Night at the King's Carnival
Written by TwistedSnakes
Commissioned by Cryptic796, Nikoli, and Witch_of_the_wilds
The noise of the crowd rose above the sound of the sea. Located right next to the Laguna Bay, the King's carnival was as good a carnival as one could find. In fact, its attractions have brought tourists from all over the world to the bay just to see its stunning adornments, lifelike figures and exciting rides. Towering over the carnival was the bust of a jolly king, smiling upon the carnival's visitors.
It wasn't a surprise then that the carnival would be crowded on a summer Saturday afternoon. The excited chattering of people washed over each other, one loud voice drowning another one out like the waves crashing against the bay.
Pushing through the crowd were a group of five friends. "Where do you want to go to next?" a brown spotted hyena named Niall asked the rest of his friends. His ears were adorned with metal ear studs, earrings and he sported a nose ring.
"How about the acrobatics show?" Nikoli, the white-grey snow leopard suggested.
"It's not for another three hours," the lizard of the group, Seglagg, informed them as he referred to the show timings on the carnival's pamphlets. "And I must say, the attractions are pretty realistic. The reviews on this place weren't kidding when they said this was amazing."
The dragon following behind them grunted in response.
"Hey Crestor, relax. Enjoy yourself or something," the naga patted his head.
The dragon swatted annoyedly at the hand. "Don't touch me Dendar. And you guys were the ones who wanted to come, and somehow you got to drag me along."
"We need a big, strong dragon to protect us if anything happens to us," the naga teased back. Crestor grunted back, refusing to dignify that with a response.
"How about the mirror maze?" Niall suggested. The rest of the group agreed. Following Seglagg's map, they squeezed their way through the crowd to their next destination.
An hour later the five of them were sitting on the edge of the pier looking over the bay. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting an orange-purple glow across the clear sky. The waves lapped against the beach gently as the tide ebbed away. The day was ending and the bustle of the carnival's crowd was fading as they left the carnival. Crestor yawned loudly, breaking the silence.
"So, can we head back now?" he asked impatiently as he rubbed his head. The mirror maze has not exactly been friendly to him and he may have been responsible for a few cracked ones.
"Why?" Nikoli asked as he devoured an ice cream.
"Because the carnival is closing in thirty minutes. We're not going to be doing anything more here, right?" the dragon huffed.
"Well..." Niall mused thoughtfully. "We could."
"What can we do?" Crestor challenged. "In thirty minutes."
"Who says we have to do it in thirty minutes?" Niall grinned.
"The. Carnival. Closes. In. Thirty. Minutes," Crestor repeated himself as he glared at the hyena.
"So...?" the hyena smirked back. "Who says we can't go back in after it's closed?"
"What's there to see if it's closed?" Crestor shouted back exasperatedly.
"Cut it out guys," Seglagg interrupted their exchange. "What's there to do in a closed carnival anyway?" he turned to Niall.
"Everything? Imagine this, no crowds, no noise, no queues. You can have every single ride to yourself. What do you think?" Niall asked.
Dendar nodded. "I agree with Niall. We could spend some quality time together. Where it's peaceful and quiet," he spoke, glancing at the hyena.
"And no boundaries too! We can see how the carnival operates behind the scenes," Niall added.
Nikoli's eyes lit up. "Backstage?" he said excitedly, flicking away the skewer that his cocktail sausages used to be on. After the shows he saw, he wanted to see the many colourful costumes the performers were using.
"That's against the law," Crestor stated flatly, expecting to derail the train of thoughts there and then.
"So? What if we don't get caught?" Niall challenged the dragon.
"And if we do?"
"Are you scared?"
"No, I just think this idea of yours is illegal and stupid," Crestor grunted back.
"Aww is the big dragon scared of a little carnival?" the hyena taunted.
"Pssh I'm not scared," the dragon retorted.
"Then why don't you come?"
"Because it's retarded!"
"Hey guys, what looks like a huge dragon, but is actually a chicken? Buack buack buack" Niall quipped.
"Fine! I'll follow you. And you'll see how dumb this whole thing is. Nothing will be turned on and we'll just go home five minutes in."
Niall ignored the dragon's futile protests. "Carnival entrance, midnight. Who else is in?" he asked the gang.
"Definitely in," the naga nodded his head.
"I'm up," Nikoli shrugged.
"Well..." Seglagg pondered.
"Do we have a second chicken in the group?" the hyena taunted.
"What? No. I'm going," the lizard glared at Niall. "You guys will probably need someone keep you guys out of trouble anyway." He finished up the last of his cotton candy and got up.
"Remember, midnight at the entrance. Be there or be square. Or a chicken if you prefer," Niall reminded them as he elicited another grunt of protest from the dragon.
"Who's the wolf?" Dendar asked, slithering over to the newcomer to the group.
"I'm Garret," the wolf introduced himself. "And where's this place?" he glared at Seglagg.
"The King's Carnival, silly," the lizard quipped in response. "Can't you read the sign?"
"Not what I meant. You said we were going to a party."
"No, I said we're going out, and that there'll be lights, music and everything. So here we are." Seglagg explained with a grin.
"And where would all these 'lights', 'music' and 'everything' be?"
"Inside the carnival," Seglagg continued grinning gleefully as the wolf sighed in exasperation.
In the meantime, Niall was examining the gate. There was a huge, rusty padlock holding a few lengths of chains together as they crisscrossed over the wooden gate. He pushed against the gate and to nobody's surprise, it remained closed.
"See? Now we go home," the dragon declared. His body was illuminated by the glowing strips of neon-blue that ran under his eyes and across his limbs.
"Giving up so easily? Buack buack buack." the hyena taunted. "Come around the back," he instructed. The rest of the gang followed him around the metal fence to a grey concrete building. Behind it was the loading bay of the carnival. A few trucks were parked in front of three huge metal shutters that closed off the bay. Niall walked over to the first shutter and tugged at it.
"Ugh, locked," he grumbled.
"Surprise, surprise," Crestor smirked.
Dendar slithered his body over to the next shutter and attempted to lift it up but it held tight too. Nikoli stepped over the naga's tail over to the third door. There was a loud scraping of metal as the shutters rose a few inches off the ground.
"Guys, a little help?" he asked as he strained against the shutters. Niall and Dendar rushed to his aid and helped lift the metal bar. As they raised it above their heads, Dendar nodded his head into the darkness of the building. "Hey, come on in. This thing is heavy," he groaned.
