Curiosity Killed the Cat (Fury's)

[Jun Lee]

A warm breeze blew through the cool evening air, bringing with it the smell of grass and flowers; summer. On the air, at least in this particular area, was also the smell of popcorn, cotton candy, a musk of animals and fresh dirt, and the sounds of laughter and screams; a circus. Yes, it was summer and with it came games, excitement, and of cours, the circus. Though not just any circus, this was one of THE top circuses, this was the Fury Circus. A circus that could rival Barnum & Baileys, as well as the Ringling brothers. Perhaps not in showmanship or the sheer number of acts that the other two circus' have, but this was an old styled circus group. That meant extremely dangerous acts, and more freaks than you could shake a stick at.

Anyone who had any sort of life at all was at the circus, after all, it was summer AND it was the beginning of the weekend. The place had been packed all day long, rides going non-stop, and show after show being performed. Girls were walking with their boyfriends, husbands were winning their wives (and children) prizes, and everyone was being entertained. Well... Almost everyone.

Back in the city, at the Wushu Diner stood Jun Li. The muscled martial artist had on blue jeans, and black shirt with a white dragon in the middle surrounded by chinese symbols. Though it looked like something that would make an amazing tattoo, in reality the closest translation of the characters were "Wushu Restaraunt -- We kung pao your tastebuds".

Welcome to Wushu Diner, home of famous Kung Pao chicken. Canni take yor orda'?" He had said that phrase a thousand times but still had problems with "Can I take your order". It didn't even make sense, how could he 'take' someones order if they didn't actually have one. After all, it wasn't like he was grabbing anything, they were just saying what they wanted. What would make more sense would be to say "Tell me what you want", yeah, that would be better.

So were the musings of the broke Jun Li. Tonight was a particularly slow night, pretty much only the regulars were in. It was boring in other words, usually he didn't mind, but it seemed like tonight EVERYONE was out doing something but him and it was six more hours until his shift ended, oh well. Life sucked some times, he already knew that, not like he had anyone to go do anything with anyways.

Jun took the newest order back to the kitchen and set it in front of the cook when a voice behind him spoke up "(Li, it's a slow night, you've been working double shifts all week, why don't you take of the rest of the night off?)" Jun's boss (and apartment owner) spoke up in Mandarin.

"(And do what? It's fine, I need the extra money.)" Jun said begrudgingly, he was just given the opportunity to go do something, and now that he had it, he didn't want it.

"(I don't care, go out, meet a girl, get in trouble, HAVE FUN... I don't care. All you do is sit at him jumping around with swords all day and working all night... If you don't leave right now, you're fired!... And I better not hear you come back to your apartment until a completely unreasonable hour...)" His boss had taken him under his wing somewhat since Jun had arrived to the country, acting almost like a parent at times, and mentor if nothing else at others. He'd even taught Jun most of the english he spoke now.

Jun took off his apron and tossed it on the counter, and grumbled a little. He knew the old man cared for him, but it was a little annoying some times, especially right now when work actually gave him something to do, "(Fine you old...)" Jun muttered a few more words under his breath, none that needed to be translated though.

Washing his hands and hanging up his apron and name-tag, Jun stepped out the back door, sliding his black long sleeved jacket on his black dragon t-shirt from work still on, he popped the collar on the jacket to hide the markings on his neck; even though it was very warm outside. Most people in the diner didn't notice or care, probably because most of them had tattoos as well, but out in the city people freaked out at anything out of the ordinary and the less attention he had, the better.

With that, Jun took off walking down the side-walk, not really with any destination in mind. He simply let his feet guide them wherever they wanted to go as his mind wandered to far off places. Namely, he was reciting the steps to a particularly difficult move he had been practicing as of late, go over each and every twitch of a muscle in his mind. After all, part of learning Kung Fu was physical, but a large part was mental as well. If your mind understood it first, then your body would follow.

So, with his mind lost in a continuous wave of thought, he walked... and walked... and walked... and walked. Not even realizing where he was going, or how late it was until a particularly loud screamed snapped him awake. Jun froze in his tracks, thoughts of fighting disappating from his mind as he looked for the source of the disturbance. Suddenly he realized he was no longer in the city, glancing behind him he could see the lights of town several miles behind him... Lights of town? It also suddenly occurred to him that it was completely dark outside, a glance at his watch told him it was almost eleven o' clock.

Another sudden screamed jerk his attention to a road off to his right where an explosion of lights and sounds were cutting through the darkness and silence of the night. Jun slowly raised and brow in question, glancing back and forth, he slowly crossed the street and began making his way toward the strange spectacle like a moth drawn to a fire.

After only a few moments of walking, Jun was almost to the front gates of what looked like... a large campground of some sort. Massive tents filled the interior of the compound, where massive machines were spinning, throwing, tilting, and dropping people all over the place... And people seemed to be enjoying it, and from what he could tell it looked as though they were... paying to be able to do it... What kind of madness was this? He had to investigate.

Walking up to the entrance of the compound Jun was following the crowd through when a hand was roughly placed on his chest. Jun glanced at the hand, then the arm, then the face of the one pushing him back... He had to look up to do that... It was a massive man with a large mustache on his large pig like face... he was large.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there Bruce Lee, No ticket, no show, where's your ticket?" The man asked in a gruff voice.

"Ticket?" Jun said the word very fast, so fast it was hard to understand.

The man pointed to a sign that explained it cost money to buy a ticket, and it cost a ticket to enter the circus. Ah! Ticket.... Jun reached for his wallet and... His back packet was empty, so were his front pockets, and his jacket. Oh no, he had left his stupid wallet back at the diner. Then he found it, two dollars in his jacket pocket!

"Here yor money." Jun said, his accent stronger than usual, almost too strong... Definitely faking it now. He knew he didn't have enough money to get in, he was a dollar short, but maybe ignorance would let him in.

A rough hand to his chest pushing him back and the money stuffed into his jacket proved otherwise. Jun glared at the giant pig man, why he outta snap... He had to calm down, and the fact that he saw another entrance helped with that. Walking down the road as if his heart was broke, Jun jumped into the darkness and ran around the perimeter a little before running at the large fence, and jumping completely over it... Without even touching, he landed in a kneeling position with a very hard 'THUD' on the other side... man he loved his powers sometimes...

