Phillis Circus: Big Top - Audience Seating

"Ow... my head..."

Using a chair to stand herself, Trixie sloppily rose to her feet. Lucy's bear had saved her from certain bone-breaking, but judging from its various cries and the way it flew overhead, it had lost control. Once her blurry vision pieced back together, Trixie took off after the distraught summoner. Because of Vance's power over him, he couldn't even concentrate enough to will away the rampaging bear. Marcus had blown it away in time, but that only led to more pain for Lucien himself.

"Lucy!? Lucy, are you - are you okay? What's wrong?"

The summoner responded back in fragments, due to the strain of Vance's control along with his bear summon and the pain that came from basically everything. Trixie understood him well enough: that he couldn't control what was going on. Someone was doing this to him.

She didn't put two-and-two together that it would be the same person that caused Estelle and Xandra to fight earlier, but Lucien managed to point her in the right direction. The dude in the red coat on stage, looking all high and mighty and gross. Trixie pouted at him before whipping out her guns again and reloading them. "I'll avenge you, Lucy! Don't you worry!"

Trixie ran off towards the stage before Lucien could do anything to stop her. Instead of heading down where Moira, Syed, and Estelle were, she ran along the tent walls towards where Aria and Lute's battle carried on. Surrounded by a bunch of freak toys and a giant teddy bear and a real lion and another acrobat and Guinevere herself - if either guilder were knocked down, the other would be outnumbered easily! As she ran, she shot rapid-fire at whatever small toys were flying overhead.

---

Sammie had fallen back down in an instant. Caught completely unaware, she hadn't even cried out as the flying metal chair crashed right into her head. She simply toppled over from it and did not get back up.

Her sister shrieked at this, as her hand continued to flick into and out of her hat. But no more balls of flame came out - just smog as she tried to continue her fiery stunts. "No! No no no!" She shoved her hand in there further, digging for anything extra she had lying around. She plucked out a couple more rabbit plushes to add to the chaos, but grumbled and whimpered expletives as she continued fumbling.

Tammie cast her hat aside upon finally pulling something out - a metal thermos filled to the brim with boiling coffee. Poppy's name had been sloppily written on its surface. "Monsters! Y'all are monsters!" She quickly loosened its cap and was ready to chuck it at him... but instead ducked down as Trixie's stray bullets ricocheted in her direction, right overhead. Thankfully none of Poppy's coffee had spilled yet.

---

Onstage

"Oh Amaranth, this is so exciting. What of this woman?" Vance hummed.

He turned to the fallen Moira next, and moved a hand in her direction - but diverted his eyes upon hearing footsteps stampeding along his way. Crispin's feet no longer carried on, and Vance simply let him drop to the floor. He shook his head at the incoming Estelle, her blade blazing with indignation. "You guilders refuse to learn."

The puppeteer didn't even flinch as Estelle drew near. The hand he had held towards Moira shifted towards Estelle next, fingers outspread. Her feet tangled with one another in an instant, changing her course. Now she was charging offstage - but she wasn't going without a fight. She had her sword poised in a perfect enough position that she was able to swipe at close range, despite her once again losing control of her body.

Before Estelle flopped offstage and into the pit, she landed a direct hit on him. A perfect, sizzling slice along Vance's arm. His sleeve caught fire in an instant, small flames dancing around the newly slashed hole. Vance reeled back at this, grunting, as he clasped his hand atop his wound. They went out in an instant, but now blood coated his palm. A deep cut, but not deep enough.

Vance grimaced. "Mongrels." With a twitch, he returned his attention to Amy, and forced his lips back into a smile. His words were laced with impatience. "Now my dear, where were we? Oh - oh yes. Our little game. Hmm. How about... this man?"

Not too far from a stage were a man and woman, who fared off against the twin magician girls. The blue sparks that danced around the male's body were so... intriguing. What gifts guilders possessed. Oh, how he wanted them, how such lovely additions they would have made to his family of performers. But alas - his daydreams were as over as his reputation. Vance reached out towards Syed and curled his fingers into a slow but tight fist. "And how does this work?"

Vance's puppeteering had an extremely fast learning curb; with regards to elemental magic, it only took a second for him to manipulate the user's skills. Especially if they were not resilient to his control.



Syed's arms moved about unceremoniously, the electricity around his body alternating between still and haphazard. Fingers flicked, arms jerked about before slowing into a better flow. Once Vance's puppeteering had a solid grasp on Syed's ability, he turned the mage's attention to Estelle. He wasn't entirely sure the mage was as suited for combat as the other three he had toyed with, but Syed would prove something interesting no less.

Estelle's body was not too far from Syed and Moira. As the swordswoman worked her way back to her feet, Vance sent the mage after her - keeping the incoming Trixie in his sights. Nothing was more fun than watching people get electrocuted.



Amy only twitched in response to Vance's disgusting actions. She held her staff forward, in Moira's and Estelle's direction (with the light-whip still dangling from the gem). At once all three of the women's bodies glowed a brilliant golden hue. They were not going down that easily.

---

Entrance

Baltimore meanwhile threw her hands to her mouth once Eric came crashing down, and she ran to his aid. She knelt beside him, rubbing her dainty hands along his head in an effort to soothe at least one of multiple pains that were eating at his body. He made such a glamorous entrance - Baltimore expected no less - but he couldn't be downed. Not yet! The wall still remained between Amy and the others behind her, but Baltimore wanted to help her uncle up first before devoting attention to anything else.

The dolls flying around to and fro didn't help ease her in the slightest. And neither did the big badly-sewn green dragon that flew in. Its wings were outspread, nearly catching the beast-toy in the entrance's curtains before it managed its way inside. Baltimore bit her lip as she returned her attention to her poor uncle.

How much longer could this tent hold up under all this chaos?

---

Vance watched through his peripherals as Isabella lost her cool and went after Aria. With both Poppy and Lidya recovering from some sort of disorientation, that left the boy open to attack. At once Vance closed that possibility and extended his hand in Lute's direction, slowly closing his fist. Similarly to Syed and the others before, the virtuoso felt a strange sensation grip his body as it fell under Vance's control.

"What an odd power you have stored here..."

And also like Syed, he would send Lute charging after Aria as well.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

It was unusual for Lute to use such a forceful attack, but they were certainly running out of options. Aria gritted her teeth as Isabella refused to back down even with blood seeping from her mouth and ears. She didn't want to cause more injuries to the woman, and it wasn't that she didn't understand the other's wish to protect her home and family. Still, her own friends were in danger and neither was backing off, so she would have to knock out Isabella in order to end this fight.

As the acrobat charged towards Lute with a staggering gait, the illusionist intercepted the knife, blocking it with a loud reverberating clang as it clashed with the side of her fan. Her shoulder still stung, but nobody was going to hurt Lulu on her watch. She forced the unstable acrobat back with a shove, following with a hit with her other hand. Aria pressed forward as Isabella backed up, trying to block the flurry of unending blows that the illusionist sent her way.

She could see more toys surrounding her, but she trusted the Virtuoso to support her while she fought with Isabella.

"You're not the only one trying to protect something," she hissed as Isabella dodged another attacked. She threw her weight against the woman, sending her off balance. The fight was dragging on too long, and she itched to go and help her friends take down the ringleaders. Aria didn't have time to deal with the acrobat anymore. With a fast lunge she slammed the hilt of her weapon against the woman's head. "and I won't have you getting in my way anymore."

The acrobat crumpled to the ground, finally still as Aria breathed heavily. She still wasn't fully recovered even with Amy's powers, and was really starting to feel the strain. She turned back to Lute to make sure he wasn't being attacked, before blinking. Something seemed slightly off. "Lulu? What's wrong?"

