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This has got to be another one of Caine’s crazy plans to get them to like his adventures more than the ones he and the others put in the suggestion box.
Don’t get him wrong, Jax is actually having a pretty great time right now! Most of the adventures they have gone on to, so far, were his suggestions, after all.
Plus, he kind of already guessed that most of his ideas will be the ones that Caine uses. Most of the time, he suggests stuff that are exactly the AI’s level of chaos, or it’s probably because he is the only one who puts up with Caine’s insane, bullcrap adventures and acts like he’s having an awesome time in them.
All this to say that the ringmaster is as predictable and easy to manipulate to his will as always.
And then the next adventure is one of Gangle’s ideas, and it sucks.
Seriously, an anime setting with the genre being slice of life? Out of all the genres to be picked from, Ribbons chose the lamest one?
Jax is quick to tell Gangle off about that. Come on, they could have had a cool action-packed or superhero adventure, but of course she suggests the chill one!
After a bit of blackmailing on his part, the masked girl finally comes to her senses and readily agrees on changing the adventure. Good, it was getting boring fast.
At least she didn’t suggest some weird shoujo thing or whatever. Jax supposes he can thank his lucky stars for that.
However, the next adventure is… not really any better.
Jax is already lying down on the cool grass. He looks around at his surroundings. It’s dark, with the night sky and fireflies the only thing illuminating any source of light. Above them all, he can see a word among the countless, digital stars. He has to squint a bit to make out what the word even says.
Stargazing
He freezes internally.
Of course, it had to be this one.
A chill runs down his spine. Why would Caine even choose this one? He already chose 2 out of the many, many more suggestions he wrote down—he could’ve picked one of those or even someone else’s suggestion.
So, why this?
An old, bitter memory resurfaces in his mind.
Nope.
Nope. He is not doing this. Not now, not ever.
But the memory is persistent, and is all Jax can really think about now.
It was at a time way before Ribbit abstracted.
None of them were really okay, with Ribbit being the most obvious one. Their temper seemed so short all the time now, and she would often find solace in her own room rather than hang out with Jax and Kaufmo nowadays. The two tried their best to help her through their own ways, but nothing appeared to work.
During these rough times, the only way Jax was able to really talk to them was through his pranks.
And Ribbit, ever Jax’s supportive prankster-partner, didn’t take any of Jax’s pranks on them in good faith.
Their conversations turned into a war of painful arguments. Once friendly banter turned into shouting matches with personal jabs at each others’ personalities and issues that they relied and swore not to turn against on the other.
It carried on to the adventures they had. The two of them, ever the competitive and unforgiving bunch of the group, would take turns in making the other as miserable as possible in whatever thing Caine had set up for them.
Kaufmo tried his best to alleviate the situation, before things could get out of hand, but even he couldn’t handle the pressure when one of them turned on him as well. After that, the clown chose to isolate himself as well, avoiding any form of involvement in the two's fights.
Jax always thought that Kaufmo was a coward for that.
And as more days passed by, it became clear to Jax just how bad their little trio’s friendship was deteriorating. He may be a jerk, but he did understand and could acknowledge when things got out of hand to the point that neither he nor the others could control it anymore.
So, with a bit of pride-swallowing and decision-making, Jax came up with a brilliant idea to get them back together!
See, Caine recently added a new feature to the circus. A suggestion box where they could put their own ideas that Caine can try out as an adventure!
Sure, they haven’t actually tested it out yet, but he assumed it’s because the cast put way too many ideas already and Caine hasn’t checked them all. Nevertheless, he still decided to write down an adventure. One that was not really his style of adventures. An idea that no one would think could be in Jax’s nature.
’Create an adventure where everyone can just hang out, relax, and talk… or stargaze or something..’
Boy, Jax wasn’t good at this stuff, huh?
No matter! He was determined to take the path of setting things right with Ribbit, now. Somewhere deep inside of him—past all the ego, pride, and pranks—he truly did miss the frog and clown characters. They were his best friends, the only people who made this living , digital hell of a circus bearable.
He had to do the next right thing.
… Except, it never happened.
Ribbit abstracted after their last argument during a snow adventure. And it became clear to Jax that his suggestion was never going to be done, anyway, as Caine never used any of the cast’s ideas.
And even the thinnest rope of Jax and Kaufmo’s friendship snapped the moment Ribbit abstracted, so there wasn’t any hope for them to reconnect, too.
Whatever.
He didn’t care. There was nothing to care about.
Not anymore.
”Are we just chilling for this one?” Pomni’s voice brings him back to himself. Right, he’s on the (fake) grassy floor. He stares at her through half-lidded eyes, feigning boredom. “Can I finally relax?”
Jax makes sure to reply quickly, “Uh, I guess so? But uh,” he needs to cover up for how quiet he is being earlier, “I prefer a little bite to my adventures.”
This is fine. He tunes out whatever Kinger says to him and Pomni.
Sure, it’s an adventure he specifically made so that he and his best friends can talk their problems out. Even if said friends are no longer there with him.
… Okay, wow. His brain needs to shut up for a moment.
He turns to face Gangle and Zooble, instead. His eyebrows furrow, and he supposes that he can still use the goal of this adventure in the form of talking to Pomni. Just to keep the memories at a distance.