Fumi @fumixations - Tumblr Blog

❛❛Disconnected❜❜ | CHAPTER 2: Three of a Kind

ᯓ★ Masterlist // Chapter 1

Status: Ongoing

Word Count: 8.7K

Summary: All Pomni ever wants is to check out the "thing in the hall" that Jax brought up during their last adventure, and be done with her day . . .

But how did things take such an unexpected turn?

Tags: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Continuation after episode 5, Jax has a crush on Pomni, Jealous Jax, Lesbian Ragatha, Doomed Yuri, Kinger Needs a Hug, Jax/Pomni, Princess Loolilalu/Ragatha, Gangle/Zooble

C/W: Torture, Implied/Referenced Suicide

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁

Everyone is seated at the dining table for breakfast—not that eating in the circus actually matters, none of them have any organs or digestive systems inside their funny cartoon bodies. Pomni silently stares at her empty plate while her circus members are talking amongst themselves, their voices inaudible due to her absent presence of mind. She snaps out of her daze after seeing a familiar hand offer her pixelated bread and fried eggs with a fork.

“Eat up, Pomni. You’re gonna drill a hole from staring too hard!” Jax says with his all-too-familiar sly tone in his voice. She looks at him, seated beside her.

“No thanks. I don’t do artificial, unrealistic-looking food.” She grimaces at the contents on her plate.

Zooble chimes in, “Since when did you care about what she does with the food?”

“Yeah, Pomni doesn’t even eat anything here.” Ragatha joins in from the end of the table, leaning a bit forward to their direction. “Stop bothering her, Jax.”

“That’s because she hasn’t tried yet,” he says, insistently offering her a piece of bacon on his fork. “Come on, say ah!”

“I don’t see the point in eating if I can live without it here,” Pomni deadpans.

“It’s not about that. It’s about the taste!” He flails the fork almost near her face, making her lean away from it. “Here, just try it already.”

“Does it actually taste like anything . . . ?”

“He’s lying—”

“Shut up!” He quickly shoots Ragatha a glare before shifting back to Pomni. “Don’t listen to her. And I’m not telling. You gotta find out for yourself.”

Pomni eyes him, feeling uneasy. “Yeah, uhm . . . it’s okay. I’ll pass.”

“Booo! Don’t be boring.”

“Why don’t you eat it?” Pomni asks, weirded out by his determination. “Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen you eat either. I don’t think you even can.”

“What? I sit beside you all the time. Don’t you notice?

“I-I don’t really—”

“Right, you shut your brain off every mealtime. Never mind,” he says, throwing his hand at her face to cut her off before resting it on the table. “But what do you mean by ‘I can’t’?”

“Uhh, your mouth’s covered with all your teeth?”

“You think I can’t open 'em? Wait a sec, you’ve seen me gobble my evil self up. You saw my mouth open!”

“Oh yeah.” Pomni remembers, then she shrugs at him. “Okay, eat it then.”

“Watch this.” He plucks the bacon from his fork with two fingers, his head facing up and positioning the food above his mouth. His face shifts into his cursed, eerie sideview form, just like the time he aggressively mauled Evil Jax. He drops the food in his mouth and then chokes, earning a laugh from Pomni.

“Serves you right,” Zooble says, amused at the sight of seeing him struggle.

Pomni turns to face them. “What about you, Zooble? You weren’t designed with a mouth, but how do you eat?”

“I can’t and I don’t.” They slap a pixelated egg on the mouthless area of their face, the egg just sticking there. “See? The same thing goes for Gangle." They place the egg back on their plate.

“Yeah, the food just slides down my mask . . .” Gangle says.

After finally managing to cough the bacon out, Jax rejoins the conversation.

“Hey, Kinger doesn’t have a mouth either!” He leans to where Kinger is seated and calls out to him. “Hey, Kinger! Try eating something, will ya?”

“Okay,” Kinger replies, grabbing a piece of bread from his plate and inching it to where his mouth is supposed to be. The bread and his hand glitch past his face. His asymmetrical eyeballs slowly turn in opposite directions, and he starts convulsing violently in his seat, looking unhinged. Nothing new—just Kinger being Kinger.

“Oh boy,” Jax says while everyone’s also giving Kinger a look of concern. Pomni tries to hold back a giggle.

They all go back to talking among themselves except for Ragatha. She stays silent throughout the entire conversation. Seeing Pomni and Jax getting close is the least of her expectations; it makes her uncomfortable.

Suddenly, a short bubble-pop sound effect can be heard from above. Lo and behold, it’s Caine standing in the air in front of them.

“Good morning, my good children of the night!”

Zooble sighs, clearly fed up. “What is it this time?” they ask monotonously.

“Oh, you foolish, Zooble. I have an announcement!” He sprawls out his arms and legs in excitement. “What else could I be here for, if not to offer more adventures! Although today’s adventures are going to be a little different.”

Caine snaps his finger and instantly spawns the suggestion box beside him. He rummages his hand in it while humming.

“Aha!”

He holds three papers in his hand and presents them like playing cards. “Today, I’ll occupy all of you with three random adventures! Complete all of them to find your way back to the circus! I added a few alterations to them just now. That way, all of you can also enjoy my efforts!” He laughs somewhat maniacally.

Everyone looks at him, uninterested.

“And no supervision from me for today.” Caine clears his throat. “I’m a busy man, you see.”

“Busy with what?” Jax asks.

“Hello, Caine.” A woman’s velvety voice speaks from the sky, her tone seductive. “Don't keep me waiting.”

Zooble looks at Caine weirdly. “A honeymoon with the Moon?”

“Heh,” Jax comments, “good one, Zoobie.”

Flustered with beads of sweat, Caine quickly tosses the suggestion box away and then adjusts his suit. “Well! That’s my cue to leave. Good luck and have fun, my little superstars!”

With a snap of his finger, they instantly get sucked into a new environment.

