The Circus was so dark. There was no one around.

“Hello? Where'd everyone go?”

It was silent. Completely silent.

“Hello???” Thomas looked around, hesitantly walking over to the stage. He couldn't see an inch in front of him. “Patton! Logan, Emile?? Roman???? Someone!!!”

A spotlight shone on the stage, and Thomas flinched from it. He backed away from the stage, looking around in alarm.

A figure appeared in the spotlight, staring Thomas down. Thomas squinted, but couldn't tell who the figure was. They were somehow covered by the shadows, yet still stood in the center of the spotlight.

“You're running from what you've done. I know what you did. Even if you can't remember it.”

Thomas couldn't make out who was speaking, as the voice became distorted and glitchy. “Wh-hat do you mean…?”

“You'll remember.”

The figure's eyes turned bright red.

Thomas sat up abruptly in bed, breathing heavily. He clutched his chest, feeling the pounding heartbeat that was ringing in his ears.

Another dream… more like a nightmare, holy shit…

Thomas inhaled deeply and got out of bed, walking out of his room. It…was still dark. He began to feel a sense of deja vu.

“Hello…?” Thomas called out hesitantly. Everyone was usually awake by now. Unless he woke up early.

Thomas walked out to the stage and hesitated when he saw the spotlight shine. “Uhh…”

Then the lights in the entire Circus switched on, signaling morning. Roman popped up on the stage, in the spotlight. “Goooood morning, Thomas!!! You're up early.”

“Ah…hey, Roman,” Thomas said, glancing around. He really was the first one up. “Uh…how're you?”

Roman's eyes brightened in surprise from the ask. He grinned and sat on the stage, kicking his legs. “I am doing spectacular! And how about yourself? Did you sleep well?”

“Uhh…sure,” Thomas said, taking a seat next to him. “What's the adventure for today?”

“Well actually, it's going to be a bit of a short one today. There's a few technical difficulties I need to iron out in the Circus, so a short adventure is all I have time for today,” Roman explained.

“What if you put a hot iron on your face,” a sudden shrill voice said out of nowhere, causing Thomas to jump.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Remus, that's enough.”

The voice giggled maniacally.

“Uhhh…who?” Thomas asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Remus,” Roman sighed. “He's just a voice in my head, pay him no mind.”

“If he's a voice in your head, why can I hear him?”

“Because I'm gonna FUCK YOUR MOM-”

Roman snapped his fingers, silencing the voice. His eye twitched. “Apologies for that.”

“Uhhh….no worries? He seems….interesting,” Thomas said hesitantly.

“He's an annoying nuisance,” Roman mumbled. Then he sighed and hopped off the stage. “Alright, Thomas! Why don't you gather the others and we can get this adventure started!”

“Uh, sure,” Thomas said, walking off to the bedrooms.

Roman watched him leave, and his smile dropped immediately. He turned around. “Remus, you have got to stop scaring the new people.”

“I don't think I'm the one scaring them~”

Roman's eyes narrowed. “I am not scaring them! Stop saying that! Just…go away.”

“Well, they sure hated yesterday's scary adventure. You heard them.”

“They were just…saying that in the heat of the moment. Of course they loved it. They love all my adventures!” Roman said, crossing his arms.

“They hate the adventures. Just like they hate you.”

Thomas came back to the stage a bit later with Patton, Emile, Janus, Logan and Virgil. They all gathered around the stage.

“Where'd he go? He was just here,” Thomas frowned, looking around for Roman.

A piece of paper appeared in Thomas's hands. He looked down in surprise, reading it out loud.

“Today's adventure is a short one while I take care of some business in the Circus. A pile of weapons will spawn in different areas of the Circus. You must pair into teams of two and go about on a shooting spree. The last team standing is the winner. Good luck! And P.S., Virgil, you're doing the adventure, you don't have a choice <3 -Roman.”

“Motherfucker,” Virgil growled under his breath.

“Patton, do you wanna be on my team?” Emile asked, smiling a little as they walked over to the cardigan clad man.

“Oh, yeah, of course, Em!!! Let's uh, kick their butts!” Patton exclaimed with a giggle.

Virgil sighed and glanced at Logan. “You wanna team up with me?” The silent man in glasses gave a nod.

Thomas glanced at the only person left.

Janus.

Fuck my life.

After descending down several flights of stairs Thomas and Logan still couldn't find the exit.

Thomas sighed, looking around. “We've been at this for hours… is there a forfeit option?”

Logan chuckled, opening a door and walking through. “I take it you don't enjoy these adventures much.”

“Not yet, anyway… I hate horror stuff, it just stresses me out,” Thomas said with a sigh.

“I understand that. These adventures can be a lot, sometimes. But you're not alone, so there's no need to worry,” Logan said, giving Thomas a small smile.

Thomas smiled a bit as well. “Thanks, Logan. I'm glad I got to finally meet you.”

Logan's smile grew. “C'mon, let's keep moving.”

After what seemed like forever Thomas and Logan reached the bottom floor. There was a large foyer with dust covered couches and chairs covered in cobwebs. “Hey wait. Roman said there were gonna be ghosts. We haven't even seen one.”

“I wonder if he just said that to throw us off from the Mimic thing,” Logan said, deep in thought.

“That's evil,” Thomas sighed, putting his head in his hands.

“Well hey, there's the exit right there,” Logan said, pointing off to the side. Sure enough, a door with the word “EXIT” stood there, plain as day.

“Let's hurry and get out of here!” Thomas exclaimed, running to the door.

