

Lily let out a cry - "Raaaaghh!" - as she suddenly began stomping along the hazy grounds with her own metal stilts. Being a good enough distance away from Stevie, it didn't affect him so much bar a couple of short slides to and fro from the rumbling ground. She was certain one of the two girls were somewhere nearby her person, and she couldn't let what happened to her dumb brother happen to herself. She knew not of Poppy's position, but having seen Poppy in action on stage an uncountable number of times, she was well aware the acrobat could handle herself.

And then... aha! The rumble had caught Xandra unaware. Her stagger had bought Lily's laser time to recharge enough for a short beam. With Xandra was still in sight during the rumble, Lily stopped her stomping and shot out another thin laser at the metallurgist.

Though Stevie was incapacitated, his own laser continued to recharge. And the longer their lasers charged, the longer and thicker the hot red rays shot out.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Pit

"...this mess! Up! Now!"

After Estelle's shaking, Crispin's head lolled to the side on its own, his eyes peering open to meet with Estelle's. He moaned. But at least the pain in his face began to numb, even if it was going to be concave for the next however many weeks. "Am I... dead yet? Is this... heaven?" The blurred images before him connected into one as Estelle's yelling became clearer by the second. "Oh sweet gods, yes," he muttered to himself upon noticing just who was grabbing onto and slapping him. That fiery red hair, those vibrant heart-breaking eyes, her lively voice.

Then his eyes widened. "Oh sweet gods, no! Behind you!"

Just as Estelle managed to look over her shoulder at the beast of a man, Crispin (still slightly dazed) mustered as much strength as he could to push her aside with one hand. It wasn't enough to knock her down, but it did get her out of the way. He inhaled deeply. With his other hand, he quickly reeled back his sizzling fist and thrust it forward. He was much too far to hit Abram - but the elongated fireball that shot from his knuckles did the trick. It slammed right into Abram before dissipating into thin smoke. The force of the fiery punch was enough to send Crispin's entire body recoiling back some, effectively pushing him further away from the tamer.

The brawler's red-hot distraction provided him enough time to get back onto his feet. Thanks to the supporting pole he had hit from sliding back, Crispin was able to balance himself quick enough to stand up before Abram could follow up while he was down. And the hot chick was safe too. Good, good, everything was going according to--

"Hey guys, what's that one show called again? With all the animals and the fighty fighty elemental stuff and the... uh... this thing?"

A roar boomed from Crispin's side. Eyes widened, he glanced to his side to see a furry black-and-white beast leaping at him with paws outstretched. Tammie wasted no time resummoning the beast she had just pocketed away.




"Whoa whoa WHOA!" Crispin cried out. He ducked under the panda and to its side, following up with a double jab to his side. The instinctual punches were without fire this time and were much weaker than he would've done to any of the performers. Still, the panda cried out in pain as it flew away from him at an angle - crashing into one of the tightrope's supporting poles. While it wasn't enough to knock it down completely, it did shake up the rope's tautness quite a bit. The panda's sudden intrusion onstage startled Elena the elephant enough to have her cry and whip her trunk.

"Animal abuse! Animal abuse!" Tammie called out, jumping as she pointed at Crispin, her hat in her other hand still. Her accusations were cut off from Elena's trunk nearly smacking into her. She had jumped back in time, but she still tutted at the beast. "Miss Elena G. Yeltsin! I expected better of you!" And just as she had done to the panda moments ago, she swept up the elephant with her cape. Which was obviously not big enough to touch more than her foreleg, but... to anyone who was looking, it seemed like the elephant kinda just... vanished. But no one was looking anyway.

Crispin faced Abram's direction, his arms still poised to counter and dodge any moves the big guy might try to throw. Like a hyped martial artist, he had a slight bounce to his stance. So long as he wasn't ganged up on or distracted, his speed would always buffer Abram's stronger moves. And with the (hopefully strong) hot chick on his side, his confidence went through the roof. Despite his purpled face and missing tooth.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

Just when she thought she had him, that damned runt practically destroyed her eardrums and rolled away! He said something too, probably a taunt, but the prolonged ringing rendered her deaf for the time being. Once it died down, Sammie released her hands from her ears and staggered onto her feet. Her glare was as ferocious as ever - but her confident wry smug had returned. "So you guys have your own little magic tricks too, huh?? Well, this is interesting! Wouldn't you say so, Cammie?"

"Eh... interesting," he replied back, still as monotone as ever. He merely looked to Lute's position from where he stood, this time neither hat nor cape in hand. He and that redhead were helping him escort citizens just a few moments ago. Could they really be so bad? ...aside from the fact that they were aligned with that arsonist? Or did they just hold some strange vendetta against the circus? Either way, Cammie pondered these things as he watched the virtuoso. Guilders were unpredictable.

Sammie called out again, ripping her hat right off her head. She dipped her hand right inside it. "Time for act two of Sammie's very own super special awesome show! Can ya guess what's coming next, punk?" Her smug widened, along with her eyes. What on earth was this fuzzy thing inside of her hat? Well, it wouldn't hurt to pull it out--

Phillus Circus-Big Top

Aria choked down a distressed wail as the rope started to bounce as Isabella advanced. As much as she liked high places, balancing on a piece of rope as a murderous woman with knives came at her was not the illusionist's idea of fun. The acrobat had gotten close enough to attack and attack she did, lunging close with a single leap and knives flying towards her shoulder and stomach.

She barely had time to think, letting herself fall sideways as to avoid the blows. She somehow managed to catch herself with her legs so that she was dangling from the rope upside down, before using her body's momentum to swing herself back up and grabbing at the acrobat's legs with her good arm in an attempt to stop the woman from trying to cause her more bodily damage. Her fingers grazed the other woman's legs but before she could grab on Isabella had slipped out of her grasp just as the entire length of the tightrope shook and slackened.

