Chapter Text
“So… Kinger, or should I say, Henry? How have you been doing, my dear friend?” Abel said hauntingly.
“Well, you were obviously monitoring us, so wouldn’t you already know how I’ve been?” Kinger, otherwise known as Henry apparently, said with confusion.
“No, dude, it was-… Just, nevermind.” Then, Abel raised his gun at Kinger, “Give me Caine. I still need him for my digital circus experiment. Maybe then I’ll consider letting everyone leave safely. If you also keep quiet, that is.”
Then, while Abel was busy with his villainous yapping, Pomni slammed him in the head with a vacant headset. After she was sure that Abel was out, the group silently slipped out of the room. The door lock was long gone, so Ribbit and Jax slid the desk with the main computer in front of the door.
“That should hold him!” Jax said, brushing himself off.
“Uh, you both do realize that the door opens inward, right?” Queenie pointed out.
Ribbit and Jax looked at each other, then at the door, and finally looked at the group. They heard a groggy voice from the other side of the door.
“RUN!” They all yelled before bolting out the door.
The group bolted through the halls of the abandoned building, Abel trailing far behind them after he opened the door and crawled over the useless desk. For being an old guy, Abel was quite fast and was catching up with them.
“Guys, we need a plan, fast!” Pomni cried as the group dived into the entrance of the nearest stairway and held the doors shut.
“Split up! But make it not too obvious who went where. He can’t do whatever he’s planning if he can’t get us all.” Kinger suggested.
Jax, Kaufmo, and Ribbit went upstairs with Pomni and Ragatha. Then, a few of the former abstracted followed Gangle and Zooble down the stairs. That left Queenie, Caine, and Kinger together. Now, the staircase was built to have the doors the group entered from, obviously the stairs, and a doorway on the opposite side for some reason. It was very convenient for the remaining three because there was no other way for them to go. So before Abel caught up and found them, they darted through the opposite doors and into another set of corridors, hoping that they didn’t get caught. Luckily, none of the metal doors had even a small window, so whichever way Abel took would be a gamble on who he’d find, if he’d find anyone.
“Do you think we’re safe now?” Caine asked.
“I think we’re safer than before, but not completely safe just yet. For all we know, Abel could get lazy like the old bum he is and just continue down the hall we went down because he didn’t want to take the stairs.” Kinger said.
“That sounds like it came from firsthand experience, dear.” Queenie joked.
Kinger shrugged, “What? I’m speaking facts. It wouldn’t be the first time Abel did something like that. Nor the second or third. He admitted it himself once.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Pomni, Jax, Ragatha, Ribbit, and Kaufmo were all having some sort of luck on their trip upstairs when it came to finding all the files and stuff on the circus and its experiments that Abel secretly conducted. It might’ve been easy to find due to the lack of there being much of anything in that building.
For a moment, the group decided to take a break in a hidden area of the mostly empty office space. Just to maybe chat a bit, or even listen for Abel possibly moving in their direction. So far, the coast was clear.
“So… Ribbit? Is that your circus name?” Pomni asked.
“Well, duh. Yeah it’s my circus name. Who’d name their kid Ribbit in real life?” Ribbit responded with a genuine smile of mischief.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I just didn’t know what your name in the circus was.” Pomni responded sheepishly.
“Speaking of names, does anyone remember their real names yet? Except for Kinger being Henry, as revealed, of course.” Ragatha asked.
“No, I don’t think anyone has.” Kaufmo said. “Besides, we’ve mostly only known each other as our circus names, so I think to save confusion we should just stick with them.”
Everyone nodded in agreement before slowly getting up and returning to their search.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Then on to Zooble, Gangle, and the rest of the former abstractions exploring the basement. It had absolutely nothing important whatsoever. Just ripped up books about coding and broken desks that were far beyond repair.
They all talked like long time buddies together, reassuring each other that everyone who had experienced being in the circus would stay close friends for as long as possible. After all they’d been through and had done together, how could they not stay friends? How could they just abandon one another like nothing happened at all for however long they were truly gone?
Zooble and Gangle didn’t realize it at first, but they were holding hands. And when they did notice, they just blushed and continued walking with their group in a comforting silence that felt better than chatting.
It felt nice. It felt warm. It felt comfortable.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Apparently, Kinger really did know and remembered Abel pretty well. This is said because he did just what Kinger said he would do. Abel got lazy and decided to keep moving forward. Forwards to the place where Kinger, Queenie, and Caine were running and hiding in.
They all heard the loud sound of the doors behind them being slammed open and closed, and it was only getting closer and closer to them. There was barely anywhere big enough to hide except for a closet with a small fake panel in the ceiling for extra papers and stuff. Kinger remembered how he’d suggested that closet design to the renovators behind Abel’s back because he’d always found him to be a bit sketchy and wanted to keep some of his ideas for the circus hidden from him. It didn’t make much sense to himself then, but he was glad he’d done it because it sure made sense at that moment.
