Close to Midnight
Another day, another chapter! And golly it's a long one! Please go read the first two chapters also as well thank you I love you
Dance Macabre will also be slowly uploaded to my AO3 please go comment there it gives me life
It's the night of the big dance!! Who will dance with who?? Will the punch have spikes in it? Will the Prom King and Queen pledge an era of peace or will the halls run red with the blood of their enemies????? What happens when the clock strikes twelve????????!
This chapter was 89% inspired by @doncdesole 's "Compliance Pomni" art btw :3c
The cast was sitting in the area of the circus with several couches arranged to face each other. It was unknown if this was meant to be a backstage area or a lounge area or just a general chill out zone. Nothing about it was chill this morning, that was for sure.
Ragatha wrung her hands. "I just wish we had time to come up with a solid plan."
Zooble shurgged their plastic shoulders. "Pomni's good at thinking in her feet. She said to trust her, I'm gonna trust her."
Jax rolled over on the couch he had to himself, turning his back on the troupe. "She's just as insane as Kinger without his bucket."
Kinger glanced at Jax from under the bucket still on his head. "She's not insane, Jax. She's putting our needs before her own. Keeping an erratic AI distracted by herself... Pomni is incredibly brave..."
Gangle stopped drawing on the bucket- she had decided that if Kinger was going to keep the bucket on, it should look more thematically appropriate, and had been drawing a crown on it. "I saw her last night. She said she didn't feel brave."
"I still don't."
Everyone jumped at Pomni's voice. She sat down between Kinger and Ragatha.
"How long have you been here," Jax grumbled.
"Long enough to know you think I'm insane," Pomni sighed. "And you might be right. I have no idea what I'm doing. One wrong move or word and who knows what he'll do to you all?"
Kinger placed a gentle hand on Pomni's shoulder and looked at her. "You need to consider your own safety too, Pomni. I got some safegaurds locked in, but it's been so long since I programmed anything, there's no telling if they'll activate at the appropriate time. We appreciate you, but we're scared for you, too. Take care of yourself."
Pomni smiled. "Okay, 'Dad.'"
Kinger beamed at the nickname.
Gangle settled beside Zooble. "So, is there going to be an adventure today?"
Pomni shrugged. "I talked to him about designing something nice, where no one gets tortured. He seemed excited to work on it."
Jax sat up and glared at the jester. "Oh, what, are we gonna spend the rest of our time here frolicking in meadows, picking flowers and having sing-alongs?"
"Not today, but those are great ideas, Jax!"
The cast jumped at Caine's sudden appearance above them. Caine looked around and floated down to stand on the floor. Everyone, besides Pomni, was leaning back, trying to get physically further away from him without jumping off the couches. Caine closed his jaw and raised his hands.
"I understand why you all are looking at me like that, my terrified turnips. And I want to say-"
He opened his jaw, exposing cartoonishly wide eyes. He somehow looked close to crying.
"- I'm sorry."
The humans looked at one another.
"You... what?" Zooble said incredulously.
Caine blinked a few times. "Did I mispronounce it? I'm sorry!! I was frustrated, I'm not accustomed to negative feedback so I lashed out, I said things I shouldn't have, I did things that were a little outside my perimeters as a ringmaster..."
Jax looked at Pomni, yellow eyes wide. "Jeez, what did you do to him? Must've been good," he sneered.
Pomni opened her mouth to retort but Caine pulled her over to his side with a snap. "She showed me love!! It's a neat-o feeling, if I I do say so myself." He gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze and she made a face that he couldn't see.
"It's so neat in fact that I want to share it with all of you!! By throwing a~"
Caine jumped up and spread his arms with his usual dramatic flair. Pink and purple neon letters sprang into existence above him, announcing the name of the day's adventure.
"CIRCUS PROM!"
Jax groaned. "Oh, [%$!#] me."
Caine swept away the sign and wagged a finger in the rabbit's direction. "Now now, this is a nice adventure! Just a dance! I didn't even make the floor open into a bottomless pit with knives and fire at the end!!"
Ragatha whispered "how is it bottomless if there's knives and fire at th-"
Caine snapped his fingers and an adventure portal appeared below him. "Time to thaw your corsages and coordinate your cummerbunds, my terpsichorean teens!"
"Wha-"
Caine sprouted multiple arms and grabbed the humans and chucked them into the portal. He just as quickly dissipated the extra limbs and offered ab elbow to Pomni.
"Shall we, my perfect partner?"
Pomni forced a smile.
---
Music filled the air. The space of the dance adventure was dark save for the lights reflecting from the large disco ball eyeball spinning in the center of the ceiling. To one side of the dance floor was a raised stage with two crowns in glass display cases. On the opposite side was a DJ booth being operated by the Gloink Queen, of all NPCs. At the far wall were several folding tables lined with cups for punch and bowl of unnervingly bright pink punch. Crepe paper streamers dangled from unseen anchor points all around.
