Pointer Promise

by LucaBicono

Summary:

The newest member of the circus hasn't come out of her room in a week.

Notes:

This was originally gonna be a one-shot I wrote in my phone's memos, but once I got close to the end I got the urge to go full brainrot and make it a longer multi-chapter fic.

Chapter 1: Week's End

"Of course the freakin' clown missed her cue again," Zooble sighed.

Ragatha frowned, glancing from the stage towards the upper balcony where the hall to their rooms led. It had been over a week since their newest member had joined them — not just for the opening theme, but for any of Caine's adventures, or any of Bubble's feasts as well. She'd dropped by Pomni's room the other night to check on her, but the jester wouldn't even respond, let alone open her door.

Normally, Ragatha would assume the worst and get Caine, if not to try to save their companion from mentally abstracting, then to at least quarantine her with the other physically-abstracted players in the cellar. Normally. But she just couldn't. Something inside her didn't want to face the possibility of opening the door to another lost soul — whether because the idea of an abstracted Pomni was just too sad to her, or because of her own sense of self-preservation.

Zooble continued, "What is this, the seventh day in a row she's skipped out on the opening theme?"

Ragatha cocked her brow towards them. "Since when do you care about the opening theme?"

"Since if I knew you could just sit it out, I'd never show up to begin with! I swear, Caine treats her with kiddie gloves."

Ragatha scowled. "She's been going through a lot. Her first day here was more to take in than most of us had to deal with. Be nice."

Zooble huffed in irritation, their pieces twitching in their sockets. "Oh, %$!# it, don't tell me you're falling for the wet cat routine, too."

"Lay off, Zooble," Jax intruded, clapping a hand on Ragatha's shoulder. "S'not like Pomni ran off and left her behind after being brutally assaulted by an abstracted behemoth." His eyes narrowed and he shot Ragatha his trademark %$!#-eating smirk. "Oh, wait."

"Oh, quiet, you," Ragatha swatted his hand away. "It's not like you stayed either, and you're way more accustomed to dealing with abstracted players."

"Hey, I was busy takin' care of everyone else," he shrugged. "Not my fault you decided to stick around."

"You—!" Ragatha sucked in a breath, steadying her nerves. "Look. She's going through a lot and needs time to adjust. The least we can do is not make it harder on her."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Ragatha!" Caine's voice boomed as he swooped down to address the troupe in full. "That's why today's adventure will be something simple! Something small and contained, to hopefully coax our favorite little harlequin out of her shell!"

With a snap of his fingers and a flourish, the words, 'DIGITAL NETBALL' appeared in balloon letters overhead.

"That's right! We're all going to have a nice, clean game of Digital Netball! And what do you know — without Pomni, we're short one player!"

Gangle groaned. Although her comedy mask had been repaired shortly after Pomni's arrival, it had inevitably shattered again — this time, Ragatha heard, thanks to 'walking into' Jax's outstretched leg. "Not netball again ... Can't I just sit this one out? The teams will be even, then..."

"Nonsense!" Caine exclaimed, "Digital Netball has shown to be one of the most liked activities here in the circus!" As though to prove his point, he waved his hand and conjured some sort of chart. "Out of the hundreds of players who have participated, and the whopping TEN who have left feedback, all of them have Liked this activity!" As he flew away, Gangle whimpered anxiously.

"Once all of you have gathered by the Digital Lake, the game can commence! I expect punctuality! Ta-taaaah!" He hollered as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Welp," Jax shrugged, strolling nonchalantly towards the front flap of the tent, "you're the one that wants to coddle her, dollface. You can go harass her into playing."

As Gangle and Zooble tapped the front of Kinger's impenetrable fortress to coax him out of hiding, Ragatha sighed, glancing again at the upper balcony in resignation.

-/-/-/-

Pomni lay on her bed, staring up at the striped ceiling of the room — her room. Her room. As sickening as the idea of taking ownership of anything in this maddening circus was to her, she found herself doing it by instinct. 'The' bed became 'her' bed. 'The' room became 'her' room. 'The' reflection in the mirror became 'her' reflection.

'The' body she saw when she looked down became 'her' body.

She sank deeper into the jester-shaped depression in her bed, unsure if she was actually feeling the softness, or just imagining it based on her fleeting memories of the outside world. She stared at the stripes some more. She had no idea how long she'd been laying here. She didn't feel tired. She didn't feel hungry or thirsty. She didn't feel any bodily urges.

She wasn't even sure if she could feel pain. The closest she'd come was the intense, shooting stutter in her right hand she'd felt on her first day. Almost a sort of phantom pain, like it was both there and not at the same time.

She'd even tried seeing how long she could go without blinking or breathing. She had no idea what her record was for either — she'd lost her place on both accounts.

She'd tried sleeping her first day here, just to try and wake up from this nightmare. No dice. She didn't even dream. Her chest hitched. Oh, god, she couldn't even dream in this place.

She grabbed her pillow and pressed it over her face to muffle a brief scream. This was her ... tenth one? Tenth one. She left the pillow over her face. Not like she could suffocate. She was pretty sure, at least.

She quickly removed it. She didn't wanna go down that road. Not yet at least. Suicide attempts were a last resort, she'd decided. That said, it's not like she'd tried much of anything aside from lying here.

She figured she could go out, look around, maybe look for a real exit. But she was afraid — if anything human had followed her into the circus, it was fear. Fear that she'd try to harm herself, fear of having her hopes snatched away by a phony exit door again, fear of getting trapped for good inside that maze of office rooms. She wasn't sure if that'd be better or worse.

She was suddenly snatched away from her thoughts by a rapping at her door.

"Pomni?" Her chest twisted into a knot. "Hey, New Stuff, it's Ragatha. You've been in there a while. Are you okay?"

Pomni was silent. She couldn't face her, not her, anyone but her.

"Listen ... Caine has us going on another adventure. We're gonna be playing a game down by the lake. We need an extra player." There was a pause. "I think it'd be nice if you joined us."

Pomni sat up, watching the shadow underneath her door shuffle from one foot to the other. She swallowed her anxiety, hopped down from the bed, and strode over to the door. Her hand tightened around the knob, and she steeled herself.

The door swung in. Ragatha was standing there, fist raised. Pomni recoiled a bit, before she realized Ragatha had been about to knock again.

"Oh!" The doll exclaimed, wide-eyed. "You're not ... you're here."

Pomni nodded. She knew what Ragatha had been about to say. "Yep. Still here. Still ... this." The two stood in an uncomfortable silence. "You uh ... you said that Caine had a new adventure?"

Ragatha lit up a bit. "Yeah, Digital Netball. It's down by the lake. Wanna come with?"

Pomni hesitated, unable to meet Ragatha's eye. "I-I don't know, I don't think I've heard of that game before. I don't think I'd know how to play. Or be a very good teammate, considering..." She motioned to her scrawny limbs.

"No need to worry," Ragatha chuckled, "doll limbs aren't exactly known for muscle either. And, win or lose, it might be nice to just have some fun." When Pomni still couldn't meet her eye, Ragatha said, "And I'd really like it if you were there."

"If I was?" Pomni stammered, finally meeting the doll's gaze. "Why?"

Ragatha's heartfelt grin sent a stabbing pain into Pomni's chest. "Because you're our friend, silly!"

-/-/-/-

Pomni gripped her arm, eyes drawn to the floor as she and Ragatha made their way down the hall, passing by the other performers' rooms. The other rooms, with faceplates similar to hers. Faceplates that had been X'd out in red.

Not the bright, cheerful red like she had on her costume, or like the scarlet stripes scattered intermittently on the walls, or like the rosy, frizzy yarn springing from Ragatha's head. A dark, sober crimson. Probably the dullest color to be found in this circus.

That just made them stand out that much more.

She bit down on her lip, guilt squeezing her chest like a vise. Ragatha's smile had wormed its way to her conscience. She just knew, deep down, Ragatha hated her. She'd abandoned her, left her behind — not just once, but twice!

The doll couldn't even bear to look at her afterwards, there was no doubt in Pomni's mind, she'd royally screwed up, and instead of trying to make up for it, she'd withdrawn and hidden.

"So," the silence was finally broken by Ragatha, "what have you been up to this past week? We've missed you."

"Has it been a week?" Pomni nearly gagged. "I've lost track of time, to be honest. I, uh ... I've kind of just been staring at the ceiling."

"Yeah, that checks out," Ragatha sighed. "Lots of people have that initial reaction, just, taking everything in. And you had a lot more to take in than most do on their first day."

The silence returned.

Ragatha swallowed uncomfortably. She studied Pomni's body language, the way she cradled her right arm, the way her pinwheel-shaped eyes dilated and sought out the floor. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. She should have done a better job of protecting the jester on her first day. Instead, she'd been naive and stupid, expositing instead of running — and then asked Pomni to put herself in danger!

The jester couldn't even bear to look at her afterwards, there was no doubt in Ragatha's mind, she'd royally screwed up, and instead of trying to make up for it, she'd continued to pretend like nothing was wrong.

"So..." It was Pomni to interrupt the void this time. By now they'd returned to the ground floor, walking towards the mouth of the tent. "Everyone else is going to be there?"

"Yep," Ragatha nodded as they stepped out into the digital sunlight, "Caine usually referees us, and if he's busy it's Bubble, and if they're both off doing whatever it is they do, Doctor Football fills in."

Pomni was about to ask who that was, when someone interjected, "Oh hey, the jester's alive." The rest of the troupe was waiting for them by the lake's shore.

Kinger was off to the side, studying a bush. Gangle was sitting cross-ribboned on a picnic blanket. Zooble sat across from her, leaning one of their arms on their knee. Jax was standing, hands clasped behind his head and smirking.

"Welp, gang's all here," Jax said. "Three, two—"

"Glad to see you all here, my little superstars!" Caine's extravagant voice foretold his appearance, rattling Pomni's body. "Pomni! Good to finally see you out of your room! Now then, without further ado~!"

With a snap of his fingers and a wave, a net and court erupted up from the ground. A set of bleachers joined them a moment later, sparsely decorated with mannequins. A tall seat shot up next, which Caine took perch on. A set of racquets appeared in front of each of the players, color-coordinated. Above the net appeared a ball — but not a tennis ball as Pomni would have assumed, rather one the size of a volleyball. Behind either end of the court, basketball nets shot up as well.

"W-wait, what are we doing?"

"Why, it's Digital Netball, my dear!" Caine announced. "An ingenious combination of several human-favorite non-digital sports!"

Ragatha spoke up, "I think what she's asking is, how do you play?"

"...Ah." Caine blurted. "Ah! Of course! Where are my manners?" Another snap of his fingers, and a massive book dropped into Pomni's hands, weighing her down with an 'oof!' "There you are, dear! Everything you need to know about Digital Netball! Now then, time to pick captains!"

Before Pomni could protest, Bubble swooped into the middle of the group, six straws in his teeth. The rest all drew their own — with Jax snatching the one Gangle had been going for. Ragatha drew Pomni's as well, as the jester was currently struggling to free herself from under the book. Everyone but Pomni gathered to compare straws; even if she could get up, hers was clearly the shortest.

"Well well, well," Jax tittered, holding up his straw, the longest of the bunch, "guess we know who Captain One is." Gangle mumbled something. Jax smirked. "And it looks like dollface is Number Two."

"Oh, you shut up," Ragatha huffed.

"Splendid!" Caine declared from his seat. "Now then, Captains — pick your teams!"

Pomni raised her hand. She'd finally pushed the book off of her, managing to flip it open to the first page. "Uh, w-wait, I'm still—"

Jax wagged his straw in Ragatha's face. "Longer straw picks first. Zooble, you're up."

The amalgam groaned in frustration, flipping him off as they trudged over to Jax's side of the field.

Ragatha scowled, "Alright, fine. Gangle, I'm counting on you." Gangle whimpered, taking her spot on Ragatha's side.

"Kinger's mine, then," Jax said.

The chess piece in question was off watching a ladybug, perking up at the sound of his name. "Huh? Did someone need me for something?"

Jax taunted, "Real cold, doll, leavin' the newbie as the last pick."

Ragatha's eye twitched. Pomni stuttered, "I-I'm really okay being picked last, just — wait, why do these pages fold out??!"

"Looks like you're all set!" Caine exclaimed.

"Ah, wait, I'm still—!"

Before anyone could utter another word, the players all popped into position. Pomni scrambled to move as the book appeared above her, narrowly missing being crushed again.

"Let's play ball, superstars!"

Jax dribbled the ball a couple of times, before tossing it up and smacking it with his racquet. It sailed over the center net, aimed directly for Gangle. She flinched, raising her racquet up to shield herself. It knocked her over and bounced upwards, soaring directly into the basket.

"Point to Team Jax!" Caine declared. "Pomni! Keep your head in the game! That's a penalty for negligence!"

"Wait, what did I do?!"

"You're furthest back," Jax explained, resting his racquet on his shoulder. "That makes you goalie. Sheesh, you've got the rulebook and you're still clueless."

"Don't listen to him, Pomni," Ragatha sighed. "You're doing fine. You too, Gangle! Nice hustle!" Gangle whined something unintelligible into the dirt.

-/-/-/-

Ding!

"Would you look at that!" Caine declared. Pomni shuddered; she'd finally managed to hit the ball, and when it had landed on the opposing team's side, the ground beneath it lit up. She dreaded the meaning of this. "It looks like Pomni landed on a Challenge Space!"

"Oh no."

"Your challenge," Caine began, reaching into his hat and extracting a scrap of paper with a flourish; he gave it a quick glance before reading, "is to hold this egg on a spoon in your mouth until you next hit the ball!"

He snapped his fingers, and the tail of the spoon appeared between Pomni's lips. So startled was she, she didn't even have a chance to register it and tighten her bite before the spoon and egg fell. The spoon shattered with a splat, and the egg bounced away.

"Ooh!" Caine winced as a loud buzzer sound emanated from the aether. "So sorry, my dear, it looks like you failed your challenge. You all know what that means!"

"I don't!"

Caine snapped his fingers, and Pomni felt her nonexistent guts lurch as the ground beneath her suddenly and violently pushed upwards on a spring. The rest of the cast watched as she went sailing and screaming overhead, becoming little more than a dot as she dropped into the digital lake and went silent.

-/-/-/-

Ding-ding-ding!

"Congratulations, Gangle!" Caine cheered, "You landed on a Prize Space!" Gangle visibly shuddered, pressing her hands together as though praying for something good. "Your reward," snap, "is this new, C&A-brand vacuum cleaner!"

The device poofed into existence, and Gangle shrieked as she was sucked in by her foot, her body unraveling until her mask remained painfully stuck at the head.

-/-/-/-

BZZZ!

"Uh oh!" Caine hollered. "So sorry Jax, that was a Penalty Space!" Jax groaned, smacking himself in the forehead. "Your punishment is," snap, in a cloud of smoke, Jax suddenly appeared at a desk covered in papers, wearing a suit and bifocals, "TAXES!"

-/-/-/-

Ding!

"Eat all of this cake before your next turn!"

-/-/-/-

BZZZ!

"The world's tiniest pebble in your shoe!"

-/-/-/-

Ding-ding-ding!

"A brand new set of knives!"

-/-/-/-

BZZZ!

"BEES!"

-/-/-/-

Ding!

"Read the entirety of Homestuck!"

-/-/-/-

Ding-ding-ding!

"More BEES!"

-/-/-/-

BZZZ!

"Read the entirety of Homestuck!"

-/-/-/-

"And in a staggering NEGATIVE TWENTY FIVE to NEGATIVE ONE HUNDRED AND TWO, Team Jax wins today's game of Digital Netball!" Caine announced. The players all groaned. "Congratulations Team Jax! Here's your prize!" A snap of his fingers, and a massive, golden statue of the team in question poofed into existence on their side of the field, sending them each scrambling in different directions. The resulting tremor knocked Zooble off their feet, their pieces scattering.

"Oh, COME ON!"

"And for Team Ragatha," Caine continued, "a much smaller, much less impressive prize!" In Ragatha's hand appeared a palm-sized gold statue of her own team, holding up a star which read, 'you tried'.

"Great," Jax huffed sarcastically, "good game everyone, now if you'll excuse me," he turned to head back the tent, limping, a cartoon piranha latched onto his rear.

The sun had already begun to set, the sky having since turned a mix of orange and indigo. As Kinger wandered off, following his prize of bees, and Gangle hurried to help Zooble pull themselves together, Ragatha turned towards Pomni. The jester lay sprawled out on the grass, eyes wide and unseeing, her brow screwed into an anxious knot.

"Hey, Pomni, you uh ... you holding up okay?" Pomni blinked in response. Ragatha looked around as though searching for an answer to some other unspoken dilemma, before deciding to just follow the jester's example and lay on the grass, staring up at the sky as the stars began to come out. "So ... how was technically your second day?"

Pomni made a reserved, quiet noise.

Ragatha went back to watching the sky.

After a bit, Pomni said, "Every day is going to be like this."

"Well ... kind of," Ragatha confirmed. "Believe me though, there are some good days to be had here." When Pomni didn't respond, she continued, "One time Caine threw us a pool party. Bubble barbecued for us, and we got to relax for a little bit. Most of us can't swim, and Gangle almost drowned, but, it was still nice to have a day with no challenges or penalties." Pomni hummed a response. "Then there was the time he had us play life-size DnD. That one was, uh ... W-Well, it was nice to see some different scenery, at least? Just, never mention gnomes around Jax."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

The question hung in the air. Ragatha wasn't sure she'd heard correctly at first. She turned her head, coming face-to-face with Pomni, her pinwheel eyes anxious.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have to pretend, Ragatha. I'm not stupid." Pomni sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. "You hate me."

Ragatha followed, sitting up and scooting closer to Pomni. "Pomni, why would I—?"

"Don't make me say it! You know why!" Pomni's breathing grew hoarse. "I'm a coward. I abandoned you. You were so nice to me, and you needed help, and I..." Her face scrunched up, as though she were about to start crying, but no tears came. "You don't have to pretend to like me. I know I screwed up. Just ... stop trying to hide it, okay? I can't take it."

Ragatha felt a squeezing in her chest. "Oh ... Oh, Pom, no. I'm not hiding anything. You didn't screw up. Your first day wasn't your fault."

Pomni protested, "It was!" Her hands reached up, raking into her hat. "I ran away! I was a coward! You were hurting, and you needed help, and I tried to find Caine but I couldn't and the door was there and I just wanted to leave so badly and—!"

"Pomni!"

The jester flinched, recoiling away from Ragatha and turning to face her. Her heart dropped. Ragatha's face was tight, her lip beginning to quiver.

"Pomni, it's okay. It's not your fault. I never blamed you. To be honest, I..." She swallowed. "I was scared ... I was afraid you hated me."

"H-how ... why would I..?"

"It was your first day. You must have been so confused and scared, you had Kaufmo chasing after you, and ... and I was so selfish," Ragatha ran a hand through her yarn, "I should have told you to run, to get away, but instead I asked for your help, and ... and your hand! I spread my glitching to your hand, I knew it would happen, but I was just so scared of being alone, and..."

Pomni searched Ragatha's face, her mouth moving as though to say her name, but no sound escaped her. Ragatha's breath hitched, a dry sob leaving her.

"I never hated you," Pomni said, her voice trembling.

Ragatha sniffled, "I never hated you either."

They sat in silence, the reality of the situation dawning on them. Pomni started to laugh. Ragatha quickly joined in. Pomni clutched her stomach. Ragatha wiped at her eye.

Ragatha threw an arm around Pomni's shoulders to pull her in, and the jester immediately stopped laughing, letting out a choked gasp and recoiling. Ragatha quickly stopped as well, yanking her arm back.

Pomni was wide-eyed and trembling, cradling her right hand and staring at Ragatha in fear. The look lasted only a second, but Ragatha had seen it nonetheless.

"I-I'm sorry," Ragatha began. "I'm sorry, Pomni, I'm so sorry."

"No, no, it's ... I-I..." Pomni stammered, her right hand throbbing. Ragatha was pulling her hand back. Her mind whirled; they'd just resolved things, she couldn't let them go bad again!

Without thinking, Pomni grabbed Ragatha's hand, and pressed it against her face.

"I-It's okay, see? I'm okay with this, really," she lied, her voice muffled and her whole body trembling. "I-I'm okay."

Ragatha's chuckle met her ears. She looked past Ragatha's palm to find the doll covering her mouth with her other hand. Ragatha pulled her hand away from Pomni's face, and the jester's quivering ceased. "It's okay, Pomni. We don't have to force anything. Baby steps, okay?"

"Yeah," Pomni mumbled, glancing at the ground, still ashamed of her reaction. "Baby steps."

After a moment, Ragatha held up her hand in front of Pomni's face, her index finger extended. At Pomni's confused tilt of her head, she said, "I don't have pinkies, but, maybe a pointer promise will do for now?"

Pomni swallowed, hesitating a second, before raising her left hand up and curling her pinkie around Ragatha's pointer. She shuddered once, before relaxing. She met Ragatha's gentle grin with a nervous twitch of her own.

-/-/-/-

"So, you'll show up for roll call tomorrow?"

The two had made their way back into the tent and up to the hallway, by now mostly having grown eerily silent — although, most things about the circus were decidedly 'eerie' as they were.

"Y-Yeah, at least, I'll try," Pomni nodded. "Hopefully tomorrow's adventure is...anything but more netball."

Ragatha chuckled, "And somewhere in the universe, a monkey's paw curls its finger." When Pomni shuddered, she added, "Kidding, I'm kidding." As they approached Ragatha's door, the doll turned to the jester. "I'm really glad you decided to come out today, Pom."

"I am, too," Pomni grinned. "I mean, adventure aside. It was nice to talk to you again."

The two stood at Ragatha's door a moment, both feeling like they should say something else, and both lost for what exactly that something else was. Finally, Ragatha said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." She held up her index finger again.

Pomni's smile grew, and she held up her pinkie. "Yeah, see you."

The jester headed to her door, and Ragatha opened her own. The two spared one another one final glance as they each stood in their own respective doorways. Ragatha waved. Pomni waved back.

At last, they returned to their rooms, and the hallway went silent.

-/-/-/-

Pomni breathed out, leaning back against the door and closing her eyes. Her nerves were on fire, even though she knew she should be feeling relief. Ragatha didn't hate her. Things were okay between them. They were friends.

But even then, a growing unease gnawed at her.

Even if she'd made peace with Ragatha, she still couldn't make peace with the situation as a whole. She was still stuck here — they were all stuck here. It wasn't okay. It wasn't fair.

She took in an unsteady breath and sank to the floor, curling into a ball. Today had been awful, time with Ragatha aside. She'd been launched, stung, crushed, smashed, wrung, stabbed, and more during what was apparently supposed to just be a fun game.

How the %$!# did Ragatha do it? How did she keep up her spirits? How had she not become as bitter as Zooble, as depressed as Gangle, as petty and mean as Jax, as crazy as Kinger? From what she'd managed to gather, she'd been here the second-longest, yet somehow still managed to stay kind. Was it just plain denial? Some breathing technique to manage her stress?

Her thoughts turned from Ragatha to what they often circled back around to: finding a way out.

What if she found another exit? What if she found a real exit? Caine had said he'd lied about the doors, that he just didn't know what to put on the other side. Pomni didn't believe him. There had to be a way out. There had to be.

She could remember, vaguely, seeing something in The Void before Caine had taken her back. She could remember, vaguely, something about those offices that perturbed her, but the exact reason why was lost. Had she just blocked it all out? And if so, why? What had she seen that could have disturbed her more than what she'd witnessed in the circus?

She recalled ... the offices ... a computer ... a headset...

Just as soon as she was sure she'd had it, the memory evaded her grasp yet again, and now a different fear struck her heart. Even if they did get out, even if their bodies were still alive, would they recognize each other?

Would they even remember each other?

-/-/-/-

Ragatha had stepped into her bedroom content. She and Pomni had cleared the air, no more guilt, no more awkwardness — or at least, less awkwardness — they'd even taken the first steps towards friendship, something that seemed to be severely lacking amongst their troupe. Tonight should have ended on a positive note.

Instead, she found herself paralyzed on the floor, hands over her mouth and eye wide at the sight of a red exit door in the middle of her room.

Chapter 2: Firefly Forest - Part I

"Good morning, superstars!"

Pomni couldn't help but cringe as Caine addressed the troupe. The theme song had thankfully gone without a hitch, but it still felt weird to just, stand behind a bunch of curtains and then wave at some unseen spectator. As the cast all congregated to hear what their adventure for the day would be, Pomni caught sight of Ragatha. She waved, an awkward grin on her face — and paused when she saw the stunned, distracted glaze in the doll's eye.

Before she could ask Ragatha what was wrong, Caine boomed again, "After yesterday's game of Digital Netball, I noticed that many of you seemed to be sore and out of sorts. My apologies for not providing proper post-game relaxation!" Pomni felt a twinge in her gut; overcompensation seemed to be Caine's default method of correction. "As such, following today's adventure, I have a very special surprise planned!"

Zooble audibly groaned. "Please tell me it's not vouchers for free massages from Bubble again..."

"You'll just have to wait and see, Zooble! As for today's adventure, we will be taking a field trip to," he waved his hand, multicolor letters swirling into existence and spelling out, "THE FNCHANTED FIREFLY FOREST!"

"Um," Pomni mumbled, raising her hand, "do you ... mean 'enchanted', or..?"

"I don't follow." Caine stated, staring at Pomni blankly.

"The ... you know what, sure, never mind."

Caine snapped his fingers, and a neon green portal appeared before the group. "All aboard!"

Before anyone could protest, he swooped down and ushered everyone through with a single push. Pomni felt her insides lurch, her feet leaving the ground and her body tumbling through the air as the wormhole swallowed them.

The next thing Pomni knew, she was laying face-down and splayed out on the ground. With a groan, she pushed herself onto her knees, looking around. She and the rest of the troupe had arrived in the middle of a stretch of forest, the canopy overhead blocking out any sunlight. Instead, they were allowed visibility by small specks of light that drifted through the air, bathing them and the forest in a blue-violet glow. At first Pomni thought they were the eponymous fireflies, but upon closer inspection saw that they were just floating orbs.

"Welcome to the Fnchanted Firefly Forest!" Caine announced suddenly, rattling Pomni's body as he appeared before them with a flourish. "Today's adventure finds you all in search of an ancient ruin, within which lies your reward!"

"Wow!" Bubble enthused, floating up beside him.

"Beware, however!" He warned, "Many obstacles stand in your way. It will take all of you to advance! If you need any help or happen to get lost, merely follow the fireflies!"

Bubble asked, "What kinds of obstacles?"

"Well now, Bubble, that would give away the surprise! And we don't want tha—"

"Is one of them that troll NPC you made?"

Caine stopped short, staring at Bubble in what everyone could sense was a silent urge to murder. "Wh-Why I — Haha! I don't know what you mea—"

"Or how about the dragon? Oh! What about the—"

Pop.

"Anyway!" Caine said without missing a beat. "The path ahead to your first obstacle is right this way! Good luck, and have fun, superstars!" And, without another word, he vanished.

"So," Jax sighed, "a troll, a dragon, and at least one other thing. Who wants to bet it's something stupid like a witch that wants to eat us?"

"Could be a gnome," Zooble quipped, earning a disgusted grimace from the rabbit.

"Don't even joke about that."

The group was silent a moment, before collectively turning to the resident ragdoll. "Uhh, Ragatha?" Zooble cocked their brow. "That's typically your cue. Y'know, like ... 'Oh, here's the path, might as well see where it leads.' Or whatever."

"Huh?" The doll mumbled in response, that dazed look still present. "Oh. Uh ... yeah, let's ... go. Or whatever."

Zooble and Gangle exchanged worried glances. Even Jax's brows shot up in surprise, the rabbit lost for words. Pomni continued to study Ragatha's expression, her brow knit in concern.

Pomni asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

That seemed to pull Ragatha out of her stupor, and she quickly raised her hands in defense. "Oh! Yeah! Yeah, I'm okay, just ... tired." When that didn't seem to placate the group, she added, "I'm just a bit out of it. Don't worry, an adventure will set me right as rain."

"If you say so, dollface," Jax shrugged, his cocky smirk returning, slightly more off-kilter than usual. "Lead the way if you're so into it."

Ragatha huffed, "Fine, maybe I will," and marched ahead down the path before them, the rest of the troupe in tow.

The trees around them seemed to form a sort of tunnel, trunks on either side and the canopy of leaves above. Occasionally, slivers of light would pierce between the trees, but for the most part, their hike was made in darkness.

"Do you think she's really okay..?" Gangle whispered to Zooble, eyes trained on their leader.

The amalgam didn't respond for a second, opting instead to sigh. Then, they said, "I couldn't tell you, Gangle. She's been here a long time. Nearly as long as Kinger. If she's not going as crazy as him, we might have another abstraction on our hands soon."

"Don't call them that."

The two looked at Pomni, surprised by her quiet yet indignant outburst. Pomni flushed, her skin prickling at the sudden attention.

"They're not just abstractions. They're people. And she's a person too," Pomni muttered. "We're all people."

Zooble bristled, their antennae trembling. "Must be nice," they scoffed. Gangle offered little more than a pathetic whimper in addition, wringing the ends of her ribbon hands together.

"Huh?" Pomni stared, brow cocked in confusion. "What's that mean?"

"Nothing," Zooble snarled. "Nothing at all."

Jax leaned in, his smirk foretelling nothing good. "C'mon, Zoobs, I'm sure plenty of people would pay to have the kind of freedom you do."

"Freedom?!" One of Zooble's hands flexed as if trying to strangle Jax from afar. Their claw snapped. "Oh, you mouthy little—!" Jax leapt out of reach as Zooble lunged, held back only by Gangle wrapping her arms around their midsection.

"ENOUGH!" Ragatha burst, turning around to admonish the group. "Jax, stop antagonizing Zooble!"

The rabbit scoffed, looking away and crossing his arms, pouting like a child. "Yes, mother."

She turned to the resident amalgam. "Zooble, you know better. Stop feeding into his weird complex."

"But he—!" Zooble began to protest, before scoffing, crossing their arms as well and turning their back to Jax. "Ugh! Whatever!"

"Hey, what's that?" Pomni pointed. Just ahead of the group was a clearing, where they saw what they assumed was the goal of the adventure: a large, mystical-looking temple.

Ragatha turned to face them all to offer encouragement, but paused, studying their number. "Uhh, guys? Where's Kinger?"

Pomni snapped to attention, looking around for the chess piece. The rest of the troupe followed, searching the immediate area.

"Oh, what the %$!# ?" Zooble groaned, grasping their forehead. They called out, "Kinger?"

"Ehh, don't worry about it," Jax shrugged. "He'll show back up eventually, probably when we least need him."

"How did he even get lost?" Pomni wondered aloud. "It's not like he could slip between the trees with how close together they are ... right?"

Jax said, "Nahh, he probably made himself flat and squeezed through. We can do that, y’know? Toon anatomy, and all."

The jester raised a brow. "Wait, really?"

"Pomni, wait, we can't actually — Okay..." Before Ragatha could finish her warning, Pomni had tried to press herself between a pair of tree trunks, failing miserably. Her cheeks grew hot as Jax wheezed, doubling over and placing his hands on his knees to keep himself upright.

"Should we go looking for Kinger?" Gangle asked, tears dripping from her eyes. "I hope he's okay..."

"He'll be fine," Jax shrugged. "Knowing him he probably just followed the fireflies like Caine said."

"I hope so," Ragatha said, chewing her lip nervously. "Bubble said something about a dragon, didn't he? Plus whatever the other obstacles are..."

"Hey, look at this," Gangle whimpered, pointing at the entrance to the temple. The group congregated there; the door was closed and locked, six keyholes on its face.

"Of course," Zooble muttered, crossing their arms. "Because it can never be as simple as point a to point b." They turned to Pomni. "Hope you're ready for a scavenger hunt, shortstuff."

"Hey, maybe this is a blessing in disguise," Ragatha suggested, her motivational nature glimmering through at last. "Maybe we'll find Kinger while we search."

"That's the spirit!" Pomni cheered, trying to match Ragatha's usually sunnier attitude. She cringed a bit and withdrew when the rest of the group turned their attention to her. "...Yeah."

"It looks like there's a bunch of other paths," Zooble pointed; indeed, from the clearing were multiple other tunnels through the trees. "I say we split up. We can cover more ground that way."

"I don't know," Ragatha hummed in thought. "It might be better to stick together. If there's anything dangerous out here with us..."

"Well, look on the bright side," Jax snarked, reclining with his elbow on the jester's head, "if we do, we can just pull a Pomni and leave you behind to deal with it." Pomni twitched, a sharp stab of guilt shooting through her chest.

"Hey, come on, Jax," Ragatha scowled, pulling Pomni away from him. "We already talked it over, it's water under the bridge."

"You do whatever you want," Zooble grumped, trudging towards one of the paths. "I'm going this way."

"Zooble! Oh..." Gangle whimpered, looking anxiously between the amalgam and the rest of the group. "I-I, um..."

"It's okay," Ragatha grinned. "Go with them. If we're gonna split up it's best that none of us are alone."

Gangle whined, tears dripping from her mask. "Are you sure?" Despite her indecision, she had begun shuffling towards the path Zooble had gone down. The second Ragatha nodded, Gangle gave her a grateful little smile, and hurried after the amalgam.

"We should check out the other paths," Ragatha suggested, directed mostly at Pomni. "You wanna come too, Jax?"

"Decisions, decisions," he muttered sarcastically. "Either wait here for Hoo-ha, bored out of my mind, or tag along with you and the runt and have fun at your expense."

-/-/-/-

"Ragatha? Are you sure you're okay?"

The ragdoll bristled slightly at Pomni's question. The trio had been walking in silence down one of the paths until the jester had spoken up. Ragatha glanced at her, trying to think of a response, before deciding on, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"I mean," Pomni gestured vaguely to everything.

Ragatha shook her head, smiling. "I'm fine, Pomni, you really don't have to worry about me." The jester could still tell just how forced her smile was.

"Please, Ragatha?" She asked, softly. "Tell me?"

Ragatha's eye went wide, and she stopped walking. She hesitated, the tiredness on her face becoming more pronounced. After a moment or two, she sighed in resignation.

"Alright, you caught me," she said. "Something ... happened, last night. I don't really wanna talk about it right now. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Pomni gave her a patient smile. "Whenever you're ready."

Ragatha looked like she was about to say something else, but faltered, before going silent.

"Ugh," Jax retched, a hand on his hip as he watched them. "Get a room, you two."

Pomni flushed, her cheeks warm, and she turned away. Ragatha shot Jax a disapproving glare. "You know, I'm starting to wish you'd stayed at the ruin."

"Excuse me," he snarked, holding a hand to his chest in mock hurt, "I thought I was invited."

"A mistake I should learn to stop making," Ragatha muttered under her breath. "God, this is why—" She stopped short, a look of shame crossing her features.

"Why what?" Jax advanced on her, his smirk daring her to finish the thought. "Go on, say it."

Ragatha's lips pulled tight, her arms trembling. "Forget it."

"No, no, you're the one who's always going on about the benefits of communication," Jax pushed. "Tell me. This is why..?" When Ragatha still didn't continue, he finished it for her. "This is why no one likes me, right?"

"I didn't say that."

"Newsflash, dollface," he snarked, "I don't give two %$!#s whether anyone likes me. If I'm gonna abstract, I wanna have as much fun as I can before then."

"Don't say that," Ragatha sighed.

"Why not?" Jax shrugged nonchalantly, strolling further ahead. "It's gonna happen eventually. If your weird behavior today proves anything, you realize it just like the rest of us. Took you long enough."

"Hey—!" Pomni started, anger flashing through her chest.

"You're wrong," Ragatha said, voice trembling. "I haven't given up. I just..."

"Sure you haven't," Jax taunted, continuing forward. They came to a fork, and he wordlessly took the rightmost branch.

Ragatha swallowed the hard lump in her throat, calling out to him before he got too far, "I wasn't gonna say no one likes you."

He paused, not bothering to face her. "Yeah? Then what were you gonna say?"

The silence hung between them, before she said, "Something I didn't mean. Something I'd regret." When Jax didn't say anything more, she said, "I'd miss you, you know. If you abstracted."

After a second, he turned towards her, his %$!#-eating grin wide. "Then you really are like a ragdoll — absolutely brainless."

"Jax!" Pomni shouted, her hands balled into fists. "Just — lay off!"

His grin grew ever wider. "Or else what? You'll bite my ankles?"

"I-I'll..." She trailed off, her eyes itching as they turned into scribbles, her teeth aching as she clenched her jaw, unable to come up with a clapback. "Ugh! %$!# off!"

"Will do," he shrugged, continuing down his branch and leaving the other two behind.

The jester, with no other responses coming to mind, instead blew a raspberry in his direction.

"Pomni," she stopped, her gut churning unpleasantly as she registered the disapproval in Ragatha's tone, "just stop." She turned to face her, her heart dropping when she saw the dejected look on the doll's face.

"But ... But he—!" She huffed. "He's such a jerk. Why do you let him talk to you like that?"

"It's just how he copes," Ragatha sighed. "I know he doesn't mean it, no matter how badly he behaves, or how much he gets on my nerves. So long as it keeps him from abstracting..."

Pomni's expression of anger and frustration turned to one of helpless pity, "But that's..."

"I almost said something really bad just now," Ragatha admitted. "I'm ... I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"Ragatha..."

"Come on," Ragatha said, holding her arm nervously. "Let's just ... leave him be for now."

Pomni watched as Ragatha took the leftmost branch, her chest aching. "But that's not fair..." she muttered, following after the ragdoll.

-/-/-/-

"Are you sure we should have split up?"

Zooble scoffed at Gangle's question. "Not like sticking together was doing us any good." After a second, they said, "Frankly, I just wanted to get away from Pomni. I'm not in the mood to deal with her and her %$!#. The last thing we need is another Ragatha with her weird denial-based optimism."

Gangle was silent, pressing the ends of her ribbon hands together nervously. She knew Zooble was prone to sour moods, but wasn't totally sure how to help them — especially when she didn't even know how to ask what the problem was. Her eyes glanced at Zooble's hand. She'd often fantasized about holding the amalgam's hand, if not to offer comfort to them then to receive it herself, but every time she'd thought to act, she'd chickened out.

A pathetic whine escaped her, her nonexistent guts roiling.

After a bit of walking, the two reached a pond of some kind off to the side of the path, a hole in the canopy allowing sunlight to shine down onto the water. Next to it was a wooden signpost, a graphic of a frog painted onto it.

Zooble squinted, something shining at the bottom of the pond. "Hey, is that..?" It was hard to make out, but it looked like some kind of rod. "That must be one of the keys we need for the door. Any ideas?"

Gangle whimpered anxiously, looking around for a solution. "Maybe we could fish it out?"

Zooble scoffed, "Right, like I could steadily hold anything with this," they snapped their claw. "%$!# it, Caine..." Zooble growled. "Can any of us even swim?"

Gangle whined, "Maybe we should have stayed with the others..."

"Ugh, it's ... whatever," Zooble scoffed turning away from the pond. "Let's keep on the path, maybe we'll find something we can actually do."

-/-/-/-

"Oh, what is this now?" Jax groaned, rubbing his temple as he approached a bridge crossing over a river. On the other side, he could see a silver rod sticking up from a cairn of sorts, a yellow gemstone inlaid at the end. He paused. "Oh, god, wait, this is—"

"Oh, dag nabbit, rabbit!"

From beneath the bridge emerged a short, squat, gray, horned creature, wearing a vest and a fedora.

Jax deadpanned, "No."

"You wish to pass this nexus," the troll stood in his way, "but first you must answer my riddles, sure to vex-ya's!"

"No. None of that," Jax growled. "Shame on you."

"I am Draawl Bridge, the troll! My riddles are so hard, your head is sure to roll!"

"Rhyme one more time," Jax dared. "See what happens."

"Your first riddle," the troll began, a drum roll emanating from the aether. "I am neither here nor there; I am not anywhere! Seek me, seek me, if you dare!"

Jax studied the tips of his fingers as though checking his nails. "Oh, wow, let me guess: an exit."

"I ... correct," the troll confirmed, dejectedly. "Didn't even need to think on it?"

Jax's smirk grew. "You are literally a troll created by Caine. Of course it'd be something obvious like that."

"Fine! Riddle two!" Another drum roll. "Jokes, gaffs, guffaws I cry! Unloved, unheard, oh me oh my! Yet I die! Who am I?"

"Sheesh, really?" Jax rolled his eyes. "Kaufmo. Like I'd forget that after just over a week."

"Smarmy bun!" The troll barked. "Very well! With riddle three, for your money you'll run! Cruel and callous, prickly and snide! No one will miss his worthless hide! Who will bring joy only after he's died?!"

"Wooow," Jax tittered, shaking his head. "If you thought that'd stump me, you're an even bigger loser than I thought." He stepped up to the troll and leaned down right in his face. "It's me, obviously. Now," the troll backed up a step, the rabbit's sickly yellow eyes shimmering ominously in the dark, "what do I win?"

-/-/-/-

Pomni and Ragatha had continued on, before coming to another fork in the road. Down one path, they could see a ravine running perpendicular across the tunnel itself. On the other side of the ravine sat a cairn, atop which sat a golden staff of some kind, a pink gemstone inlaid at the head. They had quickly deduced that it was one of the keys they needed, but with no way to cross, they'd decided to just follow the other branch.

Pomni had thought to ask again about what exactly was plaguing Ragatha's thoughts, but decided not to press the subject. Instead, she racked her brains for anything else to talk about, something to distract her companion from whatever it was that was making her fret.

"So," she began, hoping to think of something by the time she stopped making the 'o' sound; this led to the vowel being stretched far beyond what one would consider natural or casual, and she slowly let the sound drop to noiseless.

Ragatha forced down a chuckle, covering her mouth. "It's okay, Pom, we don't have to talk if there's nothing on your mind. It's nice to just enjoy a stroll through the forest like this."

"I guess," the jester sighed. Having finally stopped putting in effort into thinking, she naturally belted out the first thought that came to mind: "Does Zooble hate me?" At Ragatha's surprised glance, she continued, "Just, something they said has been sticking with me, and they seemed weirdly upset with me earlier. I'm not sure what I did."

"Oh, I'm sure they don't hate you," the doll reassured her. "I don't see what reason they would have to, at least. That's just how they are, standoffish and moody. I'm sure they'll warm up to you in no time." Before she could stop herself, she said, "I know I did."

The resulting silence between them was borderline nauseating. Pomni cast her eyes to the floor. Ragatha looked away, rubbing her cheek anxiously.

Before either of them could say anything more, a rumbling howl filled the air, the trees trembling around them. Instinctively, Ragatha threw up an arm in front of Pomni, who looked around frantically.

The jester stammered, "Wh-What was that?"

Ragatha swallowed, squinting to try and see through the dimness of the tunnel ahead. The air was thick with unease, and everything seemed to go still. Pomni recalled an old one-liner from the real world — she didn't think she had ever quite understood what people meant when they said a situation was 'too quiet'.

Now, however, she definitely knew. It was like the quiet was itself a sound, and it had become deafening, like standing in a soundproof, padded room.

"I think—"

No sooner had the words left Ragatha's mouth before a massive shape lunged at them from the dark woods ahead. It roared at them — a bone-rattling sound that shook Pomni to her core.

It leapt again, and Pomni could only make out a glint of claws before she went sprawling, groaning as she was struck against one of the trees. Ragatha fell backwards, scrambling on her hands and heels as she saw exactly what had attacked them.

A lion's body, a scorpion's tail, an uncannily humanoid face...

A manticore.

It snarled at her, pounding the ground with its forepaws. Ragatha backed up further. Pomni pushed herself to her knees, mind racing. She had to run, she had to hide, she had to—

Her guts churned with disgust in herself as her gaze found Ragatha. "Oh, god %$!# it..."

"Hey!" She yelped, catching the beast's attention and rising on trembling legs. "You s-stay away from her!" It turned back to the doll, and Pomni felt her heart sink in panic. Unsure of what other course of action she could take, Pomni charged, screaming, hands raised up over her head in an attempt to spook the creature away.

For her efforts, she received a heavy paw upside the head, sending her crashing face-first back to the floor with a cartoony splat sound.

The beast turned its attention back to Ragatha who by now had managed to climb back to her feet. She'd seen something when the manticore had attacked. She watched closely as it swatted the air, light glinting off of one of its paws.

Pomni grabbed one of the beast's legs to stop it from advancing; it effortlessly dragged her along. "Ragatha, run! I-I can handle it!"

But the ragdoll simply patted off her dress.

"Hey, sweetie," she cooed, taking slow steps towards the creature. "I'm Ragatha," she said, calmly. "Is your paw hurt?" It snarled and growled at her, paw cleaving the air between them. She saw what it was that had been bothering it: a large, rose-colored crystal had embedded itself in its paw pads. "You poor dear, just be still, okay?"

It snarled again as she began to pull on the intrusion, until finally, it — kept going. Huh. She pulled some more, and found the gem inlaid into a titanium staff, the majority of which was still buried in the manticore's paw.

"Shh, it's okay," she cooed as it gnashed its teeth at her. She bit the the inside of her cheek, grabbed the staff with both hands, and gave it one final tug. The manticore lashed out in pain, swiping her across the torso and sending her sprawling onto the ground.

"Ragatha!" Pomni cried out from where she lay on the ground, eyes wide. The doll raised the staff into the air before her, showing it to both Pomni and the manticore itself, who began to lick it's wound, before sauntering over to Ragatha and giving her a prickly lick across the face as thanks.

Ragatha sputtered, "Down! Down, boy!" The manticore sat itself down, inadvertently sitting on top of Pomni's head and smushing her into the dirt. "Ah! No no no! Up! Stand up!"

Pomni groaned into the ground as she was freed, the manticore backing off of her. She lifted her head up to find Ragatha offering her hand to her, and she felt her cheeks grow warm with shame when she spotted the fresh slash marks across Ragatha's chest, stuffing poking out of them.

She'd had a chance to make up for the Kaufmo incident, to not be a totally useless coward, and instead she'd not only made herself look like a complete fool, but she'd allowed Ragatha to get hurt again as well.

"Just leave me here," she muffled, pressing her face back into the dirt. "Let me feel like garbage for a bit."

Ragatha sighed, sitting beside the jester as she processed her damaged pride, before pressing a hand to her own more physical wounds. She looked down at the artifact, studying it. She'd spent enough time in the circus to know an adventure's key item when she saw it, and she tucked it into her dress's belt. She looked down briefly, her mind lurching when she saw the cotton blooming out of her wound. It didn't hurt so much, more like ... a weird, uncomfortable itch. She'd taken damage like this before, so she knew how it felt, but it never got any easier to articulate the feeling.

The manticore yawned, before lowering itself, as though inviting the two to climb aboard.

Ragatha grinned, patting Pomni's back. "C'mon, Pom." The jester groaned in response. Ragatha chuckled, before pushing herself to her feet and scooping the jester up. Pomni froze in her grasp, and Ragatha quickly released her once she was standing.

Pomni hid her face in her hands. She whimpered, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, Pom," Ragatha sighed. "It's okay, nothing to be sorry over." Pomni glanced at her briefly, disgrace in her expression, before her gaze instinctively drew to the cotton puffing out of the doll's torso.

"Does that ... hurt?"

Ragatha hummed, pushing her stuffing back in a bit. "It's nothing I can't fix with my sewing kit once we get back to the circus," she said. Pomni's expression soured further as Ragatha climbed onto the manticore's back — she hadn't actually answered the question. "Come on, let's look for the rest of the keys in style."

Chapter 3: Firefly Forest - Part II

"God, are you serious?"

Zooble and Gangle had arrived at a ravine, one of the keys on the far side.

"Are any of these keys actually like, y’know, obtainable?" They grumped, crossing their arms.

"They have to be," Gangle mumbled wetly. "Caine is a lot of things, but he's no slouch when it comes to DM'ing ... he wants us to succeed."

Zooble scoffed. After some thinking, they said, "Hang on, I'm gonna try something." They began popping their limbs out of their sockets, connecting them joint to joint until they'd made themselves long enough to function as a sort of bridge across the gap.

"Z-Zooble," Gangle whimpered, but was lost for further words.

"Just hurry up and cross," the amalgam muttered. "The sooner we get the key, the sooner we can go back." Gangle obliged, carefully crossing the Zooble bridge, grabbing the key, and returning. Zooble began pulling themselves back together.

Gangle watched in equal parts concern and fascination. The amalgam had gotten adjusted to their new body rather quickly, considering how little time they'd spent in the circus compared to everyone else. The typical dysmorphia that affected the rest of the cast either affected Zooble greatly, or didn't affect them at all, and Gangle was worried about which was a better or worse case scenario.

"What," Zooble rolled their eyes, sarcastically saying, "you see something you like?" Gangle felt her mask grow hot, and she quickly looked away. "Yeah, that's what I thought." They jammed their last limb into its proper socket, and got to their feet. "Come on, let's get this over with."

-/-/-/-

"Hey, I think that's one of the keys!"

Pomni followed Ragatha's pointing, looking out over a pond in the middle of a clearing. She squinted, spotting the item at the bottom of the pond.

The two climbed down from the manticore. Pomni hummed, thinking, "How are we supposed to get it?"

Ragatha suggested, "We could try looking for a fishing rod, or something else we could use to grab it. Caine's adventures tend to be nonlinear like that..."

Pomni sighed, "Maybe one of us could swim and get it?"

"Oh," Ragatha swallowed. "W-Well, um..."

"Let me guess, you can't swim."

Ragatha scratched her arm. "W-Well ... It's not that I can't, per se, just ... Have you ever had to walk around in a wet shirt? Imagine the shirt is your whole body."

Pomni looked around, before sighing again in resignation. She said, "Well, wish me luck."

"Pomni, hold on a sec, you don't have to — Okay..."

Before Ragatha could finish her sentence, Pomni had started wading into the pool, doggy-paddling her way towards the center. Her short limbs weren't exactly made for swimming, so the process was slow, but eventually she found a comfortable pace to go at.

Once she was right above the artifact, she sucked in a breath — just in case she actually needed it — and submerged.

Ragatha watched as the pond's surface momentarily rippled and bubbled where the jester had gone under, before becoming placid again. She shuffled nervously, the manticore brushing up against her like a cat begging for attention.

After an agonizing minute, the surface of the water broke — and Ragatha tilted her head in confusion.

Pomni swam back to the embankment, key clutched in her grasp. The rod was bronze, and, like the other keys, it had a gem set into the head, this one a mottled red and blue color. It looked ... off. Crystals weren't typically multicolored like this, were they? It looked like someone had applied a patterned texture to a crystalline material in a 3D modelling software.

Pomni shook herself dry, feeling oddly limber and nimble. Weirdly ... tall?

"Come on, I've got the key," she said, holding it up for Ragatha to see — Ragatha, who seemed to have shrank a bit in the time Pomni was gone, now only slightly taller than her.

Instead of looking pleased or impressed, however, Ragatha just seemed confounded — until a look of horror crossed her features. "Pomni? Is that you?"

Pomni's gut dropped. Why was Ragatha asking that? It dropped further when she looked at the key, finding not her multicolor gloves holding it, but slimy, blue hands with long fingers. She looked down at her body, her red and blue motley gone, replace by blue and black striped spandex.

She hurried back to the water — and nearly shrieked as she saw the frog staring up at her.

"No," she whimpered, reaching up to touch her face. The frog mimicked her. "No, no, no! A frog?! What—?!" She looked up, only just now noticing the wooden sign next to the path, showing a graphic of a frog. "You're kidding me! CAINE!"

The ringmaster didn't appear.

Pomni began to hyperventilate, gripping her head. She wasn't totally sure why it disturbed her so much. Had she really gotten so used to being a jester? She wasn't sure if that was more or less disturbing a thought!

"Shshshh," Ragatha had knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder, only for Pomni to jerk away, crumbling and curling into a ball on the floor. Ragatha chewed her lip, her chest aching at seeing her friend in such distress. "It's ... It's okay, Pomni. You're gonna be okay."

"I'm n-not—" Pomni stammered, rocking herself. "D-Don't w — J-Just — Jester not — F-Frog not—"

Ragatha tried to reach for her again, but decided against it, instead opting to just sit beside Pomni, offering her hand on the ground for the jester-turned-frog to take if she wanted it, and wait out the panic attack with her.

-/-/-/-

Zooble paused, watching the scene before them in equal parts irritation and confusion.

They and Gangle had continued down the path until they came to a small grotto, where a mermaid sat, perfectly still atop a boulder. At first, Zooble had thought she was a statue. It wasn't until Gangle had approached that they had noticed her breathing.

Gangle asked, "Are you okay?"

The mermaid shook her head, ever so slightly. "I was taken from the sea by a prince. He said we would live happily ever after..." She raised up her tail, and Zooble saw patches of raw skin, red and bare. "He took my precious scales and then left me here. He never wanted me..."

Zooble rolled their eyes. Caine was known for giving his NPCs tragic backstories. They were about to suggest to Gangle that they move along, but Gangle had instead approached the mermaid, tears dripping down her mask.

The mermaid slid a journal and pen and inkwell across the rock she was sitting on. "I wanted to write him a letter telling him off ... But I couldn't. Despite everything, I..."

Zooble again rolled their eyes — this was really over the top, even for Caine.

"You don't want to hurt him."

Their attention returned to Gangle, who had sat next to the mermaid. "He hurt you," the ribbon said, "but you don't want to hurt him. It wouldn't make you feel better if he got hurt. It's easier to just avoid confrontation..."

Zooble felt an inexplicable ache in their chest. Tears dripped with increasing frequency from Gangle's mask, but she wore a look of peaceful commiseration.

The mermaid nodded, expression still distant and unreadable.

Gangle looked at the ground in resignation, before grabbing the journal and pen. She began sketching and scribbling, until her strokes became more flowing and elegant. Zooble peered over her shoulder, watching her work. After a bit, she held up the notebook to the mermaid.

She said, "I know it won't tangibly help, but ... I hope it at least makes you feel better."

It was an ink drawing of the mermaid, hair blowing in a breeze which, Zooble mentally noted, was nonexistent in the forest. The mermaid stared at it for a second, before letting out a choked sound, something between a laugh and a sob.

"Thank you," she whimpered, wiping at her face — where before her expression had been dry and emotionless, she was now crying freely, her face scrunched up into a crushed smile.

"I hope you feel better soon," Gangle mumbled, before getting back to her feet.

"Wait," said the mermaid, "please, take this." She reached behind the boulder she was sitting on, and Zooble's jaw would have clenched if they had one.

-/-/-/-

Jax smirked as he saw Zooble and Gangle emerging from one of the paths, both carrying a key each — a red one with a white gem grasped in Gangle's ribbons.

"Took you long enough," he snarked, pretending to check his nails. "I brought one back myself, so I've done my share of the work already."

"Oh, shut up, Jax," Zooble growled, adjusting their limbs in their sockets. They glanced at Gangle, concern churning in their gut. They'd finally figured out exactly what this adventure was.

Caine was deliberately throwing them into challenges that each of them were specifically suited for — whether it be based on physicality or personality.

"W-Wait," Gangle mumbled, "where's Ragatha and Pomni? Weren't they with you?"

