Takum walked along the streets of Chicago, more than familiar with the sights and sounds. It was a little strange being back after a short time. Even so, the city was quiet which he found somewhat unnerving. Not even the humans with the blue clothes were around. The silence was interrupted by the sound of the things the humans with blue clothes drove. The sirens always made his ears hurt like hell. The tiger covered his ears, usually, people wouldn't pay him any mind. So he was surprised when the noise suddenly stopped and found himself in front of two cops, both with guns raised at him.

"Looks like the zoo lost one of their animals. Why don't you call dispatch to have a zoo keeper to bring one of them cages." One of the officers said. His partner nodded and got back into the car, backing away slowly to call dispatch.

While the humans were distracted the tiger made a run for it. Even he knew that he wasn't a match for two gunmen alone, besides attacking two officers in the open would have been a bad idea.

When the remaining officer turned to face the beast again, he was surprised to see it was gone. "Mark, tell dispatch we need some cars out here! The thing ran off! We need to catch him before he kills someone!" With that command, Mark began updating dispatch on the situation.

Everywhere he turned, the tiger saw a human in a blue uniform. The sirens were more active too, hurting his ears and making him lose focus on where he should go to escape the humans. Unfortunately, one of those humans happened to see just enough of black on white to rally the other officers on his tail. Before the tiger new it, he was surrounded by the noises and the human's cars. Some of them even veering close to him. What he didn't realize was that he was being led into a trap. Thinking he would find safety in the back of a nearby truck, he jumped in the bed only to hear a loud clanking noise, then a click. The male spun around to see a human, not in a blue uniform, holding a key and grinning at him. The sirens stopped shortly after, considering their target had been caught. The human with the key then walked off to talk with one of the humans in blue.

Police cars with their sirens catapulted down the street in front of the WMAQ radio station, causing Nikki to set down her newspaper and walk to the front window. She couldn't see much, but there appeared to be a group of cruisers at the end of the block, so she poked her head outside the door to investigate further. There was a large cage in the back of a truck just beyond the assembled group, and Nikki's stomach dropped.

Oh, no.

She ran out the door and down the block, the sound of her heels on the pavement drowned out by the sound of the cage truck's diesel engine revving up and pulling away.

"Wait! He's not...STOP!!" She yelled out in vain as the truck lumbered down the street and around the corner. Grabbing hold of the nearest uniform sleeve, she tried to swallow her panic.

"Where..." She gasped, trying to catch her breath. "That truck. Where's it going?"

"The zoo, of course," he said, looking at her as if she was an idiot. 

"That's where wild animals belong."

Cesare had been out for a drive in his new Rolls Royce when he noticed the commotion in front of the radio station. He was just able to make out Takum's face peering out from the back of a truck as it passed, and Nikki speaking excitedly with a police officer on the sidewalk.

"What the hell??" He muttered as he passed, sensing something was wrong he sped down to the corner and turned around in the intersection pulling up alongside the officer and Nikki on the sidewalk.

"What's going on?!" he yelled out at her from the window of the car as the truck began to turn down the road ahead...

Nikki turned to him, panic eminating from her in waves. 

"They...they just took him. To the zoo, Cesare, he doesn't belong in a fucking zoo! He's part of our-" she stopped there, realizing how the rest if the words would sound if she voiced them. 

They hadn't shot him, there was that. No way were they caging him up in a zoo, though. Stepping to Cesare's window, she lowered her voice. 

"I'm not sure what to do. Wait 'til dark, try to bust him out?" She asked, wanting his help but knowing she'd already tapped that vein hard enough; he'd already killed for her, she couldn't keep asking for more.

Cesare turned to try to get a glimpse of which street Takum's captors had turned down,

"Get in, Nikki, we'll tail them and figure it out!"

He leaned across the seat to pop open his passenger door as she made her way around.

