So sorry for the long wait guys, exams and stuff were keeping me busier than I would've wanted; weird, since I actually didn't revise... But I'm back and I hope you all enjoy this update. I'm not saying anything about the storyline or upcoming chapters either, just keep an eye out for things. xD And thanks for the reviews, it's been fun to read people's speculations about what's going on.

So as always, read, review, favourite, like, etc, and I will see you all with the next update, whenever that may be. :)

"Oh, gross!" Jerry groaned in disgust, nearly throwing up into his mouth as he pressed a little too hard on the pig's stomach, the blood spurting up onto his safety goggles as he cut a line down the pig and reluctantly began pulling the skin flaps open.

That time, he did retch. Biology as a last lesson was not on his bucket list. Although it stopped him from wondering what Jack's phonecall from his mother had been about, the 'them' he had been referring to was obviously himself, Kim and Milton, but what was so awful that he couldn't come clean to them about it? They always told each other everything.

"What's the matter, Mr. Martinez?" the smarmy voice of his biology teacher asked in a simpering tone from behind him, making Jerry spin around in shock. "Don't you like cutting things open?" he asked, feigning surprise.

"No," he said with a vehement shudder of disgust, reaching up to wipe the pig's blood off his safety goggles. "And no-one normal should, either!" he added in a harsh mutter under his breath as Dr. Slawter moved away from the table to slither around the room.

"That guy creeps me out, sometimes," Kim shuddered from where she was stood, dissecting her own specimen - a pigeon from the look of it. "He's obsessed with dead things," she added, her nose crinkling up in disgust from a mixture of her statement and having to pull the bird's gizzard out.

"His name is Dr. Slawter," Milton pitched in, clearly the most comfortable out of all of them with dissecting a dead animal. "What did you expect?" he asked with a shrug, starting to pull out the fish's internal organs.

Jerry looked away when he was cutting away around the eye. He caught sight of Jack; he looked to be deep in thought, his brow furrowed and his lower lip worried by his teeth.

"You alright there, Jack?" he asked off-handedly, trying to find anything to distract him from having to cut the pig's snout off.

"Fine," Jack reassured him without looking at him. "Just trying to get through this without having to hear, 'There are two sides to biology, boy, life and death' from that creep," he explained, chuckling lightly to himself.

"At least you've got the frog, I've got a baby pig," Jerry said in disgust. Then his eyes lit up. "Trade you?" he asked, although it was really more of a plead, batting his eyelashes playfully.

Jack pulled a face, rolling his eyes. "Alright." He reached over to Jerry's tray, pulling it towards him and simultaneously pushing his own towards him. Jerry gave him a pleased smile; Jack just raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, you walked off before I could ask," Jerry began, Jack turning to look at him, "You wanna come with us to the Arcade?" he asked. "I heard they remodelled the Immortal Slayer game," he added as a final entice, Jack looking to be thinking it over.

"Maybe this time Kim'll have a chance at beating you," Milton snorted from where he was.

Kim gave an affronted gasp and pouted. "I nearly did!" she protested, folding her arms.

"Nearly never counts for anything, Kim," Milton told her, patronizingly tapping her nose.

Jack and Jerry raised their eyebrows at each other. There was a sudden yelp of pain as Kim had reached up, grabbed Milton's ear very hard and twisted it.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing it once Kim had let go, a smug smile on her face. "You nearly twisted my ear off!" he said incredulously, looking at Kim like she was insane.

"Nearly never counts for anything, Milton," she mimicked, Jack having to stifle his laughter into his hand - that dissolved into a small cough - while Jerry reached over and fist-bumped Kim.

Milton gave them a wry look. "Ha-ha," he said dryly, turning his attention back to his specimen. Jack and Jerry shrugged in Kim's direction, who grinned, and got back to work before Dr. Slawter could come and freak them all out again.

