Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Pomni stared at the colorful scraps of paper that acted as the remains of her closest friend the circus had to offer. Her eyes rapidly shifting scribbles, darting back and forth.

“I’m really sorry about that, Pomni.” As usual, Ragatha was quick to attempt condolences, though they didn’t serve much help. “But hey, who knows? Maybe he’ll reappear in a future adventure! Caine does sometimes like to reuse NPCs.”

Pomni was too distracted to comprehend the words coming out of Ragatha’s mouth, but she knew that something was said, so she should probably try to respond.

“I– I–” she started. Her speech was too shaky. She took a deep breath to steady herself, before starting again. “I’ll… be in my room… for a bit.”

She spoke slowly and carefully, trying but horribly failing to conceal how much the death of this fictional character affected her. She turned around and walked slowly towards her dorm, but broke into a sprint as soon as she rounded a corner.

As Pomni retreated, Ragatha stared sadly to where she ran off to. She should talk to her, the doll thought, or go after her, or try to help her somehow. She could do that in a minute, but first, she needed to talk to someone else:

“Caine!” She felt a gust of wind as the ringmaster quickly swirled into view with a familiar whoosh noise. A glass of water in his hand sloshed violently from the speed of his entry. Surprisingly, not a drop spilled.

“Mmm-Yes?” He implored, all too eager to be of assistance.

“That was Pomni’s friend!” The doll gestured to the pile of confetti which had, in the time between Gummigoo’s disappearance and the ringmaster’s reappearance, become a plaything for Kinger. “You could have let him stay for a while!”

“How was I supposed to know that?” Caine tossed his glass of water aside, causing the glass to shatter and spill its contents across the checkered floor. “What reason would she have to befriend an NPC! He's not even real!”

Ragatha sighed, not wanting to explain complicated human emotions that she barely understood herself. “Well, there were better ways you could have gone about removing him!” she retorted. Trying not to get distracted by Bubble, who had been summoned to gleefully lick up the broken glass and spilled water.

Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf, nonexistent ears. Caine had become too distracted by his own thoughts to comprehend a word she said. Muttering to himself with a bewildered look.

Just as Ragatha tried to repeat herself, Jax walked up and gave the dissociated ringmaster a playful shove. Causing him to spin around wildly.

“Eh, it was good for her.” The rabbit explained. “Teach her what loss feels like. She’ll need it for when the next abstraction happens…” He paused as a sly grin appeared on his face. “If she isn’t the one abstracting–”

“JAX!” Ragatha cut him off, not even wanting to think about that.

“What! It’s entirely possible! She’s two adventures in and she’s already resorted to befriending NPCs!”

Jax stared daggers at Ragatha, just daring her to respond. For better or for worse, she took up his offer, fiercely.

“Well, maybe if you made a space where she could feel like she belonged, she wouldn’t have to!” She practically screamed. Clenching her fists to her side, though she knew she didn’t have the strength, nor courage to use them.

The rabbit stepped to get closer to her. Grinning as cockily as ever. “I’m simply helping her adjust – Showing her the ins and outs of this world!” He placed his hands on the doll’s shoulders. “You coddle her too much. She needs someone to show her just how messed up this circus really is!”

With a playful shove, he pushed the redhead over, sprawling her across the tiled floor. He patiently waited as she flipped herself over to face him again

“You’re terrifying her!” Ragatha retorted. “She’s already seen much more than she should have had to in her first two days!”

“Then she should be used to it by now!” He turned to inspect his nonexistent fingernails. “Besides, most of the worst things weren’t even my fault.”

The doll finally stood back up. Brushing herself off. “Just-... Leave her alone, Jax” She turned away from him. “Give her a break. She doesn’t deserve this.”

Pomni sat on her bed, head to the wall and fists clenched. She hated it there. Just when she thought she found a friend, it was taken away from her at a moment's notice.

She hated the circus, she hated Caine, she hated the adventures, she hated her body, she hated her room, and she hated herself.

She knew she was probably being dramatic, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care how cringey she was being. Nobody was there to make fun of her about it.

She slammed her fist against the wall behind her bed. Seeing the wall shake and hearing the thud gave her some ease. She readied her fist to repeat the action, when she was distracted by a soft clink.

She turned to see a flowerpot had been knocked from her dresser. As she looked at it, it started to vibrate. The same clink from earlier now being heard hundreds of times per second on repeat. Louder and louder, faster and faster, harder and harder.

She wondered if she should try to touch it and disrupt its maddening craze, but she couldn’t bring herself to stretch her hand out. She just had to watch as the flowerpot careened out of control. Spinning and shaking wildly.

Her eyes grew wide with fear, just waiting to see what would happen next. She covered her ears as the clinking became almost deafening. She brought her knees to her chest, inching away from the plant in hopes that it would save her.

And then, just like that, it was gone.

She stared at where it once was, dumbfounded, before she started to think about what just happened. She wondered if–

Knock knock knock

“Pomni?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by the softest imaginable knocks on her door. She got out of bed and opened the door to see Ragatha standing there, a look of gentle concern on her face.

“Heya Pomni! Are you feeling alright?” the doll asked sweetly but carefully – As if trying not to scare away a wild squirrel.

“Ehh,” The Jester waved her hand. “better, I guess.”

She was lying. She wasn’t really better at all, but at least she had something else on her mind. And there was no need to concern the anxious redhead more than she already was.

Ragatha smiled. “Well I just wanted to ask if you wanted to attend Kaufmo’s funeral with us!” She clasped her hands together “We like to hold a little funeral service to remember our friends who have abstracted. To wish them well!”

Pomni was not expecting that. “Oh-! I-...” She stopped to think. Why did they want her there? She’d never even met Kaufmo. But the doll looked so hopeful.

She should at least give it a try. Maybe it’d be a chance to learn more about what the clown was like. “Yeah, I’d like that… Thank you.” The jester responded.

Ragatha breathed a sigh of relief. “Absolutely! We’re just about done setting everything up!” She’s ecstatic. Pomni supposes she chose the correct answer. “Let me take you there!”

As the doll led Pomni towards the funeral, she couldn’t help but feel an ever familiar, ever dreaded feeling of hope. Hope that she and Pomni could be friends. Hope that she wouldn’t be as alone. Hope that things were changing for the better.

She tried to shove it down. Hope had stabbed her like a knife more times than she could count, and she was sure it would do it again the first chance it got.

Before she could fumble about her emotions for much longer, though, they had made it to the main stage. Zooble, Gangle, and Kinger were there waiting for them. Jax seemingly absent.

In the center of the stage was a small table, topped with a portrait of Kaufmo, a handful of objects Pomni assumed to be belongings of his, and a single candle. In front of the table was a row of chairs of various shapes and sizes. The stage was dark. The candle on the table being the only source of light.

When Zooble noticed the girls’ arrival, the mismatched character approached them assertively. “Alright, are we all ready?” They asked, calm but with a tinge of sternness. It seemed to Pomni that Zooble was in charge of the planning process, and they obviously cared a lot whether the funeral went smoothly or not.

“Yep! I’ve got Pomni!” Ragatha responded. She reached to put a hand on the shorter woman’s shoulder, but reared back seeing her deliberately step out of the way.

“Great. You want to go first?” The bundle of shapes gestured toward the stage.

“Um… I guess!” The doll walked awkwardly onto the stage. Opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again before anything could come out. She took a deep breath and grabbed the portrait from the table. She stared at it for a second, as if waiting for it to tell her what to say.

Eventually, she finally spoke. “Gosh, I–... I always think I’m prepared for these, but then I get up here and start trying to talk, and it’s just–”

She caught herself rambling and promptly shut up, trying to get back on topic.

She cleared her throat and fidgeted with the portrait between her hands, and tried to pick the best way to start this.

“Kaufmo cared a lot about people.” she decided. “He would always try to make us laugh when we were down, and he was very good at it.” She gave an awkward, half hearted laugh. “He’s–... Someone who I really looked up to. And I… I’m going to miss him… A lot…”

Pomni looked around at the audience and noticed something purple out the corner of her eye. She turned just in time to see Jax darting behind one of the comically large boxes that litter the tent.

He’s obviously being suspicious, Pomni thought. Doing something he shouldn’t, and something that should be monitored. But she turned back to the stage and realized that he wasn’t her problem at that moment. Right now, her job was to partake in the funeral service. And she planned to do just that.

