WTFS: The Show Begins!
Part 1/ Part 2
Hello everyone, welcome to part 2 of the ”Welcome To The Freak Show” series! Once again, this series was inspired by art by the talented @scythlyven-art . Her art is lovely. She is just lovely and I hope you all go check her out.
Art Inspiration: Hosty Boy / Google / Yandere / Bim / Dr.Iplier
Description: Grab you ticket and gather the family, The Freak Show is in town! One night only! Danger! Mystery! Adventure! Step right up to the best show in town!
“What do you mean by tha-” Ezra stopped as he turned to see Night had vanished. The reporter felt confused, all around. Senpai? Madness? Through his tense demeanor, he sat down in the lone balcony seat.He tried his best to shake it off, grabbing his small notepad from his pocket. He checked his watch to see he only had five minutes to attempt to gather his thoughts. He quickly jotted what he could put into words. Wilford Warfstache. Monochrome. Madness. His body tensed after merely jotting down the name. It couldn’t be him, he never made it. Offed himself, right? Right?
Suddenly the lights darkened and a small cheer rose from the crowd. A single light shined down into the center of the stage. Willow walked out, smiling as the people cheered. His demeanor seemed much different then before. He was energetic and overly excited, unlike the calm chuckling man Ezra shook hands with. Ezra felt an icy blast shoot down his spine, an unlikely occurrence in the Florida heat.
“ Good evening ladies, gentlemen, and all configurations of being”, Ezra suddenly felt as though he might vomit.” In store for you tonight is danger, action, and thrills unseen by most! So sit back, relax, and enjoy!” Willow let out an eerie laugh as the audience applauded.
“ Now introducing, The very spirit of magick, the magician, you all know and love, Hallow!” the crown cheered as the purple jacketed man took Willow’s place in the spotlight.
“ Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we shall give you an evening you will never forget. We will show you the darkest of humanity. The weirdest. The true freaks, if you will” Ezra found himself more invested than he had ever felt, merely by the man’s words.” But we will also show you the brightest of the bright. The true joy we crave day to day” as he said this, a single dove appeared on his hand, earning a gasp from the crowd.
“This creature, an innocent white rabbit, is everyone’s favorite magician’s trick” Ezra suddenly felt confusion wash over him once more, breaking him from his amazed trance. How could that be a rabbit? It was clearly a dove. He quickly jotted the occurrence down only to look up to see empty hands, yet the crowd seemed so invested as he spoke of the bunny. Ezra remained frozen in anticipation as Hallow told a story, seemingly providing much imagery Ezra could not see judging by the constant cheers of the crowd. As he carried on his cloth seemed to darken.
“ Now I must take my leave before our second act begins, but for now, enjoy the evening and remember, nothing is as it seems” Hallow then made a very dramatic gesture as he practically spun out of the spotlight. The audience stood in an ovation which Ezra partook in, fearing someone would be angered if he didn’t.
“ How did you find the first act, Mr. Evans?” Ezra jumped at the sound of Night’s voice behind him. This time Night seemed much less casual. Dark red lipstick and black heels accompanied his look as well as a single feather ear ring on his right ear.
“ It was... interesting” Ezra mumbled nervously as the younger man sat on the arm of his chair.
“ Interesting? Oh, senpai, you haven’t seen interesting yet” Night giggled to himself.
“ What does that mean? That name?” Ezra asked earning another giggle from the red head.
“ Oh dear, if I told you that, it would take the fun out of it. Now hush, the second act is about to start and I’ve heard the performer is quite enticing!” Night smirked.
“ Who is this performer?” Ezra asked, genuinely curious.
“ Me, of course” He laughed, standing from the arm of the chair. Ezra nodded as Night disappeared behind the curtain, beginning his decent downstairs. Almost as soon as he heard the curtain hit the ground, Willow was on stage once more.
“ Now that you have seen what most cannot, you have heard what most will never hear, it is time to experience fear and wonder more than you ever have before. Presenting, the tamer of danger, the hell raiser himself, Night!” As he spoke, the stage went completely black. A large red hue fell over the room, revealing a thin tight rope in the air. The ground below littered with swords. All of them seemed to be blade up except for two that remained handle up, in the center of the pile.
