"Agh!" Jack cried out the moment he was tossed onto a cold, dark floor. Coughing, he weakly looked towards his captors.
"Alright, so what do you all think we should do with him?" Cyrene snickered.
"You know what the Master wants with him," Mercy grumbled.
"Right, right, I know," Cyrene snickered. Then she took Jack's chin. "But he's so adorable…I think we should have some fun with him first!"
Jack managed to knock her hand away, and backed away from them. "Wh-what do you mean?" he uttered.
"The Master wants to Corrupt you and make you part of us," Ivory told him.
Jack gasped in shock. "No! I don't want to be Corrupted!" he yelped out.
"A bit too late for that, sorry!" Cyrene laughed.
"...n-no! Leave me alone!" Jack sputtered.
"…what do you like, little boy?" Ivory asked curiously.
Jack blinked. "...wh-what?" he uttered. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what are the things you want the most out of life?" Ivory asked.
Jack blinked. "...uh... I've... never really thought about that..." he replied.
"Well, we're giving you a chance to think about it," Ivory said.
Jack blinked, as he looked down at the ground. "...honestly... the only thing I can think of is... being happy with my friends..."
Mercy rolled her eyes, Cyrene grinned at how she could use this, but Ivory was the one that took this seriously. "...but... why do you ask?" Jack uttered, as he slowly got to his feet. "I mean... you just want to Corrupt me, so you don't really care about what I like, right?"
"…that's not necessarily true," Cyrene chuckled.
Jack blinked once more when Cyrene said that. "...what do you mean?"
"Oh, don't you worry your silly little head about it," she chuckled, approaching Jack.
Jack narrowed his eyes a tad, and took a small step back. "...why not...?"
"Because, I'm sure you'll have a lot more to worry about in a moment," Cyrene chuckled.
Jack gulped upon hearing that. "...why...?"
Tentacles came out of the wall, snaring Jack up and holding him captive. Jack let out a yelp, as he tried struggling out of the tentacles' grip. "Let me go!"
Cyrene got up to him, pressing herself against him. "Oh…don't scream for help…everything's going to be fine," she whispered into his ear with a chuckle.
Jack was rapidly growing uncomfortable, as he struggled against the bonds even more. "...wh-what are you going to do...?" he uttered fearfully.
"…we're gonna take good care of you…" Cyrene chuckled.
Then she nibbled on his neck a little. Jack yelped again, as he tried pulling away from her. "Stop that!"
Cyrene chuckled and yanked him back, now kissing his neck. Ivory and Mercy started approaching him now too. Jack's eyes widened in horror when he saw the other two approach him; Cyrene's direct advances not helping one bit. "...I said, get away!" And, out of desperation, he slammed his own head against Cyrene. Cyrene, once again, didn't expect getting knocked away like that, and in irritation, she commanded the tentacles to grab Jack's head to keep it stationary, as well as anything else that could struggle.
Jack yelped, and struggled more. "...leave me alone! I don't want this!"
"We know…" Cyrene chuckled. "…but this will help you grow up Jackie boy…"
"N-not like this!" Jack cried out. "I... I don't want..." He was only guessing what they wanted, but with Cyrene's actions... "...I don't want to make a baby!"
That just made the three of them look at each other and laugh at how Jack put that into words. Jack seemed hurt by their laughter. "What's so funny?" he yelled.
"…oh Jack…if you only knew what you were missing out on," Cyrene chuckled.
"...what do you mean by that?" Jack inquired.
"…it doesn't hurt at all, if that's what you're afraid of…" Cyrene sneered.
Jack gulped. "...I don't think I can trust you on that one..." he uttered.
"Oh, believe me…it all feels really good…"
"…damn it…" Hunter groaned under his breath. Sage had her arms folded with a thoughtful look on her, whilst the others were just... silent.
"…don't push yourself too hard, Hunter," Cal spoke, suddenly breaking the silence.
"…goddamn it…why shouldn't I?" he uttered, walking up the hill. "…they took Jack…they took him…"
Naturally, when they got the news from Milo, everyone was hit hard with it. It devastated all of them…
Miser had to linger behind the group with Ripper; biting her lips to keep herself from weeping in sorrow, whilst the mantis could only set a hand supportively on her shoulder.
Nage, too, seemed fairly distraught, as she held her arms insecurely and merely looked to the side. Having heard that Cyrene had been responsible for kidnapping their friend... she was so wrought with guilt, for not having saved her from Patricia all those weeks ago.
King, being at the front of the pack, merely clenched his hands; his expression hidden from the entire rest of the group. Noting that he didn't want to be disturbed, Queen decided to walk behind him; holding back anyone who tried walking up to the tiger.
Cal was only trying to remain calm about this…but he, too, was hit pretty hard about the news that Jack was taken away. He felt his own kind of guilt for the situation…just like how he felt guilty that Natal had been corrupted. He tried to stay calmer than the others though…and now it looked like Hunter was stomping farther, past King. "Hunter, wait!"
Hunter ignored them and just kept walking.
"...hey, Hunter!" At that point, though, someone else walked past King and grabbed Hunter by the shoulder. "No wandering off, you hear?" Fargus said with a stern tone; while the news had surprised him as well, he was keeping himself more or less composed.
Hunter yanked his shoulder out of his hands. "…I'm just scouting ahead…" he muttered. "…tonight's going to be a full moon…so we need to find shelter soon..."
"...right, right..." Fargus grunted. "...but you're sure as hell not going alone. I'm coming with you."
