Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jax was a jerk.

Pomni knew this from the beginning, but after their fight before the “Favorite Character Awards”, it had settled in her more deeply. He was a jerk, but he was also very obviously hurting. She couldn’t help but be concerned about him.

They hadn’t talked much since their fight, other than Jax making his usual witty remarks. It had been clear to everyone that there was a divide between the two, but it was not something anyone felt inclined to get themselves involved in.

It pissed Pomni off, the way he could pretend nothing had happened between them. That everything was normal. She was biting her tongue, waiting for the right moment to confront him. She couldn’t just let this drop. The issue was that Jax made it frustratingly impossible to catch him alone.

It was a twisted game of cat and mouse that neither of them really wanted to play, but couldn’t resist participating in.

Pomni glanced over towards where Jax was sitting. Everyone was gathered in the main room, sitting on the couches chatting aimlessly. Jax was preoccupied bullying Gangle on a couch diagonally and across from Pomni, but when he felt eyes on him, he looked up.

Their eyes met briefly before they both quickly glanced away nervously.

God d@$% it.

Pomni should’ve stared harder, out of spite.

Her frustration was cut short by Caine appearing suddenly in front of the group.

“GOOD MORNING MY PEPPERED PILLOWCASES!” He exclaimed to nobody. “I HOPE YOU ARE READY FOR THE ADVENTURE OF A DIGITAL LIFETIME!!”

“You seem excited today, Caine.” Jax said, with a hint of sarcasm. “Let me guess, this adventure has 57 times more horror and bloodshed!”

“Jax!” Ragatha scolded. “Don’t encourage that!”

“You are sooooo boring.” Jax rolled his eyes.

“WHY, NOT AT ALL JAX!” Caine said, weirdly excited. “IN FACT, I WAS WATCHING MOVIES AND HAPPENED TO FEEL CONVENIENTLY INSPIRED.”

“Oh God…” Pomni muttered. “What movies?”

Her mind was racing with possibilities. She pleaded with any higher being that it was something relatively normal, and not another Mad Max rip off. If she was going to corner Jax, she needed something more simple.

“I CAN’T RUIN THE SURPRISE!” Caine argued. “NO SPOILERS HERE!”

“Yeah, no, I’m not doing this.” Zooble stood up to walk away but Caine flew to them, cutting them off, causing Zooble to stagger back slightly.

“NO NO, NOT TODAY ZOOBLE!” Caine insisted, wagging a finger in their face. “THIS ADVENTURE IS SPECIAL! NEW GRAPHICS, UPGRADED AI, I PULLED OUT ALL THE STOPS!!!!”

“More the reason for me to have no interest.” Zooble stated plainly, narrowing their eyes in frustration.

“TOO LATE!” Caine snapped his fingers, whisking everyone into a portal before further complaints could take place.

They appeared with a sudden pop in front of a large boat. The group was initially confused, but this was quickly resolved when they saw the words “RMS TITANIC” plastered in large letters on the side of the ship.

Hundreds of NPCs littered the entrance around them, as well as the main deck of the ship.

This was going to be a disaster.

“Oh this is greeeaaaat!” Jax said with a smile, tapping his fingers together with a mischievous grin on his face. Pomni wanted to wipe that stupid, fake smile of him.

Gangle looked horrified. “Is this really the adventure for today?”

“Caaaaine,” Zooble squinted their eyes as they turned towards him. “Is this adventure…us dying?”

“NONSENSE!” Caine shouted back. “SURELY IF YOU WORK AS A TEAM, YOU WILL ALL FIND A WAY OF MAKING THE MOST OF THIS LUXURIOUS CRUISE! YOU HAVEN’T EVEN READ YOUR ROLES YET!”

Pomni became acutely aware at that moment that her outfit had changed. She was wearing a simple red gown with a sheer blue overlay. Her typical jester hat was gone, and she could feel that her hair had been tied back into a bun.

Before she had a chance to complain about the functionality of the outfit, a passport appeared in her hands.

“THESE PASSPORTS WILL EXPLAIN EACH OF YOUR ROLES!” Caine said. “ENJOY THEM! MODERATELY!”

Pomni opened her passport. It described her as a young socialite in first class, set to be married to-

“Orbsman?!” She squealed. “I’m engaged to Orbsman?!?”

Jax laughed and looked her way. “C’mon Pomni, don’t you admire his shiny rock hard body?”

Pomni grunted in frustration, eyeing his getup. He was wearing a simple button up that was clumsily tucked into suede pants, being held up by suspenders. “Please tell me that your situation is at least equally as stupid?”

Jax opened his passport, seemingly for the first time. “I’m a broke artist who won tickets in a game of Go Fish.” He turned his smile to Caine. “You turned me into Leonarda DiCaprio.”

Pomni realized that they had been placed in the two most prominent roles of the original film. She hoped this would give them a chance to talk alone, but also dreaded the idea of having to pretend to be his romantic interest while things were so tense…or in general.

Ragatha, trying to clear the tension, spoke up next. “Look Pomni, it says here that I am a fashion designer and close companion to you.” Her dress was similar to her typical outfit, but more formal, fancy frills and fabrics filling it out to fit the aesthetic more cleanly.

Pomni gave Ragatha a small smile. They had talked things out recently, but Pomni was still unsure of how close she could be with Ragatha. It often felt like they were on different wavelengths. She also did not want to have to deal with Jax and Ragatha arguing during this already tiresome adventure.

“I’m the maid.” Gangle said sadly, staring down at her traditional maid dress, not nearly as cute as the one Jax was set with previously. “So I guess I’ll clean until…I die?”

“Don’t think like that.” Zooble interrupted. They wore a similar get-up to Jax, only fitted with a jacket and a fancy mustache. “It could be worse, mine says I’m Italian as a personality trait,”

They pointed to Jax. “and I’m stuck being this one’s roommate.”

“Aw, Zoobie, we get to be cuddle buddies?” Jax said with a sly wink, causing Zooble to roll their eyes. Jax turned and grabbed Kinger’s passport.

“And it looks like good ol’ crazy here is stuck as an engineer down at the bottom.” He giggled. “Over before it even begins.”

“Do you have to be such a jerk?” Pomni snapped, without really meaning to.

Jax stared blankly at her for a moment before rolling his eyes and walking off towards the boat ramp. Kinger followed, asking for his “bug encyclopedia” back, referring to the passport.

“I guess I should follow him, with any luck I’ll get to throw him overboard myself.” Zooble stated before stomping after Jax and Kinger.

Pomni was watching Jax walk onto the boat, trying to formulate a plan to find him alone, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Miss?”

The familiar accent froze her to her core. She wasn’t ready for this, it wasn’t the time.

Anything but him.

She hesitantly turned to see the familiar face of Gummigoo.

“”Your fiance asked me to escort you to the room.” He explained. “Let’s move along now.”

He was different. Of course he was.

The last thing Pomni needed right now was to work out the complicated situation that was Gummigo. She knew it was not her Gummigoo, but she couldn’t get over everything they went through together, especially when he was right in front of her.

Pomni simply nodded and walked alongside him, Ragatha, and Gangle onto the ship. Onto an inevitable nightmare.

As they boarded the boat, Pomni was surprisingly impressed by the amount of detail. The boat shifted and creaked as if they were floating on a real ocean, the walls were ornate and detailed, she even felt a slight sea breeze shift through her hair and dress.

Caine hadn’t exaggerated in saying that the graphics had improved. This felt more realistic than anything she had felt in the circus before. As the fact set in, Pomni felt fear. When the inevitable boat sinking happened…how real would it seem?

Chapter Text

At the dinner table, Pomni is distracted.

Pomni and Ragatha barely had a chance to breathe before being ushered to dinner, where Gummigoo had explained that they will meet Orbsman. She still hadn’t quite adjusted to the presence of Gummigoo, choosing to ignore him as much as possible.

There were a lot of things she wished she could say to Gummigoo, but at the end of the day it would never matter. The Gummigoo she knew, her first friend, was not going to come back.

That is not why Pomni was distracted. Pomni was distracted because she was thinking of Jax. She knew it was not normal to think of him this much, but she couldn’t get their fight out of her mind. She had to talk to him during this adventure.

The sound of loud thumps grew louder as Orbsman stomped into the room, causing the table and its contents to shake as if they were in Jurassic Park, and he was the T-Rex. As he sat at the table, the silverware and plates clattered comically before settling back down, perfect as they were before.

That is when Pomni realized, Orbsman was red. This wasn’t just Orbsman, it was Evil Orbsman. He looked similar to how he had in the Softball adventure, only he wore a simple brown tie and a very expensive looking watch that had Caine on the face.

“Oh God.” Pomni stated.

“Hello future wife!” He replied, way too loudly. “I look forward to your obedience and servitude!”

“Oh…uh…” Ragatha scrambled. “It looks like Orbsman is…sexist now?”

Pomni said nothing, just internally agonized at the information. She was already sick of people not taking her seriously. This was just the icing on the cake.

She was an adult, and she preferred being independent, but nobody seemed to realize this except for herself. She thought Jax took her seriously, but it was clear even he couldn’t be real with her.

As Pomni was starting to grow more frustrated, Disappearing Guy, wearing an intricate Captain’s uniform that definitely took Caine way too long to make, walked into the room.

He pulled out his chair and began to sit down.

“Wel-”

Poor guy didn’t even make it into the chair.

“So!” Ragatha said quickly, trying to change the mood. “Are you looking forward to getting married, Orbsman?”

Pomni slowly turned her head towards Ragatha. It annoyed her endlessly how she would constantly encourage these adventures.

“Yes!” Orbsman stated. “We will have many children!”

Pomni scoffed quickly. “Absolutely not.”

Orbsman stopped moving, then suddenly started thrashing about, slamming his round fist on the table and causing dishes to shatter and break. Pomni and Ragatha could only look on in horror at the sudden change in behavior.

They were saved by the entrance of Gangle, who was wheeling in a cart of food. “Dinner is…uh…served!” Gangle said, trying to sound cheerful.

Pomni felt a moment of relief until Gummigoo slid in behind Gangle to stand near Orbsman. Gangle served plates of pixelated food. As soon as a plate was placed in front of Orbsman, he grabbed the food and smashed it into his face, his mood seemingly switched once again.

Pomni, summoning some courage, tries to wave at Gummigoo, but she feels slightly crushed when his only response is narrowing his eyes and looking away.

“Oh Gangle, have you lost your happy mask already?” Ragatha asks.

“Uh…yeah.” Gangle seems to shrink down at the observation. “Maybe it’s not obvious but I am actually a pretty big Titanic nerd.”

“Wouldn’t that mean you likethis adventure?” Pomni inquired.

“Well, not exactly.” Gangle explained. “This event doesn’t really…end well…and we are probably all going to die…painfully…”

“I’ve seen the movie…once I think?” Pomni added. “Even then, it doesn’t exactly look like the most fun to experience. Why does Caine think that we will like this?”

“Don’t worry too much you two.” Ragatha reassures. “I mean, we are in First Class so we should have a good chance at getting off without even getting our clothes wet, right?”

“What about the other three?” Pomni argues.

“Yeah.” Gangle agrees. “Zooble and the guys are all the way on the lower floors, what if they get stuck down there?”

“Well…uh…mmm.” Ragatha seemed to be slightly defeated.

“We need to make sure we plan accordingly.” Pomni stated. “We need to meet with the other three and ensure we keep track of time, so that we can get in a boat and off this death machine as soon as we are able to.”

“I was planning on finding Zooble tonight.” Gangle admits, a slightly blush appearing on her mask. “I can talk about trying to meet, and we can look for Kinger too.”

“What about Jax?” Pomni asks with a tinge of frustration. She knew Jax had hurt people, but she would hope that the others wouldn’t just leave him to die, albeit temporarily, over it.

“Maybe Zooble can talk to him…” Gangle suggests, seeming anxious.

“We have time guys, it’ll be a-okay!” Ragatha interjects. “We won’t purposefully leave Jax behind Pomni, but he isn’t the easiest person to work with, so…we need him to give back a little.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Pomni rebuttals confidently, she knows everyone in the circus, herself included, has had bad run-ins with Jax. The difference was, she wasn’t going to give up on him.

“A-Are you sure Pomni?” Ragatha hesitantly asks. “I know you and him…have…something.”

“Something?

“W-Well…you have been ignoring him…kinda…” Gangle quietly adds.

“Don’t worry Pomni, if he did something to you, we get it!” Ragatha chirps. “You can tell us, and we will be here for you! You just gotta keep your head up!”

“What are you implying?” Pomni pushes, an anxious feeling building in her stomach.

“Jax is not a good person, Pomni.” Ragatha states with a hint of sadness. “In his case, it might be better to not get involved.”

“What.” Pomni clenched her fist in anger.

Jax pretended to hate everyone, but it was clear, at least to her, that it wasn’t his true nature. It was a defense. She didn’t know why, she didn’t know what was being hidden from her, but she had seen Jax for who he was. Seen his soft side.

She understood why the others would not want to interact with his toxic behavior, but what right did they have in trying to make that decision for her. She was her own person, she was not a child.

She was choosing to fight for his friendship. She wasn’t sure why, she knew it wasn’t her job to fix him, she knew that even if it was, only he can change himself. But, during the gun adventure, she had bonded with him in a way she hasn't bonded with anyone else before.

She felt at ease with him, comfortable. It was the first time since she had joined the circus that she felt completely genuine, aside from her brief moments with Gummigoo.

Then there was Ragatha, someone she considered a friend, but also someone who could not respect Pomni enough to let her make her own decisions. It was infuriating.

The sick feeling in her stomach built more and more as she stared down Ragatha. She was already sick of the stupid adventure. She was sick of having the fight with Jax hanging over her head as a constant mental toll. She was sick of Ragatha infantilizing her and not taking her seriously. She was sick of remembering her first friend no longer exists and constantly having to be reminded of him. She was sick of it. Sick of it. Sick of it.

She was going to throw up.

“I’m tired!” Orbsman whined before standing up and quickly leaving. Thankfully, the quick action was able to cut the building tension in the room, and was able to temporarily settle her stomach.

“I appreciate the concern Ragatha.” Pomni stated calmly.

They finished the dinner in awkward silence, but Pomni continued to feel sick the entire time.

She just needed a moment to be alone.

Jax and Zooble stared blankly at the room in front of them.

It was small. Insanely small. Too small for two grown adults who could barely tolerate each other. The floor was stained and rats scurried about. The sheets were muddled with various stains and there was even a stale stench in the air.

“This is bulls%*@.” Zooble broke the silence.

“You’re tellin’ me.” Jax replied. “How is a guy supposed to get beauty sleep in conditions like these? I should have been the Captain.”

“What are these adventures even for?” Zooble questions out loud. “Because it sure as h$%% isn’t to make sure happy.”
“I’m 90% sure this adventure is just to make us die.” Jax says, maintaining his usual smile.

“Since when did you care about anyone dying?” Zooble bites back, crossing their arms.

“I never said anything about caring, in fact, I look forward to it.” Jax turns and starts walking down the hall. “I also have self-preservation, Zoobie, be real.”

Zooble ends up pacing behind him, not out of a desire to spend more time with Jax, but simply because they were not going to spend their time at the bottom of the Titanic.

Eventually, the duo found a bar with a working bartender NPC. They ordered drinks and sat together silently until Jax decided to break the tension.

“Couldn’t resist following me, could you?” He joked.

“Save the flirting for someone who cares.” They respond dryly. “We should try and group up with the others to figure out a way out of this s%#&hole.”

“Nahhhhh.” Jax drags the word out slowly, a slight heat taking over his face. He hasn’t had much to drink, but it never did take too much to get him tipsy. “I wanna see Gangle tied up in the propellers, I hope you all die in various funny ways while I watch from the safety of my own personal boat.”

“What is your problem, dude.” Zooble exasperates. “Why do you want people to suffer? Were you dropped on your head as a child or are you just a d$&%?”

“What do you even carrrrreeeeeee.” Jax giggles. “It’s not like any of this is real! I’ve died plenty of times and it barely hurts, like ripping off a bandaid!”

“I care about watching my friends suffer, even if it isn’t permanent!” Zooble argues. “It’s still scary, not like you know anything about feelings.”

“I have toooonsss of feelings, Zoobie.” Jax rests his head on the bar table, grinning up at Zooble. “I get joy out of making you suffer.”

He devolved into a series of giggles after saying the final sentence. Zooble was about to criticize him further when he spoke up again, his hand covering his face while the other pulled his alcohol closer.

“Yeah, that’s what I had told her.”

Zooble did not want to get involved in this. Whatever he was talking about, was none of their business. They took a frustrated breath before standing to leave. Right before they left the room, they took one look back.

“One day, you will care about someone enough to feel fear,” Zooble stated coldly. “And it will destroy you, but you will have no one left to put you back together.”

Jax did not respond. Zooble did not know the first things about him.

He ordered another drink.

Zooble didn’t know anything.

They didn’t know that he cared about someone. He has felt fear.

It did destroy him. Nobody has put him back together, and nobody ever will.

When he stands up, the fake joy is gone. All that’s left is anger.

He makes his way out to the deck and looks at the stars. He thinks back to the Stargazing adventure he shared with Pomni.

He could have told her about Ribbit then, but he didn’t. He hasn’t talked about it with anybody. After all, the only people who were around when Ribbit abstracted were Ragatha and Kinger, and no way in h%#$ was he going to open up to either of them.

Pomni was different, she had broken down his walls. The time they had spent together had felt so natural. She was so fun to be around, and despite her initial anxious demeanor, she was actually kind of bada$$. He knew she didn’t like physical touch, yet she had hugged him.

It terrified him. He was terrified of feeling anything, let alone concern for other people.

He was terrified because he knew all it would get him was loss and heartbreak.

He was terrified because he knew one day that the same heartbreak would cause him to abstract.

He couldn’t think about the circus, about people, for too long before devolving into a pathetic panic attack.

So he would continue to play his role, the funny guy, and ensure nobody got close enough for tragedy to happen.

He found a lone bench and crashed clumsily into it, trying not to think about anything.

It doesn't really work, cause all he can think about is a certain Jester.

Chapter Text

Pomni had hoped by the time they got back to the room, that the anxiety in her stomach would’ve settled, but it was the opposite. She felt worse and worse as the evening dragged on, and she still had no idea how she was going to get Jax alone.

Gummigoo and Orbsman were sitting in the main room, lounging on ornate sofas chatting aimlessly about so much nothingness that Pomni had tuned it out ages ago.

“Hey Pomni!” Ragatha greeted cheerfully, too cheerfully. “It looks like this adventure has some optional outfits.”

Pomni looked up to see that Ragatha had swapped her elegant dress for a simple white nightgown.

“Are there any pants?”

“Oh, uh, I don’t think so, sorry.”

Pomni stood up with a groan. “I’m not interested then.”

She looked over to Gummigoo and the twinge in her stomach seemed to get even worse. Ragatha put an understanding hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry he keeps showing up, Pomni.” Ragatha cooed. “Maybe you can try talking to him again.”

Pomni squinted slightly, unsure if that was a good idea. She supposed it couldn’t hurt, and decided to walk over to the two NPCs.

“Hi, Gummigoo.” She said with a small wave.

“Where is my hello?!?” Orbsman demanded angrily. “Why do you only regard the alligator?!?!”

She looked to Gummigoo anxiously, hoping he would say something that would alleviate the situation, but he simply narrowed his eyes in a judgemental glare towards her. Seeing someone she had bonded with so quickly and deeply look at her like this made her feel so small. It made the sickness in her stomach even worse.

“I’m sorry I…” Pomni started, feeling dizzy as she took a few steps back.

“Your behavior is inappropriate, miss.” Gummigoo sneered, causing her to spiral even further.

“Wait…I” She brought her hand up to her face, using her other arm to steady herself as she felt the room begin to spin. She thought she heard Ragatha calling her, but she was to out of it to truly process anything being said.
She felt like everyone in the room was expecting something of her she could not give them. She didn’t know

“I’m sorry!” She shouted before spinning on her heels and running out the suite door. She didn’t care what kind of impression it left, she needed to get out of there before she threw up all over Orbsman’s stupid sexist face.

As she ran through the halls, she felt her heart begin to race and pound in her ears. Why was Gummigoo always around on adventures? Why was Ragatha so overbearing? Why was Caine so crazy?

Why was Jax such an a%$hole?

Eventually, she found her way to the grand staircase. She took a moment to catch her breath and look at the clock at the very top. It said that it was 11 PM, but she had no way of knowing how realistic it was.

Was it in-game time, or reflective or the world they came from? Did time move faster or slower while they were on the adventures? She was trapped in an endless cycle of overthinking. The ship began to sway softly, which caused another bout of nausea to overtake her.

She raced up the stairs and out to the main deck, she hadn’t been outside since the sun was out, and she appreciated the cool air blowing through as she rushed to the rear end of the boat. She still felt dizzy as she speed-walked down the length of the boat, but for a brief moment she thought she had seen a flash of purple in peripheral vision, not that she was coherent enough to process it.

She is so distracted by the spiraling in her head that she practically crashes into the rear railing before immediately vomiting all of her anxieties off the edge. If Caine had so much control over this world, why couldn’t he make it so they didn’t have to experience vomiting?

She groaned softly before looking up to the sky, the virtual sky at least. While she understood that it wasn’t real, it was still beautiful. It reminded her of the time she had spent with Jax under the stars. That was when she had felt they were starting to get close, only for him to throw it all away so soon after.

She wondered if they would be able to look at stars together again. Not wanting to get nauseated by things she couldn’t control, she turned her gaze downwards towards the sea. She would’ve expected the water to be more pixelated, but again she found herself impressed by the crashing waves and their detail.

She figured it would be an awful way to die. She had died in the Circus before, during the gun adventure, but she didn’t think that it was reflective of how death would feel in the real world. It was instantaneous. Even when Zooble has completely mag dumped on her and Jax, it was only as painful as half-hearted punches. She had trouble imagining how drowning or freezing to death would feel, but simply hoped that it wouldn’t get to that point.

She was so lost in thought that she did not even hear the footsteps behind her.

“Pomni!”

Oh God.

All day she had wanted to see him, but did it have to be right now?

“Jax.” She didn’t turn to face him, she was not in the mood to see his stupid smile.

“What are ya doin’ here?” Jax slurred in response, causing Pomni to turn.

“Are you drunk?” She questioned, her eyes already daggers into him. “Already?”

“Nahhhh!” Jax giggled. “I’m just…in a good mood!”

“What are you even doing up here? Shouldn’t you be in steerage with Zooble?”

“Zooble couldn’t handle all of my epic cool guy energy.” Jax sounded confident, despite the drunken slurring, but Pomni suspected a bit of bitterness on his face. “Plus, can you blame a guy for wanting some fresh air?”

“Can we cut the bulls$&% already, Jax?” Pomni challenged. “We need to talk.”

“Uh, aren’t we literally talking right now.”

“No.” Pomni persists. “No sarcasm, no jokes, no more lying. You need to tell me, or someone, what is going on with you.”

“Pomni, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Oh, so now we are pretending that the fight didn’t happen either?”

“God, Pomni, eat a snickers,” Jax leaned against the railing a couple feet away from her. “You’re not you when you are hungry.”

“Don’t make me bite you again.” Pomni threatened, shoving a finger in his direction.

She knew she was being slightly unfair to him, considering he was intoxicated, but a part of her hoped it would make it a bit easier to break his walls down.

“Please Jax…” Pomni said, her voice softening into an almost desperate plea. “It’s destroying me.”

Jax said nothing at first, looking at her dejected expression only momentarily before tearing his gaze away.

“Yeah…well.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his voice shaking ever so slightly. The alcohol really wasn’t helping his cool guy image. “That was kinda the whole point.”

“But why?”

He turned his gaze back to her, inspecting her eyes as they searched his face. He hated how she was constantly analyzing him, hated that she was able to get close enough to him to do so. But even more than that, he hated how defeated she looked right now.

What?

Why did he care if she was hurt? God, that really was the worst part of this messy web he was trapped in with her. Not that she was breaking his walls down, not that she was so persistent in getting close to him.

No, the worst part of all of this was the fact that he cared about her. He wasn’t sure when it started. Maybe during the gun fight, maybe while they were stargazing. All he knew was that as time kept going on, his heart kept aching in a weird strange way that he hadn’t felt since-

He looked away. He wasn’t about to start thinking about that. About him.

“Why, Jax.” Oh God, it sounded like she had tears in her eyes. Please say she did not have tears in her cute little jester eyes.

“Pomni.” He groaned as he squatted down, placing his face in his hands.

Had she done it? Was he finally going to start being real?

He ripped his face upwards towards her, and she instantly recognized the same annoying smile that had haunted her since their fight.

“You look so stupid right now.” He joked. “Acting like we are some…angsty divorced couple or something.”

Pomni blushed slightly, but her frustrated expression did not change.

“I’m not falling for your stupid act, Jax.” She spat. “I’m tired of being treated like I’m…stupid or something.”

