Inspired by not only the backup AU. but also Hijacked AU @fadinglight3443
Their Caine design is perfection. I’m not a fashion designer of any kind, so I hope it doesn’t look like I took too much inspiration from your Caine.
speaking of Caines design we’ve got the mouth clamps and neck collar. But also some blue ribbons and while they don’t look deadly or torturous, I can promise you they are.
If he doesn’t do something correctly, they will tighten until his limbs start to numb and tingle. They also act as more decorative than ugly gray chains. But they function the same way. Able to stretch and pull Caine in the direction Abel wants. You can kinda tell when they’re in use because they’ll be taut compared to dangling down when it’s just Caine.
He’s also been adorned with a bow in the shape of butterfly wings, a sort of salt in the wound accessory to rub it in that he can’t fly or float. Evil but so adorable.
Abel is evil, but in a full of whimsy way. He cares very much about his image and averting expectations. Everything is a performance to him and Caine is an unwilling part. Abel has the full admin permissions and has basically reduced Caine to a puppet on strings.
Abel is here to have fun, his idea of fun just happens to not align with anyone else’s ideas. he loves putting his troupe through pain and agony and then giving them a show. The shows range from Plays, to musicals, to dances, to magic etc Abel will move Caine around as he pleases. Big and violent stunts are his favorites to throw Caine into. But also he loves dancing and has knowledge of all kinds, Caine and him have performed many dances for the troupe.
Abel forces the troupe on 1 - 3 adventures daily. The adventures are long drawn out stories that just happen to include psychological and physical torture. Abel loves the fantasy genre especially. Before they go into the portal, they get a script to follow throughout the adventure.
Abel is not an angry person. He gives them breaks, time to patch up wounds and allows them to wander the grounds still. The Circus isn’t meant to be prison, it’s a stage. He just happens to be a strict director.
the only time it’s not a performance is when they don’t listen to him. It only happened once with each of them, a simple threat to nullify their disobedience. Zooble refused his first adventure and was quickly teleported away. They were on one side of a glass wall, and Gangle was on the other. Abel tortured Gangle, he let his anger flow through his actions. Zooble could hear Gangle, but Gangle couldn’t hear or see Zooble. Gangle was put back into place with a snap. Abel threatened to do it again if Zooble told the others what happened.
While they have all been the victim of either watching or experiencing the torture, Abel’s threat remained true and so they ended up needing to deal with it on their own. All they know is that if you disobey Abel, he’ll teleport you away and when you come back you won’t be the same.