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thescarletnargacuga · 2 months

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What if Pomni and Caine had their first argument as a married couple and now the whole circus has to deal with them taking jabs at each other and being annoying (it’s like watching toddlers argue) so the rest of the circus bands together to get Caine and Pomni back to being the gross domestic couple that they were before (mostly cause when they argue it’s more of a headache on everyone else)

I just imagine Caine and Pomni are arguing over the stupidest thing, like what proper sleepwear looks like or what color the bedsheets should be

A/N: what a couple of goobers

LOVER'S QUARREL

A SHOWTIME ONESHOT

WARNING: unserious hurt/comfort

~~~

"Fine!" Pomni stomped away from Caine.

"Fine!!" Caine crossed his arms and turned his back on Pomni.

"Geesh..." Ragatha said under her breath, witnessing the end of what must have been a heated argument.

"They're at it again?" Gangle asked, peeking around the corner. "Pomni's been grumpy the last few days."

"I think things just came to a head. You don't think..." Ragatha implied.

"No, I don't think it's that bad, but... I've never seen them at each other's necks like this." Gangle watched Pomni go to a far corner of the circus, her body language rigid.

"We should stay out of it. I'm sure they'll figure things out." Ragatha hoped.

"Today's adventure is Ballpark Bonanza!" Caine presented his adventure of the day to his circus members. "You'll be in charge of the concessions at a major league sports ball game! It'll be up to you to keep the fans happy until the game is over!"

Pomni rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. The main item sold will be hotdogs?"

Caine narrowed his eyes. "Why, yes, Pomni! They will be! You'll have to serve SO many hotdogs, you'll never mistake them for anything else!"

Everyone else shared looks of confusion.

"Will they be labeled properly, at least? Wouldn't want anyone confusing them with tacos." Pomni crossed her arms, firming her stance.

Caine glared. "Shared food categories aren't included. Especially sandwiches."

"Oh, goodie." Pomni snarked. "We wouldn't want to make things confusing, now would we!?"

"No, we wouldn't!" Caine half yelled.

"Just make with the portal already!" Jax shouted. "I'm sick of listening to you two!"

Ragatha and Gangle shared worried glances. Zooble and Kinger stood in the back, actively ignoring the odd behavior.

Caine snapped his fingers, not taking his eyes off Pomni. "Enjoy your experience." He passive aggressively grumbled.

"We will." Pomni huffed and followed the others through the portal.

Pomni stood between Ragatha and Gangle at the service counter. They prepared food for an overcrowded stadium, serving demanding NPC attendees. Pomni had a silent, sour glare on her face that scared customers.

"Um...Pomni, are you and Caine okay?" Ragatha asked carefully.

"What's it to you?" Pomni growled.

Before Ragatha could answer, a serving of nachos flew into the face of a waiting customer and Jax shoved Gangle out of the way to stand next to Pomni. "It's ridiculous as all get out to deal with you and him hissing at each other like back-alley cats. The bickering and the passive aggressive comments are not helping! I wouldn't give a crap if it wasn't so annoying!!"

"I hate to say it... But I agree with Jax." Ragatha shyly said. "What's got you two all up in arms anyway? Maybe we can help?"

"I'm not doing anything for these bozos. I'm just telling you to knock it off." Jax went back to his spot on the concession line.

Gangle sidestepped back next to Pomni. "I'll help, if I can."

Pomni let out a heavy sigh. "He thinks hotdogs are tacos."

Ragatha blinked. "...what?"

"He THINKS hotdogs are TACOS!!" Pomni smashed her fist into a plate of hotdogs, sending a few mustard covered weenies flying.

"Wait... So all this drama...is over hot dogs?" Gangle asked timidly.

"YES!! WHY DO YOU THINK WE'RE HERE??" Pomni gestured to their adventure setting. "The stubborn jack[%$!#] is trying to prove a point! Which, by the way, is not going to work."

"uh, well... What do you have to say about hot dogs?" Asked Ragatha.

"They're obviously another type of sandwich." Pomni held up a hotdog in a bun. "They're just held differently."

"You do kinda have to hold it like a taco." Gangle said, and flinched when Pomni glared in her direction.

"Are you on my side or not?"

"Pomni, we're not on either side." Ragatha said. "We just want you two to stop fighting. I mean, don't you think this is kind of...silly?"

"Hotdogs are serious business." Pomni took a bite of the digital meat link.

"Uh huh..." Ragatha sighed, then shouted to the back of the kitchen. "Kinger! Are hotdogs a taco or a sandwich?

Kinger poked his head up from the fryers and food trays. "Neither. Hotdogs are hotdogs. Why?"

Ragatha gave Pomni a pleasant smile. "See? They're their own food category. Maybe you two can come to an agreement that you're both wrong?"

Pomni pouted. "Only if he admits it first..."

Gangle and Ragatha groaned.

"Of all the stupid [%$!#] I've heard over the years, this takes the cake." Zooble mumbled, leaning over the cash register.

The circus troop returned from their long shift of rowdy customer service covered in grease stains and soda. Zooble was extra annoyed that they even agreed to go on this adventure and went immediately back to their room.

"Welcome back, my greasy gargoyles! So, did we learn anything?" He smiled at Pomni.

Pomni's eye twitched. "Listen here, you patronizing son of a-"

"WE learned that you two need to talk." Ragatha interrupted.

"Yeah!" Gangle bravely spoke up. "You two are being stupid heads."

Caine gasped. "Gangle!?"

"That's right! You two are being so ridiculous that you've brought the potty mouth out in me!"

"This oughta be good." Jax smirked and leaned against Kinger, who just let it happen.

Gangle put on her best angry face, that made her look like a ticked off kitten, and continued. "You say you love each other, yet you're letting something as dumb as a hotdog get in between you two!? You married each other for cripes' sake!!"

"Hotdogs aren't dumb." Pomni defended.

"They're very serious business." Caine agreed.

Gangle dragged her hands down her face. "Uuuuuuhhg mah gawd..."

Kinger cleared his throat. "May I?"

"Knock yourself out." Gangle sighed, exasperated.

"This isn't about hotdogs at all. Tacos? Sandwiches? Why does it matter? Both of you are so set in your definition of food taxonomy that you have failed to realize what this is doing to your relationship. You two are unwilling to come to a compromise. Refusing to speak to one another in anything that isn't a condescending tone. Practically shouting at every chance. You're not listening to one another. Agree to disagree or... realize that you're both wrong. Hotdogs are their own thing anyway."

Caine and Pomni were silent for a moment. Ragatha held her breath, hoping Kinger's words of wisdom helped.

Caine tapped his fingers together in contemplation. "So... hotdogs aren't considered tacos?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Pomni said, relieved that he seemed to finally be getting it.

"But...they're not sandwiches either." Caine said his point calmly but firmly.

Pomni took a deep breath. "No...not really. Kinger's right. They don't fall into any category."

"Then what were we ever fighting for? I'm sorry, pookie bear." Caine scooped Pomni up and held her close.

Pomni kisses Caine on the side of his lower jaw. "I'm sorry too, sugar Caine. Why don't we make up? I have a few... ideas I want to throw your way." She waggled her eyebrows at him.

Caine blushed and straightened his posture. "Glad you enjoyed today's adventure, everyone! I must be off!" He vanished with Pomni.

Gangle and Ragatha breathed a sigh of relief. Jax slapped his knee as he doubled over with laughter. Kinger wandered off in search of good fort building pillows.

"That- ahahaha! That was so stupid!" Jax gasped in between bouts of laughter.

Ragatha struggled to suppress an amused grin. "Yeah....it was."

"The stupidest." Gangle said, entirely unamused.

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc fanfiction #tadc caine #tadc pomni #tadc showtime #tadc jax #tadc ragatha #tadc gangle #tadc zooble #tadc kinger #caine x pomni #pomni x caine

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dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling · 11 months

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Jax and Zooble (seperate) x reader whos mute? Their appearance is based off a mime and pantomime logic often happens to them (like being trapped by invisble walls, being able to use invisible tools, etc). Maybe the reader gets into danger and speaks for the first time, calling to them for help?

You didn't specify if this is meant to be romantic or plutonic so I wrote it as plutonic, hope that's okay!

Zooble x mime Reader

★ Zooble is just relieved to finally meet someone who won't try to talk to them when they want to be left alone. You are very easy to ignore which wins you some friendship points.

★ You have so much power as a mime, a downside being that you can't speak. Actually, you probably don't even have a mouth. Why would you need one? If you were mute before getting stuck in the circus it would be fitting for you not to have a mouth.

★ Oh god, the invisible walls, they are the bane of your existence. It's amusing to everyone else but infuriating for you. Imagine being stuck in a mirror maze but you can't see the mirrors.

★ On the bright side you can chase Jax around the tent with an invisible chainsaw! So I guess you win some and lose some.

★ While Zooble appreciates the quiet that comes with being around you, they would rather not play a game of charades when you need to tell them something. The solution? Just write it on paper, obviously.

★ Still, you mostly talk with your hands and facial expressions. After a while Zooble might actually learn what you mean! A conversation like that goes like this:

Y/n: 👋

Zooble: "Um, where did Gangle go?"

Y/n: 👈👌🫡👍😓

Zooble: "The hell is she doing under the lake?!?"

Y/n: 🫵😠🤌🫤☹️👏

Zooble: "Oh for @&$#'s sake.."

Y/n: 😮‍💨🙌

Ragatha (in the corner): "How did you understand any of that?"

★ The first and only time Zooble heard you speak was a shock. At first they thought it was a weird, cruel joke by Jax. But no, it was undeniably you. And you where in trouble no less. The shock quickly fades.

★ Zooble isn't exactly a night in shining armor but they are capable of helping you. After helping you get out of whatever trouble you were in they try to forget about it. Zooble is a firm believer in not asking too many questions.

★ Random thought but do you think Zooble is aroace? I feel like they might be but I'm probably wrong.

#tadc #tadc zooble #tadc headcannons #tadc x Reader #tadc fanfiction #tadc fandom #the amazing digital circus x reader #the amazing digital circus #the amazing digital circus reader incert #the amazing digital circus Zooble #the amazing digital circus fanfiction #zooble headcannons #zooble x reader #zooble #the amazing digital circus zooble #gooseworx

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mistkisbiggestfan · 10 months

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This is kinda AU but how the cast would react if they met a reader who already knows who they all are, because tadc is the newest biggest thing on TV. This network has been tricking people into entering tadc through these headsets (similar to sao) and people are seeing/betting/voting how long the crew could last without going insane, last one standing gets 100 million dollars (Kinger and Gangle are the top two people vote/bet to most likely abstract next, while Jax is a fan favorite character) I guess the reader could be an activist who was against the show the network wanted to silence so they put them in tadc too

TADC Cast x Gn! Reader

Tadc Cast x Gn! Reader

A/n: Hey took a lil break but I'm back on the grind! REQUESTS FOR TADC ARE OPEN!!

Summary: You were an activist against a network that runs TADC (which is a gameshow), but now you're stuck with the people you were trying to help Words: 1774 Request: Yes

Chaos.

But I think we all know that already.

You popped out in the main circus area just a few weeks after Pomni and it was not great.

Somehow you kept your memory in check, not forgetting anything, well, maybe not forgetting everything you knew before finding yourself trapped in the brand new show: “The Amazing Digital Circus!”.

Not everyone knew about the shady and dark part of it though, the people or “actors” / “animated characters” were actual normal humans taken away and put into this digital h#|! for entertainment.

But out of everyone, you knew.

You tried your best to shut down the network, do anything against this, basically cruel torture.

But the show must go on, right? They couldn’t let someone like you, destroy their source of money.

Especially when you started to snoop around too much for your own good.

Hands shoved into the pockets of your jacket, it was cold, so cold. Your breath turned into a cloud of fog, walking through the city, everybody looked like a bunch of serious chain-smokers.

It has been a few months since you started to fight for the rights of people who were currently stuck in “The Amazing Digital Circus!” The cruelty of a network using these people’s mental health as an attraction, to see who will break faster, disgusted you. And so you decided that you’ll do everything to help them, and to bring those greedy bastards from the company using them down.

