Playing the Part
Chapter 3
Keeping up appearances was harder than Jack expected it. The young man lands on the meditation gardens of the Dark Prince. He stretches once he is back on firm land and searches for Chase.
The man in question is training a few miles away, but Jack recognizes the armored silhouette and the many figures attacking him.
Jack yawns and takes off his helipad, and he sits next to it in case he needs to fly away for any reason. A giant tiger walks next to Jack and drops his head on Jack's lap.
"Wow! Okay." The albino says as he starts caressing the large feline's head. It was not a new thing for Chase's cats to behave like spoiled cats, but it still took Jack by surprised whenever a large feline just cuddles up to him. The tiger pushes his head against Jack's chest demanding more attention. Lately visiting Chase also means petting centuries old warriors.
"My fingers are tired!" Jack explains, but the tiger ignores him and continues to demand Jack's fingers to work on his fur. The young man sighs and starts massaging the cat's head. The feline relaxes as the slender fingers expertly work the muscles on his face.
"I'm tired." Jack pouts, but the tiger only gets himself more comfortable. It had been almost a whole month since the strategy game had started, and plotting against Chase Young while acting natural had slowly taken its toll on the young man, but his plan was finally ready...or as prepared as it could ever be.
Jack was ready to start.
He just needs a reason to act 'oddly' so he can buy his clone a little of error room for his first field mission tomorrow. Tomorrow when jack takes the place of Jack, and the genius needs to pray that Chase won't see the imposter for what it is.
Jack can't risk his life for a game, which means he needs to get himself out of the game by all means possible. And last time he checked faking his death was not against the rules.
But at the moment all he has to do is look sleep deprived, so if jack, the clone, does something strange it can be blamed on the lack of sleep.
The young man yawns loudly, and the tiger looks at his pasty face.
It is easy to appear sleep deprived when he is sleep deprived.
"You are so selfish!" Jack tells the tiger, but he is back caressing the warrior made animal once again.
"That's because you spoil them," Chase explains standing next to Jack, opposite to where the helipad is, and he doesn't mind when he sees the young man reach for the helipad and scream in surprise.
The tiger stands, bows to his master, and leaves.
"Nice kicks. Nice normal not preparing to had your world mess up and rock at the same time excellence kicks!" Jack tries to laugh as he would typically, but he can feel sweat down his neck. Pretending everything is normal is harder than he thought it would be. But Chase is an expert at ignoring Jack.
"My form and attacks are always perfect. You are not wearing eyeliner." Jack nods. But he stops and looks up at Chase with confusion.
"No…you know I don't dress up during big projects… but today I just didn't feel like it. No, because I had any big projects coming… You know does -I mean those days… when you don't want to do anything…?" Jack smiles and acts confused even though he knows the dark circles under his eyes look like blurred eyeliner.
"I don't know. I don't like unproductive days. And you look awful, just looking at you makes me want to go take a shower." Chase admits, and he looks at the frown forming on Jack's face, but the young man is too tired to fight and just lets the comment go almost unheard.
"I always wonder who is practicing, you or are your warriors. 'Cause being cats for that long has to mess up their human coordination!" Jack ponders while he stands up. He pulls his helipad over his shoulders and waits for Chase to choose a place to go.
He secretly hopes for the lilies garden. He could use the mindless job of plucking petals or a little nap on the cold marble floor.
"Both. I can't stop training, and you are right… they are too used to being cats, and I can't stand it." Chase informs him, and he looks at the tiger that was earlier behaving like a house pet.
"Well, if there is someone that can pull off the old cat lady look and make it hot is you!" Jack says with a smile and Chase just glares. The dragon knows that Jack truly means it as a complaint, but it still displeases Chase.
"...go away Spicer." Chase sighs out, even though he would prefer to have a conversation with Jack over tea. He found something about bee-robots, and he would like an insight.