Seglagg, Garret and Crestor made their way under the shutter. "You guys go first," the naga nodded to the other two. Gently letting go of the bar, Niall and Nikoli entered the building. Dendar slipped into the building too as he lowered the shutters back down. He let it drop the last few inches and it slammed to the ground with a thunderous boom, plunging the six intruders into darkness.
Seglagg felt the walls around the shutters. His fingers brushed against a plastic switch and he flicked it on. Bright lights flooded the room and the six of them found themselves in a warehouse. Cardboard boxes were lining shelves that rose to the high ceiling filled with supplies that the carnival needed to operate.
"Well this is boring," Niall shrugged. "Let's go deeper." He led them through a door along the side and down a dark corridor. Except for the sound of their footsteps, they remained silent as if a staff of the carnival might suddenly jump out of nowhere and catch them trespassing.
However, the encountered nobody else as they made their way up a flight of stairs into a dark room. There were two large round windows against the far wall that overlooked the rest of the park. Another flick of the switch turned on the lights in the room.
"Is this the control room?" Seglagg asked, his eyes scanning the control panels that lined against the wall, covered in displays, switches and knobs.
At the same time, Nikoli was peering through one round window. "I think we're in the king's head," he pondered. Niall joined Nikoli at the other window. "Looks like it yeah," he agreed.
Dendar joined Seglagg as he studied the panels. "Can you find the switch that turns on the rides? I wanted to ride the pirate ship earlier but the queue was too long," he huffed. Seglagg shrugged, hoping that the naga wouldn't notice the biggest lever in the centre of the panel labelled "master switch" in capital letters.
Unfortunately for the lizard, it didn't take long for Dendar to figure it out. "Hey, let's get this party started!"
"I don't think we should-" Seglagg attempted to stop him, but his arm was fast and the carnival burst into life. The various attractions lit up in bright colours and painted the walls with splashes of different hues. Cheery jingles from speakers across the carnival blended into one another.
"Good job Dendar!" Niall fist-bumped the naga on his shoulder. Without wasting another second he pushed past Crestor and flew down the stairs with Dendar rushing after him. Seglagg sighed. "Guess it's a little too late to stop them," he thought.
Crestor watched the others from beside the door, irked by their enthusiasm. Garret stood beside him. "They dragged you here too eh?" he nudged the dragon, who grunted in response. The wolf shook his head. "When Seglagg promised 'lights' and 'music' I must say I didn't expect this," Garret attempted to continue the conversation. Crestor grunted in response again, much to the wolf's displeasure.
"Gonna go check out the backstage," Nikoli informed the rest and bounded out the door before anyone could respond.
Seglagg shrugged at the wolf and dragon. "Well, since we're here, time to have an adventure," he encouraged the other two, receiving only sceptical stares from them. "I'm going to check out the giant Whack-A-Mole game, so if you guys have no plans feel free to come with," he offered, making his way down the stairs.
Garret looked at Crestor, who shrugged back. They both would rather be elsewhere, although Garret wouldn't like to ditch his friend Seglagg, and Crestor had his bravery to prove. Reluctantly, they followed Seglagg down the stairs.
Bright monitor screens cast their digital glow across the walls of a dark shed. The glow illuminated a corkboard hanging on the wall with newspaper clippings pinned to it. The monitors were of different sizes, lined on a shelf in no particular order. On each screen was a view of some part of the carnival. One showed a bird's eye view of the carnival grounds as seen from the king's head. Another few screens showed views of the various carnival rides and attractions.
A figure was hunched over the desk in front of the screens looking at a particular monitor. On it was a view of the control room as the dragon and wolf exited the door one after the other. It sat back against the rickety wooden chair with its paws forming a steepling gesture.
A grin appeared on the figure's silhouette, its teeth reflecting the colourful glare of the monitors. "I think it's time for the carnival to get some upgrades."
Niall and Dendar drank in the sights and sounds of the carnival. Their vibrant lights seemed even more animated as it contrasted against the deep blue-grey of the night sky. Without the endless babble from others, they could hear the rich tunes of the songs playing across different locations in the carnival grounds.
"Wow," Niall gasped. "This is awesome! Where do you want to go next?" he poked the naga.
"Whoa wait what?" Dendar grinned back. "I still want to try the pirate ship," he pointed at a triangular structure in the distance.
"Race you there," the hyena challenged as he ran off towards the ship.
"Hey! No fair!" the naga protested back, chasing after Niall.
After reaching the pirate ship the two of them sat themselves down on one end of the ship.
"So how do we start the ride?" Niall asked realizing the control panel was beside the queue.
"Let me handle it," Dendar said as he slithered to the stairs beside the ride. He reached his long tail across the gap and tapped the large green "start" button on the panel.
"Nice job!" the hyena called out as the ship began to move. Dendar hurriedly got back on the ship and put on his seatbelt beside Niall as the ship rocked the two cheering people.
Nikoli stood in front a door labelled "theatre backstage". If there was anywhere in the carnival that he could see how the performers prepare for their shows, this would be it. He turned the doorknob and was pleasantly surprised to find it unlocked as the door swung open.
The room was filled with an array of preparation utilities. There was a row of mirrors with bright orange lights glowing over each one, changing rooms by the side and racks of performance supplies at the side displaying plastic containers labelled "body paints", "safety pins" and so on.
Nikoli looked around the room in wonder. This room was bigger than he had expected, but then again it made sense. The carnival had at least fifty performers and actors on the job at each time, not to mention those that are on their breaks, and this room needed enough space to accommodate all of them.
The leopard browsed the selection on a large rack of costumes hanging from their hangers. Earlier that day there was a hunky street performer dressed in nothing but some black leather trunks, wrist and ankle cuffs and a feathered mardi gras mask, and Nikoli wanted to get a closer look at the outfit.
He finally found the costume set beside the industrial dryers that were stacked in two rows in the laundry room. "At least it's washed," the leopard thought as he picked up the trunks and felt the material. The outside of the trunks was made from a stiff leathery material but its insides were lined with a soft and stretchy lycra. Nikoli stroked the material with his paw and its smooth surface sent shivers down his spine.
"Well..." he thought as his eyes darted back to the changing rooms in the backstage. Did he dare? After all, nobody would be here to catch him. He quickly grabbed the mask and cuffs that was hanging beside it and rapidly made his way to the nearest changing room and locked the door.
"So what are these holes in the ground?" Garret asked, peering at the various circular pits that were built into the ground. There were at least thirty holes that were spread across the ground in the rectangular attraction and each hole was fenced up with curved glass to prevent people from falling in.
