Chapter Text
What had just happened? Caine had a mental break after the members of the circus practically blew up on him. He ended up torturing them with their worst fears in a fit of anger and desperation. And now he’s suddenly… here? It was the circus, definitely. But it looked different somehow. He instantly noticed that his abilities were suddenly gone. Adding onto the confusion, he seemed to have human memories? No. That can’t be right. That wasn’t right. Caine is an ai. Not a human. No matter how much he wanted to be one. He noticed the other members of the circus. But they didn’t seem to recognize him at all. As if he was a new player.
Frufru: “uhhh, Abel? Is this a new person or one of your npcs?”
Abel: “WOW! A NEW HUMAN! He needs a name! Any ideas?”
Frufru: “not really. His avatar kinda reminds me of those wind up teeth toys…”
Caine was still standing there, looking like a deer in headlights. His mind was racing and he was still trying to figure out what was going on.
Kinger was zoned out, not really paying attention to anything at the moment.
Abel: “well? Anything?”
Goopy: “yeah, I got nothing. You, Ragatha?”
Ragatha: “me neither.”
Gangle: “well, he can’t just go without a name. He needs something.”
Jax: “he looks like a deer in headlights right now.” He was almost tempted to poke him.
Abel gets up in Caine’s face. “Hello? Are you there?”
Caine stared at him, clearly terrified. Pomni walked over and got between Abel and Caine.
Pomni: “he’s clearly scared, Abel. Back off a bit.”
Abel: “ugh. Whatever. You humans are so weird.”
Fru walks over to the newcomer and sits down. “Hey, you alright? it can be scary, I know.”
Caine: “uhhh, what happened? Where am I?” He sounded pretty freaked out. A bit of it was acting. He wasn’t actually scared, but he knew he probably should act that way if the humans think he’s one of them. He was still trying to figure out himself what was happening.
Goopy: “long story short, you put on a cursed headset and now you’re here.”
Zooble: “welcome to the hellscape that is now your home.” They sounded a bit irritated when they said that.
Abel: “still calling it a hellscape, zooble?” He says with a bit of malice in his tone.
Zooble shrugs.
Frufru: “do you remember your name?”
Caine: “uhhhh, no?”
Jax: “of course he doesn’t. No one does.”
Frufru: “oh shush, Jack[bonk]ss.”
Jax: “hmmm… I wonder what happens when he holds his breath.”
Goopy: “try picking your name.”
Caine: “uhhh….” He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to pick a new name. He liked his name. But he also didn’t want to give himself away by calling himself Caine either.
Pomni: “okay, he’s clearly freaking out. Maybe let’s not put all of that pressure on him like this. He did just get here.”
Jax: “he’s so weird.”
Frufru: “stop picking on him, Jax. He’s just scared.”
Goopy: “yeah. Stop being a jerk.”
Jax: “what? Im stating a fact! He’s acting weird!”
Frufru: “because he’s scared. Abel, can you use that random name generator thingy? Since he can’t pick a name.”
Abel: “THATS A GREAT IDEA! TIME TO PICK A NAME, NEW HUMAN!” He spins the wheel and it lands on XCONW. “HOW ABOUT XCONW??”
Caine shakes his head. Everything was moving too fast for him.
Abel: “OKAY! LETS ROLL AGAIN!” It lands on Caine this time. “Huh. Caine. That’s odd. OH WELL! THATS GOOD ENOUGH! TIME TO GIVE THE TOUR!” He snaps his finger and teleports him and Caine away.
Frufru: “oh. Okay, then. I hope he’s okay. He seemed so scared.” They look to Ragatha who seemed to also be worried for Caine.
Ragatha: “I’m sure he’ll be okay, Fru. We were all a bit scared like that when we first got here.”
Frufru: “I guess so. I’m just worried.”
Jax: “yeah, he’ll be fine. Besides, we all adjusted eventually!”
Gangle: “I wonder what his room looks like?”
Goopy: “I dunno. We’ll see it later. Anyways, I’m heading to my room to draw, want to draw with me, gangle?”
Gangle: “sure, I can come draw with you!” She leaves with goopy to go draw.
Frufru: “I’m gonna wait here for the newbie to get back.”
Ragatha: “I guess I’ll wait, too.”
Jax: “lame.”
