(Saturday, 6th of Verdant Garden Moon)
"Oh hey, it looks like we finally arrived back at Sanctuary." Jack looked up at Sanctuary from the bus that sat in the parking lot.
"About time too." Iris began jogging in place on the bus. "I was getting anxious, I wanted to move around a bit. I can't stand sitting in one place too long, I gotta keep myself moving!"
Chariot was parked outside of Sanctuary's walls, and one by one, each of the group members got out of the bus. Simo looked around the area before giving a thumbs up, and Catherine walked out of the bus wearing Red Riding Hood. Once everyone was out of the bus, Jack put his palm on the hood of the bus, and the bus turned into a brown colored toy truck that could fit in the palm of Jack's hand. Jack put this toy truck in his chest pocket while escorting Catherine to the entrance of the school. Jack's group walked to the front gate of the school, only to see Maui standing there, tapping his foot as though he was waiting for something.
"Guys, psst, you may need to go through the water cave entrance!" Maui did that loud whisper thing whilst constantly checking behind him. When the group reached him, he just whispered normally. "Hassan warned me that his father and Catherine's old man caught wind of what we're trying to pull, so the Heliosian Emperor sent someone to ensure the wedding goes as scheduled."
"Who's Hassan and this other person?" Jack asked, not really following the conversation at all, but he still summoned the Storyteller for no reason.
"Hassan's the name of my fiancé, and he's against the arrangement as well." Catherine looked at you. "Don't tell me you didn't know who my fiancé was, even after you offered to protect him. Wait, isn't he also your classmate?"
"No idea, I never bothered to remember anyone's names." Jack answered whilst looking back at Maui. "So where's this random guard anyways?"
"Nikola's trying to keep him distracted." Maui informed the group, but the sound of someone's footsteps behind him suddenly put Maui on guard. "Well crap, looks like he found us. Not sure what I expected, remember, Hassan is an Atitian Assassin, but the Heliosian guy is much more dangerous than that. He can copy and use abilities."
"A what?" Jack wondered if all nobles were a unique class like that. If so, what was Catherine's class?
"Think 'Time Ninja' and you'd be pretty on the money." Robin scowled as Maui reluctantly stepped aside, unable to do anything. Well, he could punch the guy, but then he'd run the risk of starting a war and violating his truce of neutrality.
"So you finally arrived, Catherine." The one who spoke up was a pale man with slick black hair, wearing a pitch black suit with a red tie. "You remember me, right Catherine? I am Dorian, and I am the one who ensures his majesty's will is always seen through."
"Sorry Catherine..." The guy who was supposedly Hassan was an Atitian man with platinum blonde hair and cyan blue eyes. "Of everyone your father sent, it had to be Dorian?"
"Come on Catherine, let's go talk with Herakles so we can figure out where you'll sleep." Jack held Catherine's hand using his spare hand, ignoring Dorian completely as the two of them walked past him. "Oh Hassan, you wanna come with?"
"Hey, I'm still talking, you heretic!" Dorian suddenly spun around to look at Jack dead in the eyes. "Who are you to deny this marriage that has been decided by the gods themselves?! To defy the Emperor is to defy the will of Sol himself, you have quite the audacity! So who are you?!
"A reality check." Jack scowled at the mann before he continued deeper into the walls of Sanctuary. "Look, neither Hassan or Catherine wanna do this, so get over it."
"They said yes to the arranged marriage, you fool." Dorian had a golden machete in his clasp, around 30 centimeters in length. In the center of the blade, Jack saw a cyan crystal.
"Don't use words taken out of context." Jack looked back at Dorian, who looked annoyed, yet was doing an amazing job at hiding it.
"Whether or not she's against it doesn't matter anymore, ever since she said 'yes' on that day fifteen years ago, she was never allowed to back out." Dorian watched Jack let go of Catherine's hand. "So leave so we may discuss the wedding pla-"
"YEET THE BADGER." Jack used his now free hand to throw the badger at Dorian, who appeared to teleport to the side with an annoyed expression. "Damn, that almost always works."
