Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jax’s eyes slowly blink open, taking in every inch of his surroundings. The same room every godforsaken day. The bright circus walls taunt him, reminding him that his torture here will never end. The living nightmare always continues. And even better, the day before he…started to open up to Pomni? Disgusting. How could he almost let her in? Let her know things about him that no one else in the circus really knows? That no one should know. He does not like thinking about that. So he doesn’t, pushing those thoughts far, far away. A weary sigh escapes as he slowly rises from the bed. Taking one last scan around the room, he moves toward the door, plastering his trademark smile on his face. A long, deep breathe before his hand finds the door handle, and he leaves this somewhat respite from his mental prison.

The bright circus lights hit first, overpowering reds, yellows, and pinks. Though, that is unfortunately not the only horrid sight to grace his eyes. Before he can flee, his gaze lands on the clown leaving her room as well. Geeze, perfect timing. Her pinwheel eyes meet his and for a moment they both freeze, locked in the memories of yesterday—the flowing conversation, the teamwork, the fight.

Pomni’s hands find each other and she begins to fidget before breaking the silence, “I…uh…about yester—“

“Listen, Pomni,” Jax cuts her off. “Being a team was fun and all, but don’t think too deeply about it.”

He immediately turns to leave, not staying to hear, “Oh…okay…got it,” stumble out of her mouth.

He misses the concern in her eyes, the wanting to say something else, the hand raised to stop him for just a moment. He doesn’t see any of it. And as he leaves her alone in the hallway, he pushes the small twinge in his chest out of his mind.

Yet, he can’t ignore the echoing tip tap of feet behind him moments later. They slowly catch up, despite the extreme difference in heights. Jax keeps his hands confined to his pockets and his eyes anywhere but on the small figure finding its way next to him. The bunny and jester enter the main room together, where the rest of the gang is sitting at the large table, as they do every morning. Breakfast.

Routines like this put a knot in Jax’s stomach more than the idea of eating Bubble’s digital garbage. Normalcy in this place is sickening. There is absolutely nothing normal about this and he’s getting sick of everyone pretending. Yesterday didn’t help. He can’t shake this feeling that Pomni isn’t buying anything he says. That right before he tried to leave her behind this morning, she saw through him again.

“Oh Pomni! Good morning!!” Ragatha cheerfully exclaims, throwing Jax back to the moment. “And uh…good morning to you too, Jax.” The second bit comes out more hesitantly than she hoped, and everyone picks up on it.

“Good morning!” Pomni chimes back, finding an empty seat next to Gangle. She’s really started settling in.

The five characters at the table go through basic morning pleasantries, slowly scratching away at the already minimal patience Jax had for the day.

“Hey, Rags, save some food for me,” he retorts, pushing his way to the table and finding the seat on the other side of Pomni. “I’m here too!”

“Oh uh, sorry Jax,” she stammers. “You don’t often join us for breakfast.”

Jax feels Pomni’s eyes glance to him. He can feel the questioning, the attempts to push through the walls again. Not happening.

“Ha, can’t a guy catch a break!” he covers, the mask slipping only for a moment. Not long enough for anyone to see. Almost. “Just felt like having some…” his eyes dart to the table, “…soup for breakfast?”

“Uh huh,” Ragatha judges, arms crossing in disbelief.

Before Jax can dig himself a deeper hole, Caine pops into existence, “Hello, my Fantastic Foxes!”

Everyone groans. Except Kinger.

“Today, I have an incredible adventure for you all! You are all going to get the opportunity to swim with starving, deadly, horrifying, ginormous, robotic great white sharks!” He puts emphasis on every word, like this is his most genius idea yet.

Zooble immediately interjects, “Nope, see ya later.” They stand to leave the table, Caine immediately begins pleading for them to join on the adventure.

Pomni speaks up too, “Uh, I actually agree with Zooble…I think maybe this adventure isn’t a good fit for me…”

Mumbles of agreement come out of Gangle and Ragatha too.

This causes Caine to just float there, eyes wide, entering what looks like the state moment before he starts to glitch. Zooble catches this.

“Well Caine, what if we did the suggestion box today instead,” they rush out.

Caine snaps back to reality. “The suggestion box…” he thinks aloud.

