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So a few things I want to address here:

Apparently, Zooble's pronouns are they/them and I did not know that until I started writing this. I know I made a joke about Zooble's gender in another chapter, but I genuinely thought Zooble is she/her.

So am I going to start labeling Zooble as they/them? No, I'll be referring to Zooble as she/her, for my sake. I'm sorry if this offends you.

Another topic I'm wanting to disclose is I'm unsure if I want to consistently update this story with my own ideas and stuff to expand TADC, or wait for new episodes to continue the story. I've brought this up again since I just barely made it through episode 2 without my previously established chapters overlapping what happened in the episode.

I don't know what episode 3 will bring, but I'm hoping it's just like episode 2... mostly.

Anyway, enjoy something that's essentially a nothing-burger, since I'm too lazy to include an entire plot-line in one chapter. 

3rd Person P.O.V.

Batman finds himself standing on the stage on his own, no one else appears to be around. The unearthly silence this realm has is kind of soothing to him. What was he doing here?

Nothing, just standing there and keeping his thoughts to himself.

"Hey."

He looked over his shoulder and spotted Pomni standing there, nervously tapping her fingers and staring at him with hopeful-looking eyes.

"What is it?" Batman asked, turning around to face her.

"I wanted to thank you for the amulet yesterday." Pomni said while showing it to him that she's wearing it around her neck.

And then he nodded before looking away, but then her hands softly grabbed his left hand. This makes him look at her again.

"Can I ask you something?" The jester looks at him with pleading eyes.

"What?"

"What do you do in the real world?" She inquires softly, still holding onto his hand. "What makes you dress up like that... if you don't mind me asking?"

Batman didn't know what to say. Should he tell her, or should he give her another vague/cryptic answer? Pomni seems to be a remarkable individual with a lot of heart out of everyone in this place, maybe she deserves to know.

Besides, it's not like he has to tell her everything about him, only what the rest of the world knows about him.

"I protect a city from dangerous people that are out to destroy it and its people." Batman answered while weaseling his hand out of hers.

"Like... a knight?" Pomni guesstimates.

"Yes." He replied calmly.

"But that would mean...you're some kind of superhero?" She tilts her head, still trying to puzzle everything she knows about him together. "What's your superpower?"

"I don't have any."

"Oh." She tapped her fingers. "So you're just a guy wearing a costume."

"It's much more than a 'costume.'" Batman retorted passively. "It provides defensive and other considerable capabilities."

"Really? I mostly see spandex." She checks him out. "Maybe consider using more body armor?"

"I did. Too heavy, slowed me down." He answered, remembering the old days when he wore a much more protective suit to keep his body safe from bullets and knives.

And then the jesteress began pondering. "This is all very... enlightening, but also kind of confusing. Like, I'm finding it difficult to believe this - but you've never lied to me before, so I do try to believe it. Could you please expla–"

BANG

Pomni gasped as she felt a sharp pain in her back. Batman was immediately alerted by the sound and he caught Pomni before she hit the floor. He cradled her and felt a liquid on one of his hands. He removed his hand from her back and saw blood on it.

Then his laughter came. Pomni's eyes widened in horror before they closed and her body went limp.

"What a bright young woman she was." He laughed while holding a pistol that's blowing smoke. "Are you looking for a new Robin, Bats? I thought you learned your lesson after Jason Todd. This place has made you soft, you'd never try to let anyone else close to you"

Batman paid no attention to him, instead he continued to cradle the deceased jesteress.

"Even when I'm dead and gone, you're still thinking of me." He mocked, wavering the gun when he gestures with his gloved hands.

He crouched down next to Batman, staring at Pomni.

"She looks like Harley, doesn't she?" He taps Pomni's forehead with the gun. "The only difference is Pomni knows when to shut up."

Batman closed his eyes, trying to block him out.

"Oh, don't be like that." He scoffs and playfully hits Batman's arm - the one he stabbed a hole into - with the gun. "This is all a dream, right?"

He stood up and pointed the gun directly at Batman's head.

"You just need to wake up." Then he pulled the trigger.

