Act 1 - No More Clowning Around

{Since the year 1782, people have always gathered around to watch a circus, from the lively animals, performers of all shapes / sizes, but the headliner was always the clowns With their playful antics and ability to bring the audience in with their playful antics and ability to bring the audience in to the experience around them.... Those were truly the days… Sadly those days were coming to an end.... More and more people became less than wanting anything to do with a circus at all let alone the performers. As more people started to give up on the fact that 1 circus was still alive... Many performers began to disappear and so did time.....Many gave up on the idea of being in a circus but one man decided to start his own circus, A man that went by the name Ringmaster Jim created a circus with the help of his son as the main attraction. The show went on for 15 years, until a new act was created that started problems for all involved. That one act not only change the course of history but also lead to the death of many performers for years to come…}

[ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!ERROR!]

The sound of the word error sent a ringing through their head along with the sound of a bell.

*GASP!!!*

A bionic clown woke up in a pod with no earthly idea on how they got into this predicament, let alone who he was or what she was, all this clown knew was the fact that they were in a pod and surrounded by water. Surprisingly, the pod didn't feel dangerous to them or seemed as if they were forced to stay there. The pod felt like a fetus, protecting them from the outside world as all they needed to do was rip the lid above their to break free into the world. The bionic clown did just that, taking a deep breath when they got their upper body to sit up, spitting out the remaining water along with a few bubbles that popped against their red nose. Slightly startled from the bubbles, they looked around the dark place that seemed to be a tent and to figure out WHERE they were but most importantly WHO they were…. They got out of the pod naked with their legs a bit wobbly plus feeling as if they had some added attachments to their body but they didn't let that bother them which led to Lou quickly beginning to wipe off the dust on it to see 7 words:

"Lou The Luckiest Clown In The World"

Even with this serious situation they still were happy to know that they had a name which was Lou, they continued to try and tried thinking clearly on what was going on, it sadly only led to Lou pacing around. They accidently tripped over something. "Ow!"

Lou said but realizing that they didn't feel much pain from the fall so they got up but that's when they noticed a silhouette which was a pinch of light coming from the outside world that was hidden behind the curtain on the top of the stairway. Lou walking over to the light, they said these very words.

"Ieez weazonder ieazf Ieez wizll fizind seazomesone theazat ceazan gizave meeze aneazswers¿" ("I wonder if I will find someone that can give me answers?")

[ Writer's Note: "Lou speaks barely a lick of English but they only knows a few words at best from memory. Their main language is Ciazarn. So when they have a sentence they'll use A code in the form of eez, eaz, or Iz. OK back to the story.]

After a few more trips, the bionic clown slowly went up the stairs step-by-step Lou felt even more scared to see how much the world has changed for the worse and feared what they would tell whoever was waiting for them on what happened to them…. After two minutes of walking up each one of those stairs, being scared at first but took a deep breath then went through the curtain. Just like that the first thing Lou saw was fires, chaos, the light, sex, violence, the loud sounds, the hovering vehicles overhead, smell toxic waste and even the different types of people (Aliens for example) set Lou into not culture shocked. "Wheazat theeze-" ("What the-" )

Everything felt so hazy with their memories of this part of the city as it was once cheerful from seeing kids running around happily playing and going into the tent to now seeing A rundown scum hole that had hover cars being shut down by bazookas…. Ghetto was beyond what they thought of this new environment, it looked like an apocalyptic futuristic snuff film with no pause or eject button. The smell of ash, chemicals, toxic fumes and something truly far away left was in the air. Lou could hear almost anything in a 5 mile radius from screams of women begging for mercy as they were being pounded sexually or assaultedly then there was the sound of men going through the same or begged for their lives by the barrel of a few guns. Lou tried covering their ears since they REALLY didn't wanna hear these transmissions. This all leads to them giving out a loud "HONK!" Lou quickly hid behind a crate that was close to the tent since a man that looked like bad news nearly spotted them.

Suddenly-

"HELP!!!!!!"