However, just before he could touch the door handle, something yanked him back, causing him to stumble and fall to the floor. “What the-”

Logan's eyes widened in alarm. “Are you alright, Thomas??? What on Earth..”

Another invisible force shoved Logan onto the floor as well, with great strength. Logan grunted, but pushed himself back up.

“I think we found the ghosts,” he said under his breath.

“Great! Just what I fucking wanted!” Thomas cried out in sarcastic horror. He anxiously looked around himself.

Several pairs of eyes opened and stared the duo down from the darkness. They just stood there, unmoving.

Thomas turned around and jolted when a near invisible form stood in front of the exit door, blocking it. One of the ghosts.

“Well, well, well… Looks like we have two left~” a very familiar voice said. Thomas and Logan looked at each other.

Patton slowly walked down the stairs, a sinister look in his eyes. “I assume you know what happens next, right?”

“It's the Mimic,” Logan whispered to Thomas, keeping his eyes on the imposter. Thomas nodded quietly.

“Too scared to talk to me?” The Mimic asked with a dark chuckle. It reached the floor and slowly stalked over to Thomas and Logan. “You both will make an excellent addition to my collection…”

“No thanks, I'm very good, thanks,” Thomas said nervously, scooting back. Logan seemed to have an idea.

The Mimic let out a low growl of amusement, its eyes locked on Thomas. “A jumpy one, I see… Perhaps I'll take you first.”

“You're just afraid to show us your true form,” Logan suddenly declared, a confident look in his eyes. “That's why you're hiding as a copy of our friend. Because you're a coward.”

The Mimic's head snapped to Logan, eyes narrowing in anger. “Insecure? You dare call me such a thing?”

“Prove to me you aren't. Show us your true form and I'll believe you're not insecure.”

The Mimic snarled in rage, its perfect copy of Patton slowly melting off of it. It was truly a sickening sight to see what appeared to be a human melting into nothing.

But the creature that stood in its place was a horrifying sight, especially when up close like this. Its skin was a sickly green with pink organs peeking out along its blob-like form. It had a cluster of eyes that followed Logan's every move. But its three rows of teeth were the most terrifying part of it.

“Do you still think I'm insecure?!” The being snarled, its voice gurgling.

“Yes.” Logan reached in his pocket and pulled out a pocket mirror, holding it up to the Mimic.

The creature shrieked when seeing its reflection. “No no NO!!!!!!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!!!!!”

It let out a loud, shrill scream as its own body slowly melted into a green puddle on the floor. The lights flickered from the scream, and the surrounding ghosts covered their ears and disappeared.

When the Mimic was finally dead Thomas looked at Logan. “Where did you find the pocket mirror?!”

Logan chuckled and tossed it aside. “I picked it up on the way down here.”

“That was insanely badass, Logan, oh my god.”

Logan smiled and stood up, helping Thomas up as well. “Ready to head back to the Circus?”

Thomas looked at the door and walked over, but then paused. “Will you go back to not being able to talk?”

Logan looked at the floor and sighed. “Yes. But in darker places like this, I'll have my voice back. The longer I'm in darkness, the more memories I can remember as well.”

“Really? Like who you were before the Circus?” Thomas asked, eyes wide.

Logan nodded. “It's still fuzzy, but I remember bits and pieces here and there. Perhaps we could talk about them before-”

He was cut off by Roman's hands reaching through the door and yanking Thomas and Logan through, ending the adventure.

“Sooooo….that thing is gone…… We're fucked. We are like. So fucked.”

Thomas looked around frantically, as if expecting the mimic creature to jump out at any moment.

Logan walked up to the cage, staring at the sign. A mimic. He looked over, seeing a book with the exact name on a shelf.

Thomas saw it too. “How…oddly convenient.”

Logan picked up the book and began to read it to himself. “The Mimic is a creature that despises looking at itself in a mirror. So, to hide its body it will use its victims and make itself an identical copy to them. It will go about, collecting souls while swapping between different looks. It is a very insecure, but very dangerous monster. Especially in the dark.” He closed the book.

Thomas stared at him in shock. “You…actually talk…?”

“Precisely. There are times in the Circus when I…am unable to speak. But oddly enough, in darkness, I am able to speak,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses.

Thomas frowned in confusion. “Why?”

Logan sighed and looked at Thomas. “Unfortunately…I'm not allowed to tell you. Not yet, anyway. Now, let's get back to this Mimic.”

Thomas stared at Logan, shocked and dumbfounded. “Uhh…right. So…If it's so insecure and hates mirrors, we just grab a mirror and have it on us at all times, yeah?”

“Do you want to carry a full length mirror the whole time?”

“What about a pocket mirror?”

“Do you see any pocket mirrors?” Logan asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“...Okay yeah, good point. Back to the drawing board.”

“Ughhh, we keep walking into dead ends! We're never gonna get out of here at this rate!” Patton exclaimed in irritation as they came across yet another dead end. Emile was searching down another hallway while Janus leaned against the wall.

Patton turned and stared at him. “Are you gonna help???”

“Nah, you got it from here.”

“UGH.”

Janus snickered and rolled his eyes. “C'mon, seriously? It's so easy to find the way out of here. C'mon, follow me.” He turned right and walked over to a wall. He touched it and pushed in. There was a hidden door in the wall, and he just opened it.

“Wh-” Patton and Emile were shocked by it. “How'd you know that was there?!” Emile asked in shock.

“What can I say? I'm just that good. Now you coming or what?”

Patton rolled his eyes and followed after Janus, Emile hurrying after him.

