He climbed to the top of the cathedral as fast as he could and lifted the unconscious girl over his head when he reached the top.
"Sanctuary! Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" he yelled over the cheers. He quickly brought her inside a room and laid her down gently on the bed. "You'll be safe here." He kissed her hand gently before dashing back out to the roof. He glanced over the railing at the crowd below, an uprising had occurred in the minutes he laid down Rapunzel. But his eyes immediately saw a dark man, a man he once looked up to as a father-figure, someone he thought was the only person who would care about him, a man he now knew to be a monster, Peter Black. Peter's hate-filled eyes locked with Jack's own eyes, and he seemed to become more determined than ever to get into the church. Jack quickly searched around the top of the church for things to fight the invaders with. He found several loose stones and building supplies that he threw on the invading militia, toppling over ladders whenever they came up. With a smile, he saw Flynn fighting his way towards the doors, leading the crowd against the man who suppressed them for many years with his twisted take on right and wrong. A loud crack resounded over the din of the fight, and Jack gasped, they were getting through! But a portion of the crowd broke off from the main fight and attacked those attempting to get into the church. Jack smiled, they were winning! Just to be on the safe side, Jack sent a few more bricks over the side, helping the crowd as best as he could, before dashing back to Rapunzel's side.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! We're winning! Oh man, you should have seen Flynn, he was great! Rapunzel?" Jack touched her softly before attempting to shake her awake. "Rapunzel, wake up, please." He brought her some water, hoping that might help, but when she gave no response, he began to panic. "No, no, no, Rapunzel, wake up! Please, wake up." He furiously wiped the tears off his face, "She's not dead, she can't be dead."
"I'm afraid she is." Jack spun and glanced at the speaker, Black towering over him like a tall spire.
"Y-you, you . . . liar! Murderer!"
"I did nothing of the sort."
"You killed an innocent girl," snarled Jack.
"She's not innocent! She is a witch, and she's torn us apart with her malicious spells!"
"No! She's only revealed the truth, shown me what you really are. You were wrong about the world, Black, and you're wrong about me. So stop lying, it isn't going to work on me anymore!"
"Ugh . . . Jack?" groaned a female voice.
"You're alive?" growled Black, revealing a dagger as he approached the bed.
"No!" yelled Jack as he pushed Black up against the wall, using the dagger to pin him there. He turned to the wide-eyed Rapunzel, quickly picked her up, and dashed out of the room while Black freed himself. When he got out onto the roof, it seemed that the duo disappeared. He checked behind a few of the gargoyles on the roof before turning his attention to the ones lining the church. There they were, Jack holding onto the mouth of one. With a growl, Black unsheathed his sword, but Jack was already leaping onto the next gargoyle as Black brought the blade down on the spot where they had just been. Jack kept swinging from gargoyle to gargoyle, staying just ahead of Black's vengeful blade. Jack tried to climb back onto the roof, afraid of letting Rapunzel fall, but he quickly pushed her onto the roof as Black's sword descended on the spot she had just been. Jack stood up on the railing, facing the man he once called a father figure. Now he realized the Archbishop was more of that to him than Black had ever been.
"You, trying to protect her, just like your mother died to protect you."
"What?"
"I should have killed you a long time ago!" Black tossed his robe over Jack's head, causing him to lose his balance and tumble off. Jack grabbed onto the robe to keep from falling to his death before he found a ledge to hang onto, the moment of his actions causing Black to go over. But both were still hanging onto the robe when Rapunzel appeared at the railing.
"No! Jack!" Rapunzel grabbed at Jack's hand, attempting to pull him up, but the weight of both men was too much for her already aching body. "Hang on!" Black swung over to the nearest gargoyle and climbed on it, right as Jack let go of the robe, his body succumbing to the exhaustion of his adrenaline rush leaving him. "Jack!" A maniacal laugh reached Rapunzel's ears. Glancing up, she gasped, Black was raising the sword over her head.
"And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the pit of despair." A crack resounded from beneath Black's feet, causing him to tumble. Gasping, he grabbed hold of the gargoyle, not long before it completely broke off from the church, sending both plunging into the depths below.
"Jack! No!" screamed Rapunzel as Jack slipped from her grasp and fell. A gasp of relief escaped her lips when she saw Flynn reached out and catch him. She rushed down the stairs, and found the two standing not far from the doorway. She gave a laugh of relief before hugging Jack. "You're alright, thank God, you're alright!" She glanced at Flynn, "The both of you."
"And you're alright, too," pointed out Flynn as he came in for an embrace with the two. When they separated, Jack heaved a sigh.
Rapunzel glanced at her friend with worry, "Jack, what is it?" For a reply, he merely smiled, took both Flynn's and Rapunzel's hands, and put them together. Rapunzel and Flynn glanced at their intertwined hands before smiling at each other in understanding, and kissed. A few minutes later, they emerged from the church just as the sun rose over the horizon. They were met with cheers and applause from the crowd, at least, Rapunzel and Flynn did. Jack stayed back in the church, but Rapunzel went to him and held out her hand. He cautiously took it, and followed her out into the sunlight. The crowd stood there looking between each other and Jack. What were they supposed to do? But it was a young boy who took the first step. He walked up to Jack, and gave him a tight squeeze. Jack was so surprised that he didn't know what to do at first, but he quickly returned the hug.
"Three cheers for Jack!" someone shouted. The crowd did more than that, they lifted Jack onto their shoulders and paraded him around town, giving him the hero's welcome he deserved.