#Pomni should get all the girls + Zooble I think

[warriorrazor]

I think Pomni should get sillier when she’s more relaxed.

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

Ok thoughts 👏thoughts👏Everyone gather around I have thoughts about this!

Episode 2 was clearly the Pomni episode. We got to see her character get a little more fleshed out and we also got a glimpse of what motivates her which is great.

With this tweet we have solid confirmation on who the upcoming episodes will center on (thanks for not making us guess, Goose) and this lineup is really interesting.

First fascinating thing is that Kinger and Zooble share a spotlight in ep 3. Why is that? Everyone else gets their own dedicated episodes so why are they unique in that regard? What connects them?

Well, I have one idea!

So we know since the pilot that Kinger has been the one to have lived in the Circus the longest out of all of them. We’re still not sure if he was in fact the 1st human to be trapped (maybe we’ll find out in the next episode) but he definitely has the most seniority, both in age and in length of entrapment.

We also know that Zooble was the most recent character to get stuck before Pomni (and considering their attitude, it may have even been quite a while beforehand) AND is the youngest character next to Jax (they even share the same age, which could be a coincidence but it feels too deliberate of a choice).

Which means ep 2 will simultaneously focus on the oldest and the youngest of the characters.

I’m actually curious as to what their dynamic will be because they haven’t really interacted much in the pilot (and like not at all in episode 2), if they end up interacting in ep 3 at all. But mostly I’m excited to see them more fleshed out with hopefully Pomni getting the chance to bond with them (either together or separately).

My guess is that the purpose for them to share focus on an episode is to get perspective from someone who’s been there the longest and has seen more people come and go than anyone else vs. someone who was just recently in Pomni’s shoes and had probably a much different first day experience (we know Zooble cared enough about Kaufmo to personally organize his funeral so they may have some…feelings about who’s essentially his replacement).

Ep3 is also supposedly Gooseworx’s most anticipated episode so I’m extra excited.

Next we have Gangle for episode 4. I honestly don’t have a lot to say about her or the significance in her episode placement outside of her being the closest in age to Pomni (being only a year older). The only hint we get about what her episode will possibly consist of will be on how reliant she is on her ComedyMask to feel happy, which will be very interesting and we might even get some confirmation on whether her avatar was programmed with that feature upon entering the Circus or if it was an add on of sorts by Caine to help keep her sane. A pretty shitty feature if it can’t last for very long but it does make for a nice metaphor about how fragile her facade is (girl is literally masking).

Actually I don’t think her and Pomni have actually exchanged words yet in the show. Wouldn’t it be funny if they don’t up until her episode. Like Pomni is so caught up in between whatever mess episode 3 has in store for Kinger and Zooble that the two of them never actually talk and it just keeps getting more awkward. Gangle wants to talk to her but is so self-conscious about her Tragedy self that she’ll only feel safe to have a conversation if she has her mask, but it just keeps breaking before she even gets the chance.

Again this is all just speculation, if they actually end up talking in episode 3 I’ll…make ship art of them.

Yeah

Anyway, episode 5. The one I’m personally waiting for because y’all should know what I’m about by now.

*Warning: Unhinged, borderline psychotic tangent incoming*

I swear to god if Pomni and Ragatha don’t have a fucking conversation before ep 5 I will launch myself into the sun. I’ll take anything, I just need them to get real for a second. I NEED to know the extent of this woman’s damage. It has to be explored, analyzed, and dissected and I will do so with gusto when the day comes. None of these characters will be safe from my scrutiny, but Ragatha oh ho ho, you have been living rent free in my head for too long, madame. You WILL pay your dues and I intend to collect in every episode until there is not corner of your unsound mind that I have not examined in great detail!

Ahem *Straightens tie* Ok back to business

So yeah, Ragatha.

It may be because we’ve only had 2 episodes but I can’t help but feel like we’re supposed to see Ragatha as a sort of deuteragonist since out of all of the supporting characters she’s so far been getting the most focus aside from Jax, and we’ll get to him in a minute (I promise that’s not just me being biased, or maybe it is, I don’t know, you tell me).

In just two episodes we’ve seen more of what makes her tick compared to anyone else. And of the main cast she’s been the ONLY one to make any kind of connection to the main character and have enough of a meaningful interaction with her to leave an impression.

But this is what really clinched her role as a deuteragonist for me, she’s so far been one of the few to have the narrative briefly shift to her perspective to give us significant character moments like these:

The show REALLY wants us to see just how NOT ok she is.

If she’s meant to be the heart of the group, her heart already can’t take much more damage. Her friendship (if you can call it that, it’s so painfully one sided right now) with Pomni clearly means a lot to her, so much so that her entire sense of self worth seems to be tied to it (and if you’ve been paying attention, she doesn’t have a lot of that as it is). It would be nice to see their connection gradually grow before her designated episode, where she might experience actual growth for herself.

And if episode 2 is any indication of how this show preserves friendships well…

Yeah, I don’t think she’s gonna make it.

In fact, I’m willing to bet actual money that she’s either gonna abstract in episode 5 or episode 6.

Which brings us to Jax’s episode! The other deuteragonist…tritagonist? He definitely shares some degree of significant narrative focus along with Pomni and Ragatha. He’s both an active antagonist force and one of the only characters to drive the plot forward every time he’s on screen (then there’s that weird thing where he keeps breaking the fourth wall).

He has so much significance in the story that Gooseworx gave him his own bullet point in her list of content warnings (this could also be a joke, but I mean it would be funny to see just how despicable they can make this character).

Gooseworx also described Jax and Pomni’s relationship in the show as “messy”. After episode 2, I don’t think she considers him as a candidate for any kind friendship like she did for the others, and who could blame her? In just two days the guy abandoned her to deal with an abstraction and chucked her out of a truck. He’s no one’s favorite person, and he relishes that. Bunnyboy definitely has some issues that Pomni would pick up on the more she’s forced to spend time with him. To the point where I can see her trying to eventually form some kind of bridge because, as her previously established character motivation implies, she’s not the kind of person to intentionally leave anyone high and dry. But unlike the rest of the crew, I don’t think Jax would be inclined to change for the better just because someone took pity on him. He seems like the kinda guy to dig his heels in and commit to his bad behavior out of spite.

And for his episode to come after Ragatha’s, why do I get the feeling the reason Gooseworx went so far as to preemptively apologize to bunnydoll shippers specifically is because he’s gonna cause something really really bad to happen to her (could be abstraction, could even be something much worse) that he would come to sorely regret.

And oh boy would that evoke some feelings in everyone!

I feel like if that is indeed the direction this show is going, the rest of the episodes will really be something.

I’m also certain Caine will get his own episode but right now he is very much an antagonist to these characters. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a villain, but he’s certainly not someone Pomni is keen on sympathizing with, at least not currently.

Thanks again @lilyclawthorne for helpfully providing me with the tweet so I can give some context for my ramblings of the week!

[cat-napsss]

I think we might all be wrong about Jax (Chekhov’s Bowling Ball Theory)

I posted this on tiktok but I feel like I should post it here too. so I literally stumbled my way into this realization while having a bunch of unrelated thoughts about TADC, and it felt like a moment in those murder mystery movies where the detective is standing by the board and suddenly flashes back to that *one* clue that didn’t make any sense and suddenly it ALL makes sense.

lemme ask you something, did you notice in episode two that no one died or had any sort of concern of death? Ragatha gets stabbed through and gets a knife in the head, while Kinger takes like eight of them. then they drive off into a ravine, and Gangle (one of the more anxious characters) has absolutely no reaction to their possible demise. As for Jax, he stands on the truck as it falls much like a Looney Tune (keep that in mind). With this evidence I fully expect an episode in the future to reveal to Pomni that they can’t die (via her own death and respawn or another character’s, who she panics over before finding out they come back) with this reveal we would establish that the players won’t die while playing these levels, no matter the damage done to their bodies. Now I have two questions.

Why was Ragatha so afraid of the Abstracted Kaufmo if they would all just respawn? And HOW exactly does someone Abstract?

all we know for certain about Abstraction is that it’s the terrible thing that happens when you “reach your breaking point” your breaking point is vague, but what if it’s how exactly it sounds? What if unlike in the games and levels, the circus is a place where you don’t respawn (because as a “safe-place” in the game, that programming was never put there to begin with) so when your character for whatever reason dies (like if you were to “reach your breaking point” and end your life) your file corrupts and creates an Abstraction?

when they found Kaufmo they were surprised, and Zooble comments that they didn’t expect him to have “given up”. Implying that Abstraction to some degree is a choice. Like the only way to do it is to do purposeful harm to yourself while in the circus.

now, to finally get to my point.

who was the one to volunteer themself and others to go check on Kaufmo? Leading three of the five available people to find him, instead of sending more man-power to help Zooble, who arguably needed them a lot more?

it was Jax. Jax volunteered himself Ragatha and Pomni. He then proceeded to reveal he had a key to Kaufmo’s room, and successfully avoided explaining why. Then they opened Kaufmo’s door and found him Abstracted.

why did he (uncharacteristically) volunteer himself and the anxious new girl to check on him?

Well, what does Jax see on the floor and pick up? A bowling ball. HIS bowling ball.

why was his bowling ball in Kaufmo’s room? Why was that something that was added? What purpose did it serve?

and why did Kaufmo run after them? Why did he abandon Ragatha after she was down? Why did he abandon the search for Pomni after that too?

why did Jax dive into the gloink cave?

why did Jax make that expression at the end of episode two when Ragatha invites Pomni to Kaufmo’s funeral, before leaving completely with no sign of him anywhere at all during the actual funeral?

and lastly, lemme ask you how you think someone who behaves much like a Looney Tune, might kill someone indirectly to get away with it?

I think it will be revealed that Jax killed Kaufmo with a Looney Tunes’ style trap, one using that bowling ball.

Because why the hell else was it there.

[parrythisucasual]

Could you do a jax x fem cathumanoid that loves all types of arts singing,acting,drawing and more. Where jax where jax falls in love with her singing and just here in general?

THREE DAYS WORK ALL FOR YOU <3

Jax x Fem! Cathumanoid! Artsy! Reader

Jax watched from around a corner as the girls (and Zooble), especially you, chatted together. His arms crossed, he watched as you laughed, something Ragatha had said must’ve been funny. He couldn’t understand what it was about you that made him want to be around you. He was fine with Zooble or Gangle, but he couldn’t possibly be more jealous of Pomni and Ragatha.

Why did they get to talk to you so easily? Why were they the ones you’d choose to hang around all day? Hell, you’d even draw pictures for them. You were best friends. The jealousy was eating away at him and he couldn’t comprehend, for the life of him, why.

To him, you were perfect. From the way you smile to the way you walk, act, anything. Jax had never felt anything quite like it. It was both amazingly exhilarating and entirely frustrating at the same time.

He perked up when you motioned to Ragatha that you had to go. You turned away after the two nodded, heading for the second floor, most likely your bedroom. Jax watched your tail flick around the corner. He paused a moment longer, at war with himself. Should he follow? Would that be weird? You haven’t talked to him at all today, shouldn’t he say hi? But would you want him to say hi?

Before consciously making the choice, he was already off, following you. By the time he rounded the corner, however, you were already up the stairs. He picked up speed, hoping to reach you before you got into your bedroom, but no luck. The moment he stepped foot into the living quarters hall, your door clicked shut, a sense of finality about it.

Feeling rather stupid, Jax remained standing in the hall. Turning around now would mean admitting defeat. Besides, if he reappeared near the others, they'd think something was weird, and he really didn’t feel like being stared at. They’d know why he came back. Resigning to go to his room, he froze. A soft melody, rather pretty, caught his attention.

