Caine's Wackiest Adventure Yet
Summary: After overhearing a particular conversation between the circus members, Caine's finally come up with the greatest idea for an adventure ever. (Warning: Tickle Fic. Also extremely long I'm sorry)
Another day, another chaos-filled adventure for the circus crew. And this one? It was certainly something. Not a single one in the group had expected anything like this to happen. In fact, not even Caine himself had ever predicted he'd cook up what might have been his tamest yet kookiest adventure so far. But, that was the special thing about the Digital Circus.
It all started with the ringmaster sitting in his office. All his knick-knacks and doodads surrounded him as the big cheese was in his chair, legs crossed over on the armrest while he rapidly jotted down idea after idea in his notes. Papers were scattered all over his desk, all of them having been collected from the Suggestion Box. (Luckily he remembered this time.) Those he used as inspiration, to see how many he could fit into one thing. After all, his goal was to keep his players happy and satisfied. Though as much as he brainstormed, Caine wasn't getting very far.
The teeth man hummed in thought as he skimmed through each of his ideas, considering which one was the best. Twiddling his pencil in his fingers, Caine then sighed heavily before tossing away his writing utensil and notepad. He spoke up in a defeated tone. "It's no use, Bubble." The bubble in question then zipped down to his boss as soon as he was addressed. Expression blank, grinning with sharp teeth as he watched the pair of dentures slump dramatically in his chair. Caine, meanwhile, remained weary and continued on. "I've been at it all day trying to conjure up another grand adventure but... for some reason all my ideas are coming up flat." As the boss vented, Bubble simply responded in that peppy tone of voice. "Sounds like you're losing your touch!"
Caine shot an unamused glare at his assistant, floating up from his seat and crossing his arms. "Don't be ridiculous! Making adventures is my art, remember? The one thing I've never failed to do!" Caine spoke proudly before scratching his head. "The only problem is, I seem to be running out of originality." The ringmaster then gestured at all the suggestions on his desk. "On top of that, it's getting difficult to decipher which of everybody's suggestions to use, let alone figure out how to comfortably squash them all into one thing." He picked them up into one stack, showing Bubble as he quickly flipped through them all. "I mean how the heck am I supposed to fit in softball, bug-collecting, animated Japanese shows, and using everybody as target practice, all at the same time?"
Bubble blinked. It was hard to visually tell if he was even listening to everything Caine was spewing or not. Meanwhile, the AI paced (or rather floated) back and forth as he pondered to himself. With a finger on his chin, and a hand behind his back, he thought and thought. "Perhaps... what I really need to do is take a small break from all this brainstorming. Just until I can pull myself out of this funk and get those creative juices a flowin' ." Unfortunately it was true. As much as Caine didn't want to stop coming up with adventures, he was starting to get a little frustrated. And the more frustrated he got, the more it could lead to less than satisfactory (or even catastrophic) results. And we can't have that. The question is, what would he do for the time being?
After a bit more thinking, a light bulb then went off inside his head, causing the ringmaster to perk up. "That's it!" Poofing up his cane, the AI then turned to his soapy partner with his usual spunk coming back to him. "Gadzooks, Bubble, it seems as though genius has struck the two of us once again!" A beat had passed before Bubble suddenly popped out of nowhere, causing Caine to pause in confusion as he stared at the spot where he just was.
Bubble had then suddenly reappeared right on the other side of Caine, gleefully spouting out a response like nothing even happened. "How's that, boss?" The ringmaster was thrown off guard momentarily before he got back into it, both of them now disregarding that moment entirely. "What I'll do is spend a little time around our delightful human friends, and figure out what it is that every one of them enjoys!" The teeth man adjusted his tie in a prideful manner for having come up with such brilliance. "After all. There has to be at least one thing they have in common in terms of what they deem fun, right?" Without wasting anymore time, the ringleader disappeared into a puff of smoke.
Right in front of the stage, Caine had suddenly spawned in a pose with his hands on his hips, and his eyes looking outwards. His eyes would then drift around to spot where the circus crew was, while he called out in a sing-song tone. "Oh, my little superstarrrs!" However, there didn't seem to be anyone around at the moment. Curiously, Caine flew and zipped around the main headquarters and continued calling out to them. "Everybody? I'm here in need of your help with Scientific Studies!" Alas, not a single player in sight. He didn't even find them all in the lounging area where they usually were. It was surprisingly quiet. Caine rested a finger underneath his chin. Strange. Either they were all in their rooms, or maybe outside indulging in those other attractions. Caine was just about to snap his fingers and bring everyone to him... until he paused at the sound of distant chatting. He turned to see Kinger's pillow fort, hearing a number of voices coming out of there. He blinked before floating over, now hovering right in front of the fortress as the noise became clearer. He recognized those voices. Deciding to listen in on what exactly was going on in there, Caine leaned his head in slightly.
Inside was none other than the circus crew. Pomni, Ragatha, Jax, Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble. All of them were sat in a circle and simply hanging out with each other, within the confines of the pillow fort. That was because Kinger had invited them all in so they could take a break from the bright and colorful environment. The group of friends were currently in the middle of a game of 20 Questions. It wasn't the most exciting thing that they could be doing right now. But given that they already had some kind of crazy adventure to look forward to every day, it was a welcome change of pace.