Phillis Circus: Big Top – Onstage

Oh gods, he didn’t mean to hurt her that far! Lute’s eyes widened in horror and he faltered, barely even making the attempt to dodge Isabella’s attack. However, Aria stepped up to his place and deflected the knife, and the two women swiftly engaged in a deadly dance of blades. The image of the acrobat’s bloodied form flashed before his eyes and Lute remained rooted to the spot, staring at the hand from which the errant bolt came from. It took all of Delilah’s efforts to rouse him from his reverie and set him to the task of covering the illusionist’s blind side.

When Isabella finally fell, the two guilders relaxed their pose and then glanced around to scope out their previous target. Lute was still distracted by what had transpired between him and the acrobat, and was absentmindedly tweaking with the scraps of cloth covering his chest wound when an unfamiliar sensation overrode him. He watched, perplexed, as his blood-smeared hand moved itself from his shoulder… At least until Vance’s control completely took over. Delilah, for the most part, was outraged about her refuge- Lute’s mind- being invaded by a complete and utter stranger, and was screaming obscenities even as the virtuoso faced Aria. To her credit, the illusionist seemed to sense that something was wrong and asked Lute about it, only to be met with the sight of her friend raising his fists up to his cheeks in an informal boxing stance. He was no warrior, but it seemed as if all those moments watching those no-holds-barred brawls in Thaum's taverns held its effect.

“I- What? T-this isn’t a side effect of using- Wha-! Watch out! Move!” As he warned her, the virtuoso’s hand moved of its own accord and shot a screech at Aria, quickly followed by a jab. The attempt was but a warble at first before returning to its usual power, evidence of how Delilah was still trying to resist the puppeteer. However, thanks to her bond with Lute, it seemed as if she would just have to watch and wait while some snooty longhair abuses her powers while she kept only a token control of it. It didn't mean she had to like it.

Regardless of whether or not the illusionist dodged or resumed the offensive, Vance didn’t seem to leave loose ends seeing that Lute’s free hand once again pulsed with energy as the sounds around the pair lessened in volume. “NO!” That single word was deeply entrenched in anger and horror.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Pain. Pure, unspeakable pain gripped the poor man, forced to lie down in a foetal position and hugging his crown jewels. At first he couldn’t see or feel anything else, oblivious to the sensation of all of Guinevere’s plushie army washing over him or the sounds of the chaotic fighting escalating throughout the tent. He just wanted to lie still and curl up and cry. The pain he was feeling was way worse then anything else he had experienced during his time in the-

“Balti?” Eric spoke, feeling a familiar set of hands cradle and try to soothe his aching head. Blinking through his tears and straightening his blurred vision, Eric saw Balti kneel before him, her concerned and worried expression speaking volumes to how his niece felt. He gritted his teeth and steeled himself. He couldn’t let Balti see him in such a state as this. Not ever.

It was only a powerful mallet smacking him in the nuts. No big deal.

He rose up again, patting his niece on the head and smiling down to reassure her. Everything was going to be alright. He’d make sure of it.

“Hey,” Eric spoke out, pointing towards the recovering Cammie and snatching his attention. “You’re going to pay for that, you little punk. No one hits my balls and gets away with it.”

Cammie frowned, stealing himself for whatever the peculiar trenchcoat wearing man’s next move would be, however he didn’t expect it to be so swift or sudden. One of the wires from Eric’s wrists had already snagged around his leg, tightening to ensnare it completely, but not enough to pierce through. As Cammie tried to speak, he was wrenched off the ground and forced to spin through the air at a dizzying rate, circling around and around through the air as Eric spun him about like a lasso. This new makeshift weapon also helped to knock the plushies closest to him and Balti, swatting them away with various squeaks and puffs.

“Get lost!” Eric finally released the tension of his wire from Cammie’s leg. The magician was sent flying through the air at high speed, shooting across the length of the Big Top’s tent, aimed directly at a particular person who only caught her brother at the last second.



“C-cammie!~*” Tammie was regrettably bonked on the head with her brother’s own. The two collapsed in a heap beside their other fallen sister Sammie, as Poppy’s coffee was sent spiralling up into the sky. And in a twist of ironic fate, what Tammie had done to Lucien earlier now happened to her – the steaming liquid landed on hers and Cammie’s hands, lightly burning them.

“Steeerike!” Eric and Balti both jumped and fist pumped. “Hopefully those two weirdos stay down, huh?” Eric turned back to grin with Baltimore.



At the same time, Marcus, who stood before them unleashed another gale of wind from around him that blew the toys and plushies closest to them further back. After that, with a raise of his staff into the air, he erected a wall of wind around them, a swirling hurricane that forced all of the plushies that tried to enter to swirl about its winds and then go catapulting off somewhere, as the trio stood in the relative safety of the hurricane’s eye. It wouldn’t last too long, but it was enough to give them a breather.

“Eric… I would ask for you to leave and escort that young girl with you to safety,” Marcus sighed, catching his breath. “But I get the feeling that neither you nor her are ordinary civilians, are you?”

Eric laughed. “Define ordinary?”

“A guilder, perhaps?”

“No, not quite, nothing as fancy as that. It doesn’t matter, I’m retired now.” Eric handwaved the topic away.

“Well, perhaps that’s something we could talk about later. As for now… if you would be willing, perhaps together we can stop these people,” Marcus refocused his attentions on the two nearby standing siblings, Vance and Guinevere Phillis, and Amy who stood before Vance. The two of them were the ones causing the most danger and chaos, controlling their friends and commanding a dangerous plushie army. “They’ve hurt my friends enough.”

Eric nodded, walking forwards, cracking his neck from side to side with one hand, as the other held onto Balti’s hand. “Yeah… them and their thing with kidnapping people. It ends today.”

Big Top - Stage
Poppy winced, clenching her fists in front of her ears. Owwwwwwwww... this was really getting too much. Even though she was not in the line of fire of Lute's attack, it damned well hurt! Especially with a sore head!

Still, as luck would have it some of those toy swords were hovering through the air. She reached up, picking two daintily through the air and inspecting them. She quickly struck them against one another, a quiet chinking noise confirming that they had indeed been sharpened. She had no idea the bosses could do something like this! And to her, she thought it was pretty cool. This and all the toys animating, all still cute to her even if they were somewhat murderous. Then again, she would.

She lifted her gaze once more. "Oh, that's where my coffee went," she said blankly, blinking towards Tammie. "I wrote my name on that, you shouldn't take stuff when people have written their names on it."

She turned back to Aria and Lute. Huh, they were talking to one another. Well whatever. She took advantage of the situation and leapt forward, bringing her arms around Aria's shoulders to place the blades to her throat. Her friends were falling in fast succession, even Isabella was down, and she was getting a little desperate. This place was her home! These people were her friends! Who else would accept her for who she was?!

"Leave us be!"

A shame, then, that one of Trixie's bullets found it's way to Poppy's shoulder, striking her and causing her to recoil. Her eyes widened as she fixed her gaze on the prankster...

Big Top
Syed's eyes widened as his wrists began to rotate, his fingers twitching this way and that until sparks began to form. "Wh-?!" was all he managed, before his arm suddenly jolted forward, sending an arc of electricity through the air, not really aimed at anything in particular. It took seconds before his expression had turned to complete and utter disbelief and horror.

He couldn't move. He couldn't move anything from the neck down. But... he was moving. ...And it wasn't him doing it. His eyes cast about desperately, trying to locate what was doing this to him. His gaze finally settled on Vance... because of that expression. He was talking to Amy, looking right at him, and seemed thoroughly amused by it all. What was he-!