It was faint, very faint, but he knew immediately you were singing. He was too far to make out the words, so he quietly crept up the hall. The closer he got, the more beautiful the melody became. He quickly realized that it was, in fact, a love song you were singing.

He stopped outside the door. He recognized the song, he wasn’t sure how. But it was a duet. His cheeks flushed a bit as you sang, and before he knew it it was the man’s part of the song. He didn’t hesitate, knowing full well he would probably regret it, and sang along.

The silence on the other side of the door was resounding, for a moment, but your voice responded. Softer, more hesitant, but just as beautiful. With each line he sang he felt his embarrassment grow, but he refused to stop because with each line you sang he could hear your confidence grow.

All too soon, however, the song was over, and the two of you were bathed in a heavy, meaningful silence. The doorknob clicked and he took a quick step back. The door creaked open and there you stood, eyes wide and curious as you looked up at him. Your pointed ears perked forward, as if expecting something.

“Sorry-” Jax couldn’t do it, he turned away in his attempt to flee the embarrassment, but you caught him by the crook of his elbow. He glanced at you, face blooming bright pink. You frowned, “Where are you going? You can’t seriously think I’m just gonna let that go.”

“I was sort of-” “Hoping I would?” you interrupt him with a grin, “no way, Bunny.” You twist his arm at the right angle to force him to face you once again, “You can’t just sing that with me and walk off, scot-free.” He grinned nervously, “You mad about it, or something?” he chuckled, trying and failing to display his usual annoying demeanor. 

You raise a brow, “Tell me, Bun,” you ignore his question, “why’d you join? You like me or something?” The look on his face was answer enough, but you sat and waited. He had to get off his high horse and confess eventually, right?

“I came by to say hi, y’know,” he started, trying to sound confident but coming off mostly as awkward, “and, uh, that song’s a duet. Singing it all alone would make you sound stupid or whatever.” You snort, throwing Jax off once again. You were radiating confidence, only making him more flustered.

“Sure, bug guy. Hey, what would you say to grabbing some lunch and heading down to the digital lake?” Jax nodded eagerly at the offer, “Sure why not? Don’t got anything better to do.” “Then you can get the food ready. I have to get ready, after all.” You let him go, slipping back into your room.

“It's a date.”

[heavenlyhoundoom]

This is my tadc swap au.

Bubble 🔄 Caine

Pomni 🔄 Kinger

Gangle 🔄 Jax

Zooble 🔄 Ragatha

Kaufmo 🔄 Queenie

Gumigoo 🔄 Loolilalu

Swap quotes

1.Bubble: Welcome to the amazing digital circus! My name is Bubble. I'm your ring master, and I'm gonna show you the most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, mind-bending paraphernalia you've ever laid your eyes upon! Isn't that right, Caine?

(Caine flies out of Bubble's hat.)

Caine: That's right, Bubble. I can't wait to see what you're cooking up for today!

2.Gangle: Bubble, is this one of your NPCs, or is this a new sucker. Because if it's a new character, We're gonna have to redo this whole theme song...

Ragatha: I'm not doing that again...

3.Bubble: How about we talk about something else? Like your name.

Kinger: My name? My name is...

(Kinger realizes that he can't remember his name.)

Kinger: Oh, God! Why can't I remember my name!

Bubble: No one can remember their name once they've entered the digital circus. One of the few things I don't have control over are your minds. So all I can do is help you come up with a new name.

4.Zooble: Oh, wait. We should go check on Queenie. I'm sure she'd like to meet our new friend.

(The glionks take Pomni's pillows.)

Pomni: My impenetrable fortress!

Zooble: Hey, Pomni!

Pomni: Huh?...

Zooble: Want to come with us to go check on Queenie?

Pomni: No, not really.

(Pomni walks up to the others.)

Pomni: I think Queenie's gone insane. The last time I spoke with her, she was rambling endlessly about some exit. Kind of like you, Kinger. You might be going insane too.

5.Gangle: By the way, I may have left something in your room, so let me know if you find it. Say, you're not afraid of scorpions, are you?

Zooble: Gangle! That's literally my only fear. Why would you do this!?

Gangle: What? It could be a completely unrelated question. You never know until it's too late.

6.Prince Gumigoo: Here's the key back into the kingdom for when you've secured the goods. I trust you not to let it fall into the wrong hands?

7.Gummyshark bandit(girl): You think your dad's gonna pull through if we get all this back to the village?

Gummybear bandit(girl): I'm sure he will. This much syrup would save hundreds of people.

Loolilalu: We won't be sure until we get back to the village. He's a fighter, though. He taught me everything I know.

8.Gangle: Alright, Jax, when we catch up to them, I'll jump over, crawl inside, and shoot them repeatedly until they're unrecognizable.

Jax: I feel like that violates some kind of convention.

Gangle: You're violating my ears with your clap-back, get driving, driver!

[comfortablecomfort]

Warm Welcome

(@dontmistakemyusername, as promised, here is your fic)

Ler: Ragatha

Lee: Pomni

"RAHAHAHAGATHA! *squeak* STAHAHAP IT!" Pomni shrieked when Ragatha targeted her belly and was squirming in her hold.

"Awww, I didn't think you were this ticklish, Pomni!" Ragatha giggled at Pomni's adorable reaction.

"Gee, does every new sucker get more and sensitive as they come?" Jax snarked

"As if you're any better." Zooble spat back, which caused Jax to give them a slight glare.

"PLEAHEHEHEASE! RAGATHA! *snort* *squeak* NOHOHO MORE!" Pomni's eyes were starting to fill up with tears

"She looks a little red..." Kinger muttered

"Well, I think this is a great way to welcome a new performer! Interesting method Ragatha!" Caine cheered

Ragatha smiled and kept attacking Pomni, the poor jester girl reserved to slight kicking. It didn't help in the slightest.

"This is the calmest I've seen you so far, maybe we should do this more often." Ragatha said with a slight tease.

"I-IHIHI-" Pomni tried to think for a second.

Ragatha let up, and allowed Pomni to breathe for a little before saying..

"Well, if you're comfortable with it of course." Ragatha said in a calming voice.

Pomni thought for a second, maybe she was right.

The tickling was stress relieving, she didn't really feel nervous anymore.

"Well.. o-okay." Pomni panted

"Great!" Ragatha smiled and went back to her tickle attack, only this time doing it more gently.

Everyone else watched Pomni squirm around in Ragatha's hold.

This could go on for a while.

But they didn't really mind.

(Alright, all done. My mom nearly found out about my tumblr, so I got distracted A LOT. sorry)

[helloiamadrawer]

𝚃𝙰𝙳𝙲 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜 🎪

Warnings: none! just general/cute headcanons of the silly circus gang 🤸

Gangle can make some downright delicious matcha green tea, she has a set of cups and ofc tea bags in her room so when anyone in the circus is upset or stressed from a wacky adventure, she'd offer to make some for them. (Jax would probably be the only one to refuse but hey he's missing out)

All of the girls of the circus had a sleepover once (it was definitely Ragatha's idea :) ), and when it came to the most invigorating activity being a pillowfight, Zooble kind of hesitated.

"Yeah, I think I should opt out of this one you do know I hit hard Ragatha..right?"

"Oh come on Zoobs!" Ragatha cheered," If I can take a butcher knife to the head a thousand times you sure can't hit me harder than--oof!" a pillow ricocheted at her face, sending her bouncing around her room like a ball in a pinball machine (imagine the sound like the pinball makes while hitting the machine with the situation that is happening to Ragatha)

Finally coming back to solid ground, stars revolve around her head as she weaves from side to side as Zooble immediately ran to her followed by Pomni and Gangle to help the rag doll up and keep her steady. "I'm so sorry, I told you I hit too hard!" "Are you okay Ragatha?" Pomni asked cautiously, waving a hand in front of her face. "I'm good..no worries." she chuckled lightly, a wavered smile paved on her face from being clocked by a damn pillow. Rest assured, they never did pillowfights again because Zooble kicks too much ass lmaooo

Caine is a great singer AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE and here's how everyone knew: he left a door open one day leading to some sort of auditorium different than the one at the Tent, Pomni was the first to see the door, she hesitantly stepped into the other world.

An array of seats were swarmed through the area but no Npc's were in any of the seats but on stage there were a group of them singing a very flowing vocal number, it sounded nice and calming and then walking out in the middle of the stage was Caine, after their measure of singing was cut off by a motion of his hand, silence fell over until the chime of a triangle rang out and he started singing ♥️ his voice was remarkable (song below)

Pomni=flabbergasted and in awe that this a.i could sing so well, she could almost feel herself floating from the graceful power of his singing voice she HAD to tell everyone! she ran to everyone's room, spreading the word and by the time Caine finished performing, all the circus members applauded and cheered.

Ragatha and Gangle were crying a little cause it was so beautiful.

Caine was startled at first no one ever came to his singing performances but momentarily starts bowing in reciprocation of the wonderous appreciation for him.

Pomni has actually asked Caine if she could have a change of outfit, guess what the a.i does? JUST GUESS? Bro changes the color theme of her fit b r u h 😂

Jax and Bubble have kissed once but it was off camera

Zooble was so tired one day that the next morning Jax saw them sleeping in her own 'Zooble Box' full of their spare parts. The purple rabbit thought this would be a funny picture on the wall so he snapped one then getting slapped around by the grumpy assortment of parts after

Ragatha loves to bake. She could bake almost everything you could imagine. Her fav thing to make is pineapple upside down cake or peach cobbler 😋

Kinger collects fireflies in mason jars to have some light in his dark little pillowfort during the day and then the following night he sets them free into the night. he thinks of them as his tiny house guards 🥺🥺🥺

Whenever somebody is in emotional turmoil, instead of Ragatha being the one for emotional advice Pomni has learned to take her place sometimes since she has transformed Gummigoo into a more hopeful being after his traumatic realization of him being an npc 🥲

She's invented her own kind of comforting strat s since she has known now that her friends really care about her. You can say it kind of inspired her to be like Ragatha but in her own unique way 💟

Zooble listens to breakcore/vogue music because it helps them with being comfortable with their mix n' match parts and feeling whole. Sometimes feeling like a fem/them queen helps being in this hellhole of a digital realm 💅

Jax would say rizz and not know what it means, just only says it cause it sounds cool 🙄 bro is literally rizzing up ppl in the show (watch the pilot or ep 2 you'll see what i mean)

[grimmtells]

I see he likes Gangle! I see he likes all the girls actually... Is it possible he's a bit of a charmer? A ladies-man? At least is that the image he likes to present?

✦ Crazy you got that just from who he did and didn't like ! But you're right ! He's absolutely the charmer-type and loves presenting himself as a ladies-man who can easily make a "demoiselle" swoon over him. Also works with guys, he just does it less.

It's not written on his description (maybe I should add it) but he's a big tease/flirt. In the main cast, he does that with Ragatha, Gangle and Caine the most, because they're the ones who get veeery easily flustered, so it's the funniest to do !

RARELY if ever does he try with Zooble because they're basically the least receptive and, quite frankly, think it's super weird of him. So now one of his little secret goals is to fluster them specifically.

Pomni's one he often teases as well. But kinda same as with Zooble, she's just really not as receptive as the others and pretty much always clocks it as dishonest, since he often would rather bully her than flirt. She finds it kinda creepy as well.

Kinger is usually not receptive, not because he finds it weird, but because he just- doesn't get it. Which is frustrating really, and Arlekin has already gone through the embarrassing motion of explaining what he meant to him more than once, enough for him to just not risk it again. Except if there's a perfect timing he just couldn't miss.

Jax is also one is teases often, simply because it looks like it disgusts the rabbit every time, so the failure of the flirt circles back to being hilarious, thus flirting has become one of his favourite tactics to use on Jax. (It's also a personal goal to fluster him specifically, like Zooble)

NPCs always get flirted with, that's a given for any adventure, so the newer, smarter NPCs were a joy to deal with for him.

