[IC] The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

[Rexcalibur]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Rear

"Who are you?"

Eric gulped as he looked up to the two faces staring him down. These two figures - the Phillis siblings, the ringmasters - had caught him. They looked so... stern. Mean. Distempered, even. Their regal atmosphere immediately gave off a no-nonsense vibe, and the man's contorted face looked as if he was about to burst in anger against the poor uncle.

"And what, pray tell, is that wretched smell?"

"He is not one of the performers. That is obvious enough." The woman stepped forward to get a closer look of Eric, while Vance stepped back. However, instead of berating him, she offered a soft smile instead. "Are you lost? Are you, perhaps, in need of the toilets?"



A deer caught in the headlights, Eric merely stood there and gave no response. Sweat ran down his neck, threatening to build if they continued to interrogate him. He was only... he was only looking for his niece! She wasn't anywhere else in this gods-forsaken circus - she had to be here, in the Big Top!

His stomach grumbled. He could only thank the gods that it went unnoticed.

Vance turned to his sister with a look of disbelief. "Lost? He is in a restricted zone, Gwee!" He cast his arm to the side. "There are fences with signs labeled all around this tent detailing exactly that. How on Ddaear could a man be so fatuous as to simply ignore--"

"Vance, you're frightening him." The woman placed a firm hand on Vance's shoulder, pulling him even further back. Flustered, he attempted to speak out against her, but she carried on speaking to Eric nonetheless - effectively shutting him up. "My name is Guinevere Phillis, and I am the ringmaster of this circus. Please excuse my dear younger brother, for he is rather... short-tempered, to say the least." She brought a hand to her lips and chuckled softly.

To this Vance let out a deep sigh through his nostrils, but reacted no further. He only stood there, arms placed at his side, with his dark eyes focused on Eric.

Still retaining her smile, Guinevere lowered her hand and continued to speak. "Every day we deal with children and adults alike sneaking into the Big Top and exploring what needs not to be explored. Men and women of all ages have curiosities they wish to satisfy, you see - they want to know the secrets behind our performers' tactics. So it is understandable..."

Eric's stomach rumbled again. He clenched it tightly with a single hand, but otherwise remained unmoved. Man, these ringmasters like to talk!

Vance brought a hand to his face. "Gwee, enough with the formalities. We are wasting time here. Have you forgotten already? There is still the matter of--"

"Nonsense, Vance. How I long for a day when you would not stress out during a performance."

Again Vance released a deep sigh from his nostrils. His sister never hesitated to interrupt him. "That does not change the fact that, Gwee, this man does not belong here. He must be kicked out of here, at once." With a sneer, Vance walked onward, passed Eric and towards the curtain which he had rolled from. "I'll see to it that a staff member escorts him immediately."

"No need, brother." Guinevere's smile never faltered. "I shall direct him to the exit personally."

The redcoated man stopped in his tracks, setting down his foot with a stomp. "Fine. But do not take too long!"

She giggled again. "You seem to have forgotten who is the older sibling, dear Vance... I shall return shortly." With that, Guinevere partially turned away from Eric, motioning for him to follow after her. They took the curtain on the opposite side of the room and continued down a small number of other rooms, many of which featured three or even four other curtains to go through. It astounded him, albeit wordlessly, that the circus staff had their paths in the Big Top memorized.

Eventually, the two reached a long corridor. "Here we are." Guinevere stepped to the side and motioned for Eric to continue down the path and out the final curtain, the Big Top's southern exit. "Now, Stevie and Lily should be on watch just outside of here. Do tell them that Guinevere sent you to be on your way, and they'll leave you be. Perhaps if you're lucky enough to catch Stevie, he may even offer to walk you to the toilets so you would not have to go there alone." The ringmaster chuckled again, coyly turning away as she had done so. "Enjoy the rest of your night, good sir. I pray you will not have to miss the finale."

And then she departed.

---

Dumbfounded, Eric watched as the curtain fluttered back in place following Guinevere's leave. That was... that was it? No punishment or hardcore beating or? They just... told him to get out? But they looked so prim and proper - he was certain they were going to beat him into submission for catching him sneaking around back there. Could these really be bad guys? Maybe they really weren't kidnappers.

Before Eric could proceed out of the corridor, he heard a flurry of muffled footsteps from behind the curtain he had just come from.

The curtain peeled open, and a little girl with a red ribbon in her hair poked her face out. She smiled gleefully upon seeing the man standing in the way. As he himself got excited to see the child, she quickly brought a finger to her lips to silence him. Then she stepped forward, holding the curtain open as she motioned hastily to someone behind her. Someone - two - three - four others followed after her into the long corridor.

One of them, a woman in her mid-twenties in an outfit similar to Isabella's, fidgeted with her hands as Eric came into view. She nearly stepped right back into the previous room. "Um... um... who is that?"

The ribboned girl turned to her with a wink - and the others understood immediately. All tension relaxed from their shoulders. The ribboned girl then took a quick dash forward to embrace her uncle.

[Rexcalibur]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

The crowds erupted into screams yet again as Poppy finished off her logic-defying act. A couple of younger fanboys had collapsed to the ground, seemingly fainting, as Poppy's glitter landed on them. Others had already knocked out from extreme shock after seeing an actual lion being tossed around like a plaything. Still others were fanning themselves at Isabella's agility, eyes glued to her despite all the other performers' actions.

"All right!" Sammie stepped forward with a clap. Her smug smile never winced throughout the entire show. "What a show, am I right, am I right?" By this point, most of the audience members had risen to their feet, Pride members included. Sammie's voice only encouraged the screaming to boom even louder than it was. "You think you've seen something? You ain't seen nothin' yet! We can only have more in store! Hey, hey - who here is a returning guest?"

Many guests raised their hands high, jumping and screaming yet again in response to Sammie. "Haaa! What a number! All you newbies"--she pointed a finger out to the crowd--"this just goes to show that we got something new to boast every night! Incredible, innit?" Her smile widened even further. "But now - now we have something even newer in store! The debut of our two new members, and our special stars for the night!"

From afar, both Cammie and Tammie contorted their expressions. While their postures remained unchanged, they tried to speak silently to their sister with their visage alone - slightly shaking heads, mouthing lips, narrowed eyes. As Sammie continued speaking with utmost confidence, her expression as she looked to her sisters on opposite ends belied her vocals. Only when she faced the audience again did she regain that confidence.

"Many of you have sent in fanmail, hatemail, requests, complaints to our circus, our home! You all should see the number of times one particular thing was pointed out: that our dear performances aren't - well - 'hot' enough for continuous returns." To this, a handful of audience members cooed, while others gasped wildly in anticipation that their mail had been heeded. As the performers on stage stepped aside and some offstage to allow room from the back curtain, guests sat themselves back down one by one. It was only a matter of time before they'd be back on their feet.

"Well, we heard your pleas, and are coming right back at ya with exactly what you wanted! You want 'hot,' you got it!" The audience cheered. "You want 'burning,' you got it!" Another cheer. "You want 'on fire,' you got it!" A third cheer, louder than the two previous.

Trixie leaned over to Estelle, whispering. "Are they, er, bringing some really flashy person on stage or something?"

"Drumroll, please!" As Sammie directed the audience's attention to the back curtain, Olga the gorilla began slamming her fists on the floor in a rhythmic beat. The curtains pulled open on cue, and a young man with a nervous smile stepped out. He seemed to be dressed for success, with a fancy black vest to boot, but his pink button-down beneath it and his baseball cap showed otherwise. In his hands, he held two long club-like sticks.

"Introducing our newest member - the one, the only - Crispin Ocelooooot!"



As the audience roared with a welcoming cheer, Crispin waved back shyly. "Um... hi."

"Now watch," Sammie stepped back in front of Crispin, gesturing with her hands, "as our companion breathes fire into the sky! A lovely obstacle for our beloved acrobats to dance over, don't you guys think? What do you say to our human cannonball Max soaring straight through not some dumb loop - but an actual wall of flames!? Hey, ever seen an animal play with fire?? Well, we've finally got it all!"

The audience clamored at once, the most excited they had been all night. After all they had already seen - imagining all of that all over again but with fire - it drove them wild.

Crispin held up a hand to speak, forcing a hearty laugh. "Actually! Actually! I had a bit of something else in mind. And it requires audience participation."

It was only then that Sammie's smile was wiped clean. "What are you doing?"

"Pssst, guys! Guys!" Tammie called from her standpoint in a whisper loud enough for Sammie and the other performers to hear. "He said he had something new and different in mind for tonight's show. For his opening act anyway. Cuz... uh... don't worry about it! ... I think."

"AHEM!" Crispin cleared his throat, grabbing at his collar. "Actually - I don't need help from one person. I need help from everyone." His seemingly nervous grin widened into something almost maddening. His own confidence sent Sammie's spiraling away. "Don't you worry, all you beautiful people! I ain't gonna hurt ya. Chef's word! I just need a little help from each of you. That's all." The audience continued whispering amongst themselves - though Crispin's next words quickly quieted them.

Tammie bounced from where she stood. This was so exciting! Every time another performer on stage looked her way, expecting some sort of explanation, she put both fingers to her lips before pointing back at Crispin. Still bouncing, of course.

"For my grand act! If all of you lovely people could rise to your feet!" They did so at once, with hesitation more or less. "You need to listen carefully - very carefully. Once you see fires light the skies - I need you all to do one simple little task. Please: make your way to the exits. Calmly and quietly, but quickly. Trust me, the spectacle will look a lot better from the outside than from in here." Crispin's eyes lit up. "You guys like fireworks, right?"