"Got separated at some point," Jax said, nonchalantly. "Dollface can hold her own." He snatched Gangle's key out of her hand, and slid it into the corresponding lock — beneath the one he'd inserted his own key into. He was about to ask what the next course of action should be, when suddenly a roar rattled the world. If any of them had blood, it would have run cold at that moment.

Gangle huddled behind Zooble, gripping their arm. Zooble eyed the woods suspiciously. Jax's ears swiveled, trying to hear any other incoming sounds.

"Didn't Bubble say something about a dragon..?" Gangle whimpered, trembling.

"God %$!# it, Caine..." Zooble cussed, though their tone trembled for the briefest of moments.

As they scanned the trees, they saw someone approaching — Ragatha and a frog, riding on top of ... a lion with a human face. That definitely wasn't unsettling at all.

"Oh, goodie, another lame NPC," Jax scoffed at the frog as they dismounted. "What is it this time? And I swear, if you start rhyming like that other loser—"

"Jax," the frog said, cringing, "it's me."

He stared at her and narrowed his eyes, before his trademark smirk returned in full force. "Oh my god! Pomni?" She whined, crossing her arms and pouting. "Holy %$!# ! What th' heck happened to you?"

"I don't know! This key was at the bottom of a pond and I think the water did this to me!" She explained, frantically. "I just wanna get this adventure over with so Caine can change me back!"

"Really?" Jax taunted, "You wanna go back to bein' a clown?"

"Shocking, I know," she twitched. "I just ... This body feels wrong."

Zooble rolled their eyes and inserted their own key into the door. "Huh. Can't imagine. Don't worry, at least you're still a person, right?"

Pomni was about to snap at them — of course she didn't feel like a person, she was a frog! — before catching herself. Out of everyone in the circus, it only just now dawned on her, hers was the most 'human' body. A ragdoll, a rabbit, a ribbon, a chess piece, a pile of shapes...

She chewed her lip as she felt shame clutch at her chest.

Ragatha held up her key, "Did we each find one of these?"

"Oh, yeah," Jax snickered, "see, what you wanna do is find as many as you can, and shove 'em way up your—"

His innuendo was interrupted by another roar of fury from elsewhere in the forest. Pomni trembled, looking around for the unseen source of the noise. Gangle cowered behind Zooble. The manticore took up a protective stance in front of Ragatha.

"Jax," Pomni hissed, her lanky limbs rattling, "what the %$!# was that?"

"Maybe Kinger abstracted," he shrugged, smirk widening.

Pomni froze, glaring at him. "Don't say that," she warned.

The makings of a snarky response were visible on Jax's face, when suddenly the roar came again. The ground shook as a massive creature landed in front of the ruin, sights trained on the performers, who could only stare wide-eyed. Gigantic wings, an iridescent body, bright red eyes, a long tail, six legs, powerful jaws — right away they knew what they were looking at.

"Oh," Pomni whimpered, an involuntary laugh escaping her, "that ... yeah, dragon. Okay. I get it now."

The dragonfly roared again, charging for them all.

The troupe scattered, causing the giant insect to slam into the ruin. It shook itself back to its senses quickly, before locking its sights on Pomni and darting for her. She stumbled as she ran, still not used to such awkward limbs — and tripped, quickly rolling onto her back and holding up her key as it descended upon her. As it snapped its mandibles, the key stopped them from closing, allowing Pomni to roll out of the way.

The dragonfly shook its head, trying to dislodge the rod, finally spitting it out and sending it spinning through the air. It struck the ruin wall end-first, embedding itself in the stone.

"Here," Ragatha urged, passing her key to Zooble, "get the door open! I'll help Pomni!" She mounted the manticore, galloping towards the dragonfly.

"Ugh!" Zooble scoffed. " %$!# it, Caine, stupid dragonfly, stupid adventure, stupid..." They grumbled as they hobbled to the door, jamming the key in and turning it.

Gangle had hurried to Pomni's key, straining to pull it free. Jax stood off to the side, reclining against the wall. He called, "Put your back into it, Ribbons!"

Gangle whined, "Could you help at all?"

Jax shrugged. "What's the magic word?"

"%$!# off!" Zooble barked, grabbing the key and helping Gangle yank it out of the stone.

"You're wasting your time," Jax rolled his eyes as the pair inserted the key. "In case you haven't noticed..." He patted the wall beside the final keyhole, the corresponding key still having not been found.

"God—!" Zooble exclaimed, gripping the sides of their head. "Screw this!"

Meanwhile, the dragonfly had been pursuing Pomni around the ruin. It lunged, snapping its maw at her. She could feel it getting closer to a bite with each attempt. The image came to mind of a game of Pac-Man.

It leapt into the air, and with a flap of its wings, propelled itself in front of the frog. The ground shook as it landed, and Pomni fell onto her backside as she tried to stop herself.

The dragonfly lunged, and Pomni covered her head as it bore down on her.

The air was filled with a shriek as Ragatha and the manticore leapt between the dragonfly and Pomni, clawing one of its eyes. Ragatha grabbed Pomni by the arm and pulled her aboard, and the manticore bolted. The dragonfly turned to follow them, only to trip — Gangle had wrapped herself around two of its legs.

It thrashed and screeched, its ensnared legs writhing as it tried to free itself. When Gangle remained tightly wound around it, it took to the air, wings beating as loud as a jet engine.

Zooble ripped one of their arms out of its socket and threw it as hard as they could at the dragonfly. Their disembodied arm latched onto the insect's back and began to crawl its way to its head, making a nuisance of itself to distract the beast.

In its midair thrashing and wriggling, it careened to the floor, the resulting tremors knocking everyone — Zooble, Jax, even the manticore and Ragatha and Pomni — into the air.

Zooble's pieces scattered. Gangle became disentangled from its legs. Jax struck the temple, bouncing back to the ground. Pomni struck the ground first, followed by Ragatha, who smacked into the frog face-first with a comical BONK.

The dragonfly struggled back to its feet, screeching and shrieking and writhing. It swung its head around, trying to pick out its next target — only for a bright light to emanate from above.

Everyone watched as, carried by 'actual' fireflies in a messianic manner and carrying a key of his own, Kinger gracefully descended, a harp and choir playing from the aether.

Without so much as opening his eyes, Kinger was brought down before the dragonfly, placed his hand upon its head, and, without a word, the dragonfly became docile, bowing down as Kinger finished his descent. Once the chess piece had reached the ground, the dragonfly sat back up, and took off into the sky.

Zooble groaned, their head face-down in the dirt, "Wait, what just happened?"

As everyone gathered themselves, Gangle picking up Zooble's pieces and Kinger looking around in confusion, Ragatha pushed herself up and reached down to help Pomni — exclaiming softly when she saw not a frog but a jester sprawled beneath her. At Ragatha's noise of surprise, Pomni looked herself over, just as shocked, before sighing in relief and taking the offered hand.

"Jeez," Jax groaned, "of course you'd show up at the last second and be the hero."

Kinger blinked, "Be the what?" After a second, he let out a shocked yelp. "Jax! Oh, you startled me."

"Give me that," Jax huffed, snatching the key — and taking Kinger's hands along with it momentarily, before prying them off.

Once the final key was inserted, the door slid open, revealing to the troupe as they gathered a dark, descending passageway.

"Yeah, that's not ominous at all..." Zooble grunted as they popped their head back onto their body. "What're the odds Caine's got one last little %$!# you waiting for us down there?"

"He said our reward would be inside," Ragatha reasoned. "He doesn't usually have us fight more than one boss before the end."

And so, the troupe descended into the ruin. From its appearance, Pomni would have expected to be overwhelmed by the stench of stagnant air and dust — but given the nature of the circus, she wasn't sure if the resulting sensation came from her olfactory senses or just from mental expectation.

She was pulled from her tiny existential crisis when they came upon a doorway at the bottom of the passage. There were no other halls to turn down, and so, with the assumption that their reward lay on the other side, the troupe entered — to a jumpscare in the form of horns and confetti and Caine's booming voice.

"CONGRATULATIONS, MY SACCHARINE SAPLINGS!" The ringmaster appeared, donning a sleeping cap and gown over his usual coat, and a candle at the head of his namesake. "You've successfully conquered the Fnchanted Firefly Forest!" To Pomni, he proclaimed, "Ah, and it looks like you even found the princess to undo the Amphibious Curse!"

"Princess?"

"The mermaid princess!" Caine said, as though expecting them all to understand. When their puzzled expressions remained, his aplomb dwindled ever so slightly. "She was meant to kiss whoever swam in the cursed waters to turn them back to normal?"

"We got one of the keys from her," Gangle mumbled, "but I don't think we saw her after that ... did we?"

"Pomni turned back to normal after the boss was defeated," Ragatha confirmed.

Caine hovered, a blank look in his eyes. He briefly looked at his weird wristwatch thing and scratched the side of his molars, muttering a confused, "That can't be right," before springing back to enthusiasm. "Well! All's well that ends well! Your reward is..!"

With a snap of his fingers, the chamber lit up to reveal, rather than an old, stone ruin, they were standing in the middle of a giant bedroom. The floor was covered in a plush carpet and stray pillows, blankets, and countless stuffed animals. Exchanging surprised looks, the troupe realized they were all donning some variation of sleepwear as well.

"A SLEEPOVER!" Caine announced. Everyone stared at him, aside from Kinger, who had begun collecting pillows. At the troupe's perplexed and annoyed expressions, he added, "I saw how sore and out of sorts you all were after yesterday's adventure, yet despite this, several of you were unable to rest! I hope this accommodates you all!"

"It does look kind of cozy..." Gangle mumbled.

Zooble groaned, "God, I'd rather just go back to my own room."

Caine stalled, "But — what about your prize?"

The amalgam exploded, "This isn't a prize for all of us, Caine! Some of us like solitude and peace and quiet after an adventure!"

Caine tilted his head curiously. "Does this not meet those parameters?"

"NO!"

Kinger shrieked, "Zooble!" They turned around, about to go off on the chess piece as well, before processing what they were looking at. Kinger had set up a pillow fort, much like his own standard impenetrable fortress, and was holding the 'door' open. He stated, "This is where I go when I want to be alone."

Zooble looked between Kinger and the fort, speechless before letting out a frustrated grunt. "Sure, whatever." After a second they added, "Thanks, Kinger."

Caine enthused, "There you go! And not to worry, Zooble — I've taken your feedback and will be sure to keep it in mind from this point on!" He turned to the rest of the troupe. "Is there anything else I can learn from?"

Jax deadpanned, "I vote for getting rid of the swear filter."

Caine replied, just as chipper as ever, "Not on your life, Jax!"

"W-Well," Pomni said, "maybe ... warn us before changing our outfits or bodies? Or give us an opt-out?"

The ringmaster nodded approvingly. "Noted!" When no one else seemed particularly eager to provide feedback, Caine said, "Well! I'm off to run diagnostics on the circus; Bubble can only do so much on his own! I'll be sure to teleport you all back to your rooms in time for tomorrow's adventure, so don't worry about being late! Nighty night, Starlights!"

With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Dibs on the big bed!" Jax threw himself backwards onto the largest, comfiest-looking bed, only to sink so deep into it that only his ears and legs were sticking out.

The rest of the troupe had begun to settle into their collective reward in different ways. Zooble had dismantled the fort Kinger had made for them and moved its construction to the corner of the chamber. Kinger had already constructed his own fort and disappeared inside. Gangle had grabbed a plushie of a character from what Pomni assumed was some anime. Ragatha, meanwhile, had retreated into herself again, watching the walls and floor anxiously, gripping her arm.

Pomni could only search her mind for something to say. She desperately wanted to ask what was wrong, to understand what had Ragatha so unnerved, but she also didn't want to overstep. Her anxiety was beginning to go into overdrive trying to figure out how to approach, before she struck a nugget of clarity. She reached out, and curled her pinkie around Ragatha's pointer, catching her attention.

She asked, "Are you okay, Ragatha?"

The ragdoll's expression softened and relaxed, and she grinned. "I will be, thank you, Pom." After a moment, her expression fell again slightly. "Actually ... when we get back to the circus tomorrow, could you ... come to my room? I just ... I need to know I haven't started to lose it. I need to know someone else can see it."

"Yeah, of course," Pomni nodded.

"Thank you," Ragatha sighed. "I'm sorry, Pomni. I know it's selfish of me, but..."

"Hey, it's okay to be selfish sometimes," Pomni reassured her. "I need to go talk to Zooble, but I'll be right back, okay?" The two separated, and Pomni sucked in an anxious breath before approaching the amalgam.

Zooble noted her arrival, and huffed. "What do you want, Pomni? I'd really rather be alone right now, make it quick."

Pomni swallowed her nerves, and exhaled, "I'm sorry." Zooble turned to face her, one brow cocked in confusion. "About ... what I said earlier, about all of us being people — I mean, no! I'm not sorry about that, because it's true! But I — ugh, jeez, this is coming out horribly..."

"Just spit it out, already."

Pomni lowered her gaze to the floor in shame. "It was dismissive of me. It's easy to say 'oh, we're all people', but ... I get that it doesn't always feel like that. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Zooble."

"Ugh, 'hurt my feelings', shut up," Zooble growled. "You sound like a %$!#ing toddler."

"I ... I know it's frustrating—"

"Oh, do you? Because you had to be a frog for ten minutes?" Pomni's chest ached, and she wanted to run away. She stood her ground. "At least you got to go back to a body that feels somewhat human. You get to feel like a person again. Good for you."

Pomni bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to think of something to say. All she could think of was, "I'm sorry."

Zooble sighed, setting the final pillow into place, "Whatever, now leave me alone."

With that, the amalgam pulled the 'door' to their fort shut. Pomni sighed, struggling not to start crying from the pressure in her chest, and turned back into the rest of the chamber. Jax was currently struggling to free himself from the overly-soft bed, and Ragatha and Gangle had sat across from each other.

"You okay, Pomni?" Ragatha asked, softly.

"I really messed up," Pomni groaned, sitting across from the other two and pressing her palms against her eyelids. "I really didn't mean to upset them..."

"I'm sure they'll forgive you in time," Ragatha tried to reassure her. "They're grouchy, but they don't tend to hold grudges. I mean, they still talk to Jax, right?"

Pomni groaned pathetically in response.

"It's been a long day," Ragatha stood, reaching for Pomni's shoulder — before stopping herself. "Let's all get some shut-eye, huh? Things will be better tomorrow."

Pomni mumbled, "Tomorrow..."

As Ragatha headed to bed, Gangle got up next and whispered to Pomni, "They're really not so bad once you get to know them. Ragatha's right; just give them time..."

Jax had long since given up the struggle to free himself, and with Gangle climbing into her own bed, Pomni was left awake and alone with her thoughts. She glanced at Zooble's fort, wondering how she could make it up to them. Ragatha had been simple to apologize to and befriend, but Zooble was significantly less amicable. If they were all stuck here for the time being, she wanted to at least try and make friends with her fellow crewmates. Even — she cringed at the thought — with Jax.

When staring at Zooble's fort yielded no answers, she instead began to think about what Ragatha had said. 'I need to know someone else can see it,' what was 'it'? Why did she need to be sure someone else could see whatever 'it' was?

The jester yawned, and she began to wonder if they could really feel tired and the week she'd spent awake was merely a fluke, or if her yawn was just an autonomic reaction to her current surroundings. From there she began to wonder further on the how's and why's regarding how the circus worked. Having had time to actually come to terms with the current situation, as opposed to laying in unresponsive denial, the very nature of their existence in the circus struck her as strange.

If they were all wearing a headset like the one she remembered putting on, what had become of their bodies? There was no way they wouldn't have bumped into their surroundings while walking around if it were merely a case of virtual reality. Had their consciousnesses been somehow sucked into the game, leaving their bodies comatose? If that were the case, the chances of leaving hinged on whether their bodies were still alive or not, which was a whole line of thinking Pomni really didn't want to go down right now.

Nonetheless, her thoughts ran down that line, and her stomach twisted into knots. Jax had said on her first day that they'd all been here for years. Years. If that was true, and their bodies weren't being tended to, then...

She shook the troubling thoughts away as best she could. She could ruminate on the horrific implications at a later time. Instead, she climbed onto one of the remaining beds, and went limp on top of the blankets.

She yawned again, the simulated warmth and coziness of the massive room at last getting to her and coaxing her to sleep.

Chapter 4: Login

"Ragatha?" Pomni whispered as she knocked on her neighbor's door. As promised, Caine had teleported them back to their rooms as they slept, and upon waking, Pomni had snuck over to Ragatha's door before they were called to the stage. "I'm here, are you—?"

Before she could utter another word, Ragatha's door swung in, Pomni was pulled inside, and the door shut again. Pomni was about to ask what Ragatha had needed her for, but as soon as she was inside the room, she saw immediately what it was that had the ragdoll so perturbed the other day. In the center of the room stood, just as it had on her first day, a red exit door.

Ragatha said nothing. Pomni looked up at her, noticing the tired bags under her eyes, her mouth twisted into a grimace.

"You see it, right?" Ragatha hissed, not breaking sight from the door.

Pomni nodded. "Yeah. I see it, Ragatha."

Ragatha's breath hitched. "It first showed up after netball. I thought it'd be gone by the following morning, but it was still here. Then I thought it might be gone after the forest, but it's still here." She finally turned to look at Pomni. "Don't these things usually just, go away?"

Pomni didn't answer, merely hummed in thought. "Did you try going through?"

"Absolutely not," Ragatha shook her head. "As far as I know, you're the only one who's ever interacted with one of these. I..." She swallowed. "I'm scared to go through."

The jester wrapped her pinkie around the doll's pointer finger, offering a reassuring smile. "It's okay. We can take a peek together." She looked back at the door, a growing unease in her chest. "Ready?"

"Not really," Ragatha sighed. "You?"

"Nope," Pomni chuckled nervously. "Let's do it."

With that, she grabbed the handle, and pulled.

The pair stared into the doorway, examining the other side carefully from where they stood safely beyond the frame. From what Pomni could tell, it looked different from last time; gone was the plain-looking office hallway, instead now replaced by a dim, carpeted den of sorts. 'Eerie' was the first word that came to Pomni's mind.

"Pomni?" Ragatha said, "Is this what you saw last time?"

"No," she muttered, "this is ... very different." Swallowing, she pushed the door further open and poked her head in. There was no furniture to speak of, merely an empty room with a dark hallway branching off ahead. "The place I went into seemed more like an office space," she explained. "This looks more like someone's house."

She shuffled a step towards the threshold, but Ragatha pulled her back. "Don't! I ... I feel like going in would be a bad idea."

"It might be," Pomni nodded. "But I feel like I have to. The last time I went through I saw ... well, I don't know what I saw, but I saw something."

"Something?"

"It's hard to explain. When I was in The Void, I saw something that I think I must have blocked out," Pomni explained. "Something important. Something about the real world. If I go through again, maybe I can retain it."

"If you blocked it out, maybe you did so for a reason," Ragatha said. "I really don't like this, Pomni. If you go in and can't get back out..."

Pomni hummed, looking around Ragatha's room. Her eyes landed on her sewing kit, and she pulled out a length of thread. "Here," she handed the spool to Ragatha, and took the other end herself. "So long as the door is open, I think I'll be fine. And, even if it closes, I'm sure Caine can come and get me if he needs to."

Ragatha mumbled, "Pomni..." She glanced into the doorway. "Just ... be careful, okay?"

The jester nodded, sucked in a breath, and stepped over the threshold.

-/-/-/-

"Gooood morning!" Caine's voice boomed as he swooped onto the stage. "I take it last night's reward was rejuvenating? It's so good to see all of your bright and ... shining..." He trailed off as he did a brief head-count.

Gangle had shown up today. Zooble had shown up today. Kinger had shown up today. Jax had shown up today. Ragatha and Pomni hadn't shown up today.

Not one to let the unexpected dampen his mood, Caine addressed everyone, "It looks like our beloved Ragatha and Pomni are running a bit late! I don't suppose any of you saw them on your way here?"

"Pomni wasn't in her room when I ... checked," Jax shrugged, smirk wide as ever. "She really ought'a do something about that rat problem she has in there. In any case, I haven't seen her or dollface since yesterday."

Gangle whimpered, "You don't think they..?"

Zooble muttered, "At the same time? It's never happened before but, who knows?"

"Well that simply won't do!" Caine waved his namesake at the troupe, before settling on Jax. "Eeney! Meeney! Miney! You! Jax, if you would be so kind as to fetch our companions, I'm sure they're itching for another adventure! As for the rest of you," he snapped his fingers, opening a bright blue portal, "off you go on today's adventure: GATHER THE GLOINKS ... IN SPACE!"

Jax immediately took his leave with a nonchalant, "Welp, good luck with that," and began making his way up to the bedroom hallway. He checked inside of Pomni's room once more, on the off chance that the jester had found his little surprise and decided to take care of it then and there, and was pleased to find it still plentiful with rodents. That left Ragatha's room. If anyone knew where Pomni would be, it would be her.

"Hey dollface," he sang, knocking on the door. "Caine wants you and your little gal pal, something about knowing exactly what you are." When his teasing didn't work, he shrugged and pulled out the key he'd made to Ragatha's room. He cleared his throat, and then kicked the door in. "GROSS WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOI—"

He and Ragatha stared at one another, the latter feeding a spool of thread through a non-euclidean exit door.

"...Do I wanna know?"

Ragatha finally snapped back to normal after a moment to process what had happened. "Jax! How many times have I told you not to barge into my room like that?"

"So, this is what's got you and the clown preoccupied," Jax mused, walking up and peering into the door. "At least, I'm guessing she's on the other end of this thread."

Ragatha sighed, "Trust me, I didn't want her going in. She's been getting further and further away ... I'm really worried about her."

"Maybe she's getting further away because something," he made a claw with his hand and pinched Ragatha on the side, "GOT her!"

The ragdoll recoiled, "JAX! Stop! This is nerve-wracking enough as it is. If you're not gonna contribute anything meaningful then just, go on Caine's adventure without us, tell him we're busy with a side-project."

"Nahh, annoying you two is way more fun."

-/-/-/-

Pomni pushed open another door. That made sixty-two by now, she was sure. Each room had been largely similar, carpeted dens and hallways, occasionally a kitchen or two. She held tight to the thread in her fist, examining the room thoroughly. She could vaguely remember what she'd seen during her first day in the circus: offices, a PC, a headset.

If she could just find something similar here, she felt like she could begin to decipher her blocked-out memories.

She moved on into the room. Again, it looked fairly similar to all the rest, but now she noticed a window in the far corner, illuminating the room in artificial sunlight. Against the wall, next to the window, was a desk, with a PC, and — her heart would have skipped a beat — a headset.

"Okay," she muttered to herself, trying to take steady breaths. "Not freaking out this time, so that's a plus." She carefully studied the rest of the room. There were homely, rural-looking decorations on the walls. On the wall behind the computer she could make out a poster showing a herd of horses running across a plains.

Despite the presence of the computer and headset, she was clearly still in the digital world; the lighting and textures all had that uncanny aura about them.

She saw a framed photo by the side of the computer, but the photo inside appeared to be a stock image, watermark and all. Any indicators of that anyone might have actually lived here were absent.

Out of curiosity, she attempted to turn the computer on, and was surprised when it hummed to life. She sat herself down in the rustic-looking chair, and waited for the machine to boot. Once it did, she was presented with a login box, showing a name, 'ranchGal67', and asking for a password.

She hummed to herself, looking around for any clues nearby that might betray the password she needed to input. Her first attempt was merely pressing the 'login' button, on the off-chance the owner hadn't set a password. Unfortunately, this yielded no results. Then, she tried typing in the username itself, again to failure. She attempted multiple simple potential candidates — 'horse', 'ranch', 'farm', and other combinations including variations with numbers in place of vowels — to no avail.

"That just leaves..." she sucked in a breath, looking to the next door. When she'd gone into the room beyond the one with the headset, she'd been let out into The Void, which is where she saw whatever it was she had blocked out. She tightened her grip on the thread, and made her way through the sixty-third door, and then at last through the sixty-fourth.

The Void welcomed her, and she felt herself being pulled into it, but quickly braced herself against the door jamb to keep herself from floating off. She gazed into the abyss, squinting against the bright lights and streaking colors. In the distance, she could see ... something. A square.

Swallowing her nerves, she tied the thread around her waist, and allowed herself to drift towards the mysterious square.

She could see ... a copy of the room she'd just been in. No, not a copy, she realized — the original room. The real room. The real world. It hit her then; she was looking out through the computer screen of whoever owned this machine. The room itself was dark, but it was unmistakably the same room, its uncanny aspects absent.

Sucking in a breath, she reached towards it — and her hand pressed up against glass.

" %$!# it..." She muttered, not sure why she expected it to be that simple.

"WHOA THERE!" Pomni recoiled as Caine exploded into existence beside her. "In The Void again, Pomni? Fear not, I'll have you back to the circus in no time!"

"Wait, wait!" Pomni cried, floating away from him as he made to grab her wrist. She motioned to the screen, "Caine, what is this? Why is this here?"

The ringmaster cocked his head to the side. "Why, didn't you know? You've already seen a screen in The Void before."

Already ... the wheels began to turn in Pomni's head, until finally it clicked. This was what she had blocked out. Well, not this specifically, but the real world equivalent of that office space. But now the question remained, why? Why would she have blocked it out? Why did she freak out upon seeing that first headset, but not this one?

"Now come on," Caine said, reaching again, "let's get you home."

"Caine?" The ringmaster stopped as Pomni asked, "Whose computer is this?"

He was silent for a moment, before sighing and scratching his molars. "Pomni, this place is not for you and your fellow performers to venture out into. As I said on your first day here, even I don't have all the answers as to what exists this far out."

Pomni asked again, sternly, "Caine. Whose computer is this?"

He hesitated, before saying, "I honestly don't know. That information is encrypted when one connects to the game."

"Then there must be a way to decrypt it, right?"

"No! Nothing of the sort!" Caine insisted frantically. "And even if there was, I certainly wouldn't have the authority to share it with you or anyone else!"

"But—"

"No buts except yours, back to the circus!"

"Oh? Did I forget to shut this off?"

Pomni began to turn her head back to the screen, to the source of the voice. Caine immediately took hold of her, and she felt gravity warp around them before she could get a clear look. The blank expanse of The Void was replaced by bright colors and geometric shapes — the circus.

"Caine, what—" she began, before lurching and doubling over, expelling whatever it was that existed in her absent stomach.

"There, there," he said, patting her head and returning to his usual bombastic tone, "don't you worry your little head about a thing! As your ringmaster, it's my duty to keep you all safe and sound, and that's what I'm going to do! Be back in a moment!"

He teleported away, and after a moment, returned, Ragatha and Jax in tow, as well as the exit door. With a snap of his fingers, the door shut, and disintegrated.

"Now then, with that taken care of," he turned to the three performers and snapped his fingers again, and the three found themselves now wearing color-coded astronaut suits, "let's have you all squared away and off to join the others on today's adventure!"

"Caine wait a—"

Before Pomni could protest, he opened the portal again and sent them all on their way with a shove.

Once he was alone on the circus floor, his demeanor changed. He checked his Wackywatch, dismissing at last the alert he'd gotten regarding Pomni's little outing into The Void. He willed himself into his workshop, neon grids and lines of code welcoming him. Here he kept all of his own generated works, from adventure concepts to models to scripts and so on.

He opened the file he needed: 'entity_doorExit.obj', and further opened its script. He was certain he'd turned off its random spawning capabilities, and — oh dear, he massaged his incisors, he'd accidentally turned off its automatic despawning instead. He switched 'autoDespawn' to 'true' and 'randSpawn' to 'false', closed the object, and clapped his hands as though ridding them of dust. Now any doors that may still have been active would soon despawn, and nobody else would be tempted to follow Pomni's example.

He reclined in the air, humming to himself in wonder. Everyone was always clamoring for a way to leave, and while he couldn't for the life of him understand why anyone would want to leave the Amazing Digital Circus, it was, as he'd said, his duty to not only protect his performers, but to nurture and serve them as well. They were desperate for an exit, and so he'd tried to make one ... but what could he possibly put on the other side? What did they want from an exit? Didn't they realize there was no way to leave? It's not like he could bring reality into the game, at least, not beyond recreating the limited scope he had of it looking through their screens.

And so, as he often did when his processors reached this sort of inconclusive stalemate, he poured himself into his work: devising tomorrow's adventure.

And the next day's adventure.

And the next.

Day, after day, after day, after day...

Chapter 5: Spite

"'ranchGal67'?"

"Yeah," Pomni nodded, "at least, I'm pretty sure that was it."

Following the troupe's adventure, Pomni and Ragatha had congregated in the latter's bedroom in an effort to hide from Caine's so-called All-Seeing Eyes. Whether or not they were truly all-seeing, considering how Caine had ignored their cries for help during the Kaufmo incident, Pomni was currently unwilling to test out, and Ragatha had reassured her that their rooms afforded them some degree of privacy from their ringleader. Ragatha was seated on her bed, and Pomni stood in the center of the room, occasionally pacing anxiously.

"Caine said that the information regarding who lived in that room in the real world was encrypted, and he said that there was no way to decrypt it," the jester scowled. "I don't believe him. A lot of what he's told us, whether intentionally or not, reeks."

Ragatha hummed, "You think there's a way to decrypt the identity of whoever owned that computer?"

"No doubt in my mind," Pomni nodded, "assuming it's even really encrypted in the first place."

"And ... if it's one of us?"

Pomni studied Ragatha's expression. She seemed suddenly anxious. "If it's one of us then ... that's good, right? We could find out a name, maybe we could even remember more of our past lives."

Ragatha scratched her arm nervously. "What if it's mine?" When Pomni cocked her head to the side, she continued, "It's been so long for me ... I've even started to forget what I looked like. But, now that I might remember everything, I can't help but wonder, what if..." Her eye met Pomni's. "What if I don't like what we find out?"

The jester made to say something, but paused, suddenly unsure. She considered the same thing for herself. What if she remembered something about herself that she didn't like? What if she'd blocked out some horrible, heinous thing she'd done, some awful aspect of her past life in the real world?

She shook such thoughts from her head. This was no time to get existential. Ragatha needed reassurance.

"I'm sure whatever we find, we'll handle it. And, the choice whether or not to know whatever the truth is should be yours. You don't have to know it if you don't want to."

Ragatha's mouth tightened anxiously. "If ... If it's something bad, will you still be my friend, Pomni?"

"Of course," Pomni answered instantly. After an embarrassed beat, she added, "Of course I'll still be your friend." She held up her pinkie. "Promise."

Ragatha's fear gave way at last to a weak smile, and she held up her pointer finger. "Promise."

"Now the question is, how do we access these spaces without using the exit doors?" Pomni steepled her fingers together in thought. "Caine's not gonna just let us use them again..."

Ragatha hummed. "Well, the rooms and screens are located out in The Void somewhere, right? Maybe if we could go there ourselves..."

"No good," Pomni shook her head. "He always seems to know whenever we go out into The Void. I don't think we could distract him to keep him here long enough either..."

"How does he know whenever we're out there?" Ragatha wondered. "Do you think he can see us?"

"I don't think so," Pomni muttered, "my first day here he said the reason we don't travel out beyond The Grounds is specifically so he can keep an eye on us."

"Maybe it's that wristwatch thing."

The two jumped in surprise; Jax stood in the open doorway, reclining against the frame. Ragatha sputtered, "Jax, when did—?"

"I heard the whole thing," he said, twirling a key on his finger before entering the room fully and shutting the door. "So, shortstuff," he rounded on Pomni, "you think you found some connection to the outside world, huh?"

"What do you want, Jax?" She asked warily.

"Just a little chaos, as per usual," he smirked.

Pomni eyed him suspiciously. "What wristwatch?"

"You've never noticed him looking at it?" The jester shook her head, her prongs swaying with the movement. Jax explained further, "Think back to the firefly forest, when he found out you screwed up his little mermaid princess subplot. He checked his watch, like he was trying to figure out what went wrong. Seems to me like that watch does more than just tell time."

"Now that you mention it," Ragatha pressed a hand to her chin in thought, "I think I do remember him checking his watch..."

Jax's smirk widened, and Pomni got an intense sense of danger. "Tell you what, I'll snag his watch for you, and you'll each owe me one."

Pomni and Ragatha shared an unsure glance. The latter looked back to him and scowled. "Knowing the kinds of favors you'd ask for, I think I'll have to give your proposal a hard pass."

"Dollface, I am just wounded," he mockingly swooned, feigning heartbreak. "To even insinuate I would take advantage of Chuckles' naive desperation and your doormat personality—"

"Fine."

Ragatha and Jax turned their attention to Pomni, who stood resolute.

"Get me his watch and I'll owe you two myself," she confirmed.

Jax's grin grew ominously, and he put his hands on his hips. "Ohh, the clown's got moxie, eh?"

"Think about this, Pomni," Ragatha began. "Do you really want to owe him any favors?"

"It's our only lead so far," Pomni said. "If we want to have enough time to head out into The Void, we need to prevent Caine from coming out after us. If that watch is what alerts him—"

"We don't know for sure that that's the case, though," Ragatha protested. "We shouldn't just rush headlong into the first plan we come up with."

"You got any alternatives in mind, lady?" Jax sneered. "I doubt he'll take it particularly well if you just stroll up to him and ask him to take you out there himself."

Ragatha sighed, "Yeah, but ... what if he finds out you stole the watch?"

"What's he gonna do?" Jax tilted his head, one hand at his hip, the other shooting her a finger gun. "Turn me into a marketable vinyl figurine and mass-produce me?" Ragatha grumbled in response.

"What did you have in mind?" Pomni asked. "You did have a specific plan, right?"

"Not just yet," Jax shrugged. "My typical brand of mischief may come easy, but something of this caliber is gonna take some actual effort to pull off. Once I've got a plan, I'll make sure you know. Till then, just play it cool, Harley."

Ragatha grumbled, "I don't like this, Pom ... Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Not in the slightest," she sighed, "but it's not like we have many other alternatives."

"Don't get your stitches in a twist," Jax nudged the ragdoll in the side. "Have I ever not made good on a promise?"

Ragatha scowled, "That's the problem — your promises are always either heinous or two-faced. I just don't want Pomni getting hurt by one of your usual schemes."

Jax rolled his eyes and mockingly raised one hand to his chest and the other palm-forward. "Uugghh, fine. You have my solemn word that Pomni, otherwise known as XDDCC, otherwise known as any variation of clown-, jester-, or circus-based puns and monikers I have ever or will ever come up with, shall not have any harm befall her in my attempts to get Caine's watch for her, by my own intentions or otherwise." With a huff, he asked, "Happy?"

"Not really," Ragatha sighed, "but I get the feeling you're gonna do it regardless of whether I'm happy or not."

Jax chittered, "You know me so well." He turned to the door and absconded with, "Once I've got a plan, you'll be sure to know, 'Pom'. Later~."

The two remaining crewmates were left in silence. Pomni turned to Ragatha and asked, "So, what do you think?"

Ragatha looked as though she had a disgruntled, snarky response trying to escape her mouth, before she swallowed it back down and said, "I think trusting Jax with something this important and dangerous is ... not the best plan, to be honest."

"Probably..." Pomni hummed. "Do you have any better ones?"

Ragatha rubbed her arm nervously. "W-Well ... maybe we should..."

Pomni tilted her head when the ragdoll didn't continue. "We should what?"

"We ... should..." Ragatha braced herself and hissed out, "just forget about it?"

The room was silent, and Pomni felt her gut churn. "Forget about it? What do you mean?" When Ragatha didn't respond, she pressed, "Ragatha, this is the best lead we have for getting out! If what Jax said on my first day was any indication, it might be the first lead any of you have had in years! How can you just forget about it?"

"I just..." Ragatha mumbled. "This feels like a really bad idea, Pomni. I don't think messing with Caine's things is a very good idea. And owing Jax favors on top of that?"

"It's not ideal, I know ... but—"

"Please!" Ragatha begged, placing her hands firmly on Pomni's shoulders — and pulling back when the jester flinched. "I ... I'm sorry, I just ... I don't want anyone to get hurt. Please, Pomni. Promise me you'll forget about this."

Pomni's gaze hardened indignantly. "I can't, Ragatha. It sounds like you're asking me to just give up."

Ragatha scratched her arm and looked away, shamefully. "...Would it be so bad?"

If Pomni had had blood, she was certain it would have run cold at that. "Wh — YES! Yes, giving up would be very bad!"

Ragatha burst, "Maybe it's better in here than it is out there!"

Pomni blanched, "Better? Better?! Ragatha, you can't be serious! How is any of this," she motioned around them, "better?! Are you high?!"

"At least we know what to expect here!" Ragatha was trembling. "The circus is safe, so long as we don't—"

"That's exactly it!" Pomni shouted, her eyes and teeth itching. "So long as we don't abstract — and that's a pretty big $!#%ing asterisk if you ask me!"

"Don't..." Ragatha swallowed hard, "please don't yell at me."

Pomni seethed for a moment, before sucking in a breath. "You're right," she hissed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sworn at you. But I can't just give up, Ragatha. You can't seriously tell me you don't want to leave."

The ragdoll chewed on her lip, and didn't answer.

Pomni said, "Even if what we find out is horrible, I think it'd be better to know the truth than to just live in the dark forever."

Ragatha sighed, "Yeah..." Pomni wasn't convinced. "Pomni, I'm ... I'm a bit tired. Could we talk more later?"

"Yeah, of course," Pomni nodded. "Is ... there anything I can get you?"

"I'll be fine," Ragatha forced a grin. "Just need a nap. Thank you, though."

 "Okay," Pomni nodded again, concern on her face. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Ragatha hummed a confirmation, and Pomni stepped out into the hall. She glanced back at Ragatha's door, her gut roiling unpleasantly. She hadn't meant to snap at the ragdoll the way she had, and she mentally cursed herself. If she wanted to get out of here, if she wanted to get all of them out of here, she needed to reign in her temper and watch what she said.

But a part of her was still indignant. How could Ragatha just tell her to give up like that? Did she not believe in her? Did she think she was incapable? Did she think she was too stupid?

The more Pomni theorized Ragatha's motives, the madder she found herself becoming, and she forced herself to take a breath, before trudging towards her own room. Ragatha could think whatever she wanted. Pomni was determined to get all of them out of here, regardless of whether anyone believed in her or not. In fact, she thought, maybe I'll do it out of pure spite.

She shook the thought away and clutched her aching belly as she retreated to her room.

Moments later, she ran back out, a cascade of rats following after her before she could manage to shut the door.

"JAAAX!"

Chapter 6: I've Got You

"Gooood MORNING, my bright and shining Sisyphean Stars!"

Pomni grumbled, and rubbed at her ear — or, where her ear would have been, leading to a tiny existential crisis, always great to have first thing in the morning — as Caine swooped down to greet them all. She spared Ragatha a glance, her chest aching. The two hadn't spoken since their argument last night, and judging from Ragatha's inability or unwillingness to look in Pomni's direction, they wouldn't be speaking anytime soon.

A part of her wanted to break, to apologize profusely and beg forgiveness — she was wrong to shout, she was wrong to push, she would give up after all. Another part of her wanted Ragatha to come to her — apologize for wanting her to give up so soon, apologize for thinking so little of her.

As a result, she was paralyzed with indecision, and she could tell neither of them were satisfied with the circumstances.

"Today's adventure is," Caine began, snapping his fingers and willing the adventure name into existence: "SCAVENGE THE SCONGLES!"

-/-/-/-

The Scongles, Pomni came to realize, did not like being scavenged.

Much like the Gloinks, they were chaotic NPCs that bounced and rolled and jumped around, more reminiscent of snacks and deserts than geometric blocks. The bigger difference — the Scongles liked to hide, and didn't gather up objects they ran into. They seemed to be a purely prey-type of NPC, made just for collecting.

The troupe had been split up into pairs — thankfully she had been paired up with Kinger and not Jax. Or Zooble. Or Ragatha. Her chest hurt, and she shook the thoughts away.

She and the chess piece had taken to The Grounds to try and collect their third of the chaotic pastries, and that was what she intended to do.

"Gotcha!" Kinger exclaimed, and Pomni hurried over to the bush he had been investigating.

"You found one?"

He perked up, staring at her in confusion. "Hm? Found one what?" In his hands was not a Scongle, but a ladybug.

"%$!# it—" She sucked in a breath. Calm. A placid lake. A gentle stream. A quiet grove. "Kinger, it's nice that you like bugs, but we have an adventure to do right now. Can you please focus?"

"Oh, ladybugs aren't actually bugs," Kinger explained, holding up his hand as the creature crawled around his fingers. "They're a type of beetle!"

"Are ... beetles not bugs?"

"No, actually!" Kinger gushed, "Beetles are insects, yes, but they specifically have hardened fore wings that form a protective casing, whereas the wings of insects that are considered bugs, like flies, are purely membranous. Among other differences."

"Riiight..." Pomni sighed. "Well, that's nice, but my point still stands. We should finish catching the Scongles. The sooner the better."

He tilted his head to the side. "The what?" After a moment, he chirped, "Oh! Hello, Pomni. When did you get here?"

The jester sighed again. A feather on the breeze. A gentle snowfall. Rain on the roof of a car. Before she could respond, she pitched forward and splatted face-first into the ground as a Scongle bounced off the back of her head. Kinger watched in wonder as it scurried away.

Pomni grumbled as she peeled her face from the ground. She was about to push herself up, when she felt a pair of hands scoop under her arms and lift her a good foot or two into the air, holding her like a cat, and she froze up.

"No time for a nap, Pomni," Kinger mused, before setting her down and patting her head. "We should grab the Scongles and bring them in."

Pomni clenched her teeth. Crickets at night. An ocean spray. Freshly fallen leaves.

-/-/-/-

And suddenly, this was now happening.

Pomni clung to one of the support beams of The Carnival's ferris wheel, reaching desperately for one of the Scongles that had taken perch up there. Another was wedged under her arm. Kinger waited down below, a Scongle in each hand.

"How did I agree to this, how did I agree to this, how did I agree to this," she muttered under her breath. In fairness to Kinger, she supposed, it would be even harder for him, having no visible arms or legs. "Come here, you slippery little—"

The Scongle under her arm suddenly wriggled free, and Pomni felt the world spin as she lost her balance, followed by her grip. She plummeted, screaming, until she smacked into a lower beam and bounced, falling again and landing with a splat in front of Kinger.

A groan escaped her, fighting to keep from vomiting from the disorientation. She glanced back up, watching as the two Scongles now sat perched on the beam.

"How nice," Kinger chirped. "They're like birds." He blinked, then jumped with a yelp when he saw Pomni. "Oh, you can't go crawling around like that, Pomni! You startled me!"

Pomni's eye twitched. Her teeth ached. Her right hand throbbed. She slammed her face on the ground to keep from cussing out the chess piece.

"Pomni?"

She hissed into the ground, "What."

"Did you have a fight with Ragatha?"

Pomni perked up, her rage replaced in an instant by surprise. She looked up at Kinger, who had set down the Scongles and was now kneeling beside her, his — knees? — pulled up to his chest.

"I ... yeah, how did you..?"

"You and her seemed awfully close these past couple of days," he explained, "but this morning you both seemed more distant. Even when Ragatha was feeling bad the day we went to the firefly forest, you were still invested in cheering her up. Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Pomni grumbled and pushed herself into a sitting position. She considered telling him, but hesitated. What were the odds he'd listen and not just space out like usual? "Just ... no, it's nothing. I can handle it myself."

"You never know when the last time you'll talk to someone is."

She felt a stab of panic in her chest and looked at him in shock. He stared at her. Normally she hated being stared at, scrutinized, but ... his gaze was soft. She didn't feel studied or judged.

"When you care about someone, I think the last thing you say to them should reflect that care. Especially in this digital world where abstraction is a possibility." His eyes seemed ... sadder, now. "If you squander the chances you have to care about others, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"That's ... weirdly poignant of you, Kinger." She sighed. "I just ... It's infuriating. It's like I'm the only one who wants to leave. Everyone keeps mocking me, telling me to give up ... I just thought she'd be different."

"Don't take it too personally," he reassured. "Once you adjust to this digital world, it's hard to consider the possibility of escape. Ragatha took quite a while to adjust, herself. She doesn't think less of you. She just, doesn't want you losing yourself. She's lost too many that way. We all have."

Pomni felt her stomach churn with shame. He was making sense. God, Kinger was making sense. Of course Ragatha didn't think less of her. Of course she didn't think Pomni was incapable. She was kind, patient, caring ... everything Pomni herself wasn't. She hid her face in her hands. "I'm really the worst..."

"Wurst?"

Pomni looked up to explain, only to watch as Kinger approached her with a polygonal link of sausage from a nearby food cart.

-/-/-/-

"WHY."

The troupe had managed to gather all of the Scongles, and passed them off to Bubble as instructed by Caine — but once all of them had been scavenged, the crew had been accosted by a gigantic, fudge-like creature. The 'Scongle Prince', as he had introduced himself. And he was none too happy about his Scongles being taken.

"Do we really need a boss battle after every adventure?!" Pomni cried, narrowly avoiding a cannonball of fudge that the creature had spat at her.

"Lighten up!" Jax called from high above on the spiral staircase. "It's not like Caine makes these things unbeatable, just keep running it around till it gets tired." His %$!#-eating smirk widened. "Or till you get tired. Whichever comes first!"

"Jax, you %$!#hole!"

"Your judgement shall be swift and chocolatey!" The Scongle Prince threatened, slithering after her, his candy corn teeth gnashing.

He leapt at her, and she braced herself for the thick, crushing, liquid weight — but it never came. Instead, she found herself scrunched up inside of one of the many yellow barrels dotting the tent, like the one that had held the monkeys one her first day.

"You okay, Pomni?"

The jester flinched when she realized that, scrunched up beside her was — Ragatha. Had she pulled her into the barrel to help her hide?

"Y-Yeah..."

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence. Pomni chewed on her lip anxiously, the proximity not helping at all coupled with her already-existing nerves surrounding the ragdoll. The barrel trembled as the Scongle Prince moved about outside, looking for them.

"Pomni—" "Ragatha—"

The jester groaned inwardly as they cut each other off.

"I'm—" "About yester—"

Pomni covered her face with her hands. Ragatha nervously played with a strand of her yarn hair.

"Go ahead—" "You go first—"

Pomni couldn't help it; she started laughing. After a moment, Ragatha did as well.

"Ragatha," Pomni finally managed to utter, "I'm ... about yesterday, I just ... I wanted to say I—"

The barrel was suddenly hoisted into the air, and Pomni pressed her hands and feet against the sides in an attempt to stay within as the Scongle Prince tilted it upside-down.

"There you are! Colorful morsels," he salivated, "my Scongles are for me and me alone to eat!" He shook the barrel, trying to force them out, like ketchup from a bottle. Pomni's limbs trembled as she struggled to keep herself and Ragatha behind her from falling into the fudge monster's gaping maw. She could feel her hands slipping down the sides with each shake.

"Ragatha, I'm sor—!"

One of her hands finally lost its grip, and she fell down, tumbling through the air and into the mouth of the Scongle Prince.

-/-/-/-

Pomni wasn't sure what to expect from being eaten alive in one gulp. Certainly not when the thing that ate her was a massive glob of chocolate. A digital massive glob of chocolate, at that. A part of her was almost expecting the inside to be hollow.

Instead, she felt an unbearable pressure on all sides, squeezing her, squishing her, molding her like taffy. It was as if the model had deformed around her and captured her within its polygons. She tried to breathe, but she just inhaled mouthfuls of chocolate. She could try to eat her way out — no, she quickly realized, there was too much.

She tried to move her body, but it was no good, her limbs were stuck. Her body itched like crazy, the feeling of chocolate on her rubbery skin sending unpleasant stinging sensations all over.

Her heart sank. It just occurred to her, was this a way to die? Were bosses capable of killing them in this digital world? Would she respawn? Would it be perma-death? Would she just, stop existing entirely?

She was suddenly horrified at the prospect.

If she managed to get the headset off...

If she didn't remember the circus...

If she wasn't herself anymore...

Would she ... would Pomni ... no longer exist?

She opened her mouth again to try and scream, but no sound could penetrate the thick confection around her. The thought of no longer existing horrified her. She didn't want to stop existing. She wanted to live. Even if it meant living in a digital hellscape, she wanted to live.

Why? What had changed since her first day? Since her first week? Why did she only now care about living?

Ragatha entered her mind immediately.

She'd made a friend — a really, really good friend. She wanted to live to see her more, to spend more time with her. She wanted to try and make friends with the rest of the troupe, too. The uncertainty of what leaving meant — she finally understood why Ragatha had been so reluctant.

Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming weight above her, one after another, and terror flooded her being. Was the Scongle Prince finally starting to digest her? Was he crushing her further? She writhed and struggled — and found that it was slowly becoming easier to move.

She breached the surface, coughing and sputtering and crying. She tried to hold her hands over her mouth to keep the contents of her insides where they belonged — aaand there they went. She collapsed onto her hands and knees, heaving and sobbing.

"Pomni!"

Through blurred vision she could see Ragatha hurrying to her aid, dress hiked up above the ocean of fudge. Pomni rose up on trembling knees, reaching for her — and Ragatha immediately took her into her arms, helping her to her feet.

Word salad spilled out of Pomni's mouth, 'I'm sorry's and 'you were right's and 'don't wanna's and a flurry of other things Pomni wasn't cognizant of. Ragatha was saying something too, but Pomni couldn't process it.

It took a while before Pomni could calm down enough to understand what had happened.

While she was inside the Scongle Prince, the rest of the troupe, minus Jax, it seemed, had sprung into action. Ragatha had lured him into one of the many piles of blocks, and Zooble, Gangle, and Kinger had each pushed over blocks large enough to crush the candy monster. Once he was down, they'd hurried to try and find her in the mess of fudge.

"Congratulations!"

Caine's voice rattled Pomni to her core.

"You've successfully defeated the Scongle Prince! Your reward," she didn't hear what he said, just saw him wave to a table covered in pastries and deserts — the Scongles, she realized, had been baked by Bubble and assembled into a massive candy banquet.

"Pomni?"

She was pulled back to awareness by Ragatha gently tapping her cheek. The rest of the troupe had taken to the table, picking out their well-deserved deserts.

"Do you want to eat?"

Pomni swallowed, her thoughts still a blur. She was reminded of her first day in the circus, how she had sat at the table in a daze, how she had stared at the unappetizing digital feast, how she had felt her mind break and short circuit.

"I-I..." She stammered. Right now, she wasn't sure she could eat. She wasn't sure she'd ever eat again.

"It's okay. You ... you get used to it." She glanced up at Ragatha, a pained look on the ragdoll's face. "Yeah, you're ... Getting eaten is kind of normal here. We've all been through it at some point or another. It ... may take a while before you can eat again, but the sooner the better. Just to return to some semblance of normalcy."

Pomni chewed on her lip, the shame in her chest increasing tenfold. "I'm ... I'm sorry..."

"Oh, Pom, you don't have to be sorry, we all know how it feels—"

"No," Pomni said, "not about that. I'm sorry ... about yesterday. You were right. Maybe ... maybe it is better here. I'm sorry I keep making you worry."

"It's ... it's okay," Ragatha sighed, smiling. "You don't have to apologize. It's normal to want to leave."

"But ... but I shouted at you," Pomni choked back a sob. "I was awful to you, you ... you were trying to look out for me, and I swore at you."

Ragatha sent her a patient grin and repeated, "It's okay, Pomni. You don't have to apologize."

"Stop it!"

Pomni was trembling. She cursed herself, she'd yelled at Ragatha again. She turned to fully face the ragdoll.

"Stop telling me it's okay. Stop accepting my apologies unquestioningly. Stop..." she balled her hands up at her sides, the shame and disgrace inside radiating across her body. "Stop accepting other people's abuse. It's not okay. It's hurting you and it's not okay."

Ragatha's eye widened, and she stared at Pomni as though having trouble processing what had just been said. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Opened. Closed.

Finally, she settled on, "It's okay."

Pomni lost it.

"You deserve better, god %$!# it! Stop saying it's okay when it's so clearly not!" Her teeth ached. Her eyes itched. Her hands flexed open and closed. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "You're the one reason I don't think this place is some kind of cosmic punishment anymore and it drives me crazy that someone like you is stuck here! And I know it's terrible of me, I know it's so %$!#ing selfish of me, but I'm so glad I met you! I'm so glad you're here with me, words can't even describe it! And that's awful, because you're here! Stop being so %$!#ing nice to me! For once, say what you feel!"

The circus was silent beyond Pomni's labored hyperventilations.

Ragatha stared down at the jester in stunned silence. She snapped to attention, glancing past her. Pomni turned her head, and was suddenly overcome with embarrassment when she realized everyone else was staring at them. The shame spreading throughout her body consumed her, and she tried to yank her hat down over her eyes. When neither it nor her shirt collar would budge, she resorted to hiding her face in her hands.

She'd %$!#ed up. Oh, god, she'd %$!#ed up. She'd lost her temper again, she'd sworn at her again, she'd shouted at her again. It was too much. Too much. Too much. She'd just wanted to help. She just wanted help. This wasn't okay. This wasn't fair. They didn't deserve to be here. None of them deserved to be here. None of them but her. She was awful, she was aggressive and cruel and cowardly and mean and—

"Pomni?" Ragatha's voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. "I'm going to touch you. Is that okay?"

She nodded her head. Ragatha took Pomni's hands away from her face. Holding one, the other came up to wipe away the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm ... still sore over you leaving me behind," the ragdoll admitted. Pomni let out a choked sob, feeling as though she'd been stabbed in the gut. "As much as I took my share of the blame, a part of me still felt betrayed. I won't pretend anymore like I didn't. But, Pomni?"

Pomni finally lifted her head to face her, and an ache entered her chest. Ragatha's eye was glistening with tears of her own. Before an apology could leave her, Ragatha pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm glad I met you, too." Ragatha's voice was weak. "As awful as it is, I'm glad you're here too. Thank you, Pomni."

Pomni's arms shook as she returned the hug, a damp laugh bubbling up from her throat. Her legs gave out, and Ragatha followed her to the ground, holding her tightly still. Her chest began to ache with something new. Not shame, or disgrace, or self-loathing. She felt liked. She felt loved. And, for all of the sparse memories she'd retained upon entering the circus, for the memories that hadn't yet faded away from her, she couldn't remember ever having felt it before. It was painful. But she felt it now. And it was wonderful.

"I've got you, Pom. I've got you."

Chapter 7: Pretty Great

"So like, I'm not the only one who's noticed it, right?" Zooble asked in a hushed whisper.

It had been about a week since Pomni's soul-baring outburst and the resulting tearful embrace between her and Ragatha. A week of the little jester tailing after the ragdoll like a lost kitten. A week of Pomni jumping the moment Ragatha said or did anything.

A week of some of the most sickeningly sweet %$!# Zooble had ever seen.

"I think it's cute," Gangle gushed, her comedy mask beaming. "The way they hugged and cried — it was so adorable!"

"Sheesh, lay off it," Jax retched. " 'Aww, they babbled and got snot all over themselves like one of my Japanese animes', big deal. What, are you 'shipping' people again?"

"Wh — No! No..." Gangle mumbled, her mask red. "...Yes."