Glancing back and forth to make sure no one saw, he adjusted his jacket and began walking behind a tent he landed in front of, staying in the shadows. He could see a lot of people out in the main area of the circus, though many were leaving, it was probably getting too late for most of the families, though many of the younger people in the crowd seemed to only be getting started. Regardless, it was clearing out a little, perfect, he would just wait a bit and then blend in with the crowd.

After a few minutes, Jun calmly stepped out of the shadows and did just that, blending in with the crowd as he walked around taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and attractions of what (according to the front gates) was something called a Circus. Slowly he stepped up to a machine that had a long line of men behind it. After a few moments of watching it seemed they were trying to hit a small lever with a giant hammer in order to get a small ball to fly up a long pole and hit a bell at the top. Some sort of test of strength perhaps? So a circus was a proving grounds of sorts it seemed... Very interesting... But what happened when they rung the bell?... For quite some time Jun stood there with his arms folded, a look of confusion and interest on his face as he watched man after man try to ring the bell.

[Lainey Fury]

To the outside world, the Circus was a magical place. A place of wonder. Of magic. Of mystery. To insiders though… It was merely just an act. A show of strength and skill... And a perfect opportunity to scam unsuspecting customers. Really, you’d think most people would have realized by now that so many Circus attractions were rigged. There were, of course, a few carnies that believed the same thing as the outsiders, but Lainey wasn’t one of them.

Up until a few years ago, Lainey had actually resented the circus. It wasn’t until her powers fully manifested that she started to show a… somewhat interest in the family business. And by somewhat, it meant she only cared about scamming random strangers. Some days though, her family could actually bribe the girl into helping out with the shows.

Today though, was not one of those days. That didn’t mean she wasn’t hanging around though. Quite the opposite, the girl was currently wandering the dark grounds of circus, her mischievous eyes searching for her next victim. She’d had a good night thus far, probably due to the unusual amount of young people tonight. But the night was still young.

She was dressed casually, much like the customers, in worn jeans that had obviously seen better days, and a graphic tee that simply said “I’m kind of a big deal”. Basically, you wouldn’t have guessed she was a carnie. Which, obviously, sometimes made the conning business difficult (you know, unless she could prove she was actually a member of the troupe. Usually pretty easy when she just asked the nearest family member to vouch for her.).

Anyway! The point was, she was victim searching. And…. She’d spotted one. Her gaze closed in on a lost and confused Asian kid. He was watching some of the popular attractions, and, obviously didn’t understand them. Now it would be just wrong, totally, totally wrong, to not take advantage of this absolutely perfect target. It was like he was literally being held out to her in a silver platter!

Quickly, she jogged over to him, sneaking up behind the poor fool. ”Ye get ih yet? Ye win a prize if ye ring the bell.”

[/justify]

[Jun Lee]

The sights and sounds of the circus were enough to distract even the most focused of minds. Flashing lights, loud and comical noises, and game runners calling people out of the audience to come try their luck. It was absolute chaos was what it was, yet amid all of the confusion, distraction, and attractions, Jun stood like a rock watching the single machine for almost twenty minutes now.Person after person came up to try their luck at the machine, some trying to show off their strength to their girlfriends, others for their buddies, and some just for bragging rights.

Yet man after man (including the occasional woman) could not get the little ball to hit the bell. Sometimes it would be so close to touching the bell you could almost hear it ringing, but then gravity would dominate the small ball and throw it back to the ground; leaving the man or woman to walk away in their ineptitude. Though, to make them feel good for trying, along the tower of the machine were written things like "Weakling, Gym Rat, Weight Lifter, Superman, etc." along the side of the tower every few feet up. So even though the not a single person won, people kept coming up trying just to see if they could get it higher than the person before them. In other words, it made absolutely no sense to Jun, it was almost... comical.

Though, what was incredibly interesting was that the more he watched it, the more Jun began to realize, it wasn't a test of strength... no... Because some of the women who tried got it higher than some if the men, not that women aren't strong mind you, no... but the fact that some of the men would slam the hammer onto the small see-saw with an incredible amount of strength and the ball would barely budge, yet a woman would walk up and barely hit it and the ball would shoot to the top. Jun's focus began to turn more from the see-saw and the pad you were supposed to hit, to the ball and the tower and what was under the see-saw.

Just as he lifted his head a little to get a better view of the contraption he heard a voice chime in behind him. Though, not a single muscle on his body twitched at the unexpected noise, in fact, Jun hardly acknowledged the girl at all. Though her accent was definitely not American, and it made it incredibly hard to understand her, he understood her none-the-less. Without even looking back at the girl, Jun spoke calmly, his arms still folded as he stared unblinkingly at the game.

"So you get prize if you win test of strength... Curious." Jun said with a slight nod, "Though it not test of strength... No... It test of skill... It crude... deceiving... but interesting..." Jun's English was very broken and his accent stronger than hers even. Regardless, as he continued to speak, he was less speaking to the voice behind him (who he still hadn't looked at) and was still focused on the game. Funny, an entire circus of attractions, and one of the most simple games in the entire grounds had him most fascinated, at least for now.

After a few more moments he could feel that the person was still standing behind him, slowly glancing over his shoulder at her, he saw it was in fact... well... a her. She seemed to be staring at him, and was wearing a shirt that made absolutely no sense at all. A big deal? So what, she was some sort of bargain or something? Perhaps you could bargain for her? Exactly what kind of 'deal' was she? Back home the only deals that were worth anything were the cheap ones. "Who aw you?" It may have come off as rude, but it wasn't meant to be. She simply seemed to have some sort of interest in talking to Jun, and he had never seen her before... Besides, that was the most custom greeting besides hello, and hello was only reserved for friends... right?

[Lainey Fury]

Oh, circus games were rigged, without a doubt… But when hadn’t they? It was actually expected for most of the games to be unwinnable unless you knew how. And, quite a few of the customers seemed to know this. It didn’t stop them though. They kept coming back, determined to figure how to win. It was probably that very reason that circus’ stayed in business.