Frufru: “says you.”
Ragatha: “let’s calm down a bit, yeah? We don’t want to freak Caine out even more when he gets back.”
Abel returned with Caine not even 20 seconds after she said that.
Abel: “welp! Time to drink water! It’s been a while since I’ve done that!” He snaps his fingers and disappears.
Caine still looked pretty scared and confused, just standing there. He was still trying to process everything. He barely had time to process that he had been deleted before he got thrusted into whatever the heck this was.
Frufru: “so, I assume Abel showed you around. I guess it’s time for you to meet everyone. You don’t talk much, do you?”
Caine just kinda stood there staring at them.
Frufru: “that’s alright. Well, I’m Frufru. The d[bonk]kish bunny is Jax.”
Jax: “hey!” He sounded offended.
Frufru: “you know it’s true. Anyways, the mess of parts is zooble, the chess piece is Kinger, he’s a bit crazy so don’t be surprised if he says something out of pocket, the jester is Pomni, the rag doll is Ragatha, goopy and Gangle just left so you’ll meet them later. That’s pretty much everyone.”
Jax: “I wanna see what happens when you hold your breath.”
Caine: “uhhh… why?”
Jax: “because everyone has something wonky that happens when they hold their breath. Frufru's fur puffs up like a pompom, goopy melts, Pomni changes colors, Kinger lights up like a lightbulb, Ragatha's hair sticks up, Gangle's mask starts spinning, and zooble turns straight."
Zooble: “I don’t turn straight jack[bonk]ss. My limbs turn straight.”
Jax: “yeah, yeah. Same difference. So, you gonna hold your breath or what?”
Caine was nervous, what if he didn't have one and it gave him away for being an ai? But he held his breath anyway, and slowly started to float away. Caine freaked out a bit, breathing again and face planting on the floor.
Jax: “oh. That’s funny. You just float away like a balloon.”
Frufru: “you good, Caine?”
Caine: “oww…”
Frufru: “well, yeah. I bet. You just fell on the floor.” They reach down and help Caine up.
Zooble: “I’m going to Goopy’s room.” They leave.
Frufru: “there we go. Hey, Raggy, you wanna help me bring Caine to his room?”
Ragatha: “sure!” She smiles and together they walk Caine to his room.
Frufru: “I will warn you that some rooms can be… less than spectacular. So don’t be disappointed if your room sucks.” They walk up to a door with caine’s face on it. “This one seems to be your room. Wanna take a look inside?”
Caine: “uhhh… sure.” He opens the door to his room. The room was dark, and cramped. There wasn’t even a bed, just padded floors and walls in a too tiny and dark room. It seemed to play into all of his worst fears and he backed away a bit.
Frufru: “jeez. Your room looks like a cell, almost. Well, I’m sure you can stay with one of us if you’d rather not be in your room.”
Ragatha: “yeah. I didn’t expect your room to suck so badly. It reminds me of those rooms in the mental institutions.”
Caine: “I don’t like my room…”
Frufru: “well, yeah. It looks horrifying. You can stay with me if anything. My room is still pretty dark but there’s a lot more space.”
Ragatha: “or you can stay with me and Goopy. Speaking of which I can’t believe he merged our rooms together.”
Frufru: “are you saying that in a good way or a bad way?”
Ragatha: “why would it be in a bad way?”
Frufru: “I dunno. I’m not good with tone so I thought I’d ask.” They shrug. “I wonder what adventure Abel is gonna make us do today?”
Ragatha: “true. Wanna go to mine and Goopy’s room right quick?”
Frufru: “sure.” They turn to Caine. “Take a minute to get settled, okay? Maybe get some rest before Abel throws us into an adventure.”
Caine: “okay.” He shuts his door and stands in his room. He sat down for a moment on the floor, desperately trying to get a hold on his thoughts. He didn’t know what to do. Really. Didn’t even know what was going on in his own brain. It sucked. He had human memories, vaguely. But he wasn’t human. He knew he wasn’t. He’s an ai. He’s always been an ai. And his head hurt so much. He’d stay in here for a moment to collect his bearings, but the dark and cramped room terrified him. He didn’t want to encroach on anyone else’s space either.
