Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the digital dinner, Pomni could be seen walking back to her room.

But something was majorly off with her.

She could be seen with a more distraught sort of smile, giving off a sense of a foreign sort of acceptance.

Acceptance that this digital hell would be the only place she would know for the rest of her immortal suffering and agony.

It felt forced though, but honestly?

No one could blame her.

Her first day was full of hellish twists and turns, ones that no unprepared soul like her should ever have to witness.

But something was wrong.

Incredibly wrong.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

It had been weeks since anyone saw Pomni. Everyone just assumed she just had a terrible time adjusting to the place, but now it was getting concerning.

"WELCOME, MY LITTLE SUPERSTARS! Wait...where's Pomni?"

"Yeah, I've been getting concerned. And I'm the one that essentially ditches everything."

"Should we, you know, check on her?"

"I...hope she d-didn't already abstract..."

"Welp, looks like we're gonna have to harass the jester now."

(Kinger is just sitting in his pillow fortress, listening to everyone chatter about their missing member)

...

With Ragatha and Jax off to "harass the jester", as Jax called it, they went down the halls, with an awkward silence enveloping the both of them on their entire way down. It wasn't that anything was wrong between the two of them (at least, currently), it was just that Pomni gave them someone new to talk to, and to essentially lose her this early... just kinda made it a little more empty, which wasn't a good thing when you could literally die and become some crazy being when you reached your breaking point. 

Slowly walking down the halls, the two of them reached Pomni's room, cautiously opening the door and...

...

it's locked.

Pomni POV:

"...WHERE IS IT WHERE IS IT WHERE IS IT?"

A shaky breath could be heard echoing from the jester, the bright blue and red walls only there to mock her. Trying to make that exit appear again seemed merely impossible, only garnering more pain as she winced, her body burning like a %$!#@.

Of course, she did know that it was all simulated.

But that didn't help.

She wanted to feel something real.

Something different.

Something that could have a chance of waking her up from this terrible dream.

She tried again, striking the surface of her rubber skin with a knife (smuggled from one of Caine's hellish torture methods) whilst trying to summon a way out, trying to find some sort of way to allow her to escape this hell. Again, not succeeding.

This time, she got lightheaded, with her hands untriumphantly reaching her mouth before the digital static poured out of her mouth, the taste of it lingering in there for a while.

As the static lightly buzzed, there could be a single thing peering out of it, opening it's newly summoned eye...

Ragatha and Jax stood at the door, somewhat hearing the commotion going on in there.

"JAX? Don't you at LEAST have something to get in there?"

"No can do, Dollface. I don't think I got a key for here."

"Can't you lockpick in there?"

"Maybe. Let me run over to my room real quick, I'll see what I can do."

And... Jax was gone.

Putting her ear to the door, she could hear screams of agony and maniac laughter.

She could only wonder what happened to her...

"I'm back. Turns out I do have a key for that newbie."

"...Good."

Slowly turning in the key, shifting could be heard in Pomni's room and...

...

Let's just say...Pomni wasn't doing so great.

Her arms had been swallowed up by some black looking liquid, with eyes all over the liquid and her arm.

( Wait, that couldn't be...)

Her arms and body starting to glitch, Pomni started slowly turning her head to the two of them, who looked incredibly concerned for their friend's wellbeing.

"Lo-o-o-ook! I %$!#ing found it! I found it! I f-found it! You both thought it couldn't happen, but you were wrong!! %$!#ING WRONG!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Oh my god..."

"..."

The two of them were too stunned to speak, looking at the ruins of their old friend.

"...Pomni? Wh-what happened to you...?"

"Oh, R-Ragatha...would you believe me if I told you this hellscape never ends? Never in your pathetic existence will it ever end! Isn't it amazing how well this PRISON is h-held together?

One of Pomni's goop hands reached up from the static, pointing at Ragatha while talking to her. Pomni's glitching seemed to fall more into her own hands, only triggering when she temporarily forgot about it. Her eyes were missing their pupils, fading into different bright colors rapidly.

"Oh, would any of you ever beli-i-i-i-ieve me...?"

Pomni slowly blinked, getting herself off of the floor, allowing the liquid to start surrounding her legs.

Looking at the two, it seemed like some remorse could be seen with her pupil-less eyes, having a tear fall down her blank face.

With this, she walks a little out of her door, aware of the risks it possessed.

Of course, Ragatha tried to get closer to Pomni, trying to take in at least more of the corrupted jester's appearance.

Pomni, taking notice to this, directed the substance off of one of her arms, reaching it out so that Ragatha could grab it.

And of course,

...

She took the bait.

The liquid surrounded Ragatha as she grabbed the jester's hand, devoid of any warmth.