The hidden passageway was dark and a bit cold, a sudden contrast to the previous room they were in.

“Do you even know where you're going?” Patton asked Janus.

Janus stopped at a doorway at the end of the corridor. “Absolutely.” He pushed the door open and stepped inside, Patton and Emile doing the same.

The door slammed shut behind them.

The room was freezing cold, but Patton and Emile immediately heard muffled yelling coming from the corner of the dark room. Their eyes widened when they saw a tied up Janus in the corner, a cloth over his mouth.

“Janus…?” Patton breathed, a chill creeping its way down his spine. “If…Janus is there…then who…” he slowly turned around.

The Mimic stared Patton down with extremely tiny slitted eyes. It grinned wide, showing rows of teeth. Its copied form of Janus slowly melted away onto the floor, its disgustingly vile form revealing itself. It growled lowly.

Patton and Emile stared at it in utter horror, faces beyond pale. They scrambled back. “H-Holy…oh god…” Patton whispered.

“I don't think the door's locked,” Emile shakily whispered.

“Run. Now,” Patton said urgently. Both him and Emile sprinted for the door. Emile made it out, but Patton screamed when the Mimic grabbed him and yanked him back. “EMILE, KEEP RUNNING!!!!”

The horrified Emile sprinted down the corridor and refused to look back. They forced the hidden door open and stumbled out, back into the guest bedrooms area. They quickly sprinted in the opposite direction, coming across a descending staircase. They had no idea if the Mimic was following them, but they hurried down the spiraling staircase as fast as they could go.

The staircase ended up being five stories tall, and when Emile reached the bottom they were exhausted. They panted, looming around the new room frantically.

But then their gaze stopped when they saw a big red door that said “EXIT”. They could kiss it they were so relieved. “Oh thank God it's over-”

“Over?~ Who said it was over?~”

Emile went rigid when Patton's voice cut through them. It was the Mimic, who now had copied itself to be exactly like Patton. Shakily, Emile turned around to face it.

The Patton Mimic grinned sadistically, walking down the last step of the staircase. “Why are we leaving so soon? I was just getting acquainted.”

Emile backed away. They just needed to sprint to the door.

“Cat got your tongue? That's okay, you'd still make a wonderful disguise!-”

Emile sprinted to the door and swung it open, running out. The door slammed shut behind them.

The Patton Mimic blinked in surprise. “Oh. I was supposed to monologue some more and then kill them. Dammit.”

Thomas stared at the room in front of him. “Uhh… Nothing but a staircase….going up. I thought the whole point was to go down???”

It was a small room, with only an ascending staircase in front of his eyes.

Logan silently went up the stairs without a word. Thomas hoped this wasn't the wrong door to go through.

While ascending the stairs Thomas noticed that it began to grow darker around them both. “God, I hate this…” He muttered to himself. “Why a horror adventure? Of all things.”

Once they reached the top of the staircase Logan looked back at Thomas. He pointed to a large cage in the center of the room. Inside the cage was a creature of some sort. It looked like a disgusting mass of organs and bones. It was sleeping. There was a sign on the cage that said “MIMIC”.

Thomas felt sick at the sight of it. He stayed silent, following Logan as they silently tiptoed past the cage.

Thomas and Logan made their way to the next door. But just as Thomas touched the doorknob the lights went out. There was a loud crash, causing Thomas to scream in alarm.

When the lights shut off Logan looked down at Thomas with concern. Thomas was hugging Logan tight. He sheepishly let go of Logan and cleared his throat. “Uh- my bad.”

Then he noticed the cage door was wide open. The creature was gone.

Thomas paled. “Uh oh.”

Patton and Emile walked down a long hallway. Thankfully, there was plenty of lighting around them.

“Thanks for letting me go with you,” Emile said softly.

“Anytime, Em,” Patton said with a smile. “I knew you didn't wanna deal with Janus. I..can't really blame you there.”

“He's just…mean every chance he gets,” Emile said quietly. They looked down at the floor.

“Let's not worry about him right now,” Patton said, patting Emile's shoulder. “Now, let's see here…”

Up ahead was a doorway, leading to several guest bedrooms. Patton peeked his head in one of them. “Huh.. Looks dusty in here.”

Emile walked in another guest bedroom and glanced into the mirror. “We don't have to find a key or anything, do we? We just have to escape?”

“I'm pretty sure, yeah,” Patton said from the room he was in. “Just don't die and escape. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly…”

Emile sighed and walked back to Patton. “We should probably keep going then.”

“Sounds like a couple of scaredy cats~”

Patton and Emile both let out a short scream when Janus jumped into the room.

“Janus! How in the world are you here?? I thought you went through the other door!” Patton huffed and fixed his crooked cardigan.

Janus crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Where's the fun in going alone? I'd rather pester you two.”

Emile stuck close to Patton, and Patton rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Whatever, just c'mon.”

Patton and Emile went along down the corridor, while Janus trailed behind them.

While their backs were turned he grinned. Sharp teeth glistened in the light as his eyes turned to slits, staring the next targets down.

“Janus, are you coming?? You're moving like a snail!” Patton called back.

The slitted eyes and teeth were gone in an instant. “Yeah yeah, quit whining, I'm coming.” He picked up the pace and walked alongside the two.

Three days had passed, and Thomas had begun to get used to life in the Circus. Sure, it was still weird, but he found himself getting accustomed rather quickly.

They were all interesting in their own ways. Patton was very kind, and seemed to be like a parent most times. Emile was quiet and kept to themself most times. They always seemed afraid of Janus. Speaking of… What a dick. Janus was always starting some fight, or just being mean to Emile. Virgil seemed pretty chill, though the last few adventures they went on, Virgil didn't attend. Thomas assumed that was his thing.