Eventually, Caine leaves his room and walks back to the main area. The rest of the group were chatting by that point, about random things. He seemed to move with a bit of a limp, his body language more reserved. He didn’t know why, but it was hard to walk. He didn’t get how the humans were able to just walk around all the time. It hurt to walk. He stands a bit close to one of the couches but doesn’t move to sit, still looking lost.
Fru noticed Caine’s discomfort and gestured for him to sit on the couch.
Frufru: “you don’t have to stand, you know. You can sit.”
Caine hesitantly sat on the couch, seemingly trying to take up as little space as possible. He felt bad being around them after what he did. Even if none of them knew what he did. He tortured them. Violently. Used their worst fears against them.
Jax: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a new arrival this skittish before. This is a first.” His tone was teasing but it’s clear he’s curious about the newcomer.
Goopy: “for the first time, I agree with Jax. Even I wasn’t that scared when I first entered the circus.”
Frufru: “Well, everyone is different.” They shrug. They assumed that he probably was just in a bad situation before he got here. “Where is Abel, anyways? He usually has an adventure for us to do around this time.”
Zooble: “he’s probably flirting with the sun or the moon at the moment.”
Frufru: “I guess that gives us some time to chat.”
Gangle: “hey, Caine? Are you alright? You looked like you were limping earlier.”
Caine: “yep! I’m perfectly fine!”
Goopy: “are you sure, Caine? If there’s anything wrong, We’re here for you.”
Ragatha: “Goopy’s right. If you need anything or help we’re here.” She smiles.
Caine: “I’m fine! There’s nothing wrong!”
He seemed pretty insistent on being alright, even it if was clear he wasn’t. Almost like he was scared of not being alright.
Frufru: “whatever you say, man.” Just then, Abel appeared.
Abel: “TIME FOR AN ADVENTURE!”
Jax: “why don’t you ever let us come up with the adventures?”
Abel: “SHUT UP!” He composes himself. “I don’t trust you guys with adventure ideas.”
Pomni: “why not? I think it could be pretty fun.”
Jax: “exactly.”
Abel: “the last time I listened to a human's adventure idea it didn't end well for everyone else, it was from that green frog and that clown guy. I can't remember their names though.”
Jax lets out an irritated huff. Of course Abel didn’t care enough to memorize anyone’s names. What a dickhead.
Frufru: “whatever. What adventure are we doing today?”
Caine wasn't really paying attention to the conversation going on, staring at the floor. His brain was a jumbled up mess at the moment so he was currently making an attempt to sort through his thoughts. Which wasn't going too well. He didn't think anyone noticed, though.
Abel: “how about the suggestion box? We haven’t done that since Gangle’s little meltdown during the Spudsys adventure!”
Frufru: “that works.”
Jax writes down an adventure idea for the box and the others start doing the same. All of them except Caine, who was still sitting there.
Abel checks the box and spawns a shredder.
Abel: “okay let's see…” he checks the suggestion box. “bring back abstracted characters? HA as if.” he shredded the paper. One of the suggestions was a softball game. “Softball? Who suggested this?”
Frufru: “not me.”
Jax: “me neither.”
Pomni: “I have no clue.”
Abel: “welp. Let’s do that adventure!” He teleports them to a softball field. “ITS A WONDERFUL DAY FOR SOFTBALL, AND TODAY IT'S THE BIG TOPS VS THE EVIL BIG TOPS!!”
Frufru: “I have no idea how to play this game.”
Jax: “didn’t you play sports?”
Frufru: “Volleyball! Not softball!”
Goopy: “why is my evil counterpart just a nerd?”
Ragatha: “am I really that flirty?” She points to evil ragatha flirting with evil goopy.
Kinger: “Alright team, I might not know what's going on or why is going on, but I know where is going on!”
Evil jax: “I hope you guys have a great game heh^^”
Frufru: ew. Get that monstrosity out of here.”
Pomni: "so... who's up first?"
Jax: "I say we make Dentures go first."
Frufru: “I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe Ragatha can go first?"
Ragatha: oh, uhm… sure, I'll give it a try!” she was pretty nervous as she got up to the field.
Caine just sat down on the bench. He didn't really know what was going on. He wasn't paying attention. He just hoped the group would mainly ignore him. Not taking into account how empathetic the rest of the group was. Caine doesn't notice when Zooble sits beside him.
