From Dusk till Dawn
Showdown on Shiroishi: Part 3
Hook, Line, and Sinker
There was absolute silence as the two parties stared each other down. On one side, Jacklyn and Akai. On the other, the Multibeard pirates, with their viciously grinning leader up front.
"Are you ready, little girl?" asked Multibeard grinning even wider.
"Bring it on." said Jacklyn smiling. The two continued staring at each other both preparing to attack.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!" yelled Multibeard as he raised his giant hook high into the hair.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!" cried Jacklyn as she swung her right arm backwards preparing to sling the Jack-o-mori at the opposing side.
Bang.
Both sides froze at the sound. Without warning one of the Multibeard pirates dropped.
Silence.
Both captains slowly turned their heads to see where the shot had come from, and both of their eyes fell upon…Akai. Almost every single eye was on the sleepy male holding the smoking rifle, who seemed completely oblivious to attention as he started nodding off while holding the gun. There was another long moment of silence before…
"AKAI!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!" yelled Jacklyn.
"JIMMY!! NOOOOOOO!!!" yelled Multibeard just as loudly.
"Isn't that the second time he's been shot?" asked Samual calmly as the entire crew started freaking out over their injured crew mate. He was quickly rushed off on a makeshift stretcher by two of his fellow crew members.
"I'm okay captain! Really! It's just a flesh wound!" yelled the injured boy as he was being carried off. Multibeard took off his tricorn and placed it over his heart, with the rest of the crew, save Samual, following suit.
"There goes one brave man." A single tear slide down Multibeard's check before he turned angrily on Jacklyn and Akai. "RETURN FIRE MEN!! FOR JIMMY!!!"
"FOR JIMMY!!!" Almost as one every crew member with a gun turned it on Jacklyn, who was currently trying to throttle Akai, and Akai, who was being throttled while somehow still managing to stay asleep. Jacklyn suddenly froze and turned to stare at the numerous gun barrels currently pointed her way.
"Oh, crud."
"*cough cough cough cough*" Meg dropped to the ground as the thick cloud of poison surrounding her started to take effect.
"Ahahahahahahahaha!" Furiko slowly started walking towards the fallen cook, swinging her hips the entire way. "Didn't know I could do that, did you, ya old poot."
"*cough cough* H-how?" asked Meg weekly, trying to cover her mouth as best she could. Furiko grinned beneath the mask before putting the end of the long pipe in front of Meg's face. At first all Meg saw was the empty end of the pipe, but as the gas started to diffuse she started to see something else. "What is that?"
"My Pop Net." said Furiko, and indeed, right inside the end of the pipe, was a pair of crossed black wires with needles facing inward. "Ya see, my poison balls normally burst when they impact with something at a high enough speed, but I noticed that it would probably be kind of hard to shoot someone if they actually got close. That's when I made this thing." she said indicating the pipe. "All I need to do is put one of my balls in, and swing hard enough, and presto! Needles plus force of swing equals one close range poison cloud. Pretty smart, huh, ya old poot?"
"*cough cough* I asked what it was." said Meg weakly. "Not for your life story."
"Well, I figured you'd wanna know." said Furiko smirking. "Before I finish you off that is." Furiko quickly pointed the pipe gun point blank at Meg's face.
"Gotta think fast." Thought Meg as Furiko prepare to pull the trigger.
"Say good bye, ya old poot!" Right before she could pull the trigger, Meg quickly rolled out of the way causing the cloud to smash directly into the ground, successfully killing all grass within a ten foot diameter. Furiko quickly started looking around, trying to see through the incredibly thick fog currently surrounding her. "So, I see ya still had some moves left in ya, huh?! Don't think you can get away that easily!!!"
Meg was in absolutely no condition to reply as she continued rolling away hoping desperately that she didn't hit a tree. She managed to get about twelve feet before that happened, but that was far enough for Meg to stand up and start stumbling away as fast as her weakened body could take her.
It was about a minute of solid stumbling before she finally got completely clear of the cloud. She started taking deep breathes of clean air as her vision started to somewhat clear. Unfortunately it was still almost impossible to focus.
"Stupid gas bag." thought Meg as she continued taking in good air, and coughing out what she hopped was the bad. "I've gotta figure out some way to take her down without choking to death in the process." Meg looked back into the distant epicenter of the fog to see what she thought was Furiko's silhouette still looking for her. Meg sneered. "You know, I bet she wouldn't be nearly as tough without that…" Meg froze mid thought as she was hit by an enormous bolt of inspiration.
