Sky Clock
Chapter 29
Jack really wondered if bad luck was always looming over his book of fate or destiny. As much as he loved to punch people, this wasn't the best of times. Although this did give him the experience of natural and soft "pillows". Hopefully she wouldn't notice. He glanced past the crook currently pointing the firearm at him, all the windows were now blinded, preventing outside interference unless called. It'd be almost impossible to call for back up.
Almost.
Not that he needed one anyway.
The crutch was still stuck to his arm, it's his only logical weapon of choice at this point, what he needed now was an opening.
The armed thug stood quite a distance away, impossible for him to make a lunge or even poke with the stick. He had to make him come closer somehow. Elsa was still holding onto him tightly with Anna right behind, clinging to her elder sister.
An idea hit him, silly, but chances were it might just work.
"Psst, Anna," Jack hissed while moving his lips as little as he could, so only they could hear each other. What'd he do to be good at ventriloquy, such a useful skill to have.
"Huh?" Anna whispered back.
"Call my phone," Jack answered.
"Wait, what?" Anna asked in surprised. "Shouldn't I call the cops instead?"
Elsa seemed to have picked up the idea rather quickly when she added. "Anna, just do it. Just don't let him see."
"Ok, ok, I got it."
"You three, shut up!" The crooked demanded when he must've heard noises, he aimed his weapon in a more threateningly manner as the barrel switched target constantly to each of their faces. It definitely worked when he felt Elsa squeezing even harder. "All of you, hands behind your heads. Now!"
Dammit, Jack clicked his tongue silently. Come on Anna, make the call.
"I said hands up!"
Jack didn't bother showing his annoyance when he nudged Elsa to let him go. She reluctantly did so and followed his example when he raised both arms up after unlatching the crutch.
"Get on your feet and go into the corner," the criminal shook his gun in a directional manner, so did his head.
Jack was about to move, but when he felt his COMLINK gave a little vibration, he hid a small grin. Now he just had to wait for the next second.
The speakers from the mobile device sang loudly as the song from Fantasia Online played. The volume wasn't at its highest, but enough to catch the gunman's sudden fear and surprise. It didn't last long, only for a mere second or two, but it was enough.
"Hey you! Don't move," he moved closer to Jack with the gun still homing on his face. "Don't you dare move!"
Jack could smell the stink of gunpowder when the barrel stood less than an inch away and feel the cool air from the metal tingling on his skin. He heard Elsa's tiny hitch from behind.
Come on, just a little bit closer.
When the guard released one hand from the weapon's handle to reach for Jack's pocket. He felt the fingers twitching at the linen of his pants pocket. Just when the criminal's eyes left Jack's for a split second, he swished his head to the side away from the gun and surged forward with both hands no longer behind his head, tackling the gunman downward.
Jack used the body as a cushion and grab the man's head and slammed it to the floor, temporarily disabling him. He took hold of the weapon and wrenched it out of the hand swiftly, but the disarmed man didn't waste a second and clocked Jack to the side of his face.
"Jack!"
He didn't even groan from the pain when he was forcefully tossed to the side, his back knocked against the chair legs. Jack sucked in a breath when he felt an unpleasant feeling tugged at his shirt. Before he knew it, he was lifted into the air and thrown in some random direction. Jack felt his back smashed against a flat surface before rolled into the cushion seat.
He coughed violently during the small recovery, his arm and leg were starting to sting. He just hoped the stitches didn't come off. Without losing a second, Jack fisted his fingers together and boosted himself upward and dove directly at the man. He locked both arms around the neck and midsection to bring the thug back down to the ground. There might've been some yells from either Elsa or Anna, but he prioritized his focus on the target.
Taking advantage of his position, Jack dealt blows left and right to the man's temples as hard as he could. He grabbed the head and tried to slam down, but wasn't strong enough to resist when a pair of hands prevented him from doing so with a block. The thug surprised him with a headbutt and it knocked his senses all over the place. The next thing he felt was a strong grasp around his hair and the side of his face busted against the floor.
Several times.
Jack grew weary as his vision blurred the line between staying conscious and losing it. Was that blood trickling down his face?
Shit, he couldn't pass out now.
Jack closed his eyes for a good three seconds with a strong exert to regain his bearings. He glanced up as much as possible and saw the thug holding his gun at the pair of sisters. They were frightened while checking on him. He looked back down to find anything to work with.