Jax was the one talking, kicked back with his hands behind his head as he spoke in a casual tone. "I mean, as dumb of a question it is, I think I'd choose to eat spaghetti for the rest of my life." Pomni, who was the one that asked the question, simply smiled in response. She was sat right between Ragatha and Kinger. "Eheh. Spaghetti, huh? That's actually a more simple answer than I expected from you." The purple rabbit shot a playful glare at the jester. "Oh yeah? What's your choice then, Little Miss Observant?" Pomni hugged her knees and rested her chin on top of them as she thought. "For me, maybe something like mashed potatoes and gravy? I guess it all depends on whether or not I'd have to worry about it being bad for my health."
Meanwhile, Caine was still outside listening in on their little game. It seemed like they were all just sharing information with each other. Was this the fun that he was missing? Surely not. He needed something more. Something zany even. Enough to put into an adventure and keep it fresh.
Pomni had then turned to her ragdoll friend once she was up next. "Your turn, Ragatha." Ragatha rubbed her cheek as she looked away in thought. "Um, let's see. It's hard to really come up with anything." The little jester gave her a reassuring look. "It's okay, you don't have to put that much thought into it." Jax, who had his eyes closed, spoke up while he remained comfy in his spot. "Just, y'know, try to say one that's actually interesting this time. You'll put the rest of us to sleep if you're not careful." Zooble gave the rabbit an annoyed glare and sigh. "Anything's better than your stupid 'would you rather' questions." Jax had peeked an eye open, his trademarked grin widening mischievously at the toy box character. "Hey, at least now we know which of us would choose to jump into a pool of sharks versus a pit of snakes. I'd say that's pretty valuable."
Ragatha shook her head at Jax's antics before going back to deciding on her next question. She tried to think of something that was lighthearted enough to answer. "Well, how about a fun fact about ourselves? Something like... if anyone here is, um... ticklish!" She blurted out the first thing that came to mind with enthusiasm. But as soon as she saw everyone looking at her she sank back a little. Jax raised an eyebrow at the ragdoll from where he sat. "Uhuh. We said interesting not weird, Dollface." Ragatha huffed in a flustered manner, blushing a bit. "I tried to think of something harmless, okay?!" Pomni simply shrugged. "It's certainly a question." The jester tilted her head as she thought about it. "I don't actually know how ticklish I am. But if I had to guess, my sides are probably the worst." Zooble then rubbed the back of their neck before speaking next. "I'm not really that ticklish, except for the knees." Jax gave a funny look between the two of them. "Are we seriously answering this?"
The others ignored him while Gangle was the one to meekly go next, blushing and avoiding eye contact. "I-I'm pretty ticklish. Mostly around where my stomach would be." Pomni turned to her ragdoll friend, gazing up at her. "And you, Ragatha?" To which, Ragatha was taken aback before nervously chuckling and playing with her hair. "Oh! Y-Yeahhh, I'm also really ticklish. My neck especially." She then brought her attention to Kinger, who's mind seemed to be elsewhere at the moment. "Kinger, did you wanna answer?" The chess piece was snapped back to reality as he gave the ragdoll a clueless look. "Huh? Oh, yeah!" He then immediately went back to being cheerful. "The palms of my hands are most ticklish for me. But don't tell anyone." Pomni couldn't help but smile with amusement as she gazed up at Kinger. "You kind of just told all of us already." Kinger blinked with a blank expression. "Told all of you what?" Ah, classic Kinger.
Jax then cut in, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Okay, cool, we're done with this one. Can we move onto something else?" Pomni then brought her eyes to Jax, staring at him curiously. "What about you, Jax?" The rabbit eyed her for a moment before scoffing dismissively. "Ha! Please. I'm not ticklish," he said. Shaking his head while looking off smugly. Zooble spoke up with crossed arms. "Really? You sure that's not just another lie." Jax would then place a hand on his chest dramatically, but still wearing a cocky grin as he put on an innocent tone. "Aww, I can't believe you think I'd do such a thing, Zoobie. And I thought we were here to have a friendly bonding session." Jax then went back to getting comfy in his spot and closed back his eyes. "Anyways, is no one else tired of this game yet? Let's switch to a different one." Hmm. It almost seemed like he was trying to change the subject. It made the others share a look, but none of them would press on further. However...
Caine, who had been there this whole time, rubbed his chin curiously after having heard that whole conversation. "Huh. Interesting." Ticklish, you say? The ringmaster had almost forgotten about that concept entirely. But then it dawned on him. Wasn't tickling a common thing amongst humans? A simple light or playful touch that elicits laughter from a person? The more he dwelled on it, the more it sparked the AI's interest. He never considered adding something like that to mix of his adventures. But now, it sounded like the very thing he was looking for. Something that might actually be fun! "I think those little superstars of mine were onto something there. This is just the breakthrough I needed!" Caine spoke to himself, now floating up and away from the pillow fort. This idea sounded so ridiculous that it was right up his alley. A cheeky look then made its way to his face as he rubbed his hands together. "Time for me to get cooking in the kitchen." And with that, the ringmaster poofed away to get to work on his new plan.
A new day had finally rolled around as Caine was already up on stage. Right there by the edge, he hovered in a pose as he awaited the arrival of the crew for his daily announcement. The ringleader checked the time on his Wacky Watch. They should be here right about... On cue, the call of a certain ragdoll was heard. "Caine!" The AI looked to see the gang finally up and out of their rooms, making their way towards him. He beamed and shot over to them, greeting them all with his starbright attitude. "Ah! There you are, my topsy-turvy tumbleweeds!" The group was almost taken aback by Caine's greeting. While they were used to his rambunctiousness, it seemed to be at an all time high this morning. Ragatha spoke up first as she looked up at their circus leader. "Uh, good morning, Caine. You sure are excited today." Caine floated above them, continuing to go on an eager tangent. "Right you are, my dear! That's because I've whipped up another in-house adventure featuring my latest ideas!"