─── ★ ───

The room they’re in is nothing but pure white—the floors, the walls, and the ceiling that seems infinite. They found themselves already sitting on black folding chairs aligned horizontally. Just a few feet in front of them is another black empty chair and small table. There are two smooth, black, armrest-length stands stationed on either side of the chair. The left stand has a red button in the center, and the right stand has a green one.

A huge block of text gradually appears in front of them, accompanied by a random catchy beat.

STEAMY SPEED DATING

The title of the adventure disappears, along with its melody.

“What the— speed dating?!” Jax says in shock. “Who’s lame idea was this?”

A random man’s voice, assuming to be the host, speaks without his physical body nowhere to be found.

“The dating show is about to begin! Please welcome our suitor number one!” the host announces theatrically.

A brown wooden door spawns just a couple feet away from the table. It opens, and the pink princess of the Candy Canyon Kingdom from one of their previous adventures makes her way to sit on another chair across the table. She smiles and waves at them with elegance.

“I’ll go first!” Ragatha stands up and dashes towards the empty chair.

Jax’s eye twitches, her overjoyed reaction being the answer to his question. They all sit back and watch the show while Ragatha finally sits on the chair in front of the princess. She nervously scratches the back of her neck and flashes the princess a bashful smile.

“H-Hey! Uhm, about last time. We’re so sorry about letting the chocolate monster out of its chambers and attacking your kingdom. I swear, it wasn’t on purpose . . . but thank goodness you’re safe!”

The princess looks at her, genuinely confused. “I’m sorry, but . . . what are you talking about? Are you implying that we've met before?” she asks rather nicely.

“Oh.” Ragatha’s a bit surprised at her erased memory—she was an NPC after all. Her worry turns to relief and she chuckles nervously. “Uhh, forget I said anything! Anyway, sorry about the terrible first impression just now. Guess I’ve got my thoughts in a bit of a doozy!” she says while twirling a finger beside her head.

“It’s alright. You must be tired from all your adventures. I’ve met a lot of burnt-out knights such as yourself, so I understand. My name is Princess Loolilalu. You can call me ‘Loo’ for short! What’s yours?”

“Ragatha.” She smiles.

“Alright, Ragatha. Apart from you approaching me to apologize for something that never happened, why choose me as your suitor? Do you perhaps . . . swing that way?”

“E-Excuse me?”

“She’s asking you if you’re gay.” Jax interrupts from his seat.

“Hey, I know what she meant!” She looks back at him before quickly facing Loo again. “About that. I-I don’t . . . I’m not really— I, uhm . . .” She stumbles on her words and then sighs, getting her act together.

“Honestly? I’m not quite sure. I don’t know if this is . . . relevant . . . but I told my mother once that I wanted to, uhh, marry this model I saw on TV. She kept berating me, said I was only eight and didn’t know my words very well. If I ever mentioned or thought that way again, she threatened to lock me up in our barn shed for a week with no food and water. I was scared of her, so I just . . . followed everything she told me.”

She looks at Loo after avoiding her gaze from what she just overshared on impulse. Loo looks at her pitifully, and the room is filled with painfully awkward silence. She regrets dropping her personal baggage so carelessly.

“Y-Yeah! With her not around anymore, I guess I’m open to—”

“Oh, you poor soul . . .” Loo says, standing up to pull her into an embrace despite the table being between them. Ragatha warmly returns the hug.

Loo stretches her arm out while holding her shoulders. “I’m terribly sorry that happened to you, dear.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet! I’m okay now, really.” Ragatha smiles at her kind gesture as Loo sits back down. “Enough about me. Let’s talk about you! Are you also . . . y-you know, attracted to women, maybe?”

“Why yes! I like things that look pretty. Anyone can tell by my pink frivolous get-up. I think a woman like you by my side would make me feel complete."

“M-Me? No . . .” Ragatha chuckles, feeling flustered and blushing. “I look raggedy standing beside you.”

“Nonsense. You’re the prettiest woman I’ve seen! And that’s coming from a connoisseur of all-things pretty.” She winks.

“Y-You think I’m pretty?”

Loo giggles. “Very.”

Jax groans out of boredom from watching the two lesbians flirt. “God, this is so corny.”

“Homophobe,” Zooble jokes.

“To Ragatha exclusively? Maybe.”

“The three minute timer is up!” The host suddenly interrupts. “Failure to push either of the two buttons will result in the suitor being eliminated!”

“What?” Before Loo can react, she falls from a sudden trapdoor pit on the ground that perfectly encircles her spot only. Her screams grow distant, and there’s a splashing sound that means she’s reached the bottom. Ragatha peeks down, petrified by the sight before her.

“Help! Help me—!” Loo cries out in pain, her body and face slowly melting from what appears to be boiling acid surrounding her up to her cheek. Her skin droops, revealing uncanny realistic muscles with a bit of bone underneath. More skin and muscle gradually sag like goo, her bones becoming more prominent. “It hurts! Somebody—! Help me!”

Despite her cartoon face having zero human anatomy, the only thing that’s left of her is a realistic human skull, floating before it dissolves into the acid. The trapdoor with the chair glued to it emerges from the acid and makes its way back to the surface, looking as if it was never there from how smooth it blends with the white ground. Ragatha’s still staring, traumatized from what she just saw. She’s so out of it that she didn’t notice the circus members standing around her, also witnessing the putrid sight.

Zooble rests a hand on their hip. “Looks like Caine’s getting more creative.”

“Finally, something interesting!” Jax smiles in satisfaction from finally seeing a bit of violence.

“No, not interesting! This is torture!” Ragatha shouts, pulling her hair in frustration from either side. “The voice didn’t even say anything about a three minute timer.” She looks up, staring into the ceiling of white nothingness. “You’re a bad host!”

The host chuckles. “My sincerest apologies, dear bachelorette. It seems I’ve forgotten to set up the timer.”

