Cheating is Relative
Chapter 6
"Wuya." Chase says feeling too emotionally exhausted to continue their battle, but he leaves the room and finds the witch on his throne room or what is left of his throne room.
Anger takes over his body once again when Chase sees the throne destroyed. That's his favorite place to talk to his former fanboy; Chase sitting on his throne and Jack sitting in the steps like a loyal dog.
Jack sitting on the steps like a loyal dog.
Wuya orders the metal fighters to attack, and Chase bends the iron limbs like they were made of paper. The witch hurries to use her sonar gun which had proved to be effective against the warlord, but the attack only reminds Chase that Jack won't create anything anymore. He ignores the pain that the sonar brings him and aims for the witch neck.
He walks down the steps carrying Wuya by her thin neck.
Jack laughing on the steps under the throne.
He doesn't break it, he watches the witch try to escape his grip, like the stupid rat that started everything, and Wuya, like that rat, is still alive.
"Why couldn't you die instead?" Chase asks before burying his fist in Wuya's stomach. The Heylin witch lets go of her gun, if she said something Chase was unable to hear her -his ears bleeding from the sonar direct attack. He yanks his hand out of Wuya, pieces of her stuck to his hand, and she falls death before Chase can clean his dirtied glove.
Chase looks at his hand, twenty-four hours ago his hand was covered by spicer's blood.
Jack like a loving loyal dog.
"Why couldn't you die instead?" Chase asks to the spirit of the woman, he knows she is there but most likely doesn't want to be seen, which is fine with Chase since he doesn't want to see her either.
The man walks away from the corpse and he can't help to hate the way he killed Wuya, the same way he killed spicer. Because Jack was different, he meant something different -he means something different.
Chase can't help to chuckle at his own thought, he knows now what he wanted to say to Jack.
Now that is completely useless to say anything at all, now he knows what to say.
He leaves feeling his balance skewed as a consequence of his hearing damage.
The warlord walks towards the guest room wondering how many times does he plans to disturb jack's cold body.
He sees doc-bots working and helping the fallen warriors, other robots trying to clean the mess that they had made, and two large robots taking with them a large black bag. Chase knows what is on that bag and he considers stopping them from taking it away, but why? For what? The Jack-bots only want to give their master a proper burial, and Chase had done enough…
He opens the room and lets the smell of death and cleaning supplies be enough punishment. Chase closes his eyes and tries to accept what has happen when he feels a sharp object against his neck.
A knife without a doubt, but he is too tired to fight at the moment so he lets the knife rest against his neck. The metal nicks his skin but it doesn't seen to be able to cut any deeper than that. He looks at the blade, and then at the hand that holds it. The fingers are white as milk, and the hand small and rough. Chase looks at Spicer wearing a suit giving him a wary smile.
The young man trembles in place, and Chase isn't sure if it's because he is holding a knife against his neck or because Jack's temperature is far lower than it should be.
"...Jack?" Chase asks finally wondering if what he sees is real.
"I tried." Jack says as he withdraws the knife. His hands tremble so much he drops the knife but he doesn't seen to notice. "How? How did -shit is cold!" Jack says and moves towards the bed where his corpse was, he takes the new bedcover that was only slightly stain with blood and puts it around him. "How did I do?" He asks.
Chase opens and closes his mouth trying to find the right question that would explain everything, but then he understands.
'I need you to kill me.'
Jack is too much of a coward to fight hand to hand, he needed to get out of the game -so he faked his death.
Chase can't believe that wasn't his first thought when the imposter die, but then again -it felt terribly realistic…
Jack made sure Chase would believed it, Jack made sure Chase would killed 'him'. And to confused Chase with an unique strategy he used the knowledge that Chase has of his opponents against the warlord -as he would never expect an air attack from Wuya.
'I guess I would use the sky.'
Jack literally told him his attack plan.
Chase captures Jack's face with his hands and looks at the face of his fanboy trying to confirm that this was his Jack.
A second hand comes to squeeze Jack's cheeks.
Jack, his loving loyal fanboy, somehow infected all of Chase's warriors with a virus to weaken Chase physically, used his own death as emotional welfare (because at this point is the only way Chase can refer to it), but he knew Chase would survive all that, win over everything.
