Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

CRASH!!!

“JAX!!!!” Ragatha’s enraged voice called out-

While a certain purple rabbit fled the scene- getting censored to high h$!l. “Oh $&!#- Oh &!$#- %#€! &$%# $$@!”

“THIS IS THE LAST STRAW YOU %#$&-”

You knew it was bad when Ragatha screamed at the top of her lungs like that- and you knew it was even worse when she cursed- or tried to but y’know- now’s not the time for specifics-

His feet carried him as he bounded away, booking it from the redhead who he just had to prank with a bucket full of centipedes- it was funny! For him anyway- guess not so much for her-

The very quick and no doubt angry footsteps were barely that far behind him- and while Jax wouldn’t typically back down from a fight- you know what they say, never bring fists to a knife fight, or- well- a cleaver fight.

Yeah Ragatha had no trouble brandishing the thing when her buttons had been pushed hard enough.

Usually when he f$#%ed up this badly he’d just get Caine and get him to teleport him somewhere- but Caine was busy that morning, said he was working on an old project or something, and ‘therefore would be unable to do another awesome adventure today’

The rabbit sighed while running- commemorating the ringmaster for his bad timing-

Jax veered hard around a corner, dollface not too far behind him- when out of nowhere -

Jingle jingl- CRASH!

Jax collided with another person- a shorter person- much shorter- and they both crashed onto the floor- elbows and knees hitting areas and causing an uncomfortable and honestly kind of painful tumble.

Groan…

Jax lifted his head, grabbing it as he reoriented himself,

“Ow-”

“Can you get off me-?” He startled a bit at the unexpected voice- looking to the side to see a familiar red and dark blue hat-

He grinned at the misfortunate jester, about to say something snarky- before impending footsteps of doom reminded him why he was running in the first place- He scrambled to his feet, bringing the jester up with him- tucking her under his arm as he booked it again- looking for somewhere to hide-

“WHAT THE- JAX PUT ME DOWN-”

“Pomni I know you hate my guts, but I need you to shut the &#!% up before I get cleavered in the face- and I will sooner eat my nonexistent shoes then let you rat me out”

“Did you prank Ragatha agai-” “Of course I pranked Ragatha again-! What kind of question is that?!”

Jax ran past a conveniently open door- before comically backing up and looking at it- deciding it would do for now as he hauled the unwilling jester with him into the poorly illuminated room and slamming the door shut- but still being careful enough that the door wouldn’t give away where he’d gone-

“Why don’t you jus- mfhm?!” Pomni struggled against the hand suddenly covering her mouth while Jax spoke in hushed urgency- “shhhhhhhhhuuuut the f#%! up- I will drag you down with me if I get caught-”

An awkward silence followed as the jester pondered elbowing the rabbit in the side- before a doll’s obviously angry footsteps rushed past the door outside- apparently not having seen them-

A tense couple of seconds passed- before Jax gave a sigh of relief, slumping against the door behind him.

“Oh thank f&$%- she didn’t find me-”

A slightly muffled “For now-” came from Pomni, before shaking away the hand trying to silence her. “What’s your plan now? Just hide from Ragatha forever?”

“Oh please jingle bells-” Jax scoffed, while flicking the one of the liliripes on Pomni’s hat, making the bell at end ring. “She’ll chill out after a while- I just have to- well- hide- until then-”

“ Genius .” Pomni chimed “ absolutely genius , why didn’t I think of that?” Pomni squirmed a bit, until Jax got the memo and put her down. “She’s gonna find you eventually, hell you probably deserve it- what did you even do?!”

“Put a bucket full of centipedes above her door and then watched the aftermath.”

“ … RAGA-”

“OH NO YOU DON’T-”

What could best be described as a squabble ensued as the two thrashed about and destroyed everything in the room-

before Pomni shoved Jax into some kind of wooden object, probably a closet or something- and while Jax ricocheted off the object-

The object itself started creaking before falling and-

CRASH-!!

As Jax groaned on the floor- the jester watched as a familiar white hue illuminated the room.

The top of the closet had crashed into a red door, consequently hitting the door handle in the process. The door had creaked open, the light inside spilling out, as Pomni felt a strong urge to get the f$!% out of there-

Unfortunately Jax had recovered and gotten back up on his feet, and while rubbing his head again- he was also looking at the unfamiliar door, tilting his head at it.

“The h&%#’s this thing?”

“Trust me.” Pomni answered grimly. “You don’t wanna know.”

“….. I’m gonna check it out-”

“JAX-”

Chapter Text

“JAX-”

“Chill out, would ya?” The rabbit scoffed “I’m just gonna take a quick look!”

