The antics of the clowns built up as the mock fights continued. Pies and seltzer water went everywheres and many a clown was shedding over-the-top crocodile tears. But not Zek because he had an image to maintain and didn’t wanna muss his makeup, so he just did what came naturally and was amazing at the mock fight to the point of besting everyone. Everyone knew that the clowns were the heart of the circus and Zek was aiming to be the number one clown.

Proof. When the act was finishing up, another clown came out in a little car and a dozen or so guys piled into it. And when it was his turn, he decided to show them why he was better. He could improvise! Could they? He stepped up to the car and pressed a little ball of light into its side.

The car vanished and a dozen clowns forcibly unpack and kinda exploded all around him.

Zek turned and bowed with a flourish. “Voila!” he roared before moonwalking his way off the staging floor and back to the backstage, leaving the rest to pick themselves up.

The snake lady snagged his arm as he passed. “That wasssn’t in the plan,” she said, her beautiful voice washing over him. “You ssssshould’ve done what the othersssss did.”

Zek shrugged. “Sorry ‘bout that. Won’t happen again,” he said. He’d already proven himself. Why, he expected to get promoted to Major Clown by the end of the night! These folks really needed someone to whip them into shape. Why, if Zek didn’t know any better, he’d’ve assumed the clowns were just a bunch of thugs hired off the streets!

They kinda smelled like it too. Or maybe that was just the elephant shapeshifter guy in the cage Zek was leaning on?

The singer looked at him for a moment and then smiled widely, showing off very beautiful teeth and some very sharp fangs. “Exsssssscellent,” she said before turning away.

And then Catbird came out! As an actual catbird! Zek grinned hugely. Oh he knew what was going to happen. He’d been a catbird himself once, actually. It wasn’t as good as being himself, but if you couldn’t be a Zek, a birdcast was a pretty decent alternative.

A cowboy-looking guy with a lot of light-catching clothes hopped on Birdcat’s back and then they took off.

Spotlights of many colors tracked them through the air, even as the rest of the place was enshrouded in darkness. Excellent for Zek. Turns out, his face makeup glowed in the dark. He’d noticed when he was checking himself in his compact again.

And then the Ringmaster’s voice echoed into the darkness, continually sounding like it was coming from different places. “The greatest predator the world has ever known, king of the sky and the ground, the mighty gryphon!” Audience applause and shrieks. “But even such a beast can be tamed by the canniest of men. Ladies and gentlemen, Larry Zoo will now ride the gryphon through the rings of fire!”

Giant rings suspended in midair around the big top suddenly appeared in bursts of fire, occasional drops of flames falling off and flickering out. Screams of surprise came from the audience and then a hush, as if everyone was holding their breath.

The rings were smaller than the shifter remembered or he got bigger. Either way the rings would still be on fire. When they lit Carrick’s Gryphon form hesitated and shirked away from it but was reminded he had a show to put on. The singing was the first reminder the gasps and cries of excitement was the second and then there was Larry Zoo. Someone Carrick was beginning to think wasn’t all there. Or he forgot who he was riding. Either way one of Carrick’s forms would be having a word with Larry if there was another... The Gryphon let out a loud screech hoping to deafen Larry Zoo.

The shifter was a showman however and this was his world so when he felt the spurs he flew as high as he could while spinning until he was at the highest point he could fly. Carrick backflipped in the air and then started his quick descent to the ground hoping Larry Zoo and his spurs were afraid of heights and was to stupid to hold on. He wasn’t.

Before he hit the ground Carrick snapped his wings open zooming through the first ring. A feather caught fire and fell off before it was a problem. Larry Zoo pulled on Carrick’s neck practically choking him as he tired to stay as close to the body as possible. His cowboy hat didn’t make it. Smacking the top of the on fire ring the hat fell behind as Carrick barrel rolled through the second ring slowly building up speed as he started zooming through the rest of them.

“Dumb beast! My hat!” muttered Zoo as he kept hold on Carrick’s side with the spurs. One thing you don’t do is insult the ride. His Gryphon form loved attention and had an Ego that put Carrick’s to shame even with knowing he was performing the Gryphon’s tail thrashed behind him. One more time... if he did something one more time...

