Once Upon a Living Nightmare

The Circus

"Our chopper has just gone down. We repeat we have lost chopper 5. It appears something has come out of the water and has attacked the aircrafts. We can't make it out. All of the lights on the ship have gone dark. It looks like some kind of giant creature; a collosal squid perhaps? It's attacking the ship now. The last image we were able to get before the ship went dark was of three figures on the deck approaching the bow of the ship. One appeared to be carrying a fourth over his shoulder and a chain wrapped around one hand. The largest of the group seemed to be carrying a fire axe. Both individuals were walking towards the final person who was backing up it seemed. Hold on...We have confirmation...These individuals are in fact the members of the band Gorillaz. We are getting feed from a boat nearby and...it's gone...we've lost all feed. I'm terribly sorry everyone, it seems we are completely cut off from the scene. We will resume footage as soon as possible...estimated casualties are around a possible 650 persons. Dear God help us..." -GNN Reporting on the Attack of the RMS Queen's Tempest.

The air that evening was a bit on the chilly side but nothing too bad. Long sleeves or a light jacket at most. The sky was clear with the setting sun casting beautiful shade of orange and pink. The trees were in full bloom of greens both light and dark. If the the tree bore nuts or fruit you could see the buds beginning to form. Even the taste of the air was pleasant, the smells of spring accompanying them. 2D liked this time of the day, when the sun was going down. The light was at the perfect point where the sun didn't hurt his eyes but the street lights hadn't come on yet. He had his painkillers in his pocket, but he hadn't needed them yet.

As they walked no one had uttered a word. The trio just enjoyed the evening air. When they reached the boardwalk the smell of the sea greeted them. The waves sprayed them gently as the water crashed on the rocks below, adding salt to the aroma. The circus had been set up on the twin piers, you could see a few small amusement rides and of course a few tents. But the lights were focused primarily on the big top with its gold and red stripes showing proudly.

Russel led them through the crowd as 2D excitedly explained some of the rides and how they reminded him of his days working at a similarly small park. Noodle stood closely by 2D as they stopped at each booth looking at prizes and the like. Something that took notice of but didn't say anything about just yet. Murdoc wanted him to tell them both off, but why? They knew 2D, he wasn't some stranger that they didn't know. Sure he would wild out in the past but in his age he had mellowed quite a bit. Besides, his little Noodle girl wasn't such a little Noodle girl anymore.

As they stopped to try a few of the carnie games they each found one that they excelled at. Noodle dominated the pellet rifle game winning 2D a stuffed bear which Russ laughed at. Then 2D managed to pull out the stops on a hit the cans game, which by pulled out the stops I mean he went to throw, slipped, threw at nothing and somehow managed to knock the cans down as he hit his face on the counter. But he won Noodle a stuffed purple penguin dammit. Russel elected to compete in a small strong man competition and wiped the floor with the other contestants and actually cracking the bell on the hammer strike. He won an elephant that was bigger than Noodle and laughed saying "dis is mine, dat cracker ass already won you somethin girl." Which made them all crack up hysterically.

In the big top they enjoyed a few shows ranging from in excitement. There was a lion tamer who had a true connection with his beast. Even laying down with his head on the giant cat's side and read it a story while the lion yawned at appropriate times. Then there were trapeze artists whom flew through the air with grace. It was almost like they were floating at times, frozen as they glided across the open space before snapping around to catch the next spot. After a small herd of elephants had given an adorable performance with some jugglers it was time for the crowd to participate. The ring leader came out and asked for two volunteers who wanted to try the trapeze. There was of course a net in place if you fell, but it was still quite a drop.