The unfortunate jester could feel herself wanting to implode as she watched the jacka#% inspect the door, kicking broken wood pieces out of the way.
“Groan… Jax listen- you might have been right earlier when you said I don’t like you, because I really don’t-” Pomni prattled before taking in a quick breathe “But even I’m above putting my worst enemy through the same insanity inducing bulls%!& I went through- Not that you’re my worst enemy- you’re more of an adversary-? regardless-”

“Pomni I’m gonna be honest with ya, I’m not listening to anything you’re saying.” Jax looked back at her with unamusement. “It was funny at first but now it’s just getting annoying and sad. So, y’know, shut up.” The rabbit ended with an eyeroll and looked back at the door.

“…. previous statement retracted, you are the bane of my existence.” Pomni deadpanned.

“Awe,” Jax grinned “I hate you too.” He sarcastically winked before pushing the door open, looking at the honestly confusing white nothingness. He was just about to take a step in, before he felt a hand grab his wrist.

“Jax, seriously- don’t go in there.” He looked back at the jester, seeing a surprisingly concerned look on her face.

It made him a bit too uncomfortable, so he quickly yanked his arm away, stalling for a second before grinning again. “Why? You wanna go first?”
“Absolutely no- woaH-! JAX-!!” Pomni yelled in urgency as she suddenly got shoved in by the grinning a%&hole, disappearing in the white light.

“Pfft, it’s just a door, what’s the worst that could happen?” he nonchalantly shrugged as he took a step through the door.

“Where… the he#%- did that RABBIT GO!?” Ragatha yelled as she stormed about the circus, cleaver in hand. She knows Jax couldn’t have gone to Caine, he was unavailable today! Where in the f#%&-
“Uh… Rags-? You good-?” Ragatha whipped around- nearly ready to take someone’s head off- before she stalled and saw that- oh, it’s just Zooble.

Their hands were raised and- oh they’re saying something- “sy there-! I’m not Jax-! I don’t know what he did but I wasn’t a part of it-!”
Ragatha sighed harshly, forcing herself to calm down momentarily.

“Sorry- sorry Zooble, I just urgh-” Ragatha shook her head, coming back to her senses, looking at Zooble with concern rather than murderous intent.
“So sorry Zooble, I didn’t mean to startle you-”

“I uh- think startle is an understatement-” Zooble exhaled, grabbing at their chest piece, as if they were clutching their chest.
“I think you almost scared the daylights out of me with that glare- remind me to never p!#% you off-”
“So sorry…” the doll tearfully apologized, genuinely feeling guilty.

“Don’t sweat it, I know how Jax grinds your gears, what’s the offense this time?” Zooble straightened themselves up, looking the doll in the eyes, or well- eye.
As Ragatha recalled what Jax had done, she shuddered at the memory.
“Long story short, centipedes, a whole f&%# ton of centipedes.”

Despite the lack of a mouth, Ragatha could hear Zooble physically suck their teeth.
“Yikes.”
“M-hm, thing is, I have no clue where he went, I’ve looked everywhere!”
“Everywhere?” Zooble chimed, prompting Ragatha to give them a nod.
“Hmm… If I were Jax, and I was hiding from Ragatha… I’d hide where she’d check last, have you checked your room by any chance?”

The doll blanked “…... if he’s hiding in my room, I’ll make sure he never hides in there again.” She seethed before storming off towards her room, prompting Zooble to suck their nonexistent teeth again. “Yikes…” They muttered before following Ragatha, in case they had to prevent an actual murder from happening. Not so much for Jax’s sake- but rather because they know how guilty Rags can feel once she’s cooled off.

“….. Where the f%&# are we?”

Jax looked around, not recognizing a singular thing about his surroundings, the carpeted floor, beige walls and seemingly endless file cabinets going down the stretching hallway, a small vaguely red door at the end of it.
He scratched his head at the sight before looking down at the jester who was just- laying there, face down in the carpet.
“Hey, jingle bells,” Jax lightly kicked her foot “you with me?”

All he heard was a lot of really angry grumbling before she picked herself up and looked back at him and- oh wow she looks really f!#&ing mad.

“Do you have… ANY IDEA- HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO GET OUT OF HERE LAST TIME?!”

“Idk, like, 5 minutes?”
“5 MINU- YOU- YOU IGNORANT MOTHERF%#KER-” Pomni grabbed at her liliripes, rage barely contained as she clenched her momentarily sharp teeth.