Logan was who Thomas was intrigued with. This person hasn't said a word since he arrived, and yet, there's just something about him. He somehow made the cell door open on its own in that kingdom adventure. Did he have admin codes or something? Thomas grew more and more stumped the more he thought about it.

Then he remembered what Remy told him in the adventure.

Frowning, he left his room, met with Patton. “Oh- hey Patton.”

“Hi Thomas!” Patton grinned with a wave. “How'd you sleep?”

“I…didn't, if I'm being honest.”

“Oh.. How're you holding up?”

“I…” Thomas sighed. “Dunno. I'm just confused about some stuff. Ah..you can come in.”

Patton walked into Thomas's room and closed the door behind him. His concerned frown grew. “What is it, Thomas?”

“In that kingdom adventure, remember Remy?”

“Was that the bandit leader?”

“Yeah. He knew about Abstraction..”

Patton's eyes widened slightly. “Surely, NPCs shouldn't know about that… Unless Roman made them even more advanced…”

“He kept saying to not anger someone, and to just keep doing the adventures,” Thomas said hesitantly.

Patton looked a bit unnerved. “That's…kinda freaky… You don't think he meant-”

There was a knock on the door. “Hey, Thomas, you in there?” It was Virgil.

Thomas and Patton both jolted. “Yeah- I'm coming.”

Thomas and Patton emerged from Thomas's room. Virgil was standing there.

“Hey Thomas- oh- hey Pat,” Virgil said with a wave.

“Hey Virge,” Patton smiled. “Thomas and I were just talking. What's up?”

“Ughh. Roman won't get off my ass about not going on his stupid adventures. Apparently today he made one for me, and I an not fucking going,” Virgil said, rubbing his temples.

“That's understandable,” Patton sighed.

“What do you do when you don't go on the adventures?” Thomas asked.

“Mostly just hide in my room until you all get back,” Virgil shrugged. “It's annoying though, because Roman will wait outside my door singing fucking Disney songs to try and get me to come out.”

Thomas snickered a little. “How unfortunate..”

Virgil sighed again. “Welp. I think he's waiting for you guys. Make sure he knows I'm not coming.” He turned and went to his room.

At the main stage, Logan, Janus and Emile were standing around Roman. Roman looked up, seeing Thomas and Patton. “Ah! There they are! Did you happen to see Virgil? I made this adventure just for him!!”

“Ah…He said he's not going…” Patton said with an awkward chuckle, him and Thomas joining the others.

“What???? Are you-” Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It's fine. It's fine, because you guys are also gonna love it!”

Thomas and Patton glanced at each other.

“Today's adventure is Escape the Haunted Mansion! You all will start at the top floor of the Mansion, and will have to work your way down to the bottom to escape. But be warned! Ghosts are very active, and they definitely aren't shy!”

Horror. God fucking dammit, I hate horror.

“Is participation…really necessary..? I'm not big on scary stuff…” Thomas said hesitantly.

“Yes, it is necessary! Now hurry! The adventure won't do itself!” Roman exclaimed, snapping up the portal and pushing the group inside it. The portal disappeared once they went through.

Roman's smile faded into a look of annoyance as he looked back toward the bedroom hall.

Once they arrived, Thomas looked around. They indeed were on the top floor of a very large mansion. “Oh god…” he muttered to himself.

Janus snickered. “What, don't like horror?”

“Not even a little.”

“That's okay, I don't either,” Patton said softly, eyeing the decor. There was a human skull on the wall, it's haw unhinged as if it was left screaming.

Emile stuck close to Patton, but looked around curiously. Logan walked ahead.

“So…just have to escape. How bad do you think the ghosts will be…?” Thomas asked the group.

“Well, we can't die, so we're safe in that aspect,” Patton said reassuringly.

“But you can die in the adventure~” Janus said in a sing-song voice.

Thomas's face paled. “What.”

“Janus!” Patton scolded, sighing. “Okay, we can, but you'll just spawn right back in the Circus. I promise it's not as bad as it seems.”

The group descended down a large staircase, coming up to three different doors. Each of them had a sign that said “Enter if you DARE”.

“So uhh… I guess we pick?” Patton muttered, going up to the middle door. It wouldn't budge. Thomas and Janus tried the other two doors, and the same happened. But when all three of them opened the doors at the same time, they opened up.

“Maybe we have to split up into pairs to go through these?” Thomas suggested.

“C'mon whiny, you're with me,” Janus said to Emile.

Emile looked back at Patton in alarm.

“You can come with me if you want, Emile,” Patton said softly. Him and Emile quickly went through the middle door.

Janus scoffed and looked at Thomas.

Thomas shrugged and went in the left door with Logan.

Janus's eyes narrowed. He went through the right door on his own, slamming it shut behind him.

“Oh Virgillllll!~”

Virgil jolted when he was summoned to the main stage by Roman. “Wh- oh come on! You could do that this whole time????”

“Virgil, listen,” Roman said with a sigh, sitting at the edge of the stage. “You've been rejecting my adventures ever since you first entered the Circus, and I just want to know why. How can I make these adventures more fun for you?”

“This again?” Virgil sighed. “Roman, I've told you a thousand times I don't wanna be forced to do all those adventures.”

“Nonsense, Virgil!” Roman declared, grinning brightly. “Everyone loves my adventures!! I know you would've loved this one too, I made it extra spooky!”

