~Silence Isn't Always Golden~
(Disclaimer: I do not own The Amazing Digital Circus or any of its characters, all credit goes to Glitch Productions and Gooseworx. Please support the official release).
Chapter 1: The New Arrival
Our story begins with a dark room with curtains as the back wall, soon the room lights up and the lights move around as a humanoid being with a set of floating dentures with eyeballs for a head twirled and popped out of thin air. He introduced himself, after a small wait.
"Welcome to The Amazing Digital Circus! My name is Caine. I'm your ringmaster and I'm here to show you the most jaw-dropping, heart stopping, mind-bending paraphernalia you've ever laid your eyes upon!", he said before he pulled a living bubble from his hat, "Isn't that right, Bubble?"
"That's right, Caine! I can't wait to see what you've got cooking up for today", said Bubble.
"Well, let's not waste any time! Let's get right into the show!", said Caine as he moved away from the show curtain, as the curtain started to unravel.
Then, what sounded like a theme song began to play, introducing the members of the Digital Circus.
"Gangle, and Zooble, and Kinger too!
Ragatha, Jax, and there's Kaufmo, woo-hoo!"
A cardboard cutout of a clown character was on stage, it then fell over with a visual disclaimer popping up. It stated that "Kaufmo the Clown did not show up today."
"Day after day after- Day after- Day after day we fly.
Past the moon and the sun and we don't know why!"
Just then, a fox character suddenly appeared as objects flew through the air. She was wearing a black and white striped dress with a red collar and red sleeve cuffs, and a black berret. Her fur was pure white with black tips on her ears and tail, and she had blue eyes.
"W-w-where?", she muttered to herself.
She walked around, almost getting hit by a flying eyeball. She spotted an exit and ran towards it, only for the exit to dissolve and disappear. A hat zoomed past her, then a big flower fell and glitched into the ground, frightening her.
She then backed away, knocking over Jax, causing Kinger, and subsequently Gangle to fall over too, breaking Gangle's comedy mask in the process, while the theme song slowed down and suddenly stopped.
The fox mime backed down, while the others stood up. Ragatha and Zooble appeared, peering at the mime, as she was very confused at the moment. Jax, on the other hand, couldn't help but stare at her for a moment, almost as if he was admiring her appearance.
Then he spoke.
"Caine, is this one of your NPCs or is this a new sucker? 'Cause if it's a new character, we're gonna have to redo this whole theme song", said Jax as he looked and sounded bothered by the possibility of redoing their theme song.
"I'm not doing that again", said Zooble.
"My my, it appears a new human has entered this realm!", said Caine as he moved his cane around to point at the mime, before pointing in the air.
The fox mime began pawing at her face frantically, "How do I... take this… headset off!?", she said in a panicked voice.
Jax smirked, "Just keep grabbing at it. That worked for all of us", he said.
The mime attempted to pull the headset off but, not realizing that it wasn't working, she pulled at her ears and mouth instead. When she gave up, her ears and mouth flew back into position, making her head wobble.
"What's…going on? I-I-I put on some weird headset..and now I'm...here?", she said as her eyes widened. The mime looked around in confusion.
"Who are you people? Why can't I take it off? WHERE AM I?", she shouted in panic.
Ragatha suddenly interrupted the mime from speaking any further.
"Let's just try to calm down. Everything's gonna be ok, new stuff. We've all been through this. You just need to get your head to—"
"WHAT THE FRICK IS GOING ON!?", the mime shouted, cutting Ragatha off.
Jax snorted and then snickered, "I'm sorry..."frick"? Seriously?", he said in an amused tone.
The mime looked down sheepishly, "I... don't swear, I didn't like saying those kinds of words", she said meekly.
Caine then interjected, "Good to know, my dear, because we can't have any of that foul language around here. The Amazing Digital Circus is a place to be enjoyed by all ages. You, my friend, stumbled into an incredible world of wonders, where anything can happen...e-except for swearing", he said.
"Um...okay, so h-how do I, you know.. leave?", asked the mime.
Caine suddenly and abruptly went silent.
"W-Well don't freak out about it or anything, but uh, we.. don't exactly—"
"You can't", said Jax, cutting Ragatha off.
"Excuse me?", asked the mime with confusion.
"Shut up, Jax. But yeah, he's right. Welcome to your new home, and your new body", said Zooble as their claw pointed down to the mime's feet, which were fox paws now.
