Before he began, Dean had a couple of preparations that he had to make.
Naturally, as a matter of course, even if he didn't perform in front of the others, it didn't mean that he was slacking when it came to preparing his act. He'd been practicing with his ability in quiet, unseen corners chuckling to himself maniacally.
First, although some of the performers were humans, the vast majority were autonomous creatures. He had to determine how it was that they were instructed to perform.
Besides that, it was just a matter of putting together a performance and executing.
Now that he'd discovered the crux of winning the game, he'd already formatted a plan and was ready to put it in place.
There was just one thing he needed.
Sitting in the lounge room with a couple of the others, he made aimless small talk with them until they had all retired to their quarters, and there were only two of them left in the room.
Cole and him.
Once again, the man was doing the aimless ceiling stare bit, and seemed completely uninterested in conversing with him.
"Hey,"
Standing up to sit in Desmond's regular chair, Dean wheeled the seat adjacent to the reclining man.
"You're going to lose."
Looking down at him with a matter-of-fact expression, Dean nodded to reiterate his point.
Turning towards him slowly, Cole's eyes narrowed with malice, before he broke into a harsh sentence.
"Listen closely-"
Dean held up his hand.
"Relax, I'm not telling you anything you don't know.
Let's…. make a trade."
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Stretching his limbs out backstage, Dean stared out at the blackness of the tent.
Watching the other performers from out of sight, he was waiting for the fanfare that typically signified Heyoka's arrival.
He could only hope that his preparations had been sufficient. After all, though the others had competed with Heyoka before, they hadn't done it in the manner that he intended to. This thought brought another consideration to his head.
'Can I…. die here?'
Although he believed that this was a real realm, he wasn't sure if he was here physically or only his mind was present. If something happened that resulted in his death, would he return to Earth, or would his mind be shattered?
Clearing the thoughts from his head, he focused solely on the performance before him.
With a blare, familiar by now, the celebrations commenced. Hundreds of the little men rushed in through the entrance into the darkness of the tent.
Heyoka's voice reverberated out into the open air of the tent, electrifying the still air. In familiar rhythm, the little men stood and began cheering to celebrate his arrival.
Exploding onto the scene in the form of a shooting star, Heyoka's entrance was met with great fanfare.
Swallowing at the prospect of what was to come next, Dean gave the signal.
The music came to a halting stop.
Standing before the orchestra pit was Heyoka's figure.
Clearing his throat, the entity lifted his hands in sweeping motions, directing the orchestra.
Instantly, the atmosphere changed entirely. Rather than the fast-paced explosive music, a subtle drum line began building in the background.
The most confusing part of this entire exchange?
Heyoka still remained in the middle of the stage.
Although Dean didn't look directly at him, he could feel the anger mounting as his attention was for the first time entirely on the disruption.
As the tension built alongside the music, violet light manifested onto the stage in the form of spotlights.
They spun around the stage as if searching for something, as the drum roll mounted until the music stopped, and the spotlights suddenly focused on a fixed point.
Dean's figure.
He strode out from backstage with hands clasped, rocking above his head like a WWE wrestler, clothed in a luxurious cape with a crown above his head.
Simultaneously, the music exploded into a symphony of blaring trumpets and organs, and words appeared above his head in flashing lights -
KING OF THE CIRCUS
The crowd of little men were driven into a frenzy. They cheered and screamed and hollered and danced.
He could palpably feel the shift in their attention. It was a hyperbolic form of the previous degree of presence he had appreciated playing in Heyoka's performance, except now it was magnified to an insane degree and focused directly on him.
Power was rushing through his veins, and ideas were flooding his mind to help him magnify the attention even more.
On the other hand, Heyoka appeared visibly drained. What little remained visible of his pale white skin took on a greyish tone, as he burst forward in retaliation.
Leaping from the stage, Dean ran into the mass of little men, the spotlight following him all the while.
Heyoka tore after him on his handkerchief dragon, but as the dragon nipped at his head, he ducked into the crowd to dodge narrowly, releasing an explosion of light to blind the clown.
Pointing his fingers in the air, he fired off light in every direction, watching as it culminated in an explosion of energy that captivated the audience. From within, something fell to the expectant little men.
Gumballs.
In just a moment, the frenzy intensified as multi-colored midgets ran in every direction cheering. The larger ones strode around receiving adulation, all the while pumping their fists to the rhythm of the music.
The more immersed the midgets got into his act, the smaller the dragon became. Heyoka greyed considerably, and even shrunk in stature.
All the while Dean began expanding in size, beginning to look more and more regal. Forming a staircase of light, Dean ascended to the stage directly, with Heyoka close behind.
Rather than a handkerchief dragon, it was more appropriate to say that he rode a serpent onto the stage.
Turning, Dean stomped his foot as the music stopped.
Heyoka's serpent halted to a stop with a cartoon screech, and his eyes widened in cartoon fashion.
They stood facing off one another, with Dean's figure outsizing his by multiple folds!