The trio steps into the apartment and Coraline carefully shuts the door. The cannons and ferris wheel are dark and quiet; the circus tent glows dimly. The corners of the room are very dark.
Merita: ( whispers to Coraline, honestly: ) This would be a lot scarier if I didn't have the night vision of a fox.
The Other Bobinsky suddenly crawls by the door behind them. They turned around, all three of them on guard, the fox plush yips at him with a cute little growl. He looms up past the cannons on their right, leaning towards Coraline, his face was completely hidden.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: Hello, ga-loo-boo-shka.
Merita goes in front of Coraline and growls at Other Mr. Bobinsky, and the fox plush cutely growled at him.
Coraline: I'm Coraline.
The Other Mr. Bobinsky then throws out his arm towards the trio and the circus ball from the mouse circus rolls from his sleeve to his hand.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: Is dis vhat you're looking for?
Coraline looked through the hole of the triangle candy, and Merita knew it was what they were looking for by the look on Coraline's face.
Coraline: Uh-huh.
Merita tries to take it from him, but he was too quick. He back-bends to all fours and scuttles around the trio towards the back shadows.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: ( to Coraline, as if Merita and the fox plush didn't exist: ) You tink vinning game and freeing kitsune is goot ting?
Coraline was scanning for him with the triangle candy while Merita and the fox plush didn't take their eyes off him as they can see him clearly with their night vision.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: ( to Coraline: ) You'll just go home and be bored and neglected...
The trio see him twine up a post behind Coraline, crawling out on a beam.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: ( to Coraline: ) . . .same as alvays.
He swings upsidedown from his ankles, his head stopping right by Coraline's, who whips around alarmed. Merita and the fox plush growled protectively as they didn't let him leave their sight.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: Stay here vis us; vee vill listen to you and laugh vis you.
He drops to the floor on his head, then slithers into the circus tent. The trio then hesitantly follows him.
When they went inside, they saw that Other Mr. B is perched on a pile of moldy cheese in the center of the circus ring.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: ( to Coraline: ) If you stay here, you can have vhatever you vant, vsig-DA-alvays.
Merita and the fox plush growled at him as Coraline looked through the triangle candy again. They followed as Coraline moved closer to him.
Coraline: You don't get it, do you?
Other Mr. Bobinsky: I don't understand.
Coraline: Of course you don't understand. You're just a copy she made of the real Mr. B.
Other Mr. Bobinsky: ( last breath: ) Not even that anymore.
Coraline pulls off his hat. Instead of his head, a huge pale rat sits there, holding the circus ball. It barks at her, Merita and the fox plush then growled at it, then the rat dives down the the coat collar. Rats leap from the coat sleeves and pant legs, the trio pulled back, horrified, as the clothes collapse. The fox plush then yipped behind them and they turned around to see the huge rat, balanced on a wheel of cheese, circus ball in paws, taunts them, then runs the cheese out the door. They give chase. When they charged, more other rats fired the cotton candy cannons at them, hitting them a few times, the fox plush was able to dodge the cotton candy that was fired at it because of its small size. When a rat fired a cotton candy cannon at Merita, and hit the back of her head, it seemed to have triggered a blocked out and foggy memory of a car crash in her mind, which caused her to transform into her third fox form letting out a scream of anger and sadness.
( A/n: What do you the triggered memory of a car crash mean? )
The sight of Merita's third fox form instantly caused the rats firing the cotton candy cannons to become afraid and stop firing the cannons to run away. Coraline looked at her with pure shock. Merita then saw the rat on the cheese wheel roll through a pet door, and without thinking, she pounced at the door, breaking through it the door. The rats ducks, causing Merita to slam against the railing, and the cheese wheel rat escapes down the stairs with the ball. Merita hollers angrily with a growl, Coraline and the fox plush ran out of the apartment to her with worried looks. Then the balcony began to tear away from the house with the stairway attached.
Coraline: Noooo!
The whole rig, with the trio on top, rotates as it collapses, throwing the trio toward the front of the house when it hits ground, the triangle candy falls out of Coraline's bag into the air and the fox plush accidentally swallows it as it crashes onto the ground with the girls.
Wheezing for breath, Coraline and Merita slowly pushed them up on their hands and knees, and Coraline looked for any signs of the cheese wheel rat while Merita transformed back into a human. There was no sign of the cheese wheel rat. Coraline then turns to look at the moon, and Merita looks at the moon with her to see that it's nearly covered now by a dark button shadow.
Coraline: ( devastated: ) Oh god, I've lost the game; I've lost everything.
Merita's face saddened as Coraline began to hug her knees crying. The fox plush can be seen trying to cough the triangle candy out of its throat to no avail, in the background as the band of light continues to narrow. Merita then sniffed the air and turned her head to see the cat dropping the head of the cheese wheel rat holding the circus ball on the ground as the moonlight stopped narrowing and pause. Coraline looks up when the cat meows. The cat licks his paws, with the rat's head and the circus ball at his feet. Merita looked at the cat with a smile, and the fox plush looked at him with its tail wagging as it lets out one more cough, but the triangle candy didn't come out of its throat.
Cat: ( to the girls: ) I think I mentioned that I don't like rats at the best of times.
Coraline smiles, and walked towards the cat.
Coraline: I think you might have said something like that.
Merita: ( to the cat, with a smile and her arms crossed: ) You've mentioned that a few times since we've met.
Cat: It looked like you needed this one, however.
The cat bats the circus ball and it rolls to Coraline. Coraline picks it up, and puts it in her bag. The fox plush jumps slightly when it and Merita saw that the yard, house, trees, shrubs, and the driveway turn ashen gray.
Coraline: ( to the cat: ) Thank you. ( Looks towards the house ) I'm heading inside. I still have to find my parents.
Merita: We need to go inside, now!
They heard a strange insect thrumming has begun. What appear to be gray paint chips or bits of paper are falling. Merita quickly picked up the fox plush and the cat, and grabbed Coraline's hand as the other world except the house unravels, and she pulled them inside the house and slams the door shut after she puts the cat and fox plush down and lets go of Coraline's hand.
Merita: ( lets out a sigh of relief ) I hate it when that happens.
It's dark and stable inside the house, with just some creaks and intermittent vibrations. A poisonous green light spills from the other living room.
Merita: And the beast is waiting for us.
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That's it for this chapter, I hope you like it
Till next time my agents of mischief 😜