Chapter Text
Pomni's back screamed at her with the usual weird, buzzing feeling that pain in the digital circus usually wraught as one of Caine's many arms slammed her (and her fellow circus mates with her, barring Kinger, thank god) into the nearest wall with the force of a thousand suns. She wiggled fruitlessly as her face made contact with the firm wall, barely registering the others' barebones attempt at the same before Caine's ragged, booming voice spoke again from his malformed, disfigured maw:
"WHY DO YOU PEOPLE TORMENT ME?!"
In the blink of an eye, he was immediately in Pomni's space, and she steeled herself, finding no purchase against Caine's enormous hand or against the smooth, sleek wall that she was pushed against, and she pulled a face in retaliation.
"̷̞̜̊̾̉̋̿İ̸̡̮̣̺͕ ̴͙̖̍̇̍͝D̷̨͓̣͔͊I̷̪͔̚͜D̷̛͓͔̞͋̓̓̅N̴̟͇̙̗̈́'̷̳͝T̷͈̂̓̈́̊̚ ̸̛̯̱͕̖̀A̶͑̈̋̐͝ͅŠ̵̨͔͜Ḱ̸̬͙̹̽ ̸̻̭̯͛́͜Ṭ̵̑Ö̵̘̖͛͋͗͝ ̶͍͖̹̭͗B̸͍͉̈́̆̋͒͑E̴̟͙̲̼̗̿ ̸͔͇̻̋̓̈́ͅC̷̺̮̭̃̂Ṙ̷͙͕͆̀E̴̛̠̣̞̘͖A̷͓͙̱͓̋̃̓͒͝T̴̢̲̯̙̠͊́E̷̤̜͝D̷̨̠̙̤́͂̒͂!̵̘̯͕̼͖̈́!̶̟̣̼̄͑͐͒͠ͅ"̴̣̲̄̓̄̚
A noticeable glitch had entered his tone, and Pomni's eyes widened as he neared impossibly closer, grip on the others maintained.
"̴͖̠̼̟͍̼͔̂̌̈́̈́̓̿̔̔̾͗̈͂͗̈͠Į̸̘͉̞̗̼̪̫̼̻̳̲̖͖̠͓̘̥̝͓͔͓̌͛͗́͊͐́͆̈́͒̎̆͝͝͠ ̴̨̡̛̛̻͖͕͍̱̤̮͕̹̺͎̗̖̤̞̺̲͉̒́̋́͒̈́̇̃̔̑̃͋̂͋̌̊͠͝J̵̢̨͍̘͈͇̟͍̣̠͕̘̹̖̠̥̤̌͋͂͗̄̿̍̿̃͌̏͋̚͠͝U̶̡̢̩̼͖̲̦̻̻̦̳̯̰̤̭̞̰̭͓̰͎̝̩̒̉̅̅̈́̀̀S̵̙̲̼͇͇̟̦̝͔͑̿̌̒̊̓̾̋͆̓T̶̮͕̦̣̥̞̲̭̎̇̀̋̃̄̉̽̈́̔̊̚̕͜ͅ ̴̢̞̥̮͍͔̠̂̀̈̎Ẁ̴̛̪̭̱̹̰͉͈͕͓̳̪̝̯̙̟̝͔̯̳̲͒͌̍͆͂͑̔ͅA̵̢̻̯̻̠̤̣̣̭̫̩͕̦̎͂͌͌̉̊̈́͑̍̌͋̀͒̓̆̚̕ͅŅ̸̬̠̘̯̰̼͙͔̺̟͚͉̪̪͙͓͖̟͖̤̰̰̃̅̄̏͛̈́̽͒̀͆̈́͗̉̅͠T̶̢̖̺̬̗̼͓̘̩̱̜̝͙̜̓̅͐͒̀͆̽̽̀͜Ĕ̷̱͕̲̼̫͖̞̭̤̅̀̃̄̂̆̀̍̆̆̏̕͝͝Ḏ̸̡̡̙̥̠͍̅̃͐͑͂̓̉͑͌̅̐̍̐̅͐̿̋̑̐̕͜͜͜͝ ̸̡̢̢̺̺̗͒̀͒̀͂̈́̓͗̎̂̄͋̕̕̕͝Ṭ̸͈́́̈́̅́̈̈͗̍̏͌̃͋̄̅̌̔́̕͜ͅỌ̸̠̲̭͔̒͐̊̂͋̈́̕ ̴̨̼̗̠͈͕̠̗̗̲̙̥̮̟͈̖̰͒̽̍̇̈́̾̉͛͝͠͝͠F̸̨̳̟̙̠̞̤̰̲͚͎̫̬̮͍̞̹͈̾͂̇͆͋͘͜͝U̸̧̧̨͍͈̦̣̗͙̰̬̺̞̾̐́̍Ḽ̵̡̺͙͔̼̝̝̖̫̫̩̮̟̮̙̗̭̗̺̇́̀͂̎̂̑͊́̍͗͌̚̚̚͝F̸̧̡͈̣̫̖̜̲̳̻͎͉͇̦̃̿͐̐́̎̆̆͋̋̋̎̇̅͊̎͋͆̊̈͒̚͝ͅI̵͈̯̺̠̖̲̫͎̩̐̈́̀̀͊͗̉̑̇̔̓͛͊̚͜͠L̷̢̮̦͈͉͙͔̘̮̗̠͂̿̔̽̉͘ ̶̢̨̢̡̛̞͖̼͇̘̘̻̩̹̼͎̟̠͕̺̤̜̉̆̉̓͒̈́̇̓̆̆͌̈́̿́́̃͘͠ͅͅM̴̼̞̮͍̜͙̩̮̰͙̪̈́͐͛͛̔̑͆͒̑̅͆̀̔̔͘͘̚͝Y̶̡̡̹̞̩̦̠͎̣̝̲̣̯̖̆ ̴̧̡̢̳͉̯̘̝̳̪̲̹̫͔̤͓̫̩̙́̄̐͌͆̿̓̎̽ͅP̴̨̭͓̪̺͈̠̙͚̭͙̙̖͈̓͋̿́̊͑̒͆͋̓͊͂̿̂̉̿̚̚͜͜͠͝ͅͅƯ̸̡̯̩̾͊̀͊̈́̍̏̈́R̸̨̡̘̪̜̙̲̻̳͎͇̊̍̎̓́̅͂̃̇̑͋̃̌̐P̴͈͖̠̠͔̱̆̆̅̽́̀̈́̅̑̇̈́̉̿̿͋̂͊͘͘͘͝͝͝͝Ơ̶̡͉̝̖͙̺̣̭̜͈̖͋̆͌͘͜͜Š̴̙͈̬̙͔̩̣̝̂̈́̐͊̈́́̐̊̾̉̔̀͑̔̚̕͝͝Ȩ̶̧̙̟̬̟̥̳̱͛̍̑!̶̢̡̛̛͕̞̙̲͛͂́̈́̎̋̿̀͘͘͝"̴̝͔̱̪̪͇̼̗̗̜̦̜̟̞̬͇̓̆̽̌̓̇̿
And then…
The grip vanished.
And with it, any chance Pomni had at defying the tentative laws of physics.
Namely gravity.
Left no time to even scream, Pomni collided with the ground half a split second later, and hit the ground with an audible THUD.
When she mustered both the physical strength and mental courage to look up again, Caine had returned to his normal form. The previous elongated, almost spider-like limbs seemed to be long forgotten, as if it had simply been a figment of her imagination. Wouldn't that have been a real treat. Caine, for his part, was looking at them all with widened eyes. Almost as if he were… scared.
Which just couldn't be, he'd just made it all to clear for the last time that he couldn't navigate human emotions the same way that Pomni and the other humans could. The guy couldn't emotionally navigate himself out of a paper bag. #̸̟͠@̶̨̼̞͐̀*̴͙͉͚͑#̵̙̘͎̄̒, he'd proven it by turning the worst recesses of their tortured minds against them like a pack of rabid wolves. Or crocodiles, in her case.