Gangle adds in, “I liked the adventures last time. They were actually quite fun!” Her comedy mask is dawned today, no cracks yet. Yet.

Jax scoffs. The adventure sounded pretty cool to him. Who doesn’t wanna see these toys get chased around by a bunch of scary robotic sharks? He gets lost in thought, imagining Zooble getting eaten. Caine is already digging into the suggestion box. He pulls out a slip with “abandoned building” written on it. Scribbled in even smaller font below it, “please nothing scary.” Pomni. The “YouTuber.” Jax rolls his eyes, but secretly knows it’s actually pretty cool. He won’t tell her that.

“Oh, that’s mine!” Pomni expresses. “We don’t have to do that one if you all aren’t interested.”

“No, Pomni, it sounds fun!” Ragatha adds.

“Yeah, plus I’ve done it a few times,” Zooble says. “Might be nice to have some normalcy.”

There it is again. Normalcy. Normal. The word scorches his thoughts.

“Well that settles it my Flowery Felines!” Caine states, throwing in some more nonsensical names. “Abandoned building adventure it is!”

Nods and sounds of general interest course through the group. Guess it can’t be too bad. Not Ragatha getting torn up by sharks, but maybe some fun can come outta this adventure.

“But no promises on ‘nothing scary’!” Caine adds quickly.

No one gets a chance to protest. He snaps his finger, and a portal appears. Before everyone is forced through, Jax dawns a mischievous, plotting grin. Maybe he can have some fun on this adventure.

Chapter Text

Jax flies out of the portal, his face making contact with the cold, wooden floor. He groans in pain and pulls himself up. Glancing around the room, there isn’t much to see. Because he can’t see. It’s pitch black. 

“Tch, seriously?” he says to himself. 

Alone in the adventure? How is he supposed to mess with the others? Annoying. He begins slowly moving forward, arms outstretched so he doesn’t collide with a wall. After only a few steps, his foot kicks something hard, causing whatever the object is to roll forward a few inches. He huffs and gets down onto his knees, hands roaming the floor for the item. 

“Aha!” he says proudly, grasping the cylinder and hopping back up to his feet. He spins it around until his gloved finger makes contact with a button. A bright flash blinds him and he jumps, almost dropping the flashlight. 

“Crap!” he exclaims, quickly switching the flashlight around, now facing the surrounding walls. With the emitting light, his eyes adjust and he manages to see the design Caine has created for this adventure. It appears Jax was dumped in the hallway at the main entrance to a building. The light skims the worn, wooden door, the windows boarded up, the spiderwebs with bugs crawling all around. Heh, maybe some centipedes are in here for Ragatha. Jax chuckles at the hopeful thought. 

Turning towards the center of the uninviting building, the light can’t quite reach the end of the long hallway. The void of darkness stares at him. Jax shivers for a moment, eyes widening, replicating the darkness set in front of him. A creak sounds from above and he shakes off the fear that momentarily began to creep up on him. 

Continuing to scan, he processes what type of building he is standing in. The wallpaper is cheap, 90s looking, starting to peel off. Pieces are scattered on the ground with dust and asbestos. On either side where Jax stands are open entrances to large rooms. His left houses what appears to be furniture-chairs and couches, possibly a coffee table? However, it's hard to fully make out as formerly white linens drape across the pieces. Impressive. Caine made it realistic, almost like someone was about to move out and then…didn’t? A breeze blows through the cracks of the wood boarding up the windows, making the coverings wave oh so gently. Unsettling honestly, feeling a little too real. 

Jax begins to focus on the room to the right of him when another sound arises from above. A loud bang, rushed footsteps, then another loud crash. Jax is extremely well versed in horror movies–he should get out of this situation as fast as possible. Following the sound would only lead to his ultimate demise at the hands of the murderer. But, this isn’t a horror movie, it's a digital adventure. None of this is real. He can't really die, even if he wanted to. He’s gonna go find whatever thing Caine left lurking in this building. Maybe it's an axe wielding serial killer, Jax could vibe with that.

He manages to find the staircase pressed against the hallway, or what is left of the staircase. In front of the first step is a crowbar. Jax picks it up and presses the cold metal tight in his hand.

A yellow grin spreads across his face, “Oh yeah, I am gonna mess up whatever thing is upstairs.” 