"You guys ever played whack-a-mole before?" Seglagg asked the wolf and dragon as he picked up three large inflatable hands, handing one to each of them.
"Yeah," Garret nodded his head as Crestor shook his. "Though I don't see what this has to do with these holes."
"You've heard of 'whack a mole', now get ready for..." the lizard pressed down on a green button on the control panel near the station and a cheesy jingle started to play as inflatable hunks rose up from the ground, wearing nothing but thongs. "Smack a swole," the lizard finished, laughing at the hilarious name of the attraction.
Crestor grunted as he rolled his eyes. Garret, however, was blushing in bewilderment and quickly looked away. "What are you guys waiting for?" Seglagg beckoned them. "Crestor you take the left side and Garret can take the right. I'll handle the middle."
The music played as the three of them ran around the box, smacking the muscular figures with the comically-oversized palms and causing them to go retreat back into their holes with a sad wheezing sound.
The speakers played the final notes of the song and all the hunks retracted back into the ground. "Your score is 83!" a mechanical voice called out. Garret was catching his breath. "Wow. Workout. Long time," he gasped. He must have ran laps around his area in just a few minutes.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" Seglagg grinned at him. He had managed to hit forty of the targets effortlessly as he strategically timed his rounds around the arena. "How many did you hit?" he asked the other two.
"Thirty-eight I think," Garret huffed.
"Dunno," Crestor shrugged unenthusiastically.
"What do you guys want to do next?" Seglagg invited suggestions from the both of them.
Garret thought about it. "How about the 'Water Rapids Peril'?" he pointed at a sign.
"Sure!" the lizard agreed and the three of them followed the sign.
Niall and Dendar found themselves at the Wonderland Maze. The maze walls were made out of tall hedges that reached over twice their height. Plaster figures loomed out of the bushes ranging from roses and mushrooms to gargoyles and gryphons.
"Wanna bet?" Niall nudged the naga.
"Bet on what?" he pushed back. The force of his muscular body and tail was a bit too much and the hyena stumbled a bit.
"Who makes it through the maze the fastest," Niall explained.
"So what are we betting?" Dendar wondered.
"Hmm, how about this: the loser has to do everything the winner says for a week," Niall suggested.
The naga's face flushed red as thoughts of him and Niall cuddling on the couch flooded his mind. "Uhh, sure!" he agreed and charged straight into the maze.
"Wait! That's not fair!" the hyena called out.
"That's not what you said when you ditched me earlier," the naga laughed as he turned around a corner.
Niall snorted and ran into the maze after Dendar.
The hyena soon found the exit sign straight ahead. "Haha now you got to do what I want," he cheered as he touched the sign.
There was no response from inside the maze. "Dendar?" he called out. "Dendar, are you there?" he shouted louder still. Apart from the faint music from the carnival that filled the night sky, there was only deafening silence.
The naga was thrashing as he was dragged into a dimly lit shed. As he was turning his back on a dead end, someone had taken a huge wad of cloth and gagged him from behind and tied him up. After that, he had been unwillingly dragged around on a transport trolley into a shed that was tucked away in a quiet corner of the carnival.
His bound body was tossed unceremoniously on a wooden table and left to struggle. "Whar arh yar tharr enngh!" he yelled at his captor. However, the figure ignored him and looked at some bright monitors in the corner. From the glare of the screens, Dendar could make out the outline of a shark.
The shark was wearing a pair of black jeans and leather belt, although his upper half was topless as his muscular back was barely visible. "Harr yar!" the naga shouted back. The shark continued to ignore him as his finger moved from screen to screen. "Where will you go..." he mumbled to himself.
His finger finally landed on a screen that showed a view of the water rapids. "There..." he hissed, tapping on the screen a few times before turning back to the naga.
If the shark had continued staring at the screen for a few seconds longer, he would have seen two adventurers appear on the screen, in particular, a wolf and a dragon. Crestor and Garret had just reached their destination but Seglagg seemed to be missing.
"I thought he was following behind you?" Garret asked Crestor.
"I thought he was following behind you!" Crestor retorted.
"But I'm in the front!" the wolf argued back.
"Well, then where can he be?" Crestor shouted angrily. "Maybe he wandered off on his own?"
"That's not like him at all," Garret shook his head. "Ugh we should go look for him," he grumbled reluctantly.
Crestor shrugged. "Why don't we just call him?" he suggested.
"Oh. Right," Garret whipped out his phone and dialled the lizard. A few dial tones later a voice came on the phone. "Hey, Seg, are you there?"
"The number you had reached is not available," the voice responded.
"Crap. He's not picking up," Garret mumbled. "This is so not him. Can you call someone else?" he asked Crestor.
Crestor grunted and took his phone out reluctantly, and scrolled through his contacts. Tapping on the picture of a white leopard he put the phone to his ear.
Nikoli jumped as his phone began ringing, almost dropping it in his surprise. "Phew, I thought someone was coming," he sighed in relief. "What's up Crestor?" he answered.
"Seen Seg?" the dragon's voice came through the phone.
"What? No. Why, is he missing?" Nikoli asked.
"Dunno," Crestor responded.
"Well, go look for him then?" the leopard suggested.
"Going to," Crestor shrugged.
"Okay if there's nothing else I'm putting the phone down," Nikoli replied.
"Wait wait!" the wolf's voice came through the phone.
"Yes?" the leopard rolled his eyes, annoyed at the unwelcome interruption to his dressing up.
"Where are you?" Garret asked.
"Changing rooms, theatre backstage," he replied flatly.
"Okay, stay there. We're coming to get you," the wolf put down the phone.
"What was that about?" the leopard wondered to himself, admiring the trunks on his body in the full-length mirror in the changing room.
"Come, let's go," Garret told Crestor as he dragged the dragon towards the theatre.
"Why don't you go get Nikoli, and I'll look for Seglagg?" Crestor shrugged.
"Don't be silly, we're not splitting up," Garret scolded him. As he turned around he bumped against a trolley loaded with heavy steel H beams that were precariously stacked. He yelped and jumped out the way of the beams as they lost their balance but he was too slow. He howled in pain as one of the beams landed on his tail.
"Argh!" he gasped. "Help get me out of this."
Crestor ran to his aid. He tried to hold the beam at one end and tried lifting it up. Despite the dragon's efforts, he could only lift the bar off the ground a little. "Ugh, could you push too?"