"Damn boys in blue will put anything behind bars in this city..." he said as she entered the car, the threw the car in gear and spun the tires slightly as he pulled away, not caring a damn for the officers on the sidewalk, then as fast as they could they were speeding down the road the truck had disappeared on.

The whole ride to the zoo found the young tiger pacing back and forth in the cage. He had never been in a cage before and the whole thing made him nervous. For a moment as the truck had driven off, he thought he saw Nikki_Swango trying to come to his rescue but he wasn't sure. 

When the truck suddenly stopped, he was slammed into the back of the cage, not at all prepared for it. Shortly after he heard a car door opening and heard two humans talking as they walked toward the back where he was.

"The Head Keeper said you should take him up to quarantine for a health check before introducing him to his cage mates. I just wanted to see the beast for myself. Tigers with white fur are pretty rare you know..." The man trailed off as the blanket that covered his cage was with lifted.

The man from before stood in front of Takum as well as a fat man that resembled the ones in blue but didn't seem to be carrying one of those shiny things Nikki showed him as a cub. He immediately bared his teeth and growled at them, ears pinned back in clear agitation. The fat man backed up, clearly not used to dealing with wild animals. He was glad, the man reeked of the stuff his human friends drank and illness. 

When the man recovered, he looked at the zookeeper. "You know, if this cat starts causing trouble, he'd be worth a pretty penny on the market." The fat man said.

"Do you realize how much trouble we would get in? We'd both lose our jobs." The zookeeper said, frowning.

"So what? We'd be set up for life. Besides, no one would miss him if he had to be put down. The vet owes me one anyway. Besides, it's not like they pay us enough to deal with these things." The fat man said, motioning toward Takum.

"Either way, we better be heading in. Otherwise, they're going to wonder if I became his dinner." With that, Takum's cage was covered and the two men walked off. The car then started shortly after so they could be on their way.

This time, Takum was prepared for the stop, keeping his balance instead of falling backward again. Like before he heard the car door slam shut and two sets of feet walking toward his cage. When the blanket was removed again, he saw the zookeeper and a woman. 

"He's not fully grown yet so it shouldn't take much to knock him out for a while." The woman said as he growled at her. The woman wasn't as intimidated as the fat man. "Easy kitty. You'll only feel a little pinch." She said as she pulled out a long pointed object. That in no way looked like it was going to be a 'little pinch'. 

The cub crammed himself all the way into the back, trying to get away from her and the pointing thing but there was no room for escape. He suddenly felt a rough and painful jab in his hip before he watched his world slowly go dark.....

It was a Sunday, and the zoo was closed, according to the sign out front. Nikki gripped the bars and peered through them at the desolate interior. With a sigh, she rested her head against the bars and sighed. 

"Okay. Well he's in a zoo. So they won't hurt him, right? But what about the other cats? Will they sense he's different and try to kill him??" Her eyes began to water; when had she become so attached?

"Let's go around back. There's gotta be a service entrance and a medical building of some sort. Surely they'll examine him first," she said, leading the way around the corner and picking a slow path through the bushes and weeds outside the zoo wall. Eventually they came across a gate, and Nikki removed her heels and chucked them over.

"Little help?" She asked, and Cesare obliged by kneeling down and allowing her to use his knee as a step before she crawled on his shoulders. After he stood, she carefully rose to her feet and spared a quick glance down at him, looking up at her.

"Getting yourself an eyeful, Torretta?" She chided, her skirt hiked well up her thighs as she hoisted a leg over the top of the gate and followed it with the other. When she dropped, though, she landed on one of her shoes and fell backwards onto her back, knocking the wind out of her.

"Fuck," she wheezed, watching Cesare pop over the gate effortlessly. "Show off."

Cesare extended his arm to help Nikki off the ground with an uncontrolled smile. "Oh, such a lady..." he taunted as she stood.

Turning towards the zoo, Cesare could make out the outlines of various enclosures. Turning back to Nikki he said, "I guess it makes sense for us to find the 'large cats' section?" He couldn't quite make out the signs from this distance, but he spotted the tell-tale waving lights of security guards wandering the various paths of the zoo.