"…right…" he muttered.
"...Queen, Sage, Toki, you all keep a sharp eye around you." Fargus hummed, before he began walking ahead of Hunter. "We won't be long."
"Right," Toki replied with a nod.
With that, Fargus pulled Hunter with him.
"...hrm..." Letting out a low hum, Queen closed her eyes and folded her arms. "...we should stop until they return."
"…yeah, I agree…" Cal murmured.
"...alright; then we'll stop." King finally spoke, as he stopped walking; though still not facing the group.
With a light hum, Sage sat down with her eyes still closed; setting her hands on her legs while remaining in deep thought.
Cal walked over to Natal. "…how are you doing?" he asked her. Natal remained silent, as she merely looked towards the horizon with a thoughtful look. True, the news had indeed hit her hard, but she knew better than to let her emotions get the best of her; especially with her still being under the influence of Corruption. Cal sighed at that, figuring that she was doing okay, and he, too, looked out to the horizon.
"...the sun's setting..." Natal murmured, as she closed her eyes. "...a storm is brewing..."
"…yeah…" Toki agreed with her on that.
"...and it doesn't seem like we're gonna be prepared for it." Nage murmured.
Everyone was silent at that remark.
At that point, Sage suddenly perked up; her eyes opening. "...hm?"
Cal's head jerked too. "…we're not alone, are we?"
Natal's eyes narrowed. "...no. We've got company."
Instantly, everyone went on alert, as they got in defensive positions.
Toki looked back at them. "Who is it? Do you guys know?"
"...it's... strange." Natal murmured. "...I can't really pick out anything but... pure Corruption."
Sage narrowed her eyes, as she looked around her. "...whoever could it be...?"
"...hello."
In that crucial moment of weakness, all of a sudden, a dark hand shot out of the ground underneath Sage, and clamped down on her; causing her to let out a startled yelp.
Miser gasped. "Sage!"
Cal reacted, drawing his katana to send a slash wave of Corruption at the dark hand to make it release Sage. Before the slash wave could strike the hand, however, it flung Sage in a certain direction, before dissipating just as the wave connected with it.
The moment she landed, Sage tried pushing herself back on her feet, as she looked up. "That voice... you're-!" And in that instant, a hand grabbed hold of her head, making her feel a sting in the back of her mind, which caused her a small headache.
King's gaze immediately fell on the one who had grabbed Sage, and his eyes widened. "...you've... got to be kidding me..."
When they all saw who grabbed Sage, all of their jaws dropped. Letting go of her, this figure looked back at them with pale, black-and-yellow, lifeless eyes. "...sorry... for making you worry..."There, with his fists clenched and a completely lifeless look on his face, was Jack; appearing with an insanely Corrupted look to him. Aside from growing taller and his muscles having grown quite firm, his teeth were very sharp. Within his palms, what could best be described as some form of protruding mouths formed, while directly on his forehead, the black markings that covered his body were converging into a single point on his forehead, where a large, crimson crystal was.
King merely dropped to his knees in utter shock. "...no... not you, Jack..." he uttered.
"…J-Jack…" Cal did his best to try and stand his ground, but the sight of Jack like this actually made him shudder. What had they done to him?
"...th-that's..." Natal uttered, as she covered her mouth in horror at this sight. "...Cal... do you feel that?"
"...f-feel what...?" Nage uttered; feeling rather intimidated at the sight of Jack looking like that.
"...with anyone else... I can at least sense them along with Corruption..." Natal whispered, as tears were starting to form from her eyes. "...but... I can't sense Jack. It's like... there's nothing but Corruption within him..."
Cal grit his teeth; he could feel just what Natal was feeling.
"…wh-what have they done to him…?" Toki uttered in horror.
"...Corrupted him." Queen uttered bluntly, as she tried her very best to appear stoic at this sight. "Only... he's been affected in an entirely different way from anyone else... even Spiel..."
King grit his teeth, as he slowly rose to his feet. "...why... why are you here, Jack?"
Slowly, Jack turned his gaze towards King; the gaze of those lifeless eyes looking so piercingly when directed at the tiger.
Just then, when Jack's attention was stolen, a tree with a blue aura around it was tossed at him. Jack's gaze, however, didn't waver, as he merely lifted an arm up; causing a massie, blue flame to erupt by him, which engulfed the tree that was tossed towards him.
Pushing herself onto her feet, Sage looked towards where the tree had been tossed from. "...Hunter!"
Unlike the others, Hunter didn't seem intimidated by the sight of Jack; in fact, he only looked angrier, as he stomped down toward him with a telekinetic aura around him. "...Hunter, don't be a hero!" At that point, Fargus emerged after him; his eyes narrowed. "He's dangerous in this state!"
Jack's gaze slowly moved towards Hunter; his eyes remaining as dull and lifeless as before.
"…I'm tired of all these fucking puppets of Corruption tormenting all of us like this…" Hunter growled, ignoring Fargus. Then he threw his hands, throwing boulders at Jack.
With no change in his expression, Jack merely raised his hand to summon large, dark hands that grabbed the boulders, and tossed them back at Hunter. Hunter grabbed Fargus and shot away from the rocks with telekinesis. Fargus grunted, as he glanced behind Hunter... and his eyes widened. "Watch out!"
All of a sudden, Jack had shot himself right next to Hunter and Fargus; quickly extending his hand to grab hold of Hunter's head. Hunter only had time to glance before Jack's hand latched to his forehead and, just like Sage, he felt that sting within his head as well.
