Chapter Text
‘ACK- ‘Monika opened her eyes slowly. To her surprise, she was greeted by vibrant colors and loud noises.
‘WELCOME TO THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!’ A voice bellowed. Monika held her head tight, doubling over in shock. Where was she? Why can't she turn the volume down??
‘Wait wait.. That’s not right... Why can't I feel the strap...?’ She thought to herself. Running her fingers through her hair as she frantically searched for the headset strap. A violent boom of music echoed through her ears. She held her head tighter to try to at least muffle the sound a bit. She tried to quickly move out of the way, stumbling and falling into her surroundings. She landed on top of an inhumanly large dice. The music stopped and a loud silence echoed in the room.
‘Seriously Caine.’ A voice groaned. Monika looked up to be greeted by a tall purple bunny dressed in peculiar red dungarees. ‘Can't you like... Stop new people from entering? I think there's enough of us now. 'The bunny looked her up and down, rolling his eyes. ‘She doesn’t even fit the aesthetic. No offence’ Monika peered around the room. A group of things stood around, admiring her. She couldn’t help but notice the floating mouth man in the sky. He looked like he was the ringmaster of this weird circus, holding a large stick and dresses in a dapper suit and tie. The ringmaster drew closer to Monika, his partner following swiftly behind him.
‘Welcome! I’m Caine, the ringmaster of the circus! It is a pleasure to meet you... I didn’t quite catch your name. Oh, who am I kidding... You don’t know your name! No one can remember their name once they enter the digital realm. Don’t you worry, I'll pick one for you!’ He announced proudly, snapping his fingers assertively as he spoke.
‘Uhm- Sir...” She interrupted. “My name's Monika... ‘
Caine snapped his neck back to face Monika, the pupils in his eyes dilating. An eruption of chatter and conversation filled the atmosphere.
‘How is that possible?’
“How do you know your own name?”
‘Who are you? What are you? Are you a hacker because I have the police on speed dial! BUBBLE GET ME THE AUTHORITIES NOW!!”
“I’m on it boss!” Bubble quickly flew in with a Lifesize cut out of a police officer.
“What. No. Oh, whatever.” Caine responded, ushering Bubble out of sight.
Monika stood confused. What did he mean that they didn’t know their own names? Does everyone here not know their name?
“Wait so, she knows her own name, but were stuck with these stupid made up ones?” A strange looking girl muttered under her breath, slowly looking up to realize that Monika heard what she had said. “S@%#. Sorry, that was rude. Uhm.”
“Do you guys, not know what your name... is?” They all denied. Monika frowned. This whole concept was entirely alien to her.
"“Pommi's right. How does pigtails here get remember her own name, but we can't? Suspicious suspicious...” The bunny perked up, an ignorant grin pasted across his face.
“Hmm... Well, it might have something to do with the fact that I’m not entirely a human-?”
“What do you mean you’re not human?”
“She looks like one of my drawings...”
“How is you here?”
“So, you’re like Caine? An AI or an NPC?”
“Can’t we just get Caine to poof her?”
“Can everyone please just be quiet so I can f&@£#*# think!” Monika replied assertively.
“Silence echoed around the room almost instantly. Monika ran her fingers through her hair one last time. ‘Where is my headset? I had it on a minute ago. Where is it? Where is it?”
‘Its right here.’ The bunny snickered, pulling at Monikas ponytail, her head jerking back with it. Her hair extended to about a meter before springing back down to its normal size. “So, you do have a cartoon body like us then.”
“YOWCH!! WHAT WAS THAT?? THAT REALLY HURT?!” Monika screeched, rubbing her head.
“You felt that? Caine what the s&%# is going on... Caine?’ No response. Caine was nowhere to be seen. “Oh for f*&^ sake.”
‘Jax! You haven't apologized to Monika yet!’ A lady called out. Barging past Jax arrogantly ‘I'm so sorry about him... Are you okay? Ignore him. He’s just like that.’
“Yeah, I’m okay thank you.” Monika responded in a jolly tone
“I'm Ragatha ! And this is Pomni. She’s our newest member... Well technically you are now haha!’ Ragatha laughed, looking down at a short girl dressed in brightly colored jester clothes.
“Thats kinger over there” She pointed at a large king chess piece dressed in purple robes. “Thats Zooble.” She pointed to a colorful looking character with mismatched shapes and peices. “And thats Gangle!” She finally pointed to a character with a tragedy mask on, covered in vibrant red ribbons. She smiled softly before hiding her face away.
“Sorry to burst your bubble.” Monika announced, peering over her sholder to make sure Bubble didn't hear her joke. “But I, uhm, don't really plan on staying here...”
“Good luck getting out pigtails. When you find a magical exit that leads you to fairyland do let me know. Gosh you sound exactly like Pomni when she first arrived... How ironic.’ Jax snickered. Monikas head raced. What did he mean they'd been here for years? How is that possible? Where they.. Humans?
“If they're humans... Maybe this is my ticket to the human world... Finally!”