A Town's Worth of Problems

Chapter two of "Carnie got Canned", see previous chapter here.

Chapter 2
Heath barged into the inn's room grumbling about "Moss" and "Peace and Quiet" before dropping like a rock onto the soft bed.

As the team got comfortable in their new base of operations Judah decided to formulate a plan, "I think we should spread out to three different places that could help us, Heath go check in with the local authorities and see what they know, I'll head on over to the carnival-" Moss gave a melodramatic sigh at that, "and talk to the owner, and Moss" his ear perked up like a puppy's, "you go investigate the darker side of town to dig up something, and feel free to crack down on whoever gets in your way." Finished Judah.

Moss, now thoroughly excited at the chance to beat up some lowly street thugs, charged through the inn and the guests towards the south side of town.

Heath grit his teeth, "why do I have to deal with the cops? Sounds like a major chore." Judah let out an exasperated sigh, "Just, please go" he said rubbing his temples deeply, "we have to start somewhere, and now you can have your quiet."

"Tsk" was all Heath managed to say before sulking out of the brightly decorated inn. Finally alone, Judah began to pour over the case files he managed to bring with them from Koma Inu's extensive library.

"Doll Magic" he recited with great interest, "allows the use to turn almost whatever they want into a creature they can control," the more Judah read the more concerned he became, "they can also take control of nearly any object, even Celestial Spirits, and use them."

Meanwhile....

Moss had just punched out another bar patron at The Underbelly Bar where he had previously smashed through, roaring about carnies.

Moss had never been a tactful man, instead, he preferred to take things to the heart of the matter and use his blunt force to make people talk.

"I said: does anyone here know anything about a carnie?!" he thundered, continuing to punch through bystanders who got too close.

A few of the more burly patrons inched closer, formulating a silent, mental plan to rush him at once. They were just about to spring their trap when a voice that sounded like a hollow tin can cut through the crowd, "yeah, I used to be one."

Moss lumbered towards the eerie voice, located at the back of the bar, running through, or over, the bar patrons who didn't move fast enough. In a single booth, alone and darkened, sat a figure that appeared to resemble something more akin to a stickbug than a human. From what Moss could make out it was tall, probably hovering near 6'5 to 6'7, and it was a thin, sickly-looking thing. He wore a deep-set hood, and a heavy-looking trench coat colored in a melancholy swath of greys and blacks.

Moss grit his teeth looking at the alien creature, "oh yeah" he said curtly, "you ever work for Clayton Bartee, perhaps in the "Fun House." Moss could feel his jaw and muscles tensing up, this guy was giving him a real bad feeling in his gut.

Once again, that tinny voice filled the room, "oh yes, that idiot of a ringmaster" the "person" gave a sickly yellow smile, "I can't believe he had me thrown out over giving a little scare to the children-" he made a sort of odd clicking sound, like he was trying to use echolocation, "they were never going to die or anything like that."

Moss had had enough of this freak, he roughly grabbed him by the long trench coat he was donned in and jerked him upwards so roughly his head almost connected with the ceiling. "Listen you creep" Moss's voice had gone deadly thin and pointed, "if you want to keep your bone structure the way it is skip town and don't come back."

There was a dreadful silence, and then, an awful cackling came from the elongated figure, "I'll keep that in mind" he cackled, "but I have a gift for you, for all your hard work!" Once again that horrible laughter that sounded of carrion birds cawing.

He reached into his trench coat and pulled out a small wooden figure: a perfect carving of a boar, or some kind of hog. The figure's unnatural smile widened to reveal more sickly yellow teeth. "Erymanthian Boar" he croaked before throwing into the air like a pair of dice.

In the span of a few seconds, the little carving morphed, and grew much larger resembling that of a magic mobile now. Its sheer size filled the pub as bystanders quickly ran. Moss dropped the figure who did some sort acrobatic trick that didn't seem possible with a working spine and leaped over both the boar and Moss.

Before Moss could even begin to shout the boar charged at point blank pushing Moss back nearing the entrance. The figured dashed outside and into the maze of alleys that surrounded the pub, meanwhile, Moss had planted his feet firmly on the ground, and his hand firmly on the tusks of the doll.

He knew he couldn't use his magic in this bar, it would cause a scene and make the guild look bad, oh what would Master Inari have to say? Even so, he couldn't let this statue win! With all his might he landed a perfectly coordinate punch into the center of the beast's head and, with a little bit of Crash, it splintered like kindling covering the bar in sawdust and wood chips.

Moss sighed heavily, how was he going to report this to the team?....

See the next chapter here!