Can't Stop The Big Top

[inyx]

Inyx didn't have to be told twice. She walked up the ramp into the trailer, tripping for a moment but thankfully avoiding a spill. She ducked behind one of the narrow shelf-like structures towards the front of the trailer, which was holding horse care supplies, and began to tug and pull at her human clothing. At least she had some practice, and these were particularly user-friendly garments, but it still took her longer than it would a normal teenager.

Finally free of the clothing (if she demorphed inside of it it would all be shredded, and then she wouldn't be able to wear it when she remorphed) she concentrated on her true form. She demorph fairly quickly; it always felt good to be back in her own body, especially because she spent so much time as a human. <<I've just demorphed. I'm going to begin remorphing,>> she alerted Nate.

[Leroy]

A magic show? The perfect place for them to do a disappearing act. Leroy followed Johnny silently since he seemed to have a plan of some sort. If nothing else, they could enjoy the show.

"Where do we... change?" Leroy whispered to Johnny after the got inside. He knew that even in the dark they would be noticed if they morphed in the crowd. Maybe they could... Leroy couldn't think of any good ideas.

[Nate]

Nate had quickly shut the ramp and door of the trailer in case anyone wandered past and peered in, wondering about the blue horse inside. He then tried his best to look casual, leaning against the trailer like he belonged there. Or, maybe he should be working somehow. He glanced around looking for tools or something he could be pretending to use, but to no avail. Everything was probably inside the trailer or taken wherever the real horse had gone to.

Nate didn't reply to her announcement, knowing she wouldn't hear him anyway, and it would just look like he was talking to himself. So, he stayed silent and still (a rarity) and tried not to get too antsy and nervous as he waited, subtly trying to keep an eye on anyone who neared the area.

[inyx]

Inyx shifted her weight, stepping carefully around her clothes which lay in a pile nearby. She was about to start remorphing when a tiny flash of movement caught her attention. Focusing on it with a stalk eye, she realized what it was: some type of small rodent.

It was a mouse, and it scurried into a corner of the trailer. Instantly curious, Inyx leaned forward, bracing herself into a kneel--with a bit of dexterity she was able to pick the creature up. Its heart beat wildly in her hands, and she focused on it, acquiring the tiny thing. Immediately it calmly, and with one finger she stroked its small furry head.

[Nate]

Nate straightened up a bit when a man neared, looking at Nate like he wasn't quite sure he belonged there. Nate plastered a smile across his face, trying to act casual. "Hey man, how are you today?"

"Do I know you?" The man inquired, eying Nate suspiciously.

Nate noted the guy's name tag as inconspicuousness as possible. "Ah come on Dave, you know me! I'm Tom! The new guy! Remember, we ate lunch at the same time... that... other day...?"

The other man, Dave, stared at him blankly, and Nate wasn't quite sure if it was because he wasn't believing him or because he was trying to place Nate's face. At any rate, he went on with a new question. "What are you doing back here? Avoiding work??"

"Me?? Naaah," Nate shook his head, leaning against the trailer at just the right angle for him to knock on the side of the trailer while it looking like a complete accident noise. Hopefully it would be enough warning for Inyx to hurry!

[inyx]

One stalk eye swiveled around to look at the closed door at the entrance. Inyx could hear voices.

Immediately she began to panic. If she started to morph now, she might get finished into her human form before someone could come in, depending on how long Nate could keep them busy. But she couldn't trick herself into thinking that she'd be human and clothed in any short amount of time. Getting on clothes took at least as much time as the morphing did, for her.

Quickly but gently, Inyx placed the still dazed mouse on the floor. She closed her main eyes, and drew up an image of the tiny creature. Soon brown fur raced over her body, and she was growing smaller and smaller. Hopefully Nate was effective in keeping whoever was out there at bay.

[Johnny]

Once inside and the tent flaps closed behind them, Johnny heard Leroy whisper, asking when to morph. Johnny quickly glanced everywhere searching for a possible way. A spotlight appeared on a small stage at the far end of the tent and the crowd began clapping as the magician appeared in a puff of smoke. Everything else was dark.