They were close to the last ring on fire, only a few feathers were singed that was fine. He could clean them later. What he couldn’t do would be take back the last stunt he pulled as Larry Zoo decided another kick would encourage more speed. It didn’t. Carrick arched his back at the last ring sending Larry Zoo face first into a flaming ring of metal. There was a loud clang a shriek from Carrick’s Gryphon form and then a falling Larry Zoo who was fumbling at his face and trying to kick a steed who wasn’t there.

Carrick could hear the audible gasp from the crowd as Larry quickly fell to earth cursing behind a bloodied nose. The shifter sighed and adjusted himself into a dive. Before hitting the ground Larry was caught in one of Carrick’s claws then tossed upwards on to his back. “Ka-ill you.” he said as he landed holding his nose on Carrick’s back. The crowd erupted in cheers as Larry Zoo threw his hands up in the air as if it was all part of the show.

Circling the center ring Carrick spotted his target and snagged the cowboy hat before landing. Larry waved his hand about and Carrick with his claw tossed up the hat trying to catch it on his head. Larry Zoo responded in kind by kicking him once and catching his hat. The lights dimmed and Carrick and Larry ran off from the stage as the lights dimmed.

---

“I don’t care who that thing thinks he is!” shouted Larry when they were behind the curtain and the next act was on. Larry was yelling at the woman with the beautiful voice and Carrick still in his Gryphon form decided to go over and giv him a piece of his mind. He gave Zek a look like, ‘Can you believe this guy?’ he looked to his bloodied sides and gave a sharp chirp. ‘Spurs!

His body felt heavy, was it a half hour already? bird like beak gave another sharp chirp and he started to alter back to his humaniod form. His sides were bloodied and he was sweating heavily. His body felt like it was on fire.

”**** you Larry Zoo, come at me with spurs again and I’ll make ya eat ‘em.” Carrick said as someone tossed him a blanket. He heard the singing again this time louder like before when she was near. Hiss heart started to race a bit and he looked up to the singer she was.... average looking. The Princess was far more attractive by comparison. Not that anyone would compare her.

”Will ya sing fer me again?” he asked breathing heavily feeling his body go heavy as the woman smile nodded. “We aren’t done yet.” before Carrick started to shift again his vision went dark.

Zek was hopping up and down with excitement by the time Derrick came flying back. Larry started yelling at people but Zek just bounced over to the birdcat and clapped him on the back. “Dude, that was awesome! You made Larry practically pee his pants!” Zek laughed, nearly a victim of the same event himself. That’s what blue juice and a ton of hilarity would do to ya.

He just shrugged back at his mythical beast-bro and returned the look and chirp with a “whaddya gonna do about it?” look. Although if Zek had really stopped to think, he might’ve considered that Cathy could always just eat Larry. But then that brought up questions about hairballs versus bird pellets and Zek decided that it was all gross and disgusting. Although he and birdcat were matching now, what with all the red all over them.

But then Catbird started changing back into his slightly-less furry and feathery self. Oh well, looked like the show was over. Honestly, that’d be a tough act to follow and ohhhh motorcycle stunt men were out in the ring now. Heh. Laaaaame.

And then singing. Zek started bobbing his head along as the lady crooned, although he noticed a few of the other people just grow slack-jawed and glassy eyed for the moment. Lol, reminded him of how Chris looked when they’d been talking about her before--oh, he was changing again. Good. The birdcat form was a much better look than the human-ish form. Less pastiness to assault one’s eyes.

“Break a leg, dude,” Zek said as he slapped at the catbird’s rump. “I’ve got duties elsewhere.” He picked up a nearby tray of various foods and little boxes and headed toward a side exit. One of the clowns glared at him and Zek’s eyes widened before he mimed zipping his lips. Oh yeah, on the job training. Whoops! He gave the clown a thumbs’s up and a big smile, which possibly looked quite freaky in the dim light as only the white makeup glowed. The dark red lipstick and domino mask absolutely did not.