Wincing in pain, the wolf tried to lift the bar too but instead of lifting it, the uneven exertion of strength caused the bar to scrape across the wolf's tail. "Ah ah ah stop stop stop!" he gasped, letting go of the bar. "Go call for help. We need more strength." he held back his tears.
Crestor stepped away concernedly. "I'll go get help," he turned and dashed towards the theatre. "You stay here."
Dendar groaned as the shark untied the ropes that bound him. He tried to struggle to escape but the serum that the shark had injected into him had caused the world to swim around him. "Ugh," he tried to support his body with his arms.
"You're not going anywhere snake," the shark grabbed the naga by the tail and pulled him off the table onto a wooden structure that he had prepared. The structure looked like the frame of a tiny boat except for a round semicircle cut out of each wooden rib. The shark grabbed the naga lined him across the boat frame with his upper body at the bow of the ship and his tail at the stern. With a bit of forcing, the naga's snake half was slotted into the round slots in the wood.
The shark picked up another crescent-shaped piece of wood with another semicircular slot cut out of the outer edge. The wooden dowel was lined up with the holes on the rib and the shark hammered it into place, forming a medieval stock around his tail.
The shark put on some rubber gloves and picked up a large tube of waterproof epoxy. He squeezed a generous amount of it around the edges of the wooden pieces and smeared it around the naga with his protected hands. The glue shrunk as it hardened, pulling the two pieces of wood together around the naga. His scales felt like they were constricted as the glue got under them and shrunk.
Dendar groaned in pain as his arms tried to pull himself across the ground but the wooden frame of the boat was too heavy, and the sedative he was given did nothing to help. "Don't destroy my boat," the shark reprimanded. He grabbed the naga's wrists and pulled them behind the naga's back. Getting some duct tape out, he taped Dendar's forearms together and let go. The naga's chest fell to the floor with a thud and he gasped as the air was knocked out of him. "Somebody help me..." he groaned.
The shark picked up another piece of wood and repeated the same process across every rib, sealing the naga into the frame. The wooden planks creaked as the joints were tightly adhered to one another.
Once the frame was done, the shark latched some metal hooks onto the wooden boat frame. Pressing a button, ropes from the ceiling retracted, lifting up the wooden frame and the naga with it. The A fibreglass hull was pushed below the frame and the naga was lowered into it. There was a shoulder-width slot in front of the hull and he was lowered down. The human portion of his body was now stuck out of the slot in the front of the boat and the rest of his tail was encased in the rest of it.
Another fibreglass platform was lowered over the wooden frame. This piece was flat except for a row of raised seats and sides, forming the inside of the boat. At the front was a bowsprit which fit into the fibreglass slot from the outer hull. The parts came together perfectly, and the shark glued them into place.
The boat now looked almost complete except for the naga's upper half of the body sticking out the front of the boat. "Don't do this, please," the naga weakly pleaded. The shark ignored him. He grabbed the naga by the neck and pulled him up towards the bowsprit. With a leather collar, the naga was strapped to the bowsprit. The boat now boasted a human figurehead at the front.
However, Dendar struggled against his bonds. "Let me go, what do you think you're doing?" he protested. The shark grabbed his lips and held them together. "I'm going to need you to shut up," he ordered, squeezing the epoxy all over the naga's lips. "So you don't disturb our guests."
"Mmmh mfft!" the naga shouted from behind his sealed mouth. The shark finished off the rest of the tube of epoxy to adhere the naga to the fibreglass backing. As the glue hardened, the shark prepared another mixture of varnish and epoxy. With a paintbrush, he brushed the mixture over the struggling Dendar's skin. The sticky liquid gave him a stinging sensation all over his body as it hardened, his writhing slowing down and coming to a stop. The mixture had encased the naga's body in its hard shell. The shark patted the naga's cheek as he admired the handiwork.
"Ah, our newest boat for the Water Rapids Peril ride," the shark grinned. But there wasn't any time to waste. There were other attractions to upgrade and tonight the materials were free.
Seglagg came to in the shed. "Ugh, what happened?" he wondered. He had been following Garret and Crestor until he stepped on a tarp that was covering a pit in the ground. After falling to the bottom and knocking over some tin cans, the smelled a sweet scent coming from the liquid that spilt out of the cans and before he knew it he was out cold.
Now he seemed to be lying on a table in a workshop of some kind. There were monitors flicking in the corner that illuminated the room in a pale blue glow. He tried to get up but he found his waist secured to the board behind him by a metal brace that was screwed in. "H-hey! What's going on?" he called out but there was nobody in the room. In an attempt to figure what was going on, he peered at the headlines on the newspapers pinned to a corkboard on the wall.
"Variety Shows Overtake Carnivals in Popularity" screamed one clipping. "Millennials Destroy the Carnival Industry" declared the other. "Huh," Seglagg thought. Come to think of it, carnivals had dwindled in popularity over the past decades. It's amazing to think that through all this, the King's Carnival remained strong.
His train of thoughts was cut off as a shark entered the room. "Hey. Why am I here?" he asked suspiciously.
"You're awake," the shark observed, entirely ignoring the lizard's question. He tugged against the metal brace that held Seglagg to the colourful plank of wood behind him. Seeing that the brace did its job well, he picked up another smaller metal strip that was bent in a curve. He pushed the strip down on top of Seglagg. The lizard noticed and thrashed against the shark's attempts to further bind him to the board.
However, the shark was too strong. He grabbed Seglagg by his ankles and pulled his feet together, holding them in place with one hand. The other hand grabbed the lizard's squirming tail and pulled them behind his legs. Picking up the metal strip again, he clamped the lizard's limbs to the board and screwed the metal into place.
The shark picked up another metal strip and pressed it tightly against Seglagg's throat. He gasped from the sudden tightness at his windpipe as the band was screwed in. With his claws, he tried to pry off the metal restraint around his neck but to no avail. "Ack, what are you doing?" he gasped.
The shark continued his work with strips of metal. A metal strip was wrapped around his left forearm and riveted into place. Another one was secured around his upper arm and a third one around his wrist. Ignoring the lizard's protests, he repeated the same process on the other arm, securing the bands over the sleeves of the lizard's blue sweater.
The shark brought out a strange contraption made out of metal rods, mechanical joints and wires. Positioning one joint at Seglagg's elbow and the other at his shoulder, the rods were riveted into place along the metal braces along his arm. The wires were pulled behind Seglagg through a hole in the board that he was secured to.