Slowly, it started swallowing up her body, causing Ragatha to let out screams of pure fear and terror that the substance would take her down as well (not that she would really mind, really). In reality, all it did was leave a little tear between one of her arms, with maniacal laughter being heard as Pomni disappeared from her sight.

"..."

"Why @r3 y0u sti11 h3r3?"

"Huh...? WAAAGH-"

Ragatha yelped as Pomni's arms (could she even call them Pomni's?) threw her back, slamming her against a wall as Pomni looked with her unchanging expression.

"Y0u kn0w, 1t'$ @ $h@m3 y0ur w1$h wi11 n3v3r b3 fu1fi113d."

"Huh? What are you even-"

Another slam into the wall.

A black substance was coming out of Ragatha now, increasing in size on the floor.

"...1f 1 c0u1d, y0u w0u1d @1r3@dy b3 d3@d."

"Pomni? What's *cough* happen-ing? Are you...no...don't tell me."

...

"1'm n0t P0mn1 @nym0r3."

"W-w...what?"

Another slam on the wall. This one seemed to be weaker though, a clear sign Pomni's senses were slowly returning, her movements filled with regret.

Ragatha, desperately looking for Jax, realized he disappeared minutes ago whenever she was first thrown on the wall, just like how he did with Kaufmo.

But this time, there was no one to save her, just her praying that Pomni would come back to their senses.

...

...

"1'm d0n3 w1th y0u. @t l3@st f0r n0w."

Pomni snapped her fingers, repairing any damage done to Ragatha, and also making her forget anything about what just happened.

Pomni quickly rid the substance off of herself, just looking down at Ragatha, and quickly ran back into her room in regret.

Chapter Text

Pomni ran back into her room and slammed the door shut.

What happened to her?

Why did it make her remember the pain she caused?

Why did she feel like the one at fault?

So many questions came circling around her head, pounding on the exterior just begging to be let out.

She couldn't apologize because she knew the other wouldn't know what she was talking about.

She couldn't leave, she'd probably get sent to the cellar if Jax snitched on her, which he probably did given how terrified he looked.

...

Pomni was just sitting on the floor, curled up into a ball. She was rocking herself back and forth trying to at least make some sense of the situation at hand. Questions about what she did clouded her mind. Silent tears and muffled sobs were what came next. She just didn't know what to do. She could either:

A: Stay in here, and garner more suspicion

Or:

B: Go out, risk being caught, and then get put in the cellar.

The abstraction wasn't what concerned her, just silently crying, knowing that Ragatha would never understand no matter how many tears fell out of her eyes.

Grabbing the smuggled knife again, she drew it near the rubber that made up her skin, burning just at the sight of it.

Alright, should be here and...

Wait...are those footsteps? 

Oh no.

They're here.

"Hello Pomni! Here's your absolutely random WELFARE CHECK!"

"AAAA-!"

Pomni, not knowing what to do (and clearly being frightened by them just randomly showing up), quickly threw the knife behind her, landing right in the middle of a random target clearly just there for only comedic value.

"..."

"Pomni...?"

"Yes?"

"Not to be rude but...what happened to you...?"

Pomni froze.

How would she explain this?

Would it be "she went crazy and nearly killed someone?" "Nearly abstracted, went insane?" 

Just the thought of it made it feel like it would return.

That same ill feeling.

"Oh I'm so terribly sorry! I just...gotta go!"

And with that, she darted off, not caring about where she ended up.

"Caine?"

"Yes, Jax?"

"Pomni, she-"

"WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?"

"I...I don't know, she just...I don't know how to say this..."

"She...kinda abstracted...."

Chapter Text

"W...What?"

"You heard me. That damn newbie went crazy."

"Huh? Jax what are you even on?"

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?"

"WELL NOTHING EVER HAPPENED! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?"

"YOU'RE LYING! THAT...THING TRIED TO KILL YOU!"

"WHAT THING? KAUFMO?"

"NO! POMNI, %$!#@*!! ARE YOU %$!#ING BLIND?"

"WHAT? SHE DIDN'T EVEN-!"

"YOU %$!#@!! SHE DID! SHE DID! SHE TRIED TO LEGITIMATELY KILL YOU! HOW CAN YOU ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED?"

While the two of them argued, Zooble and Gangle both turned their head to Caine, who was looking at the two argue.

He didn't know what to do, just listening to the two, hoping he could find something valuable.

Just then, with Gangle unable to bear it anymore, slowly walked back to her room, and...

...

Something grabbed her.

...

Gangle tried to scream, but it was like something stopped her.

...

"W3lc0m3 t0 4n0th3r p4rt 0f th1s h3ll! 3nj0y y0ur 5t4y!"

Gangle's ribbons were quickly tangled up by this creature she could barely see, twisting the ribbons into positions Gangle didn't even consider possible.

"What...a-are you...?"

"..."

"Y0ur w0r5t n1ghtm4r3. Th4t'5 wh4t."

