The crimson sky pulsed ominously as I crouched behind a twisted, dead tree at the edge of the carnival grounds. My eyes darted from one neon-lit attraction to another, sizing up potential routes and threats. The grating sound of off-key calliope music mixed with maniacal laughter made my skin crawl.
Floss’ clown posse patrolled the outskirts of the carnival, their twisted, painted faces on high alert. Having fought the clowns before, I knew they’d be no walk over.
But that was before I had my new toys.
"Alright," I muttered under my breath, gripping the Funhouse Mirror Amulet around my neck. "Let’s see what this thing can do."
I activated the Mirror Mayhem ability, and just like that, five identical copies of me appeared, forming a loose circle around me. A grin tugged at my lips. "Not bad. Time to cause some chaos."
With a thought, I sent the illusions scattering in all directions. It didn’t take long for the clown guards patrolling the perimeter to notice, their grotesque smiles twisting into snarls as they scrambled after my doppelgangers. I watched with satisfaction as they tripped over each other, completely confused, crashing into anything in their path.
Time to take these fuckers out.
As the clowns remained occupied with my doppelgangers, I ran down into the fray, knowing I only had thirty seconds before the copies of me dissipated.
I didn’t mess about. The first clown I came to, I used the Drago’s Destroyer ability to punch his head right off his shoulders, shocking myself even with the power of the strike.
Guess I leveled up that one along the way. Nice.
The other clowns were still swiping at phantoms, some of the damage they would’ve caused being reflected back at them.
One of the clowns stood with his back to me, so I kicked him full force on the coccyx bone. The clown screamed in agony as he pitched forward. Before he could hit the ground, I grabbed him and twisted his neck from behind, snapping it with a satisfying crack.
The other three clowns soon realized I wasn’t a phantom, and they came running at me, despite me just killing two of their posse.
But I was ready with the Synthslayer.
I hit the Tempo Manipulation button and played a quick riff to slow down their movements, making it seem as of they were all trying to claw their way through treacle.
Slinging the keytar over my shoulder, I then started to attack the clowns.
A vicious kick snapped the first clown’s leg, causing him to fall to the ground in slow motion.
A punch to the chest of the second clown resulted in me punching a hole right through him, my fist coming out bloody and dripping with gore.
The third clown tried to turn to run as the effects of the tempo manipulation wore off. But I grabbed him, snatched his curly blue wig from his head, and then shoved it down his throat. The clown tried to frantically to remove the wig, but it was too far down, and soon he collapsed to the ground as he started suffocating to death.
“Always hated fucking clowns,” I mumbled, as I turned and made my way toward the main entrance of the carnival.
Standing by either side of the open gates were two figures. Hulking brutes in leopard skin leotards, each wearing a waxed mustache on their scowling faces.
“Fuck,” I hissed, crouching behind a large rock. “How am I going to get passed those two meatheads?”
“Here, piggy piggy,” one of the strongmen said, knowing full well I was out here, knowing the only way inside the carnival was past them.
“Your ticket’s waiting,” the other said. “Come and get it and I’ll gladly punch it for you.”
They both laughed, a sound like gravel in a cement mixer.
Standing up, I slung the Synthslayer around the front of me and hit the Synth Blast button.
Time to show these hulks that strength isn’t everything.
I walked toward the front entrance until the two strongmen spotted me. Before they could say anything, I tapped the keys on the keytar and hit the first strongman with a sonic blast. Unlike the Porcupunks, he didn’t go flying. Instead, he just stood there and laughed.
“You’ll have to try harder than that, little man,” he growled.
“Put that toy away and come over here and fight us like a man,” the other said, cracking his knuckles.
“Think I’ll pass,” I said, hitting the Discord Strike button on the keytar. “For a second or two anyway.”
My fingers danced furiously across the keyboard as I sounded out discordant riffs that created the energy needed for the discord strikes. Energy blasted from the head of the keytar and struck first one strongman, then the other.
The effect was immediate, despite their size. Both of them twisted on the spot like they were being held in place by a nasty entity.
Wasting no time, I hit the Power Amp button to boost my strength and speed, then I went hell for leather on the strongmen, sprinting over so I could batter them with my fists, rapidly switching from one target to the next.
With my increased strength and amplified abilities, I was able to deal some serious damage. I felt bones crack and shatter when my knuckles, sheathed in my fingerless leather gloves, made impact. One strongman’s nose seemed to disintegrate in a burst of crimson. The other’s teeth shattered like candy. Skulls cracked, ribs broke, and blood flew thanks to my onslaught of kicks and punches. Above the two men, their Health Bars rapidly went down.
