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ask-the-ragdoll · 6 months

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Headcanon: when the digital circus experiences a lag, it gives everyone the same feeling as being intoxicated. Caine usually suggests everyone goes to their rooms and sleeps it off but “ to each their own!”

Server Lag

One day when a lag hits, Pomni gets an unexpected visit to her room. (Ragatha X Pomni, nothin too spicy, just kissing and being massive gays)

Pomni shuffles into her bed. Her entire, very empty, room is spinning around her. “ A Lag,” is what Caine called it. Living in the digital circus came with a lot of new territory, and lags were certainly one of them.

She could almost … vaguely recall this feeling from a time before she put the headset on and got stuck here. As if she had maybe experienced this feeling before. It made her feel dazed, silly, and even overly confident but… the room was spinning a bit too much for her to want to leave and test her newfound bravery.

Pomni slouches down against her pillow, and shuts her eyes. Maybe sleeping this off was her best bet. But right as she found herself comfortable, there was a soft rapping at her door. Soft almost like… someone was wearing an oven mitt, and trying to knock.

“Hey… Pomni.” It was Ragatha’s voice. “Can I come in?” Her words were a little sloshed together, but understandable nonetheless. Pomni felt a little jolt of … something in her chest. Fear? Anxiety?…

…Excitement…?

“Shure , just a.. second!” She managed to sputter out, clumsily getting up from her bed and shuffling wobbly over to the door. She opened it, and Ragatha stumbled inside, bumping right into Pomni.

“S… sorry! I don’t norm..ly. Do this…” Ragatha laughs nervously.

“Is everything okay Ragatha?” Pomni manages to squeak out. Took a lot of focus for that one. Her heart feels as though it’s going to pound right out of her chest.

“Yeah, I’m… okay! I just.. I really wanted… to see you?”

“M…me?” If she didn’t know any better, she would have guessed her heart had officially punched through her chest and leapt into Ragatha’s lap.

As she spoke, Ragatha walked to the back of the room, where Pomni’s bed was, and sat softly onto it. Pomni followed, almost without thinking about it, and sat next to Ragatha.

“Yeah I just… I know you’re so new to all of thish…and I wanted to keep you company…”

Pomni could feel her face get a little warm. There was a significant pause.

“Even though I… ran away from you when you were hurt?…” that one felt like a thought got away from her head and flew right out of her mouth. Pomni raises her hands to her lips and shuts her eyes tight, as if shielding herself from her own words. Or maybe the answer?

“I was… a little upset at first but.. I understand you were scared. I was there once too.” Ragatha’s voice, despite her words being sort of fumbled together like mismatched letter magnets on a fridge, was warm… it was soft. Pomni’s heart beat slowed down, even if just a little bit.

“I’m still, so sorry, Ragatha.”

“Pomni… it’s really okay.” A soft laugh escaped Ragatha’s mouth.

Ragatha was suddenly leaning closer than Pomni had ever seen her before. Pomni was close enough to see every individual stitch in her seams, every notch of curled red hair, even the rouge on her lips —

“Pomni…” Ragatha’s voice wasn’t more than a whisper now. She raised a plush hand to Pomni’s bright red face, and stroked her cheek gently.

“Geez, you’re so beautiful.” Ragatha added, so very softly. Her voice was velvety, even if her words were still pretty mumbled.

Pomni wanted to say something. Something like. “Hey Ragatha, are you just being nice right now?” You know, like Ragatha is. But Pomni’s mouth was moving faster than her mind now. And she couldn’t stop staring at Ragatha’s lips.

“Can I kiss yo- ” almost as soon as Pomni asks, Ragatha pulls her close to her face, kissing her. It’s quick, but it’s so soft… soft but urgent, like Ragatha has wanted this for… a long time. The fabric on her palms trail down Pomni’s spine and urge her closer, as she presses her forehead against hers.

“Yes.” Ragatha chuckles softly.

Pomni’s face is a shade of cherry now. Suddenly, it’s like all of her anxiety has just melted away. Suddenly, all she can see is Ragatha, and her soft gaze, and her lavender scent… and..

Pomni tugs her closer, kissing her deeply this time. She can feel Ragatha smile against her lips, and playfully, but gently bite them. Everything feels like a blur around her. The only thing she can feel is Ragatha’s hands, her warm body, her urgent, deep, but gentle kisses.

They fall against the bed, entangled in one another, and for the first time since putting on the headset, Pomni is laughing. She is smiling… she is genuinely joyful, and feeling so many things…

“Ragatha… I know it’s stupid… but I like you so much.” Pomni exhales finally. Ragatha runs the back of her hand against Pomni’s face, smiling so gently…

“It’s not stupid. I like you so much, too.” Her voice is so warm.

The two laugh gently, when there’s a sudden turning of the doorknob. Jax peeks his head in, with his usual shit-eating grin.

“Oh. Hey ladies. Having a sleepover?” He sounds almost unaffected by the lag?

“J-Jax!!!” Ragatha stutters. It’s only then that Pomni realizes she’s in her lap. Without even thinking, she hides her face into Ragatha’s neck, hoping the lavender scent will make Jax disappear or something.

“Well, I just came by to tell you the lag ended a half hour ago… but you gals have fun with each other!” And just like that, he shuts the door and zips off. Ragatha glares in the direction of the door, then turns back to Pomni.

“H-how long have we been… doing this???” Pomni stutters.

“Honestly??? Who cares?” Ragatha laughs gently.

“I enjoyed every moment of it. Did you?” She continues.

Pomni, still flustered, nods very fast against Ragatha’s neck. She can feel Ragatha’s soft, plush hands stroking her hair soothingly.

“C..can we stay like this for a while?” Pomni finally musters out.

“Of course, New Stuff.” Ragatha croons.

#drabble #short fanfic #tadc pomni #tadc #tadc fanfiction #the amazing digital circus #amazing digital circus #pomni x ragatha #pomni #the amazing digital circus pomni #tadc ragatha #the amazing digital circus ragatha #Ragatha #buttonblossom #ragapom #tadc headcanon #ragatha x pomni

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cyberaxolotl · 6 months

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To Lose A Queen

The Amazing Digital Circus Angst/Sadfic

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

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

Words: 5.3k

Illustrations: 0 in fic, 1 cover art

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

Fic & Cover Art below the cut

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“GA-AAAH-!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“SQU-EAK-!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#tori’s art tag #tori’s writing tag #the amazing digital circus #cyberaxolotl’s month of macabre 2023 #<- for horror elements and because i put it there on AO3 #tadc queenie #tadc queener #only tagging that in case some people are still going through that tag #tadc kinger #kinger x queenie #tadc gangle #tadc jax #hiii tadc fandom. this is all you’re getting from me

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