#THE HANDS REACHING OUT TO POMNI AND CATCHING HER

[kit-kat-jo]

WHAT THE FUCCCKKK WHY DID IT END LIKE THAT??? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[snoopy7c7]

Swapped Wonderland Excerpt

Swapped Wonderland AU I'm working on alongside @dragon-createsand @endomentendo

Jax: “And last on our stop is just delivering this letter to the Red Queen.”

Pomni: “Today’s certainly been a productive day, wouldn’t you say?”

Jax: “It was most efficient, I admit. Despite some unpleasant moments.”

Pomni: “What was that?”

Jax (flustered/changing subject): “Uh-up ahead! I can see the castle coming up in the distance.”

(Pomni looks ahead to see the castle. She stops dead in her tracks, dropping the bag. Jax is still walking before he notices Pomni missing from his side.)

Jax: “Ms Penny? What are you doing?”

(She doesn’t answer. Annoyed, Jax approaches her.)

Jax: “Ms Penny, come on we need to finish this. Stop fooling arou-”

(But he stops when he notices her shaking in place. Tilting his head he waves his hand in front of her.)

Jax: “Ms Penny?”

(She doesn’t react.)

Jax: “Hey come on now, quit fooling around. Let’s just deliver the letter and-”

(He reaches out to softly touch her shoulder as her breath hitches. She suddenly pushes him back as she lets out a deep wail.)

Pomni: “NO! DON’T GO IN THERE!”

(Jax stumbles back, looking back in shock.)

Jax: “Don’t go? I have to do my job.”

(She hunches over as she presses her hands to her head, crying out.)

Pomni: “I CAN’T GO BACK THERE! THEY TOOK THEM FROM ME!”

(Jax begins to feel his skin prickle, this has far turned from a joke.)

Jax: “What are you talking about? You’ve never even been to the castle before.”

(He reaches out his arm only for the girl to cower back, clouded from her own mind.)

Pomni: “PLEASE! DON’T HURT ME!”

(His eyes widened.)

Jax (low): “Hurt you?”

(Jax steps forward as he kneels down to her level. She had tears streaming down her face, her vision unfocused.)

Jax: “Hey Penny? Penny. Penny, listen to me, whatever it is, you’re not there now. You're okay.”

(Pomni shakes her head, beginning to shake uncontrollably.)

Pomni: “I’M-I’M SORRY, PLEASE. JUST DON’T HURT THEM."

Jax: "Hurt who Penny?"

(Her one eye was closed shut as she held onto herself tightly.)

Pomni: "MOM! DAD! DON'T GO!”

(Jax’s eyes widen as he shakes his head slightly. He places his hands firmly on the sides of her face as he forces her to look up at him.)

Jax: “Pomni, LOOK AT ME.”

(Pomni gasps for a second as her eye connects with his. She blinks for a second. The light in her eye seems to come back. She’s now focusing on him. Fresh tears start welling up before she feels herself grow weaker. Jax catches her as she leans into his embrace, sobbing uncontrollably. He holds her close to his chest as he tries to comfort her.)

Jax: “Hey, hey you’re okay now. You’re okay.”

Pomni (choking out): “I-I d-don’t know what h-h-happened. I’m-I’m s-s-sorr-”

Jax: “Shh don’t apologize. Just try to focus on your breathing.”

(Her chest heaved up and down. Jax felt his chest become heavy with burden as began to take deep, calming breaths. It took a minute for Pomni to catch on as she did her best to match his breathing. She calmed a little but was still worked up, huffing and sniffling. Jax looked to the side, they had dropped their items and the letter from the whole ordeal. With his free hand he gathers them and manages to put them back in the bag. Putting it over his shoulder, he then slipped his arm around Pomni and hoisted her up. He gave a grunt as he looked back at her.)

Jax: “I’m taking you home.”

Pomni (growing emotional again): “B-But y-your l-letter.”

Jax: “It can wait. Let’s go home.”

(As he starts walking, Pomni can’t stop the tears as she just presses her face into his chest, beginning to sob once again. Jax kept his eyes forward as he pressed her closer to his embrace. Despite the deep pain in her chest and head, being held so close by him, she felt a deep seeded peace as she managed to calm enough to say.)

Pomni: “Yes, let’s go home.”

[lilyclawthorne]

Ok so TADC has already shown that it seems to be a fan of parallel imagery.

We’ve got Kaufmo being placed in the cellar being paralleled by Pomni’s own abstraction nightmare.

Then from there Pomni reaching out as she falls being paralleled by everyone catching her.

Following this pattern, it’s possible there’s another parallel where instead of everyone catching Pomni, it will be Pomni catching someone else who is starting to slip.

Of course, there has already been a moment where Pomni reached out to help someone, and ultimately failed, that also has great potential for a parallel where Pomni is reaching out to catch someone when they need help.

I’m just saying. If they do continue to use parallel imagery, I could foresee a moment where Pomni is reaching out for Ragatha’s hand and catching her as she begins to abstract, refusing to let go even if it hurts this time.

[the-s1lly-corner]

HAIII!!! Could you write a TADC cast x child reader that is a weighted pillow (could be parental like or sibling-like (plantonic)). Like the reader is basically temperature proof and gets carried around like a light sack of potatoes, or used as a pillow in general! Since the reader is a pillow they sew themselves clothes (a.k.a cushions) that match the others and also sews things for the others. Is also used as a comfort pillow or plushie. It's alright if you don't wanna write this! I completely understand 😊

Various TADC characters a child!weighted pillow!reader (platonic)

Speaking of weighted stuff, I got a weighted blanket last year and god I do not regret it-- only complaint is that it's hard to fold due to its weight

Characters: jax, pomni, kinger

Notes: platonic post, gn reader, short post, you and jax have more of a sibling dynamic whereas pomni and kinger are more like parental guardians

CWs: none

JAX

he thinks its funny how sometimes you just. drop like a sack of potatoes. its the thud that gets him- of course hes going to casually ask you if youre alright... and you always are, so its nothing to really worry about

he doesnt really seek you out as a pillow or plushie, hes not really the type to find comfort in those sorts of things... though... hes probably yoinked you up and used you as a pillow during adventures that required a lot of travel and being stuck in a car or something- youre put on neck rest duty

kind of rolls his eyes when you make an outfit for yourself to match with him- get your own style, kid... he doesnt make you put something else on, though so maybe he doesnt dislike it as much as he pretends he does

POMNI

youre a lot heavier than you look- not that your weight was crushing... she just didnt expect you to have a little weight to you..! she puts you down almost immediately to prepare herself to carry you off somewhere... you probably fell asleep after a rather exciting day

will instantly rush to you to check in on you after you fall and trip on your face with a nice healthy thud- she sometimes forgets one cant really get injured in the circus... but that still sounded like it hurt... you dont seem all that phased by it, though.. subconsciously lingers around you to try to catch you if you ever trip

doesnt really use you as a pillow or plushie, of course if you need to huddle into someone for comfort shes not going to stop you! weighted objects never did much for her comfort wise, though...

KINGER

with the way you fall he thinks you might have collapsed or died the first few times you face planted into the ground. you fall so quickly thanks to whatever weights your digital body carries... it kind of feels like tiny beads.. odd hand feel but its... soothing to roll them around between his fingers..

automatically becomes your dad figure- even if hes not totally there he feels compelled to be there for you in case something happens or you need something

has tried to catch you after you get lightly flung during an adventure. his hands get yoinked and pinned under you- completely failing to catch you... even still its an instinct to reach out and catch you when you plop down next to him for a nap

[the-evil-lovable-simp]

Caine x Jessica Rabbit Reader

The game was finally getting an update, you know for the adult audience, that will fly right over kids' heads. There was a whole new room and it was built just for you, (y/n) Rabbit.

"Everyone, I have brought you all here for the new update, and instead of an adventure, we will watch a show. Apparently, the star of the show is called (y/n) Rabbit!" Caine announced excitedly, this caught Jax's attention.

"Wait rabbit!?" Jax looked up.

"Oh god, we don't need another one!" Zooble scowled at Jax.

He scowled back at them about to make a snide comment about them until Caine started talking again.

"Ha! Yeah you might know her," Caine laughed as they all walked in. It looked pretty nice but it was kinda empty there were a few npcs scattered about. They all sat at three tables near each other, and the show started. The more the show went on with different people on stage the more it went on the more npcs pilled in, a lot of them were getting really excited, and some waiter npcs put drinks on the tables, they inspected it and it was alcohol, Caine sniffed it, this certainly wasn't family-friendly. Suddenly the lights dimmed and lots of people started clapping and ran to the bottom of the stage, the group looked around confused. Caine hollered waiter,

"What's up with everybody!?" he asked the wooden doll.

"(y/n) Rabbit is performing tonight," they answered and walked off.

"Everyone here's got a thing for rabbits then ay?" Caine said, the six turned to Jax, and he looked a bit uncomfortable. But then the music started and they all looked to the stage.

"You had plenty money, 1922~" a leg stuck out the curtain. You stepped out. Many of the npcs started whistling and cheering.

"You let other women, make a fool of you~" You sang as you turned in your sparkly dress.

Gangle was unphased with tears in their eyes, Zooble's eyelids lifted, Ragatha started blushing so did Jax, Pomni wasn't even paying attention, Kinger's pupils dilated, and Caines eyeballs bulged.

"Why don't you do right~" you walked over the wall.

You leaned against it and slid seductively down.

"Like some other men do~" you sang, Caine's jaw lowered. You walked over to an npc that was leaning towards your legs,

"Get out of here~" you kick them away.

This finally catching the attention of Pomni and she was shocked at what she saw.

"Get me some money too~" Caine's bottom jaw dropped on the table. You started to walk down the path of the stage.

"If you had prepared twenty years ago~" npcs gathering around your feet.

"You wouldn't be wanderin' now from door to door~"

One npc got close and you put your hand on his face and pushed him down,

"Why don't you do right~" You walked in the seven's direction.

"Like some other men do~" you sang as you stepped on the table with Kinger, gangle and Zooble. Caine reattached his jaw.

You put your hand out for Kinger to take, and he did, helped you down.

You went behind him, reached for his head, bent down and pinched his cheeks.

"Get out of here~" you got a handkerchief from nowhere and shined his head with it and dropped it, and he caught it.

"Get me some money too~" you then proceeded to walk up to Caine,

You were much bigger than he was and he was very small compared to you so it was a funny sight when you sat on his lap.

"Get out of here~"

Caine was suddenly very nervous and the six watched in amusement.

You put your hand under his jacket touching his shoulder, and grabbed his top hat. Leaned in like you were gonna kiss him and he leaned in too.

"Get me some money too~" you shoved his hat into his face/teeth. He scrambled to put his hat back on, and you got off him and went around behind him stroking his shoulder and getting on the table.

"Why don't ya do right~" you stretched your leg up posing, got up again, turning and leaning on the table towards Caine.

"Like some other men~..." You grabbed his bow tie and pulled him up off the chair. Your lips really close to his face. Caine started to sweat, you could hear npcs ohing in the background and then one going so far as groaning.

"Doooooooooooooo~" You let go of his bow tie, he forgot he wasn't floating and crashed back onto the chair. You walked back on stage and the curtains went back down covering you up. All the npcs stood up cheering, roaring, screaming, whistling. The seven sat there in silence, well, except Kinger, he was clapping with the npcs.

Should I make a second part?

[justaragdollysblog]

The Sauce That Makes You Stupid

wanted to do a fic about a concept i’ve seen a few people talking about! this fic will contain mentions of drugs and dependencies

if you ever need assistance w something like this or someone to talk to, (800) -222-122 is a hotline! pls stay safe <33

TW: Drug Dependency, Anxiety, Mentions of tripping, Hurt/comfort

——————————————————————

4 days, 96 hours, 30 minutes and 20 seconds.

That’s how long it’s been since the fast food adventure.

That’s how long since Ragatha got the sauce in her eye. How long since she rubbed it in.

She hadn’t been able to relax since.

Sure, relaxation was hardly common in the circus anyways. There was always a slight urgency and alertness, even in the late hours of the night. No one really truly was safe.

But, after the effects wore off, Ragatha told herself it was a one time thing. No big deal. She’d move on, and the whole experience would fade to the back of her mind like all the rest of them.

Then why couldn’t she stop thinking about the sauce?

