The Second Layer
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-2 Months Later-

-Somewhere Under the Second Layer of the Circopian Tent-

A mime with orange hair runs in panic through a vast labyrinth-like theme park under the Circopian tent.

Magnificent ferris wheels and roller coasters twist and turn for miles up, forward and behind as he sprints on the ground of the colossal theme park.

A pink muppet with a big nose and high pitch voice suddenly jolts and peeks from behind a carnival game stand: "Hello, Mimey! Did you think you could outrun me?"

Mime sprints faster: "NO! NO! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The pink muppet tilts its fabric sewn head as the mime runs ahead.

Then a skinny red muppet peeks from behind another stand and talks with the same voice: "I thought mimes couldn't talk, Mimey?"

Mime screams in terror and runs past it: "AARGH!? I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!"

A huge blue fury muppet monster peeks from behind a giant ride: "LEAVE YOU ALONE!? YOU KNOW I CAN'T DO THAT... RIGHT?"

Mime's pupils shrink as he runs while hyperventilating.

He then sees hundreds of colorful muppets of different shapes and sizes riding the ferris wheel above him and peeking from its windows down at him.

They talk in synchronization: "AFTER ALL, IT WOULD TAINT THE REPUTATION OF THE PHANTOM MUPPETEER IF SOMEONE WHO CROSSED PATHS WITH HIM MANAGED TO ESCAPE!"

Mime starts crying as he keeps running: "I PROMISE! I PROMISE I WON'T TELL ANYONE!"

Muppets begin peeking and popping out of every nook and cranny of the theme park, even on top of the roller coasters!

All muppets synced: "YOU SURE TALK A LOT FOR A MIME. IT'S TIME TO SILENCE YOU FOR GOOD, MIMEY."

Mime: "THE PHANTOM MUPPETEER WASN'T A MYTH! HOW IS ONE MAN PUPPETEERING THIS MANY AT THE SAME TIME!?"

Yellow furry claws grasp to the side of a stand up ahead and a gigantic yellow muppet with huge googly eyes and sharp teeth peeps from the corner, laughing maniacally: "HAHAHAHA!! WALK INTO MY MOUTH!"

Mime: "AAARRGGHH!!?"

The muppet snaps its jaws and blood splatters on the fabric of the muppets around.

The lower half of Mime collapses on the floor and the upper half remains in the yellow muppet's mouth.

Suddenly, in a split second all the muppets flop on the ground as if lifeless.

Meanwhile, on top of the ferris wheel a man wearing a somber black suit, slick-back black hair and a top-hat looks down at the scene with a dull unamused expression and his hands in his pockets.

Man with a raspy Australian accent: "Sorry Mimey. Like I said, my reputation as the phantom muppeteer was on the line."

There seems to be another man standing behind him. This other man is wrapped in a flamboyant cloak bursting in colors of purple, red, gold and white. His face is covered by an alluring and magnificently glistening Venetian masquerade mask with a lion-like mane of long golden feathers surrounding it.

Phantom Muppeteer: "I know you're behind me, Wishmaster."

Wishmaster: "HOHOHO! The muppeteer MUTTERED! It seems I have been DISCOVERED! From anyone else, you are FASTER! I humbly bow at your presence for I am the WISHMASTER!"

Wishmaster politely bows as he cheekily giggles.

Muppeteer: "Why the hell did you join the Circus Purge? I've never seen you as the type to kill."

Wishmaster: "You know I adore you to the point I'd purr and rub my face on you like a KITTEN! But I cannot answer that for it is a secret that is HIDDEN! Unless you wish for it OF COURSE! Then I shall tell you with no REMORSE!"

Muppeteer lights a cigarette: "You know I don't believe in that abracadabra magic crap. You can shove that wish up your colorful arse."

Wishmaster giggles: "Yet here you are puppeteering hundreds of muppets on your OWN! And how you do it, to the whole world, is UNKNOWN! It can't be a team of people for they are nowhere to be SEEN! It can't be mechatronics or robots for there is no MACHINE! They just come alive, talk and the next thing you know the enemy is TOAST! Then whatever was inside disappears and the muppet flops on the ground as if it was controlled by a GHOST!"

Phantom Muppeteer: "I assure you it's not magic. Yes, it's not a team of people and I don't use robots either but... I trained for years to be able to do this. It's an elaborate and tedious trick to pull off but it's not magic."

Wishmaster: "OHOHO! I do not mean to ANNOY! However, I must ask if you joined the purge to find the BOY!"

Muppeteer exhales smoke: "Small talk's over aye? That's why you joined too ain't it? You son of a bitch."

Wishmaster puts his hand on the mouth of his mask and chuckles with his shoulders jolting up and down: "Hehehe... I know he is quite UNIQUE! But why exactly the boy do you SEEK?"

