-14 Years Ago-

Under the majestic and dazzling Circopian tent, there exists a huge corporate organization, known as the ACO (Animal Companion Organization).

It’s facilities riddle many major cities within Circopia and they are the ones responsible with selecting each young performer’s animal companion.

7-Year-Old Milano is sitting in a waiting room on the 47th floor of one of these establishments, awaiting the animal the ACO will partner him with.

The waiting room is flooded with a diverse range of kids all dressed as extravagant performers wearing colorful makeup, clothes and hair. Milano is the only one wearing a suit and tie and supporting his natural black hair.

Milano nervously glances at an electronic screen on the wall that shows random kids and the animals they were partnered with.

It shows that Gianni was partnered with a bat and Blanca with a white seal.

Milano smiles a little: “So Gianni and Blanca got their animal partners… I wonder what mine will be… I want a shark!”

Somebody pokes Milano’s cheek.

?:“Poke!”

Milano turns: “H-huh?”

He comes face to face with a beautiful girl wearing a red sparkly dress. She has smooth brown skin, yellow cheek blush makeup on the sides of her cheeks, crimson red eyes and a small amber afro.

She smiles in a cheeky way: “Hi!”

Milano lifts his hand:“Yo?”

Girl: “Name’s Solange! Don’t mind me, I just like talking to the elephant in the room everywhere I go. They tend to be the most interesting.”

Milano: “Oh. Um. I’m not an elephant. If that's what you got as your animal companion, you can pick it up from the room next door.” (u_u)

Solange chuckles: “I know you’re not an elephant silly. It’s an expression! Elephant in the room! You don’t know that? It’s like the odd one out. For example, in this room everyone is dressed with super expensive costumes but you’re the only one that's dressed boring. No offense Mr. Elephant.”

Milano looks at his suit and tie: “Aah. I thought this was business casual.”

Solange: “Ok listen up! Let’s play a game! I’ll try to guess what animal partner will be assigned to you and you try to guess mine, ok?”

Milano: “O-Ok… That seems like a doable task.”

Solange stares deeply into Milano’s eyes.

Solange: “Hmmmm… bet you’re getting an elephant!”

Milano: “Haha… I hope not.”

Solange: “Ok your turn!”

Milano glances at her.

Solange cheekily winks and poses with her tongue out.

Milano: “Hmm… A giraffe? No… Oh! A komodo dragon! Or… maybe a salamander!

Solange hesitantly smiles: “A salamander…?”

Milano: “Yea, I’ll go with salamander.”

Solange giggles in an unsure way: “I don’t know about that…”

Solange pauses: “Hey… You know how the elephant in the room is the odd one out? I think that’s because the elephant doesn’t belong in that room. Not because it doesn’t deserve to be in the room but because I think the elephant would be happier outside the room.”

Milano: “Out… side?”

Solange: “But everyone else, they’re better off inside. Only the elephants will be happy out-”

Milano points to the electronic board as his face lightens up: “Solange Look! Our names are appearing on the board! And I didn’t get an elephant! I GOT AN ORCA!!! THAT’S PRETTY MUCH A SHARK! I think…”

Milano: “And let’s see… you got a-”

Solange covers Milano’s eyes.

Solange with a cheeky smile: “Nope! I think I’d rather keep mine a secret for now!”

Milano: “Is it a salamander?”

Solange glances at the board and laughs: “Not even close dummy. Nice try though! Wanna be friends? Let’s be friends, Mr. Orca?”

Milano, excitedly with his eyes still covered: “Sure! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Mr. Milano.” (zU_Uz)

-1 Year Later-

8-Year-Old Milano is covered in bandages, soaked in blood and hooked up to an IV system laying on a dirty ripped up sofa in a cold and dusty office room.

The wooden desk has a large beige old school globe of the continental tent of Circopia surrounded by messy stacks of paper and cigars.

A voice of a man talking outside the room can be heard.