The wires were connected to a small testing remote. As the shark pressed the buttons on the remote, the joints came to life, sending the lizard's hand stretching out in front of him. "Hey, you can't do that to me!" he protested.
The shark carried on with his work, securing Seglagg's other arm in the same way. He then lifted the board that Seglagg was secured to and propped it upright against the wall. Gravity pulled his body downwards and he gasped as the metal pressed uncomfortably against his throat. "Let me go," he pleaded with the shark. "This is dangerous, I might not be able to breathe," he reasoned with the shark.
However, the shark continued to ignore the lizard. He picked up a magic 8 ball on the table and looked for the two straps hanging out on either side of it. One strap had a row of holes punched into it and the other had a brass buckle sewn onto it. He shoved the ball into Seglagg's mouth and buckled it in place, forcing the lizard's mouth to be open.
A painted wooden case covered his legs, forming a box around the lower half of his body. A plastic painted ball was placed on top of the box as a faux crystal ball, and clear acrylic panes were glued on top of the box, forming three panes in front of him and beside him. A wooden top was glued on top of the panes, completing the display.
Seglagg found himself built into this carnival attraction, unable to move. "Mawrr rugh!" he shouted from behind the gag. He struggled against the metal bonds but he could only move his head from left to right. His arms and body were completely immobile in their metal restraints.
Taking a paintbrush, the shark painted some words on the wooden cover of the display. He stepped back and looked at the result. The words "Find out your future with the Lizard Wizard" were painted in a neat and consistent font. Nodding his head, he moved the display onto a trolley and wheeled Seglagg away.
Nikoli had spent a good portion of the time admiring the leather briefs on his athletic body. Something about the hard, sturdy and black leather went well with the soft, white fur. The feathered mask and cuffs were great accessories to the trunks. So engrossed was he in the outfit that he didn't notice a stealthy figure creep up from behind him. There was a sound of wood hitting bone and the leopard fell limp on the floor.
Nikoli came to with the sensation and sound of someone brushing his fur. There was a sharp pinching at the back of his head where someone had hit him. He looked around in a daze and found himself nude on a table with a shark brushing his fur. "Eh, what the heck is going- mfft!" the shark pressed a damp cloth over his muzzle and he gasped in surprise as he took a breath of sweet chloroform.
He held his breath trying to keep himself awake, but the initial breath of chloroform was already getting to his head and a soft ringing sound was echoing through his skull. It was getting hard to think and the lack of oxygen wasn't helping. "Mfft" he shook his head attempting to escape the shark's grasp but his grip was too tight.
His lungs were burning and he had to breathe. He took another breath and took in another whiff of the sweet smell. The ringing sound got stronger and he couldn't think straight. His body was responding slowly to his attempts to move.
Satisfied, the shark threw the cloth back onto the wooden table and resumed brushing. Nikoli pulled his arm feebly away from the shark but the shark pulled it back and continued working. Whenever the leopard seemed to come to, more chloroform would follow to sedate him. Soon, Nikoli's fur was soft and shiny from head to toe as the shark meticulously teased out the tangles and knots.
The shark grabbed a huge tub of pomade and a tube of superglue off the shelf. With a plastic spoon, he scooped some grey pomade into a disposable bowl and squirted some superglue into the mix. He stirred until the mixture was a translucent grey and dipped the comb into the bowl.
Putting on his rubber gloves, the shark slowly combed the mixture through the hair on Nikoli's head, giving him a slicked-back hairstyle. More was smeared across his chest to give his chest fur a fluffy look. The rest of his fur was gently brushed with a layer of glue and pomade to keep the fur in place.
The shark picked up the leather trunks and slid the leopard's legs through the holes, slipping it in place over his crotch. With his paw, the shark stroked and massaged the trunks giving Nikoli unwanted erotic stimulation. "H-hey, stop touching me," he protested and tried to struggle. His efforts were met with more chloroform and he fell back against the table again. His member was slowly poking out through his cock sheath, tenting against the leather trunks.
The shark squeezed and jerked off the leopard's hard member through the trunks until it was standing at full length. He took a short length of black rope and tied it around the leopard's knot, preventing it from retracting back into its sheath. Nikoli weakly mumbled something in protest. The doses of chloroform he was taking was building up in his system, foiling all his attempts of movement.
The shark rummaged around a cardboard box on the floor. There were a bunch of bondage toys randomly piled in the box, ranging from dildos to vibrators and gags to hoods. He finally found what he was looking for: a black metallic chastity device.
The leopard's trunks were pulled down and lubricant was generously squeezed over the leopard's cock and the curved metal shaft of the chastity device was forced down his member. He winced in pain as his hard cock was bent into the metal device.
The device wouldn't fit his dick if it were fully erect so there was a tight squeeze as the tip of his member reached the end of the device. The metal rings were clamped around his knot and the entire device was assembled, encasing his sensitive member in a metal shell. The tube of superglue was used to adhere the pieces of the chastity together permanently.
The trunks were pulled back up, pulling the leopard's bent dick towards his crotch forming a leather bulge. "Since you like this outfit so much, you can wear it. Forever," the shark taunted. More superglue was smeared into the trunks, glueing the trunks into place.
Nikoli groaned in response. His mind was screaming for him to escape but his body wouldn't listen to him. He could only hope someone would come and rescue him.
The cuffs were glued onto his wrists and ankles too, leaving only the mask. The shark picked up the mask to admire it for a second. More glue was smeared on the inside of the mask, and the leopard's eyes grew wide as he was helpless to escape the incoming mask. There was a squelching sound and the mask was affixed to his face.
Nikoli could feel the chloroform wearing thin. He needed to escape! However, the shark had picked him up and slung the leopard's limp body over his shoulder, carrying him into the next room. In it was a glass box that looked like a shower cubicle, complete with a showerhead built into the ceiling. The leopard was thrown into the cubicle and the door was locked.
He groaned as he tried to get up. In his kneeling position, he took deep breaths and let the oxygen clear his mind. He needed to escape. Out of the blue, a light mist of hot, clear liquid sprayed out from the showerhead, coating his gelled fur. "What's this?" he wondered.
A thin layer of the liquid had formed on the bottom of the shower cubicle. As Nikoli tried to get up, the layer resisted and held on to his fur. "It's sticky!" he grunted. He pulled himself off the ground and hurriedly stood up. "Hey!" he called out to the shark. "Let me out!" he banged his fist against the glass door. The shark had turned around and begun sorting through the boxes looking for more tools.
