Phillus Circus-Big Top

Aria barely had time to recover her footing before the panda she had landed on joined the fray, claws swiping down at her. She jumped to the side as the bear charged with a roar, the large furry mass barreling by and tripping over its feet into a front forward roll. She tried not to d'aww at it's cuteness- how were pandas so cute even when they were trying to seriously maim you?

It recovered quickly, and from a quick glance backwards Isabella was quickly catching up by using a rope to slide down to the ground. The sounds of trampling paws had Aria leaping to the side again as the panda passed. Luckily for her the panda was limping, meaning that it was still relatively easy to avoid, but with the acrobat approaching it was going to be a lot harder to avoid attacks from both directions. What to do?

As the panda charged once again, she mentally facepalmed at the stupid plan that popped into her head. Then again, it was veeery tempting. And what was there to lose?

When Isabella's feet touched the hard ground of the circus tent, the illusionist had somehow managed to snag onto the bear's fur as it passed, dragging herself onto its back. It was rather comfortable for a second, before the panda realized what was happening.

"Hiiieeeeee-"

Aria's mostly panicked yet slightly excited screech shrilled through the tent as the panda attempted to buck off the woman clinging for dear life on her back who was trying to steer the panda in Isabella's direction. If her impromptu jig worked it would distract Isabella enough for Aria to hopefully stop the woman from trying to skewer her, and if it didn't it would at least tire out the panda and keep the bear and the acrobat focused on her instead of joining the large scary man with whom Estelle and Crispy were struggling with.

Outskirts
Poppy sighed as yet another plume of smoke enveloped them all. It didn't even work on Lily and Stevie, so she didn't know why they bothered. Just because of her? Actually, that was quite flattering.

Nonetheless things went very quiet, as she turned her head this way and that. The girl was so noisy... she couldn't actually tell what direction they were in anymore. Oh well.

She extended her arms out, once more splitting her body apart at the joints. She extended the segments out, before pushing herself into a fast spin on one foot. The action wasn't particularly effective, but it was enough thin the smoke to the point where she could see shapes. And she certainly couldn't see the shapes of Xan or Trixie anymore.

She shrugged, joining herself back together. What mattered right now was that Stevie was down. Lily was asking about him, but with her up in the air and a security issue going on she probably couldn't do much.

"I can help," she stated. "If you need it."

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Performance Ring

"Thank you thank you thank you...!" Crispin wheezed as Estelle crossed by. No she didn't break him free from the behemoth's grasp, but her interference was more than enough to distract Abram. She brought to light the kidnapping issue, which seemed to confuse Abram more than it did launch him into a defensive state. Which was... not what Crispin expected. But at least that meant that chick believed him!

Abram's grip on Crispin weakened enough for the latter to catch his breath and calm his flailing, but not yet enough to break free. So Crispin repeated what he had done to Isabella: he wrapped his hands around Abram's wrist and began to incinerate it by warming up his own hands to a dangerous degree. Abram instantly, and unknowingly, loosened his grasp further, and Crispin pushed himself away from the beast.

“Kidnap? Whatever does little girl mean?”

"Don't play dumb with us!" Crispin growled back, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "You know exactly what she's talking about!" Abram looked to Crispin next, his frown unchanging. Crispin twitched, though maintained a combative stance. These guys were good actors.

Then a new voice boomed through the tent, barely loud enough to be heard over Petra's roaring. "What is the meaning of this? Explain yourselves!"



There they were. The big guys.

Without further hesitation, Crispin dashed towards the ringmasters, his right fist burning with a fiery fury. He could end this, he could end this right now. He didn't care that there were still three other performers and a panda to deal with; the moment Vance entered the scene changed his battle strategy entirely.

"You're gonna pay!" Crispin roared, his fire burning brighter. "You're gonna pay for what you...!"

His flame was knocked out. His body, once again, had been forced to the floor. Crispin cried aloud as he landed with a thud, a weight pressing him down even further. He was too riled up however, and managed to roll himself out from the assailant's hold - until a fist was jammed into the ground beside his head, stopping him completely. Crispin looked up, and his expression dropped. "What are you...!?"

His assailant merely looked back at him with the same confusion plastered across her face.



"The audacity...! Have you no shame!?" From the back, Vance strode to the duo, his hand extended to them. Fingers bent angrily. "Nobody enters my circus and makes a mockery of my family. Nobody!"

"Hah!" Crispin angrily forced his laugh. "Hah! Hah!" He knocked over Estelle as he rose to his feet, and backed away towards the audience seating. He stopped moving once he felt his heel touch the edge of the stage. "'Enter'?? HAH! Maybe if you actually let me leave in the first place, none of this would've happened!"

Vance snarled back. "What in the name of...!?" He noticed Abram's expression, visibly upset from whatever Crispin and Estelle were spewing at him before the Phillis' intervention. The rage within Vance's tone escalated. "What lies have you been feeding them!? We welcome you into our home, we allow you to join our act, and this - you thank us with your insolence? A retaliation!? I... I fail to understand how this..." His voice began to crack. "You could have easily deserted our home of your own will! What is this mockery!?"

Crispin held his fists up, still having a bounce to his step. He still had energy yet. "Unbelievable," he muttered. His eyes shifted to Estelle's now. Pleading. "Don't listen to them."

'Is this one of your friends, Caspian?" Vance's glare shifted to Estelle, who too had risen to her feet. Facing Crispin, she prepared for another strike. Her expression betrayed her stance. "Please do not tell me you planned this assault. ...inexcusable." With one hand still extended in Estelle's direction, Vance looked next towards Abram. "Abram, how many of these fools are there?"




"Nyeeee, I got one over here!" Tammie called from the seats, looking over her shoulder to the audience with a fist raised.

Before her was Lucien, whose head lolled in a daze as his eyelids fluttered open. The image of Tammie was blurred for only a moment, but once his vision corrected itself, he could see just how in his face she really was. "Whoa," he murmured, "did you fall from heaven? Because you..."

"I already have a boyfriend, you DWEEB!" Instead of punching him again however, Tammie merely dropped him back on the floor. She then reached inside her hat. "How do you like - um - third-degree burns!? Huh!? And I don't mean setting things on FIRE like that asshole!" And from within her hat she procured... a mug. A steaming mug. Of hot coffee. "I'm gonna pour this all over ya unless you surrender!! And I'll burn your pretty clothes right off and OOH you guys are gonna pay!"

---

And outside, amidst the three animals surrounding their furry enemy... the bear ensnared within Elena's trunk suddenly vanished with a puff of smoke. The elephant's trunk loosened at this, feeling that there was nothing within her grasp anymore. Had she squeezed so hard that the opposing bear had...? Her trunk continually squeezed and unsqueezed at the absence of a body.

---

On the opposite side of the performance stage was Isabella's and Aria's battle, along with a rampaging Petra. As the bear stampeded after Isabella, in a desperate effort to knock the villain off her back, Aria clung onto her fur tightly. Isabella leaped out of the way in time, causing Petra to take a u-turn as she continued running around. Before the two could make their way after Isabella a second time, however... Aria soon found herself flying right off the bear, crash-landing onto the ground.

Atop her was... a turtle plushie in a skirt? Despite its soft texture and the tiny beads inside, the plush was as heavy as a large rock.

"Petra... Petra dear, shhh, shh... Guin's here to help..."



Having dropped her clutter of dolls to the floor, the sister ringmaster made her way after the panda bear and cooed her. The bear still jumped around and cried, but with Guinevere in her sights now, she slowly calmed down. Once it was safe enough to approach her, Guinevere did exactly that, and stroked the fur along her forearm. "There there, Petra, shhh, it's okay."

The bear had stopped her angry charging, but that didn't mean she was no longer hostile. Her roars turned to loud growls, as she looked over to where Aria was pinned. Aria was quite a distance away.