A complete and utter invasion of his being, rendering him completely helpless to the whims of his attacker - a plaything. A complete loss of control, chilling him right to the core. He found himself suddenly stepping forward, the feel of every step and the currents of his magic all the more clear to him in his vunerable state. He could feel the currents getting stronger, much stronger than he would ever dare in a situation like this. Electricity crackled and crashed, igniting anything too close as it leapt ten, fifteen, twenty feet into the air.

"No... no no no no please..." he whispered as his body continued to cast without him. He knew what he was doing, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He couldn't even shiver, as much as he felt the need to. "Please..."

He was going to hurt them all. Just like his dream back when they were trapped with the dreameater. Just like when he was young, the event which made him swear off magic for decades. He was going to hurt them, he might even kill them. Like a monster.

"Please...!" he cried out, his voice cracking as tears of fustration and dispair began to form. He couldn't handle this. He couldn't handle this at all, it was tearing him apart from the seams. His final shout was a warning, but it also served as a plea. "Estelle!"

Chairs had rose into the air from the seating areas, buzzing and sparking with electricity as they span...

...Before suddenly rocketing towards their leader in rapid succession, many ricocheting off the floor as they went.


Meanwhile, Moira groaned and opened her eyes once more. Her entire body hurt like hell from the burns, abeit soothed slightly by the spell Amy had thrown in her direction. And her vision was filled with damned toys, although thankfully they weren't actually on top of her. Which was promptly explained when there was an almighty crack, and a bolt of electricity struck the ground mere inches from her face.

She looked up, and she could immediately tell something was seriously, seriously wrong. This was not Syed. Over two years of constant, unceasing contact with someone gives you a pretty good knowledge of a person.

She didn't say a thing. Instead, she sheathed her sword and brought her gauntleted hands up to the buckles which held her chestplate in place. She didn't know what was going on... but if she had to take him out, so be it.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

It was really cool watching the battle between the ladies unfold as Trixie drew nearer. They went back and forth after Lute's soundy attacks, before Aria finally got the upper hand and knocked miss ponytail down for good. That was fine and dandy, but that weirdo blondie from earlier was on the attack now! With swords! To make things worse, Lute started flipping out, which consumed Aria's attention too.

Ohhh oh no oh no oh no. She couldn't let Aria get hurt.

Trixie did her usual battlecry - "Yaaaa!" - while changing her bullets' target to Poppy. Granted her accuracy was spastic as she was running, but she fired enough to land several hits on Poppy. It was enough to jolt and jar her. Stray bullets flew amok, some crashing into the remaining poles and columns, others the walls and ceiling. Some ricocheted and retained enough power to knock down some of the weaker flying toys - including one of those floating swords.

She pocketed one of her guns and continued firing the other. From her peripherals she could tell that both Aria and Lute were turned away at this time while Poppy was turned to her. That only made things so much easier. As the acrobat prepared to counter in the incoming pipsqueak, Trixie reached into one of her belt pouches. "Say cheese!"

Trixie slammed her eyes shut as she cast out a tiny ball from her pouch. It exploded in an instant, blinding Poppy (and Lidya, who just got the ringing out of her ears) and disorienting her a second time. Both of their eyes and hearing had been toyed with almost back to back; considering the flood of toys and just how long the battle had been drawn out by this point, everything was utterly chaotic and fatiguing for both parties.

Just as the acrobat opened her eyes again, Trixie had already caught up to her. She was in the air now, jumping to get a better range. And, like Aria, she bashed the barrel of her tiny gun onto Poppy's head - knocking her to the ground instantly. Trixie skid on her feet as she landed, striking a triumphant pose.

"Guys! Guys! Oh my omelets did you guys see that!?"

Oh... right. Of course they didn't. Duh. But now it seemed like Lute was... attacking Aria!? It was just like the way Estelle and Xandra fought, though that resulted in something less than desired. Was this all of that redcoat's doing as well?

The virtuoso's warnings and pleas were genuine, despite the way his body moved. Trixie aimed her guns his way, but couldn't find it in her to pull the triggers - that was still very much the Lute they had fought side-by-side with moments ago. She ran her hands through her hair - ugh! What do, what do? As if that wasn't enough, electricity jolted in her direction, but crashed into the floor before it could catch her feet. Trixie jumped in response, instinctively turning her guns in the electromage's direction. "Eh!? Syed, you too?"

It was that redcoat guy, it was definitely him! She began firing after Vance, but her shots were immediately barricaded by a large, brown being. A teddy bear much too big for her comfort. From behind it, Guinevere shook her head with a tut - and the bear leapt at her. Trixie shrieked at this and collapsed onto her butt, narrowly avoiding the body slam. She poised her guns to shoot at it, but as luck would have it, her bullets ran dry. "Oh cheeseburgers..." Backing away, she fumbled through a belt pouch for ammunition.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

The pretty lights from the bulbs dangling along the lines running along the ceiling above danced in front of Estelle’s eyes, as her vision swam back to normalness. She grunted in pain, pushing herself with a gasp up off the floor, cringing as she sat back up and tried to reflect on what had just happened to her. That man again, Vance, had taken control of her body against her will, pushing her to move away despite having gotten so close to him again. Damnit! She had managed to strike him only so slightly, nicking his coat with her fireblade, but close wasn’t going to be good enough if he could push her away yet again. She needed to stop that! Stop him from taking control of her again!

But before Estelle could think of a way to plan against that, another new danger suddenly threatened her. A bright and powerful light pulsed close by, its origin being that of Syed. And from the look etched upon his face, Estelle could immediately guess what was happening to him. He wasn’t the only one to be screaming panic fuelled cries. Across the way, on the other side of the circus, Lute too was uttering the same screams of worry and agitation.

“Damnit!” Estelle yelled. “Leave my friends alone!!”

Upon Estelle’s cry, several of the seats surrounding the Big Top’s stage were wrenched free from their moorings, held aloft and spinning in the air, at first attracted to the rampaging electricity cascading about Syed’s body, and then, through Vance’s precise control…

“Raargh!” Estelle backflipped onto her feet, jumping and dodging as best she could from the flying chairs sent crashing towards her. If it wasn’t for the healing buff that Amy generously graced her and the agility enhancement Marcus cast her way as well, she would have been crushed by them all. Her joy at dodging all of those attacks was short lived however, as the chairs were dragged out of the indentations they had formed in the ground and continued to be used as weapons against her. It was all it took for Estelle to avoid them. She tried to run closer towards Vance, but it was growing impossible…

“The man!” Estelle yelled out, to everyone able to hear. “He’s able to control us! Focus on him! Knock him out!!”



Lucien’s eyes widened as he lifted his head up to his leader’s shout. It took the summoner some time to recover after the assault his mind had taken from the puppeteer Vance, and it left Lucien feeling all woozy and groggy. That was twice now he had lost control of his summoning, and it made him want to feel sick. The first time was his mistake, one he’d make sure he’d never commit again. The second time… that was because of him. It wasn’t Lucien’s fault per se, but he still felt responsible for it. And now he was controlling his friends Syed and Lute, too! It was time to do what Estelle had said… and take him out, yeah?

Lucien quickly shuffled through his cards, finding the one he wanted to use. He couldn’t risk using a big and dangerous animal again, not if they went wild and out of control like before. It didn’t mean he was powerless, however…

“Hey, hey Amy!” Lucien called, the dopey summoner throwing his hand up in the air and waving to catch her attention. Amy’s brow twitched as she looked towards him. Did he really think this was the right time to be silly? “I’m gonna make a distraction so you can hit him, yeah? Give him a big powerful slap for me!”