As soon as the first strongman fell to his knees, I did a Roadhouse move and ripped out his throat, shocked that I even pulled it off, then got grossed out when I realized I was holding the dude’s larynx in my bloody fingers.
A momentary pause that I soon regretted when I felt myself being lifted.
The remaining strongman gripped me and hoisted me over his head like I was made of nothing but straw. This, despite the damage he’d taken a moment ago. Persistent bastard.
“That was my brother!” he roared. “You’re gonna die now!”
He tossed me and I went flying through the air, landing and crashing against a rock, cracking my head open. Disorientated, with blood running down my face, I heard the pissed off strongman come stomping toward me.
“I’m gonna crush your bones!”
Fuck.
I didn’t have time to do anything else, so I activated my Hulk-Up ability, instantly doubling my strength.
The rush of power cut through my disorientation like a jolt of electricity, and I jumped to my feet. “Whatcha gonna do when Kademania goes wild on you?!”
I almost shook my head when he words came tumbling out of my mouth. I really had to come up with some new wrestling catchphrases.
Despite my 80s wrestling power, the strongman didn’t seem all that fazed. He kept coming, and soon we were both locked together like two wrestlers in the ring. He tried to lift me again, but I countered by sliding around behind him, then suplexed him into the ground head first.
My opponent cried out in pain. Given the force of the suplex, I was surprised the guy’s neck wasn’t broken.
I rolled to my knees as the strongman lay there, hardly able to move now. “You’ll… never… beat… Floss,” he gritted out, and I realized his head was at an odd angle. Maybe his neck was snapped. But still, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Suck it!” I barked, getting to my feet. “The champ is here! Here comes the pain, motherfucker!”
Jumping into the air as high as I could go, I did a massive elbow drop on the strongman before my Hulk-Up ability ran out. When my elbow hit him, his chest just caved in like it was made out of paper mache. It was kinda gross actually, the way it just crumpled. The force made a geyser of blood erupt from the strongman’s mouth that came down on me like blood rain.
“Have a nice day,” I finished when I got up, wiping the guy’s blood from my face, wincing at the catchphrase.
The guards were all down. Now it was time to enter the lion’s den.
I walked to the gates, half exhausted now. My health was depleted, so I took a potion to restore it, most of the pain leaving my body. Though I knew there’d be more to come.
A lot more.
Standing by the gates, I stared into the dark carnival. Besides the freaky, neon lit rides and creepy music coming from somewhere, the carnival grounds were eerily still. There was no sign of anybody. I scanned the area for signs of Annalise and Snuggles, but I couldn’t see them anywhere.
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Floss’ army of plushies have to be hiding in there somewhere, I thought. If I can get past them, then that only leaves Floss himself.
After a moment, a plan began to form in my mind. A plan to clear a path to Floss, and hopefully to my friends as well. Did I have full confidence in my plan? Not exactly. It was a long shot, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
Taking a deep breath, I walked inside the carnival, the tension in the air palpable. I kept expecting Floss to hijack my mind again, but he appeared to be silent for now, probably watching with interest from somewhere as he wondered what I was going to do.
The carnival's main thoroughfare stretched out before me, a warped parody of childhood memories that was different from the last time I was in here.
To my left, a carousel spun lazily, its horses replaced by monstrous creatures with too many eyes and razor-sharp teeth. The calliope music it played was off-key and discordant, setting my teeth on edge. To my right, a strength-test tower rose into the blood-red sky, but instead of a bell at the top, there was a cage holding what looked like a mangled corpse.
I jumped as a high-pitched giggle echoed from somewhere behind me. Spinning around, I saw nothing but shadows. My heart raced, and I gripped the Synthslayer tighter, its weight a comforting presence.
As I ventured deeper into the carnival, the attractions became more grotesque. A cotton candy stand oozed a substance that looked more like entrails than spun sugar.
The funhouse... I couldn't even look at it without feeling nauseous, its walls seeming to pulse and breathe.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. I whirled toward the sound, my body tensing for a fight, only to realize it was coming from a ride called "The Disemboweler." The cars, shaped like giant cleavers, whooshed by on a track that seemed to defy physics.
I pressed on, trying to ignore the whispers that seemed to follow me, the shadows that moved just at the edge of my vision. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy mingled with something metallic and rotten, turning my stomach.
Finally, I reached what appeared to be the center of the carnival. Here, the chaos of the attractions gave way to an eerie calm. A large, circular clearing spread out before me, ringed by towering funhouse mirrors that reflected the crimson sky in fractured, dizzying patterns.
In the center of this clearing stood a massive structure—a grandiose, twisted version of a circus tent. Its striped fabric, once probably cheerful red and white, was now stained with what looked disturbingly like dried blood. The tent's peak disappeared into the low-hanging clouds, giving the impression that it reached all the way up to whatever passed for Heaven in this godforsaken place.
