Outside the boarders of the city. Just outside of New York.....

Seemingly in the middle of nowhere on a deserted strip of god forsaken land sat a tan tent. The sheer size of the tent was enough to make one pause. The gentle breeze blowing through the field caused the flaps of the tent to dance and move, as if the tent itself was welcoming you in to the horrors that lied within. It was drenched in a macabre sense of wonder and curiosity. 

 The name suited it perfectly. Gavin Sinclair's Fantastical Circus of Curiosities and Wonders.  Carnival music could be heard throughout. There were popcorn venders and carnival games. It was a traveling circus with carnival fare. The circus itself was but a piece of the main attraction here.  Gavin Sinclair had set up shop in New York.  He moved from place to place and only left when he added a few new Curiosities to his tent of Wonders.

Standing out in front was a large gate. Iron rot and surrounding the whole of the amusement.  Settled in the center of the entrance gate was a ticket booth.  Standing inside the booth was a handsome man who had a look of boredom on his face.  He slouched in his booth and perked up a bit when he saw Geo approaching.  He was wearing a vaudevillian hat and a red and white stripped vest.  He had a white flowery long sleeve shirt beneath it with red armbands high up on the sleeves.  "Welcome, Welcome to the most magnificent spectacle this side of Jersey!  Prepare to be amazed and mystified by the alluring dangers and intrinsic wonders!  Only $10 per person, you will not regret it!" 

Daydream looked over at Geo as if to make sure that he was still ok.  She was standing beside him though she was invisible.  Her body safely tucked away locked in a closet in an abandoned office building.  She had found the place on one of her many sleepless nights exploring the city in astral form.  It was at the edge of the city in the dying industrial part of the city. 

It was a rough looking place.  Steam seeped through the vents in the street casting weird shadows on the grafeetied walls.  Shady looking characters hung out on every corner, though no one saw her enter.  She felt confident that her body would be safe there.  She not only locked herself in but barricaded the door from the inside before teleporting herself out of the closet.

Even though she was invisible something struck Daydream with a cold fear that ran through her body.  The handsome ticket taker was looking at Geo.  Then his head turned to where she was standing a little off to the side and he smiled brightly at the empty space before his eyes moved back to his potential customer.  Does he know?  She wondered.  She didn't know how he could know.  She was completely invisible.  She had her police baton and her camera, along with her tranq gun hanging from her shoulder holster but those things were also invisible.  He couldn't possibly know that I'm standing here.  Could he?  She wondered.

The handsome man lifted a long wooden cane and pointed it at the tent.  "Inside there mister....." His voice went from showman to serious, his tone lowered to a whisper and he leaned in closer for Geo to hear him. "You'll find the most amazing sights you ever seen on this earth.  Witness epic battles, conqurering heros and amazing feats.  Though it is not for the faint of heart.......Or!"  His voice went back to highly exuberant and cheerful.  "Enjoy the rides.  We have ferris wheels and games, cotton candy and extravaganzas! There's no shortage of wonders at Gavin Sinclair's Fantastical Circus of Curiosities and Wonders!"  He smiled at Geo, though out of the corner of his eye he seemed to be watching that little empty space, just off to the side with a insidious smile that Daydream couldn't trust.  Not for one second.

"Well this looks...fun."



Through a puff of smoke Geo glared at the tent in front of them. Then tent in the distance, the omnipresent music...he didn't like it. Chills ran down Geo's spine as the walked onto the grounds. He kept mental track of where Daydream was. Turned out her astral form could get dirt stuck in the souls of her shoes as well. He had hoped he would still be able to feel the stone he had given her but it was just as invisible to him as she was.

"I should have never brought you here..." The words were not of anger, but of worry. He tried to keep his lips as still as possible as he spoke. The ticket taker had come into view. He was dressed to the part, this much was for sure. But the circus seemed to be vacant save themselves. This Gavin had a dedication to theatrics. Geo would have enjoyed it if he didn't want to introduce Gavin to a game of Vlad the Impaler. As the man asked for the price of admition Geo blinked at him for several moments. Not only did this goon intend on luring them into his house of horrors but he intended to make a buck off of them too. He concidered for a serious moment pulling the ground out from underneath the man, creating a nasty sink hole for him to have fun in.

As the elemental dug through his pockets the ticket taker seemed to be gazing rather intently. From the feel of the earth he was watched right about where Daydream had been standing.  Geo's eyes bore a hole into the man's face as he glared at the man in suspicion. Could he see her? Did these circus freaks have something he didn't? It was probably nothing but when it came to the red head he didn't want to take a risk. The ground began to rise at Geo's feet as the man lifted his cane though the elemental quickly dropped his control as the cane was pointed towards the tent. He was too jumpy, nervous. The man spoke through a horrible rehearsed repertoire itched at Geo's nerves.

"Save your smoke and mirrors gimmick for someone who gives a damn 'Barber Shop'. I won't be long." Geo spat at the ground as he turned his back to the man, making sure he kept between him and Daydream as they made their way towards the tent. Geo was on edge, it was impossible to hide. Though he was focused on the way in front of him a part of his mind kept careful track of the surface of the earth. Any movement, any traps, he wanted to know immediately.

The handsome man smiled a overconfident smile at Geo's quip when he called him barber shop. Daydream didn't like the way that smile fit his face. It seemed almost evil. When Geo said he wouldn't be long the handsome man took the money from Geo and took off his hat. Motioning with his hat in the direction of the tent.  As if h was already aware of who he was and why he was here, yet he gave him the song and dance anyways. "Ooooh I don't know friend-o.  Once you see the wonders you may never want to leave this place!"  He said with gales of laughter. 

Daydream hurried past him and kept stride with Geo.  She didn't want to be more than a few feet behind.  As they made their way past the Handsome man's smile faded.  He threw his had on the counter of the ticket booth and watched them enter the big top tent.  When they were clear from view the Handsome man reached up and grabbed his own hair.  He pulled at it furiously until the hair seemed to extend and grow longer.  Daydream referred to him in her head as the handsome man, but in actuality it was what everyone referred to him as.  He was simply known as Handsome man.  He pulled at his hair until it was as long as Geo's.  Long strands of dirty blond hair that looked closely to resemble the elemental's.  Then he reached up and started to push against his own face.  His face seemed to slide and mold like play dough.  He used both hands, pushing around his features.  Pinching at the soft pliable flesh.  He shaped his face to look EXACTLY like Geo's face.  Handsome man was a mutant who could change his appearance to look like other people. 

The smile returned to his face as he reached in the booth and flipped a little sign on the ticket taker's booth that read "SORRY FOLKS! WE'RE CLOSED CHECK BACK TOMORROW!"  Handsome man set off to find some clothes in the wardrobe and prop area for the circus performers.  Something that closer resembled Geo's attire.  As he walked off he said in a voice that wasn't his own.  "Yeah.... I may never leave here." 

