Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

              The moral in the circus was at a staggering low after the Favorite Character Award Show Ceremony. Caine was beyond devastated to find out that no one liked him, despite all the effort he put into providing them what he thought were fun and stimulating adventures.

              The following day, the cast had gathered at the couches, anxiously waiting for whatever miserable adventure Caine might throw them into at any given second. That is, everyone except for Jax, whom no one was sure where he actually was.

“Do you guys think Caine’s mad that no one voted him as their favorite character?” Gangle asked the group, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“Of course he’s mad,” Zooble responded.

“I’m not mad,” the voice of Caine appeared out of what seemed to be nowhere. The group turned around to see him floating behind them, his face looking distraught. “I’m just… disappointed is all.”

              None of the cast knew how to respond to Caine’s melancholy as he floated behind them. For an AI, he was rather sensitive and emotional. One slightly rude comment could trigger Caine to put them through an adventure worse than abstraction. They exchanged glances with the other members of the cast, but no one dared to say anything.

“But, I get it. You all don’t want to be trapped in this silly circus,” Caine began to speak, awkwardly fiddling with his fingers while talking. “You miss your lives back in the so-called real world.”

“You mean, you’re letting us out?” Pomni asked with a spark of hope in her heart.

“Well, no,” Caine mumbled, his pupils going to the upper corner of his eye as he pondered. “But it’s inspired me to come up with the perfect adventure with you all in mind!” Caine exclaimed enthusiastically, floating higher into the air and pointing his index finger up to indicate that he had an idea. “We’re going to go on a world tour!”

“A world tour?” Zooble tilted their head slightly, intrigued by the concept for the upcoming adventure.

“Yes!” Caine nodded. “We’re going to visit all seven continents, and I’ve given you all the liberty of choosing the location and objective for each continent! Now, before I let you all converse about locations, is everyone here?”

“Jax isn’t here,” Gangle raised one of her ribbon hands shakily as she responded.

“Gangle, no!” Zooble nudged Gangle. “This is like, our one true opportunity for a fun adventure! Jax is going to ruin it by making us go to North Korea or something.”

              Caine snapped his fingers, which made Jax suddenly appear in the room.

“Oh, sorry, Zooble,” Gangle apologized.

“First up is North America!” Caine twirled and spread his arms outward. “Where would you like to go there?” He lied down in the air and rested the bottom of his jaw on his hand as he looked down at them.

“I kind of want to—” Gangle began to speak before getting interrupted.

“The Twin Towers on September 11^th, 2001!” Jax blurted out.

              The whole group turned and looked at Jax with disapproval. Ragatha rolled up the newspaper she was reading and walked over to where Jax was standing, where she started to hit him on the head repeatedly.

“Bad rabbit!” Ragatha scolded Jax as she wacked him with the newspaper. “That’s a very bad rabbit!”

“Jeez, learn to take a joke, will you?” Jax responded as he swatted away the newspaper.

“Jokes are supposed to be funny,” Ragatha stopped hitting Jax to cross her arms.

“Yeah, Jax. That’s not funny,” Pomni noted as she shook her head in disapproval.

“I don’t see anyone else leaving any suggestions,” Jax scoffed.

“Actually—” Gangle began to speak.

“Not a single person has tried suggesting anything!” Jax threw his hands into the air.

“Jax, can you like, shut the [####] up!?” Zooble yelled at Jax. “Gangle had a suggestion, but you keep interrupting her.” Zooble turned to Gangle and put their hand on Gangle’s shoulder, “What was your idea, Gangle?”

              Jax rolled his eyes as the group focused their attention on Gangle, who was sweating nervously.

“I thought that we could have a nice, relaxing luau in Hawaii,” Gangle spoke nervously.

“Actually, Gangle,” Caine interrupted. “Hawaii isn’t in North America; it’s in Oceania.”

“God, Gangle, can you do anything right!?” Jax teased.

“I just thought because like, it’s one of the states of the United States of America,” Gangle explained.

“Hawaii’s a state now!?” Kinger interrupted with a question.

              Everyone looked over at Kinger with a look of confusion, unsure whether or not Kinger was being genuine.

“Kinger, honey,” Ragatha looked over at Kinger. “Hawaii’s been a state since the late 50’s, and I know for a fact that you haven’t been here that long.”

“Oh yeah,” Kinger put his hand to his chin.

“We could go to Colorado and smoke weed,” Jax suggested with a cheeky smile, pretending to smoke an imaginary joint with his hand.

“No drugs,” Caine shook his head.

“We could go to Las Vegas and gamble all of our life’s savings,” Jax tried another suggestion.

“No gambling,” Caine shook his head again.

“That’s lame,” Jax crossed his arms.

“You know, there are places outside of the US that we could choose for North America,” Pomni suggested sheepishly. “I’m kind of interested in visiting Mexico.”

“Actually, I agree with Pomni about Mexico,” Jax stated, nodding.

“You do?” Pomni asked skeptically.

“We should have an adventure where we have to sneak into the United States illegally from Mexico without getting caught,” Jax grinned.

“What!? No! That’s a horrible idea!” Pomni reacted in repulsion.

“Actually… I like Jax’s train of thought,” Caine brought his hand to his mouth. “This idea has an initiative, drive, stakes! It’s perfect for starting off our world tour! Let’s do it!”

“I thought you said that we got to chose the place for each continent! You’re not going to even get us to vote on whether or not to do it?” Zooble protested.

“Nope!” Caine exclaimed before snapping his fingers, initiating the first adventure.

Chapter Text

              Just like that, they were all in the new adventure. The cast were all standing with a disheveled appearance nearby the border. Caine must have wanted them to know for certain that they were in Mexico because he had put a sepia filter on.

“Hola, amigos!” Caine swooped in from the sky. “The goal of this adventure is simple: get across border security. Once you do that, we can discuss where in South America you all will visit!”

“So, if we never cross the border, the adventure will never end?” Pomni questioned.

“Well, I guess so, yes,” Caine scratched his chin as he nodded reluctantly.

“How detailed is this world?” Pomni asked as she looked south of the border and into the Mexican horizon.

“Not to toot my own horn, but I think I did an magnificent job recreating the entirety of Mexico with this realistic map!” Caine put his hand to his chest as he spoke.

“So, couldn’t we basically just take a vacation in Mexico for as long as we want?” Pomni asked.

“Yes, but the objective is to get across the border!” Caine motioned his arms toward the border.

“I just don’t see why we would be motivated to do that, though,” Pomni shrugged.

“So you need incentive…” Caine scratched his chin as he pondered ideas.

“I know what you could use as incentive, Caine,” Jax said, pointing his finger into the air, indicating that he had an idea.

“God, no one wants to hear any of your ideas, dumb[###],” Zooble groaned.

“What if the Mexican cartel is chasing after Pomni?” Jax suggested with a smug smile.

“What!?” Pomni interjected. “If you’re going to have the cartel after us, why not make it all of us and not just me?”

“Because it’s funny,” Jax smirked.

“All right then! The Mexican cartel is after Pomni!” Caine snapped his fingers. “I suggest you get a move on! Good luck!” After speaking, Caine disappeared.

“You mother[####]er!” Pomni clenched her fists and prepared to lunge at Jax before Zooble grabbed her arm.

“Don’t waste your energy on him. It’s not worth it,” Zooble shook their head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Yeah, maybe we’ll have more luck with the other continents,” Ragatha added with an optimistic smile.

“I just wanted to have a vacation in Mexico,” Pomni grumbled under her breath as she crossed her arms.

“It looks like there’s a car right here that we can use to drive across the border checkpoint,” Gangle commented, pointing at a tan sedan a few meters behind the group.

