Firewall

Chapter 18

"Jack, you are aware that you don't have to do this alone, right?"

Jack slowly looked up at Felix, who had inserted himself into his field of vision. The wind was tossing his sandy brown hair around in a gentle fashion, the setting sun turning the somewhat short strands gold against the brilliant purples and pinks that made up the sunset.

"We have many fighters still within the wall... They can accompany you" Felix continued, looking down over the railing from where they stood on the Firewall "you don't have to do something so dangerous on your own..."

Jack frowned at this, glaring at him before turning away from him "my game... Undertale... its Characters are more than capable of protecting me."

"Jack..." Felix said quietly, gently grabbing hold of Jack's shoulder "you've never even fought with them before... Sure, you know how to summon and communicate with them, yet..."

"Don't yeh remember what Sky said?"

Felix frowned as Jack slowly turned back to look at him, pulling free from his touch "sure, MatPat is skeptical, but... If it really did carry him back, doesn't that mean something?"

"Jack..."

"Don't yeh dare forget that the code of Undertale isn't black and white... I've learned some valuable lessons from my Characters, and... and..." Jack squeezed his eyes shut "as much as I want to kick its ass... I know I won't have the guts to do it... Not with Undertale.

Felix blinked rapidly before his frown grew in size "Jack... are you sure you want to go down there? You appear to be all over the place when it comes to your philosophy!"

"I want to fight it, but I don't want to kill it, alright?" Jack suddenly hissed "I don't see why that's so hard to understand! Besides..." he turned to grab the railing, staring off into the sunset "if anyone is going to find out why it attacked Mark, it should be me."

"And why is that?"

"It's the least I can do" Jack suddenly seemed distant, as if he was now talking to himself, and that Felix wasn't even there anymore "to make up for being a spoiled brat."

"J-Jack... You're not spoiled..."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that." Jack glanced back at Felix, who pursed his lips in response. Jack's icy blue eyes were shining in the light, standing out against the brilliant colors of the sunset "I have everything... And Mark, for all this time, has had nothing... Sure he handled it in a stupid way but... I can understand it."

Jack then turned to look down along the Firewall, where three figures were standing. Felix had personally asked them to stand back so they wouldn't hear their transaction. Jack continued to look at them before looking back up at Felix "plus... I think we're all curious to see what it looks like through the Septic Eye..."

Felix blinked at that, surprised to hear him say that "does... does it even work on Characters?"

"I don't know" Jack admitted, looking down over the railing "but I'm going to try it."

Felix actually winced as Jack then applied his weight onto the railing, swinging over as he prepared to jump off "w-wait!"

Jack blinked and looked up at Felix once more "don't tell me yer scared?" he frowned "I'm not a baby anymore, Felix..."

"J...Just know there's no shame in running away..." Felix found himself stammering "and... I'll have fighters standing by... in case things start heading south..."