And Bubble... well, Bubble is Bubble and he'd rather not be caught in their general vicinity.

(THAT WAS HELLA LONG, SO SORRY)

[cyberaxolotl]

To Lose A Queen

The Amazing Digital Circus Angst/Sadfic

(AO3 Description) A headcanon induced fic about my interpretation of Queenie’s abstraction, how it happened, the immediate reaction, and when.

Important tags: Pre-canon, physical fight/violence, character death/abstraction, body horror/horror elements

Words: 5.3k

Illustrations: 0 in fic, 1 cover art

Read on AO3 instead? (More tags + Author’s notes)

Fic & Cover Art below the cut

April fifteenth, 19XX. One-hundred and fifty-two weeks before Pomni would arrive, and five days before Zooble. The circus was already full; It had all of its toys. A doll, a rubber rabbit, chess pieces, one toy for laughing at, one for crying at, and the toy that was silly to look at. Caine had all the ones he wanted right there.

Kinger was doing much better back then. He woke up in the “morning” that day, April fifteenth, with few worries in his mind. None that could be acted on, anyway, and none that could stress him out terribly.

There was a light knock on his door. “Kinger..?” A voice called out, gentle and sad, and not nearly reaching him.

“Oh, come on, you’re not knocking hard enough.” A different voice corrected her, followed by a much harder knock and call. “Heeey, Kinger! Get up!”

“Mhfg- huh-?” The chess piece picked himself up from his bed, looking at the door. “What is it, what’s happening-?” He called through the door.

“R-Ragatha wanted to make breakfast for everybody, and I think she’d really appreciate it if we all showed up to it…” The softer voice was severely muffled.

“Ragatha’s doing huh? Hold on a minute…” He tiredly picked himself up, walking up to his door. He opened it to be greeted by Gangle and Jax. “What’s going on?” He cleared his throat, barely awake.

“Ragatha decided that she wanted to make everybody breakfast and she’s somewhere, someplace, making it with Caine.” Jax explained, a hand on his hip. “Gangle wants everybody to show up for it.”

“I think- I think Ragatha would want everyone there too-!” Gangle squeaked, putting her ribbons together. “She’s making something for all of us…”

The rabbit rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Are you gonna grab Queenie and show up or do you just wanna sleep more?” He turned to Kinger, who was rubbing his eyes.

“I’m not too sure about breakfast… but I AM sure that Queenie would want us to be there.” He pulled his hands away, looking down the hallway. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I-I’m sure Ragatha will be happy about it-! That makes everyone, so long as, uh… Slinks shows up.” Gangle looked over her shoulder at a door behind her. It belonged to a green-and-orange worm-on-a-string, the goofiest looking member of the circus, and yet one of the more reserved as of lately.

“You know Slinks, they’ll show up an hour late and wonder where everyone is. I’m gonna go bother Kaufmo.” With that, Jax walked off, striding cockily.

“…I hope to see you two at breakfast.” The ribbon girl tried to smile at Kinger, then walked off.

Kinger took a deep breath, stepping out and closing his door behind him. He tried to pick himself up and energize himself as he reached the door next to his, knocking on it. “Queenie, sugarplum, are you awake?” He called out with a raised voice.

He heard a soft grumble, followed by shuffling. “Just a moment…” A slightly strained, sleepy voice called back to him, and then the door opened. “Good morning, sweetheart~” Queenie’s voice was mature and smooth, feeling like honey when he listened to it. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned closer to him, “What’s on our schedule today?” She asked as she put their heads together. They couldn’t really kiss anymore, so they took the next best thing of getting close to each other and humming softly.

“Gangle woke me up, said that Ragatha’s making breakfast. Should we go?” He intertwined his hand with hers, picking it off of his shoulder. Having lost their real wedding rings during their transition to the digital world, they’d substituted gold and silver for silly looking pipe cleaner rings that they’d made for one another. They might not have shined, but they served as a symbol regardless.

“Oh, you know I can’t let Ragatha down, or Gangle.” She pulled away, “Is everybody going to be there?”

“She said that everyone is showing up so long as Slinks makes it. Everyone… including Jax.” He looked down the hallway, a little annoyed.

Queenie scoffed. “I suppose it’ll be worth it to gather around with everybody like that…” She stepped out and closed the door behind her, “But that boy has no respect for the queen~!” She motioned valiantly with her hands, puffing her chest out, and then pausing. After a moment, she giggled, then sighed. “Like I’d carry myself that way.”

“Come on,” He put his hand on her shoulder, smiling at her with his eyes. “Let’s go sit down.”

“Of course, sweetheart.” She took his hand off of her shoulder, holding it in her own as they went down the hallway.

As they reached the center of the tent, they could see their fellow performers already gathered at a large table. Jax was next to Kaufmo, evidently pestering him, while Gangle was sitting at the opposite end of the table, twiddling her ribbons.

“We’re here~!” Queenie announced their presence, coming up behind the table. “Where’s Ragatha?” She asked as the two took seats next to the ribbon girl.

“She’s still cooking, but it should be done soon… Bubble was the one who told us to get everyone.” Gangle explained, perking up at the sight of the chess couple. “How’d you sleep?”

“I slept wonderfully, sweetness. In fact, I had a little dream while I was asleep.” The black piece chuckled under her breath. “…But oh, I can’t remember a bit of it. It was something about the flowers and ladybugs in my room.”

“That’s okay. It’s nice to hear that you thought of something, I just… slept through the night.” The ribbons shrugged. “How about you, Kinger?”

“I slept very soundly! No dreams or noises, but soundly!” He said, smiling.

“Jeez, did you hear that sweetness?” The two pieces glared at the sudden obnoxious voice. Jax was leaning into the table, grinning cockily at them. “You two treat Gangle like she’s a kid or something.”

“I-I’m twenty-six…” Gangle said quietly, holding a ribbon up.

“Oh please, is it rude to be kind?” Queenie was glaring daggers at him, clenching her hands on the table. “We’ve not been treating anybody like a kid.”

Jax rolled his eyes. “Not like a kid, you’ve been treating her like your kid.” He sat back in his chair, “What are you two making up for acting like Gangle’s your daughter?”

“Jax!” Kinger glared at him, leaning past his wife. “It’s none of your concern if we’re making up for something, but we just care about her more than you do.”

Gangle stared for a few seconds, then looked down at the table. “…You do kind of remind me of my-“

“Food’s up!” Before she could finish, several voices interrupted them. Ragatha seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, carrying two large plates, and Caine was behind her doing the same. Bubble had a pot of coffee in her jaws, bobbing around happily, and spilling several swigs of it.

“I made pancakes, french toast, and homemade breakfast pastries for everyone!” Ragatha said happily, putting the platters down on the table. “I know we don’t need to eat, but I’m sure we’d all appreciate some routine, right? At least, I’d like to!” She pulled out a chair, sitting down.

“Thanks a BRUNCH for the meal, Raggy!” Kaufmo said, turning to her, “There’s MUFFIN I wouldn’t do for breakfast!”

“…” She stared blankly at him, blinking emptily. “…Ha, haha, that’s a good one, Kaufmo!” She tried to smile and laugh as she saw his face drop.

“…Snrk-“ Though, the silence was filled quickly by Queenie. “Ah- hahahaha~! I thought those puns were lovely, Kaufmo!” Her laugh was genuine and full, a smile reaching her eyes. She continued to giggle as she turned to her husband, “Thanks a brunch for the meal~! What a lovely line!”

Kinger felt his face heat up at her laughter, a fullness welling up in his heart at her voice. “It sure is, sugarplum.” He nodded, staring dreamily at her.

“Um- Caine!” The doll awkwardly looked up, “Will you be staying for breakfast?”

“I’m afraid not, doll, I have far too many things to do today!” He said loudly, motioning for Bubble to come to him. “It was a JO-OY to cook with you, but I have construction to do! Building! IMAGINATION!”

“We get it, you're busy.” Jax picked up a plate of pancakes, “What’s the new addition gonna be, huh?”

“Thaaaaat’s a secret, and a surprise!” He waggled his finger at the rabbit, then turned away. “Enjoy your delectable emulation, I will check back in a few hours!” Grabbing Bubble, the two disappeared.

“…Oookay then.” Kaufmo sat back, taking some french toast. “…Hey, where’s Slinks?”

“Oh, yeah, where are they? Gangle?” Ragatha noted the missing worm, turning to the ribbons.

“They, ah, they didn’t respond when I called for them. They might still be sleeping…” Gangle poked her ribbons together, looking away. “…I didn’t really, um, try to call for them very loudly…”

“I thought Jax was helping you get everyone?” Kinger asked, turning to face the dorms.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t there to help her. I just wanted to tag along.” He shook his head, smirking.

“Then how about YOU go get Slinks, huh?” Ragatha turned and glared at him, only to get a sour expression back.

“I’ve already got my food in front of me! What do you want me to do, let it get cold?” He motioned at his plate.

“It’ll take barely a minute knowing you. Be good for once and just do it, Jax.” Queenie glared at him as well. “Slinks wouldn’t want to miss out on this, would they?”

“…Well, actually, Slinks doesn’t really-“ Gangle started, only to be cut off.

“Fine, I’ll go get ‘em.” Jax pushed his chair back and stood up, starting to walk away. “I’m sure Slinks will REEAAALLY appreciate being woken up for cold food.”

Ragatha sighed as he walked away, turning back to the table. “I hope everyone likes what I made.” She said, trying to smile.

“It smells good!” Kinger said quickly, leaning onto his wife’s shoulder. “But I don’t think I’m hungry enough to have a plate for myself.” He eyed her plate with a dorky look in his eyes.

“REALLY, Kinger? We don’t even get hungry.” She turned to him, sounding and looking bothered. That quickly turned to amusement as she chuckled, putting the plate between them and speaking sweetly, “I suppose I can handle sharing with you~”

Gangle was grabbing a plate as well, trying to put on a slight smile, before realizing something. “Oh- I forgot to ask Caine about my replacement comedy mask…” She said to the group, looking around.

“He said he’d be back in a few hours, I'm sure you could ask him about it then!” Ragatha said, “…Though, you should probably ask him for a few? It’ll be easier to have replacements on hand, won’t it?” She proposed, getting a soft nod.

The ribbon girl sighed, “You always know good answers, Ragatha.”

“Well, thank you! I’m surprised nobody else-“

“GA-AAAH-!”

Everyone at the table jumped at the echoing scream, turning to look down the hall. “Wha- wha- what was that-?!” Gangle whined.

“It sounded like Jax!” Kaufmo exclaimed, getting up from his chair. Right as he said that, the rabbit himself turned the corner.

“Hey- everyone-!” He panted, running up to the table and yelling. He reached them and stopped, bending over, panting heavily.

“What happened?” Ragatha asked, standing up. “Where’s Slinks?”

“Oh- don’t worry- Slinks is… coming…” Jax took a deep breath and cleared his throat, standing tall. “He’s just-“

Before he could finish, they heard a monstrous growl from deeper in the circus tent. “GAH-!” Kinger jumped as a long, glitched out snake slinked around the corner, larger and more monstrous than their worm friend.

“Yeah, he’s here, he’s just abstracted.” The rabbit grinned as he put his hands on his hips, “At least he won’t be eating cold food.” With that, he ran away.

Everyone jumped up from their seats, turning and running in different directions. Ragatha quickly went to Kaufmo and ran alongside him, Gangle let out a horrified shriek and ran another way, and Queenie grabbed Kinger’s hand and pulled them both up, heading for a different side of the tent. What had just been a peaceful morning quickly came apart as Slinks’ abstracted form smashed the dining table, then sharply turned to bolt after Ragatha and Kaufmo.