"What? You are not an old lady! You are the perfect warrior with so much power you could take over the world any afternoon, but you like to fight giants cats instead. I did not mean any disrespect. Don't send me away!" Jack implores, and Chase signals him to step back.
Jack pouts and his crocodile tears seen ready to make an entrance.
"You are too tired even to beg properly. And I don't want to look at your face at the moment. It looks like at bad last minute Halloween costume. Go get some sleep; you are at your worst when sleep deprived." Chase informs him and walks away ignoring Jack.
"There so much work at home!" Jack whines and sits back on the floor. He was surprised by someone pushing his back lightly, and the albino turns to find the same tiger.
"Okay. I'm leaving because no one wants me here! And I, Jack Spicer, won't be used!" Jack declares on his personalized over the top fashion, not even sure if Chase is listing.
The albino sighs and wishes he could had said 'goodbye' in a proper manner.
He won't see Chase in a month, and he wishes he could have shared just a few more moments with the man.
He flies away and the tiger whines once before returning to his chores.
The young man was exhausted, and he didn't want to go home. He considers going to visit the monks or even Katnappe, but he knows better, so he heads back to his lab.
Jack falls asleep during the flieth, his helipad autopilot takes him home, and he wakes up in time to do the landing.
The genius moves back to his lab and sees himself working on a project. He doesn't try to hide. This jack was so focussing on his design he wouldn't notice if his creator suddenly were to melt or other cliche clone death.
There is another jack in the lab.
The clone Jack created.
A very alive clone. He looks like Jack, smells like Jack, even his thought process is very alike Jack's. But jack, the two weeks old adult is only two weeks old, and all learning and teaching won't give the clone the experience it needs.
"How is he doing?" Jack asks from the door to the 'original groups' of Jack-bots, which are four robots who are aware of the situation. They only address Jack the creator and can differentiate between the original Jack and jack.
"The experimental group had not yet recognized him as an imposter."
The rest of the robots, the experimental group, are not aware that their master had been replaced. They are to monitor their new master and report to the control group if they find anything odd.
"If you guys can't tell us apart, then no one can," Jack whispers and moves away. His last four minions following him.
"He seems to remember all of your past experiences and projects. He had the same bio-watch, and he fears the same enemies. He does what you said he would."
Jack nods.
He manipulated his clone's mind until he could set two orders that would feel like instinct. Alike fear and curiosity, things that one does and sense just because they must, because they are the things that identified us a living creature. The clone has two orders that he would follow, the first one it was a trial to see if it works.
A small insignificant detail.
The clone, when frustrated, would tap the surface of the table with his pinky finger instead of the middle finger like Jack does.
It was the only detail report by the experimental team, but it was too small to suspect their master to be an imposter.
The second order was environmental and would only surface under specific conditional stress.
"Are you ready Master?" The leader of the control group asks, and Jack nods without looking away from jack.
"Let's go before I come to my senses and call the whole fucking thing off," Jack whispers and follows his robots.
The control groups take their master to a safe location, and proceed with step one; secured original master.
The experimental group's leader offers coffee to their master who takes it with a frown.
"..." jack drinks the black liquid without tasting it and continues with his project.
The very young man works on the very delicate wire circuit of what soon would be a new supercomputer.
He had been working on it for awhile. jack knows he should start on the hardware at some point, but he needs to make sure this robot won't betray him, though that won't matter if Chase breaks his new robot, then it doesn't matter what the level of artificial intelligence of his computer is.
He earnestly hopes that Chase somewhat appreciates all the effort he is putting into this.
The goth drops his tools and slowly rotates his wrist, he wants to give up on it but he can't yet. jack wonders why he is so fixed on building a robot to fight Chase -it won't help, Chase would destroy whatever jack throws at him.
jack stares at the machine a moment too long like something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was yet.
"Whatever…" jack says to no one in particular and returns working on his robot. It takes him two more days to finish, and two days and three minutes to noticed that he messed up. The software he had been working won't be compatible with any design jack has…
The genius moves away from the machine too tired to be mad, and also insane to keep working on his massive waste of time.