              The group walked over and inspected the car. Gangle brought her ribbon hands over her eyes to look inside, noticing that the key was in the ignition of the car already. She opened the door to the driver’s seat to see that it was unlocked. She peered to the back to see that there were two seats and with a car seat designed for a toddler between them.

“I call shotgun!” Jax said.

“It looks like there’s only four seats and a one car seat,” Gangle observed, ignoring Jax. “But, there’s six of us.”

“A car seat?” Jax asked, opening one of the back doors and looking at the seat. “Oh my god, we have to put Pomni in the car seat!” He turned backward to look at Pomni, who was standing with an irritated expression.

“Couldn’t we just remove the car seat?” Pomni asked, annoyed.

              Zooble pushed Jax out of the way and tried to lift up the car seat, only to see that it was attached to the car.

“Sorry, Pomni,” Zooble stated. “This thing seems to be attached to the car, and you’re the only one who looks like they could even fit into it.”

“Yay!” Jax exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. He ran over and grabbed Pomni by her waist, causing her to let out a grunt. He carried her over to the car seat, where he put her down into it. “Wouldn’t want the baby getting hurt,” Jax mocked as he buckled her into the car seat and patted her head with his hand.

“Is it just me, or is Jax picking on Pomni more than usual?” Ragatha whispered to Zooble, cupping her hands to try and prevent the sound from carrying over to Jax’s earshot.

“He’s like a child. He’s probably picking on her because he has a crush on her,” Zooble responded, not bothering to be as secretive as Ragatha.

              Jax bolted his head around to face Zooble as he scowled. His pupils were small, black squares on his giant yellow eyes while his face was blushing profusely.

“I don’t,” Jax scoffed and began to smile with anger. “I don’t have a crush on her. You’re just delusional.”

“Whatever you say,” Zooble rolled their eyes.

“Jax and Pomni, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I—” Gangle started to tease.

“That’s it, no more comedy mask for you,” Jax growled as he got up and grabbed Gangle’s comedy mask before tossing it onto the floor, shattering it.

“My comedy mask…” Gangle cried as she looked down at her comedy mask, picking up its shattered pieces.

              Jax turned back to look at Pomni. Her mouth formed a small frown at the bottom of her face as she blushed more than just the usual pink circles under her eyes.

“I say we throw Jax into the trunk,” Zooble suggested.

“What? No!” Jax shook his head in frustration.

“I agree with Zooble,” Pomni added, nodding her head slightly.

              Zooble walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk. They walked over and grabbed Jax by his arm to drag him to the back of the car. Jax made an unpleasant shrieking noise as Zooble shoved him into the trunk and slammed the door on him.

              The group situated themselves into the car. Gangle took the driver’s seat, Kinger took the passenger’s seat, and Ragatha and Zooble sat on either side of Pomni in the back of the car.

              Gangle started to drive to the border checkpoint, getting stopped by a mannequin monitoring the flow of cars driving into the country.

“Why are you entering the United States?” the mannequin asked.

“We’re, um…” Gangle tapped her hand anxiously on the steering wheel. “We’re just visiting.”

“Can I see your passport?” the mannequin requested.

“Um…” Gangle looked at the three nervous faces in the back. “Sure…”

              She opened the glove box and grabbed a piece of paper inside and handed it to the mannequin. The mannequin looked it over carefully as Gangle began to sweat nervously.

“This is a coupon for a free hamburger at a fast food restaurant called Spudsy’s?” the mannequin stated, looking back up at Gangle.

“You’re welcome?” Gangle smiled sheepishly as the mannequin looked back down at the coupon.

“And it’s expired,” the mannequin added, unamused. “I’m going to need you to exit the vehicle, ma’am.”

“Ah, shoot,” Gangle sighed in defeat, unbuckling her seat belt and stepping out of the car as the three in the back of the car watched anxiously.

“You’re doing a great job, Gangle,” Kinger whispered to Gangle, giving her a thumbs up.

“Haha, thanks,” Gangle forced a smile as she responded to Kinger.

“You’re not trying to smuggle anything into the country, are you?” the mannequin interrogated Gangle.

“No, sir. I’m not,” Gangle wiped the sweat off of her forehead as she responded.

“So, you wouldn’t mind if I took a peek in your trunk?” the mannequin began to walk toward the end of the car.

“I guess not,” Gangle shrugged.

              The mannequin opened the trunk of the car, only to see Jax lying inside, looking beyond annoyed.

“It seems like you’re illegally smuggling invasive species into the country,” the mannequin accused. “Do you care to explain yourself?”

“Invasive species?” Jax interrupted. “I’m just a rabbit.”

“Oh, so you’re just a pet and this is just your owner then?” the mannequin asked, pointing at Gangle.

“On second thought, I am an invasive species, actually,” Jax said nonchalantly, nodding.

“God [####] it, Jax!” Zooble shouted at Jax from inside the car. Zooble turned to face Gangle and began to whisper, “Gangle, get in and start driving.”

              Gangle paused before nodding, jumping back into the car and shutting the door. She switched the car into drive and slammed her foot on the gas pedal. The sudden movement forced the trunk door to shut as she drove into the country.

              They knew that they had completed the adventure when the sepia filter was turned off, indicating that they were no longer in Mexico.

“Way to go, my immaculate illegals on getting into the country!” Caine appeared inside of the car.

“Don’t call us that,” Zooble responded in disgust.

“Have you thought of a place in South America you would like to go?” Caine inquired the group. Before anyone in the group could respond, Caine began to speak again. “Nope? Off to Brazil you go then!” Caine snapped his fingers.

Chapter Text

              The group was transported to Brazil, but not in one of Brazil’s bustling cities, but rather in the Amazon rainforest. He had put each character into wearing primitive tribal wear: Pomni, Gangle, and Ragatha all had on a leather tribal dress, while Jax and Kinger were put into leather loincloths. Zooble was just, well, Zooble.

“Welcome, my tribal travelers, to Brazil!” Caine appeared from the sky.

“I thought you said we got to choose where we went in each continent!” Zooble voiced their annoyance.

“What’s not to love about Brazil?” Caine questioned.

“Yeah, Zooble,” Jax taunted, crossing his arms and smirking. “What do you have against Brazil?”

“It’s not that it’s Brazil! It’s that were in the middle of the [####]ing Amazon!” Zooble angerly replied.

“That’s right!” Caine expressed. “To complete the South America part of the adventure, you have to survive a night in the Amazon rainforest! You’ll need to make shelter, find food, and whatever other things humans need to survive.”

“Sounds… amazing,” Zooble responded sarcastically.

“Thank you, Zooble!” Caine nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning!”

“Wait!” Zooble held out their arm, but Caine had already disappeared. “[####].”

“Well, okay…” Ragatha awkwardly walked to the center of the group. “We should probably decide on who’s going to do what.” She glanced around at the group. “Who wants to work on building a shelter, and who wants to work on finding dinner?”

“Personally, I’d rather work on building a shelter,” Gangle said.

“Me too,” Zooble said.

“Me three,” Pomni said.

“I would be happy to go find dinner,” Jax said smugly. “But, I can understand why all the ladies might be too scared to, with all the dangerous predators out there.”

“I’m not scared!” Pomni objected. “I’m just not good at cooking.”

“It’s fine,” Jax rolled his eyes. “I’ll go find dinner by myself while you cowards build a shelter.” Jax began to walk off into the rainforest.

“Should we really let him go out there all by himself? What if something bad happens to him?” Pomni asked the group, concerned.

“Why do you care? He’s the worst; he deserves whatever happens to him,” Zooble grunted.

“Yeah, but he’s still our…” Pomni stopped before finishing her sentence, remembering what Jax had told her the other day. “No, I guess you’re right.” Pomni slumped down and looked at her feet with a sense of defeat.