"Oh, that's good." said Meg smiling. "That's real good, but how…" the blonde cook trailed off as she started looking around the scene behind her. A mischievous look began to play across her face as her eyes slowly drifted upwards.
Jacklyn and Akai jumped down on either side of the bridge leading into town as a hail of bullets flew over their head.
"Ya just haaaaad to shoot Jimmy, didn't you?" asked Jacklyn as she and Akai pressed themselves against the grassy banks leading down into the river. It wasn't a very large river, but the banks were steep enough to make the bridge necessary. Akai simply stared at her sleepily as she continued to glare.
Jacklyn sighed. "I don't suppose you have any way to get us out of this?"
Silence.
Jacklyn ran her fingers through her hair with a frustrated look on her face before sighing. "Well, we can't stay here forever." Jacklyn looked at Jack-o-mori before looking towards Akai.
"Akai, can I borrow your gun?"
"KEEP AT 'EM, BOYS!!" yelled Multibeard grinning.
"AYE!!"
"You realize of course that this isn't really getting us anywhere, right?" asked Samual.
"Ah, stop your negativity, Samual. Look at how much fun the crew's havin'! Isn't that right, boys?!"
"AYE!" Multibeard laughed in triumph.
"Shotgun Baton!" Multibeard stopped smiling as something flew up from under the bridge spinning high into the air.
"What is that?!" yelled one of the crew members as the object got directly in front of the sun. Everyone covered their eyes as they all tried to make out the object.
"Made ya look!" Everyone quickly lowered their eyes towards the bridge.
"Kishu Nage!" Immediately a row of pirates directly beside Multibeard were mowed down by an orange blur.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF BROWNIES?!" Multibeard turned his eyes on the smiling Jacklyn as she pulled backwards on her chain. His eyes widened before he dove out of the way as the head of Jack-o-mori flew by right where he had just been.
The ball bounced slightly, cracking stone, as it came back towards its owner before finally rolling to a stop at her side. "So, still think it needs a cool name to be powerful?" she asked smiling.
"LUCKY SHOT!" yelled Multibeard.
Jacklyn cocked an eyebrow before turning towards Akai. "Thanks for letting me borrow your gun." Akai made no real sign of acknowledgment as he held out his hands just in time to catch his weapon. Jacklyn smiled before turning back to the opposing captain. "So, shall we begin?"
"Doku Shotto! Doku Shotto! Doku Shotto!" Furiko smiled beneath her mask as she fired shot after shot before her as she walked calmly through the forest.
"You know, I have to admit, I'm a bit impressed!" yelled Furiko into the forest as she continued firing. "Most people wouldn't even be able to move after taking a cloud to the face, but even after that you still had enough strength to run away. Very impressive, ya old poot." Furiko fired several more shots in front of her, further increasing her toxic domain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!"
Furiko started frantically looking around as she tried to ascertain the source of the cry. "Where is she?!" she thought as she continued to look around. Her eyes widened. "It couldn't be!!" Furiko's head snapped upwards just in time to see Meg coming down at her with the butt of her gun held high above her head. "Oh, Cru…" Furiko never got to finish that thought as the butt of the gun slammed into her upward facing face.
Furiko stumbled backwards covering her face and muttering a long stream of profanities as Meg landed hard on the ground. Furiko looked up still holding her face. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU LITTLE…" Furiko's eyes suddenly widened as a crack formed in the eye panels on her mask. There was an audible hiss as poison air started flowing into the broken head gear.
"MY !!!!" Furiko clutched at the device frantically before breaking into a fit of coughs as the poisons started to get to her.
"What's the matter? Can't handle your own medicine?" asked Meg in a strangly muffled voice as she started to stand up. She coughed several times then immediately started running towards the edge of the fog.
Furiko glared. "Just wait till I *cough cough cough cough*" Furiko clutched at her throat before sprinting to follow. It was only a matter of second before Meg burst into clean air with Furiko following close behind. Almost immediately Furiko tore her mask off her face letting all the poison that had gotten inside loose.
"HOW DARE YOU!!" yelled the now bloody nosed girl.
Meg started to laugh a bit before breaking into a fresh fit of coughing. "*cough cough* Now who's the ugly girl?" She stood up straight. Furiko glared at seeing Meg's entire beige jacket wrapped around her face showing nothing below her eyes. The blonde cook reached back to untie the jacket from around her head.