Guinevere turned to Isabella, still stroking Petra's fur - at least until the bear decided to prowl after the illusionist. "Isabella, darling, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

Phillis Circus: Outside

“Godsdamnit Max you idiot, take me back and put me down!”

“Gosh, Sammie, I’m sorry… I thought you were my honey boo…”

“You do this all the time! We look nothing like each other, you idiot!”

“Huh? What? You don’t?”

“No, we don’t! Eyebrows, you moron! Our eyebrows are totally different!!”

“…”

“And our noses are completely different, too! Tammie’s is fatter!”

“I’m… er… not so sure about that…”

“Whatever, just shut up and put me back down again otherwise that guy will get away!!”

With a wilting sigh, the skybound Max, carrying his companion Sammie, turned and gently lowered themselves down to the ground, stopping off precisely where Max had accosted Sammie in her and Cammie’s battle against Lute. The virtuoso, along with Sammie’s brother, were in the midst of helping civilians evacuate the destroyed rubble of tents that Abram’s animals had helped to destroy in their rampage against Lucien’s summon, before they suddenly stopped and turned upon noticing their presence.

Lute’s face paled immediately, the youth’s skin turning as pale as his fair. The animals’ battle against Lucien’s summon was thankfully over, their destruction abated almost as soon as it had begun, with the nearest civilians closest to them now having all fled to safer parts…

…but not Lute was completely surrounded. With Sammie and Max approaching from one side, and the trio of circus animals on the other side taking notice of him, and Cammie right beside him… even with the latter’s help, he couldn’t deny the simple fact that…

…he was so, so screwed.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Audience Seating

His mind and body hurt like nothing he had ever felt before.

Even though Lucien hadn’t been physically fighting himself, he still felt the mental whiplash of his bear’s struggle against those three circus animals enough to feel the effects on himself. He was almost completely exhausted, and his mind stung with the worst headache he had ever felt. More potent, even, then the time he had spent drinking at one of Tagress’ many bars, and a night he wished he could have forgotten.

He had lost control of not only the animal’s senses, but his own – the summon becoming embroiled in its own maddening beastial rage, resulting in a bloody, primal fight. One that caused a lot of devastation and destruction among the tents outside, and the frightening of a lot of poor people. Now that he was back to his senses, Lucien could only grimace in both pain and guilt at what had happened… at what he had allowed to happen. Anybody who might have gotten hurt outside was because of him. It’d be on his conscience. What could he do…?

“Easy, easy,” Lucien raised his hands in the air in front of him, partly as a mock surrender and partly to help protect his face in case Tammie ending up accidentally spilling that steaming coffee. “I give up,” Lucien sighed. “I surrender, I swear.”

The summoner didn’t really want to surrender, but there wasn’t exactly much he could do at the moment. Not with the way he was feeling. He didn’t know if he could even stand up, let alone run away or fight.

He managed to turn though, shifting his body to be able to look at what else was actually happening inside the Big Top.

And both his eyes and mouth widened in surprise, confusion and horror at what he was witnessing…

Estelle, fighting Crispin.

What… what was going on?

---

What the heck’s going on?!



Estelle gasped and grunted in pain as she felt her body involuntarily move against her wishes. She was locked in horror at what was happening, the sheer madness of her body moving against her thoughts and wishes, to jump at and try to punch Crispin despite desiring no such thing. The particular way in which she clenched her fists and cracked her knuckles, the deliberate manner in which she rose to her feet again and turned threateningly back towards Crispin. She was doing none of this, and yet for some reason… her body was!

What the heck was going on?!

“You!” Estelle shouted at Vance, the regal aristocratic ringmaster turning his attention away from Abram to cast a cursory glance towards the redhaired girl. “What the hell are you doing to me?!”

Vance tilted his head slightly, looking down his nose towards Estelle, and then simply looked away without answering, back towards Abram. The big and powerful, muscular man coughed, the adrenaline that had been surging throughout his body beginning to calm down.



“Abram is… not sure. These and… a few more, Abram thinks.” The Beast Tamer replied, scratching the back of his neck as he did. “Max sent two of them flying into the air,” Vance’s sight was directed to the small hole in the ceiling of the tent. “And Sammie and Cammie went after another man.”

Vance stared towards Abram, considering the answer, and then nodded, his expression betraying no particular emotion towards the question. Abram sighed again, and then turned back towards Crispin. Despite the burning that the fire brawler had done to Abram’s hand, he didn’t seem to either notice it or bear any ill will or sense of desired revenge for what Crispin had done. If anything, Abram seemed… sullen. As if simply upset by everything that had happened.

“Little man, Abram thinks it best if you simply give up now,” The Beast Tamer spoke in an even voice. “Little man is badly outnumbered, and the rest of little man’s friends all be… all be…”

“Incapacitated,” Vance helped.

“Da.” Abram nodded. He folded his mighty arms over his broad chest. “More fighting simply mean more hurting… for you. Why not just stop and talk this over, da?”

---

On the far side of the Big Top’s performance ring, opposite to the scene developing between Vance, Abram, Estelle and Crispin, the circus’ Ringmaster and owner, Guinevere Phillis, had stepped onto the scene and in one fluid motion, calmed both the out of control panda Petra, and subdued the illusionist Aria before she could even blink. Pinned to the ground by the unimaginable weight of one of Guinevere’s dolls, she could only look up in disbelief and confusion at what was going on. How could this…?

And then horror, as she saw the feet that belonged to her adversary Isabella stalk towards her.

"Isabella, darling, are you all right? Are you hurt?"



“Nothing other then my pride, Guin,” Isabella replied, as she stood next to her cherished friend, looking down at Aria, and the wretched mess that looked back up. Isabella closed her eyes, dispelling her anger and irritation that had grown throughout their battle, and brought herself back to the calming, inner piece she treasured so much. “I am sorry, Guin,” Isabella spoke up. Guinevere turned back towards her, surprise creasing her delicate features.

“Sorry, Isabella? Whatever for?”

“This. All of it.” Isabella’s outstretched hands emphasised the scene around them, and the various pieces of damage that littered about it – from the overturned and destroyed seats, to the charred remains of Crispin’s fire damage, the hole in the tent ceiling, severed tightrope and the other pieces of evidence from the fight that had transpired. “If I had been better… quicker and more decisive to act, this wouldn’t have gotten as out of hand as it did. I’m sorry.”

“Well now, there’s no need for you to be sorry, my dear,” Guinevere lifted one of her gloved hands to Isabella’s cheeks, wiping away the drop of tear that was beginning to trickle down. “This wasn’t your fault, now was it? All of this, I’m sure, will be over very very soon…”

---

Phillis Circus: Outside

“What the shit, Sy, where the fuck did we put it?”

Outside the perimeter of the circus, beyond the metal fencing that served as the circus’ bounds, Moira and Syed had hurried as quickly as they could to the point where they had stashed their weapons. They were fortuitous enough in that during their trek to this spot they hadn’t encountered any of the other outside battles that had been occurring – as they went around the Big Top’s massive tent they went around the side opposite to where Lute’s battles had been occurring, and on the other side they managed to completely avoiding nothing the commotion that Trixie and Xandra’s ending fight had had with Poppy and the two stilt siblings thanks to the massive crowd of people between them. Syed had wanted to check out what all the smoke was about, but Moira had been adamant in retrieving hers and everyone else’s stuff. If they were going to properly fight, then they needed them.