People shoved others out of their way, shoulder hitting shoulder. Walking through such a mob was hard, especially since you were walking in an opposite direction of theirs, scoffing ladies and gentlemen looked at you in a rather disgusting manner.

And sure, you didn’t quite fit in here, with a jacket and clothes which weren’t close to the world “elegant”, men and women in suits passed by you with a raised eyebrow, a plan which consisted of fitting in failed already.

You turned around the corner, breaking away from the tide of busy workers currently trying to reach their respectful workplace. As you walked through a dark, shady alleyway you saw some people lying on the ground, nothing out of place really.

Finally, you were met with backdoors of a big company’s building. You put your hood on and took out your ID you may or not have stolen from one of the company’s programmers when he was drunk, not your fault, he should have been more careful.

As you walked through, you were met with a harsh and confusing environment, across the hall you spotted people who were very different from the rest, at least some of them were. The programmers of the whole thing were dressed in comfortable clothes – no dress code included them.

Before the escalators door shut, you managed to stick your foot, jamming the doors and getting in, a girl turned to you, visibly surprised. – Hey, who are you? – She asked, mumbling tiredly.

You felt your palms sweating a bit, they weren’t supposed to realize something was off so early on. But you had to play apart somehow, clearing your throat as you spoke, you said – Oh, I’m a new programmer here! It’s my first day.

She raised her eyebrow but didn’t question you, and just as her co–worker was about to ask you something, the escalator’s door opened, you speed walked away, but not before noticing the girl from moments prior talking to a security guard and pointing in your vague direction.

Shit, she had noticed your ID, or more likely, the fact the ID wasn’t yours. You had to move fast, and so you did. Walking along the corridor you noticed a room which differed from others. Looking away in both directions of the hall, you didn’t notice anyone, the way was clear. Your sweaty palm of your right hand rested on the doorknob, and as you pushed, the door creaked.

The interior was entirely white, now, with the passage of time, white walls were tinted yellow, giving off an unsanitary look, the tiles were cold, you felt it even through your boots. And there it was – the closet full of documents that would shut this company down, and hopefully, save the people stuck in that TV show or whatever it was.

You ramaged through the endless pages full of protocols, data and worthless information till you found the thing you were out for, a file with every single piece of information not redacted out. The only copy that existed. You shoved the paper into your backpack and turned to leave, getting away as far as you could now.

Getting out of the room was terrifying, a sense of panic filled your body and overwhelmed you, pulling the hood over your face harder, you turned to walk out of the hall – towards the escalator. But during your flight, you bumped into something, one of the security guards. Stumbling backwards you gazed up in terror, before trying to run away.

Unfortunately, the security guard grabbed you by the backpack effortlessly, trying to get away, you scratched at him with your nails. The only thing you remember prior to getting tased was other people walking towards you two. After that, you woke up as one of the new players of this hellish game you were trying to save them all from.

When you woke up, you panicked – of course – but not because you couldn’t remember anything, because you did remember, you panicked because now there was no way of you helping those people.

As you looked around dazzled, you knew all of the people there beforehand – Jax, Ragatha, Kinger, Zooble, Gangle, Caine and the new person – Pomni.

Looking down you saw how unhuman you have become, oh god, the feeling of static filling you instead of blood was too much.

Before you could say a world, Caine jumped in front of you.

“⊹HELLO DEAR!! WELCOME TO THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!!!⊹” “No #u@k!ng way…”

Caine then proceeded to tell you how swearing is not accepted by the guidelines.

But you knew all of that already, so you pushed forward, looking at everyone else.

The thing you used to watch on TV, fight against, was now your reality.

Then your eyes were caught on Kinger and Gangle, poor souls. People watching this whole thing thinking it’s just a show, maybe a really clever animation, voted them to be most likely to abstract soon.

Jax walked over to you, even though your avatar was quite tall, almost taller than everyone, he tried to use you to lean on his elbow. – We get new stuff already? It hasn’t been two weeks since Pomni got here!

Oh god how you hated that man out of all people, this asshole was a fan favorite.

“Eat $h!t and d!e Jax.”

Silence.

You were met with silence and a lot of terrified looks from everyone in the main area.

Even Caine stood there bewildered.

“How did you know my name…?”

“Eh,, I’m good at guessing things..?”

“⊹OH WELL!! WEIRD THINGS ASIDE, LET ME TOUR YOU ALONG THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS {trade mark, all copyrights reserved}!!!!!!⊹”

You looked up at him, confused. “Oh no need, I think I’m good.”

Again, that was weird af. Caine stood there for a second calculating a good answer lmao.

Yeah the first meeting was rough, they were all very much weirded out. Bubble liked you though!

But that was because of another slip up you made. “So like, where is Bubble..?” That was def the wrong dialogue option because you can swear (not really tho) that Caine mumbled: How did they know who Bubble is..?

And out of everyone, you knew only one person would believe your crazy rambling for now, someone as desperate as you – Pomni.

So, one time, you took her by the arm, to a place you knew had no cameras, no one recording your conversation for content, and you told her about the fact that there has to be an exit here, that you remember everything, and that this is all a game for Caine and “the people outside”.

After you’re done, you already can tell that this was a bad idea. Her eyes went blank, with dark scribbles for pupils.

You huffed in annoyance and partial sympathy. – Just forget it Pomni, I’ll figure something out.. – The last part was more for you than her, when you started to walk away, you felt her run beside you, catching up. – Wait! What the h#|! do you mean!?? Who are the “people outside”!?! – She shouted before you tackled her and shushed her.

– Look, I explain this all once it’s safe to do so, now just act like you always do, nothing happened here. – You said before walking along, playing a part in this sick game. If someone told you about this beforehand, you would be on the other side of the continent right now.

And as you left her be, you knew that her mental health wasn’t well before all this and now it must’ve dropped to an all time low. Oh well, you’ll explain it to her later, once it’s safe.

You tried to slowly ease people into the idea that this was a TV show, a game. They all thought you were just another madman, like many before and many that will be here after.

Pomni seemed slightly hesitant, and once you started to help her look for exit, she was onboard with you.

Meanwhile people watching the game were having a blast with you as a new cast member, because of course, the secret that you know it’s a game got out and was now known by everyone (except for the TADC cast ofc).

So seeing you struggle in convincing them was funny.

You and Jax developed a funny dynamic in the meantime, it consisted of you telling them it's a game, Jax saying something like “Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night.” And you two started to argue.

Out of everyone you didn’t mind swearing him out even if it was censored.

Pomni asked you about what you remember and you told her (almost) everything, like the fact that people vote on who they think will abstract, or even bid money on that. And the fact that Jax is the favorite, which makes her confused because why do people like a f#c(!ng @$$hole like him??

You soon had to adapt into this thing, trying to keep yourself and others sane.

And as you tried to figure out something to help you all, you couldn’t help but grow attached to the people around you.

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parrythisucasual · 9 months

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HmmMmmMM I’ve had this idea for a bit basically Jax would have his like go to pranks be ones involving bugs so obviously he tries to screw around with the reader not knowing they actually really like bugs and ending up finding it cute or whatever. I’d just imagine him being utterly confused or concerned lmao

HERE WE GO TWO POSTS ONE WEEK???? ITS ALMOST AS IF IVE BECOME SLIGHTLY MORE BEARABLE!!!!!

JAX X Bug Enthusiast! Reader

Jax waited around the corner, snickering. Just a few moments ago, he’d slipped a few pincher beetles under your door. He eagerly awaited the scream of terror with perked ears and bated breath.

But… It never came. Jaax waited for almost twenty minutes, though it never came. He groaned, deciding you were probably too stupid to notice the bugs infesting your room, so he trudged back up the hallway to make sure you did.

He knocked, and your cheerful voice called back. That was odd, usually, you were depressed and apathetic all the time. “Come on in!” you had chirped at him. Jax shrugged, turning the kob and entering- only to be faced with you laying belly down on your bed, kicking your legs up. With the beetles. In your bed. Just… crawling around.

You smile up at Jax, “These are my new pets. This is Dave the Magical Cheese Wizard, and that’s Suction Cup,” your grin bears the satisfaction akin to that of a Gen Z teenager that made a popular shitpost. He stared blankly at you, almost in a state of shock.

You reached out to Dave, rubbing his shell a bit. He flexed his pincers but did not attempt to pinch you. You seemed thoroughly happy, although it was a relaxed sort of excitement. Happily content, perhaps? You glance back at Jax, “Thank you for them,” you speak slyly, “I knew you were the one to do it.”

“How did you know it was me?” he raised a brow, surely you couldn’t have known. “Partly the knowledge you’ve done similar to Ragatha. But mostly your footsteps,” you respond, as if it had been clear the whole time, “Everyone walks differently. And in a few different ways,” you continue. He frowns, only more questions appearing in his mind.

“Really? You recognize everyone?” You shrug, “Well, Gangle is too light, I can't hear at all, and Kinger is hard to hear because he slides. But I can tell from the rest.” Jax nodded, then steered off of that conversation, now more interested in you keeping the bugs.

“I put these in here to freak you out,” he reminded, “And you like them?” You nod, picking up Sucion Cup, “I was in college for etymology,” you explain, rubbing the side of the bug’s pincer to demonstrate how much you trusted it, “bugs are a passion of mine.” Jax gives a small grin, “Really?”

You chuckle a bit, “Yeah, a lot of people think it’s gross and lame.” He shakes his head, “Nah, its totally cool. Bugs are freaky. Its cute how much you like it,” hes waving his hand. You nod, “You think so?” You smile at his nod and begin rambling about the beetles.

A few minutes later, your brain finally loaded what he’d said, “Wait, you think it’s cute?” you question, disbelieving. Jax’s face grew a bit darker, and your brain skipped forward again. Oh. OH. You’d first though he meant you were cute like a puppy, now you’re realizing you were very wrong.

“I don’t know, maybe? I guess so?” he tried to play it off, acting so casual about it. You merely blink, “Me? You like me?” He doesn’t respond, now avoiding eye contact. “Holy s*1t! You like me!” You couldn’t believe it. Your embarrassment finally joined the party, causing you to scoot backward, in a flustered mess. The situation was incredibly tense.

“Well yeah, yeah a little,” you being so flustered seemed to help him regain confidence, “I mean yes, I do. And it’d be pretty cool if you wanted to talk more or something?” he was struggling, but you were entirely ensnared by his awkward attitude. When he wasn’t being so fake, or at least when you could see through it, he was really sweet. You snort, smiling as you relax a bit.

“A date? Yeah, I’d like that.” He’s stunned as he looks into your face, his dumb grin having been wiped clean off, “Yeah? Yeah, okay, cool!” He perked up more, leaning in eagerly, “I’ll think of something really good, wait here,” he jumped up and hurried to the door, “Ill be back!” and disappeared.

You giggle, “Looking forward to it.”

#tadc #jax #tadc jax #tadc x reader #jax x reader #the amazing digital circus #tadc jax x reader #the amazing digital circus jax

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ominous-auburn-orbs · 10 months

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More sick Caine but this time within the circus?

I wanted to do this one for a while, but I wasn't quite sure how.

Heavily inspired by Caine VA's Twitter post about what Caine might be like if he got sick. I can't find it but if you know you know

Also warning for some very suggestive jokes.

The circus troop had just finished doing their theme song and were waiting on the stage for Caine to announce that day's adventure. He always gave them some time to socialise before they started it, finding it also gave them an opportunity to mentally prepare.