It was a blessing like no other when the bell rang; Jerry was tempted to get up on a table and sing, but then he decided it wouldn't be worth getting dead gunk on his shoes. And he'd probably get detention, and look stupider than usual. Suffice to say, he was happy to be leaving the room.

"Alright, class, leave your specimens at the front with your names on the trays and I will get the grades back to you next week," Dr. Slawter called over the noise of chairs being tucked away and bags being retrieved.

"Provided he doesn't eat them first," Jerry muttered under his breath, Jack, Kim and Milton looking in agreement. They all left their specimen trys on Dr. Slawter's desk, and then left the room without a backwards glance.

An hour or so later, the four of them arrived at the Arcade, Jack and Kim's eyes instantly drawn to the Immortal Slayer game, while Jerry was more fixated on the Black Dragon's lurking in the corner by the claw machines. With any luck, Frank would be more concerned with the fluffy plushies he was desperately trying to get, rather than inflicting misery on the four of them.

"Hey, Jack," Kim began with a mischievious grin on her face. "Bet I can beat your high score," she challenged him, looking from the machine to him.

Jack scoffed at her in disbelief. "You're on!" And with that, the two of them raced off to the game, Jerry and Milton following after them, watching as they loaded up their avatars.

The screen, a 3D alleyway with several Andy Warhol style Bobby Wasabi billboards on the walls, flashed up and Jack and Kim's avatars' - Thrasher and Skullripper - dropped onto the screen, assuming a fighting stance just as the real Jack and Kim did on the motion capture pads.

The timer counted down and then the fight began, Kim initiating the first move with a jumping front kick, Jack - and in turn Thrasher - crouching down to a squat and then rearing up with an uppercut, knocking Skullripper through the air, while Kim's plate shook under her and she slipped down on her knees. She looked at Jack incredulously, he just raised his eyebrows with a cheeky grin in return.

Kim set her jaw, turning her attention back to the game. It was on.

"C'mon, Jack! Kick her ass," Jerry hollered a while later, watching as he dodged Kim's leg-sweep with a spin-kick, upon which he leapt into the air, landing safely back in fighting stance.

"You know this sort of stuff would be frowned upon in higher society," Milton added suddenly, both Jack and Kim turning to raise their eyebrows at him, then looking back to the game, locked in a back and forth notion of parrying each other's hits.

"Well it's a good thing none of us are high society then, isn't it?" Jerry said to Milton, chuckling at him. "Oooh!" he groaned as he caught sight of Skullripper's punch nearly taking Thrasher's jaw off.

"Come on, Jack, you're not even trying!" Kim said in annoyance, her fists raised while Jack looked incredibly passive about the whole thing, despite his health bar being the lowest of the two.

"I don't need to," he retorted smartly, Kim narrowing her eyes in playfully.

Thrasher leapt up into the air, catching Skullripper's head between his ankles, flipping himself backwards - Jerry and Milton's eyes both widening as Jack himself actually mirrored the move - and rolling Skullripper to the ground, the hard slam onto the pixelated concrete taking a large chunk out of Kim's health bar.

Jack then swung a punch; Thrasher's hand connected with Skullripper's head, taking the last of her health. Kim groaned in annoyance, but then cocked her head to the side in confusion as Skullripper didn't faint, instead the screen dimmed around her and Thrasher, Skullripper's head lolling like a ragdoll while she was stood motionless.

Both Jack and Jerry gave a burst of laughter at the sight, recognising it all too well.

"No way," Jack said in disbelief. "Mortal Kombat style, haha," he added, the laughter turning into a short coughing fit, but he quickly brushed it off.

Finish her!

Jack sent Kim a wicked looking smirk and twisted through the air, Thrasher in turn smacking Skullripper's head off her body, blood spurting from it. Jerry burst into uncontrollable laughter as Jack literally started playing soccer with Skullripper's head, tossing it up in the air and sending it streamlining through the air with a back flip.

Fatality!

Kim was frozen for a moment as the soccerball style graphics dissolved from the screen, Jerry unsure if she was going to start protesting and demand a rematch, before she laughed wildly, doubling over and clutching her stomach.