              The group started to work on creating a shelter. They started by finding three large branches and sticking them into the ground to form a triangular shape. They used sticks and leaves to create the walls, sealing them with mud.

              After several hours, the shelter was just about finished. It had just enough space for all of them to huddle inside. Ragatha began working on a campfire, under the assumption that Jax would be returning with a bunch of freshly caught fish at any moment.

“I’m concerned about Jax,” Pomni said to Ragatha as they gathered small twigs for firewood.

“Yeah, if he doesn’t come back, we won’t have anything to eat,” Ragatha responded. Her stomach growled, which she put her hands on her stomach in response. “It seems that Caine somehow implemented a hunger feature for this adventure.”

“I’m sure Gangle and I could try and catch some fish,” Zooble entered the conversation. “Just in case Jax doesn’t return, you know?”

“Good idea,” Ragatha nodded.

              Pomni watched hesitantly as Zooble and Gangle walked off into the rainforest. She went to fidget with the buttons on her outfit, only to be reminded that she was wearing something else.

“I hope nothing bad happens to them,” Pomni commented to Ragatha.

“Don’t worry,” Ragatha rested her hand on Pomni’s shoulder comfortingly. “They have each other.”

“Yeah,” Pomni mumbled.

              Only about an hour passed before Gangle and Zooble returned with five fish, one for each person. Pomni felt a wave of relief seeing that they had returned back safely. Ragatha started a fire while they began to cook the fish. Pomni’s mouth salivated as she watched the fish slowly cook.

              They ate the fish peacefully around the campfire as the sun started to set.

“Well, we did a lot of hard work today. I think I’m ready for bed,” Kinger commented after taking the last bite of his fish.

“What are you talking about?” Zooble asked. “You stopped working on the shelter after like, five minutes so you could look at the bugs.”

              The group huddled into the shelter for the night, their bodies lined up in a row on the ground. The others quickly fell asleep, but Pomni was left staring at the ceiling. She could not stop worrying about Jax.

              She sighed and carefully stood up in order not to wake the others. As she stood in the shelter, she looked down at all of the sleeping faces, seemingly unbothered by Jax’s absence. She walked out of the shelter and took a deep breath before she started walking down the path Jax took.

              The eerie noises of the Amazon overwhelmed her, yet she kept walking in hopes to find Jax. She knew that there had to be a reason that he had not returned.

              Eventually, she spotted him cowering in a small indent in a rocky cliff. She rushed over to realize that his tired eyes were staring at his two legs, except they were not, because both of his legs appeared to have been cartoonishly bitten off.

“What the [####] happened to you?” Pomni asked as she approached Jax.

“Huh?” Jax looked up, startled to see Pomni. “Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here?”

“I was out here looking for you!” Pomni walked over and sat down next to Jax.

“Why?” Jax asked judgingly.

“I was worried because you never returned,” Pomni answered.

“Well, you must love seeing me like this: all pathetic and whatnot,” Jax sulked. “Go ahead, mock me. I don’t care.”

“I’m not going to mock you,” Pomni commented, concerned. “But, what happened to your legs?”

“This darn jaguar,” Jax scoffed. “I was just looking for something to hunt when this thing snuck up on me and bit off one of my legs!” Jax reenacted the story using his hands as he spoke. “Then when I tried to use my other leg to kick it off of me, it bit off that leg too!” Jax looked over to see Pomni chuckle as he told his story.

“That’s… quite the story,” Pomni responded, trying not to laugh at Jax.

“Yup,” Jax rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Pomni smiled at him.

“Why?” Jax tossed his hands up from his lap slightly and refused to look at her. “Why do you care about me?”

“I don’t know,” Pomni shrugged. “I just do.”

              They both sat next to each other silently for a moment, taking in the sounds of the rainforest.

“Should we… I don’t know, get back to the shelter,” Pomni broke the silence.

“How? It’s not exactly like I can walk,” Jax shook his head and gestured at his missing legs.

“I could carry you,” Pomni suggested.

“No way,” Jax clenched his teeth. “Forget the stupid structure. I just want to be alone.”

“I’m not going to let you spend the night alone out here,” Pomni responded. “If you won’t go back to the shelter, I’ll just sleep with you out here.”

“Sleep with me?” Jax asked tauntingly, his smile returning as he put a finger to his mouth. “Am I just that irresistible that you had to come searching for me in the middle of the night, just so we could… you know.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Pomni rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’m quite the charitable guy, so if you ever change your mind…” Jax leaned into Pomni and raised his eyebrows.

“Good night, Jax,” Pomni responded before lying down on the ground next to Jax and closing her eyes.

              When the sun rose, Caine startled the two awake by appearing in front of them.

“Good morning, you two!” Caine greeted.

              Jax and Pomni batted their eyes open and looked at each other, realizing that they had been lying next to each other, their bodies touching. They both jumped up to separate themselves.

“The others are debating where to go for our next continent back at the shelter. You better hurry up and get over there if you want a say!” Caine explained.

“What continent is next?” Pomni asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Africa!” Caine answered.

“Oh,” Jax responded. “Will I get my legs back when we go there?”

“Why don’t I give them back to you right now!” Caine said, snapping his fingers, which made Jax’s legs suddenly reappear.

“Let’s go join the others,” Pomni said as she got onto her feet, Jax following her.

              When they got back to the shelter, the rest of the group was sitting around the campfire, discussing where in Africa they wished to go.

“Pomni? Where did you go? We were worried about you!” Ragatha asked as soon as she saw them arrive.

“What about me?” Jax asked mockingly.

“Eh,” Ragatha shrugged. “I mean, no offense. I’m glad you’re okay and all.”

“None taken,” Jax muttered, unamused.

“I just went out to look for Jax is all,” Pomni explained. “So, have we come up for a place we want to go in Africa yet?”

“I just want something relaxing,” Gangle stated. “The Americas have been a little stressful.”

“I agree with Gangle,” Zooble said.

“Yeah, because Africa screams relaxing,” Jax mocked sarcastically.

“I’ve always wanted to go shopping at a market in Morocco,” Ragatha chimed in. “I think that could be sort of relaxing.”

“I’m good with that,” Zooble responded.

“I guess I am too,” Gangle responded.

“That’s enough approvals. Let’s go shopping in Morocco!” Caine enthusiastically expressed before snapping his fingers.

Chapter Text

              Just like that, the group was standing in the middle of a bustling market in Morocco. Their outfits had changed from their tribal wear into long robes and slippers.

“So, what exactly is the objective for this continent?” Jax asked as he observed his new clothing.

“Everyone needs to obtain one thing being sold from the market. The fun part is… you don’t have any money!” Caine explained, swooping down to get closer to them.

“How is that the fun part?” Zooble asked, annoyed.

“You’ll need to find other means of obtaining these goods, or money to purchase them,” Caine explained.

“So like, you want us to steal?” Gangle asked nervously.

“That is certainly one option!” Caine said. “Make sure you pick something you like, because it will be waiting for you in your room once we’re done with our world tour! Now, go on and get shopping!” Caine twirled into the air and disappeared.

              The group all exchanged glances with each other.

“Did you hear that? We get to keep what we buy. That’s pretty cool,” Ragatha commented.

“Wow, Ragatha! Really? I had no idea,” Jax mocked Ragatha.

“Can you stop being such a…” Ragatha began to respond but stopped herself. She took a deep breath.

“I’ll stop when you stop mansplaining everything to us,” Jax quipped.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Ragatha objected.

“I think Jax just means, stop talking to us like we’re kids,” Pomni spoke.

“I don’t talk to you like you are kids,” Ragatha objected.

