Chapter Text
You and the other circus members sat down together to try and process what had just happened with Abel and Caine. The couches were soft, and you really needed the rest.
Your stiff porcelain wings sat awkwardly behind you, unmoving as always. The tip of the right one had been broken off by Jax shortly after you got here, but since the gun adventure had shattered your entire body, it’d been repaired.
You don’t really like him that much.
“So you really can’t move em??” Jax had asked, poking them.
“No, please be careful with them though. I can feel through them”
“Really? What if I do this?”
You’d let out a stifled scream when he’d cracked the tip off with his hands.
“Huh. Guess you can. Don’t worry it’ll grow back probably”
It never had. It’d only been returned to you when your porcelain body had shattered after being shot the other day.
“Hey.. Porcie, are you okay?” Gangle asked
“Huh? Oh… I’m…..” you blanch for a moment
“If you’re not okay after that last adventure…. That’s okay, you know?”
You looked into your lap, pale white dress covering your legs, “I’ll…. Be okay,” You had tried to give her a soft smile, but it came out wobbly at best.
You looked around at everyone else, they all looked miserable or otherwise just…. done.
Jax inhaled and began talking.
“Welp, really hate to say it, guys, but I told—
“DON’T YOU EVEN!” Zooble interrupted. “Do not even f[whooo]ing BEGIN to say that sentence like you didn’t try to keep us all trapped here forever.”
“Anything coulda happened when you pressed those buttons. It doesn’t matter.”
“It seemed to matter back when you did it.” Zooble retorted. You tried to tune out the argument but failed due to both of them being so fucking loud all the time. You wished they would shut up for once, stop rocking the boat.
“What if you DID ruin our one chance at leavi—
“What if Abel was secretly evil?” Jax disrupted “What if we all got stranded in the void? ‘what if’ ‘what if’ ‘what if’ it wasn’t real. So it doesn’t matter. Never did”
“How can you say that like didn’t try to f[boing] us all over?”
“He’s right, though.” Gangle adds. That got your attention, Gangle hardly ever agrees with Jax.
“What? Gangle.”
Before Zooble can say anything more, Gangle continues, “It doesn’t matter what could’ve happened. We could argue about it and hurt each other all day long, but that’s not gonna help anybody”
You hummed in agreement.
“I think… what we need to do now…” she sniffled slightly “is to just be there for each other”
Pomni sighed, “she’s right. We’ve all done bad things. But we’re also all we’ve got.” She inhaled “I think… we need to abandon the idea of leaving.”
You flinched at that, you missed your home. But here was…. So different than anywhere you’d ever been in real life.
“What— what are you—
“We got our hopes up, and we were let down. I don’t know what exactly happened with Kaufmo… but we can’t let that despair consume us. We should focus on what we have, like you said.” She looked at Ragatha, “Constantly chasing an unattainable goal will drive us crazy. Maybe what we have to do now is to just… live”
You were trying to ponder her words more deeply when Zooble started talking again.
“Oh man. I had dreams.. and-and goals… I wanted to be able to leave my mark somewhere in the world. How am I supposed to just abandon that?”
“You’ve made a mark in my life.” Gangle said softly
Zooble sighs “I know. You’re probably right. But… it just… really, really sucks.” Zooble walked over to the couch you and Gangle were on, and sat between you. You had to move a little closer to the armrest to make room for them but it was okay. Gangle and Zooble hugged each other tightly. You… felt a small pant of jealousy at their connection.
Jax had gotten up from his position on a couch lying down. He started to walk off before Zooble stopped him.
“Hey. That includes you too.”
“Huh?”
“Listen we’re not gonna have you wandering off alone somewhere and abstracting or something. You’re a pain in the a[boink]s but you’re still one of us.”
Jax looked dumbfounded by that and stammered for a moment before finding his old persona again.
“Heh. You think I’m capable of abstracting? You guys worry too much”
Zooble sighs, then says “We need a vacation.”
No one argued with that, it became quiet for a moment, giving you time to think.
To just live….? How? You’d never even had a job in your life before the Circus. How do you even live here when you’ve never lived at all?
Though before you could get too deep into thinking about your old life, the textures around the circus started glitching and there was a loud ominous rumbling in the distance.
“Uh… Wh-what was that?” Asked Ragatha.
Before anyone could speculate on what had happened, Caine appeared out of nowhere (as he usually does).
“Hello, my little fortuitous fruitcakes! Today’s adventure is-
“No.” Zooble snapped “Caine, we’re not in the mood. Why don’t you answer some of our questions? We have a lot of them.”
Caine laughed maniacally and shoved his teeth head into the middle of the group.
“Who has time for questions when there’s a whole wacky world of hijinks out there?”
“Uh…?” Zooble grumbled. Pomni then got up angrily.
“YEAH HEY! You have a lot of explaining to do—
Caine zipped her mouth shut. You stared at Pomni’s zipped mouth in fright.
When Pomni had next tried to talk it only came out as a frustrated and confused “mm?!”
Ragatha tried to stand up for Pomni and yell at Caine, but was interrupted by him.
“Alternatively, I don’t gotta explain diddly squat!”
“Uh, can you just give us some time to process everything?” Zooble asked. They looked concerned by Caine’s behaviour.
Pomni then unzipped her mouth and started yelling at Caine again. You just wanted to go back to your room and lay down.
“No! Caine! We have a lot on our minds right now, and we’re not going on an adventure.”
Caine turned away.
“I see.”
His voice dropped, sounding different… you couldn’t put your finger on what it was, maybe more menacing?
“And since when were you in charge?”
You flinched, then stiffened.
The typically bubbly and chaotic ringmaster seemed wrong today.