Caine's pupils shrank, and his upper 'jaw' scrunched upwards in lieu of a pair of human eyebrows pinching up in a show of concern or shock.
"Wait—"
Pomni felt it before it happened. Be it in the air or something else entirely. Something had shifted. Her eyes darted to her left: Jax and Zooble. Jax had raised a gloved hand level with his chest, and was staring at it, his own gaze flitting to her. Zooble looked about as baffled as their limited scope of reactionary features allowed. She looked to her right: Gangle and Ragatha. Gangle's mask (and therefore her gaze) was ditzing from Caine to Zooble, and Ragatha spared Pomni a glance of concern, her arms spread out to brace for a fall that was yet to come.
Pomni returned her hesitant gaze to Caine, skirting backwards a little.
"Caine, what're you—"
Blink.
Caine's hesitance turned to a panic, and a gasp rang out from behind her. She was only just able to whirl around, and watch with horror as Ragatha was violently glitched from their plane of existence. Gangle stumbled back in shock, and Jax let out an odd, choked noise.
"RAGATHA!" Pomni shrieked, covering her mouth with a hand.
Zooble, eyes wide, turned on Caine. "Caine, it's over! We're done."
"Bring Ragatha back, and we can talk!" Gangle chimed in.
"I— That— That wasn't me!" Caine muttered, agast in his disbelief. With a fervor unlike anything Pomni had seen from him until very recently he furiously began to snap his fingers at the spot where Ragatha had just stood, but to no avail.
If it had been any other time, she might have lamented on how he had, not thirty seconds ago, been ready to tear them all, Ragatha included, limb from limb, and was now trying with all of his might to reverse the perceived damage. Pomni had no idea what the others had been subjected too (and she doubted that Caine was so uncreative in that mobid state to just make the gummy crocodiles knaw on all of them), but didn't doubt that they must have been exceedingly cruel.
However, now was not any other time.
Jax stared, eyes moving between where Ragatha had just been and where Caine was snapping his fingers. "What the—" His hand began to glitch, and he let out a shout of shock.
"JAX!" Pomni exclaimed again, and Zooble backed away as Gangle gasped, bringing her ribbons over her mask.
Jax stumbled for a moment or two, even as Caine redirected his efforts to maintaining Jax's presence. In his frenzy, Jax fell backwards, but rather than collide with the ground, he fell past it as the rest of his avatar glitched from existence.
Zooble blinked, eyes darting across the room "What the %̶̜̹̌ͅ*̸̛̱͙͌͐#̷͍͗͘^̴̱̭̐ is this?"
"I— I don't know!" Caine mustered, in an entirely new panic now. "This— This wasn't supposed to happen! How…"
"Wasn't supposed to—" Zooble trailed off, one eye twitching with pent up anger that Pomni was almost confident masked their fear for their safety.
"Uhm…" Gangle's high-pitched voice drew attention to her, as Caine trailed off, only for Pomni, Zooble, and Caine to find that now Gangle's mask and ribbons were glitching all the same that Ragatha and Jax's avatars had only moments before.
"GANGLE!" Pomni and Zooble both exclaimed, while Caine's eyes nearly shot out of his head, flitting around to try and reverse… whatever damage had taken place.
"Caine, move!" Zooble hissed, reaching Gangle before Pomni could even think to take a step, despite being far closer to her than Zooble. "Hey, hey, Gangle, you're gonna be fine, okay?"
Gangle blubbered something that Pomni couldn't quite decipher, but whatever it had been had been bad enough for Zooble to wrap two cautious arms around Gangle's… well, gangly ribbon limbs as porcelain tears fell from her mask.
"It's going to be okay, just breathe, alright?" Zooble cooed, voice as soft and comforting as Pomni had ever heard them. It made her feel as if she shouldn't be there witnessing it at all.