However, Kinger had noticed something off with the ringmaster. His voice during his introduction had sounded stuffy, and he could swear he had heard Caine unexplainably say something about a 50% off deal while he was talking to Bubble.

"Uh, Gangle?" She was trying to stay as far away as possible from Jax when Kinger approached her, startling her slightly. "Did you notice anything different about Caine? It's kinda hard for me to tell with this stuff. In case I'm just, y'know, making it up or something."

"W-well Kinger, you know Caine better than anyone, so you're probably right. Something does seem a bit weird with him today. Maybe you should ask him about it?"

While Gangle was concerned, she secretly hoped that whatever was going on would get them out of that day's adventure, or at least delay it. It was also a great opportunity for Kinger and Caine to spend more time together, which was something she always loved to see.

Just when Kinger was about to start searching for him, Caine flew up above the performers, his energy seeming a bit more forced and draining than usual.

"Hello, everyone! Are you all ready for today's- for... AHC[CLICK FOR NEW IPHONE]!" The other's jumped at the sudden yelling. They all couldn't help but compare it to a sneeze, if a very peculiar one at that.

"Huh. I guess Caine's got a cold today. Well, I'm going back to my room, tell me if he starts feeling better so I can try to make him worse again." Jax turned on his heel and walked towards the hall, followed by Ragatha and Pomni's glaring.

Turning back to Caine, Pomni cautiously inched closer to him. "Uh, are you okay, Caine? You don't sound well. And what do you mean about a 'new iPhone'?" The ringmaster looked at the floor, his gaze seeming unfocused before his head snapped up.

"Don't you fret, my dear, I- [YOU'RE OUR 1000TH CUSTOMER]" Caine made a loud string of glitching noises into his elbow, desperately trying to speak through it, "I-I'm doing just fine..."

The quiet groan that followed his words convinced Pomni and the performers otherwise. Pomni glanced back nervously, unsure if this was a regular occurrence. The confusion she found in her friends' eyes told her it wasn't.

Kinger at least now had confirmation that he was right. Something was wrong. "Caine, I really don't think you should host today."

"W-what?! Nonsense, nonsense!! The show- [CLICK HERE]- n-needs- [FOR 10 GRAND]- a host!" The troop had begun to back off while Kinger had gotten closer. While they all just wanted to have a calm day for once, Kinger was far more concerned with Caine's health and safety.

"Maybe you can just get Bubble to do it today." Out of the corner of his eye, Kinger saw the other performers frantically shaking their heads in response to the idea. "...or, rather, we just don't have an adventure today. Take a little break. You definitely sound like you need one."

"B-but-!" Before Caine could say his excuse, his eyes began quickly spinning around in his head, resulting in him having to close his mouth tightly to keep them inside. When they stopped moving, he slowly opened up again. "Alright. W-we'll just have a day off today."

The chess piece moved to put his hand around Caine's shoulder as he lowered further to the ground. While the others immediately went to their rooms, trusting Kinger to handle whatever was going on, Pomni lingered behind to check on the two.

"Are you, um, do you need any help, Kinger? I mean, I-I don't really know what to do, but if I can do anything..." Pomni trailed off, not really sure where she was going with this. She didn't want Caine to be 'sick', just as she didn't want anyone else in the circus to be unwell either. Well, maybe Jax, but that's more than reasonable.

"Oh, no, I've got it from here. You can go and relax, I can handle Caine." Pomni gave him a look of mild uncertainty just to be sure he was being honest. Kinger returned it with a reassuring smile. "It's my specialty! He'll be well again in no time."

The jester smiled, taking his word for it and heading towards her room. As she was leaving, Caine came back into reality again and frantically waved his hand, yelling, "Byyyeeee, Pomniii!!!"

The sudden burst of excitement sent him into another fit of high-pitched crackling noises. Kinger's hands moved to further support him. "Maybe just try and use an inside voice for once, dear."

"S-sorry. Thank you for helping me. I'm- [5 STEPS TO BECOME A BIG SHOT]- still not used to this happening." Caine leaned against Kinger, letting out a light sigh of relief at not having to put as much energy into keeping himself upright.

The chess piece began to walk him to the hall that held their rooms. "Do you know what's happening?"

Caine moved his feet to keep up with Kinger, although he went at a slower pace. "It's probably something wrong with my code. It doesn't seem too severe, so my built-in defences are currently working on fixing it. Buuuut it does take a bit. [TOP 30 ANIME DEATHS]!" The ringmaster looked somewhat embarrassed about his various short outbursts. "H-hopefully it doesn't take too long."

The next time his foot hit the floor, Caine's body suddenly spasmed before his head fell to the ground. His top row of teeth landed close to his bottom, but his eyes bounced and rolled further down the hall. Kinger startled, quickly moving to support Caine again and staring in disbelief at the pieces of his face now scattered across the floor.

"O-oh no- I'll get those back for you, honey!" He only moved forward slightly, not wanting to accidentally drop Caine, while one of his hands flew through the air to catch the ringmaster's eyes. When they finally lost momentum and stopped rolling, Kinger was able to pick them up and bring them back. Not knowing what to do, he placed them in the top of his robe, moving on to putting Caine's head back together.

Kinger started by trying to put Caine's bottom row of teeth back on top of his shoulders, but it was like working with very weak magnets. He eventually got it to stay floating, which allowed him to move to the top row. Caine talked to him throughout, which did make it a little harder, but Kinger could never complain about hearing his voice.

"I'm so very sorry about all of this, my dear. You should be enjoying this day off anyway, I can handle this." Placing Caine's eyes back into his head, Kinger moved his hands around him again to continue walking.

"Don't be ridiculous, I love spending time with you. Even if you weren't 'sick', this is exactly where I'd be." Kinger pressed his face to the top of Caine's gums. "Right next to you."

The ringmaster leaned into Kinger's chest as they walked, chuckling nervously. "O-oh. I hadn't realised. In that case, this is- [HOT AND THIRSTY TWINKS NEAR YOU]!"

Caine slapped a hand over his mouth, or rather his eyes and bottom teeth. He buried his face deep into Kinger's robe, attempting to hide his bright red face. The chess piece was startled, his own face heating up as well. He put his hand on Caine's back comfortingly and smiled at him.

Kinger's voice quietened somewhat. "I know, darling, believe me." Caine let out a quiet groan of embarrassment into the fluff of Kinger's robe, making him laugh. "Come on, I'll just take you to my room. Then you can rest while your system fixes itself."

Pulling his face away, Caine kept walking alongside Kinger. The pair eventually made it to the chess piece's room, with Kinger setting him down in his pillow fort. He sat down next to him, gently rubbing circles on his back. The ringmaster leant against his shoulder, sighing with content.

"Thank you for all of this, my love. I'm already starting to feel better, although I'm still not entirely fixed. Just be wary, in case I have one of those little outbursts again." Kinger returned his sweet smile as best as he could with his eyes. Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted by Caine suddenly yelling again. "[PLAY WITH ME AND YOU'LL BE CU-]"

Kinger quickly put his hands on either end of Caine's head and snapped his mouth shut, waiting for him to finish before letting him go. Both of them were blushing profusely, with Caine's eyes heavily avoiding the other's. Kinger grabbed one of Caine's hands and rubbed his thumb back and forth across it.

"It's fine, dear. I know you can only do so much to keep your programming in check. We can just stay here until it's fixed." Caine gave him a small nod and rested against him once more. The less he did, the easier it was for his code to solve the problem. The chess piece put a gentle hand around Caine's waist. "I don't really mind you saying things like that, anyway."

The ringmaster wrapped his arms around Kinger and held him close, clearly flustered despite trying to disguise it. "Shush. I thought I was meant to be resting."

Kinger chuckled, but agreed, their peace only disrupted by Caine's occasional glitches or advertisements. They eventually stopped, signifying Caine was well again, yet neither of them moved for a long time afterwards.

#shout out to the slopcord for giving me a bunch of ideas #if that hadn't happened I would simply be dead #caine x kinger #kinger x caine #kingleader #royalteeth #I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG

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dayseedrawz2 · 9 months

Text

Okokok, Its time to stop mentally preparing... (for Pomni AND me in this case cuz I sorta regret doing this-) this part is probably gonna be longer than the first

[also tagging @sm-baby again. I'm sorry if I'm infiltrating you notifications but if I tagged you in the first it makes sense to tag you in the rest of the parts]

Here is part one of the Fic:

Okay now here we go again...

PART 2 OF:

☆Settings for two☆

Pomni, not having much to do while waiting for Caine and the others, just sat on the floor on the stage. Letting herself stare off into space, with the thought of escape still circling her head.

Caine was gone for a bit longer than she thought he'd be. She thought he would just snap his fingers and bring the cast out against their will. Ya know, like the oblivous AI that he is. Or at least he appeard to be to her... Then she heard the distant bustling and chatting of the others getting closer:

"Do we really have to do this for her??"

"I guess so. But I don't quite mind."

"Yeah, whatever. I just think it's stupid that he's involving us..."

"The only thing stupid about it is that he's involving you, Jax."

"Oh, settle down, guys! I think it's really sweet of him!"

"Shut up, Dollface!"

"C-can you guys stop arguing..?"

"Oh! Of course! Sorry, Gangle."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

"Let's just get the day over with..."

Pomni got up as they all lined up side by side in the center of the room. But She was still a bit confused...

"What on earth were they talking about..?"

The thought lingerd with her, but it didn't invade her mind as much as the inevitable effect of her plan. But her train of thought again was interrupted by the voice of Caine bursting into their muffled conversations:

"Good morning again, my superstars!"

He swooped around the corner, approaching from the direction of the hallway.

"I hope you all are excited for today's adventure! This one is sure to be a doozy!"

He began to explain the rules of the adventure. "Something Something, the grounds, blah blah blah, Something about the Carnival? Or perhaps it was the Lake?" Not like she would know. She wasn't paying much attention. Again, all that was on her mind was the idea of leaving. When finally she tuned back in to Caine as he wrapped up his speach:

"Alright everyone! I hope you all enjoy the adventure! Stay safe and have fun!"

*Snap!*

And POOF! Caine and the others was teleported to who knows where.

Execpt, for Pomni?

She started to panic a bit:

"Im still here!? Should've known not to get my hopes up... Maybe he set that door there as a trap like the others..."

Well, at least she was alone...

*Poof!*

"Pomni!? What're you still doing here!?"

"Oh God..."

He snapped in attempt to fix what he thought was some sort of bug on his end.

Nothing happened.

Another snap.

Nothing.

He began to grow visibly frustrated, continually snapping as he spoke:

"M-my apologies, dear! There seems to be something wrong with-"

He turned to see the blue door slightly open. Pomni grew worried:

"Oh god... Did he see me in there?? Is he gonna do something to me??"

To her surprise, upon connecting the dots, he simply laughed it off:

"Haha! It appears someone got into the old settings room!"

"..."

"I told Bubble to quit messing with code without permission! I'll be giving him a stern talking to later..."

Though still tense, she let out a releived sigh:

"Sorry again, my dear! I guess this means you'll have to sit out of today's adventure!"

"I-it's fine, Caine. If that's all, I'll just head back to my room now-"

"W-wait!"

His response was a bit more panicked than usual:

"I-I'm afraid you can not go to your room at this time..."

This, of course, alarmed her:

"Wh- I- why not..?"

"You should be in the adventure right now, so even if you tried, the place would glitch like crazy!"

"Oh... well, uh- now what?"

"I... I'm not sure. This hasn't really happened before..."

"Mhmm..."

"Yup..."

It was a bit off-putting seeing Caine this quiet. Normally, he's always bugging her and the others with his antics. Not that she would prefer if he did, just- it didn't feel right that he wasn't.

Caine to must have realized just how akward it felt. He attempted to continue the conversation:

"Ya know, lately a lot of things have happened here that haven't happened before since you got here! It's pretty funny now that I think about it!"

"R-really? Like what..?"

"Well, if I knew, I would tell you! Haha!"

She wasn't quite sure what he was implying. "Was it some sorta joke? A reference?"

"S-sorry, what? I don't quite get it..."

"Well, as a not human being, I have been trying to learn as much as I can from you humans! I want to make sure that this place is as normal and comfortable as it can be!"

As he continued, he seemed more down to earth than he usually was:

"I tried to ask everyone for information about the human world, but either they say they don't remember or they just don't answer me at all."

This answer from Caine caught Pomni very off guard. She didn't expect him to open up to something like this. Especially to her.

"Gee, well- I-"

"But the feedback you gave me this morning, It made me realize. Perhaps I have been asking the wrong questions?"

She wasn't sure how to answer. Never has she been good at giving good feedback, but still she decided to give her best- "advice" You could say.

"You mean you should ask more about their personal issues with the place? Well- it might be different for everyone, but it might give you at least a few of the answers you're looking for? I-"

She was cut off by Caine rapidly shaking her hand:

"Why thank you again, my dear, for your feedback! Hopefully, this will improve everyone's stay!"

The rapid hand-shaking continued:

"Y-you're welcome?"

The shaking finally stopped, making Pomni almost fall forward:

"Well then, I suppose we should wait for the others' return."

"Yeah... I guess we'll be here for a while, heh."

He checked his WackyWatchTM:

"My! It's already almost over! They will be here any minute now!"

"Wait, really?"

"If my WackyWatchTM is right! It's as if it only started not even 5 minutes ago! Ha! That's one more odd thing that's happened since you've been here! Care to explain that one?"

Pomni had to think about that one for a moment. She hadn't had this sort of experience for a while:

"Well, if i remember, humans usually are unaware of time when doing something fun or being around someone that they enjoy being around."

This answer seemed to peak his interest even more:

"I am surprised that you are even willing to share this information with me! Is there anything else?"

As their conversation continued, Pomni thought:

"Huh... maybe this guy really does have good intentions..."

And there! Cut! End part! I can't write anymore-

Stay tuned for the third and final part!

(It is 1 am for me rn and I started at like 10 or 11 oh my goodness)

#tadc #the amazing digital circus #tadc caine #caine #showtime #tadc pomni #tadc showtime #caine x pomni

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theboywithburninghands · 5 months

Text

So. I guess I kind of got into a flow, haven't I? Anyway, here's my first entirely Buttonblossom story, but it's... unconventional, I guess you might call it? It's another horror piece, but less hopeless than the last one. Although I'll still include trigger warnings for anyone that's squeamish. I... admit I mostly wrote this because of @red-balloon12 rightfully pointing out that I haven't had enough Ragatha in my Bunnyjesterdoll stories. But also because I wanted to have something specific happen. Anyway, enough preamble. Here story

The Dollhouse Part 1: Legs

T/W: Horror, chilopodophobia, gore against a giant bug

Another day, another adventure. Caine told the performers that he had worked hard on this one, which was usually a sign things were going to be unpleasant. Everyone hoped for shorter adventures so they could spend the rest of the day relaxing or… well, doing anything but adventuring, really. If Caine had put extra effort into an adventure, that was usually code for “it was going to take all day.” Sure enough, this one was a doozy.

Caine created a sprawling funhouse for the group to explore. The kind of funhouse that was usually maintained by a traveling carnival, full of rubber bats, cheap animatronic monsters that lurched from dark corners, a few rudimentary puzzles to solve, and an overuse of fog machines. Of course, this was The Amazing Digital Circus, so things like “budget” or “OSHA compliance” weren’t an issue. The first thing that happened upon the six performers stepping into Crazy Caine’s House of Tricks (the ringmaster insisted they call it by its full name) was the door slamming shut behind them, leaving them in complete darkness.

Ragatha: Everyone okay? The others gave short affirmations. A loudspeaker steadily crackled to life.

Ominous Voice: *in a thick Hungarian accent* Welcome… Welcome to Crazy Caine’s House of Tricks. I am your host for this little excursion.

Zooble: Our “ghost host?”

Gangle: *giggles*

Host: Ahh, you are a clever one, my asymmetrical friend. Keep that wit about you as you venture inside. If you would all be so kind, please, stand upon the illuminated circle with the first letter of your name.

Six circles of light, in even lines of three, lit up on the floor. Red, blue, pink, yellow, purple and white, each with a black letter in the center.

Jax: Yeah, I don’t think I’m gonna do that.

Host: Oh, but you shall. Or else, Crazy Caine’s House of Tricks will keep your spirit trapped within its walls for eternity…

Jax: We’re already here for eternity, bub. Also, that is a terrible Lugosi voice. It’s not even a dime store imitation, it’s like the hobo outside the dime store.

Pomni covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, trying to pass her outburst off as a stifled sneeze.

Host: If you will not acquiesce, let me show you a little trick I can do. Ka-ZAM.

The purple circle of light blinked from its position amongst the others and appeared directly under Jax’s feet. The rabbit looked down at the light and applauded blandly.

Jax: Wooow, I’m straight up mystified. You can make a light move- I’m sure nobody has ever-

The circle of light under Jax slid open vertically, revealing a hole beneath it. True to cartoon logic, Jax stood on thin air for a moment, his grin fading as he looked down at what he was about to fall into.

Jax: …Okay.

He dropped out of sight with a whoosh.

Pomni: Jax! The other circles of light blinked from their original positions and reappeared underneath its corresponding performer, each one opening up and dropping them into a trapdoor.

Gangle: Eep-! Zooble: S#?%-!

Kinger: *makes a noise not dissimilar to the Wilhelm scream*

Pomni: ACK-!

Ragatha: Oh nOOO-!

The trapdoors slid shut. Host: Do tread carefully, my esteemed guests. You never know what might be behind the next corner… in Crazy Caine��s House of Tricks.

The host gives an ominous cackle before the intercom abruptly cuts off.

—

Ragatha rocketed down a tube slide, her boneless legs flopping over her shoulders.

Ragatha: -OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- OOF!

She crash landed into a pit full of multi-colored plastic balls, about a dozen of them flying through the air and bouncing away with rapid, hollow tapping sounds. Ragatha, practically upside down, pushed her legs off her shoulders and her dress off her face. It had flopped over her head when she landed in the ballpit.

Ragatha: Graceful, Ragatha, truly graceful…

The doll woman waded through the waist-deep pit of plastic balls, trying to keep her mind off all the horror stories she remembered about the nasty things found in ball pits… dirty diapers, used needles…

She grunted with effort, pulling herself up and out of the ballpit, straightening out her dress and sighing.

Ragatha: Hello? Guys? …Marco! She got no reply and decided to check herself out, making sure she didn’t rip anything. She did feel an unpleasant itch on her left leg, so she might have popped a stitch… The itch… moved. Something was on her leg. Something-

with too many legs centipedeCENTIPEDECENTIPEDEOHGODCENTIPEDE-

Ragatha shrieked and frantically slapped at her leg, smacking the wretched little arthropod off of her. It flew onto the floor on its back, all of its horrible, spiky little legs flailing about to try and right itself. Before it could, Ragatha brought her foot down on the creature with a wet and juicy crunch. She hopped from foot to foot and flailed her arms about, patting down her entire body and shaking her dress just in case any more of the horrid things had gotten onto her. Her search came up empty, and she put her hands on her knees and panted. She then shot up and shook her fist at the ceiling.

Ragatha: F#$% YOU CAINE!

She normally didn’t like cursing, but no one was around and the situation warranted a little profanity. She was going to be slapping at every itch she felt for the rest of the day… how could Caine stoop so low?!

She looked at the crushed centipede on the floor. She felt a pang of guilt for killing it, but… it shouldn’t have been on her leg.

She shuddered once again and double checked her dress and hair before walking to the nearby door.

Ragatha: Onward and upward… She opened the door hesitantly, and was admittedly a bit relieved by what she saw. It was a parlor, it looked like it could have fit right in at a castle or old fashioned mansion. Yellowish bricks made up the walls, and a roaring fireplace sat in front of a pair of some plush red armchairs. A small table sat between the chairs, a few statues made of different kinds of stone arranged neatly on top of it. The Persian carpet was a slightly different shade of red with gold trim, and a large coat of arms sat above the fireplace. It was a shield emblazoned in front of a gold fleur de lis, one side red and one side blue, the red side reading C and the blue side reading A, both letters silver.

Ragatha: Oh wow. This is so… bougie.

She smiled and went over to the fire, warming her hands on it. The architecture and atmosphere reminded her of a safe room from Resident Evil. She wanted to sit and rest a moment, but she knew better than to dawdle in a funhouse.

On the opposite wall, she saw an old fashioned, heavy wooden door painted, what else, red. It lacked a doorknob, only having a single indentation in the center of the door, with a few words inscribed over it. On either side of the door stood two suits of armor, each about seven feet tall and clutching a pretty crude weapon. Nothing but a heavy, spiked metal ball on a stick. Some sort of mace. What were they called? It was something oddly elegant… She had no idea what time period the suits of armor came from, but they looked ponderous to wear.

Ragatha approached the door and read the words written above the indentation.

Ragatha: “My marble walls as white as milk,

My insides just as soft as silk,

No doors inside, but within here,

A golden treasure will appear.

But beware, for if you’re wrong,

They will catch you before long.”

Ragatha put a hand on her chin. A riddle. She wasn’t the best with these. She was better with questions that had multiple right answers, philosophy and the like. The past was blurry, but she did remember struggling a lot with math and word problems.

She wished Pomni was here. She was surprisingly great with math and logic questions. She also just… generally wished Pomni was around. Even if she was a nervous and cynical wreck most of the time, she was starting to come out of her shell. She had a really sweet little laugh and was the perfect size to pick up… plus she could ground the group whenever they started squabbling. Mostly because she had the guts to just tell somebody to shut their stupid mouth. She was a nervous wreck, but she never pretended not to be, and that honesty was super refreshing.

It was only a few nights ago that Ragatha got to share a bed with Pomni for the first time. Pomni had warned her earlier that she might need some time to get used to cuddling, and Ragatha promised she would take her time. Almost immediately after Ragatha got under the covers, she felt Pomni’s arms around her midsection, and it wasn’t long until she had the jester snuggled up against her. Poor little thing was so touch-starved…

“I’m sorry if you get uncomfortable, we can stop if you need…” Pomni murmured into Ragatha’s chest.

“Pomni, don’t worry… What good is a doll if you can’t touch it? Or cuddle it? Or love it?” Ragatha replied, petting down her hair and kissing her on the forehead.

The look of pure contentment that washed over Pomni’s face just about made Ragatha’s heart melt. It had been a loooong time since she had made someone that happy, and sister, it felt good.

She shook herself out of her lovesick haze and focused on the situation at hand. Okay, think Ragatha. Something white and soft with a treasure inside… Ragatha: Ugh, I should have paid more attention to those Haunted Tomb riddles in Spyro 3…

Well, when you got stuck behind a locked door, you looked for a key. Time to look around. She looked under the chairs and beneath the cushions, only turning up flecks of lint. She stared into the fireplace, making sure there was nothing behind the fire. Not that she would go sticking her hand into a lit fireplace, but it wouldn’t be the weirdest place she had found a key in this place. Only finding ash, she got to her feet and put a hand on her hip. This room wasn’t that big… Maybe it was back in the ball pit room?

Ragatha: *to herself# I am NOT going back there.

She wasn’t gonna waste her time digging through a ballpit and put herself at risk of running into more centipedes. So here she would stay.

Ragatha examined the statues on the table. It was some kind of abstract art, vaguely humanlike figures that all straddled different 3D shapes, one on a sphere, another wrapped about a pyramid, another clutching an egg... This looked promising.