Inside the tent was dusty and dark.  The stands were empty save for a few people around the top that appeared to be janitors sweeping up from the last show.  There was a stench to the place.  An animal smell that made Daydream's nose curl.  "Where is everyone?"  Daydream asked as quietly as she could.  She didn't like that the place was so deserted.  It smelled like a trap.  They moved  little further into the extra large tent.  They moved until they were standing in the center.  Then a spotlight came on shining down on them brightly.  Suddenly music began to play over the PA system in the tent that Daydream hadn't noticed until now.

"LADIES AND GENTLMEN BOYS AND GIRLS!!!!! IT IS MY HONOR TO PRESENT FOR YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!! DAYDREAM THE AMAZING INVISIBLE GIRL! AND GEO THE INCREDIBLE DIRTY MAN!!!!!!!"  A voice rang out from the darkness. Daydream recognized that voice.  It was Gavin Sinclair himself.  He strolled out holding a megaphone in hand and a big bright smile on his face.  He was announcing them to what was an empty circus tent only moments before.  The bright blinding light had distracted them for but a moment, but now the entire tent's stands were filled with mutants.  Swift had carried each and everyone of them in himself.  HE was feeling much better having returned to the circus.  The circus had a healer.  Swift had moved fast.  Daydream and Geo hadn't seen the little blur moving around the tent with the lights in their face but now that everyone was seated Swift dashed over towards Gavin and stopped with his hands cross against his frail chest.

"Miss me?"  He asked Daydream and blew her a kiss.  He turned slightly to look at Geo and gave him the finger.

If Geo hadn't already suspected the intentions of the eerie circus the ticket takers parting words would have been terrifying. All it showed was that it was exactly what he thought. Theatrics. Gavin was painting a picture for them, trying to get in their heads to win the game before it even started. The smell was what hit him first. Like a pet store gone awry, they might as well have wandered into stables.

"Where is everyone?"

The soft voice brought Geo's attention to the stands around them. They were vacant, this circus might as well have been abandoned had it not been for the sudden switch in music. The booming voice brought Geo into a full crouch. As the spot light closed in on them Geo held out his arms and the ground around him started to shiver in response to his call. They were ready for him, and they new Daydream was there. He had expected they would be playing into Gavin's hand. It wasn't something he was entirely unprepared for but it was hard to prepare for an ambush.

The wind whipping around them as a familiar speedster entered the playing field. A low grumble came from Geo's throat as he snarled, his anger building up in side of him as the scrawny speedster came to a stop. That was fine by him. He worked better when he was angry. He just had to be careful with Dream being about. Last thing he wanted to do was accidentally hurt her because he got pissed off at the creep. As Swift blew a kiss to Daydream before flipping Geo the bird the elemental took the liberty of answering on her behalf.

"Yeah but I won't miss next time." Venom dripped from his gravelly voice as the ground around them began to swirl, lifting off of the ground to form a partial wall around Geo and his invisible companion. He wasn't going to get the drop on the speedster twice. But Geo had the home field advantage this time. The floor of the big top, like most tent circuses, was comprised entirely of dirt. Full of material that with no doubt Geo was going to be needing very soon.

"Now I know not to maim you twinkle toes. Next time I drive a spike through that ugly mug of yours." He was regretting bringing Daydream by the minute as he slowly came to the realization that the bleachers were now filled to capacity. A diverse group of mutants thought Geo saw no sign of the girl just yet.

Gavin watched the swirling vortex of rocky death with a smile.  He watched it like a proud papa watching his son ride a bike for the first time.  Gavin's eyes followed the swirling pieces of debris.  Raising the megaphone to his mouth Gavin addressed the crowd.  "WELL FOLKS.  LOOKS LIKE GEO CAME LOOKING FOR A FIGHT! ARE WE GOING TO DISAPPOINT HIM?!?"  "NO!" Shot back the very interested crowd.  Gavin tapped Swift on the shoulder and walked off to the side of the area.  If he was being honest he had faith in Swift, but he wanted to see first hand what this boy Geo could do.  He had intended to give his pitch, but this worked to.  Geo wanted to take out a little anger.  Gavin was content with letting him tire himself out. 

After all, Gavin knew that if worse came to worse he could end the fight at any moment he wanted.  He stood off to the side with a smug smile on this face.  His arms crossed against his chest and watched on in great interest.  Gavin looked over to where Daydream had been standing and offered her a little wink that Geo didn't notice, before his eyes turned to the fight that was about to happen. 

Usually Gavin would like to sell tickets to this.  Mutant fights were one of the more popular shows they put on.  Everyone loved a good monster movie!  AND GODZILLA FIGHTING KING KONG IS A GOD DAM CLASSIC! Gavin was no fool he knew the value in a good fight.  If anyone got seriously hurt there was a healer on stand by.  It wasn't a fight to the death it was just well.... Mutants pitting those beautiful, beautiful abilities against one another.

Daydream took a step back.  She slipped back into the shadows a bit.  She didn't like the feeling of standing in the spot light.  She felt as if somehow everyone could see her.  She felt like somehow she was only invisible to Geo and that was bad.  That was very, very bad.  Daydream's eyes searched the crowd for the mutant girl she had met before but she didn't see her anywhere.  She had to be the reason.  She had to be the reason that everyone except Geo could see where she was. 

"You got lucky last time asshole."  Swift said with a growing smile.  He watched as the dirt around Geo seemed to spin a little faster.  He didn't care that Geo looked pissed.  He had a few tricks up his sleeve that Geo didn't know about.  Without warning Swift started to move.  He moved so fast he made a speed mirage.  He literally looked to be in multiple places at once.  Leaving imprints of himself in various places.  He moved so fast that an after image of himself remained.  Though the image did not move that was a way to tell the real Swift, it was dam confusing to someone who had never seen it done before.  Swift zipped past Geo with a knife.  SNICK!  The sound of blade cutting flesh!

"OH NO FOLKS LOOKS LIKE GEO THE INCREDIBLE DIRTY MAN HAS UNDERESTAMTED THIS ONE!  LET'S HEAR IT FOR SWIFT!"  The crowd began to cheer and Swift ate up the applause.  He was holding a bloody knife in his had.  Swift opened his hand and held the knife between his index finger and thumb and just waved it at Geo.  He wiped the blood on his dirty shirt and stared at him with his beedy sucken in eyes.  The eyes of a madman and a fiend. 

Daydream watched in horror at the fight before her.  He's just going to make him fight them all.  Geo can't win this.  There's no way Gavin's going to play by any rules.  She wanted to do something.  She had to do something.  Daydream teleported out of the circus tent.

You're god damn right he did.

Gavin seemed to be trying to intimidate the mutant but Geo was busy falling back into old mindsets. Fighting was something that drove him for many years. His time at the Order he had spent as a foot soldier. He couldn't do the fancy stuff the others could. Espionage. Cons. Corporate Fraud. But he knew how to scrap. That was what he had focused on and certainly was his strong suit. The speedster got lippy. Moving around Geo in a wide circle. Trying to disorient him by seeming like he was in more than one place. He felt Daydream leave his side, moving out of range and a smile formed on the elemental's face. Without here next to him he could really shine. He had enough material around him that he wasn't sure who really had the upper hand in the fight.

