Escape from Planet Bossatron: A Septic Story

No Going Back

"Jhack!" Schneeplestein called. "Is zat you, my friend?"
"Yeah," Jack said, seeing the doctor bound to a surgery table. "That doesn't look good, doc."
"Indeed," Schneeplestein sighed, tugging at the bonds a little. "So vat took so long? I'm not complaining, but vat vere you doing?"
"We were making our way here," Jackie said, glancing around the room suspiciously. "And we saved Marvin about an hour ago. He needs your help, doc. Really bad!"
"Very vell," Schneeplestein said. "Just get me out of here first."
"Got it," Jack said, walking towards the table.
"Wait, Jack!" Jackie exclaimed, pulling his friend back. "See that saw over there?"
Jack looked at where Jackie was pointing and saw a circular saw (meant for cutting wood) in the corner of the room. Jack looked back at Jackie.
"Don't tell me that going near that table will activate it," Jack frowned.
Jackie nodded, but then Evie spoke.
"It has already been activated," she said.
"What?" Jack exclaimed, looking down at her.
"It was meant to go off when the door trap was undone," Evie said. "Look."
Right on cue, the saw began to move towards the table that Schneeplestein was lying on. At the same time, the saw blade started to spin.
"Oh son of a beetch," Schneeplestein sighed, looking back at it. "Not zis shit again."
"Time for your surgery," a robotic voice came form the saw. "Do not worry. It will not hurt a bit."
"Yes," Schneeplestein said, "somehow I doubt zat."
The saw blade came to a stop at the foot of the table when Jack realized that Jackie was no longer next to him. The next thing Jack knew, Jackie was jumping onto the table that the doctor was on, holding a metal table used for holding medical appliances.
Jackie held the table over his head and met the saw with it, trying to slow it's progress towards the doctor.
"JhackieBoyMan," Schneeplestein said, "vat zee f**k? Vhere did zis come from?"
"You've seen him like this before, doc," Jack frowned. "He's gotten this crazy before."
"Yes, but vat happened zat he's like zis?"
"Jack!" Jackie said, looking to be struggling with the saw blade. "Cut the doctor free! Then we won't have to worry about keeping this thing away from him!"
"Right!" Jack said, pulling his backpack off again and fishing out a pocket knife. "Hang on, doctor!"
"Hurry!" Jackie said, starting to get pushed down by the saw. Sparks were starting to fly as the metal scraped against each other.
Jack sprinted to the operating table and began to cut at the leather straps holding the doctor down. It was pretty easy to get them cut, especially with his adrenaline pumping. Jack got all the straps cut before Jackie had to get to his knees to keep the saw from hitting the doctor.
"Got it!" Jack said after getting the last strap cut. "Come on, doc!"
Schneeplestein slid out from underneath Jackie and rolled onto the floor. Jack helped him to his feet and looked back at Jackie.
"JackieBoyMan!" He called. "Let's go!"
So Jackie rolled out from underneath the table he was holding and onto the floor. He scrambled to his feet and he, Jack, and the doctor ran out of the room and into the hallway.
"Is it following us?" Jack questioned.
"Let's not stick around to find out," Schneeplestein said. "Let's go!"
So they began running down the hall and toward the stairs. That's when one of the doors near the stairs flew open. The three of them skidded to a halt, seeing something stomp out of the room.
It seemed to be a giant monster that was made of huge doctor tools. Its hands were forceps, it had some scalpels sticking out here and there, its head appeared to be a heart monitor, and there was a giant needle sticking out of its chest.
"HOLY SHIT!" Jackie exclaimed, starting to back away. "WHAT THE F**K, ANTI?"
"His head is f**ked up," Jack said as they backed away.
"Is there anozer set of stairs or somezing?" Schneeplestein asked. "An elevator, maybe?"
"It isn't working, doc!" Jackie shook his head. "We checked!"
"And the only stairs are past that thing!" Jack said, nodding at the hospital monster.
"Zat's just vonderful!" Schneeplestein yelled sarcastically.
Eventually, the monster backed them into the wall at the end of the hall.
"Oh f**k," Jack said.
"Quick!" Jackie said, grabbing the doctor by the jacket. "In here!"
Jackie pulled Schneeplestein into the room next to them and motioned for Jack to follow.
"Come on, Jack!" He exclaimed.
Jack made a move to follow, but the monster reached out its forcep hands and grabbed Jack around the middle.
"AH! F**K!" He shouted. "SAM! WHAT DO I DO?"
Sam hopped up and down on Jack's shoulder, tapping his optic nerve to the side of Jack's head.
    "No!" Schneeplestein yelled. "Sam, don't tell him to—!"
    "Sh!" Jackie exclaimed.
    Sam continued to persist in telling Jack what he thought.