As the ceremony neared its end, Pomni reflected on the day’s events. Just this morning she’d had a nightmare about these people abandoning her. Looking back now, it seemed so incredibly unlikely that it was almost comical.

Kinger’s speech was last. He delivered it almost as if directed to the world around him.

His speech went on the longest out of everyone’s there. Seeing as he’s the one that’s been here the longest, Pomni figured he’d had his fair share of abstractions witnessed, and therefore had a lot to say on it.

“–...Whatever the case is. Whether good or bad, Alive or dead, or anything in between… I hope to remember you for years to come… Thank you, Kaufmo… I’ll be seeing you.”

The chess piece finished his speech to a roaring applause (or as roaring as an audience of 4 can be.)

He moved away from the table and sat in the seat next to Pomni. She looked up at him inquisitively. “That was amazing, Kinger! I don’t think I’ve seen you so…”

She realized that there wasn’t really a polite way to end that sentence. She floundered around for a good adjective, but before she could embarrass herself further, a voice behind her finished it for her, much to her shock.

“Sane? Normal? Completely un-crazy? Yeah, he does that sometimes… Nobody knows why!”

Jax had returned. For what purpose, Pomni couldn’t even begin to comprehend. She looked at him with disinterest. Kinger, however, seemed excited by his arrival.

“Oh! Jax! Kaufmo wants to talk to you!” The chess piece noted.

Jax stared at Kinger as if he’d just said an incredibly unfunny joke. “And, just like that, he’s gone again.”

Ragatha piped in. “He’s right, though. You should say something! I’m sure Kaufmo’d appreciate it… if he were here to hear it.” She feigned a smile she hoped looked inviting, though she knew nothing would come of it.

Jax looked to Ragatha without a speck of interest in her idea. He leaned towards Pomni and whispered loud enough for the doll across the stage to hear: “The insanity’s spreading… Better spend time with the Old Rag while you still can!”

He got up and pranced towards his dorm. Clearly proud of himself after another long day of making everyone around him feel like crap. “Welp! Later, losers!”

Pomni again thought to follow him, but she really didn’t want to interact with him more than necessary. He hadn’t brought up Gummigoo yet, but it was ripe for the picking, and she knew he’d harvest it to throw at her eventually. So she took off to her own room. The same direction that Jax went, but going slowly enough that they wouldn’t have to interact at all.

Upon reaching her door, she found herself staring at the sad, pathetic, childish jester that adorned her doorway. The same way she’d stared at it many times before. She hated that portrait. She wished she could just tear the door apart and–

“You OK, Pomni?”

Once again, she found her thoughts interrupted by Ragatha, though this time she was grateful for the distraction.

“No, yeah. I’m fine.” Pomni responded, not looking away from the portrait.

“Not used to the new look yet?” The doll asked, moving to stand next to Pomni.

“I guess not.” This time she does turn to meet the caring look that the doll’s offering her.

“If it makes you feel better, I think your avatar is really cute!” Ragatha smiles genuinely, before her anxiety shows her all the ways that line could be misinterpreted. “I mean… as a friend!” She clarifies, putting her hands out in front of her, panicked.

That is exactly not what Pomni wanted to hear. Being cute had only led to people not taking her seriously.

The jester faked a smile before quickly attempting to retreat from the conversation at hand. “Well, I’d better get some sleep. I’ve had an exhausting day.”

She knew Ragatha meant well, but she was also the person to treat Pomni like a child more than anyone else in the circus, and she didn’t really feel like discussing this with her right now.

The doll’s face turned to a look of concern, but she didn’t press on. “I’d bet. Get some good sleep, Pomni.”

The jester nodded and retreated into her room. Leaving Ragatha alone with another conversation to replay in her head for the next week.

Crack

A shard of hope broke off and fell to the floor.

Pomni dramatically and ceremoniously flopped onto her bed. She honestly didn’t feel tired at all, which surprised her after the day she had. She rolls over into a more comfortable position when her eyes catch a glimpse of her dresser. Once again adorned with the same flowerpot that disappeared earlier.

She got out of bed to inspect it. Taking the flowerpot and holding it gingerly between her hands. She was careful with it, not knowing if or when it would decide to have another temper tantrum and try to attack her.

She needed to experiment.

She placed it carefully on the floor. Nothing happened. She couldn’t tell if she was relieved or disappointed.

She poked it gently and braced for impact. Still nothing.

She pokes it harder. Nada.

She was absolutely terrified of this plant. The amount of nothing it was doing did nothing but heighten her dread.

She gives one last try, and pokes it even harder. It starts to slowly topple over. The suspense is killing her.

It teeters back. She runs to her bed for safety.

It teeters forth again. She hugs her legs.

And then, it fell. Instantly, the shaking and clinking commenced. Pomni hid behind her bed and peeked over. She didn’t want to miss a second of this.

Louder and louder, faster and faster, harder and harder.

And then, again, it’s gone.

But Pomni could see the truth this time. It had simply fallen through the ground, probably underneath the map somewhere.

Pomni stared, eyes wide. Under the map! She hadn’t even thought of that. She wondered what secrets she’d be able to find if she could leave the confines of the walls. More character rigs? More test areas? Rooms that she hadn’t seen before? The possibilities were endless!

But how could she get herself out there? She wasn’t a flowerpot.

She needed a way to get more stable objects outside of the map. Like, for example, a box!

Luckily, she had plenty of toy blocks around her room. She grabbed a block and tried pushing it into her wall, to no avail. Of course, she thought. Too easy.

She tried squishing the block between the wall and another block. To her surprise, it starts shaking! She kept pushing harder until:

THUNK

The block escaped its claustrophobic scenario and rocketed out at mach speed directly into Pomni’s skull.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the impact sent her flying backwards, careening into her bedframe.

That was not fun.

But she won’t be deterred! She’ll simply try something else.

She used a bigger block to push the smaller block into the wall. Once again the block starts shaking, and again she pushes harder. This time, however, the block disappears, and she’s left with only the larger object in her hand.

She’s done it! The block’s gone! It has to have gone out of bounds.

She removes the remaining block in her hand to confirm that the block has indeed disappeared, only to feel the weight of the larger object shift in her hand.

Confused, she shakes the box. There’s a smaller object shaking around inside.

Of course. The block didn’t go out of bounds at all. It just clipped into the larger object. Back to the drawing board.

She recalls back to when she clipped out of bounds during the candy adventure. It all happened really fast and she was more focused on not falling off the truck to notice much about what happened, but the big things she was able to remember were the speed, and the fact that the wall she clipped into was sloped.

She could recreate the slope by finding a triangular block around her room, which wasn’t so hard to do. Upon finding one, she propped it up against the wall using some smaller blocks.

This was the one time Pomni was very glad her room was a graveyard of oddly shaped blocks and toys. They came handy in the very specific scenario she was in.

Now for speed, she just threw the cube into the slope with all her might.

Upon the cube coming into contact with the slope, it started shaking. Exactly like the flowerpot earlier.

She watched eagerly. This was promising! The box shook louder and louder, faster and faster, harder and harder.

Until it escaped.

The block, ricocheting out of the slope, again shoots towards Pomni’s head. This time she was able to duck out of the way. So close! She pondered for a second before coming up with one last idea.

She took the spare jester’s hat off her mirror. Yet another completely useless feature to her room that did nothing but remind her of how stupid her attire is. It’s not like she could even lose her hat anyway. But now wasn’t the time.

She put the block inside the hat and used it as a slingshot. Boosting the cube towards the wall at twice the speed she could have gotten otherwise.

It bounced around in the slope, louder and louder, faster and faster, harder and harder. And then it’s gone.

She’d done it! She’d found a way to consistently get an object out of bounds!

She tried another block to assure herself that it wasn’t a fluke. Much to her amusement, the same result is produced.

This means she might be able to get herself out the same way! She could–

POP

With a loud announcement, the flowerpot reappeared at her wardrobe. As if nothing had happened.

“Huh?”

Ragatha gingerly seated herself on her bed, looping over the day’s events. The same way she did every day.

“I’m not a child. You don’t have to hype me up…”

You patronize her.

“But hey, who knows? Maybe he’ll reappear in a future adventure!”

She doesn’t want to hear that.

“If it makes you feel better, I think your avatar is really cute!”

What are you saying?

“Well, I’d better get some sleep. I’ve had an exhausting day.”

She doesn’t want to talk to you.

The thoughts loop through her mind, louder and louder.