She was currently in her coquette bedroom, fiddling with her red yarn locks. Her foot was tapping against the floor quietly. She needed to stay moving; but she had no idea why.

Her mind drifted as she recalled the adventure. It was all hazy after that mannequin demanded the burger. The sauce. The sauce that makes you stupid. The sauce that makes you feel like you’re made of electricity when it’s gone.

Ragatha’s eye then drifted to her closet. Truthfully, it wasn’t gone. She had smuggled a bottle in, opting to explain it as ‘horseradish sauce’ to Caine. He didn’t see a problem with it.

She eyed the handle. No, she couldn’t think like that. There was no way she’d look at the stuff again. She was mean to her friends and basically useless on it.

No way. Nope.

Ragatha moved before her mind could catch up with her. She walked over to her closet, and opened the doors. Behind a few dresses sits the bottle.

Just a little, then she’d be done. Just a little bit and she’d never do it again. She shakily reached out for the bottle, holding it as she stared at it.

She raised the bottle over her head, aiming for her eye. She was about to apply pressure, when-

“Ragatha!”

She yelped in surprise and scrambled to try and hide the sauce. The voice belonged to Pomni, who was standing in the doorway with a nervous and concerned expression.

“Pomni! What a surprise! What are you doing here?” Ragatha spoke a little too quickly and a little too frantically. Some of her red yarn hair was sticking out in places.

Pomni eyed her worriedly. “Um, the theme’s about to start. Have you…slept at all?” She asked, uncomfortably shifting her position.

Ragatha blinked. It was already theme time? “Oh, I’m fine! Right as rain, Poms. Just didn’t sleep, you know how it is here!” She forced a smile.

Pomni didn’t miss how her hands seemed to grasp on to anything to fidget, and how her closet door was open. “Right…uh, why’s your closet open?”

Ragatha internally cursed herself for not closing it. “Oh! Just…getting ready for the day. Hard to get prepared without proper clothes!”

Pomni shakily nodded. She knew something had to be up. Ragatha was never this frantic and skittish. However, she surmised, it wouldn’t be solved right now. The gang was waiting and the theme wouldn’t complete without them.

“Well, I guess we better head out to the stage. Maybe we can try to hang out later after the adventure!” She suggested, managing a hopeful smile.

Ragatha hesitated, eyes darting to the closet and back quickly. She could feel something terrifying stitch itself in her threads. Something horrid.

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. “Yeah, let’s go.”

She headed out with her, closing the door behind them. She’d be okay. She didn’t even really need it.

She just had to wait until the evening.

————————————————————

Hi guys! I wanted to try and tackle a different subject matter in this fic! i hope i did an okay job :)))

pls don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re struggling!

reblogs are appreciated! see you guys next time!

[wiskeysworld]

Sending this from a throwaway account but there seems to be a significance between hand holding in the amazing digital circus—as we see it countless times throughout each episode.

But the one I want to focus on, is the one that didn’t happen. The one in the pilot episode between Ragatha and Pomni.

Pomni abruptly leaves after her hand turns glitched in fear of what might happen, snatching her hand back as a result. But her willingness to help a stranger nonetheless is what sets this apart to me.

In the second episode we see the opposite of this parallel. Instead of Ragatha needing support, it’s Pomnis hand that reaches out, and Ragatha who catches her. A momentous build of trust from her, knowing that these people around her will support her unconditionally.

Which leads me to the theory that this will come back full circle and ultimately it’ll be Pomni who reaches out to Ragatha in hopes of getting her to stay. I’ve seen countless theories all around of Ragatha abstracting and I wouldn’t put this completely out of the picture. In episode one we see Pomni hesitating to help her but as the time passes, they open up and learn to trust each other.

If Ragatha were to abstract itd be the other way around, like we saw with kingers wife, it’s possible if soothed the risk of injury lessens but either way I feel like Pomni would keep a steady grasp at Ragathas hand—not wanting to let go of her as she did the first time.

[bubblebear4life]

A/N: Hmmmmmmmmmmm surprise fanfic ^w^

Infected With Giggle bugs

Caine is being a menace, and Pomni needs to get the truth about this silly behavior.

The tent was surprisingly peaceful today, or as peaceful as it can be inside The Amazing Digital Circus. The humans were off enjoying their own activities after yet another adventure filled with slime. Yes, slime. They'll never understand why Caine incorporates so much slime into their adventures.

One such member hums happily, snuggling deeper into the plush couch she was reading on in the lounge area. It's not often Pomni gets to actually relax from all the chaos that consumes her daily digital life. She takes a deep breath, enjoying the momentary silence.

A quick poke to her side caused the breath she was taking to catch in her throat. The jester turned to where the poke had come from, but she saw nothing there. She looks around, hesitating before returning to her book. Maybe she imagined it?

Suddenly, she felt a poke on her other side, causing her to jump and let out a small squeak. This time, Pomni heard what seemed like faint giggling coming from her right. However, when she turned to confront the source of the sound, she found she was still alone.

Pomni shook her head, the bells on her hat ringing along with the motion. "H-hello?" She called out, her anxiety beginning to put her on edge. What if it was a rouge NPC? Or Jax. The thought of Jax playing a prank on her made her groan.

Until that groan was replaced by another squeak and a slight giggle of her own when she felt a poke in her left side. Seriously, what is going on!? Pomni frantically searched the lounge for the culprit, but she couldn't find a living soul.

Pomni tapped her foot in concentration. Since whoever was messing with her didn't want to reveal themselves, she would have to force her hand. A rare smirk appeared on the usually jittery jester's face as she planned her trap.

The small girl shrugged, pretending that she thought it was nothing. She picked up her discarded book and returned to her spot on the couch. Although she appeared to be reading again, she was actually waiting for the culprit to strike once more.

And strike they did.

First, Pomni heard muffled giggling. She continued to act as though she hadn't noticed it. Then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar pair of dentures with large, floating eyes peeking out from beside the arm of the couch.

When she saw Caine's hand reach out to poke her right side, Pomni dropped her book and grabbed his hand, exclaiming, "AH HA!"

Caine gulped, knowing he was caught red-handed. How did he plan to escape his fate?

With the truth, of course!

"Why, hello, P-Pomni! Uh- wh-what brings y-y-you... here?" (Caine. Honey. That isn't the truth -_-') Caine chuckles making his teeth chatter with nervous energy. He taps the couch with his free hand, trying to seem casual.

Pomni saw right through him and got straight to the point. "Were you the one poking me?" She asked, leveling him with a skeptical stare.

"Me? Poke you? Now, why would I ever do that!?" Caine proclaimed, having the nerve to act offended.

He didn't plan to back down, huh.

Pomni huffed. It's obvious the AI is lying. The Ringmaster's expressive cartoonish eyes told everything as they flickered from side to side, looking anywhere but at her. "Caine. I'm going to give you one more chance to tell the truth."

"I've given you the truth, my dear!"

Caine had his chance. She'll have to get the truth the hard way.

Pomni tsked in disappointment, a rare feeling of playfulness and mischief overtaking her. She took Caine's other hand and pulled him over the side of the couch and into her lap.

The Ringmaster lets out a surprised yelp, staring at Pomni in bewilderment. "Wh- Pomni!"

Pomni didn't give him much of a chance to react before she formed her hands into claws and began tickling his sides. "What was that, Caine? I couldn't understand you!"

Caine was completely taken aback by the timid jesters' behavior. And she's teasing him! Has the digital world gone insane!?

Nope. It was just Caine who was going insane from the tickling, causing tingling feelings all throughout his code, making him giggle. "Not the tickles! Not the tickles!" He cried out between hiccups, kicking his legs and lightly pushing at her hands.

He didn't want to accidentally hurt her- That's why he barely fought back. (Caine, you're lying again.)

"Wow, Caine. It seems you're infected with the Giggle Bugs!" Pomni giggled along with the AI, enjoying the silliness of the situation. Caine's crazy energy must have rubbed off on her from their time spent together. She has become fond of the Ringmaster over the past few... however long it has been. He tried. He really tried to understand and make friends with the circus members. Pomni couldn't stay mad at his goofy face for long. "Are you ready to tell the truth?" She asked, squeezing up where his ribs would be.

"Yes! It was me! I surrender!" Caine exclaimed loudly, admitting to his guilt. He snorted at the squeezing causing his jaws to turn a deep tomato red.

Pomni giggled some more, cooing softly at the adorable sight. "Alright. I think you've learned your lesson." She immediately stops the tickling, now simply holding him in her lap.

Caine pouts once he calmed down, closing his mouth and facing away from her. "Meanie," he mumbles.

Pomni smiles softly, patting his top jaw knowing he didn't mean that.

She knew he had fun.

[amazingmsme]

Come Out, Come Out

AN: happy digital circus release day! I couldn’t believe it when they announced the new episode date & it lined up with my first tadc fic! I had a harder time with this one ngl, so I focused most of my efforts describing the candy landscape lmao. Regardless, I still hope you enjoy! Here’s day 4!

Pomni had never expected to see Gummigoo again, especially not so soon. She tried to hide her excitement when Caine mentioned that today's adventure would take place in the Candy Canyon Kingdom, but she was uncharacteristically cheerful and excited.

So much as to vanish immediately upon their arrival.

It wasn't their first time back, and Pomni had since reunited with her friend, and was eager to catch up. And even though the other circus members were growing on her, she'd rather spend some quality time with Gummigoo...without them.

It didn't take her long before she ran into him. She filled him in on her adventures since she last saw him, and in turn, he told her about everything that's happened to him in the meantime.

As he talked, Pomni reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt, taking a dry, crumbly bite.

"What're ya doin' mate? Spit that out, it's trash."

"What? Everything's candy! It tastes like an orange pixie stick!"

"An orange what now?"

"It's a type of candy where I come from," she explained.

"Yeah, well there's better candy," he teased, chuckling when she shoved him.

"Hey! It's good!"

"Could be better. C'mon," he stood and brushed himself off, walking away. She jumped up, following behind.

"Where are we going?"

"To find you some real candy."

"Wha- this is real candy!"

"Well then, I'm showin' you where to find the really good stuff," he smirked, glancing at her from over his shoulder to make sure she was keeping up.

He lead her to a large candy rock mountain, coated in a rich chocolate with mint garnish acting as natural foliage. The dirt here was a dark cookie crumble, with larger pebbles that made it easier to lose your footing. Pomni watched her step as they continued their ascent, and Gummigoo caught her when she nearly slipped in a chocolaty mud puddle. The higher they climbed, bright colored crystals stuck out from beneath the sweetened earth. Pomni paused to catch her breath and allowed herself to take in her surroundings.

"Whoa... it's beautiful up here," she said, staring out at the view from the mountain. Tall licorice trees spotted the countryside, and in the distance, she could see a herd of gummy deer hopping through a meadow of cotton candy. In a nearby mint shrub, a small chocolate bunny nibbled on a leaf, twitching its ears in her direction.

"Sure is. I like to come up here to get away sometimes. That's when I discovered this," he said, leading her down a narrow rocky path to a cave opening. "Go ahead, look inside."

Pomni did as she was told and peaked her head inside the cave. She let out a quiet gasp, her pinwheel eyes growing huge at the dazzling sight.

Inside the cave were large candy rock crystals of all colors and sizes. Rays of light filtered in through the mouth of the cave, bouncing off the crystals to create a truly radiant display. She took a step inside to get a better look, and notices a light pink liquid trickling down the rocks and dripping from the ceiling.

"It's pink lemonade. Go on, try it," he said, walking up from behind. He cupped his hands beneath where it was dripping at took a drink. She did the same, sipping slowly.

"I think that's the best lemonade I've ever tasted!" she exclaimed. She stuck her head beneath where it was dripping and opened her mouth, catching the drops as they rained down.

Gummigoo chuckled and did the same, "Ain't it though? Always best when it comes straight from the source."

"I'll say," Pomni agreed, wiping her mouth when it began to run down her chin. "So what other secrets have you been hiding?" she teased.

"Don't know whatcha mean, I'm an open book. But, that reminds me! This place is perfect for hide an' seek."

"Really?" she asked curiously, grabbing a chunk of candy crystal off a larger rock. She took a loud, crunchy bite.

"Oh yeah, it can get pretty boring sometimes. It's actually pretty fun, and not as easy as you'd expect," he explained. Now Pomni was intrigued.

"It sounds like fun! Would you wanna play?" she asked sheepishly.

