Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the teleportation of the cartoonish members from the Spudsy adventure to the circus tent, and Caine disappearing to god knows where after a short post-adventure debrief, not a single person spoke even a whisper of a word to each other. The only noise heard were the heavy footsteps softly echoing in the large expanse of the tent as they began to trudge their way deeper in the direction of their designated rooms, exhausted from what had transpired in those many working hours of hell.

Ragatha, who stood in place among the tired group, began to fall limp, her high beginning to come to a still. Her eyelids were heavy and weary as she leaned onto the person closest to her, Jax.

As the doll’s lethargic body subconsciously slumped into the side of the tall purple bunny, mumbling incoherent words as she falls deeper into the depths of unconsciousness, Jax grunts irritably and pushes her away, her invasion to his personal space unwanted. Causing her slack, plush body to fall onto the ground with a soft thud. Too drowsy from the side effects of the stupid sauce, she lacked the energy to scold the uncompassionate rabbit.

The others, such as Gangle and Zooble, have long disappeared during this small interaction. Quietly leaving together to retreat into their rooms, they left without a second glance at the tired bunny or the spaced-out doll. The only acknowledgement was a small wave from Gangle and a slight nod from Zooble to the jester—who, despite everything, was the only one who remained somewhat relaxed.

After scolding Jax for shoving Ragatha to the ground, Pomni watched him scoff and leave in fatigue before approaching the unmoving figure who lay carelessly on the floor. Now, Pomni is not by any means physically strong, but she knows that if she did not help the poor doll, Ragatha wouldn’t get a good night's rest. So in reluctance, she sighed and wrapped her arm around the limp figure, hoisted her up, and leaned her sluggish weight onto her smaller frame before treading back to Ragatha’s room.

Upon entering her bedroom and tucking her into bed, Pomni, who was well spent, slumped onto the mattress of the bed next to Ragatha’s tucked-in body. She took a moment to catch her breath after the effort of carrying a person twice her size. Just as she was about to stand up to leave to the comfort of her room, a hand reached out, softly grasping her wrist.

“Heyyaa Pop… Pom… Pomni,” Ragatha mumbled, slurring her words from drowsiness and the lingering effects of the sauce.

Pomni flinched, turning her attention to the sudden physical contact. Her wrist tingled at the unfamiliar contact as her body was screaming at her, itching her to leave—but she didn’t, knowing that Ragatha wasn’t in the right state of mind. Her body now tense from the unexpected touch and aware of her incoherent mumbling, she averts her attention to the redhead.

“…yes?”

It stayed silent for a moment, the doll taking her time to register the single-worded question. Slowly, a dopey but genuine smile decorated her face, the corners of her mouth awkwardly reaching her eyes.

“I just errr… wanted you to know.. how much I appreciate youuu,” Ragatha slurred, flickering her attention toward Pomni’s tense form. She releases her grip, letting her hand fall back onto the bed, “Thank yews for… eh, taking me to mah room.”

Now free from her grasp, Pomni slightly relaxes. She glanced at Ragatha, her eyes half-lidded, and weariness was present on her face. She offered a small and awkward smile, subtly nodding and acknowledging her gratitude.

Another moment of silence arises, Ragatha struggling to keep her eyes open, the comfort of her plush duvet lulling her to sleep. But before fully succumbing to sleep, she manages to speak again.

“Yer so kind Pomni… even after everything you’ve been through your first few daysss… you still help even if ya don’t wanna. I reallyyy like that ‘bout you.”

With that, Ragatha fell asleep.

Pomni, on the other hand, stared at the now sleeping doll in slight surprise, sheepish but touched at the compliment.

Slowly, Pomni rose from the bed and made her way toward the light switch. Before leaving, she glanced back at the soft snoring figure and smiled.

“Good night Ragatha.”
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Slowly, the next morning arrives. Everyone was sleeping in as Caine, in a rare act of mercy, granted them a rare day off after the previous adventure.

As the circus members start to awaken, some head to the different areas of the tent, while others decide to sleep a little longer, needing a little extra sleep to recover from the unpaid labor of yesterday.