However, it wasn't too dark to not see anyone's faces. Then Johnny smiled as he got an idea. "Leroy," he whispered, "I've got it! Try to volunteer for the disappearing trick if possible. These guys always take volunteers from the crowd and they always have the dissappearing trick! Mor...uh, change once you disappeared and do it for real, okay? Uh, I'll find a way out."

((That okay with you? Now I gotta find a way out...))

[Nate]

"Well if you're not busy, could you give us a hand over by the tent?" the man asked, still looking at Nate like he was trying to remember him. Maybe he would use this to his advantage.

"I'm actually on my break," Nate replied as casually as possible. "Got about 5 minutes left so I'm just chillin'."

"...by the trailers?"

"Yeah. Away from people for a bit. Not in the mood to hang out. You know how it is." He glanced at his watch, technically to see how long Inyx had been in there, but he went with it. "Yeah, so, 4 minutes left on my break now. No offence dude, but could I spend them alone before I've gotta get working again? I swear I'll come help you when I'm done."

"Yeah, alright," the man nodded and turned to walk away. "But hurry, there are some horses giving us real trouble."

"You know me," Nate grinned as he left. "Always the punctual one!"

[Leroy]

Leroy was very skeptical about Johnny's plan, but he went with it. Mainly because he couldn't think of any better ideas at the moment. Still, Leroy was surprised when the magician asked for a disappearing volunteer almost right away. He was even more surprised when they called on him to go on stage. If Leroy didn't know any better, he would have sworn that Johnny had set this all up.

The magician did a couple cheep tricks by making some white doves appear seemingly from nowhere before ushering Leroy into the 'disappearing chamber.' It was pretty much just a fancy booth. As soon as the door was closed, Leroy concentrated on his weevil morph. "I'll show you a magic trick," Leroy said to himself.

He rushed the changes along as quickly as he could, but he was still new at this so morphing took time. He knew that the magician would drag the trick out for the audience, but it still may not be enough time to turn into a bug. As the last of his changes were taking place, the door to the booth reopened. He couldn't see the audience due to his clothes that were in a heap surrounding him, but he could imagine the confusion on their faces. What's more, he could imagine the confusion on the magician's face. There was now just a pile of clothes where he expected his volunteer to be.

Leroy flew out of the booth, practically invisible to the audience. He regretted loosing his clothes, money, elephant picture, drivers license... They would have to go back for his stuff. <<I'm out Johnny, but I can't say the same for my belongings.>>

[Johnny]

Johnny smiled as Leroy was taken so quickly. He was brilliant. Then he later heard Leroy complain about losing all of his stuff. Okay, maybe Johnny wasn't so brilliant. Everyone's eyes were focused on the magician and the booth that Leroy had formerly occupied but Johnny still couldn't morph. On stage, an assisstant carried away the pile of clothes and stuff to just behind a curtain. For some reason, the tent had a curtain in it to cover the stage if need-be.

Now he had to get away. Yet, he couldn't call much attention to himself. Then, as if Leroy had planned it, the magician asked for another volunteer to be changed into an tiger. Not many people wanted to. In fact, only Johnny was stupid enough to try after Leroy had disappeared. So he was welcomed up onto the stage.

Soon, he was in a large steel cage with a curtain all around it. The good thing was, that the cage had no ceiling. I guess they didn't consider a bird for this cage. He was only wearing khaki shorts and a green t-shirt so he stripped those off and placed them in a pile. Then he focused on his scariest morph. He was almost done, yet he still had human eyes legs, and hands. He was only halfway done shrinking. THat was when a second door in the back of the cage was opened and a massive tiger was brought through.

Johnny twisted aorund and screeched in an unearthly voice that was half human and half bird. The assisstant who was holding the tigers leash screamed as she looked upon the creature in front of her. She ran out of the cage, leaving the tiger there. Johnny's now-eagle eyes stared at it in horror as he finished the morph. As the eagle, he hopped onto his clothes and took off through the ceiling, accidentally leaving his shirt down there.

The cage empty roof was high enough that it was concealed by a curtain hanging over the stage. Johnny barreled through the flap on the back of the tenet and was suddenly in the open air. With his shorts and wallet. He could just imagine the surprise on the audience's faces when they saw the tiger playing with a shirt, the one the volunteer was wearing, after the scream.