"…ngh…" Hunter felt…motionless at that time…he wasn't sure why this was, but he couldn't bring himself to move, staring back at Jack when he felt that sting. Jack merely gazed at him with those vacant eyes of his, before he proceeded to let go of Hunter; landing on the ground without breaking eye contact.
Hunter stumbled a little bit. "…what the hell was that?" he demanded. "What did you do?"
Jack still looked at him, as he slowly raised his hand. "...this."
In that instant, a blue aura suddenly surrounded some boulders close to Jack, which were flung right at Hunter.
Fargus' eyes widened. "Hey! That's your ability, Hunter!"
Hunter grabbed Fargus and shot away in shock.
"…he…is he…using someone else's powers?" Toki gasped.
"...that's not all..." Sage uttered, as she held her head. "...he's... reading our minds!"
Everyone gaped in shock at that; King most of all. "...wha... are you serious?"
At that point, Jack's gaze slowly moved towards King again.
"…he copied your powers too, Sage…" Cal uttered. "…they gave him the ability to copy other's powers..."
"...no... there's something else." Natal uttered. "We've seen others who have been under the influence of Corruption much longer than him... Callous, Deity, Johnny... none of them have displayed this kind of power..."
"...true... there has to be something else." Queen murmured, as she glanced at Sage. "Can you pick anything out?"
Sage, however, merely narrowed her eyes. "...I can only see... that he's reading our minds. Everything else... is just blackness."
"…we gotta warn the others," Toki uttered. "King! The Communicator!"
"...right!" Quickly, King snatched the communicator and prepared to press it...
...but Jack suddenly shot right up to him and grabbed him by the head; forcing another sting to jolt through King's head. With that distraction, Jack kicked at King's hand to make him let go of the communicator, before pushing the tiger away, and snatching it.
Miser gawked at this. The cheerful, childish lion that they all knew so well had turned into a cold, dispassionate machine, fueled by Corruption... "...how... horrible..."
"…I…I can't watch this…" Cal uttered. "…I just can't…not without trying to do something…" and he shot at Jack with the katanas in hand. Quickly, however, Jack aimed his other hand at Cal, just as dark lightning shot from his fingertips; aimed directly at the simian. Cal was stopped in his tracks with lightning jolting through his body and systems, and he yelped.
"CAL!" Natal shrieked, as she quickly rushed towards Cal; grabbing him to yank him away from the dark lightning.
The moment he was out of the way, Jack slowly looked at the communicator... and clenched his fist violently; crushing the device in his grip.
"…oh no…" Toki uttered, seeing the crushed communicator. How would they warn the others now?
With that neutral gaze, Jack slowly turned his head towards someone else this time.
Miser.
Without missing a beat, Jack shot right towards Miser, his hand extending.
"KEKEKE!" Quickly, Ripper shot towards Jack; crossing his scythe arms defensively to try and knock him away. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"
Before Ripper could do anything to stop Jack, however, the lion slammed his other hand against Ripper's head; knocking him to the side as he finally reached Miser, which allowed him to grab her head as well.
"NO!" Hunter knew that if Jack could copy Miser's immortality, there wouldn't be very much use to stop him, so he ran to try and punch Jack.
However, Jack merely grabbed the incoming fist without looking back at Hunter, whilst still clenching down on Miser's head.
But somehow... no sting was formed within Miser's mind. Even Jack seemed curious about that. The others watched with worry, not knowing what was going on.
Miser looked back at Jack with some worry as well.
"...I see... he was built differently..." With that, Jack kicked himself off Miser; landing in the middle of the group, though his gaze remained fixated on Miser.
"…huh…?" Cal was shocked at that, while Hunter jumped in front of Miser protectively.
"...farewell..." With that, Jack sunk within a dark vortex beneath him.
King's eyes narrowed, as he clenched his hands into fists. "...Jack..."
Stella wished that she could cheer the others up…but there didn't seem to be anything just her, alone, could do. Charmy was silent and withdrawn from the others, but he wasn't so cold about it. Boomer, though, was unapproachable just at a glance. Rudy was ready to cry, but he tried to hold back. Lock was staying close to Stella; his face hidden from view by his hat.
Violet, unlike most the others, was very composed about all of this, keeping the front of the group. While Wiper was helping Violet in keeping the front, Newt was further in the back; his expression a mixture of pained grief and unbridled fury. Quite obviously, Omega didn't seem affected in the slightest, but Proxy had a mild frown on him...
...but Metal was a completely different story. His expression was completely hidden from view, though one could obviously tell that he was not to be approached at this point. One of their closest comrades had been snatched away by these dark forces... he knew that he had to tell Jill about it, but... he couldn't even bring himself to imagine it.
Stella let out a depressed sigh; she, too, took this pretty hard. Her heart ached for it.
There was this silence in the air that left a heavy atmosphere around everyone in the group. No one said a word. No one dared to.
Violet suddenly stopped then.
Lock noticed that. "...what's wrong, mother?"
"…someone's coming…" she answered, without looking back at anyone. "…brace yourselves…" Everyone stopped, and looked around them cautiously. Violet reached into her coat and pulled out one of her pistols.
Stella didn't like the looks of that, and she stepped closer to Lock insecurely. Lock, in turn, took out one of his revolvers.
Narrowing his eyes, Metal suddenly glanced to the side. ...Corruption... Charmy noticed Metal's look, and looked in the direction where he looked. However, nothing was there.
"...you're following Joy... aren't you...?"