Gangle and Zooble, who are both found in the living room area of the tent, sit on the three-person couch, chatting idly. Gangle doodled on her sketchbook while Zooble munched on what appears to be a strangely high-definition apple.

As they hung out, a new presence made itself known as it walked towards the two chatting figures.

“Heya guys! What are you guys up to?” Ragatha greets, refreshed from her well-needed rest.

The pair of friends on the couch halted their peaceful conversation, moving their attention to the new person in the room.

Gangle stared at Ragatha, her comedic mask slightly cracking at the edge, her small smile slowly disappearing into a frown. Her cheerful demeanor vanished as her once-content gaze turned tense.

Zooble, who peacefully ate her apple, stopped midbite to look at the unwelcomed guest.

Ragatha’s cheery mood faltered, feeling the tense atmosphere that wavered in the air as she felt her smile strain under its pressure.

“Are… are you guys okay?”

She stepped closer to them, only to suddenly stop when Gangle stood and faced her. Her face was contorted, betrayal and hurt evident in her eyes.

Ragatha, confused, Ragatha began to open her mouth to question her reaction, but before she could, Gangle grabbed her sketchbook and stormed off. Leaving a bewildered doll and a languid avatar of colorful shapes and detachable parts.

Ragatha, who was staring at the direction where Gangle had stormed off in, averted her gaze back to Zooble, who remained seated on the couch, although their expression was twinged with mild annoyance.

“W-what was that? Is she okay?” Ragatha’s gaze flickered back to the exit, then reverted to Zooble, “Why is she upset..?”

Staring at the puzzled and concerned doll for a few seconds, Zooble released an annoyed sigh, “You know, I get that you were high off your @$$ on stupid sauce last adventure, but it doesn’t disregard all the $ħ!7 you said.” They crossed their arms, squinting their eyes in displeasure, “I usually don't like getting involved in any situations that happen in this stupid f*€k1ng circus that Caine calls a show, but right now you of all people need to get a f*€k1ng grip.”

Ragatha’s eyes widened in shock, mouth ajar as she stared at Zooble. Confusion and hurt contorting her soft features.

“What? What happened?? I-I don’t even remember what happened?? I didn’t even mean to use the stupid sauce!” She animatedly moves her arms as she speaks, further displaying her confusion, before embracing herself, her hands fumbling with her sleeves. She stripped her attention from Zooble to her feet. “… Can you please just tell me what I did wrong? Why did Gangle avoid me? Why is everyone acting so weird after we came back?? What did I say that caused you guys to avoid me?” Ragatha’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper, quivering as her eyebrows furrowed and turned back to Zooble’s unwavering gaze.

Zooble stayed silent for a few moments before they stood up and uncrossed their arms. They placed one hand on their hip and the other on their triangular head, massaging their forehead. Sighing in exasperation, Zooble took another glance at Ragatha, eyes holding something similar to sympathy but still containing their displeasure.

“Listen, I don’t care what kind of €r@p you have to say about me, but you said some very hurtful $h!7 to Gangle. I won’t tell you what you said to her as it is something that you should figure out on your own and reflect on yourself… but you should know better than anyone to not say that kind of $h!7 like that to Gangle. You know she’s sensitive, you know she’s soft-hearted, and what you said, especially in a moment where she was in a bad mental place, was f*€këd up and wrong on your part. If you want her to forgive you, I suggest that you do some thinking about who you are as a person.”

Without a second thought, Zooble turned her body and exited the room, leaving Ragatha alone in the emptiness of the once-lively room.
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Jax, who had enclosed himself in his room the morning after the adventure, trudged his way to the dining room for lunch. Grabbing a chair, he slumped onto it and rested his elbow on the table with his face in hand, wearing a weary expression. The person he sat next to was Pomni, who had arrived before him and was chatting with Gangle and Kinger at the dinner table. Noticing his presence, she saw an unfamiliar expression on his face and quietly observed him as he used the fork next to his plate to poke and prod at the food in an enervated manner.

Feeling the unwavering prickling sensation of eyes on his face, the purple rabbit paused his poking and turned his head towards the scrutinizing jester, who had a worried expression plastered over her features. Her iris, big and focused on his face, began to do that little spinning pinwheel motion that happened whenever she was concentrated or distressed.