Great. Dodging guards in a zoo is not what he believed he'd be doing tonight. They began off down one of the paths trying to find the enclosure the zoo had placed Takum in. After passing by some tropical birds, they wandered too close to a monkey enclosure. The little imps began such a racket, Cesare was certain guards from all over the zoo would be converging here. Grabbing Nikki's arm, he pulled them into the nearest door he could find.

They watched as a couple guards jogged down the path and shined their lights into the cages. "You stupid monkeys!" one shouted, "Shut up!" he kicked the cage and the group of primates recoiled and were silenced in a short of learned fear... Cesare began to worry about the kind of people who had gotten their hands on Takum.

When the guards had wandered off, Nikki looked at Cesare with a disapproving shake of her head. The two continued meandering their way down the paths in search of big cats, finally coming to a stop halfway around the circuit. She saw the shadows of a few beasts out there, prowling and pacing aimlessly inside the fence line, and she called out towards them in a loud stage whisper.

"Takum. TAKUM!" No response, just an annoyed twitch of the ears which could mean nothing at all.

"He's not in there. He would have come to me," she murmured, turning to look at Cesare. 

"Maybe he's in a holding area. Or medical, even. I'm pretty sure they would have had to dose him at some point," she said sadly.

That made sense, the zoo would surely want to do a medical exam on a new arrival.

"You're right." he admitted, trying to find a method of direction in the dark. In the dark he could just make out the large red cross of a medical wing. He nudged her arm and pointed into the dark, "There, look! That has to be a veterinary wing, if nothing else there has to be files at least that can help us find him."

She nodded the consent and they made their way to the building. "J. H. Beckinridge Veterinary Medical Center". Bingo. Being after-hours, the front door was naturally locked, so they needed another way in. Scanning the edifice, Cesare noticed a window that had been cracked open on the second floor. Too high, even with a boost up. The window was just a bit higher than the awning over the main entrance though...and someone could get up there.

"Nikki," he motioned his head towards the window, "think you can get through there if I lift you to this awning? If you go, I'll be stuck here until you can open a door..."

When Takum opened his eyes, he felt a little groggy and sore. The spot where the female had jabbed him with the pointed object still hurt too. With a little effort, he was able to sit up in the cage as he looked around his new area. This cage was a bit bigger than the previous one and the room he was in smelled like Nikki's hair place, without the smell up blood. The scent of fear was still present which confused him since he knew he was the only one in the room.

After getting his bearings, he heard a heavy metal door open and the sound of footsteps approaching his cage and stop. The tiger looked up to see the zookeeper standing in front of him with a bucket.

"Finally, you're awake. Here, eat." The keeper said, throwing meat into his cage. He sniffed the meat but rejected it. The meat smelled strange and he wasn't hungry anyway. The man frowned and grabbed a broom, using the handle to shove the meat closer. "Eat." He was told but eat he did not. This human wasn't the boss of him and he wasn't going to be ordered around. The zookeeper suddenly became annoyed. "I said eat, dammit!" The man yelled, jabbing Takum in his sore hip. The tiger released a pained noise and instinctively retaliated against the zookeeper, hooking his claws around the handle and yanking the unsuspecting human towards him. Takum then bit down then tore into the offending hand that had hurt him.The zookeeper screamed in pain and tried to yank his hand away but the hold the tiger had on him was too strong. Fortunately for the human, help had arrived after the scream.

The security guard was on break and happened to be flirting with the veterinarian who was filling out paper work in the next room when he heard the scream. As for the veterinarian, her annoyance at the guard's attempts at constantly trying to woo her was replaced by concern and fear. Both seeing the tiger and zookeeper locked in a fight for the man's hand, the woman immediately ran for supplies she would need to fix up the damaged hand while the guard worked on getting the beast to let go. If he ever wished he had a gun, it was now. Unfortunately for the zookeeper, the guard would have to improvise. The fat man ran over to an emergency kit where they kept flares to make big cats fear them if the situation arose. He lit the flare and threw it into Takum's cage. 

