HEY EVERYONE! I'm sorry for such a long hiatus, school kicked my butt and I've been going through a lot of stuff lately. Though I'm back now! So let's do this!
ALSO, YOUNG JUSTICE SEASON 3! AAAAAAAAAAAA I A D!
If you think this chapter is more chill than the pervious one…. you're wrong. Yes, it's lighter on the soul but be warned it'll still hurt in other ways. This chapter is long as well!
WARNING! Child Abuse
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman: Under the Red Hood & Young Justice; I just play poker with Alfred on the weekend.
Despina feels trapped, the fact that she couldn't just fly far away seems wrong. She feels grounded and she hates it. Her eyes never leave the looming figure a foot away from her, his gun pointed between her eyes. She takes a step back, the heel of her foot on the edge of the cliff behind her. She's going to die.
Screaming catches her attention, sending shivers down her spine. She knows that voice, deep down it hurts to hear it in pain. Her eyes drift to the maze behind him and her heart shatters when she see's him. At the entrance of the maze Jalen is screaming and waving his arms outwards, as if he's trying to hold on to something. Panic shines in his orange eyes and it terrifies her. Despina wants to crumble into dust, not him. Don't hurt him, she doesn't want to hear his screams.
"JALEN," she screeches. She needs to save him; she can't let him suffer in this dream of hers.
Jalen stops screaming, and stops his arms in midair. His eyes widen and he glances towards her, his eyes filled with hope. "Despina!" he calls out to her. "Are you there!"
Tears continue to stream down her cheeks, he's okay. "Yeah!" she calls back.
Jalen kneels down on the ground and starts dragging his hands on the grass. He starts to move towards her slowly, his eyes searching around in her direction. "Despina!" Jalen yells out.
Despina can feel the wheels turning in her head. She's right in front of him, how can he not see her? This is a dream isn't it? Why is he so desperate to find her? Why…
Despina's eyes widen, Hex. The team. The black floor. Jalen, that's the real Jalen. They got stuck in Hex's trap. The clicking of a gun drags Despina out of her thoughts, her attention brings her back to her hunter. His aim turns towards Jalen, Jalen freezes and his eyes turn to the gun.
Despina's blood runs cold, oh no. She bolts towards Jalen and grabs his arm, dragging him out of the line of fire. The hunter shoots and misses them.
Despina lets out a sigh of relief and Jalen relaxes in her grip. Despina looks at him and it's no mistaking, it's him. His orange eyes stare at her in concern. "Are you okay?"
Despina wants to slap him. "YOU ALMOST GOT SHOT."
A smirk makes it on the corner of Jalen's lips, showing a little bit of fangs. "It's not real," he says as if the most obvious thing. They hear the gun load again and they turn to see the gun pointed at them. "We need to find a way out," Jalen says calmly.
"How?" Despina asks as she glares into the hunter's cold eyes. "Jump off the cliff?"
Jalen raises an eyebrow. "Cliff?"
Despina sighs, how can he not see the huge cliff besides them. Suddenly Jalen straightens and his eyes widen. His head turns towards the cliff, then to her. "Do you trust me," he says in a serious tone.
Despina watches the armed man as he tugs at the trigger. "Yes," she replies. Jalen's arms wrap around her and he bolts towards the cliff. Despina hears the gun fire but she doesn't have time to pay attention to it. Her only focus is Jalen leaping off the edge of the cliff with her in his arms, falling into the ocean. Her screams drown out all the other noise. They crash into the roaring water, Jalen's grip around her tightening.
Despina watches them sinking farther down into the water, they're going to drown! The water swirls around them, Despina looks up and sees the whirlpool above them turning the red sky into a pitch black starry night. They land on the ground with a soft thud, the moon lighting up the sky. Jalen takes a deep breath and leans his head on Despina's arm, her face going red.
She looks away and stares at the forest surrounding them. How did they even get here? Jalen lets go of her and stands up, he holds out his hand and she accepts. Jalen lets go of her hand the moment she's back on her feet. Despina can feel all the blood rush to her face as his orange eyes stare back her. "You okay?" he asks.