"P-panda?" Of all the things to happen, a panda had been the cause of the mini quake up in the air. This wasn't going to be much of a fight much longer if she didn't find a way to get back down onto the ground. Although she could somewhat handle herself, Aria knew she wasn't much of a match for someone who practically lived on the rope each day.Not to mention that tightrope walking was hard enough, but on a slackened rope the fight would be over. In fact, she was currently clinging onto the rope upside down much reminiscent of a sloth on a branch, not bothering to right herself. The knife was still embedded in her shoulder and too much movement would only widen the wound, adding the possibility of bleeding out. She barely glanced back at Isabella before whipping out one of the fans that she had barely managed to tuck back into her scarf before she fell and frantically started sawing at the rope. Another illusion was cast out, this one directly above her and showing herself balanced precariously, rocking back and forth.

Hopefully it would buy her enough time to cut through the rope so she could swing down closer to the ground in an attempt to balance out the fight a bit more.

Phillis Circus - Outskirts
What kind of battle theme is this

Splat!

The successfully squished hand lay flat on the floor, it's fingers twitching. It had failed in it's attempt to tickle the girl into submission, thanks to her knowledge of the sacred art of belly flops. Victory fanfares were absent however, as the hand simply lifted into the air and pulled away, as if attached to a string.

Only to be replaced by the sound of stomping.

The stomping of a pair of legs, cut off at the waist, running right towards Trixie! They were a little clumsy, tripping as they went but staying upright regardless. Then suddenly they leapt into the air, aiming a booty strike on the Prankster to pin her to the ground. Not that Poppy had much of a booty.

Meanwhile the rest of Poppy listened carefully, making her way through the smoke. She could hear Stevie crying, begging and pleading. These people were so mean! "Don't cry Stevie," Poppy called out through the smoke. "We'll all die through the entropic nature of the universe anyway."

Wait. Had her legs gone? She blinked in a dazed fashion down at herself. Oh. Oh well they'll be fine. She shot forward anyway, her body hovering at around the height she normally stood... aiming to disarm this girl sooner rather than later.

---

Phillis Circus - Outside

Syed struggled get his mind back into this properly. Not after that. He could deflect an electronic laser, he had done it before. But not if he had no bloody idea where it came from and wasn't even his fight. On top of how much his body overall hurt like hell, and how his heart was still pounding from such a near-death experiance that he practically saw the light... keeping control will be even harder than usual.

Even then though, he knew that they had to strike this rocket guy now, while he was charging. Could that be a drawback to his speed - that he had to charge it up to use his ability? If that was the case, it did beg the question on how long it would last. And if it wasn't... well. They were boned.

He moved his hands quickly, moving swiftly through the gestures which were by now completely second nature to him. A fast spell, one of the fastest he had, before extending an arm, index and middle fingers outstretched.

He fired, a bolt of electricity flashing from his fingertips and towards Max in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, Max had already gone. The bolt struck the ground a little way behind where he was with a shower of dirt.

"Shit!" Moira yelled as she stepped forward, spinning the pole before driving it into the ground as she adjusted her stance. She kept her eye on Max as best as she could. Ready to block an incoming blow, and preferably prevent her from seeing shit that only the birds had any business seeing again. Meanwhile Syed had already began a second cast... a second, smaller pole sparking with electricity and shifting slightly from the ground. Ready to throw as soon as the opportunity arose. He could only hope this time, his aim struck true. And on time.

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Performance Ring

“PETRA! YOU HURT PETRA!!”

A massive fist swung down, smashing the ground where Crispin had been but a second ago. The pain from the brawler’s fire fist attack earlier seemed to have no effect on the large and mighty, muscular beast tamer Abram, who was lost in anger and rage at seeing what the tenacious little upstart had done to his precious panda. On and on, he lunged forwards, swiping his giant, powerful arms inches away from Crispin, who ducked and weaved and backtracked his way out of reach, feeling the wind generated by the shockwave from Abram’s punches hit against his cheeks, his baseball cap almost flying off.

“First you try burn circus! Then you harm little Isa! And now…!” Abram’s voice grew louder and louder, his shouts turning into as loud a roar as his lion Lidya. “Now Abram smash stupid boy!”

He charged forwards, racing towards Crispin like a stampeding bull. With a small shriek, Crispin darted to the side and just out of reach of the giant’s mammoth hands. As he did, he swung one of his enflamed fists out, jabbing Abram in the side as he spun back around and hopped to and fro on his feet again, his fists raised above his head. And he was gripped with yet more surprise at seeing Abram appear seemingly unaffected. The larger man skidded to a halt, and already turned back around to charge again. He ducked and weaved out of the beast tamer’s path once more, throwing another quick jab out to the man’s other side. Was this how it was going to be for the entirety of this fight or something?

Except Abram didn’t return the same type of attack. Instead, he stopped, bending over and lifting up a herculean sized platform for where the ringmaster would stand upon in the central performance ring in order to announce and address the crowd watching. The thing was huge and solidly built, having to have weighed an almost impossible amount… and Abram lifted it as if it was nothing.

And just as he had lifted it, he threw it like it was nothing as well – spinning like a giant discus and aimed directly at Crispin.



“Down!” Estelle screamed, racing in from the side and grabbing Crispin’s legs, dragging him into a slide underneath the spinning attack (which crashed into the far ringside wall with a rumbling afterquake) and to safety a short distance away. Estelle hopped up to her feet, one hand still holding onto the katana, the other offered to Crispin to help pull him up. “Don’t get carried away, you idiot!” Estelle swung and readied her sword in a new stance, looking towards their opponents – Abram was already beginning to lift up new weapons in which to hurl at them, whilst Tammie was racing around and to the side, her focus entirely centered on them.