Batman's eyes open and he finds himself lying on his bed, starting at the ceiling with his hands by his side. He rarely sleeps like this, but since there is no active threat or danger present in this realm, he chose to lower his guard down to rest.

Even though he's been told that sleep wasn't required, along with eating and drinking, he did it to kill time. He moved his head to look at his door, contemplating whether to get up or not.

He moved himself off the bed and stood up straight, briefly standing still to brace both his mind and body for another day in the circus. Walking to the door, he opens it and finds the jesteress he just dreamed about standing there about to knock on the door.

"Oh, you're awake." She stammered but regained her composure. "I, uh, came to see you."

"What about?" He opened the door more to allow himself to step out of it, Pomni backing up to give him space.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something..." She said while tapping her fingers and Batman's mind started replaying the dream in his head. "It's about abstraction."

Then relief washed away his dream.

"I was wondering if you could investigate it... with me?" She tapped her fingers.

He pondered. It's a strange concept, one he isn't entirely sure if it's fixable. But he never really gave it all he's got, so it could be something to try.

"Where do we start?" Batman asked, looking down at her.

"Well... I don't know... I was thinking maybe you'd have an idea." Pomni suggests, feeling flustered that he turned the topic to her. "Maybe we search Kaufmo's room?"

"I'm not sure, but it's a good start nonetheless." He agreed and walked down the hall and searched for his door. "Where is it?"

"Over here." Pomni jogs to catch up with him and points. "Jax and Ragatha took me here on my first day."

When they arrived, they saw the icon on the door with the clown's face on it - except it was crossed out with red.

"I guess Caine added that when he threw Kaufmo in the cellar." Pomni commented, realizing how grim it looked with the clown's face crossed out.

Batman fearlessly opened the door, looking inside the dark and messy room. The word 'EXIT' is written in the color red all over the place. Batman steps inside and kneeled down at the floor to wipe his gloved-hand on one of the various 'EXIT' words to see if it would rub off the word.

"This must be permanent." Batman said aloud while standing up. "What happened when he abstracted? Did he say anything?"

"No. We never saw him abstract." The jesteress answered honestly. "He was like that thing when Jax used the key to unlock his door. And that Jax lended him his bowling ball."

"Hmm..."

The bat leaves the room after deeming it not worth his time anymore. Pomni timidly follows him.

"What else happened?" Batman questioned while walking.

"Well, Kaufmo attacked Ragatha and chased me away. I managed to escape his sight and he went after Jax and the others down a hole." Pomni explained to her best recollection - it's hard to recall the events the same day you broke down into insanity.

"Then let's go talk to him then." Batman said while strolling to the rabbit's door.

Unlike Pomni, Batman practically hits Jax's door with the side of his first - his way of knocking, she supposes.

Then his door opened and he looked annoyed at first, but then his annoyance quickly disappeared when he saw Batman's grim face.

"I need to ask you some questions." Batman stated, not bothering with the small talk.

"Ask away. I'm all ears." The rabbit opened his door some more and leaned on it.

"What happened during your encounter with Kaufmo?" The bat asked while Pomni stayed behind him, afraid of Jax causing harm to her again after yesterday's adventure.

She knows for a fact Jax won't hurt her with Batman here, so she takes comfort in that.

"He body-slammed the Gloink Queen and beat the tar out of her." Jax explained casually, recalling the event very well. "Don't really know what else he did while he was down there, because we all left when he was on top of her. Have you seen Kaufmo?"

"I did." Batman replied nonchalantly. "Anything else?"

"Nah, I think that was it." Jax shook his head. "Is that it? 'Cause I need to get back to something real quick."

Batman turned around and left, Pomni quickly following him while keeping her eyes on the rabbit.

"Where to?" Pomni asked.

"Where do I find the Gloink Queen?"

"Oh, I think Kinger said there's an escalator that leads down to the hole they were talking about. Let's go find it."

Both of them ventured to the main room and searched it for the escalator. After spending roughly ten minutes searching, they couldn't find it. Fortunately they found Caine flying around above them.

"Oh, Caine! Could you come down for a second?" Pomni shouted, her hands cupping her mouth to make her voice louder.