              Pomni awkwardly chuckled and fiddled with her hair, avoiding eye contact with Ragatha.

“Let’s just, go shopping now,” Pomni said.

“This is getting really uncomfortable,” Gangle whispered to Zooble.

“Yeah,” Zooble whispered back. “Let’s just go off together. Let them blow off some steam, you know?”

“Yeah,” Gangle whispered. “Zooble and I are going to go off shopping,” she told the group. “We’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

              Gangle and Zooble waved as they walked down one of the aisles of the market, scoping out what they wanted to buy.

“Are we splitting off into pairs?” Kinger asked the rest of the group.

“We don’t have to split off into pairs,” Ragatha replied.

“Yeah, you all can have a threesome,” Jax made a circular motion around the three others. “I’m going off by myself.”

              Ragatha rolled her eyes as Jax walked off by himself.

              Meanwhile, Zooble and Gangle were walking around, observing the items for sale. Gangle stopped when they got to a stand selling an array of different African masks.

“Wow, Zooble. Look at all those masks!” Gangle said enthusiastically. “Do you think they could fit me?”

“Maybe,” Zooble shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

              Gangle approached the mannequin selling the masks.

“Excuse me, how much are those masks?” she asked, pointing at the masks.

“Three hundred Dirhams,” the mannequin answered.

“How much is that in dollars?” Gangle whispered to Zooble.

“No clue,” Zooble replied. “But it doesn’t matter. We don’t have any money.”

“You’re right,” Gangle said disappointedly. “How are we going to get money to pay for it?”

“I guess you could ask around for money… or you could just steal one,” Zooble replied.

“I feel bad about stealing, though,” Gangle replied, rubbing one of her ribbon arms.

“Of course you do,” Jax said as he approached them behind.

“Ugh, what are you doing here?” Zooble looked at Jax with annoyance.

“Hey, I’m just here to help you out,” Jax batted his eyes. “You know this is all just a game, right, Gangle? None of this is real.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Gangle mumbled.

“But, if you’re unwilling to compromise your morals, I guess I could loan you some money,” Jax brought a finger to his cheek.

“What money?” Zooble asked.

“I don’t know… maybe this money,” Jax reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a stack of hundred Dirham bills, spreading it out to display the amount to them.

“Where did you get all of that?” Zooble asked skeptically.

“I have my ways,” Jax smirked. “Now, I have plenty of money for each of you to buy whatever you want.”

“You’re not going to do that, though,” Zooble shook their head.

“Of course not. At least, not without a favor that is,” Jax wrapped his arm around Zooble and leaned into them.

“Like what?” Zooble asked.

“Before I tell you, you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone that I asked you to do this, okay?” Jax turned serious.

“Is it bad?” Gangle asked nervously.

“No, not at all, actually,” Jax became slightly more relaxed again. “But I need both of you to promise.”

“Sure, whatever. I promise,” Zooble said.

“Yeah, I promise,” Gangle said.

“Good!” Jax smiled. “I’m guess that our next continent is going to be Europe, right?”

“Yeah, probably,” Zooble shrugged. “So?”

“So…” Jax looked away, blushing slightly. “I want to go to Paris.”

“You want to go to Paris?” Zooble asked unsurely.

“Paris is, you know, the city of love,” Jax looked down at the ground and swayed his feet slightly. “And I want the objective of the adventure to be about each of us going on successful dates.”

“You want to go on a date?” Zooble tried not to laugh.

“Silence, Zoobie,” Jax brought his finger to where Zooble’s mouth would be and shushed them. “I want to go on a date with Pomni. But she can’t know that I want that.”

“Why not?” Gangle asked.

“Because it’s embarrassing! It’s embarrassing that I’m even bringing it up to you two!” Jax answered, blushing. “But think about it. It’s a win for all of us!”

“How?” Zooble asked.

“You two clearly have something going on between you,” Jax said, pointing his finger at one and moving it between the two. “You two get to go on a date with each other, and I get to go on a date with Pomni.”

“What about Kinger and Ragatha?” Gangle asked.

“I don’t really care about what they do,” Jax shrugged. “So, do we have a deal?”

              Zooble and Gangle looked at each other nervously before Gangle started smiling.

“Sure,” Gangle said. “If it’s okay with Zooble, of course.”

“Yeah, I guess we could do that. It’ll be nice to know that we’re going to something good for Europe,” Zooble agreed.

“Perfect!” Jax pulled out a stack of bills and handed each of them a thousand Dirhams and walked away.

              Gangle and Zooble looked through the stack of bills they were handed and began smiling.

“I have enough to buy three masks!” Gangle said excitedly.

              Gangle went back up to the mannequin selling the masks and handed him the money for three masks.

“I’ll take three masks, please,” Gangle smiled.

              The mannequin took the money and counted it. Once he was done counting, he nodded at Gangle.

“Okay. You can pick out three masks,” the mannequin said.

              Gangle walked up to the display of masks and carefully picked out three unique masks. Once done, she walked back to Zooble.

“What are you going to buy, Zooble?” Gangle asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s keep looking around,” Zooble replied.

              After about an hour of everyone wandering the bazaar, they had each obtained something from the market. Kinger shinned some shoes to earn enough money to purchase a handmade chess set. Ragatha asked people walking around for enough money to purchase an African doll. Pomni, remembering what Jax had said to her during the gun adventure, shoplifted a small ring. Zooble ended up purchasing some tapestries that reminded them of Gangle’s ribbons. Jax had clearly obtained something, whether or not he actually paid for it with all of his money or just stole it for the thrill of it, was unknown. But, he wasn’t willing to tell anyone what he had gotten either.

              They all gathered back together, and Caine finally appeared from the sky.

“It looks like everyone managed to obtain something from the market!” Caine descended down from the sky to their level, being dramatic as always. “Our next continent is Europe!” Caine expressed, causing Jax to smile. “Where would you bustling beauties like to go in Europe?”

              Jax immediately looked over at Gangle and Zooble, who were standing next to each other. He gestured his head as if to prompt them into giving Caine the suggestion for what he wanted.

“I kind of want to—” Pomni started to say, causing Jax to panic.

“Wait!” he interrupted Pomni, putting his hand over her mouth. He realized how frantic he sounded and awkwardly smiled. “I think that Gangle had an idea for what to do in Europe.”

“Oh, um… okay?” Pomni responded after forcing his hand off her mouth. “It’s kind of weird since earlier you were interrupting her when she had a suggestion, and now you want to hear a suggestion that she hasn’t even made yet.”

“I feel so bad,” Jax batted his eyes dramatically, “for speaking over Gangle earlier.”

“You do?” Pomni raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! Am I not allowed to change my ways, Pomni? Besides, you already got to pick us going to Mexico,” Jax responded.

“Yeah! But, you ruined it by making it some insensitive adventure about sneaking into the US!” Pomni grunted.

“And I’m sorry,” Jax replied untruthfully. “Now, Gangle, what is your idea?” He turned to look at Gangle.

“Oh, umm…” Gangle stuttered. “I guess I thought that we could um…”

“Go on,” Jax mouthed to Gangle, giving her an intimidatingly angry smile.

“We could pair up and each go on dates in Paris. We can do the same pairs we did for the gun adventure,” Gangle explained.

“Really?” Pomni grimaced. “You’re going to make me go on a date with him?” Pomni glared at Jax, who was smiling cheekily.

“Yeah, Gangle. You’re going to make me go on a date with her?” Jax responded, leaning down at Pomni.

“Uh… yep,” Gangle smiled sheepishly.

“Is it because you want to go on a date with Zooble?” Pomni asked. “I’m sure you two could go on a date without the rest of us needing to.” Pomni’s words made Jax start to sweat.