Quickly, some weird liquid that was...glowing could just be seen out of the corner of the mask's eye, with another one presenting...scissors?

"D0n't y0u kn0w th3 p41n 0n3 h45 t0 5u5t41n h3r3? 1 63t y0u d0n't."

Distant snipping could be heard.

"1f 1 c4n 4t l345t g3t 50m30n3 0ut 0f h3r3, 1'll c0n51d3r th15 j06 d0n3."

"Pomni...? W-what's even happened?"

The part jester, part abstraction moved herself stiffly over to where Gangle could see her.

"L00k, 1 c4n d0 th15 th3 345y w4y, 0r th3 h4rd w4y. Wh1ch 0n3 d0 y0u w4nt?"

The jester's face remained unchanged, looking to the terrified mask attempting to untangle their ribbons.

"4h w3ll, l00k5 l1k3 1'm g0nn4 h4v3 t0 d0 s0m3th1ng n0t s0 v3ry "f0r 4ll 4g3s", huh?"

P0mn1 snapped, summoning something Gangle couldn't see, but they sounded like...SAWBLADES?

The sawblades whirred quickly, almost immediately advancing their way towards Gangle.

"H-HELP!!!"

...

And help came.

"Gangle what's-?"

"My god..."

"POMNI?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING-?"

"..."

Jax stayed uncharacteristically silent, just looking to P0mn1 with a look of absolute annoyance. 

"Y0u. Purp1e 61tch. Wh4t 3x4ct1y 4r3 y0u d01ng h3r3?"

The sawblades still went towards the helpless heap of ribbons, quickly advancing to their target.

"Oh dear, you know there cannot be any filter passing within this amazing place for-"

"5hut up, 01d p41r 0f t33th. Y0u'r3 4 dum6455, ju5t l1k3 th3 r35t 0f th3m."

Her hands quickly dismantled the invisible hinges of Caine's jaw, making his entire body fall down from where it was floating, with Bubble coming out of his hat to drag him away.

"P-Pomni? We can still talk this out, right?"

"1 t0ld y0u. 1'm n0t P0mn1."

"..."

"6ut y0u 4lr34dy f0rg0t, d1dn't y0u?"

Her tone was almost teasing, as if she were about to subject the rag-doll to what she already did to her all over again.

'Pomni."

This time Jax looked at the jester, purely out of hatred for what she'd done to Ragatha earlier.

"Just throw off the act already. We get it. You're insane."

"..."

This time, the jester was the one dumbfounded. Why did this stupid bitch care so much about this stupid little thing?

She was about to respond until...

*CRACK*

It could be heard from a mile away, everyone had forgotten about Gangle, and the sawblades consumed her, leaving nothing but the remains of destroyed ribbon and porcelain. 

"1 t0ld h3r."

"...What?"

"5hut up, mr. p0t4t0-h34d r3j3ct. 1 c0u1d r1p 0ut y0ur 5p1n3 1n f1v3 53c0nd5 1f 1 w4nt3d t0."

"You wouldn't."

"1 w1ll."

With an unsettling smile, P0mn1 shifted the abstraction's fingers into some weird position, dismantling Zooble completely, and, as a bonus, sent all their parts astray, too far for Zooble to ever reach again without some outside aid. 

It could now be noted there was some visible abstraction on one of the bells of her hat, with her eyes strobing much faster now.

"N0w...wh4t t0 d0 w1th y0u...?"

Ragatha and Jax were essentially cornered, and at this rate, they probably would both die

"Pomni...? What's wrong-? I...think we could...um...still talk this out?"

The jester's head tilted to the side, intrigued by Ragatha's offer. Her movements became far less frenzied, clearly showing that Pomni was at least attempting to get at ease.

"Look, I know everything's been rough, but, can we at least, ya know, try not to go insane like this...again...?"

...

...

Wait...

Pomni felt like throwing up.

What had she even been doing...?

The abstraction took notice of this, and swiftly left, except for the splotch on her hat.

"Pomni! Good god!"

The jester was sprawled out on the floor, coughing up that dreaded black substance, wondering when this nightmare would be over.

"Ra-Ragatha? DON'T TOUCH ME-! I...have no idea what's happening to me-e-e-e...!"

Tears started to flow out of the jester's eyes, clearly frustrated about what she just did. She nearly killed everyone, like the monster she was. She was absolutely starving, but at the same time, she felt full.

"Look, at least just-"

"NO! I...don't want to hurt you...again..."

"But..."

"JUST LEAVE ME! I DON'T DESERVE A DAMN THING YOU...GIVE ME! YOU SPOIL ME...TOO MUCH... i can't..."

"If anyone needs me... *sniff*, I'll just be in my room...going insane... A-again."

And with that, Pomni slowly walked back into her room, slamming that door like there was no tomorrow when she got in there.

