Several minutes after stumbling across the towering tent, the three rookies—Shi Ji, Akarui, and Shade—stood before its striped walls, craning their necks at its unusual height.
Akarui tilted his head. "What exactly is this?"
"I don't know…" Shi Ji admitted, eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Shade, however, wore a grin. "It looks very explore-able!"
Shi Ji frowned. "I don't think that's a word—"
"You shouldn't have guided the psychotic adventure fiend to something so interesting," Akarui muttered dryly.
"Let's go!" Without hesitation, Shade darted into the tent.
"Wait—" Shi Ji called after him, but the younger boy was already gone.
Akarui sighed, resigned. "What was the thought put behind this? If you wanted to sleep tonight, you shouldn't have brought him here." With a casual stride, he followed Shade inside.
"Don't go too!" Shi Ji groaned. But it was too late. With a reluctant breath, he trudged after them.
The interior was suffocatingly dark—so dark they couldn't even see each other.
"Ugh, it's so dark in here," Akarui muttered.
"Where are you guys?!" Shi Ji's voice cracked in the pitch black.
Suddenly, Akarui's right arm—the one bone-white from shoulder to fingertip—flared to life, casting a pale, radiant glow that washed the tent in shimmering white light.
Shi Ji gasped. "Woah! What is that?"
"It's a tiny part of my gimmick," Akarui said matter-of-factly, scanning the room. "Where's Shade?"
Shi Ji glanced nervously into the shadows. "How far did he already go!?"
The illumination revealed more than expected: cages of varying sizes, red-striped circus balls, hoops, and even an abandoned cotton-candy machine. But what caught Shi Ji's attention was a massive cage near the back. Inside lay what appeared to be a lion, its chest rising and falling in steady sleep—yet something about it seemed wrong.
Shi Ji crept closer, peering between the bars. Before he could place what was off, Akarui appeared behind him, casually munching pink cotton candy.
Shi Ji blinked. "Why did you—"
"I have a sweet tooth. I saw an opportunity and I took it." Akarui shrugged, tearing off another bite. "What are you looking at?"
"There's a lion sleeping in this cage."
Akarui leaned over for a look. "That's certainly strange. So something else must be in this tent… unless this lion leaves its cage and feeds itself."
Shi Ji swallowed. "But what else could be in this tent..?"
"Probably wherever Shade is."
A sudden hand clapped their shoulders.
"AAAAAAH!" Shi Ji shrieked, stumbling back. Akarui only turned his head, unbothered, still chewing. Behind them stood Shade.
"Hey guys," Shade said casually.
Shi Ji pressed a hand to his chest. "Shade! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Whatcha find?" Shade asked, leaning toward the cage.
"It's a lion," Shi Ji said, still rattled.
"I'm surprised it didn't wake up from that scream of yours," Akarui added dryly.
Shade's eyes widened as he peered in. "That's a huge lion! I don't think I've seen something like that before."
"I know…" Shi Ji murmured uneasily.
"So, what are we doing here?" Akarui asked.
Shade gave a careless shrug. "I just wanted to check the place out. Turns out it's surprisingly bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside."
Shi Ji opened his mouth. "We should probably—"
SNAP.
A sharp sound cracked through the darkness.
Shi Ji froze. "What was that…?"
"What even snapped?" Akarui muttered.
Shade's pupils narrowed. His eyes, sharper than the others, pierced the black and caught sight of a hooded figure lurking just beyond the reach of the glow, staring silently.
"We're being watched," he said.
The figure melted back into the shadows. The trio instinctively retreated toward the center of the tent.
"You can come out already!" Shade called. "I caught you!"
Akarui lifted his glowing arm higher, flooding the area in light. "What could possibly be here?"
"Another person," Shade said flatly. His gaze snapped upward—above them, perched impossibly on a levitating sword, stood the cloaked figure.
Shade's breath caught. "Woah, what the—A sword…" His mind flashed back to Yaku's warning about a warrior who "summons an endless swarm of swords."
"I know where we are—" His words were cut short as dozens of blades materialized in the air, suspended above their heads, all aimed downward.
The swords rained toward them like a storm. Shade seized Shi Ji by the arm and dove aside, while Akarui rolled the opposite way. The blades struck the earth, quivering as they pinned deep into the ground.
Shi Ji scrambled upright. "What do you mean?!"
The cloaked figure yanked the sword from beneath their feet and lunged at Akarui in a blistering flurry of slashes. Akarui dodged each swipe by inches, his white arm glowing brighter with every motion. Before he could counterattack, the attacker flipped back into the shadows.