“Sorry, Pomni,” Gangle replied. “It wouldn’t be fair for only us to go on a date.” Gangle’s response made Jax sigh in relief.

“Couldn’t we go on dates with NPCs? I’d go on a date with Gummigoo,” Pomni stated.

“Uh, no,” Gangle replied, sweating.

“Let’s just start the Europe adventure already,” Zooble interrupted Pomni from poking holes in Gangle’s request.

“All right, then!” Caine said. “See you in Paris!” Then he snapped his fingers.

Chapter Text

              They were transported to Paris, and for the first time, they were not all together in one group. They were grouped up into pairs. Jax and Pomni were standing in line at a restaurant. Jax was wearing a tuxedo and Pomni was wearing a long dress.

“Table for two?” a mannequin working at the restaurant asked.

“Yep!” Jax replied. He looked down to see Pomni glaring at him. “I mean, yeah, I guess,” he shrugged.

              The mannequin guided them to a small circular table in the middle of the restaurant. It had a candle in the middle and rose petals scattered around it to make it look more romantic; however, it just looked odd considering it was the only table there with rose petals.

              They both sat down and picked up a menu, starting to look through the options available.

“Do you think Caine gave us money to buy food, or is dining and dashing going to a part of this too?” Pomni asked.

“I don’t think he gave us any money,” Jax said, digging through his pockets. “Oh, wait!” he exclaimed as he pulled out a stack of bills from his pocket, only to realize it was the money he had gotten in Africa. “Do you think they take Dirhams here?” Jax asked jokingly, causing Pomni to chuckle.

              Suddenly, Caine appeared next to them.

“Hello, my lovely lovers,” he said, batting his eyelashes as he looked at them. Pomni cringed upon hearing how Caine referred to her and Jax. “Your goal is to have the perfect date! But, the date must remain family friendly!”

“How do you determine if the date is perfect?” Pomni questioned.

“Great question, Pomni!” Caine glided over to Pomni and patted her on the head. “I guess it doesn’t have to be perfect. When you’re done with your date, you need to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and kiss.” The excitement of having to kiss Pomni made his tail start to wag uncontrollably, which he desperately tried to prevent Pomni from noticing.

“Ew! Do we have to?” Pomni reacted.

“Yep!” Caine said. “Now I have to go talk to Ragatha and Kinger. Bye!” Then he disappeared.

“Do you think he’s going to force Ragatha and Kinger to kiss?” Jax asked with a smile.

“Probably,” Pomni shrugged. “But, I don’t want to think about the whole kissing thing right now, though. Let’s just focus on enjoying Paris.”

“Yeah, uh, me neither,” Jax leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck.

              They waited for a mannequin to come take their order, but that did not happen. Instead, a mannequin walked over and placed a giant bowl of spaghetti on the table with two forks. Then it walked away without saying a word.

“What is this?” Pomni looked down at the spaghetti. “We didn’t order this. Spaghetti’s not even French, either.”

“I love spaghetti,” Jax smiled. “But, Caine probably wants us to do that silly spaghetti trope where the two are slurping the same string of spaghetti, and end up kissing,” he rubbed the back of his neck again and blushed, all while avoiding eye contact with Pomni.

“Whatever,” Pomni rolled her eyes.

              They each picked up a fork and started eating the spaghetti. Although they did not experience the trope, Jax still found it very enjoyable. He liked the idea that they were both eating from the same bowl, putting their forks into their own mouths before putting them back into the bowl. He smiled thinking that the spaghetti he was eating might be contaminated with the remains of her saliva, and she might be eating spaghetti contaminated with his.

              Once the bowl was empty, they both placed their forks down on the table. Pomni noticed that he had some sauce on his chin.

“You have sauce on your face,” she informed him, pointing to her chin to indicate where the sauce was.

“Oh, okay,” Jax picked up a napkin and started dabbing at his mouth.

“No, not there. It’s below your mouth,” Pomni stated with frustration.

“Oh, I see,” Jax smiled and began to wipe his neck.

“Are you stupid or something?” Pomni gave him a fed up look.

“I might be! Maybe you should just get it for me,” he said, raising his eyebrows and smiling.

“Ugh, fine,” Pomni grabbed the napkin from Jax’s hand and wiped off the sauce. “There,” she said once it was all gone.

“Thank you,” Jax said teasingly as Pomni put the napkin back down on the table.

“Okay, what now?” Pomni asked.

“Let’s explore the city,” Jax answered, looking out the window of the restaurant.

              Jax and Pomni stood up from their seats and walked out the door. No one stopped them about paying for their food, which made sense because they did not actually order it.

              As they were walking down the streets of Paris, they passed a boutique selling a selection of fashionable dresses. Jax noticed that Pomni was fixated on the dresses through the front window of the boutique.

“Checking out the dresses?” Jax stopped walking once they got in front of the boutique.

“Um…” Pomni rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I guess.” Pomni looked at Jax.

              Pomni was mentally preparing herself for whatever joke Jax was going to throw at her. At first, Jax wanted to spout out a joke, but when he noticed how timid Pomni looked, he changed his mind.

“Do you… want to go inside and maybe try them on?” Jax said reluctantly.

“Really?” Pomni was surprised by Jax’s invitation. “Are you okay with that, or are you just going to make fun of me?”

“I won’t make fun of you,” Jax responded playfully. “I’m just trying to be a good boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Pomni rolled her eyes, but smiled playfully.

“Sure, now come on honey. Let me buy you some nice clothes,” Jax leaned down and squeezed Pomni’s hand.

              The two of them entered the boutique. Pomni began looking at the dresses. She picked one out and took it to the changing room.

              When she walked out, Jax was waiting with a large grin on his face. He examined the dress on her body, the way the fabric hugged her skin.

“What do you think?” Pomni asked tentatively.

“Very pretty,” Jax answered, his eyes still memorized by Pomni’s body in the dress.

“My eyes are up here, Jax,” Pomni shook her head playfully.

“Oh, my bad, Pomni,” Jax said sarcastically. “I’m sorry that I’m looking at a dress you’re trying on. I’ll make sure to only look at your face if you try on any more.”

              Pomni giggled. She ended up trying on several more dresses. Each time she walked out wearing a dress, Jax fawned over her and told her how she looked beautiful. He liked that he could try and get close with her by disguising it as playing a role for the adventure.

              After a while, Caine appeared in the boutique.

“Our time is coming to an end. I need you two to start heading to the Eiffel Tower to complete this portion of our adventure,” Caine said.

“Already?” Pomni asked, disappointedly. She turned to Jax, “I’m sorry we didn’t get to do anything you wanted to do in Paris.”

“Believe me, I did,” Jax smiled, making Pomni chuckle. He was not lying. He greatly enjoyed getting to check out Pomni as she tried on clothes. “Well, I guess we should get going.”

“Yes! Let’s go!” Caine said with enthusiasm. He snapped his fingers, teleporting them all to the base of the Eiffel Tower. “Ready to climb?” he asked.

“Why didn’t you just transport us to the top of the tower?” Pomni asked.

“Good question!” Caine responded before disappearing again.

              Pomni and Jax both looked at each other and chuckled. They started walking up the flights of stairs to get higher in the tower. After a bit of walking, Pomni’s feet began to grow sore.

“Caine put me in these stupid high heels,” she stated. “My legs are killing me.”

“Well, if you can’t walk, I guess I could carry you,” Jax replied smugly, calling back to when Pomni offered to carry him in Brazil.

“You know what? Sure,” Pomni giggled.

              Jax leaned down and scooped Pomni into his arms. She looked at him with big eyes and blushing cheeks. He continued to walk to the top of the tower.

              Once they got to the top of the tower, Jax carefully set Pomni down on the ground.

