Another chapter up. As usual I own nothing and Steve Purcell owns our favorite Freelance Detectives. Hopefully this will be the last shorter chapter I upload.

Sam, Max, and Geek popped up on the street from the Sub-Basement of Solitude and made a line directly back for Bosco's Inconvenience. Inside the store, Sam went into the back of the store, looking over the various shelves.

"Aha! Devil's Own Hot Sause!" Sam explained happily.

"Ooh, and it's the Blazing Inferno Hellfire flavor too!" Max said. When Sam reached out to grab it, an alarm began to blare. Sam, Max and Geek looked around confused before a boxing glove came down from the ceiling knocking Sam out cold at the same time a clear dome dropped over Bosco.

"What in the world was that?" Geek asked confused, the alarms stopping and the dome leaving the paranoid clerk.

"B-TADS!" Bosco said happily joining in the conversation. "I finally managed to get the funds and supplies needed to allow it to stop people from taking things out of the store OR bringing unwanted supplies in. And because I could, it even protects me. Just in case."

"But why did it trigger when he tried to grab the hot sauce?" Geek asked.

"Because that hot sauce isn't for sale." Bosco responded. "In fact, it's so not for sale, that just taking it off the shelf is the same as stealing it."

"Then why do you have it out?"

"It's a conversation starter." Bosco said, "I'm a people person after all." Sam finally got back on his feet.

"Ugh, I'm sure that's a new skull crack." Sam said rubbing his head. "Let me guess, we can't buy this."

"That's right."

"Well then, do you have any"

"NO!" Bosco interrupted with a powerful shout. "We are NOT doing that. You were in here once and didn't do it. I thanked my lucky stars you didn't. But now, you're coming in here, doing it now? NO!"

Sam and Max exchanged a look. "Look Bosco, we both know I'm going to ask if you have something." Bosco gave a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, just get it over with quick."

"Got any rat repelling air fresheners?" Sam asked. Bosco gave an annoyed moan.

"What just happened?" Geek asked.

"My living hell." Bosco responded.

"Anyway, Bosco, we really need that hot sauce. Is there any way you can give us a bottle?"

"No way! That stuff is worth more than its weight in silver."

"Don't you mean gold?" Max asked confused.

"Don't be crazy fool. It's hot sauce. It's not that valuable." With a shrug, Sam and Max went back to exploring the store. Sam noticed something out of the corner of his eye on the wall up against the wall by the bathroom.

"Hey Bosco, what's this?" Sam asked.

"Oh that, the new B-TADS requires an improved hardware system." Bosco explained. "Sadly, the only way I could manage to get the system able to handle all the features at once was to install an external terminal. I would have installed it back here, but kind of made the general area I'm standing to uncomfortable."

"You need an extra terminal to run a boxing glove?" Max asked in bewilderment.

"Don't be crazy! B-TADS now handles a lot more than just the boxing glove. In addition to still operating my ballistic missile defense, it also runs a subterranean scanner and pulse cannon, sub-orbital payload shield, and oceanic shipping scanner. There is literally no way to get anything into this store."

"Boy are you talking about keeping stuff out of our store again?" The TV Monitor sprang to life showing the face of Mama Bosco.

"Momma you know this is MY store. And I don't want anything I didn't order in MY store. Besides, you don't know half of what I've had to put up with. Mafia, brain washing video tapes, TAX COLLECTORS! I'm not letting anything like that happen again." While the two Boscos argued, Sam leaned down to Geek.

"Hey, Geek, do you think you can hack that panel?"

"Maybe, but I'd need to know what kind of tools I'd need." Geek said. "Open it up." Sam did just that, managing to easily open the terminal exposing the interior.

"Hey! Get away from there!" Bosco yelled pulling out a remote control, triggering the B-TADS defense system knocking Sam out once again.

"Yeah that's right fool, I can control it remotely too." Bosco taunted as the dome raised up again. "Now close that! Don't make me fire off B-TADS again." Geek reluctantly closed it again.