Jax stood up quickly, his gaze purposefully avoiding hers. Before he could say anything, Pomni continued.

“You told me there was nothing more to you but I know that isn’t true. I care about you and I know you care about me too.” Pomni wanted to move, to reach out a supportive hand or even attempt to hug him, but she was scared it would push him away even further. “Please, just talk to me.”

“I’m not worth fighting for, Pom.” Jax nearly whimpered, fighting back any emotion that was leaking out due to his intoxicated state. “Everyone else has given up, so you should hurry up and join them.”

Jax turned away sharply and began walking away.

“Jax wait!”

Pomni grabbed his wrist suddenly, not even thinking about it. She typically hated being touched, but with Jax she never thought twice about wanting to be near him. He was like a physical tether in the fake digital world they were trapped in.

This wasn’t a sweet touch though, it wasn’t intimate. It was desperate. She was clinging onto their connection, even as he continuously tried to destroy it.

She felt him tense within her grasp, there was a brief moment of stale silence, where neither of them really knew what could happen next. The moment was quick, and Jax broke it by pulling his arm away in a quick jerk, being a bit more aggressive than he intended.

Everything happened so fast after that.

The sudden movement caused Pomni to tumble back and crash into the railing, the sound causing Jax to twist around in instinctive concern. At that moment, the railing began to glitch and Pomni felt herself slipping, a scream erupting from her throat.

Her heart sunk into her stomach as she felt herself falling over the edge. She watched with wide eyes as the railing glitched back into place. Bracing for the inevitable, she squeezed her eyes shut.

To her surprise, she felt her body jerk as a hand grabbed her wrist.

“I..I got you.” Jax said, less in a reassuring manner and more out of genuine surprise. Pomni opened her eyes to see a scared, desperate look on his face.

“Jax…” Pomni felt tears build in her eyes.

“I’m sorry…I’m so so sorry.” He muttered, ever so quietly. His eyes were darting anxiously around, never meeting hers. She watched as his chest moved rapidly as his breathing sped up and got more intense.

All of this proved her to be exactly right. He had no reason to save her, it wasn’t like she would really die if she fell, not that she wanted to. While she knew that he cared, she was still surprised it seemed to upset him to this degree.

Meanwhile, Jax gripped the railing like his life depended on it. He felt so stupid, so pathetic. He had caused this, this was exactly why she needed to stay away from him. He felt a panic attack rising in his chest.

He looked at the rushing water that seemed to be miles below them, below where Pomni was precariously dangling.

“Jax.”

He finally met her eyes. She looked scared, very scared. The wind ran through her hair softly, and caused her to gently sway. His hand was grasped tightly around her wrist, similar to how she had grabbed his earlier.

“You need to pull me up, Jax.” Pomni directed shakily, but calmly, tears slowly streaming down her face.

Jax shook his head slightly, quickly shaking off and bottling down his anxiety, then used the railing as leverage to pull her up. As he lifted her up over the railing she grabbed onto his neck, causing them to spin and tumble onto the deck floor.

Pomni landed with a thud onto her back, her falling above her head. Jax was caged around her, his hands and legs planted firm by her sides.

They said nothing, only breathing heavily as they stared at each other. For once, they were making eye contact, no words or violence there to break it.

All they were left with was an undeniable tension, thick as cement. Pomni looked up at him, not knowing what to expect, not knowing what would come next, she could have sworn he was slowly leaning in closer when suddenly-

“Get off of her!”

A horde of stampeding footsteps approached and Pomni instantly felt her face go completely red. This must have looked so wrong, and she knew by Ragatha’s screeching cry that she had already misunderstood the situation.

Still, Jax backed off quickly, his pupils going small and his hands held up defensively. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

The two were now surrounded by Ragatha, Gangle, Orbsman, and Gummigoo, who pulled Jax back before being shoved off by his drunken hands.

“Pomni, are you okay?” Ragatha rushed to help her to her feet. “What did he do to you?”

The subtle accusation seemed to rouse Orbsman’s attention, and his anger.

“Scoundrel!” Orbsman shouted at Jax. “Why I oughta…”

Orbsman began to stomp furiously towards Jax before Pomni slid in between them, her hands held up towards Orbsman, urging him to stop.

“Wait!” Pomni anxiously stated. “He didn’t do anything wrong, I uh…tripped.”

“You…tripped?” Ragatha questioned. “And…what? He helped you up?”

“Of course not.” Pomni lied. “I bumped into him and we tumbled down.”

Jax scoffed. “Yeah Pomni, smooth moves, now both of us have to look stupid.”

They lied together so smoothly, they really were a great team.

Orbsman, now calmed, turned his eyes towards Jax. “My apologies for my foolish fiancee.”

“Yeah whatever.” Jax responded, barely paying attention.

“You should join us for steak dinner as an apology.” Orbsman nominated.

“Yeah, no, I think I’m good.”

“You must be cold, Pomni.” Gangle recognized. “Let’s get you back to the room.”

“Yeah, I could use some rest.” Pomni turned one more glance towards Jax, she considered saying something, anything, but her mind was too jumbled to formulate a thought.

Ragatha and Gangle both put comforting hands on her back as they walked along the ship towards their room, with Orbsman in tow.

Jax was left, sitting on the floor like a pathetic mess, with Gummigoo glaring daggers into him.

“Whaaaat?” Jax asked.

“Strange coincidence you were both out here.” Gummigoo accused. “The boss may be forgiving, but I don’t trust you as far as I could throw you.”

“Well it’s a good thing that I don’t care what you think.” Jax stood up, stretching his arms upward. “Go die in a hole or whatever.”

“Are you intending on stealing the young miss away from the boss?”

Jax laughed, but it was fueled by anger. “ She bumped into me.” Jax spat. “Believe me, if I had it my way, I would have nothing to do with her.”

“But you do,” Gummigoo continued. “Have something to do with her, that is.”

“God, just lay off.” Jax argued. “I promise I’ll leave her alone, does that make you happy?”

“Sure.” Gummigoo narrowed his eyes before turning away. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Jax watched bitterly as the candy NPC walked off. He had really grown to hate the gummy a%#hole. It wasn’t jealousy, definitely not, but he would never understand why Pomni cared so much about him.

He took a few deep breaths before turning towards the inside of the ship himself. His alone time had been ruined, and he was pissed off.

Why did Pomni have to be like this? Why did she have to be so similar to…

He decided he would tell her off tomorrow, that way he would no longer have to think about such painful things, and her gummy boyfriend might start laying off as well. That was tomorrow, tonight he just wanted to sleep.

He made the long trek back down to steerage and opened his cabin door, where Zooble was reading some old book on the top bunk.

“Heyyyy! I wanted top bunk!” Jax argued.

“Snooze you lose, dumba#$.” Zooble responded, not even bothering to look up from their book.

Jax rolled his eyes before descending face first onto the bottom bunk. He wished he could scream into his pillow, but that would likely open an entire can of worms with Zooble that he did not have the energy for.

Why had he saved Pomni? He hadn’t even thought about it before moving his feet and grabbing her wrist.

He questioned himself, but as he felt sleep start to lull him in, he knew the answer.

I couldn’t let it be my fault…not again.

Chapter Text

The next morning went by in a whirlwind. Pomni felt like she was not truly present while sitting on the overly fancy couch as Ragatha and Gangle stumbled around the room with the two NPCs, planning and organizing the day.

She hoped nobody had acknowledged her, because they definitely would have been ignored.

Eventually, she did feel a hand on her shoulder. “Pomni.”

“Sorry, Ragatha,” Pomni said, looking up. “I’m just a bit distracted.”

“We are going to breakfast, do you want to join us?”

“I think I’ll stay here, if that is okay with you.”

Please. She really just needed her moment alone.

“Sure Pomni, but if you need anything, I’m always here.”

Finally, they all shuffled out of the room, and Pomni was left alone. She moved back into her room, which she shared with Ragatha. At least she had her own bed, she can’t imagine having to share a bed with something, especially Orbsman.

She sat in front of an intricate vanity mirror, decorated with non-functional pieces of makeup and perfume. She stared into the mirror, looking at her silly and strange body.

It still felt so unfamiliar to her, so cartoonish and stupid. Even before she was in the circus, she had a small stature, and people always seemed to assume she was a child. She had started exploring abandoned buildings mostly to get away, to do something for herself. To give herself a sense of independence.

Now, she was in a digital Hell, and while she didn’t dislike any of her companions, it was very rare she found a moment to just be alone.

Beyond that, she felt that while Ragatha wanted to get close to her, she had so many expectations of Pomni that weren’t realistic. Ragatha seemed to want Pomni to feel and act a certain way, not allowing her to feel negative emotions that needed to be expressed.

She was certain there was a reason for Ragatha’s behavior, but it still made it difficult to connect with her.

Pomni worried for Gangle, but was relieved that she had found some support in Zooble rather than relying on Pomni. All her life, Pomni had been the designated therapist friend. Despite being a quiet and independent person, people were always coming to her with their issues. Pomni liked to help people, but she needed to help herself sometimes too.

Pomni wished she could spend more time with Kinger and Zooble, but it was difficult. Kinger was so hit or miss with his mental state, and she was scared she would somehow make it worse if she pressed him too hard. Zooble seemed super cool, and was someone Pomni wouldn’t mind befriending further, but they always seemed to be separated during adventures, if Zooble was even on them.

Then there was Jax.

Her feelings towards Jax were so jumbled and complicated. She had no doubt that she had gotten closest to him out of anyone in the circus, especially during the gun game, and she knew there was a deeper reasoning behind his crash out.

But she was furious.

Prior to their fight, she had felt that Jax had trusted her to make her decisions, that he saw her as the capable adult that she was. Then, he ruined it by forcing a decision onto her, by pushing himself away.

She was even more angry because last night had proved that his entire villain rant was an act. He did care about her, and he was terrified. Terrified of…what though?

She could ask Ragatha, knowing that she had been with Jax in the circus the longest, but she didn’t trust that answer to not be biased in some way. She needed to hear the truth from Jax himself.

Pomni took a deep breath to calm her thoughts when the door behind her slammed open.

“FIANCEE.”

“Hi…Orbsman…” Pomni said awkwardly. “Aren’t you supposed to be at breakfast with everyone?”

“I snuck away! Flawlessly!”

Pomni doubts that.

“I needed to see you!” Orbsman stomped forward, a small black box in his hands. “I have procured a gift in hopes of winning your undying love!”

“Ohhhh….” Pomni trailed, her eyes slowly moving towards the box. “Noooo….”

Orbsman opened the box proudly, revealing a gold, diamond-encrusted medallion of Caine’s face.

“It cost me at least one dollar!” He stated proudly.

“I…uh…” Pomni frowned and looked side to side anxiously. “I…don’t want to wear this.”

Orbsman seemed to freeze in place for a moment, just staring her down.

“DISOBEDIENCE!!!!!” With a deep yell, he threw the box onto the wall to the right of them, causing Pomni to nearly jump out of her seat. She no longer felt comfortable being alone around this unhinged NPC.

Thankfully, Orbsman turned on his heels and stomped towards the room entrance.

“You will stay here until dinner!” He yelled back. “Then, you will wear it proudly at dinner!”

What.

With that, he slammed the door shut.

Pomni sat frozen in shock for a moment, before frantically running to the door, realizing it had been locked.

“God d#$% i!” She cried out, punching the door with her fist. Fear filled her chest as she realized she was locked in this room, that once again her freedom was ripped away from her.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized just how utterly hopeless she was in the moment.

So much for just wanting a few moments alone, now she was stuck in here for God knows how long. She just hoped that someone would notice before she completely loses her mind.

Jax was sulking.

He didn’t particularly care if anyone noticed; anything to keep them all off his back. He was looking for Pomni.

He had a bone to pick with her. Yeah, that was definitely it. He was pissed off that she was being so pushy. He was even more pissed that she put him in such an awkward position.

It’s not that he wasn’t used to accusation or Ragatha of all people thinking he was some villainous monster, but her damn persistence kept getting them in trouble.

He was tired of having to act so hard to keep her away, so she should just..back off.

Eventually, he ran into Ragatha and Gangle having tea on the deck. They didn’t even acknowledge him as he approached. He threw on a smile.

“Hey ladies.” He said cheerfully. “Either of you seen Pomni around?”

“Whyyyyy?” Gangle asked suspiciously, setting down her tea.

“I don’t think I ever said that was your business, ribbons.” Jax crossed his arms. “So, where is she?”

“Wherever she is, I doubt she wants to see you.” Ragatha said under her breath.

It set Jax off, he felt a flint of anger ignite in his chest, but he refused to let it show on his face. He didn’t even understand why it made him so mad, he was the one who wanted her to back off, right?

Instead of reacting, he simply groaned.

“Well, you lot are useless like always.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and left to go inside.

Luckily, once inside, he immediately saw Gummigoo standing aimlessly in the foyer.

“Gummiloser.” He called as he approached him. “Where’s the clown girl?”

Gummigoo narrowed his eyes immediately. “I thought you were avoiding her.”

D@#$. He had genuinely forgotten he had said that.

“Well, I got to tell her to lay off then.” Jax argued. “Believe me, that girl can really get obsessed over a guy.”

That final part had some venom in it, was he jealous of an NPC?

“I think you should just stay away, mate.”

“I think you shove your tail down your throat and just lead the way.” Jax spat back.

“Listen, I’m not going to ask again.” Gummigoo took a threatening step towards him.

“God, you stupid NPCs.” Jax muttered under his breath. His irritation and anger continued to build as the argument continued “Were you programmed to be this useless?”

“You sound like a crazy person.” Gummigoo gave him the slightest of shoves. “Stay. Away.”
“Okay, I’m getting violent now.”

Gummigoo seemed to cock his head momentarily before Jax kicked him in the chest. To Jax’s surprise, it barely seemed to affect the candy NPC. Gummigoo leapt back with a punch square to his face.

Jax had never really been the fighting type, though he would never admit it, but he swears that punch hurt way more than it should have. Instead of taking time to think about that fact, Jax fought back.

Jax began throwing clumsy, emotionally charged punches that barely landed, while Gummigoo fought back with the efficiency that only an AI could have.

The whole time, Jax slowly realized just how painful it was. He had died many times while in the circus. He had drowned, been shot, stabbed, burned to death…none of it hurt as bad as these punches.

They were realistic. Too realistic.

As Jax traded punches with the NPC, he realized what Caine had meant when he said that he pulled out all the stops. It wasn’t just better graphics and enhanced AI, it was a realistic experience. A realistic experience of the RMS Titanic.

He was going to kill Caine. The anger fueled his punches and he seemed to start landing a few blows before he was pulled off, he turned back to see Zooble had pulled him away as Ragatha had started speaking to Gummigoo, likely feeding him some fake nonsense to calm him down.

Jax's chest heaved from the anger and pain. He opened his mouth to shout more venom at Gummigoo when Orbsman appeared.

“What is going on here!” He demanded, seeming to be already frustrated by something pre-existing.

“Boss,” Gummigoo scrambled to his feet and turned to Orbsman. “This bogan was looking for your fiancee and I-”

“Oh my fiancee!” Orbsman grunted. “I have her locked away in wife-timeout back in the suite! She is rather unruly!”

That made Jax react, these NPCs were out of control.

Much to Jax’s luck, only Zooble seemed to notice the sheer anger on his face, and they seemed to subconsciously understand something, their grip loosening on Jax’s arm.

No words were said, Jax simply darted off immediately, not bothering to explain anything to anyone.

At first it was a fast walk, but once he was clear and out of sight of any of the other circus members, it turned into a jog, then, when he was certain nobody, not even an NPC, would notice, he ran to where Pomni’s room was.

The door to the suite was unlocked, and Jax frantically tried every door within to see if he could find where Pomni was.

Had the NPC been lying? Was Pomni not trapped here? Was it nonsense?

Or was it worse…had something bad happened to Pomni? What if she was trapped somewhere else, not the room. What if she was hurt? Was she feeling realistic sorts of pain like Jax had? Or had she died horribly?

Had she abstra-

“Hello?”

Jax realized he had been hyperventilating, but the sound of Pomni’s voice instantly snapped him out of it. He walked slowly towards the door where he had heard her voice, suddenly feeling self-conscious about him being there.

He stopped in front of the door and placed his hand on it.

“Hello? Is somebody out there?” Pomni repeated, it sounded like she had been crying again. “Please help me…”

Jax scowled at himself. What was he even doing?

“I know someone is there…” Jax felt the door slightly jolt as Pomni spoke, as if she was pressing her own hand against it from the other side. “Jax? Is it you?”

Jax sighed. “Ya caught me.” He turned around and slid to the floor, his back up against it. “Maybe I’ll open it, if you ask me nicely.”

Pomni said nothing for a little while.

“If we stay like this for a while…” She said softly. “Would you finally talk to me?”

Jax didn’t know what to say, he was at war with himself. He was looking for her to tell her off, to make sure she would finally stay away for good.

Why was it so difficult to do that? He had pushed away all of the others so easily, but with Pomni it felt like all out war, and not just because she was violent.

He yearned to have her around, he yearned to comfort her and to be comforted by her, but it was terrifying at the same time. The sound of her voice was soothing him even now.

Everytime he tried to push her away, it felt like he was stabbing himself in the heart, yet he continued trying to twist the knife.

He was getting lost in thought when he heard small sobs from the other side of the door.

“I’m scared Jax…” She explained. “I’m scared of you forgetting me, I’m scared of disappearing.”

Jax started tapping his foot anxiously, guilt was crawling up his back. He was a real piece of s$%# and he knew it.

“I just wanted to get close to you, I was close to you.” She continued, anger slipping into her shaky voice. “And when we were close things felt okay, I felt like being in the circus was okay…was that so wrong?”

Jax considered what he could say. What sort of apology could he offer? Would an apology even repair the damage he had caused? Did he want to repair the damage he had caused?

He took a deep breath.

“Daisyyyyy…Daisyyyyyy….” He sang softly.

There was a beat of silence, and then…

“Give me your answerrrr dooo…” Pomni replied through tears.

“You gotta pay me for the full song.” Jax joked.

“What happened to the free DLC I had before?”

“Get paywalled bozo.”

Pomni laughed for a moment, the tears seeming to have drawn back, even if only slightly.

“Can we talk now?”

“Pom, I…” Jax started. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Can you admit what we had was real, at least?”

“Wow Pomni, I know we are playing love interests but you don’t gotta come on so strong.”

“Jax. Take it seriously.”

She really saw through him, didn’t she?

“Okay here.” Jax offered. “I’ll come to the stupid dinner thing, and we can talk after.”

“Okay.” Pomni agreed. “We can do that.”

“Thanks Pom…”

They stayed silent after that. Jax felt uncertain about what he had promised, getting close to people was dangerous and Pomni kept worming her way in. He was absolutely and utterly useless against her, he had no willpower.

“Can you uh…let me out?” Pomni asked awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Jax stood up and put his hand on the door. “Oh man…I got some bad news Pomni.”

“Nooooo don’t say that…” Pomni whined.

“I think this is locked behind some sort of…Caine logic…” Jax explained. “I don’t see how to open it…”

Pomni groaned. “That sucks.”

Jax gulped. “Do you…want me to stay?”

“I do…I really do…” Pomni admitted. “But you shouldn’t be in here if Orbsman comes back, he was pretty angry earlier…how did you even know where to find me?”

“Get this!” Jax said with a grin. “I asked him, and he told me.”

It was a lie, and Jax did feel bad about it, but he didn’t want her to hate him for fighting the gummy guy.

“God, this adventure is really hit or miss with quality control.” Pomni complained. “I’ll be okay, don’t worry, just don’t miss that dinner!”

“I promise, I won’t.” Jax touched the door one last time. “Thank you Pomni, for…trying.”
“Thank you for letting me.”

Jax walked out the door, guilt in every step. He desperately wanted to help her get out of that room, but at the end of the day they were all prisoners in Caine’s circus, and sometimes that meant not being able to save the people you care about.

In the meantime, Jax had to mentally prepare for a dinner party. Normally, he would handle something like this through jokes and pranks, but this time he wanted to ensure Pomni wouldn’t be disappointed.

He still felt conflicted. Just this morning he was furious at her, but as soon as he felt she was in danger, it felt like the switch had flipped again. He hated how off the cuff his emotions were. He felt as if she was a gentle lake, waves lapping but still welcoming.

Meanwhile he was like a hurricane, destructive and deadly to anything in his path, whether he wanted to be or not.

Chapter Text

Jax wasn’t sure how, but his aimless walking had led him pretty far down into the lower levels of the boat. He let out a frustrated groan as he realized he may have gotten himself lost, and plopped himself down on a set of rusted metallic stairs.

This happened to him pretty often, even back at the circus, he would walk miles around the circus, getting lost in thought until he found somewhere entirely new. By this point, he knew his way around the circus pretty well, but this was a boat that he had only seen on TV.

Even worse, he had promised Pomni he would show up to the stupid dinner party. He hated how much power she had over him, forcing him to always break down his walls.

“Oh! Jax”

Jax looked up to see Kinger standing over him.

“How did you end up all the way down here?” Kinger asked. “We are near the engine room! There are lots of delicious rocks down there!”

“Is that…all you’ve been doing here the past 24 hours?” Jax questioned.

“I also like the bugs out the window!” Kinger blinked his eyes shut in glee.

“Right, glad I asked.” Jax stood up. “Do you know how to get out of here? I am in a bit of a rush.”

“I’m not sure.” Kinger admitted. “We can look together!”

Jax sighed and trudged up the stairs, Kinger in tow. At the top of the staircase, they were met with a long hallway with many doors. Jax mentally berated himself for getting lost, how did he not notice how far he had gone. Pomni was going to be pissed if he missed the dinner party.

They tested each door one-by-one, seeing a variety of results. One door led to a room that was full of rats surrounding a large wheel of cheese, while wearing tiny princess dresses. Another room was empty, but with walls made of flesh, pulsing with life and leaking blood.

Surely these had no purpose on the Titanic of all things- Jax decided not to think about it, as there is no way he would ever understand what went on Caine’s brain.

Kinger put his hand on the next door, and as soon he twisted the knob, the door flew wide open. There was an intense suction of air that seemed to pull both Kinger and Jax inside. As they were sucked into the room, the mysterious wind slammed them against the walls, ricocheting their bodies from one corner to the next.

This painful process went on for several moments before the two were unceremoniously slammed onto the floor, surrounded by total darkness as the winds came to a sudden stop.

“Ugh…ow….” Jax moaned, bringing a hand to his head. He squinted his eyes, but he could see nothing in the total blackness of the room, it was unsettling being engulfed in total darkness like this.

“Caine sure is getting more and more creative these days.” Kinger sighed. Jax noticed a change in his tone, it sounded softer, less unhinged.

“Uh…yeah…”

“Are you able to get back to the door?”

Jax felt around him, and steadied himself to the feet. He treaded carefully, not wanting to fall flat on his face. After some embarrassing stumbles, he found his way to the door, he tried turning the knob but it seemed to be locked.

“I am so close to getting violent.” Jax muttered.

“I’m sorry Jax.” Kinger seemed to be genuinely guilty, and not just rambling. It felt like some sort of switch had been flipped in him. “It’s my fault we got stuck in here.”

“Whatever.” Jax responded. “Looks like it’s me and you for the next little while, nutcase.”

It was silent for a moment after that, Kinger might have taken the harsh nickname personally, but Jax didn’t necessarily care. To Jax, Kinger was just a crazy old man who was going to disappear one day, he was the absolute last person he should get close to.

“Jax.”

“What do you waaaant?” Jax groaned, the gentleness in Kinger’s voice making him uncomfortable.

“Do you blame yourself?” Kinger asked, his tone comforting, not accusatory. “For Ribbit?”

Jax caught his breath and tensed up. It was the first time someone had said that name since the incident, and it caught him completely off guard.

“I…you…how…” Jax was stuttering and his voice shaking. “Shut up.”

“I’m not mad at you for hurting, after what happened.” Kinger continued, ignoring Jax’s harsh reaction. “I know what guilt feels like.”

Jax felt as tears began to well up in his eyes, desperate to keep them in he turned his head upwards and covered his mouth with his hand.

“You don’t have to talk right now, I understand, take your time.”

Jax felt completely naked, this wasn’t a situation he expected, and he was afraid that something far too vulnerable was about to be unlocked.

“I can keep talking though, there is a lot I want to say to you.” Kinger sounded friendly, inviting. To his surprise, this caused Jax to relax slightly. There was nothing wrong with just listening, they were just words, they wouldn’t affect him.

“Believe it or not, I do remember Ribbit. He was a good guy, a good influence on you and Gangle when you were both new to the circus. After he…abstracted…you and Gangle both seemed to take it hard.”

God. Gangle. He did not want to talk about Ribbit and Gangle at the same time. It was like Kinger was dissecting every single negative source in Jax’s brain and shoving it down his throat.