Lou peaked out from behind the crate just to see a chubby bald woman running out of a building naked covered in scars and bruises along with tattoos from head to toe. The woman looked around continuing to call out for help while holding something in her hands. Lou didn't know what to do but at the same time they didn't want to just leave her when she needed help the most. Sadly, the moment Lou was going to help her since they truly felt that she needed them…..

SLASH!!!

…..Just like that the worst happen…..

The woman quickly tossed what she was holding before her body split in half was cut in half by a boomerang-like object that single-handedly cut her in two like butter and just like a normal boomerang it went back the way it came. Everything felt like it was in slow motion for Lou, they were completely shocked, confused and emotionally sickened by the events that were transpiring right before their very eyes. They felt something hit their feet…. When Lou looked down they saw what the woman was carrying, it was an orb that was truly unique since one moment it was glowing like a crystal and the next it looked like a see through rubber ball. Lou went to pick it up but the moment they touched it, it was revealed thanks to a puddle and stroke of lightning showing them what had become of them. Before they could speak on their new looks, Lou heard voices coming from the direction where the girl came from. "Wheazt Wiz Theazt¿" (What was that?") Lou quickly rushed back inside the circus tent and expected a few bikers came from the building that the now dead woman came out from to retrieve their "property". This group had alien creatures and other humans that seemed enhanced somehow. They called for their leader since it seemed that they couldn't find what they were looking for which Lou had in their bionic hand. When their leader came out he looked like a true racist biker with tattoos of the confederate flag and spiked chains covered in blood tied around his waist, it was clear for him not only smoking a cigar but the way he walked this guy was not not happy. While this was all going on, Lou watched in silence but soon they felt something coming up. It was a honk and it wasn't like the one before this one was big so Lou led by covering their own mouth since they did not want to get caught. Meanwhile the group's Leader went down after finishing his cigar. "search the place as someone's walking around with my property. I gotta say you really cut her good Jessie, really was a shame that she thought that it was going to be easy to get away from "the Bladed Ace Gang'' but don't worry boys, doc will fix her right up you all know that he is good at fixing these nympho types that try to go against the programMing."

The leader of B.A.G first used the woman's eye as an ashtray then grabbed both of the woman's arms and legs, hooked them to his motorcycle, dragging both halves of the woman's body along the streets which was cruel even for an android.

Once those bozos were gone, Lou stuck their head out of the tent still feeling sorry for the woman who was just like them, stuck in a situation that she had no idea what she was getting into and no idea how to get herself out. Lou looked down at the orb, truly wanting to protect it for the woman's sake but suddenly started to smell something that felt "fell"… With everything that had just occurred only 5 minutes ago, they just felt that something just really, really, really didn't feel right. It was until it started to rain where Lou went back inside the tent. When they were about to walk down the stairs, Lou noticed something writing on the stairs that said:

"DEATH BY NORMAL!!"

"WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!?"

"Clowns DIE HERE!"

Lou gulped by these words along with the realization that everything around them was starting to create weight for them but things only got worse when Lou turned to look at the red arrow…. The red arrow on the ground outside of the circus tent pointing to the inside but as they looked closer and scanned it, a shocking revelation could be seen before them. By scanning what they thought with paint which revealed that it was in fact dry blood, human blood…. Thunder cracked leading to Lou jumping backwards in shock but accidentally falling down the stairs and landing on their face, this time they actually did feel pain which made them get up, turned around and decided to scan the place in horror… The truth came out as they grabbed a torch, trying not to believe what the scanners were showing them, but the moment they lit a torch that was on the ground that he tripped over earlier… it was all there… The truth revealed itself through when the flames were lit but only for a second because of the wind of the storm. Luckily the lightning brightly showed all the dead bodies that laid upon the grounds of the circus tent.. There were piles of clown skeletons but to make matters worse these were not only clowns here but also:

robots, mutants, including aliens that have been harmed physically or mentally even sexually by this new generation… Along with the bodies that have piled up throughout the years…..

Lou was truly horrified by all of this...

Having no idea that until they found a newspaper that was on the ground as they scanned it with their eyes…...