And then there was the others – Aria, desperately fighting overhead on the tightrope against that vicious acrobat Isabella… and Lucien, in his bear form, having become lost in a bestial rage fighting against two of Abram’s pets… she desperately wanted to run to them and help them both, but how on Ddaear could she?

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Tightrope

She was a cunning fighter, then. That, or just extraordinarily lucky?

Isabella had to admit that she was impressed. For a reckless nobody to be able to move and swing about on a tightrope like this without having already fallen off to their death was extremely impressive. Granted, she was in no way a pro about it, and was having extreme difficulty maintaining her ability to stay on it, but stay she was. It had taken Isabella months simply to be able to perfect standing up straight on the tightrope without falling off. Months of long, arduous and gruelling work ever since she first joined the Phillis Circus after its leader, the Ringmaster Guinevere had rescued her. Long months of work and stress, pain in which she strove to please and pay her friend back… but months which had paid off. And then the years afterwards, perfecting her ability, her mastery of it and her body, to do that which no other normal human could.

It was impressive to see Aria still manage to stay alive on the tightrope, alive and fight well enough to avoid Isabella’s many attempts to harm her.

But also extremely aggravating.

Isabella’s balance had been shaken and almost toppled once a powerful reverberation shuddered its way up through the two poles adjoining the tightrope together, with the rope swinging and swaying madly from it. A quick glance down, and seeing the body of Abram’s panda rest in a daze at the foot of one, made Isabella tighten her brow in greater annoyance and frustration, but she managed to remain stable. And so too, against all belief, did her opponent Aria – now standing back on the rope, precariously at first, before gaining confidence and with fans in hand - ready to fight.

Isabella couldn’t believe her mind. She had to have been going mad.

She sprang forwards, spinning her body around and swinging both of her held knives out. The Aria she fought ducked and tilted her head back in time to avoid Isabella’s knives, her feet backstepping up along the length of the rope without even needing to look. She swung one of her fans out, halting Isabella’s advance as the acrobat dodged it, then resuming her attack on her adversary.

As this battle continued, Aria – the real Aria – still suspended with her feet around the rope behind Isabella, tried her best to maintain both her illusion and cut the rope with her fan… the concentration producing a massive strain on her body. That, coupled with her injured shoulder…

She only needed a little bit more time, and then…

Close to one of the platforms now, Isabella crouched low in her fight against Aria’s doppelganger and swung out her legs, tripping out her foe and making her fall, screaming to the ground below. Everything was silent and still as she did, a unceremonious thud yielding the end to that fight. Looking down, at the still and prone body of her opponent from before, Isabella wasn’t sure what to do, or how to feel. Elation, perhaps, at having won against her troublesome foe. But guilt and pain too. Killing her had never been her actual intent. This… this was a mistake…

…but they had threatened to destroy everything she cared about. Her home, her family. Without the Phillis Circus, she had nothing. She had already lost everything precious to her once before, and she wouldn’t allow it to happen again.

Was this what Elisa had forewarned her about?

And then, a strange and unusual sensation. A realisation of something not being quite right. This feeling… things weren’t as they were supposed to be.

The rope beneath her legs, it didn’t feel right. Isabella’s eyes shot open in wild realisation, and she turned, racing to and jumping with a spin to the platform she was closest too, as the rope snapped from where Aria had been cutting through.

Phillis Circus: Outside

“What the… agh!” Xandra screamed, a brilliant burst of red light shooting from within the smoke, dissipating a hole through it and streaking directly towards Xandra. She raised her arms to cover her face as she tried to dodge to the side, and then screamed as a burning pain graced her arm.

She stumbled and fell, collapsing to the ground in agony. With her fleshed hand she gripped her prosthetic, and gradually lowered her eyes down to it, as her body shuddered and shook with convulsions. There, smoking off from her arm with electrical sparks dancing along it, was a massive torn gash in the metal from where the beam had seared her. Even despite the fact the limb was a prosthetic, in order for her to be able to move and control it it needed to be connected to her central nervous system. To her nerves. And thus the pain was as real as on any other flesh and blood body.

Xandra bit down on her lip as she forced the encroaching tears back. She couldn’t give in or back down, not yet. Not when the others were counting on her. Her arm was a prosthetic – she could repair it later. The damage and pain wasn’t as serious as it would have been anywhere else on her, it was all simply in the mind. If she could control it, hold it back, then she could still fight. She needed to. She had to! Trixie and the others were counting on her!

“Nragh!” Xandra grunted, pushing herself back up onto her feet and running out of the way of another burning laserbeam from Lily’s brother. As she ran she tried to move her hand and fingers to assess the damage on her prosthetic. Luckily, they still worked… she could still fight. But it still hurt ever so badly… could she risk trying to use metallurgy on it in this state…?

And then without warning, a powerful strength gripped Xandra from behind and held her back. Her arm burned with pain again, and Xandra yelped. What was that?

“Now, now, shouldn’t run,” Poppy spoke from behind Xandra. “Otherwise you’l-” Poppy didn’t have the chance to finish her sentence as Xandra shot her head back, smacking Poppy in the nose. The acrobat loosened her hold for a second, and Xandra pulled free, still running, and trying to get as far away from the trio as she could.