Pomni and Zooble both stammered, looking at each other.
As Caine continued, you had watched on in fright.
“Do you have any idea how much I do for you guys? How much I obsess over trying to make things perfect? How many insults I have to ignore to do my job? You have a lot on your minds?” He laughed hysterically, “don’t make me laugh. I have a new adventure for you, and you… should consider participating.”
“A-And if we refuse?” Zooble stammered.
Your head snapped towards them, you gestured for them to stop. You pleaded in your mind that they hadn’t upset him too badly.
When Caine started talking again, you turned your head back to him.
“Maybe I’m not getting through to you.”
He snapped his gloved fingers. The lightbulbs above started smashing, you supposed that was one way to dim the incessantly bright light of the circus.
When the light was mostly gone, and the only source of it left was a spotlight on the stage, you all were teleported in front of the stage. Caine sat at a grand piano, and started to play.
To say the least about the situation, you were scared beyond belief. You knew Caine had always been kind of weird but this was not his typical kind of weird. What happened? Would he hurt you? You wondered if he would take apologies after he finished whatever he was doing now. Speaking of, he started to sing.
“It’s news to me that it’s news to you, to which degree who answers to who”
You watched on, terrified, as the piano (and Caine) started to float. Caine was still singing.
“We could go on and on. But in the end, who are we kidding?”
You saw more glitches around Caine, maybe he’s causing them? That would make sense.
“My Divinity is past infinity!”
That line had made you flinch. And remember how some nights you’d pray to your god from the real world. No one had ever answered.
Caine had then pulled the entire group up into the air towards his head. You’d leaned back to try and put any amount of space between you and him.
“Am I… Getting through?”
You were all sent promptly falling into a pile on the stage, with Caine dancing around it. You’d been terrified, still wondering what you should do.
Maybe you should focus on surviving this? Caine seems very unstable. And likely angry.
“Seems our regime has plummeted south”
You all had just gotten up from the pile when Caine jumpscared you all and then snapped away your mouths.
“Don’t need to scream if you ain’t got a mouth”
Your hands had clinked against the smooth porcelain of your face where your mouth used to be. Everyone had looked up at Caine in horror.
He had a deck of cards, he flipped them together and then smashed the stack on top of you all.
“Why bite the hand that feeds”
You all were inside the pictures on the cards. He looked incredibly menacing from the view from inside the cards.
“When it’s the only hand you’re getting.”
The cards were flipped away from facing him one by one. Then folded back into the stack.
You couldn’t really see what happened next, but suddenly you were plummeting towards the ground.
“It’s time you see that this great marquee.”
Just before hitting the ground, you had all been stopped in place and then flung upwards into the top of the circus tent.
“Is the only place you’re ever gonna be, so strap on in and take it on the chin”
When you had hit the fabric of the tent, a giant boxing glove had entered from nowhere to punch you all down again. You’d all landed on a staircase and began rolling downwards as Caine slid down the railing. Your porcelain form couldn’t take the beating of it all and started to crack as you fell.
“And don’t forget who’s running the show!”
At the end of the staircase was not even a mercy, it was Bubble, huge and going to eat you all. When you all had been eaten, Caine popped the bubble. And then you were… nowhere? You could still hear Caine singing, but you’d been able to see anything or hear anything else.
“Now look at this! Absolute bliss! Oh, what a shock! Watch where you walk!”
You didn’t think these lyrics made much sense, but you couldn’t see anything that was happening while he sang.
You wondered if those lyrics aligned with whatever he was doing to your friends next. That you had been, for some reason, excluded from.
“I’m the host, I run the place. Caine, that is my name! Not enthused? Just feeling used? Oh what a goddamn shame!”
You just wanted out of the dark. Or for him to stop this entirely. You knew better than to expect he would though.
Then, it was very bright and you had to shut your eyes to adjust. It felt like you were wearing something different than your usual dress, something skimpier and itchier. Your body had been moving against your will, dancing or something? Your legs were kicking up.
“Congratulations, all of my friends”
When your eyes had adjusted, you realised you were back with the group, dancing in these ridiculous shiny costumes Caine had made. You felt extremely uncomfortable in the leotard, you weren’t used to such short clothing, much less in public.
“Public relations are getting a cleanse”
Caine reappeared, in a black shiny suit with a bowtie. He danced around in front of you all while singing.
The beat of the music had begun to speed up, everyone’s legs kicking together faster. You wanted to cry.
And then suddenly there was a big cake or something??? With stairs??? Caine was dancing down the stairs and STILL singing. You were beginning to tire. Actually you were tired the second he started this nonsense.
“Put on your Sunday best because I’m nowhere close to quitting!”
How comforting. You just wanted to go home.
He snapped his fingers and then you were nowhere, again.
You kind of hate not knowing what happens when you get sent here. And the lack of ANYTHING but Caine’s voice is driving you a little nuts.
“So play the games and just ignore the pains because all that remains is how you prime your brains! You whine to me, you’re too blind to see-“
And then you could see again. You, among everyone else, were in the palm of one of Caine’s giant hands. He closed his fist and threw you all up into the air, seemingly to juggle you all or something? You barely understand what’s happening. Is the song nearly over yet?
“That I’m the one who’s running the show!”
You and everyone else plummeted to the ground, where your friends were put through a rapid-fire torture gauntlet or something? And then everyone was piled onto each other, exhausted. Caine stood on top of the pile then jumped off and did a pose that probably looked cool. The music swelled in a way that made you hope for a second that maybe the song was actually over.
“Yeah!”
And then the pile blew up. Your form shattered into a hundred pieces, some of which almost certainly pierced whatever remained of the others.