Her eye and button fell onto one statue, a four-legged pewter creature with a smooth, featureless face, seated on top of a white cube. She picked the statue up, and the humanoid sculpture wobbled. It wasn’t attached all that well. After a little bit of jimmying, the statue came off, leaving only the cube in her hand. She set the statue back down on the table and tossed the cube from hand to hand. It was slightly soft and something rattled around inside.

Ragatha: Bingo!

She brought the cube over to the door, sliding it into the indent on the door. She took a few steps back and waited, her hands behind her back.

At first, nothing happened. Then there was a gradual creak of rusty metal. Rust sprinkled down off of one of the suits of armor as it turned its empty head towards her.

Ragatha: Uhh…

There was a loud crack as the suit of armor pulled its foot off the pedestal it stood on, a good chunk of yellow brick remained stuck to the bottom of his foot as it yanked its other foot off the pedestal. It stepped down off the pedestal, raising its weapon over its head.

Ragatha: Oh NO-!

The ragdoll woman dove out of the way as it brought down the mace where she had been standing, smashing a decent sized hole in the brickwork. It turned its empty visor to look at her, pulling its enormous mace out of the floor with the same effort that someone might pick up a bowling ball.

Ragatha: Hey, hey, easy..! I got the answer wrong! I’m sorry, will you let me try again?!-

The suit of armor wound up for another go, Ragatha ducking behind one of the chairs as it swung. The mace smashed into the chair, shattering the back of it into splinters and bits of old, moth-eaten stuffing.

Ragatha looked around for anything she could use as a weapon, and her eyes fell on the rug they were both standing on. Well, if this place worked like a cartoon, then maybe…

She hurried to one end of the rug, the suit of armor lumbering after her with its mace raised. Ragatha shoved the chair and the table with statues on it off of the rug and picked up the edge of it, gulping.

Ragatha: God I hope this works- HRNGH!

She yanked the rug with all her might, the suit of armor stumbling backwards at the sudden shift beneath its heavy feet. It swung its arms for balance before landing with a teeth-chattering crash on its back. It struggled to stand back up, but it was simply too heavy to right itself, flailing its arms impotently.

Ragatha: HA! I betcha wish you were dressed a little lighter now, don’t you?!

Ragatha made her way over to the statues that had fallen on the floor and began to take the pieces that could be used on the door. But she was interrupted by a loud and decidedly wet smashing noise from the fallen suit of armor.

Ragatha screamed and scrambled backwards. From out of the suit of armor’s visor emerged an enormous centipede, as long and thick as a pool noodle. It flailed about like a live wire, eventually slowing down to turn its head to look at the terrified doll. Beady, unintelligent clusters of shoe-button eyes looked her over as its antennae writhed about, before it lunged for her.

Ragatha: GET AWAY FROM ME!

Ragatha managed a pretty strong kick, knocking the enormous arthropod off course before it could drive its pincers into her leg. It let out a nauseating bubbly hiss before thrashing about a bit more, trying to free itself from the suit of armor. It eventually succeeded in yanking itself out of the visor and scuttled towards Ragatha.

Ragatha: only manages a terrified whine, pressing herself against the wall

The giant centipede reared back like a snake about to strike, opening its pincers to drive them right into Ragatha’s face… but the blow never came.

There was instead a crunch and a squish as a small hatchet was buried into the side of the creature’s face. Greenish yellow blood oozed out of it, and the centipede appeared to be in shock that part of its head was now cleaved apart. The hand holding the hatchet yanked the blade out of the creature’s carapace, the centipede turning to look for its attacker before the hatchet smashed into its face again, this time neatly splitting its head into two parts that were barely held together by vile sinew.

Pomni: Ragatha, don’t look.

Pomni pulled out the hatchet and motioned for Ragatha to turn around before chopping at the creature’s body. Ragatha did as she was asked and looked at the wall, hearing Pomni’s grunts of effort and the nasty crunch and squelch of the hatchet meeting arthropod flesh. After about a dozen good chops, Pomni sighed and plopped on the floor. The centipede was dead, cut into pieces, although many of its legs still twitched.

Pomni: Oh God, it smells f#%&$ng awful… *she covers where her nose would be* Ragatha, are you okay..?

Ragatha refused to turn around, Pomni getting up with tremendous effort and walking over to the doll woman

Pomni: I… got that thing, Ragatha, it’s over.

Ragatha looked at Pomni, her eye filled with tears of fright. The jester managed a weak smile.

Pomni: I… I guess we’re finally even, right? I saved you- EEP!

Ragatha pulled Pomni into a huge hug, still trembling. Pomni jumped a bit at the sudden action, but she hugged her right back, dropping the hatchet so she could squeeze the ragdoll as hard as she could.

Pomni: I’m sorry that happened… I know you’re not okay, but-

Ragatha: How did you get in here..? You… We all fell through those trapdoors…

Pomni: I climbed back up the slide and pried the doors open, there was a ball pit with a snake in it and I wasn't even going to entertain the idea of going through that again… I found that hatchet stuck in a statue’s head up there, and I… well, I just started chopping at the floor before that stupid intercom opened your trapdoor for me. I heard you screaming, and- mmf!

Ragatha pressed her lips to Pomni’s. The jester seriously jumped this time, expecting the circumstances of her first kiss on the lips with Ragatha to be… well, more romantic. And not next to a giant arthropod carcass. Still, her lips were warm and soft, so she savored the feeling while it lasted.

Ragatha: *breaking the kiss* Thank you so much for saving me… I owe you so much more than a kiss for that, but-

Pomni: We-We’ll worry about it later. You're welcome though. Let’s get out of here.

Ragatha: The… door is locked by a puzzle. I was trying to solve it when that monster sprung out at me…

Pomni went over to the door and read the riddle, snapping her fingers.

Pomni: Oh, I’ve heard this one. It’s an egg.

Ragatha, doing her very best to ignore the giant dead centipede, picked up the egg that had fallen off the statue, inserting it into the indent on the door. There was a click, and the door slid open, revealing darkness beyond the threshold. Pomni walked up beside her with the hatchet in her hand.

Pomni: Well… whatever horrible thing comes next… gripping Ragatha’s hand We’ll… face it together, right?

Ragatha: *she looks down, and, despite her fear, manages her usual glowing smile* Right.

The two of them entered the door, hand in hand.

#buttonblossom #tadc pomni #tadc ragatha #pomni x ragatha #the amazing digital circus #oh no cringe #horror #tadc #tadc jax #tadc kinger #tadc gangle #tadc zooble #bisexual #lesbian

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the-s1lly-corner · 11 months

Note

Loving the digital circus content! Digital crew x tiger!reader. The are basically a tiger that can walk on two feet and talk but can still run on all fours. Their suppose to do tricks like jump through rings of fire or so super cute tricks for entertaining people. But they have a dark sense of humor and a temper. Not wanting to be there. Their kind to others who treat them nice tho. Ex: Jax makes a poor joke or tries to mess with them expect one of another crew members turn the corner to see Jax neck in between their razor sharp teeth with a nervous smile. “Heh guess they don’t like jokes.”

TADC cast x feisty!tiger!reader

...is feisty the right word..? I dont think so but I'm drawing blanks

This one may be a little all over the place and this isnt exactly written with romantic stuff in mine !! Hope that's alright anon !!

Side thing I just noticed the anon icons have shades

That's so cute

CAINE:

Honestly I think he would constantly compliment your stripes! Thinks they look cool..... and given that hes a ringmaster, hes definitely going to be using you for circus acts... sure you're not a lion, but hey, beggars cant be choosers. As for your humor, I'm a little stumped on whether or not he would enjoy it... I think it would depend on the joke!

Would kind of just stand there watching you bite jax. Kind of just

Strolls off while whistling, pretending he didnt see anything

Likes calling you "spitfire" thanks to your personality as well as the whole fire loop trick

POMNI:

I mean, you're a big cat. And also physically large, probably. You're fast and you're agile. Pomni understands that in reality youre a person and this is your digital body, but shes still getting used to this world. Obviously very wary around you, and I don't think shes an enjoyer of your little jokes. Probably has a genuine freak out if she walks in on the jax thing. Like actual genuine fear

Does not enjoy your temper either, I think she may avoid you tbh. Like she would still be polite but. You know?

RAGATHA:

Probably also not a fan of your temper and sense of humor, but since this is ragatha we're talking about shes still going to be as nice to you as she can be and include you in things. probably one of the one of the only people to actually try to fet you to back off of jax. Purely basing this on her intro thing where she literally shrugs off an axe to a face. Ragatha has balls of steal and a few bites arent going to stop her, I think

Polite to you but I also dont think you guys would be close

JAX:

Honestly jax looks like he would make a squeaky toy noise while you bite him. Jax being jax, hes going to antagonize you. Probably calls you "kitty". Does the 'pspsps" and "here kitty kitty *Pat's thighs*" thing when hes trying to get your attention

Sure you biting him cant kill him or leave any real damage, but it's definitely not comfortable

Is a dark humor enjoyer though so at least you guys share that in common

KINGER:

Attends some of the little shows you and Caine put on. Claps very loudly and probably very cartoonishly since hes not bound to.. well having arms..! Your sense of humor does freak him out, though, since hes scared that one day you're going to get sick and tired of this digital world and start a rampage... I mean you've already demonstrated you're more than willing to be aggressive

Overly polite to you, trying to make sure he stays on your good side. Squeaks and runs off when he walks in on you biting jax

ZOOBLE:

You dont mess with them, they dont mess with you. You guys kind of just stay in your own lanes. Does enjoy some of your dark humor. Also likes your stripes, they think they look nice! Maybe they start wearing striped limbs more often!

I know I'm leaning heavily on the jax biting thing but I think if they walked in on you biting jax they would huffed out an amused but short laugh before carrying on with whatever they were doing

GANGLE:

You know how gangle covers her mouth when zooble is taken apart by the gloinks? She does that when she sees jax in your teeth

Vefy very intimidated by you.. but also.. has a weird crush on you.. maybe I'm self projecting on gangle, a lot, but so far I've said that gangle is into:

Mysterious broody guys

Monsters

Gentlemen

And now, big strong intimidating folk

She just like me frfr

Like would she be weird or straight forward with her crush on you? Hell no. Is she good at hiding it? No not really. So.. I guess her snd Caine are the only two that have the potential for romance..

Honestly gets a crumb of satisfaction with you biting jax, given how much he messes with her. Does feel bad about feeling satisfaction

#tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader #digital circus x reader #caine x reader #pomni x reader #ragatha x reader #jax x reader #kinger x reader #zooble x reader #gangle x reader

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jester089 · 9 months

Note

TDAC reactions to reader vomiting then passing out in front of them…

:)?

Out cold

Apologies if this isn't good. I'm trying to find a rythm/style when it comes to writing.

It was a basic day. People were bored and moping around.

Jax was causing problems for everyone but mainy Gangle, Ragatha was worrying about everyone and trying to get Jax to stop, Pomni was fighting off another breakdown in the corner, Zooble was nowhere to be seen, and Kinger was hiding off to the side.

You were wandering around feeling bored not really knowing what to do. Feelin a little queezy you decide to just go back to your room and take a nap.

You sadly don't make it back before being stopped by Caine who was going off about his next adventure.

"That is actually why I stopped you! I was hoping for some live human input on these things and you are the most available!" He basically shouted at you while getting way to close.

You try to push past him but fail, you're feeling worse by the second and can't make out half the things he's yelling at you.

After a few seconds you realize he stopped talking and was staring at you seemingly waiting for an answer to an unknown question.

You open you mouth to ask him to repeat only for a ton of inky black who knows what to force itself out. You throw up on the floor getting a judgmental look from Jax, and a worried one from Ragatha.

You get all of it out then fall over feeling weak. Caine yells something else at you before you black out.