A paused timer at zero in huge red text floats into view just right above the door the suitors come out of. The timer now sets itself to a minute.

“Only one minute left until the next suitor arrives,” the host announces.

“Hey, there’s nothing in here,” Kinger says, catching all of their attention as they turn their heads to look at him. He’s holding the door open while slapping his hand inside a couple times, only to look like he’s slapping a wall. “Looks like an invisible video game barrier. Well, I guess we’re stuck here.” He closes the door back shut.

“Caine said we have to complete the adventure’s task to progress to the next one,” Pomni says, everyone’s attention now on her. “Maybe picking a partner can get us out?”

“I don’t really like this adventure . . .” Gangle says in a whiney voice. “I don’t even like any of the NPCs’ designs here. They don’t look very appealing to me.”

“Suck it, Ribbons!” Jax shoves his face right in front of hers, shutting her up. “Stick your dating sim fantasies elsewhere. What we need is to get outta here.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait for the next contestant,” Kinger says. They all walk back to their chairs and wait in awkward silence.

The timer finally hits zero as it loudly beeps thrice. The voice comes back, announcing and welcoming the second suitor’s arrival.

“Everyone, please welcome our suitor number two!”

As the door opens, an all-too familiar character steps out.

“Sup, f[%$!#]ckers?” Evil Pomni walks into the room with a wicked grin, her sharp teeth bare.

“Oooh, I like this!“ Jax says, finally enjoying Ragatha’s adventure for once. “Sit back, everyone! This one’s mine.”

He walks to the chair and sits across Evil Pomni, who’s already slumped on her seat.

“Hey,” Jax greets with a mischievous lilt in his voice. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Huh? Who the f[%$!#]ck are you, dipsh[%$!#]t?”

“Jax!” Zooble yells in annoyance. “Just get it over with already! Stop roleplaying.”

“Quiet! Let me have my fun.” He turns to look at them then back to his suitor, clearing his throat. “As I was saying, I’m a better and not-whiney version of that Evil Jax of yours.”

“Oh, that guy?” She lets out a choppy chuckle. “Man, I hate that annoying dweeb. Always begging to share a bed with me after a stupid nightmare? Yeah, what a big f[%$!#]ckin’ p[%$!#]ssy."

“Dang, that’s lame. If it were me, I’d keep your nights stress-free and . . . fun, maybe?”

“The f[%$!#]ck’s that supposed to—” Evil Pomni pauses, realizing the double meaning from his obvious flirtatious voice. She looks at him with a lopsided grin. “Do you mean what I think you mean? You want me to f[%$!#]ck your brains out or somethin’?”

“Wow, so shameless! I was actually thinking of innocent nights with endless board games. Totally not that,” he says sarcastically with a dramatic eyeroll. “I didn’t take you to be the freaky type. But don’t get too confident, ‘miss dominatrix’ . . . I do have a knack for humbling people.”

“I’ll have to see for myself then. Mark my words, you little sh[%$!#]t! I’ll make you—”

Without a moment’s notice, Evil Pomni swiftly sinks below the ground with her low-pitch screams. The sound grows more distant until she splashes to the bottom, her gurgling cries for help echoing from the pit. Jax is stunned and then notices a clenched hand pressed against the red button.

“Suitor number two has been eliminated! Only one minute left until the next suitor arrives!”

After the announcement, he turns around, meeting Pomni’s judgemental eyes. Her face is full of disbelief, fuming at his sheer audacity.

“What . . . the f[%$!#]ck . . . was that about?!”

“Sheesh, Pomni, relax! You people take adventures way too seriously.”

“You being all weird with a literal version of me? What’s not to take seriously?!” she yells, feeling embarrassed.

“You’re just jealous that your evil version’s cooler than you. She’s more assertive and bold, and then there’s you, always sad and miserable!” he teases.

“Jealous my [%$!#]ss! She talks like a drunk wannabe frat boy trying hard to sound cool! Ugh, i-it’s— cringe!” She pulls on the lappets of her jester cap with frustration as they cover her face.

“I don’t see the problem. Or are you jealous I said those things to her and not you?”

“H-Huh?”

“You know, Pomni, if that were the case, you could’ve just asked.”

“S-Shut up! Shut up!”

The two continue bickering, while the circus members quietly judge them from their seats.

“What’s going on?” Gangle asks, still looking at the two.

“I don’t even wanna know,” Zooble says impatiently with their arms crossed. “God, this is gonna take forever,”

“Eugh, I don’t wanna do this anymore . . .” Ragatha says, dreading every minute of being in her own suggested adventure; clearly, she’s still not over Princess Loo’s death.

Kinger hums in thought. “Hmm, I have an idea.” He stands up. “Ragatha, could you follow me for a second? I wanna test if we can speedrun this adventure.”

The both of them walk to the table where Jax and Pomni were still going at it with their endless banter. Kinger grabs Jax’s shoulders and casually lifts him up from the chair, letting go of him when his feet touch the ground—still getting a rise out of Pomni as if Kinger never lifted him.

“You sit here, and I’ll sit over there.” Kinger says to Ragatha as he sits on the chair meant for the suitors, while Ragatha on the other. “Okay, now press the green button.”

Ragatha does as he says. To her surprise, the chairs they’re sitting on start glowing, and a bright portal spawns beside the door that’s roughly just the same size.

“Nice work! Good job, Kinger!” She proudly flashes him two thumbs up. She makes a gesture with her hand that signals everyone to follow. “Let’s go, you guys!”

Kinger and Ragatha make their way towards the bright portal. They step inside, vanishing into the light as the two chairs also stop glowing. Jax walks to the portal and then stands in front of it, sticking his arm in. It fails to pass inside because of an invisible barrier in the way, looking as if he’s touching a wall.

“Darn, you really can’t get out without a partner,” he says.