That was when the blade slid across Geo's back. It wasn't a deep cut. But it was annoying. Enough to draw blood to the mutant's face as he grew angrier. The earth he had churning around him kicked up into a flurry. Lashing and swiping out at the mirages of the speedster which blades of hardened earth passed through harmlessly. A bit of dirt worked it's way up from his feet, creeping up his spine and packing itself into the wound on his back. It was then Geo let the dirt drop around him. Instead he focused his attention on the ground around him. As far as he could reach he took hold of the material around him. Quickly as he could he broke down the dirt around him into a fine sand.

It started at the surface and then he worked his way down. The fine material of the surface getting kicked into the wind as Swift once again swooped in to swirl around the elemental at work. SNICK! Another cut across his chest but he didn't budge. His focus was elsewear. As the last of the dirt in his reach shifted to sand he began churning the sand at the deepest levels he could control. The combination of the unstable base and the sand being kicked up made a dangerous combination. SNICK! Swift ran, faster and faster, weaving and dodging around the elemental until he felt it. The sand bellow the speedsters feet sunk as Swift came to a stop.

The moment it had hold Geo reacted. Churning the ground and the sand around him he crashed them around the speedster pushing him into the ground. He stopped as the ground met the bottom of the speedsters nose. Pulling the ground in around the mutant Geo crushed into the speedsters beings, feeling the dirt push further As more and more bone broke. When the speedster lost consciousness Geo left him submerged and moved the being to the edge of the ring, dusting off his hands to turn back to Gavin. A cocky grin emblazed across his face. He didn't want to kill Swift. There was still much in the air. If it turned out this band of performers was some kind of hivemind forcing the subjects into subservience then Geo didn't want innocent mutant blood on his hands. But Gavin...Gavin was going to pay.

"What's that though? Geo kicked his ASS!" Geo yelled out to the crowd. His thick voice booming over the crowd through a snarl on his face. He turned with his arms raised in the air. Reinacting his favorite scene from Gladiator before finally his eyes came to rest in Gavin.

"Are you not entertained?" Geo asked cooley as he shifted the dirt below them back to a solid form. "So is this what you do? Send your lackeys at me until I pound them all into the ground. To afraid to fight me with your pansy red booties on?"

Daydream had teleported out of the tent. She found herself standing outside. The place was all but abandoned. Even the ticket taker booth seemed to be deserted now. That was strange. She searched the grounds. Her eyes bouncing frantically around abandoned carnival games, animal stables and food just left lying around. She could still here the creepy music from inside the tent. She was standing just outside it.

Teleporting herself rapidly she tried to find the little girl. The little girl was the key to all of this. If she could just find the little girl, she could give Geo a huge advantage. Or at the very least she could level the playing field for him. As it were the deck was already heavily stacked in Gavin's favor. But if she could just find that little girl she could eliminate her mind tricks.  Daydream's hand felt the but of her tranquilizer gun in her holster. It was comforting just to know it was still hanging there. If she found her she would have to shoot her. She would knock her out and hope that she wasn't strong enough to use her mental gifts while she was still unconscious. That was Daydream's only play here....

Back inside the tent Gavin looked down on Swift's body with an obvious disappointment. Swift had failed and failed badly. He honestly shouldn't be surprised considering the last time Swift went up against Geo it earned him a trip to the hospital. Gavin had some of his mutants spring him from the ambulance and bring him back home for proper healing from a powerful healing mutant. Gavin looked over Swift who was barely conscious. Swift's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out at Gavin's feet. The tent grew quiet except from the random 'oooohs' and 'ahhhhs' of the mutant audience surprised at Geo's abilities.

"Boy..... You really don't know what you're asking for. Do ya?" Gavin said walking slowly into the center of the ring. Gavin took off his top hat and tossed it aside. His piercing gaze staring bullet holes into Geo. He wasn't angry. He was amused. It wasn't often that someone challenged him. It was actually quite a nice surprise. The young elemental was all fire and brimstone but his temper was he biggest weakness. After awhile folks just came to accept life as a circus performer and for those few stubborn one like Geo there was a loyal mutant follower of Gavin's who had a very beneficial mind control. The mind control that was holding onto the feeble willed minds of almost all the mutants in the audience.

Gavin took off his white gloves to reveal heavily tattooed hands.  Even down to the knuckles on his boney fingers were covered in ink.  Gavin slipped off his red jacket with the flashy buckles and polished silver buttons and tossed it aside to reveal his arms were heavily tattooed as well.  Tattoo's of hideous beasts and flames.  Tattoos of skeletons and ghouls and creatures that could only be thought of in you most wildest of frightening nightmares.  Gavin smiled and pulled his shirt over his head.  Tossing it aside his entire body seemed to be covered in tattoos.  His hair mussed up and set slightly to the side all sloppy messy as his shirt came off.  Still he continued to smile at Geo.

The tattoo's across his collarbone was of a mighty griffion.  A mythological bird who's mouth was wide open and it seemed to be spitting fire.  Wild sprks of lighting flying off the tips of it's mighty wings.  There was a tattoo on his ribs of a 3 headed cerburs.  A hellhound who had blood dripping from it's razor sharpe teeth.  A tattoo of a giant spider covered most of his other ribs and the rest of his body was a horrifying collage of terrifying creatures.  Lifting the megaphone without taking his eyes from Geo Gavin spoke.  "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!  GEO WOULD LIKE TO GO TOE TO TOE WITH THE RINGMASTER HIMSELF!  WHO AMONG YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY?!?!?"

The crowd erupted in exuberant cheer.  Outside the tent Daydream continued to search.  She could here cheering from inside the tent and it was thunderous in nature.  She felt her heart sink.  Geo has to be getting hurt in there!  It was all she could think of.  Why else would they cheer?  She had to hurry.  She had to find the girl to give Geo a hand.  Who knows what mind games that girl could be playing with him while he tried to fight for his life.  Coming to the circus had been a mistake.  They both should have ran.  They both should have ran for their lives when they still had the chance.

Inside the tent Gavin's smile pulled back to reveal his teeth.  Sharp pointy fangs that punctuated his smile with a hint of evil.  He raised his arms to his side as someone up above shined a spotlight on him.  Gavin dropped the megaphone at his feet and tilted his head back.  He was cast in a heavenly aura.  He seemed ghostly white and pale in the light of the spotlight. With his head tilted back at the ceiling he closed his eyes as he concentrated his energy.  Gavin looked back down at Geo across from his.  His eyes were glowing bright green in his head now.  Almost like his eyeballs were replaced by neon lights.  Then the ink of the griffon tattoo on Gavin's chest began to run.  It dripped off of his body while remaining in his skin.  He swam down his stomach and ran over the buckle of his pants as it traveled down his leg and seeped into the dirt.  Then a horrible twisted claw emerged from the dirt then a beak.  The griffon tattoo that spit fire and flapped lighting  from it's wings was being born from the earth.

