Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"RISE AND SHINE MY LITTLE SUPER STARS! I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU WHAT I HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU TODAY!"

Caine's voice echoed through the large space as everyone was teleported to the main area of the circus. It was just another day.

The circus members looked extremely tired, the adventure Caine had sent them on yesterday was one of the most exhausting ones yet. Caine couldn't choose between the adventures he had planned and had decided to do all of them at the same time.

It was horrible.

"Uh, Caine? We would all use a break from adventures for today, we did a lot yesterday." Ragatha stood a little slumped over, like the rest of them.

"Yeah, yesterday was brutal." Zooble mumbled.

Caine froze and looked at the circus members, "You guys should be fine for today, adventure awaits!"

Jax sighed and ran a hand down his face, his usual big cocky smile was smaller and more exhausted, "Caine, even I'm tired. We don't want an adventure today."

Caine froze mid air and spaced out, his body shaped like a star and his cane starting to slowly float away from him.

Jax? Tired of adventures? Why he'd never heard of it! Usually Jax was the most enthusiastic about Caine's adventures and now he didn't want to participate? It was absolutely diddley donkley (and quite frankly) RIDICULOUS!

Everyone looked at one another in confusion with a twinge of nervousness before looking back at Caine. The sound of silence mixed with exhaustion was deafening.

He snapped out of it and swiped his cane back into his grasp before greeting them all again with a slightly crazed look, "Oh, hi there everyone!"

Pomni stepped forward, her hands rubbing together nervously, "Caine, please, we don't want an adventure today. I think Ragatha is right, and there's no harm in taking a break for today..."

"But I haven't even told you what it is yet! I'm sure you'll want to hear it!"

The group groaned simultaneously in annoyance, knowing that if they wanted rest, then they would have to hear him out.

Ragatha spoke for them on their behalf, "Okay, what's the adventure about today Caine?"

Caine smiled and spun in a loop, "I'm glad you asked Ragatha! I knew you guys would want a simple adventure after my totally and wonderfully planned chaos yesterday, so I thought I would give you all something about your pre–circus lives that you've all probably been DYING to know!"

They all went silent, shocked that Caine would even allow a little sliver of their past lives.

They had all been wondering about certain things when they had free time, such as what they looked like, who their family was, what their names were, if they had any friends. They had honestly no idea that Caine had all of this information on them.

He looked at each of them, wondering why they all went silent, "Well? Don't you wanna hear more or do you want your "rest day"?"

They all looked at Caine, suddenly not focused on how tired they all were and only wanted to engage in Caine's adventure.

"Tell us more!" Pomni said desperately, her eyes wide and her pupils small.

Caine somehow gained more energy and his voice got more cheery, "I'm so glad you asked Pomni! In today's adventure, you will all get to see what you looked like as humans! How exciting!"

Everyone's minds erupted into chaos. Questions, theories, worry, excitement, joy, and fear was what was looping around in everyone's heads.

Is this real? Is Caine actually doing this? What do I look like? What was I wearing? Is this a joke?

  ...

Is this a joke.

They all looked at Caine with suspicion. Jax spoke up, "Is this real or are you just trying to get us to go on an actual adventure?"

Caine looked offended, "I'm offering you all to see what you looked like before the circus and you all assume that I'm TRICKING you all? How offensive."

"I just wanna know if this is genuine, that's all."

"I assure you that this is 100% real. Because you know what they say about assuming, it makes an ass out of you and Ming!"

An NPC walked in front of the group, "Hi, I'm Ming. And I really don't appreciate what your assumptions have done to my reputation."

Zooble looked at Ming, "I thought you got rid of that guy?"

"How come he can swear?" Pomni muttered.

"I like Ming. Ming is cool." Caine explained simply, not hearing what Pomni uttered.

Ming walked away and everyone's attention was on him. Caine grew bored (he wanted the attention on him) and decided to get the adventure started already.

"Ok my little chicken nuggets! Off you go on your little adventure!"

He snapped his fingers and a portal opened underneath all of them, sucking them in.

The portal opened in mid air, and everyone fell through, landing on the ground with a thump. They all landed in a heap, legs and arms sticking out in various places of the People Pile.

Grunts and tired groans erupted as everyone got up, some hands stretched out to help people up.

No one helped Jax, who would anyway? And besides, he was fine on his own.

Pomni and Ragatha were the last to get up and she held out a hand for Pomni to grab. She smiled and gratefully took her plush hand, getting gently pulled to her feet.

They had landed in a long, dimly lit room, the walls were made of stone and the floor a tacky imitation of concrete, although it might as well have just been... grey?

There was nothing to decorate the place. No rugs on the cold floor, no paintings of Caine or empty frames to line the walls, no tables or chairs to fill the empty space.

There was, however, a metal door on the other side of the room. The door was just a normal door, a handle and a keyhole. Nothing special.

Caine had obviously not been bothered with the details.

"So..." Ragatha's hands fidgeted nervously, a small smile on her face, "I guess we just go through that door?"

"I think so." Kinger answered.