The Asian hadn’t looked at her. Hadn’t even flinched at her sudden appearance. But she thought nothing of it, some people just didn’t scare that easily… And the circus had a way of desensitizing people. Probably all the screaming. She was a little surprised though, when he almost casually changed his answer from a test of strength to skill. He made it sound like it was…. Well obvious! Her eyebrows raised a little as she stared at the back of his head, thus far ignoring the fact that he hadn’t turned to look at her. ”Well, well, yer a smart one. Figured that out on yer own, or did someone tell ye?”

She grinned a little, and was still grinning when he finally looked over his shoulder. There wasn’t anything special about the Asian’s appearance, but he looked to be around her age… At least, she thought so. Who knew with Asians, didn’t they always look way younger than they really were? Oh god, it’d be way creepy if he was twice her age! ”Who, me?” She pointed at herself and put on an obviously fake look of confusion. ”What, no ‘Hi, nice ta meet ye!’ first? Aw, and ah thought ye Asians had manners.” Suddenly she was grinning again.

”Ah’m Lainey. Ye got a name, Asia?”

[/justify]

[Jun Lee]

As the girl spoke to Jun, his brow furrowed more and more with every word that came out of her mouth. What in the world was this girl saying?... What world was she from was probably a better question. After every single word she said, Jun was having to first figure out what word she was saying, picture it in his head in a clearer form of English, and then convert it to Mandarin. It was quite the process and her accent was making it even harder. That being said, it was understandable why after her original question Jun stood there staring at her for several moments before finally speaking after figuring out what she said.

"No... I was no' told by someone." Jun said matter-of-factly and very seriously, making it sound like he was taking her question far more seriously than it was even intended. Though before he could even catch his breath the girl was rambling off again and Jun's brain was scrambling trying to keep up with translating it all. He was so going to need some headache medicine after this...

Again, it was several minutes after she finished speaking that Jun was able to fully translate it all into Mandarin and have the slightest clue of what she was saying. Though, even after that, he slightly raised a brow in confusion. People thought that Asian's had manners? Well they did of course, back in China some of the most polite people that Jun had ever met were his fellow China-men... Though for some reason, she seemed to not be serious about what she said. That, on top of the confusing shirt this girl was wearing, was making Jun more and more wary of her.

When she gave her name, 'Lainey'... which was an odd name... Jun bowed ever so slightly toward her, "Nice to meetchu... Lanee... Yes, I have a name." Once again, Jun spoke matter-of-factly and very seriously. What kind of a stupid, random question was that? Of course he had a name, everyone had some sort of name. Where was this girl from that people didn't have names? With that he turned back around and began to walk away... When he saw her...

Raven black hair, darker than the night it self, flowing almost all the way to her hips. She was wearing very form fitting jeans and a tight black shirt that showed off every curve of her body. With a face like porcelain doll and dark blue eyes that stood against it all, Jun's heart skipped a beat. It was Lin Matsumoto, she was in his highschool and he had had a crush on the girl ever since he came to this country. Why was she here tonight though? With very little investigation, Jun also saw a brute of a man standing directly in front of the strength testing machine. The man easily stood over six foot six and was built like a mountain... Lin's boyfriend.

Jun's friends said that Lin was something called 'egotistical', Jun didn't get it, he never thought she looked egotistical, he thought she looked amazing. Her boyfriend slammed the hammer down onto the see-saw and the little ball shot up to the bell only a hair from hitting it... then gravity took effect once again and the bell flew back down. There was a collective "awww" from the people watching and from Lin.

"Tough luck son, wanna try again?" The carnaval worker asked the giant.

"Nah, the stupid thing is rigged and you know it carnie, that thing is unwinnable." The jock said loudly, to which the worker showed a slight look of disgust. As much as some people enjoyed working at the carnival, very few actually liked the term 'carnie'.

James, Lin's boyfriend, walked over and put his arm around her as they began to walk away, "That's too bad, I really wanted that bear..." Jun could hear her say in a dismayed voice. Jun glanced at the prizes for the game and saw a massive, man-sized, stuffed bear, then glanced at Lin, then at the machine... You could almost see the light bulb go off above his head.

"I can win it fo yu Lin!" Jun shouted somewhat, standing in front of the game, his hand on the handle of the massive rubber hammer, waiting to see if she would show any interest.

Lin and her boyfriend turned immediately and stared at the machine, "John? What are you doing here?" Lin had absolutely no accent compared to Jun, obviously she had been born and raised in America. Jun had been called John so much by the American's that it sounded more natural to him than his real name. Though, he never understood how it could be easier to say 'John' than 'Jun'. Either way, there was an interested expression on her face and when her boyfriend tried to pull her away, she refused, "No, I want to watch this." She said firmly, to which her boyfriend glared and folded his arms, staring at Jun.

"Well, we got a brave new challenger, gonna win a prize for the pretty lady, and maybe win himself a pretty lady tonight... Let's see what you've got there kiddo, one dollar to play!" The man exclaimed boldly, ushering Jun closer to the game, and happily taking the dollar Jun slapped into his hand.

Jun glanced at Lin, smiling slightly, before lifting up the rubber mallet... It was heavier than he thought it would be. Finally he turned and faced the test of strength presented to him, the machine might as well have been a dragon right now. Jun glanced at the hammer in his hands, then at the machine, then at Lin... This was just a test of skill, not strength, and he knew how to win... He could do this. He kept telling himself that, yet his heart was beating harder and harder as he stepped closer to the see-saw he had to hit to launch the little metal ball to the bell.

Slowly, he took a deep breath, calming himself... Then slammed the mallet into the see-saw. Everyone that was watching held their breath, they had all heard the conversation and most wanted Jun to win. The tension was as thick as fog as the bell flew up the machine... Stopping about three-quarters of the way up and falling back to the see-saw. The crowd let out a collective "Awwwww" in disappointment and Lin's boyfriend was laughing hysterically.

"You actually thought you could win pipsqueak when even I couldn't? If I can't win, you definitely can't." He said through his laughing.