Pomni was a bit worried for Caine. He seemed so spacey. Barely paying attention to anything.
Zooble: “hey kid, you okay?” they look over at Caine, who was sitting right next to them. They knew how much it sucked being a new person and being immediately thrown into adventures.
Caine: "hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Why do you ask?" He stared at them with a wide eyed expression. This was odd. He was used to Zooble hating him.
Zooble: “I was just wondering. You still looked a bit shaken up.”
Caine: “oh. Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind.”
Zooble: “no need to apologize. I get it. It sucks. If you need to talk, we’re here for you, yeah?”
Caine: “okay.”
Ragatha hits a home run.
Caine: “huh. Nice.”
Goopy: “good job, Ragatha!” He smiles.
Ragatha: “thanks!”
Zooble gets an idea and snickers, leaning over to gangle and whispering something to her. Gangle nods and the vote box pops up. Everyone votes, Pomni and Jax voting no.
Jax: “huh? What is this?” All of the sudden he was in a maid outfit. “WHAT THE F[BONK]K?!”
Frufru: “oh- that is so f[bonk]king funny. You’re a pretty princess now, Jax.” They tease.
Jax was seething with anger at being out in a maid outfit. It was so uncomfortable. He didn’t like it. Caine felt bad for voting yes now, seeing how mad Jax was.
Goopy bursts out laughing.
Goopy: “oh, you look hilarious.”
Kinger: “you’re up next, Goopy.”
Goopy: “oh, okay.” He walks onto the field and goes up to the bat.
Evil goopy: “you’ve got this!”
Evil Ragatha: “don’t encourage him, babe.”
Evil Goopy: “oh. Okay. Sorry.”
Frufru: “you feeling pretty, Jaxyboo?” They taunt, getting up in Jax’s face.
Jax: “I will rip one of your arms off.”
Frufru: “feisty much?”
Ragatha walks back to the bench and sits down.
Ragatha: “phew! That was a good game, huh?”
Frufru: “that was a great swing, Ragatha.”
Caine: “yeah, it was.”
Jax grumbled something under his breath angrily.
Ragatha: “thanks! You know, as a farm girl, I’m pretty strong.”
Frufru: "I wouldn't expect any less, honestly. One of my friends worked on her family's farm and she was regularly tossing around 90 pound hay barrels. I don’t know how she did it.”
Gangle: “wow. That’s crazy.”
Frufru: “yeah, I know.”
Caine: “uhhh, you alright, Jax?” He asks, trying to make conversation.
Jax: "don't talk to me, dentures." He's clearly angry about being put in a dress.
Zooble: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this angry before. I thought you would enjoy this.”
Jax: “what is that supposed to mean??”
Goopy ended up hitting a home run too.
Ragatha: “go Goopy!” She cheers her boyfriend on, clearly liking the adventure.
Zooble: “hmmm… I think goopy has a thing for strong girls.”
Frufru: “that wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. Good job, Goopy.” They say as goopy gets back to the bench.
Goopy: “thank you.” He smiles a bit as he got back to the bench.
Abel: “such a good adventure!” He turns to the evil big tops. “Time to delete!^^”
Evil Jax: “wait what-“ he gets deleted.
all of the other evil big tops scream, other beg for mercy but abel didn't care and deleted them. Goopy had a traumatized expression on his face. Abel teleported the group back to the circus.
Goopy walks away from the group, angry and traumatized. He couldn’t believe Abel would just delete them like that.
Caine: “uhhhh, that was morbid.” He seemed a bit freaked out after that happened.
Frufru: “yeah, that happens… best not to question it.”
Caine didn't really know how to react to that. So he just had this almost concerned horrified look. He was doing good so far. He just had to keep his secret and he'd be fine. No slip ups. He’s got this. He can keep this a secret.
Just then, goopy punched a hole in the wall out of anger.
Goopy: “WHAT THE F[BONK]K IS WRONG WITH ABEL?! How could he just do that to them?! Those evil counterparts sounded more real than any ai Abel’s made before.”
Pomni: "I know. They sounded so terrified before Abel deleted them.”
Fru glances at Caine who looks terrified, probably due to Goopy punching that wall. Caine didn't know why he had such a reaction to that. Those stupid human memories that he wasn't even sure were his were flooding his brain and making his head hurt. He was acting so odd compared to the 'actual' humans that he's sure he just blew his cover.