“Gangle seemed to be in a dark place for a really long time, especially when you were-” Kinger paused for a moment, rethinking his phrasing. “Well, I’m sure the others have already told you plenty about how you have been towards Gangle.”

Jax let out a half sigh, half whine. Guilt was spreading all through his body, it was like a toxic darkness that engulfed every inch, every nerve, until he was left with nothing but numbness.

“But now Gangle has Zooble, and by having that connection, she has been able to heal.” Kinger explained. “In this circus, having a hand to hold can be a lifeline.”

“I don’t know what happened with you and Pomni, but I imagine you are scared because she is just like him.”

“I am.” Jax confessed, his vice coarse as he fought tears that were already falling down his face. “I just…it’s easier to be alone than to miss someone so much.”

“I lost someone…my wife…she abstracted a while before Ragatha showed up.” Kinger confessed, and Jax let out a small gasp. “I didn’t take it well…I don’t think I have to explain that to you.”

Jax was surprised at learning this information. He never had much of an interest in Kinger, or why he was so comically insane, but he would have never guessed that they were similar.

“How do you…” Jax questioned. “Not…”

“Abstract?” Kinger giggled, as if the question was nonsensical. “Connections, Jax, people. Relationships are what keep a person from fading.”

Jax said nothing, he felt like he was being ripped open, and was still trying to process it all.

“Don’t let yourself fade, Jax.” There was a shuffling sound as Kinger stood to his feet. “Pomni is also a good person, and regardless of what the future holds, I know you both need each other.”

“I don’t even know how to be close to someone anymore.” Jax admitted. “It feels impossible…like…it’s not allowed, for me specifically.”

Jax squeezed his eyes shut as light entered the room, he slowly opened them to see that Kinger had somehow gotten the locked door open. Kinger’s silhouette was outlined by the yellow light of the corridor, but Jax could see his softened gaze looking down on him, as if he were a frightened animal curled up in a corner.

“Doors will only open if you want them to, Jax.”

Pomni was actually having a pretty solid nap.

That was, until her door swung open suddenly.

“Pomni!”

Ragatha was at her bedside in almost an instant, and immediately Pomni felt overwhelmed.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry Pomni!” Ragatha was in tears, and trying to touch her arm, all the while Pomni felt completely suffocated. “As soon as we figured out what was going on we tried to convince Orbsman to let you out, but he is being so aggressive on this adventure! Then Gangle was whisked away by some NPCs to start dinner preparation and Zooble was acting all weird and broody-”

“It’s ok.” Pomni interrupted. “It wasn’t too bad, I got to work through some stuff and get some rest.”

Ragatha took a deep breath and finally relented. “It’s almost time to go, are you going to be okay to join us?”

“Yes.” Pomni said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to stand. “Oh, and Jax is probably going to join us.”

“Oh.” Ragatha made a weird face. “Uh, okay! As long as he doesn’t make a scene.”

Pomni knew there was some validity in the concern, but it still bothered her how she always just assumed the worst in Jax, rather than trying to understand why he acted that way. Did Ragatha know something that she didn’t?

Before anything more could be discussed on the subject, Gummigoo knocked before peeking his head in.

“The boss wants you to wear something different, Miss.” He explained. “Said you needed something less casual.”

Gummigoo didn’t wait for a response before leaving, so Pomni turned back towards Ragatha.

“How is this casual?” She asked, gesturing to the outfit she was wearing.

“Considering the time period, and the fact we are in first class, there probably is something considered more formal than what you are wearing.” Ragatha explained. “I’ll let you get changed, then we can walk to the restaurant together!”

Pomni waited for her door to be closed, then walked over to the closet. There were a few options, and she wasn’t too sure what would be considered good enough for Orbsman.

She ended up choosing a blue gown that had red floral lace applique along the bodice and trim of the skirt. She was never one to wear dresses or gowns, often opting for more casual displays, typically including shorts or pants, but even she was impressed by how nice the get up looked, even on her silly jester body.

When she left the room, Ragatha had also changed into a blue silk gown with beading on the trims. They both looked way too serious in Pomni’s eyes. She never understood why Caine was so committed to these adventures as far as giving them specified outfits.

There was some fun to it though.

Pomni and Ragatha walked together to the grand staircase, and Pomni started to feel a bit nervous. Would Jax actually show up, or had he just been talking his way out of a situation. She wanted to have faith that they could truly work through the tension that was ongoing.

“I’m going to wait.” Pomni said to Ragatha. “For Jax, that is.”

Ragatha seemed to consider her words carefully. “Don’t wait too long, okay, you really should eat after being trapped so long.”

“I’ll be okay, Ragatha.” Pomni tried to hide the irritation in her voice, and hoped she was successful as Ragatha walked towards the dining hall.

Pomni stood by the bottom of the staircase, trying to avoid looking at the clock. She knew every passing minute would just grow her anxiety further, and she was scared of the hurt she would feel if he never showed up, so she avoided the possibility altogether.

She waited for a while, unsure of exactly how much time had passed, but she knew the dinner had started a couple of minutes ago, and she was about to just call it a day before she got too in her head about things when…

“Wow, this is the corniest thing Caine has ever thrown together.”

Pomni quickly spun on her heels, and saw Jax at the top of the staircase. He had also changed his outfit and immediately a blush rushed to her cheeks.

He was wearing black dress pants that somehow made his legs look even longer, on top of that was a crisp white button up, complete with a black vest and red bowtie.

“Take a picture, it will last longer.” Jax joked, noticing her stare. It was a hypocritical statement, as he was fighting the urge to fall to his knees in utter elation at his view.

God, she looks so cute.

What? Why would he think something like that?

“You showed up!” Pomni said with a smile, rushing up the stairs. “I was starting to think you stood me up.”

“A gentleman like me? Never!” Jax said, dramatically placing a hand on his chest in fake-offense.

“Where did you find the fancy get up?” Pomni gestured vaguely to his outfit.

“Surprisingly, Kinger helped me out.”

“I actually don’t find that surprising at all.”

The two then walked to the dinner table where Ragatha, Orbsman, and Gummigoo were all sitting. Gangle was standing across from a random NPC who was barking orders at her.

Jax seemed to eyeball the interaction as he sat down, then he spoke.

“Hey Maid Lady, I need some water here!”

This seemed to break up the tense discussion that was happening with the NPC, as Gangle now had a task at hand. This action did not go unnoticed by Pomni, but she did not want to push her luck by addressing the implication.

“So, young man, you are some artist?” Orbsman inquired as food was brought out. “That’s what the maid was telling me.”

“So rumors fly.” Jax responded. “I actually draw d$%#s on bathroom stalls for losers like you to cry over in comparison.”

Orbsman said nothing in response, just stared blankly as if he did not understand the question. Pomni let out a small laugh that she hid behind her hand.

“Real classy, Jax.” Ragatha criticized. “Glad you could grace us with your presence.”

“You should be glad.” Jax bit back. “This would have been a real snoozefest without me.”

“Are you guys seriously going to fight the whole time?” Pomni complained.

“I’m just being myself,” Jax stabbed his steak with his fork before lifting it whole and taking an unproportionately large bite out of it, he continued his statement with a mouth full of food. “I never started anything.”

“Are you kidding right now?” Ragatha scolded, standing from her chair. “You start everything that goes down here!”

Pomni turned to Ragatha. “Hey, let’s just…dial it back-”

“No Pomni!” Ragatha cried back. “I can’t let this happen, I can’t let you get dragged into this.”

“I can make my own decisions, Ragatha.”

“Yeah, Raggy,” Jax smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Stop being such a control freak.”

Ragatha narrowed her eyes, then turned to Pomni.

“Has he told you about Ribbit?”

Pomni couldn’t see him, but she could practically feel the tense energy radiating off of Jax the moment the name slipped off Ragatha’s tongue.

Before Jax could have any sort of reaction, the sound of plates shattering snapped Pomni’s attention over to Gangle.

“I…I’m s..s..sorry…” She puttered, her tears sounding more intense than ever.

“Oh God!” Ragatha immediately switched gears, returning to her overbearing concerned self. “Gangle! I had no idea you were out here right now, I would have never-”

“Welp.” Jax said, way too casually, his typical grin slapped on his face. He placed his hands on the table and stood. “This was boring, and you all suck.”

He immediately turned and started walking out the restaurant.

Pomni, after a beat of shock, stood and followed him, only to feel her wrist grabbed by Gummigoo, who simply shook his head at her.

Ragatha was too busy consoling Gangle over the situation she had caused. Pomni was alone, but in a different, more isolating sense.

She would get through this dinner, then she would find him. There was absolutely more to all of this then she knew, but finding the truth would require more patience.

She didn’t want to hear the story from Ragatha, or Gangle, she wanted it from Jax.

Pomni was learning about him in only inches, but she would stay patient. The Jax that played the gun game with her, the Jax that was outside her door this morning, the Jax that was soft, he was worth the fight she was fighting.

She would fight for one hundred years for one more moment with his genuine self.

Chapter Text

Dinner dragged on for what seemed like hours, but as soon as she was able, Pomni slipped away from the group to find Jax.

She understood why he was upset, but she hoped that did not mean their earlier promise was null and void, she still wanted to talk to him. That hard part was, she hadn’t the slightest idea where she could find him. Where had he slinked off to after storming out of the dinner part?

Well, she had a hunch.

It was a shot in the dark really, but she felt a strange confidence in her guess, so she followed it and found herself walking towards the bow of the ship. She felt a twinge of satisfaction as she saw Jax leaning on a railing towards the tip. As she approached, he turned his head towards her.

“Oh, hey.” He waved. “Finally done with your Wedding Rehearsal?”

“Don’t joke like that.” Pomni responded, only half-serious as she jumped onto the metallic step fixated on the tip of the ship. It allowed her to be tall enough to see him eye to eye, and the breeze felt nice as it blew through her hair.

“Don’t fall off again.” Jax joked. “I’m not offering a 2 for 1 on rescue missions right now.”

“Ha. Ha.” Pomni laughed slowly and sarcastically. “Don’t worry, I won’t have an obnoxious rabbit accidentally causing me to fall this time…right?”

“Tch.” Jax scoffed. “How did you even know where to find me?”

“This is where that one actor said the ‘King of the Sea’ thing.” Pomni explained. “I figured with your ego you would want to be all over that.”

“It’s ‘King of the World’.”

“What?”

“‘King of the World’ Pomni, that is what Leo says at this-” Jax paused, catching himself nerding out. “Whatever.”

“Jax…are you secretly a Titanic nerd?”

“What?” Jax laughed. “No…are you crazy?”

“Huh, a secret romantic?”

“Titanic is not a romance!” Jax debated. “It is a high stakes action movie with tons of cool special effects.”

“Oh, totally, my bad.” Pomni laughed, before taking a deep breath and returning to the topic at hand. “Why did you leave the dinner like that?”

“I’m sorry,” Jax started sassily, turning around to face Pomni. “Was I expected to sit around while Ragatha of all people dedicated her entire night to harassing me?”

“I’m not defending what Ragatha was doing, I agree she isn’t being fair to you, but you have to admit that she has reason to be cautious of you.” Pomni explained. “Especially when nobody knows what is going on.”

“She knows plenty, trust me.”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t need to, Pom.” Jax finally turned around and met her eyes. “Knowing me, like, really knowing me. It will only get you hurt, you know this.”

“You don’t get to make that choice for me, Jax.”

“I’m not-” Jax scoffed, slowly becoming more and more expressive. “Look, all I’m saying right now is there is a reason all of those guys hate me, okay?”

“So…what? You are just going to be some cool guy loner and I ignore you forever?” Pomni argued. “Am I supposed to just pretend you don’t exist?”

“Don’t be such a drama queen.” Jax said snarkily. “Things were fine before-“

“Before what?”

“Can I finish?”

The brief silence that followed allowed them both to realize how heavily they had been breathing, as if they were exchanging blows rather than words.

“Things were fine before you started prodding into my life.” Jax said, his voice raising ever so slightly. “Back when I was just the jerk who bullied Gangle, and not some newfound friend who you could dissect.”

“Are you seriously this resistant to having an emotional bond with someone?”

“I never wanted an emotional bond with anyone!”

“Why?!”

“God, Pomni.” Jax pinched his fingers to his head, looking down in frustration. “There are several way better people in this circus who would be more than happy to get close to you, why are you so hung up on me?”

“You were the first person that made me feel okay with being in the circus” Pomni explained. “I enjoy being around you, when you are real, at least!”

“You don’t need me to feel okay, Pom.” Jax said, still not completely meeting her eyes. “You don’t need me at all.”

“I know I don’t need you!” Pomni was near shouting, and got nervous that someone might overhear, but this conversation needed to happen. “I want you, Jax…here I mean, being close to me!”

“You say that but you don’t know what happens to people who get close to me!” Jax yelled back. “You have no idea what I’m responsible for!”

“Then tell me!”

“I can’t”

“Why not!”

“I-” Jax let out a frustrated grunt and stomped his foot like a child. “I just can’t, okay?”

“Why are you running away from me?” Pomni demanded. “You are being so self-destructive and I’m not going to just sit by and watch it happen.

“Pomni, you won’t be able to fix me.”

“I’m not trying to fix you, Jax, is that what you think I’m doing all of this for?” Pomni exhaled. “I don’t want to make you into some charity case project, God, that is really the last thing I want!”

Jax took a step closer to her. “Then what do you want?”

“I want you to want to help yourself!” Pomni started, before shifting gears. “I want a friend!”

“A friend?!”

“A friend!”

Silence filled the space between them, only to be immediately crushed by Jax swooping down and kissing her suddenly. He placed his hands on the back of her head and the small of her back, pulling her in hesitantly.

Her eyes blew wide at first, completely shattered in shock by the sudden change in mood. She kissed back, taking them deeper into the moment, but her mind was racing with a million more questions than she had initially. This entire situation instantly had a dozen more layers added to it, and Pomni couldn’t even start to process any of it.

Jax tightened his grip on her waist, which caused Pomni to let out a small squeak against his mouth. The sudden noise caused him to pull back suddenly, and they were left gasping for air as they both stared at each other in shock.

No words were said, Jax simply took two slow steps backwards before spinning on his heels and running off towards the inside of the ship, leaving Pomni on the bow of the boat, standing alone.

“What the f%$^ was that?!” Pomni shouted out to nobody. Jax was such a confusing creature to her, and their relationship was getting messier by the minute.

She hadn’t been oblivious to the fact their relationship was…unique, and absolutely flirtatious at points, but it was not something she had deeply considered as they hadn’t even jumped the hurdle of his avoidance to friendship.

Pomni was tempted to chase after him, to confront him immediately, but she knew deep down that both of them were way too vulnerable at this point to have a functional conversation. It was still morning, and there were still a few more days before they were set to hit the iceberg, so she would find him later to continue their talk.

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself and then headed back to her suite, where she was scheduled to have tea time with Orbsman. She didn’t like bending over to whatever the adventures demanded of her, but she worried about what could happen if Orbsman got too upset.

Luckily, once she got to the private tea room, she noticed Gangle was there dusting various trinkets, so she wasn’t going to have to be totally alone with the easily triggered NPC.

She sat on the white garden chair and wrapped her hands around the tea cup, she could feel a subtle warmth from it that surprised her. Orbsman was struggling to pick up his cup and eventually gave up, turning his gaze towards her.

“What is the deal with the rabbit!” He asked suddenly. “My associate told me some suspicious behavior was observed.”

“Uhhh…” Pomni trailed. “He is just a friend.”

“A friend that you smooch?”

Pomni tensed up as Gangle whipped her head around in surprise, letting out a soft gasp.

“Uh, wha- no I-” Pomni scrambled. “Whatever he saw, he saw it wrong.”

Orbsman slammed his fists on the table. “NO LIES!!!!”

“Orbsman, it was not what you think!” It was absolutely what Orbsman thought, but that was not relevant, nor was she inclined to validate it for him.

In a flash, Orbsman flipped the table, causing a large crash to sound around the room, pieces of porcelain scattering to Gangle’s feet, causing her to shuffle backwards.

Pomni sat up and stumbled back, falling onto her rear in shock. Orbsman raised his arms.

“You must obey!” He screamed. “Or he will suffer consequences!!!!”

Orbsman did not wait for a response, he simply stormed out, leaving Gangle and Pomni alone in the room. Pomni began to shakily pick up the broken pieces of porcelain from the floor, even though it didn’t really matter in the slightest, it was something to distract from the scary situation that had just unfolded.

Gangle slowly approached and kneeled down to assist Pomni. “A-are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” Pomni sniffled, tears spilling out of her eyes already. “No…nothing is okay…”

“I know I’m probably not the best person to talk to about stuff,” Gangle admitted sheepishly. “But I can listen…if you want to talk that is.”

Pomni blinked gratefully before going back to picking up the broken pieces with Gangle.

“This adventure has been really hard,” Pomni vented. “Orbsman seems hardwired to be extremely violent, Gummigoo is here too, but he isn’t my Gummigoo, you know?”

Gangle nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

“I think I understand what you meant about Ragatha too, about not knowing how genuine she is.” Pomni wiped her tears with a gloved hand, but more replaced them soon after. “And then…Jax…”

Gangle tensed up at the mention of Jax, pausing momentarily where she was.

“I don’t have to talk to you about him, I know that he-”

“No!” Gangle interrupted, a bit too adamantly. “Sorry, I just…I actually would like to know what’s going on with you two…if that’s ok?”

“Yeah, actually, that would be nice.” Pomni smiled. “It actually started back at Spudsy’s…that’s when he first…really talked to me…”

Pomni trailed on, describing the suggestion box adventures and the gun adventure, how they had grown closer to the point of constantly hanging out even when there weren't any adventures. Outlining the details of their fight before the awards and everything that had led up to this fateful Titanic adventure.

“...So, this whole adventure I’ve been kinda…” Pomni continued. “Trying to corner him?”

Gangle giggled slightly at that.

“He actually found me that night we got caught, after I fell off the ship.”

“You fell off the ship?!”

“Oh yeah, I never tripped…” Pomni confessed. “We were talking…arguing…and I fell off the edge and he saved me.”

“He saved you?”

“Yeah!” Pomni laughed. “He is literally so bad at pretending to not care! He also came to my room after Orbsman locked me up before the dinner party!”

“That’s….huh….” Gangle seemed to be lost in thought, thinking over a distant memory, before she shook her head and turned towards Pomni. “But, wait, what was Orbsman talking about with…smooching?”

“This morning…” Pomni sighed. “I hunted him down and we started talking…then fighting…then things got so intense and heated and he kissed me…and I…I kissed him back…”

“Is that what you wanted to do?”

“I mean…” Pomni felt a blush creep onto her face. “I can’t deny that…certain feelings…are in place…but everything is so complicated…”

Gangle and Pomni had finished cleaning the wreckage, so they silently resigned to sitting on the floor across from each other as they continued their chat.

“I want to figure out why he keeps running away before I consider anything romantic with him.” Pomni stated. “I feel like…we missed a few steps in that sense.”

Pomni turned towards Gangle, curious how she would respond. Pomni had never imagined she would turn to Gangle for advice, but she knew that something was going on between her and Zooble, so maybe Gangle was a sort of authority on relationships.

“I used to be really good friends with Jax.”

That was the last thing Pomni expected Gangle to say.

“Wha…what?” Pomni tilted her head. “How…when…?”

“He used to be…different.” Gangle explained. “He was always kind of a prankster, but he wasn’t always mean.”

Pomni sat silently, taking in the details that Gangle was revealing.

“Me and Jax joined the circus around the same time, and we had another friend…sort of like a big brother to me...” Gangle seemed to tense up. “I think…Jax should tell you about him…”

Pomni only nodded in agreement.

“But, us three…we hung out a lot…” Gangle seemed to smile at a memory. “We would explore the circus a lot, it was scary but I felt safe having the two of them there! They would even draw with me sometimes, but Jax really only did stick figures.”

It was so hard to imagine, yet Pomni yearned to see Jax being such a softie. “What…happened?”

“Jax changed…after…” Gangle shook her head. “He got mean, started pushing me and calling everyone names…his pranks stopped being funny…and if I tried to talk to him he got worse and worse…”

“I’m so sorry Gangle…” Pomni put a hand on her ribbon shoulder. “You didn’t deserve that…thank you for telling me.”

“I don’t want to give up on Jax…” Gangle admitted. “I don’t think I can be the one to help him…but I miss him…the old him…a lot…”

Pomni sighed. “I don’t think the old him is gone…I think he is just locked away.”

“Either way…nothing will change unless he decides to change.”

“You are more insightful than I thought, Gangle.” Pomni praised. “I’m glad we had this talk.”

“Me too.” Gangle smiled. “On a different note…we need to start planning for the iceberg.”

“Yeah…we do.” Pomni affirmed. “Did you talk to Zooble and Kinger?”

Gangle nodded. “Right now, the plan is really to make sure we are all on the deck by the time the iceberg hits.” Gangle explained. “As long as we can get on a boat, we should all be okay.”

“How much longer do we have?”

“Today is April 11th in the adventure, the iceberg hits on April 14th, but not until later in the night.” Gangle directed. “Sooooo make sure you and Jax are there by the time it is dark, no matter what. Zooble is making sure Kinger gets up there, and I should be with Ragatha.”

“I’ll make sure.” Pomni promised. “Thank you Gangle.”

Pomni was still conflicted on many friends, but she was happy to have bonded closer to Gangle. The new information she had learned of the previous friendship between Gangle and Jax was also priceless information to have.

She appreciated Gangle not providing the full story involving the third, mysteriously vanished friend. Pomni had a million guesses as to what could have happened, but she wanted to hear it from Jax. She silently decided to let him have the rest of the day to do his own mental processing, but tomorrow she would be wholly dedicated to getting them on the same page.

Once Gangle had left to prepare for the night’s dinner, Pomni was alone once more, staring into the vanity mirror. She touched two fingers to her lips, thinking back to the kiss she had shared with Jax. She had partners in the past, and was no stranger to sharing a kiss with someone, but the moment she shared with Jax had felt so different.

It was so emotionally charged, so angry but also desperate at the same time. It was also way too short.

She wanted to kiss him again.

Chapter Text

Jax didn’t sleep much that night, he found himself staring at the bottom of the bunk that was above him. Zooble had been able to fall asleep fairly quickly after they turned the lights out, but Jax was lost in his thoughts.

The night continued on, and he was stuck with his mind racing over his entire encounter with Pomni. The moment she had approached him after the dinner party, his heart had begun to race. He tried to stuff down the emotions he was feeling while they spoke to each other, but as the tension grew between them and as they got closer to each other’s faces…he just couldn’t hold it back anymore.

Jax knew he wasn’t a good person. He knew that he made it extremely difficult for people to get close to him, and he liked it that way. It was lonely, but it was safe. He had kept up the facade for so long, even pushing away his closest…remaining…friend. He did it because it was safe, but also because he hated himself.

Everything was going according to plan until Pomni appeared.

Pomni ruined everything for him. She ruined it with her cute anxious nature, her adorable laugh, the way she smiled at him even though he was the garbage of the earth.

Now there was a constant banging in his chest that wouldn’t stop no matter what. He hadn’t really noticed it at first; when he had reached out to her at Spudsy’s, he had been absolutely exhausted after the h$#% that Gangle had put him through.

After Spudsy's had ended is when he had submitted the “President Pomni” suggestion. He had told himself that it was a natural course of action, that it was her turn to face his mischief, but he couldn’t deny turning himself into an Australian wasn’t based on a small bit of jealousy. She had been so cute during that adventure too, he found himself almost distracted by her…it ended too quickly, thanks to Gangle.

Then there was Gangle’s stupid anime adventure, which he clocked immediately as belonging to the ribbon girl. Maybe it was low hanging fruit, but the adventure was very easy ammunition to bully Gangle further. Plus, he hated how the adventure reminded him of conversations he had with Gangle and Ribbit in the past…at least Pomni looked adorable in that outfit.

Then was the stargazing adventure. God.

Before Jax started to unpack that infamous moment, he knew he needed more fresh air. He quietly swung his legs over the bed and tiptoed out of the room, doing his best not to wake up Zooble as he did not want to start an argument with them in the early hours of the day.

Once he was out of the room, he released his held breath and trudged to the upper levels of the boat, eventually finding his way out to the deck where he could see the stars in clear view. It reminded him a lot of that adventure.

The same adventure he realized he was falling for Pomni.

He wasn’t the type of guy to really fall in love at first sight, no, that wasn’t the case here. It was more of a realization of something that had been building since the day she had arrived.

When he had found himself next to Pomni, he felt pretty satisfied, something to stick to Ragatha later. But when he had glanced over to see Gangle and Zooble bonding, a pang of frustration and jealousy had hit him. Yes, he had been actively working on pushing Gangle away, despite them previously being good friends. He had been awful to Gangle, yet he was upset that she could move on.