So Jack waited for Chase, in the same room where his impostor death body was, to deliver the final attack.
Every piece of the plan was a giant distraction, so Chase would enter this room tired and with his guard down so Jack could tried the oldest lamest assassination attend -the ol' knife to the throat.
"Are you impressed?" Jack can barely ask over the grip Chase has on his face.
Chase looks at the albinos eyes, the red irises shine with devotion and fear of rejection, Jack's eyes give away his every emotion and yet he tricked Chase Young.
"Very." Chase says and observes the love in those eyes grow, and for a moment it was too much. Chase remembers that he was trying to accept that he might never see those eyes again.
"Did you see it coming?" Jack asks not trying to break free from Chase's bloody hands.
Instead of answering Chase squeezes Jack's cheeks until the young man starts to worry for his bones.
"If you ever do that again. You better stay death." Chase says low but he can feel his word resonate through the albino. He can see fear and desperation grow in Jack's face.
"Understood! Understood! Never ever again! Understood!" Jack cries -his big tears damping Chase's gloves, and Chase lets go of his face. "So rough!" Jack says and he caresses his cheek and cleans the blood, he wanted to complain but he felt all words and rational thoughts leave his body when Chase hugs him.
"Don't do that again." He whispers before releasing the albino, and walking away.
Jack is alive.
"I - I wasn't ready. Let do that again! Please!" Jack whines as he follows Chase out of the room, he would had continued to insist but he was distracted by the amount of eyes staring at him.
Jack turns to look at the cats.
"Yo, I'm alive. I-" Jack starts to explain but Chase interrupts him.
"It was part of his master plan to kill me, to pretend to be death." Chase says and Jack can hear bitterness on his tone, but before Jack could press on it he sees all the warriors turn to face another direction. Which it was a very difficult task since that virus Jack used attacks proteins that take care of muscles so they should be too sore to move, but regardless all of them turn to give their back towards Jack.
"Oh, come on! It was only one day." Jack says and hurries to follow Chase.
"A lot can happen in one day Spicer." Chase says and he notice a doc-bot following them. "Are you hurt?" Chase asks, not ready to even imagine going through that emotional void ever again. Chase looks a Jack but the young man looks so alive. He was definitely weak and now that they were not standing on a room covered on the smell of death and bleach, Chase could smell an unnatural amount of adrenaline pouring from Jack.
"...Not really. But since I was out for so long, which was less than a week -much less than what I expected to be out, the doc-bot just makes to check my vitals and all that jazz." Jack says with ease. "That one if for you." Jack points to the other doc-bot that were following them.
"...You are aware that I'm immortal and that I heal?" Chase says looking at the robot.
"So, that doesn't mean I want you in pain. No even for a minute!" Jack says dramatically, and he steps back when Chase glares at him.
Chase considers accusing Jack of lying, since he made him believe he killed Jack. That was far more painful than Chase would like to admit.
"I know you had a headache-"
"I had a headache every time I see your face!" Chase interrupts, anger resurfacing to undermine any other emotion.
"And I made a pill with dragon-like proteins. It should work I-"
"I did notice you had made weapons aim to weaken me. 'But not even a minute of pain.'" Chase tries to keep his poker face but he can taste his anger.
It tastes a lot like desperation.
Like he was ready to give anything to Jack just he would shut up for two minutes and stay alive forever.
"I tested it already, remember? You said it tasted like seaweed." Jack says, and Chase remembers when Jack was trying to replicate the active ingredient on the Lao Mang Lone soup.
The genius gets a pill from the robot following Chase and offers it to the man. Chase takes it and chews it, he remembers Jack not being very happy when Chase informed him that he doesn't takes pills -he doesn't swallow anything he can't taste, and therefore forcing Jack to restart the experiment.
"It still taste like seaweed powder." Chase says, and feels his anger dying out. He was still angry enough to kill Wuya again -though she was just a tool of Jack's plan, but he can't help to feel relief.
"Taste or function! You know bio is not my strength." Jack says and waits for Chase to move.
"Your turn." Chase says, and Jack whines because his treatment was far more than to take a pill.