She gives an affirmative noise, still confused on what's happening. He nods in response and turns away to start walking, suddenly tripping on a tree root, landing face first on ground. "Jalen!" Despina rushes towards him to check if he's okay. He holds out his hand as if to say he is, and slowly stands back up. Despina latches on to his arm to see if he does have any injuries, brushing some dirt off his face.
She lets go and stays close to him in case he trips again. Jalen sighs and continues on through the forest. "IJIN!" he shouts. "IJIN WHERE ARE YOU!"
Despina watches Jalen's hands brush across tree trunks, his gaze focused forward. She looks around, an eerie feeling creeping up her spine. She watches Jalen's nails dig into the tree, "IJIN! IJIN!" They stay silent for a few minutes to listen for a reply, nothing. Jalen drops his hand and grits his teeth.
Despina watches his irritated expression. "How do you know it's Ijin?"
Jalen keeps looking straight ahead. "Because I heard him."
"You heard him?" Despina asks.
Jalen nods, "He's in pain."
Despina's eyes widen and she gazes in the same direction. "He's hurt!"
"He will be if we don't hurry." Jalen takes a step forward. An owl suddenly screeches and flies above them, startling Jalen. He leaps towards Despina, and she catches him in her arms. She blinks a few times as she watches Jalen's face flare up in embarrassment. He pushes himself off after a few moments of realizing where he was. "We need to hurry," he says trying to keep his voice calm. He hastily strides towards ahead with Despina chuckling to herself.
Jalen's foot gets caught on another tree root and he falls again, Despina rushing to his side. She watches Jalen sit up with annoyance burning into his eyes. "You're very clumsy today," Despina says in a soft voice. "Let me help," she says as she holds out her hand to him. Jalen looks up at her for a moment and slowly reaches out to grab her hand.
A scream echoes through the forest, making them both jump and pull apart. Their eyes lock together. "Ijin," Jalen says softly. He gets up and bolts towards the sound of the screaming, Despina rushing to catch up with him.
It doesn't take long to find where the scream originated, soon after the scream the sounds of rapid gunfire echoes through the forest. Despina is worried, Jalen said Ijin was hurt. He can be killed if they couldn't get to him in time. Her steps falter when she spots it, three decapitated heads. Jalen stops beside her, his focus elsewhere. Despina soon sees what it is, a clearing with a fire burning like a beacon in the dark forest, showing the slaughter that is happening within the grounds.
"Oh my," Despina whispers to herself. Ijin is surrounded by twenty armed men, slaughtering them left and right as they fire at him. She watches as he slices three heads in one swing and blocks bullets with his other sword. Everything is happening so fast.
Her eyes drift to the bonfire, the flames seeming like a looming warning, growing in height and intensity. Jalen stands still beside her, his eyes glued to the fire in horror, a feeling she can relate to. Her attention snaps back to Ijin, her breath catching in her throat. A gunman slams the butt of his gun against Ijin's head, knocking the mask off his face. Ijin stumbles, and his red eyes lock on to him.
Despina feels her hands shaking when she sees the look in his eyes. She knows that look too well, seeing it reflected to her in the mirror when her family perished. The look of someone who lost everything, the pain of feeling your whole world vanishing before your every own eyes. Ijin's look is a bit different, it's hard and murderous beyond belief. The look of a bloodthirsty monster. Despina can see now what Jalen met, Ijin is in pain.
A man rushes to the fire and picks up a burning stick; he runs towards Ijin and as Ijin stabs him he flings the torch onto the left side of Ijin's face, burning it. Ijin's screams send a bone-chilling howl through the forest, shadows around the woods creeping towards him. The fire sizzles as if it's laughing. Something is wrong, something feels off.
Jalen takes off beside her, bolting towards Ijin. Despina reaches out and snags Jalen's arm, bringing him to a halt. He looks back at her with an annoyed expression. "Something isn't right," Despina says.
"I know I can sense it," Jalen replies, his stress obvious. "I need to save him before something bad happens."
