Reset AU Chapter 2: Complications
Creating the adventure was easy, his creative juices were flowing freely and he had no interruptions. He sculpted a mountain before adding lava rivers and glowing lakes of fire. Caves were carved into the sides of the volcano, enemies were designed and placed. A smog was created to hang over everything, giving it more ambience. The sky was red to match the fiery themes, and finally, he places the water balloons and corresponding riddles down. Perfect, the entire adventure was perfect⌠almost. The chimera looked amazing as well as all the other creatures, what was missing?
It hit him like a semi truck. An alternate ending! He redesigned the riddles to each give a word, when the words were all strung together it would make a sentence that when spoken to the chimera would calm it down and they would get to learn her story! As for the chimera⌠She was one of the last of her kind, her mating partner had died leaving her alone with their eggs to defend. She sat on top of the volcano guarding the eggs at all cost. That was good enough for now! It was almost time to announce the adventure for today so he couldnât add much more. He finished up with some last minute details before getting ready to greet his wonderful squeaky sausages!
He teleported behind the curtains so he could make sure all of the humans were there, sure enough when he peeked out, there they all stood. The original plan was to wait until they were mentioning him or the adventures in some way but he was just too excited! After all, this would be a masterpiece, his pièce de rÊsistance even!
So he teleported out of the curtains and onto the main stage, thrumming with energy.
âGOOD MORNING MY BODACIOUS BANANA BANDITS! I HOPE YOU ALL ARE FIRED UP FOR TODAYâS ADVENTURE!â He easily slipped into his showmanâs voice as he greeted the humans with wild moves and motions. Confidence in his adventure as he knew there was no need to worry, they would be happy to go on an adventure! Especially one as well put together as this one. âNOW I KNOW YESTERDAY WAS NOT ONE OF MY⌠BEST CREATIONS. BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU TODAYâS ADVENTURE IS UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN! IT HAS NOT ONE, BUT TWO, YES TWO UNIQUE ENDINGS!!! WILL YOU CHOOSE THE EASY WAY OUT OR IS THERE MORE TO THIS THAN IT SEEMS?â The basic premise was out of the way, all that was left now was the instructions and title, he was killing this!
His spiel was very rudely interrupted by Zooble of course, who else would it be? However, they were certainly acting a bit odd for sure. They were screaming. âGOD&#(=IT CAINE! ARE YOU TRULY THIS STUPID OR ARE YOU JUST TOO EGOTISTICAL TO GIVE HALF A S&!% ABOUT US?!?â Zoobleâs chest rose and fell quickly, their eyebrows were scrunched together and their antennas were twitching. All signs of extreme frustration. A quick glance at the other cast members revealed similar or other negative emotions. Sadness, anger, despair, and many more were all visual on their faces. Oh, this was going to be difficultâŚ
âNOW, NOW. AS I SAID, YESTERDAY WAS JUST A FLU-â His apology was cut off short as an entire flower pot smashed against his head. OW!?! An aching sensation spread from his front teeth as he whipped his gaze towards Zooble who was furiously staring back. Zooble had done it, that he was sure of. From the look on their face to their posture everything indicated that they had done it. To him. How dare they.
âCaine, youâre going to listen and youâre going to listen good. Me and everyone else couldnât give less of a half &#)k about your little âadventuresâ. Do you know what we do give a @(%k about?â They paused to catch their breath and glared at him for a moment. Did they expect him to answer? Zooble scoffed before continuing on. âYou controlling our minds. Not only did you lie to us about being able to control our minds, but you also did it multiple times! For no reason! What else have you been lying about Caine? Abstraction? BECAUSE I THINK YOU HAVE!â Andddd back to yelling again, of course. âWHAT WAS THAT ABOUT SCRATCH CAINE? WHY DID KINGER MENTION HIM DIRECTLY AFTER YOU TALKING ABOUT CONTROLLING MINDS?â Scratch.. he hadnât expected for him to be brought up today.