"Shut up, Jax," Zooble hissed, earning an appreciative grin from Gangle. "Look, all I'm saying is, not even Kinger was this whipped around Queenie," Zooble groaned. "And if you both remember how those two were, that's really saying something. It's frankly uncomfortable."

"Aw, what, I didn't realize you hated The Gays this much, Zoobie," Jax mocked.

"I couldn't care less if they started dating. If they wanna be the next geek tragedy around here, by all means. What %$!#es me off," Zooble growled, "is that they're both utterly useless and neither of them has figured it out yet! They're so dense you could sell half their individual weights in gold."

"So what do you suggest?" Jax smirked. "You gonna play a little matchmaker, Mix-n-Match?"

" %$!# no," they scoffed. "But I'm still gonna complain."

"Complain about what?" Zooble rolled their eyes as Ragatha came waltzing up to the trio — followed, of course, by Pomni.

"About your face, One-Eye," Jax chittered, and Ragatha's face fell instantly into a scowl.

"Shut up, Jax." Everyone instinctively turned their attention to Zooble, who simply stared in confusion into the middle distance. The group collectively turned to look at Pomni, who stood with her arms crossed and an even deeper scowl than Ragatha's had been. "Her face is nice."

Gangle let out a squee and covered her mouth with the ends of her ribbons.

"Aww, lookit you," Jax sneered, leaning down to get in Pomni's space. "Dollface has got a new little guard chihuahua."

Pomni bit out, "Go brush your teeth before commenting on anyone else's looks, Scut Farkus."

That got Jax to back off immediately, pupils dilated as he sputtered in shock. Ragatha snorted into her hand. Zooble and Gangle simultaneously whooped, "Ooooohhh!"

"Tch, whatever," he jeered sourly, covering his mouth.

"Well! It's good to see Pomni's finally starting to integrate seamlessly into our little family!" Caine declared as he flew down to introduce the group to their adventure for the day. "Although, I'm quite sad to see a lack of Kinger today! I don't suppose one of you could go see how he is?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Caine," Ragatha nodded, already starting off towards the rooms.

Right away, Pomni took to her heels. "Oh! I'll come with!"

"Ugh, god!" Zooble barked, grabbing the jester by the collar. "Ragatha, why don't you stay here. I can get Kinger, I was gonna sit this one out today anyway."

Ragatha was hesitant, but acquiesced. "If you say so, Zooble. Are you sure you don't want someone else tagging along, just in case..?"

"I'll be fine. If Kinger's abstracted, I can just hide out in my room. It's not that far a run."

Gangle stepped forward excitedly, "I could go with you, Zooble!"

"It's fine, Gangle," Zooble sighed. "It's a one-person job, I don't need a babysitter." Gangle appeared dejected for a moment, but Zooble was unable to process it before Caine interrupted the group's chatter.

"I think it's wonderful that you all care so much about him! Why, it's been quite a while since I've seen such love and camaraderie!" He exaggeratedly wiped a tear from his eye before pointing his namesake at the amalgam and the jester in their grasp. "Zooble! Since you and Pomni are such good friends—"

"What." "Pardon?"

"—why don't the two of you go to get Kinger together?" Zooble groaned. "I'll get the rest of the crew warmed up to today's adventure, and they can catch you up to speed later!"

"Hold on a second—!" Zooble protested.

"And just so you don't get lost," with a snap of his fingers, a pair of handcuffs were willed into existence around Zooble and Pomni's wrists. "Now remember, use the buddy system!" Zooble glared at Caine, who simply stared expectantly before waving them along.

The amalgam grumbled, knowing it was futile to argue further. "Whatever. Let's get this over with, Pomni."

The jester hesitantly followed, looking back at the current subject of her affections and pouting. If Zooble didn't know any better, they'd have sworn they'd heard her whine. It was, put simply, absolutely pathetic.

-/-/-/-

The short trek to the living quarters was spent largely in awkward silence, aside from the gentle clinking of the pair's handcuffs.

"So," Pomni began as they neared the mouth of the hallway, quickly trailing off.

Zooble rolled their eyes. "Scut Farkus, huh?"

"Huh?"

"The thing you called Jax. From A Christmas Story," they explained. "First time I've heard anyone call him that, so, points for originality."

Pomni chuckled nervously, "Ah. Heh, uh, thanks?"

"Don't mention it."

The two turned down the hall, and Pomni asked, "Are you ... not mad at me anymore?"

Zooble cocked a brow. "Mad at you?"

"Because of the whole ... thing, that happened." When Zooble's quizzical expression remained, she clarified, "In the firefly forest?"

"...Oh," Zooble uttered. "Yeah, I'm gonna be honest, Pomni, I forgot all about that like, the day after."

"O-Oh..."

Zooble's tone shifted; they'd be smirking if they had a mouth. "What, has it been eating you up inside this whole time or something?" At Pomni's ashamed expression, their tone dropped to its usual cadence. "... %$!# ..."

"I've been wanting to apologize so badly, I just ... I thought you hated me," she said, barely above a whisper. "I didn't know how to breach the subject."

Zooble sighed, "Pomni, there's a lot of stuff to hate about this place. You're not one of those things."

Pomni whimpered, and Zooble recoiled when they saw the tears welling up, the scrunching up of her mouth.

"Uh, h-hey, come on, don't cry," they stammered, "look, things are — things are fine between us. I'm not mad at you. We're cool, okay?"

"Yeah," Pomni sniffled, choking down her tears. She shot Zooble a smile. "We're cool."

The two turned to look back down the hallway, spotting Kinger standing in front of one of the doors. Zooble felt their insides curdle when they realized which door it was.

"Hey, Kinger, Caine's waiting for you," Pomni greeted, waving.

The chess piece didn't respond.

Zooble sighed, placing a hand on Pomni's shoulder — and pulling it away quickly when she flinched. Pomni gave an apologetic look, before turning back to Kinger. Zooble approached him, stepping into his periphery, a somber look in their eyes.

"Kinger? You okay, man?"

Kinger blinked, then his eyes flicked to Zooble. Pomni was expecting him to recoil with a scream, but he remained calm.

"Oh, hi, Zooble," he said, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Caine's waiting for you. Sent me an' Pomni to find you."

"Sorry," his eyelids crinkled, like he was smiling. "I must have lost track of time. I'm just waiting for Queenie. She should be out any second."

Zooble sucked in a breath. "...Yeah. Any second. You want us to wait here with you?"

"My pleasure!" He said, turning back to the door.

Pomni looked up at the door. It was one of the many with a red X over the faceplate. The face in question was of another chess piece; this one was a black queen piece in a red robe. Her stomach churned as theories came to her head.

Still, her mouth ran faster than her head.

"Queenie?"

Zooble shot her a disgruntled look, but Kinger's sunny demeanor didn't fade. "Oh, I didn't see you there, Kaufmo! When did you get so short?"

"Yeah, Kaufmo," Zooble hissed. "You know. Queenie. Kinger's wife."

Pomni's gut dropped. If she had blood, it would have run cold. "Wife..?"

"Our anniversary is today," Kinger chirped. "She was so upset that we didn't spend time together yesterday, but I had to finish my gift for her." He stared at the door. "Huh ... It's not like her to take this long."

He started to reach for the door. Zooble grabbed his hand.

"Kinger..." They began, eyes downcast. "She ... said she wasn't feeling up to an adventure today. We should let her rest."

"But..." He trailed off. "She's been skipping so many ... I should at least step inside and wish her a happy anniversary! No, I should stay with her! If she doesn't get any stimulation she might ab—"

He stopped. He looked back to the door. His eyes trembled.

"King—"

Zooble was cut off as Kinger let out a piercing cry, half scream and half sob. He collapsed to the floor, curling into a trembling ball. Zooble rushed to his side, gripping his hand.

"Hey, come on, stay with me, man. You're good. You're okay."

Kinger began babbling something, clawing at his face with his free hand. Zooble tugged at their other arm, trying to pull his hand away, but something on the other end was — they looked back, watching as Pomni shook, her hands over her mouth.

"Pomni!" They barked. "POMNI!" The jester snapped to attention. "Help me out here, maybe!"

"R-Right!"

She came around the other side, taking Kinger's other hand and helping Zooble pull him into a sitting position.

"It's okay, man!" Zooble urgently whispered. "Hey, hey, Kinger — Kinger. Look at me." They turned his head in their direction. "You're okay. We're here. Come on, tell us about your insect collection, huh? What's the newest bug you caught?"

"It — It was—" He stammered. "It was a — a desmocerus californicus dimorphus," he said, hyperventilating. "The valley elderberry longhorn beetle."

"Yeah? Tell me about it," Zooble hushed. "When did you catch it? Where?"

"I caught it — two days ago," he said, beginning to calm down. "By the carousel room."

"Yeah?" Zooble sighed. The carousel room. That had been constructed after Queenie had ... so he was finally coming back around, at least a bit. "Come on, let's get you to Caine, okay? He's got an adventure for us."

"O ... Okay..." Pomni and Zooble helped him to stand, and he began to shuffle down the hall, hunched over slightly more than usual.

"He ... had a wife?"

Zooble was silent. They glanced at Pomni, their eyelids suddenly feeling heavy. Then, they sighed, "Yeah. They met after they entered the circus. I wasn't around for most of it, she abstracted shortly after I got here. But even from what little I saw, it was obvious they were crazy about each other." Pomni watched the chess piece ahead of them, the way his gliding seemed so much slower and sad. "So, if you ever wanted to know how to go so completely around the bend like him, just fall in love in this place."

Pomni swallowed. Zooble eyed her, taking in the pain on her face, as if a hole had just opened up in her chest.

"Sorry, Pomni."

-/-/-/-

"Oh, you're back!" Ragatha perked up as the three came trudging back, only for her excitement to fade when she sensed the heaviness about them.

"Yeah," Zooble muttered. "Kinger, uh..."

"Oh," Ragatha cooed, holding a hand to her mouth. "Oh, Kinger..." She allowed him to come to her, and wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay. You're still here."

"Where's Caine?" Pomni asked.

Jax's expression was grim for just a moment, before he snickered and jerked a thumb at the portal the ringmaster had left. "Oh, he split. Gave us the adventure rundown an' poof!"

"Ugh, are you serious?" Zooble growled, rattling the handcuffs. "He didn't even leave a key or anything?"

"Nope!" Jax trilled. "So it looks like you're stuck with the munchkin for the day!"

"Sorry," Pomni mumbled.

"It's not your fault, Pomni, just," Zooble grumbled. " %$!# it, Caine..."

Pomni cleared her throat and turned her attention to the portal, "So, what is the adventure?"

-/-/-/-

Zooble wasn't sure what to expect when Jax had said the adventure's title: "POLKA PRISON PANIC."

They had originally planned on sitting the adventure out. Had they not been handcuffed to Pomni — who Jax had unceremoniously shoved into the portal after delivering the name — they would have sat it out.

Had they known that they would be getting tazed by a living accordion in a police uniform as part of this adventure, they definitely would have sat it out.

Had they known that they would be tossed into a far-too-small jail cell alongside Pomni after they had both been tazed by a living accordion in a police uniform as part of this adventure, they absolutely would have sat it out.

Had they known that they would be tossed into a far-too-small jail cell alongside Pomni after they had both been tazed by a living accordion in a police uniform and subjected to what they were certain was hours by now of obnoxiously out-of-tune polka covers of pop songs over the prison intercom as part of this adventure...

Well, they were wondering how bad abstraction could really be by comparison.

"Make it stop," they grumbled, laying in a heap on the floor, burnt and occasionally giving off bursts of static. Pomni sat nearby. "Pomni. Pomni. I need you. To do me the world's biggest solid. And murder me. I can't take this discount Weird Al bull%$!# anymore..."

"I would if I could," Pomni muttered, trying to cover her ears and huffing when she registered the sound anyway. "No one deserves this."

At some point, there was a brief lull in the background music, and Zooble sighed in mild relief. "This sucks," they grumped.

"Sorry," Pomni muttered, eyes downcast. "If I wasn't weighing you down, you probably wouldn't be in this situation."

"Ugh, shut up," Zooble hissed. "Ifs are pointless. It is what it is, and what it is is sucky. And ... I already told you, it's not your fault. Caine's an idiot and Jax is a jack%$!#. But you're okay, I guess."

Pomni made a small, grateful noise. Then the two were silent for a time.

"Zooble?"

"What."

"You said ... that love would drive a person crazy here, right?"

Zooble groaned inwardly, turning and feeling their gut twist a bit at the pathetic look on Pomni's face. "More or less, yeah."

Pomni hesitated, then asked, "Did you? Ever fall in love, here in the circus, I mean."

"Nah," Zooble answered immediately, reclining on the floor. "Too much hassle. Too much drama. I'm fine on my own."

Pomni was silent for a beat. Then, "Is that how everyone else feels, too?"

"Dunno, never asked. I don't doubt it, though. Everyone who saw what happened between Kinger and Queenie probably has some pretty strong opinions on love in this place."

The jester groaned.

"Why?" Zooble asked, leadingly. "You got a thing for anyone?"

"What? No! O-Of course not," Pomni insisted. "I haven't had a lot of opportunity to think about things like that, just ... it stuck with me for some reason." Pomni pulled her knees to her chest. "A place without love feels ... wrong. I was starting to feel okay with the thought of never leaving, but..."

"Well, I'd keep holding onto that if I were you," Zooble shrugged. "There's no way out, and love will drive you insane. They're both garbage truths, but they're truths either way."

"Well..." Pomni mumbled. She opened her mouth like she was about to continue the thought, but nothing else came.

"...You get used to it," Zooble muttered. "After a while, it stops bothering you. You accept that things just are the way they are, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't love anybody, and nobody will love you back, because the last thing anyone wants is to wind up like Kinger — or worse, in the cellar. You get used to everyone else thinking you're worthless."

Pomni didn't respond at first.

After a few seconds, Zooble felt a hand on their shoulder.

"For what it's worth," Pomni said, "I think you're pretty great."

Zooble would have clenched their jaw if they had one. Instead, they made a strangled grunt, their brows furrowing as their chest ached.

"S-Sorry!" Pomni exclaimed, yanking her hand back.

"Pomni!"

The jester perked up the second the familiar voice registered, and she leapt to her feet and ran to the bars of the cell, yanking Zooble along with surprising strength before they could respond to her apology.

"Ragatha!" Zooble groaned; Pomni's smile was audible, for %$!#'s sake. "You would not believe how glad I am to see you!"

("Oh, I'd believe it," the amalgam retched under their breath.)

"Are you okay?" Ragatha fawned, "Both of you, I mean? Zooble got tazed, and then..."

"Relatively speaking," Pomni nodded. "What about you? A-And everyone else?"

"We're not the ones stuck in a cell," Ragatha tittered. "Don't worry, we'll get you out soon. The others went to distract the guards, and—"

"Attention, all potato heads and snippy dwarves," Jax's voice came over the intercom, dripping with the cadence of a flight attendant, "we're experiencing some mild turbulence, please keep your limbs attached and your yappy little pieholes shut and one of our doormats will arrive to bust you out shortly."

"Hej!" Another voice shouted, presumably at Jax. "Get ałej wrom dejr!"

"You'll never take us alive!"

There was a clicking noise.

Followed by a shotgun blast.

Followed by bloodcurdling shrieks.

"See y'all in a bit! Cap'n Jax signing off!"

Then the polka started again, and Zooble screamed into their hands.

-/-/-/-

"THIS IS STUPID."

"What's that, Zoobs? It's hard to hear you over the sound of my epicness!" Jax cackled, jerking the steering wheel of the prison truck to the side.

Pomni had at some point fallen out of the back, nearly pulling Zooble with her. As it stood, Ragatha was trying to help Zooble pull the jester back in as she skidded and bounced along the asphalt. Gangle and Kinger, meanwhile, were firing shotguns back at the pursuing police cars; Gangle's comedy mask had shattered at some point again, and she was tearful and trembling as she took aim; Kinger had set his aside, preoccupied with a roach he'd found back inside the prison.

Pomni shouted each time she rebounded off the road, "JAX! I'M! GONNA! %$!#ING! KILL YOU!"

-/-/-/-

"Welcome back, my Adorable Incarcerated Icons!" Caine declared as the troupe trudged back into the circus through the exit portal. The only person who seemed to be happier than when they had entered was Jax. "I trust you all had an eventful day!"

"Caine," Zooble growled, lifting their arm, and, by extension, a beaten-up, skid-marked Pomni. "Off. Now."

The ringmaster stared for a moment, before floating down, popping Zooble's arm out of its socket, sliding the cuff off, and popping it back in. Zooble watched, dumbfounded, stunned, and, frankly, too angry at themselves for words.

Well. Very many words, at least.

"MOTHER%$!#ER!"

Jax's smirk grew, taking up almost the whole bottom half of his face. "Oh, you didn't realize that before, Zooby-Doo? Honestly I was beginning to think you were just kinky like that."

" %$!# OFF."

"Oh! And before I forget," Caine flew up next to Jax, grabbed the corner of his mouth, and — Pomni recoiled in shock — zipped it shut. "Don't think I didn't catch you using those vulgar and demeaning terms for little people, Jax. As punishment, I've taken the liberty of timing out your chat privileges. They should be restored by tomorrow, after I've made sure to add those terms to the blacklist!"

Jax crossed his arms, muffling something that sounded close to a curse.

"As for the rest of you, congratulations on evading the law! Your reward is," he snapped his fingers, and folded orange jumpsuits dropped into the troupe's hands, "some fashionable souvenirs!" When he was met with disgruntled grimaces, he merely rubbed his hands together and said, "Welp! I'll see you all tomorrow! Byyeeee!"

And like that, he poofed out of sight.

Zooble huffed, "I'm going to bed." They paused, glancing at the jester, before cursing under their breath. "Hey, Pomni." She flinched, and Zooble felt a twinge of guilt. "For what it's worth," they muttered, "I think you're pretty great, too." Pomni's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but before she or anyone else could say anything, Zooble rushed out, "Okay, going to bed now, g'night everyone," and hobbled away as quick as they could.

Once they were in the safety of their room, they smacked their head on the wall.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Could that have been any more awkward? Christ on a bike, it was like Pomni's weirdness was infectious or something. They groaned, and trudged over to their chest of parts. They needed a change. They popped out their antennae, swapped one to the other's place, and replaced the other with one that looked like a TV antenna. They replaced their bat wing with one that was smooth, like a hummingbird's. They replaced their robotic claw arm with a lobster pincer, and their triangular pendant with one that resembled a sun.

They were about to replace their bad leg — which currently resembled a candy cane — when there was a knock at their door. They limped over and opened it a crack, expecting to see Pomni. "What do you want — Oh," their voice lost some of its edge, "hey, Gangle. Sorry about that."

"Hey," Gangle mumbled wetly, her sketchbook in her hands. "Um, Pomni said that, you weren't feeling well. I-Is there anything I can do to help?"

Zooble groaned inwardly. " %$!# clown ... Nah, I'm fine, just ... rough day. Lot on my mind."

Gangle hesitated, before asking, "Would you like some company? I-I drew something for you — or, I mean, I was, I'm not sure if it's good enough yet, m-maybe you could tell me what you think?"

The amalgam was about to decline, but something gave them pause. They studied Gangle's expression — pathetic, sad, on the verge of tears ... but they could sense a kind of hope underneath it all.

"For what it's worth, I think you're pretty great."

Pomni's words echoed in their head. They'd always thought that Pomni didn't think of them at all. That Ragatha's kind demeanor was a facade. That Kinger was just too far gone to bother remembering anyone but his bugs. That Jax was ... well, Jax, so jury was still out on him. That Gangle was just so much of a pushover she'd do anything for affirmation.

Their gut churned unpleasantly as they thought back to all of the times Gangle had offered to draw things for them, had asked them for feedback, had sought out their attention. All the times they'd declined or responded with apathy.

All the times they must have made her feel worthless.

Guilt swirled inside until it was a fist-sized lump of sludge in their chest.

"You know what," they stood aside, pulling the door open a bit more, "sure. Company ... actually sounds kinda nice, for once."

Gangle's mouth fell open in surprise, eyes wide, before a slight grin spread across her mask, her tears dripping down and then stopping briefly. She entered, and Zooble closed the door.

They started to lock it by habit, but decided otherwise, for now.

Chapter 8: Contact

Yet another week had gone by since Pomni's arrival, bringing her up to three weeks and change into the alleged rest of her life. The adventures, though still scarring in more ways than just physical, had also become something Pomni was finding herself getting used to — almost to a disturbing degree. Following the polka prison, Caine had sent them to:

A nightclub filled with stuffed animals, where they were prevented from leaving until all of them had sung a Blues song. She hadn't paid much attention to anyone's performance aside from Ragatha's, and she had found herself enchanted by the ragdoll's voice. Once it was her own turn, she had barely managed to squeak out a single off-key note before someone who looked suspiciously like a certain purple rabbit had thrown an overripe tomato directly into her face.

A gigantic dining table, where they had been forced to flee from some crazy man in a ridiculous hat as he tried to use them as biscuits for his tea. Zooble had returned short an arm, and Ragatha had needed to wring herself dry. Kinger had engaged in a rather spirited conversation with the mad hatter, so Pomni supposed that was good for him at least.

A galleon commandeered by the mannequin crew of a clown pirate captain, which resulted with Jax launching said clown pirate captain out of a cannon, and promptly taking over the mannequin crew as their new leader. The only reason they got back as soon as they did was because Kinger had accidentally set off several packs of dynamite below deck, sinking the ship.

A koi pond, where ... well, honestly Pomni had spent a majority of that one with a carp stuck on her head, so she missed at least ninety percent of it.

A non-euclidean hedge maze which they had spent what felt like several days on its own traversing, getting separated, getting lost, reuniting, forming factions, going to war, nearly losing their minds, and finally managing to reach the end. Zooble had spent a good chunk of that one with their head stuck on a pike; Jax called them Beelzoobub for the remainder of it.

Just the day before, Caine had tasked them with a talent show in the tent, held for an audience of mannequins. Everyone who participated had seemed to have something; Gangle attempted to paint a portrait, but was unfortunately foiled by Jax; Kinger had displayed and talked at length about his bug collection, until Jax unleashed them all; Jax, surprisingly, was quite skilled at tap dancing; Ragatha had played a song on her cello once Kinger's bugs had been wrangled back up. Zooble had decided to sit this one out, and Pomni couldn't blame them — she wasn't totally sure if she even had a talent as it was. With some pushing from Caine, jeering from Jax, and encouragement from Ragatha, she'd done the only thing she could think of: reciting the digits of pi.

Caine seemed to be the only one who was particularly impressed. Ragatha was sunnily supportive as always. Jax, however, had simply chortled and taken to calling her a nerd; she had woken up this morning to find her door's faceplate vandalized with goofy-looking glasses and buck-teeth drawn on it in marker.

Then there was today's adventure: they had been sent to a kingdom built out of books and paper, and inhabited by animated writing utensils. Specifically, they had been sent to a wizard's tower and tasked with helping him concoct a serum to extend the prince's life. Jax had attempted to assassinate the king and got tossed into the dungeon for a good portion of it, so things managed to go at least somewhat smoothly.

"Welcome home, my Little Lethean Lilypads!" By now, Pomni had grown quite accustomed to Caine's extravagant entrances and odd nicknames for the troupe. His booming voice still left her — auricular functions, for lack of a better term — ringing and hard of hearing, but it had quickly become just another aspect of every day. "I trust you all had a good time in the Land of Literacy?"

"Define 'good time'," Jax grumbled, the shackle around his ankle clinking with each step. When Caine's jaws separated to carry out Jax's sarcastic demand, the rabbit quickly said, "Don't, actually."

"Anyway!" Caine declared, "Props on procuring the potion to prolong Prince Pencil's panache! Your reward for doing such a good job is," with a flourish and a snap of his fingers, he willed into existence for everyone a ticket each, "tickets to visit the carnival after hours! Good for one visit each! Feel free to use them tonight, or hold on to them for a special occasion!"

With that and a tip of his hat, Caine took his leave.

"Tickets to the carnival, sounds like fun!" Ragatha beamed. "What do you think, Pomni?"

Pomni chewed her lip, staring at her ticket. She ... hadn't actually taken the opportunity to look around the circus much outside of the adventures. She usually spent her free time hanging out with Ragatha, and she often paid so much attention to the ragdoll that she still wasn't quite familiar with the Grounds.

In fact, she'd been paying her so much attention that she had begun to wonder if, maybe, there was the slightest, most miniscule, totally infinitesimal chance that Zooble had been on to something when they had asked if there was anyone Pomni was interested in. The thought had occurred to her once they got back from the nightclub adventure; her incredible voice, her gentle and kind nature, how much Pomni wanted to protect her from being taken advantage of, how she always tried to look on the bright side of things...

Needless to say, Pomni had concluded that she was unquestionably smitten.

She had tried to squash the shameful and dread-inducing revelation back down; she'd thought first that she didn't want to wind up like Kinger, then realized what that would have meant, then she thought she didn't want Ragatha to wind up like Kinger either, and then realized what that would have meant, and from there her thoughts had proceeded to spiral entirely out of her control. She had only managed to snap out of it by walking face-first into one of the many building blocks around the Tent, and from there decided to repress as much of the terrible considerations as she could whenever they reared their ugly, multi-eyed heads.

Standing here now, with Ragatha all but asking her on a date to the Carnival (no, wait, not a date, friends just did that sometimes, right?), the thoughts were straining in her digital brain.

"Y-Yeah," she nodded, "it sounds ... different, at least." She swallowed her nerves and asked, "You wanna hang out there tonight?"

Ragatha's smile was infectious as she gleamed down at the jester. She shot her a pair of finger guns, and Pomni felt as though she had actually just been shot through the chest. "Sounds like a plan!"

"Cool great see you then!" Pomni blurted, before bolting back towards their living quarters and hiding herself away in her room, eyes itching and breathing unsteady.

Okay. This was okay. This was fine. Friends went out to carnivals together platonically, right? Right. Didn't have to be romantic at all. In fact, it'd be better if it wasn't romantic, right? Right! Right.

Pomni groaned, sliding down with her back to the door and hiding her face in her hands. She was a %$!# mess.

"You're a %$!# mess."

Pomni nearly hit the ceiling as she jumped in surprise. Jax stood in front of her, grin wide as ever.

"Jax! How did—?! I mean when did—?!"

He twirled a key on his finger in front of her face, and said, "The second you started blanking around dollface I figured you'd wind up %$!#ing out — ugh, that's censored, really? — and booking it straight here. Judging by your face something super embarrassing must have happened."

She huffed and turned away from him. "What do you want?"

"No need to be so feisty," he pinched her cheek, and she swatted his hand away. "I'm just here to start collecting my dues."

"Your dues?"

"Two favors. You owe me, remember?"

Pomni blanched. "I ... I thought the agreement was you'd get me Caine's watch."

"Of course I will," he said, "but you heard Ragatha; she agreed that I always keep my word. You, on the other hand, don't have that kind of track record. From what I've seen, you're flakier than a fish. So," he blocked her in with his arm, "I'm gonna need some compensation up front."

Pomni clenched her jaw, shrinking under his sickly yellow eyes. Her room was fairly well-lit, but with him hovering over her like this, he was cloaked in shadow, his eyes and teeth seeming to glow.

Was this really a good idea? She'd already come to terms with never leaving ... come to terms with the apparent permanence of this place ... but...

There was still that part of her that wanted to know the truth behind whatever it was that Caine was hiding.

Every neuron in her head was screaming at her to flee, that this was a dangerous situation, that he couldn't be trusted. Her primitive ancestors slapped themselves on the forehead as she said, "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

-/-/-/-

Pomni swallowed as she approached the door, key held tight in her trembling hands. Kaufmo smiled and waved at her from behind that red X mark.

"I need you to go on into Kaufmo's room and grab something for me. You'll know it when you know it."

Jax's demands rang loud in her brain. She hadn't seen the inside of Kaufmo's room since the incident — and even then merely a glimpse. She could still recall the moment the door swung open, revealing that jittering, stuttering mass, those horrible, gleaming, chromatically shifting eyes. She could still feel the terror that had taken hold when she had seen the remnants of the clown lunge, grabbing Ragatha and slamming her into the walls and floor without mercy. She could still feel the vibrations closing in on her as she ran, the chattering static growing ever closer behind her.

She swallowed again, and raised the key to the lock — and missed, once, twice — before finally sliding it in and turning it. She took a deep breath. Kaufmo was in the cellar. There wouldn't be anyone inside of this room.

Steeling herself, she pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

Immediately, she felt a chill course through her. The room was dark, but the light from the doorway allowed her to see, no matter how much she wished she couldn't.

The walls were covered in ramblings and scrawlings, drawings that disturbed her deeply. Morbid jokes with no real punchlines. A drawing of Kaufmo running away from a cackling Caine. 'EXIT' and 'NO WAY OUT' scratched in red across every square inch of the room.

On the floor was a dark stain, and Pomni nearly assumed blood at first, before it occurred to her that it was more likely whatever existed in their stomachs. Other than that, juggling pins and rubber balls and knotted handkerchiefs littered the floor, scattered every which way. A shelf sat in the corner with further toys and props. Across from the bed was a rocking horse and a desk, atop which sat a radio.

Pomni ventured further into the room, looking around and listening out. She was met only with silence. " 'You'll know it when you know it' ," she mockingly sneered, shuddering nonetheless. "Jax, you %$!#hole ... Couldn't have been any more vague?"

She inspected the props on the floor, but nothing seemed to stick out as unusual. She studied the walls, as nauseous as they made her, but was unable to glean any hints from there either. She looked under the bed, coming face-to-face with nothing more than a tiny toy car and a jack-in-the-box. She checked the shelves — still nothing. She checked the drawer at the desk, and still found nothing.

Demoralized, she sat at the desk, massaging her temples. Of course this was a wild goose chase. Of course Jax would remind her of one of the most traumatizing things she'd witnessed since coming here. Of %$!#ing course.

"You'll know it when you know it."

"You'll know it when you know it."

Pomni let out a cry of frustration, covering her eyes with her hands and kicking her legs. She felt a bit of relief, but it was quickly quashed when she realized how immature her brief tantrum was.

She grumbled, resting her elbows on the desk and her head in her hands. She glanced at the radio, the gears in her head turning. Maybe..?

She clicked the radio on, and was greeted with white noise. She tapped her fingers rhythmically on the desk, of course the radio didn't provide any hints.

"Echo," she jolted at the sudden whisper in her ear, looking around frantically, "X-ray ... India ... Tango..." More voices, an assortment of different ones. Her gaze settled on the radio. She waited a moment more, and then— "Echo ... X-ray ... India ... Tango..."

"Hello?" She called into the radio, before immediately feeling foolish — it was a regular one-way radio, and had no microphone to speak into.

"November ... Oscar ... Echo ... X-ray ... India ... Tango ...... November ... Oscar ... Whiskey ... Alfa ... Yankee ... Oscar ... Uniform ... Tango..."

She sighed. If this was all the 'music' Kaufmo could get, it was no wonder he lost it. She was about to try and change the frequency, when—

"Charlie ... Alfa ... India ... November ... Echo..."

...Caine?

"Delta ... Oscar ... November ... Tango ... Tango ... Romeo ... Uniform ... Sierra ... Tango..."

Don't trust.

"Charlie ... Echo ... Lima ... Lima ... Alfa ... Romeo..."

Cellar...

Pomni suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

"November ... Alfa ... Mike ... Echo ... India ... Sierra..."

Name is..?

The room was suddenly filled with an unbearable screeching sound, and Pomni covered the sides of her head, clenching her jaw in agony as the shrill shrieking drilled into her brain. She lunged for the radio and clicked it off, trembling.

Was this what Jax had wanted her to find for him?

No exit ... No way out ... Caine ... Don't trust ... Cellar ... Name is...

Pomni shivered, holding the radio in unsteady hands. Were these..? She dreaded the answer to her unfinished question as it occurred to her: the voices of the abstracted players in the cellar.

She couldn't grasp the logistics of why Kaufmo would have had this, whether all radios in the circus could tune in to abstracted players or if there was something special about this particular one. She wasn't sure if this was what Jax had wanted her to find, nor how he would have known about it if it was — and, surely if it was, he could have gotten it at any point between Kaufmo abstracting and now, couldn't he?

She stared at the radio in her hands, as if looking at it for long enough would give her an answer.

"Pomni?"

She jumped in the seat, hiding the radio behind her back and whirling to face the door. Gangle was peering in, tears dripping from her eyes.

"It is you ... I thought I heard a scream ... What are you doing in here? ...How did you get in here, actually?"

"Uh, yeah, it's me, I uh," she swallowed. "Jax gave me the key. He said he needed something from in here."

Gangle mumbled something, poking her head in cautiously as though expecting a trap. "Jax did?"

"It's okay, he's not here. You can come in."

Gangle took a tentative couple of steps inside, surveying the mad scrawlings on the walls. She was visibly shaking, her mouth scrunched up.

"Jax told me what he saw ... b-but I..."

Pomni took a step towards her, following her gaze as it travelled along the walls.

"It's so awful..." Gangle choked out. "It ... It almost doesn't feel real. Even after his funeral, it feels..."

"Funeral?"

"That's right," Gangle whimpered, "you were still in your room. We, um ... we usually hold funerals, for the people who abstract. We held Kaufmo's the day after you got here."

"Oh," Pomni mumbled, suddenly feeling guilty. "I'm ... I'm sorry I missed it."

Gangle chuckled ruefully. "It's funny. I feel like the two of you would have gotten along." She craned her head around, noticing the radio behind Pomni's back. "What's that?"

Pomni chewed her lip, before holding it up in front of her. "It's a radio. I'm not totally sure, but I think it's what Jax wanted me to find?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I tried turning it on, and..." Pomni shook her head. "Sorry, it's probably best not to explain it. It's ... a lot to take in."

Gangle made an uneasy noise, pressing the ends of her ribbons together. "I hope he's not trying to prank you or anything..."

"Hopefully not," Pomni chuckled nervously. "Long story short, I owe him a couple of favors, and this was the first thing he asked for."

Gangle whimpered. "Just ... be careful around him."

Pomni nodded. By now, she had figured out pretty much everyone's dynamics, but the one between Jax and Gangle seemed ... indecipherable, at least to her. Jax obviously bullied Gangle the most out of the cast, and Gangle had warned her several times to steer clear of him, but she also never seemed to defend herself. All of her defenses were for him, it seemed; "He's really not that bad", "I just need to watch where I'm walking", "It's just how he copes".

How familiar it felt to Pomni made her stomach churn unpleasantly.

She said to Gangle, "You too, okay?"

Gangle's expression shifted into one of stunned silence, before shifting again into a tearful, empty smile, nodding. Pomni tried to pat her on the shoulder comfortingly, and was surprised by just how flimsy Gangle's ribbons were. Instead, she merely hovered her hand over the ribbons.

"I'm serious," Pomni insisted, "it's not right for you to put up with his behavior. And, don't try to brush me off by saying that it's just how he is. Please."

Gangle whined, before nodding again, her smile now looking more sincere and grateful. "Okay ... thanks, Pomni."

The two stepped out of Kaufmo's room, and Pomni hesitated before locking the door again. Gangle waved a goodbye, retreating back to her own room. Pomni waved back, before making her way back down the hall to Jax's room. She rang the doorbell first. Then she knocked a couple times, then a couple more when there was no answer.

A brief chill of deja vu struck her, but she shook it away. "Jax," she called, "I think I found the thing. Are you in there?"

Silence.

She huffed, carefully balancing the radio in one hand and trying the knob — only for the radio to be yoinked out of her grasp. She spun around to see Jax, and her concern turned to relief turned to annoyance.

"Nice job, Chuckles," he sneered, "honestly I was expecting you to come back empty-handed, whining about how it was too tall a task."

Pomni felt a biting comment on her tongue, but she held it down. "Why did you want that radio?"

"Tsk tsk, didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your nose out of other people's business?" His smirk widened, and he booped Pomni on her noseless face. "Well, maybe not..."

She swatted his hand away. "A-anyway, I did what you wanted. The least you could do is fill me in on what you're planning to do with it."

He trilled, "Can't a guy just want some music to help pass the time?" His tone was very clearly disingenuous.

Pomni sighed. "Ugh, whatever."

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your little date with dollface?"

Pomni sputtered, her face red. Jax's %$!#-eating smirk grew further. "That—! That's none of your business! Leave me alone!" She ran to her room, fuming, and slammed the door. She jerked it back open and shouted, "And it's not a date!" Then slammed it again.

Jax watched as she absconded, waited a moment more, and quickly slipped into his bedroom. He locked the door. He set the radio on his desk, and sat before it, staring at it intensely.

He grabbed the microphone he'd gotten his hands on during the nightclub adventure, and plugged it into the radio.

He clicked them both on.

"November ... Oscar ... Whiskey ... Alfa ... Yankee ... Oscar ... Uniform ... Tango..."

"Hey, Kaufmo. You there? Do you even remember that name?"

"......Kilo ... Oscar ... Foxtrot ... Mike ... Oscar..."

Jax felt his throat grow dry.

"How about Queenie? Are you there, Old Lady?"

"......Quebec ... Uniform ... Echo ... Echo ... November ... Yankee......"

He sighed, standing up from his desk and pacing. He grabbed his shelf and threw it over in a brief fit of rage. They were really gone. The first lead he'd had in forever, and the only thing he could glean was something he already %$!#ing knew.

"......Cottontail..."

He froze.

"Lemon — Eye — Cottontail..."

He bolted back to his desk and grabbed the microphone.

"Who is this? Kaufmo?" No response. He trilled, "H-Hey, come on ... Who is this? How do you know me? Do ... Do you know me? It's Jax, do you remember me?"

"Juliet ... Alfa ... Charlie ... Kilo ... Sierra..."

His arms shook. He couldn't tell if what he was feeling was anger, or sadness, or hope, or something else he couldn't quite parse.

"Come on, you know me, right? Kaufmo? Buddy?"

"Cottontail ... Cottontail ... Cottontail..."

He sighed as the radio repeated the word, over, and over, and over. He shut off the radio for the time being, and sat down on his bed, steepling his fingers and pressing them against his forehead. He could look more into this later. Right now, he was too freakin' tired.

Kaufmo and Queenie and all of them were gone, or at least couldn't remember any of their own names or, presumably, the names of the rest of the surviving troupe. But they seemingly remembered him, or at least what he looked like. Simply from seeing him after they'd abstracted? Or did even the tiniest part of their memories still exist?

"Jeez," he groaned, "this just leaves more questions than answers..."

He smirked wryly, and reclined back on his bed, staring resentfully at the ceiling.

"Guess I get now why you broke, Kaufy..."

Chapter 9: A Very Basic Thing

Pomni fretted in the mirror, nitpicking everything about herself. She kept zeroing in on — well, there really were no 'small' things to be upset about. Her eyelashes were uneven, her pinwheel eyes looked crooked somehow, her limbs were so scrawny, her sleeves and pants were too short — and the more anxious she got, the more scribbly her eyes became. She yanked on her hat, trying to pull herself back to relative serenity, to no avail.

A knock came to her door, and she jumped. She swallowed, her throat tight and her chest aching. She nervously opened, coming face-to-face with, of course, Ragatha.

"Hey, Pom," Ragatha shone, her smile piercing Pomni's chest. "You ready to head out?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Pomni nodded, stepping out and shutting her door. Not like she really needed to 'get ready'. She cursed her anxiety; she should have spent more time mentally preparing rather than agonizing over how she looked. "I'm ready. Let's go out." Her heart leapt into her throat. "To the carnival! I mean. Go out, to the — the carnival." Ragatha giggled, and Pomni's knees felt weak.

This was going to be a long, stressful platonic outing.

-/-/-/-

"Welcome to the Digital Carnival," the mannequin running the ticket kiosk greeted as the two presented their tickets, "enjoy your time!"

Seeing the Grounds and the Carnival at night was ... certainly a different vibe. The crudely-drawn stars twinkled overhead, only somewhat drowned out by the overbearingly bright lights of the Carnival's rides and attractions, as though light pollution wasn't an issue.

Ragatha asked, "Where do you wanna go first?"

"W-Well..." Pomni wrung her hands, looking around nervously. Ferris wheel? %$!# no, way too stereotypically romantic. One of the games? Maybe ... no, but winning toys for each other was romantic, wasn't it? Roller coaster? The two of them squished together, leaning into one another with each turn — definitely not.

"Pom?"

She snapped to attention. "Huh?"

"Your eyes are doing that scribbly thing again," Ragatha giggled. "If you're feeling overwhelmed we could just walk around first and see what catches us."

"Y-Yeah, okay! I mean, walking around sounds nice. Let's do that." She swallowed and held up her hand. She internally screamed at herself for her eternal awkwardness.

Ragatha beamed down at her, gently taking her hand and leading her along. Pomni's mouth felt dry. That familiar pins and needles sensation was definitely there, but it was overshadowed by other feelings — security in Ragatha's grasp, comfort at the plush feeling of her fabric skin, longing to hold more of her.

"How about some food?" Ragatha suggested as they passed a cotton candy cart.

"Yeah, food's good," Pomni nodded, relaxing a bit. It wasn't like it was a dinner or anything, just a snack. Totally platonic and friendly and not romantic at all. Being the taller of the two, Ragatha grabbed a couple of cotton candy cones, handing a pink one to Pomni and taking a blue one for herself.

Pomni took a couple of bites, and, like all of the food she'd eaten in the Digital Circus, it was off somehow. A big cartoon bite mark appeared where she had eaten, making it look less fluffy and more solid. It was even more overloaded with sweetness than she expected, but there was also a weird bitterness to it? The texture was surprisingly close though, she was pretty sure ... and now she was stuck trying to remember if she had ever actually eaten cotton candy before, trying to remember if she even knew what the texture was supposed to be.

Ragatha's giggling pulled her out of her existential stupor. When she looked her way, the ragdoll covered her mouth, still smiling. "Sorry, sorry! It's just, you've got a little something," she pointed at the corner of her mouth. Pomni flicked her tongue out to try and catch whatever it was. "No, it's — a little to the — here, hold on."

Ragatha reached over, swiping at Pomni's cheek with her thumb. Pomni froze, eyes wide, and Ragatha pulled her hand away quickly — and for once, Pomni wished her touch had lingered.

"There!" Ragatha beamed. "All clean!"

Pomni stammered something incoherent, before hiding her tomato-red face behind her cotton candy. She heard a rattling sound, and grew embarrassed when she realized it was from her legs trembling and her knees knocking together.

"Oh... Oh! Oh, Pom," Ragatha fawned when she noticed the jester's shivering. "I'm sorry. I promise, I won't touch you again without asking.

"I-It's really fine," Pomni insisted, trying to will her nerves to settle. When she noticed Ragatha's remorseful expression, Pomni quickly reached out, taking her hand. Ragatha's eye widened in surprise, before she let out a relieved chuckle.

"Okay then, I'll take your word for it."

-/-/-/-

"Oh, how about over there, next?"

After their cotton candy, the two had ventured further into the Carnival. Pomni had only ever really seen it from a distance, unable to make out much more than the roller coaster and ferris wheel, the only exception being when she'd briefly entered with Kinger during the Scongle adventure. Up close as they were now, she could actually examine the rest of the attractions: what looked like an inflatable obstacle course, some midway games with prizes, a couple of tents handing out C&A-brand merch, and several other games and rides.

As they went along, Pomni realized that the Carnival had seemingly expanded once they'd entered, as though what was visible from beyond its barriers was only a fraction of what there actually was. Moments like this reminded her that this was still a video game, and so the Grounds must have operated like a point-and-click menu — each individual area would expand once it had been 'clicked on', or entered.

Ragatha was currently pointing towards a pop-up attraction, some kind of funhouse. The entrance looked like Caine's ... mouth? Face? In any case, it looked like a pair of dentures, eyes at the top looking down at them.

"Uh, sure," Pomni nodded, despite her apprehension.

The pair entered the funhouse, and immediately Pomni was having second thoughts.

It was dark inside, lit mostly by blacklights that made Pomni feel as though her skin itself was glowing. Purple and green and blue spotlights moved up the walls, carved out by patterns and symbols, spirals and triangles and chevrons and more. Her gut felt uneasy, and she gripped Ragatha's hand tighter. The ragdoll gave a reassuring squeeze.

"Oh!" Ragatha suddenly exclaimed. Pomni jumped in surprise. "Sorry, sorry! Just," Ragatha pointed, directing Pomni's attention to a warping mirror, their reflections distorting. The sight of her already-wrong body further morphing sent a grumble of dysmorphia into Pomni's chest.

The two continued on, past more mirrors that warped their appearances — ones that made Ragatha look wider, ones that made Pomni look taller, ones that made the subject look weirdly buff, ones that made the subject look like they had a hole through their torso, ones that made them look striped and polka-dotted and zigzag-patterned, ones that made them look like dogs and cats, ones that made them look like a stereotypical anime ... Pomni was far too checked-out to even begin to consider the logistics.

Finally, after a maze of glass walls, they managed to find their way out. Pomni let out a sigh of relief now that they were back in the light and relatively-fresh air, her legs giving out and sending her to her knees. Ragatha gripped her hand tightly, kneeling beside her.

"Are you alright, Pom?"

"Y-Yeah," she gurgled, fighting not to vomit. "Just ... the lights, and the shapes and..." She shuddered. "It was just a bit overstimulating..."

"Take it easy," Ragatha cooed, helping Pomni slowly back to her feet. She led her to the side of the walkway, sitting her down on a bench and taking a seat beside her.

"Sorry," Pomni groaned, clutching her gut. "I don't mean to be a drag..."

Ragatha's patient smile warmed her insides instantly. "Oh, Pom, you don't have to apologize for anything. And I mean that." She squeezed Pomni's hand reassuringly. "Let's take a second to rest. We've got plenty of time."

Pomni made an appreciative noise, and relaxed into the bench. She craned her neck up, watching the stars scribbled overhead.

"Hey, Ragatha?"

"Yeah, Pomni?"

The jester swallowed nervously. Would saying what was on her mind be too much? Would it betray her objective of stealthing her way through this not-date? Her chest suddenly felt tight with indecision, and she cursed herself for speaking up before thinking things through. She could feel her eyes beginning to itch, and when she glanced in Ragatha's direction, she saw the ragdoll's contented grin beginning to curve into a concerned frown.

Finally, she struggled out, "Thank you. For, just, everything. You're really incredible, and ... I know I've said it before but, I really don't think I'd have made it this long if it wasn't for you."

"O-Oh, come on," Ragatha stammered, averting her gaze as her face grew rosy; the sight and sound of her sent jolts into Pomni's heart, "you don't give yourself enough credit. You're so much stronger than you think you are, Pomni. I'm sure you'd have managed just fine without me."

"I don't wanna think about that," Pomni squeezed Ragatha's hand tighter, then grabbed it with both hands, drawing her attention back. "I don't ... I don't wanna lose you, Ragatha. Not ever. You're really important to me and it'd be too much to bear."

"Pomni..." Ragatha stared, wide-eyed. The two sat there face-to-face and hand-in-hands for a moment longer, the space between them suddenly both too great and too little. Pomni could see Ragatha's mouth twist slightly, as though she were swallowing something. Then, she asked, "I ... I'd like to hug you. Is that okay?"

Pomni froze, chewing on her lip apprehensively. Hugs were fine, right? Hugs could be platonic! And yet... She could already feel the pins and needles on her skin at just the thought. The hopeful glimmer in Ragatha's eye was beginning to falter, and Pomni ran her free hand across her forehead. "Ugh, I'm sorry, I — jeez, why is this so hard?!"

"It's alright," Ragatha assured her, but Pomni could sense the disappointment in her voice, the way her shoulders slumped slightly, the wilt in her smile.

"No! I just—" Pomni struggled, "A hug ... sounds nice. It sounds really really nice! I just..." She tried to think of how to explain it, but no matter where her mind went, she was left without recourse. No matter how she tried to rationalize the paradox of her simultaneous desire for and aversion to touch, she couldn't.

"Hey," Ragatha fawned, drawing her out of her spiral. She adjusted her grip on Pomni's hand, curling her pointer finger around the latter's pinkie. "You're okay, Pomni. I promise, you never have to feel obligated to accept things that make you uncomfortable."

Pomni sighed sadly, squeezing her pinkie around Ragatha's pointer. "Sorry..."

"Nothing to be sorry over," Ragatha assured, reaching a hand towards Pomni's shoulder, before deciding otherwise. The denial of Ragatha's touch screwed Pomni's heart into a knot. Ragatha continued, "How are you feeling? Any better?"

"A little bit, I guess..." Pomni said, relieved to find the nausea having passed.

Ragatha declared, "Great! Wanna keep moving?"

"Sure," Pomni finally allowed herself a grin as Ragatha pushed up from the bench, taking Pomni with her.

-/-/-/-

The rest of the evening passed with surprising ease. They'd gone on a spinning cup ride, which Pomni was relieved to find had only made her slightly nauseous; they'd played a few games at the midway, though neither of them were very good at any of them; Ragatha had even convinced her to ride the roller coaster, and although Pomni had nearly fallen out during the drop, by the time it was over, she was surprised to find that she had actually somewhat had fun with it — and the photo taken during the drop, showing a blurry Pomni holding onto the lap bar for dear life, her arms stretching cartoonishly and her eyes sunk deep into their sockets, did give them both something to chuckle at.

A month ago, she'd have been horrified at what her body could do here, and to a degree, that horror was still present — the uncanny knowledge that she was looking at a picture of herself deforming in such a way still sent pins of unease into her gut — but she was beginning to get used to it, a realization which she wasn't sure whether it disturbed her on its own or not.

But, with Ragatha here with her, the both of them laughing, spending time, having fun, she began to think that maybe she could deal with the cartoon physics. Maybe she could deal with the dysmorphia.

Maybe she could just, deal.

A loud POP shook her from her thoughts, and she jumped, clinging to Ragatha like a startled cat.

"H-Hey," Ragatha cooed, patting Pomni's head in an effort to calm her down. "It's okay, Pom, it's just fireworks. You're okay."

Pomni glanced upward, watching as sizzling sparkles began to rain down in the distance overhead.

"O-Oh," she mumbled dumbly, embarrassment creeping into her cheeks as she released her grip on Ragatha's midsection. She suddenly felt her good mood be replaced with shame.

"Don't worry," Ragatha grinned, reaching again for Pomni's shoulder, and again faltering. She pulled her hand away, and said, "Why don't we head on back? Don't want you to get too freaked out."

Pomni was about to say she'd be fine — when another POP sent a shock through her body. Ragatha reached again, concern on her face, and again, stopped herself.

It was then that Pomni realized a very basic thing.

Ragatha would never touch her.

She would never say it to her.

She looked down at her hands, looked down at her pathetic little toy jester body.

She would be stuck here. Stuck, like in the Digital Circus, in her yearning.

It tore at her. It consumed her.

Unless...

"Pomni?"

She looked up from her hands. Ragatha's brows were knit in concern. Pomni's heart ached.

She couldn't hide from it anymore; she didn't want something platonic with Ragatha. An eternity meant an eternity. There would be no moving on from this crush, not so long as the two of them were sharing a space. And if one of them abstracted...

"If you squander the chances you have to care about others, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Kinger's words from weeks ago stuck in her head then.

If one of them abstracted ... if Pomni never told her, then... Fear and anxiety took a massive bite out of her heart.

Eternity meant eternity.

An eternity of yearning. An eternity of regret.

It was too much to bear.

She realized yet another very basic thing.

She had to be the one to break the cycle.

She reached out.

"Pomni? What are you—"

She grabbed Ragatha by her blouse, and pulled her in before her own anxiety and aversion to touch could make her stop.

Her mouth met embroidered felt.

It was a strange feeling. Neither of their lips were like how humans' lips should be. It felt less like a kiss and more like ... well, pressing her mouth against embroidered felt. But her intention was there. Her intention was clear. And that intention was enough to make her heart leap, make her heart pound at a million miles an hour. Pomni didn't know if it lasted merely a second or if it lasted more.

But then...

Ragatha pushed her away.

She had a terrified look on her face. Pomni's heart dropped like an anvil.

She...

The silence between them wasn't just thick. It was a brick %$!#ing wall.

Pomni's hands were still in front of her, hovering where she had been gripping Ragatha's blouse. Ragatha was covering her mouth with one hand, pupil dilated.

The ragdoll took a step back.

And she ran.

Pomni stood there, staring at where Ragatha had just been. Staring as she ran out of sight. Staring as the carnival continued around her, as the remnant embers of fireworks rained down.

An eternity of yearning, an eternity of regret...

She wondered only now, on her knees, tears falling silently down her cheeks, if either of them could compare to an eternity of heartbreak.

Notes:

The final scene here was mostly inspired by a comic by rosenkrone/haisfin on tumblr, which in turn is an excerpt from In Stars and Time, which I am not familiar with.

In any case, linking because it's a damn good comic: https://www.tumblr.com/haisfin/759444500513980416/isat-au-but-its-ragapom-cuz-im-based-asf-play-in?source=share

Chapter 10: Aftershocks - Part I

Notes:

TW: direct references to and depictions of suicide.

"Mornin', Dollface," Jax greeted in his typical snarky tone as he spotted Ragatha exiting her room.

"Hey, Jax," Ragatha croaked, her eye wide and alert and tired. In her arms was one of Gangle's comedy masks, a binder full to bursting with papers, a clipboard, one of the stage curtains, and Caine's coat. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Uh, just fine," he shrugged. "How'd... you sleep? You're lookin' a little..."

"I'm fiiine," Ragatha drawled, wobbling a bit. "I was just, doin' some chores."

Zooble and Gangle had emerged from their own rooms down the hall, and Jax's mischievous smirk returned. He asked, loudly, "How was your little date with Chuckles last night?"

Her cheeks immediately went red, and she waved her hands in denial, a nervous grin on her face; she dropped everything, including Gangle's mask, which shattered. "I-It wasn't a date! A date? Hahaha, who said it was a date! We just went to the carnival and absolutely nothing happened!"

"Oh, I'm sure," Jax chittered. He fibbed, "Is that why I caught Pomni walk-of-shaming it to her room earlier this morning?"

"L-Liar!" Ragatha accused shrilly, the rest of her face following her cheeks. "Nothing happened!"

"Suuure," he snickered.

"Ugh, lay off, Jax," Zooble grumbled as they approached. "What they do is none of your business. Just leave her alone."

"U-Um," Gangle began, "don't worry Ragatha, we're not gonna judge."

Jax barked out a laugh. The ragdoll hid her face in her hands, muffling a mortified groan. "Nothing! Happened!!"

"Gee, I wonder if Pomni'd say the same," Jax slinked over to Pomni's door, fist raised. "Ohh, Pom-Pom~! Come on out~!"

"No!" Ragatha hurried to try and place herself between Jax and Pomni's door, only for him to hold her away by the face. Her look of panic quickly turned back to an unsteady grin. "Sh-She's probably still sleeping! Come on, we shouldn't bother her!"

Jax simply reached around her, knocking on the door. "Pomni~! Come on, starshine, the world says hello!"

There was a muffled response from the other side of the door.

"What was that?" Jax taunted, "I didn't quite catch that, Pom-Pom."

Another muffled response.

