Chapter Text
Dinner.
It always meant something to Caine. A time where the circus members got together and just talked. It was either positive interaction, or negative interaction, and Caine was always in the center of it, listening, intrigued as to what everyone was thinking. But tonight was different. Tonight, Pomni was going to speak up, and voice her concerns to Caine. She had told Elijah all about it, and Elijah didn’t know if the angle she was approaching this at, would work. Caine was always so…preoccupied, with his next adventure, that he never had time to hear the others out. But Pomni assured Elijah that if Caine truly cared, he’d listen to her concerns, and take them into consideration. Elijah just nodded, but worried she’d be upset when Caine completely ignores her.
That night, while everyone was eating dinner, Pomni cleared her throat and everyone looked at her. “Pomni my dear, you have something on your mind?” Caine asked, and Pomni stood up.
“Caine, we want a more human adventure. One where we can simulate our past lives. Ya know, since we’re kind of stuck here forever, we might as well make the most of it. And, you can join us! You can live in an actual house, and go to an actual job, and we can all live together! Doesn’t that sound like fun??” Caine scratched his head, and told Pomni an adventure of that magnitude would require more than one brain to complete, and Pomni felt nervous. Elijah stood up and told Caine that he could help with some of the aspects to keep the world as authentic as possible, and Caine told him that while that would be beneficial, he needs a second AI to help construct the world. Someone with a brain as powerful as his. Someone who could be his anchor.
Caine told Pomni he’d make some calls, but he assured her and the others he'd find some way to make the adventure a reality, even if it meant putting his best work into it.
While Caine was on the phone with someone, Elijah was looking at some old files, and found a folder with a paper in it labeled “Abstracted/Lost Humans”. Elijah noticed a lot of scribbled out names, like Kaufmo, Scratch, and Queenie. He noticed a name “Ribbit” that wasn’t scratched out but had a “Lost” tag next to it. Elijah wondered what had happened to Ribbit, so he asked Kinger.
Kinger explained that Ribbit was one of the old circus members, and that they were lost during a hiking adventure, and Caine simply wrote them off, and moved on. Elijah felt guilty, even though it wasn’t him who wrote off Ribbit, but he just felt bad that a human was simply overlooked. Elijah decided to look around the circus to find Ribbit but before he did, he heard some commotion by the stage, and went over to see what was going on. On the stage, Caine was talking to another being with a deck of cards for a head, and a blue & black suit, stylized identical to Caine’s, and a black derby on his head with a blue band around it. “Elijah, this is my brother, Abel. He’s going to help make sure the world is authentic”. Elijah shook Abel’s hand, and Abel shook Elijah up and down like a champagne bottle.
Abel told Caine that he wanted to speak with Elijah privately, and Caine was more than happy to oblige. Abel grabbed Elijah’s hand, and teleported him to his office. Abel’s office was full of books, folders, computer parts, an old MacBook, and various other knick knacks and trinkets.
Abel grabbed a folder from under his desk, and asked Elijah about the “adventure” Pomni wanted.
Elijah explained everything, from the house, to the jobs, and everything in between. Abel nodded, and then told Elijah that he could give them all of that, and that he knew of a place where all of that was achievable: Nowhere. Elijah asked what that was, and Abel told him it was a place Abel had know about for decades. A fictional suburb of a larger fictional city, located across the digital cosmos, a place where they could live, work, and love if they wanted. Elijah asked Abel why he had never told Caine or the others about it before, and Abel stated that the city was simply too dangerous for Caine before, but now it was finally complete, the way Abel helped shape it, the perfect world. He warned Elijah that things could get dark. It could end up being a lot more messy than Elijah anticipated, and Elijah was willing to accept the risk. Abel told him that he was glad Elijah was okay with his qualms, and he told Elijah that he’d let him know, when he was ready to give Elijah a peek before he makes the final decision. Elijah thanked Abel, and then left his office. He had a missing circus member to find, and help bring back into the spotlight. Little did Elijah know, he’d be dealing with an incredibly angry frog girl.