The tiger saw a spark of fire coming at him. He let go of the zookeeper's hand and crammed himself into the back, away from the spitting fire. As soon as he let go, he saw the female come back with a few items and the fat man pull the other man back. The human had a tight hold of his hand as he continued to scream.

The pair worked on the injured man until the blood finally stopped. In the end, Takum had managed to take a few fingers with him when he had been scared off. 

The injured man glared at Takum. "He should be destroyed. That thing is too dangerous to be around anyone." He said, turning toward the veterinarian who was about to respond when the security guard spoke up. "No, the beast is going to take another nice long nap again then I'm going to meet a friend of mine. The fact that he proved how dangerous he was more than doubled his value."

"I cannot allow the tiger to leave this facility, I agree that he has to be put down for his own good." The woman said, getting the security guard's undivided attention.

"Shut up woman. You'll do good to keep your mouth shut otherwise hubby will know about your side man." The guard hissed. The woman paled before the guard continued. "You will put him out again and we'll get him into a cage. Then while we're gone, you can put in your files that he had to be put down while we take him to my friend." He said then turned to the zookeeper. "We'll drop you off at the hospital afterward. If we can get a good price for him, you can get a whole new hand if you want." 

"Fine, but I'm not going anywhere near him until he's out again. I'd like to keep what's left of my hand." He said.

Takum watched as all three humans left the room, the one still favoring his hand. The woman and the guard quickly returned though with the pointed thing from before and a bag. Sensing that something bad was going to happen he pressed further into the back of the cage. 

"I got this." The fat man said and started another flare before throwing it into the back of the cage so Takum had no choice but move to the front. With the tiger closer, the woman was easily able to administer another sedative which had the tiger out in no time. Once he was out, the woman left to fill out the new paperwork as the guard and zookeeper worked on getting Takum back into the truck. 

A few hours later, the pair pulled into a lot of an abandoned warehouse. He had called his buddy before he left and was told to meet him and his buyer at that location. The guard couldn't believe that he had the cat sold before he even left the zoo. Sure, the deal wasn't final but his friend said something about the buyer owning a circus. Those freaks always bought strange looking creatures and to them, the scarier the better. 

Not long after they arrived two vehicles pulled into the lot. The two men stepped out of their vehicles and approached the guard and his coworker. "So, let's see this 'dangerous' beast you told me about on the phone." The guard's friend said sarcastically as if he didn't believe the animal they had brought was dangerous at all. Well, that's why the security guard brought the fingers and the zookeeper. Both were undeniable proof how dangerous the tiger actually was.

"Sure thing." The guard said, uncovering the cage. 

"He doesn't look all that dangerous to me." The customer commented causing the fat man to frown and look over to the zookeeper before motioning for him to join them.

"Not dangerous? He nearly took this poor man's whole hand off." The guard said, motioning to the zookeeper. "It even took three of his fingers." He said, opening the bag for both men to see. 

"It seems he is indeed dangerous. How much are you wanting for him?" The middle man said, wanting to get a good deal for his customer as well as get a good bit of profit himself. 

"I thought about five million." The guard said, looking between the two men before the zookeeper scoffed.

"Five million?! Surely losing my hand is worth more than that. How am I supposed to support my family with my hand like this?!" The zookeeper asked, holding out the injured hand.

The guard glared at his coworker before facing the other two men. "Fine, we want ten million."

"I would've agreed to five million but ten is a bit too much." The circus owner said.

"Too much?! Look at him! He's a white tiger. Which means he's worth twice the amount. Have you ever seen a white tiger before? I think not. Plus he's practically a man eater and is only going to get bigger. I'm sure you'll make twice the profit in one show." The guard said, causing the customer to frown in thought.