The clamoring within the audience grew louder and louder. Some infants sensed their parents' fear and began to cry loudly. Tammie's lips pursed. "...oh."

"Someone stop him... someone stop him," Sammie snapped under her breath, walking towards Crispin with her arm outstretched. She opened her mouth to speak - to tell the audience that this was a joke and he was a rejected jester - but Crispin continued to avoid her grasp, instead stepping in front of her every time she attempted to speak up.

The other performers began to make their way towards him, which he caught onto quickly. He dropped the two sticks in his hands, revealing something golden laced along his knuckles. Shining brass. "All right, folks!" Crispin fisted his palm, his wrists and hands burning with a red aura. A wisp of smoke danced out of his pores and dissipated into the air. "It's showtime!"

"No! Stop him!" Sammie cried out, initiating the audience's screams. She jumped after him.

Narrowly avoiding another performer's grasp, Crispin leapt forward and punched the edge of the stage - immediately lighting it on fire as sparks of flame burst from his hands. The fire was not sizable, but thanks to the screaming, it began traveling around the stage and towards the tent's fabric walls much more quickly than it would have otherwise.





"Ahh! I'm going, I'm going, I'm going!" As the rush escalated, Trixie leapt from her seat and launched herself into the sea of madness gathering at the nearest exit. She was lost from view in an instant.

The Big Top began to waver, threatening to crash in on itself as the flames continued to spread. The flames themselves was quite a distance away from the audience members, but at the rate it was spreading... Guests all throughout the tent screamed and flocked about. With the various exits crowded, thanks to multiple people trying to bust out at once, there was nothing else they could do but make matters worse for themselves.

Instantly Cammie and Tammie both made their way to opposite exits, to help their guests leave in a timely manner without them all getting stuck by trying to squeeze out at once. Funnily enough, a couple of other performers from on stage had joined the rush as well - not to calm them down, but to leave alongside the audience members.

[Crescendo]

Phillus Circus-Big Top

“Oh geez, here I was being a selfish little pig, not realizing you’re nervous too! Well… Don’t worry about it, Aria! I have your back! My eyes are trained on the smallest lick of fire! You don’t have to panic about missing the cue while I’m here!”

Aria blinked at Lute’s sudden exclamation, lips quirking as he whipped around to stare at the stage eagerly- or was it intently? She shook her head, reaching out to give his hair a ruffle before going back to staring at the stage, feeling much less nervous. She didn’t need to worry; Lute was here, and so was the rest of the Pride.

The show grew more and more intense, and soon the two were so absorbed in the acts that they were on their feet cheering with everyone else.

"You think you've seen something? You ain't seen nothin' yet! We can only have more in store! Hey, hey - who here is a returning guest?"

Woah, it looked like quite a large portion of the audience had been here before. It wasn’t quite a surprise after seeing the, however. She could understand why people would be willing to come back time after time to enjoy these seemingly death defying acts.

"But now - now we have something even newer in store! The debut of our two new members, and our special stars for the night!"
She paused. New members? Wait, didn’t that mean-
"Well, we heard your pleas, and are coming right back at ya with exactly what you wanted! You want 'hot,' you got it!"
Ooooh fidgestickling buttersticks.
"You want 'burning,' you got it! You want 'on fire,' you got it!"
She shot a glance over at Lute, their eyes meeting as they shared a nod. Crispin soon strode onstage, and started to speak. It was surprisingly smart of him to warn the audience- looks like Lute wouldn’t have to work as hard after all.

“Get ready to move-“ She hissed out just as his fists burst into flames, the tent soon following after. “You’d think they’d at least fireproof the tent when adding a fire act,” they were on their feet now, trying to help guide people to the exits. She glanced back to the ring where Crispin was being cornered by the other performers, frowning and trying to see a route to the stage.

“I’m going to see if I can go help the poor chef out. You stay here alright?”

She didn’t stay to hear whether Lulu would protests or not, leaping over vacated sections to make sure the guy would be alright.

[Orpheus]

Phillis Circus: Big Top

It was one amazing act after another, and the virtuoso found himself hoarse from cheering along with everyone else in the audience. Flying lions, acrobats tumbling through the air with pinpoint grace and finesse, not to mention attachable arms… The entire performance was awe-inspiring, if not a tiny bit terrifying.

“So many fire puns. I’m guessing our guy’s next!” Lute shouted over the din created by the crowd cheering for that awe-inspiring performance the troupe just gave. The noise faded and then peaked again as Crispin was introduced, although unlike the lot of them cheering louts the two Guilders were locked and alert. Lute bristled as he contemplated on the weight of the task that lay before him. He had pushed away the sentiment earlier, but now that the atmosphere was ablaze in more ways than one, he was starting to feel the resentment creeping in again. He hated having to participate in a mission directive supplied by an untrustworthy informant, but most of all the widely destructive way it had to be executed…! A dark scowl fell over Lute’s face as the screaming erupted and he stood on his seat to scope the masses.

Deep breath.

“Everyone, calm down. There are three exits, those who came from the middle area should head to the central one,” The cacophony in the area died for a mere second before Lute’s voice washed over the entirety of his box. It wasn’t a large area if you compared it to the rest, but it was all he could do with his current capabilities. The virtuoso moved over to the other aisles, carelessly weaving through seats as he directed the people up the right path. “Keep moving. Don’t rush. Everyone take care of their belongings, make sure you didn’t leave anything behind! Don’t crowd the pregnant women and the children, for Heaven’s sake!” Thanks to his abilities, the crowd in his area was far more easily dispatched than the other rabbles on both sides of the tent, although whenever he thought it was good enough to leave for the other areas somebody would panic and he would have to restart the process again.

“People, don’t forget to keep moving after you’ve reached the exit! We have to keep making space for all the others who are trying to go out too!” The virtuoso turned around to see that a row of seats near the front were now ablaze. Running up towards the middle aisle was a young girl, no doubt separated from her parents by all the chaos coming on; keeping up the spiel all the time, he rushed over and carried the child on his shoulders and plowed through the stragglers.

[Pachamac]

Phillis Circus: Big Top – Rear

“Balti! Balti! Oh my gods you’re okay!!” Tears streamed down Eric’s face as he ran towards his niece, scooping her up and crushing her in a tight and powerful embrace. His niece was just as happy to first see her uncle as he was to her, although she was starting to regret it somewhat after he began moving his face from side to side as he hugged Balti, rubbing his cheeks against her and his spiky stubble against her. That, couple with his rampantly flowing tears, soon got his niece quite wet.

“I’ve been searching for you everywhere! I’m so sorry I lost you! You’re okay though, right? You’re not hurt?” Eric began to bombard Baltimore with questions, holding the little girl outstretched in his arms and checking her body over for any signs of injuries. As he did so, he noticed again the gaggle of people that had been following after Balti, and his eyes blinked with curiosity.

“Who are you guys?” Eric asked. His attention then returned to his niece, who began scrunching up her nose in obvious discomfort. “Huh? Balti? Are you okay?” He put the girl down, and crouched on one knee in front of her, with one hand resting on her shoulder. As he did so, his niece pinched her nose with one of her dainty fingers and thumb.

“Ah! No! No that wasn’t me!” Eric protested with his wildly waving hands. “I didn’t do it that time, I swear!” Balti then shook her head from side to side, smiling briefly at her funny uncle, before turning serious again. Eric was still obviously lodged in confusion, until he began to sniff as well, and he finally came to a horrifying realisation as to what Balti was referring to. “Smoke!” He exclaimed. “Who’s cooking a barbeque?”

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Audience Seating

“Move everyone! Move!” Estelle screamed as loud as she could, holding one of the exit’s curtains open with one hand as her other motioned and waved for the audience on her side of the Big Top’s seating to flee through. She had watched in absolute disbelief the scene that had unfolded before her, and still couldn’t believe it. Especially the speed and pace that Crispin’s fire was spreading across the tent. Even with his forewarning and the efforts that she and Lute (who was working on the other side of the tent) were doing, they were still in horrible danger of many of the people within being hurt thanks to this. Still, she swore… as soon as all of this was worked out, she’d clobber him herself but good!

Trixie had dashed through the exit as soon as the fire began, racing towards the spots outside the circus’ fence where the Pride had hidden their armour, weapons and other vital pieces of equipment. Estelle’s sword and armour, she remembered, had been stored snugly up the top of a tree, whilst the rest had been hidden quite neatly thanks to Moira, Syed and Aria. Estelle was glad to see her younger friend already hard at work on her part of the mission. She just hoped that Trixie remembered where the gear had been hidden… and wasn’t running in the opposite direction, or anything like that.

---

Phillis Circus: Outside the Big Top

“And that’s what they said his plan was,” Xandra continued, one hand pressed over her mouth in order to keep the volume of her conversation directed only towards the communicator pressed to her ear, and away from prying others. She had had to squat down out of sight behind some cover of nearby stacked crates by the exit, as the two stomping stiltmen patrolling the perimeter outside could have possibly caused some problems if they were to hear her. “He was going to cause a situation here by setting the main tent on fire… whilst all the performers and audience were still inside! Amy, Marcus, I don’t like it. This plan is foolhardy and one of the riskiest I’ve seen. The danger to civilians is… is…”

“Xandra?” A voice spoke out from the communicator. Marcus’. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” Xandra replied, biting her lower lip as she heard and saw the giant throng of people begin to flee from the exit she had come from. All of them running like mad, screaming and shouting, smoke billowing out from the top of the tent. “Marcus, it’s started! We… we need you and Amy here right no-!”