The warlord looks at Jack and tries to understand what has happen.
It was all part of the exercise, he should had guessed that Jack would go to extremes, but Jack was alive and that was the only thing that really matters.
Chase waits as Jack is check by various doc-bots. They take his blood, his vital, flash lights, ask questions…
"Did they know?" Chase asks and Jack turns confused.
The millennium old man can feel himself growing older in comparison of the youth who grows stupider. "What could we be talking about?" Chase asks and Jack makes a little 'o' shape with his lips.
"No. No really. I had a small group that stay with me, you know taking care of me, but besides that they didn't know. I figure that if my own robots couldn't tell the difference, then nobody could." Jack says and Chase nods, understanding even though he doesn't want to.
"'Stay with you'? Where were you?" Chase asks thinking how didn't he found him, but then again he wasn't looking for Jack.
"On a secret safe-house. The one by Panjin. Oh, I finish the construction of my Panjin base, you should visit is really pretty." Jack says, and Chase glares a little so Jack returns his attention to the robots.
"How were you able to stay still for so long?" Chase asks, he hopes Jack won't say that he was having a grand time in the beautiful beach.
"I put myself in a coma." Jack says, and Chase can't hide his surprise.
"...You know what that could had done to your brain?" Chase says slowly, like he was talking to a very stupid child.
Now all the Doc-bots.
"A very low possibility. And I had very good doc-bots with me. I just couldn't risk Wuya sensing my life presence -or whatever, and ruining everything!" Jack tries to defend himself.
"You could had leave China." Chase says.
"Then I wouldn't had make it in time to sneak inside the palace. And even if I didn't ...win, it was still pretty impressive." Jack cries a little more, frustrated that Chase doesn't appreciates all his hard work, and Chase wishes he didn't agreed.
The doc-bots prescribe some vitamins, antibodies, rest and regular check-ups.
Also rest, and to 'please, stop moving.' But Jack said he felt good.
They also recommend for Jack to eat something light.
"Should I call my chefs or you had something premade?" Chase asks with a sigh.
"Can my robots cook instead? I think your warriors might be too hurt and butt-hurt (-burt?) to cook me something." Jack says and Chase nods.
They walk in silence for a while until Jack speaks again.
"I'm sorry okay. I know it was shitty move to pretend to be death."
"Don't you say." Chase can't help to hate how much of Spicer's speech patterns has he adopted it.
"I didn't think you would care...for reals." Jack says.
"Isn't that a lazy last minute work of a cheap lie." Chase says and he sees Jack flinch. "Your whole plan revolved around me feeling guilty of -" Chase can't finish, not when Jack won't understand.
Not when he can still remember his gloves cover with dried blood, and those rubies eyes looking at him for the very last time.
"No...You were suppose to feel guilty over breaking your promise." Jack clarifies even though he knows it won't make things better.
Chase stays quiet for a moment, of course he felt bad about breaking his promised, but the thought that he won't see Spicer again have been eating up his mind.
"Shit!" Jack says, and Chase thinks that Jack finally understands, but no. Jack runs towards a tiger on the floor; Noah.
"Kitty, I told my bots to not be too rough on you guys!" Jack says but Noah ignores him and pretends to be death (but it was easy to tell he was alive.) "Did Wuya beat him up?" Jack asks.
"...That doesn't matter." Chase decides.
It was still indirectly Spicer's fault.
"Fuck." Jack curses again as he sees the walls of the hall. "Wuya went way off script if she attack here!" Jack looks at the end of the hall trying to see where the destruction ends, but it seems to come from one of the training rooms.
"How did you know Wuya would fight for you?" Chase asks him mostly to distract Jack from asking questions about the damage not cause by Wuya.
"I figure she owned me, you know. For all those times I did her bidding when she was a spirit. I knew that she still kinda bound to honor my last request." Jack says. "And I asked nicely." He finishes.
"You know she is dead." Chase states.
"I know she'll be pissed!" Jack says looking at his black shiny shoes.
"Why are you wearing a suit?" Chase asks as he moves over Noah to heal the wounds he caused.
"I think this is what people wear at funerals. Isn't?" Jack asks as he brings part of the bed covers over his head.