"Oh, of course." He teleported to a lower level to speak with them. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you could allow us to visit the Gloink Queen?" Pomni asked, speaking for Batman this time.

"Why? Didn't you already defeat her for your first adventure?" The ringmaster asked while tilting his... err... head?

"Well... I just wanted to relive my first day here, and Batman wanted to see it for himself." Pomni said, sounding a bit more confident and triumphant. "He won't believe that I defeated her by myself until he sees that I did."

"Wow, okay then." With the snap of his fingers, the hole reappeared. "Have fun showing your friend your awesome Gloink-kicking skills!"

Then he disappeared. Both Batman and Pomni jumped down the hole, with the bat extending his cape to use as a parachute once again and jesteress falling on her face - forgetting to cling on her friend.

Both of them looked over yonder and saw the Gloink Queen, the monster glitching out. Pomni immediately got flashbacks to when her hand was glitching out and Ragatha too.

Batman bravely steps forth and Pomni feels forced to step with him.

"Wh-What a-a-are y-ooou s-s-supposed-d t-o bee?" The large worm-like monster asked, it's other end looking no different than its head.

"I'm here to ask you a few questions." Batman replied as he took casual steps towards the monster, Pomni still at his side. "What do you remember the last time people were here?"

"I-I-I d-d-don'tttt haaaav-v-v-e to anssssw-w-wer to— to answer to yoooou!" The Gloink-Queen spats at him bitterly while glitching out.

"I suggest you reconsider." Batman said, not batting an eye to her while having to look up to talk to her.

"Wh-hy?"

Then he equipped the Explosive Gel device he used to slay the Fudge yesterday and sprayed a mere smidge of it on her. The gel burns on her glitching form, making her shriek in agony and Pomni covers her ears (yet we don't see any on her head) from the sheer volume of the Gloink Queen's scream.

"Because I can hurt you otherwise." He retorts passively and calmly. "That gel will continue to burn through your body until it dissolves. Unless I press this button, but I don't think you'd want that to happen."

His thumb rests on the detonate button, teasing her with the explosive possibility.

"W-W-Whaaat Do-Do-Do You wa-ant?!" The Gloink Queen demanded.

"You were attacked by a creature not too long ago. What do you remember?" Batman questioned.

"I-I-I do not— do not recalls much from the ass– assault." The royal monster painfully explains. "That ab-abomina-ation was wil-wild and vic-vicious!"

"Anything else?" Batman inquired, still holding the Explosive Gel in hand.

"No!" She spat at him. "Y-You got-got what you-you came fooooooor!"

Batman turned around and tucked the gadget away in his belt while walking to the escalator. "You don't have to be rude."

Pomni races with him to the escalator, not wanting to be caught by the Gloink Queen somehow. Both of them rode the escalator up to the main room and it disappeared once they stepped off it. What caught their attention was that everyone was gathered near the front of the stage - Caine and Bubble being the center of attention as usual.

"Oh dear..." Pomni said under her breath as they approached the others.

"There you all are. I'm having a little trouble setting up a new adventure, due to some software issues, but never fear!" Caine summoned a microphone and a stand on the stage. "Today, we'll be having a musical adventure. Whoever gives off the best performance wins a prize! The catch is that you have to come up with the lyrics on the spot."

Then Pomni was teleported on the stage first, everyone else sitting down in chairs as the audience. She blushed at the embarrassment and stage fright.

"Uh... I can't sing without a script..." Pomni stammered, and then she was hit in the face with an item. She rubs her face and picks it up. "This is a shampoo bottle."

"Sing, Pomni!" Caine demanded like a whiny audience member.

Pomni fearfully grabs the microphone while looking at the back of the bottle. "🎶Contains: citric acid, sodium chloride, cocamidopropyl betaine, fumic acid, butylphenyl methylpropional, magnesium nitrate, limonene PEG-60 almond glycerides, methylchloroisothiazolinone, and - uh - water.🎶"

Nobody said anything after her performance, except for...

"Sounds delicious." Bubble commented.