“Looks like we gotta do what they did.” Zooble holds Gangle’s hand. “Come on, Gangle. Let’s go together.”

“O-Oh, okay.”

Zooble makes her sit on the contestant chair while they sit on the one meant for suitors. Gangle presses the green button. Their chairs glow, and the two of them stand up and walk towards the portal. They stop in their tracks as they stand before it, making Gangle follow as well. They turn to look at Jax and Pomni.

“If you both wanna take your time, then do whatever. We’ll see you on the other side,” they say before the both of them finally leave.

Jax is still standing beside the portal. He turns to Pomni and shoots her a cheeky smile, his hand resting on his hip.

“Looks like it’s just you and me now, Pomni.”

Just when the both of them nearly forgot about the adventure, the timer reaches its mark as it beeps. The host comes back for another announcement.

“Up next! Let’s all give a warm welcome to our suitor number three!”

Behind the character opening the door is a man whose whole body is a lightly faded yellow-to-green color with a white underbelly all the way up to his chin. A brown cowboy hat nestled on the gummy crocodile’s head.

Pomni stares with a reverent expression on her face. On the contrary, Jax rolls his eyes. Gummigoo walks to the chair and sits down, his eyes wrinkling with his smile.

“Hello, sheila! Uh, aren’t ya gonna sit down?” he asks, his elbow on the table while his finger gestures on the empty chair.

Pomni snaps out of staring too hard and quickly sits. “Oh! Uhm, y-yeah. Right. Sorry, uh . . . Do you ask the questions first or I ask?”

Gummigoo opens his mouth to speak, but is cut-off by Pomni unintentionally interrupting him out of nervousness.

“I’ll ask! Okay, so uh, first question . . . how’d you end up in this place?”

“My best lads convinced me to come to this event. Said I should loosen up and give dating a try. What about you, miss?

“I-I, uh . . . want to give dating a chance too. A-Are you experienced?”

“No. But if we’re partners by the end of this, maybe I will be?” he says, attempting to be flirtatious but is immediately hit with embarrassment. “Sorry, I’m new to this. Was that weird?”

“What? No, no. I thought it was pretty . . . uh, what’s the word . . . cute?”

“Cute?” He chuckles. “You do have a way to tug on my heartstrings, missy. Say, what do you do for fun?”

“Dropping you in a pit of boiling acid sounds fun.” A voice behind Pomni speaks on her behalf.

A hand coming from behind her presses hard against the red button. Gummigoo falls into the pit, his screams and desperate cries for help echoing below. It becomes muted after the trapdoor brings itself back up to the surface.

“Suitor number three has been eliminated! Only one minute left until the next suitor arrives.”

Pomni slowly turns around to face Jax, furious. “You . . . You [%$!#]sshole!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Save your insults for later.”

He grabs Pomni by the sides of her shoulders, his arms stretch all the way to the other chair as he gently settles her on it. Jax also sits down. Then, he presses the green button, making their chairs glow. He stands up and slowly walks to the portal.

“This is getting boring. Let’s just go to the next adventure,” he says as he passes by Pomni, his voice slightly irritated.

Silent, she gets off the chair and follows behind him, still upset about Gummigoo being eliminated but gets over it. Just when she thought her friendship with Jax was starting to develop, she’s now having mixed feelings about it. One day he’s nice to her, and the next he’s messing with her for his own entertainment—it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking.

─── ★ ───

Finally, they both enter the second adventure, and the portal behind them disappears. They observe their new surroundings—a windowless room with cracked floors and walls made of cement, with a touch of graffiti all over; the dull color of beige paint on the walls are long chipped; cobwebs and mold fill almost every corner. The furniture randomly spread out looks just as worn out as the place.

The adventure’s title suddenly displays itself in front of them for a moment before disappearing.

THE SEARCH FOR ZOOBLE’S PARTS IN AN ABANDONED BUILDING

At the bottom right of their vision, a video game-like progress counter is displayed on the bottom right. It reads:

4/9 parts found

“Oh, hey! My suggestion got picked!” Jax beams. “What do you think, Pomni? This is definitely up your alley, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t agree with the Zooble part, but the setting? Yeah . . . yeah, I like it,” she says. Her mood lights up as she slowly spins to look at all corners of the room. A wave of comfort washes over her upon seeing the place for the first time; it feels familiar to her.

“I knew you would,” he replies, feeling accomplished he got the reaction he anticipated. “Okay! Let’s go look for Zooble.” He walks towards a couple of drawers to search for them.

“Was finding Zooble your idea too? Or Caine’s?” Pomni asks while opening a closet, only to find it empty with cobwebs.

“Mine, duh! It’s payback for taunting me with a corn cob last time.”

“What’s the deal with you being scared of corn?” The question sounds silly out loud, but she asks anyway.

“Nothing important. It just reminds me of my family’s farm, something not worth remembering or talking about,” he says, still scavenging through the drawers.

“I see . . .” After that small piece of information, Pomni grows more curious about him; however, she stops the conversation there and minds her own business.

Both of them get caught off-guard from hearing running footsteps on the floor above them, accompanied by screaming. From the familiar voices, it sounds like Gangle and Ragatha running away from something—a loud sound of teeth clicking against each other seems to be after them. It didn’t take long for their screams and the strange teeth-clicking noise to turn faint and distant.

“We better start looking before we bump into whatever that was,” he suggests.

“Y-Yeah. Good idea,” she says, frightened by what she just heard.

They search every nook and cranny of the room for any signs of Zooble, but to no avail. With more rooms to explore, they venture out in another one while sticking together. Even while walking through the hallway, it’s hard to guess the kind of building they were in. An abandoned office? A mansion of sorts? Their guess is that Caine didn’t bother with specifics. They also notice there aren’t any windows in the building, and that every room reuses the same furniture: bookshelves, cabinets, drawers, and dressing tables with mirrors—the only difference is how they’re arranged and spread out in each room.