“It’s here,” Syed said, pointing out the spot where they and Aria had hidden their equipment. As he crouched down to remove the artefacts uncovering the spot, Syed’s features contorted in confusion upon noticing the majority of it completely missing. Everything other then…

“Ere we go. About fucking time.” Moira bent down and lifted the great sword up, dusting it down and stabbing it into the ground as she turned to begin fitting her armour back on. “Right. Now we can show those idiots who the hell they’re messing wit-”

Moira’s speech was interrupted by a great big buffeting gale sweeping about them. The sensation was all too familiar to that of the man they had just been fighting against; the human cannonball Max, who moved and attacked at such shockwave creating speeds that he resembled a human rocket. Moira spun on the spot, gritting her teeth and preparing herself for the inevitable impact…

…only for herself and Syed to be surprised at what they saw appear before them. Amidst the dying down winds, a man gently lifted a woman whom he had been carrying in his arms down to the ground.

“Never again…” The blonde woman spoke, clutching her forehead with one hand and her stomach with the other. “Even if that was quicker then walking, never again. I think I’m going to be sick…”

“Amy!” Syed shouted. “And Marcus!”




“Oh!” Marcus’ attention was jostled by the sound of his companions. “Syed and Moira. Hello… fancy meeting you two here… outside of the circus?” Marcus looked confused, but smiled his usual gentile smile at seeing his friends again. “Thank the gods we’ve found you. What’s going on?”

“Payback,” Moira grinned, strapping her greatsword around her back, and taking her first step back towards the circus. “A whole shitload of payback!”

Phillus Circus-Big Top

One moment she was trying to control an angry, limping panda, the next thing something had tackled her off. She struggled for a moment but it barely took moments before she was pinned to the ground, unable to pick herself up no matter how she tried. Her arms and legs could move, yes, but it felt as if something incredibly heavy had settled onto her back. She let out a gasp of pain as the dagger in her shoulder was pushed in deeper, blood seeping through her shirt and into the sandy ground of the circus.

She craned her head, only to be met with the sight of Isabella approaching- and a pair of button eyes that seemed to stare back at her, belonging to an innocent looking plush turtle in a skirt. She reached out to grab the thing with her good arm, but as soft as it was it refused to budge at all. What in the world-

"Isabella, darling, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

A woman stood a short distance away, one hand one the panda's fur and eyes focused on Isabella. She was dressed much like a doll herself- all lace and ruffles. There was something disconcerting about the woman- could she be the one controlling the doll? While the two woman talked, Aria tried to maneuver herself so that she could attempt to reach her weapon. If she could try to destroy the doll somehow...

Phillis Circus - Outside
Moira was quite suprised that Marcus didn't descend with two black eyes, to be honest.

"We're having a demonstration of Sod's law," Syed clenched his fingers through his hair, although he certainly looked pleased to see the pair. Although when it came to Amy he wasn't sure if he should be happy or worried, thanks to that stalker room. His voice took on a cheerful, somewhat sarcastic tone. "The good news is we found the secretary's son! The bad news is he decided to set the place alight and now we're all public enemy number one."

"Yeah, and they ain't listenin' just attackin anyone they don't like the look of. I wasn't even the first person to attack! No really!" she protested. "I wasn't!" She looked back to Amy. "Wouldn't say no to a heal, Aims."

"We still don't have any evidence of any kidnapping, other than Crispin's word. Yeah, that Crispin," he added in response to Marcus's raised eyebrow. "But they're all just being so aggressive that they're not giving us a chance to sort this out normally. We've tried. Although... Crispin did set fire to a tent full of spectators, so I can see why they would be mad. I mean heck, I am." Syed scratched at the back of his head. "They're okay, they're okay, we evacuated them all," he added hastily, raising his palms.

"Either way one of the fuckers flew me right up above the clouds and dropped me, I ain't having that shit." Moira made no effort to explain how they survived the fall. She spat to one side. "Come on, we'd better get back before he tries to drop Lute too and the git deafens us all screaming or somethin'."

"Amy?" Syed turned to her and walked backwards, giving her a small awkward bow. "If anyone makes you uncomfortable in there, don't hesitate to tell us, right? I...uh... I know you don't want to be here, and... um..." he didn't finish the sentance, going almost luminous red before spinning around to look back at the circus. Although even his ears had gone red too so it didn't really help matters much. "...T-thanks you two. For coming. We definately could do with your help."

Moira seemed oblivious. "FUCK YEAH LET'S SMACK SOME SHIT UP!" she bellowed, barrelling forward through the crowds into the circus itself. Knocking a fair few people over while she was at it, leaving Syed to apologise profusely as he stumbled in her wake.

After all, the others were relying on them. And maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to get to the bottom of this. Maybe.

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

“Aight, I give up. You win! Fine!” the virtuoso yelled and raised his hands in the air. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like any of them were going to attack them. Well, at least he was sure the boy beside him won’t since he appeared to be the reasonable sort, but that chick… Yeah no. He’d rather eat nails for breakfast than turn a blind eye to her violent tendencies. “Hey kid,” Lute kept his eyes on Max and Sammie as he knelt down in front of the girl and, after noting that they probably wouldn’t do anything unsavory what with a child around, looked at her instead, “see those other people over there? Your dad’s probably with them. Why don’t you go and check it out?” With all the chaos earlier, it seemed as if the little one didn’t think of that course of action. She nodded and ran off after thanking him.

So, what now?

Lute narrowed his eyes at his captors and crossed his arms over his chest, “So, you got me. Yeah. We’re not really going to stand around looking at each other, are we? Because I’d much prefer hauling over bucketfuls of water to… Oh, I don’t know, maybe those burning tents over there? But hey, you guys the bosses. I’m just a puny sound magician thing-ish.”

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

"Aight, I give up. You win! Fine!" Lute threw his arms skyward in a fit of annoyance. He was doing all he could to ensure the citizens' safety, and with the way Sammie was constantly on his case, it was as if she wanted anything but that. He made another attempt to reason with them - which Cammie too seemed to be all aboard with. Before his sister could spew out anything more, Cammie stepped up. The magician boy stood right behind Lute, cape in hand, in case he thought about leaving the area. Even if it was with good intention.

"Wait," he said.

Sammie threw her arms up the same way Lute did. "Wait!? But he's--"

"Kid, before we get back to business - could you explain to me one thing?" Cammie lowered his cape and quickly glanced over his shoulder. The animals were on the prowl, no doubt ready to charge at Lute if he so much as even moved from his spot. Tents were still aflame, but it didn't seem like any other citizens were in immediate danger. "What are you and your friends doing here? You're clearly not... evil. Do you have a vendetta against the circus or...?"

"Enough chatter! He's just trying to fool you with this whole 'Look at me, I'm relatively innocent!' thing he has going on!" Sammie screamed. Max's ears popped from her shriek, and he used his pinky to dig at his eardrums to unpop them. Amidst her screaming, Sammie readied another tool from her hat - a whip, used to 'train' Lidya. The lioness sharply lifted her head upon hearing the whip snap. Was this a cue?

"I bet you that lovely white hair of his is just a stupid wig. Just like his whole persona!" With another lash, Sammie cried out as she charged after Lute. "Max! Cover me!"

Cammie remained behind Lute, between their group and the animals. His cape was in hand, as he waited to redirect Sammie or Max should any of them miss running (or rocketing) after the virtuoso, since he was sure Lute wouldn't run away at this point. Still, he couldn't help but ponder Lute's words; if the other two performers didn't seem to need the magician boy's help, he'd do what the guilder was suggesting and work on putting out the remaining flames.

---

Phillis Circus: Outskirts

"The good news is we found the secretary's son! The bad news is he decided to set the place alight and now we're all public enemy number one."

Amy had been there for less than a minute, and already she wore her trademark deadpan frown. "That's lovely." As the duo continued explaining what hell was unleashed within the circus, Amy worked on treating their wounds. They look absolutely battered - and being separate from everyone else couldn't be good news either. Judging from Moira's word about the rocketman, it seemed the performers had more up their sleeves than just mere tricks. Fight-worthy abilities? No wonder Lady was...

