Ktssssssssss...
The sound came from behind Jack, but it was far enough that it wasn't directly there. He cracked his neck around anyway, searching for the culprit. A loud explosion came from where the kitchen was. Jack jumped to his feet, jolting Ami up as well.
"What was that?!" she exclaimed. A horrifying idea delved into Jack's gut. "Creepers don't just explode at random, do they?"
Ami paled. "No. Only when another person is nearby, do they blow up."
"Let's go." Jack dashed across the roof, just as another explosion sounded, shaking him to his knees. Cursing, he glanced back for Ami, who was directly behind him.
"Go!" she said. So he went to the ladder that should have been there, but all that remained was a hole in the ground and no ladder in sight.
"We'll have to jump. I'll go first, then get you!" Jack leaped down to the ground, feeling the pain shoot up through his legs. Ami dropped down shortly after, Jack catching her in his arms. "Thanks." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he let her down. "Not a problem." he replied.
The wall of the kitchen had been blown apart, leaving the inside to be easily witnessed. Bits of rubble were scattered about, and the crew was in a panic. Monsters had swarmed the house, Michael was valiantly fighting off two spiders and a skeleton that had tackled Charlotte, who was struggling with an arrow sticking out of her leg, Izzy was going insane, slashing at anything that moved, while Luke was keeping an eye on her, stabbing through a zombie. A swift breath of air readied Jack for a fight, and Ami was already charging in, sword first.
He approached the thing nearest him - a skeleton - and brought his sword down. The skeleton was quick, bringing up its tattered bow and holding strong against Jack's attack. Its eyes stared back at him, devoid of emotion and life. Prepared to kill. Jack felt its endless gaze work its way down his spine, venturing into his gut, where what felt like an ice cube dropped down and refused to melt. He let out a yell, pushing against the skeleton and breaking its hold on him. With a horizontal swish of his sword the creature remained nothing more than a pile of lifeless bones.
He breathed a sigh of relief, searching for the next enemy. Ktssssssssss... Jack swiveled around, hacking at the creeper behind him. The creeper flew back into a wall, where it then exploded.
"Minimal property damage would be nice!" Michael yelled over the ruckus, flinching as he saw another wall blow apart. "Minimal deaths would be preferred, too!" Jack shouted back. Skreee! A spider leaped from behind, pinning Jack to the ground.
"Not this again!" he bellowed, slitting a deep gash into where he figured the throat would be, spraying a green liquid all over his clothes, face, and in his mouth.
"Eeugh!" He pushed the spider off him as it disappeared into a puff of smoke. Jack wiped his mouth after he spat the last of the liquid out, the sour taste of bile on his tongue. He made a mental note to never drink spider blood again. Jack scanned the remains of the house, another monster catching his eye. It was incredibly tall, twice his size, and had eerie, ghoulish eyes which gleamed a dull lavender. The creature's skin was an inky black, and it almost blended in to the surrounding night.
They made eye contact for a brief second, then the creature disappeared into thin air.
"Eh?" Jack's mind swam with confusion. "Oh, whatever." He instead shifted his attention on a zombie that was headed for Izzy. Unaware of the approaching threat, she kept fighting against a different zombie, which was dressed in full golden armour, concealing most of the normal, green skin, and brandished an iron sword, which made it all the more difficult to slaughter. "Behind you ! I got it!" Jack called, impaling the oncoming zombie just before it reached her, watching it burst into a cloud of smoke. Izzy defeated the golden zombie, panting. "Thanks," she breathed, a wild look in her eye. Unnerved, Jack moved on to another spider, sending it to the smoke world like the rest of its brethren.
"Jack! Watch it!" Ami hollered, sprinting towards him. Jack raised his sword to deflect whatever was coming for him, but it was too late. The arrow was shot directly in his chest, narrowly missing his heart. He gasped, the impact sending him to the ground. Ami destroyed the skeleton, paying no attention as it turned to smoke but instead ran to Jack. "Oh God," she gulped. "How do we get it out?"
"We don't," Jack forced himself on his feet.
"What?!" Ami exclaimed. "You're insane!"
"Trust me, we need to get rid of the rest of these blokes! Charlotte got shot with an arrow too, didn't she? She's right back on her feet!" He pointed to where Charlotte pulled off a daring upward strike, annihilating a zombie, and then continuing to kick a spider in the face with her good leg.
"In the leg! That arrow's sticking right out of your chest, Jack. That's not fine."
"We'll figure it out after these guys are finished! They're almost done, see?" It was true, the amount of monsters in the house had gone down remarkably. But now that there was more space to see, another problem arose.
"Isn't that...?" Ami indicated to where there was another hole in the wall, where a defeated looking person was bleeding badly as he leaned against the charred wall.
"Aiden." Jack confirmed. "Go, keep him alive. I'll be fine. We'll deal with him later, but for now we need to handle what's most important. And that includes preserving lives. You're the only potential nurse I know of, so go." Ami threw a hand on her hip. "Keep him alive? After what he did? I don't think so."
"Ami, please." Jack pleaded.