Boomer's eyes widened when she heard that. "…that voice…"
Metal narrowed his eyes further.
"...right?"
At that point, a figure suddenly appeared behind Lock and Stella. Stella felt the creepy sensation that something ominous was behind her, and so she slowly turned to look shakily. Standing right behind her was a lion who gazed into her eyes with soulless, vacant eyes that seemed to be piercing her very soul with naught but a look.
Letting out a slight grunt, Lock quickly grabbed Stella, and leaped away from this lion; noting that he had snuck up right in the middle of the group. Stella clutched to Lock, still staring at the lion. "…no…" she gasped.
"…Jack…?" Rudy uttered in fright. "…is that…you?" The lion's gaze slowly moved towards Rudy; merely looking at him with those eyes of his.
"...J-Jack, c'mon!" he uttered. "It's me! Rudy! One of your buddies!" Jack still just looked at him.
"...Rudy, be careful." Quickly, Wiper hurried in front of the kangaroo; his eyes narrowed. "He's..." He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't want to finish it.
"…he's what?" Rudy asked.
"...Corrupted."
All eyes fell on Metal, then, as he was glaring at the lion with a narrowed look. The others distanced themselves warily from Jack.
Boomer had her gun pointed at him, but she couldn't bring herself to shoot at him. "…I really don't like the look of this…" she muttered.
"…neither do I," Charmy admitted.
Slowly, Jack's gaze moved to look directly at Metal; his pale, lifeless eyes locking with the organic and cybernetic eyes that glared back at him. They all watched Jack silently and closely.
"...I wouldn't keep following her... if I were you..." Jack slowly spoke; his tone a hollow, haunting one.
Metal's eyes narrowed further. "...Jack... are you listening to yourself?"
Jack didn't respond.
"…I don't think he's Jack anymore…" Violet hummed.
"...no... that can't be right, y'know!" Newt uttered. "He's gotta be in there somewhere! We can't give up on him, y'know!"
"...Jack..." Metal uttered, as he closed his eyes and clenched his hands. "...please... tell me that you're alright..."
Still, there was no response from the lion.
"…just what have they done to you, boy…?" Charmy asked, with narrowed eyes.
No response still.
"...alright... please forgive me, Jack..." At that point, Metal looked back at the lion, as his hand shone with Purity. "...but this might hurt you... quite a lot, in fact."
Jack's eyes moved down a little; eying the Purity surrounding Metal's hand. Some of the others stayed back, while the ones with drawn weapons readied themselves.
In that instance, two forces shot forward.
While Metal clamped the hand imbued with Purity around Jack's head, the lion had taken the opportunity to take hold of Metal's head in turn; causing the hedgehog to feel a light sting in his mind.
Just seeing the two having reacted so quickly put the others at unrest, though they held their ground for now. Stella still clutched to Lock worriedly, while Boomer stood in front of Charmy protectively, watching carefully.
After a few moments, however, Metal made a certain observation that astounded him.
"...Purity's... not doing anything."
"…wh-what?" Rudy uttered at that.
"...I... can't purify him." Metal uttered. "The Corruption... it's more than I've ever seen within someone before..."
Everyone's eyes widened upon hearing that... but even moreso, when a crimson light began shining from where Metal was holding Jack.
Charmy grew tense at that. "…Metal, I believe you should let him go…"
Metal quickly did so... but the glow did not subside. Rather, it grew stronger.
The glow was coming from the crimson crystal embedded in his forehead, and it was rapidly building up... until a powerful shockwave erupted from it; knocking absolutely everyone away from the lion. They all yelped and grunted in pain when they were knocked over.
Breathing from that, Metal was quick to get to his feet, when he saw that Jack was now walking towards someone else. "...no!"
At this point, they saw that the one Jack was heading towards was Boomer; his cold gaze fully locked onto the duck. Boomer jumped back up and started firing at Jack. "Get away!" However, what seemed like a psychic barrier appeared to repel the shots, as Jack kept advancing towards her.
"Stay away." Quickly, Omega began opening rapid fire on Jack with his machine-gun arms, but the barrier still held strong; even as he stopped directly in front of Boomer.
If the firing wasn't working, then Boomer got desperate enough that she wondered if a punch would stop him. Sadly, that wasn't the case. Jack merely grabbed her by the wrist, before digging his hand into one of her pockets; his gaze still lingering on her.
With a quick battlecry, Wiper suddenly lunged to jab his hand at Jack, but the lion leaped back before he could be struck; though Boomer was quick to see that he had grabbed a certain object.
She gasped. "The communicator!"
And at that point, Violet started firing at him. Lock, too, opened fire; however, the same psychic barrier appeared to shield him from their bullets.
"...Jack... don't..." Metal uttered, as he narrowed his eyes.
Jack slowly looked back at him... and with that, he crushed the communicator in his grasp.
Violet stopped firing her gun, seeing how futile it was with that psychic barrier, "…damn it…"
Tossing the wrecked communicator aside, Jack looked ahead of him. "...one more... then I can go back..." With that, he began sinking down within a dark vortex once again.
Once he was gone, Metal sank to his knees; gritting his teeth. "...Jack..."
"…that psychic barrier looked like the kind that Sage put up," Charmy commented.
Stella grew worried. "Do you think he already confronted King's group?"
"Well, we might never know, since the communicator is toast now…" Boomer huffed.
Metal narrowed his eyes, before he closed his eyes. "...we... need to regroup..."
Proxy glanced at Metal with a hum. "...what do you mean?"