Clowns have been indeed illegal in this world all because of an incident that happened many decades ago...

Any clown that is found in this world is to be killed on the spot….

"THEAZAT IZ CREEZAZY¡¡¡" ("THAT IS CRAZY!!!" ) Said Lou truly freaking out about all of this, having no idea how things in this world got so bad that livelihoods are destroyed… Lou ended up scanning some of the individuals figuring out if they can only scan paper or other things and wondered if they could scan people as well. They ended up finding out that everyone has a chip in their heads leading to Lou gaining information on each person before they died. It truly brought them such a pain in their metal heart to find out that no matter if they are just putting on a show or being goofy, they all die with the title of clown. "Ieez neazd tizo leazve noizw izor eize I mizght eeznd uizp juizt lizke theazt geezrl..." (''I need to leave now or else I'll just end up like that girl…") With that decision, Lou buried every single body into a grave that they dug themselves with their bionic arms. Once every single corpse, robotic or not, was buried and given a single flower, (that they made from the pod) Lou decided to leave the tent. But the moment they found themselves some clothes and were ready to finally leave, Lou found a box of matches within the tent and decided to burn it to the ground. They watched the police burned once they was outside the tent looking at the colors that sparkles. Even though Lou knew that this might be considered wrong, since they felt that THIS needed to be done since Lou was doing a service to those that were killed for something that made all of them happy… Lou placed upon their a long cloak that would hide their face, especially Lou's red clown nose.

….Little did Lou realize that destroying the Circus tent was a mistake that they would regret later….

Besides that, Lou was getting from the circus tent, the more they could hear transmissions coming from their head. Lou was learned first hand that many people within this part of the city lost joy in life for so long to the point where they hide their joy the best they could through murder or making everyone else suffer around them or even the third option where there was this type of pill called a JOYBOY that would bring one joy that would not be considered illegal / not against the law…

Lou was gonna change all that…..

No matter how scary or how horrible things were going around them, Lou would not give up even if they had to grab for the closest thing that they could call in the name of hope. They kept trying to muster while blinking to get transmissions where they could hopefully find people like them, people with joy in their hearts that are not completely melancholy or terribly blocking the feeling of fun. Sadly, the there was more horror to be witnessed the further they walked from people being dragged into dark alleys, murder being done before their hidden robotic eyes, dirty cops acting barely human to children, matters being worse with aliens or creatures from different worlds planted here for one reason or another.

Lou kept their hood up and nose down when being looked at by a cop with multiple eyes beating a child who was hungry. Lou hated watching a child being beaten because it put chills down their robotic spine but they couldn't do anything or else they might face the consequences along with the fact that there were cameras all over the place. While walking Lou didn't notice something weird was going on…. It was only 10 minutes later when Lou heard little to nothing in the alleys as the sun had gone down, three moons in the sky but one of them had an eye which made them feel even more uncomfortable. Anyway, Lou felt like something was watching them around them, they kept track of the transmissions. It was only until after some time passed that something strange started happening. Suddenly within the transmissions, Lou began to hear heavy breathing, which definitely made them feel VERY uncomfortable. Lou tried different stations within the transmissions but they all came up to the same heavy breathing.

"Wheazt's goizng oizn, iz seazmeone heezcking meaz?" ("What's going on is someone hacking me?") Lou felt like the walls around them were getting closer and closer as if a shadow hovering above them, more like they could feel someone's breath….

The bionic clown found themselves running in the rain from whatever was following them, looking around like a madman scared for their life. They only looked back once in panicking just to see something or someone out of the corner of their eye before eight scampered off in the darkness. Lou then had an idea, after a while of cutting through crowds of people and crossing streets they saw their opening in a nearby alleyway. Lou had so many things that they could use as cover in the rain, leading to them running forward then sliding into the alleyway scaring a few Alley Cats (both earth & alien cats) then sliding into a nearby box and ducked down into it. Lou was truly terrified as they covered their mouth hoping that it would not shatter so loud, hoping their tail wouldn't give them away.