"Now that, Kim," Jack said to, slightly out of breath, her as they stepped off the capture plates, "Is how you kick someone's head off and play soccer ball with it," he added proudly, raising his eyebrows at her, an inside joke between them that neither Jerry or Milton understood.

"Pssh," Kim snorted, "You got lucky," she said knowingly, playfully elbowing him in the side. Jack smiled, suppressing a wince and rubbing where Kim's elbow had brushed him.

Jerry's eyebrows furrowed in surprise - it wasn't like Jack to wince at anything, especially a friendly, joking gesture like that, but any thoughts he had to press on the matter when out the window as he caught sight of a Zompyre movie poster on the wall.

He rushed over to it excitedly. "Sweet!" he said with a grin. He turned to Jack as he, Kim and Milton followed him over to it, the other two rolling their eyes. "Hey, Jack, you wanna go see this tonight?" he asked.

"Why tonight?" Jack wondered in confusion, his voice tapering off into a large yawn. He covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"You get a free t-shirt, dude," Jerry said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, Jack nodding as if to say, 'Of course it is'. "And it's in 3D!" he added, as if that would convey the point further.

"Yeah, sure," Jack agreed, giving him a tired-looking smile. Jerry grinned happily and threw an arm around him, squeezing him against him slightly. "You guys wanna come too?" he asked, looking at Kim and Milton.

Kim looked at him like he had just suggested she go and kiss Donna Tobin. "You know I hate those movies, Jack," she said with a sigh.

"How would you know?" he challenged her, folding his arms. "You went to sleep on purpose," he pointed out, Kim's lips pursing in annoyance.

"And then had a nightmare I woke up in a zompyre infested Seaford and nearly got burped on by Jerry three times!" she said, gesturing wildly to Jerry, who looked just as confused as Jack and Milton did. "No thank-you," she added with finality.

"I still don't understand how you can be pissed at me for something dream me did," Jerry said, trying to reason with her. He never actually tried to turn her into a Zompyre, so why had she even been mad about it in the first place? "It wasn't like you were a dolphin and I sha-"

"Okay, Jerry!" Jack loudly cut in, abruptly stopping him from finishing the setence, which was probably for the best. "Milton, you in?" he asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

"No," Milton said incredulously. "It's completely unrealistic" - Of course it is! Jerry thought to himself, What's realistic about Zombie Vampires? - "why would a professor in a war-torn wasteland have such a slick, clean haircut?" he asked, folding his arms and looking at Jack and Jerry like they were on a debate team.

"That's your problem with it?" Jack cut in, in disbelief, trying and failing to hold back his laughter. "The professor's hair?" he repeated, but it sounded too ridiculous and he dissolved into a fit of laughter. "The guy appears for like five seconds before the pack tears him to shreds, anyway," he explained with a shrug.

"Oh, because that's loads better," Milton said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Jerry could cross him off the list at least.

"On the plus side, he dies with dirty hair," Jerry pitched in, Jack smirking beside him and extending his hand for a fist bump, which Jerry gladly gave him.

"Nah," Milton decided, shaking his head. "I'm gonna get started on that Geography project," he said, and then moved off with Kim to the claw machines, that the Black Dragon's had vacated a while ago, leaving Jack and Jerry alone.

Jack sighed, shaking his head with a light smile in Kim and Milton's direction, turning to Jerry. "Guess it's just you and me," he said, his smile broadening. Jerry thought he looked relieved for a split-second.

"I'll meet you there, later, yeah?" Jerry asked for confirmation, looking at Jack expectantly.

"Sure," he smiled, but he seemed quieter than usual, like he didn't really want to go. He looked as distant as he had during school, going through fits and starts of it.

Shaking the thought from his mind, Jerry looked around at something they could do, a grin spreading across Jerry's face as his eyes settled on the air hockey game. "Bet I can beat you at air hockey?" he challenged.