“I believe now’s the time we kiss,” Jax said, holding his own hands behind his back and blushing.

“I guess so,” Pomni smiled.

“So, how do you want to do this?” Jax asked with a cheeky grin.

“Lean down,” Pomni ordered.

              Jax leaned down, getting his head level to around where Pomni’s head was. Once he was lowered, she reached and cusped the sides of his face and guided it to hers, where they were able to share a quick kiss.

              Pomni let go of Jax, and he returned to his natural posture with his face steaming pink and his ears perked up more than usual. They looked into each other’s eyes and shared a moment together.

              The next two to come up were Zooble and Gangle, who kissed passionately upon reaching the top of the tower. When Kinger and Ragatha got to the top, Kinger gave Ragatha a small peck on her hand, which seemed to satisfy Caine.

“Would you look at that?” Pomni nudged Jax. “I didn’t realize we could have done that.”

“Oh no,” Jax responded sarcastically. “Well, too late now,” he grinned at Pomni, who blushed back at him.

“So, how do we feel about Europe?” Caine asked the group.

“This has been by far the best part of the world tour,” Zooble said to Caine, but was looking at Jax.

              The others all nodded their heads and mumbled in agreement.

“I’m glad you all liked Europe!” Caine did a flip as he floated in the air. “Next up is Asia! Thoughts?”

“Japan!” Gangle immediately blurted out.

“I was thinking more like North Korea,” Jax joked.

“Called it,” Zooble rolled their eyes.

“Called what?” Jax asked.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Zooble replied.

“I’m cool with going to Japan,” Ragatha said. “Is it cool with everyone else?”

“What about Saudi Arabia?” Caine asked the group.

“What? Why are you suggesting things?” Zooble asked.

“Saudi Arabia is a very cool place!” Caine said, while they noticed a pop up saying “ad” appear above his head.

“No one wants to go to [####]ing Saudi Arabia!” Zooble protested.

“Fine,” Caine crossed his arms and scowled. “Japan it is.” Caine snapped his fingers.

Chapter Text

              The group was transported to a locker room sorted by gender. In the girls’ locker room, Gangle did not notice anything special about her appearance, considering she usually did not wear any clothes. But, Pomni and Ragatha were both naked with their bodies being wrapped in a towel.

              Caine appeared in the girls’ locker room.

“Hello, my luminescent ladies!” Caine greeted enthusiastically. “Welcome to the onsen! Everyone needs to take a shower before entering the water!”

“Are there swimsuits we should change into after our shower?” Ragatha asked.

“No clothes are allowed in the onsen!” Caine answered. “But, don’t worry about covering your private parts, because you don’t have any!”

              Pomni and Ragatha looked at each other unsurely before Pomni removed her towel, revealing her nude model. Caine was indeed correct; the area between her legs was completely smooth. She did not even have nipples on her chest.

“Huh,” Pomni said, observing her avatar.

              Ragatha followed Pomni’s lead, revealing that she was in the same situation as Pomni.

“Got it? Good!” Caine said as the girls stared at each other’s bodies. “Start showering!” Caine disappeared in a poof.

              The girls walked over to the showers and started washing their bodies and hair. Once done, they dried themselves off with fresh towels and exited the locker room with nothing covering their bodies.

              Jax, Kinger, and Zooble were all already in the hot springs, enjoying themselves.

“Oo la-la,” Jax fanned his face with his hand as he saw the nude ladies.

“Shut up, Jax,” Ragatha rolled her eyes.

              The three girls climbed into the water, joining the rest of the group. Once they were in, Jax moved to sit next to Pomni.

“Like what you see, Pom-Pom?” Jax asked Pomni as he used his hands to show off his bare, fluffy chest.

              Pomni looked at Jax’s chest, noting that he also did not have any nipples.

“Not much to see, to be honest,” Pomni shrugged, trying not to laugh at Jax.

              Before Jax could respond, Caine appeared above the water.

“I hope you’re enjoying the onsen, everyone!” Caine said.

“Yeah, it’s super nice,” Gangle commented.

“Good!” Caine replied.

“So, what’s the objective here? Or are you just going to let us chill for once?” Zooble questioned.

“You all can just take a break for this continent,” Caine said.

“Really? Why?” Pomni asked.

“I don’t want you to be worn out for the last two continents!” Caine explained.

“So, we still have Australia,” Pomni commented. “And then there’s… wait, are you actually making us go to Antarctica?”

“Of course! It’s one of the seven continents after all. It’s going to be the final destination for this adventure!” Caine replied.

“Sounds great,” Pomni replied sarcastically.

“It will most definitely be!” Caine expressed. “Now, I’ll see you all in a bit. Bye!” Caine teleported away.

              The group sat silently in the onsen for a couple of seconds.

“So… Pomni, how was your date with Jax?” Gangle asked, causing Jax to get nervous.

“It was good, surprisingly,” Pomni smiled.

“Oh, good,” Gangle sighed in relief. “I was worried I might have ruined your experience for Europe.”

“If you were worried about that, why did you make us go on a date?” Pomni raised an eyebrow.

“Uh…” Gangle started to sweat. She looked over at Jax who was frantically shaking his head, trying to tell her not to tell the truth. Gangle eventually stopped talking and was looking blankly at Pomni, causing Pomni to tilt her head.

“Pomni, Pomni,” Jax put his hand on Pomni’s chest. “Stop interrogating Gangle. She probably only did it because she’s a freak or something. Right, Gangle?” Jax asked as he clenched his jaw, looking at Gangle.

“Yep!” Gangle replied nervously.

“Okay… what’s going on here?” Pomni narrowed her eyes and panned them back and forth between Gangle and Jax.

“Nothing!” Jax and Gangle said at the same time.

“I can’t take this anymore,” Zooble started to say, prompting Jax to give them a death glare. “Jax wanted to go to Paris.”

“Oh, did he?” Pomni raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jax.

“Yeah, he wanted to go to Paris, but he was too embarrassed to request it himself, so he asked me and Gangle to suggest it on his behalf,” Zooble explained.

“Zooble, I swear to god,” Jax grinded his teeth as he glared with fury at Zooble.

“But, the date thing was my idea,” Zooble put a hand to their chest, causing Jax’s body to relax slightly. “I just wanted to embarrass him for always being such a [####] to Gangle. Sorry I had to rope you into it.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Pomni rubbed her chin.

“Welp, Zooble called it,” Jax held his hands behind his head. “That’s exactly what happened. Let’s talk about something else now, okay?”

“Wait a minute…” Pomni interjected. “Why would you two agree to suggest Paris on Jax’s behalf?”

“He gave us Dirhams to buy stuff in Morocco if we suggested it for him. That’s how we got our money,” Zooble responded before turning to Jax.

“And how did you get the money?” Pomni turned to Jax.

“I stole it from a donation bin to feed starving children,” Jax shrugged nonchalantly.

“What!?” Gangle reacted. “That’s awful!”

“Gangle, relax,” Jax shook his head playfully. “It’s not real.”

“But, what if it was real?” Gangle asked.

“If it were real?” Jax pondered, tapping his fingers on his chin as he thought about the question.

“I’m sure Jax wouldn’t do that if it was real,” Pomni spoke after Jax remained silent while thinking. “I mean, people will play video games with violence and murder, but that doesn’t mean those people want to actually go do those things in real life. Right, Jax?”

“Yeah,” Jax mumbled as he looked down at his lap. His pupils looked practically microscopic.

“So…” Ragatha began to speak, trying to change the subject, “where do you guys want to go in Oceania?”

“We could go to Hawaii like I mentioned in the beginning,” Gangle offered.

“Boring,” Jax rolled his eyes.

“Australia feels like the most obvious choice,” Pomni commented.