Both of Amy’s eyes narrowed in frustration. He wasn’t silly. He was stupid. Vance had heard everything that Lucien said, and he seemed to smile himself at Lucien’s foolish error. He turned his hand, the one controlling Syed, to focus the electricity mage’s attack on Lucien as well, but then, just before he knew it…

He went blind, as something large and disgustingly wet and smelly fell from the sky and smacked him in the face, its tail slapping him over and over before flopping onto the ground in front of the temporarily blinded man.

It was Lucien’s tuna once again.

Big Top
Please let this stop. Tears were flowing by the time Syed felt his body shift. Please, let this stop. He was sick of hurting people, he was sick of fighting, he was sick of constantly having to watch himself. Nobody else seemed to have such a problem with control. Hell, Marcus had shown himself to have an increadible amount of power, and he seemed to keep himself in check pretty much effortlessly.

The powerful electricity which surrounded him occassionally struck out, scorching the ground or anybody unlucky enough to be in their path. Such as at the metallic mass behind him, which he knew to be Moira. He could feel everything, even as he clenched his eyes shut in his desperate struggle to regain himself.

Until he realised who his new target was. His eyes once more flicked open, widening at the sight of his best friend. His head moved back, shaking a little in horror. He could feel his body casting, a powerful shock even stronger than the ones he would give Moira to take her down. What if it stopped his heart? It could kill him, it would definately maim him at the least, please don't please please please... he broke down into sobs. He couldn't stop it. Lucien wasn't even running, he had bitten into his thumb then flashed Syed a reassuring smile. Please run. Please.

He was too traumatised to notice his body falter when Vance was distracted, even if the electricity continued to buzz around himself. Not that he had regained any control over it anyway. Vance may have been distracted, but his concentration wasn't completely broken quite yet.


Now was Moira's chance. She threw the last of her armor behind herself. It would be no good if she was thrown back.

She screamed out a battlecry as she dived into the masses of electricity, followed by a scream of pain instead. Regardless she pushed through - the others were counting on her. Estelle, Lucien, the others, and most of all... Syed himself.

She reached forward despite the electricity tearing at her already burned skin, thankful for Amy's healing buff earlier. And in one, perhaps slightly too aggressive movement, she seized Syed's arms, twisted them behind his back, then pulled him into a forced hug to pin them completely between his back and her chest. Let's see the fucker make him cast with no gestures.

"GO!" she screamed to the others as the electricity died down, although Syed continued to shudder with his horrified and now painful sobs. "NOW!" She promptly began to backpedal, distancing herself as much as possible from everyone else and dragging her partner along with her.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

Aria stared in bewilderment as Lute took a boxing stance,backing up a few steps. He looked just as confused as she was, expression turning to panic when he realized that he couldn't control his body.

“I- What? T-this isn’t a side effect of using- Wha-! Watch out! Move!”

She ducked to the side following his warning, his punch missing. The magic surrounding it was still weak, only a weak warble that coated the fist but his following punch drew in the sounds around them, concentrating it into one point. Perhaps it was due the ringmaster controlling Lute or perhaps she just didn't know how fast Lute could be, but she wasn't able to duck away from the next blow in time.

Aria threw her arms up just in time to block his punch from driving into her chest. The punch, strengthened with his magic was enough to send her flying, eyes clenched shut at the barrage of sound that followed. She hit the ground and rolled sideways just as Lulu drove another punch down to where she had been moments earlier. She barely had time to scan for Poppy in case she was going to take advantage of the situation, but instead she spotted the girl on the ground and Trixie firing at the male ringleader. Was he the source of all this?

Lute's cry of alarm made her duck away, him darting past her. she expected him to whip around and took on a defensive stance again, but instead he tripped and fell on his face as a wet sounding slap echoed through the tent.

A quick glance showed that the ringleader had been momentarily distracted by a glorious fishslap courtesy of Lucy, and the illusionist took the opportunity run in his direction. Her way was blocked by the gigantic plush bear and she arrived just in time to pull Trixie, who had been fumbling for more ammunition out of the way of its tackle.

"I don't suppose you have any more smoke bombs to distract them with? We need to get to the fancy coat guy!"

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

Petra was down. Isabella was down. Poppy, Abram, the triplets, even Max and Olga - everyone was down. Toys and dolls scattered throughout the tent, many of which busted beyond repair, if not bursting with foam, fluff, and broken seams. Everyone who shared the circus with her was crippled by this team of ragtag guilders. Perhaps she had underestimated their power. Perhaps they all had.

Or, perhaps, she wasn't trying hard enough.

Guinevere screamed, loud enough to jar even her own brother for a moment, before the tuna slammed down on his face anyway. The teddy bear rose back up, roaring similarly to Lucien's own summon; like a feral bear with a disjointed face it lunged at the two girls. However it found itself landing on its side; Lute and Delilah had managed another attack just as Vance dropped his control. The virtuoso pounced on it with enough force to save them - though the teddy lashed back in time to send Lute back bouncing. It was dizzying if anything, but it kept him separated still from the duo.

"Fiends! You will not have this battle!"

---

"Invalids!" Vance cried out, kicking the fallen tuna back offstage. He had temporarily dropped his control on Syed and Lute now thanks to that witless summoner, and following that flub the bigger woman managed to constrain her own teammate. Just when he was having fun. "Have you guilders no sense of--"

He couldn't even finish his sentence. That blasted tuna - the fish of vengeance had suddenly flown back up and whacked him on his face, hard enough to push the puppeteer back. A loud slap echoed throughout the entire tent as the fish's body collided into Vance's cheek. And again. And again, until the man had fallen over.

Before it could go in for another round, Vance snatched it from the air and yanked it towards him - roughly pulling Amy on stage as well.



She had reached the pit amid the chaos and, thanks to Lucien's dumb warnings, followed up his distraction with a variant of her deadly slaps. Her light whip lashed forward and wrapped itself around the fish, allowing her to beat the man silly while he was still caught unawares. While not from her hand, they still hurt. Plus the bonus embarrassment factor was enough to get a chuckle out of Amy herself, until she was yanked onstage anyway.

Vance's lips twitched into a smile. "Amaranth. Of course. How pleasant of you to join me."

"Piss off."

"Ooh, grouchy! I don't quite remember you being so belligerent, dear."

With both Moira and Syed out of the way, Estelle was in free range of Vance, with Amy the only other person between them. Guinevere however caught sight of this and turned her fierce eyes to the swordswoman. She threw both arms skyward. Now the majority of toys and plushes that were free-roaming throughout the tent maneuvered toward the pit, where Estelle was. It wasn't enough that her previous battles with Xandra and Syed were taking their toll; neither of the siblings were letting up.

The remaining foam swords encircled around Estelle again, ready to dive right in - but they were shot down in an instant, thanks to Trixie from far off.

One of the swords however flipped midair back towards the stage - and Guinevere forced it in Amy's direction. She had used her staff as a clutch to stand herself back up during Vance's taunts, and she didn't quite expect herself to flop forward so soon. The hardened blade flying her way drove itself into her arm before dropping onto the stage.

Amy screamed.

Vance shook his head as he walked up to the writing cleric. "Gwee. That wasn't very nice." His sister gave him no response. To this he resumed scanning the battlefield, with Amy's wrist beneath his foot. She cried aloud again, dropping her staff instantly. "Now my dear, I believe we still had a game to play."

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Entrance

Baltimore nodded to Marcus and Eric; they were all in mutual understanding that both herself and her uncle were willing to fight alongside the guilders. Quickly the mime girl snatched the busted mallet from the ground and chucked it forward. She ran after it while deftly crafting something in front of her, as if she were molding invisible clay. In moments there was a booming sound of glass shattering, with chinks sounding off from beneath Baltimore's feet. She held her fists now over her shoulder as she ran in Lucien's direction.