The elemental's eyes narrowed as Gavin seemed to openly encourage his challenge. That wasn't what he had been expecting though he wouldn't let any of the anxious feeling seep to the surface. He kept his cool and hard exterior. Staring back at Gavin as he stripped down, exposing a surprising amount of ink for the meek man. Geo watched as the canvas was slowly revealed, showing an elaborate extent of artwork that covered the man's body. What was he trying to do? Intimidate his with Ink? Any Joe Shmoe could go and get a tattoo. All that meant was he apparently had a disposable income.

He stoked an eruption of cheering from the crowd, the thunderous sound caused the elemental to look around at the spectators. Okay. Maybe there was more going on here than he had assumed. That was when he looked back to Gavin as his twisted smile curled to reveal sharpened teeth. A chill went down Geo's spine as he realized the tattoo on his chest began to move down the ringleaders body. That was new.

The elemental gathered a piled of the sand at his feet, creeping up the lower half of his body to await orders. The ink seeped onto the ground before the man, seeming to have a mind of it's own. But then it began to take shape. Claws, a beak and mighty wings, all in turn emerging and being shaped by the ink itself until he was looking at a Griffin, standing before him under the high top. That was DEFINITELY new. It chirped and rustled it's wings before unleashing a roar at the elemental. The dirt at his feet jumped to attention, lifting him into a landslide and carrying him backwards away from the creature.

It didn't seem to take well to his retreat, flapping it's expansive wings it took flight, another roar ringing out over the crowd. The elemental had fought a lot of things in his day but mythical creatures were far from his forte. Flying over the mutant the Griffin flapped it's wings in mighty strokes unleashing bright arks of electricity that danced over Geo and the ground. Instinctively the elemental flinched though as the warmth of the electricity passed through him he shook off the reaction and turned to face the creature as it unleashed another. Pushing himself into the air Geo formed the earth around his fist, augmenting it into a golem state before bringing it to meet the jaw of the hovering creature.

The stone hit hard, bringing the creature back to the ground though it recovered quickly. It was already on it's claws before the elemental landed hard in the pile of earth that he had been manipulating. He tried to orient himself and get back to a standing position but the beast was already on him. Coming across the ground this time it opened it's beak wide as if to let out another roar though Geo was shocked to see flames licking out into a mighty flume dancing towards him. Quickly reacting Geo conjured up a wall of earth between him and the creature, watching from safety as the flames curled around his barricade. He could feel the claws of the creature on the opposite side, digging into the earth as it continued it's assault.

Making sure the wall was solid before releasing his control Geo shifted his awareness to the ground beneath the creature. Reaching out Geo gathered and hardened the material beneath the creature forming them into sharp spires before thrusting them out of the surface of the ground towards the belly of the beast.

The beast fell down dead. It's mighty wings fluttered a bit and came to rest in the dirt. Turning over on it's back it's massive chest gave a final heave before remaining motionless. Gavin stumbled backwards clutching his chest. The pain he felt coursing through him made him drop to one knee. There were holes in his chest now. Not fatal ones but wounds none the less. Across his collarbone were deep gashes. Slices in his body as if he himself had been impaled. Blood dripped from his chest as he stared at Geo with a look of righteous anger. "He killed the griffon!" A mutant in the audience cried out in shock. The circus tent was deathly quiet. Even the music seemed to stop for the momentous occasion.

No one had every killed one of Gavin's creatures before. It was honestly a surprise to even Gavin himself. He had underestimated Geo. That was his mistake. One he didn't plan on repeating. Gavin's tattoos were not just ghoulies and beasties. He could materialize ordinary objects if he had a tattoo of it. It would function as it would in real life as long as it didn't it wasn't complex machinery. He couldn't whip out a car from a tattoo and just hop in that bitch and go! But simple things,  a knife for example, like the one he had tattooed on the inner side of his wrist. Or a crossbow, those things he could pull from the ink and give himself an advantage.

Suddenly the tent grew very dark. The ground beneath Geo and Gavin's feet seemed to literally freeze beneath them. Gavin smiled as he watched the layer of ice racing across the floor. A cutting wind cut through the tent though it's source was unknown. Gavin knew what was happening. Gavin's anger faded and it was replaced by confident swagger. The 3 headed dog melted from his ribs leaving the spot on his body bare. The ink dripped down, much like the blood from his chest; only the ink was running through his skin s it made it's way to the frozen earth. A growl could be heard along with scratching as a massive paw clawed it's way out of the frozen floor. The Cerberus was out for blood.

Daydream was teleporting to any place her pretty eyes fell upon. She was getting desperate. The tent had grown quiet. She didn't like that. Maybe he's already lost. She thought. No! He can't loose! She rebelled against her own mind. She refused to believe that she was the reason Geo could have possibly befallen some terrible fate. Then unexpectedly she ran right into him. She had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things but she ran right into Geo. Dirty and barefoot and looking as ruggedly handsome as ever. "There you are Daydream! We gotta go those creeps will be coming back any minute!" Daydream allowd her mind to settle. He's alive. She thought with sudden relief, but then he said that they were hot on his trail. "How'd you get away? What happened?" She asked confused. "There's no time Daydream we have to go! Now!" The fake Geo claimed as he grabbed her wrist and began to run.

Back inside the tent winter seemed to dig in it's feet.  There was snow falling fast and fierce.  It was coming down like a blizzard.  Gavin laughed and his breath esapced his mouth as he did so.  Visible clouds of arrogant breath as he exclaimed.  "You haven't won boy!  The guardian of the underworld is going to send you to hell!"  He was referring to the three headed dog.  His boastful claim was all for show.  He was testing Geo for now.  In Greek mythology exit/entrance to the underworld was guarded by a great vicious 3 headed dog named Cerburus.  Gain smiled as dog stood a full foot taller than a 7 foot man.  It beared it's teeth at Geo and waited for it's masters orders. "Go  get'em!"  Gavin snapped in a low gleeful delighted tone.  The dog took off running straight for Geo.

Daydream was running for her life and at first she didn't see anyone chasing them.  Then she saw several mutants following her.  Following them.  Oh my god she thought as she grabbed Geo's wrist and began to teleport him behind a random tent.  "Shhhh"  She said to him holding a finger up to her mouth.  She could just teleport them out of there, but not until she rescued and stopped that little girl.  Otherwise Gavin and his monsters would just find them again. 

Daydream knew that if she could free the girl then Gavin would have no way to track them.  She had no real reason to believe this, but in her heart she knew it to be so.  "We gotta find that girl Geo!"  "What girl?"  "The psychic! She's the key!"  The fake Geo knew that no one was really chasing them.  He knew that this was the plan.  The fake Geo was really Handsome man.  And Handsome man knew that the little girl psychic was giving his ruse credibility by making the illusion of a chase.  She was also the cause for the blizzard in the tent.  The blizzard did not exist really.  The cold sensation, the frosty breath, the ice the wind it was all the mind coping with what the eyes were seeing.  The mind is a powerful tool of deception.  Even enough to make you feel cold when it's really not, enough to hopefully make an elemental think his powers are temporarily useless.