"Dude, he completely copied my class and abilities, so he can control time like I can!" Hassan decided to help Jack out by giving him crucial information. "That machete in his hands is mine, and it allows him to create and control golden daggers!"
"Your go to attack is to throw a honey badger?" Dorian asked before Jack's fist suddenly collided with his cheek.
Jack's punch only made Dorian stumble a bit whilst scowling. Dorian's eyes glowed a cyan color, matching his now glowing gem. Dorian created three small knives in his spare hand, and out of nowhere, they were launched at Jack. Jack used his prosthetic leg to launch himself backwards into the courtyard of Sanctuary. As he lept, Jack grabbed Catherine's hand and carried her away from Hassan during his jump. Jack landed in the center of the courtyard, and out of the knives' range, then Jack set Catherine down.
"JACK, ARE YOU INSANE?!" Robin shouted in disbelief of Jack# actions, while Jack got into a stance with Storyteller.
"YES, ABOUT TIME YOU NOTICED!" Jack shouted back with a grin. "Hey Catherine, I need to hear it from your mouth. Do you wish to marry Hassan? Remember, no one can force you to do anything you don't want to do."
"No, I don't want to marry Hassan." Catherine answered Jack with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"And how about you Hassan?!" Jack shouted over to Hassan, who was surprised by Jack's insanity.
"I don't want to marry Princess Catherine!" Hassan had the same glimmer of hope as Catherine.
"Being truthful is good for the soul." A familiar voice came from behind Jack, so Jack looked behind himself to see Alice. Alice's hand were covered in magic designs, and she held a marker in her dominant hand. Jack aimed Storyteller at Dorian. "As for you, Dorian, you still have a lot to learn when it comes to people. Hey Jack, wanna throw hands with this guy?"
"You know it." Jack was glad to see he had the help of his best friend alongside him.
"Remember guys, he can freeze time, reverse time, and speed up time because he copied Hassan's abilities." Catherine reminded Jack and Alice, and he began to wonder if Storyteller would be enough, so he made the sword disappear to make Chain Breaker the heavy chainsaw appear in its place. "He could have copied mine too, but given how I don't see my family's weapon, I'm guessing he chose not to."
"OI, SIMO, JOJO, GIVE A GUY A HAND WILL YA?!" Jack shouted at his two companions before revving up Chainbreaker, which began to rotate so quickly that blue and yellow flames began to emit from the spinning blades. "WE HAVE A CUNT TO SPLIT OPEN."
"Jojo, we may die in this fight, but it was an honor to fight alongside you." Simo looked down at your honey badger, which hissed in reply. "I can't believe my life has sunk so low that I would say that to a badger. My superiors would be so disappointed in me."
Simo aimed his submachine gun at Dorian's head and pulled the trigger, causing a volley of bullets to spray out. Dorian disappeared from the spot Simo was aiming at, and Dorian appeared crouched in front of Jack holding his machete in one hand while holding a small golden knife in the other hand. Dorian slashed upwards towards Jack's face. Alice's hand was covered in black flames as she punched Dorian away from Jack with surprising strength. Dorian was a bit phased as Jack grabbed Dorian's collar and prepared Chain Breaker for a downwards slash, only for Dorian to disappear once again. Yet Jack checked the hand he used to grab Dorian collar to see that he still had a piece of clothing in his hand. Dorian appeared behind Jack in an attempt to stab him, but Alice shot an eldritch blast at Dorian, who disappeared again.
"It's useless, how can you defeat me when you can't even touch me?" Dorian appeared whilst standing on top of a statue of Herakles.
"The same way I defeat everyone, with batshit insanity and crackhead levels of violence." Jack used his leg to launch himself towards Dorian, only for the assassin to disappear whilst golden knives launched themselves from the spot Dorian was earlier towards Jack. "FACK!"