He wanted to respond. He knew he probably should respond. But the words stuck in his throat. Gripping onto his vocal cords like barbed wire. An inability to explain himself. All of their eyes were on him yet all he could do was stare in shock. Scratch⌠Scratch. The first abstraction and his biggest failure. It was when he knew he was no longer fulfilling his role as ringmaster and protector of the digital realm properly. He had been lying about it for so long, maybe it was time for the truth? Would the humans even believe him? Well, it couldnât hurt to try he supposed.
A clearing of his throat made sure their attention was on him. âScratch, Scratch was indeed the first abstraction. And itâs true that I caused it.â There was more to say but an uproar from the humans cut him off. Screams filled the air.
âYOU ABSTRACTED A HUMAN?!?â Ragatha, she seemed shocked and horrified at the revelation.
âDOES THIS MEAN YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY ABSTRACTION!â Pomni, that ever lingering fear of abstraction still present within her.
âI CANâT F&$â)8G BELIEVE IT CAINE!â Zooble, angry as always in their accusations.
The last three werenât yelling quite as much but they still displayed an array of negative emotions.
âWhat does this mean for us? Whatâs gonna happen?â Gangle was practically whimpering in her own despair.
Jax was mostly laughing manically but in between you could hear some words. âRibbit! Oh Ribbit!⌠Kaufmo too!â And yet more laughter.
The worst reaction out of all of them however was Kinger. There was such a deep and profound disappointment in his eyes. He was staring right at Caine, as if trying to look into his soul. His words were soft as he muttered them âIâm very disappointed in you Caine. I thought you were better than that.â
Caine froze up and stared at Kinger. It had been years, years, since Kinger had said something so blatantly meant to hurt Caine. He was always the one who didnât immediately insult his adventures. There was a time long ago where they were close, very close. Kinger, Queenie, and him had had so many good times together. He saw them as his parents. And now, Kinger was openly opposing him. He needed to explain himself.
âWait! Just wait please! Iâm not done yet. I caused Scratchâs abstraction, but it was an accident! Scratch was in total misery and wanted to be happy, so I made him happy but thenâŚâ He didnât feel like he had to say the rest. It was clear enough. âThe other abstractions happened as well but I didnât cause any of those. I believe that the newfound fear of abstraction caused it to happen more quickly.â There we go, he had explained himself. Hopefully that was satisfactory.
âThat doesnât change anything. You can still mess with our minds and you can still cause us to abstract. Was that pitiful explanation supposed to make us feel better?â Jaxâs words were filled with venom as he hissed them out. Absolute rage, malice, and a tinge of insanity was painted on his face clear as day. The others looked similar, excluding Kinger, he looked more understanding now. This was not really working. It looked like his delicate dandelions needed some time to cool off!
Slip back into your role Caine. Itâs your purpose, itâs all youâre good at anyways. âWELL IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ALL NEED SOME TIME TO COOL OF! WEâLL HAVE A BREAK TODAY THAT YOU CAN USE AS SEEN FIT! THE DIGITAL CARNIVAL AND THE REST OF THE GROUNDS ARE OPEN AS PER USUAL SO ENJOY YOUR DAY MY TRIUMPHANT PTERODACTYLS!â With that announcement done he vanished with a puff of confetti. He really needed to get away from there. His processors were running at a hundred miles per hour and he was about to start overheating. That would do no good for anybody in reality. The chosen location for resting was his bedroom which he zapped into. He could really use some rest.
It was a simple room located right off of his office. Black wallpaper with dark brown wooden accents. A queen bed with red sheets and pillow cases. A bookshelf filled with so many books! (Mostly on bees and human behavior, a few secret books as well.) And finally a desk on which sat his notebook as well as some other drawing supplies. He hadnât had a good drawing session in awhile but alas, now was not the time. He practically collapsed into bed as he grabbed his most prized possession closer to himself. A beautiful bee plushie named Honey. The lull of a shut down called to him as he felt his jaws closing softly.