Night stepped onto the rope from the shadows, the crowd remaining in a scared silence. He moved gracefully across the tight rope, his white eyes seeming to glow in the dim red of the stage. Suddenly he stopped halfway and turned towards the audience to bow. People cheered and whistled in excitement. Suddenly he smiled at the audience before falling forward, off of the rope. A cry rang through the crowd as he fell towards the pile of blades. Even Ezra felt his heart speeding up. Suddenly Night put his hands in front of him, gripping on to the two handle up blades, in a hand stand. The crowded gawked at the save. No way he could fall that far and not shatter bones. Suddenly, another gasp came from the crowd as Night backflipped over the pile, keeping the two swords in his hands.
“ Fear is a fickle thing” Night began “ You were all in fear I would fall, then you were in fear that I would die. Now fear has left you. All in merely a minute. Now you’re left with a beating heart, maybe some relief, and curiosity. Well tonight we will be pushing that fear to the limit.” Night smirked, leaning his head back before beginning to push the sword down his throat. Ezra rolled his eyes, sword swallowing was a simple party trick. Anyone could do it. But what regained his fear was when Night bowed, sword still down his throat. Through his act Ezra noticed a pattern. He would begin to do something mundane, simply, then he would twist it or he would let it fail as if he never felt any pain from it.
“ Now ,ladies and gentlemen, as much as I hate to go, I must take my leave but remember, my darlings, nothing is as it seems” Night bid farewell, blowing kisses and winking as he walked off stage and the crowd went wild. Ezra barely had time to write two words before his notebook was snatched from his hand.
“What do we have here, Senpai?” Night laughed, “Madeness, Monochrome...Wilford War- how do you know that name, Senpai?”
Ezra could see the slight change in his face,” Everyone knows him”.
“ But how do you know him?” Night’s tone had changed. No longer light and curious, now it was condescending and slightly scared. How does one explain that? Such a tale as to how he knew Wilford Warfstache?
“He was a... a good friend...” Ezra felt his throat closing up. He couldn’t even attempt to explain. Night’s face was pale. Seemingly paler than when he first met him.
“Excuse me for a moment, Senpai” Night smiled, handing him his notebook.
Suddenly Willow appeared back on stage,” Now you’ve seen magic, you’ve seen danger, now you will see pure terror. This next act will leave everyone on the edge of their seat. Introducing, Barry Tremor!”
A man in a purple suit appeared on stage, full of smiles and waves,” Good evening everyone! My name is Barry Tremor and today we are going to be playing a bit of a game! Now for this game, I’m going to need a volunteer from the audience... how about you? On the balcony?” He smiled, looking towards Ezra. Ezra felt his mouth dry out before Night wrapped an arm around him, giving a nod to Barry before dragging Ezra down the stairs. He soon found himself on stage. He stood in the center on a small platform. Beside him, stood a table with 4 knives. on the end of the stage stood 4 wooden targets.
“ Now what might be your name?” The man asked, smiling at him in a way that left Ezra feeling odd.
“ Ezra, Ezra Evans” He tried to smile but he felt nothing but fear.
“ Well Mr. Evans as you can see you have 4 knives and 4 targets. In this game, you will throw a knife at each target. At the end of the game, if you did not hit a target, the knifes will fire back at you, do you understand? Great! Let’s begin!” The entire crowd cheered as the Barry stepped out of the spotlight.
Ezra’s hands shook as he grabbed the knife. Then he heard it, in the back of his head. The trick is to step as you throw light a softball. And how do you know that, Warfstache? We all had our own interests in college, Ez. He took a step back, pinching the bottom of the knife. He then stepped forward as he released the knife sending it flying into the middle of the target.
“Well, looks like we have us a natural, everybody!” Barry laughed as the audience cheered. He did this two more times. Cheers and quirky comments from Barry, until he missed. The knife grazed the target before landing next to it on the fake wall behind the row of targets. The audience fell silent as a smile grew on Barry’s face.
“It seems our Ninja in red has lost” Ezra had no time to think before the knives flew back his way, three missing him. One piercing his stomach .Pain rang through his body. The audience gasped before the platform opened and he fell down a long shoot. He heard a cheer from the audience as his memory begin to blur together.
“Trimmer! You weren’t supposed to pick him! That’s the one we need!”
“Is he okay? Let me see him! Do remember I’m the doctor here!”
“Get Schneep!”
“If he dies, you die, Trimmer!”
“Ezra!”
Flashes of monochrome, red, blue, and pink swirled together. Bright lights and pokes and prods. Loud beeps and shocks. Then the sweet peace of anesthetic. Sleep.
Taglist:
@scythlyven-art
@sam-moss