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*****
I live for the carnival
I die for the carnival
I pray for the carnival
Come and take me away
Take me away
*****
The girl wandered down the busy street. She was so exhausted and hungry she could hardly walk. Others passing her stared at her, wondering what was wrong. But none of them wanted to bother with her. They passed her by and eventually forgot she was even there. She managed to find an abandoned corner, curled up into a ball and fell asleep.
She was woken by someone gently shaking her shoulder. "Okite," the person said softly, "you need to get up."
The girl opened her eyes to see another girl who might have been the same age as herself. She had long blonde hair tied back with a large red bow. She was dressed in a blue-and-white school uniform. "You need to go somewhere else. The police will arrest you if they find you sleeping here."
"I have nowhere to go," the street girl whispered. Her eyes filled with tears.
The blonde was taken aback. "You don't have any family or friends?"
"No. At least none that I know about." The girl tried to smile, but bit her lip instead.
The other girl was quiet for a moment. Then she seemed to come to a decision. "You can come home with me," she suggested. "We'll see if we can get you back on your feet." She smiled cheerily.
The girl looked startled. She recovered and even smiled. "Arigatou," she said sincerely. "No one's ever been nice to me before. Ano," she asked as she was helped to her feet, "what is your name?"
The blonde girl supported her against her shoulder. "Watashi wa Minako desu," she answered. "What about you?"
"I..." the girl started, then stopped. "I don't know."
Minako looked at the girl. Somehow, she knew she was serious. "You don't know who you are?" she asked quietly.
"No," the strange girl said. Her eyes watered again. "I haven’t known for some time. I don’t know anything about myself."
Minako looked at her again. The girl’s long red hair was matted and dirty. Her clothes were torn. She was impossibly thin, and her ribs showed through the holes in her shirt. Her light green eyes had a tired look in them. She had been on the streets for a while.
"Well," Minako said as she helped the girl to her house, "maybe we can help you find out."
******
Later that night, the streets of Tokyo were paved in darkness. Everyone was asleep, and the sidewalks were deserted. Suddenly, a brilliant light flashed in the sky. A white sphere floated down and touched the street. The light and the circle both vanished. In their place stood three lovely young women.
One of them stepped forward and looked around. She was wearing a black miniskirt and white top with white tennis shoes. Her short purple hair was cut in a pageboy style. A chain encircled her forehead and bore a medallion depicting the Greek letter Theta. She sighed. “Why do I have the feeling this is another dead end?”
Another of the girls threw her a patiently exasperated look, shaking a braid of brown hair over her shoulder. Her top was red, as were the flats on her feet. Her medallion showed the Greek letter Sigma. “Because my tracker doesn’t lie, Theta,” she responded. She pulled out a small computer pad. Green lights flickered over her face. Her eyes widened, and then narrowed. “Well, this is strange…” she muttered, trailing off.
“What is it, Sigma?” the purple-haired girl asked.
“I’m actually getting several different signals,” she said. “It’s almost as if there were others here like us. But she is here. She has to be.” The woman turned to the third member of their party. “Are you getting anything, Gamma?”
The third girl’s uniform top was black and she wore black hiking boots. Her white hair was held back in a bun. The medallion on her forehead boasted the Greek letter Gamma. Her light blue eyes were closed in concentration. “Iie,” she said after a minute. “There’s no telepathic trace of her anywhere. But something may be blocking me. I don’t know,” she concluded, frustrated.
Sigma nodded, the looked at the small pad again. “Regardless, this is the best lead we’ve had so far. We owe it to her to check this place out. Without her, the Nebula Soldiers will never be complete.”
Theta smacked her fist into her palm. “And when I find out who put our sister here, I will personally kick their butts!”
“Now’s not the time for that,” Sigma admonished her. She finally put away the tracker. “Come on, girls, it looks like we’re going to be doing this the old-fashioned way.”
“What’s that?” Gamma asked.
"Walking."
******
On a deserted island off the coast of Japan, a large carnival tent materialized out of nowhere. Beside it appeared a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and other rides. Game booths and other attractions gave the impression of a simple fair. But instead of happy people, the carnival was filled with hideous monsters of every size and shape, all their faces painted like clowns.
The curtains parted on the largest carnival tent to reveal a giant throne room. Everything was decorated in red and black. The room was empty save for 4 people, standing in a circle. Three of them looked to the other. He was human, dressed in all black and carrying a walking stick made out of human bone, complete with a skull. Like the revelers outside, his face was also painted as a clown. He addressed the three people standing before him."Has there been any progress?" he asked. One of his subordinates, a shorter man with wickedly long claws, stepped forward and bowed.
"Yes, Violent J-sama, we have much news." The man looked at his associates. "The search we have done is complete. The Nebula Soldiers are here."
"Very good, Shaggy, very good," his leader approved. "But the question remains. Why are they here and what are we going to do about it?"
"My lord, I believe I have the answer to that," One of the other men bowed to him. Unlike all the others, his face was only painted a plain white. But his eyes were an unnatural ice blue. "We have received reports about the missing Nebula Soldier and they indicate that she arrived on this planet before the others did. It is highly likely that they came to look for her."
"And that will be their undoing," the last man, who was a carbon copy of the other, hissed.
"That will keep, Monoxide Child!" J snapped. "Good work, Jamie Madrox. You will be rewarded." The thin man smiled even as his twin brother glared at him.
"Now all we need is patience," he said to his followers. "The Nebula Soldiers will walk right into our hands. Once rid of them, we will be able to spread the Dark Carnival's message to all reaches of the galaxy!"
"The Dark Carnival will live forever!" the others shouted.
"You know what needs to be done, my brothers," Violent J pointed to the curtains. "Now go!" The three bowed to him again then vanished. The evil leader took a moment to gaze out the curtains at the mayhem he adored. Then he vanished as well.
Author's Notes: For anyone reading this who actually knows who the Dark Carnival people really are, you'll notice I'm taking some liberties with their characters. I have to, to make the story flow more smoothly. I repeat that I am not making any money off of this and therefore can screw around with the characters as much as I want. Bwahahahaha!!!
Japanese Glossary
Okite: Wake up
Arigatou: Thank you
Ano: Um...
Watashi wa... desu: My name is...
Iie: No
Sama: "Lord"
Chapter 2
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