"He does seem intimidating now that I've seen what he can do and he does seem to have quite a unique coat... I'll pay you eight million since I came out here to get him myself. Plus, I have to pay your friend here who contacted me about the beast." The customer said.

The guard then looked at the zookeeper, he himself being fine with just the five million. The zookeeper shrugged then before the guard turned back to the man that was interested in Takum. "It's a deal." He said before shaking hands with Takum's new owner.

"Great now that just leaves me. I want ten percent of the profit since I hooked you up with a customer and brought him out here." The guard's friend said. 

Instead of being offended the guard smiled. "Fine, but you have to swing by the clinic tonight to give us a chance to win some of our money back." He said.

"Don't you mean, taking a bigger percent from your profit?" The man countered, grinning. "Well now that that's settled let's get this thing in the circus truck so we can all be on our way." The friend said before the men went to work and said their goodbyes. 

Later that night, while Nikki and Cesare were snooping around the clinic, three men sat at the veterinarian's desk. With the woman gone, the three men were able to play a few peaceful rounds of poker.

"I fold." The zookeeper said, grimacing in pain at not only his now properly cared for hand but also the cut of the money he was losing. 

"I was wondering. How did that tiger get ahold of your hand?" The middle man from earlier asked.

"He wouldn't eat so I poked him with a broom handle and before I knew it, my hand was in his mouth." The zookeeper said.

"Idiot." The guard responded, thinking on whether he should continue this round or not.

"It doesn't matter what he did was stupid. In the end, we all got paid a pretty penny." The middle man said before turning to the zookeeper. "And that you got your revenge. He'll spend the rest of his life in the circus jumping through flaming hoops and getting hit by whips."

The zookeeper who had been trying to ignore the pain since the accident couldn't help but grin. "I couldn't think of a better punishment nor would I ever get paid if I had." 

The guard looked at the table and finally decided. "I check." He said, setting the necessary amount of chips on the table. What the hell? He risked his life all day, so why not risk a little more of it in terms of cash?

Having been on the property when the trio returned, Nikki and Cesare stood quietly outside the window and listened as the events of the evening were discussed. A tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of Takum being treated in this manner, and she covered her mouth and stepped away from the building, heading in the general direction from where they'd come as sobs wracked her. 

She'd be back here one day, after finding her companion. She'd be back here, and she'd kill them all after offering Takum the honor, first. 

Nikki could hear Cesare, just behind her yet far enough to allow her time to compose herself as they wound back through the premises. He silently helped her over the wall once again before scaling it himself, the two of them treading through the underbrush and back into the vehicle. The two of them sat there a moment, staring at each other quietly before Nikki's gaze broke away first, her hands scrubbing down her face in a half-assed effort to remove the mascara that had smeared her cheeks. She helped herself to Cesare's cigarette pack on the dashboard, the flame igniting her smoke also revealing the eyes of a now livid woman.

Cesare needed time to formulate a plan. They'd tried the zoo but it was a waste of time. There was no telling what circus Takum had been sent to or if they were even close by. They threaded their way back through the streets of Chicago in the dark and eventually arrived at Headquarters. Nikki was staring straight out of the windshield when the car stopped. The pervasive feeling of hopelessness was seeping into the car.

The only thing Cesare could think to do was grab her hand. His touch elicited a fierce glare from her that nearly caused him to recoil before she softened again. 

They stumbled into the HQ and waited up near the phone until they fell into a troubled sleep...

Eurus had heard whispers buzzing around HeadQuarters that Takum had been abducted and brought to a zoo nearby. She was furious, she had hated zoo's passionately since she was a child. The conditions they kept animals in was atrocious and the moods of these animals were depressed making them severly unhealthy. Let alone the diets they were fed making them malnurished. She wasn't going to stand for this especially if they gave her friend away to something even more ungodly like a circus for cash.