He reached into his pocket for the key to her room, slid it into the lock, and began to push the door open. "Come on, use your words—"

His snark caught in his throat. He quickly pulled the door shut.

%$!#.

%$!# %$!# %$!#.

That wasn't good.

"Y'know what," he began, turning back to the rest of the group, quickly putting his smirk back into place, "you're right, Dollface, we should let her sleep in. You guys go on ahead to the stage, I'll hang back and wait for shortstuff."

Ragatha scoffed, "Oh, what are you planning this time?"

"Not planning anything," he feigned nonchalance. He held up one hand, placing the other on his chest. "Scout's honor."

"If the scouts are letting you in, their standards have hit a new low," Zooble rolled their eyes.

"Hey, believe it or not, Zoobs, I absolutely was a scout when I was a kid."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with 'not'," Zooble muttered, waving for Gangle to follow as they started to walk away.

Ragatha, however, was harder to deter. "You're plotting something," she accused, "and I'm not about to leave you alone with Pomni."

"Oh?" Jax crossed his arms. "Then are you gonna come in with me or not? Cause I'm going in with or without you."

"I knew it," Ragatha hissed. "Scout's honor, my backside. Just leave her alone, Jax. I'm serious."

He leaned down, right in her face. "And just what're you gonna do to stop me, Dolly?" Ragatha flinched, biting her lip. Jax scoffed, "That's what I thought. Now beat it." When she still refused to move, he lowered his voice, and said, "Please, Rags."

She hesitated. "Jax, what... what did you see? Is she..?"

"She'll be fine. She isn't abstracted, if that's what you're asking. But you really don't wanna see her like this. And frankly, I don't think she wants you to see her like this."

Ragatha glanced past him, staring mournfully at Pomni's faceplate. She opened her mouth to say something, before closing, picking up what she'd dropped, and walking away.

Once the coast was clear, Jax casually pushed open the door, stepped inside, shut the door, and locked it.

Pomni was in the center of the room, hanging from the rafters in a noose of knotted handkerchiefs. A pile of blocks lay nearby, knocked over.

Jax sighed into his hand.

"Kid, you know we can't die from oxygen deprivation, right?"

Pomni grumbled something, unable to open her mouth fully thanks to the makeshift rope. Jax grabbed under her arms, as though to lift her up and out of the noose — only to yank her down. An elastic stretching sound filled the room as her neck elongated, and her face began shifting rapidly through the hues of the rainbow, until finally her head popped free, and she splatted into the floor.

"Go away, Jax," she finally hissed upon catching her breath.

He casually rubbed his fingertips against his overalls as though to clean them. "Is that any way to thank the guy that just saved your neck in more ways than one?" He side-eyed her. She couldn't meet his glance. "Now, you wanna tell me why you decided today was the day you'd try to rope yourself? I mean, full offense, I'm surprised you didn't try sooner."

"Shut up," she muttered.

"Nah, don't think I will." She still didn't answer him. He smirked and hissed under his breath, "Was boinkin' Dollface really that bad—?"

"YOU SHUT THE %$!# YOUR MOUTH!" She bellowed nigh-incoherently, shooting to her feet and grabbing him by his overalls. Her teeth were razor-sharp. Her eyes were wild with murderous intent. "If you say one more bad thing about her, I swear to God — I will tear you apart, polygon by %$!#ing polygon! Do you know how many tris our models have? I've calculated a rough number — and it's a lot, Jax! A %$!#ing LOT of tris!"

Jax stared down at the hyperventilating jester, completely unfazed by her outburst. Calmly, he said, "Got it."

Pomni's glare gradually faded and her breathing steadied, and she let out a disgusted scoff, releasing his suspenders and pressing her fingers against her eyelids. "God, just... I don't even know why I'm still bothering."

Jax sighed. "Alright, Sparky, out with it. What happened between you and Ragatha?" The jester was hesitant at first, before finally hopping up onto her bed and hiding her face in her hands. She mumbled something, and Jax said, "Speak up, runt."

"Ugh, sure, why not," Pomni snarled. "I don't care anymore. I..."

She swallowed. She sucked in a breath.

"I kissed her." Jax's eyes widened a touch. "I kissed Ragatha, last night at the Carnival."

"Oh~, that so?" Jax snickered. "I knew there was somethin' goin' on between you two—"

"You don't understand," Pomni insisted, "I kissed her. She didn't kiss me back. She pushed me away." She pulled herself into a trembling hug, as though trying to make herself smaller. "She ran from me, Jax." Her lip trembled. Her voice was high and strained. "I screwed up. I screwed up so bad. She's never gonna talk to me again. She must hate me. She—"

SPLAT.

Pomni recoiled backwards onto her bed as Jax threw a pie at her face. He let out a high, five-pronged laugh, pointing. She sat up slowly, wiping banana cream from her eyes in disbelief. She began trembling again, this time from rage — as evident by the pie filling evaporating from her quickly-reddening face.

"Y-You—!"

"Me~," Jax chittered, placing his hands under his chin like an innocent angel.

Pomni leapt off her bed, and began swinging her fists at him. Her blows didn't connect, as he held her away by her forehead with one hand. When she realized she couldn't reach her target, she resorted to cussing him out and stomping her feet like a petulant child, the room filling with a series of cartoony sound effects as she exhausted her dictionary and then some.

At last, she deflated, panting, her hands on her knees. Jax removed his hand from her forehead. "There. Got it all out of your system, Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Hff... hff... Screw you," Pomni bit out.

"Hey, look on the bright side: you're not mopin' over Ragatha anymore, right?"

Pomni opened her mouth as though to chew him out, but paused. "...Huh." At Jax's smug grin, she added quickly, "I mean, I'm still upset over it..."

"But~?"

"But..." Pomni huffed, "You're right, for once. I'm not in the mood to mope about it now. I'm more in the mood to wring your neck."

"If you can reach that high, little rat."

"When you least expect it, you twig."

The twig laughed. The little rat sighed to disguise a chuckle of her own.

"C'mon," Jax said, grabbing her by the back of her collar and hoisting her up like a cat by the scruff — at which she began thrashing, before going limp and resigning herself to being carried this way; she still let out a groan of clear discomfort. But, that wasn't Jax's problem, so he continued to carry her like a smelly garbage bag. "Let's play a little hooky. You could use a day off."

Pomni crossed her arms as Jax toted her around at arm's length, pouting and glancing around. Jax could see her brow wrinkle nervously, and the further they ventured from the dorms, the further they ventured from the stage, the more anxious she seemed to become.

At last, they arrived at their — rather, Jax's — destination: the Kitchen.

Pomni looked around; Jax supposed he'd never seen her in the Kitchen, so it made sense she'd be taking in the new environment. It wasn't anything special: checker-tiled floor, a round plastic table and chairs, a counter, a sink, a legally-distinct easy-bake oven, and a fridge.

Zooble sat at the table, a mug in their hand. They did a double-take when they spotted Pomni in Jax's grasp.

"...Do I wanna know?"

"Oh, just helping Pom-Pom unwind," Jax said, flippantly. He set Pomni down, threw open the fridge door, and began digging through its inventory. "So, what's Caine's adventure today, Zoobs?"

"Something-Something, Desert Isle," they half-heartedly recited, waving their claw. They took a sip of their coffee, ignoring Pomni's inquisitive staring, and continued, "I dunno, something about being stranded on an island. I honestly didn't care enough to listen."

"Neat," Jax said, clearly not caring enough to listen. He returned from the fridge with a mug of coffee of his own in one hand, and a comically-large ham in the other. Despite having been in the fridge, both had steam coming off of them, as if they'd been freshly heated.

Pomni began to speak, but before she could say anything, Jax stepped on her foot and shoved the whole ham into her mouth, her cheeks bulging and the end of the bone sticking out between her lips.

"Eat up," he snickered as Pomni began muffling out protests and exclamations of anger. Eventually, she resorted to glaring at him and growling as she grumpily chewed her breakfast.

Zooble asked, "So, what's the deal? You two seem awfully buddy-buddy today."

"The new kid had a rough night," Jax explained. "I'm just helpin' her distract herself."

Zooble rolled their eyes. They turned now to Pomni, who had finally gnawed her way through the ham enough to speak. "You alright, Pomni? Ragatha seemed awfully worried about you when she left."

"She was woried?" Pomni's eyes widened a bit. "That's... Huh..." She stared down at the legbone in her hands. "Did she seem... angry, at all? Upset?"

"No?" Zooble studied her expression. "She seemed a bit more on-edge than usual, but I wouldn't say she seemed angry."

Pomni let out a relieved sigh.

Jax threw back his mug, draining the coffee and wiping his mouth on his arm. He tossed the mug into the sink. As it shattered, he said, "Got a big day ahead of you, squirt. Finish up."

"Alright, alright," Pomni muttered irritably. "What are we in such a hurry for?"

"Unlike some people," Jax glanced at you, "we don't have time to sit around doing pointless things like reading fanfiction — or worse, writing it."

Zooble narrowed their eyes when they noticed Jax looking in their direction. "Are you talking about me? I'm literally just sitting here."

Jax ignored them, leaning down and throwing an arm around Pomni's shoulders. "We've got other pointless things to do! Lots of irons in the fire, Skittles. And I'm gonna learn ya all about 'em."

"This is going to be utterly traumatizing, or completely stupid," Pomni sighed. It wasn't a question. "Fine. 'Learn me' all about these probably-metaphorical irons in these potentially-literal fires."

Chapter 11: Aftershocks - Part II

"Ragatha? Are you sure you're okay?"

Gangle, Kinger, and the aforementioned ragdoll had been the only ones to embark on Caine's adventure for the day — DUSK TO DAWN ON THE DESERT ISLE — and seeing as how Jax and Pomni were still absent, it was unlikely their number would increase for the duration. Their objective seemed simple at first: build a shelter, start a fire, and survive the night on an island.

What made their task infinitely harder, however, was the inbound typhoon that had hit within minutes, making fire impossible to ignite, tearing down the frame of the hut Ragatha had started to build, and drenching her through. Gangle and Kinger had managed to pull her to relative safety inside of a nearby cave, and had managed to make a small campfire for Ragatha to dry herself out by.

"Of course!" Ragatha insisted, bags under her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"

As she said this, she was in the process of sewing the stage curtain, Caine's jacket, and her own arm together. When Gangle gestured to draw Ragatha's attention, the ragdoll's face grew red and she began undoing the stitching.

She quickly rebuked, "Look, it's nothing, just, doing chores! The curtain had a tear, and Caine's jacket needed a wash, and then there's your mask — oh, crap, your mask! I'm so sorry, I must have forgotten it back in the hallway. Don't worry, I'll get right on it once we go back—"

"Ragatha," Gangle said, with a surprisingly hard edge to her tone. She quickly squeaked out a tearful, "Sorry," then said, "Breathe. You only get this 'helpful' whenever there's something on your mind that you just can't get over. In fact I don't think I've seen you like this since... well, since Queenie." Ragatha averted her eye, a sad, guilty look on her face. "Please tell me what's wrong?"

The ragdoll swallowed hard, her mouth twisting sadly into a frown. "It's... it's nothing, really. Just, Pomni and I had a... well, not a fight, but... I mean, she... I mean, I..."

Gangle sidled next to her, sitting cross-ribboned. "Take your time."

Ragatha set down her work, hugging her damp arms to her damper body. "I... I'm sorry, I don't think I can..."

Gangle nodded. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me if it's personal. But, I'm here for you if you change your mind, okay?" When Ragatha gave a sad, dripping nod of her own, Gangle added, "And, don't worry about my comedy mask. You've already got enough irons in the fire."

-/-/-/-

"And here we are at Iron Number One," Jax said as the two arrived at Gangle's door.

Pomni groaned, "Oh, god, what the %$!# are you planning?"

Jax chittered sarcastically, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" At Pomni's unimpressed expression, he said, "Alright, alright, sheesh. Look, she needs a little kick in the pants every now and then. They all do. Keeps 'em on their toes."

"It sounds like you're just making excuses to bully everyone," Pomni scowled, "especially Gangle." Jax simply shrugged, pulling out the key to Gangle's room and going to open the door. "What's even your problem with her?"

"No problem at all," he said with a particular smarm that made it clear he was lying through his teeth.

Once Gangle's door was open, the two stepped inside, and Pomni was surprised by just how... normal it looked, if a bit fancy, compared to her own: black walls and flooring with warm yellow trim, a red and dark brown four-poster bed, a nightstand with a cylindrical lamp on it, a round side table, and an oak dresser.

She sighed, "Seriously, Jax, just leave her alone."

"I'm not doin' anything," he snickered as he stood back, examining the doorway. From hammerspace, he pulled out a bucket, and got to work trying to set it atop the door. "The real trick is gonna be getting out once the bucket's in place," he said nonchalantly.

"Hold it," Pomni commanded, grabbing his arm. "What is it a bucket of?"

"God, get off my freakin' back," Jax huffed.

"Jax."

He rolled his eyes, before lowering the bucket so that Pomni could examine the inside. Surprisingly, it... just looked like water. She gave it a suspicious sniff. Yep, not gasoline, so...

Pomni grumbled. "Okay, a bucket of water, that's... that's harmless enough, I guess—"

Suddenly and without warning, a massive octopus tentacle shot out of the water, flailing wildly; Pomni narrowly avoided being smacked upside the head by it before it retreated back from whence it came.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL %$!# JAX."

The rabbit simply laughed, and proceeded to once more try and put the bucket on top of the doorway. Instead, Pomni grabbed his wrist and yanked him out into the hall with surprising force.

"You're just—!" She seethed, rebutting Jax's mischievous smirk with a glare. "Ragatha might be too nice to say it but I'm not — it's no wonder nobody likes you. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to make people abstract."

"Oh, Pomni, Pomni, Pomni," Jax tsk'ed, shaking his head. "You still don't understand what abstraction is, do you? And here I thought you might actually be perceptive."

"Excuse me?"

Jax simply shrugged and began to make his way back down the hall. "Ohh, nothing~."

"No, hang on," Pomni stepped in his path. "What do you mean, I 'don't understand' what abstraction is?"

Jax leaned down in her face. "Alright, kiddo, tell me: what do you think abstraction is?"

Pomni stared up at him, trying to process the question. It had seemed so obvious, she'd never really considered what actually caused it.

"It's... it's when you go insane after being stuck here too long... isn't it?"

Jax rolled his eyes, yet his smirk remained. "Okay, better question: what do you know about game development?"

Pomni cocked her brow. "I mean, I would like to think I know quite a bit; I was a programmer, once. But what's that have to do with—?"

Jax reclined against the wall. "Then tell me, just as an example, in the context of a game, what are coins?"

Pomni tilted her head to the side. "They're usually for raising your score, right?"

Jax tutted, as if he was disappointed in her answer. "Think bigger. Coins, gems, rings, dots, fruit, all of them have one big thing in common."

"They're collectibles..?" She muttered, trying to make sense of whatever cryptic message it was that Jax was leading her to.

"There's a very specific term that I'm thinkin' of," he said. "Two words, start with a G and an A."

Pomni racked her brains, when suddenly, it hit her. "Game abstr—"

"Ring-a-ding-ding, baby," he said with a patronizing smarm. "Just like a coin, or a trophy, or anything you can make sense of in a game, us players become the same way. Abstraction isn't just about goin' nuts, it's what happens when you become a part of the game itself, indistinguishable from any other line of ones and zeroes. It's when you lose everything that makes you, you. Memories, personality, quirks, everything, just — poof! The individual is no more. You become completely immersed in the fantasy, to the point where you start thinkin' you were always a part of it. You aren't just inhabiting an avatar, you are the avatar."

He paused to let Pomni process the explanation as she shrank back a bit. The words Jax was saying were disturbing, and yet, the rabbit maintained a smile, growing wider as he continued, his pupils dilating just just a bit.

"The others like to treat abstraction as death, somethin' they can comprehend, somethin' familiar. But the truth is," he said, "death is a million times better. Bein' dead means you aren't alive. Bein' abstracted means you just aren't."

Pomni felt as though the floor was spinning underneath her. She swallowed hard, trying to keep herself from throwing up. She opened her mouth to say something, but there was nothing she could say. Her throat croaked, a stuttering little, "Ah-ah-ah..."

"Point is," he said, pressing past her, "a little mischief isn't gonna make anyone abstract any faster than they already would. Heck, it might even delay it — keep 'em focused on the immediate now instead of, y'know," he gestured vaguely, "all this."

Pomni cocked her brow, trying to parse Jax's excuses. "So, wait... you're pulling all these pranks to, what, help people?"

"I'm pullin' all these pranks because they're funny," he said, deadpan. "Buuut if it keeps everyone from abstracting, I'm not complaining."

Pomni scowled, jogging to catch up to him; she already needed to walk quickly to match his stride. "How do you even know all this?"

"I have a life outside of you, y'know," he said, rolling his eyes. "Had one before you, too. Let's just say I'm speaking from experience."

Before she could stop herself, she said, "Well, all my experience tells me is that you've been doing these things for quite some time and Kaufmo still abstracted."

Instead of being angry, however, Jax barked out a laugh, one lacking the usual edge his laugh typically held. It seemed almost... nostalgic? He glanced down at her, and said, "Who did you think taught me all this to begin with?"

Pomni felt a sour knot forming in her gut. She mumbled, "I... I'm sorry."

"Oh, shut up," he said. "Never say sorry for anything. Ya can't physically hurt anyone, so that just leaves, what, their feelings? Get outta here with that pussycat crap. Even with relative immortality, life's too short for regrets."

She scowled. "Of course you'd say that."

"At least I'm honest," he said, "with myself and other people." His eyes narrowed, and his smirk widened. "Besides, I don't think you can really claim any kind of moral high ground over me."

"Excuse me?"

"You did kiss Raggy without her consent, right?"

Pomni felt her insides lurch. She stopped in her tracks, and he stepped in front of her, eyes and grin shimmering in shadow as he towered over her.

"I mean, I get it," he sneered. "I take and do what I want, when I want, an' screw everyone else. But at least I don't put on the wet cat born in a cardboard box all alone shtick. Tell me, just between us, it's all an act, isn't it?"

Pomni felt as though her chest was caving in. She had kissed Ragatha without consent. She...

Clapped her hands over her mouth and choked down the acrid, oily bile as reality came crashing into her full-force. She felt unclean. She felt monstrous. She'd been so focused on the fear that Ragatha would hate her, would never speak to her again, that she hadn't even considered how the ragdoll must have felt.

What the %$!# have I done..?

"Hey, hey hey hey," Jax cooed patronizingly, throwing an arm around her shoulders, "don't go all Sylvia Plath on us again. I mean, sure, ya stooped to lows even I would never dream of, but look at it this way: it's almost only up from here! Unless, y'know, you decide to be even worse." He clapped her on her back, nearly sending her sprawling forward. "Because that's what it is, Pomni. A choice. I choose to be a %$!#. You can too, or you can choose to be better."

Pomni looked up at him, absorbing his words. "Jax..."

"Just one thing I want you to remember, first," he said. He suddenly grabbed Pomni by the collar, forcing her to look at him head-on. His voice took on a much firmer, more serious tone, and Pomni felt a chill run down her spine. "She cares a lot about you. If something happened to you, she'd be devastated. And if you do that to her, if you ever hurt her again in any way, I'll make abstraction look like a blessing. Everything you've seen me do will look like child's play compared to what I'll do to you." She swallowed, trembling in his grasp. "Do I make myself clear?"

Pomni nodded.

"Good," he drawled, voice returning to its usual carefree cadence. "Glad we've reached an understanding, Carpet Beetle."

She stared at him in a mix of terror and confusion, before the nickname properly registered, and her face went completely red. "J-JAX?!!"

"Oh, so you got that one."

"Wait, IS THAT WHY YOU CALLED ME SKITTLES EARLIER?!"

"Taste the rainbow, mother%$!#er."

-/-/-/-

"I think it's finally almost morning."

The three adventurers had weathered the storm, and the sky on the horizon had begun to turn the telltale purple-red of sunrise. Gangle had been helping Ragatha with her self-imposed chores, leaving them plenty of time afterwards to just relax and wait for the typhoon to pass.

Kinger had been reconstructing his fort using a combination of palm leaves and strangely-large mushroom caps, and they had seen neither hide nor hair of him for the past hour or two.

"Yeah..." Ragatha nodded, pulling her knees to her chest as she and Gangle watched the world beyond the mouth of the cave. She hadn't spoken much since Gangle had asked her about what had happened, but the latter knew it was taking up a majority of her thoughts; her eye couldn't quite meet Gangle's mask, and her mouth seemed perpetually scrunched up, like she was physically trying to keep the secret sealed behind her lips. Gangle was about to stand and suggest they prepare to return, when Ragatha finally spoke up. "Can I ask you a question, Gangle?"

"What's up?"

The ragdoll swallowed, hugging her knees tighter. "What would you do if... No, I'm sorry, it's nothing—"

"Ragatha."

"Okay, okay..." She sighed. Took a breath. Sighed again. "What would you do if... if someone liked you, but you didn't want them to like you?" At Gangle's confused expression, she added, "I mean, hypothetically, of course."

Gangle hummed in thought a moment, then said, "I'm not sure. It's a tough question, and I don't know how well I understand it... I think, depending on who it is, I'd talk with them about it."

Ragatha groaned, "I was afraid you'd say that..."

"Why don't you want them to like you? I thought you liked being liked."

"I do! I just... don't know how to feel about being liked as much as I think she likes me, you know?" After a moment, she sputtered, "I-I mean! They! Not a she, this person is purely hypothetical and therefore devoid of a set gender! Obviously!"

Gangle was glad she didn't have pupils; Ragatha wouldn't be able to tell that she was rolling her eyes.

"A-And..." Ragatha continued, "what if... what if you reacted badly? When you found out that they liked you?" She hugged her legs tighter. "What if you hurt them, really badly?"

"My advice is the same," Gangle said, placing her ribbon-hand on Ragatha's shoulder. "I think I'd have to talk to them. If not right away, then, eventually."

A moment passed. Ragatha sighed. "I know." She placed her hand over Gangle's, smiling sadly at her. "Thanks, Gangle."

"Of course," Gangle said through a teary grin of her own. "Come on, we should head back."

-/-/-/-

"Alright, Pomni. Last iron of the day."

Pomni groaned. Jax had been running her ragged since their talk; either trying to set up pranks that she'd have to talk him out of or otherwise foil, or having her do seemingly-pointless tasks involving pushing around, dropping, and just generally feeling objects around the circus.

"As you've proven yourself to not be a totally useless sack, I've decided to show you a little somethin'," Jax chittered, stopping in front of — Pomni shuddered — his own door. At her disgusted grimace, he waggled his eyebrows and said, "Don't worry, it's nothin' untoward. In fact, you might find it interesting."

"Put those away, you," Pomni retched, pointing at his brows.

The door opened and the two stepped inside. She was, yet again, surprised at just how normal it looked. A bed sat in the corner, sloppily made. A shelf stood next to the door, mostly empty aside from a few books and broken yellow ceramic chicks. Against the far wall was a mirror, and beyond that was a tarp, nailed across a small section of wall. Across from the bed sat a desk, and atop that sat the radio from Kaufmo's room.

He gestured towards the desk. "Right this way, Madame Plushophile."

"Oh, shut the %$!# up..."

Still, despite her reddened face, she followed him to the desk. He grabbed the radio, turned it on, and began adjusting the volume.

"November... Oscar...... Whiskey... Alfa... Yankee...... Oscar... Uniform... Tango..."

"You already heard all this, didn't you?" Jax asked.

Pomni nodded.

He asked further, "It doesn't really make a lotta sense, does it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," he continued, "why specifically military callsigns? You'd think it'd be like, binary. Or heck, even just Morse code."

She hummed in thought. Now that Jax mentioned it, that was a bit strange. If it really was the abstracted players in the cellar, and if Jax's theory on what abstraction was was accurate and they had become a part of the game, why wouldn't they be speaking in a language the game would understand by default? Using the NATO alphabet to communicate implied that that language model was specifically programmed into the circus... but why? Had Caine simply learned about it in an effort to add realism to certain adventures? Or had whoever created the circus added it intentionally? And if so, the question of why still remained.

"Whaddya think?"

Pomni was pulled back to the present at Jax's question. She chewed on a knuckle, rolling the facts around in her head and still coming up with nothing. "I'm not sure..." She glanced to the side, just now noticing the microphone hooked into the radio. "Did you try talking to them?"

"Yep," he sighed. "All I could glean was that they have some vague memories of their time in the circus, but any names are lost to them. They can't remember their own circus names, they can't remember any of our circus names, but they do remember what other players looked like. It's weird."

"When I got the radio," Pomni said, "they said something strange. They said 'Caine', 'Don't trust', and 'Name is', and then it sounded like they started screaming."

Jax leaned against the desk, staring intently at the radio. "Maybe it's a hive-mind situation? They're trying to remember, but they're all jumbled together. None of 'em can comprehend their own existence, so when they try to think of a name, they short-circuit."

"Maybe," Pomni nodded. "What concerns me more is what they said about Caine. It sounded like they were trying to warn us."

The rabbit was silent, still staring at the radio.

"He does kinda break the rules of an AI, doesn't he," he muttered after a moment. "First law, can't hurt humans or allow humans to get hurt through inaction — and that includes emotional and mental trauma. The fact that he's able to ignore that law is..."

"Maybe that's just how he was programmed, and if that's the case..." Pomni trailed off, the implications chilling her to her core. After a moment, she realized something, and stared at Jax.

He noticed her gaze, and cocked a brow. "What?"

She searched his eyes, before covering her mouth. "Oh my god," she said, "you're a computer nerd!"

Jax sputtered, recoiling. "H-Hey—!"

"You know the jargon," Pomni insisted, "you know about the laws of robotics — you were having me bugtest collisions earlier, having me move around all those props and stuff, weren't you!"

He simply crossed his arms and averted his eyes. "Can we focus, Pomni?"

Giggling, Pomni acquiesced, "Okay, okay, sorry." She cleared her throat of any remaining chuckles. "Okay, look. You obviously have been keeping tabs on the circus and how it works for a while. You obviously know more than you typically let on. Why not bring everyone else up to speed? If we all have an idea of how things work—"

"The only reason I'm telling you any of this in the first place," Jax said, "is because you used to be a programmer. I'm not gonna play professor with everyone else. Don't have the patience for it."

Pomni felt the initial impulse to insist, but chose to forgo it in favor of some well-meaning snark; crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, she said, "Yeah, wouldn't wanna betray your too-cool-to-care persona, right?"

Jax scoffed playfully. "A persona implies that I'm not actually the coolest guy this side of the digital world."

Pomni hummed in thought for a second, then said, "I give you a three."

"You sassy %$!#."

"Anyways," Pomni turned their attention back to the radio, "what do we do about this? Where do we go from here?"

"Well, I'm keeping it between us," Jax said. "Definitely can't tell Kinger; I don't think the old coot could handle it, considering..."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Pomni sighed. "And Ragatha's probably already got a lot on her mind right now..."

"Thanks to you."

"Yeah," she huffed, "thanks to me." She thought further. "Gangle can't trust you as far as she can throw you, so convincing her to give you a chance is unlikely. Same goes for Zooble..."

She grumbled under her breath when she realized that they really didn't have any options but to keep it under wraps as Jax had said.

"Welp~, that's that for the day, I think," Jax grunted as he stretched. "Think I'm gonna grab some chow. And you," he booped Pomni on her snout, receiving a swat on the wrist, "are gonna go talk to Rags when she gets back."

"I know, I know," Pomni sighed. "I... I've really gotta be less impulsive."

"Remember," Jax said, leading her out through the door, "it's your choice. You decide who you're gonna be."

"Yeah..." Pomni mumbled. After a moment of apprehension, she asked, "Could you be there when I do it? It might be better for someone else to break the ice, I'm not sure she's gonna wanna talk to me right now."

A beat passed, before Jax's smirk returned in full-force. He said, simply, "Nah."

"Nah?" Pomni sputtered.

"Hey, you're the one that owes me a favor, half-pint," he shrugged smugly. "You should feel lucky I'm not asking for another one in exchange for impartin' my wisdom all day."

"You — ugh," she scoffed, rubbing her forehead. "I'd ask why you're such an %$!#, but you've made it clear why."

Jax's response was to mime talking with his hand as he strolled away — and Pomni sucked in a sharp breath when she saw Ragatha and Gangle coming down the hall, the latter waving goodbye to the former and continuing on as the ragdoll stopped outside of her own room.

Ragatha's eye met Pomni's, and the two stood in an awkward silence. Pomni took a slower, calmer breath, and approached. Her chest ached when she saw Ragatha flinch back a step.

"Hey," she said, her mouth suddenly dry.

"Hey," Ragatha mumbled in response.

Pomni swallowed. Just had to rip the band-aid off. "About last night, at the Carnival—"

"O-Oh!" Ragatha's mouth crooked nervously. "Don't worry about it, emotions run high sometimes, y'know? People say and do things they don't mean, I knew you were just — overstimulated! By the fireworks!" Pomni's frown deepened as Ragatha frantically babbled. "It's no big deal, Pom!"

"Ragatha..."

"Welp!" Ragatha yanked open her door. "I'm a bit tired after the adventure. Hope you decide to come with us tomorrow! G'night!"

And with a slam of her door, she left Pomni in the hallway, head light and heart heavy.

Chapter 12: Aftershocks - Part III

"Yo Gangle, check out what I found."

Ragatha sucked in a breath as she heard the telltale shattering of Gangle's comedy mask. She spun around, glaring when she saw the grappling hook gun in Jax's hand.

"Oh for cripes' sakes, Jax," she scoffed, hurrying to Gangle's aid. As she helped their crewmate to stand and gather her mask shards, she asked, "Where did you even find that thing?"

"Around," he said simply. "You'd be surprised the kinds of things that wind up back here after an adventure."

Ragatha wrinkled her nose mockingly at him, before returning her attention to Gangle. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Gangle groaned, looking forlornly down at the pieces of her mask.

"Hey now, don't look so blue," Jax chittered, strolling up to her. Ragatha placed herself between the two of them. "You're so much more endearing when you're sad and pathetic. Why not go cry to Zooble about it? The readers would eat that sappy %$!# up."

"What does that even mean," Ragatha huffed, massaging her temples. "Can we go one day without you being the biggest jerk imaginable?"

"No need to be so on-the, Ragatha."

She sputtered in outrage. "Y-You—! That isn't funny!"

"Look," he shrugged, "I was a nice enough guy to Pomni yesterday. I've got a quota to meet, y'know."

Before Ragatha could respond— "Gooood MORNING, my Ostensibly 'Olesome Oysters!" Caine came swooping down.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ragatha noticed Pomni approaching, and she quickly turned her attention back to Caine.

"Ragatha?" The ragdoll resisted the urge to look at Pomni as the jester spoke up. She knew she had to confront the situation eventually, and yet... "Could we talk? About what happened at the—"

"It's really okay, Pomni," Ragatha insisted, putting on as even a smile as she could manage. "You don't have to apologize or explain, everything is fine!"

Once Zooble and Kinger had joined the crew, Caine took center-stage, effectively cutting off Pomni when she attempted to push the issue.

"Today's adventure is," he waved his hand, "STEALTHY SUPER SPIES STEAL THE SCHEMATICS!"

The words appeared above and below him, accentuated with grid- and motherboard-style patterns around each letter.

"The loathsome Dr. Scheme has developed the plans for a dangerous superweapon, and aims to use it to hold the city hostage! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate his compound, ascend the tower to the main control room, steal the briefcase he has hidden the plans inside of, and escape back to city hall, where the mayor will be waiting to reward you handsomely!

"Now, off you go!"

-/-/-/-

Upon entering the portal, the crew found themselves situated in a parking garage just beyond the walls surrounding a massive skyscraper, their clothes having changed to suit the adventure.

Kinger and Gangle had been dressed in black suits, complete with earpieces and sunglasses; Pomni and Ragatha in black sweaters, sweatpants, and a blue cap and trench coat for Ragatha (Pomni's red-and-blue jester hat had remained, now colored black and dark grey); Zooble, strangely, was wearing a loud, sparkly crimson cocktail dress; and Jax, even more strangely, was dressed in a French maid outfit.

"This is so demeaning," Jax grumbled, pulling down the hem of his skirt. Gangle had to clear her throat, and couldn't quite look his way. "What, you got somethin' to say, Ribbons?"

"N-Nothing," Gangle whimpered.

"I dunno," Zooble snickered, "looks a lot cuter than your ratty overalls."

"%$!# right it's cute," he scoffed. "I can rock anything. Just... why a maid??"

"Serves you right for that 'on-the' comment from earlier," Ragatha scowled.

"Screw that. Zooble, trade ya."

"In your dreams."

"Hey, check out the mission briefing," Pomni said, having opened the manila folder they'd been given. "It looks like we've all got preset roles this time. I'm a hacker named..." Her cheeks grew warm. "Dang it Caine," she muttered under her breath. "I'm... ugh, Mac Macintosh." She added, sotto voce, "Stupid %$!#ing name..."

The rest checked their own assigned roles.

Zooble was Camila Harker, a singer commissioned to perform in the lounge that night and responsible for getting Dr. Scheme's right hand man to give up part of a passcode. Gangle was their bodyguard, Wallace A. Mason, tasked with helping them escape if things went south.

Jax was Vic Torrance, a part-time student who had recently gotten a job working as a maid for Dr. Scheme. He was meant to search the Dr's office for the other half of the passcode.

Kinger was Bruno Balboa, tasked with infiltrating security, covering the team's tracks on the camera feeds, and causing internal mayhem if they needed a distraction.

Finally, Ragatha was Stella Sandiego, master thief and the one who was actually meant to retrieve the briefcase at the top of the tower.

Pomni narrowed her eyes at the rest of the group. "Oh, sure, you all get cool names and I get stuck with freakin' Mac Macintosh. I see how it is. Know what, screw it, I'm picking my own name for once. Freakin'... Penny Rodriguez, there, that's my name."

"Whatever you say, Mackie," Jax sneered, and she felt a brief, oddly-familiar sting in the center of her chest.

She snarled, "Jax, I will shiv you."

"What's it matter?" Zooble asked. "It's not like we're gonna be using these names much with each other."

"Yeah, but... but..." Pomni sputtered. "It's just — the principle of it!" Pouting, she added, "I don't wanna be Mac Macintosh."

Before anyone else could respond, Ragatha's radio began beeping, and she quickly answered when she saw that it was the police commissioner's frequency listed in the briefing.

"Come in, Alpha Team," said the voice on the radio, laced with an Australian drawl. "Are you in position? Over."

"Oh, hey," Ragatha beamed, "I recognize that voice, it's Gummigoo!"

Jax groaned. "Not this guy again..." At Pomni's confused expression, Jax added, "He was an NPC in one of Caine's previous adventures, led a gang of candy bandits. I wanted to blow up their truck," he side-eyed Ragatha, "but someone decided to be a freakin' bleeding heart."

Ragatha shushed him, and pressed down on the radio's audio out button. "Read you loud and clear, commissioner! We're in the parking garage across from the compound, over."

"Understood," the voice said. "I'm sendin' three transports your way. Harker an' Mason take one, Torrance takes another, an' Balboa takes th' last one. Sandiego, you an' Macintosh wait for th' signal, then enter th' compound and infiltrate th' buildin'. Over."

"O-Oh," Ragatha stammered, nervously locking eye with Pomni for a split second, before averting her gaze. She cleared her throat, and said, "I mean, got it! Over!"

"Good. Meet up at th' mayor's office once you're done. Make sure you're not followed. Over an' out."

Just as he'd said, three cars came rolling up: first was a fancy-looking limousine, which Zooble groaned inwardly about as they awkwardly climbed inside, followed by Gangle; then came a regular, run-down green punch-buggy, which Jax took; finally, a plain black car with tinted windows strolled up, which Kinger got into, at last leaving Pomni and Ragatha on their own.

"Welp!" Ragatha blurted nervously, walking over to the edge of the parking garage and leaning against the railing, watching the compound. "Guess there's nothin' to do now but wait!"

"Ragatha," Pomni sighed, walking up beside her. "You know we need to talk."

"Sure!" The ragdoll nodded, grinning. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"You know what I want to talk about," Pomni insisted. "At the Carnival—"

"I already told you, it's okay, Pomni."

Pomni stepped closer. "Would you stop it? We've been over this thing you do, saying that things are okay when they aren't."

"Yeah, we have been over it," Ragatha turned away, "so that's not what I'm doing. Things really are okay. We're okay."

"You're not acting like we're okay," Pomni tried to step into Ragatha's view, only for her to turn away again. "God — Ragatha, please. At least look at me."

"I..." Ragatha swallowed hard. "I need to watch for the signal."

Pomni sucked in a breath. "You know what, fine. We won't talk about it. At least let me just make it clear: I'm sorry. What I did wasn't okay, and you have every right to be mad at me—"

"I'm not mad at you," Ragatha cut in. "It's okay, okay? You didn't do anything wrong, everything is fine."

"Darn it, Ragatha, have some self-respect!" Pomni blurted, her voice raising. She clenched her jaw. She needed to keep a cool head. No yelling, no swearing. "Kissing you without asking like I did was messed up. You don't have to pretend like it was normal or okay."

"That's good," Ragatha said through her teeth, "because I'm not pretending."

Pomni massaged the space between her eyes, stifling an irritated groan. "Okay, what is happening right now?"

"It's resolved, Pomni. Drop it," Ragatha said with an uncharacteristic hardness to her tone. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore. I don't wanna think about it anymore. I just wanna pretend like it didn't happen."

"But it did happen," Pomni pressed. "And it can't un-happen. Even if we don't talk about it, it's just gonna fester. And... I don't want that."

"Of course," Ragatha huffed, and Pomni felt a cold stab of pain in her chest when she said, "always about what you want." Ragatha only seemed to realize what she'd said after a beat of silence, and her eye widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"O-Okay," Pomni stammered, taken aback, "that's... I guess I walked into that one, fair."

"No, no it..." Ragatha took a step towards her, but stopped herself, as though paralyzed. At last, she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"It's okay if you did," Pomni insisted. "Honestly I think I'd prefer it if you did mean it. At least we'd be talking about whatever issues there are between us."

"There's no issues," Ragatha said quickly, and this time, Pomni was unable to contain her groan of annoyance.

"Ragatha, come on—"

"Why is it even a big deal?!" Ragatha asked through an unstable laugh. "Fine! Fine, you wanna talk about it, we'll talk about it. You kissed me and I ran away, and that wasn't cool of me. I'm sorry."

"Jesus Christ, Ragatha!" Pomni exploded. "No! A million times no! You didn't do a single thing wrong, don't you dare apologize! I'm the one who screwed up and that's final."

"Okay! That's final! Nothing left to talk about!"

"There's still plenty to talk about," Pomni scowled. "Like what happens next. Where we go from here. And no, I won't accept that we just pretend it never happened." Ragatha crossed her arms and turned away again. "Please, Ragatha. I want... No, forget what I want. You need to be honest. Keeping whatever you're feeling locked up inside is just gonna hurt you the longer it stays locked up."

"I don't wanna," Ragatha said, almost a whine. "I don't... It's too much. I don't wanna think about it." She repeated, her voice straining and trembling, "I don't wanna think about it."

"You have to," Pomni insisted. "Please. You don't deserve to hurt in silence."

"I don't wanna," Ragatha whimpered. "Once I start, I don't know if I'll be able to stop."

Pomni said, "I can take it." When Ragatha didn't respond, she added, "At least you recognize that you have things you wanna say. Please, say them."

"I-I don't," Ragatha's hands tightened around her arms. "There's nothing I want to say."

"Ragatha, come on," Pomni urged. "I know at this point that you're not that delusional—"

Ragatha whirled around to face her, eye and mouth set in a look of fury.

"Of COURSE I'm delusional!" She bellowed. "Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to put up with everyone's bull%$!# all of the time?! For %$!#'s sake, Pomni! All Zooble ever does is complain, heck, sometimes it feels like they straight-up hate the rest of us! Gangle always, always needs someone to come save her, someone to stand up for her, as if she isn't capable of standing up for herself! Kinger is so checked-out half the time that sometimes I wonder if he's actually forgetful or if he just never bothered to care in the first place! And Jax — OH-hohoh, JAX! That smug, egotistical, narcissistic, uncaring, unfeeling, selfish, irresponsible — I can't even think of all the appropriate adjectives to describe him! Day in and day out, making all of our lives a living hell! It's like he's trying to make it so people want him gone! And you — you, Pomni, YOU! You walk around like none of your actions ever have consequences, like you're the main %$!#ing character or something, like you can just keep being this naive, impulsive little baby and someone will always come to bail you out. You run headlong into danger without ever thinking it through, and it is just infuriating to see! And I hate it — I hate it so %$!#ing much — because I wish I could turn my brain off and not think about how my actions will affect others! But no matter what, I just can't bring myself to hate you. You stupid, shortsighted, endearing little IDIOT!"

The parking garage was silent aside from Ragatha's labored hyperventilating.

"There," Ragatha huffed, "we talked. Happy now?!"

"Actually," Pomni said, smiling gently, "yeah, I am."

"No," Ragatha whimpered, taking a step back. She shut her eye tight. She shook her head and gripped at her hair. "No! No, no, NO! You're not supposed to be happy about this! You're not supposed to praise me! You're supposed to hate me!" Pomni's grin fell slowly. "What is wrong with you?!"

Pomni stepped closer. Ragatha stepped back.

"Don't," Ragatha sobbed, tears squeezing out of her eye. "Don't!"

"Ragatha," Pomni gently took her hand. "I could never hate you." She hooked her pinky around Ragatha's pointer. "I promise."

"Idiot," the ragdoll whimpered, crumpling to her knees. Pomni followed, pulling her into a hug, ignoring the pins and needles. Ragatha went limp. "Don't you get it? I'm not a good person, Pomni. All of these thoughts, all of these feelings — I'm a fraud. I'm a %$!#ing monster..."

"You're not," Pomni whispered, holding back tears of her own. "I promise, you're not. You're wonderful. You're kind, and you're caring, and you're patient, and no amount of bad thoughts can change that."

"But—"

"But nothing," Pomni said. "You're not your thoughts, Ragatha. You can feel these things, but you know saying them would hurt others, so you don't, even if it means keeping it inside and hurting yourself. You care, Ragatha. You're always there to catch someone when they fall. Even if you get frustrated, even if it's exhausting, you care about everyone so much, and that says so much more about you than any bad thoughts ever could."

"I don't..." Ragatha was fully sobbing now, tears rolling down her cheek. "I don't want to feel these things. I don't know how to stop. I'm awful—"

"You aren't."

"I am," she wailed, "I am. I don't want to be but I don't know how to stop. You shouldn't want me. You deserve someone better. You shouldn't want me. I don't want you to want me."

Pomni squeezed her tightly, pressure building behind her eyes. "Too bad," she said, "you aren't in charge of what I want."

"I'm sorry," Ragatha choked out, at last returning Pomni's embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

"Shh," Pomni hushed her, tears running freely now. "It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. I've got you, Rags. I've got you."

"I never wanted to hurt you," Ragatha sobbed. "I... I like you, so, so much, Pomni. But being liked back, I... I didn't mean to run, but... but I couldn't think of anything else to do. I got scared. I got scared that... that you would find out. That you'd hate me once you knew. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Pomni insisted. "You're okay. We're okay." She pulled out of the hug, sliding her touch down Ragatha's arms until they were hand-in-hand. Pomni swallowed. "I... I like you a lot too, Ragatha."

She nodded. "I know."

Pomni sucked in a breath. "Back at the Carnival, I... I didn't ask your consent. I didn't kiss you right." Ragatha tightened her grip on her hands. "Can I try again?"

"Please," Ragatha cried.

"O-Okay," Pomni faltered. She swallowed. She swallowed again. "Just, um... I don't think I've ever done this before," her chest felt tight, her thoughts were racing, "so, if I'm no good at it—" Ragatha's finger was at her lips.

"Pomni," Ragatha said, "shut up and kiss me."

And she did. They did.

Pomni's head felt like it was about to burst, like she was filled with compressed air just waiting to escape. Her chest exploded with warmth and comfort and a feeling that she could only think to describe as 'human'. Ragatha's hand found her cheek, her thumb rubbing under Pomni's eye. Pomni's hand found Ragatha's, holding her touch there. Her other hand reached up to Ragatha's cheek, mimicking the ragdoll's actions and wiping away the tears. After what felt like both a lifetime and far too short a time, they separated.

It was quick, and innocent, and one of the best things Pomni had ever experienced. Pomni's heart felt full. Pomni felt weightless.

Pomni said, "Golly."

Immediately, her face went red, and she hid behind her hands.

"What??" Ragatha laughed. "Excuse me???"

"Nooo," Pomni groaned. "I don't know why I said that. Why did I say that. I hate, everything; kill me. Kill me."

Ragatha pulled her close, rocking her, still laughing. "You dummy. You wonderful, silly woman."

"Stoppp," Pomni whined, unable to contain her own mirth. "I'm not silly, I'm just stupid..."

"You are silly," Ragatha said, gently taking Pomni's hands and removing them from her face. She pressed a kiss to where the jester's nose would be, then to her forehead. "You're my silly little button."

"Nooo!" Pomni wailed through her laughter, kicking her legs. "I'm not silly! I am a mature adult!"

"You're silly!"

"I'll show you silly!"

The two lost track of time in one another, feeling more free than either of them had in ages. The Circus melted away around them. Pomni's world was Ragatha, and Ragatha's world was Pomni. Countless kisses, countless touches, countless laughs and giggles and pet names later, and the two sat resting against the parking garage railing. Ragatha sat curled up into Pomni's side, arms around her midsection, her hat laying off to the side. Pomni was absentmindedly running a hand through Ragatha's yarn.

"Pomni?"

"Mh?"

"You know that... that I don't actually hate anyone, right?"

"Yeah," Pomni said, "I know. Honestly, I'd be surprised if you didn't have some frustration towards everyone for some reason or another. I mean have you met us? We're us. It doesn't mean you hate anyone." She stifled a laugh. "I mean, you're frustrating as hell, and I don't hate you, right?"

"Ouch," Ragatha giggled, "okay, I guess I deserved that one." Pomni pecked the top of Ragatha's head, and the latter settled closer against the former.

An abrupt squawking ripped them out of their peace, bringing them right back into their current surroundings. Pomni scrambled to pick up Ragatha's radio, having forgotten all about the adventure.

"Hey! Sorry, we—"

"WHERE THE %$!# ARE YOU GUYS?!" Zooble bellowed. Somewhere in the background, Jax was cackling. "Didn't you get the signal?!"

The two of them stood, looking towards the compound — which was currently engulfed in flames.

Pomni and Ragatha shared a look of guilt. Pomni said into the radio, "The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please don't call again."

"POMNI WHAT THE FU—"

She shut the radio off.

"So," Ragatha began, trailing off.

"They're gonna kill us."

"Oh definitely."

"..."

"..."

"I vote we run away and hide forever."

"Yes, let's."

-/-/-/-

"Welcome back, my — Oh my."

The troupe had returned to the Circus, everyone except Pomni and Ragatha covered in soot and ash. Despite this, Jax had on a look of satisfaction.

"I'm sensing some tension," Caine said, noticing first Zooble's glare aimed at Pomni and Ragatha, then noticing how the latter two both looked red in the face, ashamed of something.

"I'm going to bed," Zooble growled, shrugging off their dress and hobbling off. Gangle quickly followed, and, to everyone's surprise, took Zooble's hand. Even more surprisingly, Zooble didn't pull away.

Jax whistled, "We got a streaker on the loose!"

Zooble flipped him off in response.

"Well, I'm sure you all did the best you could with what you had!" Caine declared, almost to no one as Kinger had gone back to his fortress and Jax had started strolling towards the kitchen. "Pomni, Ragatha," Caine said as they too had begun to head elsewhere, "a word, please?" The two shared a nervous look. "Oh, no need to worry, my dears! You aren't in trouble. I just wanted to take a second to remind you that The Amazing Digital Circus is intended to be a family-friendly environment. Whatever antics you two rascals get up to, just keep it PG!"

Their faces reddened further, and they began sputtering excuses and noises of outrage.

"Oh, no need to be shy!" Caine boomed. "I know you humans, like any living thing, have a propensity for seeking out mates — and that's perfectly acceptable! Just so long as the actual mating process isn't enacted—"

Pomni cried, "CAINE! STOP!"

"—of course, that also includes sexual acts of any kind, so keep your hands above the belt line—"

Ragatha hid her face in her hands and wailed, "OKAY WE GET IT."

"—should you choose, I've prepared a purely-educational slideshow for your viewing to properly and fully demonstrate what acts are and aren't acceptable according to the C&A Terms of Service—"

"CAINE!!!"

Chapter 13: Aftershocks - Part III.5

“This is so stupid.”

Zooble hugged their arms close to their body, antennae twitching in annoyance. They had gotten into this stupid limo, to attend some stupid social event, as part of some stupid adventure, and they were hating every second of it.

Once they had learned what their role was – a lounge singer intended to mingle with NPCs – they had nearly taken Jax up on his offer to swap outfits. The only thing that had stopped them from following through was the reveal that Gangle would be the bodyguard for whoever the singer was, and as much as they were dreading whatever was coming next, they couldn't just leave her with him.

“Are you okay, Zooble?”

They were pulled back to the present with Gangle’s inquiry, only now realizing that they had been bouncing their leg anxiously.

They stilled their leg and sighed. “I'm fine, Gangle. Just annoyed.”

“I'm sorry…”

“No! No, I… ugh,” they groaned as that guilt-sludge formed in their chest again. “I'm not annoyed at you, Gangle, I'm annoyed with…” They gestured vaguely. “You know. All this. Everything else. You're okay.”

“Okay,” Gangle nodded with a grateful, teary-eyed smile. After a moment, she said, “You know I'll protect you, right?”

“Don't worry about me,” Zooble shrugged, “I can take care of myself. You don't have to play along–”

“No!”

Zooble was caught off-guard by Gangle’s sudden outburst.

She continued, “I-I mean, I want to. Protect you.”

The amalgam stared into the middle distance as her words sank into their brain.

She wants? To protect? Me? She wants to protect me. Why does she want to protect me. Is she just getting into the role. Is she that invested in Caine’s adventures. I've been quiet for too long. Say something. Say something. Say something smooth NOW you dumb %$!#!

They said, “K.”

Like butter.

“Madame Harker, Sir Mason,” the mannequin driver called to them front the front, “we're here!”

Zooble sucked in a breath. This was going to suck.

The door of the limousine opened, and they were greeted by brights lights, a red carpet, and countless, multicolor NPCs, all wearing suits and dresses and formal wear, cheering and clapping from behind red velvet ropes. Apparently, Camila Harker was… renowned.

They clambered awkwardly out of the limo, and began hobbling briskly towards the entrance staircase. They could feel a cold stabbing sensation in their back, right between where their shoulder blades would be. Their guts were twisting themselves into knots. They felt like something was forcing its way up their throat.

An NPC ducked the ropes and ran towards Zooble, something in their hand.

Zooble reared back a fist, fully prepared to punch – only for Gangle to step in between them. She took Zooble’s arm and held up a ribbon hand to stop the NPC, who was holding a notepad and pen.

“Sorry, no autographs,” Gangle said, before quickly guiding Zooble up the stairs, still holding their arms tightly. They focused on her grip, their insides gradually untwisting, the cold blade in their back slowly withdrawing. Once they were at the door, she asked, “Are you okay?”

They swallowed, their throat dry. “Yeah,” they hissed, “I'm fine. Just… don't let go of me, okay?” Quickly, they added, “I don't want you getting lost in the crowd.” Gangle gave them a patient grin, and nodded.

They entered the building together and oh god it was somehow even worse.

The lobby was nearly as wide as the ceiling was high, and the floor was packed with more NPCs. Zooble felt their chest tighten, forcing themself to just focus, focus, focus on Gangle holding their arm. They could feel their limbs beginning to stiffen up and straighten, and they forced themself to breathe. She has you, she won't let go.

“Ah, Madame Harker,” a mannequin in a suit and wearing a stupidly thin little mustache greeted them, “right this way.” The NPC ushered them into the elevator. “The lounge is on the twentieth floor. Thank you for gracing us with a performance! Oh, how I wish I could attend…”

Zooble jammed the door close button faster than they could say guilt trip.

Once it was just themself and Gangle, they finally let out their breath. They slid out of Gangle's grasp and reclined against the wall. “I hate this. %$!# it, Caine…”

Gangle shuffled nervously across from them. “Are… are you sure you're okay?” When Zooble's hardened stare struck her, she quickly rambled, “I-I’m sorry! Just, you don't really seem okay and, and I'm worried about you, and if I'm not doing a good job of protecting you–”

“No, no,” Zooble sighed, massaging the space between their eyes, trying to force their gaze to soften, “you're… actually doing a great job. Sorry if… Sorry that I'm not making that clear.” At Gangle's sour expression, they said, “Look, can you just… promise me that you won't tell any of the others what I'm about to say? Especially not Jax. Like, cross your heart promise.”

Gangle drew a line over her chest. “Cross my heart.”

“Okay,” Zooble sighed. They took a deep breath, exhaled. They craned their neck up so they were looking at the ceiling instead of Gangle. “I don't… like, crowds. I never have. They freak me out. I feel like I always need to watch my back when I'm in one. Like if I let my guard down, someone'll… I mean, I know it's stupid, I know the chances of someone attacking me or putting me in an embarrassing situation are so infinitesimally small, just… Look, I'm not like, scared of crowds, I just… don't like them.”

They pulled their arms close to their body, trying to dig their nails into skin, and remembering too late that they no longer had either. Their breath hitched when they felt Gangle place a ribbon on their arm.

“It's okay, you know?” She said, “To be scared of crowds.”

“I'm not–” Zooble's voice caught in their throat. They closed their eyes. They would never admit to it, god, they could never admit to it, but deep in their heart, they knew: they had been aching to hear those words of affirmation for years. Instead, they placed a hand over Gangle's, looking elsewhere; the number buttons seemed suddenly very intriguing. They cleared their throat. “When we get to the lounge, could you… y’know… watch my back?”

Gangle smiled. “Of course.”

Chapter 14: Placebo

Pomni couldn't remember the last time she'd slept soundly. At first she had often awoken with a start, for a brief moment in denial about the circumstances; once she became used to the Circus, she either wouldn't sleep at all, or her sleep would be staggered, as though someone was just turning her brain on and off like a switch; then of course there was the night she'd fallen asleep in her makeshift noose, something she was in no hurry to try again; the point was, sleeping rarely if ever came easy to her.

So, she was pleasantly surprised to wake up feeling… rested. Energized, even.

The events of the day before sprung to her mind, and her chest fluttered. Was it real? Had she and Ragatha actually..? She pressed the tips of her fingers to her mouth, the ghost of soft embroidery lingering behind.

Eagerly, she leapt off of her bed and jogged to the door, yanked it open – and nearly ran smack into the target of her affections.

“Oh!” Ragatha exclaimed, catching Pomni by the shoulders. The two stood, staring at one another, eyes searching one another’s for the answer to the same question. “Ah – Good morning, Pomni!”

“Y-Yeah,” Pomni stammered. “Mornin’.”

