Disclaimer: This is a fan-made alternate universe story based on the Amazing Digital Circus. All original characters and concepts belong to their respective creators. This story explores some dark psychological themes, but doesn't go into explicit violence or graphic content. This work is for entertainment purposes only. Author's note: Okay, so quick note here. In this AU, all the events leading up to the part of the pilot where Kaufmo is sent into the abstraction cellar happen as normal. Pomni arrives at the circus during the theme song, the characters go on the "gather the gloinks" adventure, Ragatha and Pomni get left behind with the abstracted version of Kaufmo, and Ragatha gets attacked. Pomni ventures out into the void, is brought back, and then Caine is informed by Kinger that Kaufmo has abstracted. So, I'm going to start the story from this point, right where Caine is about to send Kaufmo into the cellar. Also, please excuse any poor writing, I'm not a professional. Warning: There is 1 censored word in this chapter, there may be others in future chapters. Now that that's done, Enjoy! Chapter 1 Part 1: The Disappearing Act Caine floated above the circus floor next to Pomni. Gloink bodies and overturned props littered the ground around them, and he stared in disbelief. "Now what the heck happened around here? Oh, yeah- my doing." With immense effort, Ragatha crawled across the floor into Caine's line of sight. Her form glitched in and out painfully, the edges of her silhouette blurring. "I am in so much pain," she exclaims in a glitchy voice. Caine looked down at Ragatha, eyes wide for just a second. When did this happen? "Uh, there you go," he replied as he snapped his fingers, fixing up both Ragatha's glitching body and Pomni's glitching hand. She briefly looked at her hand, her face remaining emotionless. "Caine!" Kinger shouted as Jax, Gangle, and he suddenly ran up to meet him. Kinger arrived panting, his eyes darting upward. "Kaufmo went through–a sort of Kaufmosis–and abstracted!" "Kaufmo abstracted? Why didn't anybody tell me?!" Caine exaggeratedly exclaimed. Caine snapped his fingers, and the glitchy form once known as Kaufmo appeared in the air before him, growling animalistically. "And into the cellar you go." A hole appears on the checkered floor, and the circus cast stares down into it. They hear low growls and uncanny sounds rising from the hole that sound as if they are far, far down into the deep, dark, unknown depths of the circus, the one place no one ever comes back from. Pomni clutches the button on her outfit. Her heart races while the rest of the characters just look into the cellar. Having seen this multiple times before, each one knows what to expect, and in a way, they silently say their last goodbyes. As Caine lowers the abstraction into the cellar, it growls ferociously, glitching more than before in a rapid, pulsing way. Something that appears to be its arm glitches up toward Caine and quickly wraps around his foot. “Whoa, this one’s a bit feisty.” He says, trying to shake the abstraction off his foot. When that doesn’t work, he snaps his fingers, but to his dismay, nothing happens. “Well, that’s weird...” The cellar, now open longer than it should have been, sucked Kaufmo and Caine right into its dark, gaping center. Bubble, who happens to be floating next to Caine, gives him a blank look. “You’ve got this, boss.” It says, not able to do anything about the current situation. In the split second before the hole closes up, Caine stops struggling and lifts the top hat off his head. He swipes it in the air, scooping up Bubble as all three vanish into the cellar. The circus cast keeps staring at the spot on the floor where their ringmaster disappeared, a look of disbelief maps clearly on each of their faces, and none of them notices the shimmering particles floating above the place where the hole was and then dispersing into the air. Awkward silence fills the room, and for a bit, no one says anything. They all exchange awkward glances before Pomni speaks up. “W-What just happened?” She exasperatedly asks, fiddling with the button on her jester outfit. “Eh,” Jax replies, crossing his arms behind his head as his initial look of shock disappears. “I’m sure it’s just another one of Caine's wacky adventures, nothing I can’t handle.” “Yeah, I’m sure it’s no big deal, Pomni,” Ragatha states, trying her best to hide her worry. “It's not super unusual for something like this to happen,” she adds, more to herself this time. Jax scoffs. “I’m going to enjoy that digital feast I heard Bubble prepared for us after our adventure. You guys better hurry before I eat it all,” he hollers back. “Actually, we don't even need to eat,” Kinger points out to no one in particular, “The digital food only creates a virtual, sensory experience of eating without any actual nutritious value. We don’t need to drink or sleep either...” He trails off. continued below