Pomni called him out immediately on the double-standard, which would have been fine if Ragatha hadn’t butt in and brought up Ribbit all of the sudden. Everyone loved to call Jax the bad guy yet Ragatha was here saying the cruelest thing she possibly could to him.

But Pomni, she didn’t push or press him about it. She had listened to him rant about Ragatha, she had been more supportive than she probably even knew. The fact she was willing to be around him at all despite his nature, it meant more to him than anyone could possibly know.

It was terrifying at the same time. Having someone begin to know him and see him in vulnerable moments. Like when he had noticed his tail had gone missing, which had to have happened at some point since Ribbit…left.

Ever since that adventure, Jax had been internally struggling. A deep part of him yearned for this connection with Pomni, wanting it to go farther and be even more. The fear and self-hatred in him was more powerful. Getting close to people in this circus was a death sentence, one way or the other.

During the gun adventure, when he caught himself staring at Ribbit’s door, he was reminded of that. So when Pomni hugged him, something had just snapped.

He was losing himself by staring into the stars when the day suddenly shifted- removing the dark night full of shining stars with a bright blue sky and blaring sun, a side-effect of the circus.

He missed the way the sun would rise and fall in the real world. He missed the beautiful things that existed in the real world. The small things in life that kept him going back then.

There was beauty in the circus too, in the form of a jester. Had he ruined his last glimpse of beauty with his actions?

He reached into the pocket of his costume and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. It was rare that Caine included substances in his adventures, so Jax always made sure to make the most of them when it was available. He put the cigarette in his mouth, using one hand to block the virtual wind and the other to spark the lighter.

“You sharing those?”

He jumped slightly before turning around and meeting Pomni’s mismatched eyes. As soon as he did, a blush was rushing to his face, so he spun back around.

“In this economy, hah!” Jax said coldly.

“I saw you blushing.”

“You didn’t see nothin’.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad or anything.”

“You aren’t?” Jax asked way too quickly.

“Give me one of those bad boys,” Pomni said, reaching her arm up as she settled in next to him. “We gotta continue our talk, no running this time.”

Jax sighed but passed her the cigarette he had started. “I don’t wanna waste them, but we can share…just this once!”

“Deal.” Pomni grabbed the cigarette and took a drag, coughing slightly as she exhaled the smoke. “God, this is awful.”

“Not a smoker?”

“Not really, a few times at parties and stuff.” Pomni explained. “When in Rome though! Or, the Atlantic…I guess?”

“You are such a goody two-shoes.” Jax mocked.

“Is that why you kissed me?”

Jax tensed up, he really wasn’t prepared to discuss the depth of his feelings towards Pomni. Everything was happening so quickly and he was scrambling to keep up emotionally.

“Sorry,” Pomni added. “We don’t have to talk about the kiss right now, in fact, we should talk about…everything else…first…”

“Yeah,” Jax took a deep breath. “Yeah…”

“I’m not asking you to reveal your every secret or anything.” Pomni reassured. “I just want to understand what happened during the gun game, and why you pushed me away like that…and how we can get past it.”

“Nothing happened, I just…I don’t know…” Jax hid his face away. “I don’t know how to explain it…I promise I want to…”

“Take your time.”

Jax took a deep breath. “You make me feel a lot of things.” He explained, his voice far away and quiet. “Things I’m not ready to feel again…things I’m….scared…to feel.”

Pomni stayed quiet, allowing him to process the words at his own pace.

“I burned all of my bridges before you got here, Pom. I burned them to protect myself, or maybe to protect others, I’m not really sure. All I know is people are a lot better off not getting too mixed up with me.” Jax closed his eyes, trying to prevent emotion from bubbling up in a way that could be seen or heard. “I have my reasons…I can’t…I…”

“Like I said,” Pomni interrupted. “I don’t need to know everything right now, take your time.”

“Thanks.” Jax said. “But yeah…that’s why I pushed you away. You were breaking down my walls, breaking the archetype I’ve built for myself.”

“So, the archetype thing,” Pomni asked. “Is that like…a coping thing?”

“I don’t know…” Jax sounded defeated. “It feels like reality to me.”

“Do I have an archetype yet?” Pomni asked.

“The cute one.” Jax said with a wink, before looking down again. “Nah, actually, I don’t know…you confuse me.”

“The confusing one?” Pomni laughed. “That sounds kinda lame.”

“Don’t say thattttt.” Jax smiled. “There is an air of mystery about it.”

“So…where do we go from here?”

“I don’t expect you to forgive me for everything.” Jax said. “I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes…but I want to be better…”

“I don’t expect anything to happen overnight, Jax.” Pomni explained. “All I ask is you stop hiding and running…start putting in the effort.”

“It’s been a long time since…” Jax glanced towards her, hoping she wouldn’t notice, only to meet her eyes. “Since I had a friend…much less…whatever this is…”

“I don’t have all the answers.” Pomni admitted. “But I’m here for you Jax, we can figure things out together.”

“I will…try…” Jax sighed. “After all these years…I don’t know how to be ‘normal’ anymore…much less ‘good’...but I will try, for you.”

“How…long have you really been here?” Pomni asked, nervous to know the answer.

Jax sighed. “God…I stopped keeping track a long time ago Pom…” Jax looked over at her. “I know I got here in 2013, but I really don’t want to know how long it’s been since then.”

“Huh.” Pomni pondered. “That explains…a lot about your personality actually.”

“It sucks actually.” Jax complained. “My favorite show was supposed to end three days after I ended up here, so I never got to know the ending.”

“That’s the worst.” Pomni laughed. “What show was it, maybe I saw it?”

“Breaking Bad, same one I referenced during the bar adventure before Zooble rudely interrupted.”

“Hmm…nope, I never saw it.” It wasn’t really a lie, Pomni had never watched the show, though she did know the ending. But she was an opportunist, and this was the perfect one. “Maybe you can ask Zooble, and you know…have a good conversation rather than being a jerk?”

“You would expect me to grovel to Zooble?” Jax asked.

“How badly do you want to know the ending?”

“Yeah you…got a point there…” Jax admitted. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to become best friends with everyone, but a conversation couldn’t hurt.

“Hey Jax?”

“Yeah, Pom?”

“Do you think…” Pomni started. “Do you think that even in this circus, you and I could-”

“Ahem.”

The sudden sound caused both Jax and Pomni to spin, revealing Ragatha. Jax immediately got upset thinking about what she may have heard.

“How long have you been standing there?” Jax interrogated.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping!” Ragatha whined defensively. “I just…Pomni, can I talk to you?”

Pomni looked to Jax then Ragatha. “Yeah, sure thing.” Pomni walked towards Ragatha before turning back to smile at Jax. “We can talk more later!”

Jax waved back in response and watched them walk off before frowning. He knew he just promised to be better, to not be a jerk. But he also didn’t trust Ragatha.

He followed from a distance until he saw them go into a private room together, then he crouched down under the window to listen in. He didn’t feel good about it, but he had just repaired what little bond he had with Pomni, he wasn’t going to let Ragatha rip it away.

“Sooo…” Pomni broke the tension first. “What’s up, Ragatha?”

“I’m worried about you, Pomni…” Ragatha sighed. “I’m worried that…I failed you…I’ve been trying to give you space but I can’t sit by anymore.”

“I’m an adult Ragatha.” Pomni responded politely. “I don’t need to be…saved or…not failed?”

“I know that, but this circus can be a crazy place…”

“I think I can handle it, I’ve done alright so far!” Pomni sounded so proud of herself, so confident. She had grown so much from her first days in the circus.

Ragatha made a concerned sound. “I see you’ve been hanging out with Jax again…”

“Uhhh…yeah, I mean.” The air in the room quickly grew awkward. “We’ve hung out before, we were even on a team together for the gun thing.”

“Pomni…everyone knows something happened between you two during that adventure…” Ragatha spoke slowly, as if she was speaking to a kid. “I don’t know what went down exactly, but you should be careful, especially if he has acted up around you before.”

“I don’t really think that is your business Ragatha…”

“I know!” Ragatha grew more and more defensive. “I don’t need to know, I’m just saying that I’ve known Jax a long time, and there is more to him you don’t know about.”

“How do you know what I do and do not know about him?”

“Pomni-”

“No, Ragatha!” Pomni was angry, angrier than anyone listening had expected. “I’m not an idiot who can’t tell what’s going on! I know Jax is flawed, I know he has issues, I know he is a jerk, I don’t need you to explain these things to me like I’m a child!”

Jax knew Pomni was just telling the truth, but hearing her say these things behind his back sent a pang through him. He was growing worried that she secretly may hate him, until she spoke again.

“But regardless, I am his friend, Ragatha.” Pomni added. “I am your friend too, but you can’t keep trying to control me and my decisions if that is going to continue.”

“Do you want to know what happens to Jax’s friends?” Ragatha said, with a hint of raw anger.

No.

She can’t find out this way. Jax crawled over towards the door and scrambled to his feet, his handles shaking so hard that he fumbled the door knob. He finally got a grip and swung the door open when-

“How he made his last friend abstract?”

A tense silence fell over the room, nobody said anything, nobody moved, nobody breathed.

“Jax?” Pomni’s eyes were still wide as she reached a hand towards his direction. Jax’s chest was heaving, and he felt a familiar anxiety rising more and more. “Wait!”

It was too late, Jax was running as fast as he could. It was directionless, he didn’t know where he was going, he did not care, he wished he could simply disappear.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. This wasn’t how she was supposed to find out. It was the one thing that he was holding on to, something for him and him only to share with her she he was ready.

The conversation he had shared with Pomni had felt so hopeful, more hopeful than he had felt in a long time. But now, with the information Ragatha was going to provide to her, none of it would matter.

Once she knew the truth, she was never going to talk to him again.

Chapter Text

Jax didn’t stop running.

He kept running until his lungs burned and his legs ached. He found himself running through halls and down staircases, descending deeper and deeper into the ship. He had lost track of when it was supposed to crash, and at this point he didn’t care if he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity.

He knew he was at risk of getting lost down here, but he felt he was better off being lost than having to confront Pomni, or anyone for that matter.

As his breath grew heavier and heavier, he felt his vision start to blur. He knew having a panic attack while actively running at full speed probably wasn’t the best idea, but he was too scared to stop and confront the situation head on.

He began to feel like he might pass out, the hall he was running down began twisting and turning and he felt his legs begin to give out on him, right when he started to feel himself tumble, a pink blur turned the corner and he collided into it, sending both him and the new figure crashing to the ground in a pile.

“Ugh…” Jax recognized the voice as belonging to Zooble. He had landed flat on his face on the ground, with Zooble landing on top of them, their arm popped off and flew a few feet in front of the both of them. “What the h#$%, Jax?!”

“Get off me!” Jax grunted, using his elbow to shove them off, before trying to stand by balancing his hand on his knee.

“Hey!” Zooble shouted, pushing him back down before he could fully stand.

“F$%^ you Zooble.” Jax grunted again, but he just stayed on the floor before hitting the ground with his fist in frustration.

Then he did something unexpected, he started crying.

“Uh…what?” Zooble questioned. “What is this? You can dish it out but barely take it?”

Jax scrambled to his feet and frantically wiped away his tears, sniffling to try and preserve his voice. “Shut up!” Jax snapped. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“What is wrong with you dude?”

“What do you even care?” Jax responded. He took a few steps forward before stepping on Zooble’s unattached arm. To Zooble’s surprise, he removed his foot and picked it up before tossing it their direction. “Heh, it looked like you needed a hand.”

Zooble caught the arm and swiftly re-attached it before following after Jax, which they never expected doing, but they also struggled leaving people who were so clearly struggling on their own.

“Wait up.” Zooble said. “I was just heading to the bar, you look like you could use a drink.”

Jax scoffed. “Don’t do me any favors.”

“I’m not, a#$hole.” Zooble said. “I’m getting s$%^faced, and I don’t like getting s$%^faced alone.”

“Why not ask your dumb girlfriend?”

“Okay, one, she is not dumb or my girlfriend,” Zooble argued. “Two, do you really see Gangle getting crazy drunk?”

“How’dya know I was talking about Gangle?” Jax snickered, tears still somewhat clouding his vision.

“Oh, f$%^ off.” Zooble rolled their eyes. “Are you coming or not?”

Jax pondered for a moment before letting out a sigh, wiping his eyes, and spinning on his heels with a smile. “Fine, but we better get wasted.”

Zooble nodded then headed down the hall towards the staircase that would bring them to the bar, Jax following close behind. They did not talk much as they walked together through the boat, Jax was too embarrassed to say anything, and Zooble was thinking of how to approach things once they got to the bar.

Zooble had joined the circus a little bit before Pomni had, and Jax had been an insufferable a#%hole from day one, but over time they had grown familiar with the fakeness of his attitude.

Once they arrived at the bar, Jax let out a groan and dragged his hand down his face. “The bartend-y NPC guy isn’t even here!”

“So?” Zooble said, walking behind the bar and grabbing a few different bottles, placing them on the counter. “Did you forget that I used to do this?”

“Ha, that’s right!” Jax laughed, sitting on the counter next to the bottles rather than in a chair. “Can you make me another whiskey sour?”

“No way, no weak s$%^ tonight.” Zooble said, mixing together four different bottles of alcohol before pulling out a round, blue bottle. “I’m making you an AMF.”

“An AMF?” Jax asked. “Is that like…uh…strong?”

Zooble let out a laugh. “Well, it’s called an ‘Adios Motherf$%*er for a reason.” Zooble continued working towards making the drink with ease. “Don’t worry, it’s still fruity enough for you to handle.”

“Oh eat a d#&^.” Jax snapped as Zooble slid over a bright blue drink garnished with a lemon slice and cherries over to him. “Are you going to have one too?”

Zooble responded by taking a swig of vodka. Straight from the bottle.

Jax snicked before taking a long sip of his drink, Zooble was right, it was still sweet, but Jax still felt the strong sting of alcohol. “Not bad.”

“Told you.” Zooble said, leaning their back against the bar, making it so the two couldn’t make eye contact, but were still generally close in proximity. “So, what was all that about?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Cut the bulls*%^, I know you aren’t the heartless tough guy you like to pretend to be so just be real for once.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Jax argued before chugging a large portion of his drink. “You’ve barely been here a year so I don’t know why you suddenly want to pretend you know me when this is pretty much the first time we’ve hung out.”

“I know Gangle.” Zooble pointed out, causing Jax to tense up. “I spend a lot time with Gangle, and she has told me many things.”

“It’s not her place to tell you stuff about me.”

“She has every right to tell me about the stuff she has been through in the circus.” Zooble debated. “And whether you like it or not, that includes you.”

“What has she said?” Jax questioned. “That I’m a big evil guy who crashed out and started terrorizing her life.”

“She said she is worried about you.” Zooble corrected. “And that she is scared of the person you’ve become. Though I like your description a lot more.”

“Worried about me.” Jax scoffed. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah it sure looked like it.”

“Gangle is delusional.” Jax lied. “She has nothing to be worried about so I don’t know why-”

“She also told me about Ribbit.”

Jax straightened up immediately, slamming his empty glass onto the counter so hard Zooble thought it might shatter.

“Don’t you dare say another word.” Jax threatened.

Zooble, not shaken but his half-baked aggression, continued. “I don’t know what happened, so calm down.” Zooble explained. “All I know is that Gangle was friends with you two, and now he is gone, and you are a jerk.”

Jax seemed to relax, only slightly, but he exhaled as Zooble passed him another drink.

“He’s gone…” Jax repeated, his voice slightly slurred now. “I miss him…”

Zooble mentally cheered, operation lightweight had been a glaring success.

“I think that’s normal.” Zooble comforted, to Jax’s surprise. “When people…leave…it’s hard to know how to function without them, especially if they are someone you were with everyday.”

Jax slurped the new drink through the straw before speaking again. “It’s not that it’s…” Jax spoke slowly as he pieced together his words. “It’s my fault…”

Gangle had never mentioned what happened to Ribbit, how he had abstracted. Zooble had been left to create their own theories, and it would be a lie to say that Jax being responsible wasn’t one of them.

“What is your fault?” Zooble prodded.

Jax giggled like a 21 year old girl her first night at a bar. “Oh you knowwww….”

“I literally do not.”

Jax lifted his legs onto the counter, sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees, his drink already half-empty in his hands.

“You are like…gay right?” Jax asked shyly.

“Is that a question?” Zooble burst out laughing. “I know I said Gangle wasn’t my girlfriend, but you also have eyes.”

“Ok so like…” Jax continued, clearly growing more and more drunk by the moment. “Say a guy liked a guy right?”

Zooble simply nodded. When they had concocted this plan to break Jax, they were not expecting a full breakdown of the biggest kept secret in the circus, but they couldn’t deny that the information was groundbreaking.

“And like, one of the guys is like…whooaaaaa!” Jax continued, making large movements with his hands to highlight the words. “Like he doesn’t understand why he feels that way because feeling that way isn’t how he is supposed to feel.”

“Uh-huh…” Zooble responded, cleaning out cups casually as they simply listened.

“Like, like, like…I never thought it was bad to be gay, I always knew Ribbit was, and I never had an issue with it!”

Zooble noticed that the alcohol had really hit him at this point, he was really spilling his guts and Zooble almost felt guilty. Almost.

“But like, me?” Jax gestured to himself. “No way. Never.”

Zooble was shocked, they hadn’t expected this level of depth to Jax. They were surprised by how much they actually had in common, they both struggled accepting parts of themself.

“So…when Ribbit kissed me…”

Zooble turned and looked at Jax, who had his back to them.

“I don’t know.” Jax sniffled. “I couldn’t handle what it made me realize about myself…and I started ignoring him, pretending that he didn’t exist…and Gangle.”

“And then…?” Zooble inquired.

“You know what happened then, Zooble.” Jax sighed. “I’m just glad it didn’t happen to Gangle too…”

The last sentence struck something in Zooble, the possibility of it frightened them. It offered clarity as to why Jax acted the way he did towards Gangle, not an excuse, but a reason.

“So…you are a jerk to keep people away, but you also don’t ignore them because-”

“Because being alone makes you abstract…” Jax admitted. “But so does being close to me.”

“You can’t change the past, Jax.” Zooble offered. “You can only change how you act in the future, is this really the answer?”

“You don’t care about me.” Jax said, his voice faraway and coarse. “Why are you doing this?”

“You are right, I don’t really care about you. You are mean, and a bully.” Zooble agreed. “But I care about Gangle, and Pomni, and they both care about you. Also, nobody deserves to be alone in this circus, even someone like you.”

“They really shouldn’t…” Jax whimpered, before scoffing at the sound. “Y-You are taking advantage of me, getting me drunk like this!”

“Oh I am just drowning in guilt.” Zooble responded sarcastically. “How do you feel now?”

“I’m greaaaat.” Jax joked. “Now you know my secrets, and Pomni will too soon.”

“Pomni?” Zooble asked. “What’s the deal with you and Pomni anyways?”

“What’s the deal with you and Gangle?”

“I guess I owe you that much.” Zooble sighed. “Gangle is cute, talented, and just good. I enjoy spending time with her and I care about her. When I first got here I didn’t really consider getting close to anyone, but as time goes on I’ve learned that’s really the only thing I can do.”

“Enjoy spending time with her so much that you asked Caine for the ability to-”

“Shut it.”

Jax giggled before changing the topic. “Pomni.” He sighed. “She rocked my world, especially during the gun adventure. She is so cool and fun, and she smiles at me.”

“No s%^$, Pomni is awesome and doesn’t hate you.” Zooble pushed. “But what really went down these past few weeks?”

“After we killed you gloriously,” Jax smiled briefly before turning away. “She hugged me. When she did, something snapped. Similar to when Ribbit kissed me, I guess. It felt too human…”

“Too human?”

“Yeah, I mean…” Jax explained. “We are…here, none of us are really human anymore. All we are…is a colorful bunch of characters with silly personalities.”

“F%$^ that.” Zooble snapped.

“Uh…what?”

“F%$^ that.” They repeated. “Just because we are trapped here, just because we look like this, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t human.”

“You feel that way now, but give it a few years and-”

“No.” Zooble said. “I’m not going to give up like you. I have people I care about, and I have things that I feel every day, and that means I am human…and by extension…so are you.”

“It really doesn’t feel like it most of the time.”

Zooble had a sense of deja vu. It was becoming less and less surprising that Jax and Gangle used to be friends.

“Yeah, it’s hard.” Zooble assured. “You have to fight every day to make sense of things, but having people helps a lot. In fact, I’d say having interpersonal relationships is the only way to survive.”

“When did you get cool Zoobie?”

“I was always cool.” They shrugged. “You were just being too lame to see it.”

“When I get sober I’m really going to regret this conversation.”

“Probably.”

“But…either way…thank you.” Jax forced out. “I do want to try…to be better…to figure myself out.”

“Only you can do that, Jax.” Zooble added. “So…Pomni…”

“Pomni…yeah…”

“Why were you crying after I crashed into you?” Zooble finally asked. “I really doubt my face makes you that emotional.”

“I kissed Pomni.”

“OH C’MON!” Zooble yelled, slamming the rag they were using on the counter.

“Huh?” Jax jumped slightly.

“You guys kissed before me and Gangle?” Zooble complained. “What f%^&ing bulls%^&.”

Jax laughed. “Snooze ya lose!” He pointed a playful fingergun towards them. “But, either way…it was pretty lame...I ran away after.”

“Loser.”

“Ignoring that.” Jax said under his breath. “We talked things out this morning.”

“Nice.”

“Then Ragatha interrupted, asked to speak to her privately.” Jax continued. “I eavesdropped and Ragatha began explaining…what I had done…which she doesn’t even know the full story of! I burst into the door before…running away again.”

“Not nice.”

“Yeah…not nice.”

“Eavesdropping probably wasn’t the right move, dude.” Zooble criticized. “You will have to apologize for that…but also, it wasn’t fair of Ragatha to spill your s^%& like that either. I doubt Pomni will be too happy about that.”

“She deserves to know.” Jax admitted, becoming almost whiny. “She should know what she is getting into…the risks.”

“Look, I’m not going to sit here and argue what was or wasn’t your fault with Ribbit, it’s in the past and I wasn’t there.” Zooble stated firmly. “But the only risk is one you create, if you are honest with Pomni and talk things out with her instead of always running, I’m sure Pomni will be just fine.”

“Yeah…she deserves better.”

“Then be better.”

Jax said nothing for a little while after that, just soaking in the contents of their conversation. He already felt a large amount of embarrassment for revealing everything, and he knew the only reason he had was because he was so drunk. Finally, he broke the silence.

“You owe me nooooow.” He sang to Zooble.

“Oh? Do I?” Zooble cocked an eyebrow at him.

“What happens in the last episode of Breaking Bad?” Jax said, staring down Zooble.

Zooble laughed in response. “That is not what I was expecting.”

“C’mon Zoobieeeee.” Jax pleaded. “I literally got stuck here right before it ended and it’s killing meeee…if you don’t tell me I might abstract.”

“Hmm…” Zooble seemed to consider the question. “Nah, I’ll tell you when you’ve really earned it.”

“You are the worst.” Jax scowled, before reeling over and grabbing his stomach.

“Oh s#$%.” Zooble said, moving around the counter and grabbing Jax’s arm, half dragging, half guiding him to a nearby bathroom within the bar.

Jax ripped himself and stumbled his way towards the closest stall, before vomiting out the strange digital substance that the circus members are cursed with.

Zooble leaned against the doorway, still not feeling comfortable enough with Jax to be further supportive.

“I f%^&ing hate Caine…” Jax groaned.

“Well, I don’t think Caine made you drink all of the alcohol.”

“I f$%^ing hate you, then…” Jax spat back.

“I hate you too.”

Maybe Jax was delirious, but he could’ve sworn there was a hint of affection in their response.

“Uh…hello?!” Pomni’s voice was distant, as if she was shouting from the doorway of the bar. “Jax?!”

“No no no no no no no!” Jax cried, scrambling up. “Zooble, she can’t see me like this.”

Zooble rolled their eyes before pushing themself off the doorframe towards the main room. “Yo! Pomni!”

“Oh, Zooble.” Pomni looked concerned, ringing her hands together as she looked around the room. “Have you seen Jax?”

“He’s in the bathroom, he should be out soon.”

Jax slapped a frustrated hand to his face before rushing to the sink to clean himself up. He had gotten so distracted by the conversation with Zooble that the idea of talking to Pomni so soon had not even crossed his mind.

He ran the water and splashed it onto his face, trying to will the drunkenness off of him before he had to face the girl he is falling in love with.

He took a deep breath and slapped a smile on his face before turning around and walking through the door, to find Pomni.

Alone.

”That traitor abandoned me.”

“Sup, Pomni.” He said casually, trying to seem non-chalant.

“Don’t.” She responded with anger in her eyes. “Don’t you dare start that.”

“What are you talking about?” Jax said, giggling a little too much.