Xandra was unable to finish her transmission, as her body was suddenly jolted by one of the fleeing members of the circus tent, and the communicator sent flying out of her hand to smash against the hard ground. Xandra sighed, so much for another one of those…

“Xan!” Trixie surprised the metallurgist from nearby, waving to her frantically. “C’mon!” She cried. “We’ve gotta go get everyone’s weapons!!”

‘Weapons,’ Xandra thought to herself. ‘Sure. But who are we going to be using them on? The circus or Crispin…?’

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top – Onstage

“Tammie!” Max screamed. “Tammie, where are you?!” Max’s lungs were growing hoarse from his screaming. Already the fire was growing, and the smoke it was creating, not to mention the sea of people moving all throughout the circus, made it difficult to see anything clearly. He had to find her, and quickly! He had to make sure she was okay, no matter what! He couldn’t live with himself if she wasn’t… he just couldn’t!

And then, out the corner of his eye, by pure luck… he had chanced upon her!

“Tammie!” He shouted again, dashing as quickly as he could towards her. “Tammie, are you okay? Tammie!” He grabbed onto the shoulder of the girl, pulling her towards him so he could look at her properly, and make sure she wasn’t injured in anyway. So far, she seemed fine, completely unharmed in anyway, much to Max’s relief. Other then for the fact that it actually wasn’t Tammie, but her ‘sister’ Cammie.

“Oh Tammie!” He latched onto her(?!) with great strength and relief. “You’re okay!”



“Vat is… vat is going on?” Abram took a staggered step back, his mouth dropped and held agape in complete shock and surprise at the way in which their lively and jolly show had suddenly transformed into such chaos and panic. All around, the screams of the many could be heard drowning out any sound. Gone with the lively cheers and laughter, to be replaced with this horrible melody.

Abram hated it.

The cause of all it was him – the strange young man in the silly shirt and hat. Abram had a mind to run to him, and to put a stop to his destruction by wringing his tiny little neck. But he couldn’t. The fire had caused many of his animals, bar his three most trusted companions Lidya (the lion), Olga (the gorilla) and Elena (the elephant), to lose control and panic. He needed to set about taming and controlling them first, before they harmed either the audience or themselves.

But the man, Crispin, still had to be stopped. Abram may have been busy, but fortunately however…

“You!” A powerful voice was unleashed for almost all inside to hear. “How dare you!!”

Leaping from the scaffolding she had been perched upon, a figure darted throughout the circus’ air, aimed directly towards the fire starting menace. He turned his head in surprise at the sudden scream, before widening his eyes in horror and fright as he saw a scary face glare immediately at him, before their falling body pummelled him roughly into the ground and on his back.

As his still smouldering body produced flickering flames that burned the edges of the ground he rested upon, he gingerly opened his eyes in a painful wince, to see an angry, terrifying foe sit on top of him, with all her weight pressed down upon him in an effort to restrain him. One of her hands quickly grabbed and squeezed on his throat, whilst the other reached for a knife hidden in one of her thigh’s straps, twirling it about in her hands as she brought it over his face.

“How dare you do this!!” Isabella screamed. “To my family!! My home!!”

[Rexcalibur]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

While Isabella had Crispin in a chokehold, Sammie strode up to him as well. As if Isabella's stare - sharper than the knife in her hand - weren't enough, the magician's outburst was sugar on time. Throughout both of the girls' screams, Crispin, choking, reached up for Isabella's wrist and futilely attempted to shove it away.

"Is this what you wanted? Is this what you wanted??" Sammie opened her arms. An introduction to a screaming madhouse that was supposed to be family-friendly fun for all. "You've demolished us! You've demolished our home, our lives! I swear to Magis, if you so much as even move, I'm gonna castrate you! And it's gonna hurt like a bitch!!"

Crispin could barely sputter a response. "Wh, what, you didn't - hack - think I'd... rebel after you... cramped me up in...?" His rebuttal was cut short as Isabella forced her grip down on the pyro even harder, threatening to flatten his neck right against the stage floor.

"We didn't think you'd be so stupid to try and kill everyone! You're a monster!"

Steam suddenly escaped from the acrobat's wrist, rising into the air and dissipating into the brewing smog. Hot, hot, hotter - Isabella's skin around Crispin's own weak grip, as well as her palm around his throat, both began to glow a chili red. So too did the pyro's own palms and neck. It was sudden, stinging sharply, causing her to loosen her grip just barely despite herself. But that was all Crispin needed to forcefully roll himself out of her grasp and into the open. He stumbled onto his feet, nearly collapsing again, but fought with all his might to keep himself standing.

His vision blurred, but he couldn't let them know that. Crispin hacked and sputtered before speaking up again. When Sammie and Isabella moved to go after him, the pyro put his fists up defensively. The brass outlying his knuckles shined from the lively flames surrounding them. "Me!? I'm not - the one locking everyone up! You... honestly think I wasn't going to do this!?"

Despite his defensive stance, Sammie marched up to him, her own fists trembling with each step. "The hell are you talking about!? You're the one who wanted to join us!" One of Abram's pets - a panda - charged frantically in front of Sammie, cutting her off from Crispin. The bear growled and whined with panic, tossing his head to and fro and he tried to figure out what to do. With a grunt both angry and sympathetic to the poor bear, Sammie could only step aside so Crispin could be in her sights again. This time, she pointed vehemently in his direction. "That's it, isn't it!? That was your gig the whole time - joinin' some big ol circus family just to burn them all down! You're sick!"

The amount of shock written on Crispin's face - he... couldn't even... "Wait - what!?"

Rapid footsteps, rapid footsteps. Crispin's attention immediately turned towards the stage, towards the owner of those steps. That one sexy chick from earlier...! She was coming to help him! Ohhh praise the gods, she was coming to help! "You! You, please"--oh gods what was her name--"you've gotta help me! Please... I'm a good guy! A good guy! Look - I've got... a guilder ID on me somewhere...!" He hunched over for a moment, coughing up whatever phlegm remained in his throat.

The panda's roar cut him short again. This time he took off towards the empty seats, just short of where Moira's trio were sitting beforehand. He tore through the chairs in desperation. While the flames themselves were not as sizable as they could be - it was still enough to distress the animals, the children, the concerned family members and phobics... all the screaming just riled up everyone even more than it should.

Instead of targeting Crispin now with the path clear, Sammie instead turned her direction to Aria. This magician girl - she was so cool, calm, and confident since the moment they met her just outside the circus gates. And now, she was anything but.

"What are you, one of Crispin's little goody-guilder henchmen? You wanna watch a bunch of innocent people suffer for his sick entertainment!? You think this is funny!? Well!?" The magician girl lifted her huge hat for a brief moment, pulling something out from the inside - two long katanas - weapons far too long to fit inside the hat, but alas. She promptly dropped her hat to the ground, now thrusting one blade towards the illusionist. "You better speak the hell up or I'll cut you!"

Sammie's voice boomed with anger with her final threat, tears welling in her eyes. Her face reddened, though whether it was from the fire's glow or her own anger was not clear. "I'll cut you down! We'll all cut you down!"

She was beginning to lose it - as was Crispin. The pyro sputtered yet again, gasping for air in this brief respite. Isabella's clawlike nails had left their mark in his skin. But he couldn't let her have this fight. He kept his eyes on her now, still holding his fists up. "Mom's SO going to kill me!"

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Audience Seating

Once the final screaming child was calmly hushed out of the eastern most exit by Cammie, the magician let out a deep sigh, before turning his attention to the guilders assisting: Estelle and Lute, in particular. "You two," he called to them with a wave, loudly yet still monotone. "Thank you for your help. Hopefully we can escort the rest of our guests in time before..."

"Oh Tammie! You're okay!" Someone had latched onto him and screamed with delight into Cammie's already dying ears.

The androgynous magician did not hesitate to pull himself back from Max Powers, before whacking him with his cape to prevent him from clinging onto him a second time. Max was effectively spun around, now flailing at the empty space before him. "I'm his brother, you dolt! Tammie is down there!"



His younger sister did her best to help out the audience members towards the center region - though telling everyone that they would suffocate on their own screams and not make it out alive if they kept it up was anything but helpful in their situation. Once the area began clearing up, Tammie began hopping between rows to assist those who were stuck or too frightened to move. She froze, however, as she looked back to the flames onstage.

"Kyaaa! It's making its way to the walls!"

The magician dashed down to where the stage end met with the fabric wall and stood at the gap between them, cape out. "Umm! Uhh! Guys! A little help here!?" Unfortunately her cries were unmet, as the other performers were either scrambling to exit themselves, if not preoccupied with the arsonist who started the whole thing. Tammie bit her lower lip, holding out her cape before her and backing away as the fire continued to creep towards her. "Stay... stay...! Easy, easy...!"

It didn't heed her. Crawling closer, and closer, the flames threatened to latch onto Tammie the same way Max had to her brother. But Tammie refused to let that happen - so she did what any sane person did and - "AHHH I don't know what I'm doing!" - began swatting away at the flames with her cape.

And... the flames caught by her fabric were erased away in an instant, like a rubber to pencil markings.