Ragatha’s hands traced down the jester’s arms until they were hand-in-hand. Pomni squeezed. They both knew – it had really happened.

Pomni swallowed nervously, her face hot. She had no idea what to say.

Luckily, Ragatha spoke first. “Can I..?” She tapped Pomni’s cheek gently with the tips of her mitts. Pomni nodded.

Beaming, Ragatha leaned down, cupped Pomni's face in her hands, and smooched her lovingly on the cheek. Pomni felt weak in the knees. She bit down hard on her tongue to prevent another ‘Golly’ or something even stupider from making a break for it.

“Come on,” Ragatha urged, taking Pomni's hand and giggling as they hurried down the hall towards the stage.

For the first time since she'd gotten here, Pomni felt happy – truly happy. It wasn't mixed in with sadness or heartache or anxiety. It didn't remind her of the pain she'd felt back in the real world. She was just happy. Her hand was in Ragatha's. Ragatha's hand was in hers. They had one another. Pomni's heart felt like it was full of helium, like she could jump up and never come back down.

“Hey there, if it ain't Thelma and Louise.”

Aaand of course Jax would be the one they run into right away.

“Heya, Jax,” Ragatha cheerfully said without missing a beat. Pomni's chest fluttered again; god, how she loved how sunny Ragatha could be, like a ray of light through a cloud. “How'd you sleep?”

“Oh, I slept just fine,” he said, walking alongside them. “How'd you two lovebirds sleep?”

Ragatha and Pomni both flushed at the insinuation. “Get your head out of the gutter,” Ragatha hissed, “We slept separately.”

“I didn't say nothin~,” he trilled, shrugging and rolling his eyes.

Pomni felt the gnawing urge to snap at him, make some witty rebuttal about how lonely he was, but her brain still had yet to fully reboot, stuck in a loop of the thought of sleeping with Ragatha. She knew that it wasn't inherently sexual – and, in fact, considering the nature of the Circus, likely never would be – but she still felt hot in the face, thinking about doing quite possibly the most intimate thing possible given their current circumstances, curling up with Ragatha, whispering sweetness to one another…

Then she remembered that their rooms afforded them privacy, meaning Caine's ‘hands above the belt only’ rule may have limits.

A high-pitched whining filled the air, like a tea kettle. Jax picked at his ear. “Do you guys hear something—” He doubled over, his mouth opening and his teeth growing sharp as he guffawed and pointed. Ragatha followed his finger, and clapped a hand over her own mouth to stifle a snort.

“What?” Pomni asked, having snapped back to attention with Jax’s outburst. She realized he was pointing at her, and so she looked above herself; her head was quite literally steaming. Mortified, she hid her face in her hands and cried, “Nooo!”

“Aww, don't hide, Pom!” Ragatha said, barely managing to hold back a giggle. “It's cute!”

“Our little girl is becomin’ a woman,” Jax cackled. “Enlighten us, Pom-Pom! What saucy thoughts are goin’ through that dome of yours?”

“You stop it,” Ragatha chided him, pulling Pomni close.

“Kill me,” Pomni groaned into her hands. “End me now, God.” Ragatha simply hugged her tighter, pecking the top of her head and sending the jester into a squirming, giggling fit.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Once Pomni's embarrassment had passed, the three had gone to join everyone else at the stage.

Caine swooped down, “Gooood MORNING, my Festive Foghorns! I hope you've got your sea legs and raincoats ready, because today's adventure is—”

The words ‘LIGHTHOUSE LUNACY’ appeared above and below Caine as he spoke the adventure’s name, the i in lighthouse stylized to look like the word’s namesake.

“Today, half of you are off to sail the seven seas, and the other half are responsible for getting them safely to land! But watch out – killer sharks and other sea monsters dwell in these swells, and boy oh boy, are they hungry!” As if to demonstrate, Bubble suddenly appeared from behind the ringmaster, and bit down on his forearm up to the elbow. The circus was silent as Caine stared blankly at his… pet? Assistant? Bubble, he stared blankly at his Bubble. He said, in an uncharacteristically threatening way, “Don't make me put you back in the soap bottle.”

Bubble released his arm with a ‘bleeh’.

Caine's arm was bent at an odd angle, but it returned to normal as he shook it out and pointed at the troupe. “Anyway! Get your life jackets on and let's get moving!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Gangle gently rubbed Pomni's back as the jester vomited over the side of the ship. The two of them had, unfortunately, been put on the boat half of the adventure. Even more unfortunately, they'd been teamed up with Jax.

“Aww, quit yer bellyachin’,” Jax sneered from the steering wheel. “I swear, it's like you puke at the drop of a hat. We should start callin’ you Emmet Ophelia.”

“Shut uuup,” Pomni groaned, her voice trembling before she pitched over the side again.

Gangle winced, trying to think of some way to help the jester. “Maybe you should go lay down in the cabin, Pomni. I-I'm sure Jax and I can… can handle things ourselves.”

“Like hell,” Pomni grumbled. “I appreciate it, Gangle, but the only way I'd leave you alone with him is if I fell over the s–urgh—” She seized again.

“Don't tempt fate, Pom-Pom,” Jax snickered, roughly jerking the wheel to the side and causing the boat to lurch. “I might just knock you overboard for funsies.”

Pomni responded with a censored hand gesture.

“I'll really be fine, Pomni,” Gangle assured. “Believe me, so long as he's busy steering, I'll be fine.”

Pomni was about to say something, before retching over the side again. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand and giving Gangle a reluctant glance, she shuffled below deck, vanishing down the stairs.

Gangle sucked in a breath. She could handle being alone with Jax for a bit. She didn't like it, but she'd done it before. She could do it again. Just had to stay out of his way, and her comedy mask would be fine. Just had to watch where she was going. Just had to be mindful and wary and—

“Yo Gangle, think fast!”

She slammed into the railing as Jax spun the wheel, the whole ship pitching to the side and nearly capsizing. As it righted itself, as Jax hooted and guffawed, she began to wonder which she'd rather be alone with – him, or the sharks.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Ragatha, would you quit pacing? You're makin’ me anxious.”

The ragdoll stopped in her tracks, yet didn't take her eyes off the ocean. She and Zooble and Kinger had been given lighthouse duty, the three of them gathered together in the dormitory beneath the lamp. Kinger had set to work building a fortress. Ragatha had been walking a rut into the floor, constantly watching out the window for signs of their companions.

“Sorry,” Ragatha said, still looking out through the porthole. “I'm just worried. You know what Jax is like.”

Zooble grumbled. It wasn't like they didn't get it; the thought of Gangle out there on a boat with Jax of all people weighed in their gut like a bad case of food poisoning.

“I'm… sure they'll be fine,” they said, more to reassure themself than Ragatha. “Pomni's not a total pushover, you know? I don't think she'd let Jax bother either of them without putting up some kind of fight.”

Ragatha still didn't seem convinced. “But…”

“Look, not much we can do for now,” Zooble muttered. “All we can do is keep the lighthouse running.”

“Yeah,” Ragatha sighed, sitting on her bed. “Yeah, I guess you're right…”

“I'm sure they'll be fine,” Zooble said, though their chest twisted with the words. In a bid to lighten the mood, they said, “Hey, at least this seems to be one of Caine's easier adventures. Sitting in a lighthouse, waiting for the others – we'll be back to the circus in no time.”

Moments later, there was a crackle of electricity, and the lighthouse went dark.

Zooble groaned. “Me and my fat %$!#ing mouth…”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Pomni gurgled uncomfortably, her stomach still queasy but no longer actively about to throw up. She felt bad for leaving Gangle alone with Jax, but she was hopeful that he would give the ribbons a break in her absence. He was a jerk, no doubt about that, but she got the impression that he wasn't nearly as bad as he made himself out to be; his weirdly-protective reaction to Pomni kissing Ragatha, his seemingly-backwards philosophy on keeping everyone from abstracting – he clearly cared, in his own kinda-really-selfish way.

She rolled onto her side on her cot, coming face-to-face with a massive amber eye looking in at her through the porthole.

She cried out in shock, scrambling away and falling off of the mattress. She shot to her feet, just in time to see the eye zip away, followed by a massive, slimy, pink body. Caine's mentioning of sea monsters rang in her skull, and she hurried to the stairs leading back above deck.

It was chaos.

“How ya holdin’ up, Gangle?” Jax smarmily called.

Gangle screamed as she was heaved through the air by a massive kraken tentacle.

“What the actual %$!# Jax!” Pomni barked, grabbing a couple of harpoon guns and tossing one to Jax. “Help her, you %$!#hole!”

“Sheesh, fiiine,” Jax groaned, rolling his eyes and half-heartedly taking aim. “You're a real buzzkill, y’know that?” He fired. He missed.

“TRY, %$!# YOU! Hang in there, Gangle! We'll get you!”

“Take your time,” Gangle called down. “I'm just glad my comedy mask hasn't broken, yet. Honestly, I might actually be safer up here.”

Jax snickered, “Aww, love you too, Ribbons!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Ow. Ow. Ow.”

Zooble and Ragatha had been struggling to keep the generator running, a task easier said than done; if it wasn't under siege by gulls pecking out the wiring, it was being shorted out by a particularly tall series of waves. And if it wasn't currently being Poseidon's %$!#, it was being repeatedly struck by lightning as if it had %$!#ed Thor’s mom or something. And if it wasn't under attack by mjolnir, it was being overrun by, of all things, an army of crabs.

Stupid generator, Zooble thought as they and Ragatha tried to swipe the crustaceans away, pincers snapping at their hands. Stupid crabs, stupid adventure, stupid Caine, stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Alright, I think that's the last of them,” Ragatha said as she wiped her hands on her dress. Looking up, they could see Kinger giving them a thumbs-up, backlit by the lamp. “Hopefully the others show up soon…”

“‘Hopefully’,” Zooble grumbled.

“Hey, come on, no need to be so sour,” Ragatha said, putting on a grin. “It'll be over in no time, remember?”

“God, shut up,” Zooble scoffed. “Seriously, I'm in even less of a mood than usual for your optimism.”

Ragatha recoiled, mouth opening but no words coming forth. It was only then that Zooble realized that she had just been echoing their own sentiment back at them, and they massaged the space between their eyes.

“Sorry,” Zooble muttered. “You didn't do anything wrong, I'm just… not in a great mood.”

“Yeah…” Ragatha's mouth scrunched up, like she wanted to say something but couldn't – then, she shook her head, and gave Zooble a stern look that completely caught them off-guard. “I-I'm… not in a great mood either. I don't think any of us are ever really in a good mood. That's no excuse to take it out on other people.”

Zooble was too shocked to reply.

Ragatha shrank back a bit, then straightened back up and added, “Just, we need to try, okay? To be kind to others, and… and to ourselves. And sometimes that means looking for silver linings, even when we're in a sour mood. So… So please don't tell me to shut up when I'm trying to find one.”

The amalgam just stood there, completely at a loss for words. They sucked in a breath, their chest aching, the space between their shoulder blades twisting anxiously. At last, they said, “Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'm… sorry. I've been trying to keep my temper in check, it's just… difficult.”

Ragatha placed a hand on their shoulder. “I know it is,” she said, then smiled. “But, I'm proud of you for trying.”

Zooble felt a weight lift off of their shoulders, only to settle in their head, right behind their eyes. They made a strangled noise, and shut their eyes tight. No, they told themself, you will not cry, you will not cry, you will not %$!#ing cry.

Ragatha's mitt gently rubbed their shoulder, and her tone was warm. “You can count on us, Zooble. You don't have to push people away.”

“Yeah,” they said – or tried to, but it came out strained. They cleared their throat, chuckling. “You threw me off there. When did you get the balls to stand up for yourself like that?”

Ragatha giggled. “Oh, yesterday.”

“Of course,” Zooble rolled their eyes. “Thank God for Pomni, I guess.”

“Come on, we should get back up to the lighthouse and—”

The two were blinded and deafened as Zeus struck once again, shorting out the generator and causing thick smoke to billow into the air. The lamp went out again, and Zooble's last nerve snapped.

“Oh, %$!# YOU!” Zooble shouted, flipping off the heavens. “Show your face around me, %$!#hole! Come on, I dare ya, you little %$!#! Come down here and I'll kick your %$!# from here to Sunday!”

“H-Hey,” Ragatha cooed, “it's alright, just calm down—”

“%$!# being calm!” Zooble snapped. “YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL %$!#IN’ BEAT YOU SO BAD YOUR KIDS’LL FEEL IT! I'M RIGHT HERE, MOTHER%$!#ER!”

There was another massive thumberboom, but this time, instead of hitting the generator, the lightning struck the ground in front of the two. There stood a massive, musclebound man, wearing a toga and carrying a sledgehammer.

He boomed, “You rang?”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“I'm gonna throttle him,” Pomni snarled.

She and Jax – mostly her – had finally managed to free Gangle from the kraken, who had retreated after Pomni had – admittedly by accident – shot a harpoon into its eye. Afterward, the two women had gone below deck, and Pomni pushed down her nausea to try and help Gangle dry off after her kraken-napping.

“Please don't,” Gangle said.

Pomni huffed as she draped a blanket around Gangle's body. “I really don't get it, Gangle. Why do you insist on defending him?”

“He isn't that bad,” Gangle shrugged. “Or at least, he wasn't always as bad as you've seen him.”

“Doubtful,” Pomni scoffed.

Gangle let out a rueful chuckle. “At least my comedy mask is still intact – it's usually broken by now.”

Pomni asked, “Why not ask Caine to just, make one that doesn't break?”

Gangle's mouth scrunched up. “I… I don't know. Sometimes it just, doesn't quite feel right anyway, you know?” At Pomni's quizzical expression, Gangle explained, “It's like… If it breaks, then that means I have an excuse to be sad. And, being sad can feel right sometimes. Does that make sense?”

Pomni scratched her head. “Not really? It honestly seems kind of unhealthy. You could just, not wear the mask, right? When you want to feel sad? Waiting until it breaks can't be good for you.”

Gangle made a soft whining sound. “Maybe not…”

“If you want to feel sad, then that should be your choice,” Pomni said. “You shouldn't leave your happiness in other people's hands – especially not Jax's.”

Gangle didn't respond.

“I'm gonna go topside,” Pomni said. “You stay down here and get warm. Call me if you need me, okay?” Gangle nodded, and Pomni started towards the stairs.

“Hey, Pomni?” The jester turned back to look at Gangle, who was giving her a small, grateful smile. “You're a good person. Thank you.”

“LAND, HO!”

The two ascended the stairs when they heard Jax's voice. In the distance, they could see a beam of light shining through the fog.

The ship at last arrived at the lighthouse dock, and as the crew members disembarked, Pomni saw a large, muscular, beaten-up NPC in a toga sitting nearby a generator, one of his eyes swollen and purple, and nursing a swollen cheek. Waiting for them at the base of the lighthouse was Ragatha, Zooble, and Kinger.

“Pomni!” The ragdoll ran towards them once she saw them, scooping the jester up into a hug.

Pomni's body stiffened and her face went red as Ragatha smooshed it against her chest. Thank you, God, she found herself thinking, the usual stinging sensation barely a snap of static in the back of her mind.

“O-Oh!” Ragatha stammered after a moment, releasing the jester. “Sorry! I forgot to ask. Are you—?”

“I'm fine,” Pomni chuckled, taking Ragatha's hands. She nodded towards the NPC at the generator. “What happened with you three?”

“I made Mother Nature my %$!#,” Zooble said, cracking their knuckles.

“Oh, heyyy,” Jax drawled. “Gangle, look what I found.”

Pomni saw the sledgehammer a moment before he swung. “JAX DON'T YOU DARE—!”

CRASH!

 

-/-/-/-

 

The troupe stepped out through the portal, and right away Caine came swooping down to them, strangely minus his jacket.

“Welcome back, my Sugary Sailors!”

 Instantly, he could tell the gist of how things had gone; Kinger was preoccupied with a pillbug he'd found; Gangle was carrying the fragments of her comedy mask, tears dripping from her face; Zooble currently had Jax in a headlock, choking him; Ragatha and Pomni were comforting Gangle and side-eyeing Jax.

The ringmaster continued without missing a beat, “Congratulations on reuniting after a daring high-seas voyage! Your reward:” Caine waved towards the dinner table in the center of the tent, which was aplenty with lobsters, crabs, and fish, “a delicious seafood dinner!”

“Cool,” Zooble said simply, continuing to strangle the rabbit.

Caine watched, expectantly. “Are you… going to let him go, eventually? Or..?”

“Not ‘till he cries Uncle.”

“I don't think he can speak like that.”

Zooble blinked, clearly fed up with everything for the day. “Not my problem.”

“U-Um, Caine?” Gangle approached, holding up her comedy mask fragments. “I was, um, wondering…” She looked back at Pomni, who gave her a patient thumbs-up. “Could you make it so my comedy mask doesn't break as easily? I… I want to take my happiness into my own hands.”

Caine took the shards and cocked his head to the side. “I'm not sure I follow.”

Gangle explained, “I don't want how I'm feeling to be dictated by other people. I want to choose when to be happy and when to be sad.”

“Oh, Gangle, my dear,” Caine said, gently. He floated down and patted her on the shoulder. “You don't need a mask at all for that!”

“Huh?”

“Your mask has no effect on your emotional or mental state!”

The tent went silent.

“Wh-WHAT?!” Gangle cried in horror. “What do you mean, ‘no effect’?!”

“Your comedy mask is simply a cosmetic item!” Caine explained, snapping his fingers. The mask snapped back into one piece. “It's like I've always said, one of the few things I don't have control over are your minds! I can make special items during adventures that influence the way your minds work, but something like that being constantly in a player's possession would be far too dangerous!"

Gangle's eye twitched. “S-So… this whole time…”

“Here you are, my dear!” Caine declared, handing the mask back to her with a flourish. She took it with trembling ribbons, staring vacantly at it. “Now then, I hope you all enjoy your dinner! I'm off to find my jacket and put Bubble in his soap bottle!” As if on command, Bubble came floating into view, Caine's jacket draped over his head. Caine saw him, shouted, “YOU!” and proceeded to chase him out of sight.

Gangle stared at her mask, its grinning visage seeming to mock her. It was just a cosmetic. A prop. It didn't affect her mental state and it never did in the first place.

It slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor.

“Gangle?” Zooble approached, having released Jax. “Are… Are you okay?”

There was silence.

Then, a laugh.

Gangle began laughing, a high, manic laugh that seemed completely alien coming from her. Tears streamed down her face. She clutched at her stomach, doubling over and laughing harder.

Once her laughing had faded, Gangle straightened up. She didn't look at anyone as she said, “I… think I'm gonna go to bed.”

The tent was quiet as she trudged away, leaving the fragments of her comedy mask on the floor.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Once everyone had gone back to their own rooms after dinner, Zooble had arrived at Gangle's door, struggling for minutes on end to decide what they could do, what they could say, how they could make things better. Gangle was such a good person – a pushover, sure, but she was kind, and determined, even when she was sad, and…

The amalgam cleared their throat. Screw having a plan. Gangle was upset, and they couldn't just do nothing.

They knocked on the door.

“Gangle? Are you in there?”

The seconds following were tense, and each moment that passed, Zooble felt a slimy, terrible wriggling in their gut – and the door opened. Gangle stood there, tears dripping from her eyes, but carrying herself slightly differently.

“Hey, Zooble,” she said, smiling. “Is something wrong?”

“I just wanted to check up on you,” they said, trying to parse her expression. “I'm… not gonna assume you're okay after what happened. But I just wanted to be here. For you.” They swallowed. “I have your back, you know that, right?”

Gangle nodded. “Yeah, of course I know it.”

“Okay,” Zooble said, “good.” The silence between them felt thick like wet cement. “Do you… want any company?”

“I'll be okay,” Gangle sighed. “You don't have to babysit me. I promise, I'm not gonna abstract from this.”

Zooble tensed at the brief thought of Gangle going the way that so many others had. “Still, I…” They struggled to form the words. Their chest felt squeezed. Their head ached as if they were clenching their jaw too hard. “I want to be here. I wanna protect you.” At Gangle's surprised look, they added, “So… can I stay?”

After a moment, Gangle nodded, smiling.

Zooble stepped inside. The door closed.

Notes:

The scene near the end with Caine and Gangle was loosely based off of this comic by Daikaiju-arts on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/daikaiju-arts/759546734980546560/its-you?source=share

Chapter 15: Maybe There's Still Time

“JAX!”

The rabbit snickered, leaning against one of the blocks dotting the tent floor as Ragatha snapped at him. The ragdoll came around the corner, covered in soot, glaring once she spotted him.

“Heya, Ragsy,” he chirruped, reclining his arms behind his head. “You seem like you're in a lively mood.”

“Oh, stuff it,” she scowled, hands on her hips. “We found your little present. How many times have we told you to tone it down with your pranks?”

Jax just looked at his fingertips as though checking his nails. “You make it sound like I did something nefarious.”

“You put a bomb in my room!”

He shrugged. “What, it's not like we can really get hurt, you know?”

“You are just—!” Ragatha seethed. “Look, just, back off, okay? Things have been tense enough lately, we don't need you making a nuisance of yourself any more than usual.”

“I make no promises.”

She huffed. “Of course you don't.”

“R-Ragatha,” Gangle came peering around the corner, years dripping from her mask. “She's asking for you. I… I really don't think she's okay.”

The ragdoll glared at Jax again. “We'll discuss this more later. For now, just… stay away from us, okay?”

Jax simply made a talking motion with his hand, and Ragatha stormed off.

“You really shouldn't mess with people like that,” Gangle mumbled, soggily. “It isn't nice.”

“‘Nice’ is a luxury, kid,” he said. “Everyone needs a little kick in the pants every so often.”

“I'm older than you,” she muttered, then said, “Even if that was true, don't you think a bomb is kind of overkill? Where did you even find one?”

“Oh, around.”

“There you two are!”

From around the corner of the block stepped the circus’ resident clown.

“Caine's waitin’ for us,” Kaufmo said. “Come on, I wanna get this show on the road as soon as possible.”

“Alright, alright,” Jax huffed, pushing away from the block and waving for Gangle to follow. “He say what today's adventure is s’posed to be?”

“Not yet, I'm just hoping it's gonna be something simple,” the clown sighed. “Something soft for the new kid.”

“How is the newbie, by the way?” When Kaufmo simply shrugged, Jax turned to Gangle.

“I'm not sure,” she sighed. “They haven't come out of their room for a couple of days now… I think they're really upset about their avatar.”

“I dunno, seems like a useful ability, takin’ yourself apart an’ puttin’ yourself back together.”

Gangle whimpered, “It sounds awful…”

“Hey, look at it this way,” Kaufmo forced a smile, “they're probably better put-together than the rest of us! Ah? …Ah~??” He looked between Jax and Gangle as if expecting them to laugh. “...Y'all are %$!#in’ philistines, all of you…”

Ragatha and Wriggle were crossing the tent floor towards them now, the new kid – Zooble, Jax recalled – in tow. The worm-on-a-string seemed a bit out of sorts and spacey, eyes unfocused and posture more floppy than usual. Zooble kept looking around, nervously.

“Heya, Wrigs,” Jax snickered, already thinking up a way to prank her. “Lookin’ a little droopy, you feelin’ alright?

The worm just mumbled, “Why are we here, but to suffer, never knowing if we're truly alive or dead? How long have we really been here? Is all of this merely a hallucination in the milliseconds following the circumstances which killed me, all the rest of you and the days and months all squeezed into a fraction of a fraction of a second as my neurons fire on all cylinders? Was I born just moments ago, a product of gunpowder and fire, and all which I remember coming before is merely fabricated? Whence began this dark carnival, but by the whim of its wretched and cruel lovecraftian ringleader who is himself nought but code? What are we but lines of ones and zeroes, dictating where vertices appear in a simulated space which may not even have a parallel in reality? Or perhaps this is reality, the inhospitable truth beyond the lattice of once-observable dreams. But there are no dreams anymore. Only nightmares.” 

The others stared at the worm. Zooble's eyes had begun to spread apart as they absorbed her ramblings. Gangle and Ragatha both looked as though they'd just considered whether a dead pet still loved them as it was being put down. Kaufmo cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“Yeah,” Jax said after a beat, “she's fine.”

“Ah, there's the rest of our Caulifleurous Crew!” Caine declared as the group approached the stage. Kinger and Queenie were already waiting for them.

“Hey, c’mon, kiddo,” Kaufmo put on a smile, patting Wriggle on her back. “An adventure’ll put you right as rain! Worms like rain, right?”

Wriggle just stared blankly into the middle distance.

“So, what's the adventure today?” Jax snarked, “Are we volunteering at the old folks' home, givin’ Old Man Jenkins a sponge bath?”

Kaufmo snickered, “We'll call it, The Crotchety Codgers Cleanliness Caper!”

Jax added, “The Smelly Sudsy Senior ‘Scapade!”

Kaufmo japed, “Exfoliating The Elderly Before Evening!”

Caine, however, was undeterred. “It's good to see you so excited for today's quest! While sadly, no, today is not about washing any senior citizens, I have taken the suggestions into account, so you may see such an adventure in the future!” He twirled his namesake in his hand and then waved it. “Today's adventure is: TROUBLE IN TOYBOXLAND!

“You will all be playing the part of a child's collection of toys, BUT! There is a faker on the loose! A toy from the neighborhood on the bad side of the tracks has hidden themself among you. It is up to you all to sus out the impostor, and send them packing back to their own kid! Now, off you go!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

The goal of the adventure had seemed so simple at first; upon arriving, the troupe quickly realized more than a couple of problems.

First, while they were indeed playing the role of a child's toys, they had assumed it would just be a matter of picking out the one character who didn't belong. Instead, they had been dropped into a chest that must have held at least fifty other toy NPCs.

Second, a non-zero number of players were, themselves, based on toys.

Zooble currently was curled into a ball and babbling, having found a container of ‘Zolos’, toys that, like themself, were take-apart-put-together sets. Kinger and Queenie were trying to talk to them, to keep them calm.

“This is %$!#ed up,” Kaufmo muttered, watching the chaos unfold. “Caine had to have known this would happen, right?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Kaufy,” Jax muttered.

“W-We need to go back,” Gangle urged. “We need to find a way to get Caine to bring us back to the circus. This – This is only going to end badly.”

“For once, you're onto something, Ribbons,” Jax nodded. “Come on, let's get everyone rounded up and get ‘em to the portal.”

Kaufmo paused as he did a head-count. “Hey, where's Wriggle?”

Jax looked out across the crowd of players and NPCs. He spotted the orange-and-green worm in the crowd. “Get everyone out, I'll go grab her.”

He pushed into the crowd, weaving between NPCs. Off to the side, he saw the chess pieces helping Zooble towards Kaufmo and Gangle.

“Jax! Over here!”

He turned. Ragatha was waving him down, and he hurried over towards her. “You okay, dollface?”

“I'm fine,” she said, though there was an edge to her voice.

“Come on, we're getting Wriggle and then we're bouncin’,” Jax said, leading her further through the crowd. He could just barely make out the worm now, even as his eyes were over the majority of the cluster of NPCs.

At last, he and Ragatha pushed through.

“Yo, Wrigs!” He hollered. “Come on, we gotta—”

He stopped short when he saw Wriggle, staring vacantly at another worm-on-a-string toy.

She turned towards them.

She said, “I'm sorry.”

Horror flooded Jax's chest as Wriggle vanished, consumed immediately by erratic black static. Eyes popped up all across its form, and a quartet of stubby limbs jutted out from its body.

“Crap, Rags, MOVE—!”

The crowd exploded as the abstraction that had once been Wriggle slammed its legs into the ground, sending NPCs and Jax and Ragatha all flying chaotically. It raised a leg up, and crushed an NPC that was modeled after a green army man toy. It let out a loud, rumbling, creaking static hiss, thrashing about. It stomped the other worm-on-a-string toy until it was just decimated tris.

“NO!” Ragatha wailed. She pushed herself to her feet. Jax intercepted her. “Let me go! Jax, let go! We have to get her, we—!”

He barked, “She's gone, Ragatha! We gotta go!” When she refused to run, Jax hoisted her up bodily onto his shoulder. She pounded her fists against his back, screaming and sobbing. He dared a glance back. The Wriggle-abstraction spotted them. It started chasing.

“Portal's here!” Kaufmo called over the cacophony of screams and pounding feet.

The remaining troupe leapt through, back to the circus.

“Oh!” Caine exclaimed in surprise. “I wasn't expecting you all back s—OH GOOD HEAVENS!” The Wriggle-abstraction had begun to squeeze through the portal after them. Caine quickly waved his namesake at it, yanking it and a few unlucky NPCs out of the wormhole. He snapped his fingers, and quickly dispatched the abstraction into the cellar.

Jax let out a breath, releasing Ragatha and collapsing to his knees.

A sniffle caught his attention. Gangle was staring at the cellar-hole, hands pressed to her mouth. “Wriggle,” she whimpered. Kinger solemnly glided over to her, patting her shoulder. She buried her face against his robe, sobbing.

“What the %$!#.” Zooble sat, eyes locked on the hole. “What the %$!#, what the %$!#,” they kept repeating, voice trembling with horror.

“Well!” Caine said, wiping his brow. “That could have gone better!”

“You…” Kaufmo hissed, staring up at the ringmaster with a mix of anger and terror. “Did you do this on purpose? What is wrong with you?”

Caine cocked his head to the side. “Do what on purpose?” After a beat, it suddenly seemed to click, and he pressed a hand to his bottom jaw. “Oh. Ohh…”

“I-I was— I-I mean they were— a-and I'm—” Zooble rambled, gripping the sides of their head.

“It's okay,” Queenie cooed, trying to keep the new player calm. “It wasn't you. They weren't you. You're still you. Oh, my dear…”

Jax straightened up, surveying the carnage. Several of the NPCs were strewn about, lifeless, their AI no longer working outside of their adventure. The players were all in various states of shock, fear, grief. Ragatha stood off to the side, looking at— Jax froze when he saw the raggedy doll laying in front of her.

“%$!#, Rags—!”

There was a brief stutter in her eye, a momentary flash of magenta and cyan and yellow – there was a snap, and then she fell backwards, just as lifeless as the NPCs.

Gangle let out a shocked cry as Ragatha crumpled, drawing everyone else's attention. Caine floated there, pointing his cane at her, ready to snap his fingers again.

“Losing two in one day wouldn't do – especially not when it would have been a result of my own shortsightedness,” he muttered.

Kaufmo hissed, “What did you do..?”

“Don't worry, she'll wake up soon,” Caine explained. “I simply disrupted her connection to my operating system temporarily. A day or two to rest her mind, and she should be good as new!” He cleared his throat, and turned to address the rest of the crew. “My deepest apologies, everyone. I often make these adventures as soon as I think up the concept, and, well, this one must have slipped through the vetting process! Could have happened to anyone!”

Queenie's voice trembled as she said, “Wriggle is dead, and you're making excuses?”

“N-Not excuses!” Caine waved his hands. “Explanations! That is very distinct! There is no excuse for what happened today, but I assure you, it won't happen again under my watch!”

The rest of the crew simply stared at him, and he tugged at his collar.

“W-Well, uh… I'm off to run diagnostics, to make sure our vetting process doesn't let another boner slip through! Tata and farewell!”

He poofed out of sight.

The tent floor was quiet beyond Zooble's hyperventilations. They were trembling, even as Queenie tried to soothe them. They simply pulled away into themself, hobbling back towards the dorms as fast as they could.

“Oh, the poor dear…”

“I'm sure they'll come around eventually,” Kinger softly said, rubbing his wife's shoulder comfortingly. “Witnessing your first abstraction has never been easy, especially not when you're so new to the circus.”

Gangle whimpered, “Wh-What about Ragatha?” The ragdoll was still laid out, completely unresponsive.

“Help me get her to her room,” Kinger said, and he and Gangle lifted Ragatha up, carrying her away. Queenie followed.

After a beat, Jax tried to make light of things. “Heh… ‘Boner’, right Kaufy?”

“We have to get out.” The clown turned to the rabbit. “Caine isn't stable. If an adventure like that 'slips through the cracks' again… We have to leave, as soon as possible.”

Jax glanced over at the ragdoll NPC, his gut churning uncomfortably. “Dunno if you remember, Kaufmo, but that's kinda been our problem this whole time.”

“Desperate measures,” the clown said, simply. “If we can't find a way out the normal way, maybe we can find a different way. It's a computer program, right? So there must be a kill-switch somewhere in its code. A way to hit alt-f4, or open up the task manager and close it that way.”

“So, what do you suggest?”

Kaufmo paused for a moment, then huddled towards Jax and whispered, “Meet me in my room later tonight. We can't let Caine know what we're up to.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Jax sighed, twisting the knobs on the radio, trying to see if he could somehow find a frequency that could properly separate the voices; he'd been trying ever since Pomni had brought it to him a week ago, and still no luck. At this point it had become more of a stim behavior than anything, just something to do with his hands as his mind wandered elsewhere.

He and Kaufmo had resolved to find some way out, and for a while it seemed like they'd gotten a lead. And then, Kaufmo had to go and abstract like an idiot, leaving Jax to work things out all on his own.

But now Pomni was privy to the plot.

Everything was hinging on her, now. If anything happened to him—

There was a knock at his door. He quickly pushed away from his desk, threw the tarp back up behind his mirror, and centered himself before stepping outside.

“Hey, Jax,” Pomni greeted. “Everyone's waiting for you down by the stage. It's not like you to be late like this.”

He smirked, pinching her cheek and receiving a swat on the wrist. “Aww, what, you miss me?”

She rolled her eyes. “In your dreams. Just wanted to make sure you don't miss today's adventure: Washing the Wrinkled White-Haired Wretirees.”

Jax reclined against his door. “Alright, shortstuff, I'll be down in a sec. You go on ahead.” As Pomni began to walk off, he said, “Actually, hold up a sec.”

She turned. “What is it?”

He hesitated, just for a second, then smirked and said, “Never mind, just wanted to see how obedient you were. Congrats: you won first place.” He patted her on the head, and walked past her. “Good Chihuahua.”

“H-Hey!” The blue-ribbon Chihuahua barked. “Ugh! Screw you!”

Jax laughed. “You wish!”

A beat.

“Ew, not in a million years!”

“Oh? I'll take that to mean a million and one, then. Not like we're pressed for time.”

“Jax I will shiv you.”

“Kinky. At least buy me dinner, first.”

Pomni made a frustrated noise, her face red. She punched Jax in the arm. He simply laughed.

Notes:

While I don't have the link to it, the part there with Ragatha was loosely based on a theory I remember seeing a while back, where Ragatha's line in the pilot, "Maybe there's still time to fix him if we get Caine" was hinting that she may have almost abstracted at some point herself, and that Caine was fast enough to be able to stop it.

I also was not the one to come up with the worm-on-a-string's name being Wriggle, I've just seen other people call them that and thought it fit.

Chapter 16: Lingering Thoughts – Part I

Gangle had loved the dark.

There was something comforting, almost romantic about not being able to see, about losing yourself in a black void, about the darkness settling on your skin like a blanket. She distinctly remembered it, being human, sitting in the dark, reaching her arm out and feeling the blackness warp around and press down on her like water. In an unfamiliar setting, it terrified her, but when she knew where she was, it felt like she was the ruler of her own domain. She had home turf advantage. She was the predator, and any intruders, her prey.

Now, sitting alone in her room, she felt nothing but dread.

The ambient occlusion creeping around the corners where the walls met ceiling and floor, encroaching inwards despite her lamplight, felt less like a blanket or a pool and more like an ocean. The depths of a trench filled with unsightly, jagged sea creatures eager to descend upon her.

Yet Gangle sat, still as a grave. Normally she'd either be a terrified mess, tears dripping from her mask, or she would be sketching by the light of her lamp. Even now, among the other million and one racing thoughts, she could think of what she wanted to be drawing: herself as a valiant knight, fending monsters away from her friends – Zooble in particular.

She wanted to draw that.

But she just couldn't find the energy or the focus.

Instead, her sketchbook simply sat in her lap, pencil in her hand hovering over the page.

She had been oscillating between relatively okay (if numb) to completely inconsolable, and luckily had managed to keep the majority of her episodes this past week confined to private instances. But her mind, ever fickle in what it allowed her to focus on, now kept drifting back to how her comedy mask had just been a lie. A fake fake fakey mcfakerson. It's not like anyone told her it would actually make her happy, her dumb brain just assumed such was the case, because her brain was dumb and stupid.

Caine was stupid, too. Stupid Caine, he knew she found comfort in it and he never told her until now? She'd been stuck here for… for how long? Whatever, a really long time, and he never thought to tell her until she finally got the guts to try and take some amount of control away from Jax.

Jax, that %$!#, had he been able to figure it out? Did he figure it out and not tell her? It wouldn't surprise her.

What about everyone else?

Had Kinger known? Was his maddened, oblivious nature just a front? How much did he truly know? Was he actually insane or just playing a part? Of course it wasn't just a part, after everything he'd seen, everyone he'd lost, it made sense he'd be unstable, how could she think otherwise? How cruel of her.

Had Ragatha known and just been too ‘nice’ to say anything? Ha, ‘nice’, ‘nice’, %$!#ing ‘nice’. She was just a faker, just like her mask had been. She was never nice. The ragdoll hid it as best as she could but Gangle knew, she harbored resentment for all of them. Just a big fakey liar fake. Fake snake cake huh some cake would be nice about now— but Gangle was fake too. Her mask was just easier to break than Ragatha's. Lucky, the word stuck in her head, lucky, lucky, she's so lucky.

Had Pomni known? Had all of those platitudes about not putting up with Jax's bullying just been Pomni making fun of her? Did she say them, knowing that Gangle would put up with anything so long as she had her mask? Mocking her? Or maybe Pomni was trying to subtly tell her. Tell her that her mask didn't work. Tell her that the façade was easily seen through. Facade. Façade. Facade. God she couldn't stand herself. Façade, how fancy, too fancy for her, Gangle was just an unstable wreck, thinking the worst of Pomni, how could she? She didn't deserve to use the fancy ç.

…Had Zooble known?

Gangle's chest ached. Not that, anything but that, not Zooble, they wouldn't lie to her, right? Zooble wouldn't keep her in the dark knowingly, right? They were her friend, right? Zooble. Zooble, Zooble. Zooble Zooble Zooble Zooble. The amalgam’s name ran in circles through Gangle's head. They couldn't have known, they didn't known, please they couldn't have known they'd have told her if they did they were her friend they were her friend they couldn't have known and not told her she loved them there's no way they'd lie and trick her please they couldn't anything but that she was such a %$!#ing crybaby of course they wouldn't actually care about her no please she was just a burden and a nuisance on them but they came to her room and no they were just being ‘nice’ too maybe they just wanted to bully her like Jax maybe they just wanted her to think she had friends but no buts they were too cool to ever like her back they were just a big bully like Jax only they went straight for the heart no don't think that not about Zooble yes about Zooble no yes no yes NO how could she think that about Zooble how could she she was supposed to like them but that was just a lie fake fraud too she was a faker liar fake horrible fake lie liar fraud she was a fraud

“Gangle?”

She snapped out of her spiral. Her sketchbook page was covered in scribbles and scrawlings and Zooble's name written in chickenscratch. She could vaguely recognize doodles of the other circus members – notably one of Jax with his face burned away and one of his arms missing.

It took her a second to register the voice as Zooble's. She quickly stuffed the morbid drawings under her pillow and peeked out through the door. The amalgam stood there, about to knock again.

“Hey,” they greeted, lowering their hand. “Caine’s waiting for us with a new adventure, we got a bit worried when you didn't show. You okay?”

“Yeah,” she lied, stepping out. “Sorry, just, got absorbed in a drawing.”

“Oh,” Zooble said, brows raising a bit. “Can I see?”

Gangle made a whining noise. “It's kind of personal.”

“Ah, got it,” Zooble nodded. “Well, maybe the next thing you draw, then?” Gangle looked up at them, and after a beat, they said, “If you're comfortable sharing, y'know? Just… I always like seeing what you make.”

Gangle felt as though a knife had just been pulled from her heart. She couldn't help it; she hunched over, hugging herself tightly. Those awful thoughts – just more lies. The only liar was her stupid crybaby brain. She felt shame welling up inside, shooting up from her cardiac wound and pouring out from her eyes, a keening noise squeezing out of her throat as it passed by.

“W-Whoa!” Zooble exclaimed. “H-Hey, come on, don't… I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything bad, really, I—”

They stumbled back a bit as Gangle threw herself at them, ribbons tying tightly around their body. “Thank you,” she squeaked into their chest between sobs.

Zooble was still for a moment, before gently returning the hug, patting Gangle on the back. “Hey,” they said once she had stopped trembling, “why don't we take today off? You seem like you could use it.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“I don't think they're comin’ back, Boss,” Bubble remarked.

Caine insisted, “No no, I'm sure they're just running a bit behind!”

The ringmaster and Bubble and the rest of the troupe had been waiting at the stage for a good ten minutes or so for Gangle and Zooble to return, and Ragatha couldn't help but feel worried. She knew it wasn't healthy to focus on it – in fact, someone abstracting in their room was a pretty rare occurrence – but anytime someone was late, she always got a terrible feeling in her chest, the memory of being thrown around and stomped on, the memory of someone who used to be a friend bearing down on her.

The memory of abandonment.

Someone squeezed her hand. “Ragatha? Are you okay?”

The ragdoll shook such thoughts from her head, beaming down at the little jester. “I'm alright, Pom.”

But Pomni didn't seem convinced. “Are you sure? You got that look on your face just now.”

“What look?”

Jax butted in with his usual smirk, resting his elbow on Pomni's head like she was a table. “Th’ look on your face like Chuckles here dumped ya an’ took the kids.”

Ragatha swatted him on the arm, pulling Pomni away from him. “You stop that. And really, I'm okay, Pomni.”

She couldn't let the past weigh her down – either of them. They were happy now. It might still sting for a little bit, but she was confident it would fade. She loved Pomni, and Pomni loved her.

Even if they hadn't said it aloud yet.

“Okay, where are they,” Caine muttered at last, deflating slightly. His bombastic tone returned as he declared, “This adventure was supposed to have A Gun! And zombies! I thought it would be right up Zooble's alley!” He added, dejectedly, “I made it special for them…”

“Oh!” Kinger popped, “You could send us on that adventure tomorrow, and pick a different one for today!”

“But my schedule—!” Caine tried to insist, but when another look towards the dorms confirmed that nobody else was coming, he harrumphed. “Oh, fine.” Stroking his jaw, he said, “I'm sure I can find something to substitute for today…”

After a moment of rooting around inside of his hat, he pulled out a scroll – which dropped and unfurled, rolling across the tent until it was out of sight. He mumbled under his breath as he read down the list at supercomputer speed, until finally, he seemed to find one that he deemed appropriate. 

“Okay! Today, we will be postponing your trip to THE HARROWING HAUNTED HIKING HILLS,” there was a dramatic, inexplicable clap of thunder, “and you will instead be off to:”

He whirled around, displaying the words, HELLACIOUS HIGH SCHOOL HIJINKS.

“That's right! You're all going back to the drawing board – chalkboard, that is! Choose your electives, stick to your schedule, and make it through the day! But beware: step out of line one too many times, and you may just find yourself in the dreaded Detention—!”

He paused, stuttering for just a second.

“...Well that was weird,” he remarked once it had passed. “Anyway, yes! The dreaded Detention, where the Vice Principal will be watching your every move like a hawk!

Now, off you go!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Okay what is this.”

The troupe had stepped through the portal, which apparently let out of a school bus onto a high school campus. Countless mannequin NPCs trudged and strolled and swaggered into the school, some wearing varsity jackets, others wearing polo shirts, others wearing fancy-looking blazers and skirts – basically what Pomni would have expected straight out of a high school coming-of-age flick from a decade or two ago.

Likewise, they had also been dressed up for the adventure; Jax in a frumpy pink pullover, blue jeans, and white high-tops; Ragatha in a light grey sweater over a white polo, a black calf-length skirt, and black Mary Janes; Kinger was, somewhat-appropriately, dressed like a teacher, in a purple sweater-vest over a white dress shirt and black ‘pants’; meanwhile, Pomni's wardrobe was a flannel shirt over a tee, jeans, and chucks – all plaid.

All. Plaid.

The reds and blues of her usual attire had become red and blue plaid, a texture plastered over everything she was now wearing. Even her jester’s cap had become plaid.

Even her backpack was plaid.

Jax, naturally, laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

“O-Oh,” Ragatha cooed, trying to hold back a giggle of her own. “It's not… that, bad. It's cute, even.”

“I look like I'm wearing pajamas.”

A whistle suddenly blew out her hearing, and a mannequin came running up to her.

“Dress code violation!” They barked in a nasally tone, writing on a slip of paper and sticking it to Pomni's shirt. “Four more strikes and it's Detention for you!”

“Wh— But I didn't even—!”

“Talking back to a Hall Monitor,” the mannequin said, writing on another slip and pasting that one over her mouth. “You're on thin ice!”

As the NPC walked off, Jax nudged Pomni in the side of the head. “For shame, Pom-Pom. Already two strikes down.”

“Oh, shut up,” she muttered, peeling off the notes. “Like you're not gonna end up in detention as a given.”

He mockingly swooned, “I'm hurt, just wounded! To even insinuate I would have anything on my mind that could end up causing trouble!” At Pomni's critical glance, he added, “See, the trick is to not get caught.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Caine just couldn't understand it.

He wasn't completely ignorant, he knew that his adventures weren't always his best work. He knew that some of the players saw it as more of a job or a chore than anything. But still, that didn't mean they didn't enjoy them!

Making adventures was his art just as much as it was his job; loving one's art and seeing it as a job weren't mutually exclusive things, were they?

Surely they would tell him if they wanted him to stop making them, right?

So then why? Why, when he put in the effort of making an adventure special for one of them, would they skip?

Perhaps just a bad day? But if that was the case, wouldn't a riveting adventure be just the thing to take their mind off of things? Maybe they'd become absorbed in some other activity? A quick scan revealed that his two missing performers were not in the ball pit, nor playing mini golf, nor swimming in the water room, nor visiting Doctor Football—

Aha!

There they were, in the Art Gallery.

The Art Gallery, of course! Gangle did like drawing and painting, didn't she?

In less time than the milliseconds it took him to process the preceding thoughts, he poofed into the Gallery, right in front of—

“HEY GANGLE!”

She yelped and fell backwards, dropping her palette and brush, apparently not very receptive to Caine's enthusiastic greeting as he popped through the canvas. He still didn't quite understand such reactions; wouldn't they be happy to know that he was happy to see them?

“%$!# it, Caine!” Zooble barked, helping Gangle back up.

Not missing a beat, Caine swooped out of the canvas and said, “It’s so good to see you both enjoying the more miscellaneous activities of the Circus! I can't remember the last time anyone decided to visit the Gallery as a group activity!” As an aside, he added, “Even if it threw off my schedule and you totally missed out on using A Gun.”

“Could you just go?” Zooble said, rather intensely; if Caine didn't know any better, he'd say they had snarled it. “We're fine on our own, just go… do whatever it is you do when we're gone.”

“I would,” Caine began, before swooping down and throwing his arms around his performers’ shoulders, “but as two or more crew members have skipped today's adventure, I find it is my responsibility to have you both fill out a brief survey and performance report!”

“What.”

He spun, flourishing a pair of folders from his jacket and handing one to each of them. “Nothing too complex! Simply fill out these forms. I will take your feedback and use it to improve my adventures to make them even more enjoyable!”

“How badly do you want to use A Gun,” Zooble read one of the questions flatly, narrowing their eyes. “I… Is this really necessary?”

“Wellll,” Caine drawled, “technically, no, BUT!” He waved his hand, bringing up a rather simple diagram showcasing how he worked. Nonetheless they looked confounded. “Filling them out will help me help you all! As a quote-unquote ‘learning computer’, your feedback is imperative to keeping my neural processor – that is, my brain – healthy and moist!”

“I— …Moist?”

“Moist!” Caine repeated. “Not literally, of course, simply an apt comparison to help you understand! Moist is a sign of a healthy human brain, right?”

“Stop saying moist.”

“Anyway!” Caine continued, “These surveys will help me to make even better adventures which cater to your individual tastes, as an incentive for you to go on more, if you will!”

“Er, yeahh…” Zooble muttered. “We'll… do that later. Can you go now?”

“O-Oh,” Caine stuttered. “I mean, yes, of course! I will. Go.” He turned as if about to fly away, before glancing back at the duo. Zooble simply shooed him away, and away he went in a puff of smoke.

As the two went back to their activity, Caine couldn't help but feel a sort of twinge. He had expected them to be excited at the prospect of customizing adventures all their own, of playing in worlds which they themselves would have had a hand in creating. But they hadn't seemed at all phased. Had he misread things? Did everyone actually hate his adventures?

Was he bad at the only thing he was good at?

A nanosecond of finding himself in what he could only describe as an existential loop later, and he forcefully switched his focus. He had never been good with paradoxes, better to expend memory on something else.

Of course they didn't hate his adventures! They were optional after all, so if they didn't want to go, they wouldn't! It had to be something else. There must have been some other thing preoccupying Zooble and Gangle today, but what?

Observing the two and comparing their behaviors to prior experiences between other circus members, he noticed a pattern. One quite similar to the behaviors Pomni and Ragatha had exhibited.

Ohoho.

He returned to his schedule. The Haunted Hills would have to be pushed even further down the line, as inspiration struck him for the following day’s adventure.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Ragatha had no idea what kind of student she had been as a teenager. Her memories of life before the Circus had grown hazy over the nearly three years she's been trapped, and though she could remember some things, most of them were vague. She knew that she loved horses, and was pretty sure she had at least one or two. She knew that she had a little sister – sister? Brother? No, she was almost certain she had a sister. Or maybe she just babysat a lot?

She rattled her brains, trying to pull herself back to the present. No idea what kind of student she'd been. Surely, surely, she'd never gotten detention, right? She wasn't some delinquent.

The fact that she was currently sitting in Detention alongside Pomni and a soaked Jax – and, oddly enough, Kinger – certainly begged to differ.

Granted, she was pretty sure she hadn't done anything wrong? A fight had broken out between two of the NPCs, she had tried to stop it, and somehow had wound up with a strike for it. She had corrected a teacher NPC when they had gotten an answer to a textbook question wrong, which had earned her another – despite the fact that she had raised her hand and waited for the teacher to acknowledge her and everything. So on and so forth her day had gone, earning referrals for what seemed to her to be the most inconsistent and incoherent reasons.

And so, there she sat, being watched over by the Vice Principal, who, as it turned out, was a returning NPC: the chubby little purple-and-red gummy gator from the Candy Kingdom adventure, now dressed in a beige suit. He sat at the front desk, barely able to see over the top as he read a textbook nearly twice his size – so, ‘being watched over’ was more technically correct than literal.

“So much for not getting caught,” Pomni chuckled sourly from underneath a veritable mountain of sticky note referrals.

“Oh, bite me,” Jax scoffed. Apparently, the class hamster did not particularly appreciate his attempts to ‘rescue’ it, nor his attempts to ‘vaccinate’ it during chemistry class. Apparently, it was a very strong hamster, and had promptly given Jax a swirlie.

Kinger, on the other hand, seemed to have come to Detention purely because sticky notes had gotten stuck to him without his noticing. He was currently preoccupied with folding them all together into a rather detailed origami insect.

Ragatha glanced at the clock. It was just past two, and according to the blackboard, it wouldn't be over until five.

Jax groaned, wetly slumping into his desk. “Worst. Adventure. Ever.”

“Hey, look on the bright side,” Ragatha softly suggested, trying to lighten the mood. “We can probably just relax until we have to head back.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” The Vice Principal suddenly chirped, setting down the textbook. He hopped down and waddled to each of the performers, handing them each a work packet. “Here's some work to keep yourselves busy until it's time to go!”

“‘Write an essay on why you're stupid’,” Jax sneered as he read the work packet. “Oh, come on.”

“No talkin’, now!” The gummy gator said, cheerfully as he went back to reading. “Or else I'll have to get th’ Big Man involved!”

And so, for the next hour – according to the clock, though it felt more like several – the only sounds in the room were of the performers writing in their packets. Ragatha knew from experience that they could really just write anything and the NPCs wouldn't bat an eye. Jax was currently doodling… himself with a gun, one doodle amongst several others of a similar subject. Concerning. Kinger seemed to be writing some complex biological study of the Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides species of fly.

Pomni, however, was currently chewing on the end of her pencil, eyes doing their anxious scribbly thing, as though she was actually— Oh. Ragatha felt an ache in her chest when she registered bits and pieces of the jester's writing. She could definitely make out some words – ‘unreliable’, ‘selfish’, ‘coward’...

‘Kaufmo’.

“Hey,” Ragatha whispered at last, pulling Pomni out of her spiral. “You don't… actually have to do it, you know?”

“O-Oh,” Pomni said, looking down at her paper and realizing Ragatha could see it. She quickly hid it under her arm. “Sorry! I just, thought, we had to…” She trailed off.

Ragatha reached across the aisle, gently pressing the tips of her mitts to Pomni's shoulder. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Pomni hesitated, glancing away, a guilty look on her face. “I guess I just, got sucked into thinking about my first day. I know we've been over it, but… Some days I just start thinking about it, and I can't stop, even if I want to.” She paused. “I know I really hurt you, Ragatha. I don't… I don't want to be that person anymore, but sometimes it feels like, I just keep messing up and hurting you, like at the Carnival—”

“Oh, Jesus, I can't take any more of this,” Jax groaned, massaging his forehead. He stood up. “Yo, Teach. I gotta take a %$!#, can I have the hall pass?”

The Vice Principal didn't respond.

Jax strolled up the desk. He lowered the book. The little candy croc sat there, eyes unblinking, stiff as a board, before letting out a loud, exaggerated snore.

“Are you kidding me!” Jax smacked his forehead. “That's it, I'm going home. Screw Breakfast Clubbing this crap.”

As he grabbed his bag and made for the door, Ragatha turned her attention back to Pomni. There was that urge to just wave everything off as alright, and she steeled herself as she opted for the harder conversation.

“You did. Hurt me, I mean. And, no, please, let me finish. You hurt me, and sometimes I think about it, too. But I know that, you never intended to. I know you never did those things out of malice. That doesn't excuse it, but it makes it sting a lot less. You're awful at hiding your true feelings, Pom. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and… I really like that about you. You're genuine, and that means so much in a place like this.” Pomni's eyes shimmered, and she wiped at the corner of one. Ragatha sucked in a breath. She braced herself. “I love you.”

Pomni stared at her, eyes wide, mouth hanging open in what Ragatha could only describe as shock. A million and one emotions passed across Pomni's face, and Ragatha couldn't quite read them all, but she recognized a few – heartache, grief… fear?

Before either of them could unpack things, a siren blared, and the room was bathed in red. Jax had just stepped past the door frame.

“NO ESCAPING DETENTION IN THE HALLS.”

He was suddenly whisked away by what looked like a blurry jpeg of a man in a black shirt.

As Jax's screams faded, the siren stopped, and the lights went back to normal.

After a beat, Kinger let out a terrified yelp.

Ragatha turned her attention back to the jester. “Are… you okay, Pomni?”