“I didn’t hear anything more.” Pomni continued. “Once Ragatha said the thing about abstraction I stopped her from saying anymore, I promise.”

Jax clicked his tongue and turned around, not wanting Pomni to see the face he couldn’t help but to make. He thought back on his conversations with Kinger and Zooble.

Doors will only open if you want them to, Jax.

You can’t change the past, Jax, you can only change how you act in the future.”

“I’m sorry.” Jax said. “I’m really bad at this.”

“Uh, yeah, I’ve gathered.” Pomni said, half joking. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Jax asked. “You aren’t mad?”

“For eavesdropping? Yeah, kinda.” Pomni admitted. “Not cool, but also what Ragatha did was very much not cool.”

“Actually,” Jax said. “I think you should know…about…that.”

“I want to know when you want me to know, Jax.”

“Look I’m…” Jax sighed, turning around to finally face her. “Really drunk right now.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you need like…water?”

“Naaaaaah I’m fine, I can handle my liquor.” Jax said before taking a confident step forwards only to stumble and fall over.

“Ow.”

Pomni was quick to kneel down next to him. “Sorry, this was probably a bad time to try and talk about stuff.”

“I want toooooo, Pom, I really dooooo.” Jax said. “Maybe…tomorrowwww?”

“Yeah, we can do that.” Pomni said in a soft voice that made Jax feel even more weak than he already did. “Can I take you somewhere?”

“Can I just rot on this floor?”

“No.”

“Ugh.” Jax, with the help of Pomni, got himself to his feet. “I can get to my room, probably.”

“We can go together!”

“Take me to dinner first, geez.”

Pomni let out a laugh, but didn’t bite back with another remark. Jax began to walk forward, but stumbled a bit more, causing Pomni to grab his hand out of instinct. They both stopped in their tracks and stared at each other, their faces both completely red.

For a moment they say nothing, their hands still clasped tightly together. Pomni takes the initiative, leading him by the arm towards the hall.

The only words they exchanged involved Pomni asking for directions to get back to the room. The trip was clumsy, with Jax being inebriated and twice her height, but eventually they made it back to the room.

Zooble wasn’t around, the room stale and empty. Pomni took in the sight with shock on her face. “This is where you guys have been staying?”

“Sorry, didn’t know you are only into guys with 5 star accommodations.” Jax slurred, a blush still on his face.

“Okay, smooth guy.” Pomni teased, helping Jax get onto the bed. Once he had plopped on, he covered his arm on his face. “Didn’t take you for a flirty drunk.”

“Mmmm I’m not.” Jax was flustered, to Pomni’s surprise. “Yer jus real cute.”

His drunkenness was clearly mixing with his sleepiness in a bad way, but Pomni still felt butterflies when he said that.

“Get some rest, Jax.” Pomni said sweetly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Pomni turned around and started off before feeling Jax grab her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“I really like you, Pom-Pom.”

It sounded as if he was crying, and it pulled at Pomni’s heartstrings. It was so clear to her that Jax was a complex and hurting person, and she was desperate to know more. There were so many layers to him, between the uncaring bully she had initially met to the soft, emotional guy she was seeing now there was plenty she did not know. Despite all of it, one thing was very clear to her.

“I really like you too, Jax.”

Chapter Text

After Jax had run off, Pomni had simply glared at Ragatha before chasing after him, not bothering to hear the rest of her complaints.

When she had returned back to their shared suite at the end of the night, Ragatha would not even meet her eyes. They both went to bed without saying a word to each other. Pomni hated the tension, it was bad enough she had to work things out with Jax, but she also felt responsible for Ragatha’s feelings as well.

It needed to change. So after they woke up in the morning, Pomni sought Ragatha out in the main room of the suite.

“Ragatha.”

“Oh, Pomni.” Ragatha responded sheepishly, folding her hands together. “Look, about yesterday I-”

“We need to talk.” Pomni interrupted. “Can we walk?”

“S..Sure…”

Pomni walked ahead of Ragatha, not wanting to look too irritated before saying her piece. She had been told in the past that her expressions gave a mood that didn’t always reflect her intentions, and she didn’t want Ragatha to get the wrong idea.

Ragatha trailed behind with her expression akin to that of a kicked puppy. She knew she had crossed a line, and the guilt was eating her alive. Ragatha tried her hardest to push down the feeling, not wanting to show that she was upset. She needed to stay positive to ensure everyone else could stay happy as well, but she could feel herself bursting at the seams.

Eventually, they made their way to the deck, where the sun was sitting in the sky, clouds drifting through as the waves lapped below, crashing into the ship as it tore its way through the virtual sea that Caine had created.

“Wow, it’s actually kinda beautiful.” Pomni noted.

Ragatha turned her gaze towards Pomni. She looked so beautiful under the sunlight, the wind slightly blowing her hair and dress in an elegant way that overwhelmed Ragatha to her core. She felt so strongly towards Pomni, and it was eating her alive.

“Yeah…” Ragatha responded with a hint of sadness. “It really is…”

“Ragatha…” Pomni started. “What you did yesterday wasn’t okay.”

“I know it wasn’t,” Ragatha agreed. “It wasn’t my place to bring that up, especially because I don’t even really know all the details.”

“Then why did you?”

“I…” Ragatha was at a loss of words, unsure how to respond. “I don’t want you to get hurt…and Jax…that seems to be his speciality nowadays.”

“Why can’t you trust that I can handle myself?” Pomni felt herself getting heated, but she didn’t want to lose her cool at the risk of losing a friend. “I am an adult, Ragatha.”

“I know!” Ragatha panicked. “I just…what do you see in him?”

“There is more to him.” Pomni explained. “Yeah he can be a jerk, but he can be soft too, he’s troubled like everyone in this circus.”

Tears began to form in Ragatha’s eyes and she turned away.

“That’s not what I mean!”

“Then what do you mean?!”

“Why are you falling in love with him when I have tried so hard to make you happy!”

Pomni took a step back as shock overtook her face. Ragatha began to sob into her hands, her back still turned to Pomni. The once peaceful sun now seemed to be glaring down on them in hot anger.

“Ragatha…” Pomni reached out a hand.

“No!” Ragatha shouted, spinning on her heels. “I can’t take this anymore!”

Pomni said nothing, wanting to let Ragatha say her piece.

“I have been so alone for so long, Pomni!” Ragatha cried. “When you joined the circus, I thought I could finally have someone to be close to, even after everything with Kaufmo, I was falling for you so hard and it hurts!”

“I didn’t know, Ragatha.”

“Would you care if you did?” Ragatha continued. “You are too busy being all flirty with the worst person here!”

“Ok.” Pomni sighed. “Dial it back, Ragatha. I know you are hurting, and I want to talk it out with you, but you need to stop villainizing me for being close to Jax.”

“I just!” Ragatha stopped, seeming to consider Pomni’s words. “I’m sorry…I just… push all of these feelings down and eventually they just…”

“Erupt?”

“Yeah…”

“When I told you that it was okay to be a jerk sometimes,” Pomni explained, putting a supportive hand on Ragatha’s arm. “I meant you need to express these things, you need to be honest with yourself and others.”

Ragatha nodded.

“I love you, Pomni.” She said calmly. “I know you probably don’t feel the same way after everything, but…you deserve to know.”

“I appreciate you telling me,” Pomni said with a smile. “While I can’t say I feel the same, I’m flattered, and I do still want to be your friend.”

Ragatha nodded, tears still in her eyes.

“And about Jax,” Pomni continued. “My relationship with him…it’s complicated…but I want you to respect that I have a bond with him, and you need to stop sabotaging it.”

At first, Ragatha looked like she might argue, but instead she took a deep breath. “Okay.” She breathed. “Can you just tell me…do you have feelings for him?”

“We kissed.”

Ragatha’s face seemed to twist in pain.

“I’m still figuring things out with him.” Pomni explained. “Like I said, it’s complicated…but I care for him deeply, and I care for you deeply, just in…different ways…”

“I’m sorry for making things more difficult.”

“It’s okay, I know you were hurting.” Pomni assured. “I’m sorry that you have been dealing with this all alone.”

“I’m not alone.” Ragatha stated. “I see that now.”

Pomni smiled and opened her arms for a hug, which Ragatha accepted.

“I’m glad we talked, Ragatha.” Pomni sighed.

“Me too.” Ragatha agreed. “I was just so scared you were going to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Pomni promised. “We just needed…boundaries.”

“So…what now?”

“I need to find Jax,” Pomni said with a twinge of awkwardness. “Sorry, I’m not trying to ditch you after a talk like that, but we never got to really talk last night.”

“I understand.” Ragatha smiled. “I hope that you can be happy with him, Pomni.”

Pomni smiled at Ragatha, hoping to convey sincerity. It was a tough situation for all three parties, but Pomni would do her best to ensure they all came out of it with as little pain as possible.

Pomni turned and entered back into the ship, wanting to get to Jax as soon as possible. Time on the boat was ticking, and she wanted to ensure that they all left this boat with a newfound understanding of their relationships.

After her conversation with Ragatha, she felt a little lighter, like a weight had been lifted off of her. She felt confident and prepared to talk to Jax, hopeful even.

She raced through the halls and descended down the staircases, wanting to find him as soon as possible. She turned the corner towards his room before crashing head-first into Zooble, sending them both backwards and making them land straight on their a$%es.

“God, you two really are made for each other…” Zooble complained.

“What?” Pomni said, rubbing her lower back as she stood up and reached a hand out to help Zooble. “Uh, sorry, have you seen Jax?”

“He’s in the room being annoying.” Zooble rolled their eyes. “You have fun with that.”

Zooble stomped off, leaving Pomni to look down the hall toward the room. Her confidence was a little shaky now, knowing how unpredictable Jax could be, but still, she walked forward. Just as she was about to knock on the door, it swung open, revealing Jax, who stared down at her with wide eyes.

“Jax!”

“Hey Pom-Pom, I was just gonna go find you.” He replied with a smile. “Looks like you couldn’t resist me.”

“You were going to find me?”

“I mean….I promised I would.” Jax shrugged. “I was drunk but I still remember…in excruciating detail…how I spilled my guts yesterday.”

Pomni smiled. “I like when you spill your guts.” She muttered softly. “I like the real you.”

Jax brought a hand to his face, seemingly trying to cover his expression. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Are you ready to talk about…” Pomni trailed, not meeting his eyes. “About us…?”

Jax nodded and stepped back so she could enter the room. He sat on the bottom bunk and patted the spot next to him, inviting her in. She liked being invited in for once.

“I need to tell you about something first.” Jax started, sounding small and scared. “About…Ribbit…”

It sounded like he was forcing the name out, Pomni had never seen or heard him so vulnerable. There was a sense of relief in experiencing it, yet it was raw and emotional at the same time.

For a long time, she let Jax talk. He spoke about joining the circus, about meeting Ribbit, then Gangle, and how they had become an inseparable trio. He spoke about fun memories and about himself, about things he was still confused about to this day.

It was a huge load of information, but Pomni was soaking it all up. This was all she had ever wanted from Jax, for him to talk about the weight that was affecting him so clearly. She knew that simply talking about it would not fix all the damage he had collected, but it was a step.

Then, he spoke about Ribbit abstracting. The big event that had changed him in a deep and unexplainable way. He seemed for a while as if he might cry, but he took pauses and breaths to keep himself steady. He didn’t need to, if he cried Pomni would understand, but he would always have somewhat of a wall.

Pomni recognized the guilt that he felt about Ribbit, which explained his hesitation to grow close to anyone. As he finished his story, Pomni slowly squeezed his hand. At first, he tensed up, but then he accepted the touch.

“Ribbit…” Jax said, looking out the porthole. “You remind me of him a bit, in a good way…but I think it made all of this so much harder.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Pomni said sincerely. She didn’t want to try and excuse or fix anything he had explained. Sometimes, people simply need to feel things rather than have people try and resolve them on their behalf.

“I’m sorry that I’m this way, Pom.” Jax said sadly. “I want to be someone worthwhile, but I don’t think I know how anymore.”

“You are worthwhile.” Pomni argued. “To me, you are. You have problems, but we all do.”

“Nah, you’re perfect.”

Pomni laughed, glad to see he would still have his humor even in vulnerable moments.

“So…” Pomni trailed. “We kissed…”

“We kissed.” Jax echoed.

For a moment there was silence. Pomni was staring at the floor, fiddling her thumbs together awkwardly. In a moment of bravery, she trailed her eyes over to him, only to see that he was already looking at her longingly. They kept contact for a few moments, then Jax brought his hand up to Pomni’s cheek, leaning in ever so slightly before stopping and waiting.

Pomni closed the distance. Last time they kissed, it had been rushed, desperate, and messy. This time around, it was more grounded. Still passionate, but slow and steady as they melted into each other. Jax pulled her in gently, his hands cupping her face affectionately as she rested her hands on his arms, a type of support she wouldn’t have expected from him previously.

The moment was cut short by Jax abruptly pulling away.

“Now we’ve kissed twice.” He said with a mischievous grin.

“Ha. Ha.” Pomni said deadpan. “So…”

“Sooooo…” Jax responded, followed by a beat of silence before speaking again. “Wanna make it three?”

“Jax!”

“Okay, okay.” Jax put up his hand defensively. “Come with me.”

He stood up, reaching out his hand towards her. Pomni grabbed his hand eagerly and they headed out into the hall together. Eventually, he had guided her to a large room with an indoor pool. Jax walked over to the fenced balcony and sat down, slipping his legs in between the bars and looking down into the pool. Pomni followed his actions and waited for him to talk.

“Zooble told me about this place, actually.” He said. “I’m pretty sure they are trying to get with Gangle.”

“Eh, good for them.” Pomni said. “They’d be good together, I think.”

“What about us?” Jax asked. “Would we be good together?”

“I think we would be a mess, actually.” Pomni laughed. “A big, beautiful, amazing mess…but…”

“But…?”

“I need you to take me seriously, Jax.” Pomni asserted. “I can be patient, and I will be patient, but I need you to be up front with me, no more running, no more pretending.”

“I guess I could give it a try.” Jax agreed. “If it means I get to kiss you more.”

“There are perks to not being a jerk all the time.” Pomni joked as she shoved him lightly. “I’m just…relieved…happy we are able to talk like this now.”

“I’m glad too.” Jax admitted. “For a long time I thought being alone was the only option, but now that…now that you are here, the idea of being without you is…”

“I understand, it’s scary all around.”

“Well, I think I owe you something.” Jax changed the subject. “What can I do as an apology for my bad guy era?”

“Hmmm…” Pomni put a hand to her chin. “Honestly, I just want to spend all day, just you and me. If we are going to be together we should celebrate and finally enjoy each other's company, no interruptions!”

“So we are together?” Jax said with wonder in his eyes and sly smile.

“If you’ll have me.”

“Don’t be silly, Pom-Pom.” Jax chuckled. “C’mon, I’ll take you to all the best spots on board, the 5-star girlfriend treatment!”

Jax stood up before offering a hand to Pomni, as she grabbed it, he pulled her up fast into a kiss, knocking both of them onto the ground where Pomni landed right on top of his chest. The kiss continued for a few moments before they both burst into laughter.

They scrambled to their feet before clasping hands as they ran through the halls, eyes watering due to laughter and joy. Pomni allowed Jax to drag her around halls and up and down stairs, anywhere as long as he was going there too.

Eventually, they found a large room with a high ceiling filled to the brim with NPCs in lower class clothing. The NPCs seemed almost alive with the way they were partying. Couples spun around the center of the room, dancing sloppily to the lively music that was filling the space. Tables littered the edges of the room, packed with NPCs drinking alcohol and playing card games. Pomni even noticed a light-hearted bar fight breaking out in one corner of the room.

Pomni and Jax exchanged a look of agreement before racing down the stairs into the room. They nearly crash landed into the chairs towards the bottom, instantly being handed a beer each. Jax went to chug his, but Pomni playfully pulled his arm down.

“Take it easy, lightweight!”

“Oh, like you handle your liquor better.” Jax teased, looking her up and down.

In response, Pomni chugged her entire bottle, then half of his, all while he watched on in amazement before taking a couple sips once she handed it back.

Pomni stood up and pulled Jax with both hands onto the dance floor. They got lost in each other as they spun and danced around the room, holding onto each other at all times. At one point the music crescendoed and Jax took the moment to dip Pomni down and steal a kiss.

The room erupted in clapping that was probably for the end of the music, but felt like it was designed just for them. In that moment, they were the real ringleaders of the amazing digital circus, they had made the hellscape into something entirely their own.

Their dancing devolved into stumbling as the alcohol they had consumed began to affect them.

“Why does Caine give us beer…” Pomni pondered as they lazily swayed to the music. “But we can’t say f$%^?”

“He’s like a suburban dad.” Jax joked. “You can’t make sense of him.”

Pomni laughed. “These NPCs are all pretty stupid.” She noted. “Look at them running into the wall over there.”

Not only were NPCs running into the wall, they seemed to be clipping into it, trapped for eternity between digital layers.

“We should mess with them.” Jax suggested. To his surprise, Pomni’s eyes lit up. Perhaps her experience with Orbsman had given her a newfound inspiration for torturing NPCs.

“I have the best idea.” She said mischievously before grabbing his hand and racing back into the halls.

Jax tried to keep up with her pace as she led them to a door labeled ‘Engine Room’. Inside was a ladder, they couldn’t see what it led to, it only emitted a golden-orange glow indicating the boilers were running.

Pomni descended down the stairs and Jax followed close behind.

The boiler room was huge, large cylinders full of flame filled the center. Generic NPCs were systematically shovelling coal into the openings. Jax and Pomni looked on in wonder, seemingly lost in how detailed such an insignificant place was.

“Are you guys here for the churros?”

Jax and Pomni jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, when they turned they saw Kinger covered in black smudges.

“Kinger?!” Pomni said. “Have you been down here the whole time?”

“Geez, Caine must really have it out for you.” Jax added.

“Oh, it isn’t too bad!” Kinger stated enthusiastically. “There are some lovely critters crawling around!”

The thought seemed to make Pomni tense, which caused Jax to smirk. He may be trying to change for the better, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t occasionally indulge in different ways to tease the jester.

“I think you should get some fresh air, Kinger.” Pomni suggested.

“No thank you, I have plenty of air already.” Kinger explained. “It’s in my lungs.”

“What’re we doing here again, Pom?” Jax asked.

“Right!” Pomni responded excitedly. “See you later Kinger, don’t forget to get upstairs by tomorrow night!”

Pomni grabbed Jax’s arm and led him deeper into the boiler room. She snuck them both behind one of the boilers and signaled with her hand for him to stay quiet. Then, she creeped around the corner and approached an NPC from behind before pushing him into the boiler.

After he fell in, he began flailing and glitching, releasing a strange monotone scream that sounded more comedic than anything else. Pomni burst out into laughter and Jax realized she was definitely drunk.

He ran up to another NPC, grabbing and lifting him above his head before tossing him into the fire.

“God, this feels good.” Pomni said with relief. “I wish I could throw Orbsman in here.”

“Oh trust me.” Jax replied. “I’m hoping to see that.”

Pomni gasped dramatically, faking offense. “Not my dear fiance.”

“He is your fiance over my dead body.”

“Are you jealous of Orbsman?”

“Pft.” Jax crossed his arms. “Of course not, he has nothing on me.”

Pomni smiled before pushing another NPC into the flames. They spent a long time bullying NPCs in the boiler room before realizing if they did it too much, it may have unexpected effects, so they laid off and trailed off to the storage room.

“Heyyyy,” Jax pointed in the direction of an old-fashioned car. “I remember this scene.”

“Why would Caine include the sex car but not give us the ability to have sex?” Pomni complained. “That is just cruel.”

Jax laughed, slightly hesitant to start that conversation with Pomni knowing it was impossible for it to lead anywhere. He hopped into the driver seat of the car and leaned towards Pomni.

“Did you order an Uber?”

“Cutest Uber driver I ever had.”

“I have my charms.” He winked before pulling her into the car.

“It does suck.” Pomni continued. “That we can’t…you know…”

Jax sighed. “I…uh…wouldn’t know.”

“Huh?” Pomni cocked an eyebrow at him. “Jax…are you virgin?”

“Don’t say it like that!” Jax’s face went bright red before covering his face. “Ughhh I’m going to die a virgin.”

“Don’t feel too bad.” Pomni cooed, her voice a bit deeper. “Maybe Zooble’s request will be granted one day…I sure hope so.

“God, Pom.” Jax laughed, trying to remain calm under the circumstance. “You are kind of a flirty drunk.”

“C%$^-block Caine.” Pomni groaned. “I should file a complaint.”

“I’m sure he will give it a thorough review.” Jax responded sarcastically.

“We should probably get some air ourselves.” Pomni noted. “We’ve been down here for a few hours now.”

They made the trek to the lower deck, both taking deep breaths as the breeze blew past them. The air felt cooler, perhaps an indication that the iceberg was getting closer and closer.

“Oh yeah.” Pomni noted. “Make sure you are also up here by the time the sun sets tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I had nearly forgotten.” Jax mentioned. “It’s going to go down soon, I’m kinda excited.”

“Excited?” Pomni questioned. “Don’t you find it terrifying.”

“Nah! You just gotta know how to play the game.”

“Just be careful.” Pomni sounded nervous. “And maybe try to help Kinger.”

Jax didn’t like the idea of having to be responsible for the old man, but he didn’t like seeing Pomni so distressed.

“I’ll make sure he moves his old butt.” Jax promised before turning to look her in the eyes.

“I gotta say, despite what is coming…” Pomni turned to look Jax in the eyes. “I’m glad this adventure happened.”

“I can’t promise it will all be smooth sailing, Pom.” Jax responded, wanting to remain realistic. “But, I’m glad too, I will try to be a good boyfriend and not so…you know.”

“Yeah…”

Jax leaned down so they could be face-to-face, Pomni went to lean in for another kiss when-

“What is going on here?”

At the all too familiar Australian accent, both Pomni and Jax jumped back and turned to face Gummigoo.

“Sorry, Gummigoo,” Pomni immediately responded. “We were just talking, I will meet you at dinner soon.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?” Jax interjected.

“I said ‘no’,” Gummigoo repeated. “Whatever is happening needs to stop, this young lady is already engaged.”

“I wish we threw you in the fire.”

“Jax!”

“I mean it.” Gummigoo’s voice seemed to be more aggressive, something that shocked Pomni. Jax noted how her face twisted in discomfort. “You will separate now or I will involve the boss.”

Jax immediately flew to anger, taking an aggravated step forward. “Now you listen here-”

“Okay.” Pomni interrupted. “I’m coming, Gummigoo, just don’t tell Orbsman.”

Pomni and Jax exchanged one more glance, both seeming to be frustrated at the situation. They hated not having the control they deserved.

As Pomni and Gummigoo disappeared into the ship, Jax let out a frustrated groan. He knew he shouldn’t complain, today had been the best day he had in many years.

The idea that Pomni was now his girlfriend was almost incomprehensible to him. He never would have expected having someone like this in his life, especially after Ribbit, but he couldn’t deny the joy he felt from having her around.

He still had a lot broken within him, being with Pomni wasn’t going to fix all of the damage that he had, but she inspired him to try and mend the bridges he had burned.

If only it wasn’t for that dumb gummy lizard, and he would have spent every moment left on this adventure by her side.

For now, he stared out into the sea, simply feeling grateful for the opportunity to mend his ways.

Chapter Text

Pomni followed Gummigoo down the halls that would lead to what had become her own personal jail cell. She really dreaded spending any time in the suite as that typically was also where Orbsman and Gummigoo were.

At the same time, a desperate part of her wanted to try and see if the Gummigoo that was her friend still somehow existed. She knew rationally it was not possible, but still she yearned for the possibility.

“Hey.” She spoke up. “How are your friends doing?”

“What friends?” Gummigoo asked incredulously.

“Oh, uh…” Pomni felt bad, but had never really learned the chance to learn the names of the other two gummy sharks. “There was a red guy…and a purple guy…I think?”

“That scoundrel has you talking nonsense.” Gummigoo responded, an unnerving spite in his voice. “I have no idea what…or who…you are talking about.”

“Did Caine…” Pomni shook her head. “This is so messed up.”

“You really shouldn’t be talking to me, miss.” Gummigoo sneered. “Seems disloyalty is a bad habit of yours.”

The words stung, but Pomni was realizing the battle she was fighting was futile. It had been a cruel truth of the circus, these NPCs were simple pieces of code that Caine could reset at will. The Gummigoo she knew was never coming back.

Gummigoo held open the suite door as Pomni nervously shuffled inside. To her surprise, he didn’t follow her inside.

“Wait here.” He directed, pointing a finger in her direction with a glare before slamming the door closed.

She was so distracted by her escapades with Jax she had nearly forgotten how grim this part of the adventure was. She sat on the sofa nervously, unsure what would happen when Gummigoo returned.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait too long to find out. Orbsman busted the door open with such a force that Pomni was surprised it didn’t break off the hinges entirely, Gummigoo trailed casually behind the larger NPC.

