I'm So Sorry

Chapter Eighty-Six- The Reveal

Jackie was thrown to the side, the dragon merely shaking him off like a fly.

The hero snarled, racing back at it and hopping onto it's back. A corpse is bound to be slow to start with- and with Jackie's superhuman abilities, it was simply no match in speed...

But speed was one thing, and strength was another entirely.

He poked his hand through a hole in the rotting flesh of its head, where there were no scales to shield its insides. He reached down deep, trying not to gag at the smell or flinch back at the maggots worming their way into its juicy flesh. 

But before he could get to its delectable brains and scatter them some more, he found that the dragon was rushing headfirst towards a building. Oh, great.

Jackie- not wanting to have his full body smushed into a puddle of fucked up organs and stretched out skin that poured into the dragon's head and mixed with its cold blood and mucus- jumped off of the dragon and onto the roof of the building behind it. 

While he was doing that, he was able to get a full view of the situation. Anti was locating people and getting them out so quickly that it was slightly concerning... Marvin had gathered up Robbie's parts and was going back to Henrik now... And Jackie himself was screwed because the dragon was rushing towards the building he was on right now. As Jackie bounced to the next building over, he sent out a silent prayer in hopes that the village wouldn't get too destroyed in the fight... But that would be a hard feat.

The hero refocused his attention on the dragon, who was facing him now. He could tell that it was getting serious. 

It opened its mouth and roared, a jet of black flame reaching over the nearby buildings and catching them ablaze in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, Jackie was on one of those buildings. He let out a scream as the flame burned through him in an unnatural way. It peeled back parts of Jackie's skin, threatening to tear him apart layer by layer.

But he was known for his quick reactions, even when in agonizing pain. He quickly jumped off of the building and rolled down the sloping side of the village's path. He was getting away from the dragon while also doing what every child is taught to do when on fire- stop, drop, and rollllllllll!

By the time the slope ended, Jackie had officially gotten rid of the fire on himself and replaced it with a bunch of dust and dirt. Didn't make him look the best, but it was an improvement from burning to death! True progress.

Unfortunately, he still had a reptile problem.

The ground rumbled as the dragon rushed at him again, full force. Jackie dodged a bolt of fire by hardly a hair, looking around desperately for somewhere that he might hide... Or maybe anybody that could give him BACKUP!!

But the hero had no time to think and could only dodge attack after attack. If he could get back on its head... Or he could try a different approach. The best course of action would be to trap it somehow... If he had asked Marvin to stick around and fight the dragon before putting Robbie back together, they would've had a higher chance of winning.

Jackie wasn't one to complain though. And he was too stubborn to wait for backup.

He rushed towards the dragon, hopping off of a building and onto its back. He pulled a grappling hook from his belt and shot it around one of the creature's horns so that he would stay on even while the dragon was trying to shake him off. 

The creature started running, shaking constantly to get Jackie off. But with his grappling hook, he was able to get back on even when he was knocked to the side. When he reached its head, he hopped onto its snout, turning to face its eyes. He knew that it would try to hit him against something... But that was the plan.

His back started to tingle, and he tensed, but held still. It wasn't time yet. 'Three... Two... One...!' With every second, Jackie's tingling got worse, but he had to time this right... 

'NOW!'

Jackie jumped, flipping back onto the dragon's spine. The creature gave a roar as its head crashed through a wall... Not quite what Jackie had wanted. 

But the hero got an idea as he flicked his wrist a bit, the grappling hook's line doing so as well and making the dragon's head swerve to the left. It was perfect. Unfortunately, it might be a bit hard to steer from the front with only one line... He would need to get something else as well. 

'Damn! I knew I should've brought the backup!' With a snarl, Jackie tried another idea. He pulled the grappling hook back, his superhuman strength making this next part ten times easier. He kept pulling and pulling, pulling the horn of the creature's snout up and up and up... Until it started to go upside-down. 

The creature gave a gurgle-like whine as its neck was snapped. That would be its second death. 

With a sigh, Jackie regathered his hook. That was... Something, for sure. 

"Sh-SH-SH-sh-SssshhhHHHHiiiIIIITTTTT!" Jackie whined, sitting down and whimpering over the burn marks. He couldn't see the full extent of the damage it had done to him, but he knew that it was bad. The only reason he didn't feel it as much before was because he was in a crisis. 

He tried to get up, but he shivered and felt sick... Luckily, his hero suit was fireproof... But his skin sure as hell wasn't! He would sit and wait here for Marvin to get back... And maybe... Take a nap...

For the last time.

------------

Dark dodged Mark's blast, using Demon's aura to lash out in retaliation. 

"Come on, Mark! Use your head! Don't you think it's at least a LITTLE odd that you have such a overwhelming desire to shut me up? What's the harm in just stopping and listening to my words? It's not like you have to believe me!" Dark still tried to communicate.

"You're a liar! All you want is to manipulate me! You're trying to kill me and take the channel! Take my kingdom, even!" Mark snarled, using his own aura to block Demon's and even land a blow on the dark ego. Dark grunted, backing up, "you don't know the first thing about me, Markiplier! In all of the time we've been working together, did I ever even TRY to make you or anyone else do anything? Did I even start conversations with anybody aside from my family?!" Dark growled. 

"It doesn't matter! I MADE you! I know you better than you know yourself- even now, your guilt is killing you!" Mark laughed, hitting too close to home. "I do feel guilty." Dark said, immediately shutting the other up. "I feel guilty for all of my past mistakes. I feel a lot of regret, too."

"I feel guilty for hurting you. I feel guilty for driving you to suicide. I feel guilty for turning you into a monster. I feel regret... " Dark took a deep breath, knowing that now was his chance. This would get through to Mark... Make him realize. "I feel regret for ever marrying you in the first place. I feel regret for coming back. I feel regret for not stopping Fallen, and for falling into your trap. Guilt and regret go hand in hand, old friend."

"...Marry...? So... I... I really am..." For a second, Mark's eyes went to a deep red, but they turned back to brown as the man on the inside realized his reality. Dark snapped his fingers, the sound ringing through Mark's ears and drawing his attention.

"No, Mark. You aren't Actor. Actor is you, canonically."