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The door to the bakery opened with a ding, a dark haired male emerging. “Astro!” The person at the reception exclaimed. His hair was cherry-red with green streaks, tied up in a small, low ponytail. “Hello Sprout.” The other responded, walking up to the menu to pick out some sweets. “Can I get a bag of chocolate chip cookies? Bassie would want some.” Sprout nodded before calling out to Cosmo, a shorter male with brown, curly hair streaked with white. “Oh hi Astro! Nice to see you here.” He would greet before disappearing into the kitchen.
After some small talk, Astro walked out with a bag of sweets. As the sun started to set and the city became dimmer, Sprout felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. He closed the bakery and waved goodbye to Cosmo before heading to his car. Suddenly, an alert on his watch woke him up. A message about crime and a missing person. He quickly got his game up and drove to the Hero’s Council building.
“Finally you’re here,” a monotone voice would greet him. Sprout glared at Vee, a female with short, green and black hair. “I was tired and almost fell asleep.” He would bite back, shoving his bag in a locker assigned to him. “We all are, and it’s because As- Midnight is missing.” Shelly, — or, Crumbs, as her alias, — would reason. Her usually down blond hair was now tied up, strands of curls falling due to not being secure enough. She was already in her outfit - goggles and gloves being dusted with age, a brown overalls type skirt with a beige shirt underneath.
He groans. “Alright, alright. Wait- Midnight’s missing??” Sprout stopped dead in his tracks as his brain glossed over that. “Yes. And we think the reason we are all so tired is because of that.” The greenie would say after finishing changing. “I can track their location, so don’t worry your pretty head off.” Sprout rolled his eyes at that, putting on his visor. “Alright so.. Where are they?”
The warehouse was dead silent. Caramel Sugar would’ve thought this was a trap if not for his ability. Three heat sources resided in the next room. He gestured for his teammates as they got closer. Cryptic unsheathed her blade as they got ready to burst through the door. As he was about to head through, a burst of light energy blinded the team for a few seconds.
“Welcome folks!! Ready for some giggles?”
A manic crackle would be heard afterwards. When his vision finally rendered in, the three of them were in a spinning circus circle. The culprit was atop one of the few poles surrounding them. Ringmaster. His blond hair stopped near his neck and was streaked with purple and green. His face was painted with typical makeup while the bells on his outfit jingled as he bounced around. “Ringmaster.” Caramel Sugar heard Cryptic curse under her breath. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Where’s Midnight?” He confronted himself, tired of the games he knows the other will play if he’s vague.
“Oh me?” He laughed, jumping from one pole to another. “I’m not doing anything!” Ring master barely managed to dodge a spiked arrow from Crumbs. “We aren’t dealing with your nonsense! Where is Midnight and what did you do to him?!” She yelled, pointing another arrow. “Hmm.. I don’t know~!” The clown sang, clearly not cooperating.
Caramel Sugar, already expecting this, jumped up from where he was to take a swing at the clown, only to be met with a face of confetti. “Looks like she arrived just on time!” He giggled. The person responsible dangled from the ceiling, strings of fabric supporting her. Arachnid’s blond hair was sprawled out, pink and blue tugging at the tips. Her outfit matched Ringmaster’s, though was more open for fluid movement.
He fell back onto the ground, his attack missing horribly. Cryptic threw smaller daggers at the fabrics, each blade sparkling with electricity. Arachnid swung out of the way, lowering herself and grabbed Crumbs. The lady screeched, kicking and struggling mid-air. Caramel Sugar lifted his sword to the air and successfully aimed at the threads. The verdanette sprung from her spot and caught Crumbs.
Caramel Sugar felt off. When it comes to dealing with the Circus, the members are usually all here, in a trio. As his thought was processing, a black tendril struck him from the side. When he turned his head, it was gone. The red-head wanted to warn his teammates about this threat, though he was suddenly grabbed by the same substance. It threw him across the circus circle, which made a thundering crack. He clutched his side in pain as scarlet red blood began to seep.
Grunting, he forced himself up to toss a heal to Cryptic. “GUYS! Be careful, Mimicry is-” He got smacked again mid-sentence. Tiredness was weighing on him, and he could see it on his teammates aswell. Caramel Sugar retrieved his sword on the ground and used a match to light the blade on fire. “Sugar-! What are you doing?!” He heard Crumbs yell, though he was ready. He watched as another tendril appeared, aiming for Cryptic this time. With shaky hands, he brought the burning blade up and cut the ink in half.
A pained hiss from the distance finally revealed Mimicry. So I was right, he thought. The other appeared before him. They had long back hair to their shoulders, and one eye was covered. Instead of the usual pink, yellow, and green color scheme, they wore black and white. A red bandana and beret broke up the monotone colors. “You.” He hissed, clutching his side in pain with one hand while the other wielded the blade.
The mime gestured to themselves, the same black substance appearing in their hand again. As they prepared to attack, Caramel Sugar brought up his blade again, though this time with less energy. Each defense felt weaker and weaker, his body wanting to shut down. He backed up until he hit the backs of his teammates. They were in a similar state, slow and sluggish as a member of the Circus's attacks got stronger.
As Mimicry was about to attack and this was looking over for them, a blur of pink and purple flashed across and sent them tumbling back. A pop was suddenly put in his hand as the carnival crew was forced back. Bloom — one of the seasonal heroes — was stalling for them. Her brunette hair tied in braids and flowery skirt flowed as she landed attacks.
With a sudden cry of pain from Mimicry, all the attention was on them. Their bandana was stained with bright red blood, though not from Bloom. His energy was almost fully restored suddenly, which must’ve been from Midnight. Caramel Sugar came to the conclusion that Mimicry was restraining Midnight with the inky substance, and then he broke free.
This breakthrough lit a fire in him, and with newfound determination he chugged the pop and grabbed his blade again. During the quick movements Bloom was also able to bandage his side poorly.
His team stood up alongside him as they prepared to enter the fight again. Seeing that Mimicry was distracted by Bloom, he snuck up and knocked them to the side. His blade glinted, and as much as he’d like to slay this villain, it was against “hero law.” Taking the chance he took a tracker out of a small pocket and sunk it in the hoodie of Mimicry.
A sickening screech filled the room. Cryptic had a blade to Arachnid’s throat, Caramel Sugar knew she wouldn’t hurt her, but the other members thought otherwise. Mimicry, recovering from the attack, got up and dashed over to where they were. Their tendril yanked the dagger away and put Cryptic in a chokehold. As he was about to run over and strike, the same blinding light covered their vision. With that, the Circus was gone. Cryptic was on the ground, and they were back in that warehouse again.
Midnight emerged from the room over. He looked terrible and worn out, but he was smiling. “You guys did it,” he croaked. “We did.” Bloom breathed, though she looked back with worry at Caramel Sugar’s injury. “You probably need Cosmo to bandage that up for you, Sprout.” The red-head chuckled, though he winced as the adrenaline died down. “Yeah, probably. But this finally feels like a turning point for us.” He gestured to Vee’s ipad attached to her waist, a beeping signal was flashing.
He knew that even if this battle was considered a failure, they had finally gotten an upper hand. He knew that this would awaken a new horizon.