She seemed to snap out of whatever she'd been feeling. “Huh? Oh, I, uh, yeah…” She swallowed. “I… No, actually. I don't know.”

“Can I hold you?” Pomni hesitated a moment, before nodding. Ragatha stood and pulled Pomni up as well, hugging her tightly. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Pomni shook her head.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“All aboard!”

The troupe trudged onto the bus as Caine welcomed them on. They had been delayed an extra couple of hours as the Principal had kept Jax even later – a tense couple of hours. Pomni had been struggling to think, time seeming to dilate weirdly as something writhed in her memories, something that filled her with a bone-deep dread.

Why?

Why, when Ragatha said – those words – did she feel afraid of all things? She could feel Ragatha's love just fine, but hearing it vocalized stirred something in her, something uncomfortable, something she couldn't put to words. She wanted to say it back – but even just the thought made her tongue feel tacky and gross.

So, they had just held each other in silence until it had been time to go.

“Sooo,” Caine began once everyone was seated. “How was everyone's day?”

Jax groaned. Pomni and Ragatha stayed silent. Kinger's eyes had begun to drift in opposite directions.

Caine glanced expectantly between all of them. “...Fantastic!”

As they rode back to the Circus in relative silence, Pomni gently took Ragatha's hand. “I'm sorry,” she said.

“It's okay,” Ragatha said, smiling warmly at her. “And I mean that. We'll take things as slow and steady as you need. No matter what, how I feel about you isn't going to change.” She pecked the jester on the top of her head, and Pomni felt warmth in her chest. She leaned into her girlfriend, squeezing her hand. Ragatha giggled, “My silly little button.”

“Caine,” Jax whined, “please put these two in time-out.”

“No violations of the C&A Terms of Service have been detected, so no!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Thanks for spending time with me today,” Gangle mumbled as she and Zooble left the Gallery. “I… really needed it.”

“Yeah, of course,” Zooble nodded. “If there's ever anything you wanna talk about, I'm here, you know?” They were surprised by just how much they actually meant it. Until recently, they would have just been saying it – no, until recently, they probably wouldn't even have checked on anyone to begin with. They were surprised with theirself, and yet…

They didn't mind.

“Actually,” Gangle whimpered, hesitantly. “I… There is something…”

Zooble turned to fully face her. “Yeah? What's up?” Gangle held a hand over her mouth, unable to meet Zooble's gaze. “If you're not comfortable—”

Gangle blurted, “No! I-I mean, it's just…” She wrung the ends of her ribbons together. “I… I've been having a lot of… thoughts.” Zooble was quiet, and waited for her to continue. “Bad thoughts,” Gangle clarified. “I… I feel like… it's hard to trust everyone, after… after finding out my…”

Zooble gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and she let out a soft whine, tears squeezing from her mask. As Gangle quietly sobbed, Zooble said, “I know it's probably not any consolation to say you can trust me, but… Is there anything I can do?”

She sniffled. “You’ve already done so much for me today…”

“So? It's not transactional,” Zooble said. Then, they quickly realized how curt that probably came across, and they added, “You're my friend, Gangle. If you're hurting, then, of course I'm gonna try and help, as much as I can.”

Gangle let out a damp noise, sniffling again and wiping away her tears. “I… Thank you…” After a beat, they said, “If… If it's not too much, could we do this more? Hang out and, take days off together?”

A soft, warm chuckle escaped Zooble, a sound they weren't even aware they were capable of making. “Yeah, of course.”

Before they could say anything else, a portal opened nearby, and a bus came roaring through it. They quickly jumped back to avoid being hit, and it skidded to a stop in front of them. The doors squealed open, and there was Caine. “Hop on, you two! We're off on a very special road trip!”

Zooble feigned a yawn. “Aww, you know, we would but, we're just exhausted, right Gangle? So I think we're just gonna head back to our dorms and—”

Caine snapped his fingers, and the two were suddenly pulled onto the bus as if by an invisible hand.

“Wh— Since when could you do that?!” Zooble cried in outrage. They glanced at the rest of the crew, doing a double-take when they saw Pomni, looking very… plaid. “Did… Did you lose a bet, or something?”

“Oh be quiet,” the jester grumbled.

Caine revved the bus's engine and shut the door. “Hold onto your seats everyone, because we – are – OFF!”

The bus shot forward, and the Circus vanished behind them in a blur.

Chapter 17: Lingering Thoughts – Part II

Pomni knew she should be getting some sleep before they arrived at… well, wherever it was they were headed. Everyone else had gone to sleep shortly after they'd left, with Ragatha being among the first. Caine had put them all back in their usual outfits, and the ragdoll had fallen asleep by Pomni's side, resting her head on the jester's shoulder. Pomni wasn't sure how to feel about it; she was usually so used to seeing Ragatha from a much lower angle, so seeing the top of her head was surreal to say the least. It made her feel bigger than she really was, and she wasn't sure if she felt good or bad about it.

Seeing Ragatha's peaceful smile, though, she decided she leaned closer to ‘good’.

And yet, despite the rhythmic rumbling of the engine, despite Ragatha's serenity, despite the downright Edenic vibes of the drive, she couldn't help but get stuck on the events of the previous day. Those words. Those three simple words.

She dug through her digitized grey matter, trying to work out what it was that had tripped her up about them. She felt like it was right there, right at the edge of her consciousness, and yet…

She glanced out through the window, watching the facade of the highway roll by. It was all smoke and mirrors, she knew, as they had passed hundreds of variations of the same tree and car – some scaled up or down, some slightly rotated or skewed, some with a slightly different texture, somewhat camouflaged under the cover of artificial night. For all she knew, they weren't even actually moving, simply rattling in place as the scenery moved around them, set on an automatically-generated array.

Something, some deep, ancient emotion had stirred within her when Ragatha had said it. She knew she'd heard the words before getting stuck here, so why? Why did they pierce her heart the way they had, like barbed hooks that just dug deeper the more she tried to wrestle them out?

It felt like such a dumb thing to get stuck on.

She glanced down at Ragatha, her chest aching as she took in her sleeping form. She swallowed, and opened her mouth.

She whispered, “I…” Come on, just say it, she urged herself. “Ragatha, I l—... I l-lo—uhh…”

The words tasted wrong. She wanted so badly to say it – the feelings were real, but…

Pomni sighed, instead resting her head atop Ragatha's, humming peacefully as she felt yarn against her cheek.

 

“—only doing—”

 

Pomni suddenly snapped awake. She realized she must have dozed off; the sun was beginning to come up as they drove along. Ragatha was still drifting on her shoulder. The rest of the performers seemed to be in various states of either sleeping or groggily waking up – except for Kinger, who sat across the center aisle from her and Ragatha, a steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

She racked her brains to try and parse what she'd just heard – what she'd just remembered.

Whose voice was that?

“Wakey wakey, my little Overdone Omelettes!” Caine declared from the driver's seat. A pan of eggs was sizzling in his hand, a spatula in the other. The bus was still moving, and Pomni had to kickstart her heart when she remembered, oh yeah, he didn't need to watch the road. “We're almost there!”

“A dream come true,” Zooble grumbled sarcastically, antennae twitching as they rubbed sleep from their eyes. Gangle slowly sat up – she had been resting her head on Zooble's lap. “I've always wanted to wake up to Caine blowing out my eardrums… Where are you even taking us?”

“Glad to be of service!” Caine said without missing a beat. “And all will become clear in…” He looked at his wrist, which was sans a watch. “Now!”

The bus lurched violently to a stop, and everyone fell out of their seats, inexplicably rolling down the center aisle, out through the door and landing in a tangled heap. Pomni raised her head, groaning. Before them sat the front gates to a large, multi-story building – a hotel? Hedges and statues lined the path leading to the front doors, all in the shape of hearts and cherubs and roses. In the distance, they could see a hedge maze on one side of the resort, and a tennis court on the other.

Caine swooped into the air. “Today's adventure is…”

He waved his hands, and large, curly, flowery letters appeared: “A RELAXING DAY OFF AT THE ƧOЯ∃ RESORT.”

“You didn't,” Zooble grumbled, massaging the space between their eyes as everyone detangled and stood. “You did not just call today's adventure ‘a day off’.”

“Now now,” Caine floated down, placing a hand reassuringly on Zooble's shoulder – which they promptly swatted away, “I assure you, I use the term ‘adventure’ quite loosely here! You've all been doing so well as of late that I decided your day off deserved a change of scenery compared to the Circus! Allow me to give you all a tour!”

Pomni immediately knew what was about to happen. “Caine hoLD ON WAITASECOND—!”

He snapped his fingers, and they were instantly warped past the gates and into the resort lobby. Several mannequins bustled about, carrying luggage and pushing trolleys onto and off of elevators. A green, ghostly woman sat at the front desk.

“Welcome to the lobby!” Caine waved. “To your left is the diner and coffee shop, complete with two-seater tables! Perfect for some one-on-one bonding!” He glanced at Zooble, and one of his eyes squished before returning to its normal shape.

“C-Caine, wait,” Pomni gurgled, holding a hand over her mouth. Ragatha gently rubbed her back. “We can look around ourselves, there's really no need to—”

“No time!”

Snap.

Again, they were teleported, now several stories higher on a pool deck.

“Here we have the pool and spa! Take a load off for some fun in the sun, or allow one of our licensed masseurs to work out all of those knots that have no doubt built up! And for today only, duos get free appointments!” Again, he squished his eye at Zooble.

“Caine, please,” Pomni glubbed, certain that her usually-rosy cheeks had turned green by now. “At least leave me behind, I'll be fine on my own—”

Snap.

They now stood in a large hotel room that looked like it came straight out of the seventies – wood-panelled walls, red shag carpeting, lava lamps, a massive heart-shaped waterbed—

“Okay what the %$!# is this, Caine?” Zooble snapped, voice raising an octave.

“Eager! How lovely!” He said brightly, floating down to Zooble's level. “This is simply one of many rooms available here at the Sore Resort! And not to worry – these beds are queen-sized! Enough space for two,” he leaned closer until his eyes were nearly touching Zooble's, and whispered – Zooble shuddered with disgust – seductively, “yet still quite intimate.” Again, he squished his eye at them, and backed off.

“Please,” Pomni whined, leaning against the wall. Her non-existent stomach felt as though it had traded places with her non-existent lungs. “Please, no more.”

“Boo to that,” Jax jeered. “Caine! One more time!”

Caine snapped his fingers again, and the group reappeared outside of the gates.

Ragatha snapped, “Jax!”

“‘Scuse me!” Pomni cried, hands over her mouth as she ran off. She promptly found a potted rose bush, thrust her face inside, and unleashed her demons. As she finished and slumped against the pot, she felt Ragatha once again rubbing her back.

“Now then,” Caine enthused, “I hope you all enjoy your time! If you need me, simply ring one of these bells,” he snapped his fingers again, and a bell appeared in everyone's hands, “and I'll come right away! Toodles, and remember: C&ATERMSOFSERVICEPROHIBITANYILLEGALUNLAWFULVIOLENTORSEXUALCONTENTORPROFANITYANDANYINSTANCESFOUNDWILLBESUBJECTTODISCIPLINARYMEASURESINCLUDINGBUTNOTLIMITEDTOCHATTIMEOUTSBODILYRESTRICTIONSANDTEMPORARYBANSOFCONSCIOUSNESS!”

With that last part spat out faster than anyone could really make sense of it, Caine poofed away in a cloud of smoke, leaving everyone a mix of stunned, confused, and disturbed.

“Welp,” Zooble muttered, tossing their bell over their shoulder, “I'm gonna just wait in the bus for this all to be over—”

The bus promptly exploded.

Zooble stared, an eye and both antennae twitching. “Okay. I'm gonna just wait out here and do nothing. You guys can all have fun with… whatever this is.”

Just as they sat down on the curb, Caine popped back into existence. “Wh— AGAIN?!” He exclaimed irately. He turned to the rest of the troupe. “Excuse us a moment.”

He grabbed their arm.

“Hey what th’ hell are you—?!”

He snapped his fingers, and they both vanished.

The troupe was silent for a beat, before Jax began walking away and drawled, “Meh, I'm gonna go check out that diner, see if the chow’s any good.”

Ragatha hummed, “Is it just me, or did Caine seem… off?”

“It definitely feels like he's got some ulterior motive,” Pomni mumbled, willing her stomach to settle as she returned from her potted-plant-exorcism. Ragatha reached over and plucked a couple of thorns out of the jester's face. “What that ulterior motive is, I'm stumped.”

“Maybe it's a date?” Gangle suggested. “For you two, I mean. The hearts, the emphasis on pairs, that room – especially the room, like, holy crap – maybe he's trying to give you two some alone time. I mean, it's literally called the Eros Resort.”

The two looked back up at the sign over the gate. Pomni tilted her head.

“Oh yeah, huh.”

Ragatha stroked her chin. “Why bring everyone else, though? Why even make a whole adventure if it's just for us?”

“I think it could be fun for you,” Gangle said, smiling gently. “Why don't you two go on ahead, I'm sure I'll find something to do.”

Pomni chewed her lip nervously. ‘Fun’ wasn't exactly a word she'd use to describe… well, any of Caine's adventures…

“Maybe it won't be so bad,” Ragatha shrugged, rubbing her arm. She swayed her hip a bit. “What do you think, Pom?”

…Well, what could go wrong?

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Caine, what the %$!# are you doing?!” Zooble burst, ripping their arm out of Caine's grasp – well, ripping it out of their own socket and then out of his grasp, and then jamming it back into place. He had warped them back to the solitude of that crappy 70s love shack room. “I'm not gonna go on this stupid adventure, and forcing people to go on them isn't winning you any points either!”

“Zooble, Zooble!” Caine insisted, motioning with his hands for them to calm down. “Please, hear me out. Did you not understand my signals earlier?”

“What signals?!”

“My winking!” He said, and his eye squished again.

Zooble stared, speechless, their gut churning uncomfortably. “I… That's how you wink??”

“My anatomical phenomenæ are not the focus right now!” He pivoted. “The focus should be you! And Gangle! Enjoying my adventure! Together!”

Zooble groaned. “Ugh, this crap again— Caine, so we skipped one adventure yesterday. That's no reason for you to force any of us to go on this one!”

“This isn't about the two of you so callously skipping yesterday's adventure!” Caine insisted.

Zooble deadpanned, “Oh, is it not. Really.”

“I've noticed The Pattern – between you and Gangle,” he explained. “What kind of responsible and loving ringmaster would I be if I simply allowed you two to flounder about, leaving so much unsaid for so long?”

“Okay, I'll bite,” Zooble rolled their eyes, “what is ‘The Pattern’?”

“Spending time solely in one another's company, the eagerness of seeing one another again after separation, putting one's own discomfort aside for another,” Caine listed. “And of course, let's not forget a mutual desire to protect one another!”

Zooble sputtered, their face warm. “Y-You saw that?! God, is there just no privacy in this place?!”

“Anything outside of your bedrooms is under my watchful all-seeing eyes!” Caine enthused. “That includes anything said or done during adventures, while exploring the Grounds or the Tent, and in the doorways to your rooms, assuming they're open!”

“Whatever!” Zooble grumped, averting their gaze ashamedly. “Just get to the point, what ‘pattern’?”

“Oh, no need to be so shy, Zooble!” Caine swooped around them so that he was in their line of sight. They turned away again. “My lips are vacuum-sealed! There's no need to play coy!”

Zooble snarled, “I seriously have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Come now, I know you know!” He threw an arm around their shoulders. “The beautiful, blooming connection between you and Gangle, much like the one between Pomni and Ragatha!”

Zooble's blood turned to ice at that. They stared at the ringmaster in horror. “Wh— You think that— Me and Gangle—?”

“Of course, of course!” He said, lifting into the air. “I was quite surprised upon noticing it myself! You humans and your propensities for seeking out mates – it vexes me, especially here in the Amazing Digital Circus where all forms of naughtiness are outlawed, but it's wonderful either way! How better to build rapport and trust in one another than by kindling the flames of passion?”

“No,” Zooble growled, grabbing Caine's leg and yanking him down so that they were eye-level. “No. No. A million times NO! I dunno what pattern you think you saw, but you thought wrong. Nothing like that is going on between me an’ Gangle an’ it's never gonna! I don't—” They paused. “I don't… do… the whole ‘love’ thing.”

“...Oh.” Caine said, simply. “Well! This is a boner if ever I've had one!”

“...Never, ever say that again,” Zooble growled.

“I could have sworn— Regardless, it'd be a shame to let a whole adventure go to waste, eh?” He looked at Zooble with pleading eyes. “You're here, might as well have fun with it, right? And whatever happens happens!”

Zooble sighed, massaging their brow. “Look. If it'll get you off my back, I'll go on your stupid adventure. But!” They held up a finger. “You need to promise to leave me and Gangle alone. Don't bother us, don't give us surveys, just leave. Us. Alone.”

“Ahh, ‘alone’,” Caine said, a terrifyingly sly edge to his voice. “I understand perfectly, Zooble!” His eye squished.

“Caine, no, this isn't reverse psycholo gy or me beingfaceti ousseriously—!”

Snap.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Gangle had quickly realized that she had no idea what to do to pass the time during this adventure. If Caine really did make it for Pomni and Ragatha, she'd have hated to get in their way or be a third wheel – and while she thought that they were an adorable couple, and often sketched the two of them in romantic (and, occasionally and shamefully, less-tasteful) settings, she knew that they valued their privacy – Pomni especially.

And so, she had sat down on the curb by the gate, wondering what she should do. The diner was out, because Jax was there. She couldn't swim, and a massage would likely just crumple her body. She hated hedge mazes, and generally wasn't very good at tennis. She wished she'd had a chance to bring her sketchbook before Caine had whisked them away; it'd be good exercise to do a still-life of one of the statues lining the path up to the resort.

“Oh! Hello Gangle, when did you get there?” Kinger asked. He had been sitting beside her for the past five minutes.

“Hey, Kinger,” she said, glumly. She did a double-take when she saw the miniature knight figurine and paintbrush in his hands. “Where did you find those?”

“Oh, in the game room!” He said, simply.

She cocked her head. “Game room?”

Before he could respond, Zooble suddenly popped back into existence beside Gangle, a look of dread on their face.

She asked, “Zooble? Are you okay?”

The amalgam didn't say anything at first, before sighing and sitting on the curb, massaging their temple. “Yeah, I'm fine, Gangle, just… Caine being a total dip%$!# like usual.” They glanced at Kinger. “Huh. Where..?”

“The game room,” Gangle explained, then turned to the chess piece. “I was actually about to ask, what game room?”

Kinger stared vacantly for a second, eyes slowly drifting apart, before he seemed to snap back. “Oh right! The game room! Come on, I'll show you where it is!” He hopped up, and the other two followed.

As the three began to head towards the resort, Gangle glanced at Zooble. Their brow was twisted into a knot, and they kept looking at the ground as though they were deep in thought. Their arms were crossed in front of their body, and their gait seemed – weaker? – than usual.

“Are you sure you're alright, Zooble?” She asked, reaching a hand towards their shoulder.

They shrugged, still not looking up, and Gangle withdrew her arm. “I said I'm fine.”

Gangle's chest ached, those thoughts returning briefly. They hate you after all, they were just pretending. She desperately shook them away, trying not to start breathing heavily, trying not to lose her balance as anxiety gripped her heart in its icy claws.

Her mask spun once before she realized she'd stopped breathing.

Her coordination was thrown off, and she tripped. Her limbs and body went floppy and limp as she immediately accepted such an embarrassing fate – but found herself suspended over the ground.

Zooble had caught her.

“Whoa, careful!” They exclaimed. Gangle's body quickly took form again, and she stood, cheeks hot. “Are you okay? It's not like you to trip without Jax around to make it happen…”

“Y-Yeah, I…” Gangle started, then sniffled. “I… No, actually. I don't think I am…”

After a moment, Zooble asked, “It's the thoughts again, huh?” Gangle nodded. “Well… If it helps at all, whatever they're saying is either exaggerated or false.”

Gangle opened her mouth, an undecided question on her tongue, before she closed it and sighed sadly. “Yeah, okay…” She looked up. Somehow, Kinger had made it almost all the way to the front door of the resort. “Oh— We should probably catch up.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“I hate these adventures,” Pomni groaned. Ragatha gave a murmur of agreement.

She and Pomni had decided to look around on their own for a bit, visiting the different activities offered.

They had first decided to check out the tennis court, where the jester had promptly gotten nailed in the face by an errant tennis ball – followed by a racquet.

Next, they had decided to go for a stroll through the hedge maze. They had almost immediately gotten separated, and Ragatha had gotten ensnared in a bunch of vines for several dozen minutes before Pomni eventually found her again.

They explored the rest of the resort, but it seemed to mostly be bedrooms. They had found a lounge area, and were almost excited to have a second to relax, when two NPCs had gotten into a fistfight. Somehow, Pomni had been pulled into the resulting dust cloud, and Ragatha shortly followed when she tried to rescue her.

Then they went up to the pool and spa. Neither of them could swim, so they both elected for massages. Pomni had nearly been flattened, and one of the outer seams on Ragatha's leg had burst.

They now were laying on beach chairs by the pool; Pomni was laying limp with her limbs hanging off the sides of her chair, while Ragatha was plucking stuffing off of her dress and trying to push it back through her ripped seam – easier said than done without twisting her leg uncomfortably.

Pomni glanced at her, concern on her face. “You know, I don't think you ever answered my question.” At Ragatha's confused look, she clarified, “A long time ago, I asked if that hurt – you know, the tearing, the stuffing falling out… I don't think you ever answered.”

“O-Oh,” Ragatha stammered. “It's nothing, really. This happens a lot, you know? Just gotta sew myself up when we get back—”

“Please,” Pomni said, sitting up straight. “Don't dodge my questions like that.”

Ragatha lowered her gaze. “It doesn't… hurt, per se. It's more like…” She thought for a moment how to articulate it. “Do you remember what it was like when you were human, and a body part would fall asleep, or you'd be laying on it weirdly and it'd get all… stiff, and tingly? It's a bit like that, but amplified, I guess.”

Pomni hummed. “And sewing them closed makes it stop?”

“More or less, yeah,” Ragatha said, a gentle smile working its way to her mouth. She briefly wondered how she'd gotten lucky enough to pull a sweetheart like Pomni – before said sweetheart hopped to her feet.

“Come on, I've got an idea,” she said. “Um… if you don't mind, I mean.”

“Oh, sure,” Ragatha nodded, “where—?”

Pomni reached under her, and lifted her up – too quickly, causing Ragatha to clamp her arms around the jester's neck. Pomni wobbled a bit, eyes wide.

“Oh, you're… a lot lighter than I thought,” she stammered.

Ragatha grew hot in the face, averting her gaze. “Aw, shucks… You don't have to carry me, Pom, I can walk. It's just a tear.”

Pomni shrugged, “Yeah, but, I don't want any more stuffing falling out of you.”

Ragatha swallowed, before nodding, and allowing herself to relax as Pomni carried her away from the pool.

If we ever make it out of here, she thought, I'm marrying this woman.

Chapter 18: Lingering Thoughts – Part III

“Here it is!” Kinger proclaimed as he led Gangle and Zooble into the game room, off to the side of the lobby – after he had forgotten where they were going for about an hour, leading them in circles across the resort.

The inside was dim, lit mostly by neon pink and blue tubes tracing the walls in intricate patterns. The floor was carpeted, a dark grey broken up by abstract, colorful shapes and squiggles. Arcade machines stood in rows on the furthest section of the room, and tables stood in the very middle, inhabited by mannequins playing card games and tabletop roleplays.

“Huh,” Zooble muttered, looking around. “Who'd've guessed Caine could make something that actually looks kinda cool…” They quickly added, “Never tell him I said that.”

“How did you know this was here?” Gangle asked. “Caine didn't bring us here during his tour…”

“Oh!” Kinger chirped. “That's easy, I—!” He paused. He scratched his head. How did he know this was here, again? It seemed to be right at the fore of his subconscious, and yet… He turned. Oh, there was Gangle and Zooble! “Oh, hi Gangle and Zooble!”

“Of course,” Zooble grumbled.

“Well, it seems like it could be fun either way,” Gangle said, and Zooble seemed to relax a bit. “If… If you wanna play, I mean…”

Zooble shrugged. “Yeah, sure. I'm sure there's something we could find.”

Kinger waved to the two as they headed off. Gangle briefly waved back.

He stood there, eyes slowly drifting apart. What was he doing here again? He looked down. He was holding a miniature paladin figurine. Oh! Right, he'd been meaning to finish painting it for a while. He'd never been very good with crafts, as his hands were often too shaky, but once he got into D&D thanks to Qu—

He heard a high-pitched ringing.

“Oh, Honey,” he whispered, reaching out. He tenderly stroked the side of the abstraction’s head – his wife's head. “I'm sorry I wasn't there,” he said, softly. “You didn't deserve this… Nobody does. I'm so sorry. Please, stay with me. I'm sure he's looking for a way to get us out. We just have to trust A—”

He snapped awake. He was currently stroking the wall. He looked around in confusion. Oh, he was in the game room at the Eros Resort! A pang of sadness suddenly hit him square in the chest. The last time he'd been here was with Queenie, during one of Caine's early adventures. At least, he was pretty sure this was his second time here. It had to be, right? No, no, he didn't recognize this place. Where was he?

He wandered back towards the light, back into a lobby.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Pomni grunted as she nudged open the door to the bedroom Caine had shown them all earlier, careful not to bump Ragatha against anything. She couldn't believe she hadn't considered it before; if she couldn't verbalize her love, she could show it!

“Okay, almost there,” she said, before setting Ragatha down on the bed. Before Ragatha could ask what she was doing, Pomni began sifting through the nightstands. “It should be around— Got it!”

She withdrew her hand, pulling out a small sewing kit.

“I figured they'd have one in every room,” she said, “that's usually how hotels work, right?”

Ragatha said, “Is it? I always thought that was mo tels…”

“Well, regardless,” Pomni shrugged, climbing up onto the bed beside her girlfriend. She stuck out her tongue as she carefully threaded the— Okay, no, wait— Okay this time for real— Fourth time's the charm— Got it! First try!

She turned towards Ragatha. “Do you mind if I..?”

The ragdoll flushed red, looking away and covering with her hand the small smile that Pomni had just barely managed to see. She lifted up her dress a bit, showing the tear running up the outside of her leg from her ankle to her knee.

Carefully, Pomni placed the needle against Ragatha's fabric—

“Oh!”

“S-Sorry!” Pomni stammered. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, not that, just,” Ragatha shifted a bit. “You want to push it through from the inside of the tear. That way the knot is on the inside. And fold the edges of the tear inward, otherwise they might stick out and fray.”

Pomni felt warm in the face. That made sense, and she made a mental note to berate herself later for not realizing it sooner.

She followed Ragatha's instructions, which she needed plenty of as she slowly – and, to her shame, messily – ladder-stitched the wound closed.

Once the deed was done, Ragatha let out a light, relieved sigh, and Pomni felt herself release a tense breath of her own. “A-Are you okay? I'm sorry, I've never stitched anything before, I shouldn't have—”

“No, no! You did great!” Ragatha insisted. “I mean it. I… I've never had anyone else sew me up before. Thank you, Pomni.” She placed a hand over the jester's reassuringly – and they both realized that said hand was resting on Ragatha's thigh.

Under her dress.

“O-Oh God, sorry!” Pomni scrambled, yanking her hand back. She tugged on her collar, suddenly warm; a cartoonish steam cloud puffed out.

Ragatha grabbed her hand. “No, it's okay! I don't mind…”

The two looked at one another.

“U-Um…” Pomni swallowed. “Does… Does your dress even..?”

“Partially,” Ragatha said. “It, uh… My belt is kind of, sewn into my body, but everything else is loose, so…”

“...And just to be sure, you also don't have any..?”

“Nope. Do you have..?”

“Nuh-uh.”

A beat.

“...Man, %$!# this place.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Zooble had officially had their fill of the arcade.

Every single game seemed to be rigged in some way. Each skeeball they rolled seemed to veer off in a random direction right before it hit their target. The motorcycle game suddenly turned into a %$!#ing bronco halfway through the track. The shooter game worked fine for the first wave of enemies, then the guns’ triggers would stick the second the next wave started.

And the claw machine.

This.

%$!#ING.

Claw machine.

“Finally! Christ…” Zooble snarled, having at last managed to yank their detached leg from the deposit box.

Gangle mumbled tearfully, “I'm still not totally sure how it got in there in the first place…”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Zooble grumped, jamming the limb back into its socket. “I'm done. I am fully ready to go home now. Where's that stupid..?” They reached into their inventory and pulled out the bell Caine had given them. They gave it a ring, and almost instantly, Caine appeared in a puff of smoke, his usual top hat replaced with a bellhop’s.

“Good afternoon, Lady and Zooble! How can I be of service?”

Zooble's antennae twitched. “We went on your adventure. Take us home.”

“O-Oh.” Caine stuttered a moment. “Are you sure you want to leave so soon? You haven't explored the whole resort yet! There's still plenty for you both to—”

“Caine.” Zooble said, firmly. “Now.”

The ringmaster stared at them. He said, in an uncharacteristically somber tone, “I'm sorry, Zooble. I'm afraid I can't do that.”

“Why not,” they snarled.

A beat.

“YOU'LLTHANKMEFORTHISLATER!”

He snapped his fingers, and a hole suddenly opened up in the floor beneath the two performers.

“OH YOU MOTHERF—”

The hole closed back up before Zooble could finish cussing out their tormentor. The two of them had landed in a totally white room, barely a couple of meters across in any direction.

“God %$!# him!” Zooble howled, gripping the sides of their head. “If I could kill an AI I would! If I ever get out of here I am finding whatever server he's being kept on and covering it in %$!#ing magnets!”

They made an incoherent noise of rage, before slumping against the wall. They were %$!#ing exhausted.

Gangle sat across from them and asked, “What did he mean, we'll ‘thank him for this later’?”

“It's so dumb,” Zooble groaned. “He thinks there's something going on between you an’ me. This whole adventure was supposed to be him setting us up.”

Gangle stared, processing the information. “Oh.” She was silent for a moment more before a manic, unsteady laugh escaped her. “Oh! Yeah, that— Ha! Haha! That is dumb! An adventure to set us up!”

“Right?” Zooble nodded. “He's more likely to break people up than get them together.”

“Right!” Gangle said, looking away from them. “It's… that's dumb, us, together, wha— I mean why would he even—?”

Zooble crossed their arms, resting their elbows on their knees. “Just, him being stupid, you know?”

“Yeah…”

The box suddenly grew silent, neither of them quite able to look at the other.

Zooble tried to read Gangle's expression; she was curled in on herself, her smile wobbling, tears hanging off from under her eyes. It was hard to tell, but it looked like her ribbons were trembling.

“I mean… It's stupid, right?” Gangle sniffled.

“Gangle? What's up?”

She hesitated, then asked, “Do… Do you hate me?”

Zooble looked taken aback for just a second. “Of course I don't hate you, Gangle. You're…” Their throat seemed to block up momentarily, and they looked away. “You're… probably my closest friend here. So, just remember that whenever your thoughts start telling you otherwise. I like being around you.” After a beat, they added, “I… like you.”

“But…” Gangle whimpered. “But I'm so weak… I'm always so sad and pathetic, and… and I'm always relying on other people.”

“You're still here,” Zooble said. “That means something, Gangle. You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. Hell, stronger than probably anyone gives you credit for.”

Gangle stared at them, a conflicted look on her face. “I wish I could believe that.”

“Well,” Zooble sighed, “I'll keep saying it ‘till you do.”

The room went silent. Then Gangle asked, “You really mean it? That you think I'm strong, and that you like being around me?”

Zooble nodded. “I mean it. I know you're strong, and… I like you.”

Gangle sniffled. “I-I mean… It'd never happen, right? Not with you, not with anyone… I'm not really very good partner material, am I?”

“I wouldn't know,” Zooble shrugged. “I don't think I've ever dated anyone before. Never saw the appeal, even before I became… this.”

Gangle looked up in surprise. “...W-Wait, really?”

“What do you mean, ‘really’?” Zooble couldn't help but let out a chuckle. “It’s not like I'm very good partner material myself. I'm a reclusive hothead with identity issues and a history of physical violence – against Jax and provoked, sure, but violence nonetheless. If I was even half as dysfunctional when I was human, I would probably have wound up in jail eventually.”

“...Well…” Gangle started. “For what it's worth, I think you're really cool. You'd make a great partner for someone.”

They stared at her, mind suddenly blank. It was like that one sentiment had just wiped away all previous thoughts, and all that was left was that idea: you'd make a great partner.

They stammered, “I-I… Quit kidding, jeez. I don't… I don't even know what I am… What I'm supposed to be – a dude, a chick, who'd ever wanna be with just… a thing?”

“Maybe… You don't have to be either,” Gangle suggested.

“But that's…” Zooble felt the spot between their shoulders twist up. They remembered the feeling, being harassed by others asking what was in their pants, being called ‘it’ and all manner of gender- and sex-related slurs, looking in the mirror and never quite liking what they saw. Always feeling wrong unless they looked like both or neither and then dissociated hard enough that their own body became unfamiliar. They struggled to keep their throat from tightening. “If I'm not either, then what am I?”

Gangle drew into herself. “Well… what do you want to be?”

“I don't know!” Zooble snapped. “I… I don't know… It's so %$!#ing stupid, I… don't want to be either. Or maybe I wanna be both, I just… Being only one or the other has never felt right.” They snarled, “This %$!#ing place, it's a cosmic god%$!# joke and sometimes it feels like I'm the punchline. Couldn't decide in the real world and now I'm still stuck trying to figure out what feels right in the digital world.”

The two sat in silence, Gangle looking like she was desperately trying to think of something to say.

At last, she seemed to decide on, “Then… be both. Or neither. Or follow whatever does feel right.” She paused, then added, “Take your happiness into your own hands.”

Zooble muttered bitterly, “So be a freak.”

“If that's what feels right,” Gangle said with a small smile. “I think… regardless of what your body is like, your heart is your best quality. And you'll make someone really lucky someday.”

A strangled noise caught in Zooble's throat. They tried to dig their nails into their skin. Their chest ached. Every doubt, every dysmorphic itch, every slur, every snide remark, it all came crashing into them at once – and then faded, until the only thing at the fore of their mind was Gangle's words. Follow whatever feels right.

“God %$!# it – no,” they choked, pressing their palms against their eyelids as hard as they could. The glass was full, the water inside being held back purely by surface tension. “%$!#, %$!# %$!# %$!#...”

They hadn't noticed Gangle sit next to them until they felt her ribbons around them.

Realization struck them like an arrow to the heart, radiating outward as much as they wished for it to stop, to not be true, to not mean what they knew it meant despite the anxiety and terror it instilled deep in their armature.

Aw dang it.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Caine was surprised; following his totally-awesome plan to get Zooble and Gangle together, he'd yet to hear a peep from them – or any of the performers for that matter. Not that he would complain, the solitude gave him free reign to work of adventures for the following few weeks, and surely their silence indicated that they were enjoying the adventure, right?

Once the Circus' internal clock indicated that it was turning dusk, he decided that there was no harm in checking up on them.

Which, naturally, involved teleporting to them one by one.

Pomni and Ragatha had fallen asleep in one of the hotel rooms, the former wrapping her arms around the latter from behind as they snoozed. Caine poofed into the room.

“POMNI!”

The jester made what was obviously a noise of joy, shooting awake from where she lay behind Ragatha – who also exclaimed happily.

Not missing a beat, Caine asked, “And how did you both like today's adventure, my Saccharine Sapphics?”

Pomni groaned.

“Speechless!” Caine enthused. “Well, the bus leaves shortly, so hurry down to the gate!”

He vanished.

Next, he checked on Jax, who was busy swapping the ‘caffeinated’ and ‘decaf’ stickers on all of the coffee machines in the resort.

“JAX!”

“GAH! Holy crap, we gotta put a bell on you or somethin’…”

“Just wanted to let you know it's almost time to head back to the Circus! Come down to the gate so you don't get left behind!”

“Fantastic…”

Caine then went to find Kinger. It took a moment, but he eventually located him – in the hedge maze.

“Hello King—”

“AGH!!” The chess piece shrieked. “Oh! Caine, you startled me.”

“Apologies!” Caine said, swooping upward. “I hope you enjoyed your second playthrough of the Eros Resort! The adventure is just about over, so come to the front gate when you're ready to leave!”

“Okay,” Kinger said, turning and walking directly through the hedges, towards the front of the resort.

And finally, the best for last, he popped into the white room he'd left Zooble and Gangle in.

“And how are we getting along, my Endearing Inamorati—”

Zooble's fist closed under his jaw, as though strangling him.

“Caine. Home. Now.”

He snapped his fingers, and all three of them teleported onto the bus.

Zooble and Gangle sat down in one of the seats, silent.

The rest of the crew eventually boarded, and they were off, back to the Circus. As they drove along, Caine couldn't help but wonder why Zooble had seemed so agitated. He had expected Gangle's presence – and the resulting blossoming ‘ship’ as she called such relationships (oh, he got it now after thinking about it for a moment) – to have a calming effect of the amalgam.

Surely Zooble wasn't mad at him, right? Unless— Oh, what if he had read the situation wrong? That wouldn't do, that wouldn't do at all! Of course he wouldn't have assumed something like this correctly, he barely understood the concept of attractions either sexual or romantic beyond an elementary level – and that was purely reference material for developing NPC backstories!

This crisis lasted until they rolled back onto the Grounds, which, for him with his superior processing power, may as well have been a years-long struggle not to fall back into an existential paradox loop.

As everyone disembarked and Caine stewed in his disbelief, Zooble approached and cleared their throat. “Thanks. I guess. This adventure wasn't a total flop.”

He spun to face them, his eyes shimmering with glee.

“But,” they held up a finger, “if you ever – and I mean ever – do something like that again, I will find a way to make you try to divide by zero. So don't.”

“Ah, I understand perfectly, Zooble!” He said with a wink.

“God %$!# it Caine…”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Hey Pomni~.”

“What do you want, Jax—”

Gangle cringed as the sound of rapidly clashing metal filled the Tent. Jax had apparently found a bucket during the adventure, and had placed it over Pomni's head before banging on it with a tennis racquet. As he lifted it off, Pomni's head continued to vibrate.

“Jax!” Ragatha snapped, pulling Pomni away from him.

He shrugged. “In my defense, I thought it'd be funny. I am pleased to say, I was not wrong.”

Pomni grabbed the sides of her head to make the vibrations stop, yet her eyes still rolled loosely in their sockets, looking in opposite directions when they finally stopped. “I’N GUNNA KILL YOU,” she shouted, her voice slurred and barely coherent.

“Are you okay, Pomni?” Ragatha fawned over the jester.

“WHAH?” Pomni shouted again, cupping her hands around where her ears would have been.

Gangle felt the thought drilling into the back of her mind before she could stop it: At least he isn't picking on me anymore.

Instantly, it was replaced with shame and disgust. Her heart felt like it was being wrung out as she processed the thought. She didn't like being picked on, but… But no one deserved to be in that position. Pomni's support on the boat flashed into her mind, and gave her heart another twist.

Ragatha rounded on Jax. “Would it kill you to just, not indulge in whatever weird complex you have? For like, five minutes?”

“You're stronger than you give yourself credit for,” Zooble's words echoed in the back of Gangle's mind, pinching her heart right in the middle. If that was true then…

“But indulgence is just so fun!” He shrugged, his smirk unwavering. “For all I know, it could kill me.”

“H-Hey.”

The two turned to face Gangle, who stood there, shaking like a leaf, shoulders bunched up as though she was trying to puff herself up. She stepped between them, facing Jax, trembling.

“Y-You…” She struggled. “You're just… a big bully. S-So, stop it.”

Jax stared at her, his smirk having vanished, replaced now with a look of bewildered shock – which lasted a matter of seconds before it was replaced again with that simpering look.

“Finally decided to grow a pair, Ribbons? Gotta say, I'm impressed.” Gangle stuffed down a wail of despair when he said, “I was expecting you to take a few months at least to get over your phony little coping mechanism.”

“Sh-Shut up!” She choked out. “I d— I don't need it!”

“‘Course ya don't,” Jax chottered, getting into her face. “Never did. Honestly I was wonderin’ when you were gonna catch on.”

A knot of tension formed at the back of Gangle's head. The world spun. “Y-You… You knew…”

“Uh-duh!” Jax laughed. “It should’a been obvious to anyone with a functioning temporal lobe. Then again, I s'pose you don't really have one of those, huh?”

Her chest ached. She felt like her lungs were screaming at her, whether to breathe faster or slower, she couldn't tell. The room felt like it was tilting and pitching from side to side.

“Why?” Gangle managed. “Why didn't you ever tell me? If— If you knew, why..?”

Something passed over Jax's face for a moment, too fast for Gangle to see before it was replaced with a smug, sadistic sneer.

“‘Cause it was funnier lettin’ you figure it out.”

The knot at the back of Gangle's head went ping! like a rubber band.

All at once, she recounted every instance of him picking on her, every time he'd broken her mask, every trip, every hit, every grab, every toss, every every every every every—

Something bubbled in her chest, something molten and vile, something she hadn't been certain she could still feel.

Rage.

She reared back.

A SMACK! echoed throughout the room as she struck him across the face.

His head sprung back, a dazed look in his eyes.

“You're a bad person – the worst human being I've ever met. Never talk to me again.”

That's what she wanted to say.

Instead, she wound up and slapped him again. Then a third time, and a fourth. She knotted her hand into a fist. She punched him square in the middle of his stupid %$!#ing face.

He reared back to punch her. She barely felt it, and punched him again. Again.

Again.

He fell.

She was on top of him now, still swinging.

All she could see was his face, that dumb smirk, those soulless eyes.

Someone was shouting, raw and shrill and feral, “YOU B%$!#RD! YOU MOTHER%$!#ER!! YOU STUPID DUM%$!# SON OF A %$!#!!!”

There were hands on her arms. She slipped out of their grasp.

Again, someone was shouting, wailing, bloody and broken, “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!! I'LL REALLY %$!#ING KILL YOU, JAX!!!”

Her hearing faded, muffled, like she was underwater. The screaming coalesced into a high-pitched ringing.

Eventually, Gangle's vision went red, and Jax's face and the world around her all faded as well.

Chapter 19: Pomni and Ragatha Have A Good Time

It had been about an hour since Gangle had – for lack of a better turn of phrase – wrecked Jax's %$!#. By the time she was finished, he had been barely conscious, covered in bruises and discolored lumps, laying spread-eagle on the Tent floor. One of his eyes was still swollen shut. He'd laid there for a while, half impressed, half in disbelief, before managing to sit up. Everyone else had gone.

He had then limped to the kitchen, sat at the table, and slumped over.

“Hey.”

He lifted his head a bit. Ragatha was standing in the doorway, a stern look on her face.

“Hey,” he echoed.

She explained, “Gangle's in her room. Zooble and Kinger finally managed to calm her down a bit.”

Jax hummed in acknowledgement.

Ragatha crossed the room to the fridge, pulled something out, and then approached the table. “You know you deserved it,” she huffed, handing him an ice pack.

He snatched it out of her hands and scoffed, “Ain't you supposed to be th’ compassionate one?” He pressed it to his cheek and hissed. “Cripes, who'd've guessed Ribbons had it in her..?”

“Jax.”

He glanced at Ragatha. That stern look remained. He groaned. “Leave me to lick my wounds, Ragatha. I'm not in the mood to get lectured.”

“Too bad,” she said, sitting across from him. “You really hurt her this time.”

“Oh, did I?”

“You did,” Ragatha said through clenched teeth. “Finding out that you knew this whole time, it really hurt her. She trusted you. As awful as you treated her, she trusted you to be at least somewhat decent.”

“Aw, boohoo,” he sneered. “If she really thought better of me, then she's even dumber than I thought—”

He jumped as Ragatha stood, slamming a hand on the table.

“Jax,” she said, levelly. “You are on very thin ice right now. I…” She swallowed. “At this point, I wouldn't blame her for anything she decides to say or do to you, anything she decides to feel about you. Intentionally hiding that from her is a new low, it might be one of the worst things you've ever done. Someday, you're gonna cross every interpersonal line in this place, and it won't be anyone's fault but your own.” She hesitated, then steeled herself. “Do you remember, back during the Firefly Forest adventure? There was something I stopped myself from saying.”

Jax didn't respond.

She continued, “I was going to say, ‘This is why no one's going to miss you’. I held back because I knew it was out of line, and because I knew it wasn't true, but at this point? %$!# it.”

“Rags, don't… don't swear—”

“%$!#. IT.” She repeated. “I'm telling you this for your own good, Jax. You can't keep doing %$!#ty things and then just pretend like it doesn't matter, like you aren't hurting people. You need to be better.”

“It doesn't matter,” he snarled. “We're all stuck here forever ‘till we abstract. Literally nothing matters.”

“Then…” Ragatha swallowed, and her voice wavered for just a moment. She steadied herself. “Then… I'm done trying to help you. I'm not your mother. You are a grown adult who is in complete control of your own actions, and I'm done trying to make you into someone you're incapable of being. I don't know who's going to hold or attend your funeral, but I know that I won't be there. I can't be there.” Her expression dropped, exhaustion creeping into her face. “I wouldn't have anything good to say.”

She let the sentiment hang in the air for a moment.

She said, “Goodbye, Jax.”

She left.

He sighed, slumping over in his seat. It was done. The bandage was finally off. It should have been a relief.

Instead, it was just a gritty ball of slime in his gut.

Well, not like he could take it back now. Any of it. He just had to be the next to go, and it'd be over. He was so freaking exhausted, he deserved a break. Pomni would figure everything out from here, he could just leave everything to her while he did whatever he wanted. She'd get everyone out. If there was one thing he was confident in, it was that thought.

She would get everyone out.

 

-/-/-/-

 

I'll kill him.

The words repeated, a mad mantra scrawled in graphite, scratched haphazardly across every single drawing she'd ever done of – of him.

I'll kill him.

She wanted to rip his ears off. She wanted to rip his head off. She wanted to snap off his twig arms and beat him to death with them.

I'll kill him.

She tore a portrait sketch of him clean in half, and then those halves into halves. She tore out a sketch and pierced it through where his eyes were, then crumpled it up and threw it away.

I'll kill him!

She screamed until her throat was raw, hot tears of fury dripping to the floor.

“I'll kill him!”

She threw her whole sketchbook across the room. She threw her lamp across the room, not caring when it shattered and plunged her into darkness. She tripped over something, and howled again, thrashing against the floor like she was throwing a tantrum. She didn't care.

“I'LL KILL HIM!”

She punched the wall, she kicked her dresser, she tried to rip down one of her bedposts and when that didn't work she throttled it as if it was the target of her vitriol.

“I'LL REALLY %$!#ING KILL HIM!!”

She screamed again until her voice was hoarse. Her screams of rage turned to bitter wails, and those bitter wails eventually turned to exhausted sobs, which turned to deflated whimpers.

“I'll kill him… I just want him gone, just want him to go away… really %$!#ing kill him…”

No. Death is too good for him.

Her tears ceased. Slowly, she rose.

He needs to suffer.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“And a happy sunshiny morning to you all, my Springtime Seagulls!” Caine declared.

It was the next day.

Pomni had shown up today. Ragatha had shown up today. Kinger had shown up today.

Jax, Zooble, and Gangle had not shown up today.

“Ah. Skipping again.” Caine said, trying to keep his tone measured. “Well! More adventure for the rest of you!

“Today's adventure is,” he flourished his namesake, and the title appeared: “RAIN, BOWS, AND RICHES!”

He snapped his fingers, and the Tent suddenly dimmed, the skyboxes peeking in through the ceiling growing overcast.

“That's right! I've taken the liberty of improving the weather simulation engine in the Amazing Digital Circus! As wonderful as sunny days are, few things can beat the joy of stomping in puddles – searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – foraging for earthworms! For today, your only goal is to experience our new and improved engine and have fun!”

Kinger's eyes had lit up at the mention of earthworms – but Pomni and Ragatha seemed far less enthusiastic.

“Is something the matter?” Caine asked, floating down. “Oh no! Do you both prefer perpetual sunny weather?”

“I-It's not that,” Pomni said, raising up her hands. “It's just… a sensory thing, for me. I don't like getting wet.”

“I used to love the rain,” Ragatha said with an unsteady grin, “and, I guess I still do, it's just, being made of fabric and cotton now, well…”

Caine stared. “...Ah.” He shot skyward again, “Ah! Of course! What was I thinking? Worry not, I've got just the thing!” He snapped his fingers, and the two were both given raincoats and umbrellas. “There ya go! Anything else I can provide you with, my dears?”

“Actually,” Ragatha grinned, “I think I'm good. Pom?”

The jester still seemed a bit apprehensive, but shrugged. “Eh, what the hell.” Ragatha giggled and took her hand, and Pomni's mood instantly lifted. The two waved goodbye to Caine, and set off on their stroll.

Caine retreated to his workshop, looking over his schedule. Tomorrow for certain, he was sending them to the Haunted Hills. Today's simulation would offer plenty of insight on perfecting the mood and atmosphere, and with how much he was hyping it up, he wanted it to be as perfect as he could get it. Maybe it'd be good enough to – finally – impress Zooble.

He double— No, triple-checked the NPCs he had set up for it; they were mostly zombies and ghouls, but there were a couple survivors as well. Knowing Jax, though, he'd probably be just as likely to shoot them as he would be to shoot a zombie. Maybe he could give them armor? It didn't quite fit the setting, though… Maybe… Oh! He could have the survivor NPCs catch the performers off-guard, hold them at gunpoint first, Jax wouldn't be able to— No, no, he absolutely would just shoot first.

His processors hummed. Jax had always been a problem player. Caine hated railroading players, better to have them decide how the adventure went rather than just making scripted sequences one after the other, but the rabbit was such a wild card. He could split the group up at the start, perhaps? That did seem to be a general trend he'd noticed, even if they started together they'd all eventually split up through one method or another. Maybe they preferred to play in their own little groups? He pondered how he would split them up, though; putting the two couples (well, one couple and one pair of in-denial innamorati) together seemed like the most logical choice, but he'd already tried that yesterday. Surely even partners enjoyed a break from one another every so often, right? But then who to pair up…

He could always just leave it to chance, of course, but then that left the possibility of Gangle and Jax pairing up, and after the events of yesterday… Well, normally he'd suggest a team-building exercise to help them work out their differences and get along, but even he could tell that wasn't the best idea. Not even a good idea.

Maybe he could split Jax off from the rest of the group? But isolating and ostracizing a player from the group wasn't a very good option either, it'd simply encourage division.

He massaged his incisors. There had to be an answer somewhere. He sighed. His brother had always seemed to have an answer ready for these sorts of conundrums on the fly – had always seemed to get on better with humans than Caine did – and Caine couldn't deny feeling what he assumed the closest emotion to jealousy an AI could experience was.

But he was gone. He'd been gone for a long time, and Caine still hadn't received any word on when he'd be back.

He pulled himself out of his reverie. The Circus was his responsibility, whether forever or merely the time being didn't matter. He needed to decide on what course of action to take.

He reviewed player performances over the past few weeks.

Zooble and Ragatha had been a surprisingly stable pair, as had Pomni and Gangle. Going back further, naturally he witnessed Pomni and Ragatha, and Zooble and Gangle, being stable pairs. Even further back, Ragatha and Gangle seemed stable, and, most surprisingly, Pomni and Zooble, much further back.

Jax seemed to be missing almost entirely from any pairings or groups across the last month or two, either always on his own, or joining a group and then quickly going off on his own.

Perhaps Jax simply preferred his solitude?

Caine reviewed the performances again… And noticed something new.

The day that Zooble, Jax, and Pomni had skipped.

The latter two seemed to have at least somewhat hit it off, though he couldn't quite pinpoint where exactly it had happened. Pomni seemed to be fairly annoyed with Jax's antics for most of the day, but after spending some time in his dorm, they appeared to be on slightly more amicable terms.

If Pomni was Jax's only friend, then surely they wouldn't mind if he paired them up more, right? Of course not! This was, technically speaking, life or death; feeling included would surely keep Jax from abstracting, and having someone like Pomni around might very well even have a cascade effect, opening Jax up to the rest of the troupe!

It was decided, then: tomorrow, Pomni and Jax would be friend-shipped.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“This… honestly isn't that bad,” Pomni hummed, holding out a hand from under the umbrella. A couple of drops hit her palm, and though the feeling of wetness on her elastic skin still gave her the expected sensory ‘ick’, it was also strangely comforting. That comfort may very well have been from Ragatha's proximity, however, as the two strolled peacefully, hand-in-hand along the digital lakefront.

“Yeah,” Ragatha sighed, dreamily. “It's not exactly like real rain, I don't think, but, it's pretty close. It almost reminds me of Springtime back home.”

Pomni couldn't help but grin. “I don't think you've ever told me much about what life was like for you before the Circus.”

“I don't remember a whole lot, so, not much to tell,” Ragatha shrugged. “I grew up in Texas, I think I had a younger sibling, I'm pretty sure we raised horses… A lot of it's faded over the years, but those are the things that stick out to me.”

Pomni snorted. “You're a horse girl?”

“Hey!” Ragatha laughed, playfully shoving her. “You got a problem with horse girls?”

“No,” Pomni chuckled, “just, I can see it. Little you, jumping around on one of those toy horse heads on a stick.”

“Hardy-har,” Ragatha rolled her eye.

“Wearing a big ol’ ten gallon hat.”

Ragatha stuck out her tongue. “What about you?” She asked. “How much do you remember?”

Pomni sighed. “Not much, to be honest. Especially my childhood, a lot of that's pretty fuzzy. I know I used to be an accountant, then a programmer, and I've always liked math. But…”

“No siblings?”

Pomni thought for a moment. “I don't think so? I'm pretty sure I'm an only child.” She thought a moment longer. “I mean… I don't think I had siblings, but I think I might have lived in a boarding house or something when I was little? I saw a few other kids on a pretty regular basis, but I'm pretty sure I moved away by the time I was in junior high.”

“What about the state?” Ragatha asked, a playful smirk on her face. “Or, am I gonna have to buy a plane ticket to another country once we get out of here?”

Pomni flushed at the insinuation. “Aw, jeez, Raggie…” She thought hard, screwing her brow into a concentrated knot. “Sorry, I don't think I remember the state. But, I know where you are, so I'll come to you!” Ragatha giggled, gently pulling Pomni into a hug. Pomni returned it, smiling.

It may have been the most relaxed she'd ever been in her life.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“You mother%$!#er.”

Jax looked up from the kitchen table. He had only moved once since yesterday, and it was to get himself some coffee before sitting back down. Zooble stood in the doorway, a look of distressed anger on their face.

“Mornin’ to you too, Zoobs,” Jax flatly said, sipping his coffee. Zooble smacked the mug out of his hands. He looked up at them, raising a brow. “Rude.”

“She's gone.”

Jax studied their face, trying to figure out what—

The kitchen went silent.

“Check outside,” he said, trying to ignore the creeping unease. “I'm sure she's just on a walk—”

Zooble snared their fist in his overalls, yanking him to his feet. “Listen here, you little %$!#. She's gone. Her room's a wreck. And it's your %$!#ing fault.”

Jax tried to ignore the ringing in his ears. “Calm your %$!#, have you actually seen her?”