Zooble groaned upon hearing that. "Please tell me it's not gonna be another survival one. I'd rather not be used as a weapon this time." They shot a glare at a specific purple fellow, who flashed them a wink in response. Caine zipped up to the mixed-matched character and patted their back. "Ohof course not, Zooble. What I have in store for you all is nothing short of a cake walk. You could say that this'll be the funniest adventure to ever happen." Caine let out a boisterous laugh at his own comment while the others shared looks. Jax quirked an eyebrow at the teeth guy skeptically. "Funny, huh? I'll be the judge of that." Pomni raised her hand a bit as she spoke up next. "Sooo, what exactly are we doing-" Caine immediately wagged his finger in front of the jester girl. "Uh Buh Buh Buh! Not so fast, my eager mcbeavers! Before anything, we need to get everybody into their proper places!" Without elaborating further on that, Caine snapped his fingers and the entire scene cut to black before anybody could process.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Today! Right here at The Amazing Digital Circus! A spectacular show awaits for your eyes, and your eyes only! Sooo, let's give a big hand to our wonderful, loveable performers!
Spotlights would reveal what was going on, to the gang. Suddenly, with all of their avatars having on special outifts, they found themselves right in the center of a gigantic circus ring. A large crowd of ncps surrounded them. Amongst the regular npcs, there were some familiar faces, along with new ones. As the audience cheered and applauded the group, they just stood there gawking around, stunned and confused on what exactly was happening here. But right then, Caine appeared beside them with his gung ho attitude in full effect. "Alright, superstars! Who here is ready for some action!" Ragatha lifted a finger for Caine's attention as she spoke up. "Um, are we supposed to be actual circus performers here, or...?" The ringmaster laughed as he held his cane in his hands. "It's going to be way more entertaining than that, Ragatha! You all are here to put your skills and resilience to the test, completing all of my special new challenges." With a wave of his cane, a variety of said challenges had all spawned. Zooble squinted up at Caine when they saw all the props and stuff set up around the gang. "Was your idea really just to have us as an act?" "Now, now! This is has grand times written all over it!" With the crowd cheering again, Jax looked down at himself in his new outfit before slouching with a scowl. "I already hate this." Caine, however, continued on as he used his announcer voice. "Without future ado, ladies and gentlemen! Let's get this show on the road!" With another snap of his fingers, the AI poofed the gang away and to all of their respective challenges.
To start with, Pomni suddenly found herself with two sticks in her hands and standing on springy stilts. She looked down nervously, wobbling a bit as she tried to keep her balance. "What?" Caine then flew up next to her and he began to explain to the crowd. "Look here folks! This is - The Balancing Challenge! The goal is for our dear Pomni to reach a total of not one, not two, but FIFTY plates balanced on her two unbreakable sticks! Will she let any of that fine china fall? We'll see, my friends!" Pomni looked baffled. "Wait, Fifty?!" She wasn't even sure if she could do one. How was she supposed to balance fifty of them?
But Caine left it at that, as he then flew to the next challenge. With Ragatha, standing right next to a huge pile of pink leaves. "And this one is the Find the Leaf in the Leafstack Challenge. Ragatha will have to search high and low for that one single blue leaf hidden somewhere in this enormous pile of pink ones. Will all that determination help her find the blue ticket to her success? You're guess is as good as mine!" Ragatha gazed up at the towering pile of leaves in front of her. This was most likely going to take a while. "Uhh. Okay."
Caine was then with Gangle at her challenge, where she was sat at blank canvas with a wide assortment of art tools. "And next we have - The Draw This Challenge! Watch as Gangle shows off her artistic genius and create the most fantastical image you've ever seen of her lovely muse...Bubble!" Bubble then suddenly appeared with a fancy wig on. That sharp-toothed grin present as always. "I'm ready for my close up!" Gangle was taken aback. She wasn't actually sure about having everyone look at her art. She was used to showing it to her friends but this was different. She whimpered a little as she picked up a pencil. "I guess," she said shyly. Caine beamed down at her excitedly from where he was floating. "That's the spirit!"
Next up was Jax, who found himself at the start of some kind of obstacle course. It was almost like a wacky version of Donkey Kong. He stood there lost and Caine zipped up to him while he continued on with the introductions. "This here is The Obstacle Course Challenge! Where Jax is going to rely on his athletic attributes to reach the very top and ring that bell," he said while pointing his cane up to the big bell at the top of the course. "It's gonna be quite the workout for our rabbit friend!" Jax saw where his goal was, and he crossed his arms while he shot the ringmaster a sassy look. "What if I don't wanna do it?" Caine simply chuckled and flicked his wrist in response. "Ha ha! Good one, Jax."
Kinger stood with a blank expression at his little area, and Caine then poofed to where he was. "Next up is The Bug Collecting Challenge! Good ol' Kinger's goal involves these little critters here!" Caine snapped and spawned in a bunch of colorful bugs. "Using his trusty net, he'll have to capture all the Tick- ahem - all the 'harmless' bugs around the ring." Kinger blinked as he scratched his head curiously. "My net?" Caine then conjured up a net for him, to which Kinger's eyes lit up as he held it in his hands. "Ohh! This is a nice one."