The chess couple hurried down the hall, Queenie blindly running, and Kinger blindly following. When her eyes landed on a door with “broom closet” written on it in crayon, she turned and ripped it open, pulling them both inside and slamming the door behind them.

Her heart was racing as she fell into a corner, pulling her husband down with her. He ended up falling into her lap, putting his hands on his chest and breathing heavily. “Okay- we’re okay, we’re okay in here, we’re alright…” He started mumbling as they met each other's gaze.

She put her hand over where her mouth would be, motioning for silence, which she quickly got. She turned and put her “ear” against the wall, only faintly hearing growls and scampering. “They’re nowhere near here.” She turned to him and spoke in a hushed voice. With that, she took a deep breath, and let out a heaving, shaky sigh.

Kinger gulped as he looked into the room. “…There are a LOT of brooms in here.” He remarked.

Queenie looked up to see that the room was full of brooms, including the shelves, which were made of brooms and holding more brooms. “Oh.” She let out, disturbed. “So there are.” She turned with an unsure gaze to her husband, who looked equally unsteady.

“…What now?” He asked, putting his hand over hers.

“…” She listened quietly for a few moments, and then gulped. “We SHOULD be safe in here, I don’t think Slinks can open doors like that so long as they don’t know that we’re in here. I hope that everyone else is carrying themselves the same way.”

“Can we really just sit here and wait until Caine comes back?” He questioned.

“Kaufmo and Ragatha will be safer together, and Jax will probably find some obnoxious way to stay safe.” She rolled her eyes a little, then paused. “…But I did see Gangle running off on her own.” She turned to the door.

“Oh dear.” Kinger let out, picking himself up off of her lap and sitting next to her.

“…The moon can get Caine, can’t she?” Queenie realized, eyes widening. “If we get Gangle and make it outside, we can ask the moon to call for him, and end this mess early.” With that, she stood up.

“A-are you really sure we should be the ones doing this?” He stood up as well, grabbing her shoulder. “I’m sure someone else could end up having that idea and doing it instead.”

“Well if we’re going to get Gangle, we might as well make a break for the outside too.” She shook his hand off, “If you want to stay here then I’ll do it myself.”

“No- no, I’m not gonna let you go alone.” He stepped up next to her, getting a satisfied gaze back.

“I know you won’t, come on.” She leaned up to the door, listening through. “…Slinks is still far away. Gangle told me one time that she tries to go to the art rooms when she’s stressed, so we should try there first.” She told him, getting a nod. Opening up the door, the two stepped out, walking slowly through the hall.

The art hall wasn’t too far away from where they had ended up, but it was still a long walk, especially when they couldn’t make any noise.

Loud growls echoed through the tent randomly, never failing to make Kinger jump, or worry Queenie. “…I do hope our friends are okay.” She whispered, gazing down that part of the circus.

As they turned the corner down another hallway, a small noise made its way to them. “…Gangle?” Kinger whispered, looking around. There was faint whimpering coming from one of the rooms.

The chess couple continued down the hall, listening to every room they passed. The queen piece cleared her throat as they reached one of the furthest ones, barely able to hear the distant roaring, and hoping they were far enough. “Gangle?” She said firmly.

They heard a sharp gasp, followed by the sound of ribbons hitting tile. The door opened quietly, and Gangle’s mask poked around the door. “Queenie, Kinger-!” She looked a little happier to see them, but her expression quickly returned to fear. “What’s happening out there-?” She hissed.

“We’re not sure, but we have a plan. We need to go outside,” Queenie explained, holding her hand out, “If we get the moon, she can call Caine, and he can stop Slinks. We’ll also be safer out there.”

“B-but the way out is on the other side of the circus, with Slinks.” The ribbon girl stepped out, looking up at the two.

“I think Slinks is preoccupied by somebody else.” Kinger noted, “We’ve been hearing a lot of growling, so they might’ve found someone else to focus on.”

Queenie nodded in affirmation, “If we’re quick and quiet, we’ll be able to help them too. We need to go.” She stepped away from the door, “Will you be coming with us?”

“I… Sure-!” She stepped out of the room, standing next to Kinger. “I just don’t wanna be alone…”

“That’s fine, we’ll all stick together. Now, we need to hurry.” The queen piece turned around, motioning for them to follow her. The other two let themselves be led down the hall, anxiously listening as they got closer to the distant noises again.

Gangle was looking around anxiously, wincing at every loud roar. “…Do you think Ragatha is okay?” She asked in a hushed voice.

“Ragatha’s one of the most capable of us, I'm sure she thought of something, or she’s hiding.” Queenie assured, keeping her voice low. “If we’re lucky, Slinks went after Jax first.”

“Oh, that’s not nice, sugarplum.” Kinger mentioned, looking away.

“I was just having a lark, sweetheart.” She motioned vaguely with her hand, “…Though, Jax does seem to have a way of ALWAYS getting out of these situati- -!” She stopped suddenly, freezing up.

“..?” The other two looked at her, confused, and she pointed the way she was looking. “-!” Kinger stifled a gasp, and Gangle made the slightest squeak. Slinks’ morphed form was directly across from them, but facing away from them, looking like it was hunting.

There was a stillness in the air for a few seconds, the room turning cold with anxiety. Queenie took a moment to stare before turning to the other two, wide-eyed. The way out of the tent was still quite the run away.

Kinger shook his head at her, he didn’t know what to do, but he wasn’t going to talk. The queen piece took a deep breath, put her hands together, and then started side-stepping away. She motioned for the other two to follow her.

Gangle was desperately clinging onto the king piece, frozen in place. Kinger made the quick decision to pick her up in a way that was almost piggybacking, and she accepted it without a sound, holding onto him. The three carefully continued down the hall, all eyes glued to the abstracted worm, only shifting their gazes to see where they were going.

That part of the tent had become a disaster area. The tossed food from the shattered dining table littered the floor, and various other things had been thrown around and ended up in bugged out states. Queenie could see a flashing chair out of the corner of her eye, watching it flicker in and out of existence and phase through the floor, and she wondered for a moment how much it must’ve hurt to be that way. Was Slinks acting out of aggression, or fear? Were they desperate to find a way to ease their pain, or were they hunting for somebody? Somebody… Maybe Caine? The thoughts crossed Queenie’s mind in a flurry as she walked, not watching where she was going, but seeing Slinks slowly leave their vision.

“SQU-EAK-!”

“-!” She gasped in terror as she stepped on something, hearing it squeal beneath her heel. Looking down, it was a normal rubber duck, untouched by the spread of glitches.

A monstrous roar filled the room as they all turned to face Slinks. It had snapped its head over to look at them, its many eyes locking onto them. And its many eyes… locked onto Kinger and Gangle.

Then, it pounced, shooting across the floor at them.

“NO!” Queenie shrieked, whipping around. Her hands were on Kinger’s petrified shoulders in an instant, and he yelped as she shoved the two of them away, them falling to the floor and skidding.

He was disoriented as he looked up, eyes wide. Both him and Gangle had looked up just in time to see Queenie getting tackled in their place, grabbed by beast and flung across the hall. “QUEENIE!” He screamed, watching in horror.

Just as soon as she had landed, she was picked up and tossed again, slammed into the floor with enough force that the tile was cracking. She looked up just enough to meet his gaze, seeing stars in her vision, and feeling her body shifting and changing. “Y-y-you-“ She stuttered out, but could not finish as she was picked up and thrown again.

Kinger stood up with Gangle still wrapped around him, hearing her sobs right beside him, and the screams of his wife in front of him. She was thrown down in front of them again, and he ran up to her, kneeling down. “Sugar-“ He tried holding his hand out.

“D-d-don’t t-touch m-e-e-!” She cried out, pulling her hand away. The pain of feeling her physical form distort was not going to distract her from the objective. “G-g-go outs-i-i-de, NOW-!” She screamed at them, right as a shadow loomed over her. “RUN-!” With that, she was ripped away from him once more.

Kinger scrambled to a stand, turning around, his chest pounding with every distorted yelp of pain that echoed behind him. He felt Gangle’s wrap around him get tighter as he ran away, praying that he’d be quick enough, begging himself to move faster. He knew his wife, and knew her well; she was more resilient and stable than anyone else there. Surely she could hold on, could she not?

The light of “day” made its way to their eyes, coming in through the entrance. The warm light felt cold in that terrible desperation as they exited the tent, looking up at the sky. “MOON! MADAME MOON!” Kinger screamed up at the stars, his voice cracking in his throat.

“Oh-? Oh, oh my, if it isn’t Caine’s little performers.” The sun reacted first, looking down at them. “Madame Moon, they’re asking for you.”

“Hmm?” The moon turned around next, looking down at them. “Well, hello, folks. What do you need?”

Her calm tone was close to agonizing to the king piece’s desperate mind. “Slinks abstracted, he’s attacking Queenie, geT CAINE NOW-!!” He screamed at her, waving his hands.

“Another abstracted performer? Hm, how tragic… I’ll call him.” She picked up a phone-like object seemingly out of nowhere, dialing a number in, not at all rushing. “Hellooo, Caine~ Your performers are asking for you.” They couldn’t hear Caine’s side of the phone, “…Yes, the circus ones. It’s the chess piece and the theater girl. Something about abstracting.” After a few seconds of silence, she put the “phone” down. “He’ll be here in-“

With that, Caine manifested into existence with Bubble by his side, right by the two toys. “Hello, Kinger and Gangle! Has somebody abstra-“

“SLINKS! SLINKS ABSTRACTED!” Kinger cried desperately at him. “THEY’RE ATTACKING QUEENIE!”

“Slinks is attacking Queenie? What a royal mess!” Bubble hummed as Caine descended to the ground.

“Well, let’s get this over with! Take me to them.” He invited them to lead him, and the chess piece whipped around, running away.

Getting inside, Caine seemed like he could sense the glitched form. “There’s a big worm if I’ve ever felt one!” He held his hand out, and just like that, a snake-like amalgam was floating towards them. A hole opened up on the floor in front of him, and Slinks was lowered into it, sent down into the cold cellar. “Well, that’s that taken care of!”

Gangle suddenly dropped down to the floor, letting go of Kinger and sobbing. The emotions of the past forty minutes caught up to her all at once as she bawled loudly, and as much as he wished he could’ve, the chess piece could not stay. He ran away from her, up to the area where the disaster had happened, until he saw the cracks in the walls and tile.

“Queenie- Queenie!” He yelled out, looking desperately around. Everything that had been littered around was glitching violently, even some of the floor, and it worried him. He couldn’t see his wife anywhere. “Queenie!” He called out again, his eyes landing on an open, but glitched door. ‘She got away-!’ He thought upon seeing it, running over. Pushing it open by the unaffected handle, he looked inside. “Queenie- -!”

Queenie was laying down against the wall, her eyes barely open. He was horrified to see that she was not only distorting and dizzied, but morphing; part of her body had turned into black mass, eyes already faintly glowing in it.

“K-k-ki-in-g-e-er-?” Her voice was barely recognizable throughout stutters and distortions.

“Oh- oh god, oh god, Queenie!” He ran up and fell to his knees before her, terror and worry in his eyes. “Sugarplum, what happened to you?!”

“S-s-s-l-i-nk-s w-w-wa-as… Vi-vi-vic-io-o-us.” She let out, barely able to pick up her head from the floor.

He looked down at her, watching as the black amalgam enveloped her lower half. “No- no, no, no, this can’t be happening, I… I’ll get Caine, he’ll fix you, I-“ He jumped to a stand, only to be stopped.

