I Have a sister!I have a sister!

Chapter 24

The hours had seemed to pass by so quickly. Before anyone knew it, the time was close to 9:00 PM.

Ellie sighed and knew she had to leave. Jason decided to walk her home; he didn't want her to walk alone. The thought of that mutant sneaking up on her was too much for him to bear.

Jackie sat on the couch, watching Danny carefully, which was all she felt like she could do.

How could Stankfoot be so cold and heartless? Why couldn't he give up? Jackie knew the question was never going to be answered. Sometimes people didn't have reasons to be bad.

They just were.

A movement caught her attention. Danny shifted, letting out a pitiful groan. He sat up and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes, then turned to meet Jackie's green eyes. They froze, Danny out of fear, and Jackie out of pure shock. Danny looked around him, his eyes wide with a mixture of relief and confusion.

"Where am I?"

Jackie blinked before realizing that she had been staring at Danny. "Er...uh...um…my home..."

"Oh..." Danny looked down at his bandages, which almost covered him completely. He stared blankly for a moment. "T-Thank you."

There was an awkward silence that was broken by Jason who had come back. He closed the door behind him and turned to Jackie and Danny.

He walked up to Jackie and kissed her head.

...

It was only five in the morning when Jason woke up. He was still used to waking up early for school, and had a feeling that it would take a while to get out of the habit. He hated that.

He yawned and stretched. His eyes subconsciously focused on Stankfoot's 'fortress', but soon he just looked at it by choice.

He clenched his hands into tight fists.

He couldn't wait to finish this once and for all. He was horribly anxious, but he also trusted the Zevo Rock. It had helped him in the past, after all. It had to be right!

"G'morning brother..." Jason looked over his shoulder to see Jackie standing by his door.

"Oh, good morning sis." He turned back to his window, staring off into the dawn.

"I'm scared." Jason snapped his head back towards his sister.

This time he could see the red in her eyes, and the tears that had stained her face. He opened up his arms, and she immediately rushed into them.

"I-I know. I'm scared too. I'm pretty sure everyone is." Jason rubbed Jackie's back.

They sat like that for a couple of minutes until Jason's phone rang. Not wanting to awaken Grams or Danny, who were still sleeping, he answered the phone.

"Hello?" Jason's eyes widened and hot arrow of fear struck his back. As fast as he could, and almost trampling Jackie, he bolted out of bed, hardly grabbing a jacket from his chair as he rushed out of the house. He was still in his pajamas and socks.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he ran.

Stankfoot had attacked Sagicity.

…

Jason ran into the hospital and didn't bother to wait for service at the counter. He slid to a side of the counter, careful not to get caught, then dashed off to look for Sagacity's room.

Jason saw Sagacity like a father. Sagacity had always helped him one way or another. He had been there to listen.

And now he could be dying.

When Jason found the room, he ran in. Ellie, Matt, and even Lexi were in the room, surrounding Sagacity's bed, where his corpse was now laying.

There was a gaping gash where his heart was supposed to be, and his hospital robe was stained with blood that would never come out. He had also died with his eyes open.

Trembling, Jason looked away.

"We tried...to…help him," Ellie said softly. "We tried calling you, but Stankfoot just kept throwing mutants at us…and then it was too late."

Jason shook his head, still trembling.

Sagicity couldn't be dead.

He just couldn't!

Ellie walked up to Jason, her blue eyes big and glassy, her lip wobbling. When she hugged him, he was surprised when she put his head on her shoulder. She was a couple inches shorter than him, but he let her keep him like that. It actually made him feel somewhat comforted…so then he let his tears slide down his tan cheeks, onto her shirt. He didn't even care that the others were watching…he had a right to cry.

...

Where had Jason run off? What was going on? Who was on the phone? Jackie had a million questions, and it pestered her to know that she was so confused.

The morning air nipped at her, and the city was mostly empty. The only sound that could really be heard was the wind and the silent buzzing of old streetlights, which hardly distracted her from the cold.

"Why didn't I grab a sweater?" She groaned.

"Because you're an idiot."

Jackie turned around, puffing out her tail and releasing her claws. Danny stood a couple feet away, holding a jacket.

"Here." He tossed it to Jackie, who caught it and quickly slipped it on.

"Thanks. What're you doing out here?" Jackie felt a bit invaded that Danny had been following her, and a bit suspicious too. Wasn't he injured? Why was he following her? What if he was still working for Stankfoot?

Danny tapped his foot and bit his bottom lip. "I didn't want Stankfoot to ambush you." For the first time, Jackie could hear that Danny had a strong Australian accent. She warmed up slightly at the thought. "It would be a real shame since you and your brother were really nice to me. Aye, why are you even out here?"

"I'm looking for my brother! What else!" Jackie really didn't mean to snap, but Danny seemed to be the cocky, arrogant type…but he seemed to have a soft side as well, the more the reason why Jackie spat at him. She had always been weird around those kinds of people. She hated the kinds of people she couldn't predict.

"Whoa there mate, I was just trying to pay ya back! Geez!"

Snap!

The sound caught their attention and they searched for the source. Jackie had sensed the presence of something, and apparently Danny had too.

A low growl came from underneath them. Jackie's pupils shrank and she grabbed Danny's wrist and pulled him away from where they were standing. The mutant broke through the cement floor, roaring and bellowing.

They had no choice but to fight it.

Jackie and Danny turned into their mutant selves and readied themselves for battle.

"Jackie, Danny, get away from that thing!"

The two turned around to see the rest of the Zevo gang running towards them, already in their mutant forms.

The big mutant saw its chance and lashed its tail out at Jackie, successfully wrapping it around her thin waist, and dove back down the hole it had made. She screamed as loud as she could as she was thrown into the darkness of the hole, kicking and thrashing pointlessly.

"JACKIE!" She heard the voices of the others from above.

She was going to die. She knew where the beast was taking her, and she knew that within hours she'd be dead. Or worse.

Without thinking, she cried out for the help of her past friends.

"JAZZY! BASIL! ARRON! SOMEONE!"

Of course they couldn't answer,they're all gone.

"BROTHER! JASON!" Dirt smacked Jackie's face and she choked and coughed. For one last effort of escape, she sank her fangs onto the thickest part of the mutant's tail. Blood splurted into her mouth, and the mutant, out of anger, stopped and slammed her into a rock. She hardly noticed that the mutant had started moving again.

Everything was soon a blur.