""N-n-new home"? What do you mean?", asked the mime as her eyes darted around fearfully.
"Guys, don't be mean", Ragatha scolded.
"We've been stuck here for years! Old Kinger over there's supposedly been here the longest", said Jax as he pointed to a nearby pillow fort.
Kinger peeked out of his pillow fort, "Huh, did somebody say something about an insect collection?", he asked.
"That's why he's craaazy", Jax chuckled while doing a cuckoo finger twirl.
The mime started panting and the pupils of her eyes shrank, she placed her hands/paws on her head. "This isn't happening, it's not real! I'm...I'm dreaming! Yeah, that's it! That's the most logical explanation, this is a dream! And I should just play along until I wake up, right?", she said trying to rationalize the situation.
The other characters exchanged awkward glances, except for Jax who smirked. "Whatever you say, cute stuff", he said making the mime blush awkwardly.
Meanwhile, Gangle was crying because her comedy mask was broken earlier.
"They broke my comedy mask...", she said as she continued sobbing.
"So, Caine, we havin' a new adventure today for the newbie or what?", said Jax. Whilst saying this, he walked over one of the halves of Gangle's broken mask, breaking it more. Gangle sobbed even more in response.
"I'd like to give our brand-new member a tour of the circus grounds first", said Caine, "Off we go!"
Before the mime could even speak, she and Caine warp to the outside of the tent.
"Here we have THE TENT! This is where your living quarters are, as well as other sorts of activities! These activities may include-"
Caine's eyes suddenly glitched out, and take on the texture of a Windows XP/Vista/7 BSoD screen, a dial up sound could be heard. Suddenly, the glitching stopped.
"-ball pits, mini golf, and more!"
The two then warp to the rest of the island. "And here we have THE GROUNDS! Drown yourself in the digital lake, or engage in ridery at the digital carnival! Night, day, it's all okay! The choice is yours, a cosmic buffet!", said Caine.
"Uh, is... that all there is?", asked the mime.
"Of course not!", said Caine.
The two then warp further, going to a endless plane of white squares with varying sizes.
"This is The Void! We...don't venture out into the void. Not even I know what's out there", Caine said in an ominous voice.
Before the mime could say anything, the two warped back to the grounds.
"We stay right here, where I can keep my HUNDREDS OF ALL-SEEING EYES ON YOU!", said Caine. There was a short-span intense silence, as dozens of eyeballs- presumably the ones Caine mentioned- appeared behind the two.
Just then, the moon started talking. "Hello, Caine. I love you", it said.
Caine was shocked by this as he started pushing the mime away, "Ah! Let's get outta here before the Moon gets frisky!", he said. Looking off to the side, the mime spotted what looked like an orange exit door.
"Wait, is that--"
She was cut off when Caine suddenly warped them back inside the circus tent. Then the mime suddenly vomited black and white liquid onto the floor, her eyes spinning dizzily.
"Woah, clean up on aisle you!", said Caine.
Bubble suddenly appeared from Caine's hat. "I'm on it, Boss!", he said as he proceeded to continuously lick up the vomit while Caine watched disturbed.
"...Why are you like this?", muttered Caine.
The mime soon returned to her consciousness, "Wait, wait. Was that an exit door I saw out there? Is that a way to leave?", she asked urgently.
"What exit?", said Jax as he took off Zooble's arm and used it as a back-scratcher, "If there was a way to leave, I'm pretty sure we'd have all left by now".
Zooble controlled the arm and choked Jax while talking. Jax then fell to the floor, "Yeah, what are you talking about?", asked Zooble.
Caine was still watching Bubble lick the vomit when he finally came to his senses and cleared his throat. "Uh-uh-I- I assure you there is no "magical exit door." You're probably just experiencing DIGITAL HALLUCINATIONS! From your mind's transition to the digital plane", he said to the mime.
"But, I-I swear I saw-"
"DIGITAL HALLUCINATIONS!", Caine shouted cutting her off.
He then turned away while tapping his fingers against his leg in an agitated manner before quickly changing the subject.
"How about we talk about something else? Like your name!", said Caine.
"My name? My name is uhh... AAHH! OH MY GOD, I CAN'T REMEMBER MY NAME! WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER MY NAME!?", shouted the mime in distress.
"Nobody can remember their name once they enter the Digital Circus! One of the few things I don't have control over are your minds! So all I can help you with is coming up with a new one!", explained Caine.