Ijin's screams bring their attention back to him. They look back to see someone had grabbed a blade and sliced his back a few times before Ijin killed him. Jalen pulls out of her hold and rushes towards Ijin. Despina watches the shadows flow towards Ijin as well, almost like claws coming after him. Jalen tackles Ijin to the ground and holds him down. "IJIN IT'S ME! JALEN!" Ijin thrashes in Jalen's hold, only snarling at him trying to reach for a weapon.
"IT'S NOT REAL IJIN! THIS ALREADY HAPPENED! YOU'VE ALREADY AVENGED THEM!" Jalen tries to stress to him, Despina notices the shadows moving closer; looming over them. She runs to them and slides beside Ijin and looks him in the eyes. His red eyes trained on her, a threat looming deep within them.
"Ashton is in danger, Ijin," she says, power laced in her words. Ijin stills instantly, the shadows vanishing. Despina watched Ijin's eyes change into worry and fear, his breathing becoming more labored. Jalen loosens his grip and let go, sighing to himself. Ijin stands up and looks between them, confusion all over his face. Despina can see the burn scar clearly now. Her stomach twists, how come she never notice that before. Despina looks away and notices everyone else stood still, frozen in time, slowly starting to sink into the shadows.
"Where? Jalen? Despina? What?" Ijin rambles until his expression tightens and his fists clench. The bloodthirsty look creeps back into his eyes. "Hex."
"Yes," Jalen says, "he trapped us all here in this warped dimension, I think it's a dimension. It feels very similar to Connie's house." Ijin raises an eyebrow and Despina nods her head a little, understanding what he means. "We need to find the others before it's too late."
"What do you mean 'too late'?" Despina asks worriedly.
Jalen stays silent for a second. "Whenever I try to reach out to people here, I feel their emotions, slipping into anger and fear, their minds becoming lost and broken. It's like they are slowly slipping into nothing…gone forever."
Ijin and Despina give each other a hard look. This isn't good. Jalen suddenly straightens again and starts glaring into the woods. "There's an opening somewhere in that direction," Jalen says pointing to his left.
"Wait," Despina blurts out, her thoughts starting to put the pieces together. "How do you really know where to jump to next?"
Jalen is silent for a few moments. "I told you, I heard them."
Despina places her hands on her hips and glares at him. "I can't hear anything."
Jalen groans and rubs his hands over his face. "Are you going to make me drag it out?"
Ijin crosses his arms over his chest. "Yes."
Jalen stares between the two of them and rolls his eyes. "Fine." He tries to kick a rock by his feet and barely misses it. "I can read minds," Jalen sighs, as if he never wanted to tell them in the first place.
Despina feels like someone told her the world just ended, the blood draining from her face. "You can WHAT!" she screams. She cradles her head and stares at the ground, not able to look Jalen in the eyes.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ijin asks in a neutral tone.
Jalen shrugs, "I didn't think it was important. It's not like I can control it. Sometimes I hear thoughts, other times I can't and other times you all won't shut up."
Despina and Ijin become silent and make brief eye contact. "So, what you're saying is that you can only hear certain things? Like sporadic thoughts?" Ijin says, his tone is laced with a hidden caution.
"I can't truly read your mind and dig around if I tried if that's what you're asking," Jalen says with a little bite. "It's not my strongest power. I just hear moments of your current thoughts, nothing serious."
Ijin nods as if that answer calms him a little. Despina just stares at him like he has grown two heads. "So," Despina says trying to keep her voice even, "how much have you heard-"
Jalen's head whips around to glare at her suddenly surprising her. Ijin raises an eyebrow, also wanting to know the answer. Jalen's cheeks turn a slight pink and turns his head towards the forest around them, "Enough."
Despina wants to die.
"Well," Ijin's voice breaks through the tension but he also feels a little frazzled at the thought of Jalen knowing things about all of them. "Who can you hear next?"
Jalen seems to deflate a little as if he didn't want to tell them. "Poin," he whispers. The tension grew rapidly as Despina and Jalen cautiously look at Ijin, worried about him.
Ijin glares at Jalen, "You saved your girlfriend right away-"
"Shut up, that's different," Jalen hisses.
