Chapter 29: Scaramuccia
Riding through the torrential downpour, racing alongside the flooded streets of Steam City, sudden bolts of distant lightning split the blackness of the night sky, cutting straight through the rhythm of Capella's hooves striking the ground.
Bonnie's breathing grew more ragged and pained by the second. She felt like she could pass out at any moment — and yet she was almost surprised by how much sheer willpower she had once she'd decided to do something. Her body was screaming at her that it couldn't take any more, but she kept forcing herself forward anyway, refusing to give in, because once she fell, there'd be no getting back up to finish this.
This was a gamble — whether she could hold out long enough to finish the job, or whether she'd end up collapsed somewhere along the way.
Robin wasn't a fool. It was obvious to him that something was very wrong with Miss Bonnie — but since she'd already told him it was nothing, he wasn't sure if he should bring it up again. This girl seemed far too stubborn for her own good…
"Where to now, Robin?" she asked.
Robin pointed ahead.
"At the next street we should be able to reach the open area where the circus set up. It's like a smaller city made of tents."
"Okay. Let's pick up the pace."
"What? Miss Bonnie, wait! Waaaah!"
Capella surged faster, her hooves nearly tearing into the ground. Robin wrapped his arms around Bonnie again to keep from falling, while she fought to stay focused. Capella could feel her rider's suffering, and obeyed every command Bonnie gave her with flawless precision.
She wasn't acting like just a horse anymore — she felt more like an extension of Bonnie herself, as if the two of them had become one.
Robin couldn't see it, but he could feel the connection between the horse and Bonnie. He glanced at the mare's black eyes, then at Bonnie's green ones. Strange as it was, both carried the exact same look of grim determination.
"Where did this girl even come from?" Robin whispered to himself — though Bonnie never heard it.
Further ahead, they left Steam City behind and rode straight into a sprawling stretch of tents, carriages parked along dirt paths, people huddled under umbrellas, and clowns running for cover inside the great central tent. Bonnie wanted to feel some sense of wonder at the sight of the grand circus — but she couldn't afford the distraction.
Holding her speed and frightening people in her path, Bonnie pushed her senses through the pain to scan everything around her. Faces, objects, carriages, horses, voices, screams, sensations — all of it crashing in at once.
An ordinary person would have been completely overwhelmed by it, and Bonnie could attest to that firsthand. Making sense of all that information was brutally difficult — but for the sake of her investigation, and for the kidnapped girls, she pushed herself to her absolute limit to catch even the smallest lead.
With her pupils dilating and contracting again and again — like the lens of a camera adjusting focus — amid the rush of voices and flickering images, she caught sight of a black-and-red robe with teeth embroidered along its hem, slipping into one of the larger tents.
That was one of those bastards!
"Found him!" Bonnie shouted, and steered Capella straight through the tents.
She didn't care anymore about who she inconvenienced along the way. Desperate to catch up to the culprit, she tore through canvas tents, snapped wooden poles, knocked over food carts, and nearly trampled a few people in her path. Thankfully, Capella's agility boost was still in effect — otherwise someone could have died — but it also drew the attention of several of the venue's security guards, who chased after her shouting.
They never had a chance of catching up. They lost her among the tents.
A few seconds later, she burst through the final tent flap — the same one the hooded figure had vanished into — but when she did, she found nothing but darkness.
Then a voice rang out, thick and booming:
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls!"
Four round spotlights snapped on at once, all aimed toward the center of a circular stage, revealing a heavyset man in a black top hat and a red-and-white suit. He held a glittering cane that matched his outfit and was speaking out into the darkness surrounding him.
"This is…"
"We're in the main tent," said Robin.
The lights dimmed and murmurs rippled through the audience seated around them — rows of seats rising in wooden tiers nearly six stories high, built for the crowd's enjoyment.
"Presenting, all the way from the other side of the world, here to bring a smile to the faces of Steam City and all of Columbia! The one, the only — Scaramuccia!"
A sudden burst of red smoke swallowed the announcer whole. The audience gasped — but when the smoke cleared in a sharp gust of wind, in place of the announcer stood a young man, maybe twenty-five, wearing a half-mask with an elongated nose.
That was Scaramuccia.
He wore an exaggerated jester's costume with colorful ruffles at the collar and a wide two-pointed hat trimmed with golden bell tassels at each tip. His shoes curled up at the toes in the same style as his hat, fitted with matching bells. His white gloves bore two strange symbols across the backs of his hands, like an imitation of some ancient sigil.
Wrapped in purple, red, and black, he pulled off the mask, and it vanished in a small burst of glittering paper. Beneath it was his face, painted in pale pastel tones of white, purple, and red. His youthful face broke into a wide, captivating grin that instantly drew the crowd in.
