04: Showtime

     "I'm going to the circus tonight," 

Zico said absent-mindedly as he packed up his files from his desk and stuffed it on the bookshelf. Compared to Taehyung's desk, Zico's desk did not even look like a desk; it was a dumpster in a dumpster.

     "You know Myungsoo's going to kill you," Taehyung snorted.  "If he catches you there, he'll probably ban you from going outside the dorms this time." 

Zico took off his doctor coat and hung it on the hook, glaring at Taehyung. Suzy didn't understand what the big deal about this whole circus was; surely they wouldn't actually sacrifice people in a circus and watch them battle off each other. 

"What's the big deal about this circus..?" Suzy questioned. 

"Nothing you need to be concerned-" 

"Seyoung versus So-Jin," Zico said as he sat up to tell more. "Seyoung's originally in our district but she got chosen. She's one of the strongest contestants, they set a new record - we're fourteen days into the game and neither one is close to dying."

"Then what happens?"

"The game cannot go on for more than a fortnight. One must die," Zico said as he stuffed tangerines into his mouth. "It's part of the rules."

"Will you shut up?" Taehyung slapped Zico on the forehead. 

"What?" Zico seethed. "She could be the next chosen one you retard. Geez, you need to get that temper of yours fixed before you go around treating other patients around here. No wonder i hear rumors about you being cruel as to your patients."

"Says the one who pressured that newbie out of this department." 

The two exchanged glares, letting an awkward tension wrap over the two. 

"Is this what you guys do every time?" Suzy cringed. 

"Not me," Zico raised an eyebrow. "He's the cause for everything. He's the cause for cancer." 

"You really want to die don't you-" 

"Okay stop!" Suzy blurted and separated the two. Although these were two professional doctors in one of the most highest departments, their mentality seemed to hit the floor. She thought at least Taehyung would be decent - but he wasn't really that different. Two children; one with and without an attitude. 

"You should go tonight," Zico suggested. "Finally give you the taste of the reality you blabber on about everyday."

"Don't listen to him," Taehyung groaned. "He's just being stupid."

"You know she's not a visitor," Zico said seriously. "You can't hide her from it forever." 

"Not today. Today's one of the most violent days of the game."

"Uh, and other days aren't violent?"

The two exchanged hostile glares. Suzy knew it was probably right for her to not go, but this curiosity arose from the bottom of her heart - she wanted to see with her own eyes.

"I want to go," Suzy said. "I think Zico has.. a little bit of logic." 

"What are you two, dating?" Taehyung blurted. 

"Ew?" Zico and Suzy said in unison, glaring at each other. 

"Let's go now," Zico hung his backpack on his right shoulder and gestured Suzy to follow him. "It's pretty hard to get seats."

"Taehyung, you're coming too?" Suzy asked as Taehyung lined up behind them. 

"I've got to be there to blindfold you."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad-"

"It is that bad."

With the silence, the three switched off the light in their office and walked toward the Midnight Circus with mixed thoughts and a heavy heart. Suzy wasn't prepared for what she was about to witness, but she still believed they wouldn't possibly kill someone just like that. 

-----

     Zico pulled Suzy and Taehyung into a dark alley, slipping out what looked like a bunch of animal head masks. Suzy watched as he tossed the horse head to Taehyung and the rabbit head to herself. He put on the bear head on his own head and secured it with his shirt, making sure that none of his neck flesh showed underneath the mask. She had no idea what they were doing, and she certainly didn't want to be a part of it. 

"Well what are you doing?" Zico blurted. "Put it on!"

"What is this?!"

"Humans aren't allowed to enter the stadium," Taehyung said as he secured his mask in place. "That's why we disguise ourselves as therianthropes."

Taehyung said calmly as he took the rabbit mask and placed it over Suzy's head, securing it with her collar shirt. He pulled it hard once and the two boys nodded, walking through the other side of the alley.

They walked for about a quarter of an hour until they finally arrived at a steep steel staircase. Each step floated on its own, leading to the familiar sensation of sundown.

     Zico took the first step, skipping a step as he bounced all the way up, securing his mask in place. Taehyung took a single step, sticking out his hand to help Suzy up each step. Suzy wobbled as she progressed upon each step because the steps wobbled each time a weight was pressed against it, and Suzy was a person with a balance so bad she would trip over in the middle of the street when nobody even pushed her.

"We don't usually go this way," Taehyung grunted as he helped Suzy climb up each step. "But there's a lot of us who try to escape to see the games, especially on the fourteenth day when someone has to die. "

"Why are we always restricted..?"

"We're not always restricted. Our authority allows us to go watch the games only on the first day as a means of supporting whichever districts get picked to play. I assume they picked the first day because usually the two contestants make a deal to not kill each other so essentially no one dies, and we don't have to see that. But that deal kind of fades away when they they get into the game because they know that one of them has to die."

"Has there ever been a case where.. both contestants survived..?"

"Not in our time," Taehyung laughed half-heartedly. "But in the authorities time, i know there has been a few."

"Authorities' time..?"