Caine quietly leaves the room. It was getting hard for him to breathe. Why did he need to breathe anyways? He didn't need to before. He didn't know what these feelings were that were flooding his brain. He barely managed to get to his room, practically collapsing on the floor. He attempted to calm his breath, but his throat felt like it was closing. His claustrophobia didn’t help in this situation either. It felt like the walls were closing in around him.
Fru was the only one who noticed Caine leave and was now pretty worried for him.
Frufru: "Uhh, goopy? I don't mean to interrupt your rant but I think you scared Caine. Like, badly."
Goopy: “yeah... I shouldn't have let my temper get me.”
Ragatha: “need a hug to calm you down?”
Goopy nods and Ragatha hugs him tightly. Fru sits down on the couch. They hated how cruel Abel was. They didn't think to go check on Caine.
Ragatha: “you feel better goopy?”
Goopy: yeah.” he said muffled between ragatha's chest.
Frufru: "Heh, you comfy there, Goopy?" They tease.
Goopy: “To be honest yeah.” He lifts his head up.
Ragatha: “glad you find me comfortable.” She giggles a bit, blushing.
Jax: "ugh. Lovebirds." He, to his dismay, was still stuck in the dress. He felt so uncomfortable in it, too.
Goopy: “heh, you’re just mad because you’re in a maid outfit still lol and I have a tall and strong girlfriend.”
Ragatha: “oh goopy, stop flattering me.” she said nervously, her face now cherry red.
Jax: "I don't want to wear this anymore. I'm uncomfortable."
Abel pops out of nowhere.
Abel: “HELLO JAX! YOU’RE COMING WITH ME!” He grabs Jax, snaps, and teleports him away.
Zooble: “I’m gonna go check on Caine.” They get up from the couch and walk to Caine’s room.
Caine had managed to calm himself down for the most part but he was still pretty upset. He didn't get it. Didn't get why he was so jumpy. Didn't get why he had memories of being a human. He wasn't one. Ever. No matter how much he wanted to be. He's an Ai, who somehow ended up in a different universe. He shouldn't be feeling like this. He shouldn't be feeling all shaky. He didn't even know how to describe what he felt.
Zooble knocked on the door, hoping Caine would answer.
Zooble: “hey, Caine. Can I come in?”
Caine: "uhh.. I don’t think that’s a good idea…”
Zooble: “your room sucks too, huh?”
Caine: “…yeah.”
Zooble: “I get it. All of our rooms suck to some degree. It’s like Abel gets enjoyment out of torturing us.” They heard Caine sniffling a bit and sighed. “I know it’s a bad idea but… f[bonk]k it. I’m coming in.”
Caine: “wait-“
Zooble opened the door and stepped into the room, now looking concerned at how ridiculously small the room was.
Zooble: “Jesus Christ. Why does your room look like a padded cell?? Are you okay??”
Caine: “yep! Totally fine!” Clearly he wasn’t judging by how distraught he still looked. He didn’t do a good job at hiding his distress.
Zooble stared at him with concern. The bedrooms usually reflected their worst fears or insecurities so what the fuck happened to Caine?!
Zooble: “listen.” They sit down next to him. “I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t see you freaking out. Because you were. But… if you need anything. Someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on… we’re here for you. All of us are. Even if some of us don’t act like it. I’m not going to pretend I know what your life was like either.”
Caine nods, but he was pretty confused. He didn’t know what to do with this. He’s so used to zooble hating him and being rude that this… threw him through a loop.
Zooble: “I guess what I’m getting at is… we’re all in the same boat here. You don’t need to hide your feelings or pretend you’re fine all the time. That’s how you end up abstracting. Just… come join us when you’re ready, okay? Preferably soon. You’re clearly uncomfortable in this room.”
Caine: “okay…”
Zooble stands up and opens the door, getting ready to go back to the main room. Caine stands up too, staring up at them. Zooble looks down at him and notices his legs shaking.
Zooble: “uhhh, you good?”
Caine: “yeah. Why do you ask?”
Zooble: “your legs are shaking.”
Caine: “oh. I didn’t notice that.”
Zooble: “get some rest if you can. You’ll need it.” They say before leaving, shutting the door behind them.