And finally, Zooble stood at a little crafting station with three silly-looking models behind them. Caine popped up to do his thing. "And last but not least - The Match 'Em Up Challenge! Zooble has here a table with many different parts, and their goal is to figure out which assortment is the correct one for each model." Zooble grabbed a few in their hands as they raised an eyebrow. "Wait, I'm just supposed to guess? How am I supposed to know what the right parts are?" Caine gleefully continued as he hovered right above Zooble. "Don't be alarmed, Zooble. Once you hear the honk of the horn..." He gestured to the mechanical arm besides the toy box character, the gloved hand honking the horn a single time before the AI went on "-then you'll be allowed one hint to help guide you into solving this puzzle. And remember! If your selection of parts is right, then you'll earn a smile from the model as confirmation!" Zooble seemed unamused, but sighed as they resigned themselves to their challenge. "Fine. Whatever." Caine was pleased. "Excellent!"
Caine returned to front and center, facing the audience and bringing their attention to him once more. "And that's not all, folks! For you see, not only will our dear performers be working to complete their respective challenges, but the one who does the best out of everybody will receive the Grand Prize for their outstanding performance!" The words "Grand Prize" appeared in big fancy letters, earning a crowd of "ooo's" from the audience as their interest was peaked. Zooble spoke up from their station, looking at Caine. "What's the prize?" Caine was wagging his finger. "Uh-uh-uh! No spoilers, my mixed-matched delight. The best kind of prize is a SUR-prize!" That one got a laugh from the audience, including one random mannequin that was laughing harder than the rest. Even after the joke had passed they were hysterical, which earned the stares of everyone else.
Caine paused, cleared his throat, and then continued. "Alrighty, ladies and gentlemen! Now that tutorials are out of the way, it's time for our spectacular performance to finally begin!" The audience was ready. Caine was definitely ready. The gang, however. Oh boy. But the show must go on, it seemed, since the ringleader prepared to officially start the show.
"Well then! Let the challenging commence!" And as he threw his hands up in the air, the show was now on the road.
Pomni was holding out her sticks as two plates appeared out of thin air and landed on each one. She wobbled and panicked a little, but did her best to keep both her balance and the dishes' balance on her utensils. To her surprise, she wasn't doing bad. Even when a few more were added, she stayed put as no plates had fallen yet. Ragatha began digging through the pile of leaves when it started. She tried to move quick, assuming that she was being judged on time for her challenge. She anxiously mumbled to herself as she dug and dug, eventually disappearing into the pile of pink foliage. Jax, meanwhile, had started running as soon as the okay was given. Well... that's a lie. He sneakily started moving through the course before Caine officially declared the start of the show, getting a ten second headstart over the others. If he was gonna do this, then he might as well be crafty to get his way. He hoped that the teeth man didn't notice him cheating but given that it wasn't pointed out, it seemed like he was in the clear. Gangle sat on her stool as she started sketching. Occasionally stopping to get a look at Bubble as she drew him. Luckily the soapy assisstant wasn't too hard to draw to begin with. If anything, the most detailed feature would probably be the wig. Gangle did try to make it look nice though. She was being precise with her start-off sketch. Kinger was running around and chasing after the little bugs that were scattered around the place. There sure were a lot of them, but the chess piece didn't mind at all since this was his favorite activity. "Gotcha!" With a swing of his net he caught a striped butterfly, and then stopped to admire it. "Wow. That's pretty." And Zooble went to work on sorting through all the parts for the models. They organized each into their own categories before deciding on which ones they would go with first. As all the members were handling each challenge, the audience watched in awe. As for Caine, he provided all the commentary while flying and zipping around to observe each of the stars up close. "Great Caesar's Ghost! This is no doubt the most exciting performance we've ever had on display. Place your bets now, dear audience! Our wonderful circus members are in it to win it!"
As the show continued, more and more progress was being made. Pomni was now at sixteen plates stacked, Ragatha had searched through at least one third of the pile now, Jax was almost half way through the course, Gangle finished the bare-boned sketch of Bubble, Kinger caught ten bugs, and Zooble had gotten the first hint that helped a little bit. Everything was going well at the moment. Until...during the challenge run, Jax reached the part with mini cannons shooting out plastic balls that scattered all over his path. Luckily it was easy for Jax to maneuver through them all. But as he reached the end, the purple rabbit looked to see Pomni's number of plates now in the twenties. His brows furrowed at the sight before a sneaky idea popped up in his head. With a devious grin, Jax picked up a ball. He made sure Caine wasn't looking. The ringmaster was currently right behind Gangle, watching and muttering to himself in fascination, unknowingly making the ribbon girl a little self-conscious. Seeing his chance, Jax then aimed right for where Pomni was before throwing the ball at full force. The little spherical object then came into contact with one of the stacks, knocking off ten plates. The action made the jester lady yelp as her balance was thrown off for a bit, her wobbles causing five other plates to fall off her other stack. At the sound of crashing and shattering, Caine peered over before gasping in shock. "Gadzooks! It looks like Pomni's streak of balanced plates has come crashing down! Literally." The audience reacted with intrigue. Pomni got her bearings back before glaring at Jax. "What was that for?!" Jax had already gone back to running the course. He put on an innocent act as he shrugged, but that grin on his face said it all. "Whaaat? Can't you see I'm busy hurdling through obstacles right now? Those cannons probably just misfired or something." Pomni narrowed her eyes at the purple rabbit with a pout. She knew it was him. Jerk. Caine was continuing on with the commentary, floating above everything as he watched the crew go. "I can't believe it myself, folks! This is top quality entertainment that you'll only find here in the circus!"