Supposedly there were going to be some special people in the crowd? In some kind of box seat? And the singing lady had told him to deliver these gifts to them or whatever. Zek had gone along with it, because what better way to show you were top clown material than cozying up to the talent?

Not that Zek understood what the lady’s talent was. Nobody had explained it to him. He’d caught hints about giant snakes or something but he figured it probably wasn’t important. He’d witness it eventually, right? Everyone here was a performer, right?

Several minutes later, Zek found himself in a special enclosed box construct that seat about a dozen very snazzily dressed men and women. He could practically smell the wealth coming off of them. Or maybe that was just something he’d stepped in. Weird how a circus without animals still had awful little piles of things lying around.

As Zek silently walked among the people to deliver the snacks and stuff (having refrained from swiping some only because it’d ruin his lipstick), he ended up with the the best view in the house.

And then the real show began.

It was another painless shift, the singing helped gave him a focus other than the pain. So when someone hit him on the rear he didn’t immediately turn and attack. Instead he started purring his slitted eyes turning to big round discs under the influence of the charmer’s ability. The singing. The guy who hit him left. That just left him, his new mate and someone who needed to die. The shifter debated attacking the man in the cowboy hat but instead was distracted by his tail. He could always kill him later. If he wanted.

Carrick’s beast form batted at his tail then stopped when the singing changed. His eyes glossed over again and he did as he was told which was to go back to his cage for now. Normally he’d fight, or run. He didn’t like cages but the singing... Carrick went belly up when he rolled in the hay. Till his time limit hit and he came to.

“Carrick?” ”Me?” he woke up naked again with another loin cloth near his head. He was in pain but threw them on and searched for the voice. It was Tiny. In a cage? Tiny never did cages. In fact he fought like hell when Carrick was given a cage instead of a trailer when he first joined the circus. They were both small, Carrick didn’t get the difference. “What happened?” Carrick stood and shrugged his nostrils smelling of smoke he should look for the source.

“Why are we in the cages?” Tiny asked his hands turning a hue of grey as he put his hands on the bars. He was sweating profusely when he bent the bars. “We’re men! Not animals! We don’t do cages!” he said almost trumpeting the louder he got.

”No.... we don’t...” Carrick said looking around the more he thought about it. The singing died down the more he looked around. His friends. They were in cages too. ””Let! Me! Ou- hey darling!” the singing got louder again and his and Tiny’s aggression died down. His eyes glossed back over and he started waving to the charmer. “Now, now boyssss!” her tongue clicked or flicked out of her mouth. Carrick couldn’t remember just that she was the most beautiful.... voice he had ever seen.

“We got to get ready for your next performencessss.” she chided as she pointed Tiny back to his cage. Once worked up Tiny pulled the bent bars back into place and waited for further orders. Carrick purred loudly.

“You big ssssstrong boysssss got a sssshow to put on. You do well and I’m all yourssssss.” she touched each of the bars of Tiny’s cage as she passed. Another fellow animal shifter stuck his snout out of another cage when she passed. There was some whining behind the cage door and she patted the snout.

“You boyssss do your besssst to get the highessst numbers okay? The more you get the more I’ll ssssing for you.” she lied. “Carrick, Tiny. You boysss ready to put on a show?” she sang. There was a click and the cages opened.

“Yeah!” Tiny’s eyes glossed over exited the cage and he stood proud. “It will be the best show ever.” he said confidently exiting the back area and entered center stage. Carrick’s eyes glossed over as well again continued to purr as he waved to the charmer. ”This one’s fer you love.” he said as he started to shift again. ‘Mate!’ shouted the beast’s voice in the back of his mind followed by ‘Fight! Kill!’ Carrick continued to purr as he walked with swagger following Tiny out to center stage.

There were less people this time but that didn’t matter to Carrick, he had a plan. Shift fight and win. Then he could go back to living happily ever after with whatever her name was. They’d make beautiful music together.

Words exited a loud speaker as Carrick started to shift. Beast form responded with the call as he let out a roar and started pulling his skin off to make way for his furred form. "Sorry kid! She's mine!” ”F--ight!” Carrick roared forming his first actual words in this form. Carrick lunged as Tiny started to shift as well into his Elephant form.

“Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the final event of the night. You have seen attractions to astound, shows to stupefy, and even acts to amaze, but now let us take it to the next reality. Impossible anywhere else, but we achieve the impossible on a daily basis: the match of a lifetime - Ganesha versus the gryphon!”

Zek kept wincing as the speakers kept going on and on and on. Like, hello! Zek had fantastic hearing and a speaker was like five feet from him. If all his pockets hadn’t been full already. He would’ve just whammied it with a lightball and have removed it from his misery.

But alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

He continued passing out food and drinks as required but kept his head swiveled to face the action. And boy was there action.

The gorilla dude turned out to actually be an elephant dude! Which explained a lot, in retrospect. And the elephant dude was currently about nine-ish feet high, looked to have gained about two hundred pounds in pure muscle, had an elephantine head complete with giant, wicked looking tusks and a tough-looking trunk. He let out a trumpeting cry and started charging at the gryph--udge was that?

Zek accidentally dropped his tray on a man’s tuxedo and as the guy yelped, Zek leaned in for a closer look. Heh. Chester had gotten furry. Like, I haven’t shaved ever furry. Huh, was the dude on steroids? Zek shrugged. Oh well, dude was totally gonna die if he was going up against Tiny and Zek would have to get a new friend to go to circuses and shows and stuff with. Oh well.

“My apologies,” Zek said quickly as he bent over to pick up the tray. As he did, he flashed his other one into existence, the one with the raw meat, fruit, cheese, and blue drink. “Here, on the house.” He handed the man a juice, not paying attention to whether or not it was one of the ones he’d spiked with hefty amounts of kerosene.

Then he turned and caught a glimpse of Tiny trying to bullrush into Eric and gore him on his horns.

Zek nodded approvingly. The fighting actually looked real! Who knew Chrissy was that good an actor and stuntman?

‘Fight!’ Carrick let out a roar in defiance as the trumpeting sounded. To say Tiny was tiny would have been stupid now, he towered over Carrick’s beast form and had more limbs than the shifter. He wasn’t jealous. Nope.

Dodging the goring from the ivory tusks Carrick turned slightly and hoped onto the tusk and went for a ride in the air. Before the trunk could grab him he snapped his wings open and lifted himself dodging the prehensile nose. Bronzed wings snapped shut and he landed on Tiny’s face claws out.

Carrick got in a few good swipes before he felt two massive hands grab a wing and an arm. Almost the whole chicken dinner. Almost. Carrick bit at one of the hands on his wing and then felt himself be thrown into the air. Before he hit the ground he turned and landed on his feet.

A low ‘yowl’ emanating from his chest. The singing continued to ring out in his mind. Why was he fighting Tiny’s final form? Tiny had a heart condition one that Carrick had been worried about for years. Why was he fighting? His snarl died down until there was another trumpet. ‘Mate!’ that’s right they were fighting for the snake lady. Scales and all.

Tiny charged again the ground thundering each step as the top heavy elephant shifter bull rushed into Carrick catching him by surprise. A flurry of grey arms swarmed Carrick’s beast form. Clearly an even match Carrick’s beast form started to question if this potential mate was worth the fight.

‘Fight!’ Carrick dodged another fist grabbed onto the swinging trunk opting for another ride again before he could get pummeled again. A clawed hand reached out to swipe at Tiny’s throat, blood was drawn and before Carrick could grab on further with his teeth he felt himself grabbed again by four sets of hands and then spiked to the ground where he bounced.

Carrick didn’t land on his feet he landed on his stomach. Before he could catch his breath Tiny’s rounded foot stepped on his arm. The shifter let out a loud roar in pain as sweat started to coat Tiny’s forehead.

Oh yeah, Zek was definitely going to have to find a new adventure pal after all this. He doubted there’d be anything left of the furry featherhead when Tiny finished with him. Even Zek winced at that last smackdown and sucked in his breath. Oh that one had to hurt!