The steel crutch was within arm's reach.
Jack took a deep breath and curled his fingers tightly around the metal stick. He gritted his teeth and gripped the staff with both hands to knock the standing giant's back knees.
"Argh!" The man grunted as he fell backward. Jack took the chance to swat the gun out of his hand. He scrambled back up to stand while clutching the crutch in a diagonal stance like he remembered. Blood dripped from the left side of his face bothered him slightly.
"Jack," he felt a soft hand, or perhaps two, touching his shoulders from behind. Seemingly to hold him steady. It was unexpected when the grunt bolted himself upright and tried to tackle Jack.
He thrusted the crutch forward into the man's stomach, pulled back out and once more to the chest. The thug staggered backward and Jack followed up the assault with a downward strike that connected to the face. Jack didn't stop there, he dropped down and performed a sweep using his strong leg as pillar. It knocked the man flat on his back, Jack did a jump forward and aimed the butt of his crutched directly over the thug's masked face.
Slam!
Jack didn't care where it hit, be it the eyes or mouth, as long as it knocked him unconscious, that's all he needed. The robber's head rolled to the side as he laid there completely out cold. He stumbled back and leaned on the crutch as he breathed heavily. The exhaustion came much quicker than he thought, his injured limbs were throbbing and begging for elevated rest. He had almost considered it, but his job wasn't done just yet.
"Woah."
Anna's voice drew him back to his surroundings. Jack pivoted his head to see both sisters staring at him in awe, maybe a tinge of worry since he could still feel the blood. He sucked in a deep breath and eased his erratic lungs back to a normal rate. Easier said than done since only seconds had passed.
"Call the cops," Jack rasped out, fingers clenching against the crutch harder in preparation for the next fight.
"Oh, right, right, got it," Anna hurriedly dialed in the numbers on her cell.
It looked like Elsa wanted to say something, but Jack put a finger to his lips. The universal sign of keeping quiet worked like it should.
"Hey! The fuck happened?!"
Jack's attention was instantly diverted toward the masked figure that just appeared at the doorway from behind the counter. Elsa's head swiveled so fast that her braid whipped from one shoulder to another. Anna freaked out and almost dropped her phone. From a quick glance, he saw the call being connected so that was good.
"You little shit, what did you do to him?!" The thug pulled at his gun and stalked forward threateningly.
But his legs didn't go with him as he fell face first into the counter.
Crash!
Jack's brow raised a significant amount at seeing such clumsiness. He almost found it funny, but then the man kissed the ground again.
...the hell?
He could see Elsa's shoulders slightly trembling as she tried to conceal her giggling, Anna didn't even bother.
"You, bitch," he-who-fell-twice grumbled with great irritation and once more tried to assert his dominance by using the weapon. When he finally got on both feet, a body out of nowhere barreled down from the stairs and crash landed into the thug.
Seriously...what the hell?
Then he saw the bulking figure stomping down menacingly as he held a big stick. A hockey stick to be more precise. Kristoff did not look happy at all. No, no he did not.
"Arghhh!"
With a mighty yell like from the old tales of warriors, the burly blond struck powerfully with such force that made the two men airborne. They collapsed in heaps before his very feet. The predators had now become the preys. Tonight, they shall feast upon the offerings, they shall drink on their blood, and they shall dine…
"Like gods!"
Eyes were staring directly at him. Three pairs to be exact.
Why were they staring?
"Errr…" Anna looked at him oddly. "Jack?"
"What?" Jack tilted his head, not understand what was going on.
Kristoff was eyeing him too, Elsa had a look of…something, he couldn't tell.
"What?" He asked again.
Anna pointed at something above his head. Jack followed her finger's direction.
His hand was in a fisting, blood smeared within his palm, the arm was raised up high. His other hand was still around the crutch but used it like wizard staff with a pole stance. His feet spread wide looking rather proud of themselves.
Huh?
Jack scrunched his brow, a look of confusion etched on his face and he didn't even need a mirror to confirm that.
"Did something happen?" Jack asked.
"You were, narrating," Anna answered. "Are you ok, Jack?"
"What? I feel fine," Jack replied effortlessly. "Just fine."
That was when he stumbled backward and had to hold on to the table behind him. His head suddenly felt very light and he wanted to rest so badly. Jack heard sirens from a distance and he knew that they were all fine now.