Then Pomni was swapped with Gangle with her comedy mask on.

"🎶I'm super happy, never sappy, when I have my happy mask. Don't break it, Jax! Don't break it, Jax! Don't break it, Jax! That's all I ask!🎶" And then she slips on a nearby banana and her mask breaks and she sobs. "What the [Honk], Kinger?!"

In the crowd, Kinger flinched.

"Oop, sorry. Just..." He somehow chomps into a banana. "...eatin' a little banana."

Gangle was swapped with Ragatha, and she silently cried in the chair. Batman reaches inside his belt and offers Gangle a fresh comedy mask - making her fumble but gently taking it from him. Caine still forgot to take his belt away.

Ragatha started to dance while holding the mic. "🎶Sunny day and rainbows, getting hugs and petting kitty cats! When you feel down and in the mind, instead of frowning, do a silly dance!🎶 Take it away, Zooble!"

Then she was swapped with Zooble, who stood there in silence.

"This is stupid." Zooble comments, refusing to touch the microphone.

"Boo!" Caine jeered and used his God-like powers to dismember Zooble from her limbs. "Come on! Letloose those angelic pipes, Zooble!"

"AAAAAGH!" Zooble cried in pain.

Then Jax took Zooble's spot while she was teleported to a chair, just a torso and head.

"🎶Zooble's part was terrible, that act was so unbearable. I'm super duper hoping that those limbs are not repairable.🎶" Jax sang and then one of Zooble's arms was thrown at him, knocking him off stage.

Then Kinger was put on stage, to which he took the time to look snazzy and jazzy.

"🎶Y'all know me as Kinger, but on stage, I'm Singer. Gonna serenade ya, baby! With my own Tony-winning zingeeeeeeeers!🎶" Kinger or 'Singer' sang, sounding like those jazz tunes from the seventies.

Then Batman took Kinger's place, standing on the stage with the microphone back on its stand and in front of him. He looks at his audience, everyone expecting him to not do it - since this is too stupid for him.

But surprising everyone, he picks up the microphone off the stand and cleared his throat, taking the time to remember

"🎶Am I blue~? Am I blue~? Ain't these tears in my eyes tellin' you?🎶" He sang with closed eyes. "Am I blue~? You'd be too~. If each plan that you made done fell through~🎶"

His voice was genuinely soothing for them to hear. Pomni was just in awe that he's playing along.

"🎶Was a time I was her only one. But now, I'm the sad and lonely one, lordy, was I gay? 'Till today, now she's gone and we're through. Am I blue~?🎶" He continued, still keeping his eyes closed and his voice showing somber vulnerability - but not enough for them to think of him any differently. "🎶Was a time I was her only one. But now, I'm the sad and lonely one, lordy, was I gay? 'Till today, now she's gone and we're through. Am I blue~?🎶"

Then his head stares down, hiding his facial expressions from them.

His voice sounded more hurt. "🎶Now she's gone, and we're through... Am I blue~?🎶"

Everyone was moved by his performance, metaphorically speaking. Pomni, Ragatha and Gangle were just flabbergasted at the song - especially with how genuine it felt thanks to Batman's surprising vocal skills. Zooble and Jax were shocked at it, not necessarily touched by the song like the other three.

And Kinger felt a bit jealous that he was upstaged by a guy who dresses like a bat.

Caine claps happily. "Bravo! Speculator performance! You have won the audiences' hearts. And your prize is a plush-set of everyone in The Amazing Digital Circus except yourself."

Batman looked at the large pile of stuffed characters at his feet. He bends down to pick up the Pomni plush and stares at it in his hand.

"Cool." Batman said while somehow putting it away in his belt - and then doing the same for the other stuffed toys.

You might say it's pointless, but he always likes to be prepared for anything. And he's taking advantage of the fact his belt can store almost anything in this realm - unlike the real world.

Besides, he could probably come up with something involving Kaufmo... He needs time to think this over before conducting his experiment.

May 11th, 2024. 11:12 PM.

Batman sang a real song that was sung by the legendary Kevin Conroy (rest in peace, you legend) called Am I Blue?