After doing a little exploring, Jax finally finds one of Zooble’s parts inside a wooden drawer.

5/9 parts found

“I got their arm!” He holds Zooble’s detachable arm up high. Their hand slaps him in the face, making him yelp a little as he aggressively shakes their arm to stop. He sighs once it finally behaves. “One down, four to go!”

“I found Zooble’s antenna thingies!” she says after opening a drawer and holding up the two of them.

6/9 parts found

7/9 parts found

They continue their search in the new room they’re in. From how focused they are, the only noises filling the room are the sounds of drawers and cabinets opening and closing.

“Hey, Pomni,” he says, breaking the silence. “What’s so good about that gummy guy anyway?”

“That’s random.” She raises an eyebrow at him, a bit surprised. “Are you trying to look for reasons to make fun of me?”

“What? No, I— Don’t give me ideas.”

Pomni stays silent and gives him a look that says, ‘I’m not dealing with this today.’ She then ignores him and continues searching for Zooble’s parts.

“Hey, I’m kidding!” he says as he follows her around. “I just don’t get the appeal. You were swooning all over him the whole time. I don’t get it. Is it because he has no clothes on? Maybe the cowboy persona? Or just the hat?”

“What are you getting at?” she asks, growing suspicious of him. “Instead of bugging me with questions about Gummigoo, help me keep searching, or talk about something else.”

“I’m just taking a break, and what’s so wrong about being curious?” He snaps his finger as a random thought comes to mind. “Oh, I get it! It’s the Aussie accent, isn’t it?”

“I don’t see how me liking him concerns you. And what’s with this interrogation about him?”

“It’s simple! I’m a thousand times better than him!" He rests his hands on his hips, feeling confident. “Oh, and remember the whole president thing? I did a pretty good job with my accent!”

Pomni recalls and stifles a giggle at the memory. “Sure you did, Jax,” she says dryly. “Sure you did.”

“What’s so funny?” he asks, looking offended with his hands clenched as she fails to hold it back. “Don’t laugh!”

Her laughter trails off and she smiles at him. “Sorry. I think it’s kind of weird you think that way, though.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I understand you want to feel more superior than him, but why feel the need to rub that in my face?” she asks. “I didn’t think you cared about being perceived.”

“I don’t care about how people see me in their heads, I just—” He hesitates, scratching his nape. “I just didn’t like seeing you acting all giddy because of him. Just looking at him annoyed me back there, I dunno.”

Before Pomni can respond, their conversation comes to a halt when they hear what sounds like large teeth clicking with a bit of grit against each other, the sound gradually getting louder from outside the hallways. Pomni’s controlled by fear that she doesn’t realize Jax isn’t in the spot he last was just moments ago. The sounds grow closer. From the view of the open doorway, the entity’s side profile finally comes into full view—a carbon copy of Caine’s head, but without the top hat and body. The dentures were huge in size, floating as a means to maneuver itself. Just looking at it feels uncanny, especially with its bloodshot eyeballs.

As if sensing Pomni’s presence while passing by, the entity stops moving. Instead of turning its whole body to glance into the room, ever so slowly, only its eyeballs rotate. Her heart rapidly beats louder. Her breathing hitches in her throat. With her body frozen in place, she has no other choice but to accept the dreadful anticipation of being spotted.

Suddenly, a hand quickly yet quietly drags her to safety behind a large bookshelf positioned diagonally in the nearest corner. Pomni blinks, snapping out of being scared stiff. She finds herself in an unexpected conundrum, and realizes the entity isn’t the only thing she has to worry about—Jax is lying on his back flat on the ground. On the other hand, Pomni’s on top of him, straddling his hips while she balances herself with her hands on either side of his head. Their dumbfounded faces are just inches away from each other.

Pomni’s embarrassment from their indecent position flies out the window when she hears the entity enter the room, chomping its teeth in a Pac-Man-like motion. She ducks to feel less visible, her head on the ground right beside his, and her body pressing against him. They stay completely still and silent, biding their time. The entity roams around, thankfully not going as far as checking all the possible hiding spots. After taking its time scanning the room, the sound it makes becomes distant until it’s nowhere to be heard. A heavy silence fills the room.

“You think it’s gone?” Pomni asks in a whisper. She’s so close to his ear that hearing her voice up close makes him feel . . . strange.

“I think so,” he softly whispers back. His breathing starts to hitch. “Hey, Pomni?”

“Yeah?” She abruptly sits on his hips again to look down at him, making him flinch a bit.

Jax feels a sensation he never thought he’d experience again after living in the digital world. Despite no longer having genitals, the pressure of Pomni’s weight pressing against his pelvis felt arousing. He never thought he’d see the day where he’s grateful for not having a dick anymore; otherwise, Pomni would’ve felt him pop a boner.

He quickly covers his face with the back of his hand, his head turned away. His knees bend slightly, feet flat on the ground while they squirm slowly enough to go unnoticed. As he peers into her eyes, the sight of her above him stirs him with desire. He tries his best to compose himself before he can say anything.

“You can get off now. This is really weird . . .” He moves his hand away from his flushed face. Gradually, his embarrassment shifts to a smug one when he sees her unexpected expression—just seeing the look on her face boils his confidence.

“Hey, why’s your face all red?" A coy smile forms on his face, and his brows furrow teasingly. "Are you waiting for something to happen?”

No longer oblivious, she quickly gets off him. She shyly lowers her head from his suggestive comment while he finally stands up. “S-Sorry about that! Let’s just . . . go.” She nervously holds her arm while sneaking glances at him. Secretly, she likes the flustered look on his face just as he likes hers.

Feeling amused from seeing her reaction, he messes with her as an excuse to push the tension he started even further. “Took you long to stand up. I was starting to think you liked seeing me look like a bottom!”

“Shut up!” She clenches her hand while looking at him, visibly flustered. “You’ve literally been acting like a bunny in heat. Just shut up!”