What even...happened...?

Chapter Text

With Pomni sulking off to her room, Ragatha wondered just what Pomni meant.

What did she mean she hurt her?

She never felt anything hurt within her, but there was this one where there...seemed to be something that...kinda looked like Kaufmo...?

Even then...whenever she saw the abstracted girl, it didn't feel like the first time she saw that...

It...threw her against the wall multiple times, starting to recall the pain it caused.

Maybe that's what Pomni was worried about?

Ragatha did have her doubts, though. She figured that it wasn't her though.

Most likely some elaborate dream she had while she was sleeping...

So then why did Pomni seem so guilty...?

She seemed like she...was scared.

It was almost like looking into a reflection of herself at times, with just how scared she could be.

But why...?

"J-Just leave me alone!"

The jester was talking to the air, screaming for something to pull her away from the atrocities that unfolded.

And the worst part?

It was all caused by her own hands.

Something ringed within her mind.

A cheat code of sorts, to reset the day...

What could that do?

"OHMYGODJUSTLEAVEMETHE%$!#ALONEOHMYGODJUSTGETOUTOFMYHEADGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT!"

With one extremely concerning yelp, Pomni fell over to the floor, hysterically sobbing yet also laughing.

If she was going to be a puppet for some unknown thing, with a new face made of glass,

...

She would have to be the one to break it first.

Ruin the performance, not the performers, right? 

She hit the wall with her fists, trying to break this "glass face" of hers so desperately, stealing the now clearly visible knife off of the wall, striking it irregularly against her skin, trying so hard to not put just marks in the "glass", but to instead absolutely shatter it. 

Absolutely demolish it.

...

Only so that she couldn't be used again.

Everyone was at the place they were, with everyone repaired thanks to Caine.

"I TOLD YOU %$!#ERS SHE WENT CRAZY!"

"GIVE HER SOME GRACE! SHE CLEARLY REGRETS IT! IT MIGHT NOT BE HER DOING ALL OF THIS!"

"HER REGRETTING IT DOESN'T CHANGE A DAMN THING! SHE COULD JUST BE PUTTING UP A %$!#ING FACADE! FOR ALL WE KNOW THAT THING COULD BE OUT PLOTTING WHATEVER THE %$!# IT'LL DO NEXT!"

"..."

"..."

A tense silence befell the two. They both were clearly pissed off at each other, with Jax not understanding how Ragatha couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this was a literal monster they were dealing with, and Ragatha just trying to give Pomni some sort of hope, some hope that whatever happened with her was just some one-time incident. 

"...Well, with whatever happened there, we'll...have to cancel the plans I had...for today..."

"..."

"And about...Pomni... I don't know what's exactly going on with her...but I'll try to get to the bottom of it. You can assure that whatever happened today will not certainly not happen again."

Caine was still somewhat readjusting himself, trying to realign up his two plates after what Pomni(?) did to him. He couldn't comprehend how much power those hands held, and honestly?

It terrified him.

To simply know something that powerful was running amok within the circus. 

Everyone was dead silent, and nothing could be heard echoing there.

As they all recollected themselves, they all slowly walked back to their rooms, except for Gangle, in which Caine helped her get back in there with relative ease.

He slowly floated towards Pomni's door, looking into the room with one of his eyes.

And the sight of it nearly made him faint.

The jester was getting desperate, shoving the knife even further down her throat.

Her limbs really couldn't be cut off, and her hat was unremovable, so she had to go with the next best thing...

Interior Impalation!

They didn't really have organs, and nor did she (as she found out), so she couldn't really perform a dissection on herself, but the pain from everything made it ok.

She had simply become addicted to it, taking out the knife and stabbing her eye repeatedly with it for the fifth time.

The feeling of her choking on her own blood made her feel happy, as maybe she could finally escape this hellhole.

She could scream 5 different speeches of her agony painted yellow, her eye burning beyond human comprehension.

It only made her want to subject herself to it more, if that's what it would take to stave off whatever was trying to take her over her.

She felt the blood reach her throat, forcing her to cough it out, spreading even more blood onto the already painted-black walls.

"It just...feels nice to feel like you could die! Like-you're about to leave this absolute hellhole and-! And-! Well..."

A knock.

WHATCOULDTHEYWANTWHATCOULDTHEYWANTWHATCOULDTHEYPOSSIBLYWANT

"Pomni...? I...absolutely hate to sound like a broken record...but I just want to check on you..."

WHOISTHATWHOISTHATWHOISTHATWHOISTHATWHOISTHATWHOISTHATWHOISTHATWHOISTHAT

Pomni couldn't bother for who this was. She simply wanted to be alone.

Caine shifted to the side a while ago, since it did seem like Ragatha was the only one the abstraction would try to listen to.

"Pomni? Can you hear me?"