Despina gapes as she could feel her cheeks starting to warm. "We are not-"
"Now," Jalen interrupts her. "We need to keep moving it's not safe. People to rescue." Jalen begins to move towards the forest, the other two following behind him.
Despina notices the slight disappointment in Ijin's eyes. She knows he's worried about Ashton. She gives a sideways glance at Jalen, she understands completely. She turns to Ijin. "We'll find her, don't worry."
Ijin gives her a small smile. "I know we'll find her and when we do I'm going to slice Hex's head right off if anything bad has happened to her." His eyes drift to the both of them. "Same goes for all of you. You're my friends…no…more like family."
Despina fells something warm in her chest, touched by Ijin's words. Jalen stops in his tracks and turns to grab both of their shoulders, giving them a hard look. "I'll get everyone out of of here alive." They give him a short nod in response.
Jalen suddenly drags them both towards a tree before it morphs into a wooden door. The three of them push it open and barge through. Despina and Ijin look, surprised to be in an apartment. Jalen cautiously walks forward down the tiny hallway they are in, his hand dragging along the dirty wallpaper. Despina's nose scrunches at the rotten smell in the air. Suddenly there is a loud crash, making all of them flinch. A woman rushes past holding a boy in her arms, the look in her eyes showing the terror she is feeling. The boy seems to curl up in her arms as he glances over her shoulder to stare at something behind them. The woman turns into the small hallway and bolts towards the three. It all happened so fast as she just phases right through them and ducking into the closest room beside them.
Ijin touches his chest, his eyes wide with shock. "The people aren't real," Jalen whispers. "It's all an illusion." Loud footsteps echo through the apartment, making the three freezes. The sound is more ominous than it should be; the echo of it rattles something deep within them.
The quick pitter patter of footsteps and Poin running across the doorway and disappearing down the different hall launches them into action into chasing after him. Jalen is the first to make it into the next hallway and turns to the sound of the second pair of footsteps. Despina and Ijin see a huge man with cold blue eyes storming through the hall, passing right through Jalen.
"POIN!" the man yells. The others follow him to what looks like a kitchen. Poin is backed into one of the counters looking around frantically for something. The man is too fast and he just punches Poin in the face, knocking him down. Poin falls against the tile flooring, blood dripping from his mouth. Rage boils in Ijin and Despina's blood, Ijin unsheathing his sword and running towards the man.
"You worthless piece of-" the man shouts, but Ijin's sword slices right through his neck, not doing anything. The man turns to Ijin and scowls. Jalen rushes to Poin's side, sliding clumsily against the floor.
Poin looks up at Jalen dazedly, as if he didn't really believe what he saw. "Jalen?" he mumbles. Jalen nods in response. "What are you doing here?" Poin clutches his head.
"This isn't real," Jalen says sternly. "It already happened."
Despina lands right next to Jalen and looks down at Poin with worry, "Are you alright Poin?"
"There you are," a hollow voice hisses.
"GUYS!" Ijin yells, turning the other's attention to the man as his eyes glow purple, glaring down at Jalen in particular. It was Hex, no doubt about it, he found them. The man leaps forwards and grabs Jalen by the throat before throwing him across the room. Jalen slams his back against the wall and drops to the ground. He groans in pain, holding his side.
"Jalen!" Despina shouts, launching herself at the man. She tries to leap on his back but just phases right through him, tumbling to the ground. She shoots a panicked look at Ijin. "Ijin do something!"
Ijin slices at the man, but his sword phases through again. "I CAN'T!" he yells back in the same panicked voice.
The man continues forward towards Jalen. Despina moves to shield Jalen from him but he just passes through her before aiming a kick at Jalen's face, knocking his head back into wall. Jalen glares up at the man as he holds his nose, something dark and red smearing on his hand.
Poin looks over to counter and spots a large kitchen knife. He scurries to his feet and grabs the knife. He charges at his foster father and rams the knife right through his back. He screams as Poin twists the blade deeper into his back and then rips it out. His foster father turns to him and throws himself wildly at Poin.