The clown had retreated to the back of the box where he’d been chowing down on popcorn (which was easy to snack on without ruining makeup) as he watched the show. At first it had seemed like a classic matchup of brute force vs speed, mobility, and claws, but it rapidly turned into an elephant vs a catbird. Both could stomp on each other, but only one would survive it.

And the rich people weren’t just idle spectators. They were avid commentators.

“...more effective than the golem we saw last week…”

“...impossible to hide…”

“....versatility could be an asset, especially with the proper restraints and controls…”

“...ferocious, but no skill. See how he’s getting pummeled? I’d say he won’t…”

“...bloody waste of time....”

“....Anders had better not try outbidding me or I’ll….”

“...if he was your bodyguard....”

“...better than the last batch we saw. They were all skin and bones and looked hooked…”

“....they were friends? Family? And they still made them fight like this? Amazing…”

And then it looked like Zek was about to see the fight suddenly end. Except it didn’t.

“N-n-n-n…” Tiny stuttered, his foot frozen mere inches above Ebgert’s heat and chest. He started shaking. “N-n-n-n-n-n-nuh-NO!”

THe word bellowed around the big top and Zek felt it vibrate the table he was sitting on. The box itself shook ever so slightly.

“I...will...NOT….FIGHT!” the elephant man bellowed. “Not....my….fruh-fruh-fr-friend!”

He moved his hovering foot and planted it firmly on the ground before stepping away from the gryphon boy entirely, no longer pinning him down. He turned to the crowd and stared directly at the box. “I’m...not an...animal!” he trumpeted, the words shaking things even harder. The floor beneath Zek’s feet started trembling. Tiny pointed down at his longtime friend. “We’re not animals!”

Now the important people were whispering other things.

“...thought they were under control…”

“...not very trained…”

“...disgraceful…”

“...why nullification collars are more useful…”

Suddenly Zek was paying attention. Until he got distracted again.

Those pure harmonies began piercing the arena, the same ones that the lispy singer used. Zek frowned, despite his enjoyment. Was this really the best time for a musical interlude? He felt it was really ruining the socio-political messaging of this battle scene. Like, maybe a dramatic soundtrack could’ve been used, but dead silence and monologuing then an abrupt song? Eh. Zek had expected better from the circus.

But then Tiny turned back to the catbird and unleashed a trumpeting shout before charging again.

Carrick struggled to get up, his lungs were empty after the meeting the ground they emptied further while he struggled trying to free his arm. Finally Tiny raised his foot and he pulled his arm free. It hurt and hung limp as he examined it. He’d have to go for the kill next. The singing demanded it. Tiny demanded something else. Something that seemed to resonate with the shifter. ‘Fight?’ he looked to the large grey mass of muscle riddled with appendages pointing at him. Was he attacking again?

Lowering on three limbs he started to growl again his hair standing on end. He was supposed to fight him not be pointed at. This wasn’t part of the show. Then the singing could be heard again, it drowned out everything else any thoughts Carrick was developing got pushed away when he heard the trumpeting of Tiny charging him again. ‘Fight!’ his body moved on it’s own wings snapped open at the last minute and Carrick dodged hand, then a trunk then another hand. Tiny slammed into the ground where Carrick was standing seconds ago a loud ‘thud’ vibrated throughout the center ring as Carrick flipped onto the Elephant shifter’s back.

‘Victory!’ bellowed Carrick’s beast form in the form of a loud roar. He did this not gravity! His shifted form swiped quickly with tooth and nail gouging out any chunk of flesh he could pull. Tiny roared himself but in pain as Carrick turned his former’s friend back into a scratching post. Tiny swatted at his back trying to get on his knees and stand. Each hand was too bulky to get to his back but his trunk managed to swat Carrick on the side of the head sending him flying towards the nearest stands like a foul ball. He landed in the stands with a loud crunch when he landed on his wing.

The spectators cleared out of the stands where Carrick landed. Tiny now losing a lot of blood stumbled forward charging the stand where Carrick had landed. A woman clutched her things and ran, ‘Mate?’ Carrick wondered as she ran. Nope he’d settle for the singer who seemed to be putting more gusto into her voice. ‘Fight.’ Carrick growled and stood up ignoring the way one of his wings were bent.