Milano barely manages to get a glimpse of the shadow of the tall man talking on the phone with a cigar in his mouth through the slightly open door.

Tall Man on the phone: “Ye’ he’s alive. All I did was sell a few o’ his organs. Y’know kidney, part o’ the lung, part o’ the liver, his dick. Hell, I got a son, gotta make ‘im useful somehow! Hahaha! Customer!? At his state now!? Whatevs I guess, sure thing, he can take it.”

The man peaks from behind the door and glares at Milano. Milano has his eyes barely open from his many patched up surgical wounds.

Tall Man: “He’s tough as can be. He is my son after all. Alright, alright, tell the customer come here! We’re open for business!”

The tall man hangs up the phone.

Tall Man: “Aye Milano! We got a customer. I’m gonna cut a little hole on the bandages around your backside ok? I know you can’t move right now, so just let him fuck you in the ass for a lil’ so I can take your mom on a nice date, alright?”

Milano can’t move. Tears start forming in his eyes and sinking down his face.

The Tall Man puts his cigar out on Milano’s tears, slightly burning him. Milano closes his eyes in pain.

Tall Man: “Good boy! Poppa’s word is final, aye?”

-1 Year Later-

9-Year-Old Solange and Milano are floating in a huge body of water in a trash wasteland under the Circopian Tent. Piles of old broken down carnivals, metals, pieces of roller coasters, costumes and animal bones surround the area. The water reflects the bright purple, orange and red colors and patterns of the tent ceiling above. There also seems to be plastic vibrant balls floating on the water.

Milano and Solange are floating close to a half sunken gigantic mechanical angler fish structure that seems to have been broken for decades by now. Their swimming suits are bright-colored and retro looking.

Solange looks up at the tent and smiles as she relaxes in the water: “So, since this ‘sky’you keep talking about is blue, does that mean water is blue in the outside world? Since water just reflects the color of what’s above and inside it.”

Milano flips his long hair out of his face and smiles: “Pure blue. No plastic color reflections from the tent.”

Solange: “Hmm. That’s kinda hard to imagine. So… Who’s to say the sky doesn’t have something even beyond it?”

Milano: “Something beyond the sky?”

Solange lifts her arms out of the water and splashes Milano.

Solange laughs: “You know, like a sky for the sky!”

Solange grabs one of the floating plastic balls: “OOU! Maybe there can even be floating balls in the sky of the sky!”

Milano chuckles and splashes Solange back.

Milano: “Don’t be stupid, Solange! Why would the sky have a sky?”

Solange wipes the water out her eyes and passes the ball to Milano.

Solange: “Guess you’re gonna have to go outside the tent to prove me wrong!”

Milano catches it as his smile turns to hesitation:“You know I can’t do that.”

Solange glances at him.

Milano looks at the ball in his hand: “There’s no way I can do that. My parents messed that up for me. That’s why I’ll live my life here in Circopia with you. At least until you leave. Then when you see the sky. Just think of me, ok?”

Milano passes the ball back.

Solange doesn’t catch it, it falls beside her and floats away.

Solange’s lips eerily move with a whisper: “No. You’re coming with me.”

-12 Years and 6 Months Later, Present Day, Beside the Pool at Milano’s Mansion-

Gianni is wearing an orca training wetsuit and he waves aggressively in Milano’s face, who’s also wearing a similar wetsuit.

Gianni: “Yooo! Milano! Wake up you edgy bastard! You snoozin’ with your eyes open now? We’re in the middle of training, you know man! What kinda trainer sleeps on the job!?”

Sky the Orca swims around the circumference of the pool.

Milano: “Ah- seems I… dozed off. Sorry, I was just remembering something I think… I kinda forgot what it was now though…”

Gianni: “Yea yea, less blah blah blah and more bla bla Blanca! Am I good enough yet? To perform with the orca and make it to the outside world to save Blanca!!?”