"You know in our authority it's the leaders of each district who gather together. Qualifications for admittance to the authority include a stay of more than fifteen years, and they've been here pretty much their whole life." 

"Care to shut that pie hole of yours?" Zico hissed as they reached the light. 

Suzy looked down and saw how far they had come up. There was nothing down there except the silhouette of the neon lights that edged the stair steps that they climbed up. She watched as the lights flicked off each step and the ground sealed up, closing the stairway they came up from. 

     Suzy looked around, mesmerized. The place was exactly like it was on earth; there was nothing different. She stared at the sky, watching the beautiful sundown that colored the sky pink-orange. Around her were company buildings that filled up space, and modern cars drove past the neatly cement paved roads. On the far right was a large intersection crosswalk with people - therianthropes crossing each time the lights flickered green. 

Taehyung clutched Suzy's arms and they began pacing themselves amongst the therianthropes who seemed to speak in all different languages, yet they conversed perfectly fine. Suzy still could not adjust to staring at their faces for more than five seconds; it made her sick to the stomach. 

"Taehyung," she whispered. "Why are we going so fast?"

"We don't have much time." He blurted as he began running, clutching Suzy's wrist tightly in his hand. 

      After a long parade of running, the three arrived infront of what appeared to be a large circus tent. It looked awfully similar to the circus tents that Suzy visited when she was a little girl, the tents where she watched lions getting whipped and forced to run through fire hoops; a place of animal cruelty. She bit her lips, finally realizing what she had brought herself upon. 

"I.. don't feel so good." Suzy stepped back.

"What? why are you telling us now?!" Zico grumbled. "We're right here."

"I'm sorry I'm just-"

"Suzy," Taehyung grabbed her shoulders. "I know it's scary and we would go back if we could. But the portal back north doesn't open up until the game ends. We can't go back anymore, it's too late." 

Suzy stood there, blank. 

"You blindfold her or something like you said," Zico sighed in annoyance. "The doors are ABOUT TO CLOSE!" He dragged the two of them through the door just as the frog therianthropes shut the front entrance. Suzy's footsteps were heavy as she followed the two boys through the dark corridor filled with food vendors that sold eatery - but not quite eatery. Suzy looked to the side and stared at the squid therianthrope who sold cooked lizard on a stick, petrified. 

"Here we are," Zico sighed in relief as they climbed up the audience seats and claimed a seat right at the back. 

Jieun took a seat inbetween the two boys, peeking at the middle of the tent. This tent was awfully bigger than what it looked like on the outside; its interior was almost the size of a football stadium. Suzy watched as two girls entered the stadium from the doors, one from opposite ends. 

"What's happening?" Suzy asked in a panicked voice.

"They're starting the opening. They'll be given an activity and from there, the game begins." Zico explained subtly, his mask never leaving the game. Suzy was on the edge of her seat as she watched the two girls walk toward each other, facing each other. Both of them had a look of murder on their faces, an expression so inhuman Suzy wasn't sure if they were even in their right state of mind. 

"You see the girl on the right?" Zico pointed to the girl with a bow and a set of arrows attached to her back. "that's Se-young, the girl in our district." 

Suzy watched as Se-young stretched her limbs, jumping in her spot. She could see the pint of fear in her eyes as prepared herself for the long battle ahead. She was such an innocent looking girl, tainted by death and murder. Suzy looked up, staring at the large timeboard that had a countdown from ten seconds. 

10

9

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1

     The crowd began to cheer as the host walked out from the door. Suzy flinched, remembering that it was the same fish man that she had seen upon her arrival at Rubicon. Suzy watched in horror as the two girls grabbed weapons in their small hands and faced each other with a look so virulent she was already getting scared. 

'It's a pleasure to have you all here today," the frog man croaked. "To our 20th death-off since the foundation of the games!" 

The frog man cackled as the rest of the stadium cheered wildly. 

"Five years since both contestants have survived for the duration of the fourteen days without one of them getting killed off!" The frog man said cynically. "We are now gathered here to draw the line!" 

The frog man hopped all the way to the timeboard and the board free of flies, silencing as the timeboard turned into a led light and began playing a video. The frog man began to elaborate as the video played the demonstration of the death game that the two girls would be playing against each other. 

"The rules are simple," he announced. "Each contestant will have a goal post situated on the edge of their portion of the field. Their job is to claim the golden egg that will be placed in the middle of the field and bring it back to the goal post."

The screen flickered off and the frogman hopped down with a golden egg in his hands. He placed it in the middle and watched as the constants took their place infront of the goal post and prepared to run. 

Suzy wasn't sure what was going to happen. She had played this game during elementary school so many times she couldn't possibly imagine this game being violent. The most injury she ever got from playing this game was a knee scrape, and a mild one at that too. Suzy watched as the girls held a sharp weapon in their hand, their eyes viciously on the golden egg. 

"On your marks.. set go!" 

The frogman announced and the crowd cheered wildly as the two girls began sprinting towards the egg, their weapons firmly clutched in their hand.