In Jack's spare hand, he summoned the Stick, which was just a stick with an orb. Jack spun around in the air whilst the orb of the stick glowed a white color, creating a miniature tornado around Jack's body. To help protect him, Alice summoned a wind elemental to blow away most of the knives. The combined strength of the tornado's powerful gusts and the elemental's winds knocked the knives away from Jack's body, allowing Jack to land against one of Sanctuary's walls. Jack watched Simo try to shoot Dorian using his rifle, only for the assassin to disappear. Dorian appeared behind Alice, Jack used Anubis without a second thought, forcing Dorian to dodge the jackal head that emerged from the ground.
"Sorry everyone, but I'm gonna have to ask that you go inside until this fight is over!" Maui ran through the battlefield, making sure to dodge knives and bullets to ensure all the refugees don't get hurt in the crossfire.
Jack jumped from the wall towards Dorian while he was busy dealing with the bullets and Alice's eldritch blasts, using the Stick to enhance his wind elemancy's proficiency to the point where he could still the air around him to make himself completely silent. Jack reached Dorian and slashed his back with Chain Breaker, leaving behind a nasty gnash that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip. Dorian tried cutting Jack, but the wind elemental Alice summoned shot a powerful gust of wind that sent Dorian flying.
"That's it...no more Mr. Nice Guy." Golden knives suddenly began to surround Dorian's body as they spun around him in an orbit, all in a perfectly circular manner. "You're getting on my nerves."
"We done fucked up." Alice stood next to Jack, looking somewhat nervous.
"Aw bloody waffle hell." Jack jumped away from Dorian as the knives launched themselves at him and Alice, leaving noticeable cracks in the cobblestone ground. As for Alice, she summoned a set of demonic wings to allow her to fly away from the knives.
Jack made Chain Breaker and the Stick disappear before summoning Little Daylight. Jack landed on the ground far away from Dorian and aimed Little Daylight at the man, who summoned a ring of knives in front of himself. Alice created multiple black rings in front of Jack. Jack fired the first trigger, causing blasts of green energy to shoot out from the top barrel. After each blast went through the rings, each of the blasts grew stronger and stronger with every ring they passed through. Dorian disappeared, dodging the first blast with ease, followed by the second blast rushing towards him. Dorian disappeared once again, this time heavily breathing. Dorian launched the ring of knives towards Jack, but Alice had Jack's back. Alice created a black magic circle that sucked in the golden knives like a black hole before disappearing. Dorian appeared above Alice with his machete and spare knife raised above his head, and Jack fired Little Daylight at Dorian. Dorian was forced to dodge, but Jack noticed that Dorian didn't bother to remove the marker from Alice's hand.
Suddenly, Jack understood how the abilities Dorian stole from Hassan worked perfectly.
"Simo, Alice, take the shot!" Jack shouted, and Dorian appears to have teleported from above Jack, to directly in front of Jack, just like he predicted. Jack used the Shadow to create hands from Hassan's shadow that held him in place. "Sucka!"
Dorian tried slashing at Jack with his machete, so Jack blocked the the swing by using Little Daylight. The cannon was sent away from Jack. Jack knew Dorian surpassed himself in melee combat, and could easily close the distance between the two while also throwing in surprise attacks at random, yet Jack could see a weakness. Dorian had to duck beneath the bullet and blast of black energy from Simo and Alice respectively.
"Mockingbird!" Jack shouted, and the bird pin on his chest flowed yellow, followed by a variety of tropical birds appearing from the nearby trees, bushes, and even windows. Jack knew that these birds weren't in those places, but rather, they were summoned in those places. The birds swarmed around Dorian, and he cut one in half using his knife, only for it to turn to smoke and disappear.