"My goodness… you wouldn't believe the rain coming down out there," said the jester, pressing a hand to his forehead and shaking his head with theatrical drama. "It was pouring so hard the dirt looked like an ocean. Look at my shoes — soaked through! Listen, just listen to how they sound."
He started walking in circles around the stage, taking little hops, making his shoes squeak with every step.
Honk. Honk. Honk.
The crowd burst out laughing, especially the kids in the front row. Scaramuccia took off his hat and gave them a quick bow. When he put it back on, he raised the palm of his hand, looked at it for a moment, then turned back to the audience.
"How strange… I swore I had something here for my next act. Oh — wait."
He clapped once, and a small wand sprang from his palms, growing larger the moment it hit the ground. He caught it with his foot and gripped it tightly in his hand.
"Ah, there it is. Now — how many of you out there believe in magic?"
Most of the children answered with a loud: "I do!"
But none of that mattered to Bonnie in the slightest. She scanned desperately through the darkness. Her way of seeing things had genuinely changed — she could pick out individual faces in the crowd now — but everything was still cloaked in shadow. If someone in a dark robe were moving through this crowd, picking them out would be nearly impossible.
Even so, she took a few steps toward the stage, scanning the audience. Soon enough, she caught a pair of crimson eyes shifting behind the wooden seats, between the legs of the people sitting there. Those eyes locked with hers — and whoever it was behind that gaze took off running.
"You're not going anywhere!" Bonnie shouted, drawing her revolver and planting herself in the middle of the stage alongside her horse.
The crowd froze at the sight of a girl appearing out of nowhere, gun raised — but Scaramuccia didn't. He scowled, furious.
"Hey! Who are you?! How did you even get here?! This is my stage! You can't be up here!" the jester protested. He turned toward the tent's exit. "Security!"
Bonnie looked at him — but right then, the headache twisted into a sharp, stabbing pain that knocked her clean off her horse. Scaramuccia stumbled back, confused, and Robin's face went white with fear.
"Miss Bonnie!"
She dropped to her knees and pressed both hands to her head. The pain was worse now than ever — every voice sounded like a scream no matter how faint, the brush of her own clothes against her skin felt like blows from a baseball bat, and the stage lights were blinding her completely.
Her heart hammered against her chest. Cold sweat soaked her face.
Even through all that suffering, she glanced toward one edge of the tent. There stood that same figure in that ridiculous robe, watching her in total silence with those glowing red eyes — before turning away and disappearing into the maze of steam machinery outside.
Bonnie clenched her teeth, raised her revolver, and forced herself back to her feet. She managed one more step before collapsing again.
'Damn it… There he is! I have to catch him! I HAVE TO!'
In Bonnie's eyes, the faces of the people watching from the darkness twisted into the eyes of the demon that had looked straight at her the day everything changed. Deathly whispers murmured inside her skull, filled with obscene, blasphemous words, and dark hands dug their fingers into her skin.
Her hands trembled. So did her breath. She rose to her feet in silence, fighting through the pain. She dug her nails into her own scalp — but she couldn't hold out any longer. A pained groan escaped her as a couple of tears slid down her face. Then came a short, broken cry.
Finally, all that pain exploded out of her in a single tearing scream.
Robin shook. Scaramuccia froze, his face twisted in horror.
"Oh, no… She's…" the jester whispered. It was as though he recognized exactly what was happening to this girl.
That recognition made him step back. Then another step. And another. Before he even seemed to realize it, he was sprinting out of the tent, his face contorted with the desperate need to get away.
Capella began whinnying frantically, kicking with everything she had. Robin had to hold tight to the reins, watching Bonnie suffer with no idea what to do.
A moment later, a soft wave of warm air rolled out from beneath Bonnie's feet.
'What's happening to me?! It hurts! It hurts so much! Someone — somebody help me!'
As if someone had finally heard her plea, that same black cat appeared in front of Bonnie. The crowd, still watching in fear, fell into stunned silence. In the blink of an eye, the cat shifted into Evelyn, who delivered a powerful punch straight to Bonnie's face.
The force of it sent Bonnie flying back several feet, slamming into the low wall that bordered the stage. She was knocked out cold.
After that, Evelyn walked calmly over to Capella and rested a hand on the mare's neck. The horse settled almost instantly, keeping little Robin safe. Then Thieving Cat let out a tired sigh and said:
"Listen up, everyone. This girl's gone a little crazy and just ran off from home. Don't worry — I've got her under control. Sorry she interrupted the show. I'm taking her home right now."
Evelyn finished by lifting Bonnie onto Capella's back and climbing into the saddle herself. For a moment it looked like Capella wouldn't listen to her — but the mare was smart enough to move forward for the sake of her unconscious rider's safety.