Lou made sure that their tail would not be seen by tucking it and to make sure that whoever was searching wouldn't be finding Lou who turned off their transmitter in their head but they couldn't help but peek to see whoever was following them since there was no doubt about it…. Someone was tailing Lou by using their transmitter as a beacon in a way.

….Before they knew it….

...HE came…..

Lou could hear the sound of a bell going off in Lou's head again, along with the heavy breathing but this time it was not from the transmitter. The creature or person appeared in front of the alleyway riding on a tricycle while wearing a bunny suit that was repeatedly stitched, patched up and to make matters worse Lou could smell it from far away that it was stained with blood no matter how much rain water hit the creep's costume. The creature looked around for Lou but couldn't find them since they were deep within the alleyway underneath a box so it was going to be hard for them to be found within the rain.

Lou was ready to honk but they continued to keep their robotic mouth shut, begging to the clown gods that would hear them for this creature in a bunny suit to just passed, but the creature decided to look through all the garbage cans and crates but couldn't find Lou. The Bunnyman thought they heard something so they felt that it might've been their target when they spotted the box that Lou was in, The Bunnyman smashed it with their foot…...

….The moment they lifted up the box….

Somehow, all the Bunnyman found was a glob of brown goop leading to him just dropping the box down where they found it and having a tantrum when not being able to find Lou which led to this maniac destroying the alleyway…. It took The Bunnyman five minutes to calm down, Lou was terrified as they slowly gained back their solid form leading to Lou looking down at the orb that was glowing as it protected them, turning their metal body into an element like how a cartoon character would flatten itself just a bounce back up. Meanwhile, Bunnyman started walking away which made me think that The Bunnyman had better things to do than chase them. Lou would realize that this was not the case of The Bunnyman who went on the tricycle, going back on the hunt or just looking through another alleyway truly seeking to hunt down Lou by any means necessary. That Bunnyman could be heard destroying trash cans with a bat that was least with laser spikes and baby shoes tied to the end of it.

Lou prayed that this creature would not find them or the orb that they promised themselves to protect, they opened up their chest and placed the orb inside of it for safekeeping but when they rummaged into the pockets of their cloak, Lou found some items that were going to help them certainly. Lou came out of their hiding spot and cracked around the alleyway just to see a shadow of The Bunnyman in a different alley destroying anything in their way just to try and find them. Sooooo Lou tried to walk away but as soon as they thought it was safe for them to open their mouth-

"HONK!"

Lou knew that they'd just made the biggest mistake of their life as a chill went down their spine and before they could take another step they heard two terrifying words, with the sound of heavy breathing.

"Found You~"

The bunny man appeared right behind them holding an axe!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Lou screamed before dodging the axe but the bunny man was skilled enough to not only hit Lou but damage their left arm. They quickly rip the pins off and tossed what he had found which were PINEAPPLES (Yellow Flash Bomb Grenades) at The Bunnyman.

BANG!!!!

Bright lights filled the alleyway, Lou ran off with their eyes covered while The bunnyman was blind as a bat for the time being and the only thing that they could do was swing their bat around randomly while cursing up a storm but once the effects from pineapples wore off The Bunnyman looked around to see that Lou was gone which led to The Bunnyman groaning into an angered rage!!!!!!

Meanwhile, Lou was breathing heavily not because they were tired or the pain from their damaged arm but because The Bunnyman might find them for sure…..

"Wheezat weezas theazat thizing¡¿ I I'izll woeezrry abeazout theazat laeezter, Ieaz neized teezo fieaznd shizelter foizr theez nieazght." ("What was that thing?! I'll worry about that later, I need to find shelter for the night.``) Said Lou looking around at the area that they were lost in but when looking up at a neon sign that had a cross which instantly brought back flashes of memories of the circus ….They were something important….

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!" Lou screamed out in pain, they had these memories being held back for them, causing sheer fear which made what seemed like tears roll down Lou's face and it felt as if they were being beaten to near death…

All Lou could clearly remember was a nun from who was their first love when Lou was a kid, the only one to understand them, the only one to see them for who they are.