Sure, a bunch of people were screaming as the winged monster was flung at them, but they were drowned out by the roars of excitement coming from the rest of the stands. There was a feeling in the air, something delicious and thrilling. You could feel it in your core - something was different here. This wasn’t a regular mock battle. This was something beyond.

Even the rich people in the private box were getting into it. Zek noted their interest even as he noted locations of wallets and purses around them. There was a lust evident, a lust for something beyond the everyday pleasures. Their conversations even died down as the fighting grew more intense. The bloodletting had been the first part, which had been tantalizing enough, but risk harm to audience members? Nothing was going to stop these beasts.

And sharklike smiles were marking the faces of so many of the people surrounding Zek.

And several of them turned to glare at him and he realized he’d been chomping his popcorn way too loudly. Yeesh, was it getting hot in there? Yes, yes it was. Zek decided to be a good silent clown and get out before the mood turned on him. Besides, everyone already had snacks or whatever so he grabbed a half dozen bags of popcorn as he vanished.

Sprinting out the back and around back to the staging area, where several of the other spellbound performers waited with baited breath, Zek began munching on his popcorn again just as the elephant man was approaching Beastie Boy.

Heavy footfalls practically sent ripples through the ground. Ground trailed down the thick hide and painted a gorey stream behind him. Tiny charged forward and leaped like no elephant in the world could and hit the apex of his arc, multiple sets of hands clasping together in overhead fists as the so-called Ganesha trumpetted his anger as he came dropping down where the winged boy had fallen.

Chomp, chomp, chomp. Now THIS is good circus! Zek thought as he snacked away.

His body ached his throat hoarse but he stood, his position as Alpha demanded it. He wheezed as he inhaled, something else hurt. The crowd he landed in dispersed quickly one brave enough to snap a photo of the epic fight oblivious to the pain train that Tiny was bringing. Carrick exhaled loudly as loud as he could drowning out the trumpeting as Tiny came crashing down around him. Carrick dodged the blow by jumping forward and the stands that had been erected to house potential buyers and one blue tongued clown came crashing down around them.

Carrick’s beast form rolled and righted itself only to stagger when it tried to stand on all fours. He shifted his weight continuing to growl at Tiny who was now buried in the stands a bunch of bleachers and chairs formed a ball around the impact zone where he landed. ‘Fight!’ he growled again feeling his skin tighten. Another shift was coming he could feel it. His Gryphon form wanted in on the action now, to prove itself worthy of the title and the ‘mate’.

Two grey hands erupted from the bleachers and started to claw their way out. A few chairs were thrown some towards Carrick others at random locations in the big top. It was clear Tiny didn’t have the best aim in his Final form something else seemed off. He was clutching two of his left arms as if the impact was enough to cause pain. Carrick wasn’t going to fall for that. The shifter’s broken wing tried to move and he let out a howl in pain he couldn’t fly anymore so instead he jumped and used his good wing to give him a little more distance.

Blood trickled down his face obscuring more than just the swollen eye. He could still see Tiny though, his target was big and slow and now not moving as much. An easy target for someone like Carrick. On two legs he ran and leapt taking Tiny unaware as he landed on top of his former friend Carrick’s claws began to claw anything he could reach. Such a spectacle would not only give him his ‘Mate’ but deter others from challenging his position. Tiny was several times his size it would be a most impressive kill.

The damage. The devastation. The demolishment! Zek’s eyes grew two sizes that day. The stands were being destroyed and oh there went the snooty people box! Boy was he glad he’d gotten out of there! Shrieks of fear and mortal terror were outdone by the bloodlust roars from what remained of the rest of the audience. People calling for blood, for pain, for suffering, no longer caring whose it was.

Zek had never been so proud of his pal.

“Woohoo! Go Critter!” he whooped and hollered, spraying popcorn chunks all over the people at the edge of the curtain, including the singing lady. She turned and shot a glare at him before turning back to watch the fight. Zek ignored the look and nudged Lizardskin. “See the fuzzy feathered guy? I know him. We go way back. Since like, June.” Zek nodded along smugly.