Poin just stabs him in the chest, ramming the knife through his heart. His foster father screams again as Poin stabs him in the chest three more times. Finally, the man falls to the ground, unmoving, the knife lodged into his chest. Poin takes a deep breath and holds a hand over his chest, his heart beating rapidly. He pants as he looks down at his dead foster father and then at the shocked faces of his teammates.
"I-I've always wanted to do that," Poin quietly admits.
No one speaks for a few moments before Despina says, "Are you saying you didn't do that back then?"
Poin just shakes his head no. "I ran away on his prized bike." He glared down at his foster father, pride burning bright in his violet eyes, "Gaining my freedom, knowing he lost."
Ijin and Despina stare silently at Poin, not knowing what to say. "We need to hurry," Jalen blurts, breaking the tension. He struggles to get up, clutching at the wall. Despina catches on and helps him steady himself.
Jalen straightens. "We don't have much time left-" His head whips around to look at the fridge, his eyes filled with panic. "Ben can't hold on." He pushes past Despina and Poin and yanks open the fridge to reveal a barren wasteland. Jalen jumps through, the other three rushing after him, worried for their friend.
Jalen is already running when the others take what is before them. A white wasteland stretches for miles, the ground starting to crumble and black specks rising through the air. Two people stand within a few feet of each other in the middle of the wasteland, the Flash and Ben. Ben is on his knees, his hands covering his face, curling into himself. The Flash stands above him with an outstretched arm, mouth forming words they're too far away to hear. They walk carefully towards the pair as Jalen reaches Ben, looking around with an unsettled feeling growing in their chest. Jalen grasps Ben's shoulders and shakes them hard.
"BEN!" Jalen yells, terror starting to seep through his voice. "BEN PLEASE!"
They get closer and finally see why Jalen is freaking out, Ben's body from the neck down is pitch black, the darkness slowly creeping up Ben's face. Ben's eyes are hollow and filled with tears.
"I-I-I-I'm-m-m sor-r-r-ry," a glitchy voice echoes through the wasteland. Poin turns to the voice and sees the Flash saying it. He looks sad but distant, repeating the words on a distorted loop. Ijin and Despina can't tear their eyes away from Ben, looking so broken and hollow. Empty.
Poin can't stop looking at Flash, the way he's glitching in and out. He looks around the wasteland, trying to figure out what exactly happened here. It looks like there was some sort of explosion, or some other force that destroyed everything. Poin looks back at the Flash and takes a closer look at him, it almost seems like he's a hologram, blinking in and out. Something about it is making him feel uneasy; it's too familiar.
Then it hits him like a ton of bricks as he can only remember one of his knifes being lodged between the Flash's eyes while the television freaked out.
Central Estates.
Poin can feel something boil within him, he can't place what but it makes him want to vomit. He places a hand over his mouth and looks around once again taking it all in as it dawns on him. This used to be houses, with families, with people. His eyes fall on Ben, Jalen shaking him while screaming to get ahold of himself. Despina is trying to use her voice to bring him back but the look on her face shows it's a lost cause. It all makes sense.
"Oh my god," Poin says shakily.
Despina and Ijin look at Poin to see the horror shining in his eyes. "Poin?" Ijin whispers.
Poin's eyes found Jalen looking back at him, something dark shining in the orange stare.
"You…you knew didn't you?" Poin says to Jalen, his voice having an edge to it. Jalen jerks his head in a nod. Jalen turns back to Ben, the black almost covering his whole face now.
Jalen tenses and grabs Ben's shoulders, a determined look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ben," Jalen whispers.
"Wha-" Despina starts. Jalen suddenly bares his fangs and sinks them into Ben's neck. Ben screams at the top of his lungs. Ben grabs at Jalen, trying to pull him off but Jalen's fangs just sink deeper. Poin jumps into action and grabs Jalen by the hair to pull him off, stopping suddenly when he sees the black starting to fade from Ben. His eyes widen in shock as he lets go. The others notice as well and can only watch in shock as Jalen drains the darkness from Ben.
