The cheerful settings made Cavalier unbearably sick.

Why'd have to be a circus, of all things?

While accomplishing the construction of this small fare in such a short period of time was a commendable achievement, the amount of extras it attracted – albeit necessary – gave him an itching desire to burst out in a killing spree.

He had to be reminded constantly by his faceless, armed partner in crime that there's a bullet in store for him as well if he was to do anything out of what they were told to do by the Creator.

But seeing the snot-nosed brats or stickier-than-cotton-candy couples roaming about awoke some need in him to rip them apart with his bare, metallic hands. Something almost...Primal.

"Please try and contains yourself,” Stitches urged him with no actual demanding tone. “Your breathing gets pretty audible.”

Cavalier turned around to face him with an annoyed huff, already knowing that his piercing stare had no effect on Stitches.

If anything, it was his blank, featureless face that were so unsettling, it made the killer shudder. It was like something out of a horror flick, and the lack of any emotion in his voice just added up to the creep-factor.

"I just want to get this over with,” Cavalier rolled his eyes. “I'm bored.” he said and shoved his hands in his coat's pockets. He was forced to wear gloves and shoes to not stand out, and they did very little in contributing to his patience.

Stitches remained silent for a moment, flipping the gun between his hands as he was sitting calmly on a crate in their hiding spot. “Subject #2 is our only target. We shouldn't attract any more attention to our actions after we take care of it.”

"A walking textbook, aren't ya?” Cavalier turned around once again, looking up at the slowly darkening sky. “How are we even going to find him, anyway? The old man said he had some sort of...powers.”

"You'll know. And if not, I will.”

Sticking to their position around the mirror maze, their endeavor seemed almost pointless as the hours passed, until Stitches got up, stashing the gun in a holster under his suit.

Cavalier tensed up and tried to follow the direction of his non-existent gaze. It wasn't long until he saw him too – still looking like a young child with short, dark hair; a jacket piece from a suit that covered him like a trench coat; a slightly gray-tinted skin.

Feeling just safe enough to roam aimlessly in the crowd until finally reaching the mirror maze.

Once he stepped inside, Cavalier followed Stitches through a back-door entrance after locking the front one.

There was the crown piece of the faux fare, a rigged system designed to rotate the mirrors on an installed axis in order to shift them into on of few preset courses, one of which would lead a person into a dead end, all the while using a positioning system to track of the visitors.

One of them was now marked with a different color.

Carefully maneuvering the different presets, Stitches navigated all of the unwanted people safely out of the maze, before locking it in its dead-end route.

Right next to him, he could hear Cavalier ridding himself of his gloves and shoes, practically unsheathing his killing tools.

"Can you try and be just a little more patient.” Stitches didn't even need to look up at him to know the manic smirk adorning his face.

"We know where he'll end up, don't we?”

"Yes, but-”

"Then no.”

~~

Everything turned silent with a distant rattle of some metallic mechanism between the mirrors.

Valen felt as though his reflections were the only thing keeping him company, which made the newly echoing sound of rhythmic steps all the more frightening.

It got worse when he realized they were closing around him.

A shiver went down the boy's back and he immediately turned around in the identical-looking halls, trying to retrace his way to the entrance, but to no avail.

It was as if the layout changed.

No. It did change.

There was little to no doubt about it.

The feeling of walking in circles was far too obvious.

"Maybe I can still get to the exit...” he wondered to himself as he turned back around in hopes get back on track, but with no means of marking his way, hope was all he had.

He deeply regretted leaving his plush, slithering companions outside.

Realizing the way back to the entrance is probably blocked off, Valen decided to turn around again and make another effort to find the exit, but the feeling of treading in circles quickly sank in.

"I should have been more careful...” he muttered to himself as he picked up his pace through the dimly lit reflective halls, flinching as he noticed other reflections accompanying his own every other turn.

Knowing it was unlikely for him to hallucinate, Valen could only assume these other reflections were the source of the steps. There were two different ones, each with distinct features. One of which gave a familiar, metallic glint.

That beast with the iron claws.

He had no idea who was the other one, but they were probably working for the old man as well, so that couldn't have been good.

Doesn't look like he wants him back alive anymore.

They were both there to take him out, and with the odds as they were this time, they just might succeed.