"Amy? If anyone makes you uncomfortable in there, don't hesitate to tell us, right? I...uh... I know you don't want to be here, and... um..."

"Save it," she said. While her words were harsh, they could read gratitude in her tone. Once the finishing touches were done, Amy rose back to her feet, staff clenched tightly in hand. She and Moira were both in agreement - that they wanted to get this mess done and over with - and began rushing towards the circus as quickly as they could. Luckily the lingering citizens were sharp enough to get out of the incoming guilders' way, so their path wasn't too blockaded.

It wasn't long before they reached the gate. The smell of fire from the outer tents (now catching onto a few trees within the circus itself) wafted all the way to the circus exterior, causing Amy to glower even more. If indeed the circus was to blame for the kidnappings, then good riddance. But an out of control fire spelled more danger than it needed to.

Speaking of hot, it warmed up real quickly, real suddenly. The fires hadn't reached their location, no - but a blazing hot laser singeing the metal bars had. The crew turned around to find a patrolman on stilts nearby, although with his leg heavily bent, he could only count on his other leg to pivot himself. "H, halt there! Please! Weapons are totally against the law here... come on, please, we don't want to have to do this..."

"Stevie, they're the friggin' enemy, don't plead with them! Swords and staves, man!" Another stiltman came running from behind him, this time with a feminine voice. "Just stop them!" Another laser was fired, directly at the group of four.

The smoke from behind them had dissipated. Trixie and Xandra were still out of sights, perhaps even hidden amongst the fleeing wave of citizens (as per Stevie's guess). But now they had their eyes set on new targets.

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Audience Seating

"Surrender? So - so you're actually surrendering, then? For realsies? I did something right??" Tammie slammed her coffee mug on the seat closest to them, causing the boiling hot water to dance about and splash itself among the cushion. Lucien recoiled from the suddenness. Without hesitation, Tammie began digging into her hat again - but it took her much longer this time. "Ohhh now where did I put that stupid ugly..." She reached so far into her hat that it was down to her shoulder, and even then she wasn't able to find what she was looking for.

With a grunt, she tugged at the edges of her hat to make it wider, and practically dove in with the top half of her torso. Her feet kicked around as she continued burrowing through the fabric, muttering profanities here and there, until she finally popped back out with a sound of satisfaction. "There we go! Now you better hold still, or else your face will be hidden under a paper bag for months!"

A rope, she had procured a rope, and proceeded to wrap it around Lucien. His arms were bounded tightly to his side in no time - though when he asked for some breathing room in a high pitched voice, Tammie meeped an apology and slightly loosened it. Just slightly.



"Surrender?" Similarly to Tammie, Crispin exclaimed that word with a laugh - though his was much more brusque. "Like this? I can't. Not when you haven't paid for what you've done."

"Nah, you really should though!" Tammie cried out from the audience seating. Crispin looked over his shoulders to see another teammate wrapped up, with Tammie dangling over his head what was probably more life-threatening than anything Crispin himself had done. Probably. Especially when it was held like that. "Or else I'm gonna pour this all over him! All over him! The whole thing! Poppy's cup too!"

"You wouldn't!"

Tammie stomped her foot. "I totally would! Watch!" She slowly began to tip the mug opening towards Lucien's face.



"No need, Tammie." The girl reeled back her dangerous cup, blinking in confusion as she looked towards Vance's direction instead now. The ringmaster shook his head at her. "We need not stoop so low as these mongrels have in order to punish them. Face it, Caspian." Vance stepped up to Crispin, and the brawler looked up to him as he completely obscured his vision now. Estelle was under his manipulation, Aria was trapped, Lucien was trapped... "You're outnumbered. It would be wise for you to surrender. I would hate to draw this out longer than needs be."

Even if Crispin was beneath this man like a dog, his expression reflected anything but hopelessness. A biting determination was evident in his eyes. And if that wasn't obvious enough to Vance - maybe a spit to the face was. One with a slight fiery touch, no less. It merely splatted against his cheek, leaving a reddening mark where the hot degrees were concentrated.

"You insolent...!" Vance stepped back in recoil, bringing his free hand to his face. While it hurt no more than an ant bite, the fact that this fool even dared to retaliate when shown mercy was absolutely maddening. "Fine! Should our home be your deathbed, then so be it!"



Estelle's body charged after Crispin - and quickly the duo were knocked off stage, with Crispin landing harshly onto his back. The fiery duo began wrestling on the floor... with the two knives Tammie had dropped within Estelle's reach. Crispin growled at this, but he couldn't fight back. Not when she was so hot on his team...!

Vance lifted his chin, a silent but composed anger across his features, as he held an arm in Estelle's direction. He then looked over his shoulder to the tamer, his friend and companion. "Abram, if you could please--"

His face suddenly jerked to the side, eyes widened. As if he had been hit by something - yet from what Abram could see, nothing was in sight that wasn't there before. Once the shock dissipated, Vance turned his glaring eyes to the backroom - where a little girl stood, with one hand before her and the other behind her.



Vance could only grin at this. "Now you show your face. This will be interesting."

Phillis Circus: Big Top

"This is all so... unnecessary." Guinevere frowned as Baltimore made her entrance. "What have we become, a target for terrorism? I fear for our other members..."

The turtle atop Aria remained as still as ever, not only building painful pressure between itself and the floor, but also worsening the injury in her shoulder. While Aria was still able to move, the pain was a lot to bear. Despite this, Guinevere looked at the illusionist without a hint of remorse across her features. Instead, her concern was elsewhere - "Isabella, please tell me the others are faring all right."

The ringmaster strode back to the pile of plushes she had dropped and knelt down beside it. She lovingly brushed her gloved hands along the two nearest to her - a dressy mouse and a monocle'd rabbit. Like smooth wind-up toys, the two plushes were suddenly reanimated. They stood themselves up, shaking our their fur like domesticated dogs, before tittering and tottering after the fallen Aria. Even Petra the panda ceased her prowling, if only to watch the toys make their move.

The mouse, Phoebe O'Cutie, stood on one side of Aria's face, uncomfortably staring into her eyes if she continued to look in its direction (where all the on-stage action was happening). The rabbit, Sir Theodore, hopped by her shoulder, curiously eying the dagger jutting out of it.

"That should keep her occupied for a spell." Sighing, Guinevere turned away from Aria and looked to the back curtains. "Dearest Baltimore, please..."

Without turning her head, Baltimore glanced to the ringmaster. She gulped. Unnoticed, she gave a sharp tug to the hand behind her back - and the turtle atop Aria toppled over, now rolling to her uninjured shoulder as opposed to the center of her back. This caused the mouse plush to jump excitedly.

Phillis Circus - Outskirts
Moira rolled her eyes. Oh, fantastic. Now these two and the creepy girl were getting involved too. And one of the stiltmen in particular looking pretty battered. She made no move whatsoever to dodge the laser.

Instead, Syed simply stepped forward, his eyes flashing a brilliant yellow as he threw his hands before himself...

There was a flash of electricity, followed by a deep boom as the white-hot laser was deflected to one side and exploded harmlessly on the ground. "That won't work!" he shouted. To be honest he had no intention of attacking these guys at all, he didn't want to destroy their work even in a situation like this. Especially with one of them already damaged. "Please. Let us actually explain why we're here!"

"What the hell Sy! THESE ARE BAD GUYS! And you, what about this situation makes you think we give a shit about your rules?!" Moira pointed to the stiltmen. "Rules are made to be broken, especially if they're made by a bunch of creepy maybe kidnapping stalker freaks!" She unsheathed her sword, adjusting her grip, then leapt forward and charged with a yell...


...Only to blink as the Poppy went to charge straight past. Her hands seperated at the wrists, and the next thing Moira knew her feet had caught on something and she was sent tumbling to the ground.