“I’m not a child. You don’t have to hype me up…”

“But hey, who knows? Maybe he’ll reappear in a future adventure!”

“If it makes you feel better, I think your avatar is really cute!”

“Well, I’d better get some sleep. I’ve had an exhausting day.”

You patronize her. She doesn’t want to hear that. What are you saying? She doesn’t want to talk to you.

Faster and faster,

“I’m not a child.”

“Maybe he’ll reappear in a future adventure!”

“I think your avatar is really cute!”

“Well, I’d better get some sleep.”

You patronize her. She doesn’t want to hear that. What are you saying? She doesn’t want to talk to you.

Harder and harder.

You patronize her. She doesn’t want to hear that. What are you saying? She doesn’t want to talk to you.

YOU'LL FAIL HER TOO.

She shoved her face into a pillow, and screamed.

When she woke, Pomni walked towards the tent lobby, bringing everything she’d need to clip a block through the wall. All the humans except Kinger were already there waiting for her

“Ah! Pomni’s awake! Good morning!” Ragatha cheerfully welcomed her.

“What’s all this for?” Zooble gestured towards the pile of blocks in her hand.

“I think I found something last night that I wanted to show you guys.” Pomni held up the blocks to show everyone.

“What, did you need a reminder of your ABCs?” Jax smiled at his own joke.

Pomni frowned. Inspecting the colorful bubble letters on the blocks she’s holding. She shook her head. “I think I’ve found a way we could explore the circus in a way we weren’t ever meant to!”

She took the blocks and set them up the same way she did the night prior.

Jax looks unimpressed. “Still don’t see how playing with blocks is gonna help us escape the circus.”

“Just… watch this” Pomni readies her DIY slingshot and fires. The cube she used as ammo goes through the wall easily.

She looks around the room to gauge the reactions. Zooble seems intrigued, Ragatha looks scared, Gangle looks confused, and Jax’s face hasn’t shifted a bit. “So what?” He inquires.

“Don’t you get it? The block went through the wall! It’s out of bounds! If we could find a way to do that…” Pomni gestures toward the slope. “...but with one of us, then we could basically see through walls and explore places we couldn’t otherwise get to.”

Ragatha holds her hands up apprehensively. “Are you sure it’s… safe?”

“Everything I tested this with showed back up in my room eventually. There’s gotta be something down there to make sure that objects don’t get too far.”

“But how can you be so sure? I mean… You could be stuck out there forever…” The doll squeezed her hands so tightly together that Pomni was surprised she didn’t rip a seam.

“In the absolute worst case scenario, you just call Caine to snap me back. But I don’t want him knowing what we’re doing, so… make up an excuse or something.” Pomni tried to assuage the anxious woman’s feelings. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

That seemed to do the trick, or at least help. The doll’s lips turned slightly upwards. Satisfied, the jester looked to everyone else. “Any other questions?”

“So, let me get this straight. You want us to slingshot you into a wall at full force, so that you can go through the wall and possibly see something cool… and then return with a hypothetical way back?” Zooble incredulously tried to reason with the jester.

Jax smiled. “Sounds funny! And hey…” He lifted Gangle up and stretched her out. “...We got a slingshot right here!”

“Jax, put her down!” Ragatha scolds.

Jax gleefully let go of the ribbon character, slinging her forward like a rubber band gun. She crashed into a wall nearby and her mask crumbled to the ground.

Pomni ignored his antics. “First, we need to find a good slope to use”

Gangle stood up. “Would the spiral staircase work?” She offered bashfully.

Pomni looked to the spiral staircase that signified the center of the tent. She’d have to find out what was up there at some point. “Possibly! It’s certainly big enough. And we could make a slingshot out of… hmm…”

Jax gestured to Gangle. “Right heeere!” He mocked.

Zooble glared at Jax before returning to face Pomni. “I might have a spare part or two that could help… let me check.”

“Alright! That seems perfect. Now–”

Pomni was interrupted by a whoosh as her ringmaster made his grand entrance. “What are you head scratching hooligans up to?” He inquires.

Pomni stumbled over her words, trying to make an excuse. “We were just–”

“She’s come up with another insane idea for escaping.”

Pomni glared at Jax. He was going to ruin everything with that big mouth of his.

Before she can begin to try and save the conversation, Caine inspects the mess of toys strewn around the humans. “And you’re going to do this using… blocks?”

“That’s what I said” Jax responds, elbowing Pomni.

Caine looked towards Pomni. His expression unreadable. “That’s awfully… imaginative of you? But, um–”

He was interrupted by the appearance of Bubble. The ball of soap smiled, teeth sharp as ever. “Let me help you with that!” He said, before promptly vomiting a mountain of alphabet blocks onto the floor beside them.

Everyone stared at Bubble. Caine was the first to pipe up. “Where do you get this stuff from?”

“I have many connections.” The shimmering sphere winked towards nobody in particular, before flying off.

Another awkward pause. “Well… I was just going to come here to tell you guys that today's adventure is going to be a little later! I’m working on a new surprise that I think you guys are going to like!”

Pomni gave the ringmaster a confused thumbs-up.

Caine looked around. “Anyway… I… think I need to discuss some things with Bubble here… Privately” And then, as quickly as he came. He was gone.

Now that the ringmaster was gone, Pomni was free to yell at Jax. “Look… If you don’t think this has any chance to do anything, then why are you here?”

“Um, because I’m BORED! Duh! Plus, I really want to watch you slam into a wall.” The rabbit rubs his hands together expectantly.

Before a fight could break out, Zooble returned, holding a handful of spare arms and legs that seemed to be made of some sort of elastic material. “I found these… They look promising enough. If we just attach them together then they could work.”

Pomni was grateful for the distraction “That sounds perfect! Let’s give it a try!”

They approached the staircase that would act as their exit. Pomni tied Zooble’s spare arms to some convenient posts nearby. “Hopefully that holds.”

She stood in front of the slingshot and gave a thumbs-up to Jax. “I’m ready!”

“Alright! Finally!” The rabbit grabbed ahold of Pomni’s shoulders. Pulling her backwards into the slingshot. “5… 4… 3…”

He paused. Completely still. Not a word out of his mouth.

Then, without any warning. He let go, sending Pomni flying headfirst into the stairs. She braced herself for impact.

THUNK

The jester hit the stairs and collapsed on the spot, unconscious. Jax started laughing maniacally. He held onto his knees to stop himself from doubling over.

“Oh, that was beautiful! Let’s do it again!” He spouted, between gasps for air.

Ragatha ran towards Pomni and vigorously shook her. “Are– are you OK? Pomni?”

The jester’s eyes barely opened, and from what little the doll saw of them, she could tell they were squiggles.

“Did I do it?” The jester musters. Her voice shaky and quiet.

By now, Jax has composed himself enough to make another sarcastic comment. “Yep, we’re out of the circus! You did it, Pomni! You saved us all!”

Zooble hummed. They grabbed a block and shot it through the stairs. It goes through easily. “Huh… Why does the block work, if you don’t?”

Pomni had woken up now. “What if we throw a larger box at the slope, and just hope the box’ll push me through…”

“Now I get to fling a box at you! You shouldn’t have!” Jax immediately went to find a box big enough to crush Pomni.

Zooble watched the rabbit run off. “Huh… You’ve got him to take initiative. Congratulations! Didn’t think that was possible.”

Jax returned with a relatively Pomni-sized cube, and shoved it into the slingshot.

Pomni once again readied herself by the slingshot. Now hugging on to the block. “Alright… Here goes nothing…”

“OK!” Jax started pulling the cube back.

“3…”

Zooble leaned in expectantly.

“2..”

Ragatha looked away. “I can’t watch…”

“1…”

Kinger appeared and approached the gang. “Hey guys, what are we doing out he–”

“Go!”

Jax let go of the cube, sending it flying. Kinger had just enough time to shout before the box collided with him.

The box, unhindered by its collision, continued forward, slamming into the stairs next. It started shaking.

Louder and louder, faster and faster, harder and harder.

And then, the cube and co. disappeared. Leaving Jax, Ragatha, Zooble, and Gangle staring at the place the cube once was.

Zooble eventually looked toward Jax. “Did you just–”

“Genuinely did not mean to do that…”

Pomni, Kinger, and the cube were falling through the abyss that was Out of Bounds space. A completely dark-blue void, with various objects of different shapes and sizes strewn about, floating aimlessly. Cubes, pyramids, cylinders, and, for whatever reason, low-poly teapots.

