Music blared over the din of the crowd while the aromas of fried food attempted to drown out the stench of hay and farm animals that hung over the circus. Exotic creatures from faraway lands were situated around the big top at the center of the grounds, surrounded by trampled and dying grass that was littered with peanuts and popcorn haphazardly dropped by eager children and absentminded parents. Excited cries and general merriment filled the air of Herr Getmann's Travelling Menagerie, but it wasn't for the Ferris wheel, the funnel cake, nor even the elephants.
It was for the mutants.
The Toad and his Terrific Tongue, the Wildemann; Savage of the North, the Incredible Nightcrawler and of course, Herr Getmann's prized mutate, the Mesmerizing Menagerie! A young man whose skin had been changed into a vibrant veridian and was capable of transforming into any animal, extinct, mythical or otherwise. Despite his prized status, however, he was forced to sit in nothing more than a glorified cage, an inhibitor collar firmly affixed to his neck.
A mournful cry escaped from the harmonica cupped firmly between the hands of Menagerie. It had been so long since he had been called anything but his show name that his real name, his birthname, felt like a distant memory, a foreign name. There was the accident, the blood transfusion and then the metabomb.
Gar-
"Another sound and I will reach through this damn cage and shove that mouth organ so far down your throat that my fist comes out the other end!"
Beside Menagerie, the Wildemann menacingly paced back and forth, claws dragging across the reinforced bars before alternating to the collar firmly affixed to his neck. The newest addition to Herr Getmann, the Wildemann, was not yet broken like the others. He let out a savage roar, smashing against the bars, lunging towards Menagerie who cowered into the furthest corner. Flecks of silver streaked through the otherwise dirty blonde mane of the much larger man, betraying his age as he continued to rebel against his restraints.
"I'll taste the blood of everyone in this damn circus!"
"Mein freund," Glowing amber eyes peered out from a cage situated across from the Wildemann, "You will not escape, diese collars are quite unbreakable." The blue face behind the luminescent eyes smiled, baring pointed canines as friendly as he could. The Wildemann replied by baring his teeth, jagged and yellowed, each stained with the blood of more than one of the circus's overzealous enforcers.
"They almost didn't get me in this cage." He growled in response, licking some dried blood from one of his claws. "You don't understand, boy, it's only a matter of time." Claws wrapped around the bars closest to the young man, coated head to tail in fine blue fur.
"They didn't lock away the monster," Wildemann smiled, "They locked themselves in with it."
"Du are not the first eins who did not cooperate. Du will not sein the last, I am very sure of das."
Wildemann snarled in response, smashing his hands against the bars again before reaching for the collar around his neck and prying at it until it finally gave off a warning shock. He angrily slammed a fist into the floor of his cage while a vindicated grin crossed Menagerie's face. Toad's laughter echoed through the tent surrounding their cages only further enraging Wildemann.
"Gott, gib mir die Gelassenheit, Dinge hinzunehmen, die ich nicht ändern kann, den Mut, Dinge zu ändern, die ich ändern kann, und die Weisheit, das eine vom anderen zu unterscheiden." Across the walkwall, Nightcrawler had resigned himself to a posture of prayer which did nothing to sooth the wild man.
"Then yer a coward with a belly as yellow as them eyes." He snapped, causing Nightcrawler to open a surprised eye towards the brutish mutant.
"Courage to accept the things you can't, bah! You make me sick."
"Hardly seems fair that wir don't even know your real name, and yet du hast threatened us and hurled insults the entire time du hast been here."
"Names don't matter when the only thing you'll hear is the rushing of yer blood before choking on it."
"Dude, you are seriously crashing the mode," Menagerie finally piped up. "You like, really think we all just want to sit in cages and be here? I'd love to get out of here, find myself a baddie goth girlfriend and never have to transform on command ever again."
"Oh yeah, that told 'im." Toad piped in, "Good on ye, telling the big scary man that you sit around in a cage and dream of tits." He snickered, "Real high bar you're setting there, Mr. Headliner. Should we all just turn our backs so you can rub one out, or do you prefer being watched?"
"Toad." Nightcrawler held up his hand, "Das enough."
"Oh, most sincere apologies, Father Wagner." Toad mockingly curtsied. "Hey, I know what'll cheer everyone up, why don't you tell the bombastic baglady claws where you'd go if you got free?"
Nightcrawler remained quiet, hestitantly shuffling his feet in his cell, his prehensile tail flicking anxiously behind him, before Menagerie broke the heavy silence.
"C'mon, dude, Kurt, just tell him where you want to go."
"Genosha," Kurt replied, "I've heard Genosha is an island nation open to mutants of all abilities and appearances, a haven for our kind where we don't have to live in cages just to be accepted."
"Genosha is nothing but a fairy tale for gullible little idiots like you."
This time Todd was laughing at Nightcrawler's expense as Wildemann smugly crossed his arms.
"Genosha, heh, you're even dumber than you look."
"Actually, and like I hate to be the know-it-all in the room," A woman's voice suddenly interrupted the four other mutants. "Genosha is as real as Wakanda. I can point both out on a map if you'd like. Atlantis, on the other hand, is a lot harder to pinpoint; it's bigger than people think."
"Scheiße!" Kurt exclaimed, his eyes wide at the sight of the girl phasing through the wall. "Liebling, that is quite a gift du have da."
"Looks like you've got a few gifts of your own," Kitty replied, "You can call me Ariel, I'm here to get you out before something far worse than these cages happens to you."
"Au chante, Fräulein., I am Kurt Wagner, but here I am the Incredible Nightcrawler," Kurt beamed, immediately smitten with the lithe brunette. He pointed to the collar around his own neck before gesturing with one of his fingers to the others. "Du will need to turn off the main controller to disable the collars."
"Or I can phase my hand through your collars and disable it." Kitty replied, stepping into Nightcrawler's cage and passing her hand through the collar. The blinking red light suddenly went static before the distinct hum stopped. Taking hold of the collar, the brunette phased it off of Kurt's neck before looking up at him, smiling. Their eyes met as Nightcrawler flashed his pointed canines in a thrilled grin.
"Ja! Das could work."
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