"How did you do that, ya old poot?!" yelled Furiko angrily.
"Well, first of all, I figured out that in order to use your poison attacks you had to have your gas mask to breathe through, otherwise you'd start choking on your own attacks. It's kind of sad to have such an obvious weakness." said Meg smirking.
Furiko's face took on a mocking look. "Well, if it was so obvious, then WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK OF IT BEFORE?!" Meg sweat dropped before quickly regaining her composure.
"And secondly I also figured out that, while you gas was deadly, it was also heavy, making above your little poot clouds the perfect place to hide."
Furiko's face was a mask of rage. "You think you can beat me just because you broke my mask?! Huh, ya old Poot?!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," said Meg smiling. "ya old poot."
Furiko's eyes widened angrily. "!!!" The brunette girl screamed in murder as she charged towards Meg drawing back her long metal pipe ready to smash it into Meg's head. Meg rolled out of the way as the pipe came down before aiming her pistols, and shooting.
Furiko fell back on the ground clutching her shoulder, and gritting her teeth against the pain. She looked up angrily, wincing in pain, to glare at Meg as she stood menacingly over her.
"Well," said Furiko. "What are you waiting for? Finish me!!"
Slowly, Meg raised her gun, pointing it directly at Furiko's forehead. Furiko closed her eyes. "So, this is how it all ends." she thought to herself. "Well, at least I went out fighting." Furiko smiled slightly as she heard Meg's finger start to tighten around trigger.
Meg hesitated as she held the gun pointed at Furiko. What was she doing?! She loathed pirates. Pirates destroyed. Pirates killed. They were the bane of existence! So, why couldn't she bring herself to kill this one? Sweat broke out on her forehead. Her hand started shaking.
A moment passed. Two moments. Three. "What, did she fall asleep or somethin'?" thought Furiko as she started to get agitated. "I coulda packed my bags and been off to the afterlife by now!"
"Are you gonna shoot me or not, cause I'm pretty sure I got an appointment with my grandma in Heaven. At least I hope I'm goin' to Heaven, cause I hear the other place is a real drag."
"Just shut up!" yelled Meg pressing the gun against the brunette's forehead. Furiko flinched at the touch of the metal, and closed her eyes tighter waiting for the shot.
"Why can't I do this?!" thought Meg. She started thinking about those pirates that had attacked the town. Those horrible, blood-thirsty monsters. The same ones who had burned her restaurant, her dream, to the ground. And then she started thinking of that girl. That stupid, smiling, freak of a girl. The one who looked like everything a pirate should look like, complete with eye patch and fake limb.
She looked down at Furiko, who was waiting tensely for the final shot. Sure she had been annoying, even tried to kill her, but she wasn't a monster. Meg could tell she was far from the blood-thirsty killers that had attacked before.
The blonde cook lowered her gun, sighing. "I can't do it."
Furiko opened her eyes. "W-what do you mean you can't do it? Finish me!!"
"I can't, okay!" yelled Meg back. "I-I just can't."
"Why not?" said Furiko angrily. "I'm a pirate. You loathe pirates! I heard you say so in the woods."
"Ya, but…" Meg put her hand to her forehead in frustration.
"But what?!"
"You're…not the right kind of pirate."
"What do you mean I'm not the right kind of I pirate?! What, do I need to make someone walk of a stickin plank?! I swear, if it's because I'm a girl, I'll…"
"It's not because you're a girl." interrupted Meg. "It's just…you're too nice."
"NICE?! I just tried to stinkin' kill you, ya old poot!!"
"Ya, but," began Meg. "You're not a monster. I don't know, but…it just doesn't feel right."
"What doesn't feel right?"
"This! This whole situation. I mean, me pointing a gun at your head, and you, sitting there, helpless."
"Don't you dare call me helpless!" yelled Furiko.
"Sorry, sorry." said Meg quickly before sighing. "Look, you said you wanted to see your grandma, right?"
"Yeeaaah…" said Furiko slowly.
"Well, how about instead of me killing you, you live, work on actually getting to Heaven, and that way, when you die, you'll have a better shot at seeing her?" Furiko stared at her blankly. "UUUGH!! I don't have time for this! I've gotta go help Akai and that pirate girl save my town from your crew! Just…sit tight, okay?"
"Sit tight! You expect me to sit tight?! How do you…" Furiko never got to finish that sentence as Meg hit her on the head with her gun. Furiko fell over backwards, eyes closing in the process.