Pomni managed to land on a giant floating cube. The box they used to clip out of bounds was unsavable, and fell into the abyss, never to be seen again. Or, more likely, Pomni thought, just to return to the place they found it in the first place. But luckily, Pomni was just barely able to catch Kinger by the cloak before he fell out of reach.

“Gocha!” The jester pulled the confused chess piece onto the cube she was standing on. “So, here we are again, huh… well, I guess this is your first time, but–”

“WHERE AM I!?” Kinger ran circles around Pomni, deliriously trying to make sense of the situation.

“Hey, look… I’m sorry you got dragged into this, but I’ve been in places like this before. We’ll be OK!” She looked around for something she could use to console the frightened man beside her. “Look up there!” Pomni pointed up to where they came from. “That’s the circus.”

Sure enough, up above them was the tent they knew. The ground they were standing on before was now completely transparent, letting them see everything inside the tent. She noted that the rest of the grounds were absent. Presumably they lied in a different map.

She looked around and noticed movement. “Oh wait, there’s the rest of the group!”

Zooble and Jax were yelling at each other, though they were too far away for Pomni to hear. Ragatha was desperately inspecting the stairway as if expecting them to just pop out like it was a big act. Gangle seemed overwhelmed.

In other words, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

That got Kinger’s attention. “Oh!” He cupped his hands to where his mouth should have been, and shouted in a ‘talking-to-a-nearly-deaf-person’ tone. “DON’T WORRY! WE ARE OK!”

“I don’t think–”

“WE HAVE LANDED ON A THINGY!”

“They can’t–”

Pomni realized it was no use trying to dissuade him. She looked around for anything else of note. “What’s that below us?”

She pointed down to a notable black box. It seemed connected to the circus, but she couldn’t see an entrance.

Just then, a plethora of multi-colored eyes opened up and seemed to stare directly at her, startling her.

“The Cellar!” Kinger whispered in awe as Pomni screamed.

“It’s so big… How many people does Caine expect to have to put down there?

Kinger stared down for a second. An unreadable expression on his face. “Everyone… eventually. It’s impossible to know how long this game will exist, or how many people will find it.”

Pomni sat down next to Kinger. “That’s… horrible… There really is nothing down there for them. If they do have some consciousness still, then–...” She trailed off. Not even wanting to think about it.

They sat in silence for a moment. Watching bunches of eyes roam around aimlessly. Eventually, Pomni stands up and claps her hands together.

“Well, we should get to looking around a bit… We want to get back before the others get too worried.” She looks at Kinger expectantly. He doesn’t budge.

She taps him on the shoulder. “Are you–”

“No yeah, you’re right. We should get going.” He stands up, still glancing a peek at the cellar below, before making eye contact with the shorter woman. “Where to, Pomni?”

Pomni could tell something was on his mind, but she decided not to press on. “Well, we want to find a way back up… It’d be more helpful to be above the circus than below it. We just–”

A loud, high-pitched whistle pierced through the conversation.

“What was that?” Pomni looked around for the source of the noise. There was nothing obvious standing out to her. “It’s probably just ambient noise or something. What’s more important right now is how we get up.”

She looked around, hoping for some magical floating ladder leading directly to the top of the circus, or a convenient elevator, or anything. No such luck.

“[$%!#] I did not think this through… It’s not like we can–”

Her train of thought was broken by the ground below her shifting. The cube they were standing on started bouncing up and down feverishly. She panicked, grabbing on to the cube for safety. She looked around to find the source of the quaking…

…Only to see Kinger, hopping up and down and grabbing out to the void. Desperately trying to grasp a surface that was 20 meters out of reach.

She looked at him, confused, before pondering up an idea.

“Hand on… Stop, stop… I want to try something.”

Kinger stopped his rampant bouncing. Pomni waited for the cube to settle before putting her idea into fruition.

She jumped as high as she could. Upon landing on the block, its weight shifted downwards, before bouncing back up. Once it reached the peak of its bounce, she hopped again. The momentum from the cube added to her speed, and she managed to make it slightly higher than her previous jump. When she landed, the block bounced higher, and she bounced higher. A positive feedback loop of infinite height.

While bouncing, she shouted down to Kinger, who’s desperately trying not to fall off. “Yes! This works. We can use the momentum of the cube to give us more height! Just do this!”

She managed to make enough height to jump to a nearby, yet significantly higher floating object. She steadied herself and then shouted down to Kinger. “Think you can do that?”

She took some time coaching him on proper bouncing techniques from above. Noting when he should jump and how high he should get before trying to make it to the next platform. Eventually, he made it up beside her.

“YEAH! You did it” She stuck her hand up for a high-five which the chess piece gladly accepted. “That was incredible!” She looked up to the next platform she planned to jump to. “I think that if we bounce at the same time, we’ll speed up quicker!”

Kinger’s hands vibrated in excitement. “That was fun! Let’s do it again!”

“That’s just what we’re going to do!” She grabbed his hand and readied herself. “3, 2, 1, Jump!”

They jumped together. The weight of both of them combined made the cube bounce higher each iteration. They made it to the next object, then the next, then the next.

They had found the rhythm and could perform it like clockwork. Bounce, bounce, bounce, land. Bounce, bounce, bounce, land.

Eventually they took a break. Pomni collapsed on the object they’re standing on. This one was shaped like a pyramid. She spoke between gasps of air. “This is… really… exhausting”

Kinger practically deflated on the pyramid. A long exaggerated sigh escaped him.

Pomni looked up. “But look! We’re almost there! I can see the top of the circus! Just a few more should do it!”

Kinger got up and took a deep breath. “Ready for one more?”

They resumed bouncing and gained height once more. After they get significant height. Kinger leapt forward to the next cube.

“Wait no–”

Pomni tried to stop him, noticing that he’d be cutting it close with the amount of height he got, but Kinger left her reach too quickly.

Luckily, he managed to barely grab a hold on the ledge of the next cube.

“Oh… you made it!”

Unfortunately, at that moment, the physics engine remembered that he didn’t actually have anything connecting his body and hands together.

Pomni watched in horror as the majority of Kinger fell down into the abyss, while his hands stayed firmly planted to the cube.

He looked up where his hands should have been. “Huh… Well that’s not exactly what I expected to happen.”

“KINGER!” Pomni leapt down without thinking and snatched Kinger in the air. They tumbled downwards, bouncing off various blocks along the way, until eventually settling on a block far below where they originally started.

“[#%!$], We were so close! God [%$#!] it!” She uselessly kicked the ground below her before she sighed and turned to Kinger. “Are you OK at least?”

“I think so… but my hands are still up there!”

“WHAT!”

Ragatha sat staring at the stairs. “Gosh… It’s been a while… I really hope they’re OK.” She stood up. “We should call Caine and–”

“No… give them time.” Zooble interrupted. “Pomni knows what she’s doing.”

“But are we sure she can…” Ragatha lowered her voice, not wanting to be heard saying anything rude. “...take care of Kinger?”

Unfortunately, she was loud enough for Jax to pipe up.

“Yeah, he’s probably already driven her to jump into the abyss by this point!”

Ragatha ignored him. “I just really don’t want to know what happens if we take too long. Does Caine’s teleportation have a range? Can it even reach out there?” She crumples to the ground and hugs her knees. “Gosh… an eternity just forever falling… that sounds awful. Why did I let her do this? Why did I–”

“Whoa! What’s got you all saggy and blue!”

She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t even notice Caine appearing behind her. “I–”

“Well wipe those tears because it’s adventuring time! Bring an extra pair of socks, because this one’ll scare them right off of you!” He closed his jaw into a seeming smile, although Ragatha was never very good at reading his facial expressions.

“[%@!#] this. You guys are alone.” Zooble made their way out of there as fast as possible.

“Hold on…” Caine’s eyes slowly exited his mouth by clipping straight through his teeth. “Where’d Pomni go? Wasn’t she with you guys?”

Oh no. That’s what Ragatha was afraid of. Now she’d have to make a decision. She could tell the truth, Caine would bring Pomni and Kinger back, everyone would be safe, but they’d all hate her for ruining their opportunity.

Or, she could lie. Leave Kinger and Pomni alone, and they’ll be stuck falling into the abyss forever, all because of her.

But maybe Zooble was right? What if she lied, and then Pomni and Kinger were fine anyway?

Oh no. They were looking at her.

