Chapter Text
Tomorrow had turned into today faster than the speed of light, as was usual for the circus. Pronto. Caine had already snapped his fingers and teleported them all to a studio. It was barely crack of dawn when he had done it, his legs kicking from front to back like a little kid as he watched everyone settle in, some still rubbing their eyes and stretching. It somehow felt wider than the space they already had back in that colorful tent, and its dark walls and floors felt reminiscent of what an acting studio would probably look like out in the macroverse. Not that any of them truly knew, anyway.
NPCs already crowded the room, almost as if they had gotten there before any of them, even Caine. They seemed talented, already knowing what to do to make the process run smoothly; some of them were running from side to side, others were setting up cameras, and talking to others. The chatter was natural. This is too realistic, Zooble pondered.
As those mannequins set up the bright, headache-inducing tripod studio lights, lighting up that once-dark room, Caine held a heavy bag that seemed stuffed with clothes. It was unusual for him to be giving himself manual labor in such a way, but it seemed quite obvious, based on the glimmer in his eyes and the extra detail for everything, that what humans went through behind the scenes for real movies really inspired him.
As everyone’s minds got used to the sudden change in location, Zooble hoped for a lot more chill process based on the details he had placed on the map. After all, why would he go through all that effort if he was just going to teleport everyone to the movie locations and actually make them live out the script? How did he even get the info for this, anyhow?
He floated around the room like a cloud, approaching everyone one by one—with the bag filled with many shiny, glamorous outfits—to give them their respective costumes.
“And here you go, Ragatha, Kinger! Turn behind you, and you’ll see there are changing rooms made especially for you! Just open that white door over there!” Caine said, tossing the getups right above Ragatha and Kinger. Ragatha had no time to process, as she was in the middle of a conversation with Kinger about how terrible the casting was for him, and the attire then covered her face as her arms flailed to catch it. Kinger, meanwhile, took hold of it instantly, despite the dopey eyes. He was still a bit confused about why he had to play an evil character. Regardless, it seems the appeal of playing in a movie with the others caught his attention much more.
Zooble and Gangle sat in a corner together, away from the obnoxious flares in the center of the place, chatting away about anything except for what was about to happen in the movie. They’d sometimes shift their eyes away from each other, hesitating to keep their hands even remotely next to each other. It didn’t take long before Caine zoomed to them, dropping their clothes on their laps and deserting them for the next task of many that he had to do as the movie’s director.
Gangle received a long, fluffy, flowy white dress with frilly patterns on its long sleeves and hemline, somewhat resembling a wedding dress, and a silver-coated princess crown, fit for the typical damsel-in-distress character. It was also obnoxiously sparkly. Because Caine had an audience of families in mind, and of course, kids won’t pay attention unless it’s all sparkle and bright.
As the main character in a movie filled with action scenes, Zooble had to have the coolest and punkiest getup, which Caine had worked especially hard to get right. They were awarded a long cape, dress pants tailored to their unique leg lengths, two belts, and a collared shirt, all completed with jewelry. The outfit seemed to have a cohesive color scheme of black and pink hues. However, there was no glimmer, gems, or sparkles on it like with the other actors, aside from the jewelry's shine.
“Well. I’ll take what I can get,” Zooble mumbled to themselves as they inspected each piece of their garb. Whenever they got to wear clothes as part of an adventure, it always honed them feel, since they could hide any parts they didn’t particularly like on certain days.
Gangle took Zooble’s investigation as a sign to lift her dress and rotate it around. Her eyes took in the details, and her mask reddened in response. The dress looked nice, sure, but it made it look like she was ready to get married. She was sure she didn’t remember any wedding scene in the script. “Oh no, I look like a bride… Was I supposed to look like this?”
Zooble looked at her gown and let their imagination run wild, posing Gangle in all kinds of ways (which were very innocent and cute), envisioning her looking back at them, her dress flowing in the wind, its white hues complementing her silky red ribbons, her cute smile... Hm. Maybe this whole actor thing would only get better and better from here on out.
Zooble, unaware of their blush, gripped onto their clothes as they said, “I think it’ll look good on y—”
A loud, blaring announcement blasted through the space, so loud that it could almost deafen everyone there. They both jerked at the feedback from the microphone, and unfortunately, neither had ears, so trying to find a spot on their heads to cover to dull the noise was proving difficult. Not having ears could also be an advantage for them in this situation, though, since they couldn’t start bleeding from them.