Then he frowned. Lizardskin hadn’t moved. “Like, we’re basically besties, he and I. Well, I mean, I’m his best friend but he’s not my best friend - I’m a popular guy and I’ve got standards you know - but he’s a great…wingman,” Zek said brightly and jammed his elbow into Lizardskin’s side again.

Still nothing. Now that was weird. Zek never failed to get some kind of a reaction out of people. They always at least rolled their eyes or started taking deep breaths. Or hit him.

“Hellooooo in there!” Zek shouted into Lizardskin’s earholes. “Anyone home?!” He waved his hands in front of the dude’s face, unintentionally flinging the contents of bags of popcorn all around him.

Still nothing. At least nothing from Lizardskin, that is.

The singing cut out and a vicelike hand grabbed his arm. “What issss wrong with you?” the singer hissed at him. “Why are you misssssbehaving? Why are you not entranccccced?”

Zek blinked. Then scratched at an ear. “Oh right, my bad. I’m supposed to be quiet. Darn. tHere goes my shot at getting promoted to head clown.” He showed and gave the lady a faint smile. “Eh, what are ya gonna do? Also tomorrow night I guess. Count on me.”

THe lady frowned. “That isssss not what--”

“Oh look something’s happening!” ek said quickly, pushing past the woman and making his way to the tent flap.

Tiny was out there, struggling under the dervish of a catbird, and then many of his remaining hands went to his chest. The elephant man stumbled. “Carrick, don’t--”

And fell.

The impact shook the big top.

The crowd erupted.

‘Kiiiilll!’ whispered the siren’s song. Tiny went down using all his hands to clutch his chest the greyness of his skin, tusks and trunk all started to recede back into Tiny’s normal body till his friend was there holding his chest. Looking terrified, his once glazed over eyes reverting back to normal. The fear was new but that was the same Tiny Carrick grew up with in the circus. The shifter’s eyes however were still glossed over. He was still being commanded.

Tiny’s chest heaved a few times sweat now coating his body. Carrick took a step forward and debated if it was a mercy killing. ‘T-Tiny?’ the voice was faint in the back of his mind and drown out by the song that he hoped he’d hear the rest of his life. Carrick took a step closer to Tiny and sniffed the air ignoring the cheers at first. He had one, he had protected his position as Alpha and would collect his new mate.

The crowd roared with applause and cheer, Carrick responded in kind, while his beast form normally didn’t care about the performance some things were hard to ignore. Carrick’s clawed hands shot up in the air as he inhaled and then put a foot on Tiny’s chest and Carrick exhaled a roar drowning out the crowd. He was the greatest.

It was short lived however after the roar he stumbled backwards and started to pull at his fur signaling, the end of his time limit or was it finally that the threat was over he no longer needed to be here? Either way after a few seconds of clawing at his body and pulling clumps of hair a very naked Carrick was reveled.

Mismatched colored eyes looked around and gave a nervous grin, he was naked. Standing over Tiny with a cheering crowd. He had dreams and nightmares like this when he was a kid. Not with Tiny there mind you, just adoring fans and a naked Carrick. Where was his PJ’s? At least this wasn’t like the one he had to take a Bio exam naked in front of his ex-girlfriend while the class watched him to make sure he wasn't’ cheating.

”Tiny?” he crouched down the adrenaline still going blocking most of his pain receptors while he was still in the moment. Tiny didn’t move. His eyes opened and closed a few times and his body looked like he had just got into a fight with...

”Mate? You alright!?!?” The now humanish version of Carrick crouched down next to Tiny, ”Help!” his voice was hoarse. He wasn’t a medic, a lot of things but someone who could heal wasn’t one of them. ”Someone help hi-” the singing got louder and his eyes glossed over.

Carrick stood and raised a fist in the air. He was victorious.