The mime's eyes went blank as she pulled on her ears again, clearly having a slight mental breakdown.
"Ughh... what's my name...?", she whined.
Caine flew over and patted her on the head, "Don't you worry your little head. Your new name can be anything!...
"...hereby acknowledging that your chosen name or names may not breach the Digital Circus User License Agreement stating that your name may not include objectionable content.Objectionable content includes-but is not limited to-sexually explicit material, obscene, defamatory, libelous, slanderous, violent, and/or unlawful content or profanity!
"So what are you thinkin'?", he said.
"Huh? I... don't know, just pick something. Anything, I don't care!", said the mime.
"Let's see!", said Caine.
A slot machine of letters fell down from the ceiling and rolled, landing on the letters X-D-D-C-C.
"What do you think of XDDCC?", Caine stammered.
"Uh...I don't-"
"You're right, terrible. Let's try that again!"
The slot machine of letters rolled again, this time landing on the letters M-I-M-Z-Y.
"What do you think of Mimzy?", asked Caine.
The mime, now dubbed Mimzy, seemed somewhat interested... mostly perturbed. "Huh? Uhh, sure.. I think I need to-"
"Gadzooks, you're right, Jax! We should have a brand new adventure for our new member, Mimzy!", said Caine.
"I said that like five minutes ago", said Jax.
Caine then pointed his cane at Mimzy, "You! Do you like adventure? Activity? Wonder? Danger? Horror? Pain? Suffering? Agony? Death? Disease? Death? Angel food cake?", he said.
Bubble randomly appeared and ate the angel food cake Caine had pulled out. Caine looked at Bubble, horrified.
"YOU PARASITE!!!", Caine shouted as he popped Bubble.
"Uh- I don't really-"
"Since you're new around here, we're gonna make it a simple, in-house, adventure to warm you up to how things work around here", said Caine, cutting Mimzy off.
"What? No, god! I don't want an in-house adventure!", complained Zooble.
"Don't worry, Zooble. I'll make it something unobtrusive that you can still choose to not get involved with!
"Today's adventure is... Gather the Gloinks!", said Caine as laughed maniacally. He then cut himself off as he started explaining, "That's right! The entire circus tent will be infested with Gloinks, and you gotta catch 'em all!"
"But what are they?", asked Bubble.
"I'm glad you asked, Bubble, they're small-"
"And what do they do?"
"They-"
"And how do they-"
Caine popped Bubble so he could continue speaking without further interruption.
"Gloinks are small mischievous critters that steal anything and everything they run into! Why do these humanoid hash-browns do this? How do you stop them? That's for you to find out. Now, good luck, and have fun, my little superstars!", said Caine as he disappeared.
Mimzy stared at where he used to be with an unreadable expression, then she turned towards the others.
"Uh...were those real words?", she asked.
"Oh, that's just one of Caine's little adventures. They're just... something fun to do to, you know, prevent us from going insane", said Ragatha with a nervous chuckle.
Zooble sighed, "Speak for yourself. If anyone needs me, then [BLEEP] off", they said. Just as they were walking away, a group of Gloinks appeared and stole all their body parts.
"Oh God, oh jeez, NO! OH GOD! SOMEBODY HELP!", shouted Zooble as their pieces were carried away.
Gangle gasped in dismay, meanwhile Jax seemed apathetic.
"Oh no, they killed Zooble. Anyway, you guys wanna go get something to eat?", he said.
"...Oh wait, we should go check on Kaufmo! I'm pretty sure he'd like to meet Mimzy!", suggested Ragatha.
The Gloinks then stole Kinger's pillow fort, exposing him to the others. "MY IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS!", he shouted while crouched on the floor.
"You wanna come with us to check on Kaufmo?", Ragatha asked Kinger.
Kinger slowly got up and moved towards them, "No, not really. I think Kaufmo's gone insane. Last time I spoke with him, he was rambling endlessly about some exit. Kind of like you, Mimzy! You might be going insane too", he said.
"BUT WAIT! Wouldn't that more likely mean the exit DOES exist?", asked Mimzy.
"Could also mean that you just have a jumpstart on losing your mind there, sweetheart?", Jax said in an almost flirty manner.
"Wait! What about Zooble!?", Gangle asked though she was in the background and the others could barely hear her.
"Well...even though this is all just a dream, I'd still like to see Kaufmo and ask him about it. Who knows? He might have some useful information on how to get out...or wake up", said Mimzy.