The girl narrowly missed her blade, seperating at the waist allowing the blade to harmlessly travel through the newly created space. She quickly rejoined up again, hands and all, before flipping forwards into a cartwheel towards Marcus and Amy. "You two are really pretty," she said in mid-flight, much in the same way someone would make idle chit-chat while waiting in line for the bus.

At the last second her feet seperated, aiming to kick the staff out of Marcus's hands. Using her own body as a decoy. While she knew these magic types weren't the sort you could easily disarm - that was running using the assumption that he was a magic type, since his staff certainly implied it - she hoped the act would in turn allow her to get another shot in.

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

Marcus had been at a loss for words as Syed and Moira hurriedly tried to explain what had happened to them and the others, and how things had taken a turn for the chaotic mess that the Phillis Circus had now been gripped within. With smoke rising into the air from a few wayward burning tents and scorched earth and a chorus of panicked shouts and screams from the fleeing civilians around them, Marcus could see with only too clear clarity that everything had descended into bedlam. Moira and Syed were at least fine, fortuitously, albeit with minor injuries. Despite it all, he could only pray that the others were okay as well, especially Estelle. Finding her was his primary concern, as well as the truth about what it was exactly that had been going on here. To think that this struggle had started because of some crazy fire loving chef…

No sooner had he and his companions stepped foot within the boundaries of the circus then they had been besieged by laser fire and strange looking opponents. Some woman, charging at Moira, managed to split her actual bodies into multiple parts to avoid Moira’s attack, before then attacking Marcus himself – making a kick for his staff, she tried to knock it free of his control!

But Marcus’ grip on his staff was solid, and he kept control of it, even when he was knocked off balance somewhat by the surprising attack.

“Fascinating,” Marcus commented, blinking at the strange and whimsical Poppy. “What on Ddaear are you?”

A gust of wind erupted from where Marcus stood, sending Poppy’s foot whipping through the air and disrupting the rest of her body’s balance alongside it. Blowing the appendage as far away as he could, he then quickly concentrated on another spell, buffing the agility and speed of all three of his companions, before slowly refocusing on Poppy and the two armoured stiltmen.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Why?! She screamed. Why can’t I control myself?!

Against all of Estelle’s wishes, all her protesting screams to stop, her body kept moving and fighting despite it. Her body moved with a mind of its own, tackling Crispin and punching him over and over again, relentlessly hitting him no matter how much she begged herself not to.

“Crispin!” She weeped, tears forming from her eyes. As she punched the man pinned down beneath her torso, over and over again, a teardrop feel from her face and onto the fire brawler’s. “I can’t… stop myself…”

“Please…” She begged. “Help… me…”



As the duo fought, Abram silently watched with obvious discomfort and unease. He wasn’t adverse to fighting in order to protect something important to him, as he had done so earlier before when he battled against Crispin and stopped Estelle from attacking him. However this… this was something he disliked. He looked towards Vance, and the particular way in which he resolved his business, and he shook his head. There was something very, very wrong about the way in which Vance fought for Abram’s liking. He preferred to settle matters and resolve problems himself, with his own two hands. Vance, on the other, preferred to use others.

As such, there was a mental anguish he found himself vehemently disliking. It was almost like… torture. And yet, with what these people had been attempting to do since the minute Crispin tried to set fire to the tent… what more could they do? He had tried to reason with the man – forcing him to stop his resistance and instead give up quietly, yet he had refused. What the redheaded girl, Estelle, was doing to him was Vance’s fault, no question about it. But Crispin, he too had a responsibility for that.

He sighed. Surely there had to be an easier way to simply stop all this. And then he shook his head.

“Vance, leave the girl alone. Abram will deal with tiny… man…”

And then she appeared. The adorable little girl who was too shy to speak, the circus’ latest joinee and newest member of their family. This was not a scene that a girl as young as her should have ever had to see. The large man grimaced, his eyes closing tightly shut, and a large breath of air expelling from his lungs. Big, powerful Abram could only imagine one of his own daughters coming here, to see a scene as violent and horrible as this, and it was almost more then his large heart could bear.

“Vance, I make little man stop now, da?” Abram turned to his superior, and then began walking towards Crispin. He aimed to put Crispin out of his wild antagonising ways in a flash, and put all of this calamity to as quick an end as they could. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Big Top’s performance ring, Isabella silently nodded to Guinevere as she parted from her side. She began slowly walking towards Baltimore with a soft smile, planning on leading her away from the scene, not yet realising the young girl’s own intentions.

And to add onto this dramatically unfolding scene…

A pair of bodies slipped through one of the Big Top’s exits, quickly and quietly rushing to hide behind a group of seats, and peering round their corner to take in all aspects of the situation and what was going on.

Lucien and Aria both incapacitated, the former by the magician girl Tammie, the latter by the Circus’ ringmaster Guinevere (although her plush’s hold on the illusionist had been dislodged somewhat by the timely arrival of…). Baltimore, the young silent girl who was actually, unbeknownst to them, the niece of Eric was being approached by the circus acrobat Isabella. The circus’ second ringmaster, Vance, stood near the walking Abram, who began to approach Estelle and Crispin, who were confusingly enough locked in a fight of their own… and with no one else left to see inside.

Xandra and Trixie looked to each other in confusion, wondering what the best way of them helping their friends would be.

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

Lily shrieked at Syed's deflection. At first it seemed as though she were absolutely horrified - but as it died down, it became clear: "Wowwww that's so COOL! We've never met anyone who could do that before! Stevie, did you see the way he...!" Once she realized her hands had been clapping together like an excited seal, she ceased it immediately and returned to a serious posture. "AHEM! No talk! There'll be no talk! If we let terrorists have the slightest chance"--she pointed her metal arms towards Moira's sword--"then who's to say you won't burn us down too!?"

In the midst of Lily's yammering, Poppy launched herself into the fight, dodging Moira's attack but missing Marcus' staff. Amy ignored any of the chatter going on and focused on her own spells; similarly to Marcus, she quickly buffed the defenses of the group of four.

"Uh, wait," Stevie stammered, still pivoting on his bent legs to get a clearer shot of the guilders. "Kidnapping stalker freaks? Lady, are you out of your mind? It's just a circus... even if you don't like clowns, that's not something you should be..."

"STEVIE! FOCUS!" Like Poppy, Lily also charged in after the four at a surprisingly fast pace. Sure the dude could deflect laser beams, but being squished by giant metal feet was another story in of itself. To back his sister up, Stevie focused on Moira and her sword - and shot forth another laser at her. Hopefully that geeky electric guy was too distracted with Lily and Poppy to deflect it...!

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Audience Seating

Trixie brought a hand to her chin, scratching it thoughtfully as Xandra peered over the cushions for another look. She turned back to the prankster with a vague idea in mind, but... Trixie was already gone, stalking between the rows and walking aisles to get closer to the brewing battle. Specifically, closer to Tammie and Lucien. Lucy was the closest one to her, and if both she and Xandra could free him from that witch's grasp, then there'd be no way the baddies onstage could stop them! All Supersis and Crispy had to do was... live a little longer! But why were they fighting? Did someone switch sides behind her back again?



"Hey! Hey!" Tammie whirled around, coffee mug still in hand. Lucien inched away to avoid spillage. "I hear you! I hear you whispering to yourself! Come out wherever you are, or else! Burning hot drink! Lots of it! And no warning tags whatsoever! Try and sue me! See if I--"

A plume of green smoke enveloped the small region. Tammie's face paled. "Peeeeeyew! What on Ddaear do you guys eat? That shit's nassstay! You know, we do have portaloos in the back. All ya had to do was ask, but instead you come 'round here and set fire to the place!"