But she was too late.



The dragon plush that soared in earlier, merely rebuffed by Marcus' gales but not dismantled, dove in after Lucien now that he was in vulnerable. Open and alone. Guinevere cried out in sync with the dragon's muffled roar: "Suffer, suffer!"

Its flat linen claws sharpened in an instant. As it descended upon Lucien, it raked its claws across his body - whatever it could nab - sending the summoner flying out from his spot and into another chair; the crash was severe enough to break the chair from its hinges as well. Before the reptile could take off after its prey, it found itself gurgling instead.

It collapsed onto its stomach and seemed to deflate, as its puffy white innards poured out from two holes punctured into its thorax. Baltimore stood behind it, huffing, her invisible weapon driven into the beast. She yanked it out with a kick and looked towards where Lucien had landed. She hadn't seen much of him since the battle started, but with all the mental and physical abuse being dealt to him...

What a brave soul, sacrificing himself so his friends could get the upper hand.

Baltimore shook her head and turned to the stage. Keeping an eye on the toys floating around and nearby, she began crafting something else with her diligent fingers.

---

Before Eric could follow up with his own moves, he suddenly found himself with the jitters. Like some bug or amphibian made its way into his trenchcoat with the sole intention to tickle him silly. A quick swat and tug up his sleeves revealed something different entirely, however.

Little porcelain dolls with skin as pure as snow, clothed in brilliant red silk and golden rayon locks. Two of the finger-sized monsters had crawled up his sleeves. Marcus found similar ones jumping after the staff in his hand. Curiously, some of them had bits of their dresses and hair singed off, while others had chunks of their glassy faces missing.



Others waddled (or crawled if their legs were missing) into the exit nearest to where Moira dragged Syed. If the sight of them didn't send tingles running down their spines, Moira suddenly felt one now. It was a mix of tingles and numbness running through her limbs, as she found her body suddenly not within her control - with poor helpless Syed in her grasp.

Now, who else was nearest to her?

---

Lovely Aria and Echo the Mighty save the day! Well Trixie's day. From being squished. By a giant teddy bear. She let out the biggest sigh of relief of her life as she shoved in her new ammo.

"I don't suppose you have any more smoke bombs to distract them with? We need to get to the fancy coat guy!"

"Smokes? Smokes?? Nooo Xanny told me to use them earlier!" She reached back into her pouch for something else instead. "But I still got this!" Between her fingers now was a shiny silver ball - a flashbang. She nodded to Aria with understanding, and the two averted their eyes as Trixie chucked it to the stage, towards Guinevere.

But it was seized from the air, in the beak of a flying stuffed duck. Trixie jumped and fired rapidly after the plush bird, but suddenly found her fingers locked. As well as her feet. "Uh. Guys this isn't supposed to--"

The duck flung the bang right back at them, with Trixie looking away just in time. Instantly both Aria and Lute were blinded from Trixie's flash - and she began following up on the duo with her own gunshots. "It's not me! Honest! I swear! Please get away - get away get away get away! Aaaah!"

"Humm. What's in here?"

"NO, STOP IT, THAT'S MY STUFF. BAD HAND." From her pouch Trixie flung another grenade out - this one being a splat bomb like her beloved mechanical Yam, with stuffing-like texture designed to hold someone in place. Way better than a dumb net.

As if things weren't chaotic enough, now those porcelain dressy blonde dolls were flinging themselves at people, making weird fairy-pixie noises like they were some baby girls with each jump. Like those by Marcus and Eric, many of them were scorched, zapped, or otherwise beaten up. They didn't hurt nearly as much as Guinevere's other plushes, even if they were loud and had glassy bodies already. Rather, Guinevere narrowed her eyes at the sight of this, but still kept them under her control anyway.

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Aisle

“Balti, hang on! Don’t run off without Uncle Eric…! Man, what are these things?” Halfway to running down the aisle to the main performance ring where the two remaining circus adversaries, the Phillis siblings, stood, Eric found himself having to stop, with something crawling up and over him at various parts of his body, causing his skin to flair up and itch like crazy. It was only upon looking down and feeling around his wrists that Eric found what it was, and he had to take a back take in surprise at the sight greeting him – miniature porcelain dolls, each with a blank, delicate and unblinking stare moving across his body, trying to unstrap the devices around his wrists that he used to fire his wires from.

He frowned at them intensely. It was almost like he had seen these strange things before, but he couldn’t remember where.

At any rate, they were beginning to itch and annoy like crazy. Eric’s offense was rendered immobile as he struggled to rip and tear the persistent dolls off his body, but it felt like for every one he managed to rip free, another would latch on in their place.



Marcus too was suffering with the same plight. The ones attacking him held a fascination for his staff, perhaps believing that taking it and disarming him might leave him powerless. A simple folly. If they wanted his staff so badly, then let them have it.

Relinquishing his hold on his staff, Marcus turned away and ignored the dolls that snatched the wooden staff. His body began to move quicker, enhanced by the wind magic he was generating through himself, striding straight towards Vance and Guinevere’s position as quickly as possible. At first he was aimed for Vance, following up on Estelle’s cry from before. But no sooner had he charged towards the puppettering man then did he stop, his eyes widening in horror at what the two siblings had done to Amy. First, the foam sword, now sharpened beyond all measure cutting into her arm. And then Vance, stepping onto and crushing her wrist.

Marcus’ eyes shone a bright emerald hue, and he swiped his hand from left to right as if motioning a backhand. With it, to the siblings’ surprise, followed a mighty powerful gust of wind that picked Vance up from his feet, and sent him flying away from his sister to the side in surprise.

“Vance!” Guinevere called out.

The man landed down on the ground as ably as possible. The assault hadn’t hurt him physically, only wounding his pride, and flaring up his temper further still. That man had driven him away from his precious Amaranth, and for that he would pay. He had not yet been subjected to his mastery or dominance. Perhaps the ignorant fool should be the next one to learn…!

“You.”

A voice called out from behind Vance, shocking him out of the reverie of his anger to focus on the speaker, and his nearest surroundings. Vance was taken aback by what he saw, in absolute disbelief. He threw his hands across his body, ready to face this new danger.



Surrounded by a bevy of burning toy, plushie and doll corpses, the last of whom which were attacking had been deflected and sliced in two in front of him (before yet more and more were swarming along the ground to approach them) was Estelle, who locked her eyes and focus completely upon Vance. She gritted her teeth and flared the flame of her blade even higher, as with the aid of Marcus’ agility buff, she leapt out of the pit and began charging towards him. After seeing him use and control her and her friends... Xandra, Crispin, Lucien, Syed, Lute and Trixie... and hurt Amy in such a way...!

“You’ve hurt my friends for the last time!!”

Phillis Circus: Big Top – Onstage

“All right, that long-haired fish stick’s going down!” Lute and Delilah snarled at the same time as the virtuoso got up from the ground. “I think I just found the one damn decent thing about my clumsiness,” He muttered, pertaining to that moment earlier where he slipped instead of sending more attacks to Aria. Wait, who was he kidding? He actually punched her! Both were equally frustrated with what Vance had them do and were waiting for a chance to get free of his control, and now that they had the opportunity…! Anyway, earlier Poppy had her hands poised around Aria’s throat, but Trixie arrived and lent them her aid. Now the two were running away from that blasted teddy bear that was supposed to have been destroyed already! With a battle cry of his own, the virtuoso charged at the giant plushie and tackled it. He pulled out a handful of stuffing out of the toy’s head before being pawed back. For something made out of cloth, that thing sure packed a punch…!