"....ooooooh." Tammie blinked rapidly at this, pursing her lips into a tiny "o". As more flames crept to her to take their fallen's place, she swat at them again. Same thing. Tammie's little "o" quickly spread to an unsightly "U" and she continued batting at the flames, this time making her way down the stage, passed the center, and to the other side. "Everyone! Everyone, look at this! I'm saving the act!"

Eventually, the flames along the stage had been cleaned up entirely. Of course, there were still fires climbing up the tightrope poles to watch out for, as well as those that had caught onto the front-row seating from Crispin's initial punch (catching Lucien's sleeve on fire in an instant) - but there was still definitely enough time to celebrate. Tammie jumped, pumping her fist, though dropped her celebration when she heard no clapping.

A couple of onlookers from the audience who had yet but to be escorted but had calmed down looked back at her, with nervous smiles. Tammie only pouted at this. She angrily turned to Crispin's direction and stomped her foot. "That would've been sooooo cool if you hadn't told everyone to LEAVE! Gods Crispy, and to think I thought you were cute for like two whole minutes!"

All things considered, everyone onstage completely ignored her.

[Bunanigans]

Big Top
Mayhem ensued. While the other members of the circus reacted in justified indignant rage, Poppy simply remained perched on her suspended hoop, swinging as she looked down at the emptying seats and climbing flames.

It was kind of pretty, in a way. Just a shame the flames were now catching things which were a bit too close for comfort. Um... yeah, perhaps it would be best if she got down before she fell.

She jumped from the ring, splitting her legs at the joints to help absorb the shock when she landed on the main stage. And as she rejoined herself again, she didn't say a word.

She simply watched, as the flames continued to climb, the audience thinned out, and the others freaked out. She didn't know what the hell was Crispin's problem, but she decided to go outside to try and help keep those outside calm and in check. Hopefully.

---

The evactuation of the audience could have gone better, but it could have gone worse as well. Syed helped as well, using his skills to help keep the younger children as calm as possible. Hell, some of them were actually guiding their parents and guardians out of the tent! He was soon distracted by Lucien's sleeve catching alight however. Unfortunately, neither summoners nor electromages were particularly well equipped for the act of putting out fires, so the pair resorted to pulling that panda top off him and stamping on it.

Moira paid no mind to the audience, however. Nor the fact that the stands were now on fire, although thankfully by now most of the audience were at the exits. She instead focused her gaze on Crispin, and the performers who were now acting pretty much murderously at him.

"I'll cut you down! We'll all cut you down!"

"Mom's SO going to kill me!"

"Fuck your mum, we're gonna kill you!" Moira boomed. "Idiot!" She strode forward, causing Syed to fall over with suprise from the jolt, as she stepped up beside Crispin and smacked the back of his head.

She sighed, focuing once more on the performers. "Except your mum'll kill us if anythin' happened to you," she added more quietly. Although it was Moira, so it wasn't all that quiet really. "Fuck, you've put us in a shitty position here."

"I don't suppose we can work on putting everything out then discuss how much of an idiot he is?" Syed suggested hopefully, his eyes focused on the various blades people wielded in particular. He didn't really want to show his hand this early, especially at a time where it would be taken as a sign of aggression. But if he had to...

[Pachamac]

Phillis Circus: Big Top

“Ari?” As the public continued to push and storm their way out of the tent, Lute turned and spun on the spot, to look down at the escalating scene at the performance ring below, and the disastrous way things were turning. Both the blone, pigtailed acrobat Isabella, and the magician girl they had met manning the gate Sammie, had gone ballistic at Crispin and his fiery ambitions. Lute couldn’t really blame them, a part of him wanting to scold the man for his reckless behaviour just as much, but it was when the two threatened him with mutilation and death, and then Sammie the same to Aria, who approached down the flight of steps as quickly as she could to Crispin’s defense, that Lute found himself propelled to follow after. The swords that Sammie had magically appear from her hat, and now brandished in Aria’s direction… he couldn’t allow her to get hurt!

The words that Elisa, the fortune-teller had said to him echoed through his head. He just knew if he didn’t move… if he didn’t act… that things would go horribly, horribly wrong…!

Unfortunately, Lute’s springing into action, charging towards Aria’s defence was actually prompting the wrong reaction. It, along with Moira and Syed’s movements, springing to the performance ring and dashing in front of Crispin to help protect him against Isabella’s threatening advances prompted another reaction altogether…

“Get the hell away from ma girl!”



A sudden shout startled everyone still within the circus, drawing their attention to the source of the voice, and a man flying through the air straight at them like a rocket. His lower body was pure energy, exploding and pushing the man forwards with insane thrust and momentum, his arms held straight out in front of him with his hands curled like fists, and his goggles tightly strapped on his face. Max Powers, the circus’ human cannonball… was a literal human cannonball in every sense of the word, if not more accurately a human rocket. He could propel himself into the air at insane speeds and from it, practically fly. He didn’t even need a cannon to be fired from, he could do it himself just by summoning enough energy to launch into his legs.

And right now, he had summoned all of his energy to do so, to fly through the air, and straight towards the gaggle of Guilders and his colleagues. Max, seeing Moira, Syed, Aria and Lute descend upon Isabella and Sammie the way they did, thought they were actually threatening his girlfriend Tammie. That, and the way that the newbie Crispin was trying to burn the circus down, and endangering her in the process had made him fighting mad! No way was he going to let them do so!

He flew sharply in front of Lute, disorienting and unbalancing the poor virtuoso enough to accidentally trip and collide into a row of seats. Max twisted just so, and almost knocked Aria over as well as he flew inbetween her and Sammie. He then rose into the air, slowly arcing around in a bend to face the performance ring below, before sharply pouring on yet more speed, aiming straight for Crispin, Moira and Syed.

“What the fuc-kaaaggh!!”

Before she could have any time to react, Moira felt a sickening force explode against her stomach, and with it her whole body was wrenched from the ground and sent flying high into the air, as Max punched his whole body into her and dragged her up with him, twisting his body to fly high, high into the air, and crash through the tent’s ceiling, ripping a small hole. Syed, thanks to his magical tether to his partner, was suddenly dragged up into the air as well along with a sickeningly painful whiplash effect, screaming as he came to realise that he was now hovering several hundred feet in the air, and rising even higher the more Max pushed Moira into the sky.

---

“Moira!!” Estelle suddenly screamed in horror at the attack, letting the exit’s curtain fall. She couldn’t believe her eyes at what was happening. She, along with her friends, still didn’t know whether or not the circus performers were guilty enough of the crime they had been charged with… with kidnapping poor innocent civilians. But what she did know was that they had threatened and attacked her friends. Even if this whole thing was spiralling into chaos, and even if they had good provocation for it… she couldn’t stand by and let her friends be hurt for it!!

She began rushing down the steps towards the circus ring below, much as Lute had. However, she was still missing both her Fireblade and armour, and was left virtually defenceless… not that such a thing would stop her.

---

“You...” A voice suddenly shocked Lucien to his senses from his side, his eyes having been plugged on the scene before him and rubbing the sore burn that had gripped his arm. He had been trying to think of some joke in order to get everyone inside the tent to calm down and relax before things could go too far, his lips stretching into a smile when he saw Tammie swat the flames out and his mouth about to open and tell everyone to ‘cool off’ like Tammie had done, but he had laughed to himself before he could. Now though… now the boss and Syed had suddenly been attacked, and the others were under threat as well! And then… then…!

Then he appeared right next to him, and with him a giant bulldozer of a lion and gorilla on either side of him, plus the panda that had raced through the seats before Lucien and his friends now brought back under control… and staring at Lucien with the same accusing eyes as his animal breathren. Abram towered high above Lucien, his muscles seeming to pop out and expand even larger then before from his chest crossed arms as he glared down at him.

“...have much explaining to do, da?”

---

And as tensions bubbled into an all out explosion, Isabella dashed towards Crispin now that his protection – Moira and Syed – were out of the way. He was still a disastrous danger to the circus and to her friends, and an enemy that needed to be put out of commission at once. The burns he had given her were insignificant compared to the threat he posed to the things that Isabella cherished above all else… and she’d be damned if she’d let him continue.

As she raced, she swung up one hand, launching one of her knives at him, aimed towards his shoulder. Following that up, she threw her own body forward, spinning and somersaulting and propelling her momentum to even greater heights, as she aimed to follow her knife’s attack with a swift kick to the little arsonist’s face.

[Crescendo]

Phillus Circus-Big Top

“Woah woah woah there-“ Aria raised her arms, staring at the point of the katana pointed at her face. If not for the fact that she could easily get skewered, she would have been quite intrigued as to how the swords had fit in that large, but not quite large-enough-to-fit-two-swords hat.

She really didn’t want to have to fight these people- they were rightly angry at having their home burnt down, but she wasn’t quite sure if these people could be categorized as being ‘normal civilians’ when they were threatening them with weapons. Why would a circus performer even carry swords and knives?

“Can’t we please talk this out-“

A loud shout rang out in the burnt tent, and Aria barely avoided being knocked over by the human cannonball who flew past. She could feel the wind from his passing whip at his face, before staring as he slammed into Moira and flew up through the roof of the tent, taking the woman with her and causing poor Syed to be pulled into the air, screaming all the way.

Did the circus performers have powers?

A terrified scream from Crispin knocked her from her train of thought, and Aria barely thought before she reacted. She wasn’t going to have Lady’s son stabbed in front of her or she had a feeling Lady would not be pleased at all.

She glanced over to the stands where Lute had recovered from Max’s passing by earlier. Hopefully he was ready to jump into action.

“Lulu, cover me!”