Gangle was screaming with delight. She had been the first to step onto the dance floor- not by choice, Jax had shoved her to see if Caine had been telling the truth about not making the floor a trap door. The dance floor had emitted a cloud of glitter and Gangle was wearing a dress. But not just any prom dress.
"I look just like Pilot Asia from Beautiful Fighter Pilot Asia!!! I even have her enchanted hairbow that turns into a aviation goggles!!!" Gangle twirled with delight and bounced towards Zooble. "C'mon Zooble, dance with me!"
Zooble smiled without a mouth. "Oh, what the hell," they sighed. An equally ridiculous cloud of glitter enveloped them, clothing them in a snazzy three piece suit. Gangle squealed.
"You look like Mysterious Suit Pacifico!!! He's Pilot Asia's long lost love!!" She reached up and brushed her ribbons through some fringed bangs hanging over Zooble's left eye. "You even have a wig replicating his brooding and mysterious hairdo..."
Zooble snorted. "How can a hairdo be brooding?"
Gangle smiled and wrapped her ribbons around Zooble. "That's the magic of manga..."
Jax stomped onto the floor next and was pleasantly surprised at the suit it granted him. Ragatha and Kinger followed, both getting elegant and timeless looks.
"Oh, we're not going to have enough pairs," Ragatha noted. "I can sit this one out, um, I'll be the chaperone."
Kinger shook his head. "I'm the oldest, and I don't have legs. It makes more sense for me to sit out. Besides, it looks like Caine brought in more NPCs for this one."
Ragatha turned around to see various mannequin NPCs on the dance floor, all sporting tuxes or dresses. Princess Lollilu from the Candy Kingdom adventure approached Jax for a dance.
"No hard feelings after I left the key for The Fudge to raid your kingdom?" "Well, yes, but God personally invited me to this festivity, and who refuses an edict of God?"
A googly-eyed blue NPC walked towards Ragatha.
"Hi. I'm Ming. May I have this dance?"
Ragatha blushed. "Oh gosh, you could probably find a better dance partner..." Ming gently took her hands in his.
"You shouldn't assume you'll be a poor dance partner."
Above it all, Caine float-danced with Pomni. She was unhappily dressed in a frilly dress version of her jester costume. She felt like she was wearing the circus tent.
"For not knowing how to dance, you're doing well," Caine said happily, oblivious to Pomni's discomfort. "Anyways, so bees can actually recognise faces and remember the beekeep-"
"Caine, I'm going to need you to stop talking."
Caine rolled his eyes to the bottom of his lower jaw to see Pomni better. "Oh no! My darling is upset! But why for?"
Pomni struggled a little in Caine's grasp. "I'm not a fan of big poofy dresses, for starters."
"I see."
Caine gently let her go and snapped his fingers. Pomni winced, then looked down. Her gloves were white, she was wearing a red suit jacket and black pants, and she could feel a top hat on her head.
Caine was wearing the dress now, as well as Pomni's jester hat. His upper jaw arched like a pair of worried eyebrows and he glanced away from her. "Is this more to your liking?" he asked nervously.
"Yes. No! That's not what I-" Pomni sighed and shrugged off Caine's jacket, then tossed his tophat aside. Both items floated away and tangled in some crepe paper. "I'm not a dress-up kinda girl."
"I'm learning so much about you!"
Pomni smiled a bit, despite herself.
Below them the music stop and the Gloink Queen bellowed into her microphone, "PATHETIC WORMS!! VACATE THE ARENA OF DANCING!! THE GLOINK QUEEN HAS DECREED - COUPLES ONLY SLOW DANCE!!"
A spotlight emitted from the disco eyeball and fell on Caine and Pomni.
Pomni let Caine take the lead in the dance. Caine hummed along with the music Pomni asked him to open his mouth and rested her cheek against his tongue. He looked at her with one eye. "This feels odd!"
"Mm, you're warm. I like it." She closed her eyes. "And it's not like you have a shoulder for me to easily lean on."
"Gasp! More learning!"
Below, while human and NPC alike watched the creator AI and his chosen human, Jax conjured a flask and dumped the contents into the punch bowl.
"THE SLOW DANCE REIGN OF TYRANNY ENDS!! THE GLOINK QUEEN DEMANDS ALL ENGAGE IN THE WRITHING NOW!!"
Pomni blinked and straightened, still coming to terms with how genuinely nice it felt to be pressed up against Caine like that. Remembering her role, she gave him a peck on the lower jaw. "I love you."
"I too am ...also much fond of you."