Zek joined in with the yelling and caterwauling and enthusiastically clapped his hands to celebrate his pal’s victory. That was some fight! And who didn’t like the underdog? Er, underbird? Cat? Underkittybird! Yeah! WHat a story! What a show! What a--

”Help!”

Wait, what now? Bird cat needed help? Oh, and was naked. But mostly calling for help. He hadn’t done that when he was getting pummeled and there wasn’t a point to yelling for help now unless….

Zek’s head whipped around and stared at the singing lady. A viperlike smile crossed her face as she began a new aria.

Oh snap. Just when I was starting to get the hang of this job. Turns out, the circus is evil. What a cliche. And Zek took off at a sprint toward his bloody nudist buddy.

He covered the ground quickly, but as amazing as he was, he was only human. It took many seconds to reach the scene of the...crime? Zek took in the closeup of Tiny. Yeah, the guy didn’t look good. He turned to Birdcat and….didn’t say anything because now the guy was back to performing for the audience.

Zek had never been that great in school, and his math skills weren’t that great, but he knew how to read a score. Gryphon boy - 0. Mind controlling singing witch - 1. Which meant that Crispy was probably going to feel bad about letting his friend bleed out all over the ground. Zek made the can of kerosene appear in his hand and he dumped it on the ground. Now he had some extra space. He manifested a golden light and flicked it at Tiny and he vanished.

Zek smacked his hands together. “Alright, mate. Why don’t we get out of here now, m’kay? There’s some kind of weird juju going on.”

There was a red flash of light then a yellow one. Carrick’s glossed over eyes continued to watch everything while his hands was raised proudly in the air. There was a clap and his eyes went back to normal distracting him from the singing that was encouraging him to put on a show.

Carrick blinked and his eyes went from the Kerosene that was on the ground now to Zek. He didn’t like the smell of the kerosene. Zek didn’t smell that much better though. ”Where are my clothes?” his body ached, ”Why does everything hurt?”

The crowd was still cheering and he looked down at himself debating to cover up. The singing was drowned out now by the smell of Kerosene and his thoughts between being naked and the crowd. ”One hell of a show?” he asked looking to Zek waiting for confirmation before taking his messed up arm and tucking it close to his chest in a little bow.

”This isn’t the same place I remember.” he said reluctantly. Everything was different now. He didn’t remember having to fight anyone. ”Wh-where’s Tiny?” he asked looking around starting to remember bits and pieces. ”and where is the girl with the beautiful voice? I think I’m gonna marry her.”

Zek bobbed his head from side to side. “Uh, yeah, you could say that,” he finally agreed. “Killer, even! Never seen a show quite like it before. Didn’t know ya had it in ya!” He grinned broadly as his blood-soaked pal, thanking all the dead gods that Carlton’s blinding skin was covered by the gore. It was hard to get around when you couldn’t see due to so much glare.

It also meant Zek was able to get a good look at Cristobel’s face. Huh, he looked confused. “Huh, you look confused,” Zek said. That was better than bloodthirsty and murdery. After all, Zek’s balls were full so he wouldn’t have anywhere to put the dude if he got out of hand. “Alright, let’s just get you out of here. I think you’ve had enough fun for one day, what with basically killing the elephant guy and all.”

Zek turned and tripped over the kerosene can and the rest of its contents bubbled out. The bobblehead caught himself and then continued on back to the staging area. “By the way,” he called over his shoulder. “That singing lady isn’t very nice. She totally has store-bought fake nails. Also, I’m pretty sure she’s hypnotizing you and Tiny. Just sayin’. Might wanna think about that before writing your vows.”

And before Zek could get closer, the tent flap opened wide and the woman in question stormed out. “That isssss IT!” she hissed, slashing her hands. “I have had enough of you!” she shouted at Zek. “You do not lissssten, you do not obey, you do not sssssurvive! You were ssssupossssed to be under my control, but sssssinccccce you are not and you procccceed to dissstract our greatesssst performer, you die tonight!”

Fury radiated from the woman and her eyes seemed to flash red. Then she opened her mouth and began to belt out a new song, one of rage and murder. “Kill him, Carrick! Bring me hissss head!”

Zek blinked.

Ulp.