The game worker walked up and put his hand on Jun's shoulder, calling the crowd back, "Now now folks, don't leave yet! No one makes it on the first try, the boy just needed to get a feel for the game! He'll get it the second time, wontcha sonny-boy?" The carnie said loudly. Jun knew he was only trying to get him to pay more money and was using the situation to get every last dollar out of him... But... it was working. Jun nodded and pulled out his last dollar, slapping it in the carnie's hand and stepping back up to the game.

If the tension was thick before, it was ten times stronger now. Some shouting support to Jun as he dug his foot into the ground in front of the see-saw and glanced at Lin. He had been off before, but the Carnie was right, the first time was just to find where the sweet spot was on the see-saw; Jun had lost on purpose. This time he wasn't going to lose... and he would make sure of it. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then opened them to see the monstrous machine in front of him once again. Lifting the hammer above his head, he smirked a little, glancing at Lin once more, before slamming it onto the see-saw. The hammer hit so hard that you could hear the metal handle groan under the force of the hit, the see-saw itself cracked where Jun hit it and the little ball? Well, it flew like a bullet up the machine and not only hit the bell, but pierced straight through the bottom of the brass bell and bounced around inside of it before the bell was ripped off and tossed to the ground. The cable holding the ball was still attached however, and as it fell to the ground, it brought the tower of the machine to ground with it. A few people screamed as it nearly hit them. When the pole hit the ground, there was nothing but silence, Jun standing there awkwardly with the mallet in the middle of the wreckage.

The teddy bear he had been trying to win was ripped in half from the pole falling on it. The crowd began murmering fiercly just as a booming voice shouted out across the circus, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE MAIN EVENT OF THE NIGHT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN IN THE MAIN TENT... COME ONE COME ALL. YOU WON'T WANNA MISS IT!" With that, most of the crowd began leaving.

"What a freak..." Jun could hear Lin saying to her boyfriend as they walked away. Though, Jun's face was like a rock, not a single emotion visible.

Slowly the carnie walked up and put his hand on Jun's shoulder, "Well... That just sucks doesn't it son, looks like you didn't get the girl after all... And you know, I really hate to add to the teenage burden of losing your girl and how bad your night is... but... You owe me seven-hundred and fifty dollars for repairing the game you just broke. I'll take cash or check..." Jun didn't even turn to look at the carnie, he simply stared and watched as Lin walked toward the big tent.

As what the carnie said to him began to register in his head, Jun let out an exhasperated sigh... Circus' sucked...

[Lainey Fury]

The Asian obviously wasn't born in the States, and probably didn't speak a whole lot of English considering the silence that followed every comment she made. She could actually hear the wheels in his head turning, mulling over each word, translating it into another language, before finally realizing what she said. Mind reading was a handy skill, as was being demonstrated right now, but it really sucked when the person was speaking in a language you didn't know. So she only understood half of his thoughts. Note to self- Find out what language he was thinking in.

"Ye know, when someone asks ye that, it usually means ye give yer name. Or would ye rather I call ye 'Asia'?" She didn't sound like she cared to much, like she was perfectly fine with the generic nickname. Just like that though, he was turning to leave. Ah well, she'd just go find another victim, seeing as this one didn't seem all that interested. He hadn't done anything to make her pursue.

Almost immediately after, an interesting series of events followed. Rather, a commotion at the game had caught her attention. There were always customers who felt the need to harass and insult the carnival workers, though they were usually few and far between. Tonight it seemed the culprit was a giant of a man, with an arrogant, but slightly stupid look to him. Instantly Lainey pitied the poor fool, if only because he reminded her so much of the stories of Hercules. No brains, all brawns. Oh well, her relative had everything under control.

Lainey was just turning to leave herself, when something quite interesting happened.... Asia had suddenly stepped forward, half shouting to the Hercules-look-a-like's girlfriend. Apparently they knew each other, and if she didn't know any better, Asia seemed to get a little flustered at the attention. Probably a crush.

Deciding to stay and watch, she smirked a little at the first attempt the Asian made. It was a good try, but he obviously hadn't figured out the game quite yet. Her relative, which was actually one of her many Uncles, only encouraged the young man, which was probably apart of his job description when she thought about it. The more money that came in, the better off the Circus was, after all.

A part of Lainey secretly hoped he'd get it on the second try, if only because it'd wipe that smile right off the Hercules-look-a-like's face. Watching Asia prepare she grew more and more confident that he'd do it. His thoughts told her that he could do it. That he got it now. That he would win. And... technically he did. Just not in any expected way.

The machine actually broke, split in half. What. The. HELL?! Lainey couldn't hide her shock, her mouth hanging open and eyes wide. In all her years, the machine had never, NEVER split in half. Sure, she knew quite a few people capable of the feat, namely her relatives with strength enhancing mutations. But this guy? This guy, as far as she could tell, wasn't a mutant. So how the hell had he managed it?!

Lainey was still standing there, gaping, when the crowd thinned, everyone heading for the Big Tent. Soon it was just her, her Uncle, and Asia. Quickly she wiped that shocked look off her face, replacing it with a smug one as she hurried over to the pair. Her Uncle had just broken the news to the poor fool, who looked thoroughly dishearted by the idea of having to replace the machine. "Ye sure ih wasnae already breakin'? Ah'm pretty sure ah saw Donny eyein' ih earlier. He might have given ih a go, fer all ye know." Donny happened to be one of the resident 'strong men', who because of his young age(he wasn't much older then her) refused to listen to his ban against the game.

Her Uncle, upon spotting the Devil child, frowned. "Don't you have something to do? Like be getting ready for the show?"

[/color] The girl grinned, shrugging her shoulders dramatically. "Ah'm on strike." She paused, quickly turning her gaze to the sulking Asian. "Ye gunna give me yer name yet?"
[/blockquote][/justify]

[Jun Lee]

First his work shift had been cut short, then he had gotten sucked into a fanciful world called a 'circus', then saw the girl of his dreams, only to have his entire world crashed down around him. First he ruined the machine, then she called him a freak, now he was being forced to pay hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to fix the stupid game that ruined his night! He blamed this all on his boss, if he hadn't made him go out, none of this would have happened and Jun would be back at his apartment by now happily practicing martial arts and staying out of trouble.