She needed to find Trixie, and get the Pride’s weapons that she had dropped before and then find somewhere to hide – to make a plan. Because right now, they needed it.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside

Before a powerful burst of white hot light, Max surged forwards, speeding across the ground and rocketing back towards Moira and Syed after finishing his charge. As he approached, Moira and Syed both readied themselves for him, with Syed’s body sparking with yet another charge of electricity, his hands shooting out to hit him again. Max was aiming straight for them, so even if he was fast, hitting him this time should be simple…!

Electricity shot out of Syed’s fingertips, an arc of lightning shooting outwards… and hitting a tent in the nearby distance, after Max’s body suddenly disappeared from sight. Syed couldn’t believe it, stunned at how it was possible for him to suddenly do that, as the tent he’d hit sparked into flames.

“Focus, Sy!” Moira tapped her partner’s arm, and pointed to the sky. Max had suddenly shifted his body’s angle at the last second before Syed’s shot, propelling him vertically upwards, and was now turning for another fast powered sweep down at the pair. Syed started to charge his body up again, but before either could know it, Max smashed through the pair of them, grazing them on either side with the hit and knocking them down to the ground.

“Hoooooee, pardner, that was sure somethin’!!” Max yelled from over his shoulder as he shot back up into the sky again. “Where’d ya get that fancy light from? You a mage or somethin’?”

Max shot downwards again for another pass at them.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Audience Seating

Inhuman howls deafened the chaotic din of fighting within.

Lucien's bear growled as his eyes turned a shade of blood red, the giant monster taking an earth shaking step forward as it sized up Lidya and Olga. His teeth and clawed paws sparkled in the tent's interior lighting's light, and both Lidya and Olga returned the same - growling and grunting as they parted from one another and began circling around the bear on either side.

An uneasy tension filled the room... a tension that was destined to end in blood. The only question was, who would make the first move?

Lidya shot forward, moving at an unbelieveable speed and leaping towards the pair, sharp fangs bore wide and ready to dig into Lucien's neck. The bear swung him paw out, suddenly grabbing Lidya by her own neck and spinning around to fling her towards one of the Big Top's exits. But no sooner had Lucien's bear accomplished such a feat then he was shouldertackled from behind by Olga, and then slammed into the ground from a heavy two handed to the back. Banging his chin on the solid ground, Lucien's bear struggled to rise back to his feet again. But such a task was impossible as Olga grabbed one of them, and doing exactly as Lucien had done to Lidya before, swung him around and threw him out of the Big Top's exit, skidding to the ground with a howl and crashing into a smaller tent outside.

Olga bounded out of the tent, rejoining Lidya who had rose to her feet again and stared at the bear wth hated venom.

Lucien's bear began to rise once more, and the chaotic screams of the audience outside grew a pitch higher.

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

"Time for act two of Sammie's very own super special awesome show! Can ya guess what's coming next, punk?"

Certainly not an elephant, that was for sure.

Lute’s jaw dropped open but he composed himself quickly. How did an animal that size even fit inside that hat!? Sure, fireballs were one thing, but a freaking pachyderm!? “This is so unfair,” The virtuoso whined under his breath as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The creature could probably outrun him, but escaping wasn’t really an option. Try as he might, Lute just can’t shake the need to mitigate damage from his mind, and while leading the magician on was an idea he followed through with earlier… Yeah, an elephant running after a screaming man wasn’t good for the safety of what’s left of the audience.

“Oh what now!? What do you want from me!?” Lute howled as the blasé kid charged towards him. He decided to wait until Cammie was close enough to redirect him off balance, but then a loud crash drew his attention to the space far behind the elephant, towards a tent where some of the escapees hid when Elena appeared. Screaming, amplified by Delilah’s perception, reached his ears, and so did the sound of snarls and cloth being torn apart. A bear rose from the ruins of the tent, and it was quickly approached by a hostile gorilla and lioness. “Wait, I recognize those two. They’re with Abram, right? If so, that bear…” Lute muttered to himself but he couldn’t quite believe it. From their time in Aliquam and in the trek that came after it, he saw a glimmer of reason in the eyes of the summons Lucien had produced. This bear… It was too far off to tell for sure, but its body language was clearly hostile-

Distracted as he was by the new commotion, Lute barely had any time to react as Cammie reached him. The virtuoso tripped over the magician’s foot as he ducked, also hitting his forehead against the other boy’s shoulder as he did so. “Wait, stop!” He was definitely sure he saw someone trapped under the thick swaths of canvas beside the bear. He had to get them out before the beasts fought! In his sudden scrambling of objectives, the virtuoso didn’t realize that the way he was hurtling towards Elena and Sammie could be interpreted as something else.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

As her hand moved frantically in sawing at the rope, her mind was focused on the fight happening above between her image and Isabella. Luckily the woman didn't seem to have caught onto her power yet, and Aria tried her hardest to keep it that way she she made the image dodge once again before swiping back.

Her fan had almost nearly cut through the rope by now, but as Isabella attacked once again she could only have her image fall, screaming and landing with a sickening thud on the ground below. She winced- it was always hard getting used to seeing one's own body laying there lifeless. Even Isabella herself seemed rather shocked, triumph mixed with guilt as she looked down from the slackened tightrope to the fake body. It was rather surprising to see after the relentless assault of attacks the acrobat had made on Aria before.

With just a short moment before she could cut through the rope, Isabella finally noticed that something was amiss. She leapt up, and just as her feet landed on the platform the rope snapped, and with it the illusion of the body wisped away. Aria hung on tight with her good hand as she fell momentarily before the rope snapped tight and she swung down towards the ground. For a brief moment she thought that she was going to have to crash into the stands or an errant pole to stop, until she spotted a safe landing place that promised to hurt a lot less than the other two options.

