His ragged breath jagged on, each with an untimed pause preceding it. He stared down at the pulpy mess that had been his best dancer and most skilled voice actor. He didn't seem to understand what he was looking at. Then his eyes glazed over and he starte…

Story is marked as mature

Story is marked as mature

The face of the mask was ruined, of course, too, and steeped in sap. There was little hope it could be repaired, unless it were rebuilt, and that would be costly.

"Get up!" repeated the boss, Robenstein. He must have been half crazed; everyone could se…

Her poor body, weakened already by the roughness of the routine, gave way and was pinioned on the interior of the false head's neck, ripping the costume open and causing a greenish gush to flow onto the stage, catching weakly at the shards of glass left a…

The first leap was difficult. It was hard on her legs, for one thing, but she saulted backwards with all her skill. The first problem was the landing. Her legs were all right, but the prop head teetered backward sharply and cut a groove into her shoulders…

This could not last long. She'd known that even before the last cartoon had started. Time tapered to an endpoint. She gave herself a burst of strengthening fluids and entered into the lunges right on time, with as much zest as she could muster. The smilin…