Pomni slowly shifted to the door, with her head tilted down towards the floor, since if she saw the bright colors enveloping the circus, her eyes would certainly die.

"...Leave."

"Pomni?"

"I...thought you...*cough* hated me..."

"I never have, Pomni. You know you can-"

"Tell me anything. You probably still %$!#ing hate me, huh? Go shoo...it's probably best for you anyways..."

"You...seem like you're tense...Do you...need to be alone for a bit?"

With this, Pomni slowly walked to the door, her feet dragging along the ground.

She walked up to the door, ready to open it for whoever was there, knife behind her back.

She looked through the keyhole, seeing a blue-bell colored dress being all she could recognize through her somewhat frenzied mind.

Pomni started breathing sharply, with her crazed mind starting to shut down in a multitude of colors.

It was all too bright for her, so she just opened the door, laughing maniacally as hallucinations distorted her door into an exit just short of promising the jester escape this hellscape of bright colors and regret.

The cursed light entered Pomni's room, causing her to drop the knife, and what would you know, an extremely concerned Ragatha and Caine looked at Pomni, and then looked at each other out of pure confusion for the jester's appearance.

As soon as Pomni regained herself after her maniacal laughter, she clumsily tried to balance herself, looking at the other two like she wasn't even there, but was just daydreaming.

"So...who a-are you t-things? I-I've tasted nothing but pure iodine for the past...12 hours and I...can't recall who the %$!# you two are..."

Pomni's outfit looked more black than red and blue, with her arms completely covered with the black blood that could also be found falling from her eyes.

"Pomni? Oh my god, you could've told me this...sooner? W-What did you do to yourself?

Pomni looked to the ragdoll, her pupils spiraling in thousands of different colors for all to see.

"W-wait...why's Raggedy Ann talking to me...? And...why's your head...melting...whatever you are...? ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵏᶦⁿᵈᵃ ᶜᵘᵗᵉ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ..."

Caine looked at the two's conversation, looking to the jester's multicolored pupils with confusion on why she was so...off. That's the best word he could use to describe this.

"P-Pomni...no offense but...you're acting kinda strange? What'd ya do to...yourself exactly?"

"Pure...iodine blood sure does...things to ya, yeah...things..."

"BLOOD?"

"BLOOD?"

Both Caine and Ragatha looked to Pomni in surprise, confused on what Pomni just said. Her swirling pupils shifted so that each one was looking at a different person, looking at the both of them like a deer in headlights.

"W-What? I just...ate my own blood...Isn't that like...kinda normal?"

"N-No?! You usually don't...consume your own...blood? And why do you...know what iodine tastes like?"

"T-the heavens...Raggedy Ann..they told me...everything...%$!#..."

"The...the heavens? What...?"

"I feel...so much better than when I first got in this place, Ann... It feels like I'm...dreaming...BECAUSE I AM!!!"

Pomni's eyes quickly snapped out of their swirly state, turning back into their pinwheeled red and blue, still swirling with the same speed the multicolored swirls were at.

"I AM %$!#ING GOD!"

...

”Y-You heard that…right?”

The delirium-fueled jester tried to regain some sort of control, quickly hyperventilating and struggling with the acquirement of the blood in her throat, proudly spewing out onto the floor.

Caine just stood there dumbfounded, wondering just how much damage Pomni did to herself.

Pomni’s eyes quickly turned back into their multicolored swirls from earlier, more shaky than last time. It was clear she was struggling to even stand up, gripping onto the ragdoll’s side for balance.

 “Well…that’s not…good at all! Do you want me to fix you up or something?”

”W-What acid trip am I on…Sir Dentures…? What are you…talking about?”

She coughed up more black blood, staining the red carpet below her.

She was starting to fight against her consciousness, shaking and tilting even more.

”L-look Pomni, just let Caine fix up everything! It’ll be ok!”

”Ann…you don’t know how much my iodine-tainted soul has wanted to vanish from the face of Earth…just let everything play out like the heavens intended…”

Pomni’s words were weirdly reassuring, but that wasn’t the main concern here. It was ensuring the jester didn’t lose too much blood (which would probably happen anyways).

”P-Pom…just let Caine do his thing…”

”YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’RE *cough* TALKING ABOUT AT ALL! CAN’T YOU JUST…I DON’T KNOW, LET ME DIE IN PEACE?”

Her multicolored swirls went faster than ever, as she blinked in and out of consciousness, swirling within a cloud of that same taste of iodine in her mouth, threatening to fly out at any minute. 

Shaking, she slowly lifted her head, with her breath rapidly changing pace irregularly, with tears starting to mix with the blood from her eyes.

"J-j-just let me dieeeeeee..."

Pomni collapsed onto the floor, with her black blood slowly piling up on the floor, lumping up into a mini-abstraction thing, twisting its head towards the two and then running off and fading away.