She let go of the rope, giving a small screech as she fell before her feet firmly planted themselves into the soft belly of the prone panda still dazed underneath the pole. It gave a loud pained grunt but it's belly fat seemed to absorb most of the shock as the rest of her body followed suit, dropping onto the bear with a muffle fwump before she bounced off onto her butt.

A quick look around showed that only Estelle, Crispy one of the magician girls and Abram were still in the tent. It looked like they were in a lot of trouble- she cringed as Abram lifted up yet another impossibly huge object to throw at the two Guilders. Perhaps she should've stayed on the rope? Speaking of the rope, Aria quickly whipped around to make sure that Isabella wasn't trying to rain throwing knives down at her while she was distracted. Hopefully her cutting of the rope would make the acrobat come down to fight instead, getting rid of the advantage the woman had while they were in the air.

Phillis Circus - Outside
Damn damn damn he really didn't mean to do that! He was really in no place to accuse anyone else of arson today, Moira was right. All you need to start a fire was a spark... and he had plenty of experiance with that. The evidence spanned right the way up his leg. His eyes widened with worry. Please let nobody be in that tent please please please...

Focus. Focus. Wait no now he was on the ground. Argh! Holy poop that hurt! The air burned as he passed! He cautiously touched his arm, hissing a little with pain. It'll be ok. Just a mild burn.

“Hoooooee, pardner, that was sure somethin’!! Where’d ya get that fancy light from? You a mage or somethin’?”

"Nothing fancy about it!" Syed shouted back hoarsely, scrambling back to his feet in a somewhat wobbly fashion. "Not like your ability. It's some kind of energy manipulation, right?" His hands moved swiftly, leaving intricite trails of electricity in their wake. "Guess we have something in common!" He fired into the air, the bolt going wide. His electricity was fast, but his reactions just couldn't keep up with this guy. Damn it!


"What the fuck?!" Moira screached. They were in a fight! Who the fuck has a chat in the middle of a fight?! She grabbed Syed by the collar just as he began to cast another, throwing him physically to the ground behind her. And not a second too soon.

Boom!

A shockwave hit as Max flew right them... and was blocked by Moira's pipe, held firmly by the berserker and driven into the ground. It wasn't quite enough though, as the sheer force sent her skidding back at some speed anyway - Syed being sent tumbling after - the pipe carving a deep track into the earth and her heels kicking up plumes of dust...

...At least until the pipe gave away, crumpling and bending under the sheer force before being ricocheted high into the air. Shit!

Phillis Circus: Outside

“Well well, lookee what we got here!” Max grinned, his hand snatching the spinning pole in midair and clutching it tightly as he continued to blast his way around the circus, turning to once again shoot off into the sky on a return dive towards Moira and Syed. He hadn’t actually intended for his shockwave to loosen the woman’s hold on her weapon, but he wasn’t going to argue about it. It was just the kinda thing he could use!

“Watch yer feet, ma’am!” Max called out, swinging the pipe out and catching Moira’s feet from under her, sending the woman reeling over and crashing to the ground on her rear. Yet more expletives left Moira’s lips as Max surged ever onwards, back into the sky again, higher and higher.

He then stopped, relenting on his attack slightly to hover in the air instead, focusing and channelling his power just so to keep him aloft but still. He could continue to run rings about the pair like before, and it was plenty of fun doing so as well, but that would end up draining his stamina mighty fast. Those two fellas were more tenacious then a wild rattle snake from back home, so he needed to try and think of some way in order to put an end to this little fracas for good.

Whilst in the sky however, he took a moment to look over the rest of the circus and assess what else was happening.

The Big Top still seemed to be intact, and not a completely blazing inferno so far, which was good. He guessed the others must have been dealing with the little hotheaded arsonist but good, and hopefully his little sweetie pie was feeling right as rain too. The Big Top didn’t look to be the only place where commotion was abrewing though…

…outside of it, in two different spots on either side close to two of the tents’ exits were another pair of fights. Smoke was eventually dissipating on the west side, the one closest to the circus’ main exit, and he could see the release of red lasers shooting across it. Lily and Stevie then, dealing with some more troublemakers, then. And on the other side of the Big Top, to the east, he could see a number of Abram’s beasties fighting against a giant grizzly…! And his own honey down there too!

“Uh oh!” Max screamed, rapidly diving downwards.

Before Lute’s very own eyes, as he raced towards the threatened tents closest to the beastial battle unfolding between Lucien’s bear summon and both Lidya and Olga, he watched as the magician girl Sammie suddenly disappeared from his sight, a trail of fire and smoke leading up into the sky. Fortune seemed to be smiling down on him perhaps, but there was still Elena in his path.

“Hey honey!” Max grinned to Sammie. “You okay, boo?”

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Peering down, Isabella was lodged in disbelief at the destruction of the tightrope and the surprising body of Aria below her. A body very much alive and well and still fighting, not at all like the one she had been fighting seconds ago and who she had sent plummeting to a seeming death. She narrowed her eyes and knitted her brows in frustration at the sight, not knowing how such an act was possible. She looked down at where the Aria she had fought had fell, and saw no still body lying there.

So then it wasn’t real? It was simply an… illusion?

If only circumstances had been different. This woman would have been a wonderful addition to the circus. Perhaps in another life, the two could have even been friends.

But such a luxury was not afforded to them. Not after everything Aria and her friends had done. Isabella leapt for the rope, sliding down it to meet Aria back down on the ground.

In the interim however, Aria still had her own troubles to occupy her with. The panda Petra, whose fat Aria had taken advantage of to cushion her fall with, had returned to consciousness and picked itself back up. It now glared at Aria angrily, rising up one of its paws to suddenly swat down on her.