“I-i-it w-o-n-n-t-t mat-at-atter.” Queenie let out, her voice straining terribly. “C-C-caine ca-a-n FIX-! Gl-gl-glit-t-ch-in-ing, b-bu-t-t I-I’m-m al-al-alr-e-a-d-d-dy a-a-ab-abst-ra-ra-cti-n-g.” As she spoke, the darkness crawled up her torso, and a small tear formed in her eye. “It-it-it hu-u-r-t-s-!” Her voice got more shrill at that sentence.

Kinger stared at her in horror, his face paling as she distorted right in front of him. “What do you- what should I do for you-?” He asked her, shaking.

She shut her eyes for a moment, taking a deep, and still chopped up breath. “…M-m-ma-k-k-e s-u-re-re nob-b-bod-d-y ge-t-t-s hu-hu-hur-t be-c-c-caus-s-e o-f-f-f m-me.” She let out, opening her eyes again. “G-g-ge-t-t C-C-a-ine-! T-to p-put m-me in-n th-the-the cell-ell-ar.”

“No-!” He blurted out, “I can’t- I can’t get him to do that to you, sugarplum, I love you, I-“

“K-k-kin-n-ge-r-!” She yelled at him, making him freeze up. She felt it crawl further up her body, looking up at him with desperate eyes. “L-l-i-st-ten t-to m-m-me, d-do it-t. I-I-I l-lov-e-e you-u t-to-o-o.”

“…Okay.” He let out, his voice shaking as he backed up.

She gave him the closest thing to a smile that she could. “…R-r-u-n.” The distortion climbed up enough to reach the base of her neck, and she shut her eyes.

“-!” He let out a quiet, fearful sound, and then turned away, running out of the room. “Caine- CAINE!” He ran back through the area that was struck by tragedy, past glitched objects. “CAINE!” He screamed out.

He found Caine with the others, who had gathered around now that Slinks was gone. “Kinger! Where’s the queen, eh?” Jax said, using Ragatha as an armrest.

The chess king completely ignored him. “Caine-!” He yelled desperately, now with everyone’s attention on him. “Queenie- she’s, she- I-“ He stuttered and panted, the vision of her appearing in his mind as he rested his hand on his head.

“Oh dear, DOOOON’T TELL ME! Someone else has abst-“

An otherworldly growl came down the hall. Kinger pulled his hand off of his face, turning around as everyone else did. “-!” There was a scream of fear from one of them as a door far away crashed open, as well as the wall around it. Out with it came her, an amalgamated form of darkness that barely resembled her beloved form anymore, with eyes on every place they shouldn’t have been, locking onto the group. Queenie, now abstracted.

“Aaaand that’s another person going STRAAAAIGHT TO THE CELLAR!” Caine announced, the pit opening up in front of him. The morphed queen piece was not able to get close to them before she was picked up, screaming desperately in the air, and then sent down below.

“That was… Queenie-?!” Ragatha gasped, putting her mitts over her mouth.

“What-?!” Gangle cried out, tears still pouring from her eyes. “Queenie abstracted?!”

“Very unfortunate, but now all of the abstracted forms are gone! I’ll find a replacement for Slinks soon.” Caine floated over everyone, standing in front of them. “By golly goodness, look at this mess!” He motioned at the sea of glitching objects and snapped his fingers, and in an instant, they were fixed.

Kinger was completely silent, staring emptily in front of him. Everything had happened horribly, achingly fast, and those around him barely acknowledged it. “…” He looked down at his hands, at the colorful pipe cleaner ring, feeling a deep-rooted heaviness inside him.

“Kinger..?” A soft voice was the first one to speak to him, and he felt everyone else’s gazes on him. “…I’m… sorry…” Gangle squeaked out slowly.

He didn’t turn to look at her, still staring at the ring. He’d lost her, all of her, in an instant. Something inside of him felt like it was breaking, and his eye twitched for a second, his body starting to tremble again. “I’d like to go back to my room now.” He said suddenly, looking up. Before anyone could say anything else, he turned away, walking slowly towards the dorms.

“…Wow, I expected a lot more from him.” Jax said after a bit of watching him walk away. “I mean, his wife dies, and he just leaves?” He turned to Ragatha, pointing away.

She didn’t respond, only giving him a serious look. Instead of entertaining him, she walked up to Gangle. “…Should we hold a funeral for her? I know she meant something to all of us.” She asked, looking at Caine. “CAN we hold a funeral for her?”

“In spirit, maybe! But in this digital world, in order to keep the place appropriate for all ages, we avoid depicting grim topics such as death, graveyards, and funerals!” He turned to her, speaking loudly.

Her face scrunched at him, frowning. “Yeah, yeah…” With that, she looked at Gangle. “…I’m sorry.” She tried putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Sh-she reminded me a lot of my mother…” The ribbon girl mumbled quietly, “And Kinger reminds me of my dad, I… I hope he ends up okay.” She looked down the nearby hallway.

“…Hey, wait, how do you remember your parents? I thought we all forgot about our-“ Jax started,

“Would you shut your mouth for once?” Kaufmo interrupted, getting an offended glare back.

“Hey, Caine!” Bubble floated up to its companion, holding a paper in its maw. “We oughta write this all down on their character sheets, shouldn’t we?” On the first page was a written guide for everything about Slinks, and another page behind it was for Queenie.

“Gadzooks, you’re right, Bubble!” He took the paper, looking for a specific section. “Now where is it… Ah, here!” He manifested a pen out of nowhere, holding the page closer to himself.

In the section labeled “date of abstraction,” he wrote April fifteenth, 19XX.

[theboywithburninghands]

SURPRISE! Two chapters in one day, whaaaaat. Okay so the truth is I had the last part finished in full, but man this is the part I have been WAITING for, man, you have no idea. Uh all credit to @rottentricks of course for this AU, but yeah! Here’s the second part of this behemoth of a chapter. Oh, but warning. It’s violent. Like, quite violent. But sweet.

T/W: Violence, gore, mucus, medical gore, fantasy racism

Animals Ch. 3: Sheep Part 2

Now things are really what they seem

No, this is no bad dream!

—

Zooble and Pomni arrived outside Kaufmo’s house. It was, thankfully, unguarded. The cops really must have been stretched to the limit quelling the protests downtown. Zooble hopped off of ZigZag and tied her off on the nearby fence, taking an apple out of her bag as a reward for her hard work today. She even got an extra apple, hopefully to curb her appetite enough so she wouldn’t eat any of the neighbor’s lawns.

“You be good now, okay, princess?” Zooble said, touching faces with ZigZag. The horse gave a content snort. Pomni hopped off the horse, a little less clumsily this time.

“Alright. So we go looking for clues. We don’t take anything, just make some notes. We should keep our gloves on just in case-”

“‘We?’” Zooble tilted their cowboy hat up. “Nah, I think ya meant you. This was your idea, so you’re taking the initiative. I thought about it on the way over, I’m not risking a B&E charge.”

Pomni frowned. “I thought you said Jax was your best friend. You’re not willing to risk it all for him?”

“Watch it, city girl,” Zooble warned, pointing their hook at Pomni. “The guilt trip card won’t work with me. Don’t forget, you’re a pretty young lady with rich parents who can bail you outta trouble. Me? I’m the weirdo that’s friends with The Autumnvale Cannibal. Cops’ll take one look at me and clap me in cuffs.”

Pomni glared at Zooble for a moment, but her expression softened. They did have a point, given how prejudiced the cops were around here. Still, it wasn’t quite that easy…

“I’m not here for fun, I’m trying to help your friend. My scholarship is at stake if I get caught, so I’ll have to go back home to my family and explain how I lost the one chance to get my MFA.”

Pomni looked down at the snow. “And my parents aren’t that rich… I took out huge loans to get through college, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the assistantship money.”

Zooble looked at Pomni for a long while. Their breath steamed in a consistent pattern, like a machine.

“Can you… can you stop looking at me like that?” Pomni murmured, shrinking her neck down until her chin sat between her shoulders.

“Alright. Here’s my offer. You go in and do what you gotta do. I’ll keep watch out here.”

“Okay. Is there a way you can signal me discreetly if someone is coming?” Pomni asked.

“I’ll have ZigZag whinny.” Zooble replied, petting their horse’s nose gently.

“You…trained her to do that?”

Zooble looked at Pomni, a star of pride in their eyes. “She knows a lot of tricks. Now get going, we’re wasting time.”

Pomni nodded, approaching Kaufmo’s front door. He lived in a condo, one of those situations where a big house was divided into two separate living spaces. Zooble told her Kaufmo lived on the bottom floor, #7. She tried the handle and it didn’t budge. Nah, she couldn’t be that lucky. She glanced around on the front stoop. If she was a little lucky, she might be able to find a hide-a-key. She checked below the welcome mat that read “Definitely Not a Crack House”, then noticed a collection of smooth rocks stacked in a little cairn in the corner. Pomni picked up a few of them, until one on the bottom rattled.

Bingo.

She popped the top of the fake rock open and a key dropped into her gloved palm. She gave a thumbs up to Zooble, who discreetly tipped their hat in response. Pomni slid the key into the door and opened it. She then carefully replaced the key and the fake rock, going inside the anteroom and locking the door behind her.

A set of wooden stairs led up to #8. To her right was the door to #7, which she gingerly attempted to open. It clicked open with no problem.

Kaufmo’s condo wasn’t much. A big hardwood room made up most of the living space, divided into a living room, granite top kitchen and hallway leading into the back of the condo, presumably the bathroom and bedroom.

Pomni took a careful look around. A few gossip magazines on the coffee table, dirty dishes from a days old meal sitting in the sink, the food now caked on and probably in need of a scrub with steel wool. Pretty normal stuff. Altogether pretty clean for a guy that had serious depression. He had a monstera deliciosa in a terracotta pot by the couch that was turning somewhat brown, in desperate need of water. Pomni thought about giving it a quick drink from the kitchen faucet, but remembered she was trespassing and thought not. She moved into the back of the condo.

The bathroom was a little cluttered and the sink had a lot of toothpaste stains on the marble, but it was also relatively clean. She opened the mirror cabinet and found a ton of pills. Zoloft, Escitalopram, Prozac, Xanax, Lithium… yeesh, this guy tried everything. There were some she had never even heard of before. What in the hell was “hydroxizine?” Hm.

She looked down at the toilet and saw it was clogged. The water nearly reached the top of the bowl. Someone might have flushed something they shouldn’t have down there… that, or she was about to make a very bad and very gross mistake. She picked up the plunger sitting beside the toilet, your classic wooden handle and pink rubber affair, and stuck it into the water. After only two or three pushes, she lifted up the plunger, bracing herself for the worst.

Pills. Dozens of waterlogged and half dissolved pills of different shapes and colors floated out onto the surface of the water. Some were plain green circular tablets, some were capsules divided into blue and orange halves, some were bright pink like Benadryl.

Kaufmo appeared to have a full stock of pills in his medicine cabinet, and another full stock of them dumped into his toilet.

Her eye caught something else in the toilet water. Something black and charred. Burnt paper? Something was burned and flushed down the toilet along with a whole pharmacy’s worth of pills. It was impossible to tell what the document was since it was scorched black and mostly dissolved by the water. The toilet, its throat now clear, slurped the refuse down the drain with a sloppy gurgle. The tank began to refill with a long sigh of relief.

Pomni set the plunger back down and closed the lid of the toilet. A clue? Perhaps. But who could-

From outside, ZigZag whinnied.

Pomni’s heart leapt into her throat as she heard cars pull up outside. A large black pick-up and a black van, both with an official looking red, yellow and blue seal on the side. Oh God. Nononono.

She looked around for an exit. The front door was out of the question, but was there a back door? No, she hadn't seen one! Didn’t that violate some kind of fire code?!

A few people in matching blue uniforms exited the vehicles. One of them, a burly blonde woman with a strong jaw, approached Zooble while the others, two men and a bull, came up to the door. She had to find an escape route, or a hiding spot, or-

Window. There was a window! At the end of the hallway, there was a sliding window!