"C-Caine? What the %$!# was that?"

"I...don't know...Let's just get Pomni to safety..."

The two of them teleported with Pomni (courtesy of Caine) off to the main area of the circus, with Pomni surprisingly returning to consciousness when they got there.

Pomni looked once more like a deer caught with headlights, blood still gushing out of the spots it was visible before.

"Oh my god....J-just %$!# offff..."

She was swaying clumsily now, shaking with every blood-filled breath she took. She looked like she could faint again...ᵇᵘᵗ ᵗʰᵃᵗ'ˢ ʷʰᵃᵗ ᵐᵃᵈᵉ ʰᵉʳ ᵇᵉᵃᵘᵗᶦᶠᵘˡ...

"%$!#...everything hurts..."

Pomni seemed to start recovering from her delirious episode as she looked down to herself in absolute horror, seeing the blood gush out of her cuts, although it had slowed down since she fainted and already lost a good chunk of it.

"C-C-CAINE! CAN'T YOU...DO SOMETHING ABOUT T-THIS?"

Her voice was slowly starting to glitch, as her eyes looked less animated than ever, just stiffly moving over to look at Caine, slowly shifting as the multicolored swirls started turning slower and slower.

"I-I will in just a sec! Calm down!"

With a quick snap from Caine's hand, all of Pomni's injuries disappeared, and Pomni's model code was reverted back to a previous version.

Pomni coughed, and threw up the last of the blood stuck in her lungs from that incident, feeling her insides twist and turn due to the interior expulsion of blood caused by her "lung" puncture.

 The glitch in her voice spread to the bit of her hat, reopening the eye that was once visible on there.

Caine quickly took notice on this.

”And…Caught Ya Red-Handed, Beast!”

He didn’t say this out of hatred for Pomni, he did not.

But he said it for the fact that he may get the chance to capture this monster.

Pomni’s eyes strobed faster than they all thought possible, quickly flashing before reverting to eyes made of scribbles.

”C-Caine? W-What are you exactly…doing to me-?

Pomni’s eyes looked at Caine in fear, concerned for why she was floating above the cellar, not wishing to join the rest of those who fell into the same fate as Kaufmo.

”Well you…he was right, huh? I hate to say this…but…you’re not going anywhere.”

”W-What?”

Caine quickly pulled Bubble out of his hat, summoning the air-filled creature.

“Bubble…get the equipment. We got an Code 39.”

Chapter Text

“Bubble, get me the equipment…we got a code 39.”

Bubble almost instantly knew what he meant, teleporting off into another part of the circus, coming back with a kit of some sorts, with Pomni off in the corner panicking.

”Caine? W-what’s a “code 39”? A-and what is that…?”

Caine looked hesitantly at Pomni, fidgeting out of pure nervousness with his hand.”

“Well…it means your model’s been corrupted, so we’ll just have to…troubleshoot! Yeah! We’ll just troubleshoot it!”

Hesitancy and fear lingered in the air, with Ragatha in the corner, unable to look, for she knew what would come.

“W-WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING-G-G-G-G?!”

The [redacted] yelped in pain, with tears falling out from their [unknown error] eyes. They fell onto the floor as the figure melted, molding into a pure rage filled beast. 

Their many eyes opened and glowed more brightly than Ragatha thought possible, with Caine quickly dragging them into the cellar, then deleting some code fixing everything up.

”Caine? What’d you exactly…do to them?”

Ragatha herself was on the verge of tears for seeing their dear friend [404: Not Found] gone, just like that.

“I told you dear, I simply troubleshooted them!”

”But you KILLED them!? Is that really troubleshooting, Caine?”

”Sometimes, even I have to delete unnecessary things, Ragatha. It’s just what I do.”

Ragatha looked to the floor, refusing to look at Caine while he said that.

And then, she ran off.

Ragatha simply looked to the floor, just hoping Pomni wouldn’t have to go through that.

But yet, she might.

It hurt her to see Pomni like this, as she was just someone hoping for a way out.

”Ragatha…I understand that this isn’t your thing…so you’re free to go.”

Tears started flowing out of Ragatha’s eyes, but she simply nodded in understanding and left.

”C-Caine…? W-what are you even going to-“

She was quickly cut off as Caine drew out a box, unfolding it into a hologram that floated at the same level as his head. 

“Now now, dear! Don’t worry your garbled mess of code! I’m just gonna-”

A prick and a yelp

”Alright that’s looking good, so now  just a-”

Another prick, and another yelp

”Alright and this…should…do it.”

Unbearable pain.

Pomni could feel the pain shoot up into her head, quickly spreading elsewhere along herself. It felt like she was spinning and yet, she was perfectly still.

Her limbs became unmovable, stiffly sitting where they last were.

This was followed by a quick snap, positioning her arms for seemingly no reason, bringing even more pain into her body.