"Wheazo weezas theazat¿ Wheezy caeazn't Ieez reeazmember¿" ("Who was that? Why can't I remember?") Lou asked themself these questions not knowing the answers as their head was still pounding but soon enough The Bunnyman spotted them.

Lou quickly ran up since they used up all the pineapples, the only thing that they could do was toss anything in the way of the Bunnyman but they kept proceeding getting closer and closer to their prey. Lou looked around seeing that they were getting close to a dead end but they looked up seeing the fire escape being their only hope. So without much choice Lou jumped up and climbed an old fire escape with one good arm like an acrobat not knowing how they were able to do this stuff but had a hunch that it had something to do with this orb. Once Lou got to the top they looked down and saw The Bunnyman chasing after them by going up the damaged fire escape that was breaking down but the Bunnyman was determined to get Lou NO MATTER WHAT, still was having trouble. At this moment Lou only had a moment to look for somewhere that they could hide, then suddenly luck came in Lou's favor when their programming started to kick in within their robotic eyes, showing a hologram where they truly needed to go. Within Lou's mind they said the following words: ("Iz theezis wheazre I ceazn fiznd peezople lieezke meez¿") This caused a glitch then the location to change and a new one popped up showing Lou where they needed to go now, it was just in time to since The Bunnyman had finally got to the roof and was breathing heavily in anger holding their ax tightly.

Lou stepped back trying to get away but nearly fell off the edge with The Bunnyman revealing they had a gun, signaling Lou to "Get over here NOW!". Lou was beyond terrified and knew that they couldn't get out of this without taking a risk so without thinking, they quickly back flipped to the next building below and ran from building to building, even though they were terrified of heights. Lou was actually having fun feeling the wind in their hair and the acrobatic skills to dodge bullets from The Bunnyman who was now trapped on the rooftop. Lou had a smile on their face and with confidence in their robotic heart believing that wherever they were going would be where THEY wanted to go without fear, this mindset really helped them clear their mind… For a moment…

Suddenly, Lou started to have those vivid memories again of the circus, those thoughts made Lou think that they was jumping from the trapeze which distracted them in mid free fall.

SPLAT!

Lou hit a brick wall, this made them come back to their senses as they went from building to building in a zigzag motion within an alleyway far from the one they were at before, far away from the tent and truly far away from the Bunnyman. It was lucky for them that their body turned into a ball-like form keeping Lou from taking serious damage, just for them to land in a pile of garbage bags. Lou passed out with one of their eyes damaged with the rain hitting their face. Lou's body began to inflate like the sound of a whoopie cushion as everything went black.

///The Next Day///

The sun was rising.

The birds were chirping.

The Sky was red like blood.

And Lou found themselves nearly being crushed by a futuristic trash compactor but they thought it was a death trap, Lou tried escaping from the machine that was trying to crush them. Lou quickly turned their arms into a drill, making a hole and jumped out of what was revealed to be a hoover garbage truck. Lou wiped away the oily sweat knowing they were nearly gonna be turned into a junk cube while spraying themselves with seltzer water. "Theazt weezas cloeeze." ("That was close.") Sadly, their safety was once again put in danger when their WaCkY Sense was tingling in their metal bones when two alien garage men tried attacking them with full speed since it was revealed that Lou had their hood down. Luckily, Lou's luck came once more when Lou's right arm stretched out like a coil and to make it even weirder that Lou was wearing boxing gloves that went into the faces of both creatures. Their robot arm turned back to normal since they knocked them both out with a single KNOCKOUT punch!

[ Writer's Note: "POW! Right in the kisser! HAHAHAHA! Sorry I couldn't help myself. Okay back to the story with yee.]

"Soeezrry…" ("Sorry…") Lou felt tad bit guilty for attacking those garbagemen that were just doing their job and following the law but Lou knew good and well that this world wants them along with anyone like them dead which is why they needed to find shelter immediately. Lou brushed themselves off, put on their cloak, quickly walked off looking for the shelter on their map but it was hard since they could only see off with their eye damaged. After an hour or so, Lou sees an abandoned toy store that was all boarded up. They tried their best to crawl underneath what looked to be one part of the building that wasn't completely dusty.

