Killer watched Cross disappear into the newcomers tent. He had lost track of time while training the latter and now the lights were already starting to flicker. He had to hurry if he wanted to avoid the Ringmaster's whip.

The lights flicked out – as he had expected – mid-way through the circus. He gritted his teeth and swore silently. He glanced around to see if there was a tent he could escape to. But obviously he was in an area where there wasn't a single tent he could hide in safely. He was definitely fucked.

The Ringmaster's smooth voice made him jump. "What do we have here?" It taunted, followed by a haunting laughter that echoed around them. Killer stood frozen, his back towards the other. His bones were going even more pale as they already were. He knew he was fucked.

"Do you know what time it is?" Nightmare closed the distance between them. He was breathing straight into Killer's neck. His tone was mocking and it demanded an answer.

"Yes.." Killer admitted quietly.

"Then what are you doing out here?" Nightmare tipped his head. "Are trying to get punished? You know the rules after all, don't you?" Killer felt hands on his shoulders. They felt cold, even through the fabric of his shirt.

"You have done so well avoiding this recently." His tone was mocking. A tentacle slipped under Killer's chin, forcing him to look into the eye of the devil. "But now it seems that you have gotten ahead of yourself and stepped outside when you shouldn't have. Have you realised your mistake?" The look on Nightmare's face was between innocence, concern and curiosity. It was a trap, Killer knew it. A trick of manipulation.

"Tell me," Nightmare cooed, starting straight into Killer's eye sockets, "Do you blame yourself for this?" – he stopped – "Or, do you perhaps." The look burned Killer's SOUL. "Blame someone else?"

Killer couldn't breath. He knew that Nightmare was trying to play him. He knew that he would get punished no matter what he said. He could try getting the blame on someone else, but that wouldn't stop him from getting hurt.

"Myself.." Killer gasped.

Nightmare stopped. He dropped the tentacle, yet Killer didn't dare to lower his head. He continued staring back at him, holding his breath.

"Strange," Nightmare muttered to himself, "I expected you to fight back," he said. The look on his face was changing back to normal. Killer stood frozen. He had a bad feeling about where Nightmare was going with this.

"Horror tried to fight back."

Killer felt as if he had been kicked in the guts. The words hurt. They hurt so much. He felt his grief gathering back like storm clouds in the sky.

Nightmare grinned at the delicious negativity from the young knife thrower. He knew that he had pushed his knife into the right wound.

"Don't you dare to bring him into this!" Killer snapped. His tone was dull, he was still processing it, not being able to understand how Nightmare had dared to being up Horror.

"Digging your own grave even deeper," Nightmare sighed, shaking his head in a faked disbelief. "Do I have to remind you again that I am the one in control. Therefore I tell you what to do and what to say. I make the decisions. You can't tell me not to bring up something." His tone grew cold. Killer stood frozen as Nightmare run a knuckle down his cheekbone.

"My Killer, why are you so difficult?" He tilted his head. He sighed in slight – faked, Killer could tell – annoyance, as if he was bothered. But Killer knew these tricks already. He knew that all the pity-searching actions Nightmare had were just for manipulation. Everything was a lie to get Killer to think he wasn't in trouble, but he knew he was and he would get punished.

He had fallen for it once and he would never do it again. He wouldn't let Nightmare lure him into a trap again. He had decided that.

"Well" – Nightmare's hand brushed over the whip hanging from his belt – "We could always get straight to business," he stated, grinning.

"Then do so," Killer snapped, the words spitting from his mouth like venom. He felt immediate regret, but refused to let it show.

"Looks like you want to be punished after all!" Nightmare chuckled. His fingers curled around the whip and soon a crack rang across the music-filled night along with cry of pain.

-----

       Cross glanced at Dust. The other hadn't said a word since the morning. The were surrounded by silence, and the music that never stopped.

Suddenly Dust stopped in front of a tent that Cross soon identified as the food tent. Dust pulled the flap open and gestured for him to go in. Cross obeyed and Dust shut the flap after him.