Jax pushed swiftly past her, a hand on his hip and the other swaying freely beside him, "Welp, there's only one way to find out!"

He walked over to the door and was about to open it before he turned around, "Do you wanna see what you freaks looked like or what?"

Zooble glared at him before sighing, walking over to where Jax now stood. The others followed suit, all of them excited yet nervous to see what they looked like before the circus.

Gangle stayed close to Zooble, her comedy mask had broken on impact when they all fell through the portal and she didn't like the dark that much. Zooble noticed and offered their hand, in which Gangle gladly took with a soft blush on her face.

Jax opened the door wide and they all went inside. One huge mirror was stuck onto the large wall in front of them, covering every inch. The floor stayed the same grey colour and didn't change.

Instead of the overly colourful character designs that Caine had given them as their new bodies, there were humans. Completely normal human beings that stood there, staring at themselves from the other side of the glass. No stupid avatar gimmicks, no weird shapes, no overly bright colours. Just people.

They all froze, every single one of them, and looked at themselves in the mirror.

Chapter Text

“Holy [#&@!]...” Zooble muttered, breaking the silence. 

They all moved, slowly but with slight urgency, closer towards the mirror until they stood directly in front of it. They all recognized themselves, they knew this was real. It was them. 

“Guys, look! It's us!” Kinger exclaimed, pointing at the human figures in the mirror. 

Kinger's beard was short and stubbly, with his hair being a dirty blonde colour and cut short. His eyes were still blue, like in the circus, but they were more human in a way. They were still kind, and had that same softness that he always carried with him.

His blue denim jeans and a checkered button up shirt with long sleeves that were folded up to the crook of his elbow rested on his light skin. His shoes were a light brown tied up by double knotted laces. 

His face held the beginning of wrinkles, but they were the wrinkles of smiles and joy and happiness, the wrinkles that held the memories of a good life, a happy and carefree one. Of love.

Pomni looked at his reflection, then to Kinger and smiled, “Yep. That's us.”

Kinger saw himself in the mirror and screamed, jumping back a little bit before muttering to himself and walking back to where he was. 

She turned and looked at her old features. She was taller in the real world, by quite a bit really. She had to be about 5’3”, which was tall considering her height of 4’1” now. 

She had shoulder length, wavy black hair and light blue eyes, her skin had a light tan and she was skinny. Not hourglass skinny but it was cute. She was actually kind of pretty. 

She noticed a silver nose ring in her septum and hummed in approval, she knew she had a piercing but she could never remember where. 

Her attention wavered to her outfit, which is (she was assuming) what she was wearing the day she entered the circus. 

She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans and black Converses, as well as a tight heavy metal band T-shirt. She remembered the band, Five Finger Death Punch; she went to their concert a few months before entering the circus with some of her friends. 

Wait. How did she remember that? 

“Heh, I guess I look as good in real life as I do here! And I'm not a shorty like Pom, bonus!" Jax smirked, looking himself up and down in the mirror. Pomni rolled her eyes. 

"He's not wrong though... WITH UH, THE LOOKS, I MEAN, HEIGHT, WITH THE HEIGHT. God, get yourself together, Pomni..." She blushed internally and wished to God that it wasn't visible on her face. She thought he was cute in the circus but him in real life? Too much to handle. 

Jax had light brown skin with light blue eyes and an eyebrow slit along with quite a fair bit of piercings. He had them in his eyebrow, lip, and a piercing in both ears, all silver. 

His hair was a dark brunette and was curly and messy, his locks coming down to just under his ears. He wore a baggy black hoodie and dark blue baggy jeans. It was hard to tell what his build was with all of the baggy clothing but, knowing Jax, he was bound to have a slim build. 

“Oh shut up Jax,” Zooble rolled their eyes, “You still look like a jack[$@#]”

He turned his head and grinned, looking their reflection up and down, “And you still look like a mismatched cash piano, Zoobie.”

Zooble did not look like that. In fact, they were absolutely slaying their style.

They wore knee high black boots and ripped jeans, a black leather jacket and a grey crop top underneath it, revealing a belly button piercing. Their hair was short and a dark red colour as well as having pale skin and hazel eyes.

Multiple piercings lined each of Zooble's ears as well as piercings in their nose, lip and their eye brow. They had black eyeliner and mascara to finish the whole look. 

Gangle blushed lightly as she looked at Zooble and squealed a little, "Zooble you look amazing! I remember you telling me you had piercings."

Zooble smiled at her and their reflection smiled too, "Thanks Gangle, you don't look bad yourself."

Gangle had long brown hair that was straighter than Zooble when they held their breath, it went down to the small of her back and she had side bangs. Her blue eyes brought out the freckles on her nose and cheeks and had a light tan. 

Gangle didn't have lots of piercings like Jax and Zooble, but had her ears pierced once on each ear, a silver star that hung from little chains. 

Her choice of clothing wasn't complex, but it suited her. She had simple black trainers and grey leggings, her baggy jumper (sweater, idk where you from) hanging off her small frame, but still comfortable. 

Jax rolled his eyes at their small exchange and walked over to Pomni, who was still looking at her reflection. 