"...if Jack is destroying our way of communicating with each other..." Metal murmured. "...then we need to find a way to counter-act that..."
"…I agree," Charmy threw in. "And as soon as possible…"
Ani was weeping her heart out. First, Striker gets hurt, and then Vanessa gets beaten up, and Jack gets taken away. She just didn't know what else to do other than cry; she felt so horrible for everything that's happened.
Then, suddenly…she felt arms around her, giving Ani a small start. Striker was sitting up, and hugging her. "S-Striker!" she yelped in surprise.
"…Ani…why are you crying…?" he asked her.
Ani tried to speak, but only a choked croak came out, and she buried her face in his chest to cry some more.
"…Jack…he got taken away…"
Striker looked up at a solemn Milo that walked over to him and Ani on the ground. "…who…who took him away?"
Milo swallowed hard; he wanted to cry, himself, but he was much better at restraining his emotions than the others. "…Cyrene…only…she came back with backup…"
Striker gawked up at Milo when he said that. He couldn't believe how much he missed when he was resting… "What about Vanessa?"
"…gravely injured…" Milo mumbled, feeling a few tears trickle down his face. "…she…she was so desperate to try and stop them…she…" he turned away with a shudder.
Striker felt his heart ache hearing all of this…Jack getting taken away, and Vanessa being injured so badly was so horrible to think about… "…why…?" he uttered, gritting his teeth. "…why would they take Jack away…?"
"…it was because of Johnny…" Milo uttered. "…because of what he could do…what Jack was…they…" he wiped his eyes. "…I'm sorry Striker, I just…can't really explain everything right now…"
Striker looked up at Milo, and then down at Ani who was still sobbing in his arms. He held her warmly and tightly. "…I understand…" he muttered. With that, Milo walked away from them, leaving the two of them alone.
Striker held Ani for a long time, rubbing her back to try and soothe her emotional pain, but even that didn't do much for the husky-wolf. "…Ani…" he mumbled. This made Ani look at him, still weeping. Her face was a mess from all the crying she had done, staring at Striker with a truly hurt look. Sure, Striker felt really bad too from hearing what just happened…
…but for some reason…he felt even worse seeing that look on Ani's face. It just felt like it was going to tear him apart inside. "…Ani…" he uttered. "…please…don't cry…"
Ani just shut her eyes and sobbed some more, but more silently.
So Striker placed his hands on her cheeks and wiped the tears away. "…Ani…please…" he whispered his plea weakly to her. Ani opened her eyes and looked back at him, still with that hurt look, but she wasn't sobbing as badly as before when he wiped away from of her tears with his thumbs. Striker just wanted to make Ani feel better so that Striker didn't have to see her so miserable like this.
Striker had no idea how to describe the way he felt right now…he felt weak with a lot of emotions running rampant inside of him. He felt sad too, but he didn't cry…because there were many other emotions keeping him from crying. His heart pounded against his chest for some reason, making it a little harder to breathe for him, and he started to feel warmer and warmer. "…Ani…don't cry…" he uttered. "…I don't like seeing you this sad…"
Ani looked back at him, stopping all of her crying for the most part, but Striker could still see so much guilt and shame in her look. He still didn't want to see that, so he just tried to figure out a way to make her feel better…
…then suddenly, one idea came into his head, and it turned him hotter at the thought of it, making him blush. When Jill felt this sad, he remembered Brick stealing her away so that they could be alone, but Striker was able to catch a single glimpse of them kissing before he was grossed out and he went away. After a few hours, Jill seemed to be much better.
He wondered if he should kiss Ani…if that would make her feel better…and at the same time, he felt a strange, warm fluttering feeling in his stomach at the thought of kissing Ani. He didn't just want to try it to make her feel better…in a way…he wanted to kiss her. He felt so weak at the thought that he was worried if Ani would notice his shaking.
Ani shut her eyes though, and her head hung, refusing to look at him anymore.
"…Ani, please…" Striker begged, putting his hand to her chin to lift her head up. Doing that, Ani actually opened her eyes again, still looking depressed as she did.
Striker started getting closer to her, feeling his heart pounding harder. "…just don't…feel sad…" he uttered. Ani didn't act surprised when he got closer; in fact, she looked less depressed the closer he started to get to her, with a daze that drowned her sorrow away. Striker started to feel a little dazed in this too, wondering just what he was feeling right now.
But it was already too late to think about that, because his lips finally touched hers gently…and Striker was showered with warmth and all kinds of amazing feelings inside of him from that. Ani didn't really realize that Striker was kissing her; she knew it was happening, but she didn't realize the magnitude of it all in her own spiral of emotions inside of her. It felt good, that was for sure…
…it felt so good to Ani, she craved more from Striker, kissing him back desperately. Striker was surprised Ani kissed back, but that ignited even more of his own emotions and he held the back of her head, kissing back longingly. Ani felt her own heart pounding and she clutched to Striker, kissing harder. Striker wondered what was going on with Ani, but his own emotions brought him to compete with Ani on the passion of the kissing.
And the two got lost in a heated make out.
Then suddenly…Ani's eyes shot wide open and with a gasp, she pushed Striker away, breathing heavily.
Striker was shocked by that. "…A-Ani…?"
"…S-Striker…" Ani responded. "…did we just…?"
"…y-yeah…" Striker answered, breathing as well.
It finally hit her, what was going on…the fact that she and Striker had gotten so lost with each other like that only made her think how shocked she was that it finally happened…
…Her first kiss, and with her best friend, that admittedly, she had a crush on since two years ago.