Full of excitement, Caine wanted to make sure he was loud and clear, so he raised his voice even higher. “To all the actors and actresses, you’ll find there is a hallway with dedicated dressing rooms for each of you if you exit this room! So prepare yourselves! Our makeup and costume artists will get to you soon, and we will begin shooting the first few scenes shortly!”
To ease their heads, some elevator music began playing, a (presumably) unspoken apology from Caine for hurting their heads. Was he even aware of how bad that volume was, though? Nobody knew, and nobody expected him to know.
Everyone began gathering, heading towards the white door opposite the stage. As they opened it, they found themselves in a wooden, brown hallway that was filled with even more doors. Each door had a nameplate for each key actor, with a small star hanging from it in the center. It looked like such a classic door for a celebrity's room. Couldn’t get any more cliché than this. The cast all thought the same thing: they almost felt famous now. They all headed to their respective rooms, leaving the hallway empty.
Zooble reluctantly peeked into their changing room, expecting something almost as ugly as their regular bedroom. They squinted their eyes for a second before entering, grabbing onto the doorknob delicately with their free hand. But there came a pleasant plot twist; it looked fine. Out of the ordinary for the circus. A mirror with surrounding lights hung on the wall, a table full of makeup (that they couldn’t understand how to use on their face), a chair facing it, also decorated with a star symbol, and an empty clothes rack. The room was plain, white, and wooden. Thank the heavens. They normally didn’t like plain too much either, but they eventually needed a break from all those headache-inducing colors.
The room’s decoration and lack of color also astonished Gangle. Unbeknownst to her, it had the same furniture and items as the others. But a shadow of intimidation shrouded her as she looked around and gazed at the mirror, her eyes widened the entire time. Was she really meant to be there? Maybe it’d be better if she replaced one of the NPCs as a background actress. But then again, someone else would have to do that scene with Zooble, and… It’d be best not to go down that path. Either way, she still couldn’t fathom that she was in a different role now. A bigger one.
In the circus, you can do whatever you want. But being a different person was a different topic; something with a lot more layers. And with all that she had experienced, she wasn’t sure if she could change who she was.
She shivered at the thought of everyone changing and becoming better, more bearable people, except for her.
Her grasp on her white dress tightened as she wondered how things would end up not just for herself, but also between her and Zooble.
If she didn’t get better, then…
A sharp voice interrupted her brooding. “Time to get ready, darling!”
Gangle snapped her face back, yelping at the loss of her alone time and the sudden, unknown visitor. An NPC faced her, a bright magenta scarf being tied around their neck. They strutted towards her while she remained in a frozen state, plunking their hands down onto her arms. As her body thawed, they had already forced her to sit down.
Right, this is the makeup artist Caine talked about, she thought. Standing next to her, the artist examined her up and down, humming at the dreadful posture of hers. They then peered into her face, Gangle leaning away in return.
“Strange. Your face looks…” They paused, patting all across her teary mask for a few seconds, “unfit for an actress. We need to get this fixed, stat. James, bring the new mask!” The makeup artist clapped in the air. A rush of noise bombarded the hallway.
James? Gangle’s head was now swirling with the random name, and the comment had just made her sulk even further, averting her gaze from the mirror in order not to have to see another second of her own reflection. Soon enough, another NPC barged into the room, hands sinking to their knees and wheezing for air, handing the mask—another replica of her comedy mask—to the confident makeup artist, then collapsing as soon as they took a step out of the door. From Gangles’s view, she could only see his legs get dragged away by God knows who, most likely another mannequin.
She flinched as the artist shoved the mask onto her face. Firmly, they held her still, both looking at the mirror.
“This is much better. This is fit for a star. Now, let’s get the princess ready for the show, shall we? You can’t be this naked for the cameras, dear.” They proclaimed.
Gangle huffed. She then took a moment to stare at her attire.
“I’m always naked, though.”
Goodness, this was already off to a poor start on Zooble’s end.
They could’ve almost started a fistfight with their respective makeup artist. Their cockiness and inability to understand that, no, they did not want their horns to be touched and changed on another person’s whim, could’ve almost made smoke come out of their sockets.