Muppeteer inhales his smoke: "I hate when people think somethin's magic. The existence of magic would be the equivalent of someone taking a big fat dump on my entire life and havin' a good laugh about it. I'd reveal the trick behind every magician's magic if I could live long enough to do it. But I ain't got that many years left in me, Wishy. So, since that Gianni boy is the greatest magic trick to have ever existed, all I have to do is expose the trick behind his existence and that should be enough to prove all other magic false. Plus, I get a free ticket to the outside world, savvy?"

Wishmaster: "Aahhh! If the boy's not real then why is there such a high price on his HEAD? After all, he is wanted alive or DEAD!"

Muppeteer turns slightly: "Same reason why those artists that splash paint on a canvas sell them for millions of dollars. It ain't the art that's expensive, it's the name of the artist that made it. A magician's magic is their art. And I think you know a whole lot more about Gianni's artist than I do."

Wishmaster backs off to the edge of the ferris wheel: "Only slightly more than the average performer in the CIRCUS PURGE! But getting the boy won't be easy... for that is everyone's URGE!"

Wishmaster backflips off the edge of the ferris wheel: "HAHA! Wishmaster OUT! We'll meet again, I have no DOUBT!"

Muppeteer throws and steps on his cigarette: "Moron."

-20KM Away at a Strange Museum Displaying Dinosaur Fossils Under the Circopian Tent-

The museum is a large studio with a glass dome ceiling, showing the Circopian tent above.

The gigantic and mighty fossils of t-rex, triceratops, spinosaurus, the long necked brontosaurus and a plethora of others are cleanly displayed with white lights in the otherwise dark studio.

There are pterodactyl fossils hanging from the ceilings with their magnificent wings and the water dwelling behemoths liopleurodon and mosasaurus fossils are displayed on the walls above.

A crew of engineers and doctors seem to be working on the fossils and drilling metallic bits inside the bones.

High above the ground, is a 21-year-old girl with bone-white short hair stylized as a wavy bob style. Wearing a slim-fit suit and tie accompanied by a business skirt and a clean blazer hung on her back as if a cape, she's laying on the long neck of the brontosaurus fossil as if it was her own bed!

She dangles her legs and arms off the fossil as if dead-weight and fiddles with a popsicle in her mouth. She's wearing the tooth of a megalodon as a necklace and she stares up at the dome ceiling with her slightly dead creamy beige eyes.

She sighs: "Why were dome ceilings even invented... The only thing you get to see is the stupid tent."

Someone calls out to her: "Miss Mira!"

Mira lazily looks with her popsicle in her mouth: "Hm? Oh."

Mira, using minimal effort, barely raises her hand: "Yo, Eve. What up."

Eve, a girl with glasses, long brown hair and also wearing a similar suit and tie looks up at Mira.

Eve: "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING ON THE NECK OF THE BRONTOSAURUS!? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!? Your mom is already going to kill me when she finds out what you're doing to her fossils!"

Mira: "Correction, Eve. They're my fossils. Not mom's. And I'm not doing anything bad to them, just bringing them back to life."

Mira has a small content smile on her face as she watches the engineers play with a few remotes to see some of the fossils' limbs moving.

Eve: "Mira... You still have a chance to stop this. You don't have to join the Circus Purge. Your life is great here! You're the daughter of the owner of Circopia's greatest prehistoric museum!"

Mira jumps down the fossil and lands in front of Eve with her blazer blowing as a cape.

Eve looks into Mira's sleepless eyes tensely.

Mira takes the popsicle out of her own mouth and puts it in Eve's mouth.

Eve with a mouth full: "Eh!?"

Mira: "Hush, Eve. My head hurts and the last thing I want to hear about is my life in the tent."

Mira starts walking away.

Eve clenches her fist.

She then angrily takes the popsicle out of her mouth.

Eve: "That's enough! I might be working for you but I'm your best friend before I'm your assistant! So u-uh... Umm... I- I WON'T LET YOU JOIN THE CIRCUS PURGE MISS MIRA!"

Mira stops.

Eve shakes in fear as the popsicle melts in her hand.

Mira: "What caused the dinosaurs to become extinct, Eve?"

Eve, confused: "Huh? Um... The rise of mammals, right?"

Mira turns to face her: "Yes. But why were those small dirty inferior mammals suddenly able to rise over such perfect creatures?"

Mira places her hand on the leg of a Spinosaurus fossil.

Eve: "Are... Are we the small dirty inferior mamma-"

Mira glares at her: "Answer the question. Eve."

Eve hides behind her folders: "I- I DON'T KNOW!"

Mira sighs, calming down: "It's alright, don't be scared. You know I can't stay mad at you for longer than a minute."

Eve peeps from behind her research folders.

Mira: "Besides, the question I asked you wasn't fair because even the greatest Circopian scientists haven't been able to answer it. Don't you see, Eve? I'm sure of it. The reason we don't know what made the dinosaurs go extinct is because whatever it is, it came from outside of the tent! From up there!"

Mira points to the dome ceiling.

Eve's eyes widen as she looks up: "Outside?"