Jax chuckled, "Heh, she still thinks this is a dream", he said with a smirk.
Ragatha looked at him awkwardly, "Uhh...why are you looking at me like that?", she asked.
"I'm fine with doing whatever, as long as I get to see funny things happening to people!", said Jax.
Just then, a Gloink smacked him in the side of his head.
"Ow! Okay, I've already had enough of these things", said Jax as he turned to Ragatha, "You, me, and Mimzy will go check on Kaufmo, which leaves crybaby and hoo-ha together to go handle the Zooble situation".
He was referring to Gangle and Kinger.
"Haha, do you think pairing them up together is a good idea?", asked Ragatha.
"Of course I do. They're the two most mentally stable and capable characters to be paired together", said Jax.
As he was saying this, Kinger started to shake violently like a glitchy video game asset.
"Come on, ladies, let's go harass the clown", said Jax as he walked out of the main room with Mimzy and Ragatha following him.
"My comedy mask is broken again...", said Gangle.
Kinger was standing right next to her, staring off into space when he was suddenly jolted back to reality. "GAH! Oh, Gangle. You startled me", he said.
[Time Skip]
Mimzy followed Jax and Ragatha up a set of stairs leading to another area of the circus, she kept looking around at the environment, finding all the bright colors disorientating.
"Hey so... I'm just gonna throw this out there but... you're a real cutie"
Mimzy was startled out of her daydreaming by Jax's comment, she looked up at him with confusion.
"Uh... what?", she asked.
Jax smirked, "I mean, I figured we'd might get a new sucker here eventually but thinking about it now, it could've been much worse.
"We could've gotten some loser, but I guess we lucked out getting a pretty girl like you. I think me and you will get along just fine", he said as he flexed his eyebrows.
Mimzy began to grow nervous because of the topic of the conversation and Jax's tone. Thankfully, she was saved by further discussion when they reached a corridor filled with doors with the faces of various characters on them.
"So, this is where we all live. Or well, where we all sleep at night. Even though we don't really need to sleep. It's sometimes nice to kinda take a break from everything and have a bit of routine, y'know? I'm sure there will be one for... Oh, look you already have one!", said Ragatha as she pointed at a door.
The door had a picture of Mimzy making a sort of sad clown face, she stared at the door with the same facial expression but turning back to Ragatha as they all continued walking down the corridor.
"I... still don't understand.. about the adventures. Why even go on them at all? Why not try to find a way to leave?", she said.
Ragatha gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, we usually do, when we first arrive, but after a while you start to realize that you really can't leave and constantly chasing an unattainable goal will start driving you a bit crazy. And eventually you get to asking what the point of anything is and you completely lose sight of who you are and why you're even alive and when you reach your breaking point, something really terrible can happen", she said.
She had snapped back to reality when she realized they had reached the door to Kaufmo's room. "Ah, but that's not something we need to deal with today. Above anything else, the adventures give us something to do that keeps our minds healthy and stimulated", said Ragatha as she rang Kaufmo's doorbell.
"Thank goodness this is all a dream, right, Mimzy?", asked Jax.
Mimzy seemed to have spaced out, her blue eyes having grown so large that the whites of her eyes can be barely seen. Jax tried to wake up her by lightly tapping her face.
Mimzy gasped when she came back to her senses, "Why are we here again? What are we doing?", she asked.
"We're getting one of our friends", said Ragatha as she rang the doorbell again, but there was no response.
"Huh, maybe he's not in his room? I hope he's alright", said Ragatha.
"Don't worry dollface, I've got a key to his room", said Jax as he revealed a key and spun it before walking towards Kaufmo's room.
Ragatha gave him an incredulous look, "Wha, wait, wh-why?! You-you-you shouldn't have keys to anyone's room!", she scolded.
"Nah, I've got keys everywhere, and you've all been fine. By the way, I may have left something in your room today, so let me know if you find it. You're not afraid of centipedes, are ya?", said Jax.
"JAX! That's literally my only fear, why would you do this?!", shouted Ragatha.
Jax can her a mischievous smirk, "What? It could be a completely unrelated question. You'll never know until it's too late", he said.
When Jax opened the door, they were shocked to see writing everywhere, messed up pictures and a black glitchy creature with realistic creepy eyes.