"Oh my cheesy omelets, shut up!" Trixie finally cried out. She pounced out from her hiding spot and tackled into Tammie, knocking her away from Lucien - and also knocking the drink out of her hand. "You are so annoying!!" Her voice would've sound a lot less comical had it not been for the clothespin clamped over her nose. But the stink bomb did its job, and now the two brats were wrestling with one another on the floor.

Meanwhile, Lucien-- "Oh, oh Gods, hot! Hot hot hot hot!" He rolled back and forth haphazardly, as if he himself were on fire. Tears streamed down his face as he cried out for mercy. "Hot hot hot hot hot!!" While doing this he bumped the fallen mug, causing it to rock away and spill more steaming hot fluids onto the flooring.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

Aria gritted her teeth when she realized that she had no way to reach her fans. They were pressed underneath her body, and with the astounding weight of the plush turtle atop her back it was impossible to draw them out.

The sound of rustling made her look back up, only to twitch at the appearance of two more dolls, this time a mouse and a rather classy looking rabbit. It was disconcerting how alive they looked, and she had to look away from the mouse's stare after a short while. Instead she glared the rabbit that was getting too close to her wounded shoulder for comfort, hissing in warning.

She was hardly expecting the shift in weight on her back- the turtle had for some reason rolled over to her shoulder- the uninjured one, thankfully- and she barely thought before she rolled, pushing hard with her injured arm to try to escape. The sharp jab of pain made her tremble, but her jerk successfully toppled the plushie off of her. The illusionist barely had time to think, throwing up her illusion as far as it could reach to hide herself from the others' eyes before leaping up and staggering back a few paces. The loss of blood was making her lightheaded and it was becoming more and more difficult to focus- had Xan managed to contact Amy and Marcus? Where had Trixie gone? She hoped at least the Trickster was safe.

Aria felt her concentration waver yet again as she backed up slowly, trying to figure out if illusions affected plushies. She needed to hide somewhere before she lost her grip on her magic, somewhere close. She needed a few minutes to focus, and then see if she could muster up the strength to attack the crazy doll lady or the important looking man- but planning could come later. She could feel her grip on the illusion slip by the second, but where was there to hide without alerting anyone?

Phillis Circus - Outside
"That was very rude," Poppy sighed. "What on Ddaear are you too?" It actually hurt how far he had flung her foot away! She had already began to draw it back to herself, but she couldn't exactly stand here waiting for it to come back. She leapt forward onto her hands, flipping forward towards them.

And this time she kept her eye on Marcus. So he was a wind user? Hopefully he could just do streams of wind like that, she could possibly dodge those. And if he could do more? She this time decided to target Amy. See if he was willing to attack her when the other woman was in the way. She skidded across the floor, aiming a sweep to take the cleric's legs out from under her...!

Meanwhile, she altered the trajectory of her returning foot - this time aiming towards the back of the wind mage's head.


"Wait, we aren't terrorists!" Syed exclaimed, holding his hands out before him. As Moira pinched the top of her nose - bloody hell these three were cut from the same cloth. He glanced back at the main tent. "...Okay... I can see why you think that... what with the fire and all... but we're Guilders! AH!"

The ground shook as suddenly the undamaged stiltman began charging towards him. His hands began moving in retaliation - not to attack, but to defend.

Electricity suddenly swarmed around the mage, and the next second the foot was decending upon him... before suddenly jolting to one side, crashing into the ground mere inches from a very much flinching Syed. He didn't halt his movements however as the dust billowed around them, his eyes darting from the foot to the main body of the stiltman all the way up there. Ready to pull at her and take advantage of the top-heavy centre of balance, should she move to attack again.

"Haven't you seen everywhere?" He asked as he weaved at his spell, the electricity moving with every finger movement much like a conductor with an orchestra. "If you'd just let us we can prove there's something up! We'll show you!"


Simultaniously, Moira's eyes contracted as she spotted the other charging his laser. Well, she could feel the twin buffs of Marcus and Amy washing over her. She dove to one side and not a second too soon, feeling the massive heat of the beam flash past. Crap! Ooh ya bugger that actually hurt, and it didn't even touch her! How much would it hurt if it did?!

And impacting a bit too close to Marcus and Amy. Oh. She scrambled up, whipping her head back towards them. "Go!" she yelled. "We can deal with this shit!"

Of course, not if Poppy had anything to do with it.

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

Guinevere's dolls bounced along the floor in surprise; the injured girl had managed to move! Their butts and feet thumping against the ground multiple times was enough to catch their owner's attention, who glanced over her shoulder to see what the commotion was about - but to the ringmaster, Aria was still pinned. She returned her sights to Baltimore, while the dolls gave chase after the fleeing Aria. To make matters worse, an unclothed salamander began stalking after the fleeing illusionist as well - slithering towards her as fast as a spider.

With her injury and bloodloss, finding a breather was the first priority. The only ones who weren't distracted enough to see through her ploy were Guinevere's animated dolls - child-sized collectible dolls in delicate outfits - but their size did not keep them from holding back. They were faster than Aria's unfortunate hobbling.

Once they reached her, the salamander plushie immediately began crawling up her leg - up and up and up, skittering wildly until it reached her face. Like a worm, it then began squirming over her, cutting off her vision entirely.

The dressy rabbit followed up before Aria had a chance to even figure out what was going on; it used her foot as a stepping stool and bounced up her leg in big intervals. It jumped higher and higher, its fabrics enabling it to basically scale the woman like a wall - then it reached the injury in her shoulder. Without hesitation, the rabbit then leaped to the dagger's handle and gripped onto it with its forepaws - causing the dagger blade to shoot upward and further into her skin.

To make matters worse, the mouse plush repeatedly hurled itself at Aria with a surprising amount of force, knocking her down while its partners clung onto her.

Even the turtle followed after the illusionist, though it moved at an unbearably slow pace.

---

Baltimore smiled back meekly (lowered head between shoulders and everything) as Isabella came her way. As the acrobat drew nearer, the niece's smile had dropped completely. She shot out her arms before her, palms flattened and facing Isabella, before she spread them apart wide. Isabella suddenly staggered back in her step, her smile also gone now. This little girl had erected an invisible wall between the two.

Unless Isabella jumped over the hovering wall in time, Baltimore guaranteed herself a brief escape - and immediately made a run towards Vance. She couldn't comprehend exactly what he was doing, but it had something to do with the redhead girl. She had to stop him...!

Guinevere cried out at this: "Renegade!" After treating all troop members with utmost hospitality and familiarity, these two had the galls to rebel!? The ringmaster's face reddened, tears forming beneath her eyes. An innocent little girl like Baltimore, an insurgent - just like that fiery man and his damned friends. "How dare you!"

In an instant, the remaining pile of plushes began to build on themselves; instead of a wide but low mount, they gathered themselves into a taller hill - blocking off Baltimore from the other ringmaster. She skid to a stop at this, mostly out of shock that the dolls were moving on their own. A quick glance to the side revealed other stuffed animals waddling through the back curtain, marching like wind-up toy soldiers.

As Baltimore moved to run around it, two of the plushes at the top of the makeshift hill - a fat lizard and a blackbird - leaped down and crash-landed onto Baltimore's head, knocking her down instantly. The lizard instantly made its way to her wrist and clamped down on it. Baltimore gasped as she attempted to shake it free from her, but to no avail.

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

Lute was so, so annoyed that a person with a mindset of this caliber existed in the planet. In fact, he was so irritated that he wanted to slap Sammie and maybe dunk her head in a barrel of water. “You know,” the virtuoso raised a hand to his forehead, a dark scowl spread over his features as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “why don’t you take anger management lessons from your brother? Or at least clean out your ears, for heaven’s sake! I’ve been yapping all about how I’m not the problem here, and you keep thinking that squashing me is going to make everything sparkly and perfect again. Ugh. What a child.” His complaint didn’t seem to matter to her so in the end he just gave up and ignored the angry girl. Cammie, on the other hand, easily caught the virtuoso’s attention.