"How my skull is still in one piece after that I'll never know." Sam said getting up, "But looks like we'll need a distraction while Geek hacks the panel."

"Well I'm not distracting anything." Max said. "I distract once per case. You know that. But the circus is super distracting. Maybe something back there?"

"Seriously, is there a reason you are constantly backtracking?" Geek asked.

"Just the nature of the beast." Sam said.

The trio returned to the traveling circus, but this time instead of checking the games, they walked right by them. In the new area they found themselves, there was a large tent with a signed reading "Freak Show" on it, along with some kind of black tent reading "Haunted House" along with a large roller coaster. The group of freelancers first started their new exploration in the freakshow tent.

Inside the tent was a series of mismashed beings and other bizarre mixtures of creatures. But there was one exhibit that drew Sam and Max's attention more than anything else in the tent…

"Kushman Brothers!" Sam said in total shock, seeing a pair of conjoined twins who appeared fused at the back dressed in green suits. "Do you run this place as well?"

"Ha I wish." The one on the behind with a grumpy face, Burl, said before the two spun so he was the one directly facing the group. "After you two managed to recover Bruno, for some reason no one was interested anymore. The clown mafia bought us out."

The set of twins flipped again so that the more cheerful one, Shep, was facing them. "I mean, it's not horrible, getting back in touch with our roots and all that."

"So, um, you said something happened after we recovered Bruno?" Sam asked.

"Do you think they figured it was just that Conroy chump on his bodyguard thug?" Max whispered in his own way. This earned a smack from Sam to get him to shut up.

"Yeah it was the weirdest thing." Shep said, "Everyone seemed to suddenly be under the impression that Bruno was a fake." Once again, the twins swapped.

"Even though I do have to admit, he looked a bit different after you got him back." Burl added.

"Well he had a big time while he was out." Sam said. "But this is a freakshow right? Don't suppose you have any bearded ladies around here?"

"I'm sorry, who are these people?" Geek asked interrupting them.

"Oh, right of course." Sam said. "Geek, these are the Kushman Brothers. They hired us to find an escaped bigfoot named Bruno."

"Man, I hated our voices back then. And those pixels could be so itchy." Max added in.

"I see." Geek said. "But I thought all bigfoots moved to the Northwest when the great re-forestation even occurred. Which more I think of it, you two had something to do with that didn't you?"

"Well it was more we just allowed it to happen by gathering the needed supplies for the elder's spell." Max said.

"Are you guys about done talking now?" Burl said. "Because if you need to see the bearded lady, she's right down this hallway."

"Thanks. Best of luck on your um…career." Sam said.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Shep said after another swap, "We where born for this kind of stuff." Another spin followed

"Literally."

The trio went deeper into the tent, passing even more bizarre creations. Before to long, they came across a highly lash exhibit, with a very shapely woman in a somewhat tight red dress.

"Oh yeah turn around baby." Max said. The woman turned around, for a long beard to fall to the floor. "Turn around baby." Max added again.

"So, what are two firm boys like you doing in a run-down tent like this?" The bearded lady asked in a border line sultry tone.

"Not running screaming out of here." Max said.

"Just passing through." Sam said, "But we could really use a piece of your beard."

"I don't know, do you know how much work to create such grand and luscious beard such as this?" The woman asked running her fingers through the beard.

"Look lady, I don't want to think about it." Max said, "So just give us the beard hair!"

"Ugh, is that how you talk to all ladies you vile little rabbit?"

"Lagomorph!" Max snapped.

"Max we kind of need something from her." Geek said.

"Hmph, isn't that just like guys. You need something from someone from someone, so you have no respect for her as an individual." The bearded lady added.

"Yeah I've had enough of this." Max said walking towards the bearded lady. Sam and Geek could only look away as a sound of beating filled the air, followed by some ripping noise and Max returned to their side. "There, one batch of beard hair."

"My face! My lovely beard!" The formerly bearded lady said running. "I'll get you for this you worthless rabbit!"

"Lagomorph!" Max yelled after her.