Shade's eyes narrowed. "This is a team's base we're in. The Zesty Parade base—the team with one fighter."
Akarui regrouped quickly at Shade's side. "So we're being ambushed."
From the gloom, the cloaked figure stepped forward into the light, their weapon glinting ominously.
Shade stepped forward, grin edged like a blade. It wasn't playful anymore; it carried teeth.
"So, why are you hiding yourself?" he called. "There are no cameras around."
The cloaked figure raised an offhand, finger extended like a conductor. Shade's grin faltered for a heartbeat. The figure's hand shimmered—and then the flesh reorganized into metal and iron. The limb became a cannon.
"What are you doing now?" Shade asked, and the answer came in the form of a roar. The cannon spit a single, smoking ball that raced at them like a missile.
"Stand behind me!" Shade barked. Instinctively, Shi Ji and Akarui shoved themselves in tight against his back. Shade planted both feet and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"False Weapon Style: Shield!" he declared.
The cannonball slammed into Shade's crossed arms with a thunderous explosion. When the smoke and powder cleared, Shade stood intact—there wasn't a singe on him. The blast had folded around his frame and spat sparks harmlessly away. The cloaked figure, having loosed the shot, hurled the sword it had been standing on. The blade spun through the air with lethal grace. All three dove; the sword embedded itself in the darkness behind them. The figure recoiled into shadow, disappearing.
"Where did he—" Akarui began, but a shadow blurred behind them; the cloaked attacker was suddenly there, streaking past like a specter. The very sword that had been thrown came screaming back, this time with twice the velocity.
Shade lunged forward and snatched the blade midflight. Steel bit into his palms. He didn't drop it; instead, he felt his skin split and warm blood run hot and slick between his fingers.
"Shade!" Shi Ji cried.
"I'll be fine!" Shade spat through gritted teeth. He wrenched the blade free of the air and tossed it aside. The attacker did not pause. From nowhere it produced a dozen more swords and flung them in a staccato storm.
"False Weapon Style…" Shade slammed his fist into his open palm, gathering his focus. He narrowed his eyes and aimed.
"Cannon!!!" Shade shouted.
He punched forward with everything behind it. The force coalesced into a visible, spinning sphere of compressed air—huge and perfectly formed, like some transparent bowling ball cut from wind. It surged forward and plowed through the cloud of blades, sending them scattering as neatly as pins across a lane. The sphere bulldozed through the swords, flinging them far away and denting the tent fabric itself.
The cloaked figure rolled clean out of the blast; it dropped down—then Akarui, leaping from above, came crashing toward the figure with a devastating punch. But before Akarui's fist could find the mark, the floor beneath the cloaked figure split open into a yawning hole. The figure vanished into it, and the rent in the earth sealed as if it had never been. Akarui's blow met nothing but canvas and dust.
"How—" Akarui started, dumbstruck.
From the deeper gloom the cloaked figure sprang out again. It was everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Can it teleport?" Akarui muttered.
The figure's arms extended like twin cannons and belched twin volleys. One shot whistled past Akarui's ear as he twisted aside; the other slammed into Shade. Shade braced and blocked with bare arms this time—no special move to cushion the impact. The recoil knocked the air from his lungs.
"That hurt a bit. Impressive," Shade admitted, more amused than injured.
The cloaked shape melted backwards into the shadow again.
"Akarui, do you feel like something is off?" Shade asked.
"Very," Akarui replied, every syllable taut.
The attacker reappeared beside them, emerging from a freshly yawning hole in the dirt and dropping back into the flickering light. It lunged—fast, savage—a fist rocketing for Shade. Shade met the blow with a parry and answered with the sharp snap of a knee into the attacker's midsection. The figure doubled over, a ragged noise escaping it. It clutched at its belly, then mashed the ground with a foot; another hole opened beneath, swallowing it, and the aperture closed like a blink.
"As I thought…" Akarui whispered. His right arm, bone-white and uncanny, glossed brighter.
"Close your eyes, guys!" Akarui ordered.
Shade and Shi Ji did as he said, dropping their lids in reflexive obedience.
Akarui breathed a single word—"Ling…"—and his arm blossomed with a brilliant aura shaped and coiling like a white dragon. The light tightened into a hum, and then—
"Burst!"
His arm unleashed a flare of pure, searing light. It spilled outward, painting the entire tent in bright white for a long, suspended beat. Every shadow, every seam of fabric, every corner was revealed.