~~~~~

You wake up feeling still awful, but better. You open your eyes and see your in your room. Their's a bowl of soup on your bedside table with a note. You open it up.

"Hope you're feeling better! Ragatha said that some soup would help you feel better so I got bubble to make you some!" is splayed in giant letters on the top.

On the bottom "Get better soon" is fancily written with everyone's signatures around it. You smile at the note wondering how they got Jax and Zooble to sign it.

You take a sip from the soup. It's bland... And cold. It's better then nothing you guess. You down the bowl then go back to laying down still feeling weak.

(If I could as for some input on this post. I wanna know what yall think about the writing style for this one.)

#tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader

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sanvirtheobserver · 4 days

Text

Taking Flight, Chapter 43: Westward

Given all the cowboy hijinks, mercenary madness, and godless abominations from the depths of the earth, it was easy to lose track of what's been going on at home. It's Cascade Season, and a Cat 5 Portal Storm did just recently pass over the Mushroom Kingdom. Thankfully, Kermit is back with the latest MKBC broadcast over the radio.

Kermit: Good morning, Mushroom Kingdom. Kermit D. Frog here. Today's forecast will be sunny with scattered rainshowers later this afternoon.

Bob can be seen exiting that Duviri Mob Farm Steve had built a few days ago, with the portal inside still active. He and Pomni were just headed to the bazaar to restock their stands.

Bob: Now where was I?

Pomni: Something to do with test tubes, I think.

Bob: Oh yeah! That's where we found Damien. You probably saw him check in at the Guest House last night. I also found this.

He pulls out a small blue glass bottle with a gold trim and places it on his stand. A face can be seen within the shimmering glass.

Glassmaker: Please get me away from this buffoon!

Bob: It makes a good paperweight.

Pomni: ......... Right. Um, you said that Damien was found in a test tube, right? What exactly were they "testing" about him?

Bob: Hell if I know. I'm not really the sciency type. That's more of an SMG thing. Anyways, what have you guys been doing?

Pomni: Not much. We just took a little "urban exploration" trip to this old abandoned house a few miles out. Caine thought it would be worth a look.

Bob: That........ doesn't really help narrow it down.

Pomni: It was the big mansion to the north of the woods. Lot's of bitey crows swooping around. Most of the doors are crossed out with big yellow X's.

Bob: Hm.......... big manor........ huge murder of crows........... yellow X's.

Uzi: I think she's talking about the old Elliott Manor.

The two swiftly turned to Uzi, completely unaware that she was listening to their conversation.

Uzi: I've heard of that place.

Pomni: Um....... how long have you been standing there?

Back in the Guest House, Damien is silently laying in his room. He hasn't left since he arrived last night, and he's gotten little sleep in the meantime. He's just been laying there staring at the ceiling. His mind going back to the moment they first arrived at that cave. The Heavy was excited to test out his new Brass Beast, the Pyro was showing off this new spinning fire trick, and the Demoman had just woken up from a record breaking binge. The Spy was somewhat bemused as he took a puff from his cigarette while the Engineer fiddled with his PDA. Marston makes the call and directs everybody inside.

B. Spy: These buffoons will be the end of me, one day.

B. Engineer: Doh, cheer up, Frenchie. What's the harm in getting in a little fun before we get to work? It helps build a little confidence.

B. Spy: Best watch your words, amigo. Too much of a good thing is the biggest difference between being a hero and being a memory.

Those words have a much sharper sting, now. They were all so confident that this would be just another job. A knock on the door snaps him back to reality. He cracks the door open and sees a small pallid face staring out of a red hood.

Gangle: Mr. Winters, is it?

Damien: Yeah?

Gangle: We were just wondering if you'd like to join us for breakfast.

Downstairs, the other carnies wait in the lounge as Jax works his magic in the kitchen. Zooble is the first to notice Gangle coming down the stairs with Damien in tow.

Zooble: Hey there, sunshine.

Jax: Alright. I got flapjacks, french toast, and waffles hot and ready on the countertop.

Zooble: Hallelujah. I'm starving.

Kinger: Oh, if you don't mind-

Jax: Let me guess. Scrambled?

Kinger: How do you always know that?

TLDR, He always asks for that. Damien takes a paper plate with a single pair of waffles. No syrup, no butter, nothing. He then takes a seat at the far corner of the lounge away from everybody else. Ragatha is the only one to really attempt to start a conversation.

Ragatha: So......... you enjoying your stay?

Damien: Oh. Um, yeah. Sorry. I just had a hard time waking up. Yesterday was um........ quite the doozy, I tell ya.

That's certainly one way to put it. He puts on a forced smile, doing his best to look at least SOMEWHAT alive and well. That's when Saturday comes in.

Jax: Why hello, your Sweetness. Would you care for some crumpets with a spot of tea?

Saturday doesn't even bother gracing him with a response. She turns to Ragatha and nods to get a move on.

Ragatha: Well, if you need anything just give us a holler.

The two take their leave, making sure to close the door behind them before speaking.

Saturday: I just got a call from Shiro. He spotted some activity a few miles west of here.

Ragatha: Hm. You think another Abstraction breached the perimeter.

Saturday: Unknown, but not improbable. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Ragatha: Alright. I'll notify Aybel and we'll get a move on.