“You know how bunnies are when they’re in heat, right?” He crosses his arms and leans down a bit, towering over her. “They like it fast and—”

“Shut up! Shut up! I can’t hear you! Blah blah blah blah—!” She walks away from behind the bookshelf, tugging at her lappets as if trying to cover her ears. He follows behind her and mocks her never-ending “blah-blahs.”

Feeling almost out of breath, he laughs at how childish she’s being. “Okay! I’ll stop! God , Pomni, you’re so fun to tease!”

Once again, they resume their peaceful hunt for Zooble. After clearing everything in the current room, they move to the next one. The new room they enter seems to be the last one left unchecked on their floor. Pomni opens a large cabinet, feeling proud of herself for finding another one of Zooble’s missing parts. She takes their wing, and the progress counter updates:

8/9 parts found

“Got it!”

“Finally! Just one more left . . .” he says while rummaging through drawers from top to bottom. He opens the last drawer, and—surprise, surprise—he finds their detachable arm with a red pincer for a hand.

“Hey, Pomni, I found the last one!” he exclaims, holding their squiggly arm up like a trophy. Without warning, their pincer-like hand moves on its own and pinches his neck, choking him relentlessly. Then their other arm floats out of his pocket of its own accord, also choking him.

9/9 parts found

With the search complete, Zooble’s parts suddenly begin to shake violently. Pomni looks at the wing on her hand with confusion, and then to the antennas on the ground that slowly float to her eye-level. In a blink of an eye, Zooble’s parts swiftly drag Jax and Pomni with them. Pomni screams from how fast it’s taking her, while Jax is still struggling to release their hands from his neck. The parts drag them three floors down, entering the building’s basement floor. The area is spacious and dim, and a few hanging lightbulbs keep the place lit up. In the distance, Pomni also notices the other circus members in the same situation, screaming and holding onto their found parts. All of their screams grow louder as they’re nearing each other. Terrified, Pomni shuts her eyes to brace herself from the impact.

A bright light temporarily fills the room. As it fades, Pomni takes her time sitting up, feeling dizzy from the crash. The motion sickness catches up to her, and she pukes all the strange black liquid out of her system. Finally feeling better, she looks at her surroundings.

Just a couple feet away is Zooble’s body completely intact. They look furious, still choking the living daylights out of Jax with no mercy.

“Jax, I swear to God, I will f[%$!#]cking end you!” Zooble hollers.

Unable to say anything coherent, he desperately taps their arm as a way of telling them to stop. With an intense look of resentment, they finally decide to let go of his neck. Jax collapses to the ground and takes a deep, exaggerated breath. After coughing and recovering his breathing, he looks up angrily at Zooble.

“What the heck was that for?!”

“That’s for making me a victim of this stupid adventure. Pull this kind of sh[%$!#]t again, and I promise you my next suggestion won’t be forgiving.”

“Oh yeah? And how are you gonna go about that?” He sneers.

Zooble narrows their eyes at him. “I’ll make something chase you inside a cornfield. How’s that sound?”

“Please don’t do that.” He forces out a nervous chuckle, already uncomfortable with the idea alone. “But how sure are you that this was my suggestion?”

They shoot him an exasperated look. “Gee, Jax. I wonder why . . .” They intimidate him by hovering their hand pincer in front of his face, making him back up a bit.

“Zooble, you’re okay!” No longer unconscious from the crash earlier, Gangle briskly approaches them. All their attention shifts to her.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine now.” They reassure her with a gentle voice. “I wouldn’t have been separated from my own body like that if it weren’t for some idiot thinking this adventure was a smart idea.” They glare at Jax for a bit before looking back at her. “What about you, Gangle? You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She flashes a little smile, which immediately turns into a frown. “Except my comedy mask broke again. I’m starting to get really tired from it breaking all the time . . .”

“Hey, it’ll be okay. We can ask Caine to fix it later,” they say, holding the side of her arm to comfort her.

Jax stands up, gaining back his composure. “Whew! All things aside, this adventure was too easy!” he blurts out.

“Too easy?” Ragatha snaps, stepping into view after waking up from the crash. “We nearly got eaten by a disturbing version of Caine! You think that’s easy?!”

“Figures. No wonder why Pomni and I had a flawless hunt. Thanks for distracting it, Raggy,” he says with a condescending smile. Ragatha’s eye twitches in annoyance as a response.

“What’s that light over there?” Kinger faces everyone while pointing at a bright light behind him in the distance. They all fall silent while looking at where he’s pointing. Kinger walks towards it and everyone follows behind him.

Pomni fidgets with her button. “A portal to the last adventure, I think?”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Jax kicks Gangle into the portal and jumps in right after.

“Hey—!” Zooble exclaims, worried about Gangle and quickly entering the portal for her.

The rest of the circus members also walk inside, determined to finish the last adventure as soon as they can.

─── ★ ───

Basking in the nocturnal-like ambience, the circus members relish this adventure’s pleasant environment. Moss is found everywhere growing on the stone ground, and stalactites hang from the cavern ceiling. The bioluminescence from the bright fireflies and glowworms on the ceiling brings life to the place, a beautiful blue and yellow light glowing throughout the cavern.

A huge text appears a few feet away in front of them, indicating to be the adventure’s title.

Firefly Cave

The temporary text fades in opacity and vanishes into thin air. Despite the adventure’s specific title, various insects are also present besides the glowworms, such as bees, butterflies, and grasshoppers.

Gangle stares at the view before her in awe, hands on her cheeks. “It’s . . . beautiful.”

“Reminds me of that one adventure where we went stargazing. Same vibes,” Zooble says, standing by Gangle’s side.

Ragatha exhales in relief. “Finally, something relaxing!”

After admiring the setting, Pomni looks up at Kinger who’s standing right beside her. She notices the calmness and appreciation in his eyes as he silently stares up at the fireflies. She smiles at this, knowing full well that this was his suggestion.

