Chapter Text
Jack Swan is eleven years old, and he doesn’t talk much.
A circle is a shape that is the most organic. It has no sides, and no corners. A circle is its own bubble, and it isn’t strictly bound to limitations or rules. Additionally, every circle is perfect. When it’s too skinny, or too tall, or too large, it isn’t a circle anymore. Sometimes, it’s an oval, and sometimes, it isn’t given a name. It’s simply a shape.
There’s a strange sense of freedom that is present in circles.
But the circle that Jack lived in felt restrictive. It felt cold, and it felt lonely.
His circular-shaped bedroom was a dark place, the only light coming from the accented glows of neon yellow in the floor. It was incredibly spacious, but it was a negative space, which made it feel almost dreary, in a way. He didn’t have much in his bedroom. There was a bed, a closet, a bookshelf, and a couple of other oddities. But most importantly, there was a mirror. Jack wouldn’t call himself vain, but whenever he looked in that mirror, he didn’t see himself as the trapped boy that he was. He saw himself as a star, a supernova. Someone who was loved and adored, instead of feared and hated.
When he was home, Jack spent most of his time in that circular bedroom. He usually didn’t step outside unless it was to get food, use the restroom, or if his mother had called him out. Jack and his mother had a mutual relationship. She wouldn’t speak to him unless she needed something from him, and it usually went the same when he spoke to her. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like if things were different between them, if they reached out to each other because they wanted to, and if it wasn’t an obligation. And other times, he was content with not finding out.
It was a day like any other. It was the weekend, and Jack didn’t have any plans other than staying in his room. He paced in circles, starting to get a bit bored. He wasn’t allowed to leave the tower unless it was to go to school, or if his mother was with him. That led him to wonder what he could do. He could complete the rest of his homework, but he really didn’t feel like it. He could practice dancing, but he wasn’t in the mood today. He could read something, but he’d read most of the books on his bookshelf already.
Jack huffed, settling with reading as his afternoon activity. He marched over to the bookshelf, scanning through what was available, settling on Wannabe, a comic about members of a girl-group that were also superheroes. He wasn’t really the target audience, but the art looked cool, so he’d give it a shot.
He sat on the edge of his bed, opening the comic and flipping through the first few pages. The main characters, Rosaria, Rubika, and Eteria, were pop stars by day, and the protectors of Dancity by night. In this issue, the girls found their concerts being hijacked by a teleporting supervillain, who used portals as their method of transport. When the villain would strike, the technology they used to put on shows would be shut down in seconds. To trap them, Rubika, the leader and tech-wizz of the group, made an audience of holograms to trick the villain into coming to a fake concert, without the worry of putting the group’s real fans in danger.
“Ready to put on a show?” Rubika asked her best friends.
“Oh, you know it!” exclaimed Eteria.
“Let’s knock ‘em out cold!” Rosaria grinned.
Jack examined the pages, his eyes looking over each and every panel, dissecting every pop of color. He was no artist, but everything was drawn excellently, and it left him impressed. This comic was the way that the author left their mark in the Danceverses. He hoped that one day, he would be able to be loved by the public enough to leave his own mark.
The girls went on stage to perform their hit songs, the hologramed audience going wild. After they finished their opening song, the overhanging spotlights sparked out. They all stopped singing, their faces filled with ferocity and confidence.
“This is it, girls!” Rubika stood firm. “Let’s take him down!”
A portal started to appear above the audience, the wind blowing through the girls’ hair. Jack felt so immersed in the visuals, he thought that even he could feel a cold breeze against his face, but it was likely his imagination. In each panel, the portal grew bigger, glowing with a white outline. When he went to turn the next page, the pages flapped, and the comic blew out of his hands. There weren’t any windows in his room. There shouldn’t be a breeze. Jack stood up, confused, trying to find the source of the wind. The breeze grew stronger, and that’s when he saw it.
A glow. A light in the darkness. A small, white line in the space of the air, expanding vertically. It stretched to be just about a foot taller than he was, before expanding horizontally to create a rectangle. In the space, Jack could make out some sort of elegant hallway, composed of black and gold…
…and a boy.
A boy tumbled through the portal, falling flat on his face. The wind stopped blowing, and the portal quickly closed behind him. Jack stumbled backwards, reaching to pick up the comic and flipping through the pages. Could this be the comic issue’s villain, sprung to life in his bedroom somehow?
Flipping through the comic to find where he left off, he found that the teleporter was Amanita, a mushroom villainess. Jack looked up to see the boy helping himself off the ground. He was facing away from him, and it didn’t look like he had seen him there yet. Without being able to see his face, Jack was able to make out some details. Blue skin, a black braid, a purple suit, and a shining crown atop his head.
“What is this place…?” He could hear the boy say to himself, looking around the room.
If this wasn’t a character from the comic… then who was it?