"...you thought I would give you a western burial?" Chase asks almost curious.
"I thought ...yeah?" And Jack shrugs his shoulders. Chase lets it pass like the young man didn't think of every detail, but the way his plan had perfectly unfold was almost scary. But at the same time Jack prepare to help his 'opponent' recover from his attack.
"I think I saw you before you attack me." Chase says as he remembers the corpse that had miraculously regain some life. And the robots cleaning the room. Now he can't help but to feel completely fooled by Spicer -the king of all fools.
Chase looks at the young man, he looks so ...natural, like he was never wound or killed. Which he wasn't, but the image of the imposter still burns within Chase's mind.
"The food is ready. Are you hungry?" Jack asks.
"Do you think I could had an appetite right now?" Chase asks and Jack nods.
"You fought a lot…" Jack says and Chase just walks towards the dining room because if he had to talk to Jack for one more minute, he will hurt his fanboy.
Chase hearing is completely heal and he uses it to located Jack's heartbeat.
Strong, steady, and there.
The large table was served with too much food, even for Chase's standards. Like this was a celebration.
The warlord sits on his chair, the head of the table, and he looks at Jack who seem unsure where to sit. He had been quiet on the way to the dining room, like he had finally understand that Chase wasn't happy with his great master plan.
"Your insecurity annoys me." Chase says and the chair that Spicer normally uses, left to Chase's, moves as an offer.
Jack happily takes the sit, his bright smile comes back to his face as if Chase had forgiving him for all the heartache.
Chase hears Jack next to him, he was worry but not scare. Chase wonders if he would had heal as fast without the pill.
"I didn't want to play this stupid game. You know that!" Jack blurs out, and his crocodile tears roll over his cheeks and hang at the peak of his chin. "I don't like planning things that could get me kill, and that is exactly what I had to plan. So don't be too butt-hurt about it….please." Jack says and cleans his face.
"Can you ever be under stress and not cry?" Chase asks trying to ignore the fact that he might had some blame to it. Jack was reluctant to take part of the game, and he came to asked for rules.
"No." Jack answer without hesitation.
"We are never doing this again." Chase says and Jack nods in agreement.
"This was so-sooo tiring." Jack says and takes another spoonful of his rice soup.
"You were asleep Spicer." Chase says while rolling his eyes.
"In a coma! The difference is kinda meaningful." Jack says with his mouth full.
"I have to tell my warriors you were death." Chase says with mock pain.
"I had to film my own will. How mess up is that?" Jack says trying to remember how hard it was to do that with a straight face.
"Not as much as literally had a conversation with a fake dead body." Chase says and looks at Jack almost daring him to try to top his level of emotional distress.
"That is awful, but as awful as to make a perfect copy of you and then sent it to die?" Jack asks and puts more food on his mouth.
"That sound unpleasant, alike sharing time and conversations with an impostor that you believe you had known for years?" Chase asks.
"Mmm, no is different." Jack says and puts his plate down.
"You are right, because I killed the impostor." Chase agrees.
"At least you don't had to visualize yourself dying?" Jack says and then smiles like he has won.
"I had to watch you die." Chase says a little too serious, and Jack stops and really thinks if he should continue.
"Well, you'll have to a some point." Jack says carefully.
Chase stares at Jack who stands up slowly with the understanding tha he had gone too far.
"I should go to rest…" Jack says.
"Follow me." Chase says and stands up.
Jack blinks at the man for a few seconds, surprise that Chase is inviting/forcing him to stay the night, and taking him to his room himself.
"...That is not necessary, but very-very and I mean very appreciated." Jack says and stands up to follow Chase.
They walk in silence, and Jack feels guilty every time he sees a warrior laying on the ground (giving Jack the cold shoulder).
"How did the rumor reach everyone? They can't move!" Jack says once he doesn't see any cats around.
"I told them." Chase answers.
Jack doesn't say anything, and only looks around.
He has stayed the night a few times in the palace, and he has an usual room. They are not going there.
Jack waits in silence as they enter the center of the palace, where Chase's favorite rooms are. He isn't allowed in this section.