She pulled apart the sunbleached maroon curtains and hurriedly turned the window lock. It had rarely been used and stuck fast, so Pomni had to give it a vicious, adrenaline-charged crank to open it. It finally squealed open with a weak sprinkle of taupe paint chips all over the sill. She grinded the window along its track, feeling a puff of wintry air as she heard boots in the anteroom.

“Alright, you know the drill, guys. Heavy stuff in the van first, bed, couch, tables, tv-”

Pomni climbed and leapt out the window without looking, her purse snagging on the sill and popping open. She fell about six feet and landed on her ass with a thud in the shared backyard, her stuff strewn about everywhere around her.

“Oh, snap. Hey, Cliff. Window’s open. Someone mighta broke in.” a voice said from above her.

“Aw, shit. Someone better tell Charlene. You see anyone down there?”

Pomni scrabbled about, grabbing everything she could that had fallen out of her purse, pencils, bottles of Advil and pads, a notebook for quick sketches, her wallet… she cradled them all and hurried over to the side of the house. Luck threw her another bone, as a strong pine tree had been growing in the backyard for who knows how long. Its branches kept too much snow from falling onto the grass, so there wasn’t quite enough on the ground for her to leave bootprints. She made it around the side of the house, pressing herself against the bricks and panting hard, sending up steam in long jets. She covered her mouth.

“Nah, I don’t see anybody.” someone just out of sight said from the window.

“You think the dude just left his window open?” another voice asked.

“Nah, if he did there’d be snow on the ground in here. Someone prolly climbed in from back here.”

Pomni hurriedly stuffed her belongings back into her purse and crept around the edge of the house. She peered around the corner.

Zooble and the blonde woman were still talking. She couldn’t run out there now, they would immediately figure out what was going on. Pomni took a look at the logo on their vehicles.

TRUSTED REPOSSESSION SOLUTIONS

(TRS)

Repo men. They were just repo men… not the cops. Still, not good. The cops were just one call away, and didn’t repo men work for the government..? One of the men exited the house and said something to the blonde woman, who looked at Zooble with narrowed eyes.

“Case the whole place, make sure nothing’s missing. Thanks, Tyler.” the woman put her hands on her wide hips. “You mind opening your saddlebags?” she said to Zooble.

“Not at all,” Zooble replied.

Zooble opened their bags and took out everything. In one bag, apples and carrots in a Tupperware container and a few road flares. In the other, a bouquet of flowers still wrapped up in shiny plastic and a pretty pink satin ribbon, a few tools for leatherwork, and a bottle of huge pills, presumably for ZigZag.

“What are these for?” the repo woman said.

“I told you, I’m here to pay my respects.” Zooble said. They took the bouquet and laid it in front of Kaufmo’s mailbox.

The Bull repo man lumbered out onto the porch. Pomni only knew it was him since she saw a single long white horn from her hiding place.

“Hey, Charlene, we checked the whole place. Nothing’s missing.” he grunted.

“Nothing’s missing? Really? You checked everything?” the repo lady asked.

“Yup. Tv, desktop, loose change, drugs, it’s all still there. The only thing is… it looks like someone might have used the bathroom.”

There was a lengthy pause.

“It looks like someone might have used the bathroom.” she echoed.

“Yup.” the Bull said.

The repo woman looked off to the side for a minute. She then turned back to Zooble. “Okay. Uh, I guess you’re free to go.”

“Toldja I wasn’t up to anything.” Zooble drawled.

“Nope, I was wrong. Looks like you were just the victim of some bad timing and a crackhead that needed to pee.” the woman said. She looked as though she had never expected to say those words in that order.

“Should we check for anything that got stolen out back, boss?” the bull asked.

Noooo nonono please no…

“Uh….. nah. He didn’t have a grill or anything listed in the inventory.”

Pomni sighed deeply.

Zooble climbed up onto ZigZag. “Good luck with everything, Miss.” They gently flicked ZigZags reins and headed off down the road. The repo woman went into her truck with a clipboard and paper and went inside.

Once they got far enough down the street to see Pomni hidden beside the house, they locked eyes with her. Pomni motioned them to move along. It would still look incredibly suspicious if she suddenly ran around the side of the house and jumped onto Zooble’s horse. Zooble gave the faintest of nods and continued on.

Pomni remained pinned to the side of the house for a good 45 minutes. She couldn’t just run away, it needed to look like she was just a pedestrian… just another passerby on her way, tra la la. It needed to be perfect. She waited until the entire repo team was inside, apparently working on getting the bed frame out of the house, and then she dashed up the hill. She made it to the sidewalk unnoticed, and, just to cover her tracks some more, she walked in the opposite direction of Zooble.

The adrenaline had worn off, and she felt cold to her bones. Standing still for that long in snowy weather was NOT a good time. She sneezed into her sleeve.

“Bless you,” one of the repo men said, carrying out the mattress down the porch steps with his team.

“Thanks,” Pomni replied, sniffling and continuing on in that direction. She didn’t stop moving until she was well out of sight, turning the corner and leaning against a street sign, letting out a long, relieved sigh. She enjoyed the cold sunlight for a few moments before continuing on.

—

Pomni’s watch read 6:07 by the time she had reached the café. Where had the time gone..? She’d gotten up around 12:45, it took her around twenty minutes to get ready, the ride to town with Zooble was another twenty minutes, she ate half her brunch and left with Zooble around 2:30, another twenty minute ride to get to Kaufmo’s house, about an hour spent looking around the house and pinned down by the repo men, and her walk back to town was almost another two hours since she had to find her way through the town streets on foot. It wasn’t a big town, true, but the freezing single digit gusts and heavy snow on the ground slowed her down considerably… 7 would be soon, which was when you absolutely needed to be inside, although it was really recommended you be behind a drop barred door around 6:30, as cloudy or moonless nights make it so some extra hungry Nightwalkers were emboldened to start their hunt a little early. The sky was covered in snow clouds the entire day, so it would be a darker night faster.

Pomni coughed raggedly. Her throat felt raw, her face hurt from chilblains, her lungs felt clotted, and she was exhausted. She had found something resembling two clues, but nothing that incriminated anyone else. All she had really gotten was a nasty oncoming cold.

She arrived at the cafe doors to find them closed and the lights off. Ragatha went home to beat the sunset. It was expected, she had the good sense to not risk his own life. But man… she’d been hoping to warm up at least a bit before the long walk home.

She trudged home. The sky was turning a pleasant shade of pink. Would have been more pleasant had she not been freezing her ass off. She just wanted to lay in bed by the radiator. It had been an awful day.

Zooble was right. She was just a stupid city girl. The college was paying her to draw fucking pictures, for God’s sake. What the hell could she accomplish out here?! She was wasting everyone’s time… her parents and the townsfolk’s. And her own.

She climbed the stairs to her apartment, slowly. As she arrived at her door, she leaned against it let out a protracted sigh, followed by a nasty cough. She leaned over the railing and spat the gunk she coughed up out onto the snow.

She heard something. Was her phone ringing? She pressed an ear to the cold door. Yeah, her phone was ringing. Probably her parents. Great. She opened her purse to get her keys, content taking her time and letting it go straight to voicemail. She didn’t want to talk right now, or do much of anything right now.

Her keys weren’t in her purse.

“Huh..?”

She patted her puffer jacket’s pockets and her fleece. Empty. What the hell, what had happened to-?!

Oh god.

When she jumped out the window. Her purse opened. Her keys must have fallen out. They were miles away, buried under snow, and the sun was setting.

“Oh no… no… no God, no, NO!”

Pomni hurried to the stairs. Okay, calm down. Calm down! if she sprinted across town, she might be able to make it back to Kaufmo’s house in time to grab her keys. They were probably right under the window where she fell, blending in with the grass or an errant drift of snow. She would just run, run like her life depended on it, which it did! All she had to-

When her boot hit the second step, she slipped.

Her stomach squeezed itself into a ball and she let out a shriek, falling sideways. Her right arm slammed into the stairs, blocking any blunt force trauma to her ribs but in turn ripping open the skin under her coat. Her forehead scraped the freezing concrete and her beanie fell off as she rolled over twice, the sharp edges of the stairs narrowly missing her spine but in turn slicing her back as she rolled out onto the snow.

Pomni laid there for a moment. Slowly, she let out a long, pained, howl. Pain bloomed fiery red on her right arm, her forehead, and her back. She felt sticky hot blood weeping out of her forehead, sticking to her bangs and nearly getting in her eyes.

She tried moving her hurt arm. It wasn’t broken but it flared with pain the moment she moved it. Even with her body going numb from the snow, it hurt in the same burning hot way rope burn or road rash felt, like it would never go away and that all your nerves had been grated off and screamed together in agony. She feebly rolled onto her hands and knees, blood dripping from her head in dark beads onto the snow. She felt tears spill out of her eyes and snot run out of her nose.

There was a sound beside her. She looked. She stopped crying.

A beast laid not 20 feet away from her. It was almost completely camouflaged by the darkness save for a pair of white, foglike eyes, teardrop shaped and running the entire length of its bulky, Bull terrier-like skull. Its body was slim, almost disproportionately so to its head, with long, curved legs and hooved feet. It looked at Pomni with tranquil hunger. Upon Pomni making eye contact with it, the Nightwalker rose to its feet, padded silently over to the girl, and sank its teeth into her side.

Pomni let out a scream, shock having melted away into primal terror as the Nightwalker bit into her torso. Her multiple layers only halted the blunter of its teeth, its two front canines cutting through the fabric like garden shears and plunging into her belly. Pomni drove her fists into the Nightwalker’s head, the creature hanging on, nonplussed. It attempted a deeper bite only for Pomni kick it hard in one of its legs, causing it to stumble onto the snow and let go for a moment. Threads of white polyester clung to its bloody fangs. Pomni scrabbled backwards, her body being practically unable to process the level of pain it was currently in. If she could stand up, she would have just fallen right back down as her legs felt boneless. She was dead. She was going to die.

The creature licked its chops free of blood and fluff before padding its way towards Pomni, in no particular rush. It made no sound as it attacked, not even a growl of effort or surprise at being knocked down. It was as unfeeling as the blackest, coldest winter night. And it wasn’t done with her yet, no sir.

Something glinted in the air. The Nightwalker froze as a wet shluck sound cut through the snowy wind. It stumbled over, twitching and confused, unaware of why it suddenly had such an awful pain in its side.

A butcher’s knife was buried up to the handle in its hairless black abdomen. Pomni screamed again as an enormous beast on two legs thundered through the snow at them, eyes glowing with yellow moon malice. The Nightwalker opened its maw in feeble resistance as the beast skidded over to it, grabbing the knife and pulling it all the way down across its belly, steaming black entrails shlorping onto the snow as its skin and muscle were peeled away by hairy paws. The Nightwalker dropped its head onto the snow, its eyes dimming like a dying lightbulb. Dead.

Pomni felt her consciousness fading as well. Soon, the beast would fall onto her too, digging into the wound in her side with its paws and ripping her open like a gory birthday present. The last thing she saw before everything went black was that horrible pair of yellow eyes, looking down at her, furious, hungry…

…concerned?

—

Autumnvale had it out for Jax since he was a baby. Nothing in life was ever just given to him, he had to take it. He had to chew off the hands that abused him, and if that meant losing any chance at going to school with “normal kids,” fine by him. He only liked his parents and Zooble anyway. Everyone else thought he was a freak and a monster.