"What are you and your friends doing here? You're clearly not... evil. Do you have a vendetta against the circus or...?"

Ha. “Ah, yes. I’m so glad my aura of gentility and compassion shone through. Never does when I needed to convince the moneylender to stop bothering me for a few. Anyway… You seem sane, unlike a certain someone I’m not going to mention, so I think it would be fair to warn you. We’re following the trail on a mass kidnapping gig,” he grimaced and then gestured at the burning tents with one hand, “key words were ‘investigate’ and ‘peacefully’. Yeah, don’t look at me like that. Shit hit the fan.” But then, the batty chick started screaming- which the guilder muted after a few agonizing seconds- about how fake Lute was and then produced a whip. From what it looked like, she was going to use that thing to hurt him...? Maker, the woman just didn’t know how to give up!

"I bet you that lovely white hair of his is just a stupid wig. Just like his whole persona!"

“Oh gods, not again! Lay off on the anger pills, lady!” His hair was not a wig, thank you very much. Lute sighed, apologized to Cammie, and then- surprise, surprise- charged straight towards the boy’s sister. He really, really wanted to knock her out just so he could finally do something useful without worrying about a fireball burning his pants off. When he was within reach of her, he mimicked the same move she pulled on him earlier, which was lunging with his arms extended in an attempt to fall splat on her.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Xandra didn’t know what to expect.

She had hoped for her and Trixie to have been able to enter the Big Top unawares, and after seeing everything that was occurring inside, formulate a plan with which to help their friends. But fate was unkind – the magician girl Tammie had heard them and immediately shouted out at them, prompting Trixie to respond in kind and cause an exceptionally loud ruckus that sidetracked all of the Phillis Circus performers’ attention towards her. It wasn’t Xandra’s preferred means of infiltration, but Trixie’s distraction certainly worked, and if the metallurgist was honest, with how her other friends were faring against their opponents they didn’t have the luxury of time to discuss the finer points of a plan. They had to act, and act now.

Smiling with relief at Lucien’s freedom (even if the poor man did scream and roll about to and fro from his mild burns), Xandra hurried along the periphery of the audience’s seating as quick and as low as she could, hoping to race around as close as she could to Estelle and Crispin’s fights without being spotted by either the serious looking ringmaster or the massive wall of a man, Abram. With all of the noise Trixie was making, so far it was working. Reaching near to where the foursome were below her, Xandra frowned briefly at watching Estelle attack a familiar man in a baseball cap who neglected to properly defend himself, and then at the way in which the other two looked to them – the scary ringmaster’s hand outstretched towards her, his finger’s drumming up and down in midair. She had no clue what was going on, but it seemed suspicious enough. In truth, Xandra would love to do anything but fight these people, but after seeing what they were doing to her friends, and her own struggles against Poppy and the stilt men outside… she’d have to take a leap of faith.

She set Estelle, Lute and Aria’s weapons briefly down beside her, and then…

Suddenly, a chair came flying over the audience seats, spinning wildly through the air and grazing Vance’s head, causing him to fall down to the ground. Abram turned in surprise at the sudden assault, turning to look up at the familiar small girl above who quickly picked up Estelle’s weapon again and then threw it as hard as she could to her friend below. He was lost in complete disbelief at what was happening, and then turned back towards Vance.



“Vance! Are you okay?” Abram hurried to his friend and boss, kneeling down to help lift the man up again. Checking his head over, he could see a trickle of blood drip down from the man’s forehead, but otherwise the injury was minor. Even so, it was enough to loosen his concentration, and from there…



“Xan!” Estelle shouted out. “Thank you!!”

The brown haired girl nodded, and picking up Lute’s sword and Aria’s belt of knives again, began sprinting again towards her best friend’s position next to Guinevere and her dolls.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside

Marcus’ head rebounded with a painful grunt as Poppy’s foot kicked the wind mage from behind. He staggered forwards before righting him, feeling for the back of his head and the small bump forming as he turned to look back at the spinning acrobat’s foot dancing in midair back again for another kick. Turning to glance again in Poppy’s direction, he saw the rest of the acrobat’s body move to attack Amy, sweeping the rest of her severed foot’s leg out at Amy’s legs in a move to upend her. Marcus had met a lot of different people in his life, with many different talents, but this woman was certainly a first.

Moving to the side, he reached out his hand and grabbed the attacking foot, squeezing it tightly in his grip. At that point in time the rest of Poppy suddenly froze, her eyes bulging and lips contorting in mild pain. Amy was granted the space and time to look down at Poppy, and with a hate filled glare, rose her own foot up to stomp down on Poppy.

Her heel hit the floor, the acrobat having separated her body in time to have Amy’s leg otherwise stab through where her chest normally would have been. After this, Poppy shot a hand out towards Marcus, aiming to him powerfully enough to wrest free his control of her foot…

…but stopped as her face and body lit up with nonstop laughter.

“H-h-hey! Quit that!” Poppy yelled, her body writhing from side to side. Marcus, meanwhile, was tickling the underside of her foot.

“Fascinating,” The wind mage commented. “You can divide your body, but you still retain the same sensory receptors as before. Still feel pain and the like.”

“I – hee! – said – haha – stop it!” Poppy shouted again. But her shout trailed off into an echo, as another, more powerful gust of wind blew Poppy’s body back with unbelievable force. Her head and all the pieces of her body were sent flying backwards towards the Big Top, crashing through the giant tent’s roof and landing somewhere inside. He couldn’t be sure, but Marcus could almost believe he heard the strange girl yelling out “Wheee!” as she flew.

Marcus didn’t have much more time to think about it before one of the lasers fired by the stiltmen siblings singed past him and Amy, thankfully enough avoiding them. The pair, both with their own particular deadpan expressions (Amy’s of grump, Marcus’ of smiling geniality) turned to Lily and Stevie.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside

Sammie’s whip lashed at the ground with a snap, narrowly missing the majority of Lute’s body, but still grazing his cheek, as he jumped forwards to close the distance between himself and the magician girl with his own tackle. Sammie tried to shift and strike with her whip again, but Lute’s body collapsed on her first, throwing the pair down to the ground as another scuffle began.

Lute’s hands tried to feel for Sammie’s wrists to try and forcibly restrain her wild thrashing, whilst Sammie continued to struggle and punch at him, digging her nails into his cheek and scraping them. Cammie came to a stop behind the two, watching the skirmish unfold with no way of knowing how to get involved with a scuffle like this. Like the quiet androgynous man, the three beasts that belonged to Abram similarly watched in silence, the trio having now begun to calm down now that their hated foe, Lucien’s bear, had disappeared. They watched, transfixed at the catfight before them, their eyes following each roll and punch that was thrown.

And almost as soon as it had began, the fight stopped. With a weighty thoom, both of Sammie’s hands were pinned down to the ground, and Lute sat silent atop her, glaring down. He sighed as his opponent tried to squirm herself free. “Lady, you need to stop this right now-”



Lute never had the chance to finish his sentence, as a sensation he could only liken to what he’d imagine felt like being hit by an out of control steam train slammed into his back, ripping him off of Sammie and hurtling him with unbelievable speed at the Big Top tent. From behind, Max blasted forwards with his fists punching the virtuoso, his thoughts laced with anger at the unseemly way this man had insulted and attacked Sammie! She might not have been his actual honey, but she was his honey’s sister and his friend to boot, and there was no darn way in heck he’d stand back and allow him to do that!

Lute’s body went flying off from Max’s grip as the rocketman stopped his forward propulsion in midair, with Lute sent dizzily spiralling straight through the air and arching to land smack dab in the centre of the Big Top’s performance ring (and thus, in the middle of the confrontations occurring between Vance and Guinevere’s groups). At the same time, another body came flying into the Big Top tent, this time ripping through from the ceiling. Both figures actually, as fate would have it, ended up colliding into each other at the same time, falling down together with an ungraceful splat.