She walked to her closet and threw open the door quite violently. It bounced off the wall but not enough to recoil into her. She started shuffling through her different outfits throwing somethings on the floor and essentially making a mess. She'd lift something up and look at it only to shake her head and toss it back down finally getting into a sitting position practically in her closet. She pulled out and old box lifting it up to blow on it and set it back on her lap. A smirk crossed her lips as she opened it glancing at something she knew would help them get in. She pulled an outfit out of the box a couple of pictures falling out onto the floor. She quickly picked them up and placed them back in the box. She got changed but grabbed her fur coat placing it on to cover herself up, because the outfit would make her mother die of a heart attack, and raced out the door.

Reaching quite out of breath the door of her Crew leader she began pounding on it repeatedly until Nikki's sleepless doomsday expression appeared and she had to stop herself from continuing to knock.

"What?" Nikki almost growled at her.

Eurus took a breath and opened her fur coat showing off her circus inspired glittering fluffy leotard. Her cheeks were the color of a rose and hot from embarressment.

"Lets go get our cat back and kill everyone who gets in our way. I just happen to know our way in."

"Also please don't ask why I have this....or why I have a second one."

She tossed it at Nikki who caught it a stunned look on her face registering what the hell was happening.

"There is no time to rest yet."

Nikki caught the leotard and stared at it. She very much indeed wanted to ask Eurus why she had sparkly circus leotards, but that would have to be another story for another day. She propped open her closet door and used it as a changing area, behind which she ditched her clothes and slid on the skintight outfit. Scared to look down on herself, she grabbed a trench coat off its hanger and slipped it on as well, belting it loosely as she stepped out from behind the door.

"I may have to shoot people just because they saw me in this," she said, accentuating the statement by cramming a handgun in each of the coat pockets.

As the two women made their way down the hallway, they ran into a disheveled Cesare exiting his office. Nikki came close to commenting on his hair sticking up at all angles when she caught him staring at her front. Looking down, she saw the trench belt had come loose, revealing the leotard within. Raising her eyes to meet his, she dared him to say something. 

Thankfully, he was smarter than that and led the way out to the parking area, the women splitting off to get into Nikki's stolen Talbot Lago while Cesare returned to the truck. 

They'd need it. They were bringing their tiger home, damnit.

Cesare tailed Nikki and Eurus. He wondered what exactly the plan was and chuckled for a moment in the solitude of the truck over the leotards he'd seen them exit the headquarters in. The tip-off from Eurus had been a god-send, and he knew they weren't going home until Takum was with them.

The winding roads outside Chicago would have made for a beautiful evening drive had the occasion not been so dark. He watched the two ladies' car veer off down a side road and into a nearby fairgrounds full of the grand splendor of a traveling circus. The large tents, sweet smells, train cars, and colorful characters were all present. He pulled in next to them as they exited the car. Hopping off the truck, he walked around towards them, "So do we have a real plan or are we just gonna..." he looked at them and couldn't help but smile, "...dress up?"

Takum woke up sometime later to find himself in another strange place. He could smell fear and pain surrounding him again. There was also a different smell that he couldn't quite place. He became alert when he heard footsteps approach the cage he was in. The tiger backed up, having had quite enough with humans at the moment when the cage suddenly opened. It was surprising, to say the least. He slowly walked out, crouched a bit as he looked around. The big cat found himself in some sort of round looking thing. He jumped in surprise when the cage suddenly closed and when he heard a cracking noise. It didn't take him long to find the source. A tall man with a long flimsy black stick stood over the cage. The human had a serious expression as he flung the thing at him. It hit him on the side, causing the hit area to sting.

The man smirked at Takum's reaction. "That's right. It hurts if I hit you with this. That is why you'll do anything to avoid it, hmm?" He responded with another attack aimed at the tiger. This time the cat dodged out of the way, keeping his eye on the human and his weapon. The man seemed pleased before nodding toward a human he hadn't seen previously. The newcomer brought out a round thing on a stick and lit it.

Takum immediately backed up, following his instinct that fire wasn't to be messed with. The human had other ideas. "No, you will jump through the hoop." He was told. The tiger refused before being hit again. He growled at the tall man as the situation escalated to one of control.