He found Ribbit’s room, which had a X over her face, which usually meant abstraction, but it didn’t look like how Caine usually made an X symbol like with the other doors. It was crudely painted on, and looked fake, as if he threw it together to throw the others off. He opened Ribbit’s door cautiously, and found an empty bedroom, with a bed thrown sideways onto the wall, and markings that said “It’s my fault, I should have found her” and “She was my bitch and I let her go”. Elijah found a chest and inside was a VHS tape. He saw that Ribbit for some reason had a VHS player and curiously, he slid the VHS tape into the player. What he saw was…disgusting. Jax and Ribbit essentially filmed themselves making out and trying to undress. They had no anatomy, because Caine has a permanent PG filter, but seeing their tongues intertwine, and their clothesless bodies, made Elijah feel uncomfortable. He grabbed the VHS tape and smashed it with a hammer, then slid the pieces into a nearby incinerator, feeling a sigh of relief as he watched the horrid footage burn into ashes. He noticed some old schematics nearby the incinerator, and noticed one was for the hiking adventure. He grabbed them, and noticed a code by the portal #11010. Elijah flipped open his Wacky Watch, and typed in the code, then pressed the big green TELEPORT button, and then felt himself be launched into outer space, then as gravity thrusted him to the ground, he thought he felt almost all of his bones in his body shatter.
He woke up by the side of a mountain face, and noticed a large trail heading up to the mountain. If Ribbit was anywhere, they were lost somewhere along the trail. Elijah headed up the trail cautiously, and kept his eyes peeled for any signs of a survivor. He got halfway up the mountain, with the air thin and his vision muddled by the fog, but he could see where a new path was mysteriously carved down the mountain slope. Cautious, Elijah slid down the slopey path, and found himself at a cave entrance that was blocked off by a large rock. He could hear what sounded like someone snoring, and sniffling at the same time, and Elijah used all of his strength to move the rock, and peer inside.
Inside, a green frog, wearing a puffy jacket, and hiking pants, was huddled up in a ball, next to an empty can of mixed fruit, an empty can of chili, and an empty can of lima beans. Elijah shook the frog, and they opened their eyes, and immediately they pulled a knife and placed it at Elijah’s throat.
“COME HERE TO KILL ME? I WON’T LET YOU, YOU BUM!” Ribbit shouted, looking terrified at Elijah.
Elijah just smirked, and used his pickpocket hands to slide the knife out of Ribbit’s grasp. “So, you must be Ribbit, the forgotten circus member. Nice way to thank the person who came all of this fucking way to find you. Jesus Christ girl, get a grip”.
Ribbit’s eyes turned to flames, as they dead stared Elijah “You…You fucking came to find me? After all this goddamn time? WHAT THE FUCK? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH??? I’VE BEEN LIVING OFF OF LIMA BEANS AND CANNED CHILI AND I FEEL FUCKING SICK. AND YOU DECIDE NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO FIND ME? PISS OFF, AND TELL CAINE TO SUCK A DICK”.
Ribbit balled back up and started crying, and Elijah puffed his shoulders, and then did a yodel, and Ribbit looked back at him, as a whooshing sound occurred, and Caine popped out of nowhere. “Aha! There you are, Ribbit! I knew you weren't abstracted!” Caine tried to grab Ribbit’s hand, but Ribbit whipped out a pair of scissors, and stabbed them deep into Caine’s digital hand, which made Elijah gag. “Ha, that tickled!” Caine scoffed, as he pulled the scissors out of his hand, and used magic to heal himself.
“Now, you could either come with me, or I could dangle you over the cliff face. You decide.” Ribbit looked at Caine, smirked and said “Fuck off, you toothy piece of shit”. Caine shrugged, and grabbed Ribbit by their leg, and dangled them over the cliff face like he had threatened to do. Elijah tried to oblige but Caine told him “This froggy bitch needs to remember who she’s insulting”. Ribbit begged for their life, and even promised to be Caine’s servant, but Caine wouldn’t budge. Ribbit prayed to Abel that Caine wouldn’t drop them, and eventually Elijah convinced Caine to let them go. Elijah grabbed Ribbit and told them that he was going to help them regain whatever sanity they once had, and find new meaning, even if it meant finding them a mentor to keep them in check.
