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Months before the chaos, Inkwell Isle Two was a bustling place. Kids running near and far, couples roaming the shops and visiting the fortune teller Djimmi and bakery run by the sweet Bon Bon. Clockmaker Wally and Kindler Grim spoke with one another as their children played.
And a teenager, with face painted white and red, ran around making balloons and painting faces as happily as a child in a candy shop. He giggles and laughs and visits his friends. Djimmi gives him two gold coins to get a sweet from Bon Bon. He shares his tart with whatever many children come to him. Some parents did not like him. He did not mind, although he could not guess why they thought so about him.
Beppi was a good clown. At least he thought so.
The day was winding down and Beppi visited his friends who were in the center of the isle, conversing and making merriment. He clapped his hands and greeted them. Only Djimmi greeted him back. Bon Bon and the others made fun of a Beppi.
"Too childish." Bon Bon spat,
"Find a well paying job, son." Wally lectured.
"The other folks find yer get up uncomforting."
Grim chuckled.
The more they went on, Beppi felt pins and needles in his cheeks. Djimmi tells the others to leave the clown be and asked if he was ok. Beppi did not know why though until his paint was running down his face. He ran back to his little shack and tried to fix it but it kept running and dripping on his onesie. He eventually fell asleep trying to clean himself.
The next day the self proclaimed clown stayed near his shack and tried to make balloon animals, only to fail and cause kids to laugh at him. In frustration he let the inflated balloons float off into the air as he crossed his arms. There was a new commotion. Booming voice along with a sweeter one. The baker and fortune teller announcing their new attractions! Bon Bon having a new bakery tent and castle that looked as though it were as tasty as her baked goods, and Djimmi with a pyramid full mystery and new crystal balls, tarot cards, and magical delights!
All the kids were ecstatic!
The day after, Wally and Grim had new attractions as well! Wall had a giant birdhouse that held many clocks, big and small, for homes and pockets! He even made tiny wooden toys with his son. Grim had a tower that worked nonstop, full of flames of warmth and the best materials for keeping warm in the colder nights! Beppi was a little jealous that they had made so many changes in a day. But he did not mind.
"They just knew how to make things better!" He told himself. Plus they had money to spare. He feels his pockets and finds two coins. He will save these. And make his own special attraction!
More days pass him by, and kids don't visit him anymore. They purposefully ignore him! Going to his friend instead. Bon Bon makes it a mission to bully him when Djimmi is not around. He begins to hide in the pyramid, and starts playing pranks on his friends. At first it was fine and tiny bits of irritation. But when Beppi trips and smashes a crystal ball, Djimmi goes off on him in a rage. Yelling and stomping a lamp covered foot, and telling the clown to grow up.
Almost instantly after his outburst, he tries to apologize to Beppi. But before he can, Beppi runs, tears and paint streaming down his face, to the edge of the isle. He cries and cries, not wanting to go back. He chews on his hand while the other chips and scratches at dried paint and his cheek. His sobs stop as a child's' laugh comes from above him.
A balloon floats by. A balloon with little ears and horns and the biggest smile the clown has ever seen! His eyes widen as the balloon floats towards the third Isle. Beppi jumps up and wipes his face to follow the balloon.
"It is so pretty!" He thinks.
He chases and chases well into the third Isle. Past places that look amazing, ships new, and a lovely theater until he runs over tracks before a train full of howling laughter races by. Into a cave he goes and the balloon floats into a giant casino with flashy decor. Inside there are many smoking and playing games he... did not care for. Too complicated he thought as he continued after the inflatable creature. He runs into a room with a giant desk covered with toys! The balloon turns into a giant creature. Horns sticking straight up and dark fur.
Beppi gasps and begins to laugh. He flaps his arms and bounces on his feet, his eyes brightening as his smile spreads from ear to ear.
"How did you do that!? Can you show me!? Please please please mister?"
The stranger laughs and sits in a chair too large for the clown but just right for him.
"You wish to do that, eh? What 'bout so much more? Y'er a clown, don'tcha want more?" His voice is low and soothing to Beppi as he processes the strangers words.