It's hard for everyone to stand and watch Jalen do this to Ben, as he screams and claws at Jalen to get him off. Once the darkness is gone Jalen tears away from him, breathing heavily. Ben flops onto the ground with a dazed look in his eyes. It doesn't take long until Jalen vomits black goo making everyone cringe at the sight of him.
Once Jalen finishes he clutches his side and slumps to the ground. "Ben…." he breathes out. "Dang." Jalen rests his head down on the ground, the negative emotions he took making him weak and tired. So many dark emotions.
"Jalen," Ijin says as he crouches down. "Are you okay?"
Jalen nods as he closes his eyes. "Negative…emotions….weak." Ijin nods like he understands but it just makes him more confused.
Poin and Despina help Ben sit up and regain focus. "You alright there, buddy?" Poin asks.
Ben weakly nods, "Yeah…just." He holds his head as if he has the world's largest migraine. Poin just pats his back sympathetically. Ben's head is spinning a mile a minute trying to put everything together.
"Jalen, where is the next door?" Ijin asks.
He just points to the Flash. "Angie." His hand flops back down weakly.
"Oh, that should be fun," Poin mutters.
"Hex," Jalen breathes out, "should be there as well." That got everyone's attention, putting them on the edge.
"Is Angie…" Despina starts.
Jalen stays quiet for a few moments. "She's…alright for now."
"We need to save the others." Ben finally says. The others look over to see him glaring at the Flash, determination in his eyes.
Everyone looks at each other, not having a good feeling about this. Ijin helps Jalen up and starts to carry him piggyback style. Jalen's eyes widen when Ijin grabs ahold of him and starts running towards the Flash. Despina and Poin let out a yelp when Ijin and Jalen faze through the Flash and disappear. Despina runs up next and fazes through the door. Poin looks at Ben, a little worried for his friend. Ben looks back at him and curtly nods, Poin nods back. He wraps his arm around Ben and they both go running towards the Flash and faze through.
Poin falters when he sees what's in front of them, the others already frozen in fear. Everything is dark, not a star in the sky. All they can see is fire and smoke, huge circus tents ablaze while screams echo around them. People rush towards them in a panic, pushing and shoving to get away from the fire. They could only faze through, but they felt as if they were going against the frantic crowd. The air is filled with the scent of blood and burning flesh, making them gag.
"Poin," Ben says in a worried voice, "where are the others?"
Poin shakes his head. "I don't know."
Suddenly an inhuman roar shakes the ground. The earth beneath them cracks open, heat rising to the surface. Poin and Ben break apart and watch as lava bubbles through the crackled ground. They look at each other, this must be Angie's doing.
Ben starts to move against the crowd, whatever they are running from must be her. Poin calls after him and rushes to follow him. The two avoid the burning flames, their hearts pounding in their chests. Ben looks up to see a figure with huge bat wings being surrounded by white smoke and a pointy tail coming their way. Ben stops in his tracks while Poin slams into the back of him.
"Ben what the-" Poin fusses.
Suddenly the creature lands in front of them, the people under them evaporating into smoke. Ben shivers to see their ink black eyes and wicked sharp-toothed grin. "Hex," he whispers.
Hex straightens and hovers over the two. "Two little piggies got out, huh?" He looks around and then turns his soulless gaze to them. "But where's the troublemaker?"
Poin slowly reaches for one of knifes and Ben tenses, ready for an attack. "Who are you talking about?" Ben asks innocently.
Hex scowls and leans closer to him. Ben notices a blade slowly forming on Hex's wrist. "Where is the one you call-" a golden whip wraps around his neck, cutting him off. Hex's eyes widen in surprise as the two can hear a sizzling sound, Ben notices that the rope is actually burning into Hex's gray skin. He claws at the rope to try and get it off; until he's suddenly tugged back and launched into the air.
"YOU BIT-" he screams until he's so far away he just fades out.
"That's not a very nice thing to say," a voice calls out. Ben and Poin look up to see a smiling Angie. She's in her demonic form, flaming and golden. Her smile is kind but her eyes hold a sadness. Ben rushes to her and wraps his arms around her in a big hug. Angie laughs and hugs him back. She looks at the two. "I'm glad to see you're safe."