Inside the Castle, Tari sits atop a floating barrier in the middle of the main hall. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, clears her mind of all distractions, and when she opens her eyes...... she is elsewhere. It's nigh pitch black, and dead silent apart from the creaking of old wood. Clench, once again appearing as a ball of light beside her, is the only source of light in this cold dark place. She makes her way forward, passing by the various shelves and cabinets linings the walls. Some hold rows of books. Others contained jars filled with God knows what.

Tari: Quite the collection they have here.

Clench: A lot of books, too. I wonder if they have The Hunger Games. OH, maybe they have Saphique! I've been meaning to -HEUGH GOD.

The stench of rot stops them in their tracks. A single capsule lies before them. Seeping from between the lines of the hatch was a thick oily purulence. The smell of death was unmistakable. A pit grew within her stomach as she inched closer to the capsule. That's when she heard it. A heartbeat. Not of her own, but of whatever is inside that capsule, getting faster and harder as she inched closer and closer until she's close enough to peer through the glass and into the black purulence within. At first, she saw nothing. Then a faint yellow glow began to shine through........ before something erupts from the glass and reaches for her face. She let's out a blood curdling shriek and falls back, finding herself lying on the floor of the Castle. Her heart is racing as she takes deep breaths, clasping at her chest. Saiko comes rushing in from the Gaming Room and straight to her side.

Saiko: Tari! Are you okay!?

Tari takes a moment to catch her breath and get her bearings.

Tari: Yeah........ I'm okay......

Saiko: What happened? You look like you saw a ghost.

Tari: I...... I was meditating. I tried going to my happy place but ended up...... somewhere else..........

She gets back up to her feet and heads out the front door. Saiko rushes out to see her facing west.

Saiko: Tari........ what's going on with you?

Tari scans the skyline, zeroing in on a flock of birds circling a spot in the woods.

Tari: That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Her wings unfold and she flies off west, with Saiko frantically giving chase.

#smg4 #smg4 au #smg4 fanfic #smg4 tari #tadc #murder drones #team fortress 2 #fanfic

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shadowqueen402 · 10 months

Text

The Maiden And The Huntsman: Chapter 6

(Meanwhile, back with Princess Aria)

The princess found herself out of the forest after following the Tims. But she was far away from the kingdom. Rather, she was travelling over a couple of hills. The sunlight was rather welcoming as compared to the darkness of the forest. But suffice to say, Princess Aria was relieved to be out of the forest.

After some time, the Tims and Princess Aria crossed over a stone bridge only to stop. In the distance was a cottage. The princess had to admit that it looked rather cozy.

"Oh!" Princess Aria was rather surprised. "You believe I can stay here? But I'm not exactly sure who lives in that cottage… I must knock first before entering." The princess and the Tims approached the cottage with curiosity.

Princess Aria gave three gently knocks onto the wooden door. Then she waited for a response. Much to her dismay, nobody answered the door. "They must not be home…" She guessed before she tried to see if the door could open.

Surprisingly, it wasn't locked. Princess Aria opened the door wide open and looked around inside.

The cottage, despite not being colorful or elegant, appeared to be rather cozy. In front of the princess was a fireplace. On the right was a long table and wooden chairs that was enough to fit eight people. But on the table was dirty laundry. On the right was a tub filled to the brim with dishes that had yet to be washed and cupboards that were almost empty.

"This place looks pretty comfortable," Princess Aria said to the Tims as they all entered inside. "But it could use some tidying up, wouldn't you all agree?" The Tims all chirped in agreement. Princess Aria grabbed a broom that stood in the corner for so long that it had cobwebs attached. "Perhaps, if we tidy up the place, whoever lives here will let me stay."

The princess started to sweep the wooden floor. Several Tims started to dust the windows, tables, and chairs. A few other Tims started to wash the dishes. Outside, some Tims were washing all of the dirty laundry. Everyone was practically really busy with tidying up the house.

(Meanwhile, in a diamond mine)

Seven individuals were inside a diamond mine, digging up a bunch of diamonds. "What exactly do we dig up these gems for?" Gangle, a ribbon-like creature with a tragedy mask for a face asked.

"I wish I knew," Leo replied, swinging his pickaxe at a rock to free a diamond. "But we dig these diamonds anyway. I guess you could say it's a hobby."

Pomni struggled to push a wooden cart filled with red, blue, and green diamonds. "How many diamonds are in here!?" She asked with an exhausted huff.

"Oh, let me help you with that, Pomni." Kaufmo rushed over and pushed the cart, much to Pomni's relief.

Somewhere in the mine, Phil was checking to see if the diamonds that were minded were real or not. Bianca was disposing of the fake ones whereas Clem was cleaning all of the real diamonds.

The clock started to go off, grabbing everyone's attention. "It's finally time for us to head home!" Leo called to everyone.

One by one, the seven young individuals grabbed their pickaxes. They all left the diamond mine just as the sun was setting. Now that their day of mining is complete, they can finally go home and relax…

…Little did they know that they would be encountering a royal guest…

Aria belongs to me.

Phil, Clem, and Bianca belong to @sundove88

#balan wonderworld #ocs #fanfic #the amazing digital circus #gangle #pomni #leo craig #kaufmo

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freakingoutthesquares · 2 years

Text

Sleazy Does It Words: David Bennun, Photographer: Stephen Sweet Taken from Melody Maker, 27 November 1993 Transcription: Acrylic Afternoons

Pulp are peculiar. But are they really 'prophets of sleaze'? With the release of their delicious major label debut, 'Lipgloss', we brave a night on the seedy French tiles with Sheffield's doyens of Oxfam chic and kinky urban sex to find out.

Adventure hung in the air like gunpowder. The night was young and the city was ours for the taking. Russell Senior, sleek style icon and Pulp guitarist, sauntered over to end of table. In this staid Lille bar, his turquoise PVC jacket and chunky, white-framed space-shades marked him out clearly as an absentee from the common herd.

"I," he announced, "am going in search of sleaze." Near our hotel, it transpired, he had spotted a sprinkling of clubs, barricaded with bolted steel doors. We could only guess what lay behind. It was time to find out. It seemed appropriate that Russell should lead us on a quest for debauchery. I first encountered him, earlier in the evening, seated before a dressing-table mirror. His hair clung to his brow like glossy wet leather and, as he dabbed at his cheekbones with rouge, he lectured Nick Banks, Pulp's solid drummer, on make-up techniques:

"Blusher is not necessarily a feminine thing. If you wear foundation without it, you look like a goth, just two eyes peering out from a flat, white face. Now, if you want to give the appearance of a heterosexual male - which, presumably, you do - a bit of blusher is in fact very masculine." He paused and inspected his fingers. "Ooh! Send for the manicurist. A hangnail!" If anyone could find fin-de-siecle naughtiness in Lille - the French equivalent of Pulp's home town of Sheffield - it had to be this man.

Of course, Pulp have already inadvertently done much to rescue Sheffield's reputation. Inimitable frontman, gangling genius, and all-round unlikely sex god Jarvis Cocker has penned the epic "Sheffield Sex City", wherein the entire metropolis sets to f***ing on a steamy summer's night, a mass copulation which leads to the spontaneous collapse of the narrator's tower block.

"It's a bit crap", reasons Jarvis, if you're so parochial that you're only allowed to write about humbugs and chippies. Sheffield may not be very sexy. But, then again, it is, because that was where I grew up, and where all my sex was had."

"Never to be had again," caws a gleeful rabble of eavesdroppers. "I didn't have sex in London for about two years," Jarvis admits. "I had lovers block. I couldn't get it on. But, in Sheffield, when it's hot, you can feel the sap rising, and everything seems as if it's got something to do with sex, as if the whole city has sex on its brain."

Russell joins in: "Americans can quite happily write a song about Seattle, or some crappy little American town, and mean it, and be serious, and elevate their own surroundings to a certain kind of drama. But English people have to be self-deprecating."

[...]

This tale recounted, I left the bar in the company of Russell and three of the road crew. A few rough-looking types followed us around the corner (so we were later told); but we neither saw nor were troubled by them; most likely, they were merely headed in the same direction, en route to a meeting of the local philately society or some such. With bated breath, we stood aside as Russell boldly faced the first door of dissolution and, briefly doffing his Venusian sunglasses, knocked.

[....]

The grille shuttled back. Red-rimmed eyes peered at the outlandish sight of Russell in full Pulp regalia. "Bonsoir, monsieur," Russell began. "With respect, I am a famous English pop star, and I would like to enter your club for free with my friends. Is this possible - oui ou non?" The door swung open. A thick moustache appeared, a swarthy face behind it. Their owner, suspicious, eyed us up and down, then stood aside and let us pass.

Inside, our pupils dilated upon a scene to alarm the Marquis De Sade. A tiny, dimly-lit and sedate bar, populated by a few paunchy representatives of the bourgeoisie, led onto an even tinier dancefloor, where my former geography teacher (or reasonable facsimile thereof) and his lady wife were cutting a rug to the hypnotic, sensual pulse of Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me". Three "Hey hey hey hey"s were more than we could stand. We left.

[....]

Meanwhile, having been turned away from every dodgy joint in Lille, our quintet of English characters had shrivelled to a duo. Claiming to be showbiz celebrities, we'd almost made it into one place, until Russell pulled his sunglasses down his nose and told the bouncer, "Vous savez U2? Eh bien, je suis Bono." Finally, Russell and I inquired at a club where, after one look at the pair of us, they gladly granted us admission.

"There aren't any women in here," hissed the sharp-eyed Russell over the pumping Hi-NRG rhythms. He was prevented from saying more by an Algerian in leather trousers, who had sidled over from the bar to chat him up: "Hello. What do you like?"

"Let's get out of here," grimaced the sleaze-seeker, as soon as a break arrived in the stilted conversation. "No way," I protested. He was the one who came looking for a cheap holiday in other people's sexuality. "We could pretend to be a couple. No one will bother us then." He bolted for the door.

"We have," says Russell, "picked up all this 'Prophets of sex and sleaze' business. Which is obviously nonsense, because we're none of us intensely perverted."

"What about you knocking on the doors of sex clubs last night?" demands Nick. "I think we're all a bit fascinated by it," Russell summarises. "I think we're all peering through the door. But I'm not wanting to be hit with an iron bar for fun." After all, there's pulp, and there's Pulp.

The full interview is available at Acrylic Afternoons

#russell senior #jarvis cocker #pulp #melody maker #interview #printed interview

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anonymousj3ster · 7 months

Text

Chapter 9-Folly

_P-

I didn't sleep.

Well, I did a little. Two hours, 53 minutes and 48 seconds, to be exact. At least, according to the green panel I had summoned using the cane. I push it away, trying to focus on my work. It was more important than sleep.

Lines and lines and lines of code glare at me, giving me a headache. I glare back at it, feeling my eyes slowly slump closed...