"If you say so," Jack sang, skeptically raising his eyebrows as they walked over and began a game. Jerry grabbed the puck and threw it into the 'field'.

Needless to say, the Arcade's other patrons were subjected to very colorful Spanish words when Jack's puck had snuck past Jerry's guard for the tenth and final time, winning him the game.

Checking his watch, Jerry sighed in annoyance. Jack said he would meet him here, and he was nowhere he be seen. What was keeping him?

"Your ticket," a woman's voice said with a bright smile, bringing Jerry back to Earth.

"Thanks," he smiled back, taking it from her and walking away with it.

He handed it to the man at the theatre's entrance, looking around for any sign of Jack, but he still wasn't there, and then walked inside, taking his seat and waiting for the movie to begin. He was just glad he'd made the decision to buy food, so at least he had something to do during the trailers, like annoy the people that actually liked them by crumpling his packets too loudly. Jerry smirked to himself.

But once the movie started, he had gotten so into it - nevermind that he could quote some scenes word for word because he had seen it so many times - that he had almost forgotten Jack wasn't there. Almost. He wondered what was keeping him, since he was the only other person out of him, Kim and Milton that liked Zompyre films.

The Zompyre's head hit the floor with a sickening squelch and the bar door was rammed shut against the horde. It wouldn't keep them out for long.

"No! No! Jason..." Callum gasped in horror, pinching his nose as the fumes of noxious green gas faded from the air, his friend having been directly in the middle of it.

Jason was breathing heavily, his entire demeanour changing. "Get away from me." he snapped, but Callum refused, refused to believe that had actually happened, and abandon his friend.

"No, this can't be happening!" he cried in disbelief, wringing his hands nervously. The banging and snarling behind the door increased and he worriedly fisted chunks of his hair.

"Well it is," Jason said bitterly, biting his lip. "And I'd say we've got about three minutes," he added in a pained voice, struggling to catch his breath and control himself.

"That's not long enough!" Callum cried, shaking his head in dismay.

Jason gave Callum a puzzled look. "What?"

There wasn't a verbal response from Callum. He reached forwards, cupping Jason's face in his hands, kissing Jason slowly on the lips. Closing his eyes, Jason responded gently to the slow movements of his friend's mouth.

"Go..." he whispered forlornly once their lips parted.

"What?"

"Just go. I don't want to hurt you."

Callum looked from his friend to the door, desperation shining in his eyes. "I can fight-"

"No!" Jason's harsh yell caused a tear to drip down Callum's face. "Just fucking go..." The two kissed briefly again, before Jason violently shoved Callum away from him, the other man giving him a backward glance before he left the room, the door bursting open and the Zompyre's swarming the room.

Jerry sat up attentively - he couldn't remember seeing this part last time - as Jason was now alongside the Zompyre's, his face grimy and his eyes deep red. He bared his fangs in a loud roaring hiss, then the film faded to black and the credits began to roll. He got up from his seat, still in amazement from it.

Once outside the theatre, he leaned against a wall, pulling his phone out and dialling Jack's number. He picked up surprisingly quickly, Jerry frowning at that.

"Hey, did something happen?" he asked. "You fall into a black hole or something?" he wondered jokingly, chuckling to himself to lighten the mood.

There was a short silence before Jack grimaced. "I'm so sorry, Jerry," he apologised, geniunely sounding it. "My Mum sheduled me a doctor's appointment, for my stomach virus, y'know," he explained, Jerry nodding eventhough Jack couldn't see him. "Forgot to tell me what the time was," he added sheepishly.

Jerry smiled in relief; at least Jack didn't decide to just blow him off. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jack said dryly, sighing more to himself than Jerry. "Should be gone in a few weeks or so," he added, his voice quieting slightly as he said the words. He was dejected about something, but Jerry didn't know what.

"Weeks?" Jerry repeated, slightly puzzled. He was fairly sure food poisoning went away in a matter of days, but then again, he was also the same person that mistook a groundhog for a porcupine and got a face-full of needles.