Cerburus charged at Geo and narrowly missed him as it threw it's massive body into Geo's rock wall.  It crumbled under the sheer force at which Cerburus hit it.  The three headed dog shook off the collision like it was nothing and refocused it's attack.  Turning all three heads to look at Geo and growl at him like he was a T-bone steak.  Long slimey tendrils of saliva dripped from it's massive crushing jaws. 

 It was going to tear him to pieces.  It took a looming step towards him.  No longer was it charging, but it was slowly stalking it's dinner.  Every step it took there was the loud crunch of ice that could be heard in the deathly quiet arena.  The mutants in the audience watched with bated breathe.  Gavin watched with a great smile.  "FETCH BOY! HAHAHAHAHAHA"  Gavin was all but holding his ribs in laughter.  Somewhere in the circus the little girl psychic was causing a whole mess of trouble for Geo and Daydream.  If Gavin could kill them so easily he didn't want them in his show.  This wasn't an abduction..... It was an audition.  For both of them!  Gavin Sinclair only had the finest curious wonders under his fantastical big top.

Dirt covered hands covered Geo's sandy hair as he ducked behind his makeshift wall. He could feel the heat passing around him for a moments after he formed the spires. The moment hung in silence before he heard the proclamation that the mighty beast had fallen. The elemental sprung to his feet, peering over the wall to see the body slumped to the ground. Gavin seemed to be wounded by the act as well. Glaring in anger at the turn out of the surprisingly brief encounter. The look caused a grin to form on Geo's face.

"That's round one Freak Show!" A slight hint of laughter was in his voice as he turned his back to the wall facing the disappointed audience. But then things took a turn Geo hadn't been expecting. The ring leader must have had some of his goonies hop into the fight because the lights seemed to drop dramatically and a heavy layer of ice rushed across the floor. Encasing Geo's lifeline in what seemed to be a the frozen form of his Achilles heel. "Shit just went left." He was freaking out. He didn't even have anything stashed on his body he could manipulate and now he was surrounded by the one thing that made him useless. How could it possibly get any worse?

That was when a deep growl crept across the quiet tent, sending a chill down Geo's spine. He turned to see not one but three vicious hound heads crawling out of the frozen ground. The tent seemed to have developed it's own atmosphere as well. A blizzard had churned into full effect. The Greek mythos didn't seem to be lost on the puppet master. Gavin spoke as if he was Hades himself. Hubris was not something Geo was fond of. If this guy fancied himself a god then he'd have to draw some more blood to convince him of his mortality. Maybe even demonstrate it to him. But first he had a more sensitive problem that needed his immediate attention.

As the mighty Cerberus charged at the elemental Geo stumbled backwards, nearly loosing his footing as the wall crumbled beneath it. Though it was nothing but a hiccup in the beasts gait. It hovered over the elemental like he was it's next meal. Then at Gavin's command the beast sprung to attack. Geo fell into a full sprint, running along the walls of the ring for dear life. He was too scared to feel cold. Too scared to look back at the massive charging beast behind him and certainly too scared to realize that it was still bare dirt beneath his feat. The monsterous mutt was his primary concern. Mostly having to do with not being it's lunch. He could practically feel it's hot breath on the nape of his neck as he screamed, trying to push himself faster still through the illusioned tundra he had been cast into.

Daydream looked around the side of the tent. It seemed as if the coast was clear for the moment. Looking back at Geo she allowed a whisper of relief tao lite her eye before realizing they weren't out of the woods.  The sound of angry mutants hot shouting out "Find them! The didn't get far!" Shit shit shit. She thought as she moved around the edge of the tent. There was a panicked pace to her jilted breathing. Her heart was hammering as she grabbed Geo's hand and pulled him along behind her. 

 They squeezed between few tents and slunk through the shadows. The mid after noon sky had gotten darker as a few clouds rolled in and blocked out the sun. Still the added light did then no favors of not getting discovered. She didn't know why her luck was consistently bad and over all scummy.  She just knew that she kept finding herself in terrible situations.  Mutant life, is a hard life.  One she intended to keep living as a free woman and not trapped inside some horrible freak show under the rule of a monster.

"Come on." Daydream said in a low, hush tone.  She paused as few late to the party mutants ran by.  She pushed her hand back holding Geo still.  We gotta find that girl!  She thought.  She didn't want to have to ever see this place again.  Daydream pulled her false companion along and made it out into the clearing.  They weren't out in the open but a few seconds before they were spotted.  She couldn't hear the real Geos's screams and she grabbed Handsome man's hand and dragged him behind her. What a nightmare.  She thought.  She was heading straight for the haunted house thrill ride.

Inside the tent. The wind swirled in a howling cry of fear.  The tent almost seemed to glow blue.  Ominous and petrifying.  The low light and the soft blue of the frozen ground caught the light from outside in a way that draped the circus tent in a harmful forboding. Gavin stood happily watching his beastie nip at the heels of an arrogant elemental.  Gavin's eyes moved from the fight to a man in the crowd. 

 The man was looking back at Gavin.  There was a small nod shared between then before Gavin's eyes moved back to his canine subservient.  "LET ME BREAK IT DOWN TO YOU SPORT!  THIS HERE IS MY PLAYGROUND.  MY SANDBOX! AND WHEN YOU PLAY IN MY SANDBOX...... LET'S JUST SAY I'M KING OF THE SANDCASTLE.  NOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IT GONE HAPPEN HERE....... Cerberus's teeth snipped the back of Geo's shirt as he ran for his life.  The massive paws crunching the ground with every gallop..... "NOW I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT SON!  DAYDREAM, I'M TOLD IS DOING JUST FINE.   SHE'S FITTING IN REAL NICE ALREADY.  SAID THAT YOU WERE GOOD FOR A ROLL IN THE HEY BUT YOU CAN'T GIVE HER WHAT SHE NEEDS.  AND THAT'S STABILITY SON!" Cerberus's saliva dripped down the back of Geo's neck as he for his life.  The sound of Gavin apparently monolouging in the background helped negate the stunned silence of the room.

Inside the haunted house ride Daydream pulled Geo in after her.  She slammed the heavy wooden doors behind her.  Geo hadn't conjured any elemental attacks.  Because false Geo could not hurl any dirt.  He had Geo's appearance but not his abilities.  He was playing the part.  He was playing the role he was given.  He was to test Daydream's descioin making skills and her ability to think on her feet.  Every mutant in the circus had to fight.  Mutant fights were the biggest crowd drawing money makers.  An invisible girl is not much of a fighter unless she could improvise.  Gavin was testing their fighting ability.  Their survival instinct.  He wanted each of them for his show under the big top.