"No," She crossed her arms. "He's a jerkface."
"Jerkface or not you should help him. I'm going to help with the fight, go help him." Jack finished abruptly, running off and starting a war with another skeleton. Ami sighed, and while it did not abide to her own wishes, she made her way over to where Aiden was hunched against a wall.
"What are you doing, freckles?" he scowled.
"A favour," Ami pulled out a red liquid contained in a vial labelled "Potion of Healing II" and brought it to Aiden's mouth. "Drink." she said. He hesitated, but guzzled down the potion faster than he ever had before. Aiden slumped back against the wooden wall. "Thank you," he said for the first time. "I owe you one."
"Tell that to Jack. I wouldn't have done this if he didn't pressure me into it." Aiden chuckled softly. "Pressure to help a person in need? You are quite the puzzle, Ami."
"Shut up."
Jack finished off another zombie, leaving only two other monsters left. Michael struck down the spider, while Luke smoothly slid his blade upon the zombie. They all breathed a sigh of relief, Izzy whooping a cheer of victory, her hair sticking out in various spots while the rest of her was coated in a thin layer of monster blood. As Jack took a glance around at everyone, they all had the same disheveled look about them. One of the lenses in Michael's glasses was cracked, Charlotte was still recovering from the arrow in her leg, Luke was sweaty and sat on the ground for rest, Ami's braid had completely fallen out, leaving her hair to fly freely, and Aiden had barely recovered from his wounds.
"Holy sh-" Luke's eyes widened when he saw the arrow sticking out of Jack.
"Keep it PG, Luke." Michael said, walking over to Jack. "You okay?"
"Other than the arrow sticking out of me I'm fine. Uh, how do I get this out, anyway?" Michael gave him a sheepish look. "Thing is, you can't. Even if you pull it it won't pop out. After a while it disappears, so all you can really do is endure the pain."
"Bummer." Jack sighed, glaring down at the arrow, as if it had planned on penetrating his skin from the start.
"But what bothers me the most," Michael continued. "Is why you are here, of all people." He glowered at Aiden, who took on a guilty look. "I-I-I-" he stuttered. "I was out th-there, and then m-m-monsters showed up, s-s-so I ran here. I didn't think they would follow me all the way back." Michael's stare bored into Aiden's nerves, making him veer more off the edge. "S-S-Sorry," he broke eye contact, looking at the floor instead.
"You've injured our companions, destroyed our home, and expect to be forgiven?!" Michael bellowed, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"It's not like I meant to!" Aiden defended.
"How do we know that? You disappeared for hours, and show up with a horde of monsters!" Aiden shrunk down.
"Hey," Jack intervened. "That's enough. He's had a hard enough time already, don't you see how much damage he's taken? Give him another chance, we all make mistakes!"
"Don't worm me out of this, arrow boy. I can handle it myself..." He cracked his fists, swaying on his feet and staring at Michael. "I'll fight."
"I'd rather not succumb to such a foolish manner of settling an argument. My judgement is clear: Get out." Michael raised an eyebrow at Aiden's sweaty fist.
"Guys, come on. This isn't necessary. Just give him another shot!" Jack begged. "We've only known him for a few days!"
"A few days is enough, Jack. Trust me." Charlotte drawled gravely. "He's put his toe out of line a number of times. I think it's about time something was done."
Jack's heart raced. He didn't know why he wanted to help him. The reasonable thing to do would be to exclude him from the group. But something inside of Jack screamed Get him out of trouble! He was so nervous that he didn't notice the tall, looming figure teleport behind him. The same figure that he had dismissed in the fight. But he did feel its dull, lavender eyes boring into his skull. And he definitely felt its final blow before he fell to the ground, everything around him spiraling like a corkscrew. The faint cry of the creature falling and the shocked faces of his friends blurred out, leaving only a ringing in his ears.
"Jack!" Ami's voice rang clear through his mind. His vision went red, and everything faded away. He felt himself moan something he couldn't decipher.952Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZiUsSll26
Then he was gone.
Ami knelt beside Jack, watching him fade out of existence. No, she thought. This can't be happening. "Michael! Get him something, anything! Quick!" she cried. Not so soon... He looked at her, for the first time he had no idea what to do. "Michael! Charlotte! Luke! Someone!" She shook Jack, not believing that he was evaporating before her eyes. His legs were gone, they had turned into smoke. His torso was slowly disappearing, and Ami was only becoming more distressed. No! She sobbed, tears falling freely from her face. 952Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgquoeSzAB
"Ami..." his voice was what she clung to. But even that faded away into nothing. The last thing to disappear from her was his face. His jet black, messy hair, darker than black eyes, and his slightly crooked nose. Ami swore to never let the image of Jack disappear from her memory. Jack dissolved to nothing but smoke, vanishing forever.952Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVlem3Bkwo
[Jack was slain by Enderman]952Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkH57Zm39l
Wha...What have I done? To do something as heartless and groundbreaking as what I have just accomplished...feels so...so...good. But, this arises another question. Is anyone safe?
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