She turned to get the opinions of the other people around her. Gangle shaked their head insistantly, silently begging her to stay quiet. Jax just shrugged.

She turned back to Caine and sighed. “They… went on a walk… I think they just need a break, we should leave them be!”

She was sweating profusely, her smile looked even more plastered on than normal. Her voice came out very high pitched and quiet. [#&!%], Why couldn’t she ever sell a lie when it was important!

Caine studied her intently. Before turning around. Deep in thought.

“OK! Sounds reasonable.”

That worked?

She turned to see Gangle and Jax looking just as shocked as she was.

“Well, I guess this adventure can do with just the four of you!” He stretched his arm out till Ragatha could no longer see the end of it, and then it returned, holding a disgruntled Zooble by their head.

“Wh– Hey, let me go!” The hodgepodge of parts uselessly thrashed about in his hand.

“But they’ll miss the new surprise I’ve been working on.” He takes his free hand and scratches his lower jaw in thought. “Oh well! To the adventure everyone”

Zooble fought more. “Wait a minute! I–”

And with a swoosh, they were all gone.

Pomni paced around the cube, annoyed. “Well, we can just jump back up. Ready?”

Kinger looked up apologetically, before rising up and readying himself to jump again. “Alright.”

They entered the rhythm they’d become so familiar with. Bounce, Bounce, Bounce,

Crack!

The block they’re standing on buckled under the weight of their bouncing. It fell from its perpetual state of hovering, taking Pomni and Kinger with it. They managed to land on a nearby cylinder, and watched the cube they were formerly standing on plummet downwards.

Pomni stared, awestruck, then she started shouting. “What was that!? Why did it do that!? What happened!? WHAT WAS THAT!?”

“Pomni?”

“WHAT!” Pomni shouted angrily. She didn’t want to deal with any of this.

Kinger shrunk back from the volume, before staring off to the distance. “Look at the blocks around us.”

She followed his gaze. Objects around her glitch out. They looked unstable, like a single touch would make them burst into code.

“I think the farther from the circus, the less stable these objects get. We shouldn’t jump anymore.

Pomni sat down and laughed to herself. She couldn’t help it. There was no joy or whimsy to the laughter. Just pure, unadulterated anger. “Great. Just great! Wonderful even! Absolutely Perfect. Fan-[@#!*]ing-tastic! Now what do we do?”

Kinger watched Pomni, then sat to face away from her. He let her have her manic episode in peace for a few seconds, before he broke the silence.

“...Pomni?”

She sighed. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I got us into this mess.”

It was at this point that Pomni realized she’d been taking her anger out on him. She didn’t want to do that. She never meant to yell at him. “Wait– I wasn’t–!”

“If I hadn’t missed that block, you would still be up there… safe.”

“Stop! I didn’t–!”

“I shouldn’t even be here! I got in the way! I dragged myself into this if anything!”

“Kinger please!” [@%&!]. Look at her. Stupid stupid stupid. She went out here without a plan, and now Kinger was suffering for it. She yelled for no reason, and Kinger was suffering for it. She started to hit herself. “Why can’t I think ANYTHING through!”

“You didn’t–”

“I’m the one who decided to come out here without any semblance of a plan!” She stands up and faces Kinger.

“This isn’t something you could have planned for! If I’d–”

“None of this is your fault! You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time! I was–”

“If I weren’t so unfocused, I wouldn’t have–”

“You aren’t unfocused! You’re probably one of the smartest people here! The fact that–”

They continued on like this. Overlapping each other, shouting at each other, each convinced that the whole situation was their fault. Utter chaos.

Eventually, they ran out of juice, and had to stop to take a breath. After they sat in silence for a bit, Pomni heard Kinger softly chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” She inquired.

“You really are amazing, Pomni. Do you know that?”

She was completely taken aback by that. “Wh– I– Huh?”

“I’ve given you no reason to believe I’m anything but a nutcase who hides away in the shadows. But you show so much faith in me.”

“I–...” She paused. She didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Did you really mean all that back there?” the chess piece inquired

“Of course!”

“Why? What have I done to lead you into thinking anything more of me?”

She stopped for that one. In fairness, she really didn’t know. It’s not like she didn’t believe in him. She did, absolutely. She just never really thought about why. She floundered in her mind for a second before coming up with a good reason for her thoughts.

“You’ve lasted longer than anyone else in the circus. If you were truly insane, wouldn’t you have abstracted by now? There’s clearly something in that head of yours keeping you here.”

“I guess–...” His eyes darted to the side, deep in thought.

“And you’ve felt much more grounded ever since we got out here!” She added.

“That’s true, isn’t it.” he chuckled

They sat in silence for a bit longer. Letting the whole conversation sink in before trying to continue.

Pomni was the first to speak up. “Can we just agree that this is neither of our faults?”

Kinger laughed at this. “Thank you, Pomni.”

Jax, Ragatha, Gangle, and Zooble found themselves transported to a dark hallway. No Caine, no explanation, no nothing.

“We’re… already here? No explanation of what the adventure’s about?” Ragatha looked around examining the architecture.

Jax shrugged. “Guess not.”

Zooble instantly turned to the grand dark oak door behind them. That seemed like it could be a way out. Unfortunately for them, it’s locked.

“Crap. Was worth a shot.” The bundle of shapes sulked back towards the rest of the group.

They all walked down the long, Victorian looking hallway. Dim candelabrum along the walls being their only source of light. Floorboards creaking noisily below them.

“I wonder how hard Caine’s gonna go with the scariness factor!” Ragatha walked at a brisk pace. Clearly excited for the adventure.

“Don’t get your hopes up. Knowing Caine, it’s probably either just gonna be a rated E for everyone ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’ situation, or if he does attempt to make something scary, it’ll just be cliche after cliche, trope after trope.” Zooble uttered.

Ragatha’s smile faded, before quickly returning, though slightly more forced than before. “Well, I wouldn’t really mind either way!”

“If you say so.”

Jax piped in. “Too bad Pom-Pom isn’t here. Got nobody to hold close when you get scared!”

Ragatha sputtered. “Wha–... What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think–… I don’t–...”

Suddenly a small ghost appeared from nowhere, startling everyone and offering Ragatha a very much welcomed change of subject.

“Hi! I’m ghostwy! I’ll be youw guide thwough Miwdenhaw Manow!”

Jax instinctively gagged at the sound of the ghost’s voice. They spoke in a way where all their “R”s and “L”s sounded like “W”s.

“I like you” Gangle smiled at the spectre. Their lips formed a sort of sideways 3 shape.

Behind the ghost was a pair of wooden doors. Identical looking in every way. “Befowe we begin, you must choose youw path! On the weft, we have the nowmaw doow!” The ghost gestured to the door to the players’ left. A set of bubble letters appeared above the door, titling the door ‘Normal!’

A popup appeared in front of the door with an image of Caine’s face and some text. The disembodied voice of Caine gladly narrated said text. “Rated WOW for all ages!”

“Told ya” Zooble elbowed Ragatha.

“And ovew on the wight is the SUPEW SCARY DOOW–” The ghost dramatically waved their arms and made a rather sad attempt at a “WooOOoo” noise.

More letters, this time in a drippy red font, denoting the door as ‘Super Scary!’ and another Caine popup appear at the door.

Caine’s disembodied voice again appeared, happy to narrate. “Rated AAAAAA for mature Zoobles only!”

“Wha– Why me?” Zooble gestured angrily at the door. They forcefully walked towards the ‘Normal!’ door. “[@&!%] this! I’m not playing his game. I’m–”

But just then, the Ringmaster appeared. He shouted, voice full of rage. “YOU’RE GOING IN THE ZOOBLE DOOR!”

He grabbed the assortment of parts and forcefully dragged them towards the ‘Super Scary!’ door.

Zooble stared at the ringmaster, very confused. They took a step back towards the ‘Normal!’ door. “No. I’m n–”

But their complaints were cut short by the door they stood by opening vertically, showing an array of sharp teeth. The door then promptly stretched outwards and ate Zooble whole. The rest of the gang heard their shouts of anger getting quieter as they presumably made it further down whatever was behind the door-creature.

Ragatha, Gangle, and Ghostly are left to do nothing other than stare in horror at the brutality they just witnessed. Jax, expectedly, could care less.

The ringmaster clapped their hands together, dusting them off after the apparent murder he just committed, clearly proud of himself. “They’re gonna have so much fun this adventure! I’m such a good host!”