So that’s exactly what they got once he reached adulthood. Jax played into the monster persona, snapping his daggerlike teeth at anyone that came too close, enjoying his meat bloody and raw and sometimes live in front of horrified socialites, hiding in dark corners so his piercing, lupine eyes glinted at passerby and terrified them about walking the town’s streets at night. He didn’t try to act pleasant, because that got him nothing. Just frightened looks at best, slurs and insults at worst. At least being a monster made people leave him the fuck alone.

So it was no surprise, really, that someone in town decided it was time to put him away for good. Even if he hadn’t done anything wrong, the faintest whiff of trouble on his part would cause the cops to jump on him like a pouncing tiger. Cut out the benign tumor before it ruptured and becomes malignant. It was a clever little trick, using one of his knives to cut Kaufmo’s arms. Probably didn’t even need to actually kill Kaufmo, someone probably just found him in the tree and slit his arms open. Any excuse to get Big, Bad Jax off the street.

What was a surprise, however, was when the Sheriff came to his cell late that evening. Posturing little twerp that he was, the Sheriff liked to make himself look like a tough guy by wearing shades and a cowboy hat. It made Jax snort derisively every time he saw him. “Lookee me, mommy! I’m a big boy in a big hat!”

The Sheriff looked the color of sour milk, and his hands shook as he fumbled with his keyring to open the door to Jax’s cell.

“What’s the occasion? You wanna play with the bunny, copper?~” Jax purred, showing off his fangs.

The Sheriff opened the door, stepping back and quaking with either rage or fear or a concoction of both.

“Your bail’s been posted, Kingston. You’re free to go.”

Jax’s smile fell. “Someone paid half a million? On me?”

“That’s what I just said, now get outta here. We’ll return your belongings up front.” The Sheriff barked.

Jax didn’t move. The sheriff smacked his nightstick against the bars.

“Get going! I’m tired of looking at your ugly face!”

Jax thought it was a joke, a pretty predictable one too, but, against all common sense… it wasn’t. Someone anonymous had posted his bail, and he was soon up front of the police station, getting all of his belongings back and signing release papers. He didn’t have much on him when those dick-swinging big city detectives rolled up to arrest him, just a knife he was using to make beef pork chops and his keys. The cops undid his handcuffs and he was led outside.

It was around 6:15, so that crowd that had been yelling about letting him go all day had been sent away to avoid the Nightwalkers. Thank god. All those people cheering for him would have made him berserk. Even his dad wasn’t waiting for him, but he didn’t hold it against him. He was getting up there in age, and Nightwalkers could probably make quick work of him now. Maybe the cops just… didn't tell anyone he was getting out tonight. That wouldn’t surprise him. Jax took a long, deep breath, savoring the fresh, cold night air, before tucking his hands in his pockets and heading down the road out of town.

He had only one stop to make before he went home. That girl he met just before the gumshoes showed up. What was her name? She either didn’t tell him or only told him once. He remembered where she said she was staying. That teeny little apartment on the edge of town. He wanted to pay her a visit.

She intrigued him. She was one of the few people that wasn’t terrified of him right off the bat. He wanted to at least say thank you in person for sticking up for him like that. Zooble would’ve done the same, but they had been friends for two decades. The Girl only met him for a few minutes and wanted to help him. He wondered what it could have been?

Perhaps she was intrigued by him too.

It wasn’t until he got about halfway up the road by the farms, the sunlight gradually fading out from pink, that he heard a high pitched scream. He normally wouldn’t care about some idiot staying out past curfew ‘cause they thought they were invincible. But he only knew of one person who lived out in the boonies like this who might get caught by a Nightwalker.

He ran, pulling his knife out of his pocket, towards the noise.

—

Jax carried The Girl on his shoulder, moving as quickly as his legs could carry him. He knew there would be more Nightwalkers. There were always more Nightwalkers. But, he knew this town like he knew meat; exactly where to cut through.

At the end of the road, he slid down into the gully where Snapfinger Creek ran. There was nowhere for any of those things to hide down here, and if you were fast enough, which he was, it shaved off about ten minutes of time you might waste taking the main road. The water was soaking his boots, yet he kept on moving. His fur would delay the onset of chilblains long enough for him to get home and warm up. More importantly, so she could warm up.

The Girl was conscious, but barely. Her body trembled, presumably both from shock and from cold. She didn’t have any broken bones, but there were some nasty scrapes on her arm, her head and her back, and the Nightwalker took one hell of a bite out of her side. He could smell the blood. They normally went right for the head with those big-ass mouths of theirs… she got lucky for getting so unbelievably unlucky.

Soon enough, he reached the end of the creek at Snapfinger Creek Bridge, clambering up the hillside and onto the bridge. He sniffed, testing the air for the smell of blood and dark.

Nothing. Just The Girl’s wounds. She was sticky against his shirt. Normally the scent of blood made him hungry, since it meant fresh meat, ready for the cooking. Right now, it just made him scared.

He went back to running, keeping his eyes peeled at all times. Full dark had only just fallen, so The Nightwalkers probably hadn’t had the chance to group up in their little herds. Good. If The Girl had been out around ten or eleven, they all would have pulled her apart like a chicken wing.

He eventually saw the worn-out old roof of his barn, his animals would need food… But they could wait. They had some leftover food in their troughs, The Girl needed to be patched up or she would die. He hurried across his pasture, plunging his hand into his pocket and pulling out his ring of keys. Propping The Girl against his shoulder and holding her fast with his chin, he found his house key whilst moving. He felt hard-packed dirt under his boots, and knew he had found the path to his house. It had snowed a good deal, but not enough to completely hide the earth beneath it. He came up to his door, unlocking it swiftly, slipping inside and slamming the door shut, pulling down the drop bar.

He flicked on the lights. His house was only a touch warmer than the outside due to him not running the furnace for nearly two days. Warmth could wait, wounds needed sealing now.

The hospital was the better choice if he wanted The Girl to live, but it was a much longer trip, which meant more time for the Nightwalkers to come out. He was tough, yes, but he wasn’t tough enough for a herd of them. And it would just delay The Girl getting help long enough for her to bleed to death. He held The Girl under his chin again and pulled a blanket out from the trunk at the foot of his bed, one that had become weathered and a little smelly over the years. It was white with blue and black stripes, he couldn’t even remember why he had it. No love lost if The Girl bled all over it.

He flipped it open and laid it out on the floor, gently laying The Girl down on the blanket, supporting her head as he did so. Her mouth hung open and she trembled. Her chest rose and fell. Her puffer coat had a massive hole in the side with polyester wisping out of it, her hat was missing, and the white fleece she wore was soaked and scarlet.

“Okay… I’m doing this so you live.” he said to her. He undid her jacket and fleece, leaving her in just a torn open black shirt and snow pants. He gulped and gingerly lifted the shirt off of her belly, it clinging to her body before peeling itself free. She had a large set of bite marks in a sideways “U” shape along her side. Nightwalkers only really punctured with their top teeth, the bottom more used to hold prey in place so they could drink their blood. Most of the top teeth only scraped The Girl’s skin, but the canines got her good. They left deep punctures on her belly. It hadn’t gotten through her stomach lining, thank god, the sepsis that would cause would have been hellish agony for The Girl. Lines of blood and pinkish pus oozed from the punctures, and these were clearly her biggest predicament at the moment.

“Clean them and patch them. Then she’ll be okay.” Jax said to himself. He went to his bathroom and grabbed his first aid kit and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. It was half empty and hadn’t been used in maybe a year. But it was still alcohol. He found a washcloth, a clean one, and doused it in the alcohol.

“Okay. Sorry in advance.”

He gently swabbed the cloth in the deepest punctures, scooping out blood and pus. The Girl let out a burbly cry and convulsed, Jax touching her gently on the side of the face.

“Shhhhhshshsh, I gotcha I gotcha I gotcha, I’m makin’ it better…” Jax crooned. The toothmark he cleaned out was a clean pink for a moment before it bloomed red with fresh blood. That was good, all the infection was out and now the body was working to patch itself up. He found some gauze and gently packed it into the wound, The Girl mewling in the back of her throat.

“Shhhhhh, I know, I know… I know it hurts, but I’m makin’ it better…”

He covered the packed wound with one of those big fat square bandages. Now onto the next one. He rinsed the washcloth free of blood and discharge in his bathroom sink, wrung it out, rinsed it again, wrung it and reapplied more alcohol.

“Okay, here we go… last big one.” Jax said as he came back to The Girl. He gently scooped the wound clean. This time her eyes opened and she gasped sharply.

“Hhhurting me…!” she slurred.

“I know, but I have to, I’m cleaning your bite… you’re lucky to be alive…”

Jax startled himself at how soft and delicate he made his growl of a voice sound. Did he really care all that much about this girl..?

“Where’m I…” the girl slurred, her voice frail.

“My house. Do you remember me? I’m Jax.”

It probably wasn’t a good idea to mention that he was the town butcher, as in her delirium, The Girl might think he meant that he was going to butcher her.

“Jax…?” she mumbled.

“Yeah. Jax Kingston. What about you?” he asked. Hopefully she wouldn’t remember that if she had already told him.

“Pom… Pomni… aren’t you s’posed t’be arrested.. ooooowwwww…”

She let out a moan of pain as Jax packed the other wound with gauze.

“Pomni. Sorry, that’s the last one, I promise.” he soothed, putting another big bandage over it.

Pomni coughed hideously, clutching at her stomach in pain.

“Hurts so much… cold…”

“Okay. I can fix the cold part at least. Just let me-”

“C-C-Cold… please no more…”

Alright. The biggest wounds were patched up, she was freezing. He scooped her up, leaving his medical supplies behind, and went over to his bed. He wrapped her up in his quilt, only her head being visible. He let her lay swaddled for a bit as he got a fire going in his hearth. He hadn’t gotten too much new firewood, but it burned okay. He picked her up again, unwrapping her from the blanket and putting it around both of them, making sure she was close to him. She really was freezing, any longer out there and she might have gotten hypothermia…

He sat in front of the fire, her in his lap. She laid against him, shivering. Eventually, the shivering became less severe. The warmth of the fire and his fur was finally starting to work.

She coughed again and whimpered with pain. Jax ever so slightly tightened his grip.

“I gotcha.” He rested his chin on the top of her head. “I gotcha…” He felt a peculiar warmth in his chest, not just from her gradually returning body heat. He kept wanting to tell her that he had her, that she was safe. Even if she didn’t answer back.

Tomorrow he would take her to the hospital where she could get real help. But right now.

He had her. She was safe.

[starrydaycare]

Hi love ur content! Can you pls do a tickle fic with pomni getting tickled by gummigoo or jax! Thank you have an amazing day! :)

Hey! Thank you, and yeah I can very much do that. Apologies if it isn't the best, though. This is my first tickle fic I've written.

Lee!Pomni and Ler!Jax, Thoughts upon Thoughts and a certain Purple Rabbit. 1,306 words. Despite this being a non-agere post, this is still an sfw account. DNI if not child safe!.

Pomni sighed, a mixture of exasperation, hopelessness and sadness going through her at the moment. Five days ago, she had been living her life in the real world, doing this and that, having fun with her friends and family. Five days ago, at around 7:50AM, she found herself in a strange circus. Five days ago she was told that she was unable to leave ever again; that she was trapped here... 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. Now, of course she wasn’t going to just accept this! There had to be a way for her to leave! There just had to be! ... At least, that’s what she told herself.

It’s almost been a full week since she entered the digital circus, and despite her attempts to find a way out, she remained there, surrounded by new people who had been trapped there for far, far longer than she had. They were... Okay. Yeah, they were fine. Ragatha was nice enough, she still felt bad about leaving her behind at first on her first day here. But she seemed to forgive her, so Pomni figured that she should leave it in the past. Kinger was interesting, to say the least. He was definitely a character, his short-term memory messed up. But he was nice, regardless. Even if he could be a little out of it at times; he was nice to talk to.