Ben pulls away, and Poin could see the faintest pink on Ben's cheeks. "Is it just the two of you?" Angie asks.
Poin shakes his head. "No. We got separated from the others."
"Who else is here?" Angie raises an eyebrow.
"Despina, Ijin, and Jalen," Ben replies.
Angie's eyes widen at Jalen's name, like she just realized something. She looks panicked. "That's it," she whispers to herself. She grabs Ben and Poin's wrists. "We need to find Jalen before Hex does or we're all dead!"
Despina frantically looks through the crowd trying to find Ben and Poin. For some reason when they went through the gate they got separated. Despina keeps her eyes on Ijin and Jalen, Jalen still being too weak, and the fire is really freaking him out. She can relate, the screaming and fire is making her want to crawl into a hole. The atmosphere just wreaks of death.
"There's too much," Jalen says softly. "I can't get a pin on any-" his head pops up from Ijin's shoulder, suddenly alert.
"What?" Ijin asks as he draws a sword in case of trouble.
Suddenly a screaming ball of white smoke comes crashing down into a tent right in front of them. Despina pulls out her fans and positions herself in front of Ijin and Jalen, ready for a fight. A gray-skinned man groans as he pulls himself from the wreckage he just caused. Ijin scowls when he realizes who it is. Those black eyes soon landed on him with a returning scowl as he rubbed his neck.
"Hex," Ijin hisses.
"I must say," Hex pauses to pop his neck, "this-" Hex can't finish that sentence since Ijin shrugs Jalen off for Despina to catch and launches himself at the demon, slashing his chest and then face.
Ijin goes for another strike but Hex's own blade deflects it. Ijin glares at Hex's triumphant smirk and uses his other blade to stab him. Hex tries to swing at him with his other sword but Ijin dodges, pulling back his two swords at the same time. Ijin notices the shocked look on Hex's face and sees his opening, slicing Hex's head clean off. Hex's limp body drops to the floor as his head rolls away. Ijin takes a deep breath, knowing it won't be enough to stop him.
"HOLY," Despina yells as she fumbles with Jalen. Her jaw drops, she can't believe that just happened.
"What?! What happened?" Jalen fusses.
Ijin slowly backs away, his eyes never leaving Hex's body. "I think that will be enough to slow him down," Ijin says warily as he takes another deep breath.
"What are you taking about, he's totally dead," Despina says as she points to the corpse.
"We've literally seen Angie get shot in the head, I don't think it's that easy," Ijin replies. He knows he can't kill him but that won't stop him from trying. "We need to find-" Ijin starts to say but feels a shiver down his spine. He tackles Despina and Jalen to the ground as a sword goes whizzing past their heads. Ijin looks to see the sword lodged in a wooden post. He turns and sees Hex's headless body standing there, smoke clouding where the head should be.
"That's not good," Despina whispers.
The smoke starts to twist and form into a head before solidifying. The smoke then disperses until Hex's head is fully reformed. "Ouch," he sasses. He rushes towards them, sword raised. Ijin hurries and uses one of his swords to block it. Despina grabs Jalen and drags him away from the fight before rushing Hex. She rams into his side, using her big white wings as a battering ram. It knocks Hex away from Ijin, Despina flaring out her wings as a shield around Ijin and herself. Hex stares at her wings with wide eyes. "Pretty," he says condescendingly.
Jalen starts to feel the ground around him, he can't sense Despina or Ijin. A slight panic starts to rise in his chest. The screams of people and the heat of fire feels like they're closing in on him. Everything feels overwhelming and he can't focus on what's going on. He can hear the voices of his teammates but he worries for them. Jalen tries to stand but his legs wobble and give out on him. He wants to help his team in any way he can, defenseless or not.
Hex notices Jalen out the corner of his eye, the way he moves his hands along the ground and doesn't flinch from the people running around him, his orange eyes looking distant and panicked. Hex's eyes widen when he realizes and he can't help but smile. That's how he did it.
Hex starts to laugh, bringing everyone's attention to him, his eyes never leaving Jalen. "I see now," he says. "I never thought Evangeline would send a blind man to do her dirty work. Yet here you are."