“…what are you starin’ at?”

Not noticing her staring, Pomni broke out of her trance and shook her head to regain her consciousness. Coming back to reality, or what was their reality, Pomni looked up to Jax before averting her eyes.

“O-oh! Um… Sorry.” She stammered her words and fidgeted with her hands, flicking her eyes back to his yellow ones for a few seconds. “It’s just that, uh… you seem uh…” she paused, hesitation clear on her face.

Still leaning his head on his hand, Jax turned his lanky body to face the troubled jester and leaned down towards her. Fed up, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth stretched into a bigger frown, “I what?”

Flinching at the close proximity, Pomni shifted her gaze back again to her fidgeting fingers, her eyebrows furrowing in concern and frustration. “You uh…” she hesitated before releasing a breath to relieve the tension she felt in her body. She looked back up, eyes more clear-headed and expression resolved. “You don’t look okay.” She stated.

Jax, who had been tapping his fingers on the side of his face in impatience while he waited for the jester’s response, halted his movement and stared at her impassively. Silence overtook the two avatars. The deafening silence overstretched between them, causing Pomni to start losing her resolve, regret and apprehension decorating her round features.

Just as she was about to speak, probably to apologize or change the subject, Jax snickered, startling Pomni as she tensed up and stared at Jax uneasily.

“Wow, that sure is a nice way to say I look like $h!7.” He leaned back, away from the timid avatar, shifting his weight onto the table.

Pomni’s eyes widened, startled and panicked, her mouth agape. Her once anxiously fidgeting hands now waved in panic.

“W-what? No! I didn’t mean it like that, Jax!” Her hands paused midair, pulling them slightly closer to her chest. Lowering her voice, she spoke softly, “I- I just meant that… that you don’t look like how you.. usually do.” She stammered awkwardly, shifting in her seat. Her big doe-like eyes tore away from his yellow ones to glance at anything else but him.

Her eyes landed on Gangle, Kinger, and Zooble, who had joined the table during her conversation with Jax. They filled the momentary silence between them with chatter, welcoming the momentary distraction from the continuous eye contact she had held with the Bunny. She never liked prolonged eye contact, or any type of contact in general. The action always caused a prickling sensation against her skin, cold and sharp as it got increasingly more painful and uncomfortable the longer she held the contact, causing her to always appear squirmish, which wasn’t out of character for her at all.

She moved her hand to brush her hair behind her absent ear, a gesture that brought reassuring comfort, helping her to ease her flaring nerves, “Ya know… like.. you’re not being mean or doing any Jax-like things—it’s unusual.”

A snort, followed by quiet laughter, broke through the unwavering built-up tension. Pomni looked up to Jax, his figure trembling as he continued to laugh.
Confused as to why this damn prankster was laughing to begin with, she lifts one eyebrow and slightly squints her eyes at him, displaying her puzzlement and her eyes showing her vexation.

“Hahaha…hahhh,” calming down from his fit, Jax crossed his arms and tilted his head upward in amusement, “Sorry toots! I didn’t think ya cared for lil’ ol’ me.” Jax smirked, mirthfully raising his eyebrow and raising his palm to his chest where his heart is supposed to be. He slightly turned his head away from her and smiled, mocking her, “I never thought I’d see the day of ya carin’ for me short-stack, I’m truly touched!”

Teeth grinding and eyebrows raised in exasperation, Pomni sat up straight and glared at the smug purple idiot in intense irritation, shoving a finger pointedly in his face. “FIRST OF ALL, DON'T F*€K1NG CALL ME SHORT-STACK!!”

She huffed, recovering from her short outburst, and took back her finger to cross her arms in agitation, “Second of all, I was just weirded out that you weren’t being a d!€k to me or anyone else for that matter.”

Smiling gleefully, Jax squinted his eyes and took hold of one of the pompoms at the end of Pomni’s hat, tugging and playing with it as he leaned closer to the squirming jester, who tried to pry off his hand.