"Sorry." said the cook quickly before jogging of in the direction of town. Unbeknownst to her, Furiko was watching, though her vision was already starting to blur.
Furiko smiled. "Ya old poot." Her eyes closed as she drifted into unconsciousness.
"Kishu Shitatenage!"
"Run!" a large group of pirate tried to scrambled out of the way as the Jack-o-mori came sailing down at them. Unfortunately several did not escape as it crashed hard into the ground.
Jaclyn pulled back on the chain bringing the head of the weapon back to her before rapidly spinning it beside her.
"So who's next?" she asked smiling.
Meanwhile Akai wasn't having much difficulty as he periodically shot down pirate after pirate.
"It's one man boys!" yelled one of them. A small group of them charged, screaming all the way with swords drawn. Akai started at them sleepily. He managed to shoot two of them before they actually got to him, but the other four were upon him in seconds.
"Attack!!" The man who had yelled raised his sword high above his head, smiling in presumed victory. He presumed wrong.
Akai grabbed his head with one hand before diving out of the way of the others. He slammed the pirates head into the ground before he landed, using it as a springboard to complete a one handed flip. The tall male landed in crouching position holding his gun before jumping back at the other pirates. He swung back with his shotgun before swinging it in a wide arch right into the heads of the remaining opponents. They didn't even have a chance to cry out as they were swung sideward, falling hard onto the stone, most unconscious with the ones that were actually awake in extreme pain.
Jacklyn grabbed the handle on top of the Jack-o-mori, before reeling back and stick one leg high in the air. "Kishu Kaabu!" Jacklyn pitched the ball to the far right of the crew.
"HA!" yelled Multibeard triumphantly. "What was that?!" The crew snickered at the extremely off course shot. Jacklyn smiled as the ball started curving back to the left directly at the crew. While the crew was laughing, Multibeard was the only one who noticed the incoming projectile. He quickly dropped to the ground as the ball mowed down a sizeable chunk of the pirates that had been gathered around him.
Jacklyn pulled back on the chain, bringing the ball back to her as she once again began spinning it. "It's a curve ball, moron!"
Multibeard ground his teeth as he got up holding the end of his giant hook. "THAT'S IT!! Prepare to endure the mighty wrath of Captain Multibeard!!"
"*cough cough* Hook face. *cough cough*."
"I HEARD THAT!!"
"Heard what?" asked Jacklyn feigning innocence.
"You called me hook face!"
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did!"
"AchooooHook Face."
"You did it again!"
"Did what?"
"Called me Hook face."
"That is a total lie!"
"Oh, really?"
"No."
"So, you admit it!!"
"I admit to nothing!!"
"ENOUGH!!" yelled Multibeard even angrier than before. Multibeard started running at Jacklyn with his hook in a lower right position. "Right Hook!" Jacklyn jumped backwards as Multibeard swung the hook diagonally upwards. "Left Hook!" Multibeard lowered the hook on his left side before slashing it upwards in the opposite direction as Jacklyn was forced to jump backwards a second time.
"One, Two Hook!" The bizarre captain suddenly span around and slammed the butt of the hook directly at Jacklyn's stomach. There was an audible clang as Jacklyn doubled over.
"Hey! Watch the stomach!" she yelled angrily as she started looking herself over to make sure there was no damage to the area.
"Afraid it'll bruise?" asked Multibeard mockingly.
Jacklyn glared before pulling on her chain, and spinning the Jack-o-mori. "Kishu Nage!" Jacklyn hurled the ball at Multibeard, who quickly dived out of the way.
"HA! You missed!" he yelled triumphantly. Jacklyn pulled back on the chain, and Multibeard once more jumped to the side. "You missed again!"
Jacklyn glared before spinning in a circle, and sending the ball around in a wide arch. "Kishu Kosen!" Before he could dodge the large ball smashed into Multibeard sending him sprawling and skidding across the ground for some distance before smashing painfully into a white boulder off the side of the road.
"Okay." said Multibeard in pain. "That hit."
Meanwhile Akai was having very little trouble taking his share of pirates. He ran quickly into a large group of them, and immediately set to work. He quickly grabbed the head of the first pirate he saw, and quickly use him to bat away two others.
"Get him!" Two of the pirates ran at him with swords drawn only to be met in the face with the butt of a shotgun.