The sticky liquid was cooling down and hardening on his fur. The coating was making it hard to move his body. "Please. Please let me out," the masked leopard shouted. "Someone, please help me!" However, no help came and soon a wax statue of a leopard stood still in a glass cubicle.
"Hello?" Niall peered into the door of a dusty shed. "Dendar, are you there?" There was nothing but the sound of flickering monitors from inside the shed. "Dendar, this is not funny," the hyena called out as he stepped into the shed.
He looked at the monitor screens at the various attractions around the carnival. "Huh," he thought to himself. "Maybe I can find Dendar in one of these screens." There was a sound of tin cans falling over in the corner and the hyena turned around to look. "Who's there? Dendar if it's you I swear I'm gonna kill you." Niall stepped closer to the tin cans.
A shadow appeared in front of him, blocking the glare of the blue monitors. "Gotcha!" he turned around coming face to face with an angry shark. "Whoa wait you're not Den-" the hyena's sentence was cut short as the shark's fist met his chest, sending him flying into the shelves lining the wall. Cans of paint toppled off the shelves, sending bright bursts of colours splashing across the ground, narrowly missing the hyena. "Hey! Who are you? And what was that for?" he shouted at the shark.
The shark grabbed the hyena by the scruff of his neck. "Are you going to answer me or-" his sentence was cut short as a chloroform-soaked rag was pressed against his nose. He struggled and flailed his arms for a while until the buzzing took over his brain and knocked him out.
Niall slowly came to his senses. He was lying on a flat, black rubber surface, and suspended above him was a black rubber sheet stretched over a metal frame. He looked around him. The shark was hunched over a wooden desk in the corner of the workshop busy untangling a mess of wires.
Niall sat up on the rubber surface. "Hey! Stupid shark!" the hyena insulted. "Who the heck do you think you are, knocking me out like that." The shark continued to work on the mess of wires, slowly rolling up the ends of the wires already untangled.
"Too scared to face me?" Niall taunted. The shark looked up and turned around to face him. Grinning, he advanced upon the hyena. "Hey! Get away from me," Niall demanded, trying to scramble away from the shark. "I'll have you know I'm a nec-oof!" he was interrupted as the shark pushed his torso back onto the rubber sheet and positioned him in the centre of the sheet.
Before Niall could react the metal frame was pulled down, lowering a rubber sheet over the squirming hyena. A vacuum turned on, sucking the air out from between the two layers. The hyena panicked and gasped, sucking the thick layer of rubber into his mouth. With each exhale he was letting out air that he couldn't breathe back in again. His oxygen was running out and his lungs were burning. His mind was screaming at him to get more air, threatening to knock him out if he didn't comply.
Suddenly, the rubber sheet was lifted and the hyena took in deep breaths, taking in his much-needed oxygen. He wanted to say a few choice words but he was too busy trying to supply his body with oxygen. Instead, he settled for glaring at the shark.
While the heaving hyena caught his breath, the shark grabbed the wires off his table and pressed on a crocodile clip at the end of a wire, opening its metal teeth. "Good," he muttered to himself. "You come with 'attachments'," he smirked.
"Attachments? What do you mean attachments?" Niall asked rudely.
Without answering the shark snapped the clip on the metal ring that hung through the hyena's Prince Albert piercing. More clips were added onto the many piercing scattered across Niall's body. One of his ears was pierced with three ear studs, and the other had three earrings. His nose sported a nose ring, and his lower lip sported two snake bites piercings. His nipples and belly button each had a ring, and the entire length of his member sported nine more rings. Each and every one of those metal studs ended up with a wire clipped to it.
The shark lowered the sheet down over Niall. Niall, however, was prepared this time. He took a deep breath and held it. Little did he know that the shark had more ideas up his sleeve. A flick of the switch on an E729 power unit sent a jolt of electricity through the hyena's body, causing him to gasp in surprise. He quickly caught himself and held his breath.
More jolts of electricity ran up and down his body across his nipples, between his ears and lips and across his member. He was thrashing about from under the rubber sheet. He wanted to scream in pain but he held fast to his breath. However, his oxygen was running out soon. It would require superhuman willpower to overcome his body's physical limitations. Just as he was going to pass out, the shark turned off the electrical power and lifted the sheet up again to let the hyena breathe.
"F-fuck. You," Niall gasped between his breaths. The shark ignored his protests and lowered the sheet back down over the hyena before he could breathe in. Niall struggled against the rubber. He didn't have enough air to survive this round. This was going to be painful. Suddenly, a plastic tube pierced through the rubber sheet covering his mouth, giving him a breathing tube. He sucked on the tube quickly, grateful for the sweet, delicious air entering his lungs.
The rubber sheet was raised again. This time the shark had a bucket ready. He poured a white, viscous fluid over the hyena. "What?! Is this glue?" he gasped. The sheet was lowered back onto him and the vacuum sucked the two sheets together. The plastic tube was stuck in the hyena's mouth, giving him a small breathing hole that allowed for only shallow breaths.
The glue had secured the rubber sheets in place, making it impossible for the hyena to move about under the sheet. Instead, he could only pull upward against the rubber sheet, only to have the rubber tension pull his body back down again. "Arrh ruwrr!" he protested as his voice fell on deaf ears.
The electricity turned back on, sending Niall back into a series of painful convulsions and moans of agony. Leaving the hyena to suffer, the shark left the shed to collect his next prey.
"Hey! Crestor! You're back." Garret called out to the advancing figure in relief. "Wait, where's Nikoli? We need someone else to help get..." he stopped in mid-sentence as he realized the huge looming figure wasn't that of a dragon. "Uhh, who are you?" he asked nervously. The last thing he wanted was to get caught intruding into the carnival by a nightguard.
With one hand, the shark lifted up one end the metal beam trapping the wolf's tail with one hand and dropped it with a loud clang on the pile of beams. Garret examined his tail. It was grazed and bruised, but otherwise, it seemed fine. "Erm, thanks so much for your help. I'm Garret, and yeah a few of us sorta broke into the carnival," he admitted sheepishly.
The shark grabbed the wolf by the scruff of his neck and threw him over his shoulder. He held Garret by his ankles and started walking. "Hey, if you don't mind, could you put me down? I'm really sorry about the whole breaking and entering thing, and I'll answer for anything I've done."
Garret soon found himself brought into a dark shed, lit up only by blue screens in a corner of the room. He was tossed onto the table and he scrambled into a sitting position. "Mister? Is everything okay?" he looked around the room. There was a nameplate sitting on the desk in front of the monitors. "Mr Jarox?" he called again.