“Owww. Bad idea,” Lute groaned as he staggered to his feet. He could still catch up to Aria and Trixie if he ran fast enough, and he did, even jumping on the accursed bear for good measure. “Okay, what’s happening?” He called out as he reached the duo, where the prankster pulled out a flashbang that was, unfortunately, thrown back at them. And then the girl started firing her guns too! “They really don’t let up, do they?” Delilah steered Lute away from what shots she could hear, though he ran like a drunk thanks to the disorientation from the flash.

In fact, he was a bit too slow to avoid the new bomb she chucked, and when Lute finally got the stars out of his vision he found that he was now stuck in one place. “Ohhhh, ughhhh! Disgusting!” He screeched. That sticky, damp feeling! Like condensed mold! As if that wasn’t enough, a handful of creepy ass little dolls went their way. As Lute twisted and turned his body to get a step out of the trap- definitely won’t do to have him fall on his butt now, not unless he wanted to fight without pants- some of them jumped up on him with those horrendously childish sound effects. He refrained from swatting at himself and shot sound bolts at the smallest dolls, at least until he felt something squirming inside his shirt.

Over his wound, actually.

Big Top
Moira felt her arms suddenly tense, the bear-hug she was giving Syed tightening. So the sick bastard was going to get into her head, eh? She found herself snarling. Yet... this is exactly what she was expecting. That was why she backed off from everyone after all. "FUCKIN' TWISTED SON OF A-!" she screamed nonetheless as her body began to strafe towards Lucien.

At least, until Vance was sent flying through the air by Marcus and severed his control. For a brief moment she felt quite dazed, with pins and needles travelling across her body. She immediately let go of her partner to stagger, who promptly collapsed straight to the floor and started coughing.

She had no fucking idea what was what anymore what with everyone attacking one another and holy shit she felt like she had fleas or something. What the fuck?! It was those dolls. Those, horrible, creepy, stalker dolls, crawling all over her, scratching at her burned skin until it began to seep blood. Moira yelled, scratching at herself to dislodge them and only really making matters worse.


Syed, meanwhile, continued to lay shivvering on the floor. His mind was brought back to the current state of affairs when one of the dolls strode in front of his gaze, bending over and waving in front of his face with it's tiny fabric paw. It stared at him blankly with those green button eyes, that charred crimson silk dress. His reddened eyes widened at the sight.

Amy. Amy, she was hurt by these creeps who clearly had a vendetta against her at this point, he heard her scream even if it didn't register properly at the time. He blinked rapidly, flexing his fingers as he went to roll over onto his back. The doll didn't seem to like this, jolting forward to gouge his eye in retaliation.

Fortunately, Syed's magic was faster. He involuntarily sparked up in self defence, damaging the many dolls which were by now also crawling over his body, agitating the wounds he had received in their earlier match-up with Max. He then scrambled up, taking in everything he could.

If the man was the one who could control people, then that meant the woman...

He raised his hands, flexing them a little before his gaze and allowing a few sparks to form. He still started a little at the sight, but they were his again. His magic was his again. He hesitated.

And with that, he leapt forward. "Holy SHIT these dolls are fuckin' annoying!" Moira exclaimed, launching herself after him and still scratching herself all the while. Fortunately Syed was casting, forming a path through the masses of toys with his electricity to allow Moira to run towards Vance mostly unimpeded. Even the dolls which continued to damage her skin were starting to dwindle in number, even if some clung steadfast. She clenched her fists.

That wasn't the purpose of his cast, however. While both he and Moira were indeed sprinting towards Vance to support Estelle...

...A loose piece of scaffolding, dislodged from the fighting earlier flew through the air and impaled itself into the ground with a loud bang, forming a sparking metallic barrier between Amy and Guinevere. A time-buying move at best, one which made him stagger as both magical and mental exhaustion began to take hold, but like hell was he going to let them keep torturing her.

Now he had a grip on himself again, he had to save the freak-outs til later.

Phillis Circus: Big Top Tent: Performance Ring

Vance recoiled as he saw the blazing girl in front of him, effortlessly cut through and reduce to ruin more of his dearest sister’s toys, dolls and plushes that attempted to swarm him. She seemed like a madwoman possessed, and not in the good, personal way he endeavoured in, charging forwards and leaping out of the pit and charging towards him as fast as she possibly could.

And she wasn’t the only one. Turning to the side, he spied two more Guilders charging towards him, the redheaded woman brandishing a giant sword that he had just been puppeting, and her electricity fuelled partner. What fools! He thought to himself. When would their audacity ever end?

The blazing, fire fuelled girl would be his, along with the small, diminutive uzi firing rascal attacking the two Guilders who sought to upset his sister. He would take control of this enraged girl once more and use her to fight against her dear friends. He would make her bow and submit to his will, and learn just who here was in control. Who out of them was the Master, and who his powerless servant. He had had enough of Estelle’s infuriating desires to resist – the prolonged battles he had waged against her, controlling her friends over and over to try and defeat her, and her aggravating inability to simply admit defeat and lie down. But now she would learn, and it would be through her that the rest of these cretinous plebeians would know defeat!

He raised his hand up towards Estelle, focusing his concentration upon her, and locking in his control. His fingers twitched as they danced the dance of the puppeteer, each one flexing up and down as he toyed and played with the metaphorical strings hooked onto Estelle’s body. It was through her, and the other with the uzis across the far side of the stage, that the rest of these Guilders would be destroyed. And then, finally, he could take his dear sweet Amaranth for himself, and…

But wait.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

“This… this cannot be…” Vance muttered. For some impossible, inexplicable reason… his power was not working. The bullheaded girl charging at her was resistant to him! But how?! His power had worked on her before! Only someone of such powerful will would be able to resist his control… was that it? Was all the humiliation he had elected on her and her friends throughout their battle so far what drove her to this? He focused his concentration on the last split second moments before they met upon her, exacting all of his power and focus to make her stop… and he felt it. He felt it within her body, the strings he so elegantly weaved snake around and tighten about her, restrict it. But it was too little, too late. Even with all of the force and power he inflicted upon her to stop, Estelle still swung her sword, her will filled with the rage and determination of each and every one of her friends. Vance’s control had almost had her, but it was a single second too late.

With the flat of her blade, Estelle’s swift strike struck diagonally across Vance’s body, sending him flying back with flames smouldering across his wound.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

"Uh. Guys this isn't supposed to--"

Oh sweet Gods above not this again she was going to give that fancily dressed ringleader a good kick in the behind if she got her hands on him-

The flashbang that had been intercepted by the duck went off, and Aria had unfortunately not been able to avoid the burst of light. She staggered back, trying to blink away the spots in her eyes as Trixie opened fire. She felt the stings of bullets hit her and winced in pain, attempting to get away from the small girl. The bullets stopped momentarily, only for a loud splat and a shrill “Ohhhh, ughhhh! Disgusting!” from behind her, signalling Lulu's distress.

To make things worse, a chorus of high pitched squeaking noises were coming from round her, and finally her eyesight had recovered enough to spot the glassy-eyed porcelain dolls jerking and jumping their way towards her, and Lulu stuck in a pile of gunk thanks to Trixie's bomb earlier.

"Eeee-" A doll with a large crack across its face leapt up with a shrill squeak and Aria gave a swift swing with her fan, sending it flying. More dolls replaced it, and Aria backed up, shaking slightly at the freakishly creepy advancing mini-army. She wouldn't be surprised if she had nightmares for the rest of the week. Fortunately and unfortunately, she didn't quite have the time to reflect further due them pouncing with more shrieks and a renewed attack by Trixie. The guns quickly stopped thanks to Estelle's intervention, and yet the waves of toys just kept coming.