“Absolutely not,” Jax shook his head and crossed his arms.

“What? Why not?” Pomni asked.

“Because everyone knows you’re down bad for Australian guys, and we don’t want you to be ogling shirtless Australian men the whole time.”

“Who is ‘we’?” Zooble asked judgmentally. “I think that you just don’t want Pomni to be looking at other guys.”

“That’s nonsense!” Jax exclaimed before awkwardly laughing. “I don’t care about that in the slightest!” Jax said, causing Zooble to roll their eyes.

“Guys, guys…” Ragatha intervened, putting her arms outward. “Let’s not cause drama now. How about we just let Kinger decide? He hasn’t gotten a chance to choose yet.”

“I think Oceania has to be by far the worst continent to let Nutso choose,” Jax spoke. “Have you seen the type of bugs they have in Australia?”

“I’ll be happy as long as you’re happy,” Kinger said. “Whether it’s looking at Australian bugs or looking at incredibly attractive, shirtless, Australian men, is fine with me.”

“We’re not looking at hot guys!” Jax responded loudly and with frustration. “And no one said anything about them being shirtless!”

“But you admit that they’re hot?” Zooble teased.

“What?” Jax scowled as he looked over at Zooble.

“You called them ‘hot’,” Zooble raised an eyebrow.

“I only said that because…” Jax started to argue. “You know what? This is stupid. I’m not even going to engage in this,” Jax rolled his eyes and slumped backward.

              Suddenly, Caine appeared above all of them in the onsen.

“Have you decided where you’re heading in Oceania?” Caine asked.

“Not really,” Ragatha sighed.

“Also, isn’t Oceania technically a region, not a continent?” Zooble asked skeptically.

“Oh my gosh, Zooble. Who asked?” Caine rolled his eyes and slapped his right hand onto his face.

“Yeah, Zooble!” Jax mocked. “Your girlfriend wants to go to Hawaii, and you’re going to strip that away from here because Oceania isn’t technically a continent,” Jax used finger quotes when saying ‘continent’.

“You literally said no to Hawaii like, two minutes ago!” Zooble yelled at Jax.

“Wait, so are we going to Hawaii then?” Gangle’s face lit up.

“Nope. Sorry, Gangle. Zooble had to ruin it for everyone,” Caine rolled his eyes. “You want to go to the continent of Australia, then we’ll go to Australia.”

              Before anyone could respond, Caine snapped his fingers.

Chapter Text

              Upon appearing in Australia, the group found themselves in the middle of the outback. They were dressed in khaki shorts and western hats. As they stood with their feet in the reddish soil, the sun beamed down on them intensely.

              Caine appeared shortly after them, catching everyone’s attention with his arrival.

“So, what’s the goal this time, Caine?” Jax asked as he crossed his arms.

“I’m glad you asked, Jax!” Caine responded enthusiastically. “We’re going to be restoring the natural ecosystem by rounding up Australia’s worst invasive species!”

“What’s Australia’s most in—” Jax started to say before pausing, his pupils become small, black squares. “Oh,” Jax brought his hand to his face and scratched his chin as he realized the answer to the question he was about to ask.

“That’s right, Jax! We’re going to be rounding up rabbits!” Caine explained.

              Caine snapped his fingers, causing a giant truck to appear, along with six giant nets. Caine handed each member of a group their own net.

“The goal is quite simple! Using the nets that I have provided, or any other methods you come up with, catch as many rabbits and load them into the back of this truck,” Caine explained as he pointed at the truck. “This number above the truck will count how many you’ve caught,” Caine pointed at a giant zero that was now floating above the truck, spinning in a circle.

              Only a second after Caine finished talking, Kinger used his net and trapped Jax with it.

“What the heck!?” Jax stressed as Kinger flipped the net and lifted it off the ground.

“I caught our first rabbit, guys!” Kinger exclaimed innocently.

“Not me!” Jax complained as Kinger walked over to the truck and dropped Jax inside and shut the back.

              The group noticed as the number above the truck went from a zero into a one.

“Huh,” Pomni muttered to herself, surprised that Jax had actually counted as a rabbit that needed to be gathered up.

“Okay, everyone! Disperse! Catch some hares!” Caine pointed off to the horizon before disappearing in front of them.

              Everyone mumbled and shrugged to themselves as they started walking in the direction Caine had pointed to. They quickly realized how evident the influx of rabbits in the area was.

“Were those rabbits always there?” Gangle asked sheepishly.

“Beats me,” Zooble shrugged.

              They quickly started gathering up rabbits and loading them up in the back of the truck where Jax was. Jax watched as the number of rabbits continued to increase. It did not take long for the rabbits in the truck to start trying to reproduce. The supposed male rabbits mounted the supposed female rabbits and humped vigorously while Jax watched in bewilderment.

“I can see why rabbits are so invasive,” Jax muttered to himself. “But, why did Caine make it so that they actually mate like that.”

              Jax picked up a rabbit that was humping another rabbit and examined its rear end, noting that the rabbit did not have any reproductive organs modeled. He shrugged and put the rabbit back on the ground, only for the rabbit that was being humped to start humping the rabbit that was just humping it.

“These rabbits clearly have no assigned gender,” Jax laughed.

              As Jax was chuckling to himself, Pomni opened the truck and dropped off a net full of rabbits.

“What are you laughing at?” she asked him.

“Just look,” Jax pointed at the numerous amounts of rabbit mating going on in the truck.

“Oh, wow,” Pomni’s eyes widened.

“But, Caine didn’t even give the rabbits parts or anything,” Jax rolled his eyes.

“He didn’t give you parts either,” Pomni raised an eyebrow.

              Jax rolled his eyes before having a sudden realization. Pomni could tell by his face that something was going through his head.

“What?” Pomni asked. “What’s that face?”

              Jax’s face went bright pink. He grabbed Pomni by her wrist and yanked her inside of the truck and shut the door, leaving them in there together with the rabbits.

“What the [####]?” Pomni exclaimed as Jax yanked her inside. “What’s going on?”

              Jax stared at her, too embarrassed to try and spit out the words going through his mind.

“Pomni,” he finally muttered, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking deeply into her pinwheel eyes. “If these rabbits can have sex without parts, do you… do you think I can too?”

              Pomni’s eyes widened as her mind raced whether or not Jax was implying what she thought he was implying. They looked into each other’s eyes intensely. Sweat was dripping from both of their foreheads from a combination of the intense heat of the outback and the suggestive nature of the conversation.

              Before Pomni responded, the truck opened. This startled both Jax and Pomni, causing Jax to lose his balance and fall on top of Pomni.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Zooble stared as both Jax and Pomni looked at them slowly with blushing faces.

              Zooble’s reaction caught the attention of the other members of the circus. They gathered around to look at Jax, whose body was on top of Pomni. No one said anything for a couple of seconds until Caine appeared.

“How’s it going my—” Caine started to greet before glancing over at Jax and Pomni. “What’s going on in here?” he looked at them with bewilderment.

“Um…” Pomni blushed as she tried to think of something to say. “Nothing?”

“Jax, would you like to share with the class what’s going on?” Caine asked as he narrowed his eyes.

“Rabbit… stuff?” Jax responded unsurely.

“Rabbit stuff?” Caine tilted his head before looking over at some of the rabbits in the truck, mating. “Oh, no, no, no!” Caine shook his head. “Jax, you cannot mate with Pomni! I’m very disappointed in both of you.”

“We didn’t even do anything,” Pomni looked at Caine with concern.

“I can’t have this act of indecency in my circus!” Caine grew angry.

“But, all the other rabbits are doing it,” Jax shrugged.

“I don’t want to hear it, Jax,” Caine shook his head. “We’re cutting this continent short.”