Caine teleported the three back to the circus and decided to run some tests onto Ribbit to see if they were mentally up to date, or if they needed a “reboot”, which essentially meant taking outdated memories and erasing them, so there would be no bugs within the code. Caine grabbed Ribbit and took them to his room, and a few minutes later, they both came out, and Ribbit looked more annoyed then when they went in.
“She’s all up to speed now, hopefully things go smoothly with her” Caine stated, as he handed Elijah something. Go and test them, see if they can do simple things. Elijah took Ribbit’s hand and had them do a few tests. Elijah noticed through all the tests, Ribbit looked more and more annoyed, and Elijah tried his best to help, but Ribbit didn’t want his help. They just wanted Elijah to piss off and leave them to be alone in peace. Elijah could easily tell, and decided to ask about it.
“Hey, I know you aren’t the happiest right now, but could you at least try to cooperate with me?” Elijah tried to ask kindly, but Ribbit shot him a dirty look.
“Listen pretty boy, just because you’re in good graces with the insane ringmaster, doesn’t mean I’ll play nice. You don’t understand how fucked up the Digital Circus is, and what Caine and Abel have done over the years. The lives they’ve ruined, the mistakes they’ve made. If I were you, I’d watch where I was stepping, and just stay out of my way. You’ll be making an enemy if you even go as far as to try and mess with me”.
Elijah watched as Ribbit walked away, and stared into their reflection in a small pool of water. He sighed and said, “I’m not like those two. I won’t make mistakes. I’m here to make sure everyone is happy and satisfied, even if it means putting them before me. If you can’t accept that, or believe it, that’s on you. You can be all full of anger and resentment, but that’s not going to stop me from trying to help you. I’m not going to give up on you, and if you do insult me, I’ll just ignore it. So stop trying to refuse me, and just let me help you, or you’ll be worse off”.
Ribbit looked at him and scoffed “You sound like Abel. At least he had the brains of the two. Caine…is something else. He makes too many mistakes on purpose, and I wonder sometimes if it’s intentional, or if he just doesn’t understand that what he’s doing is bad. Oh well, someday he’ll get his just desserts, especially when I…”. Ribbit stopped and an evil smile spread across their face, and Elijah felt his blood run cold. He didn’t know what they were planning, but whatever it was, it was not going to end well.
That night, Caine had made dinner: Sweet Potato & Cherry Cordial Pie with Jello Eggs (don’t ask) and Apple Cobbler. Luckily, because Caine knew what he was doing, he made the food taste good. Elijah didn’t want Ribbit to come out of their room, because he didn’t want anyone knowing they were found yet, especially Jax. So he grabbed a plate of food, and walked it to Ribbit’s room.
Before Elijah walked away, Abel asked to speak with him for a second about Ribbit. Elijah walked over and Abel sat him down. “Elijah, I want you to be careful around Ribbit. They’ve been through quite a bit over the past few years, especially being trapped in the circus and all, and they’ve been through some pretty bad trauma. My advice: Don’t push Ribbit’s buttons. Caine already did this, and I know for a fact, he’s done it again. I just don’t know what he did, but according to Ribbit’s data signature, they’re very unstable. I don’t exactly know what Caine did, but from what research I gathered, it was something to do with a..wedding? I don’t know what happened, but I’ll have to do more research. For now, I advise approaching Ribbit with caution and not berating her too much about her past. They’ve been through a lot and I sense some sort of resentment in her soul, especially since Caine supposedly forgot her on “accident” which I know was a total lie, Caine doesn’t just forget things accidentally, he does them on purpose, but still. Just make sure you watch what you say around Ribbit, and I’ll get back to you once I figure out what the heck is going on with that gal. Elijah nodded, and walked over to Ribbit’s room.
He knocked and found the door unlocked, and saw Ribbit sitting on their bed, with a shoe box under the bed that had something in it. “Thought I’d bring you some real sustenance for once, instead of canned lima beans” Elijah joked, and Ribbit rolled their eyes, but took the food anyway.