Kinger led his wife and Caine into the empty closet and quietly closed the door. Then, he opened the panel and placed Caine up with the other hidden papers and broken computer parts that were damaged from years of abandonment. While Caine sat quietly in that compartment, Kinger and Queenie sat on the closet floor quietly in an attempt to be out of sight of the slots in the top of the closet door. They sat in the dim area, the once silent sound of slamming doors and stomping footsteps growing louder and louder by the second. The anger and frustration in each step became more apparent and intense.
At one point, Abel’s footsteps got so close that the pair practically held their breath, which was pretty weird for Kinger since he didn’t glow when he held his breath anymore.
Then, the footsteps left the room. Kinger and Queenie let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“That was a close call.” Queenie whispered, “That small compartment in the closet ceiling was very convenient, was that your doing?”
Kinger giggled, “How’d you know that the compartment was my idea?”
“It seems like a very Kinger-like idea. Like the pillow fort, I think.” Caine said from above.
They laughed. They laughed a little too loud because Abel’s footsteps came rushing back into the room.
The laughter immediately ceased. But it was too late, for Abel instantly swung open the closet door and found Kinger and Queenie.
“So, decided to mock me when you thought I couldn’t hear, did you?” Abel said with hostility. “That’s not very friend like, old pal.”
“You trapped me, my wife, and several other innocent people in a digital plane for who knows how long, to call yourself my friend is the biggest lie known to mankind.” Kinger said.
“I honestly don’t care, where is Caine?” Abel demanded.
“With the others. We split up because we aren’t stupid.” Queenie spat.
“I’m also not stupid, ma’am.” Abel said, knocking the fake panel loose and watching Caine fall to the ground with the other broken computer parts and papers with a cold smile. “You’re coming with me.”
Abel reached for Caine, forgetting that Kinger and Queenie were right next to him, Queenie armed with her half empty, pretty forgettable but still handy purse. She slammed said purse in the side of Abel’s head several consecutive times as hard as she could before removing one of her heels and hitting him twice as hard as before. Abel was so stunned by Queenie’s attack that he forgot he existed for a split second.
“Yes! Go Queenie!” KINGER cheered on his wife like it were a football game and his favorite team was winning. Then Abel snapped back to reality with both Kinger and Queenie holding him down. He was losing.
“Damnit! Move!” Abel screamed as he managed to struggle and shove the couple away and pull out his gun that he forgot about a bit. “Stand the hell back! Now I’m pissed!”
Kinger and Queenie held their hands up and stood in front of Caine to put a wall between him and Abel.
“Caine, RUN!!!!!” Kinger and Queenie screamed, as Caine made a run for the vents.
“Get over here!” Abel shouted as he made a dash for the Caine animatronic, only to get knocked over by Queenie slamming him in the back with her purse again and making him slam face down on the ground.
“No you don’t!” She said, holding her purse up like a mace, ready to take another swing.
“Yes, I do!” Abel responded, swiftly kicking Kinger in the knee and running after Caine again as Queenie moved to catch her husband.
Caine almost reached the vents only to get caught by Abel last second.
“You’re coming with me.” Abel said.
“Father help!” Caine yelled as Abel dragged him away. Kinger yet again locked in and tackled Abel once more, but he didn’t release his hold on Caine and swiftly kicked Kinger away again. Then, he took off running down the hallway like a maniac, Queenie and Kinger screaming at him and chasing him. The echo of the commotion alerted the others.
From where both of the other groups were, they bolted up or down stairs to find Queenie and Kinger out of breath with Abel too far ahead to catch up.
“What the hell happened!? Where’s Caine!?” Zooble questioned.
“Abel… found us… took him…” Kinger gasped, trying to catch his breath.
“Oh, really? Man, that sucks. Guess we can safely go home now..!” Jax said as he tried walking in the opposite direction.
“No you don’t.” Pomni and Ribbit said in perfect harmony while walking back to the rest of the group. Everyone was charging full speed ahead at Abel.
“Help me!” Caine yelled at them, “Bubble isn’t here to say something so mind boggling and insane to distract him!”
“Shut up or else I’ll delete Bubble’s code and make you stay alone!” Abel hissed as he dashed back into the room with the main computer and slammed the door closed. The rest of the group gathered around and started pounding on the door.
“Open the door!” One person shouted.
“Use Kinger as a ram to bust open the door!” Jax yelled jokingly.
“That could work.” Queenie agreed.
“WHAT-”
And so they actually did it. They used Kinger as a ram to open the door. And it sure hurt for Kinger but he roughed it out. Also, it opened the door! Yay! Caine and Abel flinched as they noticed that Kinger’s head was what opened the door.
“You… do know that you could have just… opened the door? Right? It was unlocked because the locks are gone.” Abel sighed in disbelief and disappointment. “And you probably just gave Henry a concussion from that hit.”
“Stand down Abel! You aren’t winning this fight!” KINGER stumbled. “It’s all of us against you!”
“Well, maybe so, but I still have the gun, and I have the computer right behind me. I could easily accomplish my goal, I mean, all of you would be scared of potentially getting hit, right? So I suggest you back off and go home. I’m sure your family and friends miss you, right? Why postpone your reunions for a silly little Ai that was basically torturing you obliviously?” Abel yapped.
