When the circus came to town, Mikey was so excited. He had never been to the circus before. So, he practically begged his older brothers to bring him there. It was one of the perks of being the youngest of his family.

Things were going great. Mikey saw so many performances. It was amazing. But when Mikey got separated from his brothers, he came across a smaller tent with a crowd filtering in. The sign next to the entrance read, “The Singing Circus Monster. Performance starting in 5 minutes.” That piqued the box turtle’s interest. So, following the crowd, Mikey walked into the crowd. He even got close to the stage! What luck! The teenagers could hear the crowd murmuring and whispering to one another as they waited for the show to start.

Soon, the curtains opened, and there stood the ringmaster of the circus. Next to him was a small cage, covered by a worn-down red blanket. "Beautiful, audience! I welcome you to the show!" Started the ringermaster, as he took a small bow. "In this cage is something so bizarre and freaky, you would not believe your eyes!" He announced as he gestured to the covered cage. Then with a quick, strong pull the blanket was pulled, revealing what was inside it.

Mikey's eyes widened and he felt a pit of dread form in his stomach.

There in the cage was a small mutant, like him. Their hair was matted and their clothes looked filthy. Mikey could see faint bruises under their clothes. This felt wrong. "This is our circus monster! Take a look in disgust and wonder what mother could have created this thing." the ringmaster said, and the 'circus monster' cringed slightly a the words. Meanwhile, the crowd made a few gasps and the murmuring increased. The man up on the stage then unlocked the cage and dragged the small mutant out to stand next to him. "Why don't you greet the lovely audience, monster?" The ringmaster ordered.