He stomped towards Pomni and grabbed the wooden table in front of the sofa before smashing it over his head, causing it to split into two as if it was nothing and then he let out a crunchy, digital scream before point his orby hand in her direction.

“YOU ARE DISLOYAL!!!”

His voice was booming, causing Pomni to flinch and cover her ears. She had thought he had been scary in previous encounters but this was a whole new level. She didn’t even know what she could say to try and de-escalate the situation.

“He told me everything!” Orbsman screamed. “All about you slumming about with that rabbitoid!”

“You said you wouldn’t tell him!” Pomni shouted, directing her gaze at Gummigoo, who simply looked away shamelessly.

“Enough!” Orbsman continued. “You will remain here for the rest of this boat ride, then we will be married immediately once we dock!”

“Wait!” Pomni panicked, realization setting in quickly.

“No! I don’t wish to hear your pleas!” OrAbsman interjected. “The maid and rag-lady will sleep in other accommodations to prevent further meddling!”

With that Orbsman stormed into his room and slammed the door locked, while Gummigoo left, presumably to care for other matters, maybe he was being sent to go after Jax, Pomni wasn’t sure but she didn’t have time to think too hard about it.

Her situation had suddenly grown drastic, she was trapped in a room that was essentially a ticking time bomb. She was again forced into a powerless position where she had no control, and she couldn’t help the tears from erupting as she fell to her knees.

She half-heartedly punched the floor, and tried to mentally prepare for the fact that she may have to experience drowning. She knew she wouldn’t really die, but she didn’t want to have to know what it was like. She also missed Jax, they had made so many strides in the past few days and she wanted nothing more to be in his arms, instead, she was all alone.

Or at least, she had thought.

Unbeknownst to her, Ragatha had been right outside the suite when Orbsman had attempted to seal her fate. She wasn’t normally the sneaky type, but in their anger, the NPCs had seemed to not notice her lingering nearby. Once she had heard Gummigoo coming down, she had thought fast enough to hide in a nearby room.

“What do I do…what do I do….” She muttered to herself. She didn’t know how she could get Pomni out safely without incurring Orbsman’s wrath, especially when he had already placed a divide between them by cutting off her access to the room.

She thought about what Pomni would do, what she would want. When Ragatha realized what the right next thing was, she felt a chill. She never thought she would willingly try and team-up with Jax, but she finally had the proper motivation. Not wanting to waste time, she rushed out to the deck where Jax was smoking a cigarette against the railing.

“Jax.”

He spun on his heels and instantly rolled his eyes at the sight of Ragatha. “What do you want?” He complained. “I’m busy brooding here.”

“It’s Pomni.”

“What, you want me to stay away from her?” Jax accused. “Well guess what ragdoll-”

“Just wait!” Ragatha interrupted. “God, trust me I know she is all over you.”

“Huh, how did you find out me and her are dating?”

“You guys are dating?!”

“Oh god…” Jax dragged his free hand down his face. “I thought she told you, seriously.”

“I mean…kinda…” Ragatha admitted. “Anyways, we can talk about that later, Pomni is in trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Jax said, his face twisting in concern. “Where is she?”

“Orbsman found out that you two…were doing whatever you were doing…” Ragatha explained nervously. “He is locking her up in their room and not letting her out until the ship docks, and we both know that is not happening!”

“She doesn’t know about the pain scale!” Jax added. “I haven’t had time to explain that yet, we need to get her out!”

“Look, I don’t like the idea of working with you.” Ragatha expressed earnestly, much to Jax’s surprise. “But I care about Pomni and she doesn’t deserve this, so please tell me you’ll work with me.”

Jax blinked at her for a moment, surprised at her sudden genuine nature. “I mean, I guess you wouldn’t be able to pull it off without my expertise.” He said with his typical sarcastic demeanor, causing Ragatha to roll her eyes. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Well!” Ragatha stared blankly. “I uh…don’t know.”

“You don’t have a plan?”

“I told you as soon as I knew!” Ragatha shouted back. “I didn’t have time to think of anything, aren’t you supposed to be the one with expertise?”

“Hmm.” Jax thought out loud, Ragatha mimicking the behavior before they both spoke at the same time.

“We need Zooble.”

They agreed to split up to try and find Zooble. Ragatha headed off to explore the rest of the deck, while Jax went back inside. He had a strange hunch of where to find them and headed towards the kitchen area.

He weaved past NPCs running around and preparing meals until he heard voices coming from a nearby resting area with an attached patio. He found Gangle and Zooble leaning against the railing together.

Holding hands.

“Ahem.” Jax interrupted.

The noise caused the two to turn towards Jax, hands still clasped before processing his presence and pulling apart.

“Can you f%^& off?” Zooble snapped. “You owe me that at least.”

“Yeah well I’m about to owe you even more.” Jax groaned in response before turning to Gangle. “You.”

Gangle flinched in response and Zooble narrowed their eyes, uncertain as to what may happen and ready to pounce if needed.

“I…I’m sorry.” He mustered up. “I know that doesn’t mean much now, but I am and I promise we can talk more after this is over.”

Gangle didn’t say anything, she simply stared in disbelief.

“Now, Zooble.” Jax turned his attention to them. “I…I need your help.”

Jax struggled being this vulnerable to the pair, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Pomni going through the horrid experience that was approaching. He led the two back to Ragatha so they could hatch a plan together, sharing the details as they walked together.

To nobody’s surprise, Zooble was able to come up with a great plan pretty flawlessly, but it had a few frustrating pieces.

“What do you mean we have to wait until morning??” Jax complained.

“It’s already almost midnight, it won’t work now!” Zooble explained. “Pomni is a big girl, she can last until breakfast.”

“Ughhhhh.” Jax groaned. “I hate this.”

“C’mon Jax,” Ragatha cheered. “At least we have a plan now!”

“Don’t make me regret my character development.” He threatened.

“Jax.” Gangle interrupted. “We are going to get her out, trust me.”

Jax turned to Gangle, a soft feeling overtaking him. He had never realized until now how much he had missed his friendship with her. He gave her a smile, a real, genuine smile.

“Heck yeah we are.” He agreed, feeling strangely comforted. He still wasn’t completely sold on the idea of being friends with everyone, but he couldn’t deny the warm feeling in his heart.

After finalizing the details of their rescue mission, they separated to get some rest. Zooble and Jax walked together to the lower floors while Gangle and Ragatha remained sitting at the table where they had outlined their plans.

“Excuse me.”

They turned their direction to Gummigoo, then exchanged concerned glances. Had he overheard the group’s scheming?

“Uh, hello Gummigoo!” Ragatha greeted cheerfully, trying to remain casual.

Gummigoo produced two room keys from behind his back and placed them on the table.

“You will stay in the room down the hall from the suite.” He explained. “The couple wishes for some privacy.”

“Riiiiight.” Ragatha drawed before taking the keys. “Could we maybe say goodnight to Pomni?”

“She’s busy.” Without another word, Gummigoo turned and walked out the deck.

“Looks like he didn’t hear anything.” Gangle sighed with relief.

“Well, let’s check out the new accommodations!” Ragatha encouraged, standing up with confidence.

They walked together to the new room, which was a ways away from the original suite where Pomni was trapped, but at least it was only for one night.

Inside were two beds with fresh sheets. It wasn’t as extravagant as the wedding suite they had been staying in, but it was comfortable and spacious enough.

Ragatha trotted over to the farside bed and plopped down with a sigh.

“I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow.” Ragatha mentioned. “Jax can be pretty unpredictable.”

“Yeah.” Gangle agreed. “But he’s been different this adventure, don’t you think?”

“I…honestly haven’t seen him too much.” Ragatha admitted. “Aren’t you scared of him, Gangle?”

The question felt slightly backhanded, but Gangle didn’t overthink it too much.

“I’m scared when he’s being mean and spiteful.” Gangle pointed out. “But he hasn’t been doing that lately, not since whatever happened with Pomni during the gun adventure.”

“Do you know anything about that?”

“Probably not more than you do.” Gangle shared. “But they seem happier when they are together, don’t they?”

“I don’t really understand why.” Ragatha ranted. “Me and Pomni talked through…a few things…but I can’t help but feel…”

“Jealous?”

“Huh?” Ragatha shot up. “I, uh, what do you- I don’t-”

“Ragatha, you can be honest.”

“Yeah…I guess.” Ragatha sighed. “I just don’t know why I couldn’t make her happy when I was trying so hard to, yet he does it so naturally.”

“Jax can be a jerk, but when you get close to him, he is…fun?” Gangle tried to explain, struggling to articulate her thoughts. “When he isn’t mean, and when he is being genuine, there is something about him that just makes you forget how bad things can be.”

“I remember a long time ago he was more fun…before…Ribbit.”

“I think he still is fun, he just…didn’t deal with it well.” Gangle explained. “It doesn’t make up for him tormenting us, but I’m just glad he seems to be…more normal…with Pomni.”

“It’s not her job to fix him.”

“Yeah, it’s not.” Gangle agreed. “But sometimes special people in our lives inspire us to fix things about ourselves.”

As Gangle talked, Ragatha noticed a slight blush as she fumbled her ribbon-hands together.

“A-anyway, what I was saying.” Gangle stuttered. “Pomni got close to Jax because whether he likes it or not, she saw the genuine side of him. So, maybe try…being more…genuine….”

Gangle trailed off her words, realizing they sounded a bit harsh. “S-sorry.”

“No, you are right.” Ragatha assured. “I try too hard to make people happy and end up crossing lines that I shouldn’t, I just want people to like me because…growing up nobody really liked me that much.”

“Ragatha…I’m an anime nerd that dropped out of community college, I know a thing or two about not being liked by people.” Gangle tried her best to sound comforting. “But…Zooble still hangs out with me and asks me a lot of questions…you just need to find people who can appreciate the real you, you know.”

“Yeah…” Ragatha smiled. “Thanks Gangle, that actually makes a lot of sense.”

The two chatted a bit longer before settling in to sleep for the night.

Meanwhile, down the hall, Pomni was alone in her room. She didn’t know if anyone even knew she was trapped, or how they would have any way of helping her.

All that was in her mind was the ice cold death that awaited her.

Chapter Text

Pomni didn’t sleep much that night. The suite was quiet, and she felt unnerved being left with an enraged Orbsman and distant Gummigoo. She was thankful that she still had a bed to herself, she found herself curling up in it like a small child.

It made her feel weak, but as the night went on, she just felt angry. She was beginning to understand why Jax was so non-chalantly violent towards NPCs, and thought back to throwing them into the furnaces with him. She wished more than anything that she could toss Orbsman into a fire.

Despite her anger, she knew she had bigger issues to worry about. If she was trapped in this room when the iceberg hit, then she was going to have to drown for the first time. She tried to steady her emotions by recalling previous times she had died on adventures.

Truthfully, she had been lucky so far. The only time it had really happened was during the gun adventure when Zooble unloaded a ton of bullets onto her. She felt relieved remembering how it hadn’t hurt that bad- more like a dozen little vaccines rather than hot bullets.

Before she could delve into the thoughts of what drowning could feel like, she was being called to the living room by Orbsman. She walked out to the main room and Orbsman turned to her.

“Breakfast time!” He shouted with his hands lifted up like a toddler. “Since you are in timeout, I have ordered room service! Gummigoo has left so we could do the bonding!”

Before Pomni could make any comment there was a knock at the door. Orbsman snapped his fingers, which seemed to have unlocked the door instantly. How much power had Caine given the NPCs?

The door swung open and Gangle walked in, struggling to push a metallic cart as if it was heavy, even though there were only two plates atop of it. Gangle left the door open as she pushed the cart into the room.

“B-breakfast is served…” Gangle announced nervously.

Orbsman approached the cart, when suddenly Zooble ran into the open doorway.

“Hey Orb guy!” Zooble pointed in Orbsman's direction, causing him to look up in confusion.

Gangle and Pomni exchanged glances, Pomni squinting her eyes in confusion while Gangle nervously winked back.

“I’m going to f$%^ your fiancee!” Zooble taunted. “And there is nothing you can do about it!”

The room grew silent aside from Gangle stifling a small laugh. Orbsman stared in disbelief for a moment before raising his arms in the air in anger.

“NOOOOO!” He screamed, pummeling towards Zooble.

Zooble laughed as they ran down the hall, leading Orbsman away with the door still open.

“That was…” Pomni muttered in disbelief. “Surprisingly simple.”

“You owe me one now Pomni!” Gangle said light-heartedly. She tapped the cart. “Enjoy!”

Gangle quickly turned and left the room, still leaving the door open. Pomni approached the cart and noticed a sliding door on the side. She slid it open to find Jax, crammed like tetris in the small enclosure.

Pomni let out a laugh.

“S-Shut up!” Jax responded, flustered. “Help me out! I’m stuck!”

Pomni grabbed his ears and pulled, causing him to plop out onto the floor. She continued laughing as he scrambled to his feet.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it out, why don’t you.” Jax teased. “You should be thanking me!”

Pomni responded by hugging him suddenly. Jax felt the reflex to push her away, like he had during their last teamup, but he was able to resist. He didn’t hug back at first, simply taking in the warm feeling, but eventually he placed a hand on her head, patting gently.

“I missed you so much.” Pomni admitted tearfully. “I thought I was going to die alone…”

“Aw, c’mon Pom.” Jax said. “You think I’d let that slide?”

“How did you guys-”

“Ugh, Ragatha, believe it or not.” Jax gritted. “She came to me and told me what happened, but don’t expect me to be thanking her or anything.”

“You worked together with all of them?”

“Yeah well.” Jax rolled his eyes. “Desperate measures I guess.”

Pomni grabbed onto his arm and pulled him down into a kiss. Jax was shocked at first but quickly melted into it.

“I missed you too.” Jax admitted.

“How long until Orbsman comes back, you think?”

“Depends how fast Zooble can run.” Jax said. “Or how long he cares about what they said.”

“So, we have a few hours to kill.” Pomni said. “Wait, what if Zooble gets stuck somewhere? The iceberg is going to hit soon!”

“Don’t worry, Zooble really thought this out.” Jax assured. “More importantly, how are you holding up?”

“I have never been so violently angry in my life.” Pomni gritted through her teeth. “Aside from when you pulled your bulls%^&, of course.”

“I can’t believe I’ve been dethroned!” Jax faked offense, pressing a hand to his chest.

Pomni let out a laugh. “I have a really bad idea.”

“Those are my favorite kinds!”

“Okay, check this out!” Pomni grabbed Jax’s hand and led him into her private room. She grabbed the golden Caine pendant from the vanity and put it on her neck.

Pomni twirled around and collapsed dramatically on the bed, Jax watching and waiting in anticipation.

“I want you to draw me like one of your French girls, Jax.” Pomni purred playfully. “Wearing only this~”

Jax stared with big eyes for a few moments, then burst out into laughter.

“Okay, maybe you are the funny one, Pomni.” Jax laughed. “I know you can’t take off your clothes, but I will give it my best.”

Jax pulled over the chair from the vanity as well as the sketchbook from his pocket and started doodling, focusing for what felt like a lifetime before bursting out laughing.

“Let me see it!” Pomni asked, standing up from the bed.

“No, no.” Jax laughed. “You can’t, it’s so beautiful it may break your eyes.”

“Please!!!” Pomni begged, but Jax responded by looking away, not wanting to be convinced by her adorable eyes.

Pomni playfully jabbed him in the stomach, causing him to loosen his grip enough for her to grab the sketchbook.

Pomni laughed as she reviewed the poorly drawn stick figure with an overdramatically drawn necklace on it. The funniest part was the phrase ‘GET OWNED’ written by the side.

“This is absolutely perfect.” Pomni giggled.

“I’m gonna get you back for that!” Jax joked before grabbing the sketchbook back. “Should we leave this masterpiece for him?”

Pomni nodded and walked back out to the main room, directing Jax to place the doodle on the center table that had respawned miraculously after being destroyed by Orbsman.

Pomni let out a yawn. Jax stared for a few moments, he had never heard her yawn before and he believed it to be the cutest sound someone could possibly make. He was confused everyday at how cute she was, at how crazy good she was at making him fall deeper and deeper in love.

“How are you so sleepy Pom-Pom?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night…too…” Pomni looked up at Jax shyly. “It was too scary…”

“Aww did someone miss me?”

“Shut upppp.”

“Here, we have a few hours to kill before iceberg time, and the others promised to keep the NPCs busy.” Jax plopped onto his back on the couch. “I’ll stay up and keep an eye on things, but we should be fine to rest for a bit.”

“Are you sure?” Pomni asked. “What if Orbsman or Gummigoo comes back?”

“Then I’ll kill them.”

“Jax!”

“I’m kiddingggg.” Jax joked. “But seriously, it’ll be fiiiine.”

Pomni was nervous at Jax’s boldness, but she couldn’t deny the exhaustion tugging at her. She knew rest would be important, especially with the impending boat sinking. She crawled next to him on the couch, resting her head on his chest. Jax put his arms around her pulling her in.

“This is nice.” Pomni whispered.

“Mmm.” Jax responded. “It is.”

Pomni couldn’t see it, but Jax was bright red. He had never been this close or intimate to someone and it was overwhelming to him. At the same time, the warmth was amazing, he wanted to pull her closer and closer until she could never leave again.

Eventually, he heard her slowly doze off, her breathing becoming systematic and steady. To him, it sounded like a beautiful symphony, it sounded like peace after war. He silently prayed that this moment would never end, that the boat would never sink, that they wouldn’t have to be apart ever again.

He knew it was a risk sleeping here with her, Orbsman or the gummy jerk could reappear at any time, but he didn’t care, he just wanted her to get some rest. A small part of him also hoped they would come back and see, just so he could rub it into Orbsman’s face.

Eventually, his eyes grew heavy, and despite some fighting, he too fell victim to sleep.

Ragatha was sitting by the entrance to the hall that led to the room where Jax and Pomni were. She was trying her best to avoid the jealousy by reading a book she had found on a nearby table. The books in the circus and on the adventures were typically gibberish, being made by Caine himself, but they offered a distraction at the very least.

A few hours had passed since their rescue mission when Zooble appeared.

“I was able to trap Orbsman in a room.” They explained. “He is so hotheaded it is pretty easy to trick and trap him. Any sign of the gummy dude?”

“I’m right here.”

Zooble and Ragatha turned their attention to Gummigoo, who had suddenly approached without them noticing.

“What is going on here?!” He demanded.

“Orbsman asked me to tell you to go fetch the captain.” Zooble quickly made up the lie.

“Why?”

“I don’t know dude, just do it.” Zooble pushed, trying to do whatever they could to buy Jax and Pomni time.

Gummigoo narrowed his eyes, before pushing past them into the hall. Zooble and Ragatha exchanged glances before following after him.

“CODE RED!” Zooble yelled, still pursuing Gummigoo.

Back in the room, Jax jolted away to the sound of Zooble’s warning while Pomni was still fast asleep. He gently but firmly shook her awake.

“Wha?”

“We gotta go!” Jax urged, jumping up before Gummigoo appeared in the doorway.

“You!” Gummigoo shouted, glaring at the image of Pomni on top of Jax.

Before anyone else could move, Ragatha grabbed onto Gummigoo’s neck from behind, causing everyone to drop their jaws in shock.

“Don’t gawk, just run!” Ragatha screamed as Gummigoo flung around, desperately trying to shake her off.

Jax grabbed Pomni’s hand and the two fled the room past Gummigoo and Ragatha and ran down the hall. As they ran. Gummigoo was able to fling Ragatha off, who landed into Zooble, and began pursuing them.

Jax weaved through the halls and did his best to avoid descending as he knew they were truly on borrowed time. He just had to get Pomni to the deck and hide until the iceberg hit, then everything would be okay and they could be free from this stupid adventure.

Jax found a room near the kitchen and flung open the door, as he did he was met face to face with Orbsman. After a moment of shock he turned to run but felt Pomni get pulled from his grasp. Orbsman had taken her other arm and now had her in his clutches.

Jax’s face twisted in anger and he pulled an arm back to throw a punch when he heard a bullet fly past him. He turned to see Gummigoo, now with a gun pointed directly at him.

“A gun?!” Jax gasped before turning towards Pomni as if he was trying to come up with a plan.

“Just run!” Pomni yelled. “I’ll handle it!”

Jax stared for a moment, not wanting to leave Pomni behind, not with Orbsman. He took a step forward only for a bullet to hit right in front of his foot, too close to him, too close to Pomni.

“F$%^!” Jax screamed before running off, wanting to lead Gummigoo and the gun away from Pomni. He knew Pomni was strong and could hold her own, but he knew would never live down having to leave her behind.

Jax turned corners directionlessly, not sure how to shake off the gator on his tail. He wasn’t thinking about anything but getting away and getting back to Pomni. Eventually, he turned a corner that led only to a staircase going deeper into the ship. He didn’t have time to get stuck in the lower levels. He spun around quickly only to see Gummigoo turning the corner.

“Ughhh, d4%^ it!” Jax cursed before running down the stairs, Gummigoo following close behind.

Jax ran deeper into the ship, turning every corner he could find in hopes that Gummigoo would lose his trail and he could go back up to deck. More than anything, he didn’t want this stupid ship to be his, albeit temporary, icy tomb.

He kept running but turned back to see if Gummigoo was still close by, and saw that he was maybe 15 to 20 feet behind him, not firing his gun but still having it out and ready at any time. Jax turned back around and was met by a solid wall, causing him to crash onto the floor.

By the time Jax had flipped over onto his back, Gummigoo was standing over him, gun pointed directly at his head.

“This ends now.” Gummigoo stated, cocking the gun.

Jax squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact when a large, booming voice interrupted the scene. As the voice spoke, large letters appeared in the air between Jax and Gummigoo, captioning the statement.

“ICEBERG! DEAD AHEAD!”

“What?” Gummigoo questioned, faltering a bit. It gave Jax a chance to scramble to his feet and continue running through the halls.

It felt unending, and Jax was running out of breath while Gummigoo had the luxury of being an NPC running on code and code alone. Jax began to run sloppy, getting tired after the unending chase and recent collision. He was about to turn another corner when Gummigoo fired his gun.

This time, it connected.

Jax felt a sharp, hot pain sear through his leg and he fell onto his hand and knees. He looked back to see that the bullet had connected right above his knee, and had gone clean through. The pain was agonizing, nothing like he had ever felt in the circus before.

There was no blood, but the pain was so intense that Jax’s vision began to blur. Even worse, Gummigoo approached, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him into a nearby room. The gummy NPC tossed him aside, causing him to slump against the wall, as if he were nothing.

“It’s over.”

“Eat a d$%^ you gummy a%$.” Jax groaned through the pain.

Gummigoo lifted his gun once more. Jax felt a sense of relief, at least this would be quick and he would wake up back in the circus, at least he wouldn’t have to drown. He shut his eyes once more, hoping and praying with every fiber that Pomni was able to escape Orbsman.

The moment was once again interrupted by a screeching, scraping noise. The boat around them seemed to shake and groan.

This was it. This was the iceberg.

Gummigoo seemed shocked and almost frightened for a moment, but quickly regained his composure as he pieced together the situation.

Jax laughed.

“You think this is funny?” Gummigoo questioned, his aim still true.

“Eh.” Jax rolled his eyes. “I hope you drown in horror.”

“Hope all you want.” Gummigoo put the gun behind him, assumingly into his inventory, then stepped out towards the hall, causing Jax to perk up in concern. He wasn’t going to leave him here to drown, was he?

“You are the one who is going to drown here, rabbit.”

Chapter Text

Pomni was going to kill Orbsman.

She thrashed angrily as he held her back. She wasn’t sure how he was logically keeping her in place as he didn’t even have hands or fingers, but some digital force was keeping her pinned back.

“I’m going to f$%^ing kill you!” She screamed, as she continued to try and yank her various limbs free. “Let me go!!”

Orbsman was solid, seething, and unmoving. For a long while he had no response to Pomni’s indignations, the only signs of his existence being her entrapment and the heaving of his angered breath.

“Stop fighting.” Orbsman stated plainly, almost too calmly. Pomni could sense the malicious edge to it, but it didn’t shake her, not like it would have a few adventures ago.

“Never!” She shouted back, kicking back with her legs only to hit solid orb flesh.

A few moments had passed since the iceberg alert had rung out through the entire ship. The notice had set Pomni into a rage. Of course at this exact moment they would be put into this predicament. She was filled to the brim with stress not knowing if Jax was okay or even still alive.

Orbsman disregarded the iceberg alert initially, only passing her a nearby lifejacket and plopping onto her in a swift motion. It weighed on her as she tried to fight back, making movements more difficult. She wanted so badly to believe that the lifejacket would be useless, but despite the troubles it was actively causing her, there was a twisted sense of comfort having it around just in case.