Cross stared at the closed flap. He wasn't sure if he should feel offended by the fact that Dust had just abandoned him, but he decided to ignore it and move to look at Ccino, who was currently staring at him with a surprise look in his soft eye sockets.

"What brings you here?" Ccino inquired, setting down the cup he had been washing. His teeth curved into a smile and he seemed genuinely happy that Cross was there. (Maybe he was getting lonely sitting in the food tent all day long with no company for most of the time.)

"Dust was supposed to keep me company, but he seems to have abandoned me here with you," Cross admitted sheepishly. He was kinda annoyed that he still seemed to need someone else with him while wandering around the circus, at least for most of the time that seemed to be the case.

"Oh, right! Well, I could keep you company for today then," Ccino suggested. He was sparking with hope. How could Cross say no to that?

"I don't see why not," he answered. Ccino's bubbling happiness informed him that it was definitely worth it.

"Really?" the younger exclaimed, immediately blushing. "Sorry.. I just don't get many visitors here, and when someone actually comes, they usually leave almost immediately or don't feel like chatting," he admitted, looking down. His loneliness made Cross' SOUL skip a beat. At the same time he felt angry, guessing that the Ringmaster had his own selfish reason to keep Ccino in the food tent almost 24/7. His loneliness definitely fed the need for negative emotions. And there was one more proof for Cross that the circus did, in fact, run perfectly under Nightmare's control.

"I'll keep you company today," Cross promised. His SOUL ached when he felt the excitement from Ccino. The other didn't deserve to be alone so much.

Ccino quickly thanked him before realising something. "Since Killer is in the medical tent, it's my job to go feed the animals today. Do you want to join me?" he suggested with a hopeful smile on his teeth.

"Sure. I haven't been inside the animal tents before anyways," Cross shrugged. He was really curious to see what they looked like and what kind of animals did they contain. At the same time he was afraid that he was going to see something he wouldn't have wanted.

"I'll grab the food and then we can go," Ccino hummed and turned around to the crates of food behind the counter.

-----

       The animal tents were by the edge of the circus. Cross had never been to that area and he was immediately shocked by the roller-coaster of emotions that swirled in the air around him. It was really uncomfortable and slightly torturing.

There was a lot of pain and anger. Cross could bet his life that the tents hid skeletons as well, and it made his spine shiver. Ccino remained calm, holding onto the food crate tightly.

"They're all chained up and can't reach the flaps," he suddenly explained. "They might try to attack, but as long as you don't approach them, they can't hurt you," he told Cross.

"Alright.." Cross nodded, feeling uneasy. He had a feeling that he would regret his choice to come see the animal tents and whatever was hidden in them.

"The only thing we have to do is to put the food into a bucket and go flip the bucket into the bowl in the tent," Ccino explained, opening the crate and taking a bucket from the side of the tent.

Cross glanced towards the tent they were standing by. Whatever was in there seemed really angry. He could hear the chains rattling as it tried to get towards the flap to see what was going on outside.

"I'll go feed this one. You can go to the next one. There is a less hostile creature in there. He shouldn't bite if you don't anger him.." Ccino said. He looked a bit unsettled as he glanced towards the other tent. His voice held pity.

"Let's do that," Cross nodded hesitatedly, not quite sure what he should be expecting.

-----

       The moment he opened the flap he was met with a bunch of unstable emotions and magic. It was not a good sign. The creature inside had very unstable magic. Cross could only hope that it didn't try to affect his own magic while he was near. That could end in a bad disaster.

In the middle of the tent sat a skeleton. The sight made his spine shiver. Skeletons weren't animals. They didn't belong to animal tents, unless the Ringmaster had a reason to lock them away. A reason he assumed to be unstable magic.

The skeleton stared at him coldly, but didn't make a move or say a word. They just stared, and Cross stared back, shocked.