"…Ani…are you okay…?" Striker uttered.
"…I…I don't know," she uttered, brushing back her bangs. "…this is the first time I've…kissed anybody before…"
"…same here…" Striker uttered. "…was it…a bad thing that I did that…?"
Ani blinked. "…what…?"
Striker looked away from Ani. "…I…wanted to make you feel better so I…kissed you…I wanted to know if I shouldn't have done that."
Ani was uneasily silent, trying to think of her answer…
"...if you both like each other... I don't think you should think like that, Striker..."
Both of them jumped with a startled yelp. "Kiri?" both of them uttered.
The smaller owl walked out from behind a nearby tree; her eyes slightly red from weeping, but relatively composed for the moment. "...Big Brother, Demi and Oblivion are treating Vanessa, so... I came to check up on you..." she murmured, as she fidgeted a bit. "...I... didn't mean to startle you, but..."
"…you uh…saw the whole thing…didn't you…?" Ani uttered in embarrassment, turning away to hide a blush.
"...only when you..." Kiri cleared her throat, and looked away with a light blush. "...really got into it..."
"…Kiri, what did you mean by that?" Striker asked, breaking some of the awkwardness of the moment.
Kiri glanced back at Striker. "...well... you like Ani, right?" And then she looked at Ani. "And... you like Striker, right?"
Striker nodded at Kiri, and then he looked at Ani, who looked back at him. "…yeah…" Ani answered eventually.
"...then... if both of you like each other..." Kiri hummed. "...then... it's not a bad thing... right?"
"…right…" Ani answered, seeing Striker smile at her, which caused her to smile back at Striker.
Kiri managed a small smile at that as well. "...I... guess I'll leave you two alone, then..." she hummed, as she turned to leave.
They didn't really notice Kiri leave, but both their smiles fell, leaving them to stare at each other. Eventually, Ani broke eye-contact to twiddle her thumbs. "…I'm not really the best at this kind of stuff…" she mumbled.
"…that's okay…" Striker replied. "…I'm not very good with this stuff either…"
"…Striker, about telling you to grow up yesterday…"
Striker could see Ani get depressed again. She looked up at him in guilt, with ears drooping. "…I'm…sorry I yelled at you…"
"…don't feel bad about it Ani," Striker said. "…in some ways, you were right…"
"…but…I just…I would've felt really bad if that ended up being the very last thing I ever said to you guys…"
And a few more tears fell out of her eyes. Striker came to hug her then. As the two of them hugged, something else was watching them; keeping itself hidden from sight and view... They didn't notice anything, since they were caught up in their own moment. They stared at each other, feeling the warmth of their bodies radiate from each other in faint blushes.
Ani had always wondered to herself if Striker would ever realize these kinds of feelings and be mature enough to confront them… sure, it had been funny to tease them, but deep down, it left Ani somewhat closed off to the idea of liking Striker… now, though…it just seemed unreal to be with Striker, feeling his arms around her like this…in this way…
And Striker was simply amazed at the feelings inside of him when he looked at Ani. He knew he'd probably never look at Ani the same way again…but…he liked seeing Ani this way…she wasn't just his best friend that they played games together with…she was someone else as well…someone he wanted to be with.
Naturally, he went to kiss her again. It surprised Ani again, but she melted into it.
Still, the figure merely watched them. Seeing them embraced like that... it evoked certain memories of his experiences... it made him wonder if the two of them would...
Striker remembered the things Milo told him, especially when they were at the Clubhouse one last time before this long journey; something about eventually wanting certain things with Ani if he liked her enough. Back then, the idea totally baffled him.
But now, in the moment where he was kissing and holding Ani for the first time ever, those ideas didn't seem so ridiculous…he had no idea why, but he really did want to hold Ani and touch her skin on her arms, her back…admittedly the bear became more bashful the farther his thoughts wandered, but he tried to restrain himself. He wasn't used to this, and he didn't want to rush it.
He just stroked back Ani's hair, while Ani wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back. The figure kept watching; genuinely curious to see how far the two of them would go. Striker started stroking Ani's back too, kissing her deeper. Ani touched his chest softly and longingly, never experiencing anything so amazing like this before. She didn't think it could get any better…
…and then Striker's fingers crept up her shirt, still rubbing her back.
It startled her a little. "S-Striker…" she gasped shakily, feeling goose bumps shoot up her spine.
Striker stopped nervously, pulling his hands away. "…are you okay?" he asked.
Ani swallowed a little. "…I…didn't know you were gonna do that…"
The figure slowly and silently began approaching the two of them; he moved with such silence that the two of them simply wouldn't notice him.
"…I didn't hurt you, though, did I?" Striker asked.
"…no, that didn't hurt…" Ani uttered. "…that actually felt nice a little…but…I don't know if we should go so far…" she blushed. "…I don't know what my Dad would think…"
"…oh, yeah," Striker felt a bit bashful…and maybe a little nervous at the thought of what Hunter would say upon finding out that Ani and him were doing some things while they were alone. It probably wouldn't sit very well with him.
"...if you like each other... then why not go all the way?"
That gave them another start; Striker holding to Ani while they gawked at the one standing there. "…Jack?" Striker uttered out.
The lion looked down at them with those impassive, yellow eyes of his; the darkness surrounding them making him look more or less demonic in this state. "...Striker... the communicator... do you have it...?"