Though, that was a little too much sulking for him, quickly he straightened his back a little and all emotion disappeared from his face once more as he took a couple deep breathes. He had to gain control of his emotions, he had to stay calm. One more deep breath and all thoughts of the bad situation were gone as he turned to face the game worker... Only to be met with that strong accented girl standing beside him and talking to the game worker. Who was this girl? Following him everywhere... like a fly.

As the conversation panned out, and Jun translated it, he realized... She was standing up for him? Yes, she was trying to get him out of paying, or so it seemed, but why? When the game worker said something about her getting ready for the show, Jun stared at her for a moment. So she was some kind of performer? A performer of what though? Wow, so many questions, so little time. When the blonde girl turned to Jun though and finally spoke directly to him, she asked him the strangest request... To give her his name.

"Give yo my name?" That was an incredibly strange request, how could he give her his name? Unless... Holy crap! Was she asking him to marry her?! "Whoa, whoa, whoa... I no want to get married... I know I am good looking, but it just too fast." The dead-pan serious tone of his voice caused even the game worker to stare at Jun in silence for several moments, no one saying a word.

Finally the man busted out laughing, "This is a funny kid. I'll tell you what, YOU go get ready for the show, get Jackie Chan the hell out of here... And I won't make him pay." The man said pointing at Lainey, and then at Jun, and then at the big tent in the middle of the grounds.

Jun looked at Lainey, then at the man, a confused expression creeping onto his face, "Take me where?... What show?..... Who aw you people?!" Jun was so confused... He just wanted to get out of this madhouse they called a circus. Who in their right mind would pay to come to a place like this?!

[Lainey Fury]

Wait….. What?

Lainey stared at the guy, her expression totally blank as she carefully mulled over his words. Did he really… Just say she was trying to marry him?! The girl had been accused of many things in her life, but this was honestly a first. ”Marry… ye…?” She slowly, very slowly, blinked, as if her senses were only just starting to return. And when they did, it was like cold water had just been dumped on her. ”HELL NO! NO WAY! No’ in yer life time!” Her reaction was much louder than most would have expected(except for her Uncle, who seemed fully prepared for her startled yell.). ”Ah think yer settin’ yer sights way to high! Ah’m no’ marryin’ anyone, anytime!” Letting out a sigh, she facepalmed, harder than most people would. ”Ah meant tell me yer name!”

By this time, her Uncle had finally recovered… and was roaring with laughter. Instantly she frowned, shooting him a death glare… Which only got worse when he made a deal with her. Asia would get out of paying if she came off her strike. Great. ”…. Fine, but ye better give in ta ma demands. Ma parents will give ye a copy of the list. And ah expect all seven hundred ta be met.” She looked dead serious, and she actually was. She’d actually written up a list of seven hundred demands she wanted met before she came off strike, and most were pretty ridiculous. Like the right to throw eggs at her older brother during his performances(while he was in animal form, so he couldn’t come after her.), and sabotage her sister’s make up kit…. And paint all the circus animals (that weren’t her brother) purple. Basically, it made no sense, and she’d never expected anyone to give in to her insane demands.

Hearing Asia’s confused and slightly startled comment, she quickly looked back at him, as if suddenly remembering that he was there. ”Yer kiddin’, right? Ih’s a circus. There’s always shows! Ih’s part o’ the experience!” She paused for a moment. ”And if ye remember, ah already told ye who ah was. Come on, Asia. Or ye’ll miss the magic.” She planted her hands firmly on his shoulders and shoved him towards the big tent with surprising strength.

[/justify]

[Jun Lee]

Now, one thing had to be understood, ever since coming to this country Jun had a hard time understanding the language. While he had been here for over year, enough time to learn the language well enough to have conversations in it, he also spent most of his time working in a Chinese restaraunt... and living in China-town. That being said, while he was around english speakers a LOT, he was also around his fellow Mandarin speakers so he had learned the language a lot slower than someone who was totally immersed in it. On top of that, while he had quite a bit of the language down, it was phrases and idioms that made absolutely no sense to him because they didn't exactly translate that well. Not to mention Americans were incredibly sarcastic (especially those in New York). All in all, it was difficult to understand anything that came out of their mouths.

That all being said, Jun couldn't understand why the tall girl suddenly exploded. Strangely though, she didn't sound angry at all, it was just as if she was making it absolutely clear that she wasn't getting married. After several moments she finally cooled down a little speaking to Jun again, it took him a few moments to translate but when he did, he spoke up softly, "Setting my sights high?... Is there other to place to set them?" Again, his face was dead serious as he spoke, and to an outsider it may have sounded incredibly flirtatious, but Jun was seriously trying to understand where exactly he was supposed to set his sights... And he could probably figure that out as soon as he figured out what his sights were exactly.

Finally though, she made herself clear, she had been asking WHAT his name was the entire time! "Well... Why you no ask that in the first place? Make it so confusing...." Jun rambled off in Mandarin for a moment, saying things about how she had made such a simple question so difficult and how strange of girl she was. Though she was immediately turning to the game manager and talking to him about some sort of list, it made no sense to Jun, all he could focus on was staring at the girl and trying to figure out why she was so hard to understand.

Suddenly, before he could even react, she had her hands on his shoulders pushing him toward the big tent. What was she doing?! First she tries to propose to him and now she's pushing him to some unknown and dark region of the this camp ground?! One thing was for certain, Jun was never coming to a circus again. Though, if that were really his feelings, then why was he letting this girl lead him around?... It was that stupid curiousity of his, he wanted to know what she was talking about. The girl was strange, but sadly, she was sating the adventurous side of him... Which was never ever a good thing.

"What is circus? What magic?... and my name is no Asia, it is J-" There was a sudden and explosive cheer from the big tent as the show apparently was beginning, Jun's attention was immediately focused on the source of the noise... Now he was really curious. As she pushed him through the main flaps of the tent, the sight that met his eyes immediately made him freeze... There were wires in the air supported by poles, animals, fire, people dressed up in suits and painted all over and everyone was clapping and cheering at the different acts being performed, and the place was packed.