“Just because I like horror movies doesn't mean I'd wanna be in one.”

Roman let out a huff and stomped his foot on the floor, not unlike a toddler having a tantrum. “Then Virgil, what do you want from me?! I'm trying to make these adventures accustomed to your loves and interests and it just doesn't seem to be good enough!”

Virgil sighed and laid back on the couch. “I dunno, just… keep the adventures open? Let us have some creative freedom with them?”

“Where's the fun in that?!”

“Fun for us, Roman!” Virgil groaned, covering his face in his hands. “If we're the ones you wanna entertain, ask us what we wanna do!”

“What do you wanna do?” Roman asked, sitting across from him. He tilted his head in confusion.

“Maybe a bartending adventure? Or I dunno, going on a hike? With nothing bad happening?”

Roman frowned. “But how am I supposed to tell a compelling story if nothing bad happens?”

“It doesn't have to be a story. Just…” Virgil rolled his eyes. “Nevermind. Forget it.”

“Forget it?”

“Forget I said anything. You're not even listening,” Virgil muttered.

Roman stared at Virgil for a long moment, then stood back up. “Done! I don't even remember what we were even talking about. Good talk, Virgil!” And then he was gone.

Virgil glared at the floor. “Whatever.” He rolled over on the couch, closing his eyes to take a nap.

Thomas groaned and opened his eyes. He was soaking wet, but out of the water. He was on the grass next to the river. He sat up, rubbing his head. He didn't see the bandit leader anywhere though. He assumed he dragged him out of the water.

Slowly, Thomas pushed himself up and looked around. “Hello? Bandit guy?? Are..you here?”

A small fire had been set up nearby with some rabbit meat roasting above it. This is some realistic ass adventure, God Damn.

“Oh, you're awake.”

Thomas turned, seeing the bandit leader walking over with a bundle of logs. He eyed the man suspiciously. “I…uh yeah.”

The bandit sighed and put the logs down. “Look, I'm not gonna hurt you. I lost the crown anyway.”

Thomas watched him sit down by the fire. After a second, he did the same. “Oh.. I see..”

The bandit took the rabbit meat off the fire and cut it up in halves. He handed one half to Thomas. “It's all I could find down here. There were a lot of purple rabbits, oddly enough.”

Thomas took the meat and ate quietly, deep in thought. If we can't find the crown, do we stay in this adventure until we do, or is there a forfeit option?

“So why do you need the crown so bad?” Thomas asked softly.

The bandit sighed. “It's ah.. a long story. I assume it is for you too?”

“Yeah… you have no idea.”

The bandit chuckled and stared at the dancing flames. “What's your name?”

“Thomas. You?”

“Remy.”

“Nice to meet you, Remy. Thanks for saving me.”

Remy shrugged, eating. “I'm a bandit, not a monster.”

“How are we gonna get out of here? That bluff was pretty steep…”

“We'll have to climb back up,” Remy said, glancing upwards. “Or, if worse comes to worse, Roman can just snap us back to the others.”

Thomas's head whipped around to stare at Remy. “What?”

Remy's eyes widened for a second, and then he cleared his throat and stood up. “We better start climbing. C'mon.”

“Wait- how do you know about…” Thomas trailed off as Remy walked over to the dirt wall. Maybe all NPCs are self aware about Roman being their creator or something.. What the fuck??

Thomas decided to let it go and followed Remy. “You uh…got any climbing gear?”

“Yep. And so do you.”

“Wh-” Thomas looked down, seeing a rope and a pickaxe attached to his belt. Must've just spawned there.

Thomas grabbed the pickaxe and looked up at the dirt wall. “Well…we better get to climbing.”

“Great. Now we're lost. Nice going, Patton.”

“Janus, it's not my fault! I just hope Thomas is okay…”

“Well…” Emile said hesitantly, looking at the two unconscious bandits they had successfully tied to a tree. “At least we captured those two.”

“Their leader is who we need to get first though. He did have the crown,” Patton muttered anxiously, pacing back and forth.

“Relax. None of this is real. You take these adventures way too seriously,” Janus said, crossing his arms.

“Well, they're very stressful!” Patton huffed.

Logan gently placed a hand on Patton's shoulder, giving him a soft smile.

Patton couldn't help but smile a little back at Logan. Then he sighed and shook out his nerves. “Thomas and that bandit went this way. So let's try and follow them to the best of our ability. And hopefully we run into them.”

“That bandit leader was kinda cute,” Emile mumbled under their breath.

“Are you seriously having feelings for an NPC?! Oh my god!!!” Janus laughed into his hand, earning an elbow to the ribs by Patton.

“He is rather cute, isn't he?” Patton said, trying not to glare at Janus, who was still snickering. Emile ignored Janus and smiled a bit at Patton, nodding.

Logan walked a bit ahead of the group, listening. Then he turned to the others and pointed to the path on the right. Sure enough, Thomas and Remy were trudging back through the brush.

“Thomas! There you are!” Patton exclaimed, running over to him, checking him over for injuries. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” Thomas said with a light laugh. “But uhh.. we have a problem.”

Remy sighed and rummaged in his pockets, pulling out broken pieces of the crown. “It broke during our fall.”

“Oh- shoot…” Patton said, crossing his arms. “Well, I'm not sure what's gonna happen then…”

“Finding the crown was the entire adventure,” Janus sighed, facepalming. “So now what?”

“Should we call for Roman?” Thomas asked. Maybe they could just end the adventure early and go back to the Circus.

As if right on cue, trotting footsteps sounded from nearby. A line of castle guards on horseback rode up to the group, circling them.