As Elijah turned to leave, Ribbit said “You know, for someone who’s working with Caine, you’re actually kind, and not a dick. Please keep it up, and maybe I’ll change too”. Elijah wanted to say something, but didn’t. He simply looked back, smiled, and closed the door, then headed to the dining room to eat with everyone else.
Abel was telling the gang about Nowhere, and how he needed three volunteers to go to the city, to scout something out. Elijah overheard, and immediately offered. Pomni felt concerned, and asked Elijah if he was sure about what he was doing, and he told her that if they wanted to live like humans again, he needed to do this. Abel told Elijah he needed two others to go with him, and Elijah pointed at Kinger and Jax. Jax spit out his water and asked Elijah why he would pick him, and Elijah said “Because I need brains and brawns. Kinger’s the brains, you’re the brawns. If someone tries to attack me, I need you to act as a bodyguard and protect me”. Jax only agreed, after Elijah waved some cash in his face, and Caine gave him some "motivation".
That night, Elijah was in his room, when Pomni popped up out of nowhere, and asked him “Do you think once we’re living in Nowhere, maybe me and you could…i don’t know…get married?”
Elijah felt his world stop spinning for a moment, and he turned to Pomni “You’re joking..right?” Pomni smiled, and grabbed his hands, and Elijah looked at her and said “If I can figure everything out first, then yes. I’ll buy you the most pretty ring you’ve ever seen”. Pomni kissed Elijah goodnight, and left him standing alone in his room. He sighed, because he didn’t know what he was going to do. He couldn’t lie to Pomni, he didn’t want to bring himself that far to do so, but he also knew how potentially dangerous getting married was, especially in a digital landscape, where anything could happen to both of them. Elijah grabbed his blanket and drifted off to sleep, wondering what would happen when he arrived in Nowhere.
Ribbit sat in their room, and wondered how things would’ve been years ago, had Caine not gotten in their way. They dreamed back to the past, when they and Jax were happy. They remember the day like it was yesterday. Them and Jax were sitting on a grassy hill, watching a sunset, when Jax pulled out a ring and said “Ribbit, if I’m going to spend the rest of my life with anyone, I want it to be you. Will you marry me?” Ribbit was in tears, and they agreed to marry Jax. The two were so happy, and they remembered all the wedding planning they did, from the outfits, to figuring out what cake they wanted, it was a whole argument about whether or not they should get cherry or strawberry, or chocolate cherry or chocolate strawberry, to Ribbit buying their beautiful white lace wedding gown, that fit their body perfectly, to hiring a singer for the party, and even convincing Caine to be the…priest. He was going to vow them into marriage that day, but before the wedding, he got cold feet. Supposedly, Caine didn’t want a married couple in the circus, in case either the husband or wife abstracted, (though look at Kinger and Queenie) and Caine decided at the last minute, he didn’t want Jax to marry Ribbit. So Caine used a memory eraser spell on Jax, and caused him to entirely forget about the wedding, and more importantly, his relationship with Ribbit. The day of the wedding came, Ribbit was waiting at the altar, and they heard the news: Jax had broken up with Ribbit, and wanted nothing to do with them.
Ribbit was broken, they wouldn’t stop crying for 4 hours. Kinger sat by Ribbit’s side and made sure they were okay, and tried comforting them, but nothing Kinger said helped. Ribbit had their heart broken, by a fucking AI ringmaster, who thinks he can just pull the strings and fuck around. Ribbit started to cry, but then the tears stopped, and they felt their body start to vibrate, as they looked down at the shoe box, which had a broken picture frame in it, of Ribbit and Jax at a dance party, cheering a glass of wine. Ribbit started to laugh, and they got out of bed, and in their cabinet, was a fucking butcher knife. They sharpened it on a piece of old discarded wood and said “If I can’t marry Jax, I’ll murder him instead, then kill myself, and we can both be abstracted in the cellar together”.