Suddenly he realized he wasn't being pushed anymore, and that annoying accent wasn't ringing in his ears, he glanced behind him. "Blondie?... Blondie?" He couldn't remember her name, nor did he see her. There were people all around him, but she was completely gone. A loud explosion made him jerk his head back to the main ring just in time to see fire pouring out of a mans mouth as he held a stick in front of his face. Now he realized what a circus was, a performance, just like back home!

Almost mesmerized, Jun took a seat at the front row of the end of the stands, watching as act after act came out. Some death defying, some making the audience roar with laughter though he never got why). Some with animals, some with people, it truly was a variety act, far different from the ones back home, but at the same time, just the same. Jun was enthralled... Ok, maybe a circus wasn't SOOO bad.

[Lainey Fury]

Okay, so this guy’s English really sucked. He seemed to take everything literally. ”… Aww, and here ah thought ye didnae wanna marry me!” There was that sarcastic tone he’d just been thinking about (she didn’t know he’d been thinking it though, if only because he kept thinking in another language.), only she wasn’t American. ”But ah’m no’ changin’ ma answer. Ye need ta find another girl ta fawn over.”

Lainey grinned a little at his language slip, and wondered if he might be swearing at her. Now she really wanted to use these swear words. ”Ah did ask! Yer English just sucks. Ye take everythin’ to seriously.”

The guy didn’t fight back to much as she pushed him towards the Big tent, which was a good thing because if he had, she probably would have tried throwing him over her shoulder in an attempt to get him to cooperate. ”Ye’ll see, ye’ll see! And ah promise, ye wonnae be disappointed! “ With one last, mighty shove, he was inside, the girl quickly following.

Her gaze wandered for only a few seconds, just to check what act was on at the moment, before she took off. You’d think someone her height would have issues disappearing like this, but as demonstrated, she easily blended into the crowd and out of sight, gone before Asia had even remembered she had been there in the first place.

The teenager’s appearance backstage took her entire family by surprise, none even considering she might show up for the acts. They might have said something about her willingness… If it weren’t for the fact that if they did she’d probably decide to leave just to spite them. So, from years of practice, no one said a single thing, instead just let her go about getting ready. In only five minutes she was set, make-up and costume on, and less than a minute after that… she was setting through the curtains that divided the ring and back stage. She quickly took in the sights as she stepped off to the side, waiting. Her sole purpose as a performer was to fill in for an act if something happened, or if they just couldn’t perform. Some nights, she just stood there like a statue. Other nights, she could literally be running around like a mad woman, filling in for someone in almost every act. Tonight, there hadn’t been any incidents so she was able to watch… and look.

Ah, there he was! Asia had managed to find a seat in the front row. When she was sure he was looking, she winked, if only because it’d be funny… And she hoped he might start squirming…

[/justify]

[Jun Lee]

As the show went on, Jun began to grow more and more enthralled with the entire performace. It truly was a show too. There were many parts that looked incredibly dangerous, but Jun had a trained eye to be able to barely catch some of the choreography behind it all. Usually it was times when the performer looked as if they might plummet to their death and then miraculously be saved moments before it happened. Every time it stunned and shocked the audience, but Jun could see the play behind it. Though in a way, it made him like it even more knowing how perfectly they were timing everything; it was quite impressive.

Act after glorious act continued to come out. So far one of the more impressive stunts was when one of the performers stuck his head inside the mouth of a line and then held it there. Jun was a man with almost no fear, but even he would hesitate before even considering something such as that. Very impressive indeed.

Then of course the clowns would continually come out and attempt to perform things only to have the crowd laugh at them as they failed miserably. Jun never even cracked a smile though, largely because he didn't get the humor. Though, a close inspection would show that even though he was truly becoming impressed with the show, there wasn't a stitch of emotion on the boys face. Staring blankly at act after act with the same cold look that seemed permanently frozen to his face.

In between one of the acts, as some of the performers were taking a small break (sort of like an intermission it seemed, so that the audience could go to the bathroom and what-not), Jun stayed; watching the little shows they had on in between the main acts. Right now there was a person with two dogs in tutus dancing around him, obviously just small entertainment for now. Though, movement at the back of the tent suddenly caught his attention as he noticed several of the performers just standing there, and one of them looked like... Blondie? It was hard to tell with the amount of make-up and paint all over her face, as well as the strange leotard like suit she was wearing, but Jun was almost certain that was her... She was a performer?

Then the strangest thing happened... She winked at him. Jun glanced left and right, then back at Blondie, yep, she had definitely winked at him. He didn't know what it was like in this country, but in his, when someone winked at you it meant they REALLY liked you. This was after the fact that she had talked about marrying him earlier, immediately Jun felt uncomfortable and for the first time the entire show, he showed a little bit of emotion as he fidgeted in his seat. Who was this creepy girl?

First she follows him around everywhere, then she is hitting on him? She was definitely odd. Jun was trying to find some object to stare at in the tent besides her, but every time he glanced at her, she was still watching him... What the... Was she some kind of stalker?! He might have to beat the crap out of her if she tried to follow him home tonight... Suddenly all the lights went out, and a single spotlight flickered on, showing a man standing in the middle of the darkness.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BOYS AND GIRLS, PEOPLE OF ALL AGES! HAVE YOU ENJOYED THE SHOW TONIGHT?" A strangely dressed man shouting into a cone he had around his mouth was standing in the middle of the main ring of the tent, his booming voice amplified by the cone, reaching every corner of the circus. At his question, the crowd erupted in cheers, "I'm sorry, I must not have been heard by some... I said, ARE YOU ALL HAVING FUN TONIGHT?!" THe crowd exploded with a deafening roar as the ring leader paced in front of the stands.

"Well tonight you've been shocked... you've been amazed... you've been stupified by some of the things we've shown you... But ladies... gentleman... You ain't seen nothing yet." Whoever this guy was, he was playing to the crowd with a finesse that was almost unnatural. Not to mention he seemed so comfortable with hundreds of people staring at him, as the spotlight was literally on him while he walked closely in front of the stands,

"For our closing act, we are going to take you all on a trip to the edge of life and death itself... All displayed in a beautiful act of acrobatics, and skill..." The man said, glancing at Jun as he walked in front of him.