Phillis Circus: Outskirts

Just when Trixie thought she finally had the little bugger, it scampered away! Like a cowardly bug. Before Trixie could give chase however, she suddenly found herself knocked back onto the ground. Whatever had crashed on top of her wasn't all that heavy, but that didn't mean there wasn't any pain. Trixie yelped out, nearly dropping her guns, but clung onto them tightly. Too many times had something unaware caused her to become disarmed - she'd probably have to start gluing them to her hands at this rate.

She wriggled from underneath the half-body, and met with difficulty as the legs fought to keep her pinned down. Thanks to Trixie's tiny stature though, she managed to squirm into a cranny beneath Poppy's booty and fling herself out. She couldn't stand herself up right away though, as the pain that came with having one's back squashed had all but subsided. But at least she got that weird gal in her sights now...!

Wait that was just a pair of legs though. What? So that means the rest of her was still roamin' around out there! Trixie aimed her guns at the legs as they stood themselves up, ready to unleash a barrage of bullets!

Until she heard Xandra crying out. Trixie was too submerged within the fog to see her partner or the laser beams, but she could only guess what direction they were in. Xandra needed her help - and she needed Xandra's just as much.

"Yaaaa!" Trixie called aloud, her voice trumping all the other sounds in the area. As the legs made their way towards Trixie again, she quickly flung a bomb in its direction: a little mechanical potato-shaped critter named Yam. And it burst on the legs upon impact - not a genuine explosion, but rather a splat! that blanketed Poppy's wandering limbs in a thick stuffing-like substance. This was meant to weigh down whoever it landed on and, Trixie hoped, keep them glued to their spot temporarily while she got the upperhand.

Which was make more noises by firing rounds and giving her spot away within the smoke. She dashed away from the legs, but was still in their range.

With Stevie's decline, Lily stood out as the tallest thing in range. And Trixie didn't hesitate to fire her guns at the watchdog's face as best as she could. A few stray bullets pelted her visor here and there, leaving negligible dents - which was more than enough to catch her attention. Lily began firing lasers at Trixie's location at once. The agile prankster jumped out of the way with ease and continued her rapidfire.

She could only hope this gave Xandra enough time to recover.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

"Wait, stop!" Lute cried out as both boys stumbled. Cammie hesitated upon the virtuoso's command, and in an instant, Lute was charging off after the other animals. After the collapsing tents. After the screaming citizens. He wasn't going back inside after all, which left Cammie sighing in relief, but...

He bit his lips. This was going wrong, so so wrong. All because that brat decided to set their stage aflame. Why on earth would he do such a thing? What could possibly be his motivation? Oh, he was too contemplative for his own good; Cammie gave chase after Lute - not to chase him down, but rather to get to the animals as well.



This left Sammie raging even more. "What do you think you're doing!?" Whether that was directed to Cammie, Lute, or both was unclear; before Sammie could follow up, she was suddenly swept into the sky...!

"Hey honey! You okay, boo?"

"You... fucking... dumbass!!" Sammie waved her arms frantically as she soared into the air with Max, of all people. "He's getting away! You're letting him get away!! Ugh, Magis have mercy on your soul cuz I sure as hell won't!!"



With no one to ride or guide her, Elena the elephant was left alone. With a huff, she merely glanced around her surroundings. Her animal friends fought among an outsider, scaring off citizens who had no place to run. Two other guilders were in the distance as well, with tents nearby them going up in flames. The circus' own Cammie was also running after another citizen that was standing before her moments ago.

Elena too stampeded after the animals. Closing in after both Cammie and Lute.



The magician quickly took notice of this and - "Watch out!" - pounced on Lute, knocking both boys out of harm's way as Elena pressed onwards, stomping with her mighty feet. They would've been shredded in an instant.

Cammie grunted before pushing himself off the virtuoso and pressing onwards after Elena. The animalistic fight was getting out of control, and these stupid people were going to get themselves hurt! He rushed to the screaming citizens nearest him and snatched them by the collars - "This way, you dumbasses!" - and dragged them aside. They stumbled over one another as they began to run, but thankfully they began making their way to the exits. As opposed to trailing after Lute, Cammie moved on to help anyone else he could reach.

Elena, in the meantime, reached the battle brewing between the three animals. More snarling, pouncing, and clawing ensued between the three. As Lucien's raging bear slid away from Lidya and Olga, she crashed right into Elena's leg. And before it could lunge again at the two girls, it found its body tightly wrapped and lifted in Elena's trunk.

Lucien's bear was in too much of an enraged state to strategically knock itself out of Elena's grasp. Instead it writhed and roared and viciously clawed at the air in all its futility.

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Performance Ring

Crispin wasn't entirely sure if he was glad Abram was launched into this rage or not. For one thing, it meant the man was as blind as a bull; his attacks held no strategy, as he was bent on making Crispin pay with whatever he could throw. This was good for the brawler, as he was trained to dodge heavies and, preferably, counter them. But on the other hand... it meant hot chick was in danger.

Gods! It wasn't his fault Tammie threw a freakin' panda at him! Don't punish him for what he couldn't handle, come onnnn!

Abram prepared for a his next attack, and Crispin was all but intimidated. "You know," Crispin spat. Great, another tooth. His dentist was going to hate him. "Maybe we wouldn't have had to bust your act if you didn't give us reason to!" He looked to Estelle for a moment, before returning his attention to the behemoth. Didn't seem his words were getting through, as Abram went on and threw another platform at the duo. These were smaller in size and less than heavy, as they were merely stands for the seals to perform atop - but that didn't make them any less lethal if they hit.

Both Crispin and Estelle dodged without difficulty, but now they were split apart further. Perhaps this would work in their favor?