More than being indecisive about parts, Zooble hated it when annoying NPCs (and people) offered their opinion unasked in that matter. They had kicked the artist out of their room after a few minutes of arguing and instead dressed themself up.
Zooble gazed at the mirror, turning for a graceful spin of their cape, getting closer to their reflection to correct their crooked collar, pinching the edges of their pants to adjust the fit. It seemed fine; why the hell would they need someone else to dress them up like a Barbie doll?
They sighed, storming out of the room, intent on heading straight for the stage. There was no way that Caine, the guy who can just snap his fingers and change their look instantly, gave them another inconvenience by forcing them to interact with these random mannequins who intruded on their privacy. Zooble’s irritation at this blinded them as they took an aggressive turn to head for the door to the studio.
That was until the princess of the show had also come out of her changing room.
“Zooble!”
They turned back in quick succession, their speed disintegrating their spine had they possessed one.
Oh shit.
And from that moment on, everything was over for them. Because they couldn’t lie with the fact that they wanted to fall apart like a house of cards the moment their eyes met hers, and as they looked her up and down.
The result was just how they pictured her, if not better. Gangle grabbed at the hem of her dress, her posture closed, gaze averted as soon as they shared just a second of eye contact. A bit of flush showed on her mask. They noticed that the staff must’ve added a petticoat to her dress to make it look full and gave her a white bow at the back of her mask to match the dress. Was she supposed to be just a princess? It looked more like she was a queen now.
She looked incredible. So incredible that Zooble couldn’t even blink; fuck it, they’d rather not blink, because to blink would mean they’d be missing even just a single millisecond of her beauty.
Zooble put a hand on their face as if they were covering the mouth they’ve never had since they got here, catching their breath.
Gangle continued to fidget with the ends of her dress, carrying her words with a soft giggle. Zooble couldn’t tell, but she was trying her absolute hardest not to stare a hole into them. “Hi, I… just finished. Um—you look amazing.”
“Uh, you too,” they rasped.
“I think the first scene is all you and Kinger, and I’ll only appear a little bit,” she smiled, “I’m really excited to see you there.”
Zooble felt a tinge of excitement at seeing Gangle in that initial scene, at first. But the reminder that their crush—or, oops, best friend—would watch them on stage doing… whatever silly shit Caine had invented, made their stomach drop to the pits of hell, ruining the enamored ambiance in Zooble’s head.
This won the award for the most creative humiliation ritual that AI had made for them so far. Zooble had to applaud him for the amount of effort he was putting in to make them fumble this badly in front of her.
They let out an awkward laugh, trying to diffuse the soon-to-be embarrassment of their amateurish acting. A hint of sourness tainted their expression. “Yeah, me too. Honestly, I just hope this is over soon…”
“We should head back to the studio now,” Gangle murmured, scurrying to the exit with a downward gaze. Noticing her shyness, Zooble opened the door for her, letting her go first without saying a word back.
In their head, they went back on their word and thanked Caine not for the humiliation, but for having the best idea, putting her in such a gorgeous outfit. They could stare at her back all day long. Sparkles glinted off her dress. Her enormous bow, bouncing with every step of hers. That timid, yet adorable walk of hers. Those ribbons, which reflected the overhead light. Maybe he was onto something.
Blocking out the beginner scenes with Kinger wasn’t easy. Although Kinger was very sweet with the cameramen, he kept confusing his lefts and rights, and the bright lights pointing at the stage didn’t help either. He had to try several times to understand his positioning in certain moments. Sometimes he would somehow hide from the camera’s view when it stood right in front of him. Or climb on top of it. Or stare daggers into it.
Of course, the NPCs were most definitely careful and patient with him, regardless. Well, Zooble forced them to be, otherwise they’d have to deal with their geometric wrath. They could tell he had his heart in the game and wouldn’t want anyone to ruin that for no reason. Plus, it really wasn’t that serious, anyway.
“Mr. Kinger, we need you to stand over Zooble for this part, like an intimidating father,” one of the cameramen pleaded.
Kinger walks over to Zooble, getting so close that Zooble tipped back on instinct, like two repulsed magnets. “Oh! Like this?”
“You seriously don’t need to do all of that. Back off a little,” Zooble sighed.