Lulu was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the dolls due to being stuck in the muck, and although she wanted to go aid her friends in attacking the ringmasters she couldn't quite leave Lute to fend off those abominations by himself. She kicked a doll that had come too close, attempting to make her way towards the trapped man. Now that Trixie was free, she called over to the younger girl for help. Since it was her bomb, perhaps she would know how to get him out?

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

"Stop!" Guinevere cried out, throwing her arms to the side. Her tearful eyes and body faced Estelle now. "Stop trying to destroy my home, my friends, my family! Please, you must... stop..."

Her voice had broken - cracked, hoarse, saturated with mucus. The woman, prim and proper and pristine as she was, dropped to her knees suddenly, her back hunched over with curled fists against the ground. Blood on the stage ground became intermixed with tears both clear and colored. It was only now that her own pretty, pretty makeup was running loose. All her eye shadow, mascara, blush, foundation - the sweat and tears were too much to hold, and now they ran. Thanks to the wall Syed effectively placed between them and Guinevere, everyone on the opposite side of the stage could barely see her hunched over like this.

Guinevere's body quivered. All toys and dolls swarming the room had come to a freeze. "Everything else has been taken away from me. My parents, my home, my childhood - it's gone. It's all gone. It's not enough for you that many of us live on this circus? That keeping these fairgrounds alive is the only thing we have going for ourselves? And now my brother, my dear brother - you dare destroy the one thing I have left in this world!?" Her voice boomed with the ferocity of thunder, with the sharpness of lightning. She slammed her fists against the floor before rising to her feet suddenly, pointing an accusing finger in Estelle's direction.

"I've lost everything and yet you continue to make a mockery of my family and I!? Look, look at what you've done!" She motioned out to the audience, to where not only two of Estelle's injured friends had lied, but many of Guinevere's own. Not to mention her closest friend and companion onstage behind her, or the panda knifed down for her sake. "What makes you assailants think you ever had the right to--"

"Oh, shut the fuck up!"



Not far from behind Marcus sat Amy. Her uninjured hand curled around the staff on the floor, body and wounds glowing in gold. Glare as cold as ice, as cold as it always were. "Don't even act like you're innocent in all of this. Whiny, self-centered bitch!"

Guinevere's eyes flared up instantly, and she let out a scream - a howl, rather, more ferocious than those let out by even Lucien's own summon. The stilled toys and dolls instantly regained their black auras, thickened now, and resumed swarming about the room at a pace much more rapid than before. Many of them enlarged, hit by a sudden growth spurt, as they continued to hone in after the guilders. Those nearest to the stage, both mint and broken, rose to the airs and flew in after Estelle, Marcus, and Amy like missiles. "You will fall. Fall!"

"Not today."



The flying plushes flew back off in an instant, fluff and feathers roasted in a fire. Nearby Marcus and Amy laid Crispin, his good fist outstretched and sizzling. He had spent sometime onstage puking and whatnot from all the pain, blood, and mind-taking combined, but he was far too indignant to sit out the match if he could help it. Even if his interference wound up with him coughing and numbed again.

"Invidious bastards!"

The entire tent was sent rumbling yet again as more of the larger, slower plushes had finally made their way into the Big Top. More of those giant teddy bears in a rainbow of colors burst in one by one, their smiley faces turned to the guilders nearest them. Even with Vance gone, the porcelain army itself had not desisted; those with their mouths still in tact began screaming similarly to Guinevere's own screams, piercing the ears of whoever was closest to them.

Creatures both winged and sea-dwelling took flight. The smaller, slippery-textured creatures slithered all around the floor - newts, salamanders, snakes, lizards - at every direction, intending to clamp themselves onto any exposed heels and legs they could find. Others made to wrap themselves around unsuspecting guilders' legs like bolas, tightening with the bind of a rope. The chameleons that joined this batch turned themselves invisible before setting out.

Suddenly, Marcus, Amy, and Crispin found themselves literally thrown off stage. From behind them, three little monkey plushes had stormed onstage from an unoccupied exit, armed with a long sticky hand each. Thanks to Guinevere's rage, the hands stretched and enlarged themselves to ludicrous degrees, defying their material and structure. Guinevere screamed again, and each hand reached out over the stage, curled into a fist over each of the three thrown guilders - intending to smash down onto them.



Guinevere Boss Theme
Mascara

---

In the midst of this, Trixie dashed in after her gunked friends and began to dig them out from her own mistake. "Ari, Lute, I'm so, so so so so sorry, I just... I..."

Just as the prankster freed Lute enough for him to move, she began to scream - and found herself flying back yet again, thrown by the bear Lute had knocked down earlier. Lute had surely killed it earlier, as it was immobile with stuffing pouring from its head, yet it was revitalized from Guinevere's newfound anger. Eye popping out with white stuffing bursting from torn seams, the bear once again charged at the duo. It was backed by two flying inflatable guitars. Though of course, like everything else in the tent, their ends had been sharpened like daggers.

---

Eric found his area rumbling quite heavily as well. From his left and right, large ball-shaped animal plushes that had enlarged themselves even further rolled after them like boulders.

And as Moira charged her way towards the stage, one of two giant flying sharks torpedoed after her, chomping its sharpened teeth like a machine. The other made its way towards Estelle.

---

Big Top
Guinevere's words would have ordinarily made Syed falter with guilt. Hell, even now it caused a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. This... this was all they had? But... Amy was right. They didn't know the whole story, but these people weren't innocent. They had found Crispin, they had found Balti. He himself had been forced to attack his allies, and with protentially lethal force at that.

Whatever these people were. Whatever the whole picture was. They weren't innocent.

Neither were the Pride.

Moira had picked her sword back up on route, and was now belting towards the others to help support. They needed to end this sooner rather than later. It turned out Estelle didn't need help with the pupeteer man, in a move which made Moira really quite proud. That's her girl.

But this other woman was going fucking berserk, and she really couldn't have anyone stealing her title.

She adjusted her hold on her sword, once more aiming to swing with the flat of her blade rather than the edge. She had managed to reach the stage, bending her knees to jump up and continue her run...

Only for something to snag at her feet, like that damned seperating girl did earlier. She fell, feeling something soft wrapping it's way around her legs. A long snake toy of some variety. Along with those bloody tiny things which still continued to persist, scratching and scratching...

She had no way in hell of getting out of the way of the massive shark. It's long, lethal teeth were unnaturally sharp looking for the material they were made of, and Moira found herself snarling at the sight.

There was a horrifying crunch, and the next second she was gone. Seemingly swallowed whole.

"Moira!" Syed's eyes widened, backing off as much as he could. Which still wasn't much. His magic was waning fast, leaving him unable to keep up his constant barrier to keep the toys off him. Sure enough they had began to crawl up his long legs, using claws, teeth, whatever to get grip on his limbs.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Bedlam. The entire circus turned to bedlam.

It was almost as if Estelle’s defeat of one of the Phillis Siblings, Vance, had actually made the situation a hundred times worse. With the puppeteer’s fall, the remaining standing sibling and member of the circus was the owner and ringmaster herself – Guinevere Phillis. And in the wreckage of her home and family’s defeat, the doll user had gone mad with grief and anger. In her eyes, it was she whom had been assaulted and hurt by these would be invaders, never mind the fact that the circus had been abducting people and forcing them to perform against their will. Or at least, perhaps the guilt laid only with a fraction of the circus’ number? Perhaps Guinevere truly was innocent of any crime… it was something Marcus had considered. But such a possibility didn’t seem convincing. She was the circus’ owner. The Ringmaster herself, and thus in charge of everything that occurred within these grounds. Surely she would know… right?

