Circus for a Psycho 6/?
Title: Circus for a Psycho
Author:
joatex
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Supernatural, Romance (maybe....?)
Warning: None...I think... (-_-U)
Disclaimer: No.... the boys aren't mine, sad.... but true (T^T)
Summary: The circus is supposed to be a place of fun and laughter, but not Circo Insanus. On the outside, it appears to be a new, modern-style circus, but on the inside, it harbors a dark, sinister secret, one that has remained hidden for years. But when KAT-TUN goes to take in a show, it ends up going from a night of fun, to a fight for survival.
A/N: Enjoy (n_n)
Previous Chapters: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
Chapter 6: Showtime
The center tent was a massive complex, one that was big enough to almost hold all of the people that had come into the circus that night. Kame and the others had been fortunate enough to get seats close to the performance ring, giving them a perfect view of the upcoming show. But rather than wait in anticipation, Kame was too busy scanning the crowd of people behind him.
He was hoping to catch a glimpse of Jin so their group could be reunited again. However, Kame didn't see a single sign of him. The hope he had been feeling was weighed down with a mixture of worry and disappointment. Where is he? he thought to himself. Kame turned back around and faced forward. Beside him, Tatsuya asked, "See him anywhere?"
Kame simply shook her head. Tatsuya frowned and placed a supportive hand on Kame's shoulders. "We'll run into him eventually, so don't worry yourself over this too much. Just sit and enjoy the show," he said with a reassuring smile. Kame smiled back, but on the inside, he was still worrying. The lights in the tent suddenly grew dim and concentrated in the middle of the performance ring.
A hush fell over the crowd as the woman from the train depot, suddenly appeared in the spotlight. The silver streaks in her black hair caught the light just right and shimmered like the light of the moon. All around in the audience, Kame could hear people taking in gasps of air at the sight of Mirage. Kame didn't blame them for doing so; Mirage was an exotic kind of beautiful, a kind that didn't even seem human. As Mirage moved around the performance ring, the spotlight followed her.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to see that we have a full house for tonight's show," she said silkily as her green eyes scanned over the crowd. "As many of you know from the train depot, and also over the loudspeaker, my name is Mirage. I am the assistant to our illustrious Ringmaster, and as I have stated a few times the past couple of days, our Ringmaster has been rather unwell. But rest assured, he is better tonight and will be present for the show."
The audience clapped in response. Mirage waited for the applause to die down before speaking again. "I really do hope you all have enjoyed the other attractions that our circus has, and if you haven't, I recommend doing so after tonight's show," she said with a seductive smile.
Kame thought back to the last tent they went in, the one with the girl that could mimic voices. A shiver shot down his spine at the memory of the strange girl's blank expression. It was a given that they weren't going back in that tent for the rest of the night.
Kame focused back on Mirage, ridding his mind of the disturbing memories of Noise's tent. "Well, it is time for our performance to begin. I ask that you all enjoy the show that our performers have put together for you all. Thank you," Mirage said with a bow. The spotlight turned off, and when the lights returned, Mirage was gone.
The lights then turned upward to illuminate two people being lowered down from the ceiling of the tent; Kame figured that the wire that was holding them had to be really thin, he couldn't see it from where he sat. In fact, it almost looked at if there was nothing suspending them in the air at all. One of the performers, a woman, was dressed in a flowing white dress with wings as white as snow coming from the shoulder blades on her back.
Her partner, a man, was quite the opposite. He was dressed in black, tattered clothes, and black wings protruded from his back. They were doing a play on light and dark, good and evil. The two performers began their routine, doing elaborate flips and acrobatics in the air.
To Kame, the movements looked so natural, as if the performers were really the beings that they were depicted as. He knew better than that, though. The female, the one dressed as an angel, was suddenly struck down by the devilish creature. She spiraled down towards the ground, leaving white feathers behind in the air as well. Then, right before making contact with the stage below, she halted her descent and took skyward again. She flew above her dark half and raised her hands above her head.