The NPCs shrugged, shaking their heads amongst themselves. They’d find a workaround, eventually. They continued to adjust the cameras. As they did so, Zooble kept seizing small opportunities to look at Gangle, who was sitting on a plastic couch with Ragatha and Pomni, just enjoying the view of Zooble troubleshooting the blocking parts with Kinger.
They’d exchange small giggles and hand gestures as the camera operators dialogued with Zooble on how to stand or walk for certain parts. Gradually, they lost focus on the scene as it became boring and drawn out, and a haze washed over their head, where the only person they could see was her.
After endless tries at communication with the crew, they had adjusted the lights and setup to match, and now they had finally gotten the scene just right. Afterwards, they were done with the last rehearsal, which had somehow gone decent enough for a group of people that only had a week to practice and memorize, and now shooting time had begun.
Caine kicked back on his director's chair, which looked more like a throne for self-gratification purposes, and held the clapperboard as he bobbed his head with eyes full of light.
“Are you all ready?” He squealed, kicking his legs back and forth.
Kinger had also gotten pumped up with Caine’s infectious enthusiasm. “Aye, aye, captain!”
Zooble, meanwhile, shivered in disgust and anxiety, and left no response to Caine.
A mannequin stood next to him, holding a clipboard while writing something down. “Ahem. Board in, roll sound.”
Bubble floated in next, sporting a baseball cap. “Roll camera!”
Caine rolled his eyes, uninterested in the nitty gritty details of cinema. “Yes, yes. Anyway, action!”
The top stick of the clapperboard clapped down, and in the next few seconds, everything had gone dark.
Deep silence ensued.
Zooble was the first to break it. “Shit—what the hell?”
They opened their eyes to find that they were now in an unrecognizable room. It resembled a shed: small; the furniture worn down; the ceiling falling apart; wooden walls; just how the script had described it. They scanned for the stage's boundary, but found none. They were now enclosed in a new, yet familiar place: the protagonist’s house at the beginning of the movie.
Zooble stared in awe. What the fuck was the point of all of that then? The setup? The cameras? What?
As they heard footsteps, Zooble had gotten some sort of whiplash from having to remember they were now acting, and they needed to be in character. They redirected their vision to find Kinger lumbering towards them, his eyes half-lidded and eyebrows furrowed. That reminded them that yes, this was indeed serious. They blinked twice, shook their head, and regained their composure as much as they possibly could.
Kinger’s voice had gone half an octave lower, and his tone was now more somber than usual. “Aden. It’s all your fault your mother died! Died, in my arms!”
“Uh—um. Dad, I did the best I could to save her,” they awkwardly spluttered out, backing against the wall as Kinger intimidated them.
Kinger’s voice gained a more aggressive tone, his mannerisms embodying the rage of his character. “The aliens are invading our beloved kingdom, and the queen and king have requested a sacrifice to appease them. I’m going to grab you and make you a part of history. I need the money, you worthless scamp!”
Zooble cringed at the dialogue. It felt so weird hearing Kinger say something rude for once. “Dad, no—”
Kinger firmly gripped them by the arm, dragging them out of the shed, his ripped rag of an outfit flowing with artificial wind. Zooble feigned resistance against the tug, their large frame resisting only slightly. They knew with a flick of their wrist they could easily break free from his grasp, but they didn't want to make things even more tedious by going against the script and having to go for a second take, if those cameras were still on.
As they walked outside, Zooble still couldn’t see any cameras or drones. They got used to it, assuming that Caine had just made the cameras invisible to make the process easy.
As Kinger began to exposition-dump the entire backstory of the kingdom onto Zooble, the duo reached the castle. Zooble then realized that Caine had just created a roundabout way of teleporting them into a new map. Their eye twitched at the idea that he had thought that making an entirely new map was easier than just editing the video or adding props in the studio.
It looked glamorous inside with red carpets, pristine walls, paintings and fancy lights and all the sort, a large staircase with golden railing at the front of it all, but something alarmed them both when they entered; a bunch of tall, green-looking monstrous figures were crowding the entrance hall, which they both recognized as the feared aliens of the story.
And Princess Loolilalu was there as well, which wasn’t so alarming. Now under the name Queen Loolilalu, because Gangle took the spot of being the princess.