Milano snaps out of it and clears his throat: “That’s what we’ll be finding out today! Gianni, you’ve been training with me for 6 months ever since you came to my mansion crying about your white haired maiden… You survived a serious case of depression in the first month of staying here after finding out the sky didn’t exist where you would rarely leave my guest bathroom! YOU SURVIVED ON TAKE-OUT ORDERS AND SLEPT IN THE BATHTUB FOR NO GOOD REASON EVEN THOUGH I HAVE LIKE 8 GUEST ROOMS!”

Gianni psyched up: “YESS SENSEI, THAT WAS I!”

Milano: “YOU ALMOST DIED 4 TIMES, HITTING YOUR HEAD ON THE SIDE OF THE POOL DURING ORCA TRAINING IN THE SECOND AND THIRD MONTHS!”

Gianni proudly clenches his fist: “THAT WAS I TOO!!”

Milano poses fabulously: “YOU ATE THE RAW FISH FROM MY ORCA’S BUCKET THINKING IT WOULD MAKE YOU ONE WITH THE MAJESTIC BEAST IN THE 4TH MONTH. THIS CAUSED YOU TO SHIT THE WORST SMELLING DIARRHEA ON MY LUXURIOUS LIVING ROOM CARPET WHICH LEFT A STAIN! AND IT ALSO GOT YOURSELF HOSPITALIZED!”

Gianni flicks his hair: “HA! INDEED, THAT TOO, WAS SOMETHING THAT I DID! I REMEMBER THAT!”

Milano puts his hand on Gianni’s shoulder.

Milano: “HOWEVER, MY PRECIOUS DISCIPLE… In the 5th and 6th months of your training, you’ve improved greatly and learned pretty much all the basics of orca performance. So today… WILL BE YOUR FINAL TEST!”

Gianni: “ARGH-AGH!? MY FINAL TEST!?”

Milano: “You will perform for me and our 2 other guest judges.”

Milano presents the respected guest judges with his hand.

Bumpkin the bat and Goma-Chan the seal! They’re seated by a long white table close to the pool with rating cards that score from 1 to 10.

Bumpkin is sipping on a pina colada through a straw as he eyes Gianni judgingly: “Eeh.”

/＼^-_-^ ／

Goma-Chan cheers out with cheerleader pom poms: “GANBARE GIANNI-KUN! Dai suki!!”

(灬♥ω♥灬)

Gianni: “What the heck man. You couldn’t have called any of the thousand model girls in love with you instead?”

Milano puts his finger on Gianni’s lips and hushes him.

Milano: “Shhh, it’s alright. I will be your third judge. All 3 of us will rate you out of 10 each. In order to pass you have to earn a total of at least 29 out of 30 points.”

Gianni: “Ttw-tww-two- Twenty-nine!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!? YOU LITTLE-”

Gianni grabs Milano’s collar.

Milano turns serious: “If you can’t even get that score from us, there’s no way you’ll even come close to making the audience from the outside world applaud. You want to make it to the outside world and save Blanca, don’t you?”

Gianni angrily clenches his grip on Milano’s collar and stares into his eyes.

His stare weakens as his grip loosens and he lets go when he sees Milano’s calm gaze. (u_u)

Milano brushes and fixes his collar.

Gianni glances up at the tent ceiling staring back at him.

Gianni, under his breath: “Freaking tent…”

Gianni sighs and looks at his hand silently.

Milano grabs his hand and shakes it firmly: “You’ve been training with me for 6 months! YOU HAVE THIS!”

Gianni’s depressed look is replaced with a smirk: “Hahaha… HAHAHAHA! YOU’RE RIGHT! I’M GIANNI THE GENIUS!! I CAN DO ANYTHING! YOU HEAR THAT!? YOU FREAKIN’ TENT!!?”

Milano: “That’s not what I said…”

Gianni takes off his signature hat and shoves it on Milano’s chest. Then he clenches his waterproof makeup riddled face as he looks directly at Sky the orca.