"…yeah, it's in my backpack," Striker replied innocently. "…Jack, what happened to you?"
"...I'll... tell you later..." Jack uttered, as he tilted his head a bit. "...could I... borrow it, Striker?"
"…Jack…you got taken away from us…" Ani uttered. "…you gotta at least tell us how you ended up looking like that…"
"...I... I will..." Jack nodded, as he held his hand out a bit shakily. "...I just... need the communicator... to... talk to Metal..."
Striker and Ani looked at each other. Then Striker went to his backpack to dig for the communicator. Jack simply watched him; his hand still wavering a bit.
When Striker dug around in his backpack, he started thinking…something didn't sit well with Jack. Being corrupted, and wanting to contact Metal…that made sense since Metal could probably purify him, and he's probably need the communicator to ask where he was.
But it was what he said earlier that bothered him…the remark about him and Ani.
If you like each other…then why not go all the way?
That just…wasn't something Jack would say. Jack might either be grossed out or surprised to see them embraced the way they were…not encourage them to go far enough to do…those things.
He stopped looking in his bag, turning to face Jack with a suspicious look.
Jack merely looked back at him with that gaze of his.
"…Jack, what are you really trying to do?" Striker asked him.
Jack didn't respond.
Ani started growing nervous about this, and Striker watched Jack warily. "…Jack, I need you to answer my question…"
"...why...?" Jack replied slowly.
"…because you're acting really strange…and with the fact that you have Corruption inside of you…I'm not sure if I should trust you," Striker replied.
Jack remained silent. Striker kept staring at him.
"Striker, look out! That's not Jack!"
Jack's expression remained the same; however, he was quick in raising his hand...
...and a large, dark hand suddenly shot out of the ground to grab Striker; turning him upside-down and shaking him to make him drop the communicator.
"Wah!" Striker yelped out.
"Striker!" Ani didn't hesitate to pick up some rocks with her telekinesis to throw at Jack.
"Ani wait!" Milo came running to the scene, but he couldn't stop Ani from throwing the rocks at Jack.
However, a different blue aura surrounded those rocks, and pushed them back towards Ani. Ani gasped at this. "…no way…that feels like my father's…"
"Jack, put me down!" Striker called out. However, the dark hand kept shaking Striker, until something fell from his backpack, which Jack caught.
The communicator.
"Jack, what are you doing?" Ani uttered.
Jack didn't answer, as he suddenly crushed the communicator.
"…now we can't contact the others…" Milo gulped.
With a glance in Milo's direction, Jack dispelled the dark hand, which dropped Striker to the ground. "Oof!" Striker grunted in pain at being dropped like that, and Ani rushed to him to help him up.
"…what did you do with Jack…?" Milo uttered in some fear, gulping when Jack stared at him.
Jack merely looked back at Milo.
"...nothing." he uttered. "I am Jack."
"…but I can't sense you in there, Jack…" Milo uttered. "...you're so filled with Corruption…" he swallowed, keeping tears back. "…you've…been turned into a monster…"
Jack let out a brief hum. "...so you say..." And he began slowly walking towards Milo.
Milo stepped back. "…what are you doing…?"
"...I'll take you three with me..." Jack replied slowly; his steps carrying a sense of dread with them. "...so you three... can become monsters, too..."
Milo's eyes widened, freezing with fright.
"Leave him alone!"
And a knife was flying toward Jack. However, a blue aura surrounded the knife, and prevented it from touching the lion.
"Stop!"
Jack ceased, as he looked past Milo to see who was approaching. First came Diablo, who didn't seem afraid of Jack. Following him closely was Kiri, who glared at Jack the same way.
Soon, Charon flew over the woods and landed by Ani and Striker; glaring at Jack as well. Oblivion dismounted from Charon's back, helping Vanessa down from his back. Demi leaped off Charon's back as well.
Jack slowly looked around him at everyone surrounding him.
"...we're not gonna let you take us so easily," Diablo muttered, still glaring at him.
Jack hummed. "...so you say..." And he slowly raised his hand.
...you guys have a plan, right? Milo heard a voice speak to him. Because if not... you're all pretty much dead.
…can't you still take over him? Milo asked. You've got experience with this stuff…you should be able to handle it…
...you think Vanessa would let me, though?
…I think at this point Johnny…she'd rather that you take him over than have him kill all of us as a Corrupted puppet, Milo replied, looking at Vanessa.
Sure enough, Vanessa had a hardened, but still hurt look when she looked at Jack. Milo could tell that her strength could only last so long…and that the sight of her son being turned into something so horrible was slowly making her strength crumble.
...very well... but I can't make any promises.
In that instant, Jack's eyes widened, and he stumbled backwards. The others stood, watching him carefully, while Milo watched hopefully.
"...ah..." Grunting, Jack slowly held his head...
...and all of a sudden, the crystal on his forehead radiated a brilliant, crimson glow; causing him to let out an immensely pained yell. This made Vanessa jump, and she was going to go to him, but Oblivion held her back, and with how weakened Vanessa was, it was easy to hold her back, while they watched Jack.
"What's going on?" Ani uttered in fear.
Milo didn't answer her, and only watched Jack. Smoke began searing from Jack's forehead, and his cries grew louder and even more pained. In desperation, Jack clawed at the crystal itself.
"…should we…help him?" Striker uttered.
Diablo looked at one of his knives, and since Jack was distracted, he threw one of the knives for the crystal on Jack's forehead. In that instant, Jack caught that knife; breathing desperately...