Surrounding the tent were various smaller attractions—a fortune teller's booth with eyes painted on the outside that seemed to follow my movements; a ring toss game where the rings were made of barbed wire and the prizes were squirming, fleshy things I couldn't quite identify; and a large dunk tank filled with what looked like acid, a demonic clown perched precariously above it.
Alright, I thought, desperate to leave this place now. Here goes nothing.
"Alright, you stuffed rejects!” I shouted, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. "Where are you hiding? Did your cotton balls finally drop, or are you still too scared to face me?"
I gripped the Synthslayer tighter, my eyes darting around the eerie carnival center. Nothing stirred at first, but I wasn't about to let up.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," I continued, my voice dripping with mock disappointment. "Snuggles always said you were nothing but glorified dust collectors. Guess he was right."
I spun slowly, addressing the seemingly empty space around me. "What's the matter? Afraid your stitches might pop if you try anything? Or did Floss forget to wind up your sorry excuses for brains?"
As the echoes of my taunts faded, an unsettling stillness fell over the carnival. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, movement caught my eye. From behind the fortune teller's booth, a teddy bear peeked out, its glass eyes gleaming with an unnatural red light. Another emerged from the shadows of the dunk tank, its fur matted and stained.
More appeared with each passing second. They crawled out from under carnival games, dropped from the overhead strings of lights, and even pushed up through the dirt at my feet. Dozens of plushies surrounded me, each one a nightmarish parody of a child's toy.
A rabbit with rows of razor-sharp teeth. A unicorn whose horn had been replaced with a wickedly sharp blade. A panda wielding tiny but lethal-looking claws. Every stuffed animal imaginable was there, twisted into something grotesque and deadly.
Their eyes burned with an inner fire as they slowly advanced, forming a tightening circle around me. The air filled with the sound of fabric rustling and the soft pat of stuffed feet on dirt, punctuated by the occasional metallic scrape of a weapon.
“Come on then,” I taunted them. “Come closer so I can see your ugly faces.”
I was completely surrounded at this point. Plushies or not, there was no way I could fight so many and win.
But I didn’t intend to.
Waiting another few seconds, I allowed the plushies to get as close as I dared.
Then I gripped the amulet around my neck, focusing my thoughts on activating its Distortion Field ability. A pulse of energy radiated from the amulet, and the air around me began to shimmer and warp.
The effect on the plushies was immediate and chaotic. Their movements became erratic, stumbling and bumping into each other as the distorted space threw off their perception. A unicorn plushie swung its blade wildly, missing its target and slicing through a teddy bear instead. The panda with claws swiped at what it thought was me, only to find empty air.
Seizing the moment of confusion, I reached for the Boom Box Boombox in my inventory. My fingers found the dial, and I cranked it to "Heavy Metal" mode. The device hummed with building energy as I primed it for detonation.
With a powerful throw, I launched the Boom Box into the center of the disoriented plushie horde. Then, I turned and sprinted, taking cover behind the carousel.
I dove behind it just as the opening riffs of Metallica’s “Blackened” began to play. The song played for what seemed like a long time, James Hetfield’s voice seeming to soar out over the carnival, and then…
A deafening explosion.
The ground shook, and a wave of heat washed over me. A heat so searing I thought it would melt my skin. The rumbling sound after th initial explosion seemed to carry on forever, rattling my bones and the fillings in my teeth. Then bits of wood and glass and metal began to rain down from the sky, crashing against the carousel and the ground around me, forcing me to cover my head with my arms as bits of shrapnel and debris pelted me like bullets, some of which were the glass eyes of the plushies.
“Shitfuck!”
When I finally dared to peek around the corner, after stuff stopped falling from the sky, the clearing was filled with smoke and floating debris.
As the dust began to settle, a surreal rain then began to fall. Bits of fluff and torn fabric drifted down from the sky like macabre confetti. The once-fearsome army of plushies had been reduced to a scattered mess of stuffing and obliterated faux fur.
I stood up slowly, surveying the carnage. Where moments ago there had been a horde of nightmarish figures, now there was only a crater and the lingering smell of singed fabric.
But before I could even congratulate myself on a job well done, the sound of slow clapping made me freeze. Stepping out from behind the carousel, I soon saw that Herbie Floss had emerged from the big top.
Floss was wearing a checkered suit, his sugar spun hair as wild as ever, his grin stretching from ear to ear as he continued clapping.
“Well done, sport,” he said. “You sure showed them, didn’t you? But look at the destruction you’ve caused in my carnival. You’re going to have to pay for that.” He leaned forward at almost impossible angle. “And you will, Kade. I’m going to make sure of it.”