"Sure thing, I'm always up for a round of hide an' seek! Since it's your first time here, I'll let you hide first. Y'know, let yourself get acquainted with the cave," he joked. She giggled along, rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means have fun an' get to hiding! Or I'll getcha!" he playfully threatened, holding his hands up in menacing claws. She yelped and took off running deeper into the cave. She wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Pomni ran further into the cave as Gummigoo covered his eyes and began counting. She noticed a few decent hiding spots along the way, but she continued looking until she found one that seemed suitable. She finally his in a large crevice behind a thick, blue crystal. She pulled off a chunk and took a lick.

Cotton candy. One of her favorite flavors.

She stuffed the candy in her mouth, quietly sucking on it instead of chewing. Finally, she heard him call out, "Ready or not, here I come!"

She tucked herself further into the hole, her vision warping behind the large crystal. She could hear his voice echo off the cave walls, his steps getting closer.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he cupped his hands to help throw his voice down the crystal tunnel. He didn't expect an answer, but he wanted her to know he was coming. It was all part of the game after all.

As he came around the corner, he saw the bright colors of Pomni's costume reflecting off the crystals and followed them like arrows leading the way. He came up behind, jumping out from behind the rock and grabbing her by the arm, yanking her from her hiding spot.

"Gotcha!"

Pomni screamed in shock, the sound morphing into a giggly squeal when Gummigoo began squeezing her sides.

"Gummigoo! W-whahat are you dohohoing?" she asked as she tried to wrestle his hand away.

"What, didn't I tell ya what happens when you lose?" The tone in his voice indicated he knew that he didn't tell her, and was just rubbing it in. She gasped when his hands traveled up to her ribs, biting her lip to contain her laughter. It was a moot effort, really, especially when she tried to answer.

"Nohoho, you dihidn't!" she argued lightheartedly.

"Really? Must've slipped my mind," he taunted with an amused chuckle of his own. He squeezed and poked at her belly, enjoying the steady laughter and occasional snort.

"L-liar!" she managed to choke out before falling victim to a giggle fit.

"Well that's not very nice," he mused, notably not denying it. Instead, he continued to scribble over her soft tummy, evading her efforts to stop him.

"Okahay ohohokay, stohohop!" she pleaded, and he stopped as soon as she asked. She caught her breath, shooting him a mock glare.

"Thahat was mean," she said, playfully punching his shoulder. He flicked one of the jingle bells dangling from her hat in retaliation.

"That was just part of the game," he teased, shooting her a wink. She rolled her eyes, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"In that case, it's your turn to hide," she said, poking his chest to emphasize her point. He let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well-" he started to protest, but stopped himself, letting out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, I guess that's fair."

She smiled and covered her eyes as she started to count.

[thescarletnargacuga]

Oh, hello! My first ask on this site, so I don't really know how to do this. My apologies ^^". Harlequin au has literally been eating my brain for weeks now! I've been reading your writing, and it's so inspiring! I hope to reach that level of writing someday. Anyway, I wanted to ask; we've already had Pomni protecting her little bean with teeth and nails, but what about Caine? I think it would be so interesting to see Caine in action, whether to protect Pomni or Cade, or both! (And English is not my first language; sorry for any grammar error.)

A/N: all I can say is practice! And read. The writing style of other authors will inspire your own, and don't be afraid to take constructive criticism

A/N: on to the request! How about protecting Cade and Anya?