He ascends the stairs carefully. Each step creaks with the pressure of his foot, and he has to skip one every now and then as the old wood has already caved in. In no time, he reaches the top of the landing. The left is the overhang leading to more rooms. A quick flash of light shows all the doors closed, and besides, that’s not where the ruckus came from. Jax refocuses his attention to the right where a door is wide open and he can hear mumbling. He lingered a moment before trudging forward. I mean hey, a guy can be a little hesitant in this scenario, even if it isn’t real. He grips his flashlight in one hand, crowbar ready to strike in the other. As he inches closer, the mumbling becomes clearer, and he could almost make out the words. The voice was actually closer to a hushed singing and he began to realize what–or who–he found. He sets the makeshift weapon as ease. No beating up scary monsters today. Jax frowns.

At last in the room, he is able to make out a bed against the back wall, covered in moth-eaten blankets and throw pillows clearly torn apart by some animal. As the light flows around the room, rats skitter across the ground and run into a hole in the wall. Finally, it lands on a figure clinging to itself like a helpless child. The small frame sits in the corner of the room, knees tucked to its chest rocking gently back and forth. Quietly, but just loud enough that Jax can hear, “...give me your answer do. I’m half crazy all for the love of–” 

“Pomni?” Jax interrupts her singing. 

“%$!#,” Pomni shouts, jumping out of her trance and pressing her back to the wall. “What the %$!#, Jax!” 

Jax cannot contain his laughter, barely managing words, “S-sorry, Pompom. I didn’t–didn’t expect to find you here.” He wipes tears from his face, still barely able to function. The fear on her face! This is her adventure! What a loser. 

“God Jax, why’d you sneak up on me like that?” Pomni asks, burying her head into her hands, trying to disappear. 

“Sneak up on you?” Jax repeats, dawning a smirk. “You looked possessed in the corner; I just followed the haunting singing drifting down the hall.”

“You heard that?” 

“Duh, it's a quiet, abandoned building. But..why that song?” 

“Oh, I just…uh…it was…comforting I guess,” Pomni attempts. 

Comforting? Why would that be…ohhhh. 

“Aww, because we sang it together?” Jax taunts. He holds his hands together and feigns blushing while batting his eyes. “How cute! I didn’t know it meant so much to you, PomPom.” 

He puts emphasis on her name, attempting to throw her off even more, because the embarrassment she’s feeling already isn’t enough for him. 

“Cu-cute?” 

And now the tables have turned. 

“Well uh…” Jax stutters out, a blush forming on his cheeks. “You know what I meant, don’t overthink it, Jester.” 

Cute? Why would he say that? He was just trying to make fun of her. 

He flicks the flashlight off. Pomni jumps again. 

“JAX!” she shouts. “Why would you do that?” 

“Whaaaaat?” he responds, glad his reddened face is now hidden in the darkness. 

“Ugh whatever.” 

“What were you even freaking out over anyway? I know you’re a scaredy cat, but I thought you used to do this stuff all the time.” 

“No, yeah, the uh…building is actually pretty cool and all it was the uh…” Pomni gestures toward the center of the room. Nothing is there, at least as far as either of them can tell in the pitch blackness. “Nevermind.”

“Gotcha," Jax affirms.

“Can you uh…turn the flashlight back on please.” 

“Oh yeah, sure,” he says, flicking the switch back on. 

Pomni has stood up now, huffing as she brushes the dust and debris off her costume. It dawns on Jax that they are talking normally again, just like during the last adventure. He has to be more careful this time though. He can’t let his guard down, can’t accidentally let Pomni slip through the cracks. 

“Have you seen anyone else from the Circus in the building?” Pomni asks. 

“Not yet,” Jax replies. “Guess you’re stuck with just me for now.” Jax winks at her with a self-satisfied smile.

“Whatever.” Pomni rolls her eyes, but still finds her way next to him. “Let’s just get out of this room.” 

She gives one last glance around the room, attempting to hide a shiver run down her back, before exiting into the hallway. It wasn't hidden well, and Jax contemplates what freaked her out so bad. His mind drifts, eyeing every aspect of the room like a detective. 

“Hurry up, I can’t see out here,” Pomni shouts. 

Jax stares for one more moment before following after her. 