"I have come to feed you.." he managed to say and showed the bucket, filled with animal food. His nonexistent stomach turned at the thought of being locked away and only being fed animal food.

They didn't respond. Cross just poured the food into the bowl that he hoped they could reach. He tried to push it towards them, but they didn't move. They just stared at him. A cold gaze filled with bitterness.

Slowly he backed out of the tent as they clearly didn't want him there. Outside he turned to look at Ccino. The latter noticed his horrified look and sighed with sadness peeking in his eye sockets.

"That's Fell.. Apparently he was an animal tamer, but grew unstable and after a failed performance the Ringmaster decided that he had to join the animals.. He doesn't speak with anyone anymore and seems pretty dead from the inside.. It's terrifying," Ccino whispered. It made him feel sick.

Cross was slowly starting to regret his choice to join the hell he couldn't escape. A voice inside his head told him that he should have turned away the moment he had stepped in, but he hadn't – and now it was too late. But he had a mission and he wouldn't give up before he figured out the truth.

"Let's continue feeding them. They've heard our voices and will soon get angrier if they don't get their food.." Ccino mumbled, picking up the bucket. Cross felt pity for him. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words, so he just nodded and picked up his bucket.

-----

       Cross made sure that Ccino got safely back to the food tent before heading back to the newcomers tent. The latter had taken him on another tour around the circus after they had fed the animals, so now he actually knew where the tent was.

But the flickering lights were worrying him. He was already waking fast, but he had a feeling that he should be running for his life. The atmosphere was haunting and he could sense danger in the air. He knew he should run, but yet he didn't.

Then, from the shadows of the tent in front of him emerged a familiar skeleton with a grin on his teeth. His right hand was raised. He snapped his fingers at the exact moment the lights went out.

"Who do we have here?" he taunted, closing the gap between him and Cross, who had frozen the moment he had seen him. "You do realise that you're in some big trouble, don't you?" he tipped his head, running a finger under Cross' chin.

"I do, Ringmaster.." Cross answered quietly, yet coldly. The look in his eye sockets was cold. He swore to himself that he wouldn't let himself fall so easily this time. He had to resist the enchanting tone and the caressing movements. They were all a trick of manipulation. He had to keep that in mind.

"Now you're back to being cold," Nightmare sighed, raising Cross chin to look into his eye sockets, "And yet I thought that you had already given up!"

"No, you hadn't." Cross wanted to say. He knew Nightmare hadn't. He knew that the Ringmaster wasn't that stupid. He was just playing, trying to confuse his prey. And Cross was that prey.

"No, you hadn't." Cross didn't say. If he spoke, the Ringmaster would turn it against him with something along the lines of "Interrupting me is rude" or "Did I say that you could talk back?" or "I don't remember saying that you could speak".

"Being quiet today, are you?" Nightmare asked, then leaned close and whispered directly into his ear, "Or maybe you're just afraid."

Cross didn't answer.

Nightmare pulled back. "Tsk, not feeling like speaking? Well, at least you seem to know which one of us runs the show." He smirked, reaching for the whip on his belt.

Cross didn't even flinch when the whip cracked in the air, barely missing his head. Nightmare tilted his own head at the reaction.

"You know that I'll have to punish you for being outside after the curfew, don't you?" he sang, running his gloved fingers across the whip in his hands. "And it will be painful."

Cross tried to hold back the shiver, but it didn't slip past the Ringmaster's notice. The grin on his teeth widened. Finally he was getting the reactions he wanted.

"You are afraid, aren't you?" he taunted with a chuckle. Cross stood frozen, like a statue with ice-cold glare. But yet, deep inside him he was starting to slowly grow afraid of what the Ringmaster would do to him.

"Are you a masochist? Tell me, darling~!" It was a question that demanded an answer.

"No," he answered.

"What a shame," Nightmare shrugged. "Then you won't enjoy this." His grin grew dark. Cross knew he was fucked.

