The spiders were nowhere to be seen in Annie's gallery. All of them have been recalled back by their matriarch.
Instead of spiders, Annie sent out whatever creatures that she sewn together and made to stop the guardians that came forward. They were all freaks of nature. Every single one an amalgamation of horrid monsters and human flesh. No longer alive yet neither dead. Just continued to obey as long as Annie was alive. Her powers flowed through all of them. Her spark of life that she discovered.
Slow orchestral music still played from above. The scent of lilacs covered up the scent of rotten flesh.
Jack made sure that Meanwhile, Mary was in between the circle. She began to figure out for herself how to fire her claws out. From never being able to think it was possible to being adept at it. With just a thought, she was able to fire each every one of her claws. Then, within the second, the claws were regenerate back onto her finger. She would just keep firing all around her.
Tasha continued to lay on Jack's back with two tentacles attached to her head. Jack no longer felt a berserk rage within her. She was able to control herself and not harm her friends in the process of fighting.
The whole team continued to move forward slashing at the monstrosities that laid before them. None of them were any match to the four of them.
But then, the creatures began to retreat. The longer they were near Mary and Jack, the more calm their minds felt. And the longer they fought, the more they began to realize for themselves that it was a suicide mission. They backed off slowly ignoring Annie's orders.
Eventually, one-by-one, they retreated into the shadows only caring about their own safety.
The team moved forward faster as less resistance came to them. But once they made it to a point, they were stopped in their tracks.
They all stood frozen at what they saw. The monsters fled back and revealed what was ahead of them. It was Jack. But not the same Jack that was with them. This one was different. For the most part, she looked the same with some minor scars and stitches. And Annie's signature was on the back of her neck. But otherwise, it was an exact model. It was a fake, though, the girls thought. An art piece known as Jack made by Annie standing in front of them.
Both Jack and Mary were shocked and perplexed at what they were seeing.
But when the fake Jack saw the red-armored girl in front of her, she knew what Annie meant. Annie had ordered her to only allow Jack to go through. She was referring to the one that stood with the other guardians.
"Impossible," Mary said, "This is getting out of hand. Now, there are two of them."
The Jack that stood in front of them blocked their way forward.
"Since, there is two of me, you can refer to me as one of Annie's art or as assistant Jack," the fake Jack said.
Jack bit her lips. She felt angry and insulted that Annie would create this imposter. And even more so that the fake Jack would call itself as an assistant. It brought up naive memories of Jack and Annie that she didn't want to remember.
"What the hell are you?" the real Jack asked. They saw the Annie was able to create some kind of life using dead bodies, but it felt unreal to see two of the same. The Jack they faced looked almost identical to the Jack that Mary knew.
However, unlike the Jack that they all knew, this one was colder. It didn't give off any emotions.
The fake Jack transformed in a blaze of fire. Red armor surrounded her body and when the flames dispersed, she stood there in her guardian form. Almost the same as the other Jack with the exception of a mask and black eyes. She even conjured a flaming machete to hold.
"I have been ordered to stop anybody from passing," the fake Jack said, "Only you can pass, Jack."
"Me?" the real Jack asked.
"I thought that Annie meant that only I could enter, but now that I see you, those orders extend to you as well."
"You didn't answer my question," Jack said, "What the hell are you?"
The fake Jack was silent for a couple of seconds, but then replied, "I'm Jack."
"That's not possible. I'm the real Jack."
"Are you? The real Jack is... well, this conversation would be too personal for everybody to hear. You should speak to Annie about it. I am not even a hundred percent sure what either of us are. You're similar to me, but your mask and black eyes, and my own stitches and internal monster organs. We're not exactly the same, but I will not fight you. You can go forward past this line and through that door. And I assure you that there are no more creatures ahead. As far as I know, only Annie is waiting for you."
Jack wanted to go forward, but that would mean leaving Mary there. Mary noticed that Jack was hesitating, and said, "Go, Jack. Go find Annie and end this. I can handle myself."
Jack nodded her head to Mary. Meanwhile, Tasha continued to be attached to Jack like an accessory. The other Jack saw this, but assumed that it was a part of her like her mask and eyes.
Jack walked forward. When the real Jack was side-by-side with the art piece Jack, she stopped and asked quietly between themselves, "Why are you helping Annie?"
The fake Jack replied, "I don't know. I don't feel chained to her. I am aware of what she has done to us. She killed so many. She didn't kill directly kill our parents, but she didn't save them either. We were her art assistant, and we even saw her as the only friend in the world. Our best friend. But then, she went on a rampage one night. We were there. She's the reason we became Light Guardians because that's what she wanted. I remember having so much rage over her actions, but not anymore. I am nothing but an empty shell, now. A body with memories. But I can still see that you have it. The emotions. Although, you aren't as full of rage as I was expecting."
Jack didn't know what to think of those answers, but before she took another step, the fake Jack muttered, "Annie will enjoy being killed by the thing she loves."
Jack stood still for a moment to try and understand what that meant.
The fake Jack continued with just one more statement before Jack walked away towards the door.
"Avenge us."