Archive of Our Own ^beta

Gangle, Jax, and Evil Jax were sitting around together at the concession stand after the game, Jax complaining that he was hungry, so they had gone up together. Gangle somehow got roped into coming, and so did Evil Jax, but neither of them really cared.

“Thank %$!# I’m not vegan anymore.” Jax praised, leaning back slightly to talk to them. “I can finally enjoy meat again, like this all beef hot dog I’m about to devour.” He gestured to the food stand he was going towards.

Gangle giggled softly, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. If she was honest, she didn’t actually mind that Jax tried to eat her on the first adventure. It…Was a weird thing that she liked.

“y-You go ahead! I’ll grab something in a sec-” Evil Jax stuttered with a smile, making Jax roll his eyes and head over to stand in line. Realistically, he probably would have just cut- but there was also security roaming, and who knew what they’d do.

Gangle walked over to the side of the stand, out to the open that looked over the field. It calmed her nerves a bit, feeling the air that swept through the stand. Sure, it was just digital wind, but it still felt real.

“Pretty nice, isn’t it?” Evil Jax asked, making Gangle squeak. She smiled and nodded, relaxing back on the railing.

“I miss the real outside. Sure I mostly stayed inside, watching anime and drawing…But I did enjoy getting out once in a while. Feeling the breeze in my hair, the birds chirping over me…That sort of thing.” 

“I can be over you~” Evil Jax said next to her, a smirk laced in his voice.

“You huh?” Gangle said, her blush getting darker as she looked up at him. 

“You heard me, pretty silk~” He reached over and started to play with her ribbons, making her shudder; attempting to take a step away. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t like it.”

“I-I…Uhm…” She mumbled, glancing away. She felt his hand getting lower, and she tried to push his hand away, but he was stronger than he looked. She should have known that- Considering it was Jax, but she still attempted.

“p-Please stop- B-Before I get Jax-” She spoke, looking at him with desperation now.

“Oh? Is he really going to listen to a cry baby over his own clone? Over himself?” EJ smirked at her, pulling his hand away and instead roughly forcing it into her lower quarters, causing her to squeal and gasp with a small cry. 

“s-Stop!! Really-” She whined, pushing at his hand again, glancing back to try and get the eye of Jax, but there were npc’s in the way.

“Oh Crybaby, the amount of stuff we want to do to you~” He purred, snickering softly as he thought to himself. “I know a lot about Jax, you know? How he wants to force you down and take it, make you cry all the time, force you into pranks and games~” 

Gangle let out a hiccup as the other spoke. That wasn’t Jax. Her Jax. Yes, it was him before, but behind closed doors…He was someone completely different. He had a lot of problems that he was working through, and Gangle was helping him- But he’d…Never actually force Gangle into anything.

Suddenly, the stimulation stopped as Evil Jax quickly pulled away from her. She looked up at him and then over, Jax walking over with two hot dogs. He handed one to Gangle, a small smile on his face, before looking at his clone and rolled his eyes. “Go get your own, weirdo.” He growled, slipping the hotdog into his mouth and gulping it with one swallow.

Gangle had smiled softly when Jax had handed the food to her, but she looked down at it and picked at the bread, more throwing it to the pigeons than actually eating it. Once Evil Jax left to get his own food, Jax let his mask fall.

“Ribbons, you okay?” He asked, leaning down to her height slightly.

“y-Yeah- Just not hungry-” She said, a few tears-more than what just came with her comedy mask, slipped down her face. She frantically wiped at them, trying to get them to slow, but all it was doing was making her cries worse.

“Woah Woah- Hey, what’s wrong?” Jax said, crouching down to meet her in the eyes, hands on her arms softly. The hot dog had since dropped and was currently being flocked with birds, but neither of the two cared at the moment.

Gangle sniffled, trying to get the tears to stop, but couldn’t. She gulped, breathing heavily as she spoke. “Do you really want me to cry all the time?” She whispered. 

Gangle watched as something in Jax broke at her words, being quickly squished in his arms as he picked her up. She buried her face in his shoulder, hiding herself from view as she let out sobs. She knew it wasn’t true. That was the old Jax, hell the one that he put a front with- but not her Jax. He loved her too much.

She felt him growl, knowing exactly who he was growling at. She didn’t say anything, instead just nuzzling her face into his shoulder and gave a small whimper. It broke Jax out of his trance, and looked at her. He softly kissed her forehead, opting to just head back down to the field instead of fighting his clone. Both of them hoped he’d get lost.