Mira: "The answer literally doesn't exist in Circopia. Which means, I can't stay here any longer. I know everything about dinosaurs Circopia has to offer so I have to make it outside. It's almost impossible to win the Circus Purge to make it to the third layer but... now there's another way, Eve. There's that Gianni kid who's wanted dead or alive. He's going to be my ticket to the outside!"

Eve: "But your mom doesn't want you to go either Mira!"

Mira starts walking off: "Yea, yea. My mom is bedridden what's she gonna do? Beat me?"

Eve: "Mira! She's your mom!"

Mira does a graceful 360 spin as her bone-white hair flows in her wind. She then flicks her middle finger at Eve.

Mira: "Tell her to suck a big fat bone!"

Mira imitates sucking a penis with her hand and continues walking off, chuckling to herself.

Mira: "I'll be back to collect the enhanced fossils later, ok bye, love you!"

She makes a heart with her hands and exits.

Eve stands there frozen: "Idiot... What about me...? Did you think about how I feel about you leaving...? Who is this Gianni kid anyway... STUPID! STUPID GIANNI! FUCK YOU! Hope you die."

-47KM Away at a Dark Circopian Sea Under the Tent-

An extremely buff muscular old man in his 80s dressed as a butler rows a medium-sized boat.

The boat is carrying a huge cargo crate on its back with air holes on it and growling sounds coming from inside the crate.

In front of the giant old man, a tiny 16-year-old girl dressed in a spectacular princess dress and wearing a princess cone hat with silky blond hair is happily doing her makeup while humming a song.

Princess: "Hmmm hmm hmm!"♫♪♫꒰・◡・๑꒱

Old Muscular Butler: "Do excuse me my lady but I still do not think it was wise to run away from the castle in hopes of joining the Circus Purge. Perhaps we should turn around."

Princess's cute happy face turns into a disgusted one: "HAAH!? BUTLER! DO YOU DARE QUESTION MY PRINCESSLY SCHEMES!?" ( ╬◣ 益◢ )

Butler: "N- NO MY LADY! OF COURSE NOT! BUT THE KING-"

Princess waves her finger side to side: "Ah. Ah. Ah! You are MY butler and you do whatever I tell you to do. I didn't pump you with steroids and give you such a grueling exercise routine for you to betray me! Do you know the story of the princess in the tower?"

Butler: "Yes, my lady."

Princess: "I'LL TELL YOU ANYWAY YOU KNOW IT ALL! The king traps his daughter, the princess, in a tower for her to never leave! Then a knight with shining armor saves her! That is exactly my story! I'm the princess! And the tower I'm trapped in is this bullocks tent! Which means... my knight awaits me outside of Circopia on his white horse! I do not plan on keeping him waiting!"

Butler: "Yes that's all dandy my lady but the knight is not helping us. How do we know he even exists?"

Princess: "Oh you gullible old man, of course he exists! Otherwise my life would be pointless... right? Tell me he exists..."

She looks at him with a dark gaze.

Butler: "Yes my lady. In fact I'm sure he's right outside the tent as we speak."

Princess: "YES! I KNEW IT! Oh and we don't need extra help anyway, Butler. After all, my animal companion is something all of these fools think of as a fairytale."

The butler and the princess peer over to the huge cargo crate on the back of the boat as the growling sounds get louder and turn into a blood-curdling roar from inside it.

Princess smiles cheekily: "I'm gonna toast that jester boy and then jump into the arms of my strong sexy knight."

-100KM Away at the Metallic Mouth of a Gigantic Dead Circus Guardian-

A 21-year-old guy wearing a woman's pitch-black kimono with red and pink flower designs on it jumps off a small canoe and walks towards the colossal teeth riddled mouth of the fallen circus guardian laying in the middle of the Circopian sea.

The guy's hair is full of thick dreads that are tied together in a strange way to form the shape of a palm tree on his head. He also has a katana hooked up on his back and jewelry on his neck, wrists and ears.

He stops in front of a gate with a counter beside it. Behind the counter, a robot girl greets him with a warm smile.

Guy: "Yoo... name's Shinjiro. I'm joining the Circus Purge."

Robot Girl: "Welcome Shinjiro! It's my job to let you know that anyone may enter the Circus Purge at any time, however, once entered you will not be allowed to leave until you are one of last 2 survivors or you capture or kill Gianni of Circop-"

Shinjiro slices the robot girl's head off with one clean strike.

Robot Girl malfunctioning: "Gia- Gianni- Of- Gianni- Circopia- Gianni of- Circopia- Giann-"

Shinjiro: "I know the rules, you metallic piece of trash."

The headless body of the robot girl presses a button and the gates begin opening.

Shinjiro calls out to something behind him: "Let's go, Akuma."

He calmly starts walking into the labyrinth-like mouth of the massive circus guardian.

-All of Them Speak at the Same Time at Different Locations-

-All of Them Speak at the Same Time at Different Locations-

...

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