"Oh, I've been looking for this. Thanks for keeping an eye on it, Kaufy. I'm gonna head out, see ya", said Jax as he picked up a sort-of-bowling ball item before immediately bolting away.
"Oh, Kaufmo's.. been abstracted! That-- that's okay", said Ragatha in a nervous tone.
Mimzy looked up at the creature, horrified as her body trembled with fear. "What in God's name is that?!", she asked.
"It...might be that terrible thing I was talking about earlier, when you reach your breaking point?!", responded a fearful Ragatha.
"H-huh?", Mimzy shouted as the black glitchy monster that was once Kaufmo began emerging from the room.
"Okay, wait! Maybe there's still time to fix him before we get Caine!", suggested Ragatha.
Kaufmo then approached Ragatha, coming out of his room and backing her against the wall. While Ragatha was stuck, Mimzy screamed and tried to escape.
Ragatha chuckled nervously, "Whoa! Kaufmo, listen! I know we didn't always get along, like when you called me out for fake laughing at your jokes! I swear, I really did think they were funny, I was just having a bit of a bad daaaaAAAYYYYY!"
Kaufmo then grabbed and dragged Ragatha, interrupting her. He hit her on the walls, floor and ceiling multiple times, and now Ragatha began to glitch out.
Ragatha dragged herself over to Mimzy, "Hey, Mimzy? You think you could perhaps help me out here? I understand... if you don't... want to, though", she spoke as her body and voice glitched out.
Mimzy tried to help Ragatha, but then as she reached her right hand out to help her, her hand became glitched.
"Ow!", Mimzy shouted. She then looked up at the glitched Kaufmo and then at Ragatha, her body trembling with fear.
"I'm sorry!", Mimzy cried out as she ran away in fear.
Kaufmo chased after Mimzy but failed to catch her as he broke through the colorful railing, falling towards the lower levels of the circus tent. Mimzy peered over the railing to see Kaufmo chasing after a Gloink; she then tried to run off but the she remembered Ragatha.
She groaned when she realized she left Ragatha behind and exclaimed softly as she ran back down the hallway to go back to Ragatha.
[Time Skip]
Meanwhile, Zooble screamed from deep inside a hole while Kinger and Gangle stood over it.
"I don't know what I'm looking at here", said Kinger.
"We saw a Gloink carry one of Zooble's pieces down there, remember?", explained Gangle.
Kinger let out a small laugh, "Oh, yeah. Thank you for the recap", he said.
The two continued to stare down at the hole as Zooble's screams continued to echo from it.
"Boy, we're not very good at this, are we?", asked Kinger.
Just then, Jax ran up behind the two, panting. "Ugh.. Sup, fellas?", he said out of breath.
Kinger turned around quickly, "JAX! We found the Zooble hole", he said as he pointed at the hole in the floor.
"Cool", Jax said with an exasperated sigh.
"How's Kaufmo doing? I hope he's not still mad at me for not laughing at his jokes", Gangle said tearfully.
"Oh, he's doing great. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him this happy before", replied Jax.
"Well, it's good to know he hasn't completely lost his mind", said Kinger.
Kaufmo's growls could be heard in the distance and Jax looked behind him with a worried expression. He then turned to face Kinger and Gangle.
"He actually asked me to give you this", said Jax as he threw the bowling ball at Kinger which knocked him inside the hole, followed by Gangle. Then, Jax jumped inside the hole after them.
Kinger, Gangle, and Jax all slid down a long and winding red slide deep into an underground cavern filled with Gloinks. Kinger and Gangle barrel into a group of bowling pin-shaped Gloinks, followed by Jax, who knocked down the remaining pin-shaped Gloink.
Kinger and Gangle roll out onto the floor, and looked up to see a large red worm like creature being fed a table by the Gloinks as it burps.
"An insect collection?", asked Kinger.
"I think it's a nest", said Gangle.
Gangle and Kinger exchange a look with each other before Kinger shrieked.
[Time Skip]
Back on the upper levels, Mimzy went back to tried to help Ragatha; she walked through the trashed hallway, looking for her.
"Hello? Ragatha? That was your name, right?", Mimzy called out.
Then, she spotted Ragatha laying up against the wall, her body still twitching and fidgeting from the glitching.
"O-o-over here", Ragatha groaned.
Mimzy rushed over to her, "Hey, look, I'm...I didn't mean to leave you behind like that. I, just...look at my hand. I, I didn't know what to do", she said as she looked at her glitching right hand in fear.