"Jack," Elsa paced quickly to his side and held one hand at his head and the other behind his back. She steered him to the chair. "Sit down and let me have a look."
Jack just nodded and complied, his stitched up leg and arm were shaking from burns. He flopped down to the cushion. Elsa tilted his head and ran her fingers along his wound and inspected for damage. He wished he knew what she was looking for since he's pretty clueless when it came to medical procedure.
Elsa's face was so close to his that he could feel her cool breath every time her chest heaved. Darn that thick coat that hugged her little frame, it left almost nothing for the imagination of a hormonal teenager.
He may be a Ranger, but still a perverted boy at heart dammit!
It wasn't his fault for thinking like this. Flynn corrupted him!
"Hmm," he heard Elsa's mutter.
"Uh, do you even know what you're looking for?" Jack asked rather innocently.
"Of course I do," Elsa glanced down at him like it was an elementary question.
"Ahh..."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"You sure? Ahtatatatata!" Jack winced when she pressed her slender finger against the split in his head. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Elsa just sighed, but her lips held traces from a smirk.
Briiing!
One policeman barged into the coffee shop, pointing his gun at everyone, until his eyes landed on the unconscious people. To Jack's surprise, it was Garrett. Said person saw him and gave a grin.
"Hey kiddo, you okay there?"
"Fantastic." Jack put out a thumbs up.
"Injured again?"
"It's an occupational hazard."
Garrett reached for the communication device resting on his left breast pocket.
"Central, the situation here has been neutralized, we have four men ready to be brought in."
"Ten-four, unit 212 is en route."
"Copy that."
Garrett let go of his walkie talkie and pulled out metal handcuffs. Jack saw that he wasn't wearing the same outfit as that night, but instead it was a regular patrol uniform. He walked over to the fallen men and performed his task. The gear made grinding noises as it locked into place.
"What about the getaway driver outside?" Jack asked.
"My partner got him, no worries," Garrett replied. He stood up and eyed at the rest. "Well, as part of the protocol, I'm going to need all of you back at the station to file a report."
Kristoff didn't say anything as he agreed with a nod, Jack guessed that he was familiar with the law and didn't want to make a fuss. Anna just looked to Elsa, whom glanced down at Jack. He shrugged.
"But officer," Elsa began. "Jack's head is badly hit and he needs medical attention right now."
"I'm fine," Jack tried to argue. "I remember my name, see? It's Jack."
"No, you are not," Elsa wasn't convinced in the slightest bit as she frowned. Her brows signified that she was probably irritated by his antics tonight. Maybe for good reasons, then again, women were weird. "I'll break your legs and drag you to the ER if I have to."
"Isn't that like...domestic abuse?"
"I'll even sew your mouth shut."
"...I think I'm just going to avoid you from now on."
"Oh really," Elsa chuckled rather darkly. "You're not going anywhere, Jackie."
"Ok, Garrett, take me to the hospital! Anywhere from here!" Jack squirmed rather dramatically. "I'm in critical condition, I am very hurt right now."
The officer simply sighed and shook his head while smirking. "Kids."
Jack heard the sound of an ambulance not long after.
…
The files dropped onto the clean white plastic surface of a table. A man in white coat paced back and forth, a monitor with images on top. He took off the pair of glasses and sat down on the rolling chair.
Lachlan did not look very happy.
Jack just laid on the white bed under the white sheet while leaning against the white pillow obediently. He hadn't utter a single word since he was admitted.
"Well the good news is," Lachlan began as he leaned back. "Nothing is broken and the wrappings managed to keep the stitches in their places. No need for a replacement."
"And the bad news..." Jack drawled out slowly.
"Your brain," Lachlan pulled the monitor outward for him to see. It showed a color coded picture of his body's processing center. "Suffered heavy concussions and the frontal lobe seemed to have been slightly damaged."
Oh, that's bad.
"And from what I've heard from the others in the shop, you might have developed a little...side effect."
"Is it life-threatening?" Jack questioned.
"I wouldn't say so," Lachlan shook his head. "But if you didn't know, the frontal lobe is associated with your personality, and I think you now have what's called, an 'Alter-Ego'."
Eh?
"A what now?" Jack raised an eyebrow as an inquiry for further explanation. "Like, my conscience is actually real?"
"Technically speaking? Probably," Lachlan explained. "You will be experiencing a change in attitude from time to time and not feel it. To your friends, you may not act like your normal self at some point. Think of this like a friend you never had that wants your body."