Zooble oh so gracefully landed flat on their face. An arm and both their legs popped off and rolled away.

“Caine!” Zooble yelled out though nobody was visibly there to hear them. They looked around the room they’d found themself in. “What is this?”

They noted a tape recorder on a desk near the wall. Curious, they headed over, picked up the tape recorder and turned it on. They heard a voice, but it didn’t seem to be originating from the tape. It sounded like it was coming from all around the room itself.

“My name is Baron Theodore Mildenhall. Hunting has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember – although one could say it–”

Of course. Useless lore. Boring. They tossed the tape recorder behind them, causing the tape to fall out and the voice to stop.

“Alright. Now how to get out of here…”

They looked around the new space. It was similar to the previous area, but even darker. While the previous area felt like a manor someone could have lived in at some point, this felt more like a basement or storage area of some sort. Cobwebs lined the walls, objects were tossed everywhere. It looked like it hadn’t been in use for a while. Oddly enough, the candles were still lit, though they were few and far between.

The most notable features of the current room were the plaques that adorned the walls. Attached to each one was the face of the people in the circus. Their features formed into grotesque grimaces that were completely un-human in origin. Their eyes were all either missing, completely blank, or dilated to an extreme extent.

Zooble glowered at the heads on the wall. They were disgusting. “Preferably I’ll be leaving as quickly as possible.”

Though they were alone in the space, they were almost certain Caine was observing everything they did, and they wanted to make sure her disdain for the adventure was very evident. If the way to do that involved talking to themself, so be it.

They looked more around the room to find a hallway out. At the end of this hallway was an old fashioned dumb-waiter. It was large enough that they thought they could find a way to squeeze inside. “Well, that’s convenient.”

They pulled at the door. Nothing. They tutted to themselves. “Figures… Well, he’s probably hidden a key around here somewhere.”

They returned to the hallway and noticed a side door they hadn’t seen before. They opened the door to find what looked to be a study. Though it was hard to tell. The entire room was dark other than a desk near the opposite end to where they were standing. Nothing seemed to be directly illuminating it, it was just surrounded by a warm glow so that it could conveniently drag players to look through it instead of rummaging the entire room.

“That seems like a good place to start.”

The desk had another tape recorder on it, which Zooble intently ignored. Their bigger focus was the drawer that was situated below the desk.

“Sifting through a drawer for ages trying to find something! Exhilarating stuff, Caine.”

As they sifted through the drawer, they started throwing objects out to make the search easier. This drawer was chalk full of random crap.

A blank notepad – “So I can take notes on all the things that suck about this adventure.” – A rope – “Perfect to hang Jax with! I’ll save that for later.” – A pen with a poorly rendered dog at the end – “Some company!” – A comically large singular jigsaw piece – “Why do they even have that?”

Eventually after tossing nearly the entire contents of the drawer out, they found a key. “Aha!”

No sooner had they held the key in their hand, the glow from the desk de-activated, and they were left in complete darkness.

“Seriously, Caine?”

“Should we try to help them?” Ragatha suggested, still staring at the door that just consumed Zooble.

“Nuh-uh-uh! It says on the door, for Mature Zoobles only!” Caine made a grand display of summoning a bunch of arms to all point at the sign. “You wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Ragatha pouted. Whatever was behind that door, she was sure she’d played worse horror games before. “I’m sure I could–”

“Now now, my little sugar dumpling! There’s no need to worry about them now, is there? I can assure you that they will only be traumatized a reasonable and fun amount!”

Ragatha knew there was no way she was getting through to him. She could only hope Zooble was OK. She turned to the normal door. She gave it a knock and whispered to the door “Please don’t eat me.”

Luckily, this door simply opened the way a door would be expected to open, and revealed a ghost woman standing politely behind it

They were fairly tall, Ragatha noted. Their face lacked a mouth, but everything else on it was rather pretty. They donned an awfully stylish wide-brim hat. Really everything about them could be described as stylish.

“Oh! Another ghost? Nice to meet you!” Ragatha waved politely.

“Oh, company! Please, come on in!” The ghost welcomed them through the door with a curtsy. On the other side of the door was a long, wide hallway. The ghost led them down it, starting up some small talk to pass the time.

“My name’s Martha! What might your names be?”

“I’m Ragatha, this is Gangle–” Gangle smiled and waved. She’d taken to carrying Ghostly around like he was a plush toy. “And that’s Jax!” Jax folded his arms, not enjoying the niceties.

The woman looked back to Gangle and her personalized carry-on ghost. “Aha! I see you’ve met Ghostly.”

The spectre squirmed out of Gangle’s grasp at the sound of its name, and playfully swirled around Martha.

“I honestly don’t know where he came from, but I’d be lying to say he wasn’t entertaining.” Martha chuckles.

“I’m a mystewy to aww of natuwe!”

Jax pulled at his ears, trying to deafen himself to the annoying voice. “If you don’t stop talking like that, I swear to god…”

The group approached the end of the hallway, where there was another door. The tall ghost opened it up and gestured them inside. “Why don’t you join us for some tea?”

Now this was the sort of hospitality Ragatha could get behind.

The doll’s “That sounds wonderful!” and Jax’s “Absolutely not.” Were uttered at the exact same time, overlapping. Both of them looked at the other, annoyed with their response.

“Yes please!” Gangle spoke from behind them, confirming the tiebreaker.

The dining room was a nice change of scenery. Everything up to that point had been various dusty shades of red and brown with cobwebs in the corners. The dining room, however, was lined with bright green wallpaper, patterned with yellow diamonds. A large chandelier hung over the table in the center, giving the room more light than anything in the rooms prior had.

And most notably, everything looked well kept. No cobwebs, no dust, everything in a proper place. It reminded Ragatha of her mom’s place back in the real world.

Ragatha, Gangle, and (reluctantly) Jax sat at the table, which was already lined with teacups and a large, ornate, tea-filled teapot. It was as if they were expected to be here.

“So, what brings you to this place?” Martha says, pouring tea into everyone’s cups.

“Oh! We don’t… exactly… know. We were just sorta sent here without any explanation…” Ragatha hadn’t even thought about that since she’d first arrived.

“Sent here you say? Hm… I think I might have a hunch as to why that might have happened.”

“Oh! Do tell! Anything helps!”

Martha leaned in towards Ragatha. The previously warm lighting had turned cold and stark. The ghost spoke in a hushed voice. “Have you heard of… the headless angel?”

An impeccably timed flash of lightning adorns the windows, making the lighting even more dramatic.

“Gosh… that sounds frightening!” Ragatha spoke, barely containing her excitement.

Suddenly, the lights returned to normal and Martha was back to her sunny demeanor. “Honestly it’s more just a thorn in my side. Ever since my husband took its head and hung it in his man-cave, the rest of its body has sort of just been roaming around. It doesn’t even visit this side of the manor often, usually staying in the darker areas where my husband used to spend much of his time.”

Again, Ragatha’s hopes of an actually scary adventure are crushed.

“You had a husband? What was he like?” Gangle leaned in. Eager for some more metaphorical tea, as opposed to the literal tea that sat in front of her.

“He was a very… shall I say, determined man. He usually kept to himself and spent most of his time monologuing about his latest hyperfixation to the only thing that would care to listen to him: His tape recorder.”

“That sounds like Gangle! Always yapping about something new that nobody else cares about!” Jax called out. Ragatha was surprised he was actually listening to the story enough to make a joke about it.

Martha ignored him. “I do feel a bit guilty for not caring about his interests, but after what he did, I think we’re even!”

Ragatha felt uncomfortable. Gingerly putting forward her question. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to… but what did he do?”

But she didn’t have the chance to respond before Ghostly chided in. “He muwdewed hew!”

Martha glared at him. “Er… yes. He mistook me for the beast and shot me. We haven’t really spoken much since!” She laughed to herself.

“I’ll bet.” Ragatha noted.

“The owd siwent tweatment!”

“For the love of god QUIT IT!”

Jax slammed his fists on the table, staring daggers into the small spirit.

“Yeah? Ow what!”

With that, Jax leapt out of his seat and ran across the top of the table, chasing Ghostly.

“JAX!” Ragatha shouts, while darting apologetic glances to Martha.

The tiny ghost was incredibly agile, managing to weave around all Jax’s attempts to grab him. The rabbit skidded across the table, smashing cups and ruining furniture along the way. He even managed to knock Gangle’s mask off, breaking it on the ground.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Jax shouted.