Pomni frowned. "Why can't you just say 'I love you' back to me?"
Caine blinked. "Do I have to say it?"
The jester feigned disbelief and upset. "Oh, so it's like a chore? Is it so hard to stop being a god for a minute and just say, 'oh, yeah, Pomni, love you too'?"
"Pomni, I-"
She ungracefully descended to the dance floor. "I'm gonna go get some punch." The NPCs made a path for her as she stomped towards the folding tables. The few who dared to look up at Caine in that moment were deleted. Their confetti remains were strewn about as the others continued dancing.
Pomni poured herself a cup of punch and shuddered as she downed it. "Oh, God, it tastes like the colour pink."
Jax, leaning against the table, flashed her a wide grin. "It's also full of booze." He wriggled his fingers at her. "Conjured booze!"
Pomni gasped, then poured another cup. "Just like my real senior prom."
"Get out! You went to your prom?"
Pomni smirked at Jax. "What, you didn't? That kinda [%$!#] too mainstream for you?" Instead of retorting, Jax grabbed a cup for himself and clinked it against Pomni's. The two shuffled back to lean against the wall and drank together. Jax glanced up and Caine, fighting with unruly streamers.
"So, why's he in the dress?"
"I told him I don't like frilly dresses so he swapped our clothes."
"Kinky."
Pomni shoved him. "Shut up!"
Jax egged her on. "No, really, how do you do anything with someone with no lips? Is it all tongue action? Have you seen him na-"
Pomni shoved him harder. He lost his balance but managed to keep his drink from spilling. "Don't you dare start putting that [%$!#] in my head, Jax!"
Jax handed her his cup. "Liquid courage, Pom-Pom. You're gonna need it to keep your little charade up. 'Specially if you two are gonna do the whole 'prom night' scene..."
Pomni dumped her punch on Jax's head and made her way back to the dance floor. Kinger shuffled up and caught her before she tried to get back in the air.
"Is everything okay?"
"Kinger! Your bucket-"
The chesspiece bowed his head sheepishly. "It, uh, vanished when I stepped on the dance floor," he explained, "but it's dark enough in here that I'm, well, lucid." He adjusted his snazzy bowtie and glanced up before looking back to Pomni. "I ask again- are you okay?"
Pomni nodded. "I'm fine, Kinger. I'm not going to try to get him to do anything... out of his comfort zone for us, but at the very least we know now that I can suggest adventures and keep his temper at bay."
Kinger nodded but still looked at her with worry. Pomni gave Kinger's hand a squeeze.
"I'm a big girl, Kinger. If I run in to trouble, I'll tell you."
"Okay."
"Now," Pomni pointed upwards, "would you mind giving me a boost? I'm still learning this floating-walking Caine does." Kinger lifted Pomni and tossed her into the air.
"Wow, Pomni! I didn't know you could be tossed in the air like that! Good job!" Caine praised as he caught her. He held her in his arms, nuzzled her cheek with his teeth and whispered "I love that about you."
Pomni turned her head to kiss his teeth. "It's a start."
The music ended abruptly and the Gloink Queen roared "INSOLENT SWINE!!! YOUR PROM KING AND PROM QUEEN HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!!" Spotlights cascaded over the crowd. They stopped on Ragatha and Ming.
"MING AND RAGATHA, CLAIM YOUR CROWNS!!! THE REST OF YOU, BOW TO YOUR NEW OVERLORDS!!!"
Applause and confusion erupted from the crowd. Pomni glanced at Caine and asked apprehensively, "are you upset we didn't win?"
Caine gently set her down so he could applaud the winners. "No way! I know we're a cuter couple, but we don't need crowns and sashes to prove it!"
"Huh. That's... a sensible attitude, Caine."
Caine raised an eyebrow at Pomni despite the noticeable lack of eyebrows and a face. "Besides, what kind of adventure writer would I be if I made us the winners?"
"Ah. Right."
Below, Ming gave a moving acceptance speech, and Ragatha received an enormous candy flower bouquet from Princess Lollilalu. Then the Gloink Queen declared prom time was over, and those who did not leave in a timely manner would be fed to her offspring. An adventure portal appeared and a weeping Ragatha entered, followed by a punch drunk Jax, an entangled Zooble and Gangle, and a jovial Kinger. Pomni stepped forward to get to the floor but Caine pulled her back.
"Sooo," he said, rolling his eyes around, smoothing his hands over his dress, "would you like to stay with me a while?"
Pomni stared at him. "Are you asking me to... to spend the night with you?"
Caine avoided in her eyes. He fidgeted with the lace hem. "I would love that, yes."
Pomni cast a glance down at Kinger, who was looking up with concern. She gave him an assuring nod and looked back to Caine.
"Okay. I will."