A scream sounded off center stage. From where the brawler stood, he could easily see the halved tightrope and both girls making their way back on the ground, without losing sight of Abram. Not good, not good at all. That scarfed chick had helped so much keeping Isabella occupied while staying alive herself. Now with them on the ground, especially with Petra getting back to her feet... it was five on three.

Petra wasted no time in charging after Aria, though she limped and staggered as she ran.

Abram readied himself for another attack. Crispin twitched his lips at this as he began running around the stage's perimeter, distancing himself further from Estelle while simultaneously moving towards Abram's side. Just like the girl said, they had to stay focused. Take care of what's on hand first. If the duo could make a pincer attack during Abram's rage, or if one of them (probably him, most likely him) could distract the tamer while the other closed in... they could take Abram's wrath out of the equation.

But Tammie went on and thew the whole thing off course.

"Take this, meanie!"



The girl lunged at him from behind, knives in hand. No doubt the 'darts' that were used in practices with her hat pre-shows. Crispin whirled around just in time to catch her coming straight at him, blades poised to dig into his face. This girl - her klutziness did not betray her killer intentions in the slightest. The brawler merely grimaced at this and punched her back.

Tammie was jabbed right on her hands, the brass knuckles knocking the blades clean out of her grip, though the force of the punch sent the girl flying backwards where she had come from. She landed smack in the middle of a row of seats, a hair's width away from crashing her head onto a seat.

In her daze she managed to catch a certain someone lying beneath the seats nearby her. Tammie pouted. Wasn't this guy with the two that were fighting her Maxie-Moo right now? Nooo he totally was! She couldn't forget how girly his garb was.

Once she was stable enough to stand back on her feet, she brought Lucien up along with her, holding him by his shoulders. Then she started to shake him, violently. "Hey! Heeey! We're in the middle of a fight! What do you think you're doing, hiding back here!?" Before the boy could even react to her, she then slapped him as well.

And as the fights continued to escalate further and further, the back curtains suddenly fluttered open. Amid all the chaos reigning within the big top, the two ringmasters stepped out. Anger warped their expressions as they watched their own beloved Isabella, Abram, and Tammie engaged in their own battles. Two animal plushes - a poodle and a blackbird - fell from Guinevere's bundle within her arms. Their surroundings were much too loud for them to be noticed immediately.

Phillis Circus - Outside
And with that, he was gone. Like he had suddenly lost interest. Syed let out a small sigh of relief, laying on the floor and letting himself catch his breath and calm down a little. He grimaced. "If... if they just listened..."

And with that he scrambled back up, heading towards the tents they had damaged to make sure there was nobody in them. Mostly for his own peace of mind.

Moira followed him, although she had her teeth bared as she watched the commotion in the distance. The roars of animals and the screams of people... well, they had tried. But how can you stop an impossibly fast person from getting back to the others if they decided? You just couldn't. Not with their skillsets. And like hell were they going to get there fast enough to stop him fucking anyone else's shit up.

"Sy, fuck this," she growled. "Come on. I'm gonna need my sword."

---

Outskirts
Argh! Poppy recoiled, clutching at her nose. Oh good, it wasn't broken. Little did she know how Xan had a history of going for the nose.

And with that, she was gone. Running off. Poppy shrugged. She had to give the woman credit, she sure knew how to be quiet when she wanted to be. Unlike the girl, who continued to be noisy throughout. She'd have to trust Lily to keep an eye on her with that fancy visor of hers. She still hadn't actually seen Stevie, she didn't know how exactly he fell.

And in return...

Poppy charged through the fog, following the sound - and shoulder barged Trixie once more to the ground.

"Oh... there they are," she said blankly, spotting her legs a short distance away. They jumped in the air and clicked their heels together in response, before jogging forwards and rejoining the rest of her. She turned back to Trixie. "Please stop shooting her. It's rude."

Phillis Circus: Outside

“Trixie!” Xandra exclaimed, finally finding the prankster after their splitting apart from her earlier smoke bomb. The metallurgist looked worse the wear, moving with a painful grimace at the fray nerves screaming agony from her prosthetic. Even despite this, she had ran over to and retrieved Estelle and Lute’s swords and Aria’s knives, running as desperately as she could with them in hand, even as red lines streaked past her from Lily and Stevie’s laser visors. As the final remnant of Trixie’s smokescreen began to dissipate, Lily’s form became fully visible, striding forwards with another relentless burst of laser fire that destroyed the ground just in front of Xandra. If she had turned to the side in time, she would have been hit directly by it. For now, she was lucky.

“Xan!”

“You again…” Poppy turned to see Xandra approach her and Trixie, readying herself to block the woman from rejoining her partner. Xandra frowned as she dashed forwards, glancing to her side at the strange pair of legs making their way towards Poppy as well. She turned again, dodging another volley of laser fire from Stevie, and booted the pair of legs in the shin, hard. Poppy’s face contorted in twisted agony from the hurt, and Xandra gave them another swift quick for good measure.

“Trixie! Another smokescreen, please!” Xandra called out, running past Trixie. The prankster, hopping back onto her feet after Poppy’s shoulder barge, obliged. Much to Lily, Stevie and Poppy’s annoyance, the ground exploded again with yet another all consuming smoke bomb detonating to blanket the area in a thick grey fog.

“Foolish girls…” Behind her metal visor Lily’s head shook. Her vision had been shifted into that of a heat vision spectrum – smokescreens were useless against her. She charged and primed her laser once more, watching as Trixie and Xandra planned to use this smokescreen to mask their retreat, the hum and glow of her laser growing brighter and brighter and brighter…!

