https://archiveofourown.org/works/82559181
Caineâs understanding of Easter wasnât exactly accurate.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Jax appeared in a field. Caineâs voice instructed him, âEat all of the hidden Easter eggs!â He looked around as if to find someone else to ask if that was correct. It was just him in a grassy field and some bushes, likely where the eggs were. He approached one with caution and kicked it. Piranhas jumped out of it. Of course these were booby-trapped in a way that didnât make sense. Using a nearby twig, he nudged the egg out into the grass. He noticed a shiny object around the same place but it wasnât his objective. Itâs probably a surprise gag or something.
The color of the egg was familiar. Yellow with orange dots. A yellow glove picked it up to examine it. âIâm supposed to eat this? Meh. Wonder if Caine got the concept of chocolate right.â As his thought was finishing, the egg shook. âItâs about to hatch?!â, he thought. Then his ears picked up a familiar voice. It sounded small but he could hear, âI. DO. NOT. WANT. TO. BE. HERE!â
Jax giggled and shook the egg. Its contents hit all around the shell. âYou dizzy yet, Zoobie?â âOf course itâs you, you-â, before they could continue their empty threats, Jax cracked the egg open. âHa! So, youâre missing some parts, and Iâm not just talking about Ribbons being stuck to ya all the time nowâ, Jax teased. Zoobleâs head abdomen were in one shell half and their limbs were in the other. âYou know when we get out of here, I am going to-â âdo what?â, Jax asked before taking the limbs shell above his sharp teeth. He paused to see the terror in the plastic triangleâs face before letting the shell drop, sending its contents into him. âHey!â Zooble angrily shouted. âWhat, you want them back?â Jax stared into them. The huge blacks in his eyes were overtaking the yellow. His grin filled the lower part of his face, almost glowing.
âUgh, fine, I hate thisâ. Not that they had much choice. âIf itâs anything to you, I literally have to so we can get out of here. Still, I can have my fun though,â Jax said almost singsongingly. He dangled the connected toys by the neck and laid them flat on his tongue. Almost instinctively, he pushed the plastic-tasting being in his mouth towards the roof. Then dragged them side to side in his cheeks. âYou know, this will be more entertaining with the others since theyâll put up a fight probablyâ. This only told Zooble that they were the first one found. Given the rough texture, Jax leaned his head back and let the pieces of Zooble fall back into his throat muscles. Soon theyâll be their whole self again at least. He could feel them putting themselves back together inside him. It felt weird.
There was a bush with a locked box. So that shiny thing from earlier was the key. Jax whacked the bush again and got the key out. This egg was normal colored with the exception of a ribbon around it. âGee, wonder who this isâ, as if the crying inside didnât give it away. âWhere am I? Are you going to hurt me?â âNot sure, am I going to hurt you?â A shriek rattled the egg. âJax! I.. I.. canât.. get out of here?â âPfft, itâs not hardâ. He broke it open in just one hand. Underneath his fingers revealed Gangle. âOh, youâreâŠâ. She needed a minute to process. âIâm slightly taller, one could say,â Jax teased. âUh huh.. um..â Gangle looked down past the fingers to see how far the fall damage would be if she tried to run. âUh uh uhâ, Jax closed his hand. âYouâre not getting out of this one. But, Iâm feeling merciful today, so youâll get a reward at the end. Howâs that sound?â The yellow glove unfurled to present a cowering Gangle. âUhh, okayyyâ.
Jax plucked her up by her shivering ribbon and lowered her slowly into his maw. She was trying to suppress her little shrieks. Jax then felt bumping from his stomach. âYou WILL NOT HURT HER!â Jax placed a hand on his tummy to silence his captive. âWhat was that?â Gangle asked. With a wink, Jax replied, âyour rewardâ. Jax then let go of the ribbon quickly. He swirled the ribbon around his tongue. She was trying to get out by holding onto the teeth. âOh, floss, good ideaâ. âNo, wait-â too late. He took each of her arms around his teeth, having her face him to watch the black hole she would soon be sent to. âI gotta hand it to you. I think you taste the most like candyâ. Before she could ask what that meant, she was shoved back into the mouth. He gulped down her ribbon like pasta and the rest followed.
At the end of the long journey down, Gangle was caught by a pair of mismatched hands. âZooble? Oh, did I do this? Iâm sorry, I-â Zooble hushed her, âhey, itâs okay. You didnât do anything. We just.. ugh.. have to sit around and wait for the others.â They kicked a wall and sat down. Caine probably doesnât know much about anatomy. Jaxâs stomach was made of a kind of rubber? They were not being actively harmed but they were captured. âWell, if I had to be trapped with anyone, Iâm glad itâs youâ. Gangle wrapped themselves around Zooble.