“You are only making this more difficult,” Orbsman hissed. “So settle down already so we can-”

Orbsman was interrupted by the boat's violent shaking as it made contact with the iceberg. The metal on the side of the ship groaned and cried as it was ripped open violently by the sharp edge of the ice. The floor beneath them seemed to tremble as if the boat was alive and in fear for its own life. The harsh motion caused Orbsman to stumble enough for Pomni to slip out of his grasp and onto the floor.

Orbsman tipped down flat onto his back with a thunderous clatter, giving Pomni the opportunity to scramble to her feet as the boat settled. She ran out into the hall and heard Orbsman rise to hit feet and punch the door open after her.

Pomni looked to her left, noticing an emergency axe locked behind a glass panel. With all the strength she could muster, she punched through the glass and pulled out the axe. For a fleeting moment she winced at the sharp pain of glass cutting her gloved hand, sharper than usual. The shock was momentary and adrenaline took over as she pointed the axe directly at Orbsman.

“Stay back, you arrogant a#$hole.” She grunted with heaved breath. She looked like a wild animal, hair disheveled and eyes twinged with a desperate craze.

Orbsman stayed put as directed, seemingly trying to process his next move when Gummigoo appeared behind him. Gummigoo slowed his trot as he saw the raised axe and Pomni shifted her pointed weapon towards him.

As she processed the actual presence of Gummigoo, she felt tears threaten to spill out. If he was back, then…

“Where is he?!” She demanded as tears trailed down her face. “Is he dead?!”

“You don’t need to worry abo-”

Pomni cut him off by swinging her axe down hard on a light to the left, causing it to spark and sputter out. It was a warning, the only one she was willing to offer. After the shattered plastic crashed to the ground, she once again raised her axe to Gummigoo, as if inviting him to test her patience.

“He’s alive.” Gummigoo relented. “But only until the lad drowns, which shouldn’t be long now.”

Gummigoo turned to Orbsman as Pomni’s heavy breaths began to speed up violently.

“We need to go.” Gummigoo explained to Orbsman. “This ship is going down quick.”

Before they could take any further autonomy from her, she let out an enraged scream and charged at them at full speed, axe pulled back and ready to strike. Rather than try to combat her, they simply dodged out of the way and Pomni ran as fast as she could down into the depths of the ship.

Orbsman watched her run, not pursuing. After she had disappeared from sight, he turned to Gummigoo.

“Handle this.”

Gummigoo simply nodded and reloaded his gun, preparing to do exactly as directed.

Gangle, Zooble, and Ragatha were together when the iceberg hit.

Ragatha noticed the way Gangle grabbed Zooble’s hand when it happened, and how Zooble hadn’t pulled away, but she didn’t dare say anything about it.

Now, though, everything was chaotic.

Hundreds of NPCs had flooded the deck, running around like headless chickens and screaming various babble.

The first thing the trio did was go to the captain’s quarters to try and see if there was any way they could buy their missing friends some time to escape. Gangle’s nerdy interest in the original film and tragedy had given them a little bit to work with. She suggested various doors be closed and certain processes be set to best ensure their survival, but they would need the captain to pull it off.

Ragatha knocked on the door before opening it, seeing Disappearing Guy at the wheel of the ship. He turned to face her.

“Wh-”

And…he was gone.

“Greaaaaat.” Ragatha groaned.

“What else could we expect from Caine?” Zooble rolled their eyes.

“They won’t have much time…” Gangle whimpered. “What if they are trapped somewhere?”

“I’m sure if Orbsman and Gummigoo caught up to them, they would bring them up here.” Ragatha tried to comfort Gangle, but it didn’t feel very realistic.

A few feet away from them, four generic NPCs with musical instruments huddled into a circle. One, assumedly the leader, gave a countdown that led them into a cacophony of music.

However, unlike the haunting symphony the group recalled from the film they had seen, it was a childish and silly jingle, something Zooble recognized from various YouTubers they had watched before ending up in the circus.

“I am never going on one of Caine’s stupid adventures ever again.” Zooble groaned. “This has been such bulls%^$.”

“Guys….” Gangle cried, causing Ragatha and Zooble to turn around.

NPCs were starting to fill the rescue boats in a panicked fashion, some tumbling over each other and fighting for a spot. The boats were already being sent down, and there were only so many to go around. This left the group with an awful choice to make: leave and survive, or wait for their friends and risk death.

“You guys should go!” Ragatha encouraged. “I’ll wait for the others here.”

“What if they don’t ever come back?” Zooble challenged.

“D..don’t think like that…”

“No self-sacrificing bulls%^& tonight! We stick together for now,” Zooble asserted. “Worst case we kill one or two of these NPC freaks.”

Gangle, although scared, nodded in agreement.

“I just hope they get here soon…” She whispered.

Zooble sighed in response before turning to look inside of the boat. There was no sign of Pomni, Jax, or Kinger.

“Where are you idiots…”

Pomni did not stop running.

The boat made various, haunting noises, but she did her best to tune them out. Even as the ship creaked and screeched around her as if it were a dying animal, he mind was focused only on finding Jax. Her eyes ached from the stress and the tears, her heart overwhelmed with fear of both dying and finding him to already be gone.

Maybe she was overreacting- death was never permanent in the circus afterall. But despite that fact she was terrified at the idea of having to watch Jax die in front of her. She was resolved to save him at any cost possible.

She had no idea where to even look.

“Jax!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound echoed through the halls, empty and foreboding. Her only company being the rats scurrying along at her feet. She took this as a sign that he wouldn’t be here, and descended further down. She raced down the staircase, axe in hand, and landed in freezing cold water that stabbed at her feet.

It wasn’t crashing in large waves, rather it was a small seep that made her recognize that the boat was now tilted at an angle, with the water slowly crawling up.

“Jax! Where are you!” She screamed again,

It was silent for a beat, then she heard a distant call.

“Here!”

To her relief, his voice came from the side of the hall not affected by the rising water. She let out a deep breath, releasing some of her fear at knowing that he was, in fact, still alive. She ran to the room where the sound had originated and swung the door open.

Jax looked like a mess.

He was crumpled on the floor, one leg up while the other laid uselessly in front of him. He looked like he may have been crying, face drained and eyes tired.

“T-took you long enough…Pom-Pom…” Jax groaned, clearly in pain.

Pomni rushed to his side immediately, falling to her knees.

“What happened?”

“Your gummy ex-boyfriend shot me in the leg.”

“Why isn’t it gone?” Pomni asked, anxiety in her voice. “It should be fixed, Caine should’ve-”

“It’s different this time…” Jax explained. “I guess Caine wanted this adventure to be hyper realistic, pain included.”

Pomni gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, tears falling in fat streams down her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and began to hyperventilate. What were they supposed to do? Were they both just going to die horrible, painful deaths down here? Would anyone come to save them?

“Hey, wait, don’t do that.” Jax’s voice was concerned, but soft. He brought a hand to her cheek and lifted her head, making eye contact with her. “You are going to be okay, get out of here.”

“What?”

“It’s fine, I’ve died plenty of times.” Jax explained. “I’ll see you back at the circus, but you need to run.”

“I’m not leaving, Jax.” Pomni cried. “No more of this- no more of you pushing me away and hiding the painful parts.”

“You don’t have to be dragged into my pain, Pom.”

“I know!” She snapped back, grabbing his hand and pulling it close to her heart, or whatever was beating so deeply for him in this digital circus. “I choose to share your pain because you are my person.”

Jax blushed but looked away, instinctually hiding himself away, but he kept holding onto her hand. Before either of them could say anything more, ice cold water began to trickle into the room they were in. It crawled almost menacingly towards them.

Pomni quickly stood up and leaned down to try and help Jax up, but she could barely lift him before he yelped out in pain and crashed back onto the floor.

“S%$^, s%$^, s%$^...” Jax cried out as he felt the water lap at his legs. He grabbed his chest with a heavy breath and tossed a desperate, terrified look towards Pomni. A look she had never seen him wear before, a face that was genuine in the most horrifying of ways.

“I’m really scared, Pom.”

Zooble watched as the flares lit up the night sky, reflecting pure white light onto the deck where the trio waited.

“We are running out of time…” Gangle whimpered.

“I really thought they’d be here by now.” Ragatha agreed, nervousness poisoning her usually cheerful demeanor.

Zooble grunted and slammed an angry foot down. “God d$%^ it, that purple a$%hat!”

After the outburst, they turned and headed into the ship, with Gangle and Ragatha close behind trying to stop them.

“What are you thinking?!” Ragatha scolded. “Enough of us are already down there!”

“Yeah, probably trapped or something stupid.” Zooble complained. “So I’m going to go get their sorry a$%es.”

“That’s insane Zooble!” Ragatha continued. “What if you get stuck too?”

“I’m going.” They responded flatly. Zooble thought back to their conversation with Jax at the bar, telling him that nobody in the circus deserved to be alone. He was the biggest jerk they knew, but they didn’t want him to suffer, much less Pomni or Kinger. “I’ll be back I promise.”

They took a few steps forward before a gentle ribbon wrapped around their midsection. They felt Gangle press close from behind.

“Wait.” It was barely a whisper, but it struck Zooble right in the chest and made them feel so weak they thought for a moment they would fall to their knees.

“I’m going, Gangle.” Zooble said softly, pulling away before turning around to take Gangle’s ribbons into their own hands. “I’ll bring him back, I’ll bring them all back.”

“I know.” Gangle nodded. “I’m coming with you, and you can’t say no.”

Zooble admired her bravery, and felt so proud, but so concerned. As much as Zooble wanted to beg her to stay behind, there was no time for bickering, so they grasped Gangle’s ribbon-hand even tighter and glanced at Ragatha.

“Stay here, I mean it.” Zooble directed. “Make sure there is a boat left.”

Ragatha looked like she would argue for a moment, but simply nodded in defeat before running back out towards the deck.

Zooble, still holding onto Gangle, guided her through the inside of the ship. They found their way to the grand staircase and raced down together.

Gangle started to laugh slightly maniacally, her face twisted in fear as they ran down the steps. Zooble stopped and turned to them.

“Are you sure you can handle this?”

Gangle responded by pulling Zooble into a hug. “I feel like I can do anything as long as I’m with you.”

Zooble hugged back quickly before tugging them down the staircase further. They found a door near the kitchens that would lead deeper into the ship where they would surely find the other three circus members.

In a swift motion, Zooble released Gangle’s hand and slipped into the doorway, slamming it behind them and locking it before Gangle could even react.

“Huh?!” Gangle slammed her ribbons on the small window. “What are you doing, Zooble?!”

Zooble placed a hand on the window, reflecting the ribbon desperately trying to somehow reach them.

“You mean so much to me,” Zooble confessed softly. “You make this a prison I don’t mind rotting in.”

“I don’t understand! You said no self-sacrifices!!” Gangle cried, shaking the door handle as if she could will it to open, but deep down she knew it was hopeless. “Please, open the door!”

“Get out of here.” Zooble urged. “I’ll see you soon, I promise…I…”

Feeling the tension of the moment, Gangle stopped struggling and met Zooble’s eyes. Both had three words they wanted to say, but those words were a double-edged sword. Saying them would dig both of their graves.

But for Zooble, all of the risk was worth it for this one fleeting moment.

“I love you, Gangle.”

Chapter Text

“Ok, I’m going to go look for…”

“For what?!” Jax cried out. “What could help this situation?!”

“I don’t know!” Pomni reacted before taking a deep breath. “I have to try. I’ll be back, I promise.”

“Pomni!”

She looked down to him, expecting him to try and stop her.

“Be safe.” He asked, a softness in his gaze. “Please.”

Pomni smiled and wrapped her arm around his back, and helped hoist him up onto a nearby chair. The water was starting to reach around her knees, and she hoped despite her tiny size she would be able to find a solution before it got too far.

She gave him one more reassuring look before trudging through the water out to the hall. The water was rising at a steady pace, lights flickering around her, and Pomni hadn’t the slightest clue on what she could use or where she could look.

As she was searching, a generic NPC raced through the hall and stopped by her side.

“Miss!” He shouted frantically. “It isn’t safe down here, we must get up to the top and find the boats.”

“What? No, I’m fine!” Pomni explained. “Actually, could you maybe help-”

“Come along now!” The NPC interrupted, grabbing her arm and starting to drag her along.

“No!” She screamed. “Let go of me!”

“Hush now, everything will be okay!”

“I said let go!” With her free hand, Pomni brought up the axe she was holding onto and swung in front of her, squeezing her eyes shut. She heard a small splash, followed by a louder one as the pressure around her wrist was relieved.

She opened her eyes to see the NPC’s decapitated head laying next to his body. She let out a frustrated groan. She felt so disturbed by the things this horrific adventure was forcing her to do.

She started opening various doors, hoping to find a miracle inside one of them. Most of the rooms were empty or filled with various props from throughout the adventure.

After what felt like a lifetime, one door seemed to answer her prayers.

She opened it to find Kinger in a dark room, staring up at a dark corner with wide eyes. As the door opened, he seemed to be shaken from his trance and glanced at her direction.

“Oh! Pomni!” He greeted as he walked over to her. “You shouldn’t be down here, looks like this boat has a leak.”

Pomni stared at him for a moment before collapsing into sobs and covering her face with her hands.

“I need help.” She sobbed, a strange mix of instilled stress and hesitant relief in her voice. “Please help us.”

“Where is he?” Kinger asked, instantly understanding.

Pomni quickly led Kinger to the room Jax was stuck in. Luckily, the lights had already gone out, so she knew she could reliably trust Kinger to help Jax.

She wrapped an arm around Jax, expecting that Kinger would assist in lifting him out of the room. Sure, it wasn’t practical or realistic, but she didn’t think they had any other options.

Kinger had other plans. To Pomni’s surprise, he simply stayed standing where he was. She watched as he clasped his hands together then released them, producing a golden butterfly.

He used his open palms to guide the butterfly, which flew in Jax’s direction.

“Go on, Jax.” Kinger encouraged.

Jax and Pomni exchanged a confused look, then Jax reached out, tapping the butterfly with his finger. A gentle jingle played out loud and Jax’s eyes widened.

“What?” Jax looked to Kinger. “Could you always do that? How did you do that?”

Kinger nodded proudly. “There are many things I can do that you don’t know, Jax.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Pomni reminded, looking down to see the water had reached her waist.

Jax stood with ease, any previous pain completely eliminated without any lasting effects. He turned around.

“Hop on Pomni, it’ll be faster this way.”

Pomni sighed- the idea of being literally carried through the adventure was humiliating, but she knew deep down he was right. She wrapped her legs around his midsection and grabbed onto his ears.

“Hey!” Jax yelped. “Careful with the merchandise, Pom!”

“Oh! Sorry.” Pomni blushed, opting to place her hands on his shoulders.

Kinger watched the couple with admiration, it sparked an old forgotten memory. Something distant but warm that motivated him to help them escape. There was a bit of pain, but more so he felt grateful that something like this could still exist in the circus.

“Let’s get moving you two.”

Kinger and Jax trudged through the water while Pomni hung tight onto Jax’s shoulder. Lights sparked and flickered all throughout the hall, dazzling as they floated into the water beneath. Pomni felt Jax shudder.

“I’m freezing my tail off, here.” He complained. “Can’t believe that candy jerk just left me.”

“I can’t believe you let him land a shot!” Pomni teased.

“Oh trust me, if I had a gun it would’ve gone waaaay different.”

“Would it now?”

“Look!” Kinger interrupted, pointing to a ladder at the end of the hall.

At that moment, they heard the large hallway doors at the other end creak and moan, Pomni looked back to see them stretched to their limit. They were going to burst at any moment.

“S^%& run!” Pomni yelled.

Kinger and Jax stomped through the water towards the ladder. As they approached, Jax lifted Pomni off his shoulder onto the ladder.

She heard the doors burst as she reached the top. Jax had started climbing.

“Hurry!” Pomni urged, reaching out a hand to help Jax up. Jax was shivering as he tried to pull himself up onto the bars, but either fear or pure adrenaline got him to the top.

Kinger was next, he grabbed onto the ladder and pulled. Pomni reached out further towards Kinger’s outstretched hand.

She was barely an inch away when she saw him get swept away by the violent, rushing water.

Zooble ran as fast as they could through the halls. They felt as the ship slowly began to tilt and heard various items crash onto the floor unceremoniously.

“Pomni?! Jax?!” They shouted as they raced through the ship. “Where are you idiots?!”

Unsurprisingly, they were met with a haunting silence. Zooble didn’t even know if they were alive. For all they knew, they were completely wasting their time and putting themself at risk for no good reason.

For a moment they considered turning back, even going so far as to hesitantly walk back to the staircase that would take them back up to the deck, when a flustered looking Gummigoo burst down into the hallway from above.

“S%^&.” Zooble whispered before slipping into a hall, hoping the NPC hadn’t noticed them. After a few moments of tense silence, they took a deep breath and peeked around the corner.

They watched as Gummigoo systematically walked into a nearby room, closing the door behind him. Zooble realized that the NPC was likely looking for the same thing they were.

They let out a sigh as they realized they couldn’t bring themselves to not at least try and find the others. Since Gummigoo was out of the hall, they took that chance to dash down the hall to get to the elevator that could take them to the lower half of the ship.

They stopped in front of the elevator when Gummigoo exited the room he was in, turning towards Zooble in surprise.

“Oi!” He shouted as he began dashing towards Zooble.

“God d%^& it!” Zooble smashed the elevator button endlessly. Thankfully, the elevator opened pretty quickly and jumped in, closed the gate, and smashed the close button.

The door took a long time, sliding slowly in front of Zooble, and Gummigoo was approaching at a fast pace.

“Come on…come on…”

Zooble let out a sigh of relief when the door neared closing, when Gummigoo reached an arm through the small opening, causing Zooble to jump back as he aimlessly fired the gun in his hand, promptly before his arm being cleanly chopped off due to the door closing.

Zooble stared in horror for a few silent moments at the dismembered hand, still holding the gun that had been fired carelessly. They were amazed that the two bullets had missed them, but tried not to dwell on the thought. Cautiously, they bent down and grabbed the gun in hand and checked the cylinder.

“Four bullets.” They counted. “Nice.”

Pomni wasn’t aware of her surroundings. She was lost in the depths of her own mind. After Kinger was swept away by the water, Jax had immediately grabbed her arm and practically dragged her away.

She didn’t fight back, she didn’t try hard to keep up, she was mentally stuck on the image of Kinger being torn away. Out of everyone in the circus, she believed Kinger deserved that fate the absolute least.

“mni!”

Would Kinger be okay after experiencing something like that? She knew he was more resilient than he let on but the idea of being stuck and drowning would be enough to destroy anyone. Was it quick? Did he have to suffer?

“Pomni!”

She snapped out of her own head, looking up to see Jax looking down at her with concern.

“You need to run, Pom.” He told her bluntly.

“B-but…Kinger…” She whimpered in response. “I…I almost had him…I could have saved him…”

Jax knelt down to get onto her eye level, and placed his hands on his shoulder.

“Listen to me, Pom-Pom.” He stated softly but firmly. “That wasn’t your fault, I wish I could sit here and help you process this because I know it wasn’t easy, but we need to go or it’s going to happen to us.”

He lifted a hand to her cheek.

“I can’t let that happen to you.”

His voice sounded shaky and scared despite his attempts to hide it. Pomni wiped the tears that had begun forming on her face and nodded.

Pomni grabbed Jax’s hand and they ran down the hall as water began to rapidly fill the space around their feet.

Chapter Text

Gangle stood in disbelief for a few moments. So much had happened all at once; from her and Zooble running together, to being shut out, to the confession that she was left behind with. She could barely process it as her feet remained planted in the same spot.

The only thing that broke her out of the trance was the moan of the ship as it shuddered from the damage. Gangle shook her head and walked back up the grand staircase. As she walked up the steps, she admired the artistry of the entire room.

As horrifying as the adventure had been, certain aspects of being placed in this specific situation were gratifying to Gangle.

She thought back to Zooble’s confession before she ran off. Had they actually meant what they said? Gangle knew the two of them had gotten closer, and even exchanged a few moments that reminded Gangle of romantic manga she would read.

But Gangle wasn’t expecting a love confession. She had been building up the courage to confess herself, but Zooble was always a lot more confident and flawless at knowing what to say. Gangle was worried that it was only said so Gangle wouldn’t follow them into the ship.

What would things be like when they saw each other next? Would they talk more in detail about what the confession had truly meant, or would they avoid the topic altogether. Gangle’s mind was in a constant downward spiral trying to wrap her head around it.

As she peered through the portholes along the wall, she saw the dark night sky littered with glittering stars that shone back onto her. For the rest of the adventure, the only thing Gangle knew was guaranteed was that the sky would stay the same. Everything else was subject to the whims of every person’s individual choices. It was a terrifying thought.

She did her best to stuff down the complicated feelings that had stemmed from her interaction with Zooble as she knew there would definitely be conversation to be had later.

As she moped back onto the deck, she was greeted by absolute chaos.

NPCs filled the space, running to and fro with no direction. They tumbled over each other, throwing punches and falling overboard. Some were actively sabotaging the boats by cutting the strings and causing them to fall, empty, into the icy depths.

Ragatha was running around like a headless chicken, trying to get the NPCs attention and failing, while simultaneously being pummeled by the surrounding action. Eventually, Ragatha landed in front of Gangle.

“Huh? What are you doing back here?” She questioned, her voice shaking with stress. “Nevermind, I really could use your help!”

“What are you planning?” Gangle asked, unsure what Ragatha would think to do.

“Well…maybe if we can get the NPCs to talk to us we can-”

Gangle let out a frustrated groan and walked past Ragatha, who watched on with wide eyes. She approached one of the rescue boats and looked out over into the water. The ship had already descended quite a ways into the water, and more than half the life-boats were gone or destroyed.

“I’m done with this.” Gangle muttered.

She turned around and stared at Ragatha for a moment, then turned and walked a few steps towards an NPC who was frantically cutting away at one of the ropes holding a boat in place with a rusted knife. Gangle watched him for a moment, then pushed him over the side of the railing and watched as he plummeted into the water below.

“Gangle!” Ragatha shouted, running over to look over the railing. The NPC had already disappeared under the waves. “What are you doing?!”

Gangle bent over, her mask in her face as she let out psychotic sounding laughs that slowly spiraled away as she lifted herself back up.

“Don’t you just want to lose it sometimes, Ragatha?”

Ragatha opened her mouth as if she would refute Gangle, but then she thought about what Gangle was saying.

Ragatha was tired.

Tired of being so nice, tired of playing along, tired of being beat up every single adventure, tired of still feeling like she had to impress her mom when she wasn’t even here.

Ragatha walked over to another NPC who was hitting one of the boats with an oar non-sensically. Ragatha tapped him on the shoulder.

“Uh, hi!” She said politely. “Can I see that?”

The NPC tilted his head in confusion, but passed the oar over to Ragatha. Ragatha held the wooden oar in her hands and looked it over, nodding in satisfaction. She then lifted the oar behind her as she would in the softball game, and whacked the NPC in the head, causing it to pop-off and fly through the air towards the ocean. The rest of the NPC’s body crumbled onto the floor.

Ragatha laughed as she watched it happen, a strange sort of satisfaction washing over her. She turned and faced Gangle, who was looking on in shock. They both stared at each other for a few moments then nodded in agreement.

They chased after every saboteur NPC they could find, knocking them down and saving the boats from being destroyed or launched improperly. At one point they started laughing and enjoying this twisted activity together.

Eventually, there were no more NPCs destroying boats- if anything the NPC feared the two girls. Ragatha felt rejuvenated, like she had finally been able to unscrew the cap on something she had bottled up for many years. She looked again at the oar in her hands with a smile, a rush in her chest that pounded in heavy heartbeats, pumping adrenaline through her veins.

She turned over to Gangle, who seemed to be having a different type of charged reaction. She was still laughing, but her entire body seemed to heave with deep, angered breaths.

“Uh…Gangle?” Ragatha called.

Gangle turned to Ragatha and stopped, seeming to snap into her usual reserved self.

“S-Sorry!” Gangle whispered. “Got a bit ahead of myself…”

“Not at all!” Ragatha praised. “Thanks to you, we handled this!”

Gangle let out a grateful smile, then looked toward the inside of the ship.

“They’ll be back, right?” Gangle asked.

Ragatha sighed, then put a hand on Gangle’s back.

“I really hope so.”

All Jax could hear was the sound of their feet splashing and their heavy breaths as they ran through the ship. His hand was firm around her wrist, refusing to let go in fear she would somehow be lost forever. It also is what drove him to keep running despite his body aching with exhaustion.

For the longest time he feared having any sort of obligation or responsibility to another person, but now it was his only lifeline.

The water around his feet stung like a million tiny bees at the same time. There was numbness up to his knees but knowing Pomni was with him kept his feet moving. That was until he felt Pomni pull away and stop running.

“Wait…” She panted, bending over and putting her hands on her knees.

“Pomni.” He walked towards her, desperately trying to think of a joke or snide comment to make the situation easier. “We…we gotta go.”