THE DRAGON'S ROAR

A HARLEQUIN AU ONESHOT

WARNING: distress, family dispute

~~~

Deep in the heart of the City of Circuits, the occupation of sentient puppets was bustling with activity. Construction, trading, and just general life was being lived in the newly repurposed city. Amongst the milling crowd were two smaller puppets, no more than five feet tall each, running and weaving through an active construction site.

Cade ran up a stack of bricks to swing from a beam of wood being hoisted by a mechanized crane. He trapezed himself over the heads of some of the workers and dropped to the other side. Landing in a ruck and roll, he kept running. "Come on, slow poke! You'll never catch me at that pace!"

A few seconds behind Cade, Anya ran around all the obstacles. Taking the long way through the construction zone, she weaves her way through the workers. "Pardon me, excuse me, very sorry. WAIT FOR ME!" She calls after her half brother.

Cade parkours his way to the top of a stack of crates and sits like he's been there for hours as his sister catches her breath when she finally catches up. "I'm telling you, Anya, you aren't taking full advantage of these new bodies. We're TEENS now! We can run faster, jump higher, and actually fight now!"

"You've had one lesson." Anya rolled her eyes and adjusted her teddy bear in her small cross body bag. She had to make sure he could see out. "That hardly makes anyone a warrior."

"Maybe not yet, but it does get you THIS!" Cade unsheathed his wooden training sword. "You don't need to cut something to make a strike hurt! Ha!" He stood on the pile of crates and swung his sword in a practiced figure eight. However, his motions made the stack away and he lost his footing.

Anya grimaced as she watched her brother fall with the crates. She checked on him when the dust cleared. "You alright?"

Cade kicked a broken half of a crate of his leg. "Yeah. I meant to do that, by the way."

"Suuuuure." Anya offered her hand to help him up.

Cade swatted away her hand and got up before his pride was further damaged. "Whatever. You need to hurry up and get training too. There's still a lot of marionettes on the loose."

"I am training. Mom is teaching me the art of artifact reading and the science of soul magic. You'd benefit from a lesson or two."

"Ugh, you know I don't do books. They're boring." Cade walked with her beyond the busier central hub of downtown. The crowds thinned the further out they wandered.

"There's power in knowledge. More than any blade." Anya lifted her skirt before she jumped over a large puddle.

"Ragatha teach you that too?" Cade idly dragged his training sword along a ruined wall.

"Of course. The world has many things to teach us. There's more to know than physical prowess-"

Cade yawned obnoxiously loud. "Uh-huh. I know. Souls. Ooooh. Magical. Mom barely uses any soul magic and she overcame every obstacle in her way. I'd argue the sword is mightier than the soul."

"But Caine-"

"Don't get me started. Dad talks a big game but all he does is teleport around like an unpredictable jackrabbit. I've never seen him do anything actually impressive."

"Cade, it's been a time of peace since before we were born. He hasn't had to use his powers. He was the first sentient puppet, he saw the human-puppet war, he saw the creation of the marionettes. That doesn't garner respect?" Anya clasped both of her hands on her bag strap.

Cade thought a bit longer before answering. "Sure...It's just, he doesn't do anything but work with the council and builds. Does that even require soul magic?"

Anya shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. He builds things super fast. Like magic." She emphasized the last word with a smirk.

"Funny." Cade deadpanned. "Just wait until- what was that?" Cade stopped, sword held high. There was shuffling from the ruins to their right. "Who goes there!?"

A rat sprang from the debris and scurried away, causing Cade and Anya to jump. "Ha! Just a stupid rodent. Come on, let's catch it." Cade ran off after the rat.

"Wait! Cade! We shouldn't go too far out!" She called after her half brother, but he was already far ahead. Not wanting to be alone, she ran after him. "Wait for me!"

The rat race became another game of keep-up. The young puppets zig zagged through the maze-like ruins of the outskirts. The bustling and booming construction of the inner city grew faint.

The rat ran under a massive debris pile of an old mansion, shaking its pursuers. Cade hit his wooden award against the debris. "Dang it! Lost him! Oh well....ooo! Look at the size of this house!"

Anya came huffing up to Cade, "Why...do you...always...go so...fast? Where are we?"

Cade scoffed, "No idea, but check this out! It's almost as big as our house!" He climbed the partially collapsed west wing to the exposed broken staircase in the center of the mansion. "I think It would make a nice upgrade as a clubhouse, wouldn't you agree?"

Anya looked around tentatively, "I don't know... We're pretty far out from city center. I don't know if even the patrols go out this way. This is dangerous, Cade. We should head back."

"Danger? I laugh at danger! HAHAHAHA!" Cade exaggerated a defiant laugh.

Maniacal mechanical cackles echoed around them. Anya froze in place, petrified by the sudden realization that they weren't alone. Cade slid off the debris pile quickly, rushing to Anya's side. He had his sword drawn, held with both hands.

From the shadows came more laughter, broken and screeching. A tall, hunched, digitigrade figure lumbered into view. Then another. And another.

Six dog-headed, bipedal marionettes with blazing red eyes encircled the teens. The mechanical whistling and whirring from their bodies sounded like horrific cackling laughter.

Cade's soul shuddered in his chest. There were so many and they looked strong despite their rusted and withered frames. He spotted a weak support beam barely holding the second floor up over two of the marionettes. He grabbed a stone and chucked it at the beam. "RUN!"

The stone broke into the beam and brought down the second floor. The flying dust gave Cade and Anya an opening to escape between the confounded machines. Cade held Anya's hand, practically dragging her with him through narrow alleyways.

The half dozen marionettes dropped to all fours and ran after the fleeing prey. Three jumped to the roofs of rowed building and three stayed on the ground.

The mechanical barking and cackling of the marionettes made them feel only a step behind. Twisting and turning through the city, the teens met a dead end.

"Come on!" Cade climbed the broken wall and turned to help Anya up. To his horror, Anya's bag was grabbed by one of the marionettes and was dragging her back down. "No!" He threw himself at the marionette, bringing his hard wood sword down on its half broken head.

The marionette staggered and let go of Anya. She was in tears fiercely climbing away from the mechanized monster. Cade kicked away from the marionette he attacked and jumped to the other side of the wall with Anya.

They didn't even have a second to catch their breath. The marionettes clawed over the wall and snapped at the puppets. Anya grabbed her teddy out of her bag as she ran and squeezed its little hand three times.

The marionettes were closing in. Gnashing, cackling maws open wide, hungry for D.I.Es. One marionette pounced at the puppets. Cade caught it out of the corner of his eye and shoved Anya away. Its claws caught his leg and he stumbled. The young puppet was easily pinned, but he managed to keep his sword between himself and the marionette jaws. "RUN, ANYA!"

Anya crawled under an old iron cart that kept the marionettes at bay. Clawed hands reached for her as she squeezed the teddy bear's hand over and over and over. She couldn't watch Cade struggle against the marionette. She buried her face against the bear, screaming.

The clouds overhead darkened rapidly. Blue charge ran along the sky and gathered at a single point before striking the ground. In an explosion of blue light, all six marionettes jittered and shook in place. Their circuits fried and their fluid lines split open, leaking thick red fluid down their bodies.

The cackling stops. The machines fall to the ground, completely deactivated and smoking. Cade shoves off the marionette that was on top of him. Anya looked up to see Caine standing stoically amongst the carnage, not a speck of dust on his coat.

Anya runs to Caine and embraces him. "Thank you! Thank you!" She cries, black tears streaking down her cheeks.

Caine hugs her back, holding her until she was ready to let go. He looks up to see Cade wiping red fluid off his training sword. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine. We had it handled." Cade said coldly, kicking a marionette's head.

"You're not supposed to be out this far." Caine said firmly. "You're not ready to-"

"I just-!" Cade tried to start.

"You deliberately disobeyed me, and what's worse, you put Anya in danger!" Blue static rippled down Caine's body, his eyes flashing dangerously. "We are going home." He held Anya's hand and grabbed Cade's arm before blinking to the manor.

Upon arrival, Cade jerked his arm away and he marched to the training ground set up for him in the courtyard. He didn't look back.

Caine put a comforting hand on Anya's trembling shoulder. He was about to escort he inside when Ragatha came flying out the front door. "Oh my god, Anya! Baby, are you okay?? Caine rushed off in a hurry when you activated your beacon. What happened?"

Ragatha looked to Caine for answers, but he was focused on the direction of the training grounds. "Please, excuse me." Caine walked away, leaving Anya with her mother.

Cade was swinging his sword wildly at a dummy. He shouted his frustration with every swing.

"You know, enemies are typically easier to defeat when you don't announce the fact that you're attacking."

Cade swung around, pointing his sword at his father's throat. Caine didn't flinch. Cade glared at his father, breathing heavily. "Here to yell at me some more?"

"No. Your leg is still bleeding."

Cade looked down. His pant leg was torn open and there was a nasty gash down the back of his calf. Black blood seeped out slowly. "It-...it doesn't hurt. I'm fine." He grumbled and turned away to swing at the dummy some more.

"Why were you out that far, Cade?"

Cade scoffed, "Oh, now you care about why. It doesn't matter."

"You have very little combat training. Anya has none." Caine kept his tone even, but there was an underlying aura of anger. "Being out that far was reckless and stupid."

Cade swung his sword so hard, he decapitated the dummy. "You think I don't know that!? We were just having fun! Going on an adventure! As mom would say, shit happens!"

Caine bristled. "Your mother is also exceptionally experienced in reckless behavior, but she also does everything in her power to keep those around her safe. You want to put yourself in harm's way, that's one thing, but to endanger Anya like that-"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!! I WOULD NEVER INTENTIONALLY ENDANGER HER!!" Cad got in Caine's face, enraged. "I WOULD HAVE FOUGHT THOSE THINGS TO THE DEATH FOR HER!! They were ambushed, we ran, you saved the day. Congra-fuck you-lations. You're the hero. Is that what you wanted to hear? An ego stroke?"

Caine and Cade stared each other down. Both silent in their rage. Until Caine swept Cade off his feet in the blink of an eye. Cade dropped his sword and Caine held Cade down with the end of his cane. Blue static pulsed through the cane and into Cade's body, mildly stunning him.

Caine's voice struggled to hide his anger. "There's a lot about this world you don't understand. Training takes time. You want adventure? You want to be the hero? Lesson one: be patient. Ambition left untempered leads to self-destruction." Caine lifted his cane and walked away. For the first time in a long time, he needed a drink.

Cade sat up, glaring after his dad. As he got up, he noticed his leg didn't ache. He looked to see the gash was gone, his leg repaired seamlessly. His face relaxed some. Silently, he picked up his sword and practiced the readied stances his mother taught him.

[dragon-creates]

Five Times Jax and Pomni Share Dreams of Their Past Lives (And One Time Where They Remember)

Read on AO3

Read Part 2 Here

1/2/3/4/5/6

Jax and Pomni know that they can’t actually dream in this digital world, nor can they remember who they were before coming here. But after retiring to their sleeping quarters each night, they begin to have dreams of people who they have never seen before, not the circus themed cast of characters within this realm, but real people! Why do they seem do real? Why do these dreams feel more like memories? And why do these people remind them so much of each other?

I can't believe how much the silly circus show won me over, and how much brainrot these two have given me. I won't update for I while as I have other wips for different fandoms I'm working on but I wanted to get the first chapter up to help motivate me. Anyways I hope you like this and check out the rest of my tumblr to see what I get up to.

Also yes the chapter titles are Taylor Swift songs because I'm weak.

Fearless

The air was crisp and cool, though not to the point where people were shivering in their costumes, neon lights were in every corner anyone could see, flashing the paths with pinks, purples and green, different stalls and rides were up, ranging from candy apples and sweets stand to rollercoasters and Ferris wheels and every single person were dressed as either monsters, characters or whatever their imaginations would come up with. Truly, the festival had set the perfect atmosphere for Halloween…well, everyone except for Penny.

She was a short young woman, 23 years of age with long dark hair that reached her waste and curtain bangs along her forehead, with pale skin and a bony structure (she hated that part about herself).

It wasn’t that she was forced to come here – she had heartily accepted when her sister Riley and her girlfriend Winter asked – but now that she was here, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Penny wasn’t really the bravest person around, she flinched at the slightest sound, she dreaded talking to new people who would come her way and had relied on her older sister to help her out for most of her life, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t trying to overcome any of it. After all it wasn’t like she could control her anxiety, it was something she struggled with ever since she was little. But tonight, she wanted to prove that she was able to enjoy Halloween outside the comfort of handing out candy to trick-or-treaters from the safety of her home. So far, she really did like it, she had fun buying sweets and going on rollercoasters, and though it could be overbearing and loud sometimes, Riley and Winter would take her to a nearby café to help Penny catch her breath before doing something else.

However, this was part of the night that she both desperately wanted and dreaded doing…the haunted funhouse. She knew what was in there, jump scares, clowns and nightmares to last for the next few nights to come, but she didn’t want to miss out, now when she heard about how much fun people have had in there. She just wanted to prove that she wasn’t this scared little nobody, that she was a person who wanted to have fun like everyone else, to enjoy the things that everyone else had fun with. So here she was, dressed in a hastily sewn purple rabbit onesie of her own making (she had made it in a time crunch when learning about the festival) into a terrifying funhouse that deep down, where she wasn’t lying to herself, she did not want to go in.

“Penny no,” she turned to see Riley, holding Winter’s hand as the other girl was texting someone on her phone, “You know what your anxiety’s like, you don’t have to go in there.”

Riley had quite a lean build with noticeable muscle on her arms, she had shoulder length dark red hair, brown eyes and pale skin. She was four years older than Penny, and while she did seem a bit intimidating, she was always soft and protective over her younger sister.

“He’s still not answering,” Winter murmured, shaking her head, “He was supposed to meet us an hour ago.” Winter was slightly taller than Riley, with dark black hair and eyes with a tanned complexion. The two women were dressed in a couple’s costume, Riley as Poison Ivy and Winter as Harley Quinn, they were also supposed to meet with Winter’s friend, but the mystery person still hadn’t shown up yet.