But then ceasing and dying down upon seeing Trixie and Xandra disappear behind a conglomerate of tents and vanish out of sight. Lily could have fired, but destroying their own property was not something they should have gone about doing (unlike, say, Max). She stopped, turning to her brother. “Are you alright, Stevie? You’re not badly hurt, are you?”

Meanwhile, running as fast as they could to maximise their distance away from their enemies, Xandra and Trixie finally came to a stop, huffing and puffing as they crouched inside a tent.

“Ha… ha… Trixie… are you okay?” Asked Xandra, setting the heavy weapon down on the ground for the time being. She gripped her prosthetic again. It’s all in the mind, she willed to herself. It wasn’t anything serious… she just had to remind herself of that. What was more important was getting these weapons back to her friends in the Big Top… that’s all. But saying it was one thing, the reality was another. No matter how many times Xandra insisted it to herself, her arm still hurt with unbelievable agony.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Peformance Ring

“You think you big tough man, da?” Abram asked from behind Crispin, shocking the young fire brawler back into realisation of his surroundings. Tammie’s surprise attack had, for the moment, completely distracted him, leaving him vulnerable to Abram from behind. He couldn’t believe it, he was sure he had put enough distance between himself and the beast tamer that such a thing like this shouldn’t have been possible, but indeed he was there, and his mighty powerful arm swiped down, grabbing Crispin before he could react. Getting beaten around a lot like he had by Isabella and Abram already, maybe that made him more tired and disoriented then he thought… or was Abram simply faster then he could imagine?

“Nraggh!” Crispin howled, as Abram lifted him in the air with his hands squeezed around Crispin’s head, slowly crushing him, hoping to smother the air out of him.

“You set fire to circus, hurt innocent animals and pick on little girls whilst running away from mighty Abram, hmm?” The mighty muscle tamer snorted hot air from his nostrils. He kept the flailing Crispin at arm’s length, making it impossible for the brawler to possibly connect any punches to Abram’s vital areas. Occasionally, in his blind struggle he managed to punch Abram’s arm, however for Abram, a man so far embroiled in anger… it felt like a tiny mosquito buzzing away. He simply increased the pressure over Crispin. “Big, tough guy! Not so big or tough now, eh?”

Abram glared at his prey with an intense, penetrating stare. “You stop struggling little man, and this be all over lot easier, da? Abram doesn’t like popping tiny head like little melon.”



“Get off of him!” Screamed a voice from behind. Abram turned to look over his shoulder at a charging Estelle, dashing as quickly as she could to her partner’s defence. Abram simply stepped to the side, and with his free hand shoved Estelle back. The sudden of his action, as weak as the gesture was, threw her to the ground, unexpectantly dropping the katana. Recovering as quickly as she could, she jumped forward to grab it again, but a mighty boot stepped on top of the blade, making it impossible.

“Little girl, do not make this harder then needs be, da?” Abram shook his head from side to side. “You remind Abram of his own precious daughters. He would not like to harm you if he can. But if Abram must, Abram shall. Give. Up.”

“Give up?” Estelle glared back through gritted teeth. “Estelle… Fenix… never gives up! Especially against people who think it’s alright to kidnap people!!”

“Kidnap?” Abram frowned. “Whatever does little girl mean?”

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

The wind blew and roused specks of earth from the ground, causing Lute to tear up as he continued on towards the tents. Suddenly, the hyperactive girl was gone, but he could hear her voice trailing further and further away. “Maybe she got sucked inside that accursed hat of hers,” He joked weakly as the dust settled, except now there was something to be more concerned about than Sammie’s current whereabouts. The virtuoso was vaguely away of the earth shaking- hey, maybe the elephant was running after the crazy fireball-hurling chick- before getting tackled to the ground. At first he just thought that it was his own clumsiness at work, but a quick look upwards confirmed that he had been saved by the pokerfaced dude.

“Er, thanks! Oh no, no no no, don’t go there!” Lute scrambled to his feet and hurried after Elena. Great, add a rampaging pachyderm to the already hostile mix of bear, lion and gorilla. Lute and Delilah could make more sarcastic comments about the situation, but the former was far more worried about the shapes he saw squirming under the fallen tent’s fabric. He reached the site and slid down to pull the heavy swaths off the form, and as expected saw a civilian- the very same girl he had rescued earlier inside the Big Top- trapped under a few planks of plywood. “Sweetie, you really like putting yourself in harm’s way that much?” The virtuoso sighed and began to lift the wood off the child, who wasn’t hurt bar for a set of scratches on the back of her arms. Before the two could bid a hasty retreat, an angry snarl ripped through the air and Lute, on instinct, turned towards the four animals. Although he wasn’t too keen on letting Lucien suffer like that, the worst that could happen to his summon was that it would disappear in a puff of smoke once all its health was expended. The civilians, on the other hand…

“Aight, exit’s right over there! Keep moving!” Lute appeared right beside Cammie with the girl still clutching his hand. Apparently her father was missing and she wasn’t going to go anywhere without finding the lout. “Do you have a well or something in here? I’m not sure about the Big Top, but maybe we can put out the flames in the smaller tents!” The virtuoso called out to the magician over the din, which suddenly subsided and was overlapped by a gentle, soothing tune. Though the people might as well soil themselves with how much they were panicking, the music had its effects- and most just assumed it was a circus trick from either Cammie or the white-haired guy- and most, if not all, of the straggles were cleared out in an orderly fashion. “Goddamnit-,” When the virtuoso cursed, the little girl gasped and glared at him, which made Lute turn red and revise his words, “I mean, blast it! Where’s Eric anyway!? Don’t tell me he’s in the Big Top, looking for that missing niece of his. Wait, actually… Shit- er, I mean, poop! He could be in there!”