Whenever he stops time, he can't move or interact with anything that isn't him or clothes. Even when he throws his knives, he needs to deactivate his time freeze ability for them to actually go anywhere. That's why parts of his clothes were left behind when he escaped Jack's grasp, because his hand doesn't move in stopped time! That also must be why he can't just stab someone a bunch of times or even cut off a finger. In order for him to cut through something, he needs time to resume. So whenever he stops time, he places himself into a world where he can't move or damage anything!
"What's the matter Dorian?" Jack asked the man before jumping into the air and dual wielding Bonnie and Clyde. "You can get out of this, can't ya?"
Out of nowhere, all the birds were pierced by golden knives, flying away from Dorian, then Jack remembered that this idiot can telekinetically control knives. Some knives were about to strike Jack, but Alice created a barrier of hellfire in front of the man. Jack jumped towards the wall behind him to get some distance, then jumped upwards to avoid the knives, creating a line of daggers up the wall. Jack aimed down with his pistols at Dorian before letting forth a volley of bullets. Dorian disappeared before reappearing at the base of the line of daggers. He then proceeded to use the daggers as stepping stones while dodging black fireballs from Alice. Dorian made his way up the wall before finally reaching Jack and jumping into the air.
"You fight like a girl." Dorian tried to insult Jack as he slashed at him using both knives, but Alice summoned an earth elemental made from the bricks of Sanctuary to protect Jack.
"Have you seen how Alice and Mifu fight?" Jack asked before the golem kicked Dorian's chest, causing Dorian to fall towards the courtyard. "That's a compliment my dude."
"Thanks bestie!"
Jack fired both Bonnie and Clyde at Dorian, but as Jack aimed at him, he noticed something odd; Dorian was falling slower. The closer he reached the ground, the slower he appeared to move. Jack then remembered that Dorian could slow time as well, so he must be slowing time around him to allow himself to fall slower. Jack shot both Bonnie and Clyde at Dorian, but he summoned more hovering daggers to form a shield in front of him, blocking him from Jack's bullets. As Jack fired, a pair of daggers appeared right in front of him.
"Yikes!" Jack watched as the knives were countered by an eldritch blast from Alice and Jack replaced Bonnie and Clyde with Giant's Path. "Looks like telekinetic knives still work in frozen time."
Jack jumped off the rooftop with Giant's Path raised into the air, and Dorian looked at Jack before going wide eyed. Jack slammed the battleaxe on top of the make-shift shield, slamming into the ground as well. The two men both landed on the cobblestone ground, with Dorian landing on his back and Jack landing on his prosthetic foot. Dorian also had to deal with the axe on top of him, blocking it using only the two knives in his hand. Simo also fired a shot at Dorian from his spot, but out of nowhere, everything went grey and froze in place. The only things still in color and moving were Jack and Dorian. Dorian slipped out from underneath the axe, and the axe fell into the ground. Hassan looked shocked that Jack could still move.
"How the hell can you still move?" Dorian's eyes were filled to the brim with terror.
"Analysis complete." Ariel's voice suddenly appeared in Jack's head, and a single, crimson colored angel's wing made of flames emerged from the left side of his back. "That is me and Uriel's shared ability. I analyze anything that would hinder you, and Uriel uses my analysis to allow you to move."
"Now let's kick his ass!" From the right side of Jack's back, an angel's wing made of golden flames shot out along with Uriel's voice in your head.
"Well to answer your question, the laws of physics don't really apply to me." Jack switched Giant's Path to Storyteller. "So undo this time stop thing already, and save your energy, you're gonna need it."
Jack wasn't sure how, maybe it was muscle memory, but he lunged at Dorian just as he forced time to resume again. Dorian barely dodged Jack's strike, with his shoulder now cut before trying to stab Jack's stomach. To prevent Dorian from stabbing him, Jack spun around the stab to deliver an elbow blow to Dorian's nose, and he could see blood begin to spill out from the nose. Jack raised Storyteller into the air, and violently slashed down. For the briefest of seconds, Jack's swing emitted a green echo that appeared to mimic the exact movements of the swing, but with Giant's Path. Dorian summoned golden knives all around Jack in a dome, all pointing at Jack with the intent to kill. The amount of golden knives that made up the dome made it impossible to see the inside of the dome. Upon seeing this; Alice landed on the ground after flying and she began to hear whispers. Alice was too worried for her best friend's safety to care about the whispers.