“Oh, no,” Jax mocked sarcastically.

“Oh, yeah! Antarctica, here we come!” Caine said and snapped his fingers one last time.

Chapter Text

              The members of the circus appeared in their last continent: Antarctica. They were all dressed in heavy parkas and thick gloves to protect them from the freezing temperatures.

“Welcome to Antarctica, everyone!” Caine greeted the group. “I hope you like the cold!”

“What the [####] is there even to do here?” Zooble asked angerly.

“That’s a great question, Zooble!” Caine nodded. “To be honest, I have no idea,” Caine shrugged as he spoke.

“Then can’t we just end the adventure?” Zooble asked.

“Zooble, why do you always try and get out of my adventures?” Caine asked sadly.

“Because they’re awful!” Zooble insulted Caine.

“You should know that the things you say are very hurtful, Zooble,” Caine wiped a tear from his eye.

“I—" Zooble began to get flustered before sighing in defeat. “Okay, sorry… Caine.”

“Thank you for your apology, Zooble!” Caine’s face lit up as he teleported next to Zooble, giving them a couple pats on their head. “Now, back to our task! I want each of you to take care of a penguin egg!”

“Why?” Jax asked judgingly.

“Because it’s important to learn how to responsibly look after something,” Caine answered.

“Why should we bother learning how to take care of children if you won’t even give us the ability to create them?” Jax asked.

“Jax, I already told you! You can’t mate with Pomni!” Caine yelled.

“You’re no fun,” Jax rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Now, here’s a penguin egg,” Caine spawned a penguin egg floating above his cupped hands, gently lowering it to the ground. “I need everyone to take care of it until it hatches.”

“I thought you said we each got our own egg?” Pomni asked.

“Did I?” Caine questioned. “Oh, well. See you when it hatches!” Caine said before disappearing.

              The group all glanced at each other.

“So… how are we supposed to take care of the egg?” Pomni broke the silence with a question.

“Someone could sit on it to keep it warm,” Ragatha suggested.

“Not it!” Jax blurted out.

“It’s fine. I can sit on the egg,” Gangle spoke up. “My body is light, so I’m probably the least likely to break it.”

              Gangle walked over toward the egg and carefully sat on top of it. They all just stared at her for a couple of seconds.

“Okay, I’m bored,” Jax commented. “Let’s go find some place private, Pomni,” Jax leaned toward Pomni and looked at her with a smile and giving her a wink.

“Caine told you that you can’t mate with Pomni!” Ragatha complained.

“Who said I was going to try and mate with Pomni?” Jax responded with a smile indicating that he clearly was wanting to do that.

“Did you even ask Pomni if she wants to do that with you?” Ragatha questioned.

“Ragatha, it’s fine… I can take care of myself,” Pomni responded, putting her hands out, trying to deescalate.

“So… Pomni, are you ready to go find some place more private with me?” Jax asked smugly.

“Yeah,” Pomni smiled innocently.

              Ragatha watched in disgust as Jax and Pomni started walking into the distance. She did not like the way that Jax leaned down while he walked to be closer to Pomni.

              Pomni and Jax found a more secluded area, one that was out of sight from the others. Jax sat down in the snow, patting the ground next to him, trying to get Pomni to sit next to him. Pomni sat down in the snow, but upon realizing how cold it was, she jolted back up.

“The ground too cold for you?” Jax asked with a smile.

              Pomni nodded as she brushed the snow off her rear.

“Sit on my lap,” Jax suggested, raising his eyebrows.

              Pomni blushed, but listened to Jax. She walked over and carefully sat onto his lap. Once she was sitting on him, Jax wrapped his arms around her and pulled him closer to himself.

“Did you want to go some place private so the others couldn’t see how affectionate you are?” Pomni asked playfully.

“Affectionate?” Jax scoffed light-heartedly, rolling his eyes. “How is anything I’m doing affectionate?”

“The way you wrapped your arms around me,” Pomni noted, putting her hands on top of his, which were placed on her waist. “Plus, you’re letting me sit on your lap.”

              Jax chuckled in response to Pomni’s words.

“I’m just trying to be a good boyfriend,” Jax blushed.

“Oh, so you’re still my boyfriend?” Pomni teased.

“Sure, why not?” Jax smiled.

              Pomni snickered, bringing one hand to cover her mouth.

“So… did you want to, um… you know?” Pomni asked as she leaned her head backward against Jax’s chest, looking into his eyes. Jax’s face was steaming pink.

“Well, as you know, I’m quite the charitable guy,” Jax raised his eyebrows, trying to remain cool.

              Meanwhile, the others were gathered around Gangle, who was still sitting on the penguin egg.

“How long until you think until it hatches?” Ragatha asked the group.

“Hopefully not long,” Zooble muttered. “I want to be done with this as soon as possible.”

              After what could have been fifteen minutes, or possibly an hour, there was no way of keeping track of time, the egg made its first crack.

“I think it’s hatching!” Gangle said excitedly, getting up to look at the egg.

              The group stared as the crack slowly got bigger and bigger. Even though they had only been with this egg for a short amount of time, they still felt a sense of accomplishment seeing it start to hatch.

              Once the egg had cracked enough, revealing what lied inside, their excitement immediately died down. Once fully opened, Bubble floated out of the egg and looked at the group.

“Thank you for birthing me, mommies!” Bubble smiled.

“Do you think it’s too late to—” Zooble started to ask before getting interrupted by Caine appearing in front of them.

“Congratulations, everyone!” Caine twirled in excitement. “You hatched the egg!”

“Why was Bubble inside of the egg?” Gangle asked Caine hesitantly.

“Why was Bubble inside the egg?” Caine repeated the question, pondering the answer to himself. “I don’t really know, but now that the adventure is over, we can go back to the circus!” Caine looked around, realizing that Jax and Pomni were missing. “Wait, where are Jax and Pomni?” he asked.

“Jax and Pomni?” Zooble looked up at Caine. “Oh, I think they ran off to go have sex or something,” Zooble shrugged.

“What!?” Caine put his hands on the side of his face and stuck his tongue out in disbelief. “They’re not allowed to do that!”

              Caine clapped his hands, causing Pomni and Jax to appear standing in front of him. Their eyes were wide as they readjusted to their new surroundings.

“You two are like hormonal teenagers who can’t keep their grubby paws off each other!” Caine shook his head in approval. “What am I going to do with you two?”

              Jax and Pomni both shrugged and looked at each other awkwardly.

“I know the Amazing Digital Circus is meant to be for people of all ages, but we’re all adults, right? Why can’t we do adult things?” Pomni asked.

“Because…” Caine grew frustrated. “It’s inappropriate behavior to be doing in the circus!”

“Okay, but what if we were allowed to do adult things in the privacy of our rooms?” Pomni suggested.

“Would that make you guys happy?” Caine asked, considering the offer, only to see everyone nodding their heads eagerly. “If I allow this, you have to promise that you’ll never do these inappropriate things outside of your room!”

              Everyone nodded their heads and muttered something about promising to agree to Caine’s terms.

“Okay, then… Let’s head back home,” Caine said before snapping his fingers.

              After Caine snapped his fingers, they all appeared back into the hallway where all their bedrooms lied. Jax and Pomni quickly went off to go into Jax’s room to do adult things, but when Jax opened the door to his room, they were met with what Jax had bought in Africa, sitting on his bed.

              Jax blushed profusely as Pomni stared at the body pillow with Pomni printed on it, lying on Jax’s bed.

“Where did you even find that at the bazaar?” Pomni asked, trying not to laugh.

“Uh…” Jax rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, it’s okay. You have the real things now,” Pomni said smugly, before pulling his head down and kissing him.