Pomni isn’t paying attention to anything; she can’t help but stare off into space. Drops of sweat cover her face, her eyes swirl and spiral, her body trembles. Millions of thoughts frantically run through her head, distracting her from reality: Is this real? What am I doing here? How do I get out? Her chest rises and falls with every sharp, shallow breath. I’m still dreaming, right? Soon I’ll wake up and laugh at all this later. What happened to Caine? He just vanished into that creepy pit... What’s an abstraction? Wait, can we die here?! Why can’t I remember anything? What the F#$k is this place? Oh gosh, who am I? Who am I? WHO AM I?! Noticing that Pomni seems to be completely breaking down, Ragatha taps her on the shoulder. Luckily, this brings her back, at least momentarily. Pomni shakes her head and looks blankly up at her. “W-what?” “Oh, glad you're back. If you want, you can join us over there.” She points to the left at the large table of food. Jax can be seen scarfing down a very odd-looking piece of chicken, and Kinger, Zooble, and Gangle are on their way over. “I told them to go on ahead and meet us there. Hope you don’t mind.” Pomni doesn’t reply, and Ragatha nervously looks off to the side. “If you need to talk, I’ll always be here to listen,” She smiles warmly. “I uh-yeah, sure,” Pomni answers, but her mind seems to be drifting elsewhere. “Oh great, so you’ll come then?” Ragatha replies as she starts to walk over. Pomni doesn’t answer, but she follows her over anyway. At the table, the artificial lights shine down on the digital circus crew as they chatter casually, engaging in a lighthearted conversation. Pomni does not join. She stares at her plate: a misshapen chicken leg lies in the center, its squarish edges giving off a shiny plastic look. Her hands tremble as she picks up the fork, then sets it down again, her resolve crumbling. She forces a smile, but it’s wrong-a thin, lopsided grin that covers her face and makes her eyes squint and drift apart, the corners of her mouth curve up unevenly. It's the kind of smile you’d see on someone in an insane asylum, unsettling enough to make anyone shift in their seat. Yet no one seems to notice as she drifts off. She stands up, eyes still swirling. “I-I think I’m going to go lie down or something,” she weakly says. She turns around and heads in the direction of her room. Ragatha had shown her where it was earlier, and although she would never truly call it her own, she felt as if it were the only place she could be alone for a while. She needed to think some things through; taking time alone would help her out more than sitting with the others as an awkward tag-along newbie. “You know what, I could use a nap too,” Jax mentions, rising from the table. He wanted a chance to talk to this new character, see what she’s like, and find out what makes her tick. Although she’d likely not be in the mood for any shenanigans today-or maybe she would, though he doubted it. He scoffed to himself. As if anyone here appreciates his brand of fun. What was their problem with some light-hearted chaos? He shrugs to himself and quickens his pace to catch up with Pomni before she disappears into her room for who knows how long. Back at the table, Gangle glances back, “Do you think Pomni’s okay?” She asks. “I’m not sure,” Ragatha replies. She just hopes her new friend doesn’t abstract. Without Caine, they wouldn’t be able to lock any abstractions away. Not only that, but the thought of losing another member of the circus strikes her as the most terrible thing that could happen, and she wouldn’t wish it on her worst enemy. “Maybe we should all go back to our rooms,” Zooble adds. “I don’t know about you guys, but some alone time would certainly help me. They were about to say something else, but decided against it. After Caine's disappearance into the cellar, Zooble has felt a little strange. They stand up from the table, and Ragatha, Gangle, and Kinger do the same. The group heads off to their rooms. Each carrying an odd, heavy sense that something big is about to happen. Part 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1274171767/ I couldn't fit everything into this project because it was too long. I'll make a part 2 so you guys can finish this. I know it's a lot of words, but I do appreciate anyone who actually takes the time to read my silly weird story. :P