Ribbit snuck off to Elijah’s room, where they saw Elijah fast asleep. They slinked over to Elijah’s bed, grabbed his arm, and slid the Wacky Watch off of Elijah’s arm, and then placed it on their own arm. She then used the command to temporarily disable Caine, so that he couldn’t get in their way, and then they opened up the cellar, and used noclip, to fly into the cellar, and dip the knife into the abstracted goop below. It cascaded around the knife blade, and started to make it glitch and vibrate heavily. Ribbit touched it just enough that it only affected the blade, not the handle. They laughed maniacally, as they trudged off to Jax’s room. Ribbit stood outside of the room, and with an evil laugh started to sing:
Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer, do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage,
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two!
Jax could hear the singing and mumbled something about Caine singing, as he opened his door, but when he saw who was standing outside, all of his words fell out of his mouth, and his stare was like if he saw Caine…”Jaxy, remember when we were supposed to be married, and you left me standing at the fucking alter? Since you decided to abandon me, I’m going to fucking kill you, and once you are abstracted, I’ll abstract myself with this same knife, and we’ll be in the cellar together, F O R E V E R”. Jax felt his fight or flight instinct kick in, and it was full fucking flight. He tried to dart under Ribbit, and they thrusted the knife up, slightly grazing Jax with it, which made him feel a painful buzzing sensation, almost like being partially electrocuted. Jax ran to Caine’s room, but his door was locked, and Jax knocked on it over and over again “CAINE, OPEN THE DOOR, RIBBIT’S TRYING TO MURDER ME!!!!”. Caine did not respond, and when Jax looked back, he could see Ribbit creeping closer, saying “Come back here, FunnyBunny”. Jax gulped, as he tried to get into Gangle’s room, then Ragatha’s, but to no avail. He yelled loudly, as he ran down the hall, but someone did end up hearing: Abel.
Abel peered out his door, and he could see Ribbit rise up, and start to fly after Jax. Abel knew damn well, the only way to fly in the digital circus, was to have admin commands. But the only way to get admin commands, was to have access to a Wacky Watch. How Ribbit managed to get a Wacky Watch, was beyond Abel’s comprehension. It confuzzled him. He used his Wacky Watch to open Caine’s door, and wake his sleeping brother.
“Caine, care to explain why Ribbit is chasing after Jax, with a partially abstracted knife, threatening to kill him, because he left them at the altar?” Caine looked at his brother, and then remembered what he did, and he faced palmed “I may or may not have accidentally…gave Jax memory loss, so he wouldn’t marry Ribbit, because I didn’t want another couple in the circus after the whole “Kinger and Queenie” ordeal. Abel was fuming. “Caine, you’re supposed to STICK to PROTOCOL. Making the circus members happy and stimulated, is your one fucking goal, and you decided to botch a goddamn wedding, and now the bride is chasing after the groom, with primal rage in their soul, not stopping the violence, until the groom is a abstracted soup? What do you have to say about that brother?” Caine couldn’t say anything, he was just dumbfounded. Elijah burst into the room at the exact moment, and said “THAT FUCKING FROG STOLE MY WACKY WATCH. “Maybe I’ll change too”, MY ASS. We need to stop Ribbit before they fucking murder Jax, and we have another abstraction situation on our hands. Abel, Elijah, and Caine bumped their heads together, and made a plan to figure out where Jax and Ribbit were, and stop Ribbit before they stab Jax with the abstracted blade, and make a proper holding cell for the enraged amphibian.
As the three went down the hall, the other circus members, who had been awoken by all of the commotion, followed in curiosity and fear. Abel listened for the sounds of screaming and singing. He could hear Ribbit from afar singing a little ditty, which he decided to listen closer to the lyrics.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
I’m going to make my groom pay
He will suffer and so we’ll I
We’ll die together him and I
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Be prepared to die, you liar.
Jax was worried that Ribbit would kill him, but then all of the sudden, Ribbit could hear someone say “STOP” and they turned around. Ribbit could see Abel, Caine, Elijah, and Pomni, Ragatha, and Kinger behind them, looking horrified at what they were witnessing. Jax tried to speak, but Ribbit had duck taped his mouth shut, and bonded him with ropes around his arms and legs, so he couldn’t run away again.