Well that sounded not weird at all. Nope, definitely not.
"Is it permanent?"
"It's hard to say, maybe, maybe not. The brain is a very complex machine so it's difficult to figure out how to fix it. Only time can tell," Lachlan answered honestly.
"Will it affect my work?"
"The effect will have a very little chance to occur when the brain is focused. So I wouldn't think so. Although to be sure, you should check back at base for a psychological examination and they'll answer your question. I'm not a neurologist so I can only give you brief information. You'll need an expert on this."
Jack sighed, eyes traveling upward until his irises were dead set on the white lights. So much for a quick night out. Might as well as deal with it for now.
You hear that my Alter-Ego? I ain't sharing.
"Any info on the thugs?" Jack began a new topic. "Are they with the you-know-what?"
"No," Lachlan shook his head. "The chief told me that they're just wanted criminals that's been running around for months now. Nothing special."
"One guy was strong, that's for sure," Jack commented. "I haven't been thrown like that since I was little."
"Why didn't you just grab your team?"
"Too little time."
"If Kristoff hadn't been there, this wouldn't have gone well," Lachlan pointed out.
"I know," Jack gritted his teeth. He was still weak and he knew it. If he couldn't even handle thugs like those then how could he face the Syndicates? Absolutely pathetic.
"I saw the footage, impressive skill with that crutch," Lachlan added with a little smile. "I think it suits your style."
"It was all I got," Jack claimed. "Not much else to work with when you're crippled."
"I'd have gone for the gun," Lachlan stated. "Less flashy for sure, but far more deadly and efficient."
"Well excuse me for not wanting unnecessary violence in front of your daughters," Jack argued.
"True, I appreciate that by the way," Lachlan agreed, he grabbed something from his desk and tossed it at Jack. He caught it effortlessly and it was his Ranger tags. "Elsa almost found out, good thing I snatched it quickly before she could see it."
"Oh, thanks," Jack said and he put it around his neck and stuffed the tags inside the loose hospital shirt. "You're still adamant about keeping this away from them."
"The father they are, the safer they will be," Lachlan stated with a serious expression. He looked at Jack with what could almost be perceived as a glare. "But you told Anna didn't you?"
"No," Jack shook his head in denial. "Nothing specific. Absolutely no mention of Ranger."
Lachlan just sighed and rubbed his temples.
"It's past midnight, you can either stay here or go home. But I'm sure you're choosing the latter."
"You read my mind."
"If it's anything similar to Charlie's, I'd bet that it's quite dirty," Lachlan smirked.
Jack crossed his arms and pouted. "It's not my fault."
"Please, we're both men here," Lachlan waved him off with a laugh then looked pensively. "You're going to Burgess soon aren't you?"
"Yes, how'd you know? Oh wait, Eugene?"
Lachlan nodded to confirm his guess. "Before you leave though, stop by so I can give you something."
"Oh?" Jack arched his brow. "What is it?"
"You'll know when you see it," Lachlan answered. "And by the way, Lydia wants to have a talk with you before you leave."
"Uh," Jack began to sweat. "Did she say why?"
Lachlan only chuckled and suddenly looked very sympathetic when he placed both hands on his knees. "I tried to change her mind, but she's very...let's just say, stern, about it. I'm sorry."
Jack shuddered like a cold draft just passed by. "Should I pack extra pants?"
"That would be wise."
The conversation got silenced for a good minute.
"Can I just get out of here?"
"Your friend is on his way."
"Uh, what about..."
"Don't worry, I made sure they stayed home."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"I owe you."
"Pay me back by not making me dig your grave."
"...That's morbid."
"It's your father's fault."
"Ahhh..."
…
Click clack, click clack.
Jack's fingers danced on the keys of his laptop gracefully as he typed. Hovering the mouse to some dedicated button. He looked at his credit card and keyed in the numbers accordingly. He finished the process of purchase with a confirmation. Jack did a small 'whoop' in his head as he just managed to secure the last seat on a round-trip flight to Burgess. He would stay there for three days and come back to Arendelle the day before Christmas. Everything seemed to be in order and Jack grinned to himself.