“Where are my friends?” I demanded, the two of us facing off now like gunslingers in an old fashioned western.
“Inside the tent. Would you like to come in and see them?”
“I’d like you bring them out here. You don’t need them anymore, Floss. This was always about me, and I’m here now, so let them go.”
The deranged serial killer tilted his head slightly as if he was thinking on it. “How about this, sport. Join me here at the carnival. Become one of my star attractions, and I’ll let your friends go. You won’t have to worry about being repurposed somewhere else. You can stay here at the carnival and have as much fun as you want.” He grinned, his eyes gleaming. “Whattaya say?”
“Stay here with you, torturing any poor souls who wander in?” I shook my head. “You’re even more deranged than I thought if you think I would ever join you in this madness, Floss. You disgust me, and I’m going to make sure you and this whole carnival are wiped from existence.”
Floss’ eyes flashed with anger for a moment, then he started laughing. “Very well then, sport. If that’s how you want things to be, then so be it. Either way, you’re never leaving this place. Except now, the carnival won’t be your playground, but your own personal hell. I’ll make sure of that.”
As I watched, Floss produced what appeared to be a ball of lava in each hand, but I knew it was hot sugar. Sweeter maybe, but equally as deadly. One of those things would probably burn a hole right through me.
Fuck, I thought, panic rising I me now at the thought of fighting Floss head on. There has to be another way. There has to be—
I took a deep breath, steeling myself. If I couldn't physically overpower Floss, maybe I could outthink the bastard instead.
It was time to take a chance.
"You know, Floss," I said, keeping my voice calm, "I've been wondering about you. What makes a man like you tick? What drives someone to become... this?" I gestured at the carnival around us.
Floss' grin faltered for just a moment, and the balls of sugar in his hands shrank slightly. "Careful, sport. You're treading on thin ice."
There it is. The chink in the armor. The crack in the madness.
It was all I could do to suppress my smile as I pressed on. "Was it your childhood, Floss? Let me guess—mommy didn't hug you enough, did she? Or wait, no—maybe she hugged you too much?” I smiled. “Yeah, that sounds about right to me. You were the precious little boy who got a little too much attention. Maybe Mommy liked to keep you close, a little too close. She probably whispered in your ear at night, didn’t she? Told you all about the ‘special’ games only the two of you could play.”
Floss’ expression darkened, the manic energy in his eyes shifting to something much more dangerous. “You don’t know a damn thing about me,” he snarled, his voice low and cold. The sugar balls in his hands pulsed with heat, warping the air around them. “You’re walking into territory that’s going to get you killed, boy.”
"Oh, but I think I do," I continued, watching his reactions carefully. "I bet you were the kid nobody wanted around. Always left out, always picked last. Am I getting warm, Herbert?”
Floss' hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Shut up," he hissed. “Shut up!”
He hurled one of the molten sugar balls at me then, but thanks to his anger, his aim was off, and the flaming ball flew past me. I remained where I was, unfazed.
"That's it, isn't it? You were never good enough, never wanted. So you made this twisted wonderland where you're in control. Where you can make others feel as unwanted and scared as you were. It’s all a bit pathetic really, when you think about it.”
"I said shut up!" Floss roared, his composure cracking. He hurled another sugar ball at me, which just missed my head. But I stood my ground as I pushed harder, hoping to break his delusions and the power they gave him.
"But it doesn't fix anything, does it, Floss? Deep down, you're still that scared, lonely kid. All this," I waved at the carnival, "it's just a mask. A big, gaudy mask to hide how small and insignificant you really are. You’re nothing but a scared little boy playing pretend in a broken circus. No matter how many freaks you surround yourself with or how much power you think you have, you’re still just Herbert Merrick—the kid nobody wanted, nobody cared about. And all this madness? It’s just a tantrum, an endless tantrum because the world never gave you what you wanted."
Floss’ face contorted, his breathing coming in sharp, ragged bursts. He threw another sugar ball, this time with more force, but it barely grazed my shoulder. His frustration was palpable, and I knew I was getting to him.
Floss' face contorted with rage. The air around him crackled with energy, and for a moment, I thought I’d finally broke him.
But then the rage dissipated from his face, turning into something colder, calmer. "You think you're clever, don't you, sport? You think you've got me all figured out?" His voice was low, dangerous enough to shake my resolve. "Let me tell you something. You don't know the first thing about me or what I'm capable of."
Floss took a step forward, his eyes blazing. "You want to play mind games, Kade? Fine. Let's play. But remember, sport—in my carnival, I make the rules… and I think it's time we changed the game."