Chapter Text

The hallway outside the room is somehow more unsettling than Jax remembers, like Caine cranked up the creepiness level. He probably did, that sicko. Pomni stands there, awkwardly fidgeting with her hat. 

“What’s wrong, Pomni?” Jax pokes, raising his eyebrow. “Waiting for me to save you?” 

Pomni huffs, “It’s too dark out here to move freely and this building is going to %$!#. I just don’t want to fall through the %$!#ing floor.”

“Oooh, calm down, clown. Touched a soft spot did I?” 

“Jax, can you just…not right now. You were fine five seconds ago and I just want to get through this adventure.” 

Coyly, he starts to reply, “Huh, I don’t know what you’re referring to. I-”

“Please,” Pomni shuts him down. No harshness in her voice, just clear honesty and need. 

“Alright, geez, jester. Don’t get your pompoms in a twist.” 

Jax decides to relent. Plus, it’s not like Pomni is trying to push him to open up or whatever. She just usually…bites back a little more? I guess he doesn’t have to be a total jerk on this adventure. Not a total jerk though, he’s still gonna be Jax. 

Pomni takes the lead as she begins walking to the rooms on the other side of the walkway. Jax slinks behind her, using the flashlight to brighten the bath. There are three doors in total, all worn and chipped, but different colors. Pomni tries the handle of the first door. It jimmies but doesn’t move much more than that.

“Ugh, seriously,” she exclaims. 

“Let me try,” Jax responds, squeezing past her. He tries and tries the handle, pushing his whole body against the door and it doesn’t budge. 

“I don’t think that’s gonna work, Jax.” 

“Ugh, this sucks,” he says, moving away from the door. 

Pomni pushes past him and begins looking at the door more closely, “Jax, give me some more light here.” 

Jax obliges. He observes her as she examines the handle, a scrunched up face, puzzling over how to get the door open. Cute. 

“So, I think it has two locks, and knowing Caine…” Pomni looks up to Jax, who is leaning against the door, holding the light shining down on her, with a soft smile stretched across his face. “Jax?” 

“Huh wha..?” he jolts out of his daze, realizing the scene that had just taken place…and what exactly he was thinking about. 

“Are you doing okay?” Pomni questions, eyeing him. 

“Yeah, obviously,” Jax rushes out, fixing his face.

“Are you sure cause you just…seem a little off and-”

“I’m fine, Pomni,” Jax cuts her off. “Gosh, stop worrying so much.” 

Jax gives his classic smirk, making sure the mask is fully on. Why does it keep slipping anyway? What was he even thinking about anyway…oh. He is not going to internalize that right now, or ever hopefully. 

Pomni stares at him hard, eyes squinted, searching for something more, hoping his face will reveal something. “Mhm,” she mumbles. 

“Anyway,” she continues. “It appears we need to find two keys to unlock this %$!# door.” 

“Two keys?” Jax repeats, attempting to follow what is happening in the present and not what was happening in his head.

“Yeah and my guess is we have to go into our rooms over there,” Pomni gestures to the other doors. 

“Our rooms?” Jax repeats again, glancing at the doors now. 

His flashlight reveals what she means by “our.” The door on the left is mainly painted purple, though chips of paint scatter at the bottom of the entrance. The door handle is pink, matching the color of his overalls–Jax’s door. A second flashlight also sits among the paint chips. The third door is a swirl of blue and red with a little bell as a doorknob–obviously Pomni’s. Weird. 

“So what?” Jax asks. “Caine created our own rooms in this abandoned building?” 

“I guess…” Pomni responds. “Each room probably has one of the keys to the door.” 

“Alright, well let’s get this stupid adventure over with. Here!” Jax tosses his flashlight to Pomni. She scrambles to catch it, almost dropping it multiple times before managing a firm grasp. Jax struts forward and grabs the flashlight in front of his door, switching it on. He slips his crowbar into a pocket. Don’t question how that works, it's a digital world. 

“See ya in a bit,” Jax smirks, placing a hand on his door handle and walking…straight into the door. 

“Ow! %$!#!” Jax yells, stumbling backwards, a red bump forming on his forehead. 

Pomni begins with a soft chuckle before she can contain her laughter much more. Jax holds a hand to his forehead where it had connected with the door. 

