Chapter Text
Chapter 1: What's With That Look?
The last thing I remember was taking a walk through town on my day off. I saw that old office building I'd crashed in one night. God, how long has it been? 2 years? I decided to take a trip down memory lane and do a little exploring. Granted, those memories weren't the best, but they happened… I'd learned a while ago that it wasn't best to ignore them. God, I'd been such an idiot.
When I saw that computer, I couldn't believe it was still running. That thing was a dinosaur. I saw that weird headset, too. Last time I put it on, it didn't do anything. I didn't expect anything to change, but I decided to put it on for shits and giggles anyway.
I guess it must be working this time though. There was a flash of light that stung my eyes. Before I could take the thing off out of reflex, I saw… I dunno. Some kind of cartoon that looked like something out of the early 2000’s. Honestly, it was kind of hard to look at.
“Well… this is weird. Cool, but weird.” I figured maybe I just pressed a button that I didn't the last time I tried it on. Yeah. That made sense. It didn't work before because it wasn't turned on. Duh.
“Ok. My eyes are starting to hurt. This place is too colorful.” I reached up to take the headset off, but… “What the hell?” Where was the headset? It was on my head just a second ago. Why couldn't I feel it anymore!? “What the fuck? Where's the-!? Why can't I feel…?” I took a step forward, holding my hands out. Maybe if I could use the computer I could shut this off.
I didn't feel the desk. How come I couldn't feel the desk? It was right in front of me! I took a step, and then another. “No. No no no. It was right there. I'm standing right in front of it! Where the hell is the com-” Before I could finish my sentence, I tripped off of the stage looking set up I was standing on, falling on my back.
“Wh-what the hell?” I looked around. My breath was unsteady. I saw… feet? They looked more like paws you'd see on a cartoon character. Covering the legs connected to them were some kind of overalls. I raised my hand to rub my head, still aching slightly from connecting with the hard checkered floor. I flinched when I saw it. A gloved hand. “H-huh?” My eyes widened as the hand moved in time with my own movements. It… it was my hand?
“What the fuck? W-why do I only have 4 fingers!?” I began feeling my body all over. “What is this? Fur? I… I don't…” My mind was racing now. Once again, I brought my hands up to my head and tried to pull the headset off. It had to still be on. Right!?
“Come on! Get off of me, you stupid thing!” I pulled and pulled. It felt like my skin was stretching somehow. My fingers felt something. I felt my fingers. My breath hitched as I squeezed something I couldn't see. Whatever it was, it was long and… attached to the top of my head.
“Ok. Just breathe. Just breathe… Wait… No. No! No, no no!” What… What's my name? What the hell was my name!? Why couldn't I remember!? I remembered where I just was! I remembered putting on the headset! I remembered everything else. SO WHY COULDN'T I REMEMBER MY NAME!?!
My knees hit the floor and I felt colder. My hands… these gloved hands were shaking. I was hyperventilating. I could feel something rise in my throat. I felt sick. Like I was about to throw up. Then I felt something. It was soft and warm. A… blanket?
“Who… whose there?” Someone must've tossed a blanket on me, right? It didn't just fall out of the sky, didn't it? Nothing made any sense.
“Easy, buddy. Just calm down. I know it's a lot.” Whoever it was, they sounded familiar. Their tone was… I dunno. Neutral? Not quite dismissive, but the sort of voice that could be confused with someone not caring.
I flinched as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't see anything under the blanket. It was dark. Somehow it was comforting. I felt my breathing slow. “There ya go. Heh. You know, you've got some nerve, asshole. Making us all worry like that.” What did that mean? Making who worry? Why'd they call me that? It didn't sound mean spirited, but it also didn't make any sense.
I shakily stood up with their help. I tried to uncover my face from the blanket, but they stopped me by grabbing my hand. Their hand felt… weird. Wrong. Like… plastic or something. “Yeah, you're gonna wanna keep that on for a bit. Don't want you abstracting on us again. Shit… how'd you do it, Jax? I should beat the shit out of you for-”
“Jax? W-who?” The voice beside me paused. For a moment, I could've sworn I heard them step away, but they still had their hands on my shoulders. “Where am I? Why can't I-” The voice finished my question the same time I did.
“-Take the Headset off?”
“Take the Headset off?”
They sounded more surprised than I did. I felt them guide me to sit on something. Presumably the stage I fell off of. It didn't feel like we moved that far.
“Ok… Uh. J-just wait here, man. I'll be right back. I just… I need to check something first.” I tried to tell them to wait. To not leave me. I stopped when I heard some kind of weird clacking sound. Like someone slapping wood against the floor repeatedly. I sat there. Under the blanket. I wasn't sure if I felt more or less uncomfortable with it on or not. At least it was easy on the eyes. A few minutes passed. My head perked up when I heard someone talking. The voice from earlier. Along with another female voice and a male voice too.