Daydream slammed the doors shut and began to block them.  False Geo helped her move some stuff in front of the door and they both took a step back.  The doors rattled with fists and thuds, but they didn't get in the door. At least they couldn't get in.  "Come on let's find our way outta this freak show!"  Daydream insisted, without ever taking her eyes off the rattling door.  She wasn't super thrilled about going through a spooky thrill ride in this horrible place, but she wanted to get out.  She could teleport but she didn't know where she was going so that was going to be useless.  Daydream grabbed false Geo's hand and dragged him through the dark.  "Slow down Daydream."  False Geo griped as he willingly and happily followed her into the haunted house.

Back in the tent Gavin watched his monster.  It had a mind of it's own, though it followed Gavin's command.  Gavin gave it vocal orders, but the thing was sentient and clever.  It wouldn't just blindly run in circles forever.  The great beast cut right and cut the circle Geo was running in half.  It slid across the frozen ground without loosing it's balance.  It looked like a hockey player racing up to the glass barrier and sliding to a stop gracefully.  The beasts massive black body a hulking barely visible presence in the deathly blue ice circus. 

The only thing that was easily seen on the thing was three pairs of blazing red eyes.  And the fowl breath that threatened to swim down your throat and choke you.  "MY MONSTERS ARE THE LAW IN THIS TENT! YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN DANCE WITH GODS AND NOT STEP ON YOUR OWN FEET?? IT'S A SHAME YOUR GOING TO DIE BOY.  I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO INVITE YOU TO DAYDREAM'S OPENING ACT AT GAVIN SINCLAIR'S CIRCUS OF WONDERS!"  Gavin laughed as his great terrible three headed beastie began to slowly stalk him again cutting off his retreat.  Each footstep was lingering death looming a little closer.  Each panicked breath was inviting in it's stench and solidifying it's terror. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! The beast grew nearer to Geo.....

Despite the cold Geo could feel sweat beading on his face as he went into his third lap around the ring. The hot breath of the Cerberus now moistened by a fresh layer of drool running down his shirt. He was already struggling with his breath and the beast was hot on his tail. It wasn't going to be much longer til it was right on top of him. He could feel himself losing speed. The only chance was to use the beast's momentum to his advantage. It was all risky but he wasn't going to last much longer on his feet.

In one swift motion Geo dove face first into the ice covered ground, hoping to somehow get enough friction to stop short of the beast. But the elemental was surprised to feel a face full of dirt as he fell to the ground. The giant mutt ran clear over him, paws barely missing the elemental as it skittered to bring itself to a stop. Blinking Geo looked to the frozen ground under him. What was unsettling was as he ran his hand across the ground her felt dirt. In fact no he had taken a moment from the panic he could still feel the earth around him, the familiar response to his will was there. He had been had.

The girl. In the moment he had forgotten about her. Of course she was messing with him. A snarl formed on Geo's face as the Cerberus seemed to get it's bearings enough to turn back to him. As it rushed towards him again Geo sunk himself into the ground. The familiar darkness of the earth engulfed him as he floated through the ground out of the beasts reach. He could feel it start digging away at the dirt trying to get at him while he let Gavin's words sink in. The man infuriated him, made his blood boil in a way it hadn't in many years. He was arrogant, he was powerful and he was a god damn showboat about it. The ground around him began to quiver and quake in response to the anger rising in the mutant, his control slipping in moments as it fought against the immense rage.

As the Cerberus dug away at the ground above the ground caught a hold of the beasts paw, breaking through the illusion of a frozen surface to pull the creature partially into the ground. Massive hind legs were left kicking in the air as the beast attempted to right itself in vain. Geo pushed himself towards the surface til he was just bellow. Churning the ground around him he formed a violent swirling mass of earthen material. It seize and lashed out as it build around the mutant. It grew and grew til Geo couldn't control any more of the material.

It a swift motion the mass turned into a sphere of destruction as it crashed into the stands, breaking below the seats and into the banisters. Geo went for the supports, crashing into them and breaking them to splinters one by one as he rushed under the seating leaving ruin in his wake. He moved through the ring for a moment before crashing back out into the open ring. The mass broke apart to leave Geo standing with his feet firmly planted on the ground. His chest heaved with a mixture of adrenaline and a growing exhaustion. A twisted snarl was on his face as his eyes bore a hole into Gavin. The rubble behind him shifted as some of the mutants from the ruined rafters began to climb back to their feet.

Ignoring he still kicking Cerberus that seemed to be fighting less and less by the moment Geo began walking towards Gavin. Ignoring the illusioned storm around him he moved with determination. Though in his mind he saw his bare feet walking across ice he could feet the dirt beneath his feet. The ground quaked and fissured with his every step, lashing out with the overflowing fury emanating for Geo.

"Let's get one thing straight..." Geo's voice, though rich with hate spoke softly at first though built as he continued. "This here. This is MY sandbox." As he gestured to the arena around him, left in a wake of his anger. The ground swirled around him, wrapping around his waist and legs to lift him into the air as he advanced towards the ringleader.

"MY Sandcastle. You think you knew the game before but now I'm back in town. THIS IS MY CITY! THESE ARE MY PEOPLE! YOU THINK YOU OWN THEM!? YOU THINK YOU'RE THE SHIT?! WELL TIME TO WAKE THE F*** UP FREAK SHOW! I'M GEO! THE WHOLE F***ING WORLD IS MY PLAYGROUND!" As the roar rang from his lips the ground erupted and the ground lifting Geo rushed down as a landslide swept over the ringleader.

The walls seemed to dance and shake. Something was happening outside. Her eyes moved to false Geo but he looked just as confused as her as to what it could be. She figured the mutants were going to start using their powers to get them. That could mean one could melt the walls of the building with laser vision or tear the earth in half. She had no real sense of the depth of their abilities. She pulled Geo deeper into the haunted house ride.

Inside as a macabre example of humanity. Twisted and fowl. The whole ride seemed to be based around evolution, and twisted into a scary construct. She didn't catch the name of the ride, she was to panicked. The ride was called 'The mutant experience'.  It was designed to give humans who entered it a terrifying look into what some mutants go through. The experiments, the constant fear. Sort of an empathy thing, but it was full of cheap scared and designed to evoke a modicum of thought on the perils of mutants. Daydream saw the tracks ahead.  False Geo climbed into the cart and pulled the lever.  Daydream not wanting to be left behind climbed in too.  "Let's just ride the dam thing.  Better than wandering through the dark looking for an exit."  False Geo suggested.

As they pushed through the darkness Daydream could here heckling laughter echoing in the darkness. As the moved past a display the scene before them lit up in a hellish red glow.  She saw a mutant with a long tail and horns strapped to a table.  A glazed over dead fish look in his eye as his head rested flat on the table staring at her.  She was sure it was a mannequin a prop, but it looked so real.  She didn't want to investigate further.  The mutant strapped to the table was cut open.  His guts spilling out of the side while a man in a lab coat stood frozen.  An obvious dummy.  The lab coat man was holding the mutant's heart in some tongs and holding it over a pot that was leaking dry ice.  A voice rang out in the dark.  "Mutants have to hide.  Some mutants just by their mere appearance can be bastardized to the point where they are taking away for the claim of public safety.  Here they re experimented on and that is where the true horror begins HAHAHAHAH."  The creepy voice gleefully proclaimed.  Daydream winced and turned away from the horrible sight.  She couldn't move any faster than the cart would allow and she was stuck watching this nightmare horror fest.  Even though it was turning her stomach already.