The Head Guard dismounted their horse and drew a sword. “By conspiring with the Crown Thieves, I am placing all of you under arrest.”

The group, along with Remy and the other two bandits all looked at each other, then back at the guards.

“Well shit.”

It's dark. What is this place?

Why does it feel familiar?

…

Wait, is someone talking? I think…I hear voices nearby.

…

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Positive. Listen, man, it's one of the fastest ways to make sure this works.”

“Okay… It just seems a but excessive, y'know?”

“Yeah, but I really think it'll be helpful. Ready?”

“...Yeah.”

Who are those people? I can't see their faces… Am I dreaming??

“Thomas?”

“Thomas? Are you awake?”

Thomas gasped awake from the sudden knock on his door and sat up quickly, startled out of his odd dream. He looked over at the door, recognizing the voice as Patton. “Yeah- Yeah, hang on. I'm coming out.”

He hopped out of bed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to fix it. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he opened the door.

Patton smiled at Thomas and gave a wave. “Good morning! I hope you slept well?”

“Yeah.. Something like that,” Thomas said with a weak chuckle. “Did..you?”

“Yeah. We don't technically need sleep here in the Circus, but it's nice to make a routine to keep yourself occupied,” Patton said. “Wanna head with me to the lounge? The others are there already.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Thomas said with a nod. “Are we going on another adventure?”

Patton chuckled. “Yeah, we go on one pretty much every day. I think Roman's working on one now.”

Both men made their way down the hall and walked into the lounge area. There were four large couches, each a different color. The entire circus was quite colorful, as if something out of a kids show. The others were sitting down and talking.

“Janus, if you don't shut the fuck up I'm going to throttle you-”

“You're just grumpy, Virgil. Lighten up a bit~ Live a little.”

“You snuck a SNAKE INTO MY BED.”

“It could've been Emile. They're the one who turned your other hoodie pink.”

“Wh- no I didn't!” Emile exclaimed in horror at being blamed for something. They looked at Virgil in a panic. “I promise I didn't do that, Virgil, I would never do that to your favorite hoodie-”

“Ah..hey guys,” Patton awkwardly chimed in, bringing himself and Thomas to sit down on a red couch.

Virgil pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I know you didn't do it, Em, don't worry.” He turned to Patton and saluted. “Hey, Pat. Morning, Thomas.”

Emile went back to their notebook, anxiously drawing on the page. Their face was red in embarrassment from the outburst. Thomas felt bad. He glanced at Janus, who didn't seem to care.

Logan was on a couch all to himself, silently listening to the conversation. Thomas wondered about him and why he didn't talk. He'd have to ask Patton about it sometime.

“Ugh, this is boring. Roman better hurry and finish this adventure,” Janus said with a long sigh, checking his nails with a gloved hand.

“So, is this just gonna be…the rest of our lives? Going on adventures? Being trapped in this place forever…?” Thomas asked the others. He was surprised how calm he was about this.

“Eh, pretty much. None of us remember a thing about our lives in the real world, so we just go with the flow here,” Virgil muttered.

“Yeah, it's…easier not to think too hard about it,” Patton said, quieter this time. Thomas noticed everyone seemed to not like talking about this subject, as they all looked at the floor.

“Well…” Thomas started, not really liking the silence and wanting to fill it. “Maybe we could-”

“GOOOOOOOD MORNING!” Roman suddenly exclaimed, appearing in the air above the group. Thomas jumped from the noise, but the others seemed used to it. “Today's adventure is all ready for its players to begin!”

“What are we doing today, Roman?” Patton asked, smiling again.

“I'm glad you asked, Patton! Today's adventure is: Runaway Thieves! A group of jewel thieves have broken into the Castle of Elde and have stolen the King's crown! You all must find these thieves and bring them to justice!”

A portal appeared out of thin air right by the wall.

“Good luck! And most importantly, have fun!” Roman grinned.

Virgil rolled his eyes and stood up. “I'm still tired. I'm not going.”

Roman's smile faded a bit as he looked at Virgil. “Wait, you're skipping?? I thought you said you'd do more of my adventures!”

“I'm not chasing down bandits. See ya,” Virgil said, walking past the portal and toward the hallway full of bedrooms.

Roman watched Virgil leave, but smiled again at the others. “Have fun!” And then he was gone.

Thomas and the others walked up to the portal and stepped inside.

Thomas squinted his eyes when the sun flashed in them. He shielded his eyes with his hand and looked around. Him and the others were in a village. There were people roaming around, going about their day.

“Looks like a lot of NPCs here,” Patton said, looking around. “But this place is very cool looking.”

“Looks just like fantasy,” Emile said softly.

“Lame. Let's get to the violence,” Janus smirked, walking down the street.

Patton sighed and shot the retreating man an annoyed look. “He's always wanting the violent adventures.”

Thomas was about to answer, but a trio of cloaked figures zoomed past him, nearly knocking him over. He stumbled and grabbed onto Patton to steady himself.

The trio wore all black, and sprinted out of the village quickly.

“That's the bandits!” Patton exclaimed. Janus turned around and smirked, quickly giving chase to the runners. Patton, Emile, Thomas and Logan all ran after them as well.

One of the bandits turned their head and saw they were being chased, and the three of them sprinted faster into the woods. Janus led the others into the foliage, refusing to lose sight of them.

After running through the trees, the group eventually lost the bandits. Thomas panted, trying to catch his breath while the others did the same. “Jesus, they're fast,” he wheezed out.

“Yeah,” Patton put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. “And looks like we lost them too.”

