Fins And Tentacles

Return Of The Circus

Years later…

It was almost time for the Family Day celebration, and Crusher watched from afar with total sadness.

Blaze had his family there, and he had been laughing and chatting with them nearby.

That only seemed to make him sadder.

"Hey, Crusher, you alright?" Pickle asked, driving to his best friend.

"Not really..." Crusher sighed. "The family we were adopted in was great, but… I really miss MY family, you know?"

"I understand." Pickle patted his back.

"It's… It's been YEARS, Pickle…" Crusher sighed. "And they… they haven't shown up. What if… What if they forgotten all about me…?"

"No, they wouldn't have, they're your family!" Pickle shook his head. "We just have to be a little more patient,"

"I guess..."

"Hey, Crusher! Hey, Pickle!" Blaze waved them over.

"Oh great…" Crusher hissed. "Mr. Perfection is calling us…"

"Come on, Crusher, be nice," Pickle glanced at him before smiling and waving. "Hiya, Blaze! What's up?"

"We were wondering if you guys wanted to come with us to the circus they have at Family Day." Blaze spoke.

"I hear they're supposed to have animals you can pet!" Sparkle beamed.

"C-Circus…?" Crusher stiffened.

"Oh, it sounds fun, but Crusher isn't too big a fan of circuses due to... elephant mishap. I can go with you though." Pickle offered.

"Pickle, is that such a good idea...?" Crusher whispered.

"Come on, Crusher, maybe it's not the same circus as… last time, so I think I'll be fine," Pickle assured him in a whisper with a wink.

"Well... okay." Crusher sighed and nodded. "But be careful,"

"I will. Let's go!"

As Crusher watched his best friend leave, he couldn't help but feel the churn of discomfort in his stomach.

Something was gonna happen.

And he had a feeling that it had something to do with the circus.

X

"Look!" Sparkle gasped as they spotted the circus tent. "There it is!"

"Stay close to us, Sparkle. We don't want you to get lost," Phoenix told her.

Pickle glanced up at the tent, and the feeling of familiarity and dread hit him.

Where had he seen that tent before…?

"You okay, Pickle?"

"Huh?" Pickle turned to see Blaze looking at him with concern. "Oh, yeah! Totally fine."

"Okay… if you say so…"

Blaze still looked concerned but turned away as they all entered the tent. They all too their seats and watched as the lights dimmed as the ringmaster stood in the middle of the area.

"Ladies and gentletrucks, welcome to the show!"

The crowd cheered in response. Pickle narrowed his eyes at the ringmaster.

Why did that guy look so familiar too…?

"Let's get things started by introducing our world famous animal attractions!" the ringmaster announced. "Starting with the largest animal around!!"

"Ooh! I can't wait to see the elephant!" Sparkle squealed.

A large box soon rose from the ground, covered in a blanket. The crowd oohed at the sight. The ringmaster grinned at their reaction.

"And here is our largest animal in our circus! Please give it up for… WHALEY!!"

When they uncovered the box, much to the crowd's shock, instead of a cage with an elephant, there stood a tank with a giant blue whale inside.

"A whale? I didn't see that coming," Flame admitted.

"Aren't blue whales endangered, though?" AJ asked.

The blue whale turned to the crowd and let out a whimper. The ringmaster didn't seem to hear or care as he hopped held out a remote.

"Now, Whaley, DANCE!! DANCE, I SAY!"

A spotlight fell on Whaley, who let out sad whale noises as it forced itself to dance.

"Aww... he sounds sad..." Sparkle said sadly.

"He is sad…" Pickle frowned.

"Well, maybe it's just the one sea animal," Blaze said. "And maybe the rest is like a normal circus,"

"Thank you, Whaley, for your magnificent dance!" The ringmaster cried. "And now, for our next entertainment; glow-in-the-dark fish!"

"Well... so much for my theory..." said Blaze.

"Maybe it's an aquatic circus!" Sparkle said. "And as soon as the acts are over, he lets em go."

"Maybe..." Pickle shrugged nervously.

But as the green truck glanced over at Whaley, who lowered himself to the bottom of his tank, he frowned and shuddered at the whip markings on his skin.

"Wait... look at the whale!" he gasped, pointing. "He has whip markings all over his blubber!"

"Whip markings?" Blaze turned and gasped. "Woah… that's… but that's animal abuse!"

"What can we do?" asked Sparkle.

"We need to get those animals out after the circus," AJ declared.

"Right." Blaze nodded in agreement.