“H-Hey, Pomni!” Ragatha reaches out, catching her attention. “How about we explore this place together and—”

“Alright! Enough sightseeing, people. Let’s get this adventure done and over with. Come on, Pomni. Let’s go.” Jax grabs Pomni’s arm without warning, catching her off guard. He struts his way to the only path forward, when suddenly—

“Will you stop dragging Pomni around however you please?” Ragatha demands sharply. The tension starts to grow overwhelming; her gaze cold.

Jax feels a rush of dopamine run through his body from her making an unexpected scene. He turns around to face her, flashing an arrogant smile.

“What’s wrong, Rags? Scared she’s actually friends with me instead of you?” He dramatically bats his eyes at her.

“Pomni not wanting to be friends isn’t what I’m scared of, Jax.”

“Yeah, right,” he scoffs. “I’ve seen the way you look every time I’m with Pomni. Always getting your hair noodles in a twist! You think I wouldn’t notice?”

Ragatha doesn’t say anything. Instead, her expression speaks for itself—it’s so clear that she’s barely holding herself together.

He looks satisfied knowing his words are getting to her. “We’re a lot closer than you think, Ragdoll. Respect the jester’s autonomy and mind your own business. Later, loser!”

Thinking he won the argument, he turns around to face the pathway again, his hand still holding Pomni’s arm. Just as Ragatha’s about to be left there speechless, she says the first thing that comes to mind without any consideration.

“And then what? Leave Pomni alone to abstract just like what you did to them?”

Jax stops in his tracks. Livid, he lets go of Pomni’s arm and faces Ragatha, his intimidating walk towards her posing as a threat. He slightly raises his chin to glare down at her.

“Don’t even think of going there,” he warns through gritted teeth.

“What’s wrong, Jax? Scared to be reminded of what you did?” she says, mocking his snide remark.

“I already told you it was an accident! Why won’t you believe me?”

Having lost all reason, Ragatha yells at him at the top of her lungs.

“You killed Ribbit on purpose!”

“I said it was a f[%$!#]cking accident!” he retorts, yelling louder than her.

Hearing him raise his voice and curse for the first time makes her flinch, and it’s enough to make her realize the weight of what she blurted out. She’s always lived her life being cautious about her words, but clearly that’s no longer the case. She hates every second about this situation she put herself in—it reminds her of the days she used to argue with her mother. She’s flooded with instant regret; a shocked, almost eerie expression on her face.

“I-I’m sorry, Jax,” she mumbles, frantically looking everywhere on the ground. “I-I didn’t mean—”

“Oh, now you’re sorry?” He sneers at the absurdity. “If there’s anyone who deserves an apology from you, it’s Ribbit. Even if I didn't take them to that exit, they were gonna abstract because of you!”

“What?” Ragatha can feel herself slowly spiraling. “N-No that can’t— You’re lying.”

“I know about the argument you had with them. I’m not actually the bad guy here, Ragatha. If anything, it’s you.”

“I was just trying to do the right thing. I-I didn’t . . . Stop lying!”

They argue endlessly without a care, pointing fingers and constantly taking turns to shift the blame. Their yells gradually get louder and louder; a petty exchange of their shouting trying to overpower each other, leaving no room but their egos and frustration to do the talking.

“Uh . . . guys?” Pomni attempts to stop their heated argument. “I think thats en—”

“What? You’re still gonna pick his side?!” Ragatha accuses.

Jax goes between the both of them, Pomni now standing behind him. “What the—?! This isn’t about picking sides! Don’t drag Pomni into this!”

“This is all your fault! I know I’m a good person, and all you’re good at is f[%$!#]cking everything up! You’re a bully who thrives from seeing all of us suffer!”

“Look at you, in denial. You’re pathetic! Give up the self-righteous act and admit it already! You’re a try-hard, horrible person, Ragatha. Get that in your empty head!”

The two continue to squabble with likely no plans of stopping. Pomni walks towards the others huddled together, feeling defeated that she failed to stop the fight. She stands side by side with Kinger and Gangle.

Gangle looks at the fight and then back at the others, expecting someone to step in again. “Shouldn’t we do something to stop them, or . . . ?”

“I’d rather not.” Zooble lets out a sigh. “Just when are they gonna give this up? Do you wanna just go ahead and finish the adventure?”

Gangle looks a bit hesitant. “But we can’t just leave them here . . .”

“Yes, we can,” they say with a shrug. “They’re grown [%$!#]ss adults. They’ll be fine. So, do you wanna come or not?”

As a response, Gangle nods at their invite.

“What about you two?” they ask, referring to Kinger and Pomni. “You guys wanna join us?”

“I-I’m okay. I’ll just wait here until they stop bickering, I guess,” Pomni says.

A glint of sadness can be seen in Kinger’s eyes. “You guys go. I’ll stay here with Pomni.”

With their declined responses, Gangle and Zooble walk together towards the only path. They pass by Jax and Ragatha, and then finally disappear into the distance.

“Guess we’re gonna have to wait this fight out, huh?” Pomni says to Kinger, her eyes still fixated on the squabble.

She turns to face Kinger, but is surprised to no longer see him standing beside her. She sees him walking towards Jax and Ragatha. Standing unnoticed near the both of them, Kinger finally speaks up.

“Stop it, you two! Constantly fighting about the past won’t get you anywhere!” Kinger says, his voice loud and stern.

Surprised to hear Kinger—out of all people—interrupt their fight, the both of them stop arguing and become silent. They turn to face Kinger, puzzled looks on their faces.

“You can reasonably talk?” Jax asks, doubting any morsel of intelligence in him.

Kinger’s voice sounds steady. “Listen, I know I haven’t been the most stable adult to all of you, especially as the eldest one here. But I can think straight right now, and I need you both to listen to me.”

As if they were two children being scolded by their dad, they silently listen to him.