“No, they're here,” Janus said, looking around slowly.

“How can you be sure..?” Emile asked anxiously.

“Well…come over here. You can hear faint footsteps..” Janus whispered. Emile walked over to him and strained to listen.

“You hear that? And very soon…they're..gonna…GETCHA!” Janus suddenly grabbed Emile's shoulders when exclaiming his sentence. Emile screamed from the scare, falling over. Janus doubled over and cackled.

“Janus! Stop being mean to them!!!” Patton scolded with a glare, quickly helping Emile back up.

“God, it's literally too easy!” Janus laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Janus, but said nothing. Logan silently observed.

A sudden twig snapping made everyone stop talking and freeze in their spots.

An arrow shot out from the shadows, passing right by Thomas's head.

The trio of bandits jumped out of hiding, weapons all drawn. Their leader drew a sword and held it out. “So you're the idiots the King sent, huh?”

Patton stepped forward, hands up in a peaceful gesture. “We are, but we don't have to fight… That crown belongs to the King so…maybe you could just give it back?”

“Or we could fight,” Janus smirked.

One of the bandits drew their bow after nocking an arrow, aiming it right at Janus. But their leader held them back. “Easy.” He turned to the group again, eyes on Patton. “If you want this to be peaceful, you'll let us walk away with the crown.”

“Well, we really do need that crown…” Emile hesitantly spoke up. The leader's gaze moved to them. Something in his eyes softened.

Janus scoffed and rolled his eyes. He pulled a dagger out of his back pocket and smirked at the leader. “I'm bored of this. Cough up the crown.” He ran up and sprung into combat. The leader was ready, countering with his own sword.

“Janus! We don't have to fight them!” Patton yelled, gasping when one of the other bandits ran up to him to fight. He fumbled and found a sword at his hip, and quickly pulled it out to block an attack.

Thomas watched the battle take place before his eyes, and he had no idea how to help. That was, until he saw a glimmer of something shiny in the leader's satchel. The crown. They just needed to grab it and return it to the King. Then adventure over.

Thomas inhaled a breath and ran up to the leader and rammed into him. He snatched the crown from the satchel and broke off into a sprint. “Guys, I got it!!! C'mon!!!”

The leader snarled at being run into. He ran after Thomas with incredible speed, his lackeys trailing hot on his heels. Patton, Janus, Emile and Logan looked over and realized what had happened, quickly running after them as well.

Thomas gripped the crown, adrenaline pumping through his body as he sped down the dirt path. He tried to lose the bandits by going through leaves and bushes, but the leader was determined.

“Thomas!!! Keep going!! We'll find you!!” Patton called after him, his voice growing fainter as Thomas gained distance.

Thomas planned to veer off to the right, but he yelled in alarm when the leader tackled him. Both of them went tumbling down a steep hill, rocks and trees scratching them up as they went.

Thomas very quickly saw a deep bluff right up ahead, and before he could try to stop tumbling, he and the bandit leader fell right down the bluff with a scream.

He plunged into a lake, fully submerging underwater.

Sanders Circus: Chapter 2

Once they arrived through the portal, Thomas blinked and looked around. The fact they were now in a completely different location baffled him. They were at the entrance of a large cave that seemed to stretch on forever. The air was cooler than in the Circus.

“So…we just have to find a key?” Thomas asked. “And avoid uh..monsters?”

“Yeah, but don't worry. Like we said, you can't die here. Just stick with us and you'll be fine,” Virgil said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He let out a sigh. “God, I hate these adventures.”

“I'm surprised you actually went on this one,” Patton said, walking alongside Thomas. “Usually you tell Roman you'd rather jump off a building.”

“Because I would,” Virgil replied nonchalantly. “But I figured I'd come since it's Thomas's first day of Hell.”

“How reasurring..” Thomas mumbled under his breath.

Janus smirked, sliding up to Thomas's other side. “There's a lot more than the adventures, you know. There's the part when you realize this is all hopeless and you're never gonna leave, there's the going insane part, abstraction-”

“Janus! Stop!” Patton exclaimed, shooting the other a glare. “Stop being so mean to everyone. And stop trying to scare Thomas.”

“Abstraction?” Thomas asked with a frown, looking between them. “What's that? Is it bad?”

Patton and Virgil exchanged looks. Emile looked up and studied their expressions while Logan never said a word. In fact, Thomas hadn't heard him speak this entire time.

Virgil stopped walking and crossed his arms. “Abstraction is where someone looses their mind. They give up completely and go insane. It makes them into this..distorted…thing. And…I dunno, bad stuff.”

“After that point, you have no control over yourself. You're just a part of bad code at that point,” Patton said softly. “But…Don't worry! You're not gonna abstract because you've got us!” He quickly put on a smile again.

“It'd be hilarious if he abstracted on his first day,” Janus said with a chuckle, walking ahead of the group.

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Janus's retreating form. He was not a fan of this guy already.

The group continued to walk for what felt like hours, until they finally reached a fork in the path. Two pathways. One on the left, and one on the right. There were signs addressing them both.

The sign for the left path said “The Pathway of Queen Azul- Cursed of Freedom”.

The right pathway sign said “The pathway of King Vermelha- Bound to the Kingdom For Eternity”.

“Which path should we choose?” Emile asked, looking between both paths.

“Left sounds good,” Virgil said, walking toward the left.

“Or we could go right,” Janus said with a shrug, walking off on the right. “You never know.”

“You just picked that to be difficult,” Virgil said with an irritated tone.

