The Carnival at Moonbright

1:20 AM

Feeling tired of portals, Mr. Muffins made his way through and found himself in darkness. Blinking for a moment to adjust for the light difference, more and more items came into view as he looked around. The room was circular and large but filled to the brim. Crates, cages, and sheets filled the sides, except for a small section where a desk sat. Across from the desk, Mr. Muffins could see a staircase leading up and down.

He moved to the staircase first, finding that the stairs seemed to phase into the floor and ceiling, giving no exits at first glance. Quietly, he moved towards the closest cage with a sheet over it. Taking Jimbo out of its holster on his side, Mr. Muffins slowly lifted the sheet, revealing… nothing.

What in tarnation this place?

He sighed, then moved to a few other cages and crates. While it seemed that this once housed many creatures and beasts, nothing but dust filled them now. He saw a small vial towards the back, filled with a color-changing liquid. Mr. Muffins reached in and grabbed it.

Lastly, in his investigation, he walked over to the desk. A few more vials of various colored liquids sat in the middle, with a letter written in a language he didn’t know.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

1:22 AM

A loud CRASH echoed through the room as Rhokhishi and Gisela, in an enlarged size, descended from empty space onto a crate, smashing it to pieces under them.

“What in the unholy hells are you doing, making that kind of racket?” Mr. Muffins yelled, brushing dust off clothes and fur.

“We just met with Leaf!” Gisela answered.

“It seems that the doors and stairs don’t always take you where you’re supposed to go as part of the defense,” Rhokhishi replied, picking herself up off the ground and pushing wooden pieces away.

Mr. Muffins walked over to them, holding the paper in his hands.

“Can either of you read this?”

“I can!” Gisela said as she took the paper from him. “Why are you handing me a random list?”

“A list?”

“Yeah. Six antidotes, five potions of climbing, one that lets you fly, and one that lets you swim faster. Then, there’s a bunch of random stuff here at the bottom. Something about combining some of these.”

“Well, this’ll help,” Rhokhishi said, pulling a large bowl from the shattered crate.

Mr. Muffins took the bowl and moved over toward the desk.

“There seems to be a vial missing. One of these color-changing ones.”

“We’ll look around.” Gisela immediately started looking around. Flying up towards the ceiling, she tried to find any random nook or cranny that would have been hidden from the floor.

“I found something, but it’s very small!”

“Good job, Gisela!” Rhokhishi replied.

Mr. Muffins stood over the desk, looking at the various potions. He knew this would be a test of sorts, so he’d only have one shot. Taking the vials, except for the antidotes, he poured them in one by one, watching as it fizzled, bubbled, and started to smell horrible. Once all the potions were in, he could tell there was only enough for one person.

“One of us is going to have to take this,” He said, lifting it to his mouth before the others could react.

Mr. Muffins heard a scream from below, and it filled his head as he crouched forward, feeling like his stomach was tearing apart from the inside. He watched as the world grew around him until he found himself lying on the desk. Looking down, he could see his arms and hands had changed, which was tiny compared to his usual self. He looked up over the bowl at Rhokhishi and Gisela.

“Umm… Ladies?”

He saw them taking their weapons and smashing them into the ground next to the stairwell. Shards of stone flew in the air as they cracked through it, revealing an opening underneath. They moved the stone away, looked at Mr. Muffins, said something he couldn’t understand, then jumped into the chasm.

Okay, okay. You’re small, but you’re not stuck. Let’s figure this out.

Mr. Muffins moved to the table’s edge, now towering from his perspective over the floor. Lunging back, he jumped off the table with his four legs, plummeting down. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, but it never came. He opened his eyes and found two wings keeping him up, flapping behind him.

I CAN FLY!

1:23 AM

Through the air, Mr. Muffins, in his new form, soared. Going over to where Gisela had said she found something, he flew towards a small hole, now big enough for his new size to get through, and squeezed in. What seemed like a small area led to a tunnel winding in and out of the walls. He pushed through each section until he found a small vial hidden at the end. With his tiny paws, he grabbed the vial and backed it out of the tunnel. Flying over to the table, he saw that the vial was similar to his other antidotes.

Mr. Muffins fought to uncork the first vial, then rolled onto his back to pour the contents into his mouth. He threw the vial to the side and readied himself for the transformation.

Five seconds… Ten seconds… Thirty seconds… Nothing.

Panicked, he grabbed the next vial, uncorked it, and rolled over to drink that one too. As he finished that one, he looked over to see Leaf staring at him, confused.

“What? You could help, you know!”

Mr. Muffins watched Leaf move towards the broken ground, then hopped into the darkness.

One after the other, he uncorked and drank each vial.

I’m not gonna be a tiny damn animal until I die!

He threw the last vial on the ground, then ran for the broken floor.

That had to work!

He leaped into the air and felt the sickness overtake his senses as he plunged into the darkness. The pain became more and more severe, but he pushed through, no longer having wings to hold him up and smashing into the ground beneath him. He could hear his friends and others fighting but could not see.

Am I blind now? What the hell is this hell house?