The lights in the tent then flashed brightly, blinding the audience momentarily. When Kame regained her vision, she found the angel standing over the devil, blood staining the once snow-white dress. The lights then went dark, signaling the end of the first performance and for the audience to clap. Over the applause, Kame heard Junno say, "I didn't see any wires or anything. Did you guys?"
Maru replied logically with, "They probably have some high-tech equipment, some kind of wire that's really thin and almost invisible to the human eye." The lights then flickered back on, and Mirage was standing back in the center of the stage. "I hope that opening act was up to all of your standards," she said to the audience, who replied with a louder applause.
Mirage smiled and said, "That's not even the tip of the iceberg. There are still many more performances to be seen, so please remain seated." The lights went out once more. That was when Kame could feel himself growing a bit tired, but he figured it was nothing but effects from being awake at such a late hour. The lights flashed back on, revealing ten people standing on the stage.
They were all dressed in skintight, black outfits; some of them had large, silver rings with them. The one standing in the middle of them all, threw something on the ground, which exploded into a cloud of smoke, hiding the performer. When the smoke finally cleared, a stunning white tiger had taken their place. The big cat reared its head back and roared loudly.
It then stood up and began to stalk the nine remaining performers, who stood completely still, despite the fact that a creature that was capable of killing them was so close. The tiger then turned its gaze to one of the people that held a silver ring. It then charged at the performer, teeth bared and ready to rip into flesh, but the performer simply lifted the ring into the air.
The tiger leaped through the ring, but vanished as it did so; it never appeared on the other side. Kame found himself leaning forward in his chair. How could something as big as that tiger vanish by passing through a hoop? On the other side of the stage, the other ring-wielding performer held his ring out, and just as he did so, the tiger suddenly jumped out of that ring. Kame couldn't figure it out.
It was as if the two separate rings were somehow connected and created a black hole effect. He knew better, though, and that it was just some kind of circus trick; no reason to start thinking it was somehow real. The performers teleported the white tiger to different sides of the stage with the rings for several minutes, then turned around and did the same thing to themselves, vanishing one-by-one until all that was left were the rings and the tiger.
The tiger sat down in the middle of the stage, roared, and was consumed by smoke. And just like earlier, when the smoke cleared, the tiger was replaced by the last performer, the one who had originally turned into the big cat. The lights then shut off, marking the end of another performance.
This time, the applause grew louder than it had been after the angel and demon display, for this performance was more impressive than the last.
And for the first time that night, Kame found himself completely mesmerized by the circus. Whereas his thoughts had previously been occupied in finding their missing friend, they were now focused entirely on the next performance. The show was all the seemed to matter now.
+++++++++++++
Jin shook his head, still refusing to believe that he was really speaking with a ghost. Then again, how could he really argue with anything at this point? Jin's spectral guest had something in common with him, though; they were both victims of Ringmaster.
However, for some reason, the ghost, who had once been called Ryo, didn't have all of his life drained, thus resulting in him being trapped in the Nether. Jin didn't fully understand how all that worked, and he wasn't even entirely sure if Ryo understood it either.
The ghost, who had been babbling on nonstop for the longest time about how it got lonely in the Nether, suddenly stopped talking. "What? Run out of things to say?" Jin asked, his voice filled with irritation, as well as fatigue. The more minutes that went by, the more life was drained from him. Ryo shook his head and said, "It's happening again." Jin raised a brow in confusion and asked hoarsely, "What are you talking about?"
Ryo hovered over to the edge of the cage and stared through the bars. "The main show's started," the ghost said sadly, "I know because I can feel the circus draining life from the people inside." Jin forced his weakened body into a sitting position. "Seriously, what are you talking about?" he asked.
Why couldn't he have gotten stuck with a normal ghost, or maybe even no ghost at all? Ryo shook his head, as if snapping free from a trance. "Oh? You don't know about this circus?" the specter asked. Jin shook his head. "How am I supposed to know anything about it?" he said coldly. Ryo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Good point," the ghost said, "Well, here's the thing, then. This circus wasn't ever really made for people to have a good time. It was made as a conduit."