And revealed they were: three cloaked figures surrounded the rookies.
"I knew it…" Akarui said, half-relieved, half-irked.
"There's more than just one of them?!" Shi Ji breathed.
"More fun," Shade said, already tasting the danger.
Then the tent snapped back to pitch black.
A dry snap echoed. The lights slammed on—not the dim glow Akarui had offered, but carnival-bright bulbs bared to the skin. The interior glittered: stripes, streamers, and the sallow gleam of circus mirrors. Under the lights, three cloaked people turned to face them.
"It seems you caught us," one of the cloaks said. A snap underlined the words, and the raw bulbs flared into life.
"You know our secret now," the voice continued, low and lethal. "I don't think we can let you leave alive."
Shade shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal…"
Then, with a dramatic, synchronous motion, all three peeled off their cloaks.
The first revealed himself as a clown—paint-white skin, a blue rubber nose, a shock of red afro, and a tongue that lolled yellow and grotesque from his mouth. He wore only loud polka-dot pants and glossy green boots. His eyes glittered with mischief and malice.
The second was a woman—blond hair cascading from under a golden top hat, a black tailcoat with silver trim, a red waistcoat over a gray shirt, and a vast red bow at her throat. Breeches and riding boots finished the look; a leather whip hung at her hip. She carried herself like a ringmaster on a throne of predators.
The third was a man in a bowler hat, clean-cut and formally dressed, his smile measured and cold.
"This is Florence Rossi," Akarui realized, voice edged with recognition.
Florence's mouth pulled in a sour line. "It's always a damn rookie messing things up…"
"You attacked first," Akarui snapped.
"Have you ever heard of the unspoken rule?" Florence asked, haughty.
"What are you even talking about?" Akarui shot back, impatient.
"To respect the identities of the Zesty Parade!" Florence intoned as if reciting sacred liturgy.
"I really thought you were joking—there's a team seriously called Zesty Parade?" Akarui asked Shade.
"Yup," Shade said casually.
The clown's grin snapped. "You shut your mouth, newbie! It's a great name for such expressive people like ourselves!"
"A little too expressive," Akarui muttered.
"Are you trying to piss me off!?" the clown barked.
"Relax," the man in the bowler hat said dryly. "He's definitely trying to get under your skin, Bib."
"Somebody oughta humble these rookies!" Bib—clown named Bib Check—huffed, knuckles flexing.
Florence smirked. "Or we could just do what we always do to rookies who find us."
"And that is?" Akarui asked, unflinching.
"Kill you," Florence said with casual cruelty.
Shi Ji retreated, flattening himself behind Shade. "How could she say that so casually?" he whispered.
Akarui's expression hardened. "The Faulty Tilt—the land of murderers and sadists."
"Poor curious rookies stumble upon our base every season!" Bib crowed. "So we show them who's boss!"
"That has to be illegal, though, right?" Shi Ji squeaked.
"Nope," the man in the bowler, Del, replied. "Killing is legalized before the season starts. It wouldn't matter anyway—our full team isn't even here. We can make quick work of you all, and you could just be reported missing."
Shade's muscles coiled into a fighting stance. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
Florence studied the boy for a heartbeat. "I will admit, kid, your instincts are oddly… sharp for a human."
"You don't know half of it," Shade said, darkly certain.
"Enough talking!" Bib barked. His jaw unhinged grotesquely—so wide it seemed dislocated—and then a cannon erupted from the open maw, booming a black barrel of iron and blast.
Shade stepped forward without hesitation. "False Weapon Style: Shield!" He crossed his arms and took the blast with the same effortless calm as before. The cannonball smacked against his forearms and exploded harmlessly away. Bib's jaw snapped quietly back into place; the cannon winked out as if it had been a conjured joke.
"I forgot he could do that," Bib mumbled, a trace of awe in his words.
Del's eyes glittered. "Don't worry, we're not hiding anymore. We can attack at once!"
Del soared into the air with a grace that was almost ceremonial. Dozens upon dozens of swords shimmered into existence around him, orbiting like a deadly halo. Then, with a sweep of his arm, he sent them hurtling down.
The trio scattered. The steel sliced the air with a chorus of shrieks. They dodged the majority, but a few blades bit shallowly—Akarui felt a searing line graze his back; Shi Ji winced as a blade nicked his cheek, painting it with hot sting and red. Pain flared, brief and bright, but the three kept moving.
They all braced—Bib's grin split into a manic snarl.