"Doc thinks it's bad food poisoning," Jack went on, "Mum had it last week, probably got it off her," he said, no doubt shrugging from the bored tone in his voice.

"Alright, least you're okay," Jerry said with the relief that Jack obviously couldn't muster. "Do you wanna come around later?" he offered.

"It's the least I can do, since I stood you up," Jack said, chuckling at his own statement.

Jerry felt himself blush, thankful Jack couldn't see him. "You make it sound like it was a date," he retorted playfully, another laugh filling his ears.

"I'll see you later," Jack promised, Jerry determined to keep him to that promise.

"Bye." And with that, Jerry hung up, only able to hope that something else wouldn't get in Jack's way and occupy him. He couldn't help but think that he hadn't said anything about his date comment, though. He thought he would have...

Jerry shook his head, grinning to himself the entire bus-ride home.

A while later, Jerry was lounging on his couch, cartoons playing on the TV and a bowl of potato chips laid carelessly across his stomach. The door knocked and he groaned for his Mum to open it, but there was no response, making his groan again as he had to get up and answer it himself.

He opened the door - half-expecting to see some telemarketer - his face lighting up as he saw Jack standing there. "Hey, you're here," he said with a grin, more surprised than anything.

"Well, it's just bad etiquette to blow you off twice," Jack remarked sarcastically as he moved past him to go inside. Jerry rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him.

Jack sat down on the sofa, putting his feet on the coffee table, and helped himself to some potato chips. "Film any good?" he asked, but then he caught sight of the t-shirt Jerry was wearing, his eyebrow raising.

"Wait," he began, holding up a finger, "You've seen that one five times," he pointed out.

"What part of free t-shirt don't you understand?" Jerry asked him pointedly, coming behind the sofa to grab something hanging on the back of it. "Got you one too," he added, dropping it into Jack's lap.

"Thanks." He smiled and slipped it on over the one he was already wearing, striking a pose with an exaggerated model pout that made Jerry laugh.

"Anyway, the film was awesome!" he said excitedly, swinging himself onto the sofa next to Jack. "They added in all the cut stuff this time," he noted, swearing that he didn't remember Jason and Callum kissing in the version that was originally released.

"What did they cut in the first place?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Pretty much all the plot and substance," Jerry said with a shrug.

"Explains why you love it," he sniggered, Jerry nodding in agreement, with a big grin on his face, before his brain caught up with his ears.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly, slapping Jack on the arm.

"Well..." Jack trailed off, his cheeky smirk fading as a large yawn snuck out of his mouth. He covered his mouth with his hand.

"You wanna play Mortal Kombat?" Jerry asked suggestively, looking at Jack expectantly. "Still haven't picked up from me kicking your ass," he chuckled, watching Jack's expression change.

Jack looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I distinctly remember I had you on the ropes," he said with certainty, but Jerry didn't believe him.

"Mm-hmm."

Jack scoffed, rolling his eyes, and the two of them grabbed two controllers, Jerry loading up the game. He had came up with the idea of them choosing each other's characters, and Jack was not happy.

"Dude, I don't know how to use Scorpion!" he complained, unable to deselect him and pick another one. "And why did you pick a good character for me?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"I didn't think of that," Jerry said suddenly, realising who Jack had picked for him, weighing the two of them up. "Gimme your controller," he ordered, reaching for it.

"No!" Jack clutched the controller to him, gently nudging Jerry away from him with his foot.

"But you said you didn't know how to use him!" Jerry argued back, pouting slightly.

"I don't," Jack admitted, Jerry's brows furrowing. "But I'm not having a character who's first name is Noob," he sniggered, Jerry scowling as he started the game up.

Thankfully he had one advantage; he actually knew how to use Noob Saibot. He smirked to himself as he slowly began diminishing Jack's health bar, leaping away from him as soon as Jack tried to launch an attack.