He called to Leroy, <<Hey Leroy! I'm out! Now what?>>

[Leroy]

Leroy flew out through one of the tent-flap doors. <<Um... I guess we could go try to find Nate and Inyx. Or maybe get my stuff back? Either way, I think I should demorph somewhere. I can hardly see anything and I'm afraid I'll get swatted.>> Leroy flew higher at that thought.

As he began to search for a place to demorph, Leroy made a decision. <<Actually, I think it is most important that we find the other two first. Make sure they are alright. Say, how did you get out of there anyway?>> Leroy had been flying over the crowd looking for an exit when Johnny did his own disappearing act.

[Johnny]

<<Okay, I'll keep an eye out for them.>> Johnny happily replied. He circled way above the tent. Okay, maybe the eagle was scary, but at least it could fly! The sensation was amazing! <<Oh yeah, and I saw where your clothes are. They're in the side of the tent.>>

Then he decided to withhold a little bit of information from Leroy. <<My escape? Well, it kinda involved a tiger, a green shirt, and turning into something else instead of a tiger. Nothing against them, just wanted to get out of there. Oh yeah, the trick was a transforming act. The guy wanted to turn me into a tiger. Well, it didn't work.>>

Momentarily, while Leroy was looking for a place to morph and stuff, Johnny kept two binocular eyes scanning everything. He saw no andalites or kestrels, or collies, or two funny looking kids. Well, he did see the later, but none of the hundreds were Nate and Inyx. He had some work to do.

[Leroy]

So Johnny disappeared too? Boy that magician must have been baffled. For some reason Leroy was amused at the thought.

Leroy flew around for quite a while before he realized something. He probably wouldn't find a decent hiding spot unless he flew lower. But that meant he would have to brave the crowd. But he had to risk it if he ever wanted to demorph.

Leroy flew lower, probably about two feet off the ground. He figured that not much swatting would probably happen down there. Still, every time he bumped into a pair of legs Leroy would nearly have a heart attack and fly in the opposite direction. So when he finally found a dark spacious area, he was relieved that he could finally demorph.

He was almost finished demorphing by the time his human vision returned. This place was a tight fit. It turned out that he was underneath a concession stand or something. He could hear footsteps directly above him, and he could see the feet of people standing in line. But the worst thing he saw was a little kid staring right at him.

They were probably only about two and a half years old, but if they saw him demorph from being a bug... Leroy did not want to think about how he could have messed that kid up mentally. As the kid's parent led them away, Leroy concentrated on his dog morph. And he made sure to hurry.

As soon as he had thought speech, Leroy contacted Johnny. <<Look for a stray doberman in a little bit Johnny. It will be me.>>

[inyx]

Inyx couldn't tell whether someone was about to barge in or not. So rather than taking the chance of morphing into her human form and being stranded naked if someone did walk in before she'd sorted out (for sure) which garments were supposed to go on which half of her body, she'd begun to morph the mouse instead. After all, SPECTRE had been very clear that a naked human in public was almost as startling as an Andalite.

Finally she was the tiny rodent, and not far away (thoroughly frightened now) was her original counterpart. The mouse's brain was excitable, timid, and she scurried around for a few moments before gaining control over it. It didn't take too long to find a crack in the side of the trailer to slip out through, and then she navigated her way over to Nate.

She climbed onto his shoe, tiny mouse claws easily gripped the fabric. <<Nate, I have morphed a mouse. I was concerned that someone was coming in and that I wouldn't have enough time to properly clothe my human form. I am currently located on your left shoe.>>

[Nate]

"You wha--" He looked down, noticing the mouse, and jumped in surprise. "AHHH!! INYX!!"

The guy walking away paused for a second, looking back at Nate with a raised eyebrow. Nate coughed, straightened himself up again. "Ugh, sorry. Just a mouse!" He waved.

The worker just shook his head and kept walking away. Nate crouched down. "A mouse? Really?" He glanced off again, making sure the guy was gone. "Okay, I lied to that guy and told him I would join him in 4 minutes, so... we need to be gone from this general area faster than that. Should I grab your stuff from the trailer so we can bolt?"