Jin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He honestly wasn't following what the ghost was saying. "Okay, go on." Ryo nodded and said, "Well, the best way I can describe this circus is like…..Is like an ant colony, where the Ringmaster is the queen. Do you know what happens to an ant colony if the queen dies?" Jin nodded and said, "The colony dies." The ghost nodded his head and began to pace around the cage.
"Exactly. The colony dies. So, in other words, the Ringmaster, who in order to keep on living has to find a new form whenever his old one wears out, is the queen. If he dies, then the rest of the circus does as well. But just like worker ants depend on the queen, the Carnies depend on Ringmaster. He created the circus not only as a way to ensure that he constantly has a new form, but to also make sure that his subjects continue to live on as well. The way he did that was through his design of Circo Insanus. When people enter the center tent where the main show is held, that's when Ringmaster's creation comes into play. That tents takes some of the life force from the audience and distributes it to the Carnies to replenish their life and youth."
Jin stared in absolute horror. This circus was strictly designed to take life. Something then occurred to him. "Wait, if you're saying the main show is happening now, that means that people are having their life taken from them as we speak?" he asked, his voice filled with growing panic.
Ryo nodded and told him, "Yes, since I'm necessarily trapped within the confines of Circo Insanus, I can tell when the main show begins and when the audience is losing their life force." Jin began to shake his head furiously. "No, there's got to be a way to stop it! My friends are out there!" he shouted at the specter.
The ghost frowned and said, "I can't do anything to stop it. I'm just as trapped and helpless as you are." Jin was about to say something else, but his words caught in his throat as his body was racked with pain. He doubled over and cried out, holding on tightly to the sides of his head.
Over to the side, he just barely heard Ryo say, "Well, looks like Ringmaster decided to take in a bit more of your energy before making his appearance for the show."
Jin, in order to combat the pain, bit down on his lower lip until he drew blood. His vision then began to blur as his body shut down from the magnitude of the agony it was undergoing, and then, all he saw was darkness.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A/N: Hope you liked it. (n_n) Anyway, I'm still working on the next update of D&P, I just ran into a little problem..I'm stuck, but I promise to have the update up asap.
Chapter 7
Author:
joatex
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Supernatural, Romance (maybe....?)
Warning: None...I think... (-_-U)
Disclaimer: No.... the boys aren't mine, sad.... but true (T^T)
Summary: The circus is supposed to be a place of fun and laughter, but not Circo Insanus. On the outside, it appears to be a new, modern-style circus, but on the inside, it harbors a dark, sinister secret, one that has remained hidden for years. But when KAT-TUN goes to take in a show, it ends up going from a night of fun, to a fight for survival.
A/N: Enjoy (n_n)
Previous Chapters: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
Chapter 6: Showtime
The center tent was a massive complex, one that was big enough to almost hold all of the people that had come into the circus that night. Kame and the others had been fortunate enough to get seats close to the performance ring, giving them a perfect view of the upcoming show. But rather than wait in anticipation, Kame was too busy scanning the crowd of people behind him.
He was hoping to catch a glimpse of Jin so their group could be reunited again. However, Kame didn't see a single sign of him. The hope he had been feeling was weighed down with a mixture of worry and disappointment. Where is he? he thought to himself. Kame turned back around and faced forward. Beside him, Tatsuya asked, "See him anywhere?"
Kame simply shook her head. Tatsuya frowned and placed a supportive hand on Kame's shoulders. "We'll run into him eventually, so don't worry yourself over this too much. Just sit and enjoy the show," he said with a reassuring smile. Kame smiled back, but on the inside, he was still worrying. The lights in the tent suddenly grew dim and concentrated in the middle of the performance ring.
A hush fell over the crowd as the woman from the train depot, suddenly appeared in the spotlight. The silver streaks in her black hair caught the light just right and shimmered like the light of the moon. All around in the audience, Kame could hear people taking in gasps of air at the sight of Mirage. Kame didn't blame them for doing so; Mirage was an exotic kind of beautiful, a kind that didn't even seem human. As Mirage moved around the performance ring, the spotlight followed her.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to see that we have a full house for tonight's show," she said silkily as her green eyes scanned over the crowd. "As many of you know from the train depot, and also over the loudspeaker, my name is Mirage. I am the assistant to our illustrious Ringmaster, and as I have stated a few times the past couple of days, our Ringmaster has been rather unwell. But rest assured, he is better tonight and will be present for the show."
