Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

We start ourselves in a dark room, almost nothing to be seen in here. Until we hear the sound of what appears to be music... We're not sure where it comes from... but that doesn't matter. We see a figure appear up front on a stage... but no head is to be seen...

They remain mysterious and rather eerie... nothing is heard while this lullaby tune plays. They remain motionless and silent for only a few more seconds until they're finally heard.

Their voice was so hauntingly enchanting, but a chill would remain down your spine just from hearing them. They would begin to sing...

I know this dream of life is never-ending...

It goes around and round

And round again...

I know the sun is rising while descending...

It goes on and on

It never ends...

The mysterious headless figure would disappear in the darkness... to make way... for The Amazing Karnak.

Chapter Text

We meet another figure... a novelty machine of sorts. He wore a turban on his head, a crystal ball in front of him, and encased in glass. His eyes glow an ominous white while the crystal ball glows blue. The words he speaks... goes like this, almost like he's talking to a non-existent audience.

"Hello. I am The Amazing Karnak. This is not a boast... but rather what it says on my legal patent as a precognition machine. I was designed to predict the exact cause, time, and place of someone's death. A rather morbid function, I grant you."

"Which is precisely why I was set to "Family Fun Novelty Mode." Turns out, being told the place and time of your death in front of your family with a mouthful of corndog at a fairground is the very... opposite... of fun. While I'm still able to predict the demise of anyone who stands in front of me, I am incapable of ever expressing it..."

"I can even predict my own demise... I always could...tonight, in this warehouse... in a little over an hour... Meet my executioner." We look at a giant anthropomorphic rat with glowing red eyes. "A rat I've named Virgil. For the last two years, Virgil has been steadily chewing on my power cable."

"In a little over an hour, Virgil shall chew his way through the rubber, biting down on 200 volts of electricity, instantly killing us both. As there is nothing more base than death, I decided for tonight's entertainment, Virgil shall play... the bass" Virgil gives us a short bass riff before Karnak continues speaking.

"Even in my divine comedy, I'm well aware rats cannot play musical instruments... When you've been alone for as long as I have, you tend to... anthropomorphize your friends... Before we begin tonight's amusement, let me lay down some ground rules. The first rule... one that has baffled theater-goers since the days of Escalus..."

"The armrest to your left is yours." A laugh track can be heard after that peculiar sentence. "The one to your right is your neighbor's. If you believe both armrests are yours exclusively, you are part of the problem." The laugh track is heard again before it dies down.

"Also... please turn off your cellphones. I assure you that none of the calls you are about to receive will have life-altering consequences... Except for one of you." The laugh track plays a third time again. "My most sincere condolences... accidents happen..."

Some gentle piano music is played while projections appear on the flat wall, showing the fairgrounds of Uranium City, before we see the Choir, looking jolly. "Tonight, I speak of 6 teenagers, who's tales ended abruptly on a roller coaster, in a small Canadian town in the middle of nowhere."

The projections show the choir and the fair again, often switching back between each one. "The former St. Cassian Chamber Choir, who on Monday, September 14th, would board The Cyclone roller coaster at 6:17 PM." The projections would show the aforementioned Cyclone roller coatser and the children boarding it.

"At 6:19, the same roller coaster's front axle would break... causing it to derail at the apex of the loop-de-loop... hurting the children... to their deaths." A faint vocalizing is heard, almost like to mimic the final screams of the Choir. The screams stop. We get a glimpse of each choir member, except for one, who was covering their face.

"Tonight, I speak of 6 teenagers... robbed!... of their individuality in a mass tragedy. Lumped together as "Our Six Saints." By the national media. In my part in this story, I read all of the children's fortunes. I felt their hopes, thoughts, dreams... knowing they would board the doomed roller coaster and could tell them nothing. I even suggested that they ride the Cyclone..."

"Tonight, I conjured the St. Cassian Chamber Choir, who, an hour before their deaths, participated in a singing competition in the Uranium City Bandshell." The projections come to an end and we finally see our choir.

Chapter Text

We finally see our choir, but we only 5 instead of 6. We'll excuse that. They're all looking in another direction, with a purple haired girl talking to the non-existent adjudicator, since this takes place before the tragedy.