Gianni: “Let's do this you son of a bitch!”

Sky leaps out the pool and splashes back in, spraying water all around the garden.

Milano slaps the back of Gianni’s head.

Gianni: “ARGH!”

Milano: “Don’t call my orca a son of a bitch.” (u_u)

Gianni: “Tch.”

Milano with crossed arms: “Just saying man.” (u-u)

Gianni: “Whatever… ALRIGHT! HERE I GO! WATCH ME, MILANO! YOU DEFINITELY GONNA SCORE ME A 10 AFTER THIS!”

Gianni starts sprinting to the pool full speed.

Milano lets out a little smile: “Good luck, young makeup drenched cricket. I’m not going easy on you.”

Gianni jumps up and dives into the pool aerodynamically.

-20 Mins Later-

Gianni splashes out of the water and crawls onto the poolside breathing heavily.

Sky the orca blows out water from her blow-hole.

Gianni coughing: “How- how did I do… Better than Milano right?”

Goma-Chan raises up a score of 10: “PERFECT-O!” (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Gianni: “HAHA! THANK YOU GOMA-CHA-”

Bumpkin raises a score of 9 as he moodily sips his drink through the straw: “Eeh.”

/＼^-_-^ ／

Gianni clenches his fist: “You little flying monkey bird piece of shit! You’re just jealous I’m gonna perform the next performance with Sky instead of you!”

Bumpkin looks to the side as he adjusts his sunglasses: “Tch.”

/＼^■-■^／

Milano stands upright holding his stack of scorecards: “Gianni. You were nowhere close to me.”

Gianni turns to Milano.

Milano looks down at him: “Not even a little close.”

Gianni: “But… but I TRAINED 6 MONTHS MAN! COME O-”

Milano: “However.”

Gianni pauses.

Milano: “I believe what you performed today will be enough to excite the audience from the outside world. So…”

Milano flips his score to reveal it’s a 10.

Goma-Chan’s eyes widen in joy: “SUGOI!” °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Gianni jumps up and punches the sky: “YESS!! BLANCA, I’M COMING FOR YOU! I’M GONNA SAVE YOU! AND WE’RE OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE SEX NOW HAHAHAHAHAAHA!”

Milano slaps Gianni with the back of the scorecard.

Gianni as blood splashes from his bruised nose: “AARRGH!?”

Bumpkin snickers happily: “Hihihihi.”

/＼^-▽-^ ／

Milano: “Get serious man. Tomorrow’s the big day, this might be your only chance to leave Circopia and save Blanca and that’sthe first thing that crosses your mind?”

Gianni: “Come on man… I’m a 21 year old virgin here, you know how sad that is!? Actually nevermind, don’t- don’t answer that. Of course you don’t know, you’re crazy popular, you can make love to any girl you want.”

Milano mumbles: “Yea that’s kinda hard when your dad sold your penis.”

Gianni: “What. What was that?”

Milano: “Nothing. Yo… Gianni…”

Gianni stands up: “What now man?”

Milano: “I got one last thing to pick up for your performance tomorrow. You stay home though, get some rest.”

Gianni smirks: “Wait… Is it our secret plan B?”

Milano smirks back and winks: “The secret equipment we ordered made it just in time.”

-1 Hour Later-

Milano walks and glances at the lights of the dazzling Circopian city center.

Milano gazes at a map in his hand: “Where was the exact address the equipment was located at again?”

A slender woman with a large red afro bumps into Milano’s shoulder.

Milano looks up: “Ah! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking in front of m-”

The woman ignores him and walks past. Her strong wind of perfume blows in Milano’s face.

Milano sniffs the aroma as his eyes widen: “That perfume…”

He turns around immediately.

Crowds of people flourish in the streets.

Milano stands in the middle of the road in confusion, frozen, in the buzzing city center where people move like ants in a colony.

The woman is gone.

TO BE CONTINUED