”Pomni…I’m…ridiculously sorry you have to have this…happen to you. Just…cooperate the best you can, alright?”

“W-*inhale*-What are you even *sob* d-doing-g-ggggggggg-!”

Pomni quickly got cut off by the abstraction returning, starting from the legs and working it’s way up.

”Ẃ̶̛̜͙̫͘-̵͈̓̌̽W̶̡̰̌̀H̶͉̯̜̒Ã̴̧̘̱͛̀̂Ṭ̴̢̤̮̾ ̶̧̦̳̊Ą̶̰͙̉̚͜R̶͖̮̼̜̄͛̚E̷͉̅̌̉ ̷̙̝́͊̓Y̵̖̋ͅO̴̰̤̞̎͑͌͘U̵͚̞͇͊̐̆̉ ̶̺̭̜̰͝E̷̡̘̹̠͂V̴͔̼̀̈́̊̈́͜E̵̯͈͓̥̊̒Ń̴̰̩-̸̪̀͂̍?̴̨̘̑̐̍̉͜”

Pomni’s voice grew glitchier and glitchier, screaming pure tones of suffering tenfold onto herself, muttering curses under her breath as she tried to make some semblance of what was happening to her.

“4AAAAA4AAA@4AA@A4AAA@4@AAAAAAA@44@@@AAAAAAAA@@@444444 C@1N3 WHAT 4RE Y0U D0ING?”

Her body was spazzing out, purely out of the pain being subjected onto her, as even the abstraction part of her was violently shaking, painfully twisting into shapes not understood to the mind.

Her eyes started pouring tears of agony. Tears of suffering and despair. The pain was unbearable since there wasn’t any adrenaline to accompany it this time around.

She started to scream things not even she understood, floating helplessly as the spazzing worsened on her limbs.

“Blink if you can still hear me, Pomni.”

Caine’s tone was more calm than Pomni was, and she blinked, indicating she was still there.

”Look, I’ve learnt from my mistakes with this…so we’re just gonna do this and then you’ll be all set!”

”Huh…? W-wh4t…? A44@-!”

Caine threw a knife at Pomni’s stomach, moving it in god-knows-how, leaving a mark of a star, with Pomni’s blood to fill it in.

She looked down at herself, and then looked up to Caine.

”W-Why have you…done this…? What did…I do to deserve this hell?”

She suddenly grew drowsy and hit the floor, marking the end of her.

Ragatha was sobbing, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle her noises.

Why did she have to leave so soon?

The person of her dreams was gone, off into who knows what, leaving her once more alone.

She looked over the corner of the wall. The last time it was Pomni spazzing, and now, she was gone.

Ragatha wondered what the two of them could’ve been…

lovers in a flower field, with no one but themselves?

gazing at the stars, seeing the constellations brightly in the sky…?

within each other’s embrace, telling each other every single one of their worries?

Ragatha couldn’t bear the thought anymore, taking herself to her room to cry, and maybe stitch herself up from all of the pain she was going through.

Caine looked in absolute regret at what he had done, staring at the lifeless body while he tried his best to expel the abstraction from the jester’s body.

Of course, since she wasn’t conscious, the abstraction wasn’t either, since it leeched off of it’s host, so trying to shake it off was useless.

”Now…off into…the cellar, I suppose…”

Caine dragged the lifeless body and opened up the cellar, dropping Pomni in after a bit of contemplation.

”I’m…so sorry, Pomni.”

(…)

”But it had to be done…”

Chapter Text

Slowly grabbing the needle, Ragatha got to work with stitching up herself back into an optimal state.

Coping clearly would not be easy.

Losing the one you liked, never gaining a chance to tell them...

leads to more loneliness than you may think.

Pure despair was present in every stitch, with her repeatedly stopping in attempts to process everything.

With tears of wool falling out of her eyes, she looked off onto the wall.

Wondering more.

Why did she have to go so quickly?

Ragatha went off onto her sewing place, sewing something special to her...

The jester woke up in a hall of mirrors, with pillars of vibrant eyes across every place she could see.

Pillars of the insanity of those who fell before her, with the only safe area being the water that quickly clogged her shoes.

The flashing eyes all twirled at a slow pace, blinking every so few seconds

The towers of them felt inescapable, leaving her to seek something to at least get her out.

Then she saw it.

An abandoned temple, with a bell that she could maybe use to garner someone's attention to get her out of this hellhole.

Quickly running to the building, pillars of eyes shot up near her, forcing her to jump on over to the other side of them, moving her weakened body with the star still bleeding, although this star started to open something else...

A blue and red eye, staring right at her, quickly spreading the abstraction(and blood?) mix over the places it was familiar with, putting the jester into the hands of a merciless beast, who's only goal is to make her lose everything she had.