"It—it's okay. What you need to do right now is to find Caine. He'll be able to fix me up and take care of Kaufmo", said Ragatha.
"Oh, okay, but where can I find him?", asked Mimzy.
Ragatha shrugged, "Uh, I don't really know. Just look around and call for him, I suppose", she suggested.
"Uh...okay! I'll get him! You just stay right there...not that you can really move or anything. Uhh.. Just hang in there, I'll be right back, I promise!", said Mimzy.
She started to run off but soon paused when Ragatha started to say something to her. She turned around and looked over.
"Cool. Also, Mimzy, I'm sorry your first day here had to be so terrible", Ragatha said glitching horribly and speaking in a cracked voice.
Mimzy stood there awkwardly, still not fully convinced this was all real. "Uhhhh, yeah, well, don't worry about it. I'm just gonna go get Caine now", she said giving Ragatha a reassuring smile and running off to find Caine.
Mimzy ran out to the platform in front of the sleeping quarters, "Hello? Caine? We have a bit of an issue here!", she called out but got no response. She realized the whole place was quiet and checked everywhere.
Mimzy started exploring the empty circus for Caine, coming across several doors. The first was a boxing glove that hit Mimzy in the face when she opened the door. Another had an ocean of fishes swimming and somehow the water was moving out of the door, leaving Mimzy puzzled.
The third was a black background with swirling carousels stacked to the top, children's laughter could be heard echoing in the darkness.
The fourth was a bathroom with a mannequin that was relaxing in the bathtub; just then, an angry red mask suddenly zoomed towards the door, scaring Mimzy, who quickly shut the door before getting hurt again. At the fifth door, she was once again hit by another boxing glove.
Mimzy rubbed her face as she walked through the circus when she heard a noise, her ears perking up.
"Caine?", she called out peering from behind a wall. She suddenly looked up in shock to see the abstracted Kaufmo roaming around the circus. He then noticed her with his distorted eyes; Mimzy's face adopted a frightened expression as she whined like a scared dog.
The glitched clown charged at her, making Mimzy freak out and run away.
[Time Skip]
Back down in the Gloink cave, the giant red worm finally noticed the other three circus members.
"What form of non-Gloinkinian mass dares presume presence in the nest of the Gloink Queen?", it shouted in disapproval.
Jax was unbothered by the creature as checked his nails with a bored expression. "Oh, is that who you are? You know, you could have asked for my consent before forcing me to see something so completely and utterly disgusting", he said.
The Gloink Queen gave an angry growl, offended at Jax for his rude words to her. "How despicable, a rabbitoid that runs its mouth in the presence of my royal figure!", she said.
Kinger bowed politely, Well, as a royal myself, I would like to kindly ask if-oh, look there's Zooble! Hi, Zooble!", he said as he waved at Zooble as their head was getting carried away by a Gloink.
"AUGH! HELP ME, YOU IDIOTS!", said Zooble in an unpleasant, serious tone.
Jax seemed to get a little upset when Zooble raised their tone at him, "Kinda rude, Zooble. Now I don't wanna help you", he said as he crossed his arms in disapproval.
Kinger and Gangle realized that one of them had to retrieve back Zooble's head, so both of them played Rock, Paper, Scissors. Gangle lost because her hands were ribbons, and thus, they couldn't bend or turn into fists/fingers.
"Oh, I always lose...", she said sadly as she covered her sad mask with her ribbon hands with a sign of defeat.
"Yes!", said Kinger, happy that he won. He then walked towards the Gloinks and managed to catch Zooble's head, "Gotcha!", he said.
He then froze and didn't process what was happening but watched awkwardly as Zooble and his hands continually moved towards the Gloink Queen to feed her. "Oh", said Kinger as he realized his hands were detached from his body and thus did not stop Zooble's head from being carried away by the Gloinks.
The Gloinks stacked on top of each other with Zooble's head on top as Zooble realized they are being eaten alive.
"Hey?! KINGER YOU MOTHER-"
The Gloink Queen cut Zooble off by lunging down and grabbing their head with her tongue. She swallowed Zooble's head and Kinger's hands whole.
"EEEEE!", shouted Gangle in horror as she watched in Zooble get eaten.
Jax shrugged apathetically, "Eh, he'll be fine", he said. Jax suddenly looked to his right and saw a blue star-shaped Gloink glitching aggressively and the other Gloinks stop to watch. Jax looked back and forth, concerned for his own safety.
