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After the disappointing last adventure, which was supposed to be a quiet day at the beach, the whole gang sat together at the breakfast table.
For half an hour, none of them spoke a word, until Zooble finally broke the silence.
“Why the [BEEP] did you do that yesterday, Jax?” she asked.
"What did I do? I was right all along that it was all fake!" he defended himself.
"Yes...but you ran towards the console like a madman and banged on the button!" Zooble remarked, "That can't have been your only reason!"
"And even if..." Jax grumbled.
"SO IT IS SO!" shouted Zooble, "So you WANTED us all to HAVE to stay here if all of this HAD been real!"
Jax's eyes widened and he began to breathe heavily.
"Jax!" Pomni shouted. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
She walked over to him and took his hand. Surprisingly, he offered no resistance, which worried the others.
It took Pomni 10 minutes to calm him down again.
"Um...Jax...I didn't mean to!", Zooble apologized.
"It's okay...I deserved it!" Jax replied weakly. "I almost went into abstraction yesterday if Pomni hadn't been at my door!"
Everyone looked shocked.
"Tell me that's not true!" Ragatha cried, tears welling in her eyes.
"Why does this affect you so much?" Jax asked. "I thought you hated me?!"
“I hate your behavior, but I don’t want you to die!” Ragatha replied.
“Nobody here wants that!” added Gangle.
Jax glanced over at Zooble.
"No! Not even I want that!" sighed Zooble. "And Pomni probably doesn't either!"
"Pomni should hate me!" Jax said quietly.
“But I can’t!” Pomni replied. “I don’t think you’re really such a bad person!”
“I can confirm that!” said Ragatha. “In his first few years here, he was much more approachable than he is today! He and I were even…friends.”
"And what has that changed?" Pomni wanted to know.
"I think the reason is..." Ragatha started to say, but then she saw that Jax had begun to cry. "Oh... I probably shouldn't bring that up."
"Oh Jax. You're obviously having problems!" Pomni said gently. "Please let me help you!"
“No one can help me anymore!” Jax replied. “It’s too late!”
"I actually believe you!", Zooble said sarcastically.
Jax stood up and pointed his finger at Zooble.
"You wanted to know why I pressed the wrong button. Let me tell you: I CAN'T GO BACK! Nobody's waiting for me there anymore, except the police!"
"OMG, I KNEW it!" Zooble exclaimed. "You're a violent criminal!"
"No damn it, that's not me!" Jax shouted back. "Everything I did to you here, I would NEVER have done in the real world! This is a cartoon world, so nothing really happened to you!"
"And why were you bothering us in the first place? And what the hell is this crime you committed?" Zooble asked.
Jax sighed.
"Okay: 1. After Ribbit's death, I couldn't cope with life in this virtual world anymore (if you want to call it that). I almost became abstracted myself shortly after Ribbit, but the meanness protected me from it happening again. And 2. I caused a car accident and lost my parents and my girlfriend."
"Oh Jax!" Pomni said sadly. "First this, and then you lose Ribbit too. Now I understand why you don't want me near."
"That's not the only reason!" sighed Jax. "I also want to protect you from abstraction!"
Pomni just looked at him questioningly.
"Ribbit is abstract. She was my best friend here, besides Ragatha. And later Kaufmo too, who I was also friends with. Everyone who gets involved with me has to die eventually, and I…" Jax said in a tearful tone. "Pomni, I like you! I really do! That's why I don't want to drive you to your death!"
Now Pomni also began to cry, and even Ragatha joined in.
“Jax…please…I understand your fear, but I’m fine, I won’t abstract!” said Pomni, as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Oh Pomni...I'm so sorry for what I said to you after the weapons adventure!", Jax said tearfully.
“I know Jax, I know!” Pomni replied, hugging Jax.
He flinched at first, but then returned the hug.
Gangle and Ragatha smiled when they saw this. Zooble just looked on in disbelief.
“Perhaps we should all stick together from now on?!” said Kinger, who had previously stayed out of the situation.
"I think Kinger's right!" said Jax as he and Pomni broke the hug. "After what happened yesterday, pranks don't make sense anymore! We have to stand up to Caine!"
Everyone else nodded.
"So you'll spare us from now on?" Zooble asked skeptically.
"I probably won't be able to resist making a sarcastic comment or two!" Jax grinned. "But yes, I won't hurt you anymore! To be honest, I often felt guilty after the pranks. Especially with Ragatha."
"Really?" Ragatha asked in astonishment. "I always thought you couldn't stand me!"
Jax sighed. "Your fake cheerfulness is getting on my nerves!" he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked, but then it clicked. "Oh...that...yes...that's my own defense mechanism against abstraction!"
"That actually makes sense!" Jax replied, extending his hand. "Shall we try again as friends?"
Ragatha, shocked, began to cry and took Jax in her arms. He just sighed and hugged her back.
As they broke the embrace, he turned to Gangle.
"You didn't deserve any of this! I'm sorry! I probably did it because you and Zooble have the strangest bodies here," he said. "But I don't actually have anything against you!"
"Oh..." squeaked Gangle. "Okay, apology accepted."
Jax looked at Zooble, but didn't dare to speak to her.
After some hesitation, he finally said: "We're both sarcastic and have short fuses. That's why we'll probably keep clashing in the future. I've always said how stupid you look, but I actually kind of think your avatar is cool."
Zooble would have smiled if she could and replied, "Okay Jax, if you're really serious about this, then let's give it a try!"
They shook hands and Jax smiled.
"So...what are we doing today?" Jax asked. "Caine didn't dare to start a new adventure today after what happened yesterday."
“We could play board games and stuff like that!” suggested Pomni.
"Okay, but I'm a sore loser!" Jax remarked.
“Pomni will bring you back down to earth!” said Zooble.
"Okay, let's get started then!" shouted Jax.
Pomni sat down next to him and looked at him with a warm smile.
“Pomni?” he asked.
“Yes, Jax?” she asked in return.
"I love you!" he said.
"I love you too!" she replied.