“Aww, Virgil, you wound me~”

“Good. Because I'm about to wound you physically if you don't shut up-”

“Left sounds good to me too,” Thomas said, quickly speaking up. He quickly joined Virgil. Patton, Emile and Logan also joined.

Janus narrowed his eyes at Thomas slightly. Then he rolled them and sighed. “Fine, whatever.” He walked over to the others.

After the adventure had ended, a portal appeared, allowing the group to go back to the Circus. They all walked back through the portal, with Roman waiting for them on the other side.

“Welcome back! Congratulations on retrieving the key!!!” Roman exclaimed, patting Thomas on the back as he passed by. “And a wonderful job for Thomas as well!”

“Great. I'm taking a nap,” Virgil said with an eyeroll, walking past Roman and down a hallway.

“I think I'll go annoy Virgil a bit more,” Janus said with a chuckle, slinking off after the grumpy one.

Logan gave a polite wave to Thomas before following Janus and Virgil down the same hallway. That must be the bedrooms.

Emile looked up at Roman, hugging themself like they didn't know what to do with their hands. “Um..Roman? Could you conjure me another sketchbook? Janus, um… Fed mine to the giant spider in the cave…”

“Well of course, my artistic friend!” Roman grinned, snapping his fingers. A bright red sketchbook popped up in Emile's hands. “If you lose that one, I'll gladly make another!”

Emile smiled a little and hugged the sketchbook to their chest. “Thank you.”

Thomas glanced at Emile for a moment, and then gave his attention to Roman. “So, you're…the ringmaster or something? Did you make this whole place?”

“Yep! Sure did!” Roman beamed. “It is my sole purpose to provide fun and engaging adventures for all the players here! Did you have fun?”

“Ah… It was definitely something,” Thomas muttered, remembering when a large vampire bat nearly bit his head off. “But uh…Sure.”

“WONDERFUL!” Roman exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together. “I'll make sure to make the next one even more intense and exciting! You won't regret it!” And then he disappeared.

Thomas blinked at the spot the AI just was. “Uh. What. More intense than that?!”

Patton laughed a little. “Sometimes he gets inspired. These adventures are like little stories he gets to make. And he just wants to share them with us.”

“Some of them are fun,” Emile said softly with a shrug.

“Well, thanks for helping me get comfortable,” Thomas said to them both. “I'm still not really grasping all of this, but…at least I'm not alone.”

“We're always here to help!” Patton grinned brightly. “You'll get used to it after a bit.”

“Yeah…” Thomas took this time to really look around the Circus. “Is this all there is?”

Roman suddenly popped back up, right beside Thomas. “Oh yeah! Time for a tour!” He grabbed a bewildered Thomas by the shoulder and they both disappeared.

When they reappeared, Thomas was looking out at the outside of the Circus. And he was floating in midair…

“Wh- whoa! How am I?!-” Thomas sputtered as he grabbed onto Roman, afraid of falling.

“This is what we call The Grounds!” Roman continued, oblivious to Thomas's fear. “Of course, you know the Circus. That is where you rest up for adventures! And over here is the Digital Lake! And the Carnival is right over there!”

Thomas regained his composure, but was still anxious to look down. “Oh, u-uh…mhm…”

“And really quick, lemme show you this!”

They both popped up in some empty, endless…space. Thomas looked around, seeing the area was mostly white with colorful shapes passing by occasionally. “Whoa…”

“This is The Void! But, we don't venture out here, because it's dangerous!”

Roman suddenly turned and stared into Thomas's eyes, his voice very serious. “I don't even know what's out there. Which means, you are, under no circumstances, allowed to come out here by yourself. Do I make myself clear?”

Thomas shrunk slightly under the intense gaze. “U-um…yeah, no worries…”

“Great!”

“But um…what is the Void? Like, why does it exist?” Thomas asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Roman shrugged. “Not a clue. It's just been here ever since I've been alive.”

“Oh. I see,” Thomas muttered, scanning the area. “Maybe there's a way to leave through here?”

“Of course not! There is no way to leave the Amazing Digital Circus! And besides! Why would you??” Roman exclaimed, waving his hands around. “You can have everything you could ever want here!”

Roman brought Thomas back to the Circus, where Patton and Emile still were. “There we go! Now you've been given a proper tour! I've gotta cook up tomorrow's adventure, it'll be better than ever!” And he was gone.

“His energy knows no bounds, huh?” Thomas muttered.

Patton laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah, you'll get used to it. How about we show you where your room is?”

“Yeah, that..sounds good.”

Patton and Emile led Thomas to the long hallway that held everyone's bedrooms. Thomas noticed as they passed each door, there were signs of peoples’ faces on them. Some of them had big red Xs over them, which made him confused.

Patton noticed Thomas's gaze at them and sighed. “When a person Abstracts, an X appears on their door. It's pretty sad to think about..”

“Is Abstraction like dying..?” Thomas asked, feeling a bit queasy to ask such a question.

“I mean…kinda?” Emile spoke up, frowning at their sketchbook. “From my understanding it's when someone just…gives up. I don't think they're necessarily dead, but…they definitely aren't the same.”

Thomas said nothing for a few minutes as they kept walking. Abstraction sounded horrible to him. He wondered what could push a person to something like that.

When they stopped walking Thomas turned and saw a door. Oddly enough, a picture of his face was already on the door. “Huh.”

Patton and Emile both gave Thomas a smile. “Well? Whaddya think?” Patton asked.

Thomas stared at the image. It was a 2D cartoonish drawing of his face.

“They didn't even get my nose right.”