Zooble was, well, Zooble. They were nice enough, Pomni supposed. They seemed pretty over this circus stuff, which Pomni could relate to. Gangle was kind. She seemed like a sweet girl to Pomni. Though, her emotions were usually stuck to sadness thanks to her tragedy mask, which was almost always the mask residing on her face. Jax made sure of that, always pushing her down or insulting her.

Jax. Ohhh, Jax. Jax was probably the one human in the digital circus which Pomni didn’t really want to be around. To be fair, for her first few days, Pomni didn’t really want to be around anyone, preferring to just stay in her digital room, snuggled up in her digital bed...

The other circus members had grown on Pomni, but not Jax. Jax was mean, from what Pomni could tell. He constantly messed with the people in the circus, from breaking Gangle’s comedy mask to putting centipedes in Ragatha’s room just to mess with her. Pomni couldn’t fathom 𝘸𝘩𝘺 he would do that to the only other humans trapped here. They were all in the same messed up situation, so why not make the best of it? ... She sounds hypocritical now. She’s been focused on escaping, ignoring the group. Yeah, that’s hypocritical.

But can you blame her? Most people would do the same in her shoes, she thought.

It was fine, though. Well, not really. She’s finally come to terms that she is very much not leaving this place... Goodness, how does a place like this even come to 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵? What cruel, cruel person decided “hey, yeah, a digital circus in which humans are trapped in until they lose their marbles is a funky little idea!”. She didn’t even want to think about who would think like that. She was sad enough already, feeling hopeless; defeated.

Pomni continued walking around the big circus area, alone. The others had gone on their daily adventure, made by Caine. Well, not Zooble. Zooble never went on the adventures; Pomni could see why. But Zooble was in their room at the moment, and regardless, Pomni just felt like being alone for a bit.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a voice and a poke to her side; a touch which she did 𝘯𝘰𝘵 squeal at. No siree, not her! “Hey, Newbie!” Ughh... 𝘑𝘢𝘹. 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. Just who she wanted to see as she walked around, alone. “What is it, Jax?” she asked, exasperated. “Hey, hey! No need to be such a @#$-#!” She grimaced at the wonky censor. “Just trying to see my favorite new jester! Y’know, you seem kinda... Down-in-the-dumps-depressed lately.” He noted.

“Thanks, Jax. Didn’t know.” She replied, rolling her eyes. “𝘚𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘫𝘦𝘦𝘻. Chill out, would you? Getting yourself all bent-out-of shape!” He accused with a laugh, poking her side again, another squeal leaving her mouth. “Jax, stop that!” She snapped. She wanted to be 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, and she was supposed to be for at least a while longer! “Why, kid?” Ohhh, that... That Jax! “Jax! Knock it OooFFF–” The end of her sentence is high pitched, turning into another squeal as he began repeatedly poking at that spot. “JjjAHAHAHX!” She scream-laughed as his pokes turned to him spidering her sides–that’s right, sides, as in plural. Both of his hands now spidered along her sides–for reasons unknown to her. Was this another prank!? The first prank he pulled on her!? “KNOHOHOCK IHT OFFFHAHAH–!” “Hmmm... I don’t know, Pomni. You seem a lot happier now, and I’m enjoying this! Hmmm... What to do, what to do?” He pretended to think, not letting up with his relentless tickling. “JAHAX!”

“Hmm... Oh, yeah! I got a great idea, Newbie!” He teased, and despite the tickling letting up, Pomni knew better than to believe it was over. And she was right to act that way, as almost immediately his hands were skittering across the back of her neck. She squealed, throwing her head back and putting her shoulders up in an attempt to get the tickling sensations to leave. It was a failed attempt.

“Woah there, Pomni! Looking unsteady there, aren’t we? Don’t fall! Wouldn’t want an accident, now would we?” He spoke, that cheshire grin visible on his face. That look usually meant trouble, though Pomni couldn’t focus on that, too preoccupied with the fingers skittering along her neck. She brought her hands up, weakly fighting against it. Though they both knew it was half-hearted.

His hands drifted down to her exposed armpits, taking advantage of the fact that her arms were up, trying to get his hands away from her neck. His hands started their assault once more, forcing laughs and squeals out of the poor jester, who now had tears threatening to fall due to it all. As he continued to tickle her, he helped her lie down, giving him far more access (and making it to where she wouldn’t accidentally fall from the tickling). His hands spidered along her clothed ribs, side and tummy, loud laughs from the jester like music to Jax’ ears.

She wiggled and squirmed, head thrown back with tears of laughter in her eyes. “JJAHAHHAX–AAHHHHAHH!” Coherent sentences no longer formed for her, thanks to Jax’ actions. Coherent thoughts didn’t form, either. So Jax’ plan, which Pomni was unaware of, had been successful.

He finally gave her mercy as she started claiming that it was too much. His hands left her sides and he crossed his arms. For a moment Pomni just laid there, still letting out weak giggles. Her giggles stopped soon enough, and with a sigh, she wiped her tears of laughter away from her eyes.

“Feeling any better, Newbie?” Jax asked. “Hhahhhuh?” She answered, questioning. “You’ve been kinda... Down-in-the-dumps, as I said before, lately. All depressed.” He replied.

“Ohh.. Yeahhh, I–... Yeah. Um, the whole new... Trapped-in-a-digital-circus thing hasn’t been the best for me.” She admitted. “So? Are you feeling any better at all? Or do we need to go again?” Jax threatened, wiggling his fingers in the air. A giggle left Pomni, and she subconsciously squirmed a bit. “Haha, nooo... I’m good. ... Yeah, that... Did help. Q lot, actually. Why did you...?” “Well, I had to make sure the new kid didn’t abstract already.” Jax explained, a grin on his face. “Mmm... Okay. Thanks, Jax.”

“Yeah, no problem, Newbie.” He said, and as Pomni sat up, she thought to herself that maybe, just maybe, this entire circus thing wouldn’t be too bad.

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Why I haven't been posting + thoughts on upcoming movies

Okay, so I mostly am gonna still spam reblog about the KOSA bill until we can finally stop it but I want to still use Tumblr for what it was meant to be for all along; to have fun! I just will take a short break on posting cartoons but I'm still active here every night! Tumblr's honestly the only place I feel like I can truly be myself right now...

Okay, let's put the stupid bill aside for the moment and talk about my thoughts on some upcoming movies and shows right now. Disney's really been p*ssing me off lately with their sequels. Like, I feel they're only making sequels of Moana and Inside Out to impress the hardcore Disney fans, because their "new original ideas" failed (like Wish, but it failed because they used A.I to write the story). The Inside Out sequel looks cute from what I seen, but I still have trust issues when it comes to Disney. And before you go blabbing "It's Pixar", let me inform you that they're not the same and Pixar is literally just Disney with a better animation studio. Like, it's literally part of Disney! Like, I feel like I trust the Inside Out sequel a little more than the forced Moana sequel but still... I don't trust them. The worst is the Moana sequel though. I heard they originally planned for it to be a Disney plus show but instead they're making it a sequel on a super low budget and the animation is gonna be done overseas. No joke! I honestly think Disney needs to take a break on making movies for a while and focus on stuff like Kiff. Kiff is the only thing from Disney right now that's keeping me from leaving them all together. And when Kiff ends after season 2, I'm done with them forever! I honestly think they should let Kiff run a little longer than 2 seasons, look how long Kick Buttoski ran (that was a weird show, let's face it). Anyway, that's my thoughts on Disney right now.

I haven't posted my review on Orion and the Dark yet but I think I will soon. Like I said, I been really terrified after hearing about the KOSA bill and will continue to spam reblog until I get justice! Long story short, Orion and the Dark was better than DreamWorks's other recent movies. I haven't seen Kung Fu Panda 4 yet but I'm sure Orion was better. I mostly only like the first two Kung Fu Panda movies. Orion and the Dark was better than Trolls 3, though. I don't think Chicken Run 2 Dawn of the nugget counts as being DreamWorks (the first Chicken Run will always be a DreamWorks movie whether you like it or not) but Orion and the Dark was better! Maybe I can post my review on it soon...

Okay, let's talk about The Amazing Digital Circus now! We all love that, don't we? I hope TADC episode 2 makes more money than Disney on their forced sequels. I'm really excited about episode 2, although I really really don't want to see any of the main cast get abstracted. Like, every character fits in with the show so well and makes it worth watching. Ragatha, Gangle, Pomni, and Kinger are my favorites, but I don't want anyone to get abstracted because they all fit in together perfectly. You have Pomni the new girl, Ragatha the supportive friend and optimistic "peace maker" of the group, Jax the sassy trouble maker, Gangle the emotional one who doesn't stick up for herself, Kinger who's upbeat and crazy and childish, and Zooble who's also kind of sassy and doesn't really care much. Plus, there's Caine and Bubble who are hilarious as well. Like, I just don't want any of the main characters to get abstracted so soon. I'm just way too attached to all of those characters! However, I'm still a huge fan of the show and hoping that episode 2 will make more money than Disney! And if there's anyone here in the comments who's also a TADC fan and wants to see my sketches that I'll never post on tumblr, I'll dm them to you!

PLEASE DON'T IGNORE ME, I DON'T BITE! CHAT WITH ME PLEASE!!!! Just please chat with me in the comments, I'll be nice!

[ryleejam]

Some puppeteer split dark aftermath au story (original puppeteer au au belongs to @rorydrawsandwrites )

This takes place right before Jax was saved

I can't remember the last time Gangle let me go or remember being conscious at least. I remember I kept telling myself that I was just saving energy for...something?... fight back?....I can't remember why I was telling myself that?...I remember was a need, a need for what thought? whatever was fueling that determination is gone or I forgot what it was. Thinking about it....I can't remember much in this state, I can't remember the people I pass by in this state, I feel like I should know them but things are coming up blank. Maybe it's an unknown sideffect.

I was just there as Gangle was doing her thing. I can see what she is doing sometimes but most of the time my Brain feels empty. I know we are in the rooms hallway but this time I started noticing something, a jester girl comforting a small paper dog girl......paper?.....paper...Page?- I remember now! Page was a friend, a good friend, almost like a little sister to me She was scared and nervous all the time before I took her under my wing when she was just a kid and needed someone to keep an eye on her she was just a kid, she needed me....she still needs me...That's why I was telling myself that I couldn't leave her like this, but I don't think I can even fight back now....the jester looks at me or I think it was me. She yells something that I can't process. Then I started to feel myself being pulled away from something then I blacked out.

When I woke up I was in a bed staring up at the ceiling...wait this is my ceiling, this is my room! My body feels weird like the feeling of being in water all day. I turned my head and saw people sitting on my floor, wait..the others, kinger, Ragatha, Pomni, Page, and Zooble- wow I thought they didn't care. Page noticed I was up and ran up to my bed and hugged me, it was a little awkward since I was laying down and she was thin as paper but I sat up and hugged her back, it felt comforting to hold my sister again. I noticed Ragtha was close to us like she was going to pull Page away but was too late, I unknowingly pulled Page closer into the hug like if Ragatha was a threat to Page probably shock and brother intuition getting mixed together in a mess. I managed to have the strength to speak up finally.

"what happened?" "Pomni set up a plan to distract you and Gangle so we could remove her from you"

I was kinda shocked by that, I didn't know she could have planned something that would work, but I started to have more questions.

"how long was I like that?" "almost 11 months Jax..."

I felt my stomach drop. That long?....that long under Gangle's-wait where she is, I started to panic and Ragatha noticed.

"where is she??" "She is somewhere where she won't hurt you or anyone else again, calm down you're safe"

I know she isn't telling me everything at the moment probably because Page is here, but hearing that helps me feel better. I'm okay I feel tears welling up in my eyes, but not out of sadness or feel it was relief.

I'm home