"But for you, Cross, I'll give a chance to get out of this situation!" Cross didn't like the sound of that. "You have two options: either you tell me your last name, or you get down on your knees and beg for me to let you go."

"But what if I don't?"

"Then you'll have to face the consequences of your actions."

"Do it."

Nightmare run his fingers over the whip. "You got quite a lot of nerve, speaking to me like that." He stopped midway. "I was wrong," he hummed, "It seems that I do have to teach you which one of us runs the show, because it sure as hell isn't you." The tone was no longer taunting, now it was warning.

Cross felt his blood run cold, but he didn't dare to show any fear – even when he knew that Nightmare could feel it.

"You clearly haven't learned the rules the easy way, now you have to do it the hard way." A tentacle reached for his left forearm bone. The pressure made his eyes widen in shock.

A scream of pain echoed through the circus, but drowned under the haunting music. But the scream was nowhere as terrifying as the sound of the bone cracking in two.

"And let the show begin," Nightmare sang, letting the whip crack against Cross' bones.

-----

       Cross vision was blurry. His whole body was hurting and bruised. He was laying on the ground, breathing heavy. The Ringmaster was standing over him, seeming satisfied with the results.

He crouched down and carefully lifted Cross head, pressing their teeth together. The action made Cross want to scream. It was terrifying. The action was too soft, too caring. It was nothing like the actions before it. It made Cross' hazy brain go mad. He didn't understand.

"I warned you." The apologetic, pity filled tone was too sweet. It was a lie. Cross knew it – then why did he fall for it?

"Do you want to apologise and let me take care of you?" The request was temping, but Cross knew that it was a trap. He had to really hold himself back from saying yes.

He quietly shook his head.

Nightmare's expression darkened. "I wasn't about to do this, but you don't give me other options." Cross' SOUL skipped a beat. What was the Ringmaster up to?

"I was planning on ignoring them, but now I won't do that for you." A tentacle shot towards the tent next to them. Horror spread through him when he heard footsteps, followed by a scream.

Someone had been watching them, and now Cross had gotten them in trouble as well. His eye sockets widened in horror when he saw Chara trying to escape the tentacles tight grip.

"Spying on someone isn't really nice, now is it?" Nightmare's tone was cold and dangerous. To his horror, Cross realised that it was not the same tone he had used on him. This was way more worse.

"Let them go," Cross begged him, reaching to grab Nightmare's ankle. Nightmare showed no mercy, stepping on his fingers with his boot, grinning at the whine he earned.

Chara bit down on the tentacle stopping them from speaking. Nightmare didn't even flinch, instead he wrapped the tentacle around their neck. They tried gasping for air, filled with panic.

Cross couldn't take it. He couldn't just watch a child get choked to death in front of him. He had to act, and fast.

"Ringmaster.! Take me instead.! Don't hurt them.!" he exclaimed, his voice hoarse and raspy from screaming. He reached his hand towards him again.

"What was that?" Nightmare hummed, pretending that he hadn't heard. Cross gritted his teeth.

"Ringmaster, please! I'm begging you! Take me instead of them! You can do anything you want to, just don't hurt them!" he begged. Then an idea struck his mind. He didn't consider what would happen and acted fast.

The crack and his of pain made Nightmare snap his eye light towards him. Chara fell limp on the ground with a thump as Nightmare crouched next to him.

"What an interesting way to get my attention. Are you sure you aren't a masochist?" he chuckled, tilting his head. "Cracking your own rib like that." He brushed his fingers over Cross' ones that were tightly holding onto the piece of rib he had snapped in two.

"Let's call it a night," he decided and stood up. He lifted his top hat with his gloved hand and smirked, "Good night, don't do this again!"

And with those words he disappeared into the darkness, as if he hadn't just almost killed two of his performers.

Words: 3225

[1.8.2022]

I have an actual updating schedule. For now on this story will be getting updates on Mondays. But since school is starting again next week, there might be weeks when I can't post on time. Then I'll either try to post on the weekend or skip the weeks update.

And here's Fell's design.