Jax just shrugged, thinking she was being dramatic.
“Oh please, if Caine didn’t want us here, he wouldn’t leave a door leading here just out in the open.” The rabbit tried to reason while the jester glared up at him.
“out in the- THE DOOR WAS HIDDEN IN A DARK SECLUDED ROOM- HE CLEARLY DIDN’T WANT US FINDING IT-” Pomni shouted at the moron.
“Well then it’s on him for leaving it in such an easy to find area,” Jax shrugged, defending his dumba$#ery. “besides! The door was open! It’s like he was waiting for an inciting incident!” he extended his arms, emphasizing his point.

Pomni clenched her gloved fists, trying to fight the urge to strangle the jacka%$, instead turning and banging her head against a nearby file cabinet, recoiling in pain.

“ow…” Pomni groaned as her hands covered the bonked area which under normal circumstances would’ve absolutely sustained a bruise, but y’know, digital bodies and whatnot.

“Besides, the door is like, right behind us.” Jax jabbed a thumb in the direction of the door that they’d arrived through.
“Oh-” Pomni blanked before going wide-eyed “OH-” she grabbed her head in profound realization. “WE CAN JUST LEAVE!!”  she gestured to the door as if it was a million bucks or something.

Jax rolled his eyes as the jester bells jingled gleefully as she practically pranced over to the door. Bummer, he wanted to drag her along with him, maybe he should’ve just kept his mouth shut.

And all was well as Pomni reached for the door handle, more than ready to ready to leave this god awful hallway, her fingers gracefully grasping the handle as she turned it and-

Clack.

Clack clack.

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.

.

Clackclackclackclackclack-

Pomni’s face fell hard, not even reacting to the “snrk-” coming from the rabbit boy behind her, as she realized the door was f#%$ing locked.

Chapter Text

Bang.

Bang.

“So uh...”

Bang.

“What exactly is your goal here?”

Bang.

“I mean if you’re trying to get brain damage, I think you’re gonna need to slam your head a little bit harder-”

BANG.

“…. I was joking- that wasn’t an actual suggestion-”

Groooaan…..

“Alright bells, you done playing ‘give yourself a concussion simulator’?”

“Jax- just- just shut up-”

“Not happening, I got my yapping degree for a reason, gotta put it to use somehow.” Jax shrugged as the jester gave him a very very defeated look, contemplating throttling him for the millionth time.

They’d been stuck here for a while now, around half an hour or so? Pomni wasn’t sure, she was already losing track of time, and that annoying grinning rabbit hadn’t been very helpful either, like- at all. She’d been busy trying just about everything to get that damn door open. Prying, slamming, breaking, lockpicking, even though she didn’t know how and couldn’t get Jax to do it- begging, pleading and crying- at the door, not Jax- she’d sooner abstract then beg that bastard for anything- and when none of that worked, resorted to the slamming thing again, except using her head as the battering ram this time. Pomni had stalled though, after that particularly loud and harsh bang that echoed all the way down the hallway and probably further into this insufferable place.

“So what are you gonna try next?” Jax leaned over Pomni’s shoulder, mostly just to give her a better view of his s#!% eating grin “Oooo maybe try breaking your leg! That’ll definitely get the door open, I hear it’s good luck~”

“I have a better idea!” Pomni met his grin with her own, except it looked like it was painful for her to even hold that honestly concerning and weirdly sharp grimace of a smile.

“uh-” Before Jax could even finish that stutter- Pomni grabbed him by the straps of his overalls, yanking him down onto his knees to force him to have at least somewhat equal stature as her.

“How about we cut off one of your feet? And then use that to get us out of here? Everyone knows a rabbit’s foot is lucky after all.” Her voiced strained, as she damn near strangled the straps in her clutched hands.

.

.

.

Okay, Jax has to admit- Pomni is kind of freaking him out right now- He knows he was #%&ing with her but f#%&ing h#%l he’d be lying if he said that ‘about to go ape-s#!t’ look on her face wasn’t actually kind of scary.

“….ooookaaayyyyyyy Jingle Bells- how bout you take a chill pill real quick?” Jax voiced as he slowly took her arms into his hands, prompting her to let go and come back to her senses. Pomni blinked, sharp teeth and pencil scribble irises seemingly vanishing into thin air.

“O-Oh- uhm- sorry-” She sheepishly pulled her arms away, looking slightly pale and shaken as she coiled her own arms around herself.

Jax unwillingly examined her face, behavior and body language, riddled with signs of ‘Not Doing So Great’ Syndrome. From the closed off posture to downcast eyes, he couldn’t help noticing every single thing about her that was screaming for reassurance and comfort, the very thing he sucked at.