Jax got to the next part before he stopped to take a breather. Resting with his hands on his knees, he regained his energy before straightening back up. He gazed up at Caine, looking unimpressed at the moment. "You know I could've sworn you mentioned this being your funniest adventure. And frankly, I'm starting to call major bullcrap. How's any of this supposed to be funny?" Caine, with his hands behind his back, stared down at the rabbit. A low chuckle then came out of him. "Oh Jax, Jax, Jax." His tone had shifted from his announcer voice to something... different. "Did I ever tell any of you the name of this particular adventure?" This caught all of the members' attention. Ragatha, who's upper half was currently free, spoke up next. "Um, no, I don't think you did actually." The ringmaster adjusted his tie with an unreadable look to him. "I see. Well allow me to enlighten everyone here." Conjuring up his cane, the AI took a moment to speak up again. "The name of today's adventure isss...."
"Tickle Frenzy Marathon!"
None of the players had a chance to even process that name because of what happened next. Pomni froze as two free floating hands appeared on both sides of her. Her eyes darted between them. But before she could question it, they suddenly went after her and started squeezing her sides. The jester squealed as she arched, feeling a jolt of ticklish sensations before she started laughing. "WAaAa! Hehehehe! Hehehahahaha! Hehehey!" Ragatha's eye widened as the pile of pink leaves that she was halfway buried in suddenly turned into a pile of pink fluffy feathers. "H-Huh??" The feathers also seemed to have minds of their own as they wiggled all around her. A ticklish scream rang from the ragdoll and she burst into laughter too. "AAAHH! HahahAHAHAHA! Wh-WhahaHAAT?! What's going ohohohon?!" Gangle watched the other two with surprise, until her attention was brought to the paintbrushes amongst her art tools, suddenly floating. A spooked look came across her mask before the brushes started wiggling against her torso. The ribbon lady squeed and let out high-pitched giggles. "EEK! Heeheehee! Heheheheee! Noho, plehehease! Wahait! Hahaha!" Kinger paused from the sudden turn of events but noticed that the bugs were no longer trying to escape him. Instead they all crawled towards him with mischievous intent as he stood there and watched in shock. These were no ordinary bugs. These were Tickle Bugs. They crawled up his body, a few going into his robe. The chess piece yelped and arched as he fell into a fit of laughter. "Hahahahaha! That tickles! Ohohoho! Hey, stohohohop thahat!" Zooble was tapped on their shoulder, and noticed the arms they were holding were now moving. And before they knew it, the arms tackled Zooble to the ground as they cried out, before the rest of the arms followed. As a few pinned Zooble down, others poked and prodded around their knees. They kicked and squirmed, struggling to hold back their laughter. "A-Ack! Hey! Whahat the $?@!% Cahaine, what the hehehell is this?!"
Caine's eyes were looking outward while he hovered in one of his signature poses. "Thaaat's right! The theme here is all based around the concept of tickling! After I overheard you all converse about being ticklish, not to mention share your most ticklish spots, I immediately jumped onto the idea of putting together a wacky assortment of Tickle Challenges!" Zooble shot a glare at the ringmaster but couldn't keep it up from the ticklish jolts through their legs. "Yohou were listening?! Ghh- ghehehe!" Caine nodded, seemingly pleased with himself. "Sure was. I was going through some creativity struggles and decided I'd come to you all for a bit of insight. Lucky for me, it's seems as though I made the right choice! This is the most fun I've seen in one room." He turned to the audience. "Am I right, folks?" The audience was very entertained, expressing their delight as they clapped in agreement. The AI beamed happily at the sight, before bringing his attention back to the gang. "But don't give up now, my little superstars! The tickles are only added obstacles to your challenges. The competition is still on." The gang had almost forgotten what they were doing, the tickling having distracted them greatly. Not only that but it was heavily impacting their performance. Pomni wriggled and wobbled around as the hands continued squeezing and scribbling against her sides. The plates tipped and slid as she struggled to keep them from falling. "Ehehehe! Hahahahaha! Stohohop ihihit!" Ragatha was engulfed by the feather pile, kicking and squirming. It was hard to focus on finding that blue leaf now. "Ahahahaha! C'mohohon, wahahait! Can't we tahalk about thihi- AAHAHAHA! NOHOT THE NEHECK!" Gangle was trying to work on her drawing but the paintbrushes were making it difficult. She twisted and squirmed in her seat, having to stop a few times when her tummy was ambushed. "Mhmhmhmm! Ihihi- Ihihi cahahan't! HehehAAH! Nohoho, nohot theheheheeere!" Kinger was actually able to keep up with the bug collecting. He was just also being tickled silly in the process. The only setback was when a small spider crawled onto his hand and tickled his palm, nearly making him drop his net. "Hahahahaha! Ohohohohoo! Hey, HEY! AHAHAHAHA! Oh my goodnehehess! Ihihit reheheally tihihicklehehes!" And Zooble was just barely able to pry themself up, wrestling and wrangling the limbs as they tried to keep them at an arms length. A few did still manage to throw in some pokes and scribbles though. "Grrhrr! Ihi swear to gohohod, Caine! I'm gonna kill you when- GHkk! Stohohop!"