Jarox ignored him and grabbed him by the ankles and pulled outwards. "Hey!" he gasped as he fell on his back as his legs were pulled out from under him. There was a roll of pallet wrap under the table and the shark grabbed it without hesitation and started wrapping his feet up in the plastic. "Wait what are you doing?" he shouted. This wasn't right. He may have trespassed on private property but this was no way to handle an intruder.
He tried to pull himself off the table but Jarox only pulled him back in. "Oww oww oww you're hurting me," he cried out. His legs were bound together, wrapped in three layers of pallet wrap. This was no interrogation, the shark was mummifying him!
"H-hey, I'll give you whatever you want. Let me go please. I won't tell anyone," he pleaded. The shark didn't seem to notice and carried on with his careful mummification. He looped a coil of rope around the wolf's ankles and through a pulley on the ceiling. He pulled on the other end of the string and Garret found himself suspended upside down. The end of the rope was secured on the nearby shelf where splatters of coloured paint had covered the bare concrete floor.
Garret was panicking. "Stop! Please!" The shark pulled Garret's resisting hand beside his waist and wrapped another layer of pallet wrap around it. The other arm followed and the wolf found his abdomen covered with another two layers of plastic wrap.
The mummification process soon encased his chest with more layers of plastic wrap, ending at his neck. Jarox put the roll of pallet wrap down and picked up a narrower roll of plastic wrap. He continued the mummification process from the wolf's neck to his head. His muzzle was wrapped in layers of plastic wrap and he whined in response. Soon, his whole head was covered with a translucent layer of wrap, leaving only his eyes and nose free. "Mfft!" he struggled against his bonds, making his body swing around.
Jarox left the swinging wolf to enter the other room, wheeling out a tall device and placing it beside Garret. The shark plugged the device into the nearby power point and the device began glowing orange. It was radiating heat at the wolf, almost like a- "Rotisserie?" the wolf thought to himself. "I'm being cooked like a kebab!" he panicked.
Under the heat of the giant radiator, the layers of plastic wrap shrank, compacting Garret's body tightly. "Ack!" he gasped from behind his plastic muzzle. It was getting uncomfortably cramped inside his plastic prison.
Satisfied with the results, Jarox unplugged the heating element and examined his handiwork. The plastic had shrunk and melted together, forming a tight cocoon around the wolf. He went back to the shelves and picked up a roll of heavy-duty, industrial duct tape.
The wolf looked at the shark in horror. Not tape too? Sure enough, the shark started at his feet and began wrapping him up in grey tape. The second layer of mummification went from his feet, down to his knees and waist, to his chest and finally around his head. He looked at the shark with pleading eyes as a final strip of duct tape covered his eyes, depriving him of sight.
Suddenly the ropes holding him up were released and the wolf fell onto a hard plastic surface with a thud. He squirmed against the layers of mummification, managing to only wriggle a little as the thick layers kept him mostly in place.
The surface he was on turned out to be a trolley and Jarox started pushing it, wheeling it out of the shed. The shark came to the "Smack a Swole" game and pushed the trolley into the rectangle area beside one of the holes in the ground. He went over to the control panel and flicked one of the switches at the side, causing all the inflatable hunks to rise out of the ground. The inflatable figure next to the trolley was a muscular wolf. Jarox opened the glass barricade and lifted the inflatable figure off the metal post in the middle, deflating it.
He picked the bound wolf up and pushed him straight against the post. Another roll of tape secured the squirming wolf to the metal pole. Garret could feel more layers of tape going around him as he was immobilized. "Mfft!" he groaned.
Jarox fitted the inflatable suit around him and closed the glass barricade. Walking over to the control panel, he pressed another switch and a humming sound of the motor filled the air. Garret could feel the PVC wolf inflate about him, further constricting him. It was getting stuffy and nauseating in there and Garret closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.
A button was pressed and the attraction powered down. The vibrant lights faded, plunging the wolf into darkness as he was lowered into the ground.
Crestor was annoyed. He had slammed every single door of the entire theatre open but couldn't find any signs of the snow leopard anywhere. Since then he had been scouring the carnival's various buildings and attractions looking for Nikoli. Come to think of it, he couldn't find any of the others either.
He grunted angrily as he entered the arcade, peering over row after row of machines. If they had left the carnival without him... "Gah!" he growled. Wait. How about Garret? Garret would still be there. He dashed out of the arcade and ran to the water rapids attraction.
The steel beams were still there, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen. The rest must have helped the wolf free and left without him. "Fuck this shit," he threw his hands up into the air. "I'm out." He turned around and saw a figure standing beside the entrance to the rapids.
"Who are you?" he growled suspiciously, slowly approaching the figure. There was no reply. "You better have some answers for me or I'll beat it out of you," he threatened, but the figure didn't flinch. The dragon grabbed the figure by the shoulders and felt the cold plastic mascot of the Water Otter. A painted grin smiled back at Crestor.
"Oh," he was speechless from embarrassment. He put the mascot back down and turned around, bumping into another figure. "Another statue?" he wondered. The "statue" punched at his chest and the dragon fell backwards and his wings scraped against the ground. "Ah!" he gasped in pain and got up. It appears someone was looking for a fight.
Crestor charged at his attacker, jumping in the air and swinging his body weight down for momentum. Without skipping a beat the figure grabbed the dragon's arm and swung him down to the ground. Crestor's skull hit the ground and stars exploded in front of him.
He quickly shook himself out of the daze and tried to roll away as the figure stomped on where he was just a second ago. "Shark," he muttered angrily as he got a good look at his attacker. He got to his feet but the Jarox was faster. The shark sent another punch at Crestor's chin. As the dragon stumbled backwards, Jarox jumped on the dragon and knocked him to the ground. He pulled out a needle and jabbed it into Crestor's neck.
Crestor could feel the world fading away as he fell into a deep sleep.
Crestor woke up groggily. He lying on a table in a shed that was bathed in a pale blue glow. He tried to get up, but his movement was feeble. "The stupid shark must've drugged me," he thought. "Were the rest captured by him too?"
Exerting his strength, Crestor pushed himself and started rolling and he fell off the table. "Oof!" he groaned in pain as he hit the ground. "Got. To. Escape," he gasped. Jarox, however, had other plans for him. Coming in from a door on the opposite wall, the shark noticed the fallen dragon. He grabbed Crestor by the horns and lifted him back onto the table. Crestor was on his fours, glaring angrily at the shark but with no energy to do anything else.