His thin eyebrow twitched in annoyance, not exactly enjoying this scenario he was stuck in, even though it was actually entirely his own fault he was stuck in it to begin with. “Jesus F#%*ing Christ Fine-” Jax sighed heavily while rolling his neck, placing an arm on his knee to help lift himself up off the ground. “Huh?” the jester looked back up at the rabbit, who was looking notably disgruntled.

“Stop looking so f%&#ing sad would you? I can probably get us out of here” He rolled his eyes mid-sentence, placing his hands on his hips. “but I can’t help it if you suck a#! at lockpicking a simple lock.” He ended while turning his head to the door, scanning for a lock. Pomni looked at him dumbfounded, not sure if she should feel reassured or insulted.

“……. Okay.” She found it best to just give a neutral response. Jax crouched by the door, inspecting the keyhole for a moment. “Hmm.. well I can’t magic this open.” Jax noted as he looked around, noting the office-like-setting of their surroundings. “Hey Jingle Bells, can you find me some paper clips?” Pomni blanked for a second in response, looking around as well. “I’m not- sure if Caine would’ve bothered with something as trivial as adding paperclips to this area-” She was caught off guard when she heard a snicker, prompting her to look back at the chuckling rabbit.

“Oh no he absolutely would,” Jax craned his head backwards, meeting her eyes. “Caine is a sucker for detail, most of the time anyway-” he continued as he unfolded his legs, straightening up from his crouching position “sure there’s always bugs in his maps, and occasionally huge oversights that come back to bite him in his digital a#%-” he dramatically gestured while passing Pomni, stopping in-front of a filing cabinet.  “but I’d be kidding myself if I said he didn’t pay attention to the detail.”  Jax rolled his eyes as he opened a drawer, reaching inside for its contents.

“But still- even if he added paperclips- what if they’re just part of the ‘model’? like they’re unremovable from the paper or something?” Pomni tried to reason, watching as Jax turned around with two stacks of paper in hand, notably both being held together, by paperclips.

“Trust me-” Jax nonchalantly grins as he reaches for the paperclips, smugness evident in every fiber of his being. “I know how that bot thinks.” He ends the statement while effortlessly detaching the paperclips, twirling them both between his fingers.

Pomni sighed, taking the L as her shoulders slumped. “Okay- whatever just- please get us out of here.” The rabbit grinned at the jester’s defeat, humming triumphantly as he passed by her again.

 He kneeled in-front of the keyhole again, examining the clips as he was bending them into the respective shapes he needed. “Caine might overlook some important things sometimes, but he always adds the most unnecessary bull$#!&,” Jax continued as he started picking at the lock, using one paperclip as a tension wrench, before inserting the other and feeling for pins “like fully functional paper clips-” he grinned as he heard the first pin dislodge- and-

A sudden surge of static electricity coursed through his arms- reaching his entire body as it overwhelmed all his senses in an instant, his purple fur bristling right before-

KRA-KOOM

Pomni barely even processed the noise, let alone the electrical surge sending the rabbit flying backwards into the filing cabinets.

Loud noises of metal and other more fragile materials all crashing into each other in one painful cluster.

As the look of alarm finally surfaced on the jester’s face, her head turned towards the sight with a wince, the only visible part of Jax being the legs draped over a filing cabinet.

“…. Jax…?”

She heard an almost comical cough, originating from the heap of fried rabbit and toppled cabinets, followed by a strained wheeze.

“And apparently…. An electrified door lock….”

Chapter Text

“Jax!”

.

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“Jaaax!”

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.

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“JAAAAAAAAX!!!!”

Ragatha’s voice carried across the circus, nearly audible from everywhere, as she looked for a certain elusive purple bastard. After thoroughly confirming he wasn’t anywhere within her quarters, she’d stormed off, dissatisfaction only fueling her determination to find him.

She’d politely interrogated each circus member she’d happened to come across- except for Caine obviously- as well as- Pomni actually, she hadn’t run into her yet- The doll was planning on asking her if she’d seen Jax when they’d inevitably run into each other though.

“Uhm- Rags-?”

The doll stopped in her tracks, turning her head to look back at the circus member who’d been accompanying her under the guise of ‘support’, even though Rags knew that was bull$#!%. This wouldn’t be their first time having to prevent a murder attempt, and with the current track record, it most likely wouldn’t be the last either.

“Call me crazy-” Zooble paused, not quite sure how to tastefully word what they wanted to say. “buuuut- I don’t think he’s gonna be answering you anytime soon, when you sound like you’re still planning on lodging that cleaver into his head.”

“Well I am, but he doesn’t know that” She deadpanned. “Ragatha-” Zooble sounded exasperated, raising a crab arm to their face- head- pink triangle thing.

“If he really didn’t, wouldn’t he have come back by now? Innocently believing you’ve gotten over it and being woefully wrong when you inevitably try to cleaver him?”