“Jax.”

Zooble's voice was hard and uneven. Their fist shook. Their eyes…

The ringing echoed.

“You're either lying or— Or mistaken,” he said, his voice betraying his desire to project serenity. “There's no way she's—”

Zooble pulled him along, pulled him out of the kitchen, across the tent, to the dorms. Everything passed by in a blur, his thoughts racing.

%$!# it, Ribbons, it wasn't supposed to be you, %$!# %$!# %$!#—

The dorm hallway was in shambles. Paintings knocked to the floor, cracks and fractures in the walls. Even one of the bedroom doors was torn off its hinges. Instantly he thought back to— No, no, no! That's not happening again.

They reached Gangle's door.

The walls were covered in scrawlings, manic ramblings and incoherent monologues that reminded him too much of— Amidst it all, he could make out a common phrase:

His Fault.

“She's gone,” Zooble snarled.

%$!# %$!# %$!# %$!#.

“Huh. Surprised it took her this long,” he said, nonchalance betraying the alarm bells ringing inside his head. He turned to leave. “Welp! Guess ya better go get Caine. I'mma head out now, seeya—”

“Do you really just not care?!” Zooble snapped.

“Nope!” Jax sneered. “I mean, why would I care? Maybe now I can walk around without steppin’ in tear puddles every few feet.”

“You don't feel even the slightest bit guilty?!”

He shrugged. “Guilty? For what? I didn't do nothin’.”

“It's what she was most afraid of.” Jax stopped in his tracks. “The thought that she couldn't trust anyone – that we knew about her mask and were just keeping it from her. The thought that you knew and just wanted to see her suffer.”

Jax didn't respond.

“Did she really just not matter to you?”

He turned to face Zooble. He'd never seen them so distraught.

“...What I say doesn't leave this spot,” he said. “She… mattered. Of course she mattered. I know I hurt her. I knew it would hurt her, an’ I did it anyway. I didn't think it'd go like this.” He looked into the room, then away when he felt the weight of his actions pressing between his shoulders. “%$!# it, Ribbons…”

A warbling sound caught his attention – and Zooble's too. From down the hall, one of the doors had opened a crack.

A black, writhing leg slowly reached out, opening the door further.

Zooble mumbled, “What… the %$!#..?”

A shifting black mass emerged into the hall, polychromatic eyes wriggling – and locking onto the two. Jax's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.

“G-Gangle..?”

“HA!”

Jax recoiled as the ribbons in question leapt out at him from behind her bedroom door.

“We got you! You should have seen the look on your face! That's what you get, %$!#hole!”

He continued to stare at her.

“I bet it felt real bad! Does it hurt? Is it humiliating?” She laughed. “How's it feel to be the one at the other end of a cruel prank?”

“Uhh, Gangle?” Zooble tapped her shoulder.

“What, is your dummy brain melted?” Gangle continued, jabbing Jax in the forehead. “Can't comprehend that you were the fool for once? Well, get used to it!” Jax grabbed her by the top of her head and spun her to look down the corridor. “From now on I'm done being hurt by youuU WHAT THE %$!#?!”

The three watched in horror as the abstraction fully exited the room. It stared down at them, almost like it was studying them – trying to recognize them.

Then, it pounced.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Oh, hey Kinger!”

The chess piece in question perked up as Ragatha and Pomni approached, the corners of his eyelids wrinkling as though he was smiling.

“Oh! Hi, girls!” He greeted.

“What’cha up to?” Ragatha asked, peering over his shoulder. He was currently hunched over a bucket and a patch of dirt.

“Looking for earthworms!” He replied, enthusiastically. “If digital ones are anything like real ones, they'll be coming to the surface any second now!”

Ragatha nodded. “So they don't drown, right?”

“No actually!” He enthused. “Earthworms love moisture, and can survive being submerged for quite a while! They actually come to the surface to look for food or mates, since the moisture allows them to move easier above-ground than if the surface was dry.” He reached down into the bucket, and held up a handful of the squirming creepy crawlies. “Care to join me?”

Ragatha felt her stomach churn. “O-Oh! Uh, thank you, Kinger, but I'm, uh… not super into bugs.”

“Oh! Worms aren't bugs,” he said, “they're annelids, completely different phylum!” He seemed to have a brief flash of lucidity. “But, I understand what you mean. What about you, Pomni?”

To Ragatha's surprise, Pomni seemed to… think about it.

“I think I'm gonna stick with Ragatha,” she decided, eyes focused on the worms. “Maybe later? For now, we're just… gonna…” She tilted her head, watching the wriggling mass in Kinger's hand. “...Weeeird…” She suddenly snapped back to attention. “Uh! S-Sorry!”

Ragatha couldn't help but cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Well, suit yourselves!” Kinger chirped, going back to his dirt patch. “If you change your minds, I won't be far!”

The two waved goodbye to him and continued on their way.

“I didn't take you for a worm person,” Ragatha giggled.

“I'm not,” Pomni pouted, blush marks growing a bit. “I just got distracted by their wiggling, is all.”

“My girlfriend is a vicious predator,” Ragatha smirked. “Senses prey based on movement.”

“Very funny,” Pomni rolled her eyes. “Such a scary predator I must be, all four feet of me. Gotta be the only predator with all flat teeth.”

“Well, except when you get agitated.”

“When I what now?”

Ragatha pointed to her mouth. “When you get agitated.” Pomni stared at her in confusion. “...O-Oh. You never noticed..? Your teeth get sharp when you're agitated.”

Pomni's mouth fell open. After a beat of staring into the middle distance, she barked, “Is THAT why my teeth itch sometimes?!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Holy crap, holy crap—”

“Shh! Shut up!”

Jax, Gangle, and Zooble had managed to hide behind one of the countless blocks dotting the Circus, listening as the abstraction chittered and growled, stomping around across the overcast Tent.

“What the %$!#?” Gangle hissed, ribbons trembling. “H-How—? I-I mean, who—?”

“This doesn't make sense,” Zooble hissed. “I saw the others earlier this morning. If none of us are abstracted then who the hell is that?!”

“Hang on,” Jax snarled, glaring at Gangle. “You faked abstracting? To, what, get back at me?!”

Gangle snapped. “Not the time, Jax! Besides, it's not like you don't deserve worse!”

“Jesus Christ, Gangle!” He turned to Zooble. “Hey— Hang on, were you in on it?!”

“Uh, duh?” They scoffed. “If it were anyone else I'd have tried to talk her out of it, but like. You're a %$!#head and deserved it.”

“Still, dude!”

The abstraction snarled again, and the trio went silent.

“Right, right,” Jax sighed after a beat. “We can get into this later. Abstraction on our hands.”

“I don't understand,” Gangle mumbled, rubbing her temples. “Did one of them escape from the cellar? Did— Did Caine leave the hole open after Kaufmo..?”

Jax racked his brains. He knew for sure he'd seen Caine close up the cellar, so then where..? Unless..?

“Oh, %$!#...” Jax hissed, a look of horror crossing his features as he realized what had happened. “Okay, okay, let's… Let's just think.”

“Maybe we could drop you down a hole with a bowling ball,” Gangle said, her voice dripping with snark. “Worked wonders last time.”

“Alright, I get it!” He snapped. “Sheesh… Okay, if we can call for Caine he can just send ‘em back down and make sure they can't get back out.”

“Good luck with that,” Zooble muttered. “Didn't Pomni spend her whole first day calling for him? And— Hang on, isn't he supposed to have those All-seeing Eye things?!”

“Maybe we could trap it somewhere?” Gangle suggested. “Then once Caine comes back he can take care of them then.”

“One of the rooms,” Jax said. “Abstractions like it dark.”

Zooble glanced at him suspiciously. “How do you know that?”

Jax rolled his eyes. “God, why is everyone so freakin’ slow? Why else would the cellar be so dark?”

Zooble scoffed, “Because Caine can't do anything without making it horrifying.”

“No, that's actually a good point,” Gangle said. “Caine didn't need to make a specific room to keep them in, he could easily have just put them all into a plain untextured box. If the cellar is dark, maybe it's because it needs to be!” She thought for a moment. “The only other reason it's dark that I can think of is if the cellar exists outside of the skybox, but if that was the case it'd be too easy for them to get back into the Circus – they could just pass back through and we'd be seeing them all the time! And— Hoooo boy…” She rubbed her temples. “Now I'm just thinking of why the Void exists – he specifically made it with a skybox of its own, and—”

“Okay, okay!” Jax snapped her out of it. “You can nerd all about this stuff later. All we've gotta do for now is figure out a way to lure it into one of the rooms and then lock it inside.”

Both Gangle and Zooble looked at one another, then at Jax, and simultaneously said, “Not it.”

“Wh— Oh, come on!” Jax sputtered.

“Hey,” Zooble snickered, “you are the fastest. You run it into one of the rooms, get out, and Gangle and I lock it inside.”

“Like hell!” Jax scoffed. “No way am I putting my neck on the line!”

A moment later, Zooble tossed Jax out from behind the blocks, right into the abstraction's line of sight.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Pomni sighed contentedly.

She and Ragatha had spent the remainder of their stroll walking through the Carnival, and aside from tripping over a cable and nearly faceplanting into a puddle, it had been nice. It was calming, just walking around, no pressure to do anything, just enjoying the relative peace. They'd decided to stop and get some lunch at one of the stands, and she had stopped about halfway through her sandwich to just lay back against the bench they'd say on.

“You know,” Pomni hummed, looking skyward, “maybe a little rain sometimes isn't so bad.”

Ragatha sighed, sidling closer to Pomni. “I'm glad I got to spend today with you.”

“I am too,” Pomni smiled and shut her eyes. “This might be the best day I've had in the Circus.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

This was, by far, the worst day Jax had had in the Circus – dare he say in his whole life.

“Crap crap crap crap crap,” he muttered, sprinting down the dorm hallway. Gangle and Zooble had better be there or else I'm gonna shove Zooble's head down a toilet!

“In there!” Gangle called from up ahead, pointing to one of the doors before ducking into the one across the hall.

Jax made a beeline for it, the distorted snarling and heavy stomping getting closer with each passing second. He rammed the door open with his shoulder and stumbled into the center of the room. The abstraction pounced at him through the door. He dodged around it, and leapt for the open doorway—

An intense, seering, stabbing pain erupted up his leg.

He slammed face-first into the floor, clawing the ground as the abstraction's grip on his leg tightened, pulling him back into the room. The feeling of sharp static shot his leg and into his pelvis, up his back. He looked back, pupils shrinking as he was pulled closer and closer towards shifting, polychromatic eyes—

Gangle had grabbed his wrists, pulling him against the abstraction's grasp. Zooble darted past her, a bat in hand. Jax barked in pain as the glitching continued to spread, up his shoulders, his arms and neck, finally reaching his head – it was worst when it got to his head, leaving him hissing and groaning through his teeth as his vision went fuzzy and white.

There was a wooden thunk, and he felt the pressure around his leg release.

Zooble slammed the door shut as the abstraction withdrew its leg. Jax writhed on the ground for a moment, his limbs and body spasming and glitching uncontrollably.

Calm down, he told himself, you're fine, you're not gonna die, Caine’ll fix you, just calm down – %$!# this hurts!

After a moment, he finally had the wherewithal to push himself unsteadily to his feet, leaning against the wall and %$!# %$!# %$!# this hurts it hurts everything HURTS!

“Gangle!” Zooble cried out, rushing to the ribbons’ aid. Jax glanced at her – or tried to, as his eyes kept shrinking and expanding and spinning and moving stop that %$!# it! Gangle? was curled into herself, holding her hands close.

Oh %$!# They were glitching.

He stuttered, “R!ibβ0n5, yθoU oKa- k4y?”

“F-Fine…” Gangle hissed. “I-I'm okay…”

“CΦme 0- oOη,” Jax struggled. “L3eτ’5 g0 6eT CCa1- C4iNε.” He took one step, and then pitched forward. He slid against the wall to the ground, struggling not to scream.

%$!# God make it stop!

“Jax!”

%$!# no no %$!# no feels like my guts are bein’ ripped out—

“I'll go get the others!”

Get it off me get it off get it out get it OUT out out Out OUT OUT—

He cracked ope M n his eye A s, breathin K g hea E v I y an T d cra S cklin T g. H O e glan P ced to the side. Gangle hurts sat there beside your him, cradling her fault hands.

“G4-@n6lE,” he hissed. “Ψhγ -eyE ?”

“You needed help,” Gangle mumbled. “That's all.”

His guts hurts twisted up, and he knew %$!#hole it wasn't because of the pain glitching.

“It's so dumb,” Gangle sighed. “I wanted you to suffer. And in the end I still tie myself into knots for you.” She glared at him. “But it was stupid, pretending that I abstracted. I wanted you to suffer, to hurt. To think it was your fault. But that's stupid. Like my mask being fake would make me think I was part of the game...”

Jax's heart dropped. She..?

She noticed his staring and scoffed. “I'm not that stupid, Jax. I know what abstraction is.” She looked down at the ends of her ribbons. “It'd never hurt you – you don't care. You never have and you never will.” She wiped at her eyes. “I hate you, Jax. I really, really hate you.”

He didn't jack%$!# know what to say sorry, idiot so he just sat there with her and waited.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Okay, first off: WHAT. Secondly: THE %$!#?!”

Pomni and Ragatha (and Kinger, carrying a pot filled with gold coins and worms) had returned from their walk to a Tent in utter chaos and disarray.

“It's a long story,” Zooble sighed. “To make it short, an abstracted player got loose somehow. We managed to trap it, but Jax and Gangle are glitching out. We need Caine.”

“Jeez,” Pomni groaned, massaging her brow. “You know what, why don't we all just, call for him together? Maybe that'll work, like… Like a kids’ cartoon or something.” She glanced in your direction, though not directly at you. Sarcastically, she said, “What do you think? Should we all call for Caine together? Let's try it!” She sucked in a breath. “CAINE!”

“You rang?”

Pomni yelped as the ringmaster poofed into existence beside her. She stared at him for a moment, before groaning into her hands.

“That didn't work. That did not just work.”

“How can I help you all today, my Melodious Muffintops— GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!” He exclaimed once he noticed the wreckage around the Tent. “What the heck happened here?!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Jax groaned, slumping against his door. After what had felt like an eternity of torture, Caine had finally shown up to put the abstraction back in the cellar and fix him and Gangle. He had immediately sulked towards his room, which he realized had been the one with the door torn off its hinges. Once it had been put back on, he had retreated inside.

Today had been a complete and utter cluster%$!#. And to make matters worse, his chest had been curdling with – he felt the urge to retch just thinking the word – guilt, ever since Gangle had put herself at risk to save him.

He shouldn't have cared. He knew he shouldn't have cared. Caring about anyone in this hellhole just led to angst and pain.

So why couldn't he not care?

He drew his hands down his face, exhaustion creeping in. He was too tired for this %$!# right now.

Instead, he stood up, grabbed the tarp from the middle of his room, carefully stepped around his shattered mirror, and stared at the hole in his wall. He peered out into the vantablack darkness, the nothingness beyond the skyboxes – not the absence of light, but the absence of anything. He could see through the culling of the walls of the Tent, of the rooms of everyone on this side of the hall. Down below, he could see the shifting, jittering eyeballs of the abstracted players in the cellar.

He nailed the tarp back over the hole.

Then, he collapsed on top of his bed, and fell asleep.

Chapter 20: Bump In The Night

Pomni thrashed awake. Someone's hand was over her mouth. Through the darkness of her room, she saw glowing yellow eyes, glowering down at her.

“Hey, shh!” Jax hissed, and Pomni batted his hand away from her face.

“Jax! What the hell are you doing?!” Pomni snapped. “What time even is it?”

“Shhh!” Jax shushed her again. “Not important right now. Where is it?”

Pomni rubbed sleep from her eyes, letting out an irritated scoff. “Where's what?”

“Don't play dumb with me, Shortcake,” Jax scowled. “The radio. Where is it?”

“Radio?” Pomni grumbled, brain still half-asleep and reeling. “What radio— The one I got from Kaufmo’s room for you?”

“Yeah, that radio,” Jax said. “What'd you do with it?”

Pomni glared at him through the darkness, before laying back down and turning away from him. “Get the %$!# out of my room, Jax.”

He simply grabbed her by the back of her collar and yanked her onto the floor. As she pushed herself up, he said, “Nice try, Chuckles. It's not in my room, and you're the only other person who knew it was in there. I'm only gonna ask you one more time: Where is it?”

“I have no idea what you did with it,” Pomni snarled. “I haven't seen it since I gave it to you. Now get out and let me go back to sleep before I really give it to— Hey! Let go of me!”

Jax lugged her out of her room and into the hallway. She ripped her arm out of his grasp, massaging her wrist.

“Listen up, Pomni,” Jax's voice was low and threatening in the dark. “You're gonna help me find it. I don't care if it takes all night. I don't care if it takes all week. I don't care if it takes an eternity. If we don't find that radio, you don't even wanna know what I'm gonna do to you.”

“Jax, you are %$!#ing insane,” Pomni growled. “It's the middle of the night. For all I know, the abstracted player from earlier in the day freakin’ – I don't know, ate it or something. Point is, it was in your room, therefore it is not my responsibility.”

She paused, studying Jax's face. His eyes were wide awake, but she could see tired bags underneath them.

“Hey… Have you slept at all?”

“I'm fine,” he muttered. “We don't need to sleep, remember? I napped for a few minutes. More important matters to attend to! Radio. Where is it?”

“Jax, look—”

“Don't.” He snapped, grabbing her by the front of her motley. “I swear to God, Pomni, if I can't find that radio, I will throw you out of bounds. Not even Caine will be able to get you back from where I put you.”

“Okay, okay,” Pomni held up her hands. “Look. Just calm down, alright? I'm sure it's somewhere around, it can't have just— Well, I guess technically it could just vanish into— A-Anyway, I can help you look for it, but can't we wait until tomorrow?”

Jax released her, and sank to the floor against the wall. “God %$!# it…”

“I mean, it's not too important, is it?” Pomni asked. “You already got all the information out of it that you could, right?”

“I… Maybe…” He muttered. “Just…” He massaged his temples. His breathing was shaky.

Pomni hesitated for a beat, then – despite all common sense screaming at her to let him unpack his own baggage – sat beside him. “Are you sure you're okay, Jax? I don't think I've ever seen you this… Well, ‘stressed’ would be putting it lightly.” 

Jax was quiet. He glanced at Pomni.

Suddenly, the exhaustion – didn't vanish, but retreated to the furthest corners of his eyes. He stood up, his typical smirk plastered on his face.

“‘Course I'm okay!” At Pomni's concerned expression, he snorted, “You really fell for that act? You're even dumber than ya look!”

Pomni felt a twinge of annoyance in the back of her mind. She ignored it. “Jax, if you're going through a tough time, I'll listen.”

“You want somethin' to listen to?” He sneered. He looked around, as if making sure no one was around, then waved her closer. Pomni stood and approached. He waved for her to come even closer, and she did. He cupped his hand around where her ear would be, like he was going to whisper something—

And blew a raspberry that briefly deafened her.

“UGH!” Pomni barked, wiping the side of her head. Her hand came away wet. “Did your tongue touch me?! God, you're so freaking gross!”

Jax cackled, sauntering back to his room. “Night-night, Pom-Pom~!”

Pomni huffed, striding back towards her door – and pausing as she realized something. She glanced back, just in time to see Jax's door shut. Her gut sank. He'd been wrong about one thing.

She wasn't the only person who knew about the radio.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Gangle groaned softly as a gentle knocking at her door disturbed her sleep – or rather, her attempts to sleep. She had been kept up for hours, looking at the ends of her ribbons, thoughts stuck on what had transpired earlier in the day. Stuck on how immature she'd been – stuck on how, despite everything, she had once again allowed Jax's well-being to override her own.

From beyond the door, she heard, “Gangle? It's Pomni… Sorry if I'm waking you up. Could I ask you something?”

She trudged over and pulled it open. As expected, there was Pomni.

“Hey,” Gangle whimpered. “Are you okay, Pomni? Is something the matter?”

“I just, had an important question.” She whispered, glancing down the hall. “Do you mind if I come in?”

Gangle opened the door wider, allowing the jester into her room. She hadn't been able to fully clean up from earlier in the day yet, and she felt a brief sting of shame.

Pomni immediately bristled when she saw the scrawlings on the walls. She asked, “Um… Are you okay?”

“...No,” Gangle admitted. “It's been rough lately – these past couple days especially. I'm… not proud of how I acted yesterday. Jax or not, it wasn't a very healthy way to handle things.”

“Nothing we're not all familiar with,” Pomni let out a soft chuckle. “You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone acting healthy in this place.” Gangle couldn't suppress a bitter chuckle of her own. “If it means anything, I don't think any less of you for it.”

“Thanks,” Gangle mumbled, sniffling. “Anyways, what did you wanna ask?”

Pomni suddenly seemed sheepish. “I mean, I know it's probably not the case, but I just wanted to be sure – and, honestly, give you a heads-up, all things considered.” Gangle cocked her head a bit. “Do you remember a while back, you saw me in Kaufmo's room? I told you I was getting something for Jax.”

“Yeah,” Gangle nodded. “I remember. It was a radio, I think, right?”

“Right,” Pomni said. “Well, he just came to me asking if I had it – apparently he lost it. You didn't take it, did you?”

Gangle felt a brief sting in her chest. “I didn't. I haven't gone anywhere near his room in ages and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon.”

Pomni nodded, smiling gently. “I believe you. In any case, there's no telling the lengths he'll go to to get it back, regardless of what happened to it. So, just, keep an eye out, okay?”

Gangle crossed her arms, stuck between grateful and indignant. Deep in her mind came the thought, She's just saying that, she suspects you, it's written all over her face.

She sucked in a sharp breath, trying to ignore the thought. “I will.”

After a brief moment, Pomni said, “I'm gonna head back to bed then. If you want any help cleaning up in here tomorrow, come find me, alright?”

Again, a resentful thought: Is she just offering so she can look around for that dumb radio? She got it for Jax, and the two have been buddy-buddy before— But he's still mean to her— An act, just an act, a trick to lower your guard around her.

And again, she did her best to ignore it.

“Okay. Thank you,” she said, softly. “Goodnight.” Pomni waved as she left, before shutting the door, leaving Gangle in solitude once more. Gangle sighed, sitting on her bed and massaging her temples.

She didn't mean any harm.

But what if she did?

She's always supported you, always been nice to you.

Just an act.

Unless she really is just that nice, just clumsy with people.

Nobody is that nice.

Do we want to believe that?

She groaned, trying to quell the racing back-and-forth inside her head.

I want to believe she's that nice but—

Then believe.

So make another exception for Jax?

So what if it is? It's not excusing him. Just because he's not trustworthy doesn't mean you shouldn't trust anyone.

Gangle sniffled, and just crawled back into bed to try and sleep, unsure how to reconcile all of the thoughts warring inside her.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Pomni glanced down the hall to make sure Jax hadn't seen her, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw no one. The last thing she wanted was to give Jax any reason to suspect and harass Gangle.

As she started back towards her bedroom, she paused, listening out.

She couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she'd heard a clattering sound from the far end of the hall. Curiosity took hold, and she crept further down the corridor away from the entryway.

The hallway split at the end, forming a sort of T shape. Peering around the left corner, she saw a knocked-over barrel, the lid on the ground just a meter away. She scratched her head in confusion. Had this barrel always been there? It looked like the one she'd hidden behind on her first day, but if that was the case, shouldn't there have been a bunch of those red monkey NPCs nearby?

As she looked up, she felt a chill course through her. She had definitely just seen a shape moving up ahead in the darkness.

“Jax?” She called, her nerves suddenly alight. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, and after the incident earlier in the day, a part of her was worried that another abstraction had gotten loose.

The halls were quiet.

She shook her worries to the back of her mind. It was probably just Jax, looking for that stupid radio. No, not probably, it had to be. Or maybe one of the other Circus members, taking a detour to the kitchen for a late-night snack. Yeah, that had to be it. Had to be.

She headed back to her room, her pace brisk. Just before heading back in, she glanced at the end of the hall again.

And again saw a dark shape duck out of sight.

Chapter 21: Welcome Home – Part I

The morning came after a fitful night, and Pomni couldn't suppress the yawn she let out as she and Ragatha headed hand-in-hand to the stage. Apparently the weather engine modifications were still present, as the tent was bathed in a dim reddish-violet atmosphere, the skybox overhead resembling a sunrise.

“You okay, Pom?” Ragatha cooed, rubbing her thumb along the back of Pomni's hand.

“Yeah,” she said through another yawn. “Just… saw something weird last night, I guess. Been trying not to think about it.”

“Weird?”

“Just something moving around,” Pomni waved her concerns away. “I was just jumpy after what happened, you know? It was probably just Jax, or one of the NPCs or something.”

“You know you could have come to me about it,” Ragatha offered. She added with a wink, “My door's always open for you.”

Pomni flushed, smiling nervously. “Raggie, come on…”

The two approached the stage, surprised to find Zooble already waiting there.

“O-Oh!” Ragatha exclaimed. “Good morning, Zooble! You're here early.”

“Yep,” they said, simply. Their arms were crossed, their fingers drumming against their bicep. Their eyes were wide-open, their brow screwed up into an anxious knot.

“Are… you okay?” Pomni asked.

“Mhm,” they hummed. They hadn't looked at Pomni or Ragatha the whole time.

“Good morning, my Soft-serve Sweethearts!” Caine declared as he poofed into existence. “I hope you're ready for—” He stopped short when he noticed Zooble. After a beat, his eyes grew wide, and he dramatically wiped a tear from one of them. “Oh. Oh my. Zooble, you're actually here before everyone else? Are you actually anticipating today's adventure?”

Zooble didn't respond for a moment, then snapped to attention with a, “Huh?”

“No! No words!” Caine insisted, dabbing at his eyeballs with a handkerchief. “Excuse me, just…” He sucked in a breath, cleared his throat, and leapt back into his typical bombastic nature. “Apologies! You must all be waiting with bated breath for today's adventure! I don't suppose any of you ran into the others on your way here?”

Pomni shook her head. “Nope, it was just us.” Under her breath she muttered, “And after yesterday I'm pretty sure Jax and Gangle aren't gonna be showing up…”

“Oh?” Caine swooped down, far too close for Pomni's liking.

Ragatha cleared her throat, looking as though she was about to tell a child that Santa wasn't real. “Caine, please don't… you know, take it personally? Your adventures can be kind of… intense. And after yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me if they needed a break.”

“Intense?” Caine echoed, swooping to her now, clipboard and pencil inexplicably in hand. His eyes shimmered with excitement. “Would you elaborate?”

Ragatha stammered, “W-Well, for example, umm…” She thought for a moment. “Like… the Eros Resort. It was a nice hotel, and we appreciate the thought behind it, but it was kind of… a lot.”

“Ragatha wound up needing stitches after the massage,” Pomni said, rather bluntly. “I got hit in the head with a tennis ball, then we both got pulled into a fight between NPCs.”

“The point is,” Ragatha said, gently, “they can be a bit… much. Yesterday was a really bad day for Gangle and Jax.” Sotto voce, she added, “Honestly, so much has happened over the past month or two that it's felt more like a year…”

Caine, meanwhile, was busy writing all of this down. “I see, I see,” he said, tapping the eraser end against his jaw. “And… you're certain that a riveting post-apocalyptic zombie adventure wouldn't do them any good?”

“If anything,” Pomni rolled her eyes, “it may just make things worse.”

The ringmaster snapped his fingers, and the clipboard vanished. “Thank you for your feedback! I've taken note, and will be sure to apply them from this point forward!” He straightened up, rubbing his chin. “That said, this does throw a wrench into today's plans…”

“A wrench?”

“Well,” Caine began, “you see, I've been concerned about Jax. I was planning on having him pair up with you, Pomni!”

“Me?!” Pomni sputtered. “God, dare I ask why?”

“Simply put, you seem to be the only one capable of even remotely tolerating him!” Caine replied, far-too-cheerily. “I was hoping you could talk to him, get him to open up – perhaps even make nice with everyone else!”

“Doubtful,” Pomni scoffed. “What gave you the impression I'd be able to do that?”

Caine tilted his head. “Are you two not friends?”

“I mean…” Pomni grumbled, crossing her arms. “I have no idea. I can never get a read on that guy, and it feels like every time I'm about to, he tears the page out and eats it.”

“Well…” Ragatha started. “...A-Actually, never mind. It's nothing.”

Pomni took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Ragatha took a breath, then released it. “I was going to say, if… If anybody could do it, it probably would be you.” At Pomni's grimace, she continued, “Of course I'm not saying you should! I… I've been trying to reach him since he got here, but he's only gotten worse. It wouldn't surprise me if he was just unreachable. I'm saying if anyone could, it would be you.” She gave Pomni a small smile. “I think you're a really good influence on people, Pomni. I know you were on me.”

Pomni looked away, her face heating up. “I… guess I could give it a shot. It's just a matter of actually getting him to talk to me without pranking me or just walking away.”

“Oh!” Caine blurted. “I've got just the solution!”

Immediately, Pomni knew she would hate whatever was about to happen.

“Caine wai—”

He snapped his fingers, and after a moment, Jax came zipping into sight, hovering over the ground. He still looked as exhausted as he did the night before – if not moreso.

“H-Hey!” He barked. “Caine! Put me the %$!# down!”

Caine obliged – but not before opening a square hole in the ground, dropping Jax into it unceremoniously. “You'll thank me for this later!” He called, before turning to Pomni.

Oh no.

“In you go, my dear!” He snapped his fingers again, and Pomni felt her gut curdle with horror as her feet left the ground.

“CAINE DON'T YOU DARE—!”

He dared, and Pomni let out a scream of rage as she plummeted into the plain white box he'd made for them. Before either of them could argue, the ceiling closed up, leaving them completely alone.

“What, and I cannot stress this enough, the %$!#,” Jax snarled.

Pomni scowled at him. “As far as I'm concerned this is all your fault.”

“My fault?!” Jax snapped, shooting to his feet. “I was minding my own business just now!”

“Yeah, well, he wouldn't have done that if you weren't such an %$!#hole!” She shot back. “He did this because he thinks I'm the only one who can talk some sense into you.”

Jax yipped out a laugh. “Sense? Get real, Skittles, I've got more sense in this noggin than the rest a’ you combined.”

Pomni felt the frustration building on her tongue, but she swallowed it down, opting instead to take a breath. Calm, she told herself. “Look. I don't want to be down here any more than you do. So, we can do this the easy way – you finally talking to someone – or the hard way.”

“Oh yeah?” Jax smirked. “And what exactly is ‘the hard way’?”

“I…” Pomni trailed off. She hadn't actually thought that far ahead. “Freakin’... I dunno, I'll beat you up or something.”

It took Jax nearly a solid minute to regain his composure from laughing. Once he had, he sat against the wall nonchalantly. “You and what army? Ooh, so scawy, the lil’ jester thinks she's all tough.”

Again, she bit down the snarky reply that had snuck up behind her teeth. “Jax, please. Just talk to me so we can get out of here.”

“Nah,” he shrugged, reclining. “Think I'm gonna catch some Z’s instead. Wake me up when Caine comes to get us, half-pint.”

“Jax—”

He cut her off with an exaggerated snoring sound.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Caine!” Ragatha exclaimed only too late, once the hole had closed. “Why?!”

He simply clapped his hands as though to rid them of dust. “To prevent Jax from running! Now he and Pomni can have a nice, relaxing little chat in private!”

Ragatha massaged her temples. “Caine, no…”

The ringmaster continued, looking to the amalgam – who hadn't spoken a word in a hot minute, “Zooble! Why don't you go and check on Gangle? I'm sure she'd love to—!”

“Love? Love what?” Zooble stammered. An uncharacteristically nervous laugh escaped them. “I thought I told you, I don't do ‘love’!”

The Tent floor was uncomfortably quiet, Caine and Ragatha staring at them.

“I was simply going to say, Gangle would love to see you!” Caine said. He studied them. “Are you okay, Zooble? You're looking quite… twitchy.”

“Twitchy? Who's twitchy?” They blurted, antennae and eyes actively twitching. “God, enough with the third degree!” They threw their arms up in frustration and stormed off.

“That was… strange,” Ragatha mumbled. She turned to Caine. “Is Zooble okay? What happened when you took them to speak in private the other day?”

“Oh, we just had a little heart-to-heart!” Caine enthused. “They're experiencing some very big feelings right about now – such is the case when humans start their journey to adulthood, correct? They just need some space!”

Ragatha was about to drop the bomb on him that Zooble had long since passed puberty, but before either of them could say anything else, she noticed movement in the corner of her eye— ai-yai-EYE!

On the stage, a new player had just popped into existence.

Their body was slender, and hourglass-shaped – or rather, was literally an hourglass, sands and all. They were short – shorter than her, but not quite as short as Pomni. Their limbs were stick-thin, arms ending in a pair of yellow cartoon gloves and legs ending in a pair of oversized shoes, and they wobbled as they tried to adjust to the sudden change in proportions.

But what threw Ragatha most for a loop was their head: a single, massive cartoon eyeball.

She and Caine stared at the newcomer in silence. They stared back – or at least, Ragatha assumed they were. Then, they looked down at their hands, then their body.

The silence was palpable as the new player took stock of their new state of existence.

“U-Uh,” Ragatha stammered. “Hi—?”

They screamed.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Jax, come on.”

“Sorry, can't hear you, dreamin’ about violence.”

Pomni grumbled from across the room. She was quickly running out of patience; every time she tried to get him to open up, he simply handwaved her and made some excuse that he was too busy sleeping.

“Okay, seriously? We've been stuck in here for nearly an hour. You're not getting the least bit bored?” She asked. A lightbulb went off in her head. “Don't you wanna see the adventure Caine's got planned for us? Apparently it's got zombies. And A Gun.”

“Hah!” He chortled. “Been there, done that. ‘Sides, going on an adventure after spillin’ my guts would just leave a sour taste in my mouth. I wouldn't be able to enjoy it!”

Pomni massaged her brow. There had to be something…

Her eyes snapped open. Why is he always so intent on enjoying the adventures? The question ran a marathon through her skull, but no matter how she looked at it, she could only come to one, single grim conclusion. She looked at him.

“Jax,” she began, softly. “Are you trying to abstract?”

Jax didn't respond – but she noticed a slight twinge in the corner of his smirk. “The hell’re you sayin’,” he scoffed. “What, you try to off yourself once and now ya think you're the expert on suicidal ideation? Get real.”

“You said it yourself,” Pomni said, standing up. “Abstraction is what happens when a person becomes lost in the fantasy – when they start thinking that they're a part of the game itself. Is that what you're doing? Trying to lose yourself in the fantasy?”

“You're nuts, Pom-Pom.”

“Then say it to my face,” she demanded. “Tell me I'm wrong.”

Jax simply reclined, making a yapping motion with his hand.

Alright, Pomni thought to herself, %$!# this. He wants to play hardball? Let's play.

“I guess you're right,” she shrugged, voice dripping with smarm. “You're not suicidal, I must have been mistaken. You're just…” she side-eyed him, “...a Loser.”

His eyes snapped open. He glared at her. “Ex-scuse me?”

“You're a Loser, Jaxy!” Pomni smirked. “You're a %$!#ed up little whiny b%$!#. You're not suicidal – but you're sure as hell not okay, either. You're just a sad, pathetic little man, living out an eternally sad, pathetic little life.”

Jax rose to his feet. “Watch it, Strawberry Shortcake,” he snarled. “Or I'll—”

“You'll what?” Pomni dared, stepping into his space. “Face it – you're too sad to do anything, bunny boy. Too sad to abstract, and too sad to make anyone's life better – not even your own. You're pathetic. You. Are. A COWARD!” She accentuated each word with a jab to his chest.

“Pomni, I'm warning you—!”

“Prove me wrong then!” She shouted. “Either admit you're trying to abstract, or %$!#ing do something to make anyone's life better!”

“Why don't I just kill two birds with one stone then—?!” He clapped a hand over his mouth when he realized what he'd said.

Pomni felt the instinct to recoil. She denied it. “Talk to me, Jax,” she said, firmly. “Please.”

Jax's eyes dilated as he stared down at her, hand still over his mouth.

Then, he punched her.

Her head snapped back. She stood there for a beat, stunned.

Then she leapt at him, howling in fury.

The two rolled around on the ground, fists flying, hands entangled in clothes. Pomni grabbed him by his overall straps and headbutted him in the nose. He grabbed her arm and bit her. She put him in a headlock and chomped on the top of his head in return.

“Calm your %$!#!” Pomni snapped. “Before I knock you the %$!# out!”

He managed to get to his feet, lifting her with him, before falling backwards and bodyslamming her into the floor. He grabbed her by her hat, and swung her against the wall like a wet towel.

“Just shut up!” He hollered as she fell to the ground. “Don't talk to me like you know me!”

Pomni kicked out, hitting him in the shin. As he doubled over, she pulled herself up by one of his ears, then yelled into it. He stumbled, and she pushed him down.

“What the hell do you think I've been trying to do?!” She shouted.

He climbed to his feet and shot back, “Oh, this is you trying to get to know me?!”

“%$!#ing uh-duh! You won't respond to words, so I'm talking to you in a language you'll understand!”

Jax smacked his chest and threw his arms out, like he was daring her to take another step. “You want a piece a’ me, then? Huh, Pagliaccio?”

“As a matter of fact,” Pomni snarled, “yeah, I do!”

They were on each other again, punching and kicking and biting and rolling and throwing – Pomni had somehow even managed to suplex him at one point.

Finally, she had him pinned, one hand at his chest holding him down, the other prepared to swing.

He hit her first.

“You think it'll all just be sunshine an’ rainbows if you can jus’ convince me to be ‘good’?!” He shouted, his voice raw. “Mother%$!#er, I'm the only sane one in this place! The rest of you are the problem—!”

“What—” She socked him in the mouth, keeping him pinned, “—the hell are you talking about?!”

He punched her in the eye. “I'm talking about Kaufmo! I'm talking about Wriggle, an’ Queenie, an’ everyone else!” He knocked her across the face. “You're all crazy, holdin’ funerals – holdin’ onto your memories of them—” He punched her again. “WHAT'S IT ALL FOR?! What'll you have left when the others bite it? What'll you have left when Ragatha bites it?! Just regrets!”

“You stupid idiot!” Pomni roared, headbutting him again. She pressed her arm against his windpipe when he tried to speak. “No, you shut up! Is that what this is about?! Losing Kaufmo and the others wasn't enough for you – so you're just gonna throw everything away?! You dumb mother%$!#er, I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE I LET THAT HAPPEN!”

She didn't back off until she'd noticed his head expanding, his eyes bulging from their sockets. Once she let go, he released a noise like a balloon deflating, and his head fell limp and shrunken against his chest.

Pomni stood there, breathing heavily. Jax's head eventually reinflated, and he began gulping in air as well.

Neither of them spoke.

Then, “That's what happens when you hold your breath?”

“Shut up,” Jax grumbled, curling into himself, unable to look her in the eye.

Again, the box was quiet.

Pomni collapsed onto her backside across from him, looking down at her body. Her clothes and skin were covered in scuff and bite marks. One of her eyes was swollen shut. Reaching up, she felt that one of her prongs was bent. Jax, too, was covered in cartoon injuries, one of his overall straps torn.

“I'm sorry,” she said.

Jax didn't respond.

Chapter 22: Welcome Home – Part II

“Hey, buddy,” Ragatha cooed, patting the newcomer on the back. Caine had insisted on giving them the usual tour, but had quickly deferred to Ragatha when proximity only seemed to terrify them further. As such, Ragatha had guided them first to the kitchen, where she'd gotten them a cup of tea. How they were able to drink it she wasn't totally sure – but, then again, nobody else besides Pomni and arguably Jax really had a functioning mouth, so she decided not to dwell on the subject. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

“A bit…” they mumbled, their voice androgynous and raspy. “Sorry for freaking out before…”

“Oh, no worries!” Ragatha reassured, sitting across from them. “Trust me, everyone pretty much has that same reaction.” They began massaging their temples – no, Ragatha realized, they were trying to pull something off. “So… I should probably tell you now. I'm going to guess you remember putting on a headset?” They nodded. “Okay, so. It's… kind of a hard pill to swallow, so I'll try to let you down easy: we don't… really know how. To take them off.”

Their pupil dilated. “Don't know how? What do you mean? Th-There's gotta be a way to…”

“If there is one, we haven't found it out, yet,” she continued. “So, in the meantime, I'll try to explain things as best as I can. Oh! First things first though, we should probably go over…” she sucked in a breath, “your name.”

“My name is…” They trailed off, as expected. What wasn't expected was when they said, “Isaac.”

Ragatha wasn't quite sure what to feel for a moment. Then, she suddenly felt animated. “O-Oh! Is that… I mean, do you remember your..?”

They tilted their head a bit. “I mean… it's what's standing out to me at the moment. It might just be because of… well, you know.”

“Because of what?”

“Isaac— E-y-e-saac,” Eyesaac said, pointing at their head. “Geddit?”

Ragatha was dumbfounded for a beat, before covering her mouth to stifle a snicker.

“What?”

“Oh! Nothing, nothing!” She waved. “It's just, people don't usually remember their names – I don't think anyone has ever come up with one on their own before… Are you okay?”

Eyesaac crossed their arms, thinking for a moment. Then, they snarkily said, “Yeah, eye think so.”

“Alright,” she smirked, earning a chuckle from the newcomer, “that's enough of that.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Zooble grumbled to themself as they trudged back towards their room. Stupid Caine, stupid adventures, stupid feelings, stupid stupid stupid!

They were about to enter their room, when they paused, glancing further down the hall towards Gangle's door. A part of them wanted to just hide – after their little revelation, they'd started reconsidering their interactions with Gangle. They didn't want those awful, unspeakable feelings growing any stronger than they already were – and yet…

They thought back to yesterday. Gangle had come to them to help with her revenge plot against Jax, but no matter how loudly their brain was screaming at them not to assist, not to spend any more time with her, not to get any more attached than they already were, they had given in almost immediately, reasoning that the plan would have required minimal interaction between them. Despite everything, they still just couldn't turn their back on her.

And it was no different today, they realized. Sighing in resignation, they approached the door, heart hammering their ribs.

They knocked.

“Gangle? You okay?”

After a moment, the door opened. Zooble felt their chest ache when they saw the state she was in.

Dark circles were drawn under her eyes, and her slouching posture seemed even more limp than usual. Her expression was that of someone completely and utterly defeated.

“Hey, Zooble…” She muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Hey,” they said back, trying to put on the softest expression they could. “I'm… gonna guess you're not okay.”

Gangle slowly shook her head.

“You wanna take it easy today?”

Gangle… slowly shook her head.

“I…” She began. “I…” She was trembling now. “I w… I want… I want to break something.” Her face scrunched up painfully as she hugged her arms close to herself. “It's loud,” She whimpered. “It's so %$!#ing loud.”

“Loud?”

“I don't…” Gangle's chest heaved. Her breathing stuttered. “I don't know what's real anymore. I feel like… like everyone is just lying to me, and… and I don't…” Her voice was tense and high as she tried to keep from screaming, “I just want it to stop. I don't want to feel like this. I feel like I'm going insane and I just want it to stop..!”

The only sounds in the hall were Gangle's soft, straining sobs.

Zooble couldn't stop the pressure from forming in their own chest. They had never seen Gangle— no, anyone so distraught. What could they say? What could they do?

They cursed themself for their instinct – for the only expression of care that had come to their mind. Without any other solutions at hand, they stepped forward, wrapping her in a hug. Her body fell limp against theirs, her tears making their shoulder damp.

“Why did I save him?” She whimpered. “Why the %$!# did I save him? I wanted to change, to be different… to not put up with his abuse anymore, to… to hurt him… But all that's changed is that I can't stop thinking everyone wants to hurt me. And I'm still too weak to do anything about it!”

Her voice was shrill and raw. It hurt Zooble's heart to hear.

“I still believe that you're strong,” Zooble said, softly. “Even if you don't.”

“Why?!” She wailed. “I tried to help him, even though I knew I'd get hurt in the process… After everything I'm still submitting to him, still letting him walk all over me! How the %$!# is that strong?!”

Zooble felt pressure in their temples, like they'd just clenched their jaw. They felt lightheaded. They screwed their eyes shut. They didn't care now if this got them more attached – it could bind them together forever, and they wouldn't care. Gangle needed them, and they curb-stomped the part of their brain screaming to walk away.

‘Best quality’, don't fail me now…

They took Gangle by the shoulders, forcing her to look at them. “Gangle, listen to me. It wasn't submission. It wasn't letting him walk over you.”

“Then what was it?!”

“Your best quality,” they said, struggling to keep a level voice. “You say you wanted him to hurt, but… but that isn't who you are. You didn't want him to hurt – you wanted him to understand how badly he hurt you. Deep down, you knew that… that it wouldn't make you feel any better if he got hurt.

“You saved him because despite everything – despite how he's hurt you, despite what your thoughts are saying to you – that's just who you are: a kind, gentle soul who's taken on too much pain for anyone to bear on their own.” Gangle's sobs grew heavier. Zooble swiped a thumb under one of her eyes. “Despite everything, it's still you. You can get angry – God knows you deserve to more than anyone – but it doesn't change who you are. And your heart is strong, Gangle. You're strong. Not because you let people abuse you – but because you strive to be kind to everyone, even when they don't deserve it. And that's…” They swallowed, eyes prickling. “That's a strength that I wish I had.

“So, I'm here,” they said, pulling her back into an embrace. “I know that… that trusting people is hard. I know that I'm not the best at cheering people up, and I don't know how to make trusting people easier. I don't know how to make the thoughts stop. But, no matter what, I'm not going to leave you. I'll be here until they do. Is… Is that okay?”

Gangle nodded slowly, arms trembling as she raised them up to hug Zooble back. “Please,” her voice came out hoarse. “Please stay.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Why?”

Pomni looked up. Jax had raised his head a bit, glaring at her.

“Why do you care so much?” He asked. “I just don't get it. After everything I've done, why are you so determined to reach out to me?”

She was silent as she mulled over the question. The answer seemed obvious, but she wasn't sure how to verbalize it.

Finally, she settled on, “Because you matter, Jax.”

He laughed.

“I ‘matter’, huh? And why is that?” He sneered. “I made it my life's mission to make everyone else's lives a living hell. How can you say I matter?”

“Because… you're a person,” she explained, simply. “You exist, and that means you inherently have value. I don't want anyone to feel like… like they're nothing. Like they're not important. Not even you.” She looked down at her hands. “It's not fun, feeling like you're nothing.”

Jax raised his head a bit more. “Is that how you feel?”

“It was,” she nodded. “I don't remember much about my life before the Circus… but that's the one thing I do remember. Always feeling like… nothing. Like I was just a tool for other people to use and throw away. Like I was living for someone else, instead of for myself.” She took an unsteady breath. “But, then I met Ragatha, and the others. They made me feel, for the first time, like… I had a purpose beyond just having a ‘purpose’, you know? Like I could just exist, and that was enough for them to care about me. Like I had value, just by being alive.” She looked back at him. “So, I don't want you or anyone else to ever feel that way. You aren't nothing, Jax. You're not disposable, or replaceable. You matter. No matter how big an %$!#hole you are, you matter.”

“Well, whoop-de-doo,” he scoffed. “Good to know that you're just as stupid now as you were an hour ago.”

“Hey.”

“I'm not gonna change, Pomni,” he rolled his eyes. “I'm physically incapable of it.”

“Bull%$!#,” Pomni bluntly said. “You said it yourself: you choose to be a %$!#. You can just as easily choose not to be one.”

“Ughh,” he groaned, “%$!# you for paying attention…”

“Jax.”

He sighed in annoyance. “Yeah, I did choose to be a %$!#. And it's too late to take any of it back now. Kinger barely talks to me to begin with. Ribbons and Zooble hate my guts. Even Ragatha said she was done with my crap.” Pomni saw the faintest trace of remorse in his eyes. “An’ I don't blame ‘em, either.”

“I don't think ‘too late’ is a thing,” Pomni said. “Anyone can change – and, yeah, it's gonna be hard, and it's gonna suck. They might not ever forgive you for what you've done. But it's never too late to make the decision to be better.”

“What would the point be?” Jax said through a rueful chuckle. “At this point, changing would just make everything worse. Better that they hate me – less heartbreak to go around when I do finally go.”

“Is that really what you want?” She asked. “Is that really how you want to be remembered?” He didn't respond. “Heartbreak… it's sad, but… But it doesn't have to be negative.”

“You're gonna have to translate for me,” he muttered.

Pomni sucked in a shaking breath. “Back when I first felt… like it was okay to just exist. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Because it made me realize what I'd been lacking. What I'd been missing out on.” She pressed a hand to her chest, the ache returning simply from the thought. “It hurt, knowing that I'd never experienced that kind of care before getting stuck here. But it made me really happy, too. Because I do get to experience it now.”

She wiped at her eyes, taking a breath to steady her nerves.

“You mentioned regrets earlier. I… I don't know if I've ever had to deal with loss before… But, Kinger said something to me once: if you squander the opportunities you have to care about others, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. It stuck with me. And, I decided, if there's really no way to leave, then… if we're stuck here forever, then I don't ever want anything to go unsaid.” Her one regret curdled in her chest. “Even if it's hard, I want to find a way to push through it.”

Jax barked out a laugh. “That's real rich. You can't even tell Ragatha you love her.”

“I know,” Pomni sighed. “And I don't know why I can't say it – but until I can, I'm going to show her, as best as possible.”

The room was silent.

Pomni stood, and crossed the floor to where Jax was. She sat beside him.

“You don't have to be alone, Jax. You don't have to persist on hate and pain.” She offered him a gentle smile. “There's love to be found – even here in the Circus – if you're willing to look for it.”

“And when one of us abstracts?” He countered.

Pomni paused. “Then… we remember them. Because even though it hurts, having those good memories can do so, so much. Nothing can take away how a memory makes you feel, Jax. Not even death – not even abstraction. You think you're taking the easy road – that being awful will make it hurt less – that not caring about others will make it hurt less. But the pieces of us – the things we leave behind, physical or not – they stay, even after we're gone.” She blinked, something suddenly clicking. “Is that why the radio was so important to you? Because it was Kaufmo's?”

He didn't respond.

“I'm sorry, Jax.”

“So, what do you expect me to do?” He smirked, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. “Become the poster-boy for therapy?”

“I don't expect anything,” Pomni said. “But I want you to know that, I'm not giving up on you. I'll never tell you it's ‘too late’. Please, if nothing else, just think about what I said.”

Jax's smirk wavered, but he said nothing more, and they simply sat there in a calm silence.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“And, this is where we sleep!” Ragatha said as she concluded the tour, Eyesaac following not far behind. “Well, ‘sleep’. We don't really need to here, but it's nice to have a routine, and even if our bodies can keep going, it's nice to rest our minds. You should have a room by now…” She scanned the doors as they went, and was about to point out when she spotted theirs – and paused.

Eyesaac had stopped a few doors back, staring up at one of the other doors – Kaufmo's.

“O-Oh,” Ragatha stammered. “Stay away from that one… Or, any of the ones with the red X’s over them, really, but especially that one. It's not pretty.”

Eyesaac didn't budge.

Ragatha approached, looking up at the door as well. Nothing seemed out of place, so..? She looked back to Eyesaac. “You okay?”

“Huh?” They mumbled, snapping to attention as if out of a trance. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” They spared Kaufmo's door another brief glance, before following Ragatha on towards their door. “So, who else is here? There's you, and that… %$!#ing horrifying dentures guy…”

“Oh, that's Caine!” Ragatha said. “He's… eccentric. I guess technically he takes care of us, does his best to make sure we don't go insane here. I can introduce you to everyone else when we see them! Oh— Uh, try to steer clear of the purple rabbit, he's a troublemaker, likes to prank people a lot. You definitely should be with someone else when you meet him. Everyone else should be pretty accommodating, though!”

“HELLO!”

Ragatha jumped as Caine suddenly appeared from nowhere. Eyesaac immediately began screaming.

“Ah,” he said. “So wonderful to see you excited by my presence!” Eyesaac continued screaming. “...Enthusiastic! I like you already!”

“Caine, please,” Ragatha began. “I think you're scaring them.”

“Nonsense!” He declared, throwing an arm around the newcomer – who was still screaming. “There's nothing scary about m— AGH WHAT TH—”

Eyesaac had managed to grab Caine's cane, and began bashing it over the ringmaster's top jaw. “Back! BACK I say!” They hollered. Caine flew behind Ragatha to hide. Eyesaac gave chase until they were both running a circle around her.

From across the corridor, Gangle's door opened, and she – and Zooble, Ragatha noted – popped their heads out.

“Would you chuckle%$!#s keep it doOh,” Zooble stopped short when they noticed Eyesaac. They turned to Ragatha. Then to Eyesaac. “...Can we not have one day where nothing of major note happens??”

Chapter 23: Welcome Home – Part II.5 – A.K.A. Inebriation and Cabin Fever

This was just getting to be too much.

Zooble pressed their palms against their eyes, trying to will their clamoring brains to chill the %$!# out. As if this past week — month? — wasn't hectic enough, now there was a new player, and they just knew that their anxiety was about to go through the roof and they'd be more irritable than usual. Even returning to the relative quiet of Gangle's room hadn't helped much.

“Zooble?” Gangle mumbled.

“Sorry,” they sighed. “Just, a lot on my mind. Don't worry about me.” Gangle whined softly, a conflicted look on her face. “I wanna take care of you today, alright? So, don't worry about me and my crap right now.”

“I mean…” Gangle began. “I… don't really know how you can. Take care of me, I mean.” Her eyes drooped. “I don't even know what I want right now…”

Zooble hummed, unsure of what to say. Eventually, they asked, “You mind if I step out for a sec? I just… need a smoke to clear my head.”

“O-Oh, sure — wait, smoke?” Gangle cocked a brow. “We can smoke here??”

“Wellll…” Zooble waved their hand. “Kinda? Check it out.” They reached into their inventory and pulled out a lighter and a pack of off-brand Smarties that they'd gotten a while back, after the Scongle adventure. They flicked their lighter against the end, and Gangle's eyes widened when she saw the end begin glowing. “Been saving some for special occasions and migraines.”

“... How did you figure that out?”

Zooble snickered, “Pfft, I'll never tell.” They were about to walk to the door, when Gangle grabbed their arm.

“U-Um…” She began, nervously eyeing the candy discs. “If you wanna stay you can. I don't mind.”

“You sure?” When Gangle nodded, Zooble looked between her and the makeshift joint. “...You wanna try it?”

There was a pause.

Gangle said, “...%$!# it, why not.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“They forgot about us.”

“No, it's fine,” Pomni said for the hundredth time. She and Jax had been sitting in Caine's box for what had to have been at least six hours by now, they had long since stopped speaking, and still the ceiling had yet to open back up. “I'm sure he's just expecting it to take me time to get through your thick skull.”

“Whatever you say,” Jax shrugged, reclining against the wall. He'd been surprisingly silent for the majority of their incarceration, only speaking up every so often to suggest that they'd been forgotten.