“Sure ya were!” He exclaimed, tugging her hat harder, sending her stumbling forward and losing her balance on her chair, “If ya miss me messin’ with ya so much, all ya had to do was say so! I would gladly follow up on your wishes!”

Pomni glared at the chuckling bunny who held her stupid jester hat captive in his hand, anger bubbling up to a boil as she began to stand up on her chair to raise her fist, wanting nothing more than to knock that shit-eating grin off his face, “WHY YOU—!“

But before she could fully stand and punch the anger-inducing face in front of her, a shape of a doll making her way over to their table was seen in her peripheral vision. Which halted the movement of her fist, and fully turned her attention to the now sitting figure at the end of the table.

Jax, who was enjoying provoking the jester, rolled his eyes in annoyance. Upset at the person who ruined their fun little interaction.

The air has grown cold, Pomni noticed, as soon as Ragatha sat down at the table.

Gangle, who would usually greet her cheerfully, stayed quiet, sparing Ragatha only a single second of her gaze before averting it to her food.

The table was filled with deafening silence. Each second that passed thickened the air. Pomni can even feel her throat constrict due to the lack of oxygen that they don’t even need. The sound of a sweat drop can probably be heard due to how silent the room was, and Kinger—who would usually break any type of silence with a random outburst he had, already retreated to his room a few minutes before Ragatha’s appearance.

Being unable to withstand the ongoing tension, Pomni opted to break the uncomfortable silence, but before she could, Gangle already beat her to it.

“I-I’m… gonna head to my room,” Gangle whispered, loud against the quiet room. She stands and stumbles her way out of the chair back to her room, her posture hunched over and her ribbon arms embracing her torso, as she faces her mask to the floor. Shortly after, Zooble also left without a single word.

The empty room only consisted of three people now, a rabbit, a doll, and a jester.

Ragatha, who watched them leave in silence, looked crestfallen. Bringing her attention to the food in front of her, she began to eat, gloomy.

Taking notice of Ragatha’s rare depressive mood, Jax decided to open that big mouth of his, poking a jab at her, “Feelin’ down in the dumps Rags? Maybe ya shoulda stopped actin’ all high and mighty, and be real for once. Maybe then, ya wouldn’t be in this dumb situation.”

His quips are not uncommon, the members hearing the shit coming out of ass daily, but normally they would hold a more lighter tone, a “light-hearted joke” by his standards. But this time, it was clear that he absolutely meant what he said, saying it with a sneer of annoyance.

Pausing her eating, Ragatha slowly turned her head towards Jax, as her fists clenched in aggravation.

Clenching her teeth and intensifying her gaze at the rabbit, she slammed her hands on the table, aggressively standing up, “WHAT THE F*€K JAX!?” She threw her arms open in rage, her temper vicious, “WHO THE HELL ASKED FOR YOUR INPUT, HUH?? NONE OF THIS F*€K!NG RELATES TO YOU, SO WHY DON’T YOU QUIT BEING SUCH A F*€K!NG @$$H01£ AND KEEP YOUR D@MN MUZZLE OUT OF MY F*€K!NG BUSINESS!!”

Pomni, who was sitting between the two, clenched her fist in uneasiness. Her body tensed as she curled into herself, preparing for what was about to come, “oh boy–“

“HA!” Jax snickered in disbelief.

Standing up and crossing his lanky arms over his chest, he tilted his head to the side, eyes widening and pupils shrinking in pique. His mouth stretched into a maddening smile, the corners never reaching his eyes, strained, as if he’s holding back.

“NONE.. of MY business???” He placed his hand on his chest, his long ears straightening up and twitching in aggravation, “Ya know what!? Maybe you’re right! Maybe it isn’t ANY of my G0DD@MN BUSINESS!” Laughing maniacally, he placed his hands on the table, tilting his head down but keeping his furious gaze on her. Taking the closest plate near him, he threw it on the ground harshly, smashing it to bits and pieces, not caring that there was food on it.

“BUT WHAT DO YOU KNOW? YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY THEY’RE UPSET AT YOU!” Moving his hand to brush his ears back and breathing heavily, he calmed down, “Maybe… if you took one d@mn look in a g0dd@mn mirror and took that stick out of your g0dd@mn @ss, you would realize how much of a f*€k!ng hypocritical b!7€h you are. Stop making yourself out to be a f*€k!ng saint, cause you're not.”