“Yeah he- …. he would...” The doll paused, button and eye casting downwards, something clearly on her mind. “He’s usually back by now.” She muttered while her eyebrows furrowed.

“Rags-?” Zooble’s head tilted at the doll’s sudden change in behavior. Ragatha looked back at them “I’ve already checked most of the circus, including all his hiding spots, and when Caine’s unavailable he’s unavailable-” Ragatha accounted, knowing Caine doesn’t take cancelling his adventures lightly.

Zooble just shrugged. “Maybe he’s just learning, y’know, getting better at avoiding you.”

“No, Jax isn’t the type to learn anything unless forced to.” The doll rolled her eye before crossing her arms, pondering.

Where the h&%# did he go?

“Jax!”

Pomni’s bells jingled a bit frantically, as she tried to shake some life back into the bastard who was currently unconscious.

“Jax!!”

He’d passed out shortly after his encounter with an electrified door lock, and honestly Pomni wasn’t sure if it was the shock, electrical or not, or the filing cabinets he crashed into afterwards that knocked him out. Regardless, he was in kind of rough shape-

“Jax!!” She shook him harder. “wake up!!”

She was in shock herself afterwards, struggling to process what had even happened. One second she was feeling hopeful he’d actually get them the h&%! out of there, the next she wondering if he’d just died in front of her. No- seriously. She wasn’t sure if he was alive.

She’d tried feeling for a pulse, but either he didn’t have one or she just didn’t how to do it properly- Do they even have heartbeats- let alone hearts? Do they even have organs-

She shook harder, composure wavering. “Jax!! Please!!”

Pomni paused, throat hoarse as she watched the limp bunny slump in her arms, she wasn’t even sure if he was breathing- yeah they don’t need to breathe but right now she’d be really grateful for any sign that he was alive and not dead in her arms.

While she’d never admit it to his face, she kind of needed him right now, needed him conscious or at least showing signs of life- because this f%&#ing place was starting to get to her and being alone while wondering if your companion just died sure as h#$% wasn’t helping- What the f&$! was she supposed to do? The electrified door behind her was obviously a no-go, and she’d ran through countless doors last time and it had taken forever to get through them all, just to end up in that mind-melting pixelated void. Was she supposed to drag his body through dozens upon dozens of doors? What if Caine doesn’t show up this time? Can you even die here? What if right now Jax was dying if not already dead and she was just wasting time and-

Groan….

Her head shot up, bells ringing in her ears as she felt twitches of movement here and there, until the rabbit suddenly came back to life, grimacing while propping himself up on one elbow, slightly displacing her while using his other arm to grab at his aching head, covered in slightly singed purple fur.

“F!$%ing… Ow-”

His eyes flickered open, bleary as they tried to focus on what was in front of him. He squinted, light seeping into his eyes as he recognized the familiar primary colors.

“Pomni…?”

A ginormous sense of relief washed over her, letting go of a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. Her shoulders slumped, unexpected gratitude hitting her hard, so- so grateful- that she wasn’t stuck here with a dead body.

“…. Are you…. crying…?”

She blinked, finally realizing her eyes were burning. She released one of the straps she’d been clutching, wiping at her face, and seeing her gloved hand stained with apparent tears.

Oh.

“……… Are you okay….?” The rabbit asked, hesitation evident in his voice, not sure what to make of the sight before him. He’d been out for a while, that much was obvious, but this wasn’t exactly something he’d ever think he’d come back to- A severely distressed jester with a tear-stained face, looking downright shellshocked. He knew she was somewhat dramatic here and there, but was she really that f&!#ing worried-

About him-?

Jax snickered, a pained cough following. “Awe…” His voice wheezed. “You do care.” He teased while languidly patting her head.

Pomni never thought she’d feel grateful for the immense annoyance he effortlessly sparked within her. She sniffled, not having the strength to hold her composure together anymore, as she suddenly wrapped her arms around his torso, uncharacteristically hugging him tightly, just- needing an ounce of comfort, just for a second.

The rabbit froze, the sudden embrace beyond unexpected. He was about to say something or other, an incredulous look on his face-

But the genuine distraught sounds that was her sniffling- paired with her visibly shaking… he’s not sure, it was uncomfortable- he knew that much- but… he supposes it wouldn’t kill him to hold off on any retorts or unnecessary remarks, just- for now.

He gingerly placed his hand on her back, somewhat embracing her back, before moving his hand in a soothing stroking pattern, attempting to provide even a fraction of what the jester obviously needed.

“Calm down bells… I’m fine.”

And…

They just kind of sat like that for a while.