Chapter Text
Jax was a jerk.
Pomni knew this from the beginning, but after their fight before the “Favorite Character Awards”, it had settled in her more deeply. He was a jerk, but he was also very obviously hurting. She couldn’t help but be concerned about him.
They hadn’t talked much since their fight, other than Jax making his usual witty remarks. It had been clear to everyone that there was a divide between the two, but it was not something anyone felt inclined to get themselves involved in.
It pissed Pomni off, the way he could pretend nothing had happened between them. That everything was normal. She was biting her tongue, waiting for the right moment to confront him. She couldn’t just let this drop. The issue was that Jax made it frustratingly impossible to catch him alone.
It was a twisted game of cat and mouse that neither of them really wanted to play, but couldn’t resist participating in.
Pomni glanced over towards where Jax was sitting. Everyone was gathered in the main room, sitting on the couches chatting aimlessly. Jax was preoccupied bullying Gangle on a couch diagonally and across from Pomni, but when he felt eyes on him, he looked up.
Their eyes met briefly before they both quickly glanced away nervously.
God d@$% it.
Pomni should’ve stared harder, out of spite.
Her frustration was cut short by Caine appearing suddenly in front of the group.
“GOOD MORNING MY PEPPERED PILLOWCASES!” He exclaimed to nobody. “I HOPE YOU ARE READY FOR THE ADVENTURE OF A DIGITAL LIFETIME!!”
“You seem excited today, Caine.” Jax said, with a hint of sarcasm. “Let me guess, this adventure has 57 times more horror and bloodshed!”
“Jax!” Ragatha scolded. “Don’t encourage that!”
“You are sooooo boring.” Jax rolled his eyes.
“WHY, NOT AT ALL JAX!” Caine said, weirdly excited. “IN FACT, I WAS WATCHING MOVIES AND HAPPENED TO FEEL CONVENIENTLY INSPIRED.”
“Oh God…” Pomni muttered. “What movies?”
Her mind was racing with possibilities. She pleaded with any higher being that it was something relatively normal, and not another Mad Max rip off. If she was going to corner Jax, she needed something more simple.
“I CAN’T RUIN THE SURPRISE!” Caine argued. “NO SPOILERS HERE!”
“Yeah, no, I’m not doing this.” Zooble stood up to walk away but Caine flew to them, cutting them off, causing Zooble to stagger back slightly.
“NO NO, NOT TODAY ZOOBLE!” Caine insisted, wagging a finger in their face. “THIS ADVENTURE IS SPECIAL! NEW GRAPHICS, UPGRADED AI, I PULLED OUT ALL THE STOPS!!!!”
“More the reason for me to have no interest.” Zooble stated plainly, narrowing their eyes in frustration.
“TOO LATE!” Caine snapped his fingers, whisking everyone into a portal before further complaints could take place.
They appeared with a sudden pop in front of a large boat. The group was initially confused, but this was quickly resolved when they saw the words “RMS TITANIC” plastered in large letters on the side of the ship.
Hundreds of NPCs littered the entrance around them, as well as the main deck of the ship.
This was going to be a disaster.
“Oh this is greeeaaaat!” Jax said with a smile, tapping his fingers together with a mischievous grin on his face. Pomni wanted to wipe that stupid, fake smile of him.
Gangle looked horrified. “Is this really the adventure for today?”
“Caaaaine,” Zooble squinted their eyes as they turned towards him. “Is this adventure…us dying?”
“NONSENSE!” Caine shouted back. “SURELY IF YOU WORK AS A TEAM, YOU WILL ALL FIND A WAY OF MAKING THE MOST OF THIS LUXURIOUS CRUISE! YOU HAVEN’T EVEN READ YOUR ROLES YET!”
Pomni became acutely aware at that moment that her outfit had changed. She was wearing a simple red gown with a sheer blue overlay. Her typical jester hat was gone, and she could feel that her hair had been tied back into a bun.
Before she had a chance to complain about the functionality of the outfit, a passport appeared in her hands.
“THESE PASSPORTS WILL EXPLAIN EACH OF YOUR ROLES!” Caine said. “ENJOY THEM! MODERATELY!”
Pomni opened her passport. It described her as a young socialite in first class, set to be married to-
“Orbsman?!” She squealed. “I’m engaged to Orbsman?!?”
Jax laughed and looked her way. “C’mon Pomni, don’t you admire his shiny rock hard body?”
Pomni grunted in frustration, eyeing his getup. He was wearing a simple button up that was clumsily tucked into suede pants, being held up by suspenders. “Please tell me that your situation is at least equally as stupid?”
Jax opened his passport, seemingly for the first time. “I’m a broke artist who won tickets in a game of Go Fish.” He turned his smile to Caine. “You turned me into Leonarda DiCaprio.”
Pomni realized that they had been placed in the two most prominent roles of the original film. She hoped this would give them a chance to talk alone, but also dreaded the idea of having to pretend to be his romantic interest while things were so tense…or in general.
Ragatha, trying to clear the tension, spoke up next. “Look Pomni, it says here that I am a fashion designer and close companion to you.” Her dress was similar to her typical outfit, but more formal, fancy frills and fabrics filling it out to fit the aesthetic more cleanly.
Pomni gave Ragatha a small smile. They had talked things out recently, but Pomni was still unsure of how close she could be with Ragatha. It often felt like they were on different wavelengths. She also did not want to have to deal with Jax and Ragatha arguing during this already tiresome adventure.
“I’m the maid.” Gangle said sadly, staring down at her traditional maid dress, not nearly as cute as the one Jax was set with previously. “So I guess I’ll clean until…I die?”
“Don’t think like that.” Zooble interrupted. They wore a similar get-up to Jax, only fitted with a jacket and a fancy mustache. “It could be worse, mine says I’m Italian as a personality trait,”
They pointed to Jax. “and I’m stuck being this one’s roommate.”
“Aw, Zoobie, we get to be cuddle buddies?” Jax said with a sly wink, causing Zooble to roll their eyes. Jax turned and grabbed Kinger’s passport.
“And it looks like good ol’ crazy here is stuck as an engineer down at the bottom.” He giggled. “Over before it even begins.”
“Do you have to be such a jerk?” Pomni snapped, without really meaning to.
Jax stared blankly at her for a moment before rolling his eyes and walking off towards the boat ramp. Kinger followed, asking for his “bug encyclopedia” back, referring to the passport.
“I guess I should follow him, with any luck I’ll get to throw him overboard myself.” Zooble stated before stomping after Jax and Kinger.
Pomni was watching Jax walk onto the boat, trying to formulate a plan to find him alone, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Miss?”
The familiar accent froze her to her core. She wasn’t ready for this, it wasn’t the time.
Anything but him.
She hesitantly turned to see the familiar face of Gummigoo.
“”Your fiance asked me to escort you to the room.” He explained. “Let’s move along now.”
He was different. Of course he was.
The last thing Pomni needed right now was to work out the complicated situation that was Gummigo. She knew it was not her Gummigoo, but she couldn’t get over everything they went through together, especially when he was right in front of her.
Pomni simply nodded and walked alongside him, Ragatha, and Gangle onto the ship. Onto an inevitable nightmare.
As they boarded the boat, Pomni was surprisingly impressed by the amount of detail. The boat shifted and creaked as if they were floating on a real ocean, the walls were ornate and detailed, she even felt a slight sea breeze shift through her hair and dress.
Caine hadn’t exaggerated in saying that the graphics had improved. This felt more realistic than anything she had felt in the circus before. As the fact set in, Pomni felt fear. When the inevitable boat sinking happened…how real would it seem?