"Oh! Oh! I am a clown! Beppi the clown! I would love to do what you did! Make balloon animals that move like that! Make balloon animals really amazing! Oh and have my own little carnival! A circus! Full of games and a ride for the kids! No. . A ride for everyone! I want everyone to be happy!" He rambles on and on about what he wants until he jumps in surprise when a large and heavy paper drops on the desk where the toys were.
"If that is what you wish, sign 'ere my boy! And all your wishes will come true! Every. Last. One." The stranger gives him a pen that has a tiny ducky as the clicker and it smiles at the clown!
Beppi giggles and signs his name like he has seen many others sign theirs on important papers. The paper poofs and turns into smoke. He felt his body change and his face felt weird.
"It is done."
He stopped paying attention to himself when the stranger handed him a tiny green carousel horse. It whinnied at him! He bursts into laughter and hugs the stranger then leaves quickly to return home. It was already dark out but he did not care. He wanted to see his circus!
Bright lights and music flood the Isle the next day. Beppi clearly shaking with glee and flapping his arms frantically as residents gather, the music drawing more from the surrounding Isles. He cheers and brings excitement as his balloon animals come to life and people line up for the ferris wheel, rollercoaster, and blimp rides. Everyone is happy! The kids, the parents, and the people holding hands!
Beppi runs to his friends and invites them to come play. Djimmi asks how did he get his gifts.
"I got them from a stranger in the casino! Signed a paper with a ducky pen!" He bounces only to stop when his friends faces change. They look... sad. He doesn't have time to ask why their faces changed because kids were asking for more balloons and how to play games. He surprised everyone, even himself when his head became inflated and there was a string connected to his body keeping him down to earth. Everyone cheered for him. Even the parents who did not like him. The clown made more money than he had ever in his life that day.
Months go by... No one is coming to his circus. No one is going to his friends for fun. They look upset and stay inside. Beppi would be upset too. If he did not have his doggies and horses and little duckies.
"Two kids collecting beat up Hilda and took their contracts?!"
"And they are coming this way!"
"Are they going to take ours too?"
Bon Bon, Djimmi, Wally, and Grim contemplate the issue that is coming. They will lose everything if these kids take what was given to them. They will lose everything! Bon Bon was the first to leave to defend her shop, the others following. Djimmi checks his crystal ball and only sees an outcome of everyone happy and smiling so he had no worry of the children.
Until what he saw was not what he experienced. Beaten to a pulp by two kids. His friends as well. Bon Bon running after her head, Wally featherless and weak while his son tries to keep two cannibal birds from devouring the older, and Grim nursing two new heads who were as badly beaten as his original. Djimmi could not even stomach his own pipe, each inhale causing him to choke. They were all beaten badly. But something felt wrong. Felt worse than what they had felt when they lost. Bon Bon found her head and began to look around like the others had started.
They all go wide eyed and gawk at one another.
"WHERE IS THE CLOWN."
As they spoke in unison, maniacal laughter followed by the same but more sinister and distorted version echoed through the Isle. Though they could not see, they felt that the mugs had already began fighting the clown. Djimmi was filled with dread. Beppi had never fought before. He was a child in a mans body. He would be destroyed. But... Djimmi could not fight anymore. Nor could the others. So they painstakingly wait for the fight to be over to check on the clown.
The mugs leave the Isle. And with aching bodies, the four workers make their ways to where Beppi's little circus heaven stood. A cart was derailed, dozens of balloon animals popped and some deflating and whining, tiny green penguin litter the ground rolling baseballs back and forth with a sad expression, and a broken green carousel horse.
They went further and heard a deflating sound. Bon Bon was the one to find him crying under broken tracks. His body seemed deflated and he chewed and scratched at his hand and face. She carries him to the others, who stop his chewing and scratching, and places him into Djimmis arms to cradle the younger. They all felt more pain than before looking at the broken clown as he held what appeared to be a pink popped balloon close to his chest. He cried and cried until it was dark and he had fallen asleep exhausted.
"He put up one heck of a fight..." Bon Bon whispered as she glanced at the carnage surrounding them.
"He threw one big tantrum i bet..." Grim whimpered.
Wally was staring in the makeshift nest his son had made which held Jr. and Beppi.
"I... This future was not what I saw..."