"Stand aside." Immediately all the pirates surrounding Akai looked backwards to see Samual staring coldly at the group, though Akai continued to beat them senseless while they were distracted. "You have five seconds."
"Run!" The pirates quickly scattered leaving Akai sleepily staring at the bowler toped male. Samual slowly reached for the handle on the organ grinder hanging around his neck, and started turning. Round and round the handle went, slowly at first, but steadily getting faster. The front panel popped open, and fell forward on a hinge as a large Gatling gun emerged from the box.
Akai's eye widened about a centimeter before he started running. The gun began firing, releasing round after round of bullets.
"DON'T HEAD THIS WAY!!" A group of pirates looked on in fear as Akai started running towards them. "Into the river!" The entire group jumped into the river under the bridge just as Akai ran by with the rain of bullets hot on his heels.
"THAT'S IT!!" Multibeard sat up angrily, and pushed himself of the rock. "You are going down, right now!"
"Yeah, I don't see that happening." said Jacklyn with a hand on her hip. "But how about we make a deal? You leave this island and never come back, and we avoid all the unpleasantness of me kicking the crud out of you, deal?" Jacklyn ducked as a bullet soared over her head. "I'll take that as a no."
Multibeard ran at the metal armed girl. "Hook and Jab!" Multibeard thrust his hook forward. Jacklyn ducked under it as it went over her head. Multibeard smiled. Just as Jacklyn stood back up Multibeard pulled back with the hook, causing the pointed end to leave a deep gash in her human arm. Jacklyn cried out in pain as she grasped the cut with her metal arm, but she didn't have much chance for rest as the inside of the hook grabbed her. Multibeard twisted to the side, pulling Jacklyn forward, as he started to swing the weapon.
Meg was breathing hard as she ran towards the village.
"Please let me not be too late. Please let me not be too late."
"Stage Hook Hurler!"
Meg turned her head at hearing the voice. "Don't tell me…" Meg ran to her left over the crest of a large hill just in time to see Jacklyn being slung hard into a large white boulder, creating a large cloud of white dust upon impact. "NO!"
Akai kept running as the bullets followed. Samual just kept staring neutral as he waited for the tall male to slip up. He didn't have to wait long. Akai fell hard to the ground as one of the bullets lodged itself in his leg.
"AKAI!!" screamed Meg. She quickly started running down the hill towards her injured friend.
Samual temporarily ceased firing as he watch the wounded boy attempt to stand up, though the wound in his leg prevented him from actually staying up.
"Looks like you lose." said Samual calmly. Akai fired a shot from his gun at Samual, but Samual simply moved his head to the side, dodging the bullet.
"Is that the best you've got?" he asked, still using the same ultra calm tone. Akai once again fell to the ground after trying to get up. He sighed.
Samual cocked an eyebrow as the lanky boy took something out of his pocket. Akai tossed the item to Samual who caught it easily.
"What is this?" asked Samual as he stared at the item. It basically looked like an apple with a weird white string sticking out where the stem should be.
"You realize that bribing me won't work." Samual held out the apple to emphasize his point. A bullet suddenly flew by directly over the apple. The bowler topped man quickly turned his head to see where it had come from.
"Leave him alone!" yelled Meg standing a good distance away.
"Do you really think you can beat me with aim like that?" asked Samual as he raised an eyebrow. Meg just smirked which caused Samual to raise his eyebrow even further. He turned his head as he heard a strange hissing sound. He started looking around before his eyes fell upon the apple he was holding. An apple with a now lit fuse.
"Oh." Samual had barely finished the syllable before the fuse ran out. The apple gave off a bright white light before exploding.
Multibeard glared angrily at seeing the explosion. "SAMAUL!"
"*cough cough*"
Multibeard's head quickly snapped back towards the boulder that he had just sent Jacklyn flying into.
"*cough cough*" The dust slowly cleared to reveal Jacklyn imbedded into the rock. "Okay. That was definitely not pleasant."
"Get up, ya bilge rat!" yelled Multibeard wielding his hook. Jacklyn ignored him for a second as she waited for the pain in her head to subside. After a moment she slowly pried herself of the boulder, wincing as she clutched the wound in her left arm.
"I'll make you pay for doing this to my crew!" yelled Multibeard angrily.
"Well, what do you expect?" asked Jacklyn as she proded her wound, wincing. "You just tried to destroy an entire town full of innocent people."
"So?"
"So? That's bad. Innocent lives could have been lost."
