CH 4

Disclaimer: Never have, never will own anything. Except for my own characters. You'll see when I get to that part. But anyway, plz R&R It would be nice to get another review on this again.


It was early morning when Jackle finally woke up. He sat up, blinking a couple of times and stretched out. He then yawned, his sharp canine teeth revealed. It had been a long night, but he couldn't exactly remember why…

Good morning Jackle.

The sudden greeting caused Jackle to jump, a yelp escaping from his mouth. He put his hand over his heart, feeling the quick beats slowly return to normal when he realized where the voice came from. He sighed heavily.

"Don't DO that! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Did you get a good night's sleep?

"It was ok. Wasn't one of the better one's I had but it was ok."

Jackle rubbed his eyes, getting to his feet. He looked around the small room for a minute, his phobia returning ever so slowly. He backed up, until his back hit the wall behind him. He rubbed his hands nervously together.

"How…h-how much longer?"

Don't be so scared Jackle. They'll get you out in no time. I'm sure of it.

"I-If you say so…"

Just relax. You have to learn to get over your fears. If you can do that, Wizeman can't hurt you anymore.

"He'll find more ways…physically I mean…" The voice, a.k.a. Mark, mentally sighed.

Well, here's the thing. The ONLY thing good about Wizeman is he rewards you. He rewards you greatly if you do one thing for him. To collect as much Ideya as you can. Tonight we shall do that one task for him. And I promise you shall be rewarded greatly. I know. Then things will change, and people will realize who you really are. You DO want to be recognized, don't you?

"Well yeah, but…"

But what?

"I don't know. It's just that everything is happening way too fast. I need time to think about this. It's not that I don't appreciate your help it's just that you came out of nowhere and…" Jackle clutched his head in confusion. He shook his head slightly, closing his eyes trying to sort everything out. After all, it had only been one night, and already he was planning too far ahead of what was to happen in his future. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the door was opened. The servants from before walked in and stood in front of him, motioning for him to move. He hesitated for a second before complying.

There, there Jackle. See, you're not going to be in this wretched place anymore. You are now free to go back to your business.

"My only business is to follow Wizeman."

That's all going to change. Just leave everything to me. Then it'll all be ok.

"Sure…" Jackle followed toe servants out of the hellhole and into the winding halls. Jackle knew where they were taking him: To Wizeman. It was always to Wizeman after the punishment had been carried out. You weren't just set free, you had to be reevaluated first. Just to make sure you learned your lesson. Jackle had learned parts of his ultimate lesson every time he was punished. But not this time. Instead of being terrified, he was being comforted by the voice. His friend. The one dubbed the name Mark. It was childish to name an inanimate object, but at that time, Jackle hadn't cared. He liked to name things. He had named his deck of cards, his hat, his…mantle. But that's beside the point. I'm guessing you want to get back to the story now. Ok, here you go, back to the story.

"Here we go" muttered one of the servants as they reached Wizeman's chamber. Jackle merely shuffled his feet, his eyes distant. It was like he was in another world, tuning reality out. Wizeman's voice boomed from the inside, granting their permission to enter. The doors opened, and the servants shoved Jackle inside, they themselves not entering. Jackle stumbled and fell down on his hands and knees. He simply stood back up, and brushed himself off. Wizeman's hands circled around him, taking close examination of the Demi-maren. Jackle adjusted his hat, and when he saw Wizeman, he waved.

"Hello!" he said rather cheerfully. "Nice day isn't it?" Wizeman was surprised by Jackle's different behavior. Normally he wouldn't dare to breathe without asking first, and he would be cowering and frightened beyond belief. Like he had been to Hell and back. Which he did. But now, now it didn't seem like he was fazed at all. Like it was all just a game.

Jackle was preoccupied with pulls locks of his dirty blonde hair from under his hat, when Wizeman spoke up.

"I hope you learned your lesson from-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it. Can I GO now? It's REALLY boring here…" Jackle interrupted, waving his hand. Never in a billion years, had Wizeman been brushed aside by one of his creations. Especially by the Mage Master. Wizeman was becoming impatient.

"Jackle, I don't know what's wrong with you today but you know you are pushing your luck more than is necessary."

"Eh, shows what you know."

"Jackle…I'm warning you…"

"Jackle I'm warning you."

"I demand you stop your childish games!"

"I demand you stop your childish games!"

"Do not mock me!"

"Don't mock me!"

"JACKLE!"

"JACKLE!"

Dodging the crushing hands of Wizeman, Jackle made a break for the door, laughing in his disturbing way. But as he opened the door, he collided into two other people, sending them all crashing to the ground.

"Ugh! Get OFF!"

"What the HELL?"

Jumping to his feet, Jackle turned the corner and ran, leaving the tangled Reala and NiGHTS on the ground to struggle. He never once looked back, because he couldn't. He wanted to stop running, but he couldn't. Something was driving him forward having no plans of stopping. When he exited the castle he jumped and took flight, a golden tail of stars behind him. He wasn't happy anymore, he was distressed. He didn't know what he was doing, and he couldn't stop himself. No sooner when he left, he touched ground again. He was out of breath, but his legs took him forward towards Soft Museum. He wasn't much of a runner, causing his legs to become weak and sore quickly. Halfway up the winding, disconnected brick roads, his knees buckled, and he collapsed on the ground, panting painfully. He lay there for a few minutes, until a voiced hissed in his head.

Get up Jackle.

He didn't answer. He was too tired to say anything. The venomous voice came back again, demanding.

…I'm warning you Jackle. GET UP NOW!

"I…I can't…I'm too…tired…" But his body disagreed with his argument. His arms slowly pushed himself up, his legs forcing him in a standing position. Then he began walking. Pain coursed throughout his lower body but he didn't stop.

"Please…what are you doing to me!" he asked, reaching Soft Museums entrance. His body stopped, allowing him to slump to the ground. The voice answered him.

I thought you'd figure that out by now. But if I must, I shall tell you…I'm taking your body. I've already taken over your corrupted little mind, so why not the rest of you? So now you are mine to control. And there isn't ANYTHING you can do about it. Not even sweet little NiGHTS can save you from your bloody fate.

"What does NiGHTS have to do with this?" Jackle was panicking. His body was taken over by, something, and the something was mentioning NiGHTS.

NiGHTS has everything to do with this. After all, I KNOW you think about him, don't you? You think about him because he has something you want, doesn't he? You think about him because you're in LOVE…

"NO! THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

It's always been true Jackle and you know it! You love NiGHTS! But sadly…you can never tell him how you feel about him. Get ready to say good-bye…

Everything was melting around him. There was nothing but swirls of colors and a giant black void. Jackle tried running, but his body wouldn't budge. Instead, he felt a pressure around his neck.

He was choking himself.

No, the thing was choking him.

"Stop…p-please…" His breathing became quicker, and more shallow. There was nothing he could do as his mind became blank. The last thing he heard was the shrill laughter of the voice in his head. The one that took over…

Jackle…

Jackle…

JACKLE!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Jackle sat up, screaming his head off. He looked around frantically, tears and sweat covering his face. He was breathing heavily, he eyes dilating to the darkness. Then he remembered, it was a dream. No, it was a nightmare he just had. The room was giving him delirious thoughts in his sleep, that was all. He wasn't controlled by a voice. He wasn't dying. And he wasn't in…love…with…

NiGHTS.