The jack-bots take their master to shower and eat.
And as instructed the jack-bots remind jack that he needs to meet with Chase Young, as he does it every week.
"Okay." jack says and slowly makes his way out of the house, but before he could leave his robots are calling him back.
The modified albino hears the intruder alert, and he groans, he doesn't want to deal with anyone at the moment. Still, he moves towards the lab as he tries to think who is breaking into his house this time.
jack isn't surprised or worry when he sees Wuya sitting on his desk, and he looks at the woman alive in flesh and blood -a little less blood than need it if her pale face was to take into account. Her natural radiant dark skin looks like a muddy paste.
"Wuya." jack drags the name as he already grows tired of their encounter. The witch looks at the young man and laughs.
"Wow, I thought you couldn't look any more like a ghost! Are you even alive at this point!" Wuya laughs at her jokes and ignores jack's lack of reaction.
"What you want?" the genius asks because he doesn't have the time or energy to deal with Wuya. Though he almost wants to mention that she doesn't look pretty at the moment herself, but who has the time?
"Oh, you don't have to be that cold! jackie~ especially when what I want is something you want!" The Heylin witch smiles and a robot moves next to her and offers her a smoothie. She stops her monologue to look at jack, obvious question on her face.
"Drink it! It will get your blood flowing." jack explains, and he looks another jack-bot offering the same smoothie to its master.
They drink the smoothies in silence.
"I heard you started a new project…" Wuya tries from a different angle, and she hides her excitement of jack working with clones and the possibility of having a stack of beautiful young bodies in stock for her convenience. But jack thinks of the supercomputer that he spends over two weeks building, but he can't use on with anything he owns.
"That was a huge failure. Maybe I would try again when I'm not dying of tiredness." The clone answers to the wrong question, but Wuya only hums satisfied that jack is not giving up the project.
"A wu will soon be activated. An exceptional Wu~" Wuya smiles and jack glares at her. All Wus are very special for Wuya, she wants them all, but the witch had somehow gotten her body back -she needs to fight in the next showdown.
"Whatever! Same rules!" jack informs the woman who just smiles.
"Same rules~" She playfully repeats with a tone that makes jack wonder why is he even going deals with that woman. Wuya's magic is too weak to fight the monks these days, so she borrows jack's weapons with two conditions. She won't use them against him, and she will be his informant.
As time passed and jack got more robots to blend anywhere and everywhere, Wuya loses her utility, but jack doesn't have the heart to stop the deal.
No, instead he is just waiting for an excuse to break the deal, and he is sure that Wuya will eventually break her only rule during combat.
"I need to go, so close after you are done." jack says and flies away with more energy.
But the smoothie's magic only lasted him until he reaches the entrance of Chase's lair.
The small walk to the throne room felt like a marathon, and the sight of the warlord reading a book felt like the best price.
"Thank you!" jack says sincerely, Chase looks away from his book and lifts an eyebrow to question the young man.
"I saw you, and now I feel better." jack explains and Chase rolls his eyes as hard as he can.
"Well, I see you… and I think the zombies are coming. Did you rest at all since the last time I sent you away?" Chase asks and closes his book.
Chase stops and looks at jack. The young man looks like death, he smells more like machines and burnt metal than human, his lips are dry and cover on little red lines from splitting so often. But what worry the warlord was the smell that was lacking. jack didn't smell like his. Unintentionally jack had acquired the scent of Chase's home. If other predators were to encounter jack, then they would know that jack belongs to Chase Young. The dragon never meant to marked jack as his, but after years of visits, the fanboy got himself bathed on Chase scent.
"No, no really, or at least not that I remember. What day was then and what day is today…?" jack asks, and Chase pities the human.
Not sure what amount of self-experimentation would it take to cover Chase's scent so well.
