Categories > Cartoons > Class of the Titans > Demons Within Me

Cronus's Flying Circus- Part 1

by Demenior 11 reviews

Archie, Atlanta, herry and Neil go to the circus. Odie confronts Jay with some... useful information, and Tulais gets ready for action. But what's this? Neil has been kidnapped?

Category: Class of the Titans - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Drama, Romance - Warnings: [!!] [?] - Published: 2006-06-29 - Updated: 2006-06-30 - 2573 words

1Original
Demons Within Me

Disclaimer: see previous chapters

Warnings: Violence, a little bit of blood, and a terribly mutilated version of a wonderful episode

Pairings: same as always

Author's Note: Wow... I'm at 16 chapters... uh oh, looks like we may be talking about more than 20 chapters here 0.0

Also, I've finally gotten around to posting my drawing of Tulais:

http://www.deviantart.com/view/35439616/

If you think you could do better/want to try drawing him or any scene from this story, go right ahead and make sure to give me the link. I want to see it! ;)

Chapter 16: Cronus's Flying Circus- Part 1

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Herry leapt back and whooped loudly, flinging his green shirt above his head and spinning it while he cheered for himself. Jay sighed dejectedly; Herry had beaten him at foosball... for the fifth time in a row.

Odie was looking up some information on his laptop, while Neil was reading a magazine on the couch.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Archie and Atlanta came rushing in, obviously in some sort of race to get into the living room first.

"We have two extra tickets to the circus!" Archie explained in one breath.

"Who wants to go?" Atlanta finished.

Jay paused, looking at Archie. He knew that the other had a huge crush on Atlanta and usually got in a better mood when he was around her, but something still didn't seem right. He could almost swear that Archie's smile was forced.

Odie, who had turned in the armchair to look at the two, caught Jay's eye. Jay could immediately tell that the younger wanted him to stay behind. Something important. Maybe, it had something to do with Archie's odd behavior as of late.

"Well, could Theresa and I come?" Neil suggested. Jay shot the blonde an astonished look. How DARE he even think of trying to get near HIS Theresa? Neil noticed the glare and gave Jay a cocky smirk in response. Jay understood it well enough to know that Neil still considered Theresa as fair game, since she still didn't have an 'official' boyfriend, and no one had gotten up enough guts to ask her.

"Nah, she said she'd be gone pretty much all night," Herry said, pulling his shirt back on.

Neil huffed disappointedly and avoided looking at Jay's triumphant smile, "What the hey, I'll still go."

Archie and Atlanta looked at Jay. For a moment, Jay was caught staring at Archie. Achilles' descendant was hiding something, something that he wasn't going to tell them without it having to be forced out. Archie could tell this, Jay knew, and he was fighting Jay's power. The two glared at each other for what seemed like quite a while before Atlanta broke the strained silence.

"Jay... you, uh, going to wait for Therri?" she asked, using the pet/nick name she, Jay and Neil used on Theresa from time-to-time.

Jay nodded slowly, turning away from Archie's gaze as the other did the same.

Herry smirked, "Alright, I'll drive. Let's go!"

There was a round of cheers, Jay noticed that Archie had his 'happy mask' on again, and briefly wondered why no one else seemed to see it. Maybe it was because he was a leader, or maybe it was what Hera had warned him a long time ago when he'd first met Archie.

{Look out for that one. He'll be the first to change sides if it looks beneficial to him, Jay. There's one in every bunch. Always be on your guard and NEVER trust his type with your life, or of those you care about...}

Hera always knew what was best for the team. Jay trusted her word like it was life, since he didn't know what to do half the time. Hera had much more experience and even knew his ancestor.

He had never been a suck-up, and still wasn't. But he knew he could trust Hera, no matter what. She'd never turn on them or scorn them the way some of the other gods had, the way people do, and so he'd kept Hera's words in his mind and had always watched himself around Archie. Never once had he ever really seen any indication that Archie would be a traitor, and he really even enjoyed Archie's company from time to time, but he trusted Hera too much to let his guard down too far.

Odie remained in the armchair until they heard the truck rolling out of the driveway and into the street until the sound faded into the distance. Then he turned to look at his leader with a serious expression on his face.