He exited the browser tab and turned on another to visit Fantasia Online's game forum. Gamers were very excited for the upcoming Christmas event and so was he. Maybe he could gather the whole team to do the dungeon raid again like they used to. Well, no thanks to a trip to the hospital, Jack didn't feel like going to sleep. Hearing a disgruntled sniper complaining about losing her youthful sleep was bad enough. An entire night playing game sounded great to him.
Jack launched the game and waited for the log in screen. He input the password and watched as a loading bar popped up and began to process its weekly update. When the character screen came up, he selected his mage avatar. A splash art of a sunlit town was shown as to where his character would spawn. FrostbiteOverdose was currently sat on a stool in front of a bar. It was a tavern where he last left off. Jack moved his in-game model and weaved through the numerous NPCs and players alike to leave the establishment.
Brrrrrrrrrr!
The COMLINK vibrated on the table, the charging wire still plugged. Jack sighed and reached for the device. The caller ID was of a certain blonde chessmaster that he knew. He wasn't surprised to receive a call from her, instead he actually expected it. Jack tapped the answer button and held it to his ear.
"Yo," he greeted as his fingers still moved his character around the beautiful digitized town.
"Don't just 'yo' me," Elsa spoke from the other end. "I thought you were going to stay at the hospital for the night."
"I like my own bed much better, thank you very much," Jack talked back, he glanced at the time. "It's ten passed two in the morning, why are you still up?"
"Why are YOU still up?! You should be resting for gosh's sake," she sounded pretty irritated.
"Relax," Jack replied nonchalantly. "I'm fine, just a slight headache, big deal."
"You...just...ugh, why do I even bother. If you somehow ended up insane or bedridden for weeks. Don't blame me for not trying!"
Jack laughed.
"You should chill out there, mom-dammit! Sonuvabitch!"
His character suddenly got hit by a fireball and lost a large amount of health, Jack rapidly tapped the dodge button. He placed the mobile in between his shoulder and neck so his other hand could use the mouse.
"Excuse me?" She sounded incredulous.
"Nononono, don't worry about that, wasn't talking about you," Jack responsed almost as fast as a mouse squeaking.
"...Are you playing a game?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"...What's the name?"
"Uh, FantasiaOnline?"
"…"
"…"
"...What's your gamertag?"
Did she just? She definitely did. What? Eh?
Jack didn't give her an answer as he kept trying to win against this player in a PvP match. Fighting against a healer sucked big time.
"Jack?"
"I'm trying to focus on beating this a-hole here!"
"Gimme your gamertag!" Did Elsa just...whine?
"Heck no woman," Jack denied her request. "You haunt me in real life and dreams, no way I'm letting you haunt my fun time!"
"…"
Phew, some peace and quiet.
"You're so going to get it when I see you in school."
Did she just threaten him? Oh no she didn't.
"Don't worry, I'm avoiding you for the rest of the year. Even if we're in the same room, I'm putting on a blindfold."
"Jack!"
"Just go to sleep woman!"
"You go to sleep!"
"IT'S WAY PASSED MIDNIGHT! YOU BOTH GO TO SLEEP AND FLIRT TOMORROW! GOSH!"
That sounded like...
"Eep! Sorry Anna."
Did Elsa just 'eep'? That was damn adorable.
"I'm hanging up now, you're distracting me."
"Hmph, fine, but I'm not letting you off that easily."
"Fine, fine, fine. Night."
"Night to you too."
And with that he ended the call and put the COMLINK back to where it was. Right at that moment his character was blasted with some tree roots and it emptied the health bar completely.
"Shit!"
"JACK! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
And that was Merida.
Author's Note: Hah! You guys thought I was dead didn't y'all? Okay, I guess I was. College is killing me right now and I'm also working part time at Universal. Sadly Disney World is like 20 min farther so I didn't want to go there. At least I get to see Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley pretty often haha. And games, man, too many games to play. If you guys didn't know already, adventure is my absolute favorite genre in fiction and I really, really, really want to do the other fic ideas, but my procrastination won't allow, so, oh well, hope you guys are okay with shorts xD. Next update for Sky Clock probably won't be this late, I did say probably. I've been hanging around the RWBY fandom since volume 3 popped up in my Crunchyroll so I rewatched everything. Unrelated, but just thought it's important, haha. Anywho, wrapping this up with a big thank you for those who continue to support this pitiful story of mine. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I do aim to finish it, just not sure how long it'll take. Leave a review on your way out, peace people!
-May the Fortress be with You.