“Maybe he’ll show up while I’m in the funhouse?” Penny suggested as Riley sighed, “I’ll be quick in there, if I run then I’ll have less time to acknowledge the bad stuff in there!”

“Penny, I know you and I know that if you go in there, you’re gonna have a panic attack,” Riley took her little sister’s hand, offering her a pleading gaze, “Please just stay out here with us and we’ll meet up with Winter’s friend. We could go on the rollercoaster again; I know you really enjoyed that one.”

Penny smiled fainty, Riley looking out for her wasn’t anything new, but she didn’t want her sister to be burdened with her. It wasn’t right, Riley deserved to live her life, have fun with Winter and not worry about her scaredy-cat sister all the time, she deserved better than that.

When Riley turned to face Winter again, Penny pulled her hand out of her sister’s and ran into the funhouse, ignoring Riley calling her name the deeper she went in.

She took a few more deep breaths, she was doing! She was doing it and oh…oh she fucked up. There were multiple paintings of disfigured clowns peering down at her from the halls, the eerie sounds of deranged crying and laughing made her hairs stand on end, there were paths twisting and turning as they reminded her that she could get lost in this dreadful house and mirrors that not only showed her in different shapes and sizes, but also her terrified expression. Riley was right, this was too much for her, she didn’t even want to come in here in the first place why did she do this?!

A crazed laugh made her jump, looking carefully over her shoulder, she noticed a tall jester from down the hall, his yellow suit stained with red, and his mask had a twisted smile, hiding dark secrets that she didn’t want to find out. With a scream, she tore off down the hall, the jester chasing after her. She knew that were going to be actors, trained with scaring the guests, but it didn’t mean that she liked it! She really, really shouldn’t have come in here.

She skidded to a stop when she came to a dead end, her back pressing to the wall as the jester came closer and closer to her. She bit back a fearful yelp as he slammed a hand next to her head, peering down at her. She took a few more breaths, trying to keep calm. This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real repeating the mantra in her head to help herself from screaming out…before fainting right into the jester’s arms.

.

.

.

“You have some nerve scaring her like that?! Aren’t you supposed to be trained with scenarios like this?!”

Penny groaned at the sound of a loud and angered voice, it sounded like it belonged to a woman and seemed very familiar.

“I am trained for your information!” A male voice retaliated, “I didn’t know she was going to faint!”

“Okay, Riley calm down, Jack be nice!” Another female voice entered the conversation, sharper and more direct than the other two, “What happened right now was an accident, we just need to wait and see if Penny wakes up before we call an ambulance, that was the procedure right Jack?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the male voice was quiet now, “I’m sorry again Winter, I genuinely didn’t know.”

Penny opened her eyes, squinting at the light as she sat up on what seemed to be a mattress. “Oh good you’re awake,” there was a woman she had never seen before beside her, wearing a white hoodie with a red cross on it, “My name is Lianne, I’m a paramedic for the funhouse in case something like this happens.”

“Penny! Oh thank God!” Riley rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around her younger sister and pressed a kiss at the side of her head, “You gave me a heart attack going into that house, and then hearing that you fainted?! Don’t ever do that again!”

Oh that’s right, she fainted, that explained why Riley sounded so angry when she woke up. God help which soul she was speaking to that suffered her wrath. “I’m okay Riley, you were right I shouldn’t have gone in,” Penny sighed, “I’m just tired of not being normal so I wanted to prove-”

“-You don’t have to prove shit,” Riley interrupted, “And you are normal, who the fuck made you think you had to go into a haunted house to prove that you’re a ‘normal person’?”

“Uh…myself?” Penny smiled awkwardly.

Riley shook her head and smiled, it was good to see that she wasn’t actually mad, just really worried, but to be fair worse had happened to Penny to make her sister go into ‘overprotective mode’. “Just don’t push yourself too hard again, okay?” she asked. Penny nodded again, Riley smiled one last time before her eyes furrowed and she turned away to face someone else, “And as for you!”

Penny looked up to see how her sister was talking to when her cheeks suddenly turned red from embarrassment. It was the jester from earlier! He was quite a tall man, with golden brown skin and eyes, with his hair in short dreads pulled up into a ponytail. His face with mixed with both frustration and shame, it wasn’t helping with Riley shouting at him.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook for scaring my little sister!” Riley growled, “I can’t believe you made her faint!”

“How did I make her faint?!” he retorted, “I’ve never had a reaction like hers before I didn’t know she was that scared!”

“That is enough!” Winter stepped in, grabbing them both painfully by the ear for a few seconds and then let them go, “Riley, go outside so I can talk with you, and Jack please apologize to Penny.”

Jack signed, turning to Penny as the girl flushed even more, she still couldn’t believe she fainted in front of him! “I’m sorry,” he said honestly.

“This is the friend I was taking about,” said Winter, “We were supposed to meet up, but he got called in since someone cancelled their shift last minute, but someone forgot to text us!”

“What are you taking about?” He reached into his pocket for his phone, “I sent you message before my…oh…I forgot to actually send it.”

Penny snorted, she tried to hold it in, but she burst out laughing instead, she couldn’t help it, the absurdity of the situation was just too much. She was so caught up in laughing that she didn’t catch the soft smile that Jack had at her reaction.

“Jesus Christ Jack,” Winter rubbed her temples, “What am I gonna do with you?”

“I have a few ideas,” Riley glared at him.

“Okay, you!” She grabbed Riley’s hand, “Come with me, Jack, keep Penny company while I have a chat with my girlfriend.”

“What?!” Penny and Jack said in unison, but Winter had already slammed the door.

“I should, um,” They whipped round to see that the paramedic was still here, having witnessed the entire interaction, “I should go tell my boss that there’s no need to call an ambulance.”

With that, she rushed out the door, leaving the two to stew awkwardly with one another. Penny’s rapidly beating heart wasn’t helping either, she really didn’t want to have another fainting episode again. It didn’t help that this Jack guy was really handsome. Huh? Why did I think that?

“So…” she spoke up, gulping as Jack turned to her, his eyes focused as though he were studying her, like a bug being examined, “What’s the jester like life? I mean! What's the jester life like?! Not the other one, forget about that. In fact don’t talk to me at all! Or do! Don’t let me tell you what to do, I mean, you’re not the one spouting out word vomit!” Jack raised an eyebrow at her, Penny shoved her reddening face into her hands.

It was then Jack’s turn to start laughing, messy chortles escaping his mouth at her bizarre sentence, leading Penny to pout at his reaction. “Sorry toots,” the laughter died down once he saw he face, “I thought you were funny, didn’t mean to offend you. And to answer your question, the jester life is pretty good.”

“You think I’m funny?” she asked. It wasn’t the first time someone laughed at her, but not because they found her humorous.

“Yeah, not everyone can ‘spout word vomit’ and make it cute,” he told her.

Penny blushed. Okay, first he found her funny and now he found her cute, she really hoped he couldn’t hear how loud and fast her heart was beating. “Um, sorry for fainting on you,” she murmured, “Surprisingly it was not the lowest moment of my life.”

“You’re sorry for fainting?” He raised a brow at her again.

“Well it led to my sister yelling out you,” she told him, “I’m sorry about that as well, Riley can get pretty overprotective over me or our mom.”

“Yeah, Winter warned me about that,” he replied, remembering the way he tried to not tremble at her fiery gaze. “If looks could kill.”

“Tell me about it,” Penny nodded, her eyes scanned the costume he was wearing, now having a face attached to it made it less frightening. The way the fabric was stitched and how the everything on the piece was placed, it looked less like something from a Halloween shop and more something homemade. “Did you make this?”

“Huh, oh this? I wish,” he said, “I actually had it commissioned, sure it cost a bit more, but I wanted it to feel a bit more real, you know, to scare people and that.”

“Yeah, well it definitely worked,” Penny giggled, “As someone who does commissions for others as well, its nice when someone reaches out for us to make something.”

“Us?” he titled his head.

“I’m a costume designer, well, studying a course in costume design at college,” Penny explained, “I noticed how your outfit was made and it instantly clicked in my brain.”

“Oh really? Did you also make that rabbit suit you’re wearing?” he asked as he pointed to her onesie.

Penny rolled her eyes, “Not my best work but I had limited time when Winter and Riley asked me if I wanted to come to the Halloween festival. But hey, its warm and cozy for the season!”

“I think it looks cute on you,” he smiled and winked at her. It was a friendly wink, nothing behind it, but it still made Penny’s toes curl. “How about we start over, I’m Jack.” He held his hand out to her.

Penny took it in her own and shook it, “I’m Penny. So, how do you know Winter?”

There was a nervous flicker in his eyes, but he blinked it away before Penny asked anything else, “We meet as freshmen in high school, she was a few months older than me, but she took me under her wing, and we’ve been friends ever since. I met Riley as well when they started dating but I have a feeling I might be on her bad side now.”

Before Penny could say anything else, there was a crash and a scream before Winter and Riley rushed back into the room, slamming the door behind them. “We forgot this was a haunted funhouse,” Winter trembled, her and Riley’s faces paling.

Penny and Jack shared a glance, stifling their laughter as the couple pulled themselves together. “Anyways,” Riley brushed herself off, “We should head home and tell Mom what happened.”

“Right,” Penny nodded before turning back to Jack, “Hopefully we’ll see each other again, but somewhere else cause with all due respect I’m never stepping foot in this funhouse again.”

Jack chuckled, “That’s understandable, and sorry for scaring you again.”

“That’s okay, at least we finally met,” Penny grinned.

“Alright, home time for you miss,” Riley pulled Penny up, giving a final glare towards Jack before leading her sister away.

“It was nice to meet you, Jack!” Penny called back to him.

“The pleasure’s all mine!” Jack called back, giving Winter a hug before she chased after the sisters.

In the car ride back home, Penny found herself smiling. Jack was nice, granted she wished it didn’t take fainting for them to meet but she was glad she did. “So,” Winter turned in the passenger seat to face Penny in the back, “Sorry that it was under these events how you met Jack, hopefully you were okay with him.”

“I’m not,” said Riley, focused on the road.

“Just keep driving mama bear,” Winter rolled her eyes before turning to Penny again.

“I was okay with him, we actually got on pretty well,” she admitted, “I’m glad I finally met him.”

Winter smiled and turned to Riley to smirk at her, “So, it looks like ‘big bad Jack’ won over your little sister.”

“Must you taunt me?” Riley groaned.

“But that why you love me so much,” Winter teased kissed her loudly on the cheek, “It was my taunting that drew you to me.”

Riley tried and failed to repress a lovesick grin. Penny chuckled at her older sister and turned to face out the window again, counting the stars that passed. Hopefully she would meet Jack again.

.

.

.

Pomni woke with a start. What on this digital earth was that?!

Ever since she arrived here, she never had actually dreams before. Whenever she ‘slept’ it felt like she was switching off, like a button on a computer game and blacked out before she was ‘switched on’ again.

But that dream, why did it feel so real? She remembered the concept of dreams, how anything random would happen and the little control you would have over them. Maybe she was a lucid dreamer in her past life and that’s why this one had more will power in it?

She thought back to that Penny girl, she acted so much like her, the nervousness, her fear of mostly everything and her reaction when she went into that funhouse. Although now, she would gladly take that funhouse over this ‘Amazing Digital Circus’.

Then there was Penny’s sister, Riley. Despite how threatening she was at first glance, the protectiveness she had with her sister and the loved-filled eyes for her girlfriend made her feel a bit safer than she ever felt here.

Did Pomni have a family before the circus, did she have an older sister that would protect with without a second thought? Did she have a family that worried about her, wondering what happened to her?

Then she thought of Jack. She thought about him interacting with Penny, how cheeky yet sweet he was with her. And the way he looked at Penny. She felt herself blushing. In a way, his laidback attitude and mischievous grin, he reminded her a little bit of Jax…

She shook her head, she was being ridiculous, regardless of what Ragatha said when she came here, this was just and only a dream. Besides, it probably wouldn’t happen again, and things would return to its usual format here, just switching on and off again.

She sighed and shoved off her bed sheets, mentally preparing herself for whatever sanity Caine had up his sleeves.

Its not like anyone else was having these types of dreams, right?

That would be the case…for anyone who wasn’t Jax.

The rabbit was currently at the breakfast table, he Gangle and Kinger waiting for everyone else to arrive.

Just when he thought we finally got used to this place, he had an actual dream last night, not the usual shut down he received every night. He remembered every detail from the lights of the festival to the noises supplied from the funhouse and that Jack guy in the jester costume.

There wasn’t much he got from the dream about him, just that was someone who worked to scare people and make money out of it, honestly it seemed the ideal career path he would take if he weren’t stuck here.

But what made that dream so memorable for him was that Penny girl. The way she would shyly peek through her hands, to her kind smile and her knowledge with costumes, and of course he couldn’t forget about her fainting spell. Talk about an unexpected surprise.

Although, she did seem sweet in a way, whoever this Jack guy was he hoped that he was smart enough to see her again. Jax sighed, what was he talking about? This was a dream, plain and simple, yet here he was acting as though he knew this Jack person.

Just leave it he thought bitterly its stupid anyway.

“I’m gonna check where the rest of them at,” he told Gangle and Kinger, “Zooble probably lost one of his arms again, so I might as well hide it if that’s the case.”

“Wouldn’t you rather help them find it?” Gangle whimpered.

Jax huffed out a laugh, “And where’s the fun in that?”

He got out from his chair, only to bump into another body, almost losing his balance, “Hey, watch where your-”

He looked down to see Pomni sitting on the ground, probably from him bumping into her, her red and blue eyes widening when she realised what she did.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she burst out, “Usually I sit next to you whenever we eat, and I didn’t see you sitting up but I’m still really sorry either way I shouldn’t have done that-”