When Lou was almost through the crack, someone suddenly grabbed Lou's leg which led to then kicking the stranger while struggling and wiggling around. "Leezt mize geazo nizow pleaze!" ("Let me go now please!")

"Get from under there you little clown nosed freak!!! I saw what you did! I saw you knock out those garbage men so now you're going to be strap metal when i'm done with you!! Lucky for you I got a blowtorch to cut your body piece by piece before you get grinded down to nothing!!!" Said what seemed to be a man's voice. When all hope was lost for Lou who was trying to hold onto anything while being pulled. "STOP IT!!!!" This led to Lou's left leg suddenly turning into a flaming chainsaw which quickly cut the tentacle arms off his attacker (who turned out to be a mutant) and made it away in serious burning pain!

The bionic clown backed up, taking their legs from underneath the boards, breathing heavily terrified and looked down at their left chainsaw leg just for it to turn back to normal. Lou tried to calm down and got up trying to see if it was safe now by looking out the window then looked around to see if there was anything that they could use to fix their eye. "Hizllo~~~" ("Hello~~~")

While walking around, Lou came across a mirror which brought back the pain since it reminded them of the past and what they would look like, one side they saw a woman wearing a smile mask, while the other side they saw a man wearing a frown mask in the mirror. Lou looked for a long time in the mirror and remembered how they were forced to smile but more clearly forced them to learn how to smile by using their fingers, putting on their fake face (mask) that hid their real face since they couldn't smile…..

….A face not even their own mother loved….

….. A Fake for money and entertainment…..

….Lou was forced to hide behind a fake face since no one wanted to see their face….

…They've been left behind by the place they called home or in other cases…

…Left the place that they considered a cage…

What Lou hated the most was the big red nose that was on their face, they grabbed a pair of pliers and took a few deep breaths knowing that this was going to hurt. Lou tried to peel the red nose off of their face but it was harder to come off because there were nails dug into Lou's skin from the nose being forced on. When it seemed like all else had failed and there was nothing that Lou could do, there was only one thing that Lou had in mind….

...Lou took a very DEEP breath and relaxed their body for a moment…

"HONK!!!!!!!!"

IN ONE MOTION, LOU RIPPED THE NAILED RED NOSE RIGHT OFF HIS FACE!!!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

LOU SCREAMED IN PAIN AS OIL BLOOD DROPPED ONTO THE GROUND AND ONCE THE RED NOSE WAS OFF, LOU COVERED THEIR FACE WHILE SOME OF THEIR BLOOD GOT ONTO THE TOYS. IT WAS SO PAINFUL THAT LOU'S MIND WAS MOSTLY WORRYING ABOUT THE PAIN!!!!!…..

THEY STUMBLED ONTO THE GROUND WHILE heardING something, so THEY got up, wrapped tHEIR face with a nearby cloth and followed what seemed like small footsteps WHICH MADE LOU TURN THEIR HEAD.

"Heazllo?" ("Hello?") Lou said while continuing to look around this abandoned shop that looks like a toy store the more they went in with wandering eyes following them from the puppets on the wall.

Lou walked down a long hallway to the back of the store hoping to find whoever could help them…Once they tried to open the door that said "Do Not Enter" on it.

BANG!

...Everything went by so fast when Lou's broken eye was shot off…..

BANG! BANG! BANG!!!!

Next came Lou's damaged arm being shot off by something small and fast, their robotic legs being damaged while at the same time they tried to escape but got shot in the back of their knee caps and quickly were tied to the ground by what seemed like Yo-Yo strings. Lou went down to their knees but before they could scream for help.

WACK!

….The bionic clown was suddenly hit over the head with a small mallet from behind….

…..The last thing that Lou saw was impossible to them but it was truly happening…..

...Lou was surrounded, from the ground to the shelves by the toys from dolls that were in this abandoned toy store. Before passing out Lou realized that the toys looked more curious than disappointed and before they knew it everything faded to black...

{Curtain Closed}