Standing up straight, Jax walked to the stunned and seething doll, stopping before her and sneering down at her.

His face clearly expressing his blatant contempt towards her, he clenches his fists at his sides, “You are a two-faced hypocrite.”

And with that, Jax shoved his shoulder into the unmoving doll, causing her to stumble slightly as he made his way back to the rooms.

Chapter Text

The weight of the room inspissated, the overhead lights coming from god knows where— in the digital tent were blaring, headache-inducing in the already intense situation. The vast array of obnoxiously bright colors that decorated the tent didn’t help either, becoming much more painfully apparent at the moment. Every little thing around her came at her in waves, overwhelming the jester and causing her to feel a prickling sensation on her delicately pale and rubbery complexion. It felt like a thousand pointed needles trying to dig deep under her skin and enter the quickening thumping of her heart. If these off-putting bodies even had one.

Having stood up already during the fight from the increasingly intense atmosphere, Pomni was left dumbfounded at what she had just been caught between.

Staring at the now empty hallway that Jax had exited from, the on-edge jester stood in a stupor.

…what the fuck just happened?

One second she was just casually eating her low-resolution blocky food she called a lunch, and the next, she witnessed a fierce altercation between a usually pacific doll and a facetious purple bunny.

Confused, she turns her attention from where Jax left to the now mute and still Ragatha.

The only movement that signified any signs of life was the soft quivering of her shoulders and the sound of unstable breathing coming out of Ragatha’s mouth. With each intake of breath, her head bobs. Eyes widened and pupils shrunk, trembling as she glared at her feet, unbridled frustration and anger blemishing her usually peaceful features.

Not being able to witness the devastating ruin of the doll, Pomni hesitantly begins to traipse her way over to Ragatha, careful not to display any harsh or sudden movement.

Detecting the vigilant movement from the corner of her eyes, Ragatha breaks herself out of her daze to glance at the perturbed jester, halting any further movement from the jester.

Pomni, who stood a couple of feet before Ragatha, carried an expression of concern, anxiously awaiting any sort of explosive commentary from the doll.

Ragatha, taking notice of this, realized that she was the one who elicited this terrible reaction from her dear friend and felt guilty. Her face contorting to one of guilt and pain.

Reluctantly reaching her hand out towards the doll, Pomni began to open her mouth to speak, but Ragatha interrupted her and hastily turned around to bolt to her room. She hugged herself, her eyes tightly shut, tears streaking down her cheeks.

Now standing alone, isolated in the unnatural quietness of the dining area, Pomni dismally sighs and makes her way to her room. Hoping that whatever problem that had arose between the four group members gets dissolved quickly, so she doesn’t have to deal with another vexing thing that already happens way too much in this damn circus.

_____________________________________________

The rest of the day continued silently and without problem. The circus members secluded themselves in their room, refusing to leave. Even when it was dinner time, they either skipped dinner or ate in the privacy of their bedroom. Doing anything to avoid any type of confrontation.

And in doing so, the next morning arrives, the sun rising into the sky symbolizing the beginning of a new day.
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Walking out of her room, Pomni, who had stayed up the entirety of the night unable to fall asleep, made her way to the dining room for breakfast.

Surprisingly, expecting the table to be empty, Pomni sees Gangle calmly eating her breakfast by herself.

Noticing the jester’s arrival, Gangle greets her cheerfully, patting the seat beside her as she starts to ramble on about a new story she’s been writing after Pomni sat down.

Munching on her breakfast and listening to Gangle gushing about her story of cheesy romance, occasionally chiming in, she sees Kinger strolling toward the table and taking a seat.

Gangle and Pomni both greet him in unison as they all start idly chatting.

For a moment, Kinger stays silent, checking his wrist as if he had a watch, and then glancing up towards the hallway of the rooms before speaking up, “Why are Jax and Ragatha not here?” He questions, shifting his eyes to Pomni and Gangle, “Are they still sleep—“

Before he could finish his sentence, all the circus members were transported to the main stage, with Pomni, Gangle, and Kinger all landing on their butts as Caine floated in the air in front of them.