[Time Skip]
Back on the upper levels, Mimzy was still running from Kaufmo, who was still chasing her. "Gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide", she muttered frightfully under her breath.
Mimzy suddenly stopped and looked at herself in the mirror for the first time, seeing how she was in the virtual circus. She was dumbfounded looking at the sight of herself, a black and white fox wearing a mime costume, her blue eyes staring blankly back at her.
She quickly looked away as she could hear Kaufmo approaching her and ran off to find a hiding place. Mimzy found a yellow barrel and opened it up, revealing red plastic barrel monkey toys. Kaufmo became distracted and forgot about Mimzy, instead chasing after one of the monkeys.
Mimzy took the opportunity to run, "God, Where is Caine?", she muttered desperately.
Just then, Mimzy bumped into an exit door in front of her. She stared at it for some time, debating on whether or not to go through it, but she could hear Kaufmo growling nearby. So, Mimzy took a leap of faith and opened the exit door, entering it, only to find a room with yet another exit door.
Mimzy went through that door, but proceeded to find yet another exit door.
"Huh!?", she said now confused and scared.
Mimzy ran through the door and found a room similar to the last one, she groaned and continued to pant as she tried the next door, only for the same thing to happen.
Back in the circus, the exit door suddenly disintegrated. A Gloink bounced towards it, befuddled. Seconds later, the Gloink was crushed the abstracted Kaufmo.
[Time Skip]
Back down in the Gloink cave,the Gloink Queen was going on a bit of a tirade.
"You foolish assortment of colorful characters!", she said as she raised her head to the ceiling to show disapproval towards Jax, Gangle, and Kinger, "Do you not realize everything must be Gloinks!? I am Gloinks. You will be Gloinks! God will be Gloinks!"
"This is dumb and weird", said Jax with a tone of disgust.
The Gloink Queen seemed befuddled, "Well, B- uh- Y- Yet you're still watching it!", she shouted.
"I'm not here for the adventure or anything i'm just here to hide from the-"
Jax was cut off when Kaufmo suddenly fell through the ceiling, landing onto the Gloink Queen, creating a massive thud. Kinger was pushed to the wall by Zooble's head, which was launched from the Gloink Queen's stomach.
"Oh, thank god you're okay! You didn't experience a gameshow in there, did you?", he said relieved.
"Uh.. I- What are you talking about?", asked Zooble as they gave Kinger a confused look.
The Gloink Queen was then being beaten up by the abstracted Kaufmo while cartoony noises could be heard with every hit.
"What's happening!?", Gangle shouted scared and worried.
"It's just Kaufmo. Don't worry about it", Jax said nonchalantly, showing no emotion for Kaufmo.
Gangle looked up horrified, "Kaufmo Abstracted!?", she shouted as she put her hands up to her face in shock and worry.
"Nah, He's fine", said Jax yet again showing no emotion.
"-YOU'RE RIGHT! HOW ARE WE GONNA GET OUT OF HERE!?", shouted Kinger.
"Guys, Over there", said Zooble as they gestured with their eyes towards a pair of escalators, one going up and the other going down.
"Huh", Kinger said suddenly being relieved.
They all started walking towards the escalator.
"Ladies first", Jax said to Gangle, "No wait why would I say that?"
Jax pushed Gangle to the side and walked ahead of her up the escalator.
As they all rode the escalator back up to the upper levels of the circus, Zooble realized someone was missing.
"Wait...Mimzy's not even here!? Wasn't this whole thing for her?!", they shouted in an angry and annoyed tone.
"Be quiet. I can't hear the escalator...", said Jax as he put his head on the escalator rails.
[Time Skip]
Back with Mimzy, she was still traversing the endless rooms and exit doors. She gasped and whimpered as she ran through door after door, desperately trying to find a real exit. But she never did, and she felt like she was going crazy.
Mimzy kept exploring until she found an office cubicle with a computer and a VR Headset, possibly referencing when she said she was transferred to the Digital Circus by a headset.
Just then, Mimzy felt tears come to her eyes. She reached up to wipe them but gasped in horror when she saw that her white furred hand was stained black by what looked like paint or ink.
Her tears...were not normal tears.
That's when Mimzy let out a blood curdling scream as she cried and cackled wildly while clutching her head. She entered another door and found herself in a long hallway with one last exit door. Mimzy ran towards it slowly and opened the door.