"YARHARHARHARHARHARHARHAR!! Do you actually think I care about 'innocent lives'?" asked Multibeard.
"Uh, yah, kinda."
"Well, you're wrong! I'm a pirate, ya nitwit! All I care about is two things: Me and how to get the things I want for me."
"I don't understand."
"This is a harsh world we live in, little girl. The only way to survive is to look out for yourself and no one else. That's the pirate way."
Jacklyn looked down darkly. "I see. So that's what you think it means to be a pirate?"
"That's not what I think it means." said Multibeard grinning to himself. "That's what I know it means."
"I see." Jacklyn continued staring at the ground as shadows covered her eyes.
All the while Meg and Akai had been watching from the sidelines. Meg stared at the girl in pity.
"At least now she knows the truth." thought Meg. "It's better she finds out now than later."
"So, what now, little girl?" said Multibeard. "Still gonna defend this town? A true pirate would help me take this town, not try and save it." Jacklyn continued looking down in silence. "How about you join me in bringing this place to its knees, and I might forgive you for what you've done to my crew." Multibeard chuckled to himself. "If you're real good, I might even let you join…"
"You're wrong." said Jacklyn quietly.
"Eh?"
"I said you're wrong." Jacklyn looked up with anger in her eyes. "Looking out for yourself is not what it means to be a pirate."
"What are you babblin' on about?" asked Multibeard sneering.
"Being a pirate is about freedom. It's about adventure. It's about giving it all you've got for your dreams. If you can't see that, then you're an even greater fool than I thought!"
Meg's eyes widened at hearing these words. "Jacklyn…"
Multibeard smirked. "Wake up and smell the sea breeze, nitwit. You won't last a day as a pirate if you don't start lookin' out for the old number…"
"Just shut up!" Jacklyn glared intensified in its sheer animosity. "I'm tired of sitting here and listening to your drabble. Now are you gonna leave, or am I gonna have to make you leave!?"
"How about none of the above?" said Multibeard. He charged. Jacklyn pulled sharply on her chain, reeling the head of the Jack-o-mori to her, before she started rapidly spinning the ball.
Multibeard raised his hook high above his head. "Jizaikagi!" Multibeard jumped into the air in front of Jacklyn, legs straddling the sky, fully ready to jam his hook right into Jacklyn's skull.
Meg's eyes widened. "Jacklyn!"
Jacklyn span the ball even faster as he came down towards her.
"Your finished!" yelled Multibeard grinning triumphantly.
"Kishu Wa!"
Multibeard's smile disappeared like smoke, replaced by a look of stunned shock.
Meg's eyes widened drastically in surprise.
Akai just kind of fell asleep.
The world seemed to slow to a stop as Multibeard, still up in the air, was met with a very large and heavy metallic ball right in between the legs.
Jacklyn's eyes widened slightly. "Oops."
As times sped back up Multibeard stunned expression rapidly changed to a look of sheer and excruciating pain.
"….." His cry echoed out through the skies as the momentum of the ball sent him flying high into the air, far far away. All three people present stared after him until he was no longer in sight.
"Nice shot." commented Meg as she and Jacklyn stared into the sky waiting to see if he was going to come down. A distant cry followed by a large cloud of white dust from a distant part of the island answered their question.
Jacklyn quickly turned around to face Meg and Akai. "Okay, before anyone say anything, that was sooooooo not where I was aiming." Meg cocked an eyebrow.
Jacklyn blink for a moment before finally registering something. "Oh, hi Meg! When did you get here?"
"I've been here." said Meg slightly annoyed at not having been noticed.
"Oh. Well, anyway, I'm hungry. I haven't actually eaten anything since I got here."
"You do realize that your arm is bleeding, right?"
Jacklyn looked down at her arm. "Yeah, I should probably that checked out."
Meg couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the bizarre girl. "Come on." Meg jestured towards the town, and started walking towards it with Akai leaning on her shoulder.
"Hey, wait up!" Jacklyn quickly pulled on the chain of the Jack-o-mori, reeling back in the head. She grabbed the handle on top, and started twisting it in a rapid pattern before it shrunk back to its original size.
"Wait for me!"
There you have it people! The first battle of the story is complete. ^^
I'm not sure how well I did considering it's my first time ever doing a fic like this, so if anyone has any advice on how I can make the story better, how I can improve my writing style, or any other commentary, please do not hesitate to send it. I would be super, hyper, ultra appreciative to receive it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time. ^^