The members groan in annoyance. Jax was about to complain, but Caine interrupted again, greeting the group in an exuberant manner, “Good morning to you all my feisty little troublemakers!!! I have a brand-new exhilarating, electrifying, and perilous adventure for you all to satiate your desire for danger and teamwork!!”

Pomni looked up to the flaring figure, anxiety seeping through her expression, “Danger…?”

At the same time Pomni speaks up, Jax groans loudly in displeasure at the mention of teamwork. The rest of the group shared that same feeling, tensing up at its mention.

“Yes!! I know how much you little freaky masochists love your danger!!”

“Masochists?” Zooble interjects in the background, cringe and disgust evident in their voice.

Caine doesn’t reply, continuing to talk over them and any sort of protest as if he doesn't hear them at all.

“This adventure is called—!” Exaggeratedly, Caine twirls his cane and twists his body flexibly, his hands stretching outward to the space above him as a wall of text appears. He reads it out loud flamboyantly the instant it appears, finishing his declaration, “The Enchanted Gauntlet of Bonds and Ruin!”

The group unanimously let out a confused noise, “Huh?”

Snapping his fingers, the text disappears and points their direction to Bubble, who floats next to him.

“This adventure is about teamwork and danger, where you guys will have to place your utmost trust in each other to solve an obstacle puzzle or else you’ll die!!” Bubble moans out in pleasure and licks their lips, “It is quite the turn on—!”

Before Bubble continues their disturbing commentary, Caine pops them, his face aghast.

“What is wrong with you, you freak!” Caine’s eyes enlarged, his dentures furrowing downward, giving him an appalling appearance, “That is no way to speak in my family-friendly show!!”

The circus members stood there, disturbed and speechless, which is surprising since Jax usually likes to comment on just about anything.

Awkwardly fake coughing into his hand, Caine recovers from his shock and regains his elated mood, “ANYWAYS!! Ignore the last commentary they gave, but yes! This adventure is one in which you’ll have to place your trust in each other! Surely a great way to deepen your already strong and passionate relationships!!”

Caine stares at the tense group in expectation, his cane pointed towards them as he awaits whatever response they have.

Zooble is the first one to break the silence, “Yeah, f*€k no. I’m leaving. Bye.”

Jax nodded in agreement, his face furrowed in displeasure. “Yeah, same here.”

As they turn to leave, Caine snaps his fingers, “Too bad!”

A hole opens up beneath the entire group, causing them to fall through it, screaming and censored swearing coming from them.

Caine peers down the cavernous hole, cupping his hands in front of his face to help raise his voice, yelling into the abyss as it echoes down, “HAVE FUN MY LIL KILLJOYS!!”

_____________________________________________

The fall was surprisingly long, each avatar flailing their avatar bodies in the air as they spun clumsily, the journey down being seemingly endless.

Thankfully at some point, they make contact with plastic slides, ending their lengthy descent down as they harshly collide into the long colorful slides that twist and turn in all possible directions.

Some slides looped, some spiraled, and a few were steep. As the circus members began their journey down the slope of the slide, they were overjoyed to meet its abrupt end. Falling flat on their face or somersaulting into the hard ground.

Dizzily, the group muttered out curses in discomfort. The unforgiving twists of the slides and the rough crash into the ground caused the battered members to feel a dull ache in their bodies, sensations of pain and soreness making it difficult to ignore.

Gangle and Zooble had the worst of the brunt, with Gangle breaking her comedy mask and Zooble coming undone, groaning.

The first to recover was Ragatha, her soft body diminishing and offsetting any lingering pain from the wild descent.

She sluggishly stood up, taking in her surroundings as she spoke in amazement, “Woah… look at this place..”

Having heard the doll’s wonder, the group regained their senses, turning to the direction the doll was gaping at.

In front of them was a vast ancient cavern ruin. A massive stone bridge that connected the stone platform they stood on to the far end of the other platform was broken. The bridge was reduced to floating slabs of varying sizes and distances, leading to various pathways hovering over an abyss.