"So, Pomni, didn't take you to be a rebel. I thought you only explored."

Pomni rolled her eyes and smiled a little, turning towards him, "Just because I look like a jester now doesn't mean I don't have anything else to me, and besides, I didn't think you'd look like that either."

Jax grinned and brought a hand to his chest, "Well, I have to be the pinnacle of masculinity somehow, Pompom!"

She just laughed a little, "Okay sure, you do you."

Jax looked at her in mock offence, "How dare you! You should know that my masculinity is top tier! I'm offended."

Pomni just scoffed with a smile on her face, "Okay, okay, I believe you!"

"[$@#&] right you do." Jax stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same. 

Pomni frowned, "Wait, do that again."

He raised an eyebrow, "What? Stick my tongue out?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged mentally and stuck his tongue out, but she didn't look at him, she looked at his reflection. He had a tongue piercing. 

"Ohhh, okay that checks out." Pomni turned back towards him. 

Jax frowned in confusion, "What checks out?"

"You have a piercing on your tongue. I just saw the shiney thing through the mirror and wanted to know what it was, that's all."

"Ohhhh, okay, fair enough."

Ragatha walked over to them with a shocked look, but still had a small smile on her face, "This is really weird, seeing yourself after so long."

Pomni turned to her, "Yeah, it is isn't it? I know I haven't been here as long but, it's still the same feeling in the end."

Ragatha nodded and looked at Jax and Pomni's reflection, "Wow, you guys look really good."

Pomni smiled with a little embarrassment and Jax took the compliment with full pride, "Oh, thank you Raggie. I know, we both look great."

Pomni tried to ignore the fact that he said she looked great (shes freaking out inside) and focused on Ragatha, "The same goes to you too, Ragatha!"

Ragatha smiled, "Thanks Pomni."

Ragatha reflection had fair skin and long, curly blonde hair that came down to just past her shoulders, her eyes gleaming in a soft green colour.

She wore denim overalls with a large front pocket and small pockets on her sides and wore a plain, white, short sleeved T-shirt underneath them and had brown leather boots with small heels. 

Zooble and Gangle walked over and gave a small wave. They'd been getting a lot closer recently and everyone had noticed, and everyone wanted them to get together, even Jax. 

"Don't you think it's weird that Caine has this information on us?" Zooble crossed their arms.

Ragatha held her hands in front of her, "It is really weird, isnt it?"

"Yeah, I wonder how he even has this information in the first place." Pomni added. 

"Caine most likely kept the data collection that has our biometric data entailed inside, which we all came here with when we entered the circus. Therefore, allowing Caine to hold all of the information into his and/or the games data storage which let's him see what we looked like in the outside world." Jax replied casually. 

They all stared at him in shock, "I'm sorry, what?" Zooble asked, Jax just scoffed. 

"It's probably came with the data that we brought with us and Caine's just stored it." Jax explained, rolling his eyes. 

A round of "ooh's" went around the room, followed by Pomni's head turning around to see Kinger shuffling towards them. 

"There's a portal by the door, it's green!"

They all turned to face him, Kinger's floating hand pointing towards the portal. It was, in fact, green. 

They all hesitantly walked over to the portal, not wanting to leave incase they never see their real self again but also wanting to leave it behind, knowing that that world is long gone for them. 

Seeing their past selves was really mind blowing to them, and it made them feel a certain way. After being so used to their cartoon bodies it was uncanny to see something so real but know it was them at the same time. It was hard to let it emotionally sink in. 

They all stepped through the portal one by one, leaving the dark room with the mirror behind and walking into the bright, colourful surroundings of the circus tent. Their eyes burned temporarily before getting used to it again. 

Caine flew into the air, spinning on the spot before greeting them, "Welcome back my little coconuts!"

They all stood in front of him, wanting to keep that piece of themselves and to hold onto it tightly. 

"Caine, is there a way to keep that room in the circus?" Ragatha spoke for them all. 

Caine tapped his chin, "Well I suppose that would do no harm. Of course there's a way! I'll have that ready at some point this afternoon! For now, it's time for your digital feast for the day!"

The breath that they didn't know they were holding was released, the unspoken worry and tension was replaced by relief as they all sat down in their usual places. Kinger at the end with Ragatha sitting between him and Gangle with Zooble sitting next to her, Jax sitting at the end with Pomni taking the remaining seat. 

The usual cheerful chat was replaced with muttering from seperate conversations, conversation after conversation of what had happened in that room. Conversations of past experiences that they could remember, of what they used to do, of what new memories had resurfaced. 

Whatever that adventure had done, it had changed something within them. It gave them hope, a sense of individuality, a new burst of memories that they thought had been locked away forever, completely out of their reach. 

Caine had, for once, given something to hold onto about themselves in this circus. Something worthwhile, something important to them that wasn't something they thought was connected to them, something that only they could hold onto and give it a meaning. Something personal. 

After an exchange of goodnights from most of the circus members, they all went to their rooms quietly, each of them feeling the new air of something not quite clear, each of them thinking about their newly found experiences. 

This was a day that none of them would forget.