"GOTTASTAY'WAKE" I shouts, jerking upright, snapping myself awake. No time, no time, no time for sleeping no time for shuteye no time for anything exit gotta find an exit gotta find-

I break off into hysterical laughter, rocking back and forth. Exit exit there was no exit-

I rock back and forth on my bed, shaking uncontrollably until my laughter dies, slowly making way for silence. I sit in the stifling lack of sounds for a handful of moment, eye twitching as I feel it settle around me. I grab the cane, making another green panel open up in front of me like a hologram. On a whim, I look up Caine's name, wondering if maybe-

PROGRAM DELETED

I stare at the bold, glaring words, feeling a sort of numb confusion. Deleted...? As in...

Was Caine really...gone? Forever?

I stare and stare and stare at the words, feeling the green glowing words bore a hole in my brain. Sure, Caine had been obnoxious and loud, and had no idea how much he was hurting us, but...

But...

An alarm blares, shocking me out of my thoughts. I fall off my bed, slamming my head on the floor as the green panel flashes out of existence. I sit up, wincing and rubbing my head as I glare at the cane, hovering where I had been laying on my bed. I had forgotten I had set an alarm to go off when it was morning, when the others were waking up. I grip my bed, pulling myself up and making another panel come up, turning off the alarm. I sit on the bed, rubbing my eyes and trying to perk myself up.

Of course I failed.

I drag my exhausted body off the bed, swaying on my feet as I stumble to the drawer, snatching my jester hat off of it and placing it snugly on my head. As much as I hated the hat, I hated my hair even more, despised the way it stuck up and how fluffed up it was, no matter how much I tried to brush it. I sneak a quick look in the mirror. Not that the hat made me look any better.

Dark semicircles were slowly becoming more and more apparent under my eyes, which kept trying to slide closed and catch some of the sleep I keep depriving myself of. I try to fix my slumped posture, only to cringe as my back cracked a little. I scowl at my reflection as though I could somehow blame it for how I looked before pulling open my door and letting my feet drag me down the hall to the main area, having to backtrack and grab Caine's cane because I had forgotten it, something that seemed to be happening more and more.

Everyone was already there, waiting around for me. Zooble and Gangle were conversing quietly about something, though Zooble seemed a bit tense and annoyed, waving their mismatched limbs about. Ragatha was facing one of the many paintings that covered the walls of this hell, though the glazed look in her black eye suggested she wasn't really there. Jax had been creeping up behind her, planning to do God knows what, but catches sight of me in the corner of his eye. The rabbit turns and gives me an annoyed scowl, placing a hand on his hip,

"Well, well, you finally decide to wake up and make us our breakfast?" He sasses. "We've been waiting here for hours." I just roll my eyes at him, waving the cane and making yet another panel appear, clicking one of the options. A huge table spawned in the middle of the main circus area, filled with everything from pancakes to cereal. Everyone converged towards the table, Zooble shooting me a dirty look as they say down. Technically, everyone could have gotten themselves food from the kitchen area whenever they had wanted, but Caine had used to summon food for them every morning, so they were used to waiting in the main area. I guess old habits died hard.

Looking around the table, I dully notice that Kinger was missing, but was too busy slowly falling asleep to really wonder where the chesspiece had gone.

"Why are ya not eating Pompoms?" A grating voice asks snootily, snapping me awake. "Can't bother dining with us underlings now that you've got all that power from the cane?" The trickster mumbles around a mouthful of pancakes.

"Shut up asshole."

"I have a name, you know."

"Jaxhole."

"Thats not even clever."

"Your not clever." I grumble, too tired to really deal with him. He just scowls and shovels more syrup-saturated flapjacks into his mouth. I frown, mildly unsettled from watching his rows of yellow teeth detach from each other. I was so used to seeing his face frozen in that horrible smile that I forgot he could open his mouth normally when he wanted to. I pick at a Poptart, not really feeling all that hungry.

"Pomni..." I hear a softer voice murmur from across the table. I lift my heavy head to glance at the ragdoll. "Hmmm...?"

"You didn't sleep last night...did you?" The ragdoll asks tentatively, eye filled with concern. I suddenly become much more interested with my Poptart, taking a big bite. I avoid making eye contact as I slowly chew it until it becomes sludge in my mouth and I have to either swallow it or vomit from how gross it felt. I reluctantly choose the former.

"I slept a little." I answer quickly, shoving another bite of the pastry into my mouth hastily.

"Pomni..."

"Well, I was too busy working on... stuff." I mumble around a mouthful of the chocolate Poptart.

"What, still trying to find an exit?" The purple rabbit drawls boredly, with a hint of barbed cruelty hanging on the edge of the sentence.

I glare at him, finishing my Poptart and push away from the table, the chair making an awful screech as it's legs scratches against the hard black and white tiled floor. I wish I could just scream like that I think as I stalk away from the table, absentmindedly grabbing the cane on my way down one of the many winding hallways in the circus.

"Jax, could you be a bit ni-"

"Nope."

"Jeez Ja..."

The groups voices fade as I wander further and further down the hall. They all looked about the same: Red and pink walls with matching cherry-colored carpet, weird paintings lining the walls, circular lights on the ceiling. And of course there were doors.

Doors and doors and doors and doors that I still couldn't ignore, not helping with the situation I was in that I still couldn't comprehend. I open one at random, peering in. It actually looked...normal. White walls, a shaggy grey carpet.

Oh, except for the fact that all the furniture was floating. Honestly, at this point I was starting to get used to this kind of stuff.

And honestly, the fact that I was becoming accustomed to this insanity...

It scared me.

I shake the thought off and step into the room, only to feel myself lifted off the ground, spinning slowly. I close the door, moving my arms and legs, swimming(?) to the center of the room and praying I didn't lose my grip on the cane and have to chase after it if it started to float away. I manage to make it to my destination without any detours, hovering for moment, trying to enjoy the sensation of just...floating. The feeling of being weightless, of not having to hold my body up, of being able to just completely relax. And I might have been able to if only it hadn't reminded me of that place.

That place, where the endless, teasing trail of exit doors had baited me. That place, the blinding white abyss, where time and matter just hadn't existed, weren't meant to exist. It had felt wrong to be there, like it was screaming at me to leave, that I didn't belong in this place of white nothingness, where everything joined together to become nothing, every color blending into a blank whiteness, all objects becoming small, brilliant pixels that had felt as though they were cutting deep into me yet phasing painlessly through me at the same time. It was only in that moment that I had thought I would never leave, that this wasn't a dream, that I really was trapped here forever, with no hope, no exit. Because everything would either lead to blinding light or eternal darkness.

I blink hard, snapping myself out of...whatever trance I had been in, suddenly feeling like the combination of white walls and weightlessness was suffocating me, but I stayed. It was quiet, at least. The Void had been too, but in a different way, a ... loud way. I shudder at the cold creeping over me, and open yet another green panel, trying to distract myself. I stare at it, at what I had been trying to do for the past few days, besides looking for an exit.

"Watcha doin?"

A scream tears itself from my vocal cords as I whirl around, only to end up spinning in circles from the lack of gravity, the person who scared the shit out of me rendered to a skinny purple and pink blur as I spin. My merry-go-round of nausea finally slows, then ends and I glare at the rabbit.

"The hell are you doing here? Did you follow me?" I snap, closing my eyes for a moment. God don't barf don't barf please don't barf-

"I got bored, and the thought of watching you slowly lose your mind was entertaining." He drawls, kicking his way through the air to a floating chair, settling into with ease. "So, watcha doin?"

I roll my eyes, turning my attention to the green panel. "If you must know, I'm trying to figure out a way to unabstract people."

Jax frowns at me. "Wow, how kind of you." He muttered, but something in his voice seemed off.

...-J-...

I watch as the jester's finger hovers over a button. It was a barely noticeable pause, it only froze for a millisecond, but it caught my attention.

"Thats not why your doing this, is it? Your not doing it to be nice." I say slowly. Her pupils shrink just the tiniest bit.

"Your doing it because you want a failsafe, something to keep us from abstracting."

She doesn't say anything, but I notice some of the tension ease from her body. She seemed too relieved at my guess, as though she hoped I would drop it.

"No... well, maybe thats one reason, but not the main one, is it?" I muse.

The tension returns.

"You need something."

An eye twitch.

"And your always looking for an exit..."

Pinwheel eyes dart towards me before shooting back to the panel.

"Kaufmo. You want to unabstract Kaufmo and ask him about the exit."

The fool lets out a huff of annoyance. "How the hell did you just guess that?" She asks, seeming both vexed and impressed.

"But you have Caine's little magic cane now, right? So why don't you just make an exit?" I ask teasingly, grin widening when her hands curl into fists.

"I've tried, but I-I can't. It doesn't work like that." The jester turns to me, pupils shrinking to pinpoints filled with fury and hopelessness. "Sure, I can make an exit door, I can make that whole...labyrinth thing, but I can't make an actual exit, it's not possible, it just doesn't work." She rants, waving her hands around as her words darken. "It's...it's just..."

"Not possible? Because we're stuck here forever?" I provide helpfully. She glares at me.

"Shut up."

"My mouth is shut, darling." I say, gesturing to my clenched yellow teeth. She glares at me, and I see something snap in her eyes.

"FINE! Fine Jax, you try." She tosses the cane to me, and for once I'm actually caught off guard by something Pomni did. I fumble the cane, almost dropping it.

"You try to make an exit." She snarled, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

"So...just to be clear..." I clarify slowly. "You want me to have...this cane. The thing that can control the entire circus."

"Yes, yes, whatever gets you to shut up and get out of my face!"

I smirk and swim my way through the air out the door. "Well then~" I purr, exiting the room and feeling my feet settle onto the floor as I come back to gravity. Pomni's eyes bore into me, squinted with shrunk pupils, but they quickly shrink even more when she realizes what she just did.

"Wait..."

I snicker and start to run down the hall, clutching the cane in my hand.

"WAIT!" I hear footsteps pound behind me as the fool gives chase. I tilt my head back and cackle.

>Z^

I sit boredly in the main area, frowning and turning my head as I hear screaming and running footsteps.

"JAX!"

The devil himself whirls around the corner, sprinting past me and into another hall, a small red and blue blur rushing after him.

"JAX GIVE IT BACK-!"

I shake my head at them. Normally I would think that was hilarious, but lately I had been irritable than usual. It was because of the stupid-

SZHSHQSHHZHZZ-

I wince and clamp my hands around my twitching antennas as a sound like static and feedback mixed in a blended filled my head. That had been happening more and more recently, the noise cutting through my thoughts like a chainsaw. I slowly let go of my antennas, rubbing my triangle head.

But it was nothing.

...

Yeah right.

#tadc #pomni #the amazing digital circus #fanfic #zooble

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