As she opened the door, she found herself in the Void. She advanced forward throughout it and its flashing colors, with a tranced look on her face.
Meanwhile, Caine, Bubble and several mannequins were sitting in a restaurant. The ringmaster and sentient bubble laughed together.
"Oh Bubble, you always know how to make me say this exact sentence", said Caine.
Suddenly, a goofy cartoon sound effect was heard, coming from Caine's wrist. He looked down at a strange watch attached to his wrist.
"Gasp! An alert on my WackyWatch at this hour?", said Caine as he checked the watch. The WackyWatch showed a radar, which located someone in the Void, showing an alert.
Caine went wall-eyed, "Oh no! Someone's venturing out into the void! They'll get totally spoiled!", he shouted in a goofy yet shocked manner.
Caine teleported out of the restaurant and into the Void, he grabbed Mimzy and then exited the void with her, going back to the circus grounds.
"There you go!", said Caine.
Mimzy was still tranced, her eyes wide and blank before she snapped out of it a few seconds later.
Caine looked around the room in confused, "Now, what the heck happened around here? Oh yeah- my doing", he said.
Just then, Kinger who was still holding Zooble's head, Jax and Gangle ran up to Caine and Mimzy.
"Caine! Kaufmo went through a sort of Kaufmosis and abstracted!", said Kinger.
"Kaufmo abstracted? Why didn't anybody tell me?", said Caine in an exaggerated manner as a cartoon sound played whilst he stuck out his tongue.
Mimzy looked up at Caine with an expression of irritation and almost...hatred.
Caine then snapped his fingers and summoned the abstracted Kaufmo over to him, while the latter growled furiously.
"And into the cellar you go", said Caine as he opened up a hole in the floor and sent Kaufmo down into the Cellar, which contained a body of water and several other abstracted beings. The hole closed up shortly after.
Zooble's body, now reassembled, came up to Kinger and collected their head, attaching it back onto their body. "Man, I can't believe Kaufmo just gave up like that. I mean, no offense Kinger, but I always thought you would be next", they said.
"Thank you", Kinger responded happily.
"Guess it just goes to show you can't rely on Kinger for anything", said Jax.
That was when Ragatha crawled up to Caine, her body still glitching erratically. "I am in so much pain!", she said, her voice glitching and stuttering.
"Oop!", said Caine as he snapped his fingers, which reversed the glitching on Ragatha, and Mimzy's hand. As Mimzy looked at her hand, Ragatha stood up and walked next to her, not looking at her, not happy. Mimzy looked at the floor the opposite way.
Caine then addressed everyone, "I do have to apologize for lying about the exit. I knew how much all of you have been wanting there to be one, but, you know, I was having so much trouble figuring out what to put on the other side and ended up never quite finishing it. And you know how I never like letting people see my unfinished work..."
Mimzy stood by with a worried expression.
"...Especially if it leads you out into the void. Anyway, it looks like you defeated the Gloink Queen, so I guess the adventure's over. Your reward is a delicious digital feast cooked by our head Bubble Chef", said Caine.
Bubble appeared, donning a chef hat, spatula and knife, next to a long table with food on it. "Made with all the love I'm legally allowed to give", he said.
"You know, I am pretty hungry", said Jax.
"You didn't even do anything", Gangle pointed out.
"So what? I can still be hungry", Jax said, annoyed.
"Well not really, 'cause we don't need to eat, drink or sleep in this digital world. So the digital food here only gives off the virtual sensation of eating without any of the nutritional benefits", Kinger explained.
"Sheesh, lay off it. Since when are you an expert on the digital world?", said Jax.
"Expert on the what?", Kinger asked confused.
As Kinger was talking, Mimzy stood there in a trance. Later, she was sitting down with everyone at the dinner table. She looked down at her food, which looked similar to plastic play food, with a horrified expression. Everyone else at the table was talking peacefully.
Mimzy reached down with one hand and picked up a carrot stick from her plate, she brought it to her mouth and took a bite out of it. That was when she gasped, a horrified expression on her face.
The carrot didn't even taste real...
She had barely felt it in her stomach...
She hadn't even felt hungry once since she first got to this digital world...
Mimzy began whimpering as more black ink tears started streaming down her face. In that moment, cold realized hit her in the face harder than those boxing gloves on springs.
This...was real.
She really was in a digital world, trapped...forever!
[End of Chapter 1]