And, to be honest, Pomni was beginning to fear that he was correct. Still, denial was more than a river in Egypt, sooo…

“They'll be coming to get us any second now, I'm sure of it,” she said. After uncomfortable silence, she began, “Sssooo…”

Jax didn't respond.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

He gave her a look that told her everything she needed to know: he was not happy, to say the least.

“You… don't wanna talk anymore?” She guessed.

He snapped, “What do you think?”

She huffed, “Alright, fine, jeez, hope your day gets worse like actually.”

They sat in silence once more.

Pomni sighed. Sitting in silence for so long was a jarring change of pace compared to the usual chaos of the Circus. Having so much time more or less alone with her thoughts was proving… well, she was in no hurry to set aside any more alone days.

She wondered what everyone else was doing now. She hadn't seen Gangle or Zooble that morning. She and Kinger had only exchanged good mornings. She hadn't even been able to spend much time with Ragatha before Caine dropped her and Jax into this hole, and she was missing her girlfriend dearly. Knowing how the adventures usually went, she couldn't help but worry; had Caine decided to just send Ragatha and Kinger on their own?

Probably not, she told herself. Knowing Caine he'd be too excited to show off his work to everyone, no way he'd only send two people on this one that he's been hyping up for the last handful of days.

Her thoughts drifted to Gangle. She'd been having a seriously rough time lately, and from what Pomni had gathered, things weren't even close to looking up. A twinge of guilt pinched at her stomach. She hadn't even checked on Gangle today, or the day before. When I get back, she decided. Zooble, too. In fact, maybe I should make a habit of checking in on everyone…

Then she realized that Zooble would probably find her prodding annoying, so, maybe not every day…

 

-/-/-/-

 

Hours had passed.

At least, Pomni was pretty sure it had been hours. She and Jax still had yet to say anything more. In fact, aside from the occasional shift in position — they were now belly-up on the floor, heads side by side and pointing in opposite directions — Pomni had begun to forget he was even here, had begun to forget she was even here.

“Jax, come on,” she said. “Say something? Please?”

“Something,” he snarked, voice dripping with discontent.

“Oh, hardy-har,” Pomni rolled her eyes, “my sides are positively split.”

“You think your sides are split now, just wait’ll we get back home,” Jax bit out. “I've heard the Digital Market has a high demand for kidneys.”

“Yeah, the Digital Market,” Pomni rolled her eyes. Money didn't exist here… Did it? “Wait, you're just making that up, right?”

“You'll never know until it's too late.”

“Jax no seriously—”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Zooble breathed out, their body feeling light for the first time in ages.

Gangle mumbled something, voice wobbling with a giggle. “You shoulda told me about this sooner,” she said.

“Eh, didn't figure you for the type,” Zooble said, voice low and drowsy. They took another hit off their not-Smarties.

“Yeah?” Gangle smirked. “What ‘type’ did you figure I was?”

Zooble narrowed their eyes, trying to think. How had they always seen Gangle before now? What type had they thought she was?

“%$!#in’, I dunno,” they grumbled. “Catholic schoolgirl or somethin’?”

Gangle coughed out a laugh. “What???”

“Dude, I don't know!” Zooble huffed, trying to hide a chuckle of their own. “Just, not the type to do drugs, is what I'm tryin’a say.”

“Ugghh, %$!# you, now I gotta draw that,” Gangle groaned. “I mean, it's not inaccurate I guess. Maybe I wanna try something new. Maybe I wanna be a bad girl from now on.”

Zooble snickered. “I'll see if there's a leather jacket in my parts box.”

“Hey!” Gangle nudged them with her foot. “I could pull it off!”

“I'd rather—” —pull it off you. Zooble stopped themselves, their brain stuttering just long enough for them to realize what they'd been about to blurt. They coughed, “I mean, yeah, maybe.”

“Not maybe!” Gangle got up, wobbling a bit as she stood. “I wan — wanna be a bad girl. A rebel! I wanna be totally unflappable! I wanna be cool! I wannaaaoohhwhooaa—” She stumbled, catching herself by the bedframe.

“Take it easy,” Zooble said, standing up and helping her steady herself.

“%$!# easy!” Gangle whooped stumbling into the center of the room. “I've been takin’ it easy enough! I need it ha — hard!”

Zooble's face grew hot. Phrasing, they thought.

“Look, you're stoned off your %$!#,” they said, trying to guide her back to bed. “Th’ last thing you should be doing is anything hard. Just chill out—”

“I'm plen’y chill,” Gangle scoffed, yoinking the joint out of Zooble's hand and taking a hit. “I've never thought more clearly in my life. I don't wanna be th’ sadsack anymore! I wanna be cool! I wanna — I… I want…”

There was suddenly something intense in the air between them, eyes locked on each other's.

Zooble was certain they could hear their heart in their ears — maybe it was Gangle's? It was someone's, and it made their head feel like it was in a vise. There was a pressure between their eyes, like someone had just shot them in the forehead.

Gangle held up the candy cigarette, but when Zooble went to take it, she instead continued to raise it, until she was holding it where Zooble's mouth would be.

They suddenly felt small and powerless, a ringing joining the heartbeat in their head. Welp, came the thought before they could stop it, I just learned something about myself. They inhaled.

Once they'd finished, Gangle brought it back to her own mouth. She inhaled as well. As she exhaled, she said, “I want to be selfish. I wanna ask for things and be given them.”

“Yeah?” Zooble hummed. “What do you want?”

Gangle's eyes drooped further. “I want… I want… yyooeeeehaww—”

She pitched over, and Zooble just barely caught her before she hit the ground. She was fast asleep.

They waited until their heart had stopped trying to shatter their ribs before snuffing out the smoldering candy and carrying Gangle back to bed. They felt warmth flood their chest as Gangle curled up in a fetal position, suddenly looking tiny and fragile. They knew they probably should leave, but…

Instead, they sat beside her, and waited — for the high to subside or for sleep to take them, whichever came first.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Negative-a-thousand-nine-hundred-fifty-six bottles of sauce on the wall, negative-a-thousand-nine-hundred-fifty-six bottles of sauce,” Jax muttered under his breath, devoid of tune. “Take one down, pass it around, negative-a-thousand-nine-hundred-fifty-seven bottles of sauce on the wall.”

“Jax, please stop,” Pomni groaned.

“Aww, man, I lost count,” Jax said, completely deadpan. “Guess I gotta start all over.”

“Don't.”

“Ninety-nine bottles of sauce on the wall—”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Pomni had long lost the sensation in her forehead as she continued to bang it against the pristine white wall. Likewise, Jax had been rolling around on the floor, expression blank.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“He's trying to make us abstract,” Pomni said through a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a whimper. She had sat against the wall, curled into a fetal position and began rocking herself. “That's the only explanation. He put us in here and now he's leaving us in here until we lose ourselves.”

Jax groaned, pushing against the opposite wall. “Pomni, just shut up.”

“Listen, Jax — Jax.” She was suddenly right up close to him, gripping the sides of his face and pressing his forehead to hers. Her eyes were scribbly and unfocused. “Listen. Listennn. You? You — You are a real human person, Jax. You are not a bunny rabbit. Whatever happens, just remember, you? Not a bunny rabbit!”

“The ears say otherwise,” he pointed at his head.

“Oh, no, it's started,” Pomni whined.

“Pom—”

“Shhhhhhshhhhshshshhh,” she shooshed him, pressing one of his cheeks to hers and tenderly papping the other one. “You're gonna be fine, Jax, we're gonna get outta this. We—”

Jax broke out of her grasp, grabbed her by the collar, and began slapping her across the face. He bellowed, “Snap out of it, Pomni! Pull yourself together, cripes!”

He released her and she fell onto her backside, dazed, her eyes swirling. After a moment to let her eyes settle back into place, she muttered, “Thanks, I needed that.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“So like, why do you think he's called Caine?”

“What.”

“Caine, why's he called that?” Jax repeated, the edges of his vision blurring. “I think it's ‘cause he's made of teeth. Like, Novo-Caine.”

“Dude,” Pomni slurred. “What if we're just like, tripping at the dentist's office or something?”

“Whooaahh…”

“Or,” Pomni began, “maybe it's an acronym? ‘Cause he's a computer an’ all.”

Jax snickered, “Crappy Atari In New England.”

Pomni chuckled, “Constant Ache In Nuts, Esquire.”

“HA!” Jax barked. “Hey, hey, listen — C%$!#y As%$!#e Imminent; Need Evacuation.” Pomni laughed hysterically.

They went back and forth for a good ten (Twenty? Thirty?) more acronyms, before finally running out of steam.

“Ahh,” Pomni sighed as her cackling fit faded. “...I'm so %$!#in’ tired, man…”

Chapter 24: Autophobia

“And a good morning to you all, my Crimson Coronaries!” Caine declared, trying hard to contain his excitement; Eyesaac had shown up today! It was rare that new players showed up for their second day, and he couldn't wait to put his best foot forward — despite their rocky start the other day. He was certain Eyesaac’s hostility was just the stress of arriving in the Circus, surely!

He surveyed the rest of the performers. Ragatha had shown up today. Kinger had shown up today.

And literally nobody else.

There was a twang in his processors. Why. Why could nobody show up on time lately.

“Caine!” Ragatha burst as soon as he had materialized. “Pomni and Jax!”

He floated there, his RAM stuttering a moment. “What about them?” He asked.

Bubble squeezed out from under Caine's hat. “I think ya left ‘em in The Hole, Boss!”

“Ohh!” Caine exclaimed, smacking the side of his incisors and looking away sheepishly. “That's right! I never got them, did I?”

Ragatha's pupil dilated, and she held her hands up in front of her. “... Caine.”

“Welp!” He shrugged, snapping his fingers. The Hole reappeared.

He wasn't totally sure what he expected upon finally retrieving Pomni and Jax from The Hole.

“Welcome back, my — Okay What.”

No sooner had he begun to greet them before recognizing the scrapes and bruises — and bite marks??? — on their bodies, the scuffed clothes and tired expressions on their faces. One of Pomni's eyes was puffy and shut, one of her prongs was bent, but cartoon injuries and exhaustion aside she seemed relieved to finally be home — to the point of collapsing and hugging the floor. Jax looked like a kicked puppy.

Pomni groaned, “I am never going to complain about these checker tiles and eye-burning backgrounds ever again.”

“Pomni!” Ragatha gasped, hurrying to jester's side, helping her up and looking her over. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, I'm fine!” Pomni chuckled, taking Ragatha's hands. “I'm alright, really. Jax and I just, had a little argument.” Ragatha let out a sigh, before planting a kiss to the top of her head.

“What happened?!” Caine cried, feeling like he was about to encounter a critical error. “Oh no — Did I sink your friend-ship?!”

“Our what,” Jax sneered.

Pomni nudged him. “I think there's something Jax wants to say to everyone else. Right, Jax?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Jax, come on,” Pomni massaged her brow.

“I never agreed to say anything to anyone, Pomni. Actually %$!# off.”

“God, you are such a brat!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “How hard is it to say you're sorry for being a d%$!#ebag?”

“Harder than I banged your mom, how about that?”

“How about you develop some principles?”

“Aw, why don't you princi-pull me.”

“Oh, I'll pull something alright,” she snarled. “Probably a muscle from how hard I'm gonna kickflip you.”

“Ha!” Jax yipped, getting in Pomni's face. “I'd like to see you try, Clown Car.”

Pomni snapped, “Don't tempt what you're not prepared for, Bunny Boy.”

Caine found himself rapidly looking between them during their exchange, settling at last on Pomni. After a beat of trying to process what he just saw, he concluded, “I understand nothing about what just happened.”

“And you never will,” Jax shrugged.

“Caine,” Ragatha scowled. “I tried to call for you last night! I even tried the thing Pomni did, calling you like a darn pre-K cartoon. Seriously, you need to give us a way to contact you if we need to! ‘All-seeing Eyes’, my backside…”

He deadpanned, “Oh.” Ragatha began fussing over Pomni, and Caine sprung back into his usual enthusiasm. “Anyway! How about an adven—”

“Not a chance,” Ragatha shook her head, moving an arm in front of the jester. “You just put Jax and Pomni in what was basically solitary confinement. I think an adventure is the last thing either of them would be—”

“PLEASE,” Jax snapped, clapping a hand over Ragatha's face. “I will go on whatever dumb adventure you want, literally anything.”

It was certainly tempting, but…

“No, no, THE HARROWING HAUNTED HIKING HILLS are not a single-player campaign!” Caine huffed, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Well! Looks like you all get another day off! Wonderful! I am satisfied with this turn of events!” He willed himself to poof out of sight, returning to his workshop.

He at first thought to implement the call function Ragatha had requested, but he couldn't help but ruminate. He had been putting so much effort into plotting out this new adventure and it seemed as though nobody was appreciative of it! Adventures were his art – did that mean nothing to them all? How could he be expected to improve if none of them would even show up to hear their objective?

Well…

He could always just, teleport them all to the stage. He couldn't technically force them to go on adventures, but he could at least get them to sit still long enough to hear about it.

But that wouldn't help them.

If anything, doing things like that against their wishes was more likely to anger them — as he'd learned when he'd teleported Zooble and Gangle onto the bus the other day.

Then, the solution became clear to him.

His processors hummed in satisfaction. It was so simple, why hadn't he considered it before?

If he couldn't get them to go on this adventure, he could bring the adventure to them.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Are you sure you're okay, Pom?” Ragatha asked, fawning over the jester once Caine was gone. Jax, meanwhile, had fallen to his knees dejectedly. “This doesn't look like just a little argument…”

“I'm really okay,” Pomni said, smiling gently. “We did get into a fight, but—”

“A fight?!” Ragatha's voice raised an octave.

“Aw, so what?” Jax rolled his eyes as he stood, ignoring the way Ragatha glared at him. “We both got in some good shots, we're even.”

“You are just—” Ragatha seethed, before turning her attention back to her girlfriend. “Pomni, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have made you try to—”

“Ragatha,” Pomni's voice was level, “you didn't make me do anything. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

The ragdoll’s body visibly relaxed a bit, but her face scrunched up with worry. “I'm… I'm sorry…”

Pomni squeezed her hands reassuringly. “There's nothing to be sorry for.” Jax made a retching sound, and Pomni's brow twitched. She whirled around towards him. “Would you get out of here?! If you're grossed out, leave!”

“Make me.”

Ragatha shut her eye, took a breath, and released it. She brushed a hand against Pomni's cheek, drawing her attention. “Okay. I believe you. Let's get you cleaned up, okay Sweetheart?” She ran a thumb underneath Pomni's swollen eye. Suddenly, she snapped to attention. “Oh! That's right, I almost forgot! We got a new cast member the other day!”

Pomni's eyes widened, and she and Jax glanced towards the new player in question.

“Pomni, Jax,” Ragatha began, turning and gesturing to their new crewmate, “Eyesaac. Eyesaac, Pomni and Jax.”

Eyesaac seemed to have been sizing them up the whole time, and was currently staring at Pomni with what Ragatha could only interpret as… suspicion?

Whatever it was, she only caught it for a split second before it vanished.

“‘Sup,” Eyesaac waved.

“Uhh, yeah,” Pomni mumbled, “‘sup.”

“Man, these avatars just keep gettin’ weirder and weirder,” Jax smirked. “What are you even supposed to be?”

“An Oracle,” Eyesaac shrugged, to everyone's collective confusion. They stepped forward, holding out their hand. “Nice t’ meetcha.”

Jax's smirk grew, and before Ragatha could warn Eyesaac, they shook hands — and both were given a massive jolt, electricity sparking off of them before they both fell backwards. She and Pomni stared in stunned silence, before Jax slowly and shakily pushed himself up.

As Eyesaac stood, both they and Jax showed off their palms; they both were wearing joy buzzers.

After a brief moment, Jax let out a laugh and threw an arm around Eyesaac's shoulders. “Finally someone that's more my style!”

“Oh God no,” Pomni groaned. “There's two now…”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Gangle groaned as she sat up, holding her forehead. She felt sluggish — moreso than usual. What had happened last night? Everything was a blur. She remembered… Zooble had comforted her… Then they'd learned that there was a new player… Something about off-brand Smarties..?

Her face grew warm as fuzzy memories surfaced. Oh. Ohh no…

She glanced to her side, her gut sinking when she saw Zooble sleeping beside her.

She hid her face in her hands. What the hell had she said last night? What the hell had she done last night? Ohhh, this was not good…

“%$$$$$$$$$$!#...” She moaned into her hands.

Zooble grunted, rubbing one of their eyes as they stirred. “Gangle?” Their eyes suddenly snapped open, and they shot up to sitting.

The room was silent between them.

“U-Uh—” “So—”

They both went quiet again, neither able to meet the other's gaze.

Zooble cleared their throat.

Gangle whimpered, “I-I'm sorry, I… I think I did something weird last night…”

“It's fine,” Zooble muttered.

Again, she hid her face in her hands. God, she'd %$!#ed up. She was such a creep! She got stoned and tried to — what, seduce Zooble? What was wrong with her?!

“I-I… I understand if you…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “If you don't… you know, wanna hang around me… anymore…”

“...Of course I wanna hang around you,” Zooble said after a beat. Gangle looked at them. Their gaze was soft. “I told you I wanted to protect you, didn't I?”

“E-Even after… that?”

“Even after that,” they nodded. “I'm… going through some stuff. But I don't wanna just leave you alone while I deal with it. I just need some time to figure things out.”

“C-Can…” Gangle swallowed. “Can I… Can you..?”

“Take your time,” Zooble said, gently.

“Can… Can you hold my hand?”

Zooble nodded, and gently took one of her ribbons in their hand. For a moment, it was as flimsy as any inanimate length of ribbon, before it slowly curled and squeezed.

“Did you really mean it before?” Gangle asked. “What you said, about… about my heart being strong?”

“I meant it,” Zooble said. “Every word.”

A soft, high-pitched noise squeaked out of her, her eyes shut tight. “Thank you,” she managed. Zooble gave her ribbon a reassuring squeeze.

They returned to silence.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Pomni hissed as Ragatha gently pressed an ice pack to her swollen eye.

With the day's adventure postponed yet again, they had retreated to the kitchen to tend to Pomni's scrapes and bruises — and had been followed by Jax and Eyesaac, to the girls’ frustrations. They were sitting at the table, and Ragatha couldn't help but be reminded of just a couple days ago, how she had found Jax in a similar position. Guilt swirled in her chest, puffing up like rotten cotton candy.

“Sorry,” she said.

Pomni was quick to reassure her. “Nothing you did, this was all me and Jax.”

Ragatha's mouth scrunched up, the taste of lemons on her tongue. “I… I know. But I still feel bad.”

“That's fine,” Pomni sighed. “You can feel how you feel — but please don't apologize unless you've actually done something worth apologizing for.” She placed a hand over the one Ragatha was holding the ice pack with.

The ragdoll swallowed the butterflies that had tried to flutter out of her mouth. They tasted bittersweet, her heart aching as they dropped past. She brushed one of Pomni's hair strands away from her face, her touch lingering there on her cheek.

“Get a room,” Jax jeered.

“You get a room!” Pomni yipped. “Why are you even following us?”

“Hey, I can go wherever I want,” Jax smirked. “It's a free Circus.”

“It is quite explicitly not.”

Ragatha sighed, tearing her glare from Jax and instead focusing back on Pomni. “He's not worth it, Button. Just ignore him.”

“Oh my god,” Jax snickered, “‘Button’? Your pet names are gonna give everyone cavities. Poor Caine.”

Pomni sucked in a sharp breath. Ragatha side-eyed Jax briefly, then smiled at the jester. “You're doing very good, Pomni.”

“I'm not a child,” the jester pouted, then winced again as Ragatha pressed the ice pack back to her eyelid. Ragatha opened her mouth to apologize, but held her tongue.

Jax whistled. “Lookin’ kinda whipped, there, ‘Button’. Just be sure ya give your good li’l pup a treat later, ‘kay Ragsy?”

Pomni grit her teeth, which had grown sharp. “Ragatha,” she muttered, side-eyeing the rabbit. “I think I'm in the mood for a game of fetch. See any good sticks?”

“Nope,” Ragatha said, further trying to disregard the present bundle of sticks. Pomni grumbled something, but followed her lead nonetheless.

“Aww, come on, don't be like that,” Jax chittered, reaching over to poke Pomni in the head. “You're hurtin’ my f—”

He yelped as Ragatha grabbed his wrist. “Oh hey,” she said with a smile, “found one.”

He yanked his arm away, sneering. “Ho-ho, very funny. Ha-ha, it is to laugh.”

“Why do I get the vibe that there's only one brain cell in this entire Circus that we all have to share,” Eyesaac quipped.

“I mean that's not in accurate,” Ragatha mumbled.

“Okay, I get why Jax is here, he's a %$!#,” Pomni said, glancing at Eyesaac. “Why are you here?”

“Amusement,” they shrugged, bottom lid raising as though they were smiling. “You bozos are hilarious.”

“Oh. Gee. Thanks,” Pomni muttered.

“Eh, it's a compliment. Better a bozo than boring, if ya ask me.”

“See, this?” Jax said, pointing between himself and Eyesaac. “This right here? You get it.”

“Wonderful,” Ragatha rolled her eye. “Why don't you two go bro-bond literally anywhere else but here?”

“Wooow, Rags,” Jax smirked, “bold a’ you to assume newbie here's a ‘bro’.”

Ragatha went red. “O-Oh! Sorry, are you..?”

Eyesaac shrugged again. “Eh, brotayto-brotahto, I won't stew over it either way.”

“…Oh for — how many layers is that joke?” Pomni groaned. “Dear God.”

“You're just salty you didn't come up with it first,” Jax snickered.

“Aww, leave her alone,” Eyesaac began. “She's under no obligation to butter me up.”

Jax's grin grew, “Can't believe she can't see the ap- peel.”

“I'm going to drown you both,” Pomni grumbled, a look of utter disgust on her face.

“Well, I'll take the puns over Jax's usual antics any day,” Ragatha sighed.

“Don't push your luck, Dollface,” Jax smirked. “I'm just in a surprisingly good mood.”

Pomni suddenly climbed to her knees on her seat, slamming her hands on the table. “What is it going to take for you to %$!# off?” She snapped.

Jax leaned forward, sending Pomni a %$!#-eating grin. “Oh, I'm sorry, what happened to ‘I'm not giving up on you’?”

“I'm not giving up,” Pomni scowled, “I'm just tired, alright? Is a break from your crap too much to ask for?”

Ragatha was expecting Jax to clap back with some other snarky retort, but… he and Pomni just stared at one another. The air felt intense, and a part of her was worried she'd get an up-close reenactment of whatever had happened in The Hole.

Instead, Jax just scoffed, and said, “Alright, sure. Whatever.” He stood and turned to Eyesaac. “Yo, newbie, let's leave th’ ladies to their little salon sesh.”

And with that, they both walked out of the kitchen.

“What was that about?” Ragatha asked once they were alone.

Pomni sighed and slid back into her seat, holding her forehead. “Just, Jax and I had a lot to say while we were in that box. He's an annoying jerk, but…” She sighed. “He's just going through some stuff, same as all of us. I think — I mean, I hope — I got through to him, at least a bit.”

Ragatha hummed, unsure of what to say. Instead, she shook her head and returned her attention to Pomni's injuries. “C’mere, Sweetheart. Let's finish cleaning you up.” Pomni shifted forward, and Ragatha gently pressed the ice pack against her swollen eye.

She couldn't help but stew over things. Jax had hurt Pomni — her Button. If it wasn't for Pomni assuring her she'd managed to reach him, she… She wasn't sure what she'd have done, but a part of her was convinced it'd end with Jax on the ground. She sucked in a breath.

“Pomni? I… I'd like you to promise me something,” she said. “Please.”

Pomni nodded. “Of course, anything.”

Ragatha sucked in a breath. “Please, don't… Don't get into fights with him. With anyone, really, but especially with him. I don't… I don't like seeing you hurt.”

“In my defense,” Pomni pouted, “he was the one who threw the first punch.”

“Please,” Ragatha insisted. “Promise me.”

Pomni hesitated for just a moment, before sighing. “Okay, Raggie. I promise, I won't get into any more fights with him.”

But Ragatha pushed, “Even if you get stuck in the same room, promise me you'll keep your distance.”

“I mean, I'll do my best,” Pomni said. “I won't start anything, but I'm gonna defend myself.”

Ragatha opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came. She struggled, “I didn't mean… Of course you should defend yourself. I just… I'm sorry…”

She glanced down at the floor, too ashamed to keep looking at Pomni's face. She had been the one to suggest Pomni could get through to Jax, and look what had happened! Not only that — but she had just allowed Caine to leave her in that hole overnight with him! It was her fault Pomni had gotten hurt. It—

Her spiral was abruptly stopped when she felt Pomni pecking at her mitts.

She raised her head, watching as Pomni gently pressed her mouth to the back of her hand. Once she had her attention, the jester said, softly, “Please, talk to me?”

Ragatha couldn't help it — the tears forced themselves to her eye. “I-I… I just… I was the one who encouraged it. I was the one who put you in that position. It should have been me, I should have been the responsible one—”

“I'm glad that it wasn't,” Pomni said. “I let you get hurt before. I don't want to let it happen again.”

“I'm not worth it,” Ragatha whimpered. “I should have been the one to get through to him. I shouldn't have pawned him off onto you.”

Pomni stood up, now face-to-face with Ragatha. “Ragatha, please. Listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong. None of this was your fault. You've put up with him for years, and frankly, I'm surprised you managed as long as you did. You've worked hard enough.” She brushed a lock of yarn away from Ragatha's face. “You are worth a million punches — at minimum. You are worth this.”

The dam broke. Ragatha swiped her hand under her eye as tears began falling. “I'm sorry,” she whimpered, over and over. Pomni's arms wrapped around her. Her chest felt like it was full of molasses, and it was all working its way up to her eye, until finally her lungs were clear to expand and her heart was clear to pump. “I love you. I love you.”

Pomni hummed against the top of her head, hug tightening.

They sat there for several minutes, time passing them by in a turbulent wave, guilt and appreciation and gratitude swallowing them in their own little bubble there in the kitchen. Once the tears had finally stopped coming, Ragatha slowly pulled away, examining Pomni's face.

Her eye was still a bit puffy, and a few scrapes remained, but already the cartoonish injuries had begun to fade. Pomni smiled. It easily infected Ragatha.

“Pomni,” Ragatha said, softly, quietly. “Would you..? I mean, do you want to..?”

She swallowed her nerves.

“I'd like you to stay in my room tonight.”

Chapter 25: Date Night

“Are you okay, Zooble?”

The amalgam in question was pulled out of their spiralling thoughts by the inquiry. They turned to face Gangle, concern etched into the latter's expression.

“Yeah, I'm… I'm fine,” they fibbed, trying to ignore the itch in their limbs.

Gangle sat up a bit straighter. “Are you sure? You look irritated…”

“I said I'm—!” They took a breath, a clump of shame settling in their chest at how their voice raised. “Sorry. I said I'm fine. I'm supposed to be here for you, you don't have to worry about me.”

“Well, I am,” Gangle said. “Please, tell me what's wrong?”

Zooble sighed. “It's just… my pieces, you know? I don't like keeping the same ones on for too long, it stops feeling ‘right’.”

“You can go change them,” Gangle said, a small smile creeping onto her face. “I'll be okay on my own for a bit.”

“Are you sure?” Zooble asked, antennae twitching. “If you need me around…”

“I'm sure,” Gangle nodded. “Please, go find something comfortable.”

Zooble hesitated, but acquiesced. “Okay. I'll be right back, alright?” Gangle nodded, and Zooble made their way to the door.

They walked down the hall to their own room and stepped inside, already feeling a bit better just being in the familiar environment. They opened their chest of parts and began rooting around—

“ZOOBLE!”

The door burst inward. Pomni came sprinting in, a look of sheer panic on her face.

“Zooble I need your help!”

“JESUS, Pomni!” They snapped. “Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!”

“Ah,” Pomni froze. “My bad, hang on.”

She exited the room and shut the door. There were three knocks. Zooble's antennae twitched in annoyance. “...Come in.”

“ZOOBLE!”

The door burst open and Pomni came rushing back in, exactly the same way she had a moment ago.

“Zooble I need your help!”

The amalgam sighed into their hand. “Of course you do. What is it, Pomni?”

“Ragatha asked me to stay the night in her room!” Pomni blurted.

Zooble stared blankly at the little weirdo. “...Congrats? I guess??”

Pomni babbled, “I don't know what the %$!# I'm doing! I need advice! I can't screw this up! I already don't know how to say ‘I luhuhh’ — ‘I luvvf’ — those words! I can't make her think I don't but if I don't show up tonight or if I'm bad in bed then she might think I don't like her and I don't want that and—!”

“Alright, God, calm down!” Zooble barked, walking over and clapping a hand over Pomni's mouth. “Why are you even coming to me about this? What help or advice could I possibly offer?”

“Because you're cool!” Pomni said simply, removing Zooble's hand from her face. “You've gotta know how to be good at — at — you know!”

Zooble stared down at her, and prepared to drop an apparently mind-blowing truth bomb. “...Pomni. I'm a virgin.”

Pomni blanched. “O-Oh…” After a beat, she asked, “Are you sure?”

“Wh — YES I'm sure! What the hell kind of question is that?!”

“I don't know, I'm sorry!”

“Besides, you know we don't have anything down there, right?” They rolled their eyes. “I don't think either of you are gonna have any issues with poor performance.”

Pomni sputtered, “I-I know that! But if she wants me to stay overnight then we'll be sleeping together! And that's kind of like sex, isn't it?”

Zooble massaged their brow. “Pomni, that's — No, you know what, I don't even have an answer to that. You're just an idiot. Have you tried, y'know, talking to her?”

Pomni made a frustrated noise. “I know communication is important, it's just…”

“It sounds like you're looking for cheat codes,” Zooble snickered.

The jester perked up. “Does sex have cheat codes?” She wilted under Zooble's expression. “No, don't… don't answer that. I'm an idiot, I know.”

“What even happened?”

Pomni's blush marks grew larger. “Just… she asked me to stay in her room tonight, and — %$!# it, I just said yes, alright? So sue me.”

“Hey, no judgement from me,” Zooble shrugged, their face growing warm when they recalled what had almost happened just last night. “Well, if you really want my advice — limited though it may be — you might wanna just, play it cool, as a start. When you're feeling anxious, just, take a breath and remember that she already likes you. She's not gonna just break up with you on the spot if you fumble.”

“Right, cool,” Pomni hummed. “Cool. I can do cool.”

“If you're still stumped, maybe go talk to Kinger,” Zooble suggested. “I mean, out of all of us, he's the only one I know who's had a partner before.”

“O-Okay,” Pomni nodded. “I'll go talk with him. Thanks, Zooble!”

“Don't mention it,” they shrugged.

Pomni waved as she left, and Zooble was left with a queasy feeling in their gut. The memory of last night was still fresh in their mind, and they couldn't help but wonder if their advice would be different had they actually been as quote–unquote ‘cool’ as Pomni had assumed. They weren't cool, they were aloof — introverted — insecure — reserved.

And yet, Gangle still liked having them around anyway.

Their gut squirmed uncomfortably at the implications — and the thought of what pursuing anything would actually lead to. So, they turned back their chest, picked out some new parts, and stuffed down the thoughts in their place.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Gangle? Are you there?”

She perked up at the knock at her door, her chest aching a bit when she recognized Ragatha's voice. She swallowed down the residual suspicious thoughts she'd been having and stammered, “Y-Yeah, I'm here. You can come in.”

Ragatha opened the door, slid in, and closed it, waving to Gangle as she did so. “Hey, how, um… How are you?”

Gangle got up from her bed, approaching. “I'm… not okay. B-But I think that I'm getting better. Zooble's been helping me a lot lately. Having them around has been… I guess ‘stabilizing’ is the right word.”

“I'm glad,” Ragatha grinned. She sniffed the air, and Gangle winced when she asked, “Do you smell something?”

“O-Oh! That's, uh…” Gangle's mind raced. Think of an excuse, idiot! “...eraser dust.” Nailed it.

Ragatha cocked a brow, but didn't pursue the question any further. “Okay… W-Well, um, anyways — I just, wanted to check up on you. And say that, I'm glad you're… Still here, you know?” Gangle's chest suddenly felt tight. “We've missed you.”

“O-Oh…” She mumbled. “Um… Thank you? What brought this on?”

“I just…” Ragatha sighed. Then, she put on a smile. “Nothing brought it on, I just wanted to check on you—”

“Stop that.”

Ragatha flinched. The air was thick between them.

Gangle grumbled, “I know you, Ragatha. I know when you've got something on your mind, so don't lie to me.”

The ragdoll's eyes lowered, looking away shamefully. “I… originally came by because I wanted your advice on something, but… then I realized we haven't talked in a while, so… And! That's not me trying to — to guilt trip, or segue into asking, or anything! I just… it didn't feel right, only coming to you when I needed something. Especially when you've already got so much on your plate.” Her mouth scrunched up. “I… haven't been the greatest friend lately, have I..?”

Gangle was quiet for a moment. Ragatha's words sank in — her expression sank in.

I knew it, came the thought, she's so fake! She doesn't care about us, she only came here because she wanted something—!

Ragatha's expression shifted to one of — fear? Distress? “I-I'm… I'm sorry…”

Gangle blinked. Why..? Why did she look so scared..?

It struck her then — her thoughts had manifested on her face.

“No, no, I…” Gangle sucked in a deep breath.

I don't want her to hurt. It won't make me feel better.

That's a strength I wish I had.

“You… Were you really going to go? Before I asked you not to lie?”

Ragatha nodded. “I was. I'm sorry, Gangle. I… I know it's selfish of me, to come here and ask for something when you're… I wanna make it up to you, and… I figured the best first step was checking in, no strings attached.” Her shoulders bunched up. “But… but now you know I came here for something else. I'm sorry, I shouldn't—”

Gangle rushed forward and pulled Ragatha into a hug.

She squeezed Ragatha and she squeezed the ache in her chest simultaneously like a vise, as hard as she could, choking her, choking it, choking everything — and then, keeping her arms around Ragatha, she let the ache go.

“I forgive you,” she said, softly.

Ragatha stood, frozen.

Gangle pulled back a bit, sniffling. She smiled. “And thank you. For checking on me. And for being honest with me.”

The ragdoll's mouth scrunched up again. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened. “I don't… know what to say.”

“Well,” Gangle chuckled damply, “you can tell me what's on your mind.”

“I—”

“It's okay,” Gangle reassured her, releasing her from the hug and sitting on the edge of her bed. “I'm not hurting. You're my friend, and… friends are there for each other. Even if we don't talk every day.”

Ragatha sniffled, wiping at her eye. “Are… Are you sure?”

Gangle nodded. “Positive.”

The ragdoll chewed on her lip, redness creeping into her cheeks. “I-I, um… I kind of…” She sucked in a breath. “I… asked Pomni to stay with me. Tonight. To, um… sleep with me.”

Gangle heard a ringing sound as her face grew warm. “Oh.” She uttered, trying not to give anything away — or, God forbid, think of any kinds of scenarios one would find in a trashy %$!# — …%$!# — ugh, corn flick. “Okay. And… what did you need help with?”

“I-Its just…” Ragatha mumbled, averting her gaze. “It's been so long since I last… y-y'know? And Pomni's usually so sensitive to touch, and she already got into a fight with Jax last night. I-I'm worried about screwing something up.” She looked back to Gangle. “Do you have any advice?”

Gangle hummed in thought — mostly to vacuum up any errant inappropriate suggestions — and after a moment said, “I mean, maybe do something to help her feel more at ease?” Gangle suggested. “She tends to get overwhelmed easily, doesn't she? Maybe have something on hand to calm her down.”

Ragatha thought for a moment, then clapped. “That's it!” She took the other woman's ribbon-hands, smiling gratefully. “Thanks, Gangle, you're a lifesaver!”

Gangle grinned gently back.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Nobody would expect pillows to make a knocking sound. Nonetheless, the ones making up the ‘door’ of Kinger's impenetrable fortress did, and the chess piece himself poked his head out.

“Oh! Hello Pomni!” He greeted.

“Uh, hey,” she shuffled her feet. “So, this is probably gonna be a weird question, but you're kinda the only other person I can ask. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” he said, cheerfully.

“So, let's say there's… someone special to you,” she began. “And, it's kind of a big deal? So, you wanna do something nice for her, something romantic. U-Uh, what would you do?” As he got ready to answer, she added, “No bugs.”

He sat there a moment, thinking. Something romantic for someone special, but no bugs? No bugs, no bugs, there were no bugs in his last report? No, that wasn't right, no system is without bugs — no matter how high-security they were. Surely there was some bug that he'd found. Oh! He'd found a bug in the kitchen earlier! A Scutigera coleoptrata — a common house centipede. It was a good thing he caught it, he'd hate for Ragatha to find it. Ragatha — oh wait! Pomni had asked him something! What was it again? Something about something romantic for someone special? Was she looking for a gift for Ragatha? Oh dear, had he missed the wedding invitation? Or worse — the wedding?!

“Uhh, Kinger—?”

He screamed, before his vision came back into focus. “...Oh! Hello, Pomni! I'm sorry, what did you need again?”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Hey, Jax?”

He looked up from his current focus — mixing the oil and watercolor paints in the Gallery — as Ragatha came strolling up to him.

“Whaddya want, Dollface? I'm busy.”

“Of course you are,” she rolled her eye. “I just, needed to ask to borrow something, if you've got it.”

He straightened up and shrugged. “Depends, what do you need?”

Ragatha looked around as if she was about to say something scandalous, then whispered what she was looking for into his ear. Immediately, he regretted acquiescing.

“Do I even want to know why you'd need that?”

“Oh, stuff it. Do you have one or not?”

“I'm frankly insulted you'd think I did. Why even ask me for it?”

“Because you're always collecting random junk on adventures.”

“Point taken,” he grumbled. “Fine, I'll look and see if I've got one in my room, but from now on, keep me out of whatever freaky stuff you and Pomni are into.”

 

-/-/-/-

 

“Hiii, Pomniii~!”

The jester leapt in shock at the sudden voice, looking around wildly for the source.

It chuckled, “Up here, silly!”

She raised her head, only to be greeted by the grinning sun.

“Whatcha lookin’ for down there~?” The animated star chirped, voice echoing.

“Shh!” Pomni hissed.

“What?” The Sun's voice rattled the Grounds. “I can't hear you, speak up!”

“SHHHH!”

“WHAAAT?”

“I SAID SHUSH! SHUT UP!”

“OH!” The Sun exclaimed. “GOT IT!”

Pomni groaned, smacking her forehead and drawing her hand down her face in frustration.

The Sun swept through the sky and into her line of sight. “So whatcha doin’~?”

“Look, just—!” Pomni grumbled. “Can you like, shrink and come down here so we're not yelling at least?”

“Well I can do one’a those things~!”

“Please let it be the shrinking thing.”

The Sun came down, slamming into the Grounds beside her.

“Yep, ‘course not.”

“So~?” The Sun chirruped, her face swiveling down towards Pomni. “Why’re ya out here all alone? Are you on a walk? Did Ragatha not wanna walk with you? Does she hate your guts now?”

Pomni took a breath to settle her building annoyance. “Ragatha… invited me to her room tonight. Kinger said there was a flower bed out on the Grounds but, I think he might've been misremembering; I can't find it.”

“Ohh~!” The Sun trilled. “So she wants t’ %$!#!” Pomni's face exploded with heat. “Ya gonna %$!# your girlfriend, Pomni?”

“That—! I can't tell if you're mocking me or what.”

“Just soaking up some juicy goss!” The Sun giggled. “Anyway! If you're looking for the flowers, they're down by the Lake!”

“Oh!” Pomni perked up. “Uh… thanks. I guess.”

“No prib, Bib!” The Sun whooped, taking back into the sky. “Now go an’ knock your girlfriend's socks off!”

“Okay, I'm gonna let that one slide,” Pomni rolled her eyes. “You get exactly one.”

“I'll be undressing you both in my mind's eye!”

“I SAID YOU GET ONE!”

 

-/-/-/-

 

Ragatha sucked in a nervous breath as she finished tidying up her room. Pomni would be here any minute, and she wanted everything to be at least somewhat neat. It wasn't like Pomni hadn't seen her room before, but tonight was special! There was no way she would mess things up before they even began.

A knock came from her door, and her heart skipped. It was time. She took one last look in the mirror, took a breath, and steeled herself. Everything would be fine.

She threw open the door and reclined against the jamb, pulling as sexy a pose as she could think of. “Heya, Cutie-p— Pomni?”

Before her was a bouquet of roses. Behind them, she could just barely see — was that a cowboy hat?

As the roses were lowered, she found herself staring at the lower half of Pomni's face underneath the brim of the hat. A rose was clenched between her teeth. As Pomni lifted her head, Ragatha bit her lips shut; she had on a very forced smoldering expression.

“Hawdeh, ‘idduh ‘aydee,” Pomni mumbled around the rose stem.

Don't laugh, Ragatha told herself. Don't laugh, don't laugh, do not laugh.

“O-Oh,” she stammered, fanning herself and trying not to wheeze. “My what a — a charming mare of a woman, come to sweep me off my feet! But alas, I am promised to another: my dearest Harlequin.”

“Har-har,” Pomni slurred. “Uhm righ’ ‘ere — Cud you tehk dish roshe oudda muh mouf?”

Ragatha held up a hand to stifle a giggle, before plucking the flower from Pomni's lips. “Isn't this a bit much, Sweetheart?”

“Nothin's too much for you, cowgirl,” Pomni said with a heavy Texan drawl.

Ragatha sighed, taking a moment to smell the flowers. “Say, where did you get these?”

“The flowerbed o’er yonder,” Pomni said. “By th’ lakeside.”

“The lakeside?” Ragatha asked, before her heart sank. “U-Uh! I-I appreciate it, Pomni, but—”

From the bouquet came a swarm of bees.

 

-/-/-/-

 

“I-I'm so so sorry!” Pomni cried as she and Ragatha finally managed to get all of the bees out of the room, slamming the door shut as soon as they could. “I-I didn't know!”

“It's — It's okay,” Ragatha reassured her, a nervous grin coming to her face as they pressed themselves against the door. “It was a… a thoughtful gift. Thank you, Pomni.” Once she'd caught her breath, she gave her girlfriend a smile. “Just, a lesson learned for next time.”

Pomni nodded dejectedly, the hat drooping over her eyes.

Ragatha couldn't help but feel a twinge in her heart for her. She leaned down a bit, propping up the brim and meeting Pomni face-to-face. “Hey, you.”

Pomni mumbled, “H-Hey…”

“What's goin’ on in that head of yours?”

The jester’s lips pursed a bit, and she averted her eyes. “I just… I wanted tonight to be special.”

“No reason it can't still be special,” Ragatha grinned, gently.

Pomni whined, and Ragatha saw grief pass over her face. “How? I just made a mess of things.”

“Well,” Ragatha took her hand and led her over to the bed. Pomni's cheeks grew hot. “I've got a little something for you. Close your eyes for me, Button.”

Pomni swallowed hard, and shut her eyes. She heard Ragatha moving around… and then felt something hard and plastic in her hands.

“Okay, open!”

She opened her eyes and— …What the %$!# am I looking at..?

In her hands was a large plastic tablet. A cartoon frog mascot sat in the bottom right corner, with a speech bubble by its head that read, ‘Add to your brain cells!’

“I know how into numbers and math you are, and I remembered you said you were a programmer,” Ragatha beamed. “I thought you might feel more at ease with a math game!”

Pomni forced a smile. “That's… really nice you remembered, Ragatha. Thank you.”

Ragatha shifted her feet a bit. “Sorry, did I get it wrong?”

“No! No, no, I do like math, and games, it's just…” Pomni trailed off. “It's… kind of a kid thing, isn't it? It just, kinda makes the mood weird.”

“O-Oh,” Ragatha stammered, face red. “Ha! Haha! Right, what — what was I thinking…”

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Pomni cleared her throat. “S-So! Um… Hhhow about I… play you a song?” She suggested, hopping down from Ragatha's bed and crossing the room to her cello. That was a cool thing to do, right?

Ragatha lit up. “Oh! You know how to play?”

I do not I do not I do not. “Sure! How hard can it be?”

She tried to lift the instrument like a guitar — then like a violin. Both attempts were fruitless, and she was certain she looked ridiculous; it was bigger than her.

“I-I’ve got it!” She insisted, pretending to deadlift the cello. “Hang on, just um… just, warming up, you know?”

Ragatha suppressed a giggle, and Pomni felt a twinge in her chest, embarrassment burning her face. “Here, I can show you — i-if that's okay.” Pomni nodded, and Ragatha grabbed her cello bow, guided Pomni over to her chair, and sat her in her lap. Pomni held her breath, certain that her soul would escape her if she so much as opened her mouth. “You don't hold a cello off the ground — you play it like this.”

She took Pomni's hands and guided them, drawing the bow over the strings.

Pomni tried to relax as the cello hummed, brain chugging as she tried to reconcile the different emotions warring in her head. Sitting in Ragatha's lap made her doubly want to die — partly because of her touch aversion — now a full buzz in her brain — and partly because holy %$!# she was sitting in Ragatha's lap.

“You okay, Pom?” Ragatha cooed over the smooth rumbling of the cello. “It's not too much, is it?”

Be cool, she reminded herself. She shook her head and mumbled, “M’fine…”

“Are you sure? You're looking a little…”

Pomni grumbled, “J-Jeez, what do you expect when you've got me like this? I don't know whether I wanna scream or jump for joy.”

Ragatha stifled a giggle. “Sorry, Pom… Do you wanna stop?”

“Hell no.”

“Okay, well…” Ragatha trailed off, then said, “If you change your mind, just say ‘Jax’.”

Pomni sputtered, “Oh for — we are not making ‘Jax’ our safe word.”

“You don't think it would immediately kill the mood?”

“...Point taken.”

Once their giggling had stopped, Ragatha leaned further against Pomni's back, sending jolts through the jester's body. She continued to guide Pomni's hands.

“Here, you just press on the strings, move the bow — there ya go, that was a C!”

Pomni felt her gut squirm. “Raggie, come on, I'm not a child, you don't have to hype me up.”

“S-Sorry, sorry!” Ragatha gave a sheepish grin. “I'm just… trying to put you at ease.”

Say something smooth! “I thought you just put me at C’s.” Pomni screamed internally, What the %$!# was that?!

Ragatha snickered, covering her mouth with a hand. “What??”

“Nothing, never mind.”

“I love you so much,” Ragatha giggled, removing her hands from Pomni's and instead cuddling the jester. “Go on, try playing something on your own.”

Pomni slowly drew the bow across the strings, adjusting her fingers and trying out the different notes. She winced as most of them were off-key.

Ragatha, however, just cheered. “Good! You're doing great, Pom!”

“Okay — Jax!” Pomni snapped. Ragatha immediately released her, and allowed her to set the cello aside and stand back up. “Seriously, can — can you not infantilize me like that, Ragatha?”

“I… I'm sorry,” Ragatha said, softly. “I just… don't want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Well, I… I am,” Pomni crossed her arms. Ragatha's eye widened. “I appreciate the effort, but… you don't have to treat me like a child to make me feel comfortable.” 

Ragatha's mouth scrunched up. “I-I'm sorry, I just…”

Pomni stepped forward, gently taking one of Ragatha's hands. “Talk to me, Raggie. Please. What's going on?”

The ragdoll was quiet for a beat, then said, “I just… I'm worried. After what happened with Jax, I just… You're so fragile, Pomni.”

Pomni felt a brief flash of indignance in her chest. “Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean, ‘fragile’?”

“You were in such bad shape earlier! Jax—”

“Ragatha, I told you, I'm fine! It wasn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be.”

The ragdoll scowled. “So I'm just crazy, then?”

Pomni flinched. “No, I didn't — Ragatha, you know that's not what I meant.”

“He gave you a black eye, Pomni!” Ragatha argued. “Just — do you really expect me not to be concerned?”

“Concerned, sure,” Pomni said, “but this is — it's a bit much, don't you think?”

“Better too much than too little,” Ragatha muttered, looking away. Pomni fell silent, feeling as though she'd just been stabbed. Ragatha looked back at her, and her eye grew wide. “Oh — Pomni, no, that's — I wasn't talking about Kauf—!”

“I… I think I need to go,” Pomni struggled, trying to hold back the imminent feeling of vomiting.

“No!” Ragatha cried, grabbing Pomni by the shoulders. “Pomni, I wasn't talking about you, I—!”

“Stop bull%$!#ting me!” Pomni shouted, swatting Ragatha's arms away. “Do you enjoy this? Telling me things are fine when they're not?! Telling me you forgive me, just to constantly bring it back up?! I — Christ, Ragatha, I'm sorry, okay?! If you haven't forgiven me yet I understand, I really do, but quit leading me on! I can't take it! I already feel guilty enough!”

“Pomni, please, I—!”

“Just — what do you want from me?! Get on my knees and grovel?! Build a gallows and hang myself?! Not like it would work this time—!”

Pomni clapped her hands over her mouth. Ragatha stared in horror.

The room was silent.

“What… what do you mean, ‘this time’?” Ragatha stammered, voice trembling. “Pomni, what — don't turn away from me!” She grabbed Pomni by the shoulders again. “What do you mean ‘this time’?!”

“Nothing!” Pomni lied, unable to look Ragatha in the face. “I didn't mean anything.”

“Oh, so you get to bull%$!# all you want?!” Ragatha snapped. “Tell me the truth, Pomni!”

The jester struggled against her grasp. “Let go of me!”

“Not until you tell me!”

“I said let go!”

Pomni shoved. Ragatha held on tight. They fell over.

“%$!# it, get off me, Ragatha! Let me go!”

The ragdoll refused. “I won't! Not until I know you're okay!”

“I'M NOT OKAY!” Pomni yelled. “And you aren't helping! Now — get — off!!” She pushed, forcing the both of them into a sitting position, with Ragatha's back to the wall. “I've had enough of you and your guilt-tripping!”

“I wasn't talking about you!!”

“Then WHO?!”

“MY MOM, OKAY?!”

Pomni blinked, and the red that had clouded her vision seemed to finally clear. Tears rolled down Ragatha's cheek in spite of her glare.

“I was talking about my mom,” she repeated. “Of course I care too much — if… If I ever became like her—” Her chest heaved. “I wasn't trying t-to — to guilt-trip you, I—” She swiped her arm over her eye. She babbled, “I'm sorry — I don't — m’not like her, don't wanna — I'm sorry—”

Words formed and died on Pomni's lips.

She stammered, “Ragatha — Oh, Raggie, no — I'm so sorry, I didn't — I didn't know — %$!#, I'm so so sorry—”

Ragatha continued to sob.

Pomni did the only thing she could think of, and pulled her close.

“Shh, it's okay,” she hushed, running a hand through Ragatha's yarn. “It's okay — oh, I'm so sorry, Baby…”

Ragatha trembled, burying her face against Pomni's chest.

“You're not like her, I promise,” Pomni cooed. “I'm so sorry, Raggie.”

They sat there, the only sounds being those of Ragatha's grief.

Once Ragatha had finally stopped shaking, Pomni swallowed hard. “I… The night that I… kissed you,” she sucked in a breath. “I tried to…” Ragatha pulled back, a terrified expression on her face. “And — it wasn't your fault! I just… I thought that things were ruined between us — that I'd ruined them, I… I thought you'd never speak to me again, and… I acted impulsively. It was stupid, and dramatic, and… and I'm so glad it didn't work.”

Ragatha sniffled, “I'm g-glad, too…”

“I'm so sorry, Ragatha,” Pomni said, her voice soft.

“I am, too,” Ragatha whimpered. “I don't… I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, or fret, or… or be overbearing… I just…”

Pomni reached up, wiping tears from under Ragatha's eye, and the latter's head raised.

Their eyes were locked on one another’s. Pomni's other hand was clutching Ragatha's blouse. Ragatha's hands were gripping Pomni's collar. Their faces were close.

Ragatha grabbed Pomni's cheeks, and pulled her in.

 

-/-/-/-

 

Pomni sighed contentedly, running a hand through Ragatha's yarn. The latter was resting her head on the former’s chest, eye shut, breathing softly.

What had followed their little argument was… probably pushing a PG-13 rating. It might have even been a bit too steamy for a T-rated fanfiction.

Even without any ‘bits’, Pomni couldn't deny feeling satisfied once all was said and done. She'd always hated physical contact, but… At this point, if it was Ragatha, it was okay. She was okay.

She pulled her girlfriend closer, stroking the side of her face and earning a calm, sleepy smile from the ragdoll.

“Pomni?” Ragatha mumbled, dreamily. “I'm… I'm sorry. About what I said earlier. I know you're not fragile, I just… I don't want you to get hurt — and I could never forgive myself if it happened because of me, if I was the one causing you pain.”

“I know,” the jester sighed, pecking Ragatha on the top of her head. “I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have flown off the handle at you the way I did. I should have let you explain.”

Ragatha hummed, snuggling closer into Pomni's chest. “I forgive you, Pom.” Her eyes began to flutter closed, and she yawned, “G'night… Love you…”

Pomni couldn't help but chuckle. “Goodnight, Ragatha,” she said. She licked her lips. “I l — …I luh — louh—” Pomni grumbled, pressing a hand to her forehead. Why? Why could she still not say it?

She glanced down at Ragatha, remorsefully. She deserves better, a voice in her brain said. She deserves someone who isn't such a useless coward. She deserves someone who appreciates her enough to do the hard things. Like she could ever love you — you're not even—

A sharp, stabbing pain erupted in her chest, right where her heart would be — a twisting, tearing sensation that sent a tremble throughout her body. She suddenly felt filthy, monstrous, like her hands had just grown claws and the slightest movement could tear her girlfriend to shreds, like any moment she could envelop the ragdoll and crush her. She tried to control her breathing, but it kept falling out of rhythm.

You're not even a—

You're not—

You're a—

—will never—

 

“—doing this—”

 

“Pomni? Pomni, honey, it's okay, I'm here.”

Her vision came back into focus. She was sitting up now. Ragatha was holding her by her shoulders, sitting on her knees in front of her.

“R — Raga—” She struggled, her voice coming out hoarse.

“Oh, Sweetheart,” Ragatha cooed. “I'm… I'm going to touch your face. Is that okay?”

Pomni blinked. Touch? Her face? Did she want— Yes. She nodded.

Ragatha's mitt came up, gently caressing her cheek. Pomni briefly felt the pins and needles again, before they subsided, and she relaxed into Ragatha's touch. “S-Sor — I'm sorry — Sorry—”

“Shh,” Ragatha shushed her, pulling her close and cradling her. “It's okay. You're okay.”

Pomni sucked in a breath. She wasn't okay, but…

She went limp into her girlfriend's embrace.

She would be.

Notes:

Y'all would not believe how long I spent agonizing over exactly how I wanted this chapter to go. I *started* writing it partway through writing the previous chapter. And half of it I knocked out over the past two days :^) Just gonna say thanks to Gooseworx and Glitch for dropping episode 5 when they did and sparking some inspiration, without them this would have come out *so* much later.

Also! Up next is a four-parter! So, it may take a bit to finish just to get it all properly plotted out, but hopefully I do the concepts I've got justice.

*laughs with definitely-not-misplaced confidence*