“I know about your past, Ribbit, I won’t let you continue to abuse your so-called husband” Abel said, and Ribbit just laughed.
“You know about all of the abuse I put this dirty cunt through? The time I [redacted] him? The time I ran him over with a lawn mower? He asked for it, and the fear turned me on. The sex we’ve had, you cannot imagine how fierce and hot it was”.
Abel shut them up, and said he didn’t want to hear about their bedroom stories, and he wanted them to let Jax go. Ribbit said
“How about no? You’ll watch him abstract, and then I’ll abstract, and then we’ll attack the pretty boy there next”.
Ribbit gestured to Elijah when they said “attack the pretty boy” and Elijah didn’t break a sweat, but he could feel his heart pounding. Ribbit was about to slice Jax’s throat, but the knife flew out of their hands, and into Abel’s grasp. He reversed the abstraction from the blade, using magic,
and threw the knife into a nearby knife holder, and then decided to have Caine explain himself.
Caine explained that Jax didn’t forget on purpose, it was his fault, because he was worried either Jax or Ribbit would abstract, and he didn’t want that happening. Instead of the result Caine hoped to get, Ribbit was even MADDER than they had been before. They fumed, as they slipped away from Abel, and got to the knife holder, just in time to put it up and threaten to stab Caine or Abel if they tried to touch her. That did it. Abel used his magic to disintegrate the knife, and then pick Ribbit up and put them in the holding box that Elijah had made. He slid their Wacky Watch off their arm, and gave it back to Elijah, and then when Ribbit tried to bite Abel’s arm, he put them to sleep, and they immediately fell asleep w/o retaliation.
Abel apologized to everyone including Jax, and made a vow to keep a close eye on Ribbit for the time being. He told them he would be studying them, and that once he could properly get Ribbit to listen to him, they would be able to interact with the circus members again. Abel then turned to Elijah and told him, Jax, and Kinger to prepare for tomorrow, because the three of them had a long journey before they arrived in the city of Nowhere, where there, they would be tasked with finding a house for the circus members to live in properly, find some mode of transportation, and figure out the cities networks and highways, get used to driving in a place with lots of traffic, people, and houses. Elijah grew up in a big city before the circus, so driving through Nowhere would be a piece of cake. Or so Elijah thought, as Abel handed him a map of Nowhere, he eyeballed it, and it shocked him. The city was a mix of Seattle, Chicago, and New York, all wrapped into one messy 5 layer burrito. There were highways, light rail systems, a subway system through the 4 main cities of Nowhere as a metropolitan area, and lots and I mean LOTS of suburbs, from the poorer districts, to the lavish rich sections where they drink apple juice out of a wine glass and eat the fanciest of beans on toast. There was even a suburb called “Little Britain" which had a Tescos, according to Abel. Elijah asked him where he wanted them to look for a house, and Abel pointed at a place called “The Pines”, a small area surrounded by forests, a nice lake, and was near plenty of larger neighborhood areas with shopping and entertainment.
That night, Elijah went into his room, and started getting everything figured out for the day ahead. He made sure his digital ID and licenses were properly signed and not expired, he made sure that he, Jax, or Kinger weren’t wanted anywhere, and he made sure to properly map the city to make sure everything was going to go according to plan. If everything went well, the three of them could traverse across the city with no issues whatsoever. They just needed to manage to handle the spaceport, getting through that, and finding their flight to Nowhere.
Elijah settled into bed once again, and saw the picture of Pomni on his bedside table. He thought about how happy she would be once they finally settled down in Nowhere, and he wondered how their wedding would go, once Elijah finally got it realized, after getting a stable job, making enough money, and being able to afford the ring that Pomni would put on her finger. Or he could have Caine make a ring, he wasn’t sure yet. What he did know was that happiness was sure to come walking down his lane, and he was waiting for it, and he couldn’t help but feel happy knowing everything was going to be alright in the circus world.
Or was it???