"Jay... I think there's a lot we need to discuss. I've been doing a lot of research on stuff," by that he meant what was happening with Archie, "and I think we need to consult Hera on this one."

"How bad is it?" Jay asked after a moment.

Odie looked from Jay, back to the screen on his laptop, and then back to Jay, "Very." He finally replied.

Jay opened his mouth to ask why, but Odie cut him off.

"And if I'm correct, we might finally understand what's been happening with Archie lately."

"Why? What are you leading up to with this Odie?" Jay sighed, not liking how Odie was skipping around the point.

Odie took off his newly-fixed, trademark green-tinted glasses and looked at Jay with serious, brown eyes.

"Tulais."

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Atlanta sprang up the steps, skidding on the bench and flopping into her seat. Archie repeated the move, but skidded too far and ended up pressed against Atlanta, almost on top of her. They both blushed and looked at each other, frozen for a brief moment.

Neil happened to catch this as he sat in his seat, snickered, and elbowed Herry in the gut. Herry was eating popcorn at the time and nearly spat it all out onto everyone in that row when Neil elbowed him, but managed to see what the blonde was grinning at. He couldn't help but smile a popcorn-filled smile at the sight of Archie and Atlanta, basically nose-to-nose, just staring into each others eyes.

Even he, Herry, who was the 'most dense' out of the entire group, could see that Archie and Atlanta had secret crushes on each other. The best part about the secret crushes, was watching the two interact without ever realizing how the other felt about them. This was such a moment. The title of 'most dense' should really go to those two.

The lights dimmed suddenly, and Archie and Atlanta were pulled away from each others' eyes, pretending to be more focused on the stage. But they were taking small glances at each other, noticing that while the other had diverted their eyes to the stage, they still hadn't moved away from their close-to-each-other position.

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Tulais' eyes snapped open as he heard a high, wailing screech coming form the hole the giants had been digging in earlier that day. He was somewhat surprised to see that they had dug a deep enough hole that it opened to a dark cavern down below.

He yawned, showing his yellowed fangs, and stretched his clawed paws out in front of him before tucking them under his body again. He would still have to wait, it seemed, before the Brat and his friends arrived.

He was about to go back to sleep when another sound made his ears perk up. He lifted his head again to see Cronus standing at the lip of the hole. There were now three giants behind him, pulling at a taut rope. As whatever was on the end of the rope came closer to the opening of the hole, Tulais felt his fur bristle as he saw a huge bird, larger than he was, covered in bronze-plated feathers. The bird cried out again in its loud, wailing screech. The sound made Tulais flinch and his ears folded back against his head as he snarled in annoyance.

The giants pulled out a second bird, still bronze-plated, and set it alongside the first. Both were wrapping in tight nets. Cronus opened a portal in front of them and the giants dragged the birds through and then disappeared.

"Hurry, you bumbling idiots, we have to get to that stupid circus before those brats leave!" Cronus snarled as the giants struggled to contain the birds. But finally they were gone. Tulais sighed in relief, that noise had not been easy on his sensitive ears, and lowered his head down as he waited once again.

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Neil, Herry, Atlanta and Archie slowly made their way out of the dark circus tent. They weren't discussing the show; none of them had really watched it. Archie and Atlanta had gotten into a little wrestle with their legs while the show had been going on, both blushing in the convenient darkness. Neil and Herry had amused themselves to no end watching the pair.

"So, let's head back. Unless you guys wanna go out and grab something to eat?" Herry suggested hopefully.

Neil laughed, "No thanks, I ate too much popcorn as it is!" he pretended to be doubled over with a sore stomach as he headed towards the truck.

Atlanta shook her head, "Thanks anyways, but I've already eaten out with him," she jerked her thumb in Archie's direction, "but then again, he ate half of the meal... so I guess I'm a little hungry."

"Not to mention SOMEONE hogged all the popcorn," Archie smirked, eyeing Herry with mock-anger.

Herry chuckled, "Fine. We'll get a LITTLE something to eat, since not all of us are hungry. But I'm starving!"

"Hey Neil!" the strong one turned to inform the blonde of their plans, but was interrupted by a scream.

"What on earth?" all three teens cried.

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"What does Tulais have to do with the way Archie's been acting?" Jay seated himself on the couch, facing Odie.