“Hey, that was not funny!” Jax yells, cheeks now beginning to match the red bump.

“Sorry sorry,” Pomni says, wiping tears from her eyes, a smile still gracing her expression. “Are you alright?” 

And despite the laughter, the concern is genuine. It takes Jax aback for a minute. He is used to the other laughing at him, they see him as a joke. He is the “funny one,” but he knows the rest of the circus doesn’t see him like that. This felt less like being laughed at. It felt more like…he couldn’t quite explain, but he didn’t hate it. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alright,” Jax shrugs off her concern, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. 

Pomni moves herself towards her door. “I wonder if it's locked or..” she trails off, trying her handle as well. It turns, but it doesn’t open. “Weird…” 

“Ugh, Caine this adventure is so stupid,” Jax says loud enough for the teeth to hear. He knows he’s watching, probably loving the entertainment. 

Pomni is thinking, face scrunched up again. She wears her damn emotions on her sleeve, Jax thinks, resulting in another subtle smile crossing his face. 

“I wonder if…” she says, eyes staring down Jax’s door. She moves in front of Jax’s door and tries the handle. It turns and…opens! 

“Aha!” Pomi exclaims.

“Huh?” Jax quirks his head to the side, confusion dawning.

“For some reason, I think Caine made it so we have to go into each other’s room.” Pomni is smiling proudly back at Jax. 

“Okay…” 

“So I’ll go into your room and you’ll have to go into mine!”

“Okay, I think I’m following.” 

“So, are you ready?” Pomni asks. And before he can finish, she throws in, “Partner?” 

“Yeah, uh, yeah, sure…partner!” 

Pomni holds out a little fist-bump excitedly, almost dawning the evil persona she put on the day prior. Trying to hide her fear of what may lay inside the following rooms Jax guesses–cute. He obliges the action and returns the fist-bump. The small contact sends a little shot through him, ears slightly standing at attention. %$!#. He needs to fix whatever is wrong with him right now. 

Instead, Jax finds his way in front of Pomni’s door. They both look at each other and give a knowing nod before slipping through the doors, each shutting behind them with a quiet bang. 

Chapter Text

%$!#! %$!#! %$!#! What was that? Pomni finds herself entering the room Caine has created for…Jax? Or she guesses Caine created for her to enter with the idea of Jax in mind? She doesn’t know, she hasn’t thought that far ahead. She doesn’t really get, well, any of this. But besides the adventure, what is even going on right now?

Pomni and Jax haven’t really “made up” from what happened yesterday, but she is struggling to stay upset at him. She knows she’s not totally innocent in the situation, especially with that abstraction comment. She’s only been in this circus a short time and she needs to be more careful with her choice of words. Jax is still human, even if he tries to convince everyone, including himself, he isn’t. And yeah, he acts like a jerk, but she had gotten through to him. They were talking like friends! Having fun! Being a team! She finally felt like she had someone in this circus. Not that she doesn’t appreciate Ragatha and Kinger and the rest of the crew, but she hasn’t really felt like anyone got her like…like Jax. And then he just completely shut down, acted like nothing they had done mattered. Acted like he hadn’t told her about his fears and that they hadn’t bonded. He put this facade up and said…he wouldn’t even care if she abstracted. Even if she was playing as “evil” Pomni, part of that was still just her having fun and it felt…real. And human. Which she hadn’t really felt since getting thrown into this weird digital circus.

And what the %$!# was going on with Jax today. The cold attitude he was projecting was expected, but she keeps seeing these expressions appear on his face that had never been there before, not even yesterday. Just a small smile here or there, like he’s lost in thought, but he’s looking right at her. It’s weird but…endearing? It’s honestly a little unsettling to see Jax like that, but as soon as he gets brought back to reality, the kind grin has disappeared.

Then that other bit…he called her cute. It was in a somewhat mocking tone, or at least Jax tried to pass it off like that, but when Pomni questioned him he got kinda…flustered? Everything has just been so weird but…whatever. At least they are both talking and it's somewhat normal again. Her real priority needs to be the problem at hand, finding the key in this room. 