He was such a loser.

“I just…huff…need…huff…one moment…”

At that moment, the lights flickered as the boat creaked hauntingly.

“Ok.” Pomni straightened up. “Nevermind, let’s keep going!”

Pomni walked past Jax who grabbed her hand to stop her. She turned and met his eyes, which, to her surprise, were filled to the brim with concern.

“I’m going to get you out of here, Pom.” He stated softly. “I promise.”

“We will both get out of here.” She smiled before squeezing his hand and guiding him up a staircase.

The staircase did not lead directly to the next floor, rather there it led directly to the ceiling, with a solid panel acting as a sort of hatch to the higher levels. As they approached it, a hologram screen appeared in front of them with the words “MINIGAME TIME!”

“You have to be joking!” Jax shouted in frustration. He tapped the screen and a slider puzzle appeared, something he was admittedly awful at.

He slid the tiles randomly, not understanding how he was supposed to clear the in-game path necessary to unlock the door. He cursed under his breath as the game constantly reset due to his failure.

“Uh…Jaaaax…” Pomni nervously muttered, watching the icy water crawl up the staircase. “Want me to try?”

“No! I got it!” Jax responded defensively.

“Just let me try!” Pomni argued, pushing beside him and tapping the screen.

“You messed it up!”

“You were messing it up yourself!”

“I have it perfectly under control!”

“Can you just stop being-”

A sudden boom sounded through the hall as a nearby doorway burst open, another rush of water filling the hall at a rapid pace.

Pomni and Jax stared at each other for a moment before Jax stepped away. Pomni shakily tried to slide the tiles, but her fingers were numb and the water was already filling up halfway up her body.

“Pomni!” Jax shouted, his eyes searching around frantically for an answer.

“I’m sorry!” She shouted, tears falling down her face as the water reached her neck. She failed the game once more and grunted in frustration.

Jax grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug as the water filled to the ceiling. He clutched onto her tightly, refusing to open his eyes. All he could feel was a million pinpricks of ice cold water. His chest felt raw and tight, like cold air blowing over an open wound.

He wondered if Pomni was seeing what happened when he couldn’t breath, and felt somewhat embarrassed.

It was painful, and it was taking so long for it to be over. His lungs felt like ice and he felt a sort of panic as a solemn, tired feeling began to take over. He was absolutely exhausted. He had been tired for so long in so many ways, but this was a different type of fatigue.

Was Pomni still conscious? Was she still in pain?

He slightly opened his eyes and saw Pomni’s face shifting colors through the water. She was squeezing into his arm, an indicator she was also struggling.

Right when Jax felt weakness trump panic, he heard a faint jingle and looked up to see the exit hatch open, and a familiar arm reach into the water. He squeezed Pomni tight and used his remaining strength to reach up and grab the hand.

As soon as he clasped the hand, he and Pomni were pulled up onto a dry surface. Jax landed face first, Pomni landing on her side beside them. For a moment they were left in a fit of coughs, water exiting their lungs as they shivered from the daunting cold they had just endured.

As Jax slowly began to recover, he looked over to see who had rescued them, and as he thought it was Zooble.

“W-w-what are you d-d-doing here?!” Jax chattered through shaking teeth, trying to sound teasing but accidentally sounding concerned. “D-d-don’t you know this b-b-boat is f$%^ing s-s-sinking?!”

“Can you just be grateful for once?” Zooble groaned. “Have either of you seen Kinger?”

Jax looked away with a guilty expression and Pomni seemed to instantly fill with tears, and that alone was an answer enough for Zooble.

“D$%^ it!” Zooble shouted, punching the doorway next to them. “We need to move, Ragatha and Gangle are waiting.”

Zooble turned towards the next staircase, working fast at unlocking the minigame at the top.

“C-c-can you stand, P-p-pom-pom?” Jax asked with a forced smile as he shakily got to his feet.

“Y-y-yes,” Pomni chattered, tears still in her eyes as she slowly stood up. “L-l-let’s just get out of h-h-here.”

Jax unwrapped his arms from around himself and reached out a hand to her face, gently wiping a tear away. Pomni locked eyes with him.

For a moment they were locked in that moment, they had survived a terrifying predicament. Their relationship was still fresh on their minds, but they hadn’t really had a moment to relish in it. Jax mentally promised himself to ensure they get alone time once this stupid adventure was over.

Pomni was scared, but knowing Jax was truly by her side was helping her keep her head up during the whirlwind this adventure had been. His gaze grounded her in her most anxious moments.

Alas, their tender moment was cut short when a familiar gummy alligator with a missing arm appeared out of seemingly nowhere, pummeling Jax and knocking them both to the floor.

Chapter Text

Pomni was still shivering as she watched Gummigoo tackle Jax onto the floor. More bewilderingly, his right arm was missing from the bicep down. This was absolutely not the Gummigoo she spoke with under the candy map, this was a different beast entirely.

“Jax!” She shouted, taking a step forward before being stopped by Zooble.

“Careful, he’s unhinged right now.” They warned, placing a protective arm in front of Pomni. Pomni groaned in frustration, hating that people didn’t think she could handle herself.

Pomni could only watch as Gummigoo clumsily pinned Jax to the floor, but he was outmatched in this case with the missing arm. Jax was easily able to swing with his free arm and scramble backwards. His chest was heaving, still exhausted from being plunged into the freezing cold water that was now pooling at their feet.

Zooble stepped forward, pulling out the revolver they had managed to find in their earlier encounter with Gummigoo, pointing it directly at him. Pomni watched as Zooble clicked the gun, ready to fire at any moment.

“Step off,” They threatened, tightening their grip on the weapon. “It’s three to one, you know this is already over.”

Gummigoo seemed to weigh his options carefully, looking from Zooble to Jax before standing to his feet.

“I’m tired of you lot underestimating me.” Gummigoo growled, staring down at Pomni who only looked back with hurt in her eyes.

He stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily, before running towards Zooble at full speed with a guttural yell.

Zooble’s eyes went wide, not truly expecting him to rush them like this, and fired the gun once, missing his head narrowly.

“S$%^!”

Before Zooble could react further, Gummigoo crashed into them- sending their parts flying down the hall and leaving them incapacitated. The gun was also flung a few feet down the hall, and both Gummigoo and Pomni immediately moved their eyes onto it before glaring at each other.

Pomni brandished her ax, raising it above her head but Gummigoo was faster than she was, even in his damaged state. He used his free hand and grabbed her raised wrist, tossing her aside as if she weighed nothing.

“Hey!” Jax shouted, his face twisted in anger as he scrambled to his feet and rushed towards Gummigoo who was bending over to collect the gun.

Before he could reach it, Jax wrapped his arms around the alligators neck. Gummigoo struggled back, causing both of them to crash back onto the floor. They wrestled each other against the stark icyness of the water that was steadily rising around them.

Meanwhile, Pomni rushed to Zooble’s aid, gathering their various pieces and helping them put themself back together. Zooble seemed to groan in pain as they placed themself together again.

“This water is not helping how embarrassing this is.” They complained, stretching their various limbs to shake off the impact. “Thanks, Pomni.”

“No worries…” Pomni anxiously responded, grabbing the gun as Zooble propped themself against the wall and tried to gather back their strength. Pomni stared at the gun in her hands, it felt heavier than the last time she held a gun in the circus.

Her attention was snapped away as the fight behind her escalated. Jax was shouting as he pinned Gummigoo to the floor, his face partially buried by the water underneath him.

Gummigoo responded by kicking Jax off of him, causing him to crash into a nearby wall and hit his head, causing Pomni to gasp.

Gummigoo scrambled to his feet, then turned towards Jax with determination on his face. Jax wouldn’t move, his hands clutching his head in delirium from hitting it on his way down.

“Stop!”

Gummigoo turned to see Pomni pointing the gun with shaky hands and tears.

“Get away from him!” She cried. “Just leave! I really don’t want to have to do this!”

Zooble stood slowly behind her, watching with wide eyes. Gummigoo took a hesitant step forward and Pomni responded by shooting the ground by his feet.

He stopped for a moment, only to simply chuckle at the action and stomp forward further. Pomni hesitated, the gun suddenly feeling much scarier.

To her relief, Zooble, who sensed her hesitation, swept in- wrapping their hand around Pomni’s on the gun and steadying the aim before firing.

It was a perfect shot.

Gummigoo tumbled backwards for a couple seconds before falling forward onto his knees, ultimately collapsing into the water unceremoniously.

“F%^*!” Pomni screamed. “F%^* Caine, f^%* this stupid adventure, f~%^ the NPCs.”

Zooble rested a hand on Pomni’s shoulder, pulling the gun away slowly and taking a mental note that only one bullet remained.

“Jax!” Pomni cried, rushing with Zooble to help him up as kept a hand to his head.

“Can you walk?” Zooble asked.

“I…yeah.” He responded in a non-convincing manner. “Let’s just keep moving.”

So move they did- they made their way up more staircases, occasionally pausing as Jax bent in pain. His head was throbbing and at times his vision blurred, but he was determined to persist for Pomni if for nothing else.

They had made it all the way to the Grand Staircase, stopping for a moment to let Jax rest and for the other two to catch their breath.

“I never got a chance to thank you, Zooble.” Pomni said.

“You don’t need to thank me, I did what I had to do.”

“You really didn’t have to come back for us, and we would’ve been dead by now if it weren’t for you.”

It was true, Jax and Pomni had practically given up entirely when Zooble had saved them- Pomni felt somewhat ashamed of the fact looking back on it. She had been so scared and trapped in the moment, but maybe she could have tried harder to find a way out.

“Yeah, well…” Zooble trailed, looking towards Jax. “No one deserves to go through that.”

“Getting soft on me, Zoobie?” Jax teased, walking up and getting in their face.

“I’ll throw you back down there if you don’t shut it.”

“Now that’s the Zooble I know!”

“Seems like you are feeling better.” Zooble scowled. “We should keep moving then.”

The three made their way up the stairs and out to the main deck. As soon as Gangle noticed the three emerging, a huge smile appeared on her face as she ran and hugged Zooble. Jax and Pomni exchanged a knowing smile, then turned to Ragatha.

“Thank goodness you guys are ok!” She breathed. “Wait- where’s Kinger?”

“We will see him back at the circus.” Jax stated plainly, earning a glare from Ragatha. Pomni wasn’t sure the two of them would ever see eye to eye.

“How have things been up here?” Zooble asked Gangle.

“Alright, I think.” She responded, looking back over to the emergency boats. “A few NPCs were messing with the boats, but we took care of them.”

“You? And the Ragdoll?” Jax chuckled. “What, did you tea-time them into boredom?”

“Pushed them over the edge, actually.” Ragatha explained coldly, narrowing her eyes at Jax.

“Heh, touche.” Jax smirked.

Ragatha led the group to a nearby boat, where a few NPCs were already waiting to take off with panicked voices. The boat teetered precariously, seeming like it could fall at any moment. The group tried to stomach the sight and remain calm as they approached the entrance to a boat.

“Will we all fit in that thing?” Pomni questioned nervously.

“It should be designed to fit all of us and more.” Gangle re-assured, while still sounding somewhat anxious herself.

“One at a time and then I will send you down!” An NPC who was manning the ropes controlling the boat announced to the group.

Ragatha stepped onto the boat first, being careful to maintain her balance as she took a wide step into the center of the space between the benches inside. She inched towards the edge and reached out her arms.

“Alright, who's next?” She asked cheerfully.

Zooble assisted Gangle in stepping onto the boat, holding onto her hand as she reached out towards Ragatha. Once Gangle was safely on board, Zooble turned towards Pomni.

“Your turn.”

Pomni squeezed Jax’s hand and turned towards him. “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”

“C’mon, we had some fun didn’t we?” Jax smiled down at her, causing butterflies to fill her stomach.

“Yeah,” Pomni returned the smile. “I’m glad it happened.”

Pomni released Jax’s hand and took hold of Zooble’s, who led her onto the boat where Gangle and Ragatha were waiting with open arms. Pomni stumbled for a moment as the boat rocked beneath her, but with the help of her friends she was able to steady herself.

Jax and Zooble were the only ones left. They glanced at each other expectantly.

“Well,” Jax motioned with his hands. “Losers first!”

Zooble narrowed their eyes in response, hands on their hips.

Both of their eyes went wide as a loud groaning shook the ship, as if it were falling apart at the seams. The ground beneath them seemed to tremble delicately, like it might crumble from right underneath them.

“Ok I’m going!” Jax relented, Zooble close behind him.

Right as both were about to urgently enter the boat, the NPC who had been assisting with the ropes stepped in front of them with his arms wide.

“First class only at this time!” He announced firmly, seemingly having a flare for the dramatics which did not surprise the group, considering this was all made by Caine.

“You have to be joking.” Jax complained flatly.

Zooble slowly reached for their gun, only to find it missing. They hid their shock and turned back to the NPC.

“C’mon man, this b%^*# is sinking!” They argued. “You are just gonna let us die here?”

“Rules are rules!” The NPC insisted.

“They’re with us!” Gangle bargained, struggling to come up with a good enough lie to convince the NPC to let them on. “Our…uh…”

“Our servants!” Pomni interjected nervously, being met with irritated looks from Zooble and Jax.

“Servants?” The NPC twisted around to look towards the trio on the boat, tilting its head. “And what of their clumsy attire?”

“Are you…really questioning their fashion at a time like this?” Ragatha inquired.

“It is always the right time to correct a clothing disaster!” The NPC persisted, flailing its arms around wildly in frustration.

“Ok…well…can they like…get on the boat now orrrr?” Pomni pushed slightly.

“Absolutely not!” The NPC shouted. “I will not fall for your foolish tricks and-”

Suddenly, the NPC’s wooden head seemed to shatter into a million pieces alongside a loud pop from behind him. The NPC crumpled into a small pile on the floor, revealing to everyone that Jax had shot the NPC square in the head.

“That guy was so annoying.” He grumbled.

“When did you take my gun?!” Zooble shouted, glaring daggers at the rabbit.

“When you weren’t looking, Zoobie.” Jax teased before aiming the gun at a nearby NPC. He knew it was empty from earlier investigation, but hoped his bravado would be enough.

“You!” He directed. “Do this rope…thing!”

The NPC put two hands in the air and ran to the rope, readying himself to lower it. Zooble hastily stepped onto the boat, followed by Jax, who sat on the edge closest to the ship with Pomni by his side.

“Take us down!” Jax shouted, before turning to Pomni. “You ready to get the heck out of this ocean?”

“You know it.” Pomni laughed. “I hope I never see water ever again.”

“LOWERING!” The NPC shouted from above. The group felt the boat jolt as the ropes began to move in articulated motion, sending them down to the dark blue sea beneath them.

Pomni released a deep breath that she did not know she was holding in. She felt like she could finally relax, everything was falling into place perfectly. Gummigoo was taken care of, they were off the boat, she had patched things up with Ragatha, Zooble and Gangle were closer than ever, and Jax.

It was truly the icing on top of it all. When the adventure had started, she hadn’t imagined they would emerge united as a couple. She was happy.

But there was an itch.

Like she had forgotten something very important. A missing piece to this wide spiderweb of a puzzle that was the Titanic Adventure.

Then she saw it. She saw him.

Orbsman was reaching over the side of the boat. His face twisted in an anger she hadn’t seen on him before. She thought back to how unhinged Gummigoo had gotten- was something wrong with the NPCs this adventure?

She was frustrated at herself for forgetting such a crucial part of the past few days. The NPC that had haunted every moment and been a cancerous fly on the wall each time.

Orbsman was reaching so far over the side that half his body was visible to the occupants of the boat. Pomni thought for a moment he would crash right into the ship with him. Instead, he grabbed Jax by the ear, yanking him upwards and back onto the boat.

Chapter Text

It had happened so fast that Pomni could barely react- only watching in shock as Jax was yanked upwards, away from her. Away from safety. The momentary sense of security, as sweet as it had been, was stripped away from them in an instant.

Pomni felt despair begin to creep into her mind. The lengths that had gone to survive this stupid adventure felt so fruitless, and she wished she could rip Caine a new one over it already, but instead they were still enduring the tortures he had set up.

She became aware that the boat was continuing to lower, and Jax was set to be left alone dealing with whatever was going on with Orbsman back on the ship. Would Jax really be able to win that fight alone? She wanted to believe he could…but she also knew her boyfriend.

She let out a frustrated groan and stood slowly within the ship, balancing precariously as it rocked beneath her. Ragatha, Zooble, and Gangle all looked to her in confusion- until Gangle was able to put the scenario together.

“Don’t do it!” She cried out reaching out towards Pomni.

“I’m sorry!” Pomni shouted as she jumped off the boat towards the shrinking ship in front of them. She grabbed on to the ledge of the balcony, her legs only a foot or so away from the freezing depths below. She dangled for a moment as Ragatha screamed out her name, being drowned out by the dark night as the boat descended farther away. No going back.

She took a deep breath before she pulled herself up and rolled onto the balcony, landing on her back- which made her conscious that she still had the axe from earlier holstered behind her shoulders. Water was already pooling up to her ankles, so she wasted no time in running towards the closest staircase and finding her way back to where Jax would be.

When she arrived, they were battling on the ground. Jax was on the floor, gun in one hand and the other pushing against Orbsman’s face. Orbsman was gripping Jax’s gun-holding wrist against the floor, his other flailing hopelessly trying to land blows.

Pomni ran up and grabbed the gun aiming it at Orbsman, causing him to back away slowly, Jax standing next to Pomni nervously. Pomni squeezed her eyes shut as she pulled the trigger, just wanting the nightmare to be over.

Orbsman did not seem to react, the three of them only exchanged awkward glances before Orbsman started racing towards them. Jax moved quickly, pushing Pomni to the floor and causing himself to be barreled by the oversized NPC in her place.

Jax felt a sharp pain in his lower back as he was pushed against the railing. Orbsman pressed further, and Jax summoned the courage to look over his shoulder and see the rushing water a short distance below. He pressed his eyes shut, hoping to block out what was inevitably going to happen, when suddenly Orbsman stumbled backwards, clutching at this size where his middle-orb had been cracked and chipped.

Jax looked behind him to see Pomni- chest heaving, her stance wide and eyes wild as she held an axe in both of her hands. She followed Orbsman with his eyes as he attempted to stumble away, then struck again, shattering his right leg completely and causing him to fall forward.

Jax witnessed as Pomni approached slowly, Orbsman turning onto his back.

“You locked me in a room.” Pomni stated coldly.

“YOU WERE DISLOYAL!!!” Orbsman screamed.

Pomni screamed back in response, raising the axe above her head before slamming it down onto his chest. Pomni stood there staring down at the unmoving NPC for a few moments. She was surprised for a moment at how easy it had been to defeat him, when Orbsman started flailing once more, causing her to scream in surprise.

She lifted the axe once more, and pummeled it down. Then she repeated the action over and over again, screaming the entire time. Jax looked on at her in utter admiration. He relished nothing more than seeing her become truly unhinged.

She continued hitting Orbsman until her arms were too tired to continue, then stepped back slowly before spitting on the shattered corpse that was once Orbsman. Jax approached her and grabbed her hand.

“I need you to know that that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen you do.”

“Yeah well.” Pomni laughed. “He deserved it.”

Jax's smile shifted after a few tender moments, his demeanor turning slightly angry. “But are you crazy?” He scolded.

“Huh?” Pomni questioned, taken aback by his attitude. “Cause I killed an NPC?”

“No, you psycho.” Jax continued, gesturing to the ship they were standing on. “Cause you literally ran back into a burning building!”

“Did you want me to just leave you here?!” Pomni argued.

“I want you off this stupid boat!”

“Well I want to be with you no matter what happens!” Pomni grabbed his hand. “We face things together, no more lone-wolf!”

“All you are doing is getting in the way.” Jax grumbled.

Pomni took a shocked step back. In the past few days, she had felt comfortable and confident in her bond with Jax. He had been more laidback, and all around less of a jerk. She knew the situation was tense to say the least, but she hadn’t expected him to become so cold so quickly.

Jax on the other hand, rejected the sentence as soon as he had uttered it. He refused to let it show on his face, but he was mentally tearing himself a new one for the behavior. He hated the lack of control he felt in moments of tension. His instincts are always shackling him into creating distance and avoiding the real issue.

The real issue being that Pomni was safe, she was fine, and now she is in danger again. Not only that, he was also in danger. For many years he had never felt any desire to save anyone, much less himself, but now he felt like he had to, and he hated that feeling.

The tension was thick as they stared at each other- gazes full of anger and hurt. The only thing that cut through the walls between them was when the large funnel behind them began to creak horrifically. Jax and Pomni looked up in unison as it cracked at the base, tumbling down towards NPCs who were scrambling about like headless chickens.

The collapsing funnel crashed directly on top of at least a dozen flailing NPCs, creating a cold splash as it collided and slowly sank down.

In a fleeting moment, Pomni grabbed Jax’s hand, squeezing tightly as the animosity between them was completely lost. The two realized how dire the situation truly was. The ship was now halfway sunken into the water, and if it was true to the original tale, would snap at any moment. There was another realization that hit Pomni as they took in the view.

“There are no more boats…are there…”

“Nope.”

Pomni felt fearful tears well up in her eyes.

“We are going to be in the water, aren’t we?”

Jax sighed. “Yeah.” He squeezed her hand and looked at her softly. “Yeah we are. We gotta go.”

Pomni wiped her tears with her hand before nodding at him, her lips pursed tightly closed. They turned and rushed towards the stern of the ship.

The boat was angled now, slowly descending into the turbulent waters that surrounded them. Jax and Pomni had to weave past NPCs that were slipping and gliding downwards around them.

Still holding tightly onto Jax’s hand, Pomni couldn’t fight the urge to look back. Several NPCs were fighting like gladiators for an overturned boat that already had several holes in it. Splashing in the water like sharks drawn to prey that doesn’t exist.

Pomni was about to comment on the spectacle when Jax slipped from her hand as she was jerked into a standstill. Jax was still running forward, the momentum and adrenaline blocking his ability to sense she was even gone. She looked down and saw a tattered NPC grabbing at her ankle.

“Please…help…” The NPC sputtered pathetically, trying to use its grip on Pomni to pull itself upward.

Pomni could only look on in pure horror, unable to comprehend the twisted depths of Caine’s mind that somehow conjured this nightmare into existence. She knew it was based in reality, and she wasn’t sure if that made things worse or not.

She opened her mouth to speak when the NPC was suddenly kicked in the head, knocking it down and forcing it to slide into the churning sea.

“Focus!” Jax scolded, grabbing her hand once more. “Please.”

“I-”

She couldn’t get a word in before Jax started moving again, pulling her along and keeping a steady pace. He led them to a balcony above the main stern area- helping Pomni climb over the metal face. She was not a stranger to simple jumps from her time exploring abandoned building, and was able to stick her landing fairly well despite the slippery surface beneath.

Jax had less luck.

He landed on one foot before falling forward onto his face. Much to his disdain, an NPC in a chef’s outfit grabbed his arm and helped him up.

“I’ve got you, sir!” The NPC declared cheerfully.

“Get off!” Jax shouted, shoving the chef off of him.

“Hey!” Pomni shouted. “Why don’t you focus?!”

“God, Pomni, not now.” Jax muttered, taking her hand again and pushing into the crowd.

They felt like two sardines in a can, surrounded by countless others writhing about. They felt suffocated, frustrated, and at their absolute wits end.

Pomni was about to try and talk to Jax, despite that bad timing, when she noticed him glaring at an NPC in front of them. The NPC wore a clergyman outfit, a book in his hands that resembled a bible but instead had Caine’s face embossed onto it. The NPC was reading from the book, preaching the words programmed into him.

“Though I walk through the valley of death-”

Jax shoved the NPC out of the way, pulling Pomni and himself forward.

“Walk faster next time!”

Pomni gripped Jax’s hand tighter. She was so frustrated- she knew this was not the easiest event to have to go through, but he was only making things all that more difficult. Why couldn’t he just keep a levelhead for once?

“We’re almost there.” Jax grumbled, not looking back at her.

Pomni held her tongue, not wanting to make things worse when there was so much at stake. She hated feeling trapped. After a few moments, the preacher NPC had found a way upwards, other NPCs grabbing onto his hand and seemingly looking to him for some sense of guidance.

”..and I saw new heavens and a new earth. The former heavens and the former earth had passed away and the sea was no longer.”

Pomni hated thinking about the limits of their hellscape, and she was slowly realizing the limits were not only physical. Every emotion, every relationship, everything real was limited when you were in the circus. There was no peace without the turbulence of being prisoners.

They would never truly die, never truly live out an existence. They would never be able to process things the way that human beings were designed to process things.

She was terrified that Jax could never truly be happy again. She was terrified of what that meant for her.

And even still, while she spiraled into these realizations, the preacher continued his haunting sermon.

“...he shall wipe every tear from their eyes. And there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away.”