"There's no running now, boys!" he crowed, and every fingertip shuddered, folding into little barrel-hosts. Tiny cannons sprouted along the length of his fingers and spat a hail of miniature cannonballs at the trio.
Shade reacted before thought. He threw himself forward to shield them, but the volley struck too quickly—too close—and detonated against him in a single, thunderous blast.
"Bahahaha! Amateurs!" Bib howled, delighted by the spectacle.
Del descended with predatory grace and sent another cascade of swords ripping toward them like falling rain.
"Shade, are you okay?!" Shi Ji screamed.
When the smoke cleared, shade-streaked and singed, Shade was dazed but upright—his clothes torn, but his body apparently intact. "I'm all good—" he started, breath hitching.
Then the blades struck. A forest of steel embedded itself in Shade's arms, hundreds of edges biting deep and pinning him in a red web.
"Shade!" Shi Ji cried out, rushing forward.
"Damn—" Shade grunted. Across his chest the word "START" flared faintly orange, letters pulsing like embers.
Akarui's eyes snapped open, dark-black arm coalescing with something almost like smoke slipping over bone. "Dammit, Shade. Dang…" A misty, shadowy aura crawled along the limb, and his voice dropped cold. He slammed his palm to the ground.
"Darkness Pit!" he shouted.
A blot of absolute dark pooled under their boots, swallowing canvas and dirt. The trio sank as if gravity had flipped—they fell downward into a velvet void—and then the darkness snapped shut like a trapdoor.
Bib's shout echoed from above. "What?! Where did they go?!"
Florence smirked without turning. "Don't worry, they couldn't have gone far."
Beneath the tent, the rookies hung in a silent realm of nothing but ink-black space, floating like unwanted ghosts.
"Where are we?!" Shi Ji's voice trembled.
"I used my gimmick to get us out of there," Akarui answered, breath steady.
"So are we safe?" Shi Ji asked, hopeful.
"Not exactly." Akarui's voice tightened. "I'm only hiding in one of their shadows…" His gaze snapped toward Shade.
Akarui's breath hitched. Shade's smile was wide—too wide—his lips split with an odd joy, and his eyes were almost lovingly vacant. Shade stared at the swords, pulled them free with slow, careful motions, and let blood spurt and run down his forearms like red cords.
"Shade, don't do that! Here, let me heal you—" Shi Ji scrambled forward and doused Shade's wounds with the cooling spray of his healing waters. Flesh knit beneath the cascade, closing seams until the blood slowed to a shimmer.
Akarui's jaw clenched. What was that face? he thought. He looked happy to be hurt…
Shade's voice dropped, soft as velvet. "Akarui…"
"Yes?" Akarui replied, wary.
Shade's tone was teasing now. "So… you figured out your gimmick already, huh?"
Akarui allowed a small, bitter laugh. "Oh yeah, of course. It's called Ling Dang. To not bore you lot—the base ability lets me create and control both light and darkness. But there's more…" He hesitated.
Shade waved a hand. "Yeah, save your breath. Clearly they've got us beat on abilities. Shi Ji and I still don't even know what our gimmicks do."
Shi Ji's eyes snagged on the faint glow seeping through Shade's shirt—the "START" letters bleeding through the fabric, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Woah, Shade! Your chest!" Shi Ji pointed.
Shade glanced down. "What's going on with it?"
"Maybe it's your gimmick activating," Akarui ventured.
Shade snorted. "So I have a passive gimmick… That doesn't help a ton."
Akarui's face hardened. "This might be risky, and it could cost us our lives… but I think we should fight them to learn more about your gimmicks."
Shade's grin reformed. "I'm up for it. So how do we leave this place?"
Akarui's gaze lifted. "Just look up." Shade and Shi Ji craned their necks and saw it: a faint pinprick of light high above in the black.
Outside the tent, the three Zesty Parade members circled, confident.
"Are you sure they're still down there?" Bib asked, fingers twitching.
"They seem like the type to fight," Del said. "I wouldn't expect them not to be planning some kind of—"
As if on cue, the shadow of Bib's hand bloomed—and from it the three rookies surged up through the very darkness that had swallowed them. They burst into the tent, startling the performers.
Shade detonated into action. He smashed a brutal punch into Bib's back; the clown coughed, convulsed, and flew backward like a ragdoll, slamming into the cotton-candy machine. The machine exploded into sugary shards and steam as Bib tumbled through it, ruined and sputtering.
Akarui and Shade planted themselves like a shield; Shi Ji pressed tight behind them, breath shallow and ready. The tent's interior smelled of sugar and blood and tension. The fight had only begun.