Ijin and Despina's eyes widen at his words. Blind? Hex zips past the two towards Jalen; he moves so fast Despina and Ijin need a moment to realize what's happening. Jalen rolls away at the last second. Hex ends up stabbing the ground where Jalen once was. He turns his glare to Jalen, a wicked, bloodthirsty smile on his face. "Oh, I'm going to have fun killing you," he chuckles.
Jalen is terrified, he's still weak from Ben and disoriented. He's going to die. "GUYS," he yells. Despina rushes towards them when Hex pulls his sword out of the ground. A knife comes flying and strikes Hex's back making him shout in surprise. Despina turns to see Poin and Ben running towards them.
The fire around them seems to burn brighter and bigger. Fire surrounds Hex, trapping him like he's stuck in a box. Jalen screams and moves away from the intense heat right beside him, realizing this is actual fire. He feels a hand on a shoulder stopping him. "Sorry about that." Angie is behind him and he relaxes knowing it's her.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Jalen sighs.
Angie smiles and rubs his shoulder. "Me too buddy." She giggles. She kneels down beside him as Hex begins to scream profanities at her. "Jalen," she whispers to him. He straightens his posture at the sound of her voice, it's serious yet also sad. "I need you get everyone out," she continues. "I can help everyone get out of mine but Hex needs to stay here. He can't leave this plane. Do you understand?"
He does but it hurts to admit it. "Evangeline," Jalen whispers back, "I'm not leaving you behind."
She smiles. "I know but I have to hold him off. I'll be fine-"
Jalen grabs her arm. "Promise me, promise me this won't end up like last time."
Angie blinks back in surprise but gently places her hand on top of his. "I promise. Now go."
Angie stands and looks at the others. She nods to them, they realize what is going on. "Get out of here," she tells them. "I'll take care of this." She drops Hex's fire prison and kicks him square in the chest, making him fly back a few feet, stunned. She cracks her whip and latches onto his wrist. He gives her a surprised look before she flings him across the field into another tent. "That's your cue to leave," she grumbles at her team. Despina and Ijin bolt towards Jalen and scoop him up from the ground in a hurry, running in the opposite direction.
"WAIT FOR US," Poin yells after them as he and Ben run after them.
They catch up and Poin looks at Jalen; he looks shocked, as do Despina and Ijin. Something must have happened when they were fighting Hex. "Which way out of here Jalen?" Ben asks.
Jalen looks in Ben direction and takes a deep breath. "I think it's that over there," he says as he points to a tent up ahead to their left, "I can't hear anyone though."
"What do you mean you can't hear anyone?" Ijin asks.
Jalen looks over at him, "I can hear everyone's thoughts, except Itsuki's. He has some sort of block around his mind that cancels out any of my telepathy. He's the only person I know nothing about. So, I'm guessing he's close."
"That's really creepy you know things about us from digging around," Poin says defensively. Jalen rolls his eyes in response and ignores him.
The group enters the dark tent, an eerie atmosphere weighing down on them. The tent is filled with mirrors and designed like a maze. The team moves through the hall of mirrors with their guard up, this doesn't look good. They're halfway through when Poin notices something move; he turns to look at a warped mirror to see a random person that been burned to a crisp reflecting back. He gasps and jumps back bumping into Ben.
"Poin what the-SWEET HELMET OF FAITH," Ben yells when he sees that all the mirrors are now reflecting burnt corpses.
Everyone sees them now and moves faster towards the end as the mirrors begin shattering around them. Glass flies through the air as they rush to safety. Ben uses his powers to create a time shield around them protecting everyone from the glass. They watch as mirrors shatter in slow motion, the faces of unknown victims breaking before them.
"There." Jalen points to the large mirror at the end of the hall.
They rush towards and smash right through, glassing shattering all around them. The drop back into the darkness.
WOW! WHAT A BLAST!
I hope you all enjoyed pt.2! more to come and I'm hoping to update faster this time!
Please review! It fuels my motivation to write faster and that means more updates!
TILL NEXT TIME!