“We got a situation guys. It's… it's a lot.”
“My wacky watch went off a few minutes ago. We have a new human in the circus, don't we!? I wanted to greet them, but I know you said that I should give them some space when they first arrive.”
“Didn't we have a whole plan for if anyone wound up here, Zooble? What's got you so worked up?”
Zooble? That's a weird name. Who on earth would name their kid Zooble? Sounded like a name a child would give an imaginary friend.
“Look, I know we had a plan. A whole orientation and stuff but… Look. Jax is still in his tent. We all just saw it.”
“Of course. The only time he isn't is when he's in the aquarium. Why's that a shock?”
“Yeah. He's been… peaceful.”
I hear the female voice pause for a moment as they get closer. There was that name again. Jax. Who was he? He lives in a tent, and… liked spending time in an aquarium? That's a very confusing sequence of information.
“Uh… Hello? Um… I'm still here. Still freaking out a bit.”
I only heard 2 pairs of footsteps approach me. I guess one of them must've stopped. I felt the hand on my shoulder again. Then the neutral voice spoke again.
“Ok, so… Shit’s fucked. I'm just gonna say it guys. This is… a really, REALLY fucked up situation.”
I couldn't tell if they were addressing me, them or all of us, but what they said next was definitely directed partially at me.
They took a deep breath and spoke. “Ok. I'm gonna remove the blanket. You… all of you are gonna see something crazy. Just… try not to flip out, ok?”
Before I could ask why I'd freak out, I felt the blanket get pulled away from me. Like I was an art piece being unveiled. I closed my eyes as I was once again met with the garish colors and geometry of my surroundings. I blinked a few times. As my vision cleared… Well, I flipped out.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?!” I started moving away in a panic. Shuffling on my back against the floor away from… whatever was looking at me. There was a floating pair of teeth with eyes in its… mouth? Some sort of… thing that looked like it had been mashed together from a toy box. And a clown. There was no two ways about it, that was a friggin’ clown!
“Hey! Hey! It's ok. We're not gonna hurt you!” The weird thing held up its hands in front of it. Well, one of them was some sort of hook, but still.
“Jax…?” The Teeth guy and Clown said in unison. I looked at them. Why were they looking at me like that? Why were they so surprised? That name again, too. Jax. Who was that? Why did they keep calling me that?
“S-stay away from me! Somebody get me out of here! Hello!?!” I shouted, hoping against all possibility that there was someone in the office who would hear and help me.
“J-Jax! It's ok. We're here. Just calm down.” The clown stepped towards me. She looked… Sad? Happy? I couldn't tell. I backed up.
“I-I said stay back! Stop calling me that!” I bolted. I ran as fast as I could. Nothing made sense. I should've tripped over a desk or ran into a cubicle by now! I could hear those things calling out to me as I ran. Everywhere in this place looked the same. Was I even moving!? I saw some kind of giant toy rotary phone on wheels and ducked around the corner of some large wall that just kind of stood in the middle of the place.
I ran past a mirror and came to a halt. I could've sworn I heard the sound of a car’s brakes screeching, but I couldn't focus on that. I backed up slowly. In the mirror I saw… Some kind of rabbit? It was wearing pink overalls. Its fur was a sort of light purple. Its hands were gloved and it even had a tail. Then I saw its face. It was… round. With no visible nose. Just a mouth with yellow teeth and huge eyes with black squares acting as the pupils. On top of its head were two long ears. They didn't stick straight up. Rather they sort of bent to the sides away from each other. Not coming down over the head completely. Like each one was in an outward arc. One of them even had a small bow attached to it. I watched as the squares of its eyes shrunk. I touched my face. It touched its face. I tried to open my mouth and separate my teeth, but all that the rabbit did was move the corners of its mouth.
The nausea returned. I couldn't think. I felt dizzy. What would happen if I threw up? The rabbit’s… my mouth couldn't open! Would I choke on it? My mind spiraled and I doubled over. I closed my eyes as I felt myself vomit. I didn't know how, but I was minorly relieved it was even coming out. When I opened my eyes, I saw a black tar-like mass at my feet. I backed up, and then… darkness.
“It's ok, man. Just breathe.” The voice. That… thing must've put the blanket on me again.
“What… What am I? Where am I? Why can't I-?”
“It's ok. Look… You're gonna get hit by a lot of information all at once. There's things you need to know now, for your own safety. It's gonna hurt. Like… really fucking hurt. But you gotta stay calm. Ok?”
I could only manage a sniffle as I felt tears form in my eyes. I couldn't tell if it was from the panic, or from the vomiting. I nodded my head and held onto the blanket for dear life.
“I… Ok….”