Chapter 25—Reveal

Jinx took the liberty of dragging my parents in one hand, the twins in the other, and animating my still-limp corpse like a marionette.

"What are you doing?" I mentally cried. "Let me and my family go! Stop this, now!" I lashed out at him.

"You, be quiet," he snapped aloud. He chucked the rest of my family to the ground, but kept me standing upright. "You think you're so smart," Jinx said, walking up to me. "Little shithead." He dropped me to the ground and pinned me there with some invisible force.

With the power of his mind, Jinx summoned up four deep holes, much like the solitary confinement cell. It was odd to see him doing this in reality. I'd known that kind of power in my imagination, but for him, he had to strain to get things to work his way.

He then threw each of my subdued family members into a separate cell, and then locked the trap doors on top. Then, and only then, did he release me from his control.

I stood slowly, feeling a bit shaky on my feet. "You said you would kill my parents," I stated, keeping my tone even. "Not lock them up. Why are you doing this?"

"Well, it's a rather long and good story," he said. "Since I'm going to kill you, I might as well tell you." He smirked a bit. "But what kind of dumbass would I be to tell you when I can show you?"

He took a step back, clearing the environment of everything around him and leaving him in an empty space. "Did you really think a mere stitchpunk could possess the abilities I do?" he demanded. "Did you, for one moment, actually believe that I could be the same as you?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off before I could. "Don't you dare say anything," he snapped. "I've seen it. I've seen how real you believed me to be. But, what kind of idiot wouldn't question this?" He motioned to the patch of hair covering his right eye.

"I thought—" I sounded much less confident than him.

"You thought that it was just my style?" he demanded, cutting me of again. "Well, if you like thinking so much, think about this. Even though Velvet's hair falls in her face, you can still see both eyes. Tell me, why have you only ever seen one of mine?"

Jinx threw his head back and cackled. "I am so funny, did you ever notice?" he asked. "Look at me, hiding all those little clues for you. And you're too damn thick to notice them." And with that, he reached up and lifted the hair off his right eye.

"No…" I whispered, stepping back. "But… you—"

I couldn't get the words out. In the socket where his right eye should've been, there was no optic. In its place, was a red eye, forged in the shape of a pentagon, sparkling brighter red than the Machine of my visions.

His normal eye closed and slid out of the socket, the wires tearing and the optic clinking to the ground. Jinx was still laughing at my confusion.

"You still don't get it!" he howled. "All those visions of what you thought was the Machine from your parents past, all those times you saw the fire and heard that voice, it was me. All me."

"B-but," I stuttered. "You're still—"

"Stitchpunk?" he asked again. "What, you think I was built in this form? Do you think all these patches were my design?" He laughed some more. "Show and tell, ∞."

He began to change, shifting and bulging. His fabric began to rip, unable to withhold his changing form. Strong metal beams burst through fabric, shredding it as he expanded and grew. Everything that had made Jinx Jinx just vanished, until he stood before me a creature I'd never expected to see.

Jinx had become a giant spider.

Ok, I'll admit, he wasn't really a spider, but he was a pretty accurate robot replica of one. His body was just a ring, probably about a foot wide. Inside the ring, all his inner metals were held in place by a Plexiglas dome. He had eight thin yet powerful-looking legs, and many other small red eyes around his main one. How he'd fit into the slender stitchpunk body was a mystery to me.

"You should see your face right now!" he cackled. "So hilarious!

"Ember!" I mentally cried. If anyone could help me now, it was him. And boy, did I need help.

"Uh uh uh," Jinx smirked. "Rule number one."

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "I've all ready broken rules number two and three." I forced a laugh. "I never was one for the rules."

Jinx groaned. "Fine, do what you want. Just let me tell you how great I am. You see, I am a beast. At least, I hope you see. I was created by the Fabrication Machine, like many of the other beasts your parents fought. But I was more than just a henchman. I was the Machine's equal.

"My Master consumed souls for power. He could only do that with the assistance of the Talisman. I was graced with the ability to take souls without the help of any external devices. That's what kept me in power for so long.

"However, having this power built in to me doesn't come without its troubles. It hurts in between feedings. It burns. Inside, a constant burning, like fire licking away, and… and the only way to quench the flames is to devour the souls and lives of others."

"But that still doesn't explain why you made me fake my death for my parents," I stated. Jinx loved to talk, and maybe if I could keep him talking, I could give Ember enough time to find us.

"The souls last longer when they come from those with broken hearts," Jinx nonchalantly stated. "It can be months between my kills. And every day, the burning gets worse."

"I'm sorry," I said, walking forward. Every fiber of my being screamed for me to get out of there for two reasons. One, I knew Jinx was notoriously devious, and two, I was still terrified of spiders. But, I held fast, and kept myself calm. There was no use freaking out, right?

"Why should you be sorry?" he asked. "I'm going to kill your family, and I'm going to kill you." His red eye squinted at me. "I can see into your soul. There's no fear there. Why do you not fear me?"

"I have no reason to fear you," I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. "All the things you're doing… all this killing, it's because you're in pain! I understand why now…"

"This is they way I am," Jinx snarled. "The way I'll always be. Powered by a bloodthirsty hunger for the lives of innocent bystanders." He paused for a moment. "But this kill will be the sweetest yet. When my Master died, he sent out one last message to all of us, the surviving beasts. He showed us your father's face, gave us one clear goal: to kill him. And now, I will avenge my Master, and his murderer will die at my hand."

"But all violence only brings on more violence," I said, looking up at him. "Please, Jinx, end this now."