Aria ducked under from the katana much to the displeasure of Sammie as the girl was assaulted by a barrage of sound just big enough to distract her, the blade missing her body as she lunged at Crispin, tackling him to the ground. Isabella’s knife thunked into a pillar behind them as the acrobat’s kick fell short of the target. Aria rolled into an upright crouch, sweeping her leg into a kick at Isabella’s leg to try to knock the girl over. She had her fans with her, but none of her knives so the acrobat had an edge on her in terms of those. Hopefully Trixie would be back soon- Most everyone was helpless without their armor and weapons and it was all starting escalate into an unavoidable battle.

[Rexcalibur]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Somewhere Backstage

Even though Tammie had wiped out as much fire as she could, some still continued to spread along the seats - and the smoke itself began to seep backstage at a gross pace. Eric and Baltimore weren't the only people in the back who sniffed out the brewing smoke.

Both Vance and Guinevere rushed to the scene wordlessly, through the maze of the backstage. Thankfully they knew their routes, though even if they hadn't, the smell and piling smog made their destination obvious. A handful of performers passed by the two, coughing into their arms or holding their collars over their mouths. Some passed by them without acknowledgement while others stopped what they were doing to ask the ringmasters if they were okay. Guinevere nodded back to each question affirmatively, a hesitant smile across her green lips - but Vance ignored them all. They never stopped running.

Not until they ran into a wall. Or at least, what felt like a wall.

They had reached one of the few corridors that led directly to the big 'backstage' room just outside the performance area. It was almost within reach. And yet, they couldn't push themselves forward. Vance pulled himself back, angrily rubbing his head. "What is this!?"

Guinevere had a more delicate approach. She reached for the air before her, the air that Vance had slammed himself right into, and pointed at it. The skin along her finger bunched up as if she was stroking a glass surface. Her expression unchanging, she pulled her hand back. "It seems as though someone does not want us to join the ruckus."

Vance snarled and about-faced, preparing to take a neighboring corridor. Guinevere followed after. They charged right back into the previous room and into the curtain opposite to the one they had just taken. As Vance pressed into the next curtain, however, the fabric shifted with his movement but ultimately led into a wall, causing another needless head injury.

The brother pulled back once more, shutting his eyes to the blurs around him. Guinevere once again stepped forward, and brushed the curtain aside to see into the next room. Once again, absolutely nothing stood between the curtain and the room it revealed, but it felt as though a brick wall cut off their route.

And within that room was a little girl in a cutesy dress, looking back at them.



She held her arms up defensively, though without confidence. Her palms were shown to them, flattened. And behind her stood that godforsaken man whom they caught trespassing earlier. None of the others that were with the niece formerly were in sight.



Guinevere frowned, but said nothing.

Baltimore took this time to yank her uncle's wrist and dart into the next room, out of the Phillis siblings' sight. Once they were seemingly safe, Baltimore instantly dropped Eric's wrist and began to motion wildly with her arms and hands.

Eric's eyes widened with shock. "Wait, you want me to go out there? To the stage? But what about you?"

Again Baltimore motioned with her hands, this time also pointing to other areas within the tent. Her intention to resume exploring the Big Top alone despite the danger present was clear. She just wanted the confirmation from her dear uncle.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

Isabella was charging right at him - right at him - yet in the nick of time, he was saved. Pushed out of danger's way in a fell swoop. It was that sexy chick! She had managed to dodge Sammie's katana in time to save his life from hell. A look of both disbelief and gratitude crossed his features as he realized what was happening - these guys actually believed him and adhered to his dangerous plan.

As he rolled to his feet, Crispin was quick to rejoin the game. "Thanks," he called out as he followed in after Aria's setup. He would have to thank the big mama later for taking his hit. The illusionist had crouched down, attempting to sweep Isabella off her feet. During this, Crispin leapt over her, his arm reeled back and sizzling hot. Then he struck forward with a flaming hot punch. If Aria's kick didn't get her, then he would...!

In the meantime, Lute's interference would not go unnoticed.



With one of Sammie's blades grounded now, thanks to the virtuoso's soundwave, the magician chucked the other into the air and swept her hat from below her. She held it out, its opening facing skyward - and the katana dropped right into it, without cutting through the other side. It had been stored away instantly. Instead of propping her hat back onto her head however, she continued holding it out to the side.

Despite her outbursts earlier, Sammie opted out of even dignifying that white-haired rascal with any words. It was time to teach these assholes a lesson! The magician suddenly reached back into her hat and, from it, began flinging short-lived fireballs in Lute's direction. Whatever missed his body immediately singed a chair behind him. With every throw, Sammie stepped closer to him.



Having finished trying to wipe out flames eating away one section of seats, Tammie let out a big sigh. She turned around... only to find Sammie flinging the fire she just stowed away back out into the open and setting more seats aflame. Well, at least all the civilians were escorted out the tent! "Nooooo Sammie, what are you...! I just...! UGH! YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL JERKS."

Before she could whine any further, she spotted a red blur making its way down the steps as opposed to fleeing like the other civilians. Even though she didn't look armed, she was still going to cause trouble if she joined into the battle as opposed to flee... even if she did help her and her brother escort the guests out as safely as they could. With an audible grunt, Tammie chased after her. Being much more small and nimble to Estelle, she caught up with her quickly and cut her off from joining the assailants onstage or in the pit.

Tammie extended both arms (and legs) outward, a makeshift block to prevent Estelle from passing her apparently. "Hey you! Stop right there! Don't make me hurt you!" It didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon though, so (clumsily) she mimicked her sister and pulled something out from her hat while it was still atop her head: the same katana Sammie had just re-stored. She then held it before her with both hands. Incorrectly, of course.



Unlike his sisters, Cammie made his way outside instead, following after Max's outburst with two of the assailants. He hadn't seen the lean one get touched at all by Max, and yet there he was, sailing high in the sky along with his red-haired friend. Either Max's power was more complex than Cammie thought, or something else weird was going on there. Nonetheless, with a nod to Poppy, he charged after the sky-high fighters and tried to keep under them as best as he could while they were still clumped together.

[Pachamac]

Phillis Circus: Outskirts

“I think this was the one… yes, this one.” Xandra pointed to one of the trees on the outside of the circus’ fenced perimeter, leading herself and Trixie towards it and running up to the large tree’s trunk. Peering up, and changing the angle of her head for a better viewing of the branches above, she smiled a short smile upon seeing exactly what she had been looking for:- their leader’s sword and armour, right where Xandra remembered it.

“Boostie, Xannie, boostie!” Trixie the wonder pixie ordered, and Xandra turned back to her shorter friend with a salute. Holding her hands out together in front of her with her fingers interlocked, she created a foothold for Trixie to step onto and be boosted up to the overhead branches in the exact same way Estelle had done for her in escaping the Big Top’s fence earlier. A scant few seconds and much rustling later, Trixie called out again, warning Xandra to take a step back before Estelle’s Fireblade and armour fell to the ground with a clatter, and Trixie hopped back onto the floor after. “Trust Supersis to be awkward and hide all of her stuff away from everyone else’s! Tsk. You able to carry that, Xannie?”

“Y-yes,” Xandra replied, hoisting the armour up with her prosthetic and holding the sword in her other. She was surprised by just how heavy both pieces of equipment were. Regardless though, she needed to carry these and bring them back to their leader. “I’m not sure if we’ll be able to carry Moira’s equipment, though… we can get yours, Lute’s and that’s about it for weapons, but Moira’s…”

“Hmm…” Trixie tilted her head, deep in thought as she pondered the situation. She eventually shrugged. “I think she’s tough enough to be able to fight anything coming at her without any armour or sword!” Trixie grinned. “Or we can come back later. Anyway, c’mon, let’s go get my babies!” The pair quickly rushed to the spot where Syed, Moira and Aria had carefully hidden the rest of the group’s equipment, with Trixie rustling through them and triumphantly pulling out her uzis and belt, to imagined fanfare. She then brought them close to her chest in a warm embrace, kissing the two firearms. “Ohhh, mama’s missed you two so much! Wa-pow!”

“We should hurry back,” Xandra spoke coolly, as she lifted up Lute’s sword and jacket. “The sooner we can get these back to the others, the better.” With a determined nod from Trixie, the duo began to rush back into the circus, dodging and weaving their way through the fleeing throng of people as best they could. Soon, a parting between the thicket of people started to emerge, and the two sprinted for it…

…only to skid to a halt upon seeing the three figures striding towards them.

The two stiltmen and that really strange but also sort of cool and kinda creepy and weird acrobat lady who could split her body apart which did Trixie mention was kinda weird?

“Hey…” Stevie’s glowing red eye began to pulse brighter. “Aren’t they carrying…?”

[Pachamac]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Somewhere Backstage

“What? No, no, no! I’m not letting you go again!” Eric’s eyes widened in fright at what his niece was asking him, his hands quickly snatching onto hers and clasping them tightly. “I lost you once before, I won’t do so again! Not in here! This place is dangerous, isn’t it? Those two people…” The two people Eric were referring to was clear. “They’re kidnapping people, right? To perform for them. Like you… what if they try to do so again? I can’t let that happen, Balti, I can’t-!”

