In a dark clearing, in a shy forest, on the edge of a large and over-populated city, there was a circus. The Nightmare Circus. It was filled with a ghastly concoction of delight, horror, fantasy and terror, and you every wish was their command. At least that's what they wanted you to think. For the small price of your soul they would astound you with their tricks and triumphs, wow you with their magnificent acts and death-defying stunts, and amaze you with their magical and mysterious illusions. They brought your every whimsical desire to life.

The Ringleader was king of it all. No one knew much about him, not even the members of the circus. All they knew is that he came to them at some point in their lives and completely took it over. However, it wasn't a bad thing at all. Once part of the Nightmare Circus you were part of a family and in his own twisted way the Ringleader took care of them all. Sometimes that wasn't necessarily a good thing, as many of the civilians who hassled the members of the circus had gone mysteriously missing shortly after they were seen at the show. For whatever reason the police had no clue about the ties to the dark carnival and therefore no one ever asked any questions, the staff included.

The most loyal member of the circus was a lion called Marik. He wasn't any ordinary lion though. No one quite knew exactly how the Ringleader had found him, or where, or why he took him on, but Marik had been there when the circus started, and was still there to this day. He was known to be very violent and very vicious, almost bloodthirsty. He had a grin that would scare your hair white, and a roar that sent you running for the hills. When people went missing the blonde lion would be found with blood on his teeth and under his nails and with a rather satisfied smirk on his face. Once again, no one ever questioned it. It was simply a fact of the Nightmare Circus.

Marik, with his tanned skin and golden hair, was both beautiful and deadly; yet another circus fact. What was a sort-of 'public secret' around the circus was that he was the Ringleader's pet, in more ways than simply Master and Beast. It was another thing no one asked about; it was just yet another fact. Although even with his close relationship with his Master, Marik didn't know a lot of the white-haired leader's secrets.

For example, why was he so possessive of his beloved top hat?

The Ringleader, or simply Akefia when he was in a good mood, was rarely, if ever, seen without his red top hat with the white silk band. If he wasn't wearing it on his head, it was in his hands or by his feet or on the nearest available surface. Stealing, touching, dropping, or knocking off his most beloved hat meant severe punishment on the wrong-doer. As a joke, Bakura (a knife-thrower) stole the Ringleader's hat and burned it. He was made to wear high heels and hot pants for a fortnight.

With all this in mind, it was certainly a complete surprise for Marik to find Akefia's hat totally alone on his dressing table. It was just sat there, quite innocently, without any one at all in sight. Marik scanned the nearby vicinity for any sign of his Master without finding a single trace of him. Growing increasingly curious, the lion-boy crept further into the room, sniffing the air with caution in case he was caught snooping by the Ringleader. He poked the hat gently, almost expecting it to be booby-trapped and explode. But nothing happened, so he picked it up and looked it over. Nothing seemed to be damaged, so why wasn't their leader wearing it?

Shrugging, Marik place it on his own head and ran off to climb his favourite tree. He was past caring if Akefia caught him now. It was the tanned man's own fault for leaving the darn thing unattended with a circus full of people who just loved to piss him off and play tricks on him (they loved him really, though).

The tree that the lion had deemed his favourite was a large and sturdy oak tree quite close to the big top tent. It was incredibly tall with many thick and strong branches to climb up onto, which Marik did quite a lot. With his newly acquired prize he climbed into his favourite branch somewhere near the bottom and leant against the trunk of the tree. With glee the violet-eyed blonde turned the top hat over and over in his hands, getting a good look at it while he could. As he was doing so, Marik could've sworn that something inside it shimmered, so he stopped his ministrations and looked at it closely. The Ringleader wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything sparkly so what the hell was it?

Marik saw nothing, and he cocked his head to the side in curious frustration while he tried to figure it out. Looking inside the shadows of the hat, he saw the little shimmer again. It was probably just a bit of glitter from Malik's last performance, he decided, and reached a hand in to brush it out. All of a sudden he felt a tremendous pull, and was forcefully flung off his perch, straight into the darkness of his Master's top hat.

Screaming in surprise more than fear, Marik felt himself falling, seeing a kaleidoscope of colours fly past him before a rush of darkness and finally a giant whump. He kept his eyes open long enough to realise there were trees above him before falling into the realms of unconsciousness.