The audience clapped in response. Mirage waited for the applause to die down before speaking again. "I really do hope you all have enjoyed the other attractions that our circus has, and if you haven't, I recommend doing so after tonight's show," she said with a seductive smile.
Kame thought back to the last tent they went in, the one with the girl that could mimic voices. A shiver shot down his spine at the memory of the strange girl's blank expression. It was a given that they weren't going back in that tent for the rest of the night.
Kame focused back on Mirage, ridding his mind of the disturbing memories of Noise's tent. "Well, it is time for our performance to begin. I ask that you all enjoy the show that our performers have put together for you all. Thank you," Mirage said with a bow. The spotlight turned off, and when the lights returned, Mirage was gone.
The lights then turned upward to illuminate two people being lowered down from the ceiling of the tent; Kame figured that the wire that was holding them had to be really thin, he couldn't see it from where he sat. In fact, it almost looked at if there was nothing suspending them in the air at all. One of the performers, a woman, was dressed in a flowing white dress with wings as white as snow coming from the shoulder blades on her back.
Her partner, a man, was quite the opposite. He was dressed in black, tattered clothes, and black wings protruded from his back. They were doing a play on light and dark, good and evil. The two performers began their routine, doing elaborate flips and acrobatics in the air.
To Kame, the movements looked so natural, as if the performers were really the beings that they were depicted as. He knew better than that, though. The female, the one dressed as an angel, was suddenly struck down by the devilish creature. She spiraled down towards the ground, leaving white feathers behind in the air as well. Then, right before making contact with the stage below, she halted her descent and took skyward again. She flew above her dark half and raised her hands above her head.
The lights in the tent then flashed brightly, blinding the audience momentarily. When Kame regained her vision, she found the angel standing over the devil, blood staining the once snow-white dress. The lights then went dark, signaling the end of the first performance and for the audience to clap. Over the applause, Kame heard Junno say, "I didn't see any wires or anything. Did you guys?"
Maru replied logically with, "They probably have some high-tech equipment, some kind of wire that's really thin and almost invisible to the human eye." The lights then flickered back on, and Mirage was standing back in the center of the stage. "I hope that opening act was up to all of your standards," she said to the audience, who replied with a louder applause.
Mirage smiled and said, "That's not even the tip of the iceberg. There are still many more performances to be seen, so please remain seated." The lights went out once more. That was when Kame could feel himself growing a bit tired, but he figured it was nothing but effects from being awake at such a late hour. The lights flashed back on, revealing ten people standing on the stage.
They were all dressed in skintight, black outfits; some of them had large, silver rings with them. The one standing in the middle of them all, threw something on the ground, which exploded into a cloud of smoke, hiding the performer. When the smoke finally cleared, a stunning white tiger had taken their place. The big cat reared its head back and roared loudly.
It then stood up and began to stalk the nine remaining performers, who stood completely still, despite the fact that a creature that was capable of killing them was so close. The tiger then turned its gaze to one of the people that held a silver ring. It then charged at the performer, teeth bared and ready to rip into flesh, but the performer simply lifted the ring into the air.
The tiger leaped through the ring, but vanished as it did so; it never appeared on the other side. Kame found himself leaning forward in his chair. How could something as big as that tiger vanish by passing through a hoop? On the other side of the stage, the other ring-wielding performer held his ring out, and just as he did so, the tiger suddenly jumped out of that ring. Kame couldn't figure it out.
It was as if the two separate rings were somehow connected and created a black hole effect. He knew better, though, and that it was just some kind of circus trick; no reason to start thinking it was somehow real. The performers teleported the white tiger to different sides of the stage with the rings for several minutes, then turned around and did the same thing to themselves, vanishing one-by-one until all that was left were the rings and the tiger.