“-Not the other one, forget about that. In fact don’t talk to me at all! Or do! Don’t let me tell you what to do, I mean, you’re not the one spouting out word vomit!”

“I’m really sorry!”

Jax snapped out of his trance, looking down at Pomni again, her eyes looking both sad and apologetic. He signed, reaching down to pull her up by the end. “Relax pom-pom, it wasn’t like you planned to do that…unless?”

“What, no, of course not!” she yelped.

 Jax laughed, the newbie was easy to rile up.

“Shut up Jax,” Zooble moved past him to get to their spot, “Let’s just get breakfast over with before we need to deal with the headache Caine is gonna give us.”

“Whatever,” Jax slumped back into his seat, Pomni gently placing herself upon hers as Zooble and Ragatha did the same.

The way Pomni acted just then, the way she was quick to flush and stutter over her words, and the fact that she was so nervous about everything as well. It was all just like Penny.

No, don’t, don’t be stupid Jax. Jack isn’t real, Penny isn’t real, so don’t bother comparing her to Pomni.

With that, he let himself continue with his food.

But it wouldn’t be the last time he or Pomni would make these comparisons, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last time they had these ‘dreams.’

See you next time, let me know if I've written them well, this is the first time writing for this fandom. And who knows, perhaps next chapter the sillies might actually go on a date? 🤷

[clemblog]

Caine’s Lesson - Part 12

•

All the residents of the ranch were tucked up in bed sleeping. It was a quiet night. Initially. Around 3am, thunder would cut through the quiet night, heavy rain starting to patter down on to the buildings. It would get harder and harder, slowly starting to seep through the cracks in the building.

Pomni woke up to the feeling of rain dropping down the side of her bed frame.

“W-What..?” She grumbled, rubbing at her eyes as she woke herself up. She wasn’t the only one awake. Several Candy Kingdoms sat awake, doing their best to deal with the rising amount of water. She didn’t think it was supposed to rain in this part of the Candy World..? It was always so dry and desert like- Well. As dry and desert like a candy based world could be-

Something was wrong and her gut feeling told her it was something to do with Caine. Hopefully this storm would pass.

It didn’t.

She had to watch as all the small progress the citizens had made get washed away. She had to watch as moral over all dipped and all the progress she’d helped everyone make disappeared like that. It sucked.

Pomni was upset.

She was angry.

She was frustrated.

Again.

So, she got on Jingle and she went for a ride the next morning. She wasn’t sure where she was going, she just needed to think.

But she forgot one thing. She had a strong varied community of friends who cared for her and her well being. So, if a certain gator was a mere few steps behind her, it wouldn’t surprise anyone in the slightest.

“Poms! Poms!” Called out Gummigoo, finally getting a look at her.

“Gummigoo?! What are you doing out here-?” Murmured Pomni.

“I could ask you the same thing Y’know~“

“Right- I’m just thinking- Caine… He caused this, I know he did- I just- wish their was a way I could get to him to make him stop-“

“Hey, hey. We’ll figure something out, alright?”

“…I guess.”

The two would continue on in their short adventure out, Pomni not quite ready to turn back and head home just yet.

They’d almost reached the edge of the place, Gummigoo about to suggest turning back when Pomni abruptly stopped.

“Hey- Ya all good?” Frowned Gummigoo, gently, watching as she jumped off her horse.

“Yeah- Y-Yeah- Just thought I saw something.” She murmured, squeezing inbetween some rocks nearby.

“Wait up Poms!” Called Gummigoo, running to catch up with her.

Gummigoo rounded the corner to find Pomni stood in what looked to be a crack in the horizon. It was bleeding a dark pixel blue aura into the atmosphere and it seemed like something was behind it. But that must’ve been impossible- Right?

“P-Poms? What is this-“

“I-I don’t know- But I think this might be our only chance to try and get to Caine-“

“…Are ya sure that’s a good idea-?”

“…No, it’s an awful idea but if we don’t, who will?”

“…In this together?”

“In this together.”

The two held hands and pushed forward into the entity. It began to crack like glass but it was squishy and flexible, suddenly engulfing them in the blink of an eye.

•

“When do you think Gummigoo will be back with Poms?”

“I’m not sure- But I trust them both to be back soon enough.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Whatever happens, they’ll be okay-“

•

Pomni blinked and found herself back in the fake exits Caine had created. But wait- Gummigoo was here too! He seemed a little off, blinking for a few moments before looking down at her.

“P-Pomni..?” He whispered.

Pomni gasped at this, eyes widening slightly. “You remember?!”

“I-I do- A lot of memories crashing together- But I do-“

“Oh gosh, maybe you should sit down for a second-“ Frowned Pomni, glancing around before pulling out one of the office chairs for him to sit into. He carefully plumped himself down as she did so. Pomni noticed his skin was still candy themed and gummy but it was less smooth and more scaly now that they were in a realism based adventure.

“A-Are you doing alright?” She asked, eventually after a few moments of silence, listening to Gummigoo take deep breaths.

He looked down at her and smiled gently.

“Alright as I can be Poms. Give me another few minutes and I’ll get moving so we can kick some [—-]!”

Oh. He could swear now-

Pomni snickered at this.

“Wow- Never thought I’d hear that from you-“

“Well, strange things happen when your reality breaks Poms~”

“Right, right-“

The pair soon stood up and began to push their way through the many exit doors. Instead of the first panicked atmosphere it had had when Pomni first charged through this place, it felt safe, relaxed knowing that she was walking through with a friend. They were off to confront someone a little insane and even more terrifying considering what had happened to Gummigoo the last time the pair had interacted. But they were doing it together so that made it better.

They eventually found another crack which was also leaking a blue pixelated aura. The blue reminded Pomni of the asset room herself and Gummigoo had fallen into all that time ago. She turned to Gummigoo.

“I-I’m gonna be honest- I have no idea what’s gonna happen once we enter this-“

Gummigoo chuckled at this.

“I figured, but hey! In this together. We’re in this together, what ever happens we’ll figure it out. Alright?”

“Y-Yeah. Alright!”

The two once again linked hands and stepped forward to push through the crack.

•

Pomni opened her eyes to the sound of smooth jazz playing along with the pater of rain. Things were a lot darker here than they’d been in the candy adventure or the circus. She glanced to look at Gummigoo whose cowboy hat had been replaced with a fedora and now had a loose tie around his shoulders.

“Uh- Where do you think we are-“ He frowned, glancing around.

“If I had to guess, some kind of office?” She shrugged. There were three desks sat around the room with a varying number of papers and office equipment on it. The one in the centre had a typewriter and a rotary phone on it. The windows in the rooms all had shutter blinds on it which were half open. Before she could take anymore details of the room, the door swung open.

“Rookies! There you are, you better have finished those files I told you to do-“ He grumbled, staring the pair down. He was certainly an older man who was seemingly made of clock parts. His face resembled a pocket watch, the hands stuck in the position of a moustache whilst the rest of his face was made of scrambled numbers to make a set of eyes, a nose and a mouth. He too wore a fedora and instead had a detectives jacket and bow tie in replace of a tie like Gummigoo.

“Uh- We did it sir!” Eeked Pomni, quickly pointing to a random pile of papers and hoping that was correct. He moved over slowly, giving Pomni to take a look at his badge.

Head Detective Pockatch.

What a unique name.

Though, Gummigoo was also kind of a unique name if she thought about it-

“Indeed you have.” Tutted the man, standing up with the files in hand as he turned back to the pair. “An excellent job indeed. Now, if you could just-“

Detective Pockatch was interrupted by the door flying open again!

“Oh! Detective Pockatch! It’s horrible! It’s awful!” Cried out the voice of an elegant sounding lady. She had the figure of an antique record player. Her head being the horn itself with small record eyes and huge eyelashes. The rest of her figure was covered by a big flowy red dress, which matched the small hat she had strapped around the top of her head.

“Madam Tick! Whatever is the matter!” Frowned Detective Pockatch. “What on earth has you bustling in here like this!”

The poor lady became inconsolable as she told her story. Apparently she’d turned up to work at the local jazz club and had found her boss dead on the main stage.

“Alright rookies, rest time is over, you’ve got to get investigating!”

This… was going to be interesting…

Part 13

[snoopy7c7]

First post of the new year and it's funnybunny related. What a great start off ^^

This one is a personal attack on the behalf of @dragon-creates . Just for you. This is based off of @endomentendo AU of an AU XD An AU swap with Pomni as Mary Ann and Jax as The White Rabbit. Enjoy reading <3

The storm that brewed from outside the walls roared. A candle lightly dimmed on the desk as a hard working rabbit sat contently, writing away. While the wind howled from outside, the rabbit had no effect as he focused intently on his work. Muttering to himself, he kept himself busy in the heat of the night. He was so deep in his studies that it was when he heard a loud BANG did he jump with a start. The table shook slightly as the candle tipped over, catching fire to the rabbit's studies. “Oh fritter biscuits!” he cried as he quickly tried to put out the fire. Unfortunately for him, his work was soiled. Setting his now burnt work down, he scowled slightly as he shot a look over to the door. That maid is no doubt the reason behind that loud noise! he thought angrily. “That's just great,” he grumbled, “I'll have to start over again. The King will have my head for sure.” He began marching over to the door, planning to give that maid of his a piece of his mind. As he reached for the handle though, another loud bang sounded throughout the house, this time coming from the storm from outside. It made the rabbit jump slightly as he looked towards the window. “Boy, I haven't seen a storm like this in a long time.” 

His ear twitched as the door knob jiggled slightly. Turning his head back to the door, he tilted his head. As he slowly reached the handle, the door suddenly burst open. It happened in a blink of an eye. His arms were suddenly filled by a warm and trembling body, followed by terrified sobs. Looking down he saw her, in his arms. His hands hovered above her slightly, clearly unsure of what to do or what to make of this sudden reaction. After a moment he slowly says, “...Ms Penny?” That was the nickname he had given her. And oh how that made the girl coil even more into his chest. She was now grasping at his waist, sobbing into him. What could have made her so upset? Did it have something to do with the loud noise from earlier? Did she make it? Did something happen? Was she okay? All these thoughts raced through his head before her voice broke into his thoughts. “M-Mr. R-Rabbit?” “Yes?” he said slowly. “M-May I p-please stay with you until the st-storm's over?” she choked out. The way her voice sounded made his chest hurt so much he could just explode. He looked down at her, eyes full of concern. Finally he found the strength to gently lay his hands on her back. His anger for his lost work was long gone as he softened his gaze and gave her a gentle squeeze. This brought her trembling to an immediate halt as his voice full of warmth replied, “That you may.”

They stood in the door frame for several minutes, just clinging onto each other as if they were two souls bonded. When she finally pulled back, he was finally able to get a good look at her. She was looking down, cheeks red from the crying. Her uncovered eye was stained red, dark circles accompanying her distressed state. What should I say? He thought. But it would appear his mind had other thoughts as he subconsciously reached his hand to cup the side of her cheek. Tilting her head up, she finally met his gaze. She blinked slowly through her salty tears for a moment before leaning away slightly. “I-I’m sorry.” she mumbled, breaking out of his embrace slightly, “It was improper of me to burst in like that.” That’s when she looked past him and noticed the burnt papers on his desk. “Oh no,” she exclaimed as she walked over to his desk. Turning to look after her, the little maid reached out slightly to the corrupt work before pulling her hand back to her chest. After a moment she spoke, “...I did this, didn’t I?” Jax stood silently before registering what she was saying. Shaking his head he replied, “What? This? No, it was just an accident.” Walking over to her he picked up the burnt papers hastily as he stuffed them into a desk drawer. Fiddling with his monocle he turned back to her. “The storm outside startled me is all.” She didn’t meet his gaze as she fiddled with the tips of her hair. Looking back at her he cleared his throat, “So it’s uh pretty rough out there today. Suppose we’ll be trapped here for a day or two.” No answer. “For supper today I think a nice hot soup will do us good.” No answer. His ear twitched slightly, getting anxious. She asks to stay with me and now she’s not saying anything. He thought to himself This girl is more of a puzzle to figure out than my own work! Then she mumbled under her breath, “I don’t like the storm.” Looking back to her he said, “What was that?” “I-I don’t like the storm.” she whispered again. The bandage over her eye seemed to stand out more in this light as his chest suddenly heaved. Pain? Why did his chest suddenly feel heavy with pain? Looking over to the couch in his study he awkwardly said, “Let’s uh have a seat, yeah? Surely you don’t want to stand for the whole storm.” 

Pomni hesitated before slowly walking over to the couch. Sitting down she shifted uncomfortably as Jax sat on the other end. It was silent again for a few moments. Then Jax spoke, “Look, if there’s something you wanna talk about, you could always just say it allowed.” She brought her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them. Rubbing the back of his neck he sighed. “I was never really good at this sort of thing.” When she didn’t reply he continued, “It always just seemed easier to keep to myself and my studies. What’s the point in saying anything when you’re the only one who will listen to yourself?” He looked out the window as drops of rain hit the window. “I made a mess.” Jax turned back to Pomni. “Huh?” “In the kitchen,” she said looking down, “I made a mess.” “What happened?” he asked. She hugged herself slightly, sinking into the couch more. “W-Well I was preparing for your 4pm tea. A-As I was on my way is when I heard the loud thunder and well-” She drifted off, clearly growing emotional again. Instinctively, Jax reached his hand out to her before pulling back slightly. What good is all this knowledge when I can’t help the only real friend I have in this crazed world? He pondered to himself. Then a book came to mind. “Wonderland’s Guide on Storms, Weather Patterns, and Unnatural Phenomenons. Ch 14 paragraph 5 line 3. “During storms, whether it be rain, snow, chocolate, tea, puppies and kitties, the chaos of it all spreads the further out you go. But the closer you get to the center of the storm, there is quiet. It is as if there isn’t a storm at all.”.” Pomni was looking forward as Jax continued, “When you’re in the midst of the storm’s strongest area, it can be pretty unsettling. You wonder if it’ll ever calm.” Looking over at her, he found himself moving closer to her. “But even in the eye of a storm,” he said, his voice naturally lowering more softly and soothing, “There is quiet.”