With everyone being tickled senseless, the ring was filled to the brim with laughter. There was only one person who wasn't laughing. And it was Jax. The purple bunny just stood there on the platform, watching everything go down. He was the only member that wasn't being ambushed right now. Caine was enjoying it all, but then took notice of Jax's presence. He perked up as he addressed him. "Oh, yeah! You were the only one who claimed to not be ticklish at all, right, Jax?" The ringmaster floated closer to him all casual. "I'll admit it's a little disappointing. I would have had a blast adding Tickle Traps to the obstacle course but, you know. Some things can't be helped." The ringmaster patted Jax on the shoulder. "Not to worry, Jaxy Boy, you've still got quite the endeavor ahead of you before you reach your goal. This just means you're now at an advantage, which you can thank me for later. Now best get back into the action!" Jax didn't say anything. He just stared at Caine with a funny look. He took another glance at everyone else in their own ticklish situations. It wasn't until Caine suddenly popped up close beside him, in an outburst that snapped him out of it. "Well what're you waiting for?!" Jax flinched before scowling in annoyance, storming off to get back to climbing the course. "Alright! Jeez, pushy much?" The bunny hopped right back to it, pushing past the halfway checkpoint.
Meanwhile, Pomni managed to get back to twenty plates despite her disadvantage, still giggling up a storm. "Hehehehahaha! Cahahahaine, how is- EEEH- HOHOW IS THIHIS FAHAHAHAIR?!" Pomni's laughter went up a pitch as she felt the hands drill their fingers into the spot where her ribs met her sides. The jester also couldn't help but notice a familiar face in the crowd. She saw her gator friend, Gummigoo. He sat between his boys, with crossed arms. It wasn't clear if he even knew her, but he did let out a low laugh at her reactions. Almost like one of endearment. It brought a slight blush to Pomni's cheeks. Caine would float near Pomni as he responded in his usual boisterous demeanor. "Why just think of it as motivation, dear Pomni! All those funny sensations are like boosts of adrenaline. The more it tickles, the more it drives you to try even harder!" Just then, a cheeky look appeared on the teeth man. "And from what I can tell, it must really tickle a lot."
As Caine casually watched everybody from above, he started throwing out a bunch of comments and teases. "Yep. Sure was bold to give away all your weak spots like that. But I do appreciate you making it easy for me. I never would've guessed something so simple would be the best way to crack you guys up." Zooble tried putting on an annoyed and angry tone through their laughter. They kept having to wrangle the tickly limbs going after them. "Thihis is juhuhust- ahaha- so fuhuhunny to yohou, isn't ihihit?" The AI was floating in a sitting position, still radiating nothing but cheekiness. "Perhaaaps." After a pause, he'd then take control of everything as he wiggled his fingers. "But not as funny as this!" Every "tickle tool" would enter a frenzy mode from Caine's action, tickling all of the circus members even sillier. A whole chorus of cackles, squeals, and ticklish laughter rang throughout the ring. Now their ringleader was just having a blast messing with them. Caine was smug as he continued wiggling his fingers. "My, my! What's funny to me is absolutely hilarious to you five. Just listen to all that silly racket. Talk about being...tickled pink." The ringmaster made the joke with a goofy face, a *sproing* sound effect playing right after as it earned another laugh track from the audience. Everybody was entertained.
Again, except for Jax. He was getting closer to the bell. But he didn't look all that happy about it. He was more focused on what was happening around him. All the others getting the tickle treatment, so to speak. It made him let out an annoyed scoff as he scowled and grumbled to himself. "This is dumb." Unfortunately, that little remark didn't go unheard as Caine seemed to appear near him again, eyeing him curiously. "Dumb?! And why's that, my hopping harold?" Jax jumped again, not expecting for the ringleader to acknowledge that. He tried to play it off though, going back to his sassy attitude. "Really it's dumb you thought this was a good adventure. I mean, c'mon. Is this supposed to be hard or something?" Caine tapped his chin, floated in that spot. "Actually I was never looking to make this a difficult adventure. More like a fun one. So everybody would be enjoying themselves!" Jax rolled his eyes at the ringleader as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, sure. This whole thing just screams fun right now." Caine got closer to Jax as he leaned forward a bit, able to sense that the purple fellow was in fact not enjoying himself. "What's the matter, Jax? Is the obstacle course not meeting all your standards?" Jax's face fell for a second, but quickly covered it up again. "Well you didn't have to go and make it so easy for me. At least make it fair game if you don't wanna show clear favoritism." Caine tilted his head curiously, gazing between the others and Jax. "Yes, but... it was never truly fair from the start. You're not ticklish like the rest of your companions, right?" Jax froze. A noticeable blush had spread across his face before he turned away. The ringmaster blinked as he stared at the rabbit. "You were telling the truth, weren't you, Jax?" A growl came from Jax, growing more annoyed at Caine as he blurt out in a defensive tone. "Yes, I was telling the truth!" But then his expression changed to one of hesitance. He went quiet for a moment before speaking up. "At least... as far as you know. Who's to say I wasn't just fooling you guys? Making you think I'm not. And that you really are as dumb as you look, falling for it so easily." Jax gave a devious and mocking grin, looking up at the ringmaster, taunting him and seemingly trying to get a rise out of the AI. "Or maybe not. You'll never know, will ya?" Caine had gone completely silent, blankly staring at the bunny for a few seconds.
"...Hm. I suppose we never will know that. Oh well!"
