Chapter Text
The Digital Circus was as far removed from reality as one could get. Nothing in it made sense, or felt real, or did anything even close to meaningful.
It made adventures a decent way to pass the time. H[OINK], every now and then, it was almost fun.
But the real problems in the circus - the only problem that ever actually mattered - were the ones that lived inside you.
Eventually, internal agonies would eat you alive.
And leave it to Caine, the [BEEP]ing genius he pretends to be -
To make an AI that can abstract.
Jax rounded the corner full speed, barely dodging the mess of eyes and monster behind him, and cursed Ming with everything in him. Of course the stupid 'made to prove Caine's point' character would abstract in the middle of his lecture.
Of course he went right after Jax.
"Grudges don't suit you, Ming!" he called behind himself. Not that the creature could understand him, but he had to try for the joke anyway. "You make one comment about Ming's a[SPLORT] and suddenly you're the bad guAAAA-"
Jax yelped as he crashed into a flowerpot. In an instant his ire switched to Zooble. God, wasn't this just perfect; they leave their stuff everywhere out of spite and it gets him killed. He scrambled to his feet again, wincing at the pain. He had to go, that thing was right on top of him.
A heavy paw slammed into the remains of the pot.
Oh, it was literally right on top of him.
"Hey!" a voice shrieked nearby. Jax jolted to attention, whirling in place. He really couldn't afford to take his eyes off the Abstraction - a foot away, inches away from touching him - but he couldn't stop himself.
He never could, when it came to Pomni.
"Ming!" Pomni called again. She waved her arms above her head for good measure, as though she didn't have all its' eyes locked on her already. "Over here!"
No, no nono-
The Abstraction lunged. Jax had just enough time to throw himself to the floor.
Maybe it was part of the unreality of this world, or sheer dumb luck, that it dove straight over him. That it went for Pomni instead of the easy target at its' feet. The smart thing to do now would be to turn tail and flee. Leave the stupid jester to her fate.
Jax bolted upright, heart in his throat, and went bounding after them.
To her credit, Pomni's short legs didn't slow her down at all. Wasting her breath on screaming, maybe, but it's not like they really had breath to waste. She dodged and ducked and weaved, even as the creature gained on her. He ought to feel impressed.
Instead, a slick, icy dread filled his stomach.
She'd planned ahead, too, clever as she was. Her path led directly to a hole over the basement; she got closer and closer as the monster closed the gap between them. When she made it to the edge, she glanced back to gauge the distance. It was risky to wait, but she waited anyway.
Her eyes strayed farther, and Jax saw surprise flit across her expression when she met his gaze. That was the part where he should make a joke, or laugh, or do something funny.
He ran harder.
The monster wailed and leaped for her. Pomni jumped out of the way.
It must have been luck, earlier, and Jax must have used it all up with his stunts. Because the monster fell right into the trap, limbs flailing and flying in all directions in its effort to stop.
He arrived just in time to watch its tail lash out, right into Pomni. It knocked her too far down - her arm scraped the rim of the hole, slid off, and then she was falling.
"What would you do if I abstracted tomorrow?"
"I'd move on. And probably forget about you."
Jax didn't think.
He dove for the ledge, lunging for that skinny arm, the hat, a bell, something, anything-
His fingers locked around an ankle, and pain flared up his arm. He could feel it glitching and sparking against his gloves, the simulated burning sensation that made his skin crawl. The deep part of him, the shard of the real world that snatched his hand from hot ovens and kept him from wandering in the dark, recoiled against it. Urged him to let go.
Jax grit his teeth and tightened his grip.
He should probably feel bad for Mick or Mel or whatever the BOINK his name was, but Jax could only handle so many things at once, and his entire concentration was on hauling Pomni out, inch by inch. It wouldn't do either of them any good if he overbalanced and toppled in after her. His frazzled nerves could only take so much stress.
He was the boss around here, and the jester didn't go until he wanted her gone.
His arm was on fire by the time he got her out. They sprawled unceremoniously on the ground, too close to the hole for comfort and too exhausted to make it any further away. Only then did he let himself pant for air. Only then did he risk a glance over.
Pomni looked terrible. The word 'seizure' came to mind, watching her body flicker all over the place. Her eyes were open, face twisted in a grimace, static jolting across her body every few seconds. It looked...painful.
Despite the deathly state, though, she managed to turn her head in his direction. She opened her mouth and, between glitches, stuttered out, "T-th-thanks, Ja-x-x-x. B-but y-ou-our armmm."
Da[clang]it Pomni. He gave it a quick look, clocked the same sort of choppy effect ricochet along his fur, and promptly ignored it. "'S'fine," he said dismissively, scooting closer. "God, they did a number on you."
"M'ok-k-kay," she tried, and shivered violently. Something ached through him at the sight, sharper than the pain in his limb, and he reached for her until she gasped, "D-don't! You-you'll-"
"Don't care," he answered bluntly. "C'mon, let's go get Caine. He can clean this mess up. God knows I won't."
He latched onto her waist with his glitching arm and, with no preamble, threw her over his shoulder. She made a cut-off sound, an oof that sounded suspiciously copyrighted, before she nearly clipped through him entirely. He kept a steadying palm against her back, and miraculously, the contact seemed to calm the pixelating effect.
It also burned, but Jax was the funny one.
He was made to grin and bear it.