Thorny vines and ornamental wild flowers stretched over the stone walls and slabs, creating a mystical appearance. The cavern was dimly lit, light glowing from its flowers, which pulsated light from its star-like petals, releasing a soft ethereal glow. The markings etched into the ragged stone walls also furnished the light, a deep red glow seeping through its ragged cracks. Accompanying them, gems and crystals were littered over all stone surfaces. The light produced by the plants and markings reflected off their facet-cut edges, displaying a rainbow-like iridescence, shimmering in contrast to the dark cave.

At the opposite side of where the group stood, a great distance away, separated by the stupendous abyss, were two decrepit pillars placed before a stone wall. Prickly vines wrapped around the pillars in a spiraling pattern, flowers blooming at each end of the vines. Behind the pillars, the wall was littered with carved ancient writing, the pillars framing the barrier with its slant form. Creating a door-like appearance despite the lack of one.

Awestruck, the group remained still for a while.

Jax broke out of his daze first. Shaking his head to regain focus, he crossed his arms and scoffed, “Wow. Isn’t this overkill?”

Moment ruined, Zooble rolled their eyes and placed their hands on their hips, voice full of disdain, “Shut the hӭ11 up, Jax. Don’t act like you weren’t admiring it either.”

Turning his head to the shapely avatar, he squinted his eyes at them. “Nuh uh.”

Zooble clenched her fist and hitched her breath in anger, ready to retaliate before Ragatha stepped in.

“In a way, Jax is sorta right, this is…” Voice awkward and strained, she paused mid-sentence to look over their surroundings again before continuing her train of thought, “...very unusually high-quality compared to the other adventures Caine made for us. It’s kind of unsettling.”

Pomni agrees, shrugging her shoulders, “That's true… but I guess it makes sense since he did give us a day off yesterday.” She then taps her chin as if deep in thought, “Maybe he took that time to make this adventure more appealing.”

Humming in agreement with Pomni, Gangle chimes in, “Yeah, you know how Caine likes to impress us!”

“Yeah, he's so desperate for us to like his adventures, it’s annoying.” Zooble sighed, moving their arms to comfortably cross them on their chest before changing the topic, “Anyways… how the hell are we supposed to leave this place?”

Jax sneered at Zooble, wagging his finger at them, “What, are ya an idiot Zooble? Can’t ya see the floating stones in front of ya or did spending too much time in the circus mush your brain?”

“UGH! SHUT THE F*€K UP JAX! IM NOT TALKING TO YOU!” Zooble yelled, throwing their arms up in the air out of frustration as they took a moment to calm down, turning away from the pesky rabbit, ignoring him. “What I meant was—how are we going to solve this? Caine said this was a puzzle, right? So walking on the floating rocks carelessly would be a bad idea; who knows what would happen.”

Jax, taking amusement in getting a rise out of the usually nonchalant character, shrugged his shoulders as he waved his hand outward, “Ahhhh, we’ll be fineee! What’s the worst that can happen?” Jax then placed his hands on his hips, leaning his body slightly forward. “Ya know, Caine doesn’t actually make these adventures dangerous. At worst, we’ll fall to our demise in the bottomless hole and then get teleported back to the beginning. Nothing to worry about. We can barely feel any pain! So, put your big boy pants on, and let's get on with it.”

Pomni interjects, frustrated, “It doesn’t matter! I don’t wanna feel any type of pain, no matter how little it actually is! Let’s not risk anything that might come to bite us in the @$$ later!! I just wanna get this done as quickly as possible.” Sighing, Pomni comes to a pause, recalling something. Her multicolored irises began to shrink. “Wait… didn’t Bubble say that we can die in this adventure..?”

“What did I just say? We can’t die! That’s just Bubble being weir—”

Cutting Jax’s sentence short, a sudden tremor shook the cavern, prompting the group of characters to stumble as they try to ground their footing.

Instantly, after the quaking halts, a glow abruptly appears from the hovering slabs of stone. Glowing multicolored runes of different designs appeared, etched onto the slabs, emanating a soft glow.

“What the hӭ11?”