With Crestor in place, the shark put a leather saddle on top of the dragon, strapping down over his wings. "Hey! What's that for?" he mumbled angrily but was too weak to shake the saddle off him. The saddle was clipped in place, humiliating the dragon. Nothing was more humiliating to a dragon than treating him as a beast of burden like an ordinary mule.
A steel metal frame was fitted over Crestor's body. The metal strips on the frame sat loosely over the dragon like a cage but the shark was about to change that. With a hammer he struck the metal, bending and wrapping it around the kneeling dragon's back. The stray strips of metal were bent around Crestor's torso and the ends were riveted together, keeping his wings bound to his back.
Crestor could feel what was happening to him, but he didn't understand what the shark was doing to him. Trying to escape the shark's questionable practice, he crawled away. Jarox lazily grabbed the dragon's tail and pulled him back into the middle of the table. Two metal tubes were riveted on the metal frame on his chest and back.
Jarox flipped the dragon over and shaped the metal around Crestor's arms, restraining it in a bent position in front of him as if he were a dog begging for a treat. The same procedure was carried out on Crestor's feet, leaving him in a jumping position. Positioned upright, the dragon looked like a prancing pony.
"S-stop it," the dragon pleaded. The shark carried on with his work anyway. He picked up a devious-looking grid of metal strips with a tube in the middle and pressed it against the dragon's head. The tube was positioned in Crestor's mouth depressing his tongue and poking the back of his throat. He tried to protest but his words came out like a roaring dragon.
Realizing what the tube gag was doing, Crestor protested even more angrily and more dragon roars filled the air. The metal strips were bent at riveted around Crestor's head, securing the gag in place. His neck was also encased in the frame so he couldn't move his head.
Now only his tail was free to move, but that was about to change. A long strip of metal with perpendicular strips welded onto it was placed over Crestor's tail and shaped into place. The dragon was now totally immobile, unable to communicate.
Two black lenses were glued over the scales around Crestor's eyes, giving him a dark view of the world. With a huff, the shark lifted up the dragon's immobile body and brought him out of the shed. The sun was starting to rise, bathing the carnival in a soft orange glow.
Crestor was lowered onto a metal pole that was stuck in the ground. Jarox aligned the metal tube on Crestor's chest with the top of the pole and slotted him in. A can of silver spray paint was procured and he sprayed the paint all over Crestor, leaving behind a shiny silver dragon.
Taking out a paintbrush, he decorated Crestor's body with bright blue and orange colours. Intricate wavy patterns were patterned to depict scales and outline the silver saddle. The silver paint was also scratched off the black lenses, allowing Crestor to see again.
The giant clock on the king's crown chimed six times. The carnival was opening in an hour. The shark looked at his watch and nodded. Putting down his paintbrush, he carried Crestor to his new home on the carousel.
The King's Carnival was crowded on that Sunday afternoon. The excited chattering of people washed over each other, one loud voice drowning another one out like the waves crashing against the bay.
A lone shark was walking around the carnival grounds. As he walked by, performers would give him a silent but cheery wave and he would return it with a smile and a wave of his own. He made his daily rounds around the various attractions to see how everything is going on in the park.
He came to a huge sign that said "Water Rapids Peril" and walked in. People were lined up in front of the ride, excitedly replacing the passengers who had just came back from their own adrenaline-filled trip. A new boat with a human figurehead was just coming back from the trip.
Dendar had made at least twenty rounds around the water rapids. The first few rides were scary for him but now he was used to it. Now he only felt the nausea of being rocked back and forth. The passengers got off him and more people got on. He could feel the tapping of footsteps across the boat's hull settle in, and soon he was on yet another ride.
In the meantime, kids were gathering in front of a mechanical fortune-telling box. "Daddy, can we get my fortune read?" a kid asked. A dollar note was inserted into the slot and the lizard inside came to life. Seglagg's arms waved around the crystal ball sitting in front of him and lights in the display flashed purple and white. "What will the future hold in store for you? Let my crystal ball be your guide," a voice spoke from the speakers above the sound of mystical music. The lizard's jaw was tired from holding the ball in his mouth. He sighed as the music stopped and a slip of paper slid out from a slot in the front.
In the meantime, the wax museum was sporting a brand new figure. The snow leopard statue had his fists in the air and an angry and desperate expression from behind his mask. The leopard was nude except for the mask, wrist and ankle cuffs and leather trunks sporting a hard bulge. Nikoli was getting frustrated. Staring straight ahead for hours and hours was beginning to take a toll on his sanity. Would he ever get out of here? He counted to ten thousand for the third time that day to occupy himself.
Screams rose from Victor's House of Horrors. There was a new horror decoration added to the building. Along a wall was a black surface. A hyena's horrified figure was pushing through the surface. As people walked by the wall there would be a zapping of electricity and the figure would convulse and moan. Niall endured yet another round of pain shooting through his body. He was getting exhausted from all the anguish, but all he could do was struggle in response.
Shrieking in horror from the sudden movement of the rubber-clad figure, a cat jumped into the arms of her boyfriend who returned her shocked expression with a reassuring smile. Scary places seemed to offer many opportunities for one to hug his or her crush.
Garret had not fared any better. The wolf had felt himself ascending and descending on the platform many times over the past few hours. Each time he rose, his mummified body would be met with the slap of a large inflatable hand. He needed to tell someone he was there! He squirmed and grunted through the gag each time he was hit. His sounds and movements would cause the muscular wolf to look like it was wheezing and bending over in pain as people hit it, leaving his attackers in glee.
Crestor was dizzy. He had spun around the carousel for too many revolutions to count. The first few times a kid mounted his body, he shouted and tried to get the kid off him. However, it only caused a dragon's roar to attract people's attention. The kid would then gleefully hang on to Crestor's neck for the rest of the ride. Now, he kept silent, grunting only whenever a kid kicked his stomach from the thrill of the ride.
The shark went back to the control room in the king's head and looked out upon the carnival. Despite the changes over the past decade, he had somehow kept his father's carnival alive through his innovative ideas and hard work.
He sat down in a plush chair and leaned against it. A fox with a clipboard bounded into the room and stood in front of Jarox and nodded silently. Jarox nodded back and the fox began to use sign language to talk to Jarox.
"Yeah, that works," he smiled at the fox who grinned back. "I'm on it!" he signalled back to the shark and left the room. Jarox leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes. How much longer can he keep the carnival alive? A decade or two? Or even perhaps until he retired. Only time will tell.
~ End ~