Chase finally stops in front of a door which opens itself for its master. The room was beautiful, adorned with deep greens and gold.
"Oh, Thanks. I thought you were taking me to a torture chamber or something." Jack says and enters the room after Chase.
"I did considered it." Chase says lightly, and Jack smiles nervously.
"Pretty. But why? Not that I don't love it. Just why?" Jack says as he looks around.
"Your plan...it exceeded my expectation." Chase says after deciding it was the best way to describe it.
"I impressed you~" Jack says while he looks in the closet for some cloths he might use as pajamas.
"Yes. In the worst possible way, but yes." Chase says lets his eyes stay in Jack a little too long.
"I take it!" The albino says and drops the cloths he had chosen in the bed.
"Of course you would." Chase says but he doesn't leave, even though their conversation has finished and Jack needs to rest.
The younger man looks around as he waits to be left alone, but unable to withstand the silence he speaks.
"I'm sorry I tried to stab you." Jack says while looking at a paintings.
"I barely notice." Chase answers as he remember the white finger, and seeing Jack alive.
"I figured. I thought you would want me to deliver the 'final blow,' even though it was weak and anti-climatic." Jack moves around uncomfortable with the topic.
"No. The real attack hidden under the fake calm of victory. It was." Chase turns to look at Jack, the young man gives him a small smile like he can't help to smile when Chase looks his way. "It was surprising. Well done." Chase says and he can remembered Jack trembling, cold, scared and tired 'I tried,' but alive.
Jack sits in the bed and lets the unusual praise he has received soak into his worn out mind.
"I didn't thought I would see your face again." Chase continues.
"You wish." Jack yawns and he throws the his weight backwards, and stretches his back against the soft mattress.
"I didn't know how your eyes looked when you can't feel nothing anymore, now I do." Chase says trying to shake out the memory of the impostor's ruby eyes slowly losing their life.
"...okay." Jack half murmurs. Chase glares at him, but it doesn't stops Jack from falling asleep.
The older man sits next to Jack and listen to the young heart.
"You are a truly terrible person. Incredibly insensitive for a guy that cries as often as the clock hits an odd number." Chase says and moves Jack to a better position. "I can't believe you fake your death and thought I wouldn't care." Chase complains and rolls Jacks on the thick covers in a way that the albino could only choose between all the covers or none. "You are so stupid, it amazes me."
Chase steps back and looks at his work. It should keep Jack warm but also uncomfortable, and Jack won't even know what happen. He wonders since when he takes so much pleasure in petty acts.
Chase meant to leave, but he stay in place for a few hours making sure that Jack is alive.
He leaves a few hours after sunset, knowing that Jack will sleep into the next day. He sends some doc-bots to obverse Jack, and others to continue caring for his warriors.
Chase considers informing the others that Jack is alive, but he is still dealing with his own shock to bother with other's. Also, it was Jack's mess so he should be the one to clean it.
It might be entertaining seeing Jack trying to explain himself to the monks, but it might also be too depressing to enjoy.
The rest of the day went fairly fast.
Chase searches for the imposter to see if he could tell the differences now that he knows the true, but the robots incinerated it and disposed of the bio waste. The warlord wasn't happy, but they argue that jack, the clone, was the source of the virus which was activated after his death, and if the body wasn't disposed then the cats won't get better.
It was next to impossible for Chase to sleep that night.
He gave up after a few hours and decided to train instead.
Chase made sure to avoid the training room he destroyed, and he practiced his stances until a robot came to informing him that breakfast was ready.
The robots prepare every dish he usually has, and he forced himself to eat.
Chase expend his afternoon reading and investigating about the virus that was affecting his warriors, and late at night he had nothing even remotely helpful.
He didn't tried to sleep that night and spend his time practicing his attacks. Chase felt like he had lost some control.
Melisia, a lioness, was present at breakfast -she did nothing but stand, but Chase understands that soon his warriors would be mobile again.
He tried to medicate in his lilies garden for a few hours until he found himself plucking the blue petals.
Melisia came to informed him that dinner was served.
"He is awake, Master." The cat says before leaving.
Chase acknowledges the information and goes to the dining room, Jack was sitting on his usual sit reading a file with a frown but he closes the file and smiles when he sees Chase.