“YOUW FEEBWE THWEATS AWE MEANINGWESS!”

“So, we gotta start thinking of new ways to get up.” Pomni paced around the cube that she and Kinger were stuck on.

“Hmm” She wracked her brain. “Maybe we could try to break the physics engine again? But with what? No that won’t work… If we– but that wouldn’t really get us height… No, something else. Gaah! Nothing works!”

She hit herself. “Think think think! There’s gotta be something!” She sighed to herself. “Can you think of anything?”

But Kinger wasn’t listening. He was sitting at the edge of the box.

“Kinger?”

Still nothing. Pomni sat beside him, matching his gaze. He was staring directly at the cellar. “You good? Do you need to talk about something?”

“No, don’t worry about me, Pomni.”

“C’mon, we’ve got nothing but time!” she gently elbowed him, taking his attention away from the cellar.

“I don’t need you to have any more to worry about. You’ve worried enough today.” He closed his eyes and turned away.

“Please, Kinger. Let me make it up to you for lashing out earlier. Whatever it is, I can handle it.”

He still looked uncertain. He went back to staring at the cellar. Oh no, Pomni thought, Did I lose him again?

Then he took a long, drawn out sigh. “Somewhere down there… is my wife.” He began. “Long before anyone currently here arrived, she… abstracted. I wish I could remember what happened, but after… some series of events, the two of us managed to get alone in the pillow fort. It was dark, it was quiet, it was beautiful… she was beautiful. And… I thought I was something in her, something that I haven’t seen in any other abstraction. She was… calm. The dark seemed to have… some sort of… soothing effect. Her sharp edges took on a more sensible form, and I was even able to touch her… One last time… before she was sent into the cellar. Whether that was recognition, or just pure instinct… I’ll never know. But every time I’m in darkness, I remember that time.”

His voice starts to break. “It… hurts to remember… but… it’s the only time I feel… in control of my thoughts.”

They sat in silence for a minute as Pomni tried to figure out what to say. “You… had a wife?” She eventually settled on.

He gave a slight chuckle, memories slowly coming back to him “I did… She was smart, beautiful, brave… You two would’ve really gotten along. She used to collect insects. I hated it, but she taught me how to handle them. She would go on and on about how each one was unique and it just… I eventually grew quite a fondness for them.”

Pomni looked at him, before diving in for a hug. She knew Kinger would be happy to accept it.

“What’s this for?” He questioned.

“Thank you…” She whispered to him.

“I’m just glad to have someone to talk to about it!”

“Haven’t you told anyone else?” She looked up at him, not breaking the hug.

“Oh, nah… I haven’t really had a chance to. It’s pretty rare that I’m able to be this sane around others.”

“Well, thank you for trusting me.” She squeezes him harder.

They stayed like that for a while.

“You know, I would hug back… but I still don’t have any hands!”

“OH RIGHT!”

Zooble blinked their eyes, expecting them to adjust to the darkness. They did not.

“Just how many cliches are you gonna fit in here, Caine? Ugh. How do I get out of here?”

They walked around in the direction they remembered coming from. Arms outstretched, slowly creeping forward.

“Well this is– Oof” Despite their efforts, they bumped directly into a wall almost immediately. They dropped the key they were holding in surprise.

“Agh! [@&#!]!” They bent over and felt around the ground for anything remotely key-feeling. They grasped something that felt the right diameter. They grabbed around the end and felt bumps and ridges. This had to be it!

As soon as their fingers grasped the object, however, they noticed a light coming from behind them, followed by a low growl.

“You’ve gotta be [@&%!]ing kidding me.”

They turned around to see a disembodied head staring directly at them. Eyes as big as plates, mouth tall enough to eat Zooble whole, and rows and rows of needle-like teeth. It let out an ear piercing screech turning the lights back on.

That was more than enough to get Zooble booking it. They ran to the dumb-waiter and shoved the newly refound object they held inside. Nothing. They twisted it. Nothing. They took it out and observed it, only to see a familiar poorly rendered dog at the end.

“THE PEN? REALLY?”

They turned around hoping that there was enough space to squeeze around the monster and return to the study. Of course, they had no such luck. They look around for anything to distract the monster with or get them back to the previous room. Absolutely nothing. The most useful thing they had was the pen in their hand, which allowed their final moments to not be spent alone.

Wait… their hand.

They didn’t have to make it to the study… What if only a part of them did?

They tore their non-dominant arm off with a loud POP! “This had better work.” They aim to throw it behind the monster chasing them using their remaining hand. Before second guessing and attaching one of their eyes to where the shoulder of the arm would be. It would probably be helpful if they could see what they were doing.

They tossed it behind the monster, which did nothing to stop its pursuit. Luckily, they didn’t need it to. Their arm tumbled to the ground behind the monster and quickly lifted itself up. It finger-walked its way over to the study, the eye on top darting around looking for the key or any imposing threats. They couldn’t find anything. They mentally kicked themself for how much of a mess they left after dumping the whole drawer out.

Back at the rest of Zooble’s body, the monster was still approaching. They knew Caine loved their high drama, high tension scenarios, so they could estimate that they still had about 30 seconds left before the monster decided to actually finish them.

But they really didn’t want to find out if that estimate was accurate. Yeah, they knew nothing would happen. They’d just end up in a sort of “Game Over” room till the rest of the team returned from the adventure.

Honestly, they thought about just taking that. It would probably be less annoying than where they currently stood. But they also had no idea how painful this death would be, or how long to expect to have to stay there, and Caine would probably have something to say about it too. Frankly, they weren’t looking forward to any of that.

But they were running out of time. The monster was inching nearer. They could feel (and unfortunately, smell) the cold breath of the monster. Their mouth had opened to a swarm of eyeballs. Zooble shuddered, it reminded them of what Kaufmo looked like just the other day.

The monster gave one last screech before it would inevitably consume Zooble, but just then, the monster felt something hit the back of its head. It turned, distracted, as Zooble’s arm threw itself off the top of the monster’s head towards Zooble.

“Yes!” They wasted no time unlocking the dumb-waiter and hopping in. They even locked the door behind them for good measure.

As if detecting their weight inside, the dumb-waiter immediately started lowering. Zooble shouted and pointed at the monster watching above them.

“HAHA! Take THAT you stupid–... Where is this taking me?”

“Well… thanks for the tea, Martha!” Ragatha smiled and waved to the ghost. Even though the adventure wasn’t scary in the slightest, she’d had a good time.

“Anytime!” The tall spirit smiled back.

“Sorry again that your husband shot and killed you!” Ragatha instinctually aimed her finger-guns at the ghost before realizing that they weren’t exactly appropriate for the conversation, and quickly lowered them.

Luckily, the ghost paid them no mind. “It happens. Men and their silly hobbies!"

“Don’t I know it…” Ragatha took a glance at Jax, who had been tied up and moved to a wagon since the fight with Ghostly. Gangle wondered where the spectre had gone after Jax chased it through the wall.

Gangle and Ragatha head on to the next room. Jax in tow. Ragatha had to quickly shoot and kill the thought of just leaving him there. That would only lead to more problems.

The next room had a large door, similar to the one behind them when they first found their way into the manor. Ragatha started to approach it when Caine spawned in unprovoked.

“Congratulations! You took: The Peaceful Route! Unfortunately, Zooble is having too much fun on my adventure! And you will have to wait for them to finish up. While you wait, feel free to visit my newest idea for our adventures!”

He stopped and waited patiently…

Ragatha eventually spoke up. “What is–”

”You know, after seeing Pomni so upset after her gator friend disappeared, I realized that some of you guys…” He took a dramatic pause, before continuing. “Don’t want my adventures to end! Now, since I’m obviously not allowed to do that, I thought of the next best thing: The gift shop!”

He gestured to a blank section of the room they were in, which was quickly filled with a small booth containing a table with various objects on it. Ghostly hovered behind the table with a cash register.

“The gift shop will be a station that shall reside at the tail end of all adventures from here on out, filled with trinkets, gizmos, and officially sponsored merch inspired by each adventure! You can take whatever you want from the gift shop back to your rooms in the circus so you can remember the adventures forever!”

The gift shop was adorned with stuffed animals of Martha and Ghostly, posters depicting the manor, pins… really anything you’d expect to find in a merch store, sans any wearable items, as they weren’t able to change their outfits anyway.

Gangle quietly walked up and took a plush Ghostly from the table, giving it a little squeeze.