Eric’s plea was cut short upon the stern look his niece gave back to him, and the particular way her eyebrows contorted. Eric was slow to pick up on what she was trying to say, but he finally got it once Balti started to nod and smile. “Oh, oh right. Yeah, you’d just do the same as what you did before. Right. But still… I can’t let you go again, Balti, I just can’t… why would you even want to stay… here… oh…”

Finally the gears inside Eric’s mind were beginning to turn, and he started to clock in on the reasons Balti wanted to stay behind, to finish exploring the Big Top. And for that, he couldn’t disagree with her. Again, he felt ill at ease with letting her go away from him… those two, and every other performer of this circus was trouble. It’d be irresponsible, plain stupid to let Balti go off on her own, because even despite her talents it was still risky. She got kidnapped once before, it was possible the circus might do so again. But then his niece started to reemphasise the need for Eric to head towards the stage and again, slowly but surely, the cogs inside his brain came to the reason why…

Those two were headed there, and the majority of the other performers would likely be in there as well. That’s where the smell of that acrid smoke was coming from, and the sounds of shouting and screaming. Eric knew now what he had to do, and indeed, it meant he had to let Balti go. He couldn’t bring her with him to an even more dangerous place like the stage… and he couldn’t abandon it either. Neither the Guilders he had befriended on the way here, nor the nefarious villains behind all this. He drew as quiet as his little niece, his expression solemn and serious. He turned, looking in the direction of where the performance stage lay.

“Balti,” Eric’s hand fell on top of her silky black hair. “You be careful, okay? First sign of trouble you see, you run. And here,” From inside his jacket, Eric pulled out two distinct pieces of equipment, throwing one into Balti’s hands. Communicators.

“I took these from one of their tents I was exploring through. If you get into any trouble, you call me right away, okay? Stay safe, Precious!”

And with that, Eric broke off into a dash towards the Big Top’s performance stage. Balti’s eyes followed her uncle’s back until he disappeared around a curtained bend, and then lowering down to the communicator he had given her. She rolled her eyes.

[Pachamac]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

A face contorted in surprise and aggravation. Isabella couldn’t believe her eyes in the split second that woman had suddenly came flying from out of nowhere, tackling the arsonist Crispin out of the way of Isabella’s attacks; both her knife and her kick. As they tumbled to the floor, Aria’s body twisted and rolled into a crouch, her leg automatically sweeping to knock Isabella’s own from under her, as Crispin lunged forwards with a fist enflamed, destined to punch Isabella in the face much the same way the acrobat’s leg was intended for him, all in the space of a few minutes.

A face contorted and twisted in sheer venom and anger.

But then, an exhalation of breath, and a closing of eyes. Calmness washed over the acrobat, as she let her body fall backwards…

…and back flipped out of the path of both Guilders’ attacks, her legs leaving the floor the instant before Aria’s leg sliced through their prior standing, her head and upper torso falling out of Crispin’s range and instead, one of her feet colliding with Crispin’s jaw as she back flipped once, twice, three times back and out of range.

As she stood back perfectly upright, her arms stretched out before her, Isabella looked on at her two opponents, silently reading them and gauging how best to follow the fight up.

“ATH! MANTH! I THINK I BITH MY TONGUTH!” Crispin groaned as he held onto his chin and mouth. How the hell had she done that? He knew Isabella was good, being one of the senior most members of the circus and one of their most talented in the short space of time he had been at the circus… but how could she be that good? Broken! Hax! Calling time-out!

Isabella wasted no time in reaching for more of her knives, deftly flinging four with intense speed all aimed at the pair…

[Bunanigans]

Phillis Circus - Outside Big Top
“Hey… aren’t they carrying…?”

Poppy initially said nothing as she strode alongside the two siblings. Instead she simply cocked her head to one side in much the same way one would ponder over a particularly difficult crossword, her eyebrows knitting together ever so slightly.

Anybody could connect the dots here. These people, these strangers had armed themselves as all hell broke loose, and were running back into the commotion. Back to where her friends were trying to defend themselves.

"Are you... attacking us?" she said, her voice softspoken as ever. Unlike the others, there was no rage in her words. No anger at all. She seemed almost serene, even amongst all the chaos and the orange glow behind her. Disconnected from reality. "Are you with Crispin? I never thought he'd do something so mean... did you two think he would do something like that?" she looked up to the stiltmen.

Then with a smile she turned back to their two aggressors. Well, if Cammie was going after these people... "I'm sorry, but this is our home."

With that she leapt forward, her eyes focusing on Trixie in particular - it looked like she was ranged with those pistols, which would be troublesome for the stiltmen. She jumped onto her hands, before flipping herself into the air... and splitting herself once more at the joints at all angles, throwing her hands forward to grab the girl's wrists...

---

Phillis Circus - Sky
Moira wanted to scream.

But she could barely even breathe. Her stomach screamed in agony from the continued pressure the rocketman was forcing into her body, her chest felt like her bond with Syed was threatening to tear her heart clear out of her chest. The most she managed was a pitiful cough, a little blood splattering from her lips.

She couldn't hear a thing, not her own desperate groans, not even Syed's increasingly agonised, terrified screams. But she could see, even as the lack of oxygen began to blur her vision.

The big top was rapidly shrinking in size, the people fleeing it becoming tiny as the ground moved away. Instead the sky took over and swallowed them whole, the crimson of sunset finally giving away to the deep purples of dusk. The stars began to peek through the rapidly approaching clouds.

And then they hit one. She didn't know what she was expecting - it to feel like cotton wool, maybe. But instead it just felt cold and wet and she couldn't see anything anymore. All she could see now was the rocketman's arms, her hands desperately grasping at his own in an attempt to lessen the pressure. She could see the brilliant light of his propultion, mixed in with a little blue spreading through the cloud as Syed continued to panic out of sight.

Moira's eyelids began to droop as conciousness began to escape her. She wasn't even looking for a fucking fight for once! And people wondered why the hell she stayed a Rank H for so long... some days she wondered if she just had a face people were compelled to fall out with.

Oh well. The drop was definately fatal by now. If rocketman dropped her now, at least she probably won't feel her death anymore. What a shitty way to go.

Fuck him to hell and back.

[Orpheus]

Phillis Circus: Big Top

“Can you-” swish “-stop-” swish “-oh for the love of all that is holy, STOP!” Lute twisted his body to avoid the fireballs sent his way, but in his position right now it was almost impossible to move away. He had to get out into the aisle! When the girl poised to hurl yet another orb at him, Lute jumped and flat out collapsed on the ground, trying his best to ignore the sizzling sounds coming from the chairs that bore the brunt of the magician’s attacks. One misstep and he wouldn’t just be a walking klutz, he’d be a walking skinless klutz. The thought itself was inspiring in more ways than one.

The virtuoso wriggled out from within the rows of seats and faced the girl. His hands were splayed out in front of him in a non-threatening gesture, even if, let’s face it, she didn’t seem likely to listen to anything he had to say. There wasn’t any harm in trying, though. “Look, I’m not an enemy, okay? We need to get you all out of here now. We’re all going to burn to a crisp if we stay here!” He tried to sound reassuring, but as the flames roared higher so did Lute’s pitch. Crud, was she stepping towards him? The virtuoso skittered back cautiously, but the heel of his foot bumped against a fallen chair. Shit.

Wait, who was he kidding? The gal had a katana pointed at Aria earlier. She definitely wasn’t going to listen to him talk. Still… Maybe there was something he could do…? “Yeah, I’m not going to wait here and get roasted, thank you very much. See ya!” The virtuoso piped up and turned his back on Sammie to run up the aisle. Bad idea, but hopefully she took the bait. He just wanted everyone to go outside where it’s safe and they can all fight to the death there if they so wished. "Dellie, tell me if she's about to attack me, okay!?" He whispered to the familiar and she nodded, then set up a small guard perimeter around him. Everything else would just depend on whether he had crappy reflexes.

[Rexcalibur]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

Just as Crispin got back on his feet, Isabella was already attacking again! Nuts! "Gah!" he cried out in a near panic. Two of the knives charged after the arsonist - and he punched them in retaliation, one after the other. Each small blade was set alight immediately, glowing with the same fiery life as his own fists. The knives were flung right back at the acrobat, though at an angle that left a sizable gap between them. Crispin took this opportunity to deftly charge in after Isabella, ready to strike her with a red-hot jab.

Both the brawler and acrobat were matched in speed, but Crispin was well aware that Isabella's insane agility would always top his power if she had her focus zeroed in on him. Crispin could only hope Aria would back him up as he went for the punch...!

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Pit

Sammie grunted loudly. She had him, she almost had him! Then the coward just up and ran outside!? "Finest example of hit-and-run I've ever seen in my life!" she cried out as she chased after them. Once the duo were outside, Sammie called to her brother, who had his eyes to the skies. "Cammie!"



"Huh?" He whirled around instantly. Most citizens had cleared by this point, though some still lingered about (crying, paranoid, injured) - but there was no mistaking that moon-white hair. Wasn't he helping them earlier though?

Regardless, he was charging right in Cammie's direction, and from Sammie's call, he needed to be stopped. As he drew near enough, Cammie swung at Lute with his cape - attempting to redirect the virtuoso right back at Sammie - who was now lunging at him!

Sammie let out a cry mid-leap, her arms extended fully, though void of any weapon. Man oh man was she going to have fun yanking that pretty hair right off of his head. That'd teach him to screw with their family!

---

Phillis Circus: Outskirts

"Are you with Crispin? I never thought he'd do something so mean... did you two think he would do something like that?"

Trixie cocked her head, with genuine confusion. "Huh, who?" Then it clicked. "Ohhh, the fiery guy. Listen lady, we don't know who he is! Umm, uh, because - thing is - he tried to talk some funny stuff to us! And umm... I dunno, Supersis thought he was suspicious, so we were gonna... go in and... stop... him... maybe... kind of..." She brought her two pointer fingers together.