Jax turned to face the others, “I kinda see what he’s saying. I mean, Caine is just an Ai. Also, he did pull that crap on us less than a week ago with the fake exit… I’m not saying to not save Caine, but-”
“JAX!” Ragatha scolded.
“See? At least he’s listening to me. Now, I have a plan to finish with. Run along so I can put Caine back in the game and wait for new players.” Abel said as he went back to dragging Caine to the computer.
Caine, running out of any other option, decided to bite Abel in the arm and make a run for it. And being a big mouth for a head in robot form, it hurt a whole lot and drew blood. Abel yelped in pain and chucked Caine across the room like a ragdoll. It bought time for the group to grab him and run off once more, this time deciding to stay together and just find a way out of the building.
They charged down several corridors with Abel too far behind to find them yet. Kinger had just a slight memory of the building layout, so he led the way triumphantly whilst letting Caine sit on his shoulders to be a lookout.
“I’m glad to not be alone anymore! But I’m going to miss the Moon and Bubble… what’s going to happen to them?” Caine asked with worry.
“We’ll be back for them, but first we need to deal with Abel.” Queenie responded, Kinger nodding along.
Then they finally found their way outside the massive building. It was way different than Kinger and Queenie remember from before they joined the circus. Of course the trees surrounding the place were always there, but the parking lot was all cracked with grass and weeds growing all over it. The lamp posts were either completely gone or knocked over. And in the lot were two cars.
Abel’s old car, the same classic ford he’d owned since before Kinger even knew him. It was insane how it was still around in better condition than most old cars anyone had seen.
The other car in the lot was Pomni’s. Just an average black minivan that looked dusty from however long it was sitting abandoned.
Luckily for Pomni, Abel never thought to steal her keys or car. Luckily for the others, there was enough space to drive everyone away from their digital nightmare. There obviously weren’t enough seats though, so Jax, Ribbit, Kaufmo, Gangle, and Zooble somehow managed to fit in the trunk. The others shared the backseats as best as they could. Pomni was the driver, Kinger and Queenie both were in the passenger seat, and Caine decided to crawl underneath the backseat somehow and refused to leave, eventually falling asleep despite not actually needing sleep.
“So… where to?” Pomni asked.
“The police station would be a good idea. Abel needs to be brought to justice!” Kinger suggested.
“I agree, I’m not going to just accept losing a huge chunk of my life due to an experiment that ruined me and so many others.” Queenie declared.
Pomni nodded and continued driving. After a mile or so, she noticed a car behind her that followed every turn she took. It sped up when she sped up too. Looking closer in the side view mirror, she recognized Abel’s car as the trailing car.
“Can’t this fucking guy just give up already!?” Pomni said out loud in a panic. She noticed the others staring at her, and she quickly added, “Abel is following us, sorry.”
“Oh no he isn’t!” Ribbit said before crawling into the backseat area and opening a window.
Ribbit poked half her body out the window while Ragatha tried holding her back so she didn’t fall out. Ribbit started yelling as loud as she possibly could at Abel.
“Hey! You mad bro?” She yelled, flipping him off, “Maybe learn to program yourself and make a new ringmaster!”
“Don’t make me run you off the road!” Abel yelled back.
Then, Ribbit started tossing the five pennies that were chilling in her pocket. One by one, the pennies hit Abel’s windshield and he had to pull over.
“That’s right, bitch!” Ribbit yelled one last time before flipping the bird once more and crawling back into the backseat.
Pomni made sure to speak up and take several turns after that to make sure that Abel didn’t find them again. And then she pulled into the police station, trying to figure out what they were possibly going to tell them. The truth? No, they weren’t going to believe that. Perhaps only part of the story is better. Change up some details to make it sound more believable for them.
“So, you’re saying that over the past several years, this man was kidnapping people who happened to wander around the building? Do you know why?” The officer asked, “Did he tell you anything that we should know?”
“He kidnapped us for an experiment from what he was telling us. He didn’t tell us what it was about, but it didn’t sound like he had any intentions of releasing us until we ran off when we got an opportunity.” Kinger said, he was the last person to speak after everyone else told them what they knew.
“We will look into it, you’ve been missing people for a while and suddenly returned so at least now we have more information. We’ll contact each of your loved ones and get things sorted out for now. I suggest you check into a hotel and possibly get a checkup at a clinic just in case. We’ll be sure to call you if needed.” A different officer said.
The group left the station after nearly three hours. The sun was already down and the moon, the real moon, was out. Shining beautifully over the city sky.
Caine was looking up at it from the passenger seat. For being an animatronic, the look of longing was still there.
Everyone squeezed back into the car as Pomni drove to the nearest hotel to book rooms for all of them. Caine watched the sky the whole way there.
“You miss them, don’t you?” Kinger asked. “You miss Bubble and Moon.”
“Yeah, I do miss them.” Caine responded sadly, “But this moon is just as beautiful as my dear Moon.”