[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DG2L4fB.png[/img][/center]"Gah!" The Jack-in-the-box groaned as a shot skimmed his jump's trajectory, forcing him to do some impressive mid-air acrobatics to avoid it. "You'll have to do better than that to get me, human!" It said as it ducked and weaved between shots, kicking off the walls, breaking vases, and being weirdly agile as it reached the last floor before the roof.

Robin's bravery and the team's combined efforts were great impediments. However, the Jack-in-the-box ultimately made it to its destination, using the force from one of Robin's arrows to propel it tumbling out of the roof's door like a quirky cannonball just as the mysterious assailant began its assault on Ayaka and Monarch.

As soon as the Jack-in-the-box reached the roof, everything around the building went dark. Pitch-black darkness as if someone pulled a cloth over the eyes of everyone in the building. In fact, that was an apt comparison, as it would become evident a moment later when a very conspicuous tune began buzzing in the air out of seemingly nowhere.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0CyOAO8y0[/youtube][/center]
As if called by the musical revelry, powerful spotlights pierced the darkness, revealing an unexpected truth. The whole building—nay, almost a whole block—had been seemingly moved under, or enveloped by, a gigantic pavilion, becoming the literal stars of some twisted circus.

[i]"Be on your guard, everyone! I hope it's not what I'm thinking, but I don't like where this is going,"[/i] Scheherazade said in a worried voice from his new perch atop a tall wooden pole.

Divide and conquer. A tactic as old as time, and now it caught to the defenders of humanity.[hr]