Ragatha approached the booth before remembering her roped-up rabbit she had in tow.

“Oh, Jax! Do you want something?”

The rabbit only responded with various unintelligible, yet unimpressed sounding mumbles. Seeing as his mouth was taped shut, Ragatha realized she should have expected that.

The doll went to sit on a sofa that was on the other side of the room from the gift shop. “Well then… I suppose we just wait! I hope Zooble’s OK.”

The dumb-waiter crashed to the floor, sending splinters of wood and limbs of Zooble flying everywhere.

“Ugh, Caine! Do you just find it funny to see people fall on their faces all the time?” They sigh as they fumble about to reconstruct themself. They look around the new environment. There’s only one thing in the entire room. An oddly realistic corpse holding a shotgun.

Zooble approaches the corpse. For the first time since Zooble could remember, there was something resembling a human in one of Caine’s adventures. Not a candy creature, not a mannequin, not a fumbled combination of shapes, not a cartoonish avatar. A real human.

Granted, its eyes were hollowed out, its skin was practically vacuum sealed to its bones. Its neck was at an angle that shouldn’t have been possible for a human to make… but it was clearly supposed to be a human at some point in time.

Zooble decided to make the most of the situation and took the gun from the corpse’s hands. They expected some sort of rigor mortis locking the gun to its hands, but it just detached with no effort. Like it wanted the gun to be taken. They checked the barrel. 2 shells were pre-loaded, begging to be fired.

Zooble was beyond suspicious of this corpse. They decided the only way to make sure it wouldn’t come up and attack them was to hit them while they were down. It was cheap, they knew, but it had to be done. They fired a shell directly into the corpse’s skull.

For a bit nothing happened. The bullet carved a perfectly circular hole in the corpse’s skull. Not a drop of gore to be seen. Zooble turned around to see if there was something else to this room they missed.

“Seriously?”

They froze in place. They hadn’t said that. Instead, it came from a deep, gruff voice behind them. They turned back to the corpse to see it stood up on legs that seemed way too weak to hold up its weight.

It pointed at them. “Are you [BEEP]ing kidding me? What the [BEEP] was that for!? You’ve ruined the whole chase scene. You only had two bullets, you know! You checked the barrel and saw that you only had two bullets… And you WASTED one on an already dead guy. I wasn’t gonna do anything! I was told to sit here and to do literally nothing! And then you just walk up and– and SHOOT ME! Honestly! How do you expect to kill the monster with only one bullet! You didn’t even listen to the tape!!! Have you listened to any of the tapes!? Do you even care about ANYTHING that’s happening here!!! You know what? I don’t give a [BEEP]! Be like that! If you’re allowed to [BEEP] with the progression, then SO AM I! You’re going to hell anyway, and there’s NOTHING you can do about it! Get OUT OF HERE!”

Zooble suddenly felt themself slammed into the ground below them. The concrete they stood on shattered and they fell deeper and deeper. Just when they thought they’d be falling forever, they felt themself again slam into the ground and break apart into pieces. They pulled themself together, and stood up. They looked up to the hole above them. A perfectly Zooble-shaped carving that was long enough they couldn’t see the end of it.

“What the–... what the actual [$%!@]! Why did Caine make this for me? Is this a punishment? Is he even capable of giving punishment?” They sighed to themself. “Because this circus wasn’t hell enough! Just– get me out of this adventure!”

For what had to be the fourth time that day, they turned to observe their surroundings. A long hallway was the only thing of note this time. They looked through it. They couldn’t quite see the end, but they could see that the hallway was filled with floating green specks.

“I don’t know what those are, and frankly, I don’t care!” They walked through the hallway forcefully and quickly. “I just want to be done with this stupid adve–”

But their thoughts were shot by their limbs bending in angles they shouldn’t be able to bend in. They felt their neck snap and turn 180 degrees. Every limb felt pulses of sharp, agonizing pain. They could only let out one sentence before they lost all control of their body.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, CAINE?”

“Have you got any ideas for getting back up there?” Pomni asked, trying to get back on topic.

“No… I can’t think of anything.” Kinger looked down, ashamed.

“Well… I’ve got nothing either.”

They both hummed to themselves as they tried to wrack their brain for any semblance of a useful idea.

“What if we really are stuck out here?”

Kinger looked up at her in shock. “Don’t say that! There’s gotta be something!”

Pomni hugged her knees. “I promised Ragatha that everything would be fine out here. I still have no idea if falling off would actually bring us back up there or… something else. And, I really don’t want to test it… But I told her–... I told her that I knew what would happen… I lied to her.”

“Well that just gives us even more of a reason to get back up there.” The chess piece smiled down at her hopefully.

“But… how?”

Before Kinger could respond, they both heard another distant, high-pitched whistle.

“Tell me you hear that too.” Pomni looked around, again trying to find the source of the noise.

“Oh! Tea’s ready!”

Kinger pointed in the distance. Sure enough, one of the random teapots floating around them started shaking… violently. A loud rumble emanated from it. And then, with the same whistle they heard earlier. The lid shot off. A cloud of steam propelled the lid straight upwards. It was the most random, unexplainable sight Pomni had seen in the circus so far, and that was a high bar.

“Wha–? Umm… OK… like, actually, what are the teapots about?”

But then, she thought for a second about what just happened. “Wait… what if we got on top of one of the teapots? Do you think that geyser could shoot us up?”

“It’s worth a shot!” Kinger looked around them in search of a teapot close enough for them to land on. “Down there!”

A teapot floated beside them, the distance was definitely sketchy.

“Do you think we can make it? It’s a bit far…” Pomni noted.

“It’s all we got!”

Pomni still wasn’t convinced, but she nodded.

“3… 2… 1… JUMP!”

They leapt with all their might. To Pomni’s surprise, they both made it.

“Yes! We did it!” Pomni pumped her fists. She held up her hand for a high-five from her partner, before remembering his current dismemberment and quickly retracting. “So… I guess now we wait, huh.”

“I guess so…” Kinger took a seat on the spout of the teapot. The bottom of his cloak dangled above completely nothing. “It is pretty out here. Isn’t it?”

Pomni sat down beside him “Yeah… this is absolutely nothing like what these areas usually look like.”

Kinger looked at her with a mixture of confusion and wonder. “Why do you know so much about this place?”

Pomni hesitated, a bit embarrassed to share it. But she realized Kinger was someone she could trust.

“I used to play a lot of video games, back in the real world. As a sort of… escape from reality! Heh… pretty ironic seeing my current situation.” She gestured to the world around her, before continuing.

“One of my favorite things to do with these games was find new ways to break them. Even the most well made games have something that the creators didn’t intend. Stuff ranging from minor visual bugs to methods of skipping entire games. I loved finding those sorts of things! And this place where we are now, out of bounds, acted as a sort of end goal for breaking games. To make it so the most basic of obstacles, walls, are nothing… it feels… powerful, in a way.”

She looked to Kinger, expecting him to have absolutely no idea what she was talking about. But to her surprise, his eyes showed understanding and intrigue.

“Huh… games seem a lot different than when I knew them… back then–”

Before Kinger could finish, the teapot started its shaking.

“Oh! It’s happening! Grab on!” Pomni shouted over the rumbling and clinking of porcelain.

Kinger simply looked down at the lid. “How?” His eyes darted between his absence of hands, Pomni, and the lid.

Pomni could do nothing but stare too. “We… did not think this through very well…”

And then the lid was off. Pomni managed to grasp the lid with one hand and Kinger in the other. “Gotcha!” She shouted triumphantly, before looking back to her hand attached to the lid.

Plastic-feeling gloves against porcelain didn’t exactly offer the best of friction, she realized. Her hand was very gradually yet noticeably slipping from the pot. A chorus of Boings, slide whistles, and squeaks erupted from her mouth as the censors worked overtime to mute her. If she could only use a second hand…

No. She couldn’t do that to Kinger. She didn’t even want to think about all the previous times she abandoned the people here for her own benefit. She changed her tactic to just shouting “NO!” over and over again.

Unfortunately, the laws of physics didn’t care much for shouting. She could only watch as her fingers slipped one by one. “HOLD–... ON–... NO!”

As her last finger slipped off, she and Kinger went flying endlessly through the void. No objects remained close enough to reach, and no miracles were gonna save them this time. They both screamed as they plummeted down through nothing. Whatever happened when they fell far enough, they for sure were about to find out.