The tiger sat down in the middle of the stage, roared, and was consumed by smoke. And just like earlier, when the smoke cleared, the tiger was replaced by the last performer, the one who had originally turned into the big cat. The lights then shut off, marking the end of another performance.
This time, the applause grew louder than it had been after the angel and demon display, for this performance was more impressive than the last.
And for the first time that night, Kame found himself completely mesmerized by the circus. Whereas his thoughts had previously been occupied in finding their missing friend, they were now focused entirely on the next performance. The show was all the seemed to matter now.
+++++++++++++
Jin shook his head, still refusing to believe that he was really speaking with a ghost. Then again, how could he really argue with anything at this point? Jin's spectral guest had something in common with him, though; they were both victims of Ringmaster.
However, for some reason, the ghost, who had once been called Ryo, didn't have all of his life drained, thus resulting in him being trapped in the Nether. Jin didn't fully understand how all that worked, and he wasn't even entirely sure if Ryo understood it either.
The ghost, who had been babbling on nonstop for the longest time about how it got lonely in the Nether, suddenly stopped talking. "What? Run out of things to say?" Jin asked, his voice filled with irritation, as well as fatigue. The more minutes that went by, the more life was drained from him. Ryo shook his head and said, "It's happening again." Jin raised a brow in confusion and asked hoarsely, "What are you talking about?"
Ryo hovered over to the edge of the cage and stared through the bars. "The main show's started," the ghost said sadly, "I know because I can feel the circus draining life from the people inside." Jin forced his weakened body into a sitting position. "Seriously, what are you talking about?" he asked.
Why couldn't he have gotten stuck with a normal ghost, or maybe even no ghost at all? Ryo shook his head, as if snapping free from a trance. "Oh? You don't know about this circus?" the specter asked. Jin shook his head. "How am I supposed to know anything about it?" he said coldly. Ryo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Good point," the ghost said, "Well, here's the thing, then. This circus wasn't ever really made for people to have a good time. It was made as a conduit."
Jin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He honestly wasn't following what the ghost was saying. "Okay, go on." Ryo nodded and said, "Well, the best way I can describe this circus is like…..Is like an ant colony, where the Ringmaster is the queen. Do you know what happens to an ant colony if the queen dies?" Jin nodded and said, "The colony dies." The ghost nodded his head and began to pace around the cage.
"Exactly. The colony dies. So, in other words, the Ringmaster, who in order to keep on living has to find a new form whenever his old one wears out, is the queen. If he dies, then the rest of the circus does as well. But just like worker ants depend on the queen, the Carnies depend on Ringmaster. He created the circus not only as a way to ensure that he constantly has a new form, but to also make sure that his subjects continue to live on as well. The way he did that was through his design of Circo Insanus. When people enter the center tent where the main show is held, that's when Ringmaster's creation comes into play. That tents takes some of the life force from the audience and distributes it to the Carnies to replenish their life and youth."
Jin stared in absolute horror. This circus was strictly designed to take life. Something then occurred to him. "Wait, if you're saying the main show is happening now, that means that people are having their life taken from them as we speak?" he asked, his voice filled with growing panic.
Ryo nodded and told him, "Yes, since I'm necessarily trapped within the confines of Circo Insanus, I can tell when the main show begins and when the audience is losing their life force." Jin began to shake his head furiously. "No, there's got to be a way to stop it! My friends are out there!" he shouted at the specter.
The ghost frowned and said, "I can't do anything to stop it. I'm just as trapped and helpless as you are." Jin was about to say something else, but his words caught in his throat as his body was racked with pain. He doubled over and cried out, holding on tightly to the sides of his head.
Over to the side, he just barely heard Ryo say, "Well, looks like Ringmaster decided to take in a bit more of your energy before making his appearance for the show."
Jin, in order to combat the pain, bit down on his lower lip until he drew blood. His vision then began to blur as his body shut down from the magnitude of the agony it was undergoing, and then, all he saw was darkness.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A/N: Hope you liked it. (n_n) Anyway, I'm still working on the next update of D&P, I just ran into a little problem..I'm stuck, but I promise to have the update up asap.
Chapter 7