...and he actually drove the knife underneath the crystal itself; as if trying to pry it off his forehead.
"…c-c'mon! You can do it!" Striker suddenly cheered him on.
"...go for it!" Kiri called out.
Jack's cries grew louder, as he pried the crystal further off his forehead.
Vanessa bit her lip. …C'mon…
Finally, with a loud, pained cry, Jack pried the crystal off him with a sickening sound of flesh being ripped, which let the crystal drop to the ground before him. Once it hit the ground, he tossed the knife aside, and clasped his head; breathing.
They all stared at him cautiously.
"...ngh... that was a close call..." he eventually grunted.
Vanessa's eyes widened with hope. "…Jack?"
"…no, Vanessa…" Milo mumbled. "…sorry to burst your bubble, but…it isn't Jack…" he stepped toward the lion. "…you alright, Johnny?"
"...meh... I've had worse."
Finally, the lion looked down at Milo, and he could see that his eyes, at the very least, had returned to their regular state; no longer the lifeless black and yellow color they had been before. "...though... it was rough, I'm not gonna lie..." Johnny murmured.
"…how is Jack?" Milo murmured. "…is he alright?"
"...barely." Johnny murmured, as he folded his arms.
"...what do you mean...?" Charon uttered.
"...what I mean is that..." Johnny began, as he glanced towards Vanessa. "...the Corruption had such an effect on his body and mind that... there's almost nothing but Corruption within him. He's practically a vessel of pure Corruption at this stage..."
Vanessa gawked at him.
"…are you saying that…Jack's long gone…?" Ani uttered.
"...no." Johnny said. "He's still here."
Demi looked at Johnny with wide eyes. "...how...?"
"...there's this tiny little bubble that's shielding him from being 100% Corrupted... but it's small." Johnny murmured, as he glanced to the side. "...frankly... I'm surprised that he even managed that... considering what they did to him..."
Striker was going to ask, "…what did they-?"
"No, you most likely don't want to know what they did to him," Diablo interrupted Striker, getting a shocked look from him.
"…we…can purify him…right?" Ani asked. "I mean…Metal might be able to purify him…right?"
"...no."
Kiri gasped at that. "...b-but... does that mean..."
"...what I mean is that..." Johnny began, as he closed his eyes. "...Jack has paid visits to King's and Metal's groups in this stage. When Metal tried purifying him... it did absolutely nothing."
"...no... way..." Charon uttered.
"…the corruption is that strong…?" Striker uttered.
"…but there has to be another solution, right?" Snap asked.
"...I have one." Johnny hummed, as he folded his arms. "I'll-!"
In that instant, a massive glow suddenly radiated from the crystal still lying on the ground; catching everyone's attention.
"…n-now what?" Oblivion gasped, hiding behind Demi.
"...I don't know..." Demi uttered.
The glow around the crystal was only made more apparent as it was surrounded by a dark, gaseous cloud that was slowly rising up from the ground; reaching the same height as Johnny.
"…the Corruption…it's manifesting into something…" Diablo murmured.
"...but... what?" Kiri whispered.
Slowly, this cloud of Corruption was beginning to diminish; though only to the point that they could make out some kind of shape within this cloud...
...a shape that perfectly mirrored Johnny's current physique. All of their eyes widened at that. Even Johnny seemed baffled by this. "...what the fuck?"
"...hn..." Slowly, the figure opened its eyes; gazing back at Johnny with a pair of lifeless, black-and-yellow eyes.
What they were all looking at was a perfect replica of the Corrupted Jack.
"…no way…" Striker uttered with a croak.
"...son of a bitch..." Johnny uttered.
"...hrm..." Slowly glancing around him, the Jack replica seemed just as lifeless as Jack was before Johnny possessed him. "...no matter... I'm done here..."
With that, he sank down within the ground in a vortex of darkness before anyone could think to catch him. "Ack!" Milo ran, but then he realized it was much too late and he stopped. "…oh no…"
"…I didn't expect anything like that to happen," Oblivion uttered.
"…I think none of us did," Diablo remarked.
"...we need to contact the others..." Charon murmured.
"You can't." Johnny murmured. "Jack smashed the communicator... he did the same at King's and Metal's groups as well."
"...really...?" Kiri uttered in slight despair.
"...well... I have a different way of communicating." Quickly, Demi took out his cellphone, and began going through his contacts. "Things are getting out of hand... I say that we get some additional support."
"…in the meantime, you said you had a solution?" Diablo said to Johnny. "Before…that crystal interrupted us, that is…"
"...yeah. With the blockade, getting there might be a hassle, but..." Johnny murmured, as he folded his arms. "...I need to get to Jill."
"…you think she might know what to do?" Striker asked.
"...probably." Johnny nodded.
"...and why do you care about this?" Charon suddenly inquired.
Johnny didn't answer right away, though his glance slowly moved towards Vanessa. Vanessa stared back at him for a long, silent time. Milo looked at her, not really sure what was going to happen, or it Vanessa was even going to react. Her spirit was vague again, and Milo hated when that happened…it meant that not even he knew what Vanessa was going to say or do.
"…do whatever it takes to bring him back." Vanessa finally said, surprising everyone.
"...hm." Johnny hummed, as he glanced ahead of him. "...so... you don't wanna know why I'm doing this, then?"
"…as long as you set out to bring Jack back, I won't ask questions…" Vanessa uttered. "…because that's all I care about right now…"
Johnny merely hummed. "...I'll do what I can..."
With that, he ran off; leaving the group on their own.