"Remember how, when we were told about Tulais, Archie was in a council because he'd had 'strange dreams' regarding Tulais..."

"Yeah, we all had to wake up to Atlanta leaping on our beds and shouting in our ears," Jay shrugged.

"We've all had weird dreams... but how did Archie come to know of Tulais? Why is it that Tulais went after him- but didn't hurt him as much as he could have?"

"Odie just spit it out. I hate how you're dodging the point here!" Jay snapped, still feeling irritated from Archie's glare earlier.

Odie sighed, "I don't have all the evidence right now. So I don't want to tell you what I'm thinking, so that I don't change your view of Archie without reason. I want you to draw your own conclusions first. That's what I wanted to tell you."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "That's all?" he let out a very not-amused sigh, "that's what you've been keeping me hung up on? Just that I should be doing what I'm doing- watching MY team for any sign of fault? Thanks, Odie, that was a lot of help--"

Suddenly their PMR's began beeping loudly. Jay flipped his open first and saw Herry's face on the screen.

"Jay! Jay! Neil's been kidnapped by these bird things! We need you here right away! Hurry- he's in BIG trouble!" Herry cried, obviously in a bit of a panic.

"Don't worry, we're on our way!" Jay informed him. He looked up to greet Odie's still-serious gaze, and they both silently agreed to put this conversation aside for now. Because as of this moment, their teammate needed them more than finishing this conversation did. They dashed to the door and took Odie's moped to the school where they jump-shifted to Theresa's car and the three heroes drove straight to the circus.

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Tulais groggily opened one red eye as he heard screaming.

He sighed and opened the other, watching interestedly as those stupid, annoying birds returned, but this time they had a child with them. He was kicking and screaming for help. Tulais nearly shrugged it off, until he caught the boy's scent. It was the exact same that had been joined with those other kids he had fought the other day! That meant the Brat and his gang would be coming soon.

He got to his feet and stretched out again, feeling much more refreshed after the long nap. He sat on his haunches as he felt a spark of pain in his side where that giant machine that carried the mixed-scented heroes had attacked him, but it had healed up quite well. As all wounds inflicted upon him did, since he was immortal and a demon.

Looking over his shoulder, he gave his side a tentative lick and felt more satisfied when it didn't hurt. It also seemed that the wounds were basically closed, just don't overdue it in any fight and he'd be alright.

Tulais stood up and shook himself free of any lingering fatigue. His ears perked up as he heard the loud rumble of the monster-machine that strong boy commanded. He almost smiled as he saw the Brat get out... along with HER.

He felt a flurry of mixed emotions as he saw Atalanta again. He still felt the stirring of longing, to want to love her and be loved by her in return. But he also felt the hot, rich hate that circulated through his veins. He was upset, seeing her and knowing how much he had lost because of her. But all those feelings always returned to hate.

She had to die, so he could get his revenge. Yes, after he got his answers from the Brat he'd kill her. Finally taste her blood and be the last thing she ever looked upon.

He was about to leap out of the bushes when he heard another monster-machine speed down the road and come to a stop by the larger one that had nearly killed him. Three more teenagers got out and joined the other three. So now there were six, going in to save the seventh. Cronus would show up soon, and Tulais had to get the Brat away before the titan showed up and hurt or killed them all.

They dropped ropes into the hole and, three at a time, slid down into the dark depths. Tulais almost groaned in frustration, knowing that he'd have to go down there as well. But at least the Brat and his friends would be cut off.

Quickly he sprang out of the bushes and raced down towards the hole, his lips drawn back in as close attempt as he could get to a smile.

{So it begins} he thought to himself.

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Hey, lookit! I -DID- update!

Well, summer vacation has started for me, and I have a jam-packed summer ahead of me. I'm looking forwards to it... but it also means that I won't update as much as I'd like too. I will try to as often as I can, but please bear with me guys! D8

Bleh... I don't really like this chapter. Tulais was more cat-ish than wolf-ish. It seemed too light-hearted and all this Archie/Atlanta-ness just seemed to come out of nowhere. But sadly, this chapter just hasn't wanted to work with me from the start, so I guess this is about as good as it'll get, sorry.

Review please, and I'll try and update as soon as I can, but I can't say how long that might be- sorry guys!

Demenior
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