"GO SE-YOUNG!"

     Zico screeched as the two girls bumped into each other and ducked each other's weaponry attack. Suzy flinched as she watched Se-young stab her large dagger into the thin air, missing the opponent. She bent down backward, dodging the opponent's swift axe swing against her upper limbs. Suzy froze. She felt her blood getting colder as she watched the violent scene happening before her, and she wanted to get out.

There was no use in covering her eyes. She could still hear everything. 

Se-young kicked the golden egg and kicked it upwards with her foot, safely tucking it inside her arms. Taehyung and Zico cheered wildly as Se-young began dashing back to her goal post, the opponent dashing right behind her with a large axe firmly gripped in her hands. 

Se-young bowed down 90 degrees to dodge the axe once more, kicking the opponent on the stomach with her feet. The girl caught her balance and sprung back up, swinging her axe at Se-young's face. 

"I can't watch this anymore," Suzy blurted. 

Taehyung ped his backpack and slipped out a blindfold, wrapping it over Suzy's mask eye hole. But the sensation of sound seemed to make everything seem worse, for she could hear every move of the dangerous weapons swinging and banging against each other.

Se-young hissed in pain as the axe scratched across her shoulder and left a big slit. She bled continuously as she ran toward the goal post with the golden egg in her arm, her speed slowing by the minute. The opponent was catching up to her, knowing the fact that she had already injured Se-young's strongest part.

The opponent grabbed Se-young's collar and the two of them toppled over each other. The opponent was on top as she slammed the axe down onto Se-young's face. Se-young rolled over to the side with all her strength, groaning at the enormous pain that her shoulder was giving her.

"What's she doing?!" Taehyung gasped.

"SE-YOUNG NO! DO NOT!" Suzy heard Zico roar right beside her.

     Se-young sighed and laid flat on the ground, closing her eyes. She let the egg roll out of her arms and the opponent slammed the axe down her face, slicing her petite face into halves. and then quarters. and then into so many pieces that the face was not even recognizable at all. The only thing left in the middle of the stadium was the headless body and the small mashes of flesh that was once a lovely innocent face.

Wild marching band music flowed in the background as the therianthropes began to cheer wildly.

"Oh my god," Taehyung murmured in disbelief. "Se-young.."

     Suzy took off her blindfold and met the horrifying scene that never left her head for the rest of her stay. She looked to the side and saw Taehyung staring at the headless body in disbelief. Suzy couldn't believe that these crazy animals were celebrating the murder of a perfectly normal girl. Suzy watched as the opponent trembled in her spot, staring at the blood dripping from her hands.

The girl fell to the floor and screeched hysterically as she tried to rub the blood off her hands.  

"We have to leave now," Zico's voice shrilled as he dragged Suzy and Taehyung out of the tent. They rushed out of the stadium and made their way through the city street, trying to find their way back to the portal. Suzy could see that Zico's legs were shaking and he was having a hard time trying to keep his balance. She didn't need to see underneath his mask to know what he was feeling inside. 

Suzy bumped into Zico's back as he halted abruptly infront of a rat therianthrope. Suzy almost puked staring at the grotesque creature that stood before them in a police uniform. The police circled them twice with a suspicious look on his face and stuck his hands out. 

"Can i see your identifications?" 

The police asked. 

"," Zico murmured under his breath. "Just a second, officer." He nodded.

'Listen carefully," Zico huddled up and whispered to Suzy and Taehyung. "I'm going to signal to the count of three with my fingers. On the count of three, don't say a single thing and just run towards the portal. Sprint for your lives." he hissed and returned back to the officer with a nice smile. 

Suzy watched as Zico signaled the countdown with his fingers.

III

II

I

     Suzy sprinted, following Taehyung and Zico as they sprinted for their lives. She was horrified as the rat-human began chasing them, and she felt sick to the stomach. She hated rodents in general, and no one was chasing her dressed in a police uniform. The rats were horrendously fast as Suzy ran for her life. She began to tear up, thinking that she would potentially die this way if she lost track of Taehyung and Zico, and those rats would probably eat her alive. 

"HURRY UP!" Zico screamed as he jumped over a traffic bridge with Taehyung, plunging into the dark water beyond. Suzy gasped, but she had no time to spare. She closed her eyes and jumped over the bridge, throwing her merciless soul into the dark water. 

"Ugh," she heard a grunt as she gained consciousness again. 

She opened her eyes and saw the fake dark sky of the South. She felt so much relief, knowing that she was safe now. 

"Get off!" Zico screamed as he pushed Suzy off his body and gagged for breath. The three of them were soaking wet, and they had lost their masks in the water. She looked around, realizing that they were in the middle of a hay field. In the distance, she saw Taehyung who was jumping up and down to see the large clock up the mountain. She looked to the side and saw Zico who sat beside Suzy, blanking out. 

"We're going to have to wait until daybreak," Taehyung sighed and returned. "Bike rentals don't open until daybreak." 

The three sat beside each other and stared at the sky in silence.

The three of them knew Se-young was probably up there by now.