"If there are any here that are faint of heart... I ask that you leave immediately, because I will be honest with you all.... Every act up until now, no matter how dangerous it seemed, we always made sure that our performers were never in harms way they were always safe... Until now..." The man waved his hand and many of the performers that were there to help the other main acts left, and the giant safety net that was suspended between the poles of the circus hit the ground.

Ok... This guy was really good, Jun himself was scooting to the edge of the seat and hanging on every word the man said, he really wanted to see this, "The last act of the evening will be performed by one of our own... She's tall... She's beautiful... But more importantly, let's hope she's paid her dues..." The man paused for a moment, letting it sink in how dangerous this act was, but largely he paused for affect... This guy was good,

"Pay close attention ladies and gentleman... because you won't want to miss this." Immediately, the only light in the room (which was the spotlight that was shining on the man) cut off and everyone was left in total darkness.

The man had built up the act so well that not a single sound could be heard as everyone held their breath, waiting for it to start, Jun himself even cracked a small smile (unheard of) as the curiousity raged like a fire in him... Ok, circus' weren't bad at all.

[Lainey Fury]

For almost the entire duration of the show, nothing happened. No acts dropped out, no accidents, nothing. Lainey was absolutely certain she'd just stand there, doing nothing, until the show ended. Ten minutes before the end though, one of her cousins leaned towards the girl, whispering furiously. "Stacey pulled a muscle on the last trapeze act, she can't go on for the finale. You know the act?" Lainey stared at the shorter woman out of the corner of her eyes. "Ah know ih..." Was all she said in response. The answer seemed to satisfy her cousin, who hurried off back stage once again.

Apparently the Ringmaster already knew the change in program, as minutes later, he was announcing the final act. Her act now. Though he had to make a big deal out of it, which only made her sigh. "He makes ih sound like the net never comes down. Woulda been cooler if he lit ih on fire." She spoke to one of the other stands in, after all, she wasn't the only one that was able to fill in if need be (She was just one of the best.).

The only light switched off then, and she quietly stepped forward. She didn't need to see to know where to go. The audience was dead silent, so everyone would hear the soft swishing sound as the lights slowly, very slowly, faded back on. There was a dark tint to the lights this time, casting most the tent in a dusk like light. There, where the net had previously been, was a trail of black cloth, barely touching the floor and going almost to the top of the ceiling (so about forty feet). Those familiar with Cricus' would recognize the next act, Aerial silks.

Lainey was nowhere in sight, but someone was obviously behind the silk, waiting. Half a minute of silence followed, before finally music started. The girl moved slowly, gracefully, but remained mostly hidden by the silk for several seconds. When she finally did step fully out from behind the silk, she'd had a costume change. Previously, she'd worn a full body leotard of black and red stripes(to back her make-up), now she simply wore a black, traditional leoptard, the only color in the whole scene her make up and hair.

The girl didn't look at the Audience, not even to see if Asia was watching or not. Instead, she turned back to the silk, reached as high as she could, grabbed the silk, and heaved herself upward. With a series of twists and more climbing, she was twenty feet off the ground in about thirty seconds. What followed, could only be called beautiful, and, yes, dangerous.

With skillful wraps, she could suspend herself with out holding on at all. With others, she'd just demonstrate her strength, hanging by just one hand wrapped tightly in the fabric. At one point, when she was at her highest (only five feet from the very top), she completely released the fabric, and plummeted towards the floor, silk unwrapping as she fell. Most the audience gasped or screamed, assuming the girl had slipped, when in fact she stopped bare inches from the ground, her hair brushing the floor. More twisting and she was climbing once again.

The act lasted almost five minutes. Five minutes of graceful, but daring tricks. Even her fellow carnival workers looked horrified by most of the act (obviously she wasn't sticking with the choreograph.) But, it worked out in the end, the girl never slipped, never (unintentionally) fell. And, finally, at the end of the song, the lights completely shut off once again. By the time they were on again, Lainey was gone and so was the silk, as if they had never been there...

[/justify]

[Jun Lee]

With the lights out and everything in total darkness, Jun had to admit, this was becoming very entertaining. It was all well choreographed, with interesting stunts, nice performance, it truly was interesting and a small part of Jun was actually happy that he had come. Though, with how much the announcer had built up the next act, he also had to admit that he was more than a little excited. Scratch that, Jun was literally sitting on the edge of his seat as the whirring of the massive spotlights turning on began to fill the circus tent.

Suddenly, the tent exploded with light in the middle of the ring, and long black silk sheet was hanging from the ceiling. Jun's eyes slowly followed it to the top before he noticed it began moving, jerking his eyes back to the center of the ring just in time to see the silk sheet move and reveal an attractive woman in a skin tight leota-... wait... That was blondie! If Jun were not a rock, his jaw would have dropped at the sight of her standing in the middle of the ring. What was she doing out there? Helping someone else perform? As she began to pull herself up onto the silk sheet, realization swept over Jun, she wasn't here to help... She WAS the main performer.

If that wasn't surprise enough for Jun, then the next five minutes was. As she pulled herself higher and higher onto sheet. Doing amazingly agile twists and turns the entire way up, skillfully wrapping and unwrapping the sheet around her to pull herself higher and higher. Then, as she was half way up she stayed their, using the sheet to do amazing feats of both strength and grace. Of course, Jun recognized this act, this was a a very popular thing in the Chinese circus', but Jun had to admit, blondie was good. Then she began pulling herself higher and higher until she almost touched the tent roof before suddenly plummeting toward the ground. The entire audience gasped and as she began falling faster and faster, Jun himself stood up and just about lunged forward to catch her before she stopped only feet from the ground.