Looking at the slabs, the group notices a figure in the distance, hunching over the edge of their platform to touch a slab.

Gangle yelled incredulously, “Kinger!?”

The figure retreated their hand, Kinger giving them his attention, waving his hand to greet them, “Oh hey guys!”

As the group was about to interrogate the chess piece character, a loud ticking sound was heard from above.

Looking upwards, the circus members see a big timer that reads “39:57.”

Staring up at the seconds ticking down, confusion and slight panic begin to arise among the group.

“A timer? Really?” Zooble complains, raising their eyebrow.

Pomni walks up to the edge of the platform next to Kinger, who is unnervingly silent for his character.

Glancing at the floating slabs of stone, she looks at the rune engraved on top of it, a golden shield, emanating a soft glow.

Ragatha walked up a couple of feet beside the jester, observing the runes. “Maybe we should start to get across… who knows what kind of torture device Caine set up in this place if the timer runs out.”

The rest of the group agrees, except Jax, who rolls his eyes and walks towards the edge, “Yeah, yeah, whatever! You guys are no fun. Do what ya want.”

Suddenly, Jax’s face lights up, his smile widening, causing his eyes to close slightly.

Snickering, Jax walks up to Gangle and throws her to one of the slabs. Gangle screams and barely manages to grab onto the edge, preventing her fall.

“WHAT THE F*€K JAX!?” Zooble runs over to the edge, facing the direction of the now isolated and petrified Gangle, checking up on her safety.

Shrugging his shoulders proudly, Jax glances at the rune of the slab Gangle clung to, taking note of an image of a golden shield, “What~? I wasn’t gonna test the waters on myself, I’m way too important for that! Crybaby over here is the most useless, so why not use her as a decoy? Plus, it’s not like it hurt anybody!”

Ignoring the berating from the group, Jax searches for another slab containing the shield.

After a few seconds, he spots one and leaps towards it. Causing the group to flinch, expecting him to fall—but he didn’t.

Having landed smoothly on the slab, Jax turns to face the group. Giving them a conceited look as he places his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest in pride, “Well, would ya look at that! I am important! See? I’m too useful to sacrifice myself for your guys’ benefit!”

Ragatha glares at Jax, “Jax! You can’t just do that! Who knows what these runes mean! We need to find a way to solve the puzzle!”

Jax’s face falls to a frown, annoyance directed to Ragatha, “Shut up ya d@mn limp rag. Don’t think they’d start listening to ya again after the $h!7 you pulled back at Spudsys.”

The air goes tense at the mention of Spudsys, Ragatha falls into silence as she doesn’t retaliate.

Pomni glances at the clock that now reads ‘35:46.’

Reluctant, Pomni reverts her attention to the now taut group, face sharp but her nerves flared. Her resolve to get back home was stronger than her fear and her uneasiness.

“Guys— we need to get going. Whether we like it or not, we have to work together to get out of here. The timer won’t slow down for us.”

Flickering her gaze to the impatient rabbit, she stands up, “Jax, what does the rune you’re on look like?”

Jax stays silent for a moment, contemplating telling her.

“... a golden shield.”

Ragatha, who was standing closer to Jax than the rest of the group, looked at the slab he was standing on.

Confusion appeared on her face. “What..? What are you talking about? The rune you're standing on is a red ‘X’...”

“What?”

The group of people, excluding Jax and Gangle, move closer to where he stands, peeking at the rune.

Gangle, although a good distance away from where Jax is, squints her eyes to see the rune.

“I see a golden shield.”

“I see a red X.”

“I see a white flame.”

“I see a golden shield too.”

Kinger, Pomni, Gangle, and Zooble blurted out different runes.

Lost, Pomni looks over to Gangle’s rune, and asks her what kind of rune she thinks she’s standing on.

She looks at Pomni, slightly panicked and stammers a response, “U-um, a golden shield.”

Pomni, who’s staring at Gangle’s rune, is left dumbfounded.

…

…She sees a blue cracked spiral.

Turning her head slowly to the group, eyes shaking as she looks at them in anxiety.

“Guys… I think we might be seeing different versions of this puzzle.”

Shit.