The boy walked forward until he stopped in front of Jack’s mirror. He could hear him let out a small “ooh!” of curiosity, standing tall as he adjusted his suit and crown, until he noticed Jack staring at him in the reflection. The boy turned so quickly; his braid whipped around to hit him in the face. He stared at Jack with big, dark eyes, almost akin to an alien.
Jack examined the boy, the comic still in his own hands. “...What are you?”
His posture was stiff, and his lips held a nervous smile. “I’m not a burglar, if that’s the answer you’re looking for.” He stated.
“It’s not.” Jack shook his head.
The boy didn’t seem to be bothered to properly answer Jack’s question, as he looked around the room. He slowly walked towards Jack, looking at the comic in his hands.
“What’cha reading?” He leaned forward to get a closer look, but Jack stepped away, holding the comic out of reach. Once again, the boy wasn’t bothered, finding something else to focus on. His eyes darted towards the golden feather that laid across Jack’s chest.
“I like your necklace.” The boy smiled, two fingers lifting the charm to get a closer look. Thinking quickly, Jack lightly smacked the boy’s hand, stepping back again. He was met with silence, and now the blue-skinned boy looked bothered.
“What is wrong with you?” Jack’s eyebrows furrowed with a mix of anger and confusion.
“Excuse me?” asked the boy. His voice remained peppy, but he seemed puzzled by the response.
“Is this common for you? Breaking into homes like it’s nobody’s business?” Jack asked.
“Not breaking in. Again, not a burglar.” The boy raised a finger.
“Then what are you?” Jack repeated his question from earlier.
The boy rocked back and forth on his feet, his hands behind his back, almost as if he were unsure of the answer himself. He collected himself, smiling at Jack.
“Well… I’m a prince.” The boy pointed to the golden crown on his head. “But I’m also a traveler. Or, I’m going to be one, one day.” He shrugged.
“And you travel into other people’s homes?”
“Not always. I don’t exactly know how to control my flow yet.” He shook his head. “My dad has been teaching me how to get better at it, but sometimes, when I make a portal to go somewhere, it brings me to some random place, like here.”
Something about his calm demeanor made Jack’s blood boil. Not because he casually infiltrated his bedroom, but because his father taught him to do so. Jack’s father was never in the picture. Any memory he had of him was from when he was newborn, and even then, those memories were blurry. He didn’t have someone in his life to teach him how to summon portals to other Danceverses. Instead, Jack was left with her. Someone who was too focused on control and perfection to even care about him. He felt jealous. Why couldn’t he be free?
“And… you’re having fun?”
The boy once again looked puzzled by Jack’s questions. “I mean, yeah!” He nodded.
Jack’s grip on the comic book tightened, the pages crinkling. “You’re having fun mocking me?”
“Wha-?! Now, hang on a second!” The boy held his hands up.
“It must be fun, having the freedom to go wherever you want. Well, I’m sorry to say this, your majesty, but some of us don’t have that freedom!” He said, his own voice souring to the point where he could hear the jealousy seeping through it.
“Hey, I- that’s not my-” The boy stammered, his eyes darting left and right. “I didn’t mean to come here!”
“Well, you’re-”
“Jack?”
That voice made him stop speaking. It was distant, not loud enough for the boy to hear, but for him, it boomed.
“What? I’m what?” The boy asked. He didn’t exactly seem riled up by this conversation, but his voice wasn’t as chipper as it initially was when he first entered the room.
Jack’s anger had quickly been subdued, frozen like a lake in the winter. “You need to leave.” He told him.
“Wh- Why?”
“S-She’s coming. She can’t see you here.”
“Huh? Who’s coming?”
“J-Just make the portal thing! You need to go!” Jack waved his hands around.
The boy stared at Jack with confusion. It appeared that he could tell that Jack was being serious with his demand, but not out of anger. It was a warning.
“...Alright.” The boy nodded. He turned around, casting his arm forward. It was the same as before, a white, linear light in the dark, expanding vertically before slowly making a rectangle.
Jack could hear the sound of her heels getting louder. “Can you make it go faster?” He asked impatiently.
“I’m doing my best!” said the boy. The portal formed in front of the two of them, and Jack could see that same, grand hallway. The boy turned around to look at Jack.
“Well, um… nice to meet you.” He lowered his head in a slight bow. He didn’t go through the portal, he just kept staring at Jack, who couldn’t understand why. This boy didn’t know the danger he could be in if he was found here. The footsteps kept growing louder, and Jack’s nerves were growing along with their sound. In a hurry, he stepped forward and extended his arms out, shoving the boy through the portal. He heard a surprised grunt before the portal closed. He opened the comic in his hands, the paper pages now fractured from how hard he had been clutching onto it.
And then, there was light.
The door opened, and he could see her silhouette standing perfectly in frame.
“Jack, were you talking to someone just now?”
He looked at Amanita's portal, and up to where the boy’s portal had been.
“...No. I was just reading the story out loud, mother.”