“If I wasn’t worried about you, I’d kill him.” He admitted as he walked down to the end of the seats, jumping over the fence and landing on his feet. He stood for a second to let the pain subside, before heading back to their side of the team.

“He probably wouldn’t even remember…” She mumbled, very quietly. She quickly hid herself as they got closer, not wanting to be seen as a crying mess. Of course, she knew that was inevitable, as soon as they got back to the group Zooble noticed was something up.

“Jax, what did you do now?” They immediately pointed a finger at Jax.

“Me?? I didn’t do %$!#! It was my stupid clone’s fault.” He rolled his eyes, entering the portal once it finally opened up for them to enter.

“Uh-huh, sure.” Zooble wasn’t buying it, following Jax through the portal. 

As soon as the rest of the members entered through the portal, Jax and Gangle were already gone.

Jax took a deep breath after setting Gangle on her bed, pinching the bridge of his nose and held his anger within. “So, what did he do?”

Gangle stiffened up when she knew Jax was angry, starting to shake at his question. She gulped, wrapping herself up in her fluffed quilt, hugging a plushie under it. She stayed quiet for a moment, she knew Jax wouldn’t leave it alone if she said she didn’t want to talk about it. He’d be understanding and drop it for the minute, but as soon as they were alone again he’d ask. She might as well get it out now.

Ribbons let herself take a moment to sit in the silence before finally just blurting it out, curling up tightly in her safety lump as soon as she said it.

“He touched me. And didn’t stop.” She broke, sobbing coming from the blanket. 

Before Jax could say anything, or really react other than stare, she continued. “He was making advances at me and then started to touch me, a-a-and I asked him to stop, threatened to get you- but he just kept going! And then he…Started talking about what you wanted to do to me…”

She took a moment to breathe, words stuttered and filled with sobs. She needed a second to catch her breath, giving Jax a moment to process what she was saying. 

“h-He said you…you wanted to %$!# me, to make me cry all the time…To force me into pranks and games-” She was a shaking, quivering mess now under the blanket. She sobbed into the back of the plushie that had so many days of being soaked. It was her only comfort in this hell most of the time.

Jax didn’t respond, which worried her- but she heard the door open, Zooble cursing out Jax and the door slamming.

“Gangle?” Zooble’s voice spoke after a moment of silence, making Gangle let out a sob of relief for not being left alone.

“z-Zooble-” She sobbed, poking out of the mask, a river of tears pouring from her tragedy mask. Zooble’s eyes widened at seeing her, immediately walking over and pulling the pile of ribbons into a hug. They weren’t really one for physical attention, but seeing their best friend so upset, they’d make an exception for her.

“Was it Jax?” They asked with a slight growl, which caused Gangle to give a small broken giggle.

“Not our Jax…” She sniffled, rubbing a ribbon over her face. “I think he’s going to Caine to murder the %$!# out of him though.”

“Wait, Evil Jax did- this?!” Zooble looked her up and down, confused.

Gangle gulped, feeling trapped like she did with Jax- But giving his reaction…And how much Zooble hated Jax…She inhaled, and told her best friend what Evil Jax did and said.

There was a long pause, before Zooble growled out. “I’m going to kill that pink rabbit.”

Gangle couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “If Jax doesn’t beat you to it-”

“Oh he’s not.” Zooble said, softly pushing Gangle off of them and walked to the door. 

“Whoever the %$!# is the closest, get over here and sit with Gangle!” Zooble shouted out the door, Ragatha and Pomni coming over together.

“What’s going on–” Pomni started, but was promptly shoved out of the way as Zooble took off.

“What…Happened?” Ragatha said, walking over and sitting down next to Gangle like she had been asked to…More told to.

“Long story, but they’re uh…Going to kill Evil Jax with Jax.” She giggled softly, looking down at the Jax plushie in her hands, giving him a squeeze against her chest. 

“With- kill- huh??” Pomni said confusedly, Ragatha saying something similar, but Gangle didn’t elaborate, just resting her head on top of her doll and smiling lovingly at the open space of her room, thinking about her love for her best friend and boyfriend. 

“I’M GETTING FIRST HIT!” Jax exploded down the hallway.

“NO %$!# SHERLOCK- JUST LET ME MOTHER %$!#ING AT HIM.” Zooble retorted, for once having agreed with Jax. 

“Hey- Uh- What’s…AAAA!!” The sound of Evil Jax could be vaguely heard, before the sound of his scared-pain yell came booming down the room hallway. 