A couple of hours later, Takum was panting. He had been hit quite a few times since then, his body full of slash marks. He felt sore but he remained stubborn. Nothing was worth doing what the human said. The tall man was beyond annoyed by this point. "Fine then. Let's see how you do without food for a few days." The man snarled, hitting him again with the whip, this time repeatedly.

Instead of backing up as he did before, he stood his ground. Not like he had much fight left in him anyway. 

The human was about to attack him again when they were suddenly interrupted by a third human. "Sorry to interrupt sir but a man is here to see you about money." They said, causing the tall man to frown. Looking at Takum he got an idea. If what the men he had bought the tiger from said was true, maybe the tiger would become useful in a different way. "Bring him here."

A couple of minutes later a new human walked. This human appeared to be nicely dressed, unlike the man that kept on attacking him. "I can't believe you made me come out here. I told you to have the money by today..." The man started when he noticed Takum. "What's this?! You buy a new attraction instead of paying your debt?!" The formal man asked, obviously angered by the fact his money had gone elsewhere.

"The money I owe you is irrelevant now." The tall man said before turning to Takum. "Attack him!" He ordered, smacking the tiger with his whip.

Takum growled but instead of going after the human he was supposed to attack, he went for the man who was attacking him. The human cursed and used the whip to hurt him as much as he could, hoping to stop the cat. His assistant immediately came to his aid, grabbing the gun they had for dangerous situations. He took aim and fired, missing the tiger by inches. 

The missed shot made Takum stop in his tracks, mostly in surprise. A tall man sighed in relief. That was until he heard a familiar click sound.

"I think that cat will be more than enough to pay back the debt you owe me." The businessman said. 

"I'd rather be dead before giving him up to you." The tall ring leader countered.

"Suit yourself." The man said, pulling the trigger before a loud bang echoed through the tent.

The ringleader crumpled to the ground before the businessman looked at the assistant. "Get him back in the cage and have some of your strongest men deliver him to me. And make sure you dispose of the body or you'll find yourself in a similar situation." The man threatened.

The attendant ran and opened the cage, more than shocked when the cat chose to return to it without a fuss.

Takum was too tired to put up a fight, besides he knew well enough what would happen if he did and at the moment the cage seemed more comfortable than the ground. The cat laid down, trying to get comfortable with all the wounds.

The newest owner watched as the circus staff hoisted the cage into the back of a truck. He then got into his own car, telling the driver to head home, the truck following them the whole way.

Takum watched as the circus disappeared. The last couple of days had been crazy, to say the least. On a normal day he liked adventure, but right now he just wanted to go home.

As they approached the training ring, they were just in time to see the cage truck trundle away. Nikki calculated the distance back to the vehicles and knew they'd never catch up in time.

"FUCK!" She yelled in anger, not so much at the frustration of the situation but at the slashes of blood she spotted on Takum's coat as he was driven off. 

Leading the ragtag group to the area where Takum had come from, they witnessed a man attempting to haul off a much bigger man, this one obviously deceased. Nikki marched up behind him, an odd caricature of an enraged woman in a sparky leotard wielding a gun. Without warning, she clocked the fellow on the back of the head with it, sending him to his knees where he then sprawled face first into his former boss before quickly rolling off him and onto his back in the dirt. Nikki didn't waste any time, she fired into the packed dirt mere inches from his face, watching as he cowered and whimpered in fear.

"How's it feel, asshole? You've got maybe a minute to composure yourself and tell me where that tiger's going or you're losing the use of a limb. Or maybe an appendage," she added, watching his eyes bulge as she aimed the gun at his crotch.

The man looked up at his attacker, eyes wide. He then shielded himself when he noticed the gun was pointed at his crotch. "I-I don't know a thing. I didn't know about that man until today." He said, watching the gun. "The only thing I know was that he took the cat as payment. I don't know anything other than that. I swear." He said voice pitched in fear.