At the top of the staircase, she stood next to an Orbsman who donned a fancy tunic, robe, and crown.
Queen Loolilalu uttered with tears in her eyes, holding her hands close to her chest. “Oh, John, we are so happy to see you! Have you brought us our sacrifice so the aliens will leave us alone?”
Kinger’s chipper tone returned, which probably wasn’t supposed to happen according to the script. “Absolutely, my lady! Here you go! I’ll be awaiting monetary payment in cash!”
Zooble grimaced with their eyes while they were being handed off like a gift to Queen Loolilalu, arms being restrained as they reached her. The aliens stared at them, their gazes and heads synchronized as they followed Zooble’s every move.
When Zooble finally stood beneath the royals, beautiful red ribbons appeared, pacing down the stairs—a familiar white petticoat bobbing with each step. Her movements were delicate, footsteps almost hushed.
Zooble's eyes landed on the new character entering the scene, precisely as the script dictated. But it wasn't because of rote memorization; they would have done it instinctively anyway if it came down to her.
As she emerged, her demure smile took Zooble’s breath away for the millionth time, her crown glistening from the lightning, her arms hidden behind her back. It took everything in them not to break out of there and squeeze her from pure cuteness aggression. Their horns quivered the closer she got.
At the end of the steps, Gangle stopped right behind the royal NPCs, with them turning back to face her. She frowned, but her new mask wouldn’t let her form any tears. “Mother, Father… please don’t do this.”
Queen Loolilalu gasped, her eyes tightening. “We need to, my sweetie, Eve. If we don’t do this, they’ll kill us all. They want our resources. This young child is our only hope.”
Zooble rolled their eyes. I’m twenty-two years old; you could’ve changed Aden’s age for the beginning of the story. Or brought someone else. Man, does it even matter?
“But why?” Gangle’s voice stumbled as she wrapped her arms around herself; “Can’t I go instead? I cannot bear to see us sacrificing even just one of our citizens, Mother!”
The Orbsman waved his arm away to shoo her. “Of course you can’t go, you’re the next heir to our kingdom. Now, go back to your room, dear. We’re taking care of something important.”
Zooble was initially startled from the Orbsman having a normal and realistic voice now, but redirected their focus back to Gangle. Gangle returned Zooble’s gaze for a second, letting it linger. A sheepish grin slipped out from her.
“Please, don’t let my parents sacrifice you… I believe in you,” she said, exiting the scene as she disappeared into the upper floors. Or at least until she wasn’t visible anymore, as she actually hid behind the wall that connected to the staircase.
Zooble then recalled that there was a part in this scene that was super important.
Oh, fuck no. I actually have to fight one of those creepy things?!
Zooble looked to their back, an even worse feeling of dread setting in; their chest felt cold at the sight. Those aliens were freakishly taller than literally everyone else in that scene, and they, for some reason, had the sharpest nails on their hands, their midnight dark eyes reflecting whoever was in their field of vision, as if Caine made them difficult to confront on purpose.
No way, he has to make this easy. Did he at least give me some sort of power-up? Something? God fucking damnit!
They groaned in despair. It was all or nothing now.
Well, even if they got hurt, it’d probably just be some momentary pain they could overcome after seconds.
“Let go of me,” Zooble yelled.
They shoved the Queen and King out of the way; the backlash causing Loolilalu to stumble and fall onto the floor in a dramatic fashion, as if she had passed out. Making a run for it, their path to the door was almost clear for them until an alien blocked it, practically at the speed of light. Zooble balled up their fist, the other, more robotic-like hand aiding them as they took more of a tough stance fit for a fighter. Their fist jabbed the alien in the abdomen, but all it did was make them step back, their position otherwise unaltered. A counter as a quick slash followed from the alien, aimed at Zooble’s chest.
Zooble stumbled back, but was ready to go for another hit…
Until they felt their chest open a hole in the shape of the slash.
Zooble looked down, and all they could see was an obnoxiously bright rainbow-colored liquid spilling out of that hole, covering the white limestone ground.
How? Since when did they have that flowing inside their body? Could that be blood? Questions flooded their mind, but it was no use; their body wavered and their stance grew unsteady, their vision doubling and blurring.
“W… what?”
Then everything went black. The last thing they heard was a loud ‘CUT!’ and familiar screams of someone they love.