They weren't buying it.

"I'm sorry, but this is our home."

So commenced the outdoor attack! Trixie prepared herself, both in a gunman's position and a running stance. Pfft, the acrobat lunging for her. She could guess it was to take her weapons - right? - cuz that was totally something she herself was prone to doing to ranged attackers. Except she kinda forgot for like two whole seconds that Poppy could do that weird thing with her body parts and detached them and OH OMELETS she did it just now with her hands, whooooaaa!

"Trixie!" A stern voice called from her side - and a metallic rod was thrust between herself and Poppy's thrown hands, knocking them right to the ground. Xandra stepped in at the perfect time.

Suddenly something red-hot blitzed right passed the guilders and sliced through the tree behind them. Trixie blinked rapidly, before turning behind her to see a hole in the tree trunk. She turned back to Lily - the red dot on her visor glowed brightly for a moment before softening. Thin vapor escaped into the air from it. Oh... oh... did she... use a... laser...???

"WHOA THAT'S SO COOL, CAN I GET YOUR AUTOGRAPH AFTER WE BEAT YOU?"

"Trixie! Not now!"

This time Stevie shot his short-lived laser, though Trixie snapped out of it in time to leap out the way; the metallurgist dodged opposite from her. Both stood themselves quickly, the latter quickly adapting to a battle-ready stance. Even if the stiltmen's lasers never hit them, the constant dodging would leave them open for Poppy to hone in. They couldn't allow themselves to be outmaneuvered like this, not when everyone else was counting on them!

But Trixie was already one step ahead of her. Uzi in mouth, she held a smoke bomb high in her hand. Xandra looked to the prankster with wide eyes. "Wait--!"

BLOOSH! Their field was covered in smoke. The stiltmen siblings stood steady for a moment, allowing their visors to adjust to the smoke. Lily grinned widely. "Fools... our visors are equipped with state-of-the-art heat sensors. They're digging their own grave."

Stevie looked to her. "You think we'll get a promotion for this?"

Meanwhile, within the smoke, Trixie crept low. Guns both locked and loaded, she constantly shifted her attention to each noise popping up in the distance, including the patrols' chatter. She continued moving about too. Though - "Oomph!" - she tripped over Poppy's hands and landed face first. Instantly she rolled to her back and backpaddled, guns held before her. Trigger fingers ready.

[Crescendo]

Phillus Circus-Big Top

This woman... Impressive. The acrobat had neatly flipped back, not only avoiding their combined attack but giving a hard kick to Crispin’s jaw, sending the man reeling back. She had to repress a small urge to clap when Isabella landed neatly on her feet, hands outstretched gracefully. She could only hope to fight with as much class.

More knives were sent their way as Crispy howled, but somehow he managed to react- And promptly punched the blades away as Ari drew her fans from her scarf and blocked one coming at her face and barely managed to hit the one that had been aimed at her side. Apparently the guy’s fists could set fire to blades… And while they missed Isabella, they did serve to add to the fire damage in the tent. If this kept up, the tent was going to be up in flames again very soon.

She stooped down to pick up the dropped blades, Trixie not having been back with their weapons yet. She weighed them quickly in her hand, pleased that they weren’t too differently balanced than her own and gladly returned the two knife with quick flicks of her wrists as Crispin lunged forward again. She could only try to be resourceful right now- where had the prankster run to? Hopefully the girl wasn't in trouble, but Pride members always seemed to attract whatever danger was around them. Maybe it was a skill.

This time Aria tried to put a small illusion on Crispin- shifting his image to the left by a few centimeters in an attempt to confuse the acrobat. She stayed back this time, focusing in an attempt to examine the way the acrobat moved. Perhaps if there was some pattern in her movements, it would be easier to pin her down.

[Pachamac]

Phillis Circus – Sky

Higher and higher, and higher further still… Max continued to propel his body and his hapless victims higher into the sky, passing through a blanket of clouds and leaving behind a rapidly shrinking speck of circus behind. Moira continued to struggle onto consciousness, the pain boring into her stomach from Max’s fists and the power of his accompanying thrust being almost too much to bear, but still the berserker held on, too enraged and gripped in anger to pass out just yet. Below, Syed continued to panic and fret, but his presence hadn’t even been noticed by Max yet. After all, people didn’t tend to be magically bound to another to the point where they couldn’t be more then a certain distance apart. Then again, most people didn’t tend to be a human rocket, either.

“Woah there, ya still with me, right? Don’t go passing out on me now.”

Moira could barely comprehend the words at first. It took her a few seconds to actually process them, as well as the fact that she had actually stopped moving. She was still uncomfortably suspended high in the sky, but for now, they weren’t actually ascending any higher. Groaning and straining to open her eye, wanting to vomit, she saw the blurry figure of Max beside her, his lower body consumed in fire and flame as he continued to push himself to a stable hover, with his hands still gripping Moira’s stomach at just the right point to hold her aloft.

“You… little… fucke-”

“Now now,” Max tsked, his heavy accent lilting over Moira. “You and ya’ll buddies went ahead and started this little mess here. Best be takin’ some responsibility, yeah?”

“I’m… going… to…”

“Just be glad ya not locked in one of the toilets. That’s horrifying. Anyway… see ya at the bottom.”

And with that, he let go.

Moira felt herself fall, the weight of the world gripping on her and pulling her back down again, Max’s body rapidly shrinking into that same insignificant speck the world below had become, which was now only growing larger and larger. Her hands instinctively reached out for him, to try and grab him and stop herself, but by then it was too late. She just fell, and there was nothing she could do.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Audience Stands

“You be explaining meaning of this, da?”

‘Crap, crap, crap!’ Lucien couldn’t think of anything to say that might appease the muscle laden man before him, especially with his terrifying bevy of beasts besides and the rapidly escalating fights around them. Abram and the other circus performers no doubt knew that he was affiliated with the rest of the Pride after he had ring side seats next to Moira and Syed (boy, he really hoped they were okay) and so pretending to be an innocent, dopey bystander didn’t look it’d work. And with how everything else was turning out… he didn’t really think explaining about how Abram and his friends were possibly kidnapping people would really help either. Because… why would it?

“Why you no talk?”

And jokes… Lucien’s heart and soul, those brilliant, amazing jokes…! Abram really didn’t seem to be in a laughing mood right now.

“Puny little man in little girly dress, you answer Abram!”

So, he’d have to fight! Except… except Abram was stupidly massive and powerful and had three equally huge and powerful animals all around him! Fighting one of them might have been possible, but not with odds of four to one! He could summon one of his animals, but there was no way he could fight them and defend his prone body at the same time! Normally in a fight he’d have one of his buddies help to protect his real, physical body, but here…

“Ah, eheh, exit stage left?” Lucien shrugged, dashing as quickly as he could up to one of the tent’s exits in the same way Lute had lured Sammie out, hoping he could lose those ferocious animals in the tents outside. But at Abram’s command, the lion Lidya began dashing after him.

Lucien didn’t even reach halfway up before Lidya was upon him, springing into the air and aiming to pounce Lucien to the ground. But before that even happened, the summoner tripped over one of the knocked over chairs, and collapsed to the ground just as the lion sailed overhead, narrowly missing Lucien’s own lovely head. He had narrowly avoided that attack, but the lion was already spinning around to face Lucien’s front, and from behind was still Abram and his other beasts…

---

Eyes widening with alarm, Estelle skidded to as sudden a stop as she could, a few feet away from where Tammie stood threatening in front of her, her two hands brandishing a katana much like her sister Sammie had to fight off against Lute. She shifted her body into as much of a defensive stance as she could, but even then she wasn’t sure what her chances like this might prove to be – she was completely weaponless and without any of her armour to boot. Tammie had her at a major disadvantage.

And yet…

Estelle couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Or, also what she was going to say…

“Er… you do realise you’re holding it wrong, right?” The swordswoman blinked at Tammie with disbelief. Tammie then perked up from her seriously readied mind in confusion at what Estelle was saying. Her eyes then looked down at the sword.

“Wait, really, I am?”

“Er… yeah…” A bead of sweat dropped down Estelle’s neck. “If you’re going to hold it like that and swing it or use it in any way… you’re going to cut yourself, you know.”

“Cut myself!?” Tammie shrieked. “Eeeep!”

‘…what am I doing…?’ Estelle asked herself. She then cried out in alarm as she witnessed the shocking twist in the battle below her.

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top: Performance Ring

The little brat’s deflection of her knives caused even more pockets of flame to emerge about the tent, rekindling the fire that Tammie had worked so hard to put out to burn anew once more. Once again, a burst of anger shot throughout Isabella at the thought of the upstart little child daring to do this to her family and home, but she quickly buried the anger, knowing full well that such emotions would not lend her a victory. As she always was with her performance, she needed to be cool, calm and composed in order to be victorious. Crispin’s actions were only added encouragement for her to make him pay.

As he charged forth, Aria threw back Isabella’s knives as deftly as the acrobat had, both sharp implements aimed at her with uncanny precision. But Isabella looked entirely unfazed by the danger, instead allowing her body to fall backwards in the exact same motion as she had done before, sweeping her legs up in the path of the knives…

…and catching the handles in-between her toes, spinning her body around in an elegant handstand and then volleying the weapons straight back at Aria. As she did, she hopped back onto her feet, her hand now brandishing another knife, raised to stab the approaching Crispin at close range. She lunged forward, driving her knife forward to pierce the brawler in the shoulder, but was left completely stunned and unintentionally speechless when she found the action unsuccessful.