Too many questions and not enough answers… not nearly enough information to draw a definitive conclusion. And not enough time to possibly allow it. Guinevere’s attack had escalated to a terrifying degree. If the Pride didn’t keep their wits about them, they would be defeated. Already their entire team had been injured and hurt, with Xandra, Lucien, Aria and Crispin proving the worst. If they didn’t focus on defeating Guinevere as quickly as possible, they would never have the opportunity to discover the real truth of this whole affair.

---

Onstage

“Raaaargh!” Estelle raised her fireblade into the air before her, defending herself from the sudden lunge of the flying foam shark’s attack, which drove Estelle skidding backwards as sharp teeth clanged against sharp metal. Eventually the swordwoman’s feet stopped, and Estelle held her ground against the attacker, struggling backwards against the inhumanly powerful shark. But almost as soon as Estelle began to turn the tables against her foe, it suddenly shifted its own attack. Its body suddenly swiped to the side, and smacked its powerful tail straight into Estelle’s side, knocking her down to the floor with a grunt. As soon as she landed on the ground, many more of the toys and dolls controlled by Guinevere began to swarm to and over her, throwing their weight onto her to keep her completely pinned. The dolls laughed a sinister giggle as they did so, and started to rake their horribly sharp nails along Estelle’s bare skin to her scream.

“Yes…” Guinevere’s lips quivered as her eyes darted across the battleground, side to side, along all areas of the tent. “Suffer… just as you have forced me to suffer!!”

---

Pit

“What on Ddaear…?!” Marcus’ eyes widened in horror as his body was suddenly lurched off stage and into the pit along with Amy and Crispin. With a wheeze his body gasped upon landing on his back, and Marcus was rendered speechless at the sight of their would be attackers. Plush monkeys with preposterously huge, sticky hands growing larger and larger and forming into giant fists, ready to slam down upon them…!

Marcus didn’t have any time. He concentrated his energy, and gave himself, Amy and Crispin a swift boost in agility at the same time he unleashed a buffeting gale in-between themselves and the falling fists. Would the fists be slowed enough, and themselves fast enough to avoid the impending attack?

---

Aisle

“Oh c’mon, you have got to be shittin’ me…!” Eric cursed, as from behind came the rumbling rebounding sound of giant boulders crashing through from the nearest exit – some bouncing up and down in an arc towards him, some rolling down along the sloping aisle. All of them modelled after a certain particular notorious monster… who on ddaear was deranged enough to make these?

“Get off of me you annoying… things!” Eric’s fidgeting about his body grew more and more eratic, picking up and throwing porcelain dolls as far away from his person as he could. And then, he started to run, run away from the boulders.

But he was too late. One of the two bouncing balls bounced up and slammed him right in his wounded nether regions again, and the other then went and uppercutted him in the chin. Pain washed throughout him as he staggered backwards. And then, two more of the dangerous boulders rolled down the aisle and bowled him over at his legs. He hit the ground and sobbed loudly.

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Pit

That was it. Whatever these guilders were doing was perfect. Crispin couldn't really see what was going on, but he sure as heck could feel it. And it felt great. He was unaware, but both Amy and Marcus were glowing shades of green - each of them buffed with both agility and defense alike. On top of that, Marcus summoned a gale to slow down the fists as well. It was enough for Crispin to look up in time and see a jelly fist descent upon him.

And like Moira and the shark, he seemed to be swallowed, right through the fist's very center.

Until what looked like a long cylinder of jelly emerged from the top and bounced off to the side. The hand collapsed to the side in an instant, and there was Crispin, still crouched down low with his non-broken fist extended to the sky. No sizzles, no fire, just pure brute and speed. Without Marcus' buff or Amy's defense, he would not have been capable enough to land that hit.

It did cause him to hunch over and puke again, though.



Unlike Marcus, Amy casted a single spell amongst the three of them, which gave her enough time to evade the punch. However, in both slowing down the fists and assisting his friends, he left himself open for the fist's mighty crash. "Marcus!" Amy cursed under her breath, lunged after the mage as quickly as she could, and roughly pushed him out of the way. Naturally she'd dodge her own demons to ensure her safety above all others, as she was one of the more fragile members of the group defense-wise, but something overcame her. She didn't know what it was, she couldn't think of what it was, but she knew she couldn't let him take the hit. So she would in his place...!

But... she wasn't even hit. No, another gale seemed to rush overhead - not one by Marcus, but one resulting from something moving at a rapid pace. Something like the hand itself, swinging away. It suddenly flung away from the pit, with the monkey soaring after it, and into the aisle where Eric was at - effectively knocking the two boulder-like balls harassing him. Amy watched this happen overhead, before immediately going into another quick chant. Estelle was still screaming from onstage; she needed their help.

The hand that previously targeted Amy slammed right into the ground, creating a miniature crater. Its master puppeteering monkey jumped and cried out in aggression. The hand lifted itself from the ground, shook its wrist a few times, then formed into another fist, ready to pummel both Amy and Marcus at once.

---

Seats

Baltimore had laid low in the meantime and constructed an invisible rope, a lasso to assist the others. As she ran off towards her injured uncle, she began crafting something else as well. She reached him soon enough. One of the giant balls rolled back from its landing spot and, without warning, bounced up into the air. It would crush them, it would crush them good!

However, Baltimore was already prepared for this. She threw what was in her hands - an invisible spear - straight at the huge plush ball. It seemed to burst with stuffing suddenly as it charged course and flew back into both the monkey and other boulder. The young girl sighed and turned to her uncle, who was in a massive amount of pain yet again. Poor Uncle Eric. If he wanted this kind of lifestyle, he wouldn't have retired.

His niece crouched beside him and hugged him tightly. She was no nurse or cleric, she couldn't help ease his pains, but at least she could show him that she was there for him. In the midst of this... a third boulder-like item rushed straight after them from the opposite direction.

---

Seats (Eastern)

"Ooph... my head hurts." Trixie found herself lying between a couple of seats again, after being thrown for the umpteenth time. Her head lolled in dizziness, but she shook it off quickly, tumbling and stumbling as she rose to her feet. "J, just because I'm funsize doesn't mean you can throw me around like that!" She fumbled for the guns in her butt pocket as her vision corrected itself.

And she turned to see Moira suddenly eaten by a giant flying shark. Was she still dizzy? That's totally crazy!

Trixie unloaded rapidfire on the shark plush. "Hey! Let go of Boss, butthole!" It twitched and jittered in response to the bullets pelleting against its fabric skin; several seams were torn open from this, but it was not enough to kill the shark entirely. Enraged and still hungry for more, despite the bulge in its now expanded belly, it began flying after the prankster. She screamed at this but kept firing at it rather than fleeing.

---

Onstage

Part of Guinevere wanted to smile. Part of her simply couldn't. These demons were getting what they deserved, and yet it still didn't seem like enough. There laid the biggest offender of them all, she who had both defied and taken down her brother in a fell swing.

The stage began to shake yet again. Among the throng of big plush creatures that flooded into the tent were more of those dressy porcelain dolls some of the Pride members had encountered earlier. One of them took off towards the stage immediately, running passed Moira and Syed as their attention focused on other enemies, and bypassing the distracted Lute and Aria as well. The new doll stopped at the metallic barrier Syed had set down on stage previously, and swept it up with stubby plastic fingers. It yanked it free from its holding, just like that. The black aura surrounding its body thickened even further.

"Disgusting..." Guinevere murmured from behind it, her face hidden.

This thing, this huge doll of porcelain skin and threaded copper hair and burned washcloth dress and half its face missing from a certain tent's destruction. It smiled and made the same googoo-ga giggle as those crawling along Estelle's skin.

"Truly disgusting..."

With Estelle still reeling in pain (though glowing now from Amy's spell), the doll titter-tottered her way with its new steel weapon held high.