"No, no, I've forgotten the buttons!" he cried, his fingers pressing madly on random ones as Jerry closed Noob Saibot in, delivering a punching combo. "Suck my uppercut!" Jack said triumphantly, finding the button he needed to whack Noob Saibot through the air and take a large chunk out of his health bar.

"No fair!" Jerry protested, leaping away as Jack shot Scorpion forwards with a combo move that he clearly had no idea how he did it.

"Who said button mashing didn't work?" he said with a vicious chuckle. Jerry narrowed his eyes and pushed Scorpion back with some smoke before Jack could upper cut Noob Saibot again.

A groan of annoyance came from Jerry's mouth as Jack managed to narrowly win the fight, Noob Saibot hanging motionlessly while Jack grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows. Jerry huffed, throwing his controller beside him and folding his arms.

Finish him!

Jack moved Scorpion forwards and pressed several buttons. Scorpion was suddenly enveloped in fire and the beginning of laughter spluttered from Jack's mouth; Scorpion had transformed into a penguin and was waddling towards Noob Saibot's motionless form, laying an...

Jerry squinted. He laid a pixelated egg! What? he thought to himself.

The egg suddenly exploded, Noob Saibot's body going along with it, bones and blood dripping back onto the pixelated stage. Jack and Jerry burst into full-blown laughter once they realised what had just happened.

Scorpion wins! the game announced, Scorpion turning back into his regular form and bowing, 'Animality!' flashing across the screen in leopard print graphics.

"Now that is a fatality," Jack said in a slightly wheezing voice once their laughter had subsided. "And I win," he declared, reaching over and infuriatingly tapping Jerry on the nose.

"Unfair, this game is rigged," Jerry said in protest, his nose crinkling where Jack had tapped him.

"Then you shouldn't have put the one-hit cheat code on," Jack said, suddenly breaking into a loud coughing fit, making Jerry wince. He sounded terrible, like he had Pneumonia or something, but if he had Pneumonia, Jerry was sure he wouldn't be around and he would've told him.

Once Jack recovered from coughing, Jerry attempted to break the silence: "You wanna watch the Zompyre trilogy with me?" he asked, Jack looking at him and simultaneously catching his breath, "Since you missed it," he shrugged, attempting to add some levity.

Jack pulled a face, and then smiled lazily at him. "You're obsessed; you'll turn into a Zompyre," he chuckled accusingly.

"I wouldn't be complaining," Jerry shrugged simply, getting off the sofa to grab the DVD from the cabinet under the TV.

"I would," Jack said with a brief shudder. "You already burp on me, I don't need you turning me into some ugly-ass creature with a bandit mask on its face." He shook his head, Jerry picking out the box set and turning around to face him.

"It's the uncut version," he protested, Jack still looking unfazed. "In HD," he tried in a joking sing-song.

Jack gave over, rolling his eyes. "Fine, put it in."

Jerry gave a clap of delight, Jack again rolling his eyes as he laid back on the sofa. Jerry popped the DVD in the player and sat back down next to Jack, raising an eyebrow slightly when Jack rested his feet in his lap, but he didn't have the heart to complain; the poor guy looked exhausted.

And he was. No sooner than fifteen minutes into the film, Jack was asleep, snoring softly and resting on his arms, his feet still in Jerry's lap. He chuckled to himself at the sight - notcing a mole on Jack's arm where his sleeve was rolled up - Jack was one of the guys who could seriously mess someone up, but never failed to look like an innocent Angel when he slept.

He yawned himself, slowly moving Jack's legs off him, deciding that going to bed would be a very good idea. He was almost to his bedroom, when Jack's phone went off.

Before it could wake Jack up, Jerry dove for it, snatching it off the coffee table. He silenced it, Jack only stirring to rub an itch on his nose, and saw a text from Jack's Mum on the home-screen that puzzled him.

From: Mum

Message: It's all set, honey. Let's hope this helps. I love you.