The knife just passed harmlessly through his body.

What?

And then pain befell Isabella in her stomach – an unseen, invisible pain that pummelled into her and sent her flying backwards, inadvertently coughing up blood as she skidded to a crash backwards, blackened scorch marks left imprinted on her bare skin from where Crispin’s knuckles had burnt through her clothing.

“Alright!” Crispin grinned, not knowing entirely how or why that had worked, but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He turned to look towards Aria, his fist rising to give his ally a thumbsup…

...and felt a crashing pain ten times worse then the punch he had given Isabella greet him in his face. The blow and shock was instantaneous, throwing him backwards clean across the length of the performance stage, to crash against one of the far barriers to the pit.

“Isa, my little sister, are you alright?”



Abram Boss Theme:
Fight On
The acrobat groggily rose to her feet to witness Abram standing in front of her, his whole powerful body standing rigid, his arm outstretched from where he had punched Crispin. The man’s moustache bristled mightily, and he looked towards the acrobat with grave concern. Concern which Isabella shook off, not one to continually focusing on such pain when she had a more important job to do. She nodded to the woman over Abram’s shoulder, and then tilted her head up. Abram nodded.

Meanwhile, as this occurred, Aria winced as she gripped her bleeding shoulder, and the knife that was imbedded inside. The pain stung, but it was one she was willing to accept. She couldn’t have moved to avoid the knife without having it affect her illusion on Crispin. In order for him to hit Isabella with his fiery punch, she would have to take this hit, and pray that it was enough. But then that muscleman Abram had appeared, and Isabella looked to still be able to stand on her feet… and Aria could only wince back in pain.

And then shock, as she felt something wrap around her torso and grip her tightly. Looking down, she was stunned to find the trunk of an elephant holding her, and then suddenly and sharply fling her high into the air, towards the tent’s ceiling. Her arms and legs spun in confusion and horror, and then her return fall was just as suddenly stopped as her body hit a taut rope stretching across the width of the tent. Her hands scrambled to grab hold as she started to fall again, saving herself.

And then her eyes turned to the other side of the rope after feeling it sway inside her hands, to Isabella who had been thrown onto the tightrope thanks to the mighty Abram below. To Isabella who stalked towards her, devoid of any fear of the massive drop below them, as the acrobat reached for another of her many knives.

---

Phillis Circus – Sky

How could it all end this way? It couldn’t, it just… couldn’t. She had lived a long life so far and done many things, but she was still only forty-four, damnit! She still had a long life left, and a lot of shit she still needed to do! Like watching her son and grandson grow, helping Estelle and the rest of her friends find those annoying missing Guildleaders of hers and deliver that dumb letter, drink a shit ton more alcohol and punch a lot more faces in, not to mention get rid of her stupid curse to Syed… it couldn’t end like this!

And that’s another thing that shocked and haunted her. Syed. Because of her, and the bond they shared, he too would… die from this fall. There was no way to avoid it, and no way to stop it. And that wasn’t right. That wasn’t fair. How the fuck could this happen? He had a life and family too! And for all of it… all of this to end because of some obnoxious little twat dropping them from the sky and hitting the ground to a finite end it… it wasn’t right. Going down in an epic sky splitting sword fight was one fucking thing, but this was just straight up fucking embarrassing. How could it end like this?!

The ground below was rapidly approaching. The little dots she saw below developed into tents, and then she could see the people running below. Damnit… there literally wasn’t anything she could do, was there? She closed her eyes, awaiting that final impact, knowing that this would fucking hurt as fuck… but at least, she supposed, it’d be brief.

Moira felt a sudden blow smash into her, not from her front which she had expected, but her side. Her body was thrown with the same frightening speed as before, but this time to the sky, parallel above the ground, and Syed was dragged alongside her, inches from hitting the ground. Moira gritted her teeth and shouted, as the human rocket Max punched her through several of the Phillis Circus’ tents, tearing through them one by one, slowing the momentum of her descent, before letting go and allowing Moira and Syed to continue barrelling through the rest that was in her way, crashing through tents and stand to land with a loud bang into a bouncy castle, the poor children’s toy deflating with a gasping wheeze as the impact popped it.



Max’s body somersaulted through the air and landed on the ground with a punching crouch, as smoke and debris littered the crash site from where Moira and Syed had landed. Max lifted his glasses up, inspecting the damage, before turning around to walk away and rejoin his companions. What Max had done wouldn’t have been fatal – painful still, to an almost impossible degree, yes, but not fatal. Not compared to a straight drop against a hard ground, anyway.

“Ya just be grateful I ain’t no killer, lady,” Max spoke over his shoulder as he walked away. “Not like you and your fire totin’ buddy. You be thinkin’ about that in dreamland, y’hear?”

From the smoking wreckage, a bloody hand reached out and grabbed a wayward pole. Familiar bloodshot eyes opened up, both trained upon the back of Max Powers. A hoarse growl left the owner’s lips.

“I’m gonna fucking murder him.”

[Bunanigans]

Phillis Circus - Outskirts
Poppy came to a stop, blinking with mild curiosity as the smoke billowed around them. Oh. That was interesting. Of course, Stevie and Lily were unfazed by it - the girl was right about them being cool. But for Poppy, it was a nusiance. She had no fancy visor, unfortunately. One day, maybe.

She sighed. "How awkward." Oh well. She stood on tiptoes, then began to move through the murk.

"Oomph!"

The hands rolled from the impact, their fingers tensing from the blow. However just as Trixie rolled onto her back they both rolled onto their palms, before standing on the tips of their fingers. They both paused for a moment, almost comically rotating slightly with shifting fingers until they determined what direction to go. And with that, they both shot straight for her, scuttling across the floor like creepy insects.

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

They faced a barrage of bullets from the backpeddling prankster, although they scuttled on regardless just barely in her vision through the fog. They didn't make any move to dodge the bullets, managing to avoid most of them by virtue of their small size and fast movements. Finally one jumped towards Trixie's face. BLAM!

The hand was thrown back once more by the force of the bullet, rolling out of sight. Meanwhile the other continued across the floor, feeling out with it's fingertips before latching onto Trixie's leg and beginning to climb...

---

Phillis Circus
He didn't want to move again. He'd be perfectly happy to just sleep here, thank you very much. Nice and safe on the ground, where he belonged. Even if he was now lying in a wreckage not sure what way was up anymore. He nearly died. He was suprised his heart was still going just from the shock. He hurt so much it was a wonder he wasn't dead now. He had done his best to cushion the impact for himself, and really that was the only reason he was still concious.

He could hear voices. He could feel the wreckage move. Please stop moving.

"Sy... urgh..."

A piece of the rubble pushed to one side, and Syed recoiled a little as the fresh air hit him once more. He looked up from behind his hands to find Moira standing over him - pale and bloody, her knuckles white on the grip of a metal pole... and her eyes betraying her rage. And yet...


"Ain't gonna be able to get a guy who can do that kind of shit on my own."

He blinked a couple of times, his gaze almost probing her. Moira... was actually asking for his help before jumping in? How? How could he do anything? This man wasn't even attacking him and nearly killed him anyway! And yet...

He staggered back up to his feet, leaning heavily on Moira as he did so. This man claimed them to be murderers, yet he was very quick to show them how capable of it he was himself. And if he was going to act with the same hostility to the others... to inflict blows of that magnitude to the others... he swallowed his pain to the best of his ability. "Okay," he said simply, his voice hoarse. "I'll... I'll do my best..."

"OI!" Moira bellowed. She held the pole out above her head, before sweeping it down in the direction of Max's retreating back. "I don't know what the fuck you're on about. Killers? What the fuck has that come from? What about your creepy stalker shit you got going on?!" she swept the pole to one side, before wiping her mouth with her other hand. Blood smeared. Syed took a couple of steps back, his fingers poised to act in a split-second's notice. He was going to have to cast faster than he had ever cast in his life... it was a good thing his mind was still sharp, abeit shaken.

A vicious grin spread across Moira's features. "Either way... we ain't had our turn yet."

[Rexcalibur]

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Seats

Even with Abram's back turned to him, Lucien was far more outnumbered than he knew he could handle. With Lidya now occupying the nearest exit, Lucien had to change routes. He immediately scrambled to the row of seats nearest him. Another exit lied in his direction. If he was quick enough, maybe he could outrun the tamers' animals. Or, or maybe, they were all occupied with the mess going on onstage...!



Yet Olga the gorilla was already on her feet, now charging to the end of the exit nearest the summoner. She took off with a posture less than graceful in comparison to Lidya, but she made it to the exit before Lucien could even dream to. There, she plopped down with a grunt - blocking off the doorway completely.



Meanwhile Lidya the lioness charged back down where she had leapt from. It wasn't long before she reached the row where Lucien had ducked into. She snarled loudly as she skid by, turning to the row of seats.

But his prey was not there. Lidya growled and set paw into the row. The man may have been quick to act, but there was no way he could outhide a cat's senses.

Unless, of course, her focus was disrupted.

Suddenly Lidya felt a sharp pain dig into her back as she fell to the floor on her front. A large brown bear had pounced atop her and began clawing away hastily; they were not fatal swipes, as the bears' claws avoided Lidya's heart. If he could just render her too weak to move before Abram's other pets could follow up...