Donning the Mask (finale) - Joe

It was the circus's last night in Verona and as per tradition, they were holding a crew only barbecue to celebrate before moving on to the next city. That next city would be where Anthony would premier as the Wally's new clown buddy. The barbecue was a rowdy affair with everyone in high spirits over a particularly successful final night in Romeo & Juliet's home turf. However, it was at the height of the festivities that tragedy struck. Anthony had gone behind the tent to pass a plate of sausages to Nyra the Tiger. The playful feline had been adopted by the circus and was as much a part of their family as anyone else. She had grown especially close to Anthony as he had taken over in being her primary caregiver over the past year. Whilst Anthony played and patted Nyra, he heard a commotion outside. Giving Nyra the cue to stay silent, Anthony went to sneak a peak. A squad of well dressed men in grey coats had guns pointed at everyone in the circus. Cesar was busy talking to someone who he assumed was the leader of the group of intruders. Straining his ears, Anthony managed to make out Cesar's voice above the ruckus. "Don Luigi, what a pleasant surprise. I haven't seen you in over five years. You haven't aged a bit." Cesar's voice held more than an edge of fear and Anthony was pretty sure everyone picked up on it. "Cut the crap Cesar. Five years ago you stole something from me and I want it back. Or else!" "I can't give you back the statuette Don Luigi. I don't have it anymore. It's been five years, I wouldn't have held onto it for so long. We sold it to pay for expenses." "Oh, how forgetful of me. You did take it to pay off some expenses after all. That statuette was worth a pretty penny so I'm sure you got paid a fair amount for it. Tell you what, you give me back the $10 million that you got for it and I let you and your motley crew live, capish?" "T..t..ten million? We don't have that much. We're a humble circus. We also only gained a couple of thousand from the statuette." "Oh well. That's too bad. You know what they say Cesar, pay me now or pay me now." Before Anthony could blink, Don Luigi had snapped his fingers and ‘the boys' had opened fire, killing Natayla and Katharine in a spray of blood and bullets. Marko would soon follow and so would Jacques and Wally. Soon everyone but Cesar was dead and Anthony doubted that it was because Don Luigi was feeling merciful. His hunch was proven right when Don Luigi barked out commands for his boys to tie up Cesar to the main tent post and burn him alive along with everything in the circus. As they dragged Cesar, the former circus leader started to sing a well-known tune from The Marriage of Figaro. Anthony remembered that Natalya had taught him that one way the members of the circus would alert each other of danger was that they had a predetermined secret signal. If one of them started humming or singing an opera tune, it was a signal for everyone who heard it to run for safety. Anthony never got to see the tears in Cesar's eyes or hear Nyra's sad moans as the place burnt down. Instead, all he saw was the darkness as he ran for his life, taking with him only his prototype gag bomb, his prized baseball card and his dog tags. ---- Some months later, in a bank in an undisclosed location, a pair of dog tags and a prized Joe Dimaggio card were placed inside a safety deposit box. As Anthony looked at what he was leaving behind in the vault, he took a deep breath and sighed. It had been tough but somehow with the help of some old contacts of the circus, Anthony had managed to survive and build a new identity for himself. He had decided since that night that in order to prevent the same tragedy at the circus from happening to his family back in New York, or even to his old friends, he had to leave his old identity behind and make sure that no one could trace him to the circus. Using some of those same circus contacts, he also helped spread rumors of this new identity including one that he had lost his memory. It was just one more measure to ensure not only his own safety but also that of his family's. The hardest step had been to leave behind these old mementos - the only links he had left to his past and to Evelyn. However, Anthony eventually realized that until he could remember more about Evelyn, holding onto these wouldn't help. They would only serve as a possible link back to his past that could hurt his family. WIth his decision to embark on a profession criminal lifestyle, he could ill afford that. So it was with a heavy heart that Anthony watched as the vault was locked tight. "I assure you, Mr Kerrigan, our vault is extremely secure. Your personal possessions will be safe with us," assured the bank manager. "Thank you. And please call me Joe" came the reply from the short man in front of the safety deposit box. Said short man started laughing at the inside joke behind the name as the young befuddled bank manager looked on. As Joe walked out of the bank, he wondered briefly if he should use an adapted clown gimmick to honour Wally? Or maybe a jester was more his style... THE END?