Apparently it had been part of the act, Jun let out a sigh of relief and glanced behind him. Several people were giving him incredibly strange looks for how fast he was about to move to grab her. Awkwardly, he sat back down and watched the rest of the performance. That wasn't the last time she made Jun jump, though he didn't jump fully out of his seat again, there were several times it looked like she had lost it before catching herself at the very last minute... no... Very last second, moments before she could have died (Jun's own heart seemed to be leaping and jump with every move she made as well, afraid he was going to watch the annoying fly die any second). Regardless, she twisted and turned for a good five minutes up and down that sheet, moving gracefully and quickly with the beat of the music.

By the time the song ended, the lights shut off and before they could even come on again the entire audience erupted in applause. When the lights came on they revealed the entire audience on it's feet clapping and cheering, well almost the entire audience. Jun was still sitting, staring at the place where the black silk sheet, and blondie, had been standing. Glancing around he slowly brought his own hands up and clapped them together slowly once or twice. Even though he didn't stand up, he was truly impressed, regardless of how little he showed it.

"On behalf of the Fury Circus I would like to thank each and every one of you for being in attendance tonight, please be careful on your trips home and please do come again... and bring your family... bring your friends... but most importantly, bring yourself back here tomorrow night to have an entirely new experience!" THe man with the megaphone announced, what he could have easily added was 'bring your money'. Everyone immediately began making their way towards the exits and the sound of everyone talking at once about how amazing the circus had been was almost deafening.

Despite being in the front row of one of the many stands, Jun was one of the last to stand up and as such was at the very back of the crowd as the slowly filtered through the exits of the massive tent. He carefully adjusted his jacket to had the tattoo's on his neck before glancing over his shoulder where the black sheet of silk... and Blondie... had been only minutes before. There were only random circus hands there now, cleaning up the stands and the rings, but no sight of the black dressed, face painted, fly... The impressive little fly... Jun slowly turned back toward the exit, making his way out behind everyone else. Out of everything that happened, Jun had come to a conclusion; the circus was pretty cool.

[Lainey Fury]

Lainey was totally, and completely absorbed by her performance. She didn’t hear the music (probably because of the earplugs she wore, so the crowd wouldn’t distract her.), she didn’t see Asia jump to his feet and just about into the ring to save her (though it would have been funny to see.). The act had her complete focus…

But, no, it wasn’t the act that had been rehearsed. The girl had…. Directional issues. When it came to solo acts, she couldn’t help but change the safer stunts to about as dangerous as it could get. For example? That thirty foot drop, in rehearsal, had only been about fifteen feet, because it was incredibly difficult to control the fall when you dropped more than twenty feet. As you could imagine, her… improvises didn’t sit well with her family.

As soon as she was backstage, she literally had half a dozen people yelling at her, giving her a speech she’d heard hundreds of times before. Thank god for the earplugs, she couldn’t hear a thing. Every few seconds she would nod, feigning understanding (and hearing), letting them ramble on and on until they finally gave up and walked off. They knew she wouldn’t listen to anything they said, so why try to hard?

The girl didn’t change out of her leotard, or even take off any of the heavy make-up. Instead, she shoved past everyone backstage, not offering a single apology, and heading for the exit. She had to hurry and catch Asia. He wasn’t allowed to leave until he told her what he thought.

She’d stepped back into the ring right around the time he had turned away from it. ”OI! ASIA!” She cupped her hands around her mouth, so her yell would reach him as she ran, literally ran, as he moved for an exit. ”Ye cannae leave till ye tell me what ye thought!”

[/justify]

[Jun Lee]

The show had been impressive, Jun couldn't deny it. The entirety of the show had been impressive as well, from the very first act to the very last one by Blondie, Jun had been amazed. Seems the girl had been right when she was pushing him into the big tent, it would have been bad if he had 'missed the magic'. It was a weird but regardless, he had done what his boss told him to. He went out for the night, met a girl, got in some trouble and glancing at his watch he saw this it was almost one in the morning. Not a completely ridiculous hour, but hey, three out of four was good right?

Though just as he was about to step through the tent door behind the last of the crowd he could hear a very familiar, and irritatingly strong accented voice, calling him. Jun let out a small sigh of annoyance, seems his night wasn't over yet. Slowly Jun turned around to face the girl, who was running at him, literally running. This girl was freaking him out more and more, though by the time he had completely turned to face her, she was right in front of him.

For the first time the entire night, Jun actually looked at her. She had long blonde hair, which obviously he had noticed before, but he hadn't noticed how almost violently blue her eyes were. Then again, they may have just seemed that way due to the very intense amount of make up and paint on her face as well as the black leotard. She was a bit taller than him, to the point were any taller and he would have to look up, and while lanky, she was obviously very fit (after all, not like leotards hid hardly anything, at all).

All in all, she was actually kind of attractive, though Jun found himself staring at the massive amount of paint on her face that was in designs of black and red all over it. It almost looked like the black veins that covered his body... so this is why everyone stared at HIM when they could see them... It was hard to resist. Even more strange, she was still attractive with all that paint on, in fact, she seemed even more attractive with it on... Now, if only she wasn't so annoying then Jun might not have the desire to run away from her.

"Impressive." Jun said bluntly, his face and voice as stoic as ever. Well, at least they seemed incredibly stoic, largely that was just how he seemed.

"I have seen many of these before back in China, but this very unique, it very interesting." Jun paused for a moment glancing around the large tent where all the acts were only moments before. Now it was almost entirely devoid of life except for blondie and himself, the last of all the people could be heard leaving the circus grounds outside of the tent and it began to grow a bit quieter except for music and laughing as well as animal noises that seemed to be coming from all around the circus. After all, the place was like a city, so that was to be expected.

Jun's attention was snapped back to Blondie, "You were very impressive." Once again it could very easily seem like he was flirting with her. If it wasn't for the fact of how bluntly and seriously he had said it, not cracking a smile. Then again, that would seem even more like flirting to some, and might seem insulting to others. Regardless, Jun had completely meant what he said, after all, he generally said what he thought exactly. So for her to recieve any kind of compliment from him was impressive in and of itself.

Though, Jun couldn't help but find himself staring more and more at her paint, before he'd hurry and look back into her eyes. It was almost mesmerizing how perfectly it was all painted on there in such intricate designs... Ok, so sometimes he was easily distracted, who isn't?