"I, thank you, dear adjudicator, for considering the St. Cassian Chamber Choir for our senior concert. We are thrilled to be here yet again at the Kiwanis International Singing Competition. Last year, we came in second place!"

"They were the only choir in competition." Karnak, out of view, would bluntly state.

"This just shows the high standard of excellence at Kiwanis. In even competition against yourself, you can still walk away a loser. Pac." A yellow orb with arms and legs, wearing red gloves and shoes gets called up front. He says this.

"Our first song was written by our choir conductor, Father Louis P. Marcus. He was inspired by traditional African folk music, specifically The Lion King." The purple haired girl gets back up front to introduce their song.

"Here is his homage to our very own, Fall Fair!" The choir get in position before starting their song. The music plays and they begin to sing, except for a young man.

When the Fall Fair comes to town!

Oh, step right up!

It's good, clean fun!

All the games and rides!

A little something for everyone!

When the Fall Fair comes

(When the Fall Fair comes to town!)

Karnak speaks again about the Choir, who continues singing, "Tonight, my apology, a eulogy in my way of a concert. The final concert of the now deceased St. Cassian Chamber Choir."

When the Fall Fair come-

Fall Fair come-

Fall Fair come-

Fall Fair, Fall Fair, Fall Fair, Fall Fair...

When the Fall not Fair

This ride goes where?

Aahh~

AAH!!!

"Tonight, I wish to give them the chance to express not what they would perceive to be... but what they dreamt they were... Tonight, we shall raise a middle finger to that most ruthless adjudicator called... Time!..." The purple haired girl speaks again about her uneasiness along with her yellow friend.

Something doesn't feel quite right.

A blur of colored spinning light

My heart is racing!

Pounding in my ears!

The only two males in the choir that can physically talk, a man wearing red and an anthropomorphic blue Hedgehog, get their part in the song.

Dizzy, tingling

Spinning round

Oh, where's the sky

And where's the ground?

The rabbit comes

And then, he disappears

They all join in for one big verse in the song, still, except for the other choir member.

Total darkness

Spinning black

Pushing forward

Pulling back

Falling through the air

I wonder how can t his be

Faaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiir~

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah~

Aaaaaaaah!~

(Aaaaaaaah~ Aaaaaaaah~

Aaaaaaaah~ Aaaaaaaah~

Aaaaaaaaaaah... Aaaaaah!~)

The choir doesn't seem to hear the mysterious vocalizing, but only the young man dressed in blue seem to does. The purple haired girl sings her part again.

What a load of fricking junk!

That crusty carny

Clearly drunk!

Sue that Fair for everything they've got!

The blue Hedgehog seems to speak in pessimistic value contrasting to hers.

What's the point of even suing?

Dead! We're done!

There's no undoing

Nothing left to do except to roooooooooot!~

The other members seem to worry about what being dead means for them now.

Sex, oh god. Why did I wait?!

Now, we'll never graduate!

I hope I wiped my browser history clean.

The group then seem to complain about attending classes, wondering why they even did so in the first place, then the man in red seems to have a realization.

Why'd I even go to class?

Algebra 12?

🖕Kiss my ass!🖕

Now I know what YOLO really means!

Carpe Diem!

What a lovely theme!

C'est la vie!

Life is just a dreeeeeeeeaaaaam~

Just a dream!

The tone seems to calm down a little, feeling a little chipper than how tense it used to be.

And then, you're sailing through space

You don't know up from down

And you feel a little strange

From all that spinning round

And everything you loved

And everything you dreamed

And everything you feared

And everything that seems so, oh so, terrifying

...

It's far behind on the ground

Like our far-from-the-city

Little itty-bitty pretty hometown

Just a teeny tiny dot on a wee blue ball

And we've all been spinning

(All been spinning...)

Spinning round and round and round

And round and round, round and round

The purple haired girl speaks about her uneasiness again, knowing that something was off.

Had a strange feeling from the start

Bought our tickets, stood in line

A rickety cart

I did not feel safe at all

Tick-a tick-a heard the crack!

Felt the drop!

Now I know

We're never going back!...

The music comes to brief halt before continuing one last time.

But, what really happens?

What happens after?!

(The faaaaaaaaalllll!~)

(The faaaaaaaaalllll!~)

The Fall!

The song finally ends, with the Choir now in the afterlife.