The troupe meeting... could have gone better. But at least they all recognized the futility of trying to lynch him, which Antonino considers as a positive. And at least it isn't as though any of them can exactly walk out or look for another troupe to join.

So, there'd been grumbling and grousing that morning, but in the end, they'd broken down everything quickly and gotten on the road with a minimum of fuss.

It's late by the time a skeletal Antonino tottles into his trailer. The carnival is closed for the night, and his fleshy form is gone along with it. The last of the customers have gone, and the midway is silent and dark. Dawn is yet several hours away, and the night is complete. As usual, the moon and stars are hidden by the dark, pregnant clouds overhead, warning of an oncoming storm that will never, ever break.

Antonino.

The barker drops his head, sighing at the sound of the rasping voice that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere. "Yeah, boss?"

It is nearly time to depart.

"I figured it would be something like that. Attendance was low tonight. I think we've gotten all we can get. Arkham next as usual, I take it?"

No. There is somewhere new.

Antonino sighs again. "You know they aren't going to like it when I tell them that. Goin' off the circuit... we haven't had the best luck with that, as you know."

They will do as they are told. You will take them to Milliways.

It's an odd thing for a skeleton to frown, but that's exactly what this one does. "Milliways, boss? Never heard of it. How far off the usual route is it?"

It is at the end of the universe.

"You're not usually one for hyperbole," Antonino points out.

Watch your tongue, boy. You will go as you are bid.

He wisely decides not to observe that he doesn't have a tongue to watch in this form. "Of course I will. That's not the issue. But if I tell them we're going to the end of the universe, there's going to be some questions. And if I don't have answers, it could get... unpleasant."

I will direct you there, the voice reassures him. The journey will be long, but it will be worthwhile.

"Whatever you say. You're the boss. But, I mean, why now? We always do so well in Arkham and Rilea and Hobb's End."

The air in the trailer suddenly becomes stifling, hot and thick. Antonino can feel the pressure against his bones. If he had eardrums, they would surely have burst from the intensity of it.

I WILL NOT EXPLAIN MYSELF!

The voice cracks through the trailer like a concussion grenade. Anything on a shelf is thrown to the floor. Antonino himself is also knocked off his bony feet to land in a clattering heap on the ground. The boss is gone; Antonino doesn't know how he knows that, but he can just feel that.

"So," he mutters to himself as he struggles to stand amidst the clutter, "I guess we're going to Milliways."