“Both of you need to let go of Ribbit’s death. What good will blaming each other do? All this fighting isn’t going to bring them back.”

Ragatha speaks up. “But if it weren’t for Jax leading them to that door, they would’ve still been—”

“Let go of the grudges, Ragatha.” He gives her a pleading look. “And you too, Jax.”

Jax groans in frustration. “It’s not fair! She always makes me out to be the bad guy, and acts like she’s so ‘picture perfect’ and can’t mess up. Can’t you see she plays this nice-girl act to feel good about herself?”

“You know her past before the circus, right? She’s not trying to be ‘picture perfect,’ she’s just trying to be a better person than her mother.”

Ragatha grows teary-eyed from Kinger’s words. Jax doesn’t say anything; instead, his ears involuntary droop.

“I know all your intentions for Ribbit were genuine, and that’s all that matters. You can’t keep blaming yourselves to justify why it happened. Given the nature of this place, unpredictable and bad things just happen. Sure, you can complain about the possibilities of their death being preventable, but it won’t change anything. Please . . .” He looks at them with beseeching eyes. “Let Ribbit rest.”

The two of them stay silent and keep staring intently at the ground. Ragatha glances at Jax. She fidgets with her hands, mentally readying herself to speak despite being overwhelmed.

“Jax, I’m sorry about . . . constantly pinning the blame on you. I’ve been really insensitive of your feelings because you tend to mess around with us a lot, but that’s no excuse.”

With his arms crossed, he shrugs his shoulders and rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Apologies are overrated! But . . .” He pauses, then sighs as if he’s second-guessing what he’s about to say. “Consider yourself all good, I guess.”

Ragatha’s shocked by Jax easily forgiving her. Not only that, but also by how decent he’s surprisingly being. “You actually forgive me? Sorry. Not to be mean, but I didn’t think you had it in you.” She chuckles. “Thanks.”

For the first time, he gave her a small, genuine smile. “You know, Rags, our personal lives are kinda similar. I know the dread of being stuck on a farm with bossy people all too well. You’re nothing like your lame mom, and you don’t have to prove that by being so positive all the time. It’s painfully obvious that it’s draining you.”

“Well, I didn’t think it was that obvious. Uhm . . . thanks again, Jax. I think I really needed to hear that.” She feels as if a heavy weight is lifted off her shoulders.

“By the way,” he continues. “I never told you this since I wanted you to feel guilty about the last conversation you guys had, but, uh . . . During my last conversation with them, they told me to tell you that they’re sorry about what they said. They take it back.”

“O-Oh.” A small smile forms in her face, tears welling out of her only functioning eye. She finally has closure, relieved that Ribbit didn’t die resenting her. “That’s—” She chokes back a sob. “That’s good to hear.”

Seeing her burst into tears, Kinger pulls her into a hug, and instead of Jax just standing there, he walks up to her and awkwardly pats her in the back.

Pomni stands there in silence, witnessing the entire situation unfold. She’s amazed that Kinger managed to mediate the altercation, finally resolving Jax and Ragatha’s differences just like that.

While everyone’s having their heartwarming moment, a presence shows up uninvited. A cloud of smoke appears in the air before it reveals who it is.

“Hello, my rebellious little rascals!”

“Caine?” Jax asks. “Unexpected to see you here. Aren’t you, uh . . . busy? Does this mean we can go now?”

“Oh, I was busy, alright! Not until I heard Bubble’s recent report on one of you doing some funny business! Share it with the class, will you buddy?”

Bubble comes out of his top hat and floats beside him. “There's a thhh—ief on the loose!”

“What? We didn’t steal anything!” Ragatha defends, but looks at Jax and Pomni with a hint of doubt. “Or did you guys . . . ?”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Kinger asks, confusion plastered on his face.

Caine’s optimism drastically shifts to disappointment. “That’s right! A little birdie told me that someone has . . . something that belongs to me.”

Pomni’s heart drops. Her gut feeling was right. She knew someone was watching her and Jax enter the restricted, locked room, but who?

“What the— Did you . . . ?” Jax looks perplexed and turns to Pomni, a wounded expression on him.

She looks at him defensively. “I-It’s not me! I would never! I told you someone was watching us, remember?”

“Then who was it?” he says with a glint of hope in his eyes, wanting to believe in her.

As if by perfect timing, footsteps approach from the only pathway in the distance. Everyone faces the direction of the sound, anticipating who the unexpected character is—it’s Disappearing Guy.

He confidently stands right in front of them, hands on his hips before bringing one to his chest.

“It was m—!”

He disappears.

Silent, Jax awkwardly glances at Pomni. “Okay. I believe you."

Caine brings all the attention back to him. “Well, Bubble! There’s so many torture methods to choose from, so today I’m letting you decide! Whatever shall we do?!” he says dramatically, holding his head as he rotates it in a circular motion.

Bubble speaks quickly, glitching after every sentence. “You should kill—! Make them NPCs—! You should [%$!#] and show no mercy!”

“Hmm . . .” Caine thinks over whatever the hell his idea was, and then snaps his fingers after coming to a conclusion. “You’re absolutely right, Bubble!”

The ambience of the once comforting adventure soon fades, and Caine summons shadows to entrap them. In a panic, they look at their surroundings becoming an inescapable darkness, and then back up at Caine. There he hovers by himself this time, just eerily staring down at them. As quickly as things have escalated, they want nothing more than to quickly get out of this situation that none of them saw coming.

Caine drops his theatrics, the serious edge in his voice enough to make them anxious about what’s to happen next as he slowly disappears into the darkness.

“Bad children . . . deserve to get punished.”

────────── .✦

↳ chapter 3

┊ ✩ ┊ ✧ ┊ ┊

┊ ┊★ ┊ ✩⋆

┊ ┊ ⊹˚ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭ ⁭

✩⋆ ✮

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Fumi