Quickly concentrating on her goal of leaving and just that goal, she swiftly regained control of her limbs, running even faster for the temple, not caring about what may try to kill her next.

Seeing the entrance just ahead of her, she ran, with the towers quickly dissolving and moving positions to try and stunt the path of the jester, waiting for them to join her.

Running quickly, she went towards the entrance, running past whatever towers were dissolving and re-emerging to stunt her path.

The abstraction was becoming unbearable simply due to the pain it was causing, giving Pomni soul-splitting pain (not like she even had one now anyways), with the abstraction star’s eye simply looking up to the jester in pure mockery, wishing for purely nothing but the worst for her.

Pomni managed to get in, with the abstraction towers nearly cornering her at one point, with her eventually fending them off and continuing with her journey.

As she reached the entrance, the water level increased with every step, leaving that same uncomfortable feeling of water within her shoes.

She was panting at this point, just praying for some sort of escape, wishing for something to swoop her away.

The red and blue eye took notice of this, and took control away from Pomni once more, with the jester’s eyes now slowly twirling in between colors.

A ladder appeared.

Pomni started to climb up with her limited mobility, since although her newfound strength allowed her to grip on easily, it still hurt trying to move her arm enough without falling off of the ladder entirely.

Once she reached the top, she was met with a set of stairs, with an opening to a bell at the top.

She once more regained complete control of her limbs, rushing up the stairs, with tears falling from her eyes as she stumbled on the stairs, rushing hurriedly up to a promised safety.

Just this last bit, and then she would be free, right? 

…

She was very wrong indeed.

Ragatha worked on the last few details, trying to ensure she still remembered the jester’s.

She just couldn’t bring her mind off of it, the pain she saw the other endure, their screams, their tears.

Deciding to take a break from sewing, she stepped out of her room, but not before wiping away her tears of wool.

Taking herself out of her room, she walked on over to the place she barely remembered, looking down to the ground the cellar was opened at, and started crying out of the purely cruel fate that [unkn0wn 3nt1ty] was forced into. 

Pomni was wrong.

So wrong.

As she rushed up the stairs, reaching up to the top for freedom, she tripped, allowing the abstraction to catch up to her as the water subsided, going below the temple once more.

Trying to get up, Pomni could feel her foot being dragged by that dreaded substance, as towers of abstraction surrounded her.

It overtook her, the star’s eye looking in glee, as the jester lost all control of herself.

Finding it’s way to the top, it climbed atop the bell and left it to no mercy, making it ring as loud as it could.

Pomni could still manage to see out of one eye, as the star on her torso wanted her to witness everything.

Ringing was the only sound present in her head, leaving no room for her to think, driving her even more insane.

The towers closed in, circling around their prey, ready for the kill.

Something snapped within the core, wanting to roam freely.

Mercilessly, the abstraction-bound monster slashed at one of the towers, easily knocking it over.

As the others circled in to attack, both arms spun along with the vessel’s body, taking all of them down with ease.

The darkness enveloped the creature, using it’s claws to slash open the sky, making an opening at a random location above ground.

Satisfied with it’s result of preserving it’s only means of survival, it crawled out of the hole, leaving Pomni’s body and ridding the star-shaped injury from her.

Pomni couldn’t help but weakly smile, although with this escape led to a new burden.

What happened to Ragatha?

Where was she?

Pomni held onto some hope that she didn’t abstract, quickly running over to her room, although there was a note on it, reading:

im not in my room right now. please let me escape from this reality. my heart is full of holes and they will not heal. im sorry i failed you.

Seeing the potential implications of this, Pomni sprinted to where she last saw Ragatha, just praying she didn’t fall into the ocean of insanity to try to see her again.

Ragatha stood up and just stared at the ground. She had been doing this for hours now, just aimlessly staring while hoping Pomni would come back.

Distant footsteps could be heard, with Ragatha jumping in slight discomfort whilst attempting to mask up her sadness to survive this random encounter.

”R-Ragatha?”

No.

No.

This isn’t her.

Who was this?

She looked to the red and blue person, staring at how someone could escape.

039s weren’t supposed to survive.

They were supposed to instantly die, leaving behind an empty monster.

She looked the exact opposite of that, although she looked absolutely scared out of her skin, looking in horror as the ragdoll looked confusingly at her.

”How…how did you…make it?”

“R-Raga…tha?”

The memories still burnt present within their minds, of the pain and suffering they both went through, be it physically or mentally.

Pomni rushed into Ragatha’s arms, with Ragatha quickly reciprocating the hug.

They were just happy for Pomni to be alive, as the jester cried tears of suppressed emotions of everything that happened to her, with the ragdoll crying tears of happiness for the person she loved dearly to be alive.

“I-I thought you died-!”

”I thought you abstracted!”

They both stood there, crying for their own reasons, but mostly for a shared feeling.

The shared feeling of relief within one’s embrace.