Chapter Text
“So, who are you gonna kill first Pompom?”
Pomni stares dumbfounded a second “Uhh,” she shifts on her heals “I-I don't know if I'll really be doing much of the killing.” Jaxes smile leaves his face replaced by his disappointed stare.
“I’ll just find guns for you, and you can do all the violent stuff.” she finger guns awkwardly “you like that right?”
He leans into the box beside him before lowing his gun, “You know none of this is real, right?”
“What do you mean? Like… the circus?” Pomni glances down the hall for a second to make sure there are no other players nearby then back to Jax as he abruptly shoves the gun into her hands.
“The game today is literally to shoot each other, so what's the point in taking this moral high ground?” Jax points at the row of cans set up on a box, its clear what he wants her to do.
“Well they're my friends,” Pomni shakily aims at the cans, she only remembers being in a shooting range once in the real world but the gun safety lesson stuck with her. “I don't really want to hurt them.” She closes her left eye and breathes out as she pulls the trigger.
BANG! The bullet barely rattles the can on the far right, Pomni relaxes and lowers her weapon.
Jax rests a hand on his hip as he sighs, “Alright, let me be real here. Why do you care about all that?”
“Uh about not hurting my friends?”
“Look-” he snatches the gun from her hands, and begins to flip it in his own “I know what its like. One day you’re somebody in the real world doing important things. And then, the next, you’re just some weird little cartoon… Jester.” he vaguely gestures to her. “You want to hold onto that part of you that still thinks its apart of that world, but in the end what does that get you?”
Pomni starts to answer but Jax keeps going “Ragatha tries to be all nice and friendly but she gets torn up every other adventure.” Pomni shuts her mouth, thought cut short.
“Whether we like it or not, all we are now is a bunch of cartoon characters” He grandly holds his arms out before flipping the gun and shooting the can to the farthest left with a loud BANG!
“So what's the point in pretending we’re not?” He finishes before tossing it to Pomni again.
She jumps to catch it, “We’re still people though, right?”
“I thought we were at first but…” he turns to face her more, “as time goes on we just end up falling into out archetypes. Become part of the machine”
Pomni stares at him unimpressed “Whats your archetype then? The Villian?”
Jax scoffs and turns to point to himself “Listen, I add a key dynamic. I see how far I can push things,” He pokes Pomni in the cheek, “I screw with people,” He pulls her hat up by its edges, “ and I break the fourth wall!” as he points off down the hallway into nothing.
He catches his breath before bending down to Pomnis’ level “You wanna know why? it’s ‘cause it’s funny!” Jax steps back and waves his arms around “I do everything ‘cause it’s funny! ‘Cause I'm the funny one.”
“the funny one..?”
“Yeah! Ragatha’s the cheerful one, Gangle’s the sad one, Kinger’s the crazy one, Zooble’s the grumpy one,” he goes on to vaguely mimic each person he lists of in a crude way before poking Pomni in the forehead “And you are the one who hasn't figured that out yet”
“We all just became archetypes, I at least have the self awareness to choose who I am.”
“the funny one…” Pomni muttered to herself again.
“So who do you want to be?” Jax grabs her by the shoulders, “No better chance than now to try something new… You wanna go nuts?” he moves her Infront of the row of cans again. “You wanna finally work off those weeks of rage and anguish that have been building up inside you?”
She aims at the center can this time.
“I know you hate it here, everyone does. But the silver lining is you can pretty much do whatever you want. Like look at the way you’re aiming that gun! Too realistic… Just let loose.”
Pomni looks at him then inhales deeply before going to aim the gun again, this time much more lax as she sighs then twirls the handgun before shooting. BLAM! the can rolls down the hall.
“Huh? ah what the heck…” She turns to Jax with her best mischievous face “Today I'm just gonna be evil. how’s that?”
Jax suppresses his laugh “heh, go for it!”
“yeah- Yeah! Those other fools better watch their tails, because their going to face the wrath-” she jumps into the air cartoonishly, “of POMNI THE EVIL!” before laughing malevolently.
Jax cant help it this time “pfft- thats kinda cringe..’
Pomni drops her evil grin in less than a second. “Whatever I thought it was good,” she mutters then speaks up as she tosses the gun back to Jax “Im gonna look for another gun down this way, don't go too far”
Jax just nods and dismisses her as he sets up the cans again but further away.