Pomni manages to calm the thoughts spinning through her head and process her surroundings. She now realizes what exactly is going to be in this room…and her room. Around her is essentially Jax’s worst nightmare, trypophobia galore lines the floors, the walls, the ceilings. Above her, it appears to be covered with the seeds of a pomegranate, the floor, corn. The walls are just holes and holes and holes. In the very center of the room is a single mannequin wearing a maid dress. 

“So the room is…our biggest fears?” Pomni questions aloud. “Or I guess what Caine can guess is our biggest fears. Judging by this actually being filled with things Jax hates, he must be a little more observant than we give him credit for.”

Pomni approaches the maid dress wearing mannequin and sees a note attached to the front. It reads: In order to find the key to the attic, you must wear the maid dress and search for the keys in one of the holes in the wall.

“Huh?” Pomni blinks, staring at the note. “What went through Caine’s %$!#ing head when he came up with this?” 

She lets the note fall from her hand to the ground of corn and heads back for the door, only it has…disappeared. 

“Oh, %$!# this!” 

Pomni reluctantly turns back toward the maid dress and lumbers toward it. “How am I even supposed to put this %$!#ing thing on?” She grasps at the fabric before a ding rings through the room. The mannequin disappears and instead it is her wearing the maid dress. 

Pomni huffs at the mortifying piece of clothing that has formed on her body. She actually prefers the jester outfit if she had to choose. But at least she is going through this so Jax doesn’t have to, right? Though she isn’t quite certain she wants Jax to see what is in her room either. That might be a more distressing thought than anything she is experiencing right now. 

“Well, I guess I need to get this over with.” 

Pomni begins to tackle the task at hand. She isn’t quite sure why the maid dress is a part of this, but she has to suffer with it nonetheless. She moves to the first wall and reluctantly sticks her hand into the hole and feels around. All it finds is hard, unfinished wood and nothing else. She removes her hand and the hole disappears. 

“Oh, well that will make this easier I guess.” 

She moves onto the next hole and does not find just wood, but instead touches a slimy substance. The moment she processes the feeling, she withdraws back quickly and that hole, too, closes up. 

“Great, that part isn’t gonna make this adventure as easy.” 

Pomni gives a little shiver before moving onto the next hole, and the next, and the next, and the next. Suddenly, a bell rings and a digital clock appears in front of her. It has ten minutes listed on the screen and immediately starts counting down. The moment the clock starts, the ceiling begins to move. Ever so slowly, it is lowering. 

“%$!#!” 

Pomni, now realizing there is a limit on how much time she has left before she is crushed from above, comes up with a new solution. She attaches the flashlight to her hip so both hands are free and begins speed-running the process. Both hands find a cavern quickly and then pull out. The opening closes immediately and Pomni moves on. She does this more and more and the ceiling is drawing closer. 

The timer hits five minutes and the pomegranate seeds are barely a few inches above her. For once, she is grateful for her short stature. But the ceiling continues to draw closer and closer, pressing on the cloth of frilled linen sitting on her head. Glancing around for a moment, she realizes this is the final cavity in the wall. Reaching inside, her gloved hand finds a small, metal item sitting inside. 

“The key!” she exclaims. 

A loud ding sounds and the timer stops. Everything around her disappears and suddenly she is transported back outside the door. The quick motion of it all throws her off balance, and she lands on the ground. Jax’s door is now boarded up with wood. Good, she doesn’t want to enter there ever again. 

The red and blue door, where Jax resides, is still just as before. “Guess he hasn’t found the key yet.” 

She huffs and goes to fidget with the bells of her hat only to realize…she is still wearing the maid costume. 

“Ugh, what?” she asks, desperately grasping at the fabric. She pulls and pulls and it will not budge. “Caine, I am gonna kill you for this.” 

She keeps pulling and pulling. And all of a sudden, Jax pops into the hallway too, holding a key.

%$!#!

Chapter Text

Hey y'all! Sorry I haven't updated in a bit.

Full honesty, I wasn't sure where I wanted to take this fic to start, but I have a much better idea now. I am working on rewriting parts of it and am going to post when I am happy with it.

I am a full-time teacher and writing this is truly my stress relief during my busy weeks, but I want to be happy with the writing I put into the world. I also want to get more chapters done. Please feel free to check out my story "A Gunshot Through the Heart" which will have the first few chapters rewritten and continue the story! I'll keep this story up for a white, but delete it once that one catches up to where this one left off.