Gangle flinched at his voice, curling up tightly, but the sound of Jax yelling at him angrily made her calm and giggle softly. 

“He’s so cute when he’s mad…” She mumbled to herself.

Pomni was standing by the door, glancing out and cringed, moving back into the room quickly. “Raggy, don’t go out there.”

Ragatha looked at her girlfriend, and going by her look- She understood. She nodded quickly. “Wasn’t planning on it.” She smiled nervously. 

“AAAAAA-” Evil Jax’s scream came as he ran past the door, Zooble cursing out Jax as she ran after him.

“MOTHER %$!#ER HE’S AS SLIPPERY AS YOU!” Zooble shouted at Jax, running past the door, soon followed by Jax.

“No %$!#! He’s my %$!#ing clone!” Jax shouted back at her, slowing down by the open door. He saw Gangle, his face softened, smiling softly. But his mood quickly shifted once he heard Evil Jax scream again, making him growl and run after the pink rabbit. 

“MOTHER %$!#ER THREATENING TO %$!# MY GIRLFRIEND- YOU MOTHER %$!#ER YOU ARE DEAD YOU %$!#&. DEAD!!” Jax yelled down the hallway.

“He what.” Pomni and Ragatha said in unison, looking at Gangle.

Gangle shriveled up at their shared stare, fearing the worse- but all that happened was–

“KINGER COME SIT WITH GANGLE WE GOT A %$!#& TO KILL!” Pomni yelled out the door, in her Evil Pomni™ voice, teeth turning into fangs. 

Ragatha cleared her throat and stood up, dusting off her dress out of reflex. “I’m not one to curse, or yell- but.” She inhaled.

“EVIL JAX YOU SON OF A %$!#ER GET BACK HERE SO I CAN BEAT YOUR %$!- YOU %$!# %$!# %$!#-” She charged out of the room, racing off after her girlfriend. 

Kinger walked in after they left, looking very confused.

“Uhm, Gangle- What’s happening?”

“Nothing, Kinger- Don’t worry about it.” Gangle giggled softly, moving her blanket so the king could sit down on her bed with her. “Could you tell me about insects?”

“Oh! Yes, Queenie got me into them when we started dating. I can tell you everything I know.” He smiled with his eyes, closing the door behind him and sat down next to Gangle.

“Let's see…I’ll start with Butterflies. Lepidoptera, the group that talks about winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. They both go through a 4 stage metamorphosis…”

Gangle listened to Kinger’s voice, calming her down completely and making her zone out to his words. She blocked out the world outside her room, instead listening to the detailed life stages of Butterflies and Moths, and listened to him talk about the different kinds that Queenie had studied when they were in the real world. 

Gangle’s favorite moth was always a domestic silk moth, being so fat and fluffy- But apparently Queenie’s favorite was an Atlas moth. She had received a task from her class to raise some caterpillars to adulthood, having no idea what kind they were, as it was a mystery. The task was to figure it out before they got to adulthood, judging from their food preferences and what they had learned. 

According to Kinger, only one caterpillar actually made it to adulthood, and was obsessed with Queenie until it had passed a week later. They don’t last very long, due to not having a stomach- and she had been mortified to find out her best friend had passed. Yes, she knew they didn’t last long, but the week to her was too short for such a beautiful specimen. 

Apparently, she managed to convince her professor to let her keep the moth. She pinned it and preserved it, using a special frame to keep her best friend with her forever. 

Gangle wasn’t sure when the outside got quiet, but she broke from her trance of Queenie when her door opened. Jax walked over and just. Pulled her into him. He didn’t care about the others in the doorway, or hoo-ha next to them. Jax just started crying. 

“I’m sorry- I’m sorry I left you with him-” He whispered, holding her tighter as his tears fell through her coils. It made her shiver slightly, ignoring it as she leaned into him. 

“It’s okay, Jax. You didn’t know.” She whispered back.

“But I did! I know myself better than anyone and I should have known Caine would have made some %$!#ed thing with AI, making them our subconscious or whatever.” Jax growled- but it was at himself more than Gangle. 

“He’s dead but…That still doesn’t change what happened.” He sighed, looking away. 

Gangle stared at him for a moment, a small smile on her lips as she giggled. She stretched up to meet his face, moving his face to hers and softly connected their lips.

Jax was taken aback a bit, but immediately kissed back, closing his eyes. 

They heard a mix of a groan and awes from their audience, but Gangle didn’t drop the kiss for a second, letting it run its course before resting her head on his forehead. 

“I promise, Jax. What you did was better than anyone has done for me.”