Blinking slowly, Pomni was finding herself calming down. Shoulders were loosening up from the tension. Letting go of her legs, they began to slip down to dangle off the couch, not quite reaching the floor. Then her hands began to slip down to her sides, the back of her hand brushing up against Jax’s. They both flinched away slightly, not expecting their hands to meet. Meeting each other's gaze, the little maid couldn’t help but break into a small smile and giggle to herself. Jax couldn’t help but contract her contagious giggle as he chuckled to himself. The howling of the wind picked up from the outside as another loud BOOM thundered from outside, shaking the house slightly. And no sooner than it did, did Pomni react on instinct, crying out in distress as she instantly threw herself around Jax’s waist. Jax fell back onto the couch as she clung onto him tightly. His heart must have been going a hundred miles a second as he could feel his face grow very hot. But he could feel her own heart race from beneath his chest. Sitting up slightly, he arched himself more as he brought his arms around her, pulling her closer to his chest. On instinct, he rubbed comforting circles around her back as he placed the other hand over her head. “You’re not alone anymore Penny.” he whispered. His eyes widened slightly as he could feel his ear twitch. Where did that come from? I wasn’t thinking that. He said to himself as his heart throbbed. But that’s when he felt her trembling breath on his chest. Looking down to take a look at her he could see a very small smile as her tears streamed down her face. “Thank you.” she said softly. This made the hard headed rabbit smile slightly. Another low rumble shook the house from the outside as she tightened her grip on him. Jax hesitated slightly before saying, “I’ll hold you as long as the storm goes on, okay?” Her one good eye opened as she looked up at him. She responded by letting out what sounded like a relieved sigh, turning her head to rest comfortably on his chest. The storm continued from the outside, making such a ruckus. Pomni would react each time it was loud with fear and distress. But as the storm continued on, she found herself reacting less and less each time. In fact, she found herself being soothed by the beating heart of Mr Rabbit each time the storm’s loud noises shook the house. 

Jax felt his own composure grow rather calm as he listened to the storm from outside the walls. Suddenly he heard soft sighs coming from her. Looking at her again he realized she had nodded off to sleep. He couldn’t help but let out a half relieved, half annoyed sigh. Looks like I’m not getting any work done for awhile. He thought. He found himself admiring the girl for a few moments. She seemed way more relaxed then earlier and it brought comfort to himself, for some strange reason. Then something drew him to look back out the window. The storm was still raging on. Suddenly a fire burned deep from within Jax as he scowled out the window. Something about this storm disturbing Ms Penny bothered him. The storm’s loud noises must have had something to do with her past and how she ended up tethered at his doorstep all those months ago. It enraged him. Looking back at her he couldn’t help but gently bring her closer to his heart. She shifted slightly as she sighed soundly, a smile resting on her face. His cheeks burned as he couldn’t stop looking at her. What followed next, it definitely wasn’t what he was thinking. But he leaned down as he kissed the top of her head softly. Pulling back slightly, his eyes burned into her as he declared softly, “I promise I won’t let anyone harm you ever again.” He felt his body relax, leaning back into the couch. The sound of the rain began to grow fainter as he stared out the window. There was a moment where everything was quiet but he could see rain come down hard in the distance. He chuckled to himself before finding himself dozing off. Soon, he too, had fallen asleep, still holding onto Pomni closely as she did the same.

[spyderlondon]

The Amazing Pokemon Circus: Chapter 2

Art by @mangotangerinepastry ❤️

Pomni stumbled backwards a bit as she landed on the ground and before Ragatha was able to reach out to grab her, the Alcremie ended up knocking into a Cinderace that was teasing an Eiscue. She fell onto her stomach with a grunt, her eyes swirling in her dizziness, "Oh... I wish I was warned..." She mumbled a bit as she put a hand to her head, trying to keep the contents of her stomach inside of her stomach.

"HEY! WHAT GIVES?!" The Cinderace yelled out at the dizzy Alcremie with an annoyed glare before turning his glare to the two pokemon that entered within seconds before and after the fairy type, "Weren't you two just supposed to find a lost item, not rescue?" He sneered at them.

"Oh, chill out, Jax!" Ragatha glared right on back as she handed the said item to the pokemon that gave the circus the mission and sent them on their way. She looked back at the Cinderace while crossing her arms, "Pomni here needed help since she just recently was placed into this dimension and has no idea what is going on."

Kinger carefully helped the Alcremie up, "You okay?" He asked her with a light worried look on his face, looking her over for any signs of injury or sickness.

"I-I'm okay..." She mumbled as she gave herself a moment before standing straight and looked around the area that she was now suddenly inside of. She rubbed her arm, uncertain of how to feel about everything quite yet but for now, it'd be a good idea to get a feel of the place.

Ragatha was right, this really was a circus tent with the entire circus layout. The top of the tent had a couple trapezes set up with nets placed underneath to catch any falls, there was also a long pole in the middle of the tent to keep it from collapsing as well as a lookout at the very top of the pole in case anyone wanted to relax up high. There were also a few silks and hoops connected to silks that were there for anyone wanting to practice their flexibility as well as a few other random items just scattered about to act as props for juggling or anything else. There was also two bulletin boards with numerous little scraps of paper on them- it seemed like they were just recently torn off.

There were also a few pokemon here and there that she assumed also went out and did missions like Ragatha and Kinger did. There was a Falinks who had their different small parts separated a little as they chilled near a pillow fort with Kinger doting on them as if they were his pet which didn't seem to bother the bug type much; then there was an Eiscue that was on the ground looking down at the broken ice face broke when she was knocked to the ground, leaving with a much smaller ice head that seemed to have frozen tears attached to it, but was the most interesting, at least in Pomni's opinion was how instead of the usual bluish coloration, this Eiscue had a reddish coloration which meant that she was a rare shiny; and last but probably least was the Cinderace, Jax as Ragatha called him, that she bumped into when she first came into the tent- he was currently arguing with the Indeedee.

The Alcremie rubbed her arm as she watched all the other pokemon do their thing before deciding to speak up, "U-Um-"

"BOSS! They're back!" She was suddenly interrupted by a loud, childlike voice shouting nearby which made her yelp and jump in surprise. A Swirlix seemed to pop out of nowhere as he called out to someone he called boss. The little puffball seemed to notice her after a moment, "Oh! You're new! Boss! We have a newbie here too!"

Pomni tried to move away from the from him in her unease but didn't seem to notice the apple core that was suddenly appeared behind her and ended up tripping on it, "Ack!" She yelped in shock as she fell again but this time two thin arms caught her and lifted her up in the air.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up at who stopped her from falling, only to see a large transparent head that had a lot of little colorful dots as well as a rainbow top hat that floated above his head weightlessly. He had no eyes on or a mouth or anything a face should have but somehow she could tell that he was looking down at her by how his head was tilted and was smiling in a perplex manner by him giving off some sort of vibe- it was strange. "Are you alright, my dear?" The floating head questioned.

"U-Uh... yes, I am-" The Alcremie answered with a frown as he put her down- what pokemon was he...? She knew she's seen his species in a book before but she was drawing a blank, "W-Who are you? Wh-What are you...?" She questioned with a stutter as she looked him over after backing up a little. He was extremely colorful, looking almost like a clown- he had thin limbs that were a mix of pink and blue while his feet and hand were white; his ankles had two pompoms on them- blue on the left and pink on the right- and another white pompom on his pole like chest as well as two others on his shoulders but this time it was pink on the left and blue on the right. His torso was mostly yellow with pink and blue stripes going around the body. His torso and large dotted head was separated by a large white ruffle collar. He wore a rainbow ringmaster's coat with the inside and collar being black.

The large pokemon had used his psychic powers to force Jax into a cage as a sort of time out for all his pranks before turning back to face her, "Oh! My name is Caine- the ringmaster of this wonderful Pokemon Circus!" He spread out his arms to proudly show off the circus tent, "As for what I am..." He lowered his arms, "I'm a Blacepheon. You probably never heard of my species aside from passing rumors because of how rare we are to even been seen in any dimension other than our own." He explained with a light shrug. He looked her over, "I suppose you're a new human to this dimension?"

"I-I... yes?" Pomni confirmed, her tone laced in confusion, "I don't even know how I got here... or why I can't recall my name or what I looked like... I just know I *was* human before and some of my memories..." She trembled as she felt fear running through her.

The air around Caine seemed to shift into something more sympathetic as he floated to the ground and landed on his feet, "Now, now, dear..." He placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her a bit, "All of that is perfectly normal. Nobody can remember any of that when they enter this dimension, think of it as a clean slate." He waved off casually.

"Yea, a clean slate where we still have most of our memories and our same personalities." The Cinderace scoffed from inside the cage, "In a place with no escape. Sorry, toots, you're stuck with us." He crossed his arms.

"Shut up, Jax, she's already freaked out enough." The Falinks deadpanned as they sent the rabbit pokemon a glare with all of their eyes before looking at Pomni who was twitching nervously, "But he's right, we haven't found any way of getting out of here and, judging by how long Kinger has apparently been here, there is no way back home." They sighed in defeat.

"Did somebody say something about an insect collection?!" The Slowking popped his head out of his pillow fort.

Ragatha put a hoof to her face and groan, "Will you all stop giving the newbie more reason to panic?" She sent everybody a look before moving over to the twitching Alcremie and replaced Caine's hands with her hooves, "Hey there... It's okay, Pomni... Just take some deep breaths... In... out... in... out..." She guided her with a soothing tone. She waited until the girl in front of her seemed calmer before speaking, "Better?"

"Y-Yeah... Thanks." Pomni murmured, her panic subsiding, and she just seemed exhausted from the long day she ended up having out of nowhere.

The Indeedee gave a sad smile at how the Alcremie looked, "Here... Why don't I show you to your room?" She offered while handing her the big apple she had in her treasure bag, "And here, eat this along the way. You need all the energy you can get."

Pomni nodded tiredly as she followed the older pokemon while munching on the apple.

-----

"We weren't supposed to get any more humans..." Caine mumbled to himself after he entered the cave where a certain psychic pokemon lived, "We were told that he and I would get only a certain amount of humans each. I was at my max- unless..."

"Unless you had one of the human turned pokemon go feral." The Lunatone finished the sentence for him, having heard him as he entered her cave, "That Mr. Rime had turned feral the day before that Alcremie's arrival. You were down one human, a replacement was given." She turned to look at him- or well, she would have but her eyes were glazed over and she only saw fogginess.

The Blacepheon grew a bit agitated, "More are cursed to be here if I can't keep them satisfied or help them find a way to leave?" He questioned as he tapped one of his hands against a leg, "I'm sure he's loving that." He hissed, pacing, "He always enjoyed seeing others suffer..."

"He hasn't lost any yet." She informed him.

"WHAT?!?" He shouted in disbelief, "HOW?!" He seemed to stop and stare at her with his lack of eyes but it was clear his face was one of shock.

The Lunatone said no more to these questions. Simply going silent to meditate like she was doing before he entered.

Blacepheon groaned in irritation but took his leave as he tried to figure things out on his own, he wanted to help the humans leave. It was unfair to them to be trapped with no clear explanation why.

-----

A flash of purple could be seen near the cave for a split second before it flew off through a portal.

[anonymousj3ster]

Pester the Jester

A Ragapom fic based off the song "Pester the Jester"

Don't know why I'm still searching. 

The door slams. Footsteps trudge to the next door. A blue gloved hand reaches out and turns the knob. 

Don't know why I'm even looking. 

Door opens. Not an exit. Door slams. 

For a way to get back home again. 

I reach for the next door, only to find there were no more. I slowly turn, feet shuffling on the red carpet. I had checked every single door in this long hallway. One of many hallways. Every door was empty of the one thing I wanted. My feet move in slow, mechanical movements. Down the hall back the way I had come. Into the main area. Into another hall. Into my room. Again. A hand that is mine but doesn't feel like it locks the door behind me. Again. I drag myself over to my bed, falling face-first into the soft blanket. But that was ok. Because I didn't need to breathe, did I? After all, this was just a game. A sick, twisted game.

 I jerk out of my thoughts as a soft knock comes from my door. "Darling? Are you ok?" A voice asks from the other side, muffled but still clear with concern. Her voice "Feeling fine." I lie loudly, not bothering to raise my head off the bed, so it comes out sounding distorted. But, now that I said that, I realize...I kind of did feel better now. But I didn't know why. 

There was just something about her, something about the ragdoll that made me want to beg with my hands on the floor for her to drag me by the arm out of these dark spiraling thoughts, to give me all her charm, to tell me I would always be hers. Inside, I was craving her, craving another hit of that, of just hearing her voice, or seeing her smile, or her touching my shoulder for a brief moment before pulling away as she remembered I didn't like being touched, even though I didn't mind being touched by her. Honestly, she was like an angel, I was crazy for her. I growl in frustration into a pillow, annoyed by my own pestering thoughts. But then suddenly, I wasn't holding a pillow, and I wasn't in my room. 

I was also currently defying the laws of gravit- 

"OMPH!" Nevermind. I wince as I hit the ground full-force on my face, the black and white tiled floor hard enough the crack my teeth, or my skull. "Pomni, are you ok?" A soft voice asks, sounding a bit startled. 

I raise my head slowly, pupils now spinning spirals as the world slowly settles back into focus. I blink hard a few times, disoriented. I had been teleported to the main area of the circus, in front of the stage, along with the other 5 people trapped in this hell with me. I slowly stand up, shaking my still-fuzzy head in an attempt to clear it and look across from me to the owner of that soft voice. "Y-yeah..." I mumble, quickly glancing away.

 "Are you su-" 

"Yeah." The ragdoll nods, but she obviously didn't believe me, because she hadn't just been asking about my fall. Her eye was filled with concern, worried over me. But why? Why would she want to waste of time on me? I look away, only to sneak another look at the beautiful doll. I don't know why I'm looking, don't know why I feel the need to stare, whenever she's near me.