He looked down at me. "No," he said. "No matter what I do, the burning will still be there. You don't know, you don't understand any of it! I'm alone in the world! I'm the only one left! And I have to handle this… this fire all alone… and it hurts. It's so painful…"

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "If there was anything I could do, I would, Jinx."

Jinx let out a sigh. "But there is nothing you can do. I'm going to have to live with this forever, and it's killing me. Literally, I'm dying."

"What?" I asked. The talking wasn't just stalling anymore; I was honestly interested in what Jinx was saying. He'd lost a lot of his swagger, his confidence when he went into machine form. Truly, I could see he was even more scared as I was.

"All this energy is ripping me apart," Jinx told me. "I wasn't built with the ability to control the world. It hurts even more to. But just that thought, that one thought that the burning might stop, it powered me enough to rip myself apart." He looked at me. "After a long enough time, you'd go mad under the constant pressures of the fire. You start thinking you're in control, that you're better than people. I don't want to be like this… it-it hurts. I don't want to die, I just want to live!"

"Oh, Jinx…" I reached out to him. "I'm sorry—" I let my wood-and-metal hand rest on his side. It sat there for a moment, and then the metal beneath my finger began to increase in heat. "Wha—?"

I was shot back as a spark leapt from Jinx's side to my hand, shooting up my arm and colliding with my spine. I was aware of Jinx's laughter for a moment, crueler and louder than before.

"Ha!" he laughed. "You empathetic moron. I'm not that weak!"

One of my hands tentatively found it's way to my brow. There was something in my head, something that hadn't been there before. When I closed my eyes, it was there. The fire…

It started in the back of my mind, bubbling away behind my thoughts, and then, it began to make its way forward. It crushed everything in its path; the flames filled my head, the heat making it hard to breathe. "Augh!" I screamed, falling to the ground, pressing my forehead to the dirt. "It burns! Get it out!"

Jinx continued to let out raucous laughs. "Now you see," he yelled. "Now you understand!"

"What did you do to me?" I howled.

"All those visions you've had since you were a child, they were all of me!" he screamed. "That's why you're afraid of spiders! That's why you always see fire in your dreams! I've been preparing you for this moment, building an even stronger mental link between us so you could feel the burning! And now you see!"

I lay on the ground with my eyes closed for a moment, trying not to think about my burning head. I doubted Ember was coming now. It was now or never for that light power thing. I'd seen my parents earlier, that could mean I found the love to defeat him!

For a moment back there, I'd actually thought there might be some good in Jinx. But I was a fool for ever thinking anything so ridiculous. He was pure evil, and even if he was in pain, he was too concerned with hurting others to stop for a moment and figure out that I was willing to help him. All he wanted was for me to be in pain, and I couldn't let that go on.

I shakily stood up, trying to push away the burning. "Ok, Jinx, I'm going to kill you…" I said. Even that sentence left me out of breath, and I dropped to my knees again.

Jinx sneered. "Poor little ∞. And I thought you were supposed to be strong." He gave his signature dark chuckle again. "Since you've been a bother for the last little bit, I've decided that I'm going to kill you right now. Just to get it over with." He rubbed his two front spidery limbs together. "You'll be very pleasing for my hunger; you have such a strong soul. Even in the darkest of times, you tried to stay strong. You would've made a lovely mate." He laughed again. "But it's too late for that."

I forced a small smile. "You laugh too much, you know that?" I asked.

Jinx was not pleased with that last remark. "Ok, I've had enough of you talking. Shut it."

I tried to get to my feet, summoning up the image of my family, to muster up that white power again. But every time I got close I would collapse down to the ground. The burning was too strong.

Jinx seemed to be having a good time watching me fail, for he waited for a while, just watching. "It's a pity when they get like this," he sarcastically said. "Why don't you give up?"

"Because… because I'm going to win…" I was becoming exhausted now. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold in to the flames. "I'm going to… I have to…"

I couldn't even remain upright anymore. "I..."

"You're nothing," Jinx spat, picking me up with his two front legs. "And you never will be. Why do you keep trying?"

"Because I have to..." I gasped for air now, the fire overwhelming my mind.

He shook his head, closing his eye. "You sure are something, ∞," he quietly said. "I could read your mind for a hundred years, and you'd still be a mystery to me. I have to admit, you captivate me."

"Then why do you do this to me?" I asked, too weak to raise my head.

"Because it's fun, and you're... annoying," it took him a while to find the right word. He laughed–again–then dropping me to the ground and advancing on me. "I think we've waited long enough. Goodbye, ∞."

I tensed up, waiting for the blow to come. I was sure that it couldn't be any worse than the flames within my head, but I wouldn't know. Having your soul sucked from your body was such a violent way to die, and I'd seen it done so many times before, through my father's eyes. And now, I'd die, and so would he. Our family would be gone. All of the original nine–dead. The only consolation was that I knew that the other 'Punks, the good ones, they'd still be alive. And somehow–somehow–they'd defeat Jinx.

My head felt like it was going to burst into flame. Why was Jinx waiting? Probably so I could suffer more, I thought to myself. But of course, Jinx could hear it, too. I was falling into a trance now; the crackles of fire starting to sound like a voice, whispering in some language that I didn't comprehend.

But, a voice broke through my stupor. A voice I'd come to know better than I knew my own

"This ends here."

A/N: Ooh, who could it be? We're getting so close to the ending now, I could scream! Now, tell me the truth: Were you sympathizing with Jinx earlier? I can tell you for sure, I was. I'm such a sap! Oh well, who cares, the next chapter should be up... actually, pretty soon! I'm so excited for this story, yay! 8D