Cerberus was pulling and tugging.  It was trying to free it's massive paw.  It began to bark in growl in frustration of it's plight as Geo slowly stalked it's master.  Stalked him in  similar way that Cerberus had stalked Geo.  Geo looked angry.  He sounded angry.  Yet Gavin's grin grew wider.  He had a tattoo of angel wings on his back.  The ink softened as he stood there and then feathers began to poke out of his back.  A few at first, until seconds later arch angel wings gloriously erupted from his back!  Gavin spread his wings and they were  as long s the griffin's.  A few might flaps and he took flight from the ground.  His white pants staind with left over ink and the remnants of blood.  "YOUR SANDBOX?  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'M SURE YOU THINK THAT SON..... BUT HERE'S THE SKINNY!  THERE AINT A THINK THAT HAPPENS UNDER THIS TENT THT I DON'T CONTROL."  Just then two things happened.  A voice soft and sweet, familiar rang out in the stillness of the moment.  It was Geo's sister.  She was standing on the frozen grown.  The wind whipping round her long black hair.  Her pale skin almost seemed to glow blue like the ground. Soft and fair.

Just at that moment Cerberus freed itself.  Gavin's wings flapped and he zoomed around the circus tent at high speeds.  He looked like a heavenly bullet the pale blue of the tent casting him in the role of ghostly specture shrierking with laughter.  Cerberus heard the voice of the girl and came charging at her.  She was only a few feet away from Cerberus.  A few feet away from Geo.  She reached out a slender tattooed hand for her brother.  She had found him.  After all this time she had...... She was snatched from where she stood.  Ripped up by a massive set of jaws that clamped down around her arm outstretched reaching for the lost elemental.  Cerberus picked her up her arm and shook her viciously.  "Trisssssten!!!!!"  She cried in pain as the three heads fought over her and tore her apart.

The cart moved down the bumpy track slowly.  Torturously slow.  Daydream only hoped that the exit was coming up soon.  The light shined on the next little display.  It was a large tent.  It was Gavin Sinclair's circus itself.  "Some mutants find work in many different ways.  Some of us choose to perform.  To become stars under the big top! Bringing smiles to the faces of human instead of striking fear into their hearts."  Daydream rolled her eyes.  False Geo sighed. "He serious with this shit Daydream?" It caught her attention for a moment.  He kept calling her Daydream.  Not Kendra.  She had expected him to call her Kendra after their passionate night together.  She thought they had gained a closenss.  Hell, he wasn't even calling her Dreamboat.  It was just odd.  She quickly forgot about it as a dummy jump scared them popping out of the tent and screaming at them.  "GAVIN SINCLAIR'S CIRCUS IS AMAZING!!!!" The dummy dressed like a clown said before laughing it's head off.  "Just get me outta this hellhole." Daydream sighed.

Gavin swooped back down behind Geo.  As he flew he had pulled a tattoo of a knife from the skin of his forearm.  Gavin swooped past Geo several times in quick succession slicing at him.  Each passby he could hear Gavin laughing almost in his ear as he zipped by.  Gavin swooped back in front of Geo and seemed to hover there a bit.  He licked Geo's blood off the blade of his knife, before pressing the blade against his forearm and letting the ink reabsorb.  It became a tattoo once again.  Cerberus was still chewing on the bones of an illusion.  "YOU KNOW WHEN YOU PLAY IN THE SANDBOX YOU GOTTA WATCH OUT FOR SPIDERS DONT YA?"  Gavin held out his arms and the ink on his ribs dripped from him.  His eyes glowing bright green his body cast in a haunting blue glow.  The ink rained from the sky and formed on it's way down.  It took shape as it poured from Gavin's body and became a giant Tarantula.  It's many eyes staring at Geo.  Cerberus finished with Geo's sister nd turned it's attention to the young elemental.  The spider and the hell hound approached him each from a different side trying to box him in.  All the while Gavin flew in the spotlight still shining on him and laughed his head off. 

Geo watched in vain as Gavin took flight. The ground crashed down around where he had stood, carrying out empty promises of what was the elementals violent outlash. He skidded out into a pile of sand, landing softly as he turned to watch the ringleader fly out of his reach. A snarl formed on his face as he watched. Was there nothing this asshole couldn't do? The ground quaked at another peek of anger though for a moment everything seemed to go quiet and a hauntingly familiar voice from his past glanced his ear.

The blood rushed from his face in recognition of the sound. His sister had been his everything. She had been the one to truly raise him while their parents modeled neglect. He hadn't seen her in so long, hiding her away from the world he was a part of. Yet she stood before him, pale in the reflection of the frozen grounds. Long dark hair encompassing her slender tattooed fram. A warm smile on her face bringing back memories of his childhood, gems of sunshine in a sea of darkness. It didn't occur to him she might be an illusion. He didn't use his senses to approach the situation. There was only the dread of seeing his frail sister in this place of hell.

He staggered out of the pile of sand, stepping eagerly towards his sister as she slowly approached him. There was no notice from the mutant when the Cerberus broke free. His dirt covered hand reached out as his sister reached for him. In a bloody flash it was gone. The mutant stared on in horror where his sister had been just a blink before, listening as the Cerberus rushed away with her and her panicked words digging a hole into his soul. Collapsing to his knees the man wept. Lost in a sea of emotion and despair as the one true connection he had to the human world was torn apart. He didn't flinch as Gavin swooped down to attack. The long cuts on his back leaving his shirt in shambles. His eyes only jumped to attention as the S-word rang through the tent.

He turned only to stop himself halfway at getting the general shape of the new beast that had entered the game. The fear swelled in him though it was outshone. Gavin had killed the one pure thing Geo had. Or at least to him it had seemed that way. He instead faced the Cerberus, keeping the unmentionable crawley in his peripherals. Gathering control of the ground between himself at the hound Geo sprang stone pillars into existence as the beast launched at him. Wrapping each heads jowls around a pillar it struggled in frustration to break the barrier. More and more sprang up around it as Geo ran around the creature, putting it between him and his second greatest fear.

Happy with the cage he had formed around the hound Geo caught himself up in a whirl of sand and carried himself faster away from the charging spider. He had to end this, now, and it would be a cold day in hell if he were to let Gavin slip from his grasps. The elemental dropped the sand holding him and faced the charging arachnid. Holding his hands to the side he grasped as much ground as he could. Long strands sprung to life and interweaved as a net formed from the living sand and sideswiped the creature it approached him. The creature was caught up in the moving net, stuck to the will of the momentum as it was slammed into the main support for the tent.