 "GOODNIGHT MY SUPERSTARS!" A voice booms, making me jump. Caine materialized in the air above us all, hovering there as he beamed at us- at least I thought he did. It was hard to tell, you know with him just being...teeth. "It's noon." Jax grumbles, narrowing his sickly yellow eyes at the deranged ringmaster. "WELL THEN, GOODNOON MY SUPERSTARS!" The purple rabbit's permanent smirk shrunk in annoyance, but he didn't comment any further. "TODAYS ADVENTURE IS GOING TO BE THE BEST ONE YET!" The pair of teeth shouts. Theres a few mumbles of irritation around the room, but it settles down quickly. "TODAY, I HAVE A SPECIAL SCAVENGER HUNT PREPARED! I HAVE RELEASED ALL OF KINGERS INSECTS LOOSE INTO THE CIRCUS!" I hear Ragatha make a strangled noise in the back of her throat. "YES, RAGATHA, I MEAN ALL OF THEM! YOU MUST CATCH ALL THE INSECTS AND PUT THEM IN THE JARS I WILL GRACIOUSLY PROVIDE! THE PERSON WHO COLLECTS THE MOST INSECTS WILL GET A PRIZE!" The ringmaster proclaims. "SO GOOD LUCK, AND HAVE FUN MY LITTLE SUPERSTARS!" He disappears in a cloud of smoke. There's a moment of silence, before Jax bursts out laughing. 

"Ah, God, this will be a fun adventure!" He wheezes, glancing at the ragdoll, who's single black eye was darting around in panic, body tensed up. I cringe a little, remembering the dolls fear of centipedes. Gangle gives Ragatha a sympathetic look. "I-its ok Ragatha. I-I'm pretty sure Kinger only had a few centipedes in his collection." She whispers, the tears on her mask falling to the ground when the doll whimpers slightly. 

"I have exactly 3 centipedes!" The chess piece blurts. I yelp and flinch away from him, having not realized he was standing next to me. "Their names are Omi, Anni, and Sepa! Did you know that centipedes can climb up walls and ceilings at up to 24 miles per hour!?"  Ragatha's eye widens and her breathing hitches as her panicked gaze darted to the king piece. He blinks his wide blue eyes and he looks around, suddenly baffled. "...Where am I? Whats a fork!?!" 

I eye him nervously as Ragatha walks towards me, managing a weak smile. "Hey Pomni, do you want to look for the insects together?" She asked, seeming to have gotten a hold of herself, though she still kept glancing at the floor as she walked, looking out for the 13-legged bugs. I nod, shooting her a smile back. Of course she wanted to work with me. Over the past few weeks, we had basically become a pair, always doing adventures together, me to get them over with and Ragatha out of genuine interest. Though, I was still confused on why she wanted to stick with me and not, say, Gangle. I mean, I was assuming she had started pairing up with me because of my little mental breakdowns, but I hadn't had any for about a week (at least, not where anyone could see), so why not stick with someone else? 

"Pomni?" The concerned voice dragged me out of my thoughts, and I realized I hadn't answered the doll. "Yeah, of course!" I stutter, feeling my face begin to tingle, and getting a bit light headed. She smiles at me, and I look away quickly. 

"^!#!!" I whisper under my breath, cringing when a loud honking noise comes out instead of the swearword. Ragatha frowns at me. "Hm?" 

"Ugh, he didn't even give us the jars to catch the dumb insects with!" Zooble interrupts, saving me from having to respond to Ragatha. They cross their arms and pace a few steps, as a pile of jars appears in the air right over their head, hovering for a moment before crashing down on top of them with comedic sounds. Everyone gasps and cringes (except Jax, who laughs his ass off, and Kinger who just screams) and rushes to check on them. "I'm....fine..." The jumble of shapes insists, dragging themselves out from the pile, only to discover they were missing a leg and turning back around, digging through the now-shattered jars to find their limb and ignoring everyones offer of help. "Well... I guess we should get to finding those...bugs..." Ragatha says, voice trailing off nervously at the end. I nod and follow her, noting how tense the ragdoll was. We only walk for a few minutes before- 

"ACK!" Ragatha screeches, stumbling backwards and grabbing my arm tightly. I jump, panicked at her sudden movement and scream. "Wha-" I start to ask, before spotting the source of her distress. A spider was crawling idly along the wall near her, making it's way to God knows where. I automatically punch it, smushing it into a black stain. I shudder and try to wipe the black mark off my blue glove. I freeze when I realize the doll was still clutching my arm, almost painfully tight. "S-sorry about that Pomni..." She mumbles sheepishly. "I...thought it was a centipede..." I nod absently, staring at her hand clutching my arm. She follows the direction of my gaze, quickly letting go. "Sorry, I forgot you didn't like touch." She blurts hurriedly, rubbing her own arm awkwardly. I nod and start walking again, face heating up. She was right. Normally I despised physical contact, but this time it was...different. It still felt a bit wrong, still made me feel a bit itchy, but overall it was...nice. Honestly, I would do anything for her to just hold my arm like that, would beg with my hands on the floor. I sneak a glance at the pretty doll, feeling strangely charmed by her awkward arm-rubbing, her slow swaying gait. We walk in silence, with me subtly killing a few more insects we encountered whenever I spotted one. I knew the point of the adventure was to capture them, but we didn't have anything to trap them in, and I didn't think carrying around jars filled with bugs would help with Ragatha's fear anyways. I’m just punching another one when suddenly the lights blink off. I sigh. Of course they did. Why wouldn’t they? 

“You ok?’ I ask Ragatha, relaxing when I hear the ragdoll murmur that she was. We continue without a word. "H-hey Pomni..." She says quietly. "Hm?" "Can I ah....can I hold your hand?" She ducks her head a little as the words come out of her mouth. “I know you're not big on touch, but I keep feeling like there's centipedes crawling all over me.” The last words are barely audible.I glance over at her, barely able to make out her form in the dark. 

“...Yeah.” I say, reaching over to her. My hand hovers uncertainty near hers for a moment, before gently gripping it. I feel her flinch, it pulling away from my grasp for a moment before relaxing again. We venture forward into the darkness, taking comfort in each other's presence. 

It feels like hours before we finally reach an area of the circus where the lights are working. But on the bad side, it looked like a maze. I make a small noise of frustration in the back of my throat. “Well, at least we can see now!” The ragdoll says brightly, plastering a smile on her face. I nod as she walks forward, seeming a bit more confident now as she unintentionally drags me forward with her, still clutching my hand. I stare at her hand in mine, a bit puzzled. Why? The lights were back. She didn’t have to keep holding my hand. I just couldn’t comprehend the reason why she still wanted to hold my hand. 

She glances back at me, seemingly confused on why I wasn’t walking with her. She follows my gaze, looking at our hands. 

“You…don’t mind if I keep holding your hand, do you?” She asks. The words come out slowly, hesitant. “You don’t have to, I know you don’t like- sorry.” She says, slipping her hand from mine. 

“No!” The word passes my lips without my consent. “I mean- no, I don’t mind. You can keep holding it.” 

The doll’s eye widens in surprise, before sliding her hand back into mine. We both stare at each other before looking away, feeling my face heat up as she leads me to the beginning of the maze. Why did she want to keep holding my hand? I mean, it seemed a bit…

We were just friends.

Right?

The silence continues, though now it seemed more malevolent, pressing against me, suffocating me as I try to sort through my thoughts. 

“Pomni…”

“Hm?”

The ragdoll stops, turning towards me. “Theres…” She stops, taking a deep breath. “There's something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while- or ask, I mean.” She stumbles over her words, which was out of character for the doll. 

“Since…I mean, for a while now… We…you…” She stammers, before shaking her head violently, sighing. 

“...I like you.” She blurts. “What I’m trying to say is, I like you, as in more than a friend and-” She pauses, black eye studying me, trying to gauge my reaction. “...I just want to know if you feel the same way.” 

I freeze up, stunned. Because her words, they just confused me with the way they made all these giddy feelings bubble up, the way she wooed me. 

“But…why?” I whisper softly.

“W-what?”

I take a step back, feeling the giddy emotions being replaced with darker ones, drowning them out. 

“Why do you like me? I mean, I left you with Kaufmo that first day, I-I hurt you. You were in pain, and I just left you there.” My breathing quickens as panic fills me, confusion and misery, worthlessness and shame join in the fun, taunting me, drowning me as my voice gets louder, tears clogging my throat. Ragatha watches me with a wide eye, taking a step toward me with an arm outstretched, ready to give comfort I didn’t deserve.

“I mean, why should you even bother? I’m just a lamb left to the slaughter!” I laugh hysterically, hands rising up and tearing at the dumb hat on my head, yanking on the ends. “I’m the most fragile, the one who’s going to end up abstracting soon, SO WHY EVEN BOTHER CARING ABOUT ME?!” The last words rip themselves out of me as a scream. I pant, trying to catch my breath. “I just…don’t know why.” My legs tremble as exhaustion suddenly overwhelms me. “Could you please tell me why?” I close my eyes, letting myself slump to the floor on my knees. Tears leak from my eyes as there's a long beat of silence, broken by the sound of soft plush feet making their way towards me. I hear the sound of cloth rubbing against fabric as she sits down in front of me. 

“Just…why?” I whisper. Why would this amazing, kind, beautiful girl want me of all people? Why would she want me to be hers? The quiet stretches on, any hope I had being diminished by it. Then, suddenly, I feel plush hands on my shoulders. I open my teary eyes, lifting my head to look at this beautiful, sweet girl. She opens her mouth, but for once she doesn’t seem to know what to say. Wet pinwheel pupils stare into a wide black eye as he hands trail up from my shoulders to my face, cradling it. She wipes a tear from my cheek as she leans in slowly, hesitantly, pausing with her face just a centimeter away from mine. She hovers there for a moment, before seeming to gather every last scrap of her courage and pressing her lips to mine. 

My eyes widen in shock as soft, sweet lips make contact with mine. For a moment I’m just completely confused, all the emotions in me warring with each other. But slowly, the good feelings win, pushing out the darker, deadlier ones as I close my eyes and lean into the kiss, raising a hand to press the dolls more firmly against my cheek. I trace idle circles on the back of her hand as the kiss deepens. All too soon, it ends, both of us pulling away, breathing hard as my pulse jumps and skitters nervously. We stare at each other with shell-shocked eyes. I was already craving another kiss even though I know I don’t deserve this, as I try to shove this feeling below surface. 

“That was…” We both murmur at the same time, giggling nervously at how our voices blended together. We glance away from each other, cheeks red as I feel the need creep over me, the need for another hit of this. 

“C-couldn’t I get another kiss?” I murmur, pinwheel pupils flicking towards the doll. She just smiles and leans towards me, pulling me into her as our lips meet each other again.

Oh, how she pestered the jester,

She pestered the jester,

Pestered the jester with this.

[justaragdollysblog]

Abstragedy fic and my life is yours! (Abstragedy is gangle x zooble <3)

YEP coming right up! I love getting writing requests shdbdbdbvdhhhh

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The air was warm outside the tent-but not unpleasant as the gang embarked on an adventure, if it could be called that.

Caine had explained to them that they were to catch butterflies scattered around the grounds. Five of each color, he explained, even though there were only two colors of butterflies.

Caine had paired Zooble and Gangle together, leaving Pomni with Kinger, and Ragatha with Jax. Zooble was a little grateful to not be paired with the rabbit, and Kinger could barely contain his excitement at the bug themed activity.

It truly was a beautiful simulated day. There was a soft, chill breeze to offset the warmth, and the grounds seemed…brighter. Happier.

Zooble walked with Gangle, who, miraculously, hadn’t broken her comedy mask yet. “It’s so nice out!” Gangle giggled, as the digital lake softly lapped at the shore.

Zooble shrugged a little. “I…guess it’s one of Caine’s better creations. I wish we didn’t have to do lug around this stupid $&@%ing net, though.” They had each been given a net, that was unnecessarily heavy.

Gangle had a thoughtful look on her mask. “I’m glad it’s nothing too crazy.” She said softly. Zooble saw her bring a ribbon hand to her mask, and knew she was thinking of when it might break.

Zooble was about to say something when an orange butterfly flew next to them. It was like a monarch, but not quite. “Zooble, our first butterfly!” Gangle squealed.

Zooble huffed a bit and heaved the net over their shoulders, but the butterfly cleverly evaded capture, floating away instead.

“$&&@!” Zooble swore, frustrated. It didn’t help that lately, whenever they would look at Gangle, their pessimistic attitude would falter. Like they would start…enjoying it here. And that terrified them.

Zooble simmered when they felt a papery hand on their shoulder. It was like their frustration was a harsh fluorescent light, and someone turned them down to a warm glow. It was Gangle.

“That’s okay, Zooble. We can try and get some more! I’m enjoying the adventure regardless.” The pile of ribbons spoke softly yet kindly.

Their antenna twitched. “Yeah, you’re right.” They couldn’t stop their voice from softening. “Gangle, I…gotta tell you something.”

Gangle was a bit surprised. “Of course. What is it?” Zooble looked back toward the tent. Ragatha and Jax were still nearby, taunting the doll with a centipede. “Can we go…a bit further away?” The geometric shape pleaded, voice quiet now.

Gangle felt a pang of worry run through her ribbons. “Of course!” She scanned the area, deciding on the lake’s shore. She and Zooble sat on the sand that bled out into the body of water.

Gangle waited with bated breath. She knew Zooble had a hard time with emotions and opening up, as did all of them. She didn’t want to rush them into telling her anything.

Speaking of shapes, Zooble stared into their reflection in the water. It was about a minute of anticipated silence. Gangle was about to ask if Zooble was okay, when:

“I like you. A lot.” Zooble blurted out.

Gangle had a surprised look, but even that’s an understatement. “Do…do you mean you…” The ribbons whispered. Zooble nodded their triangular head.

Gangle smiled softly, and not just because of the mask this time. “Zooble, I do too. I love you.” That seemed to shock them, because they stood up straight and looked into her eyes, looking for any sign of sarcasm or hesitation.

But there wasn’t any. And Zooble gently took her ribbon hands in their mismatched limbs, and looked up again. “You do…?”

Gangle giggled a little and nodded. “I do! And…I’d like to be with you, if you want to…” Zooble laughed a bit. Gangle barely ever heard them laugh. “Of course I do. I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t.”

Gangle had a smile that reached her eyes, and felt safe as she held a ribbon over Zooble’s clawed hand. It was the closest they could get to hand holding, anyways.

Gangle’s heart swelled with love and peace, as they watched Jax chase Ragatha with another centipede. She giggled a bit. “It’s a nice day.”

“Yeah,” Zooble agreed, an ever so gentle hand on her ribbon shoulder.

“I guess it is.”

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WOOOOO hope u liked it!! reblogs are MUCH appreciated!