"...kill..."
"Whoever said that can wait!" Alice aimed both her palms at Dorian before firing a giant eldritch blast towards Dorian.
Dorian tried to dodge in frozen time, but to his horror, the spell was still moving even in frozen time. Dorian was forced to roll away from the blast. Dorian quickly regained composure and made it seem like he dodged the attack effortlessly. Meanwhile, Jack held Storyteller close, getting the sudden feeling to say something. Jack had no other ideas, so he said one phrase.
"Storyteller, tell us a story." As Jack said this, he thought of Little Daylight, which was still outside of the dome, lying on the ground.
Jack blinked, and he was outside of the dome, looking at Dorian's back from a distance while he struggled to control the dome of golden colored knives. At Jack's feet, Little Daylight rested, waiting for Jack's touch. Jack picked up Little Daylight with his spare hand and silently walked towards Dorian. Alice noticed Jack was now out of the dome, and she smiled before deciding to hold off her attacks.
"I'll give you the count of three to surrender before I let all these knives fly at you!" Dorian shouted at the dome, thinking that Jack was still inside of it. "1...2..."
"3." Jack was now right behind Dorian, who didn't have enough time to react before being met with Jack's most powerful attack.
A kick in the family jewels whilst using the prosthetic leg's super mode.
Dorian let out the loudest scream anyone has ever heard as the golden knives disappeared from the air, and the assassin collapsed on the ground. Jack dismissed both of his weapons, and his wings disappeared. Jack looked at the entrance of the main academy building to see Herakles, Geppetto, Juana, Angelo, Matt, and Hero walking out to see what the commotion was. Herakles stomped towards Jack, looking pissed as hell before silently picking up Dorian and throwing the assassin over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then Herakles grabbed Jack by the shoulder and angrily pulled Jack into the main school building all without saying a word to Alice, who was talking to Geppetto, who was making sure Alice was okay. Jack was forced to go down the empty hallway with Herakles, fearing for his life, Jack was already planning an escape route. Just before Jack could run, he heard Herakles laughing.
"Hehehehe...nice job kid." Herakles gave Jack a pat on the back. "Sorry if I scared ya like that, I had to put on the appearance that I was pissed at you because if I walked out all happy and shit, Atitian and Heliosian nobles have assumed I planned this."
"Wait, you're glad that I assaulted one of your brother's assassins?" Jack gave the man a puzzled look.
"Well, yes and no." Herakles pat the unconscious man on the back. "You see, while I am mad that you beat up someone out of the blue, you also made it impossible for the arranged marriage to occur by removing the only person here who would dare force people who don't love each other to get married. Plus, I doubt Dorian would want to invoke your wrath again, so he'll call off the marriage in our behalf. So in other words, you saved my niece, and for that I thank you. Sincerely."
"Hey, no problem, he was a cocky bastard anyway." Jack shrugged as the two men walked down the hall. "So what now?"
"Now I'm gonna make up a story that a student went rogue and roughed up Dorian before running away." Herakles explained. "Then I'll tell my brother that Catherine will be staying here so she can develop her skills and talents properly so she can defend herself from an attack like this."
"Man that is corruption at its finest." Jack smirked while jamming his thumbs into his pockets.
"So is forcing a some kids into a marriage she doesn't want just because of the actions of her naive child self." Herakles gave a warm and proud smile. "Don't go thinking you're getting out of this without a punishment. No, you have to do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 pull ups, and run 10 kilometers a day."
"Y-Yes sir."