"You know, giving the circumstances, I think you might have planned yourself to possible death," Chase says with a smirk, and he can't help but feel flattered, more so than any of jack's pretty words could. jack had reached a new state of tiredness. A state Chase didn't think it was possible, a new state because he had never worked as hard or as long or pull as many all-nighters for any other project.
"Let's not talk about that. My head hurts, I think my all hurts and I had barely moved!" jack whines as he moves to sit on the steps of the throne. Close enough to be heard, and far enough to not touch the other man.
He remembers that this is a safe distance.
"Is called atrophy. Signs of an early death." Chase answers and jack glares a little.
"And who's fault would that be? No, let's not talk about that. Gossip. Gossip, I'll go first, Wuya is excited about the next Wu. She got her body back! And is borrowing a lot of stuff from my lab." jack whispers because that is the right way to gossip.
"Wuya being excited about a Wu, any Wu, is not news." Chase declares and waits for more, but jack is not talking.
"That's all I had. I had been in my lab for almost the whole month, and I only leave to come here! That's all I had." jack explains irritated.
"Still, how can you called yourself an evil genius if that's all the information you had collected." Chase teases, and jack crosses his arms and whispers curses.
"Well, what 'information' you had? Warlord." jack asks angrily but still curious.
"Oh, little things. Nothing important, little insignificant things like Kimiko buying a pregnancy test." Chase says and as he expected it jack's mouth falls open as he tries to assimilate the information.
"That's some hot gossip! What are you gonna do?" jack asks and questions rush to his previously very sleep brain.
"Nothing. It is not my businesses." Chase declares, but he can't help smiles looking at jack's face illuminate with possible scenarios.
"Shit. Is she gonna keep fighting or training? You know if she is knocked out or just checking? Does Rai know? Rai is the father, right?"
"I don't think she is pregnant. No chance on her energy or her hormones." Chase ponders, and jack lets out a sigh of relief.
"Good, I don't think she would want a baby right now."
"She is very focused on her training." Chase agrees.
"But you know if it would be Rai?" jack asks, but the question only makes Chase confused.
"Who else?" The warlord asks, considering there are not many choices, only Rai and Clay. And he doesn't take Clay or Kimiko as double timers.
"Anyone? They travel all the time! And she is hot. If I was that hot then I would be a total slut!" jack nods at his statements.
"Says the virgin." Chase offers, and jack's face turns pink.
"I had been busy with work, and I look like a baby of a vampire and ghost … which would also be a correct description of my parents' parental technics." jack stops a little hurt by his analogy.
"Don't try to distract me with your parental issues. Taunting you for your lack of sex is far more fun." Chase laughs and ignores the glares jack throws at him.
"You don't even care. You are too old to care!" jack points out, and Chase internally acknowledges it, jack is right Chase doesn't care.
"But you care." Chase continues to bully the younger man, and jack pouts.
"Get it out of your system!" jack finally gives in, and he pouts and glares while Chase pokes at his issues as entertainment.
The rest of the afternoon goes fast.
The next day goes even faster after jack decided that he would die if he doesn't get some sleep.
And as soon as his body was on his bed jack felt asleep for two whole days.
He wakes up at the noise of his Shen gong wu alarm screaming from all directions.
The young man wakes up in panic and jumps out of bed trying to size the situation only to groan when he understands that is nothing.
"Shut Up already!" With that command, the alarm stops and jack run to his bathroom to clean himself.
He brushes his teeth as he contemplates not going to the showdown. He knows he doesn't have many chances of winning anything but new bruises, and he already feels awful as it is. Definitely better after sleeping, but still not ready to get into a fight with martial arts masters… not that his body had ever been ready to fight martial arts masters.
And… he has a feeling that urges him not to go.
However his mind is already made, and he hurries to dress up and put some sunscreen on while all the jack-bots try to shove food on his face.
AN: So, I hope this is not confusing. And please let me what you guys think :) Also, thanks to Lord Weiss