Another bush had a gimmick. You have to get the egg at just the right time or you get hit with circling blades. A blue egg with a bow was in this one. âCan anyone hear me?â Ragatha asked after feeling the lifting movement. âI can hear ya, DollFace, not that I want toâ. â.. can anyone ELSE hear me?â âNope. But Iâll do ya a favor and get ya out, free of charge. Well, sort of freeâ. âFineâ. Ragatha now sits in the hand of a bigger Jax, as if he wasnât a big pain before. âYouâre never gonna believe the way out, Raggsyâ. She just stared at him, as he was staring back, waiting for an answer. She looked around to a never ending field of nothing but grass, her, and him. There wasnât a rational guess but this wasnât a rational world.
âI.. do you know?â He opened his mouth with his tongue in front of her, almost like a carpet. â.. really? This.. is a trick. A very stupid trick, Jaxâ. He giggled to himself. âI swear, itâs real this time.â The doll didnât want to believe that statement, or really anything Jax says for that matter. But what choice does she have? âUghâ, she groaned as she stepped on his tongue. He took her in his mouth and shoved her to his bottom row of teeth. She screamed at seeing the top row. So sharp. He felt under her with his tongue where her exact placement was and bit down. He shook his head violently with some of her stuffing falling out. An onlooker might believe he has rabies. Ragatha was both flailing and stuck in place. âJax! I.. I trusted you!â âThat was your own fault, tootsâ, Jax commented. He unlodged her and swallowed. Her soft texture took a few tries.
After having sent the ragdoll down his throat, he spotted a bouncing purple egg out of the corner of his eye with nothing to guard it. âHeh, even the crazy one is predictableâ. Kingerâs eyes dilated upon release. âHey Kingie. Iâm gonna make this real easy for you, okay? Just jump in my mouth and weâre done. You wonât be lonely eitherâ. He rubbed his tummy, partly to give him a hint, and partly because it felt good with all the moving things in him now. He positioned Kinger above him like a diving board. âShould I hold my breath for this dive?â Jax shrugged. âI donât careâ. Kinger hopped down the throat quickly. His landing actually hurt Jax from the inside and got him to stumble back.
He counted his fingers. One left and weâre done. His circusmates are probably sick of him moving around, whether it can be helped or not. Either way, heâll want a nap after they metaphorically chew him out when they all get back.
He saw a bush at the end of a long stick. Itâs a tree. Jax climbed up and snatched the blue and red spotted egg. âH-hello?â He didnât give her an introduction to her situation. He simply broke her open with his free hand. âOh. So youâre.. taller. Um..â She lost her balance and slipped through Jaxâs fingers. âGod-â Jax let go of the branch he was holding into to fall faster than the jester. He landed flat on his back and Pomni landed face down on his tummy. She felt unusual movement under her. âWhatâŠâ then she heard the muffled yelling. Jax grabbed Pomni with one hand and tried settling his stomach with the other. âWhat is going onâŠ?â Jax grinned menacingly. âWouldnât you like to know, shortstuff?â After putting two and two together, Pomni jumped down from Jaxâs hand and started to run. âHeh, no ya donât!â He got on all fours and pounced her, taking her by the costume and setting her back down on his hand. âDo you want to try that again?â Pomni looked around for other options. âSo, now what?â âNow I get to toy with youâ. Despite her shaking protests, she still landed in Jaxâs mouth. He chewed on the round parts of her outfit. Believe it or not, Jax had an idea of who to be careful with. Zoobleâs plastic is kind of indestructible. Rag puts herself back together with a quick sew. She didnât tear Gangleâs ribbon. Kinger .. he just knew he would choke if he went slow. He was swaying her side to side and wore her out. His tongue went upward to send her into his throat.
With that swallow, the last member was gulped down into Jax. He looked around for any indication of ending the adventure. At this point, heâs stuck with them as much as they are stuck with him. Caine appeared. âDid you meet all of the-â Caine looked around for the other players. âSo where?â Jax looked down and said plainly, âyou told me to eat them? So I did?â Caine looked confused. âI-no? Youâre weird. Anyways, good job.â A portal opened. Jax stepped through and felt weird in his midsection. He went to sleep on the couches. Everyone else went their own way. Jax stared into the multicolored ceiling. â.. I had to have read that correctly. .. that is TOTALLY and EXACTLY what he said, right?â