“Ow…” Lute and Poppy unanimously moaned.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top

“Crispin…” Estelle began to speak again, standing herself up and off the fire brawler’s body, a hand rushing to her face to wipe her tears away. The other hand held onto the hilt of her Fireblade, drawing it free from the ground in which it stabbed. The tear wiping hand fell from Estelle’s face, her palm outstretched to Crispin’s own, pulling him back up to his feet.

“I’m sorry,” She said. “I… I couldn’t control my body. He…” Estelle glared over her shoulder towards Vance, who concentration was lost in a sea of anger and disbelief at the audacity of the attack just now inflicted upon him and his circus. From Trixie’s assault on Tammie, Xandra’s assault on his own person, Aria’s attempt at breaking free from Guinevere and her plushie’s resulting retaliation and his sister’s deflection of Baltimore’s efforts to stop Vance, his anger and disbelief was building and building… and then peaked to an entirely new level once Poppy, Lute and Max unceremoniously appeared from out of nowhere.

“Cretins…” He hissed.

“He took control of it.” Estelle spat to the ground from beside Crispin. “He took control of my body and he used me to attack you.”

From where the blade of her sword met the hilt, a burning orange flame surrounded it, growing in intensity and heat down the length of the metal to the hilt. As if to match Estelle’s mounting anger it grew brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter… and Estelle’s shouts grew even louder.

“I’m going to beat the crap out of him!!”

Phillis Circus Big Top Boss Battle:
Ladies and Gentlemen

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

Sammie lashed her whip, catching Lidya's attention a second time. She motioned for the lioness to come to her, and Lidya did without question. Olga and Elena followed suit, curious as to what their second-in-command tamer had in mind for them, now that their bear villain had been vanquished. With Max, Lute, and Poppy all literally flying back into the Big Top, it was time for the magician to make her return as well. "Let's go finish what we started, girls! Maybe if we're lucky that flaming asshole's already been taken control of..."



"Sis, calm down. Wait a second." Cammie followed in after her with a soft (and rather dull) voice. Sammie stopped, but did not look back to her brother. "He said something about a kidnapping. You think maybe something's going on in the area? Could it be a misunderstanding?"

Her shoulders hunched, but she kept her eyes forward. "What, the whole kidnapping thing? I have no idea! He's doing some dumb guildy ploy to get you to doubt yourself. Come on, Cammie!" Sammie continued her stride towards the Big Top, her legion of animals calmly following after her. She stepped foot into the Big Top with a loud stomp, followed by Elena's own. She pointed towards the where Lute and Poppy had fallen, with Tammie, Lucien, and Trixie not too far off - and lashed her whip in that direction. A loud snap echoed from her position. "Get 'em, girls! Our friends are hurt and they need your help!"

Lidya lunged after Lute's position, aware of Poppy's presence as well. Elena and Olga stalked after Trixie's position, though at a calmer pace. Upon hearing the elephant's loud entrance, Trixie looked up from her wrestling with Tammie and gulped loudly. "...uh oh."

---

How on Ddaear had this simple special night gotten so far out of control? Vance couldn't even hear Abram checking on him amidst all the brewing chaos. He had thought setting the tent aflame was far enough already - but then more of Crispin's teammates poured into a harmless circus with weapons. If this didn't classify as assault... what would?

The redhead's sword spurted flames as bright as Crispin's own, and the brawler nearly fainted upon the brilliant sight. Thankfully Xandra caught him before he toppled over completely. "Oh sweet, sweet gods. This must be it. I am actually dead now. Ohhh gods." His mutterings went unheard by all parties involved.

Despite Vance's injuries, both to his face and his pride, he still looked to Estelle with his chin held high and expression unscathed. Now that this child had her own weapon in hand, now that he could see personally that Crispin had more of these allies than it seemed... he had considered Abram's request earlier to allow him to deal with Crispin on his own on account of letting Estelle and the others off the hook. But now - mercy was not an option.

As Estelle's blade raged with an inferno brighter than her own fury, a cry left Xandra's mouth: "Estelle! Look out!"

Perhaps she was expecting a projectile, or a suckerpunch from one of the other circus troops, but not for Xandra to immediately launch into an attack herself. She had been running after Aria, but changed course the instant she began running. She threw a punch at the swordswoman's side, her metal arm shifting into a hammer-like shape during their fray. Vance's arm had extended towards her with fingers bent like spiderlegs. His mouth curled into a slight smile. "A morphing prosthetic? Interesting."



Without hesitation, Crispin leapt back onto the stage - Estelle's fireblade and Xandra's attack had rekindled his own fighting spirit. He wound up a fist, his knuckles burning brightly with his pyrokinesis. "You're dead to me, Vance! Dead!" While he didn't have the intention to kill, the anger was all there. The only thing that stood close enough to deter Crispin's hit was Vance's right-hand man.

Phillis Circus - Big Top
Poppy whined with her eyes screwed shut, rubbing at her head. Ow ow ow! That wind mage was really powerful, she had underestimated him. A natural danger of going against a stranger, she supposed.

She heard a whipping noise, however. Slowly, she reopened her eyes, only to be greeted by... by...

Her cheeks reddened slightly at the sight of the pale haired boy she had collided with. Then without hesitation, she reached out... and started patting his head. "It really is that soft," she breathed, patting Lute's hair some more. This boy just reminded her of a puppy and she didn't know why. "I'll fight you in a minute," she said simply, clutching at his wrist with the other hand to allow her to get closer.

Only for a roar to remind her that perhaps she should be fighting now. She looked up to see a lioness racing towards them, although she didn't flinch in the slightest. "Oh, hello Lidya."

Her grip tightened on Lute's wrist, preventing him from getting away that easily.

---

Outside
Those deadpan expressions though. Moira's expression changed to that of a wide smirk at the sight of Marcus and Amy staying put with their own signature stances. They weren't going anywhere either. "Oh I fucking love you guys!" Moira laughed, before turning back to the two stiltmen. Let's go!

Meanwhile it seemed Lily just wasn't willing to listen. She wobbled from the disruption of her balance, before regaining herself. The laser charged once more as she raised a foot... except the main body of Lily's suit was suddenly wrenched to one side as Syed electromagnetically pulled at it, causing her to stumble. She tried to save herself, her leg extending out.

"Marcus! Give usSSSSS TAH!" Moira yelled, Marcus launching her high into the air before she even finished - and narrowly avoiding yet another laser from Stevie while she was at it. She pulled her sword back, driving all her power into her arms. "RRRAAAAAAAARGH!!!"

There was a flash of cold steel as Moira tumbled through the air - dragging Syed along with her - severing the leg clean off. And with no second leg to stand on anymore, Lily was sent falling uncerimoniously to the ground.

"Moira!" Syed exclaimed in horror once they had landed, the golden glow of Amy's buff flashing and preventing them from being hurt. So much for avoiding damaging them! Moira smacked him round the back of the head, causing the golden glow to flash up once more.

"Hey, you gave em a chance." Moira instead turned back to the two stiltmen, now looking very much a sorry state. Neither were capable of really moving anymore, one with only one leg and the other not much better. "Do us a favour and stay here," she said bluntly. Her eyes rested on Stevie in particular, lifting her greatsword to point towards him. "Don't try any shit, you hear?"

He seemed in no rush to do any such thing. If anything he just seemed to panic. Satisfied, Moira turned back to Marcus and Amy. "Let's go," she said, looking back towards the Big Top.

Syed hesitated as they left, looking back to the stiltmen. "I'm sorry. But I'm sure you can fix them when this is all over, right?" He flashed them an apologetic smile and gave them a small bow, before hurrying away.