Jax was flabbergasted as he watched Caine simply shrug and start floating off. He stared with large pupils before the outburst then couldn't be helped. "Are you kidding me?! You're that dense, you're not even gonna try it?!" Caine suddenly stopped in his tracks. He paused before turning around with yet another cheeky look. "Try it, eh? Is that what you want? Well, why didn't you say so," he said and snapped his fingers. Jax could only freeze up as realization hit him like a truck. He looked like he had just been smacked in the face. "A-Ah" But before he could take it back, a hidden hatch opened up from behind him. And out popped multiple mechanical arms, a few of them holding feathers. They wasted no time before going after the rabbit, attacking him from all angles. Jax had jolted as if he was being shocked, a huge wobbly grin spreading across his face. A few snickers bubbled out of him. He tried to hold out but could only last so long before he bursted into loud cackles. "hhhHAHAHAHAHAHA! GhAAHAHAHAAHA! W-Wait! I didn't- PFFTAHAHAHA! I was kidding!" Caine gleefully watched with his hands on his hips, using that announcer voice again. "Well, whaddya know, folks! It looks like Jax has finally owned up to his little white lie and revealed how astonishingly ticklish he really is! Everybody give a big hand to our purple pal!" As the audience clapped, so did Caine while he cheerfully continued. "I'm so glad you've finally come around, Jax! I knew resorting to the old reverse psychology tactic would get you to crack eventually." Jax gave a shocked glare through his fit of laughter. "YOHOHOU KNEW THIS WHOHOHOLE TIHIHIME?!" Caine casually flicked his wrist. "You could say I had a hunch." Of course. On one hand Jax was peeved. But on the other hand, a small part of him was going "Well played."
Zooble had two of three models done, but they stopped to point at Jax. "I knehew you were lying!" Jax had a deeper blush across his face, embarrassed that he was called out in front of everybody. "ShhUhuhut UHUHUP!" He tried fending off the arms but to no avail, as two of them just grabbed his wrists so the others could get him more. Jax screamed when he felt feathers along his ears, shaking his head back and forth to try and escape the tickly torment. "No, no, NO! AHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! STOHOHOHOP! SH-$!@?!& HEHEHEHEHAHA!" Whelp. Looks like his worst spot was discovered too. "Oh, and by the way," Caine added as he hovered next to Jax. "I would like to mention that cheating is strictly prohibited in the Tickle Frenzy Marathon. So as punishment for your actions, I'll have to add a two minute time-out before you're allowed to move on." Jax's eyes widened at that. "Oh come ohohOHOHON! You sahahaw thahahat too?! GeheEHEHEHE!" Caine simply tsked at him. "Silly rabbit! Did you forget I have hundreds of all seeing eyes on you?" The ringmaster conjured up said eyes for effect. Pomni managed to shoot Jax a victorious look, glad that he was finally getting his just desserts. Albeit she almost couldn't do it with those hands walking up her ribs and tummy like spiders. "HA! Thahahahat's whahahat you gehEHEHEHET! Hehehehehehe!" Jax snarled in response, more lighthearted than anything. "Whahahatehehehever! KkheHEHEHE! Still worth IT! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
It was ticklish chaos from then and there. But none of the circus members had chosen to give up. They all pushed through despite them being tickled to near death. They were all getting closer and closer. Caine and the audience watched with intrigue and anticipation. "This is it, ladies and gentleman! The final stretch of the competition! Can our stars make it happen?!" The gang was just a bunch of giggly messes at this point. But... an amazing finish did happen. Literally all at the same time, Pomni had reached fifty balanced plates. Ragatha popped out with a blue leaf in her hand. Gangle lowered her utensils after giving the finishing touch to her drawing. Kinger had caught the last of the Tickle Bugs with his net. Jax swung the rope that rang the bell at the top of the course. And Zooble earned their third smile from the last model after putting on the last possible part. It was a finale that earned the biggest applause from the audience! Caine too was hyped up from the sight as he zipped up quick. "WOWOWOAAH! What an unexpected ending, folks!! Our performers have completed every challenge in Record Time!" With a wave of his cane, the tickling finally stopped. And every challenge was poofed away. The gang reappeared in the center of the ring, all of them collapsed into each other in a tired heap. They all had dizzy spirals in their eyes from that whole tickling session, letting out collective groans. Caine meanwhile showed up above them. He was ecstatic at this point. "Ladies and Gentleman, what you've witnessed here was history in the making. I'm pleased to say the show was a complete success. So much so that we might just have to do it again sometime!" Do it again? Oh no. And knowing Caine, that was a big possibility.
"Well now, my dear audience, I think that's gonna wrap it up for today's adventure. Thanks to every single one of you for stopping by and we'll see you all next time at THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!" With one final applause from the audience, thus concluded the adventure as the scene poofed away.
The gang was back in there usual hang out spot, at the little lounge area. They've finally managed to recover from today and were now taking a moment to just chill. Pomni sat on the couch as she rested against the cushions. "Well that happened." Ragatha was next to her, leaning on the armrest while she fixed her hair. "I'll say. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while." Zooble sighed as they sat next to Gangle, slumped in their spot. "You know what? I'm not surprised Caine would do something like that. But at least it wasn't anything bizarre for once." Gangle nodded in agreement, and Kinger seemed as cheery as usual. "I actually had a fun time. All that laughing really does good for the soul, huh?" The others couldn't help but smile fondly at the chess piece's comment. Pomni chuckled and spoke up. "Yeah. Guess so." She then looked over at Jax, who was laying on the other sofa. He looked away from the group, but the jester smirked at him. "So. Not ticklish, huh?" Jax flinched, glancing over to see others giving him smug looks. It brought out a flustered glare from the rabbit. "Yeah, so what? I'm not the only one, am I?" Zooble rested their head against the back of their hand, finding Jax's reactions cathartic. "If that's the case then how come you lied about it? What, were you just trying to look cool?" Jax was staring off with his hands rested behind his head, acting unbothered like usual. "I always look cool. Besides I could've won that regardless of the whole tickle thing." He then shot Ragatha an unamused scowl. "Which, by the way, thanks for giving him bright ideas," he said sarcastically. Ragatha sheepishly glanced to the side, remembering that she was the one who brought the whole thing up in the first place.