"I'm glad we were friends," Gangle sniffed with a shaky smile. "You were… The best friend I've ever made."
With that, Gangle's lean avatar vanished from Zooble's arms, and, therefore, existence itself. Zooble's arms crumbled into their chest with the lack of a person between them. Pomni was almost sure that she saw tears well up in Zooble's mismatched eyes. She could only stare for a long moment before feeling finally returned to her limbs, and with it, her physical agency.
"Zooble?" Pomni tried, walking into their line of sight. "Are you—OOF!"
Zooble's clawed hand had reached out and given Pomni a small yet deliberate tug, drawing her close enough to embrace, hold loose enough that Pomni could still strong arm her way out.
"Zooble?" Pomni repeated. "What's— Are you…?"
"I—" Zooble paused, as if to take a breath with the mouth or nose they didn't have. "I think it's going in reverse order."
Pomni blinked. "Oh." Another pause settled between them as her thoughts caught up to her ears. "Do you know where we're going?"
Zooble shrugged. "Dunno."
Pomni felt the weight against her back recede and then reestablish itself, as if waning in and out of merely existing.
"I'm glad I got to know you."
"…I'm glad I got to know you too. Sure made t̴̞̄ḧ̶̜i̵͉̓ņ̷̂g̴͍͛s̴̲̄ ̸̨̈́a̸͚͠ ̸͇͆l̵̟͊i̸͉̾t̸̊ͅt̴̤̀l̴̰̆ĕ̷̳ ̵̦͂l̶͖̇e̶̡͐s̵̖̏s̶͇̋ %̴̣́͜ͅ#̵͙̻̆͆*̵̧͒̿^̶̟̚͝^̸͖̋͑͝@̷͕̖̜͒ a̸̜̳̅̃͑̃͌̄͝r̸̥̳̱̘̬̃͌̾͐́̊ǫ̴̞͉̘̖̽ụ̵̢̨̑͊͘͝͠͝n̷̝͓̑̽͛d̷̛͕̤̽̀̓͆͒͝ ̴̨͖̭̿̑̆h̸̩̹͓̮́́é̶͍͖̯͕͜r̷̡̤͉̳̯̆̍͐͆̒͋͝ͅé̵͔͍͚͕͆͂̓͠͠͝." Zooble's words were mangled and distorted as they spoke, the glitching becoming worse as it reached their head.
Pomni shut her eyes, and after a moment, she was alone, and she nearly fell through the spot where Zooble had just been holding her. Except for Caine, but right now, it didn't feel like he counted all that much. The tiled floor beneath her was quickly dampened with tears of her own.
If Zooble had been right, then Kinger must have vanished as well.
Miraculously, the whole situation made sense. Something was bound to give, and between Caine's… whatever-it-was, and Kinger messing with the code, Pomni supposed that something had to give.
How frustratingly poetic that when everything made sense for the first time since she'd landed in the circus, she was alone for the first time too.
As her own avatar began to glitch, and Caine's panicky murmurings faded in and out of earshot, she realized that for almost the first time since, excluding the adventure with the angel when she had been with Kinger, this was the first time she didn't want to be alone in any way.
The last thing that Pomni registered before her vision was filled with a white void of static overtook her senses was Caine's anxious eyes turning to her, jaw moving in words she could not quite make out.
By the time her vision had cleared, Pomni could do no more than blink rapidly to quell the swelling pain in the back of her eyes. The feeling was akin to when she had stared into the sun as a child during a solar eclipse to see what would happen.
If memory served, her mother had shrieked once she found out what her daughter was doing. As expected, Pomni had permanently damaged her eyesight, making her prone to blind spots and blurriness, which led to her almost constantly needing glasses with a very expensive prescription.
Pomni blinked.
How did she remember that?
She felt her face. The odd texture of both her pallid skin and rubber-hose gloves had been replaced by the feeling of soft fabric and supple, porous feeling of human flesh.
For a long, agonizing moment, she could only hear the sound of her own breathing and her heartbeat.
"Holy fuck."