A sharp crack rang through the tent as the red and white sky overhead shivered. It was slow at first but the canopy of the structure slowly began to collapse in upon itself. Geo watched the sky eagerly as the canopy caught the wings of Gavin Sinclair, bringing him down towards the enraged elemental. As soon as he was remotely close to the ground a giant hand of earth sprung into existence. It grasped out taking hold of the tattooed man and dragging him to the ground. As Geo approached the structure held the villain at his level, the elementals right hand slowly became engulfed in stone as his bare feet dragged through the frozen mirage.

"You got one thing wrong Sinclair." Sharp eyes glared at the ringleader through a messed mane that was Geo's hair. "You'll never control me." His enlarged stone hand reached out to wrap around the head of the villain. Muffled screams could be heard as Geo stared blankly into the back of his hand. With a swift motion he pulled Gavin by his head and slammed the villain into the floor below him. A sickening snap rang as he was driven into the ground and the tent finished its fall on top of them.

Geo emerged outside of what had been the entrance, a cold look upon his face as he watched the spectators running free of the canvas and away from him. The mutant stared after them for a moment. They had sat and watched. Watched as this freak ruined peoples lives. Cheered him on as he displayed his twisted ways. The rage still bubbled through him as he watched a group of them run into a small trailer that seemed to be a make shift home for the troup.

"Oh we're just getting started assholes!" The mutant roared as he swept up into a massive landslide. The blanket of earth tore across the circus grounds, sending shards of the makeshift structures and debris flying into the air as Geo rained his anger on the circus supporters.

The ride was horrifying. It was sick, perverted justification for being a monster. A demon in human skin. She knew the struggles that mutants were up against. She didn't need the propaganda shoved in her face.  She knew this ride was intended for humans but she wanted off it. She wanted off it in the worst way. Daydream couldn't stomach another minute of this garbage. She tried to climb from her seat but false Geo tried to pull her back down. He asked her what she was doing. "Getting off this dam thang!" She cried in protest. Before she could struggle free from his grip something happened that made them both stop.

The walls caught fire. The whole ride turned into a blazing inferno. Flames licked the air and burned the inside of her nostrils with the vapid heat.  The wooden beams seemed to scream and cry from the tortuous inferno.  There was a pop.  Crackling heat caused rivets in the metal framework to start shooting off like bullets.  Daydream ducked and let out a frightened scream.  Another rivet whizzed past her head in the dark.  The flames cast everything a pale orange like.  Shadows of hell dancing triumphantly on the walls.  They're trying to smoke us out.  She thought.  It was nothing of the kind.  The child knew that Gavin was dead.  She was going to bring the ones responsible to their knees with insanity.

Outside in Geo's destructive warpath things were not settled as he thought.  There was still the angry temperament of a scorned child to deal with. Gavin's murderous monsters still trapped in their confines under the fallen tent.  That wouldn't keep them incapacitated forever.

Daydream grabbed false Geo's hand and they tried to make a break for the exit.  They could see the back door to the ride.  The door that maintenance used to fix thins on Gavin's propaganda thrill ride.  They burst through the doors to see something terrible.  They saw the giant spider making it's way out from inside the tent.  It had escaped it's net with it's acid spit.  Venom so toxic that a single drop would sear you all the way to the bone.  It's eyes landed on false Geo.  It didn't even noticed Daydream standing there.  It moved with speed like anything she had ever seen and raised up.  She wanted to scream but terror seized her throat and paralyzed her vocal cords.

She watched as the giant spider descended on Geo.  Her horror grew as she heard his screams.  She smelled the burning of his flesh that burned her nostrils far worse than any blazing inferno ever had.  She was goin to be sick.  Within seconds Geo was gone.  She had just began to know this man.  To care for him and he was gone.  Daydream teleported away from the vicious beast.  She had watched him swallow her friend in a single bite.  But not before she saw his face melting and smoking. 

Daydream teleported sporadically.  She didn't know where she was going, she just had to be away from there.  She exploded into a pale and red cloud several times.  Each time she reappeared her feet only touched the soft soil for a second before she was exploding into another cloud of smoke.  She couldn't focus. Couldn't think.  Reappeared by a trash can and doubled over it.  Her limp wrists dangling over the edge as she expelled this mornings breakfast.  Her head hung in the trash can until her knees gave out.  She slumped against it.  Her red hair trailing up the side of it.  Bits of vomit in her hairs and touching the corners of her mouth.  Her eyes were dull, lifeless, directionless.  She felt like she lost everything.  And she barely knew the man.  Her heart was screaming, but she was unable to move.

Her eyes lazily lolled over to the sounds of screaming.  She couldn't tell what was going on.  There was another tent blocking her view, but she didn't care.  Geo was gone.  Then her eyes caught the little girl.  She was standing there staring at her.  She didn't stop to consider that watching Geo die was an illusion.  It felt real.  Because it was real.  Only, it was handsome man who was eaten and killed.  Not Geo.  Kendra's eyes burned with a sick hatred of this girl.  She knew it wasn't her fault, but she blamed her anyways.  It was the girl who manifested the illusion of the thrill ride being set ablaze.  It was the girl who was causing the light in the afternoon sun to seem dismal and dark.  Like the storm of the century was rolling in.

Daydream's face twisted into a sneer.  She reached for her tranquilizer gun.  She really wanted to reach for her baton and beat this girl to within an inch of her life, but she was not that kind of person.  Even the sorrow burrowing into her heart couldn't cause her to be that person.  She was going to shut her down though.  She reached for her gun.  Only it wasn't there. It was in the little girl's hand.  Mind games?  She thought.  She double checked and it was in fact still hanging in her holster.  Kendra forced herself to her feet.  She pulled out her tranquilizer gun, ready to end the nightmare.  If only for herself.  Geo...... She thought sadly and aimed the gun at the nightmare maker.  And then she vanished before Kendra's eyes.

Kendra stood there for a moment unable to breathe.  She sighed a few unbelieving breathes and then began to laugh.  Of course!  The nightmare will never end.  Not at Gavin Sinclair's Fantastical Circus of Curiosities and Wonders!  The fun never stops there!  Kendra was starting to crack a little bit.  Just then there was a massive sound of something falling over.  It was the stone pillars from inside the tent.  Cerberus was free.  He leaped out of the tent and it's wild red eyes searched for the cause of it's anger.  They landed on Kendra.  The little girl made her visible to the circus mutants, and now she was visible to Gavin's monsters.  She was going to bring Daydream and Geo to their knees for what they had done.  Cerberus's three heads licked it's lips staring at Kendra.

The giant spider moved slowly up behind her.  It's many eyes staring down it's next morsel.  Cerberus in front of her, the giant spider behind her and Geo causing destruction on innocent mutants who had no free will of their own.  Gavin Sinclair was right.... This was the best show on earth!  Daydream looked up at Cerberus but only continued to laugh hysterically.  Her arms out at her sides as if she had given up.  She really didn't feel like fighting this anymore.