"Good morning!" Jack says with his usual enthusiasm even though he looks like he was drag out of bed.
"A late 'good morning' don't you think. Even by your standards." Chase says and sits on his chair, the file that Jack has is titled '25.'
"The sun is up, that is morning! You know is great that we can talk like nothing happened even though we kinda tried to killed each other" Jack says nervously and looks back at his file.
"Is that the your written plan?" Chase asks and extends his hand on a silence command.
"No really. It kinda is, but is mostly feedback and comparison." Jack says and gives the file to Chase.
"'25'" Chase asks and he tries to think if that number hold any significance to Spicer.
"It means nothing. I figure to named it something without any importance or description so if someone finds it they can't just guess. And '25' is just the numbers of hours need it to perform the plan after my jack kicks the bucket." Jack says and tries not to stare too hard while Chase looks over the pages. He moves closer so he can read while laying his head on Chase's cold shoulder armor.
"You were off. You tried to killed me only 22 hours after the imposter's demise." Chase says as he starts reading the introduction.
"That wasn't the only thing I was off!" Jack says agitated.
Chase reads the statues of the mission: "Failure."
The steps were broken down and then thoroughly explained. But it seems like there were some big steps that were incorrectly perform or simply not perform.
"You were planning to included Hannibal!" Chase says and looks at Jack in disbelief.
"...You did said to impress you, and also no rules. So if we had to place blame...it shouldn't be on me!" Jack says and looks away, feeling that soon the warlord will be on a bad mood.
Chase shakes his head and starts searching for a specific step.
"How did you planned for me to killed you?" Chase asks while he looks through the many pages. The images of the imposter still bother him, it felt so real and impossible at the same time. Chase wanted to see how the scene was carefully planned to trick him into this pitiful depressing state.
"That actually didn't go as planned." Jack mentions while he helps the other to find the correct page.
It seem like the clone, jack spicer, had a predetermined environmental response and under the right conditions he would 'freeze.' This will not allow him to move away from danger when usually he could.
Chase frowns at that is written but he continues to read.
jack spicer die eight days earlier than expected it.
In the wrong place, time, and view by people who were not supposed to be involved.
"...So, why did your clone sneak into a fight between Hannibal, Wuya, the monks and me -if not to get killed?" Chase asks as he remembers Jack referring to the clone as a 'perfect copy of me.'
"Beats me!" Jack says and gets some toast from one of the plates.
"...are you saying that the death of your clone was accidental?" Chase asks, sure but still hopeful that he has misunderstood.
"That's what the report says, so yes. Funny I didn't had to planned to die -I, well, my clone did it all on his own. However, I wonder if my plan might had worked better if he had died on the time he was suppose to...Hey maybe, if I'm alive and you are in the mood we can do this again in ten years or so?" Jack says while trying not to think that his clone and him were technically identical, and the actions that got the clone killed were the same that he might had chosen to do.
Chase stares blankly at Jack like he was expecting to see something else, the young man doesn't mind being observed by Chase and he continues to eat. He knows Chase will speak when he feels like talking -now he feels like thinking.
"You cheated." Chase states and Jack turns already looking indignant it.
"No. Nope. There were no rules so it was impossible for me to cheat! So-" Jack starts arguing but Chase silences him with a look.
"You cheated death," Chase says and looks at his fanboy. And Chase knows that Jack is stupid enough to had enter a battle that he can't win and get himself killed.
"You said it yourself, the clone was a perfect copy of you -not your robots, allies or enemies, and not even I were able to tell the difference." The imposter had the exact humor, cried by the same tiny everyday problems, and he was in love with Chase -just like Jack. "If that had been you, you would had made the same choices and you would be death." Chase looks at Jack while fear and understanding slowly creeps into his mind, and his eyes widen with panic. "If you haven't made such convoluted plan that required you to made an imposter, then you would had been in that showdown, tried to fight Wuya and I would had driven my hand through your stomach and watch you die." Chase explains, and Jack puts down his food and looks at the leftover toast.
"You cheated death Jack."
AN: anti-climatic? maybe. Did I try very best? yes, I did
Thanks for reading this!