Pomni seemed genuinely amused as she rested her chin on top of her hands, still smiling at Jax. "You can't pretend you didn't have fun, Jax. Especially since you're the one who wanted to be tickled." Jax's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He quickly sat up in a defensive manner. "Wh- Do you even hear yourself?! That's the most insane thing you've ever said!" Gangle was the one to speak up. "But you wanted Caine to figure out if you were lying." Zooble jumped in. "Exactly. Even if he did know, why taunt him and give yourself away like that?" Ragatha added on. "Unless you were feeling left out?" Jax went silent. But his pink face said it all. He didn't bother to respond and instead just took a pillow to smother against his face, as he flopped back down on the sofa. That got a laugh out of the others. They knew they were right. And so did he. Pomni slid off of the couch, walking over to the bunny to place a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "It's okay, Jax. We're just teasing you. You know we don't think you're weird for it, right?" Jax hesitated before peeking out from under the pillow. He saw the soft smile on Pomni. It gave him some kind of comfort, even if he'd never admit it. After a moment his salty look softened before he sighed, lowering the pillow. "Um... sure."
Just then, a puff of smoke caught their attention as Caine appeared again. "Hello again, my giggling gooseberries! First off, I just wanna go ahead and thank you all for helping make today's adventure a memorable one. It was as much fun for me to prepare as it was for you to experience it!" Caine then suddenly faltered before his voice lowered into a slightly worried tone. "You did have fun experiencing it, right?" The gang looked at each other, but then smiled as they all expressed with their own comments that they did in fact enjoy today's adventure. It might have been silly. But it was a nicer kind of silly. Caine let out a breath of relief, hand on his chest as he continued. "I'm glald to hear it. And fortunately there's a countless number of tickle-related ideas for me to come back to, should we ever do this type of thing again. Which I don't mind at all." Caine then suddenly perked up. "Oh! And before I forget..." He snapped to summon Bubble with a large glowing gift box on his head. "Here's your grand prize!" The present floated from Bubble and right down to the Pomni's hands. She examined it curiously. "What's inside?" Caine beamed in response, throwing his hands up eagerly. "Why anything you want! Anything physical at least. Simply whisper whatever your little heart desires to the box and before you know it, it'll pop right out!" As Caine explained, he did give little tickles underneath Bubble's chin, earning tiny feral snickers from the little gremlin. Wow, they really had an effect on the AI. "And since everyone here did such a swell job today, I'll let it be a group decision."
Pomni paused as she held the box, until a sly smile then spead across her face. She turned to the others and gestured for them to huddle in. Amongst their quiet mutters, soon they all were smiling slyly and nodded. Pomni then did as she was told, whispering to the box before setting it down. Caine seemed eager as he gazed down at them from where he was floating. "Ah! Made your choice already? Terrific! What was it, if you don't mind me asking." The gang had all made themselves comfy. Never did they drop those sly, mischievous faces. "Well...since you loved giving us today's adventure, I thought we'd return the favor," said Pomni. Caine smiled as he thought nothing of it. "Really? Why thank you kindly, my dear. That's the nicest gesture anyone's-" The ringmaster froze upon being hit with the realization. "Ah...what?" Just then, the gift box shook and vibrated, before the top popped off and out burst a bunch of hands, feathers, and brushes. All of them wiggled dangerously, only having one individual in mind. Caine stared at the approaching tools with bulging eyes, a new feeling of nervousness enveloping him. "N-N-Now hold on second, superstars," he said while holding his hands out defensively. "There's really no point in this. I mean, seriously! An advanced software like me couldn't possibly have the same weaknesses that you humans do. That's just outright preposterous. Ha! Haha..." Despite his nervous rambling and chuckles, nothing would stop the devilish tickly items from getting closer and closer to the AI.
The crew watched with amusement, none of them falling for the ringmaster's words. Caine gulped, realizing his fate was sealed. He eyed the hands, feathers, and brushes right in front of him. And he braced himself before they pounced. The teeth man fell into a fit of loud and frantic laughter, higher in pitch than usual as he kicked and flailed around in the air. "AHAHAHAHA! AHA! HAHAHAHAHA! STOP! STOPPIT!" The tools didn't stop, however. Continuing on with the tickle attack as they went for all the ringmaster's spots. The circus members all smiled and laughed at the AI's dilemma, finding great satisfaction in giving the ringmaster a taste of his own medicine. Jax was definitely laughing at Caine as he pointed a finger gun at him. "Now this is funny!" Caine's own blush appeared as he was tickled mercilessly. He felt like he was losing his mind already. Was this really what tickling felt like? How could anyone endure this? But then again, was he enjoying it all at the same time? Unfortunately he couldn't focus on these complicated feelings with these ticklish sensations driving him up a wall. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! OKAY, that's quite enOUGH! AHAHAHAHA! YOHOHOU CAHAN STOHOHOP THIHIS NOHOW! AHAHA! GUHUHUYS?!" Zooble leaned towards the gang with a bucket of popcorn, casually offering some. "Popcorn?" The other's gladly accepted as they took their own handfuls and continued watching the sight in front of them. Looks like they all had their own show to watch now. Caine internally groaned in fear as he realized he'd be like this for a while.
Oh well. It was all part of the fun.