"I know, I know!" Jack said, eyeing the giant needle as the monster raised him into the air. "But I have to do something now! I don't have time to focus!"
Sam's optic nerve slapped across Jack's face, surprisingly hurting him. Jack looked at Sam in surprise.
"Did you just slap me?" He exclaimed.
"JHACK!" Schneep yelled, trying to run out of the room he and Jackie were hiding in.
"No!" Jackie said, pulling Schneep back. "Wait! Jack! You can do it!"
Jack nodded, closed his eyes, and tried to focus on building up power. Nothing seemed to happen as the monster stopped lifting him into the air.
Sam continued to hop up and down, trying to rile Jack up.
"Now release it from your hand!" Jackie instructed. He had understood what Jack and Sam were trying to do. "Focus, Jack!"
"AHHHH!" Jack yelled, trying to make something happen. But nothing did. No sort of power was building, and the monster was bringing him closer to the giant needle. It was going to skewer him!
And he couldn't do anything.
"Jhack!"
"I can't!" Jack yelled, squeezing his eyes shut, preparing for impact.
"HUAH!" Jackie yelled, grabbing the monster around the middle and pushing it to throw it off balance. The monster stumbled, making it pull Jack away from the needle. It didn't let him go, but at least he wouldn't be stabbed.
Jack opened his eyes in time to see this happen. Then, he started struggling against the forceps, trying to pry them off of him.
"Hang on, Jack!" Jackie said, punching the monster in its heart monitor face. The screen cracked and the forceps holding Jack loosened enough for Jack to escape.
He fell to the ground on his knees and tried to catch his breath. That thing had been holding him tightly!
"Jhack!" Schneeplestein exclaimed, running out of the room and crouching next to Jack. "Are you alvright?"
"I think so," Jack said shakily, allowing Schneeplestein to help him to his feet. "Let's get out of here, okay?"
"Right!" Jackie said, giving Jack a nod. "Sam! Stun this asshole!"
Sam hopped once on Jack's shoulder and a beam of green light shot out of him, hitting the monster in the heart monitor. The monitor went out and the monster stopped moving.
"Let's go," Schneeplestein said. "Zat von't hold it for long!"
They ran towards the stairs, but just before they reached them, the monster reawakened and reached its forceps out. It quickly grabbed Jackie by the ankle.
"Oh shit!" Jackie yelped, falling to the ground. "Help!"
Sam took the initiative on his own this time and shot power from his optic nerve, hitting the monster in the heart monitor. It let go of Jackie with a monstrous roar. Jackie scrambled to his feet, and they all sprinted down the stairs. They didn't stop until they were outside of the hospital and right next to the truck.
"F**k!" Jack gasped as they came to a stop. "That was close!"
"What happened back there, Jack?" Jackie frowned. "Why didn't you use your power?"
"I couldn't...," Jack said. "I tried, but nothing happened. I think it's gone."
"Zat is not surprising," Schneeplestein sighed. "JhackieBoyMan, you should've known better. You too, Sam."
    Sam seemed to droop in shame.
"Oh," Jackie said, seeming to understand what the doctor meant. "R-right. It's okay, though, Jack."
"Right," Jack nodded. "Let's get out of here and find Jameson and Chase."
Schneeplestein gave Jack a worried look, noticing the disappointment on his face. He decided it would be best to change the subject.
"I have a patient to look after, yes?" Schneeplestein questioned.
"Oh yeah!" Jackie exclaimed. The he sprinted to the back of the truck and opened the doors. "Steve?"
"You get him?" Steve asked, looking out. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah," Jackie nodded. "Everything worked out!"
"Good," Steve said with a sigh of relief. "Marvin and Mr. Fluffington are still asleep."
"Let's see vat ve got here," Schneeplestein said, climbing into the car. "Vat happened to zem? You didn't say."
"They almost drowned," Jack said, getting into the back of the truck after Jackie and the doctor. "Marvin more than Mr. Fluffington, though. Mr. Fluffington's probably just tired."
"Hm," Schneeplestein said, taking a look a Marvin. He started checking his pulse, listening to his heart and lungs, and checking his muscles and such. Finally, he nodded with a smile.
"He's just fatigued right now," the doctor said. "Sleep is zee best sing for him vright now. Did he need CPR?"
"Yeah," Steve nodded. "JackieBoyMan had to give it to him."
"Vell he did a good job," Schneeplestein said, giving Jackie a smile. "Vell done, JhackieBoyMan."
"Thanks, doc," Jackie smiled.
There was a small pause, and then Schneeplestein turned to Jack.
"Did he cry?" Schneeplestein smirked.
Jack smiled. "Yes, he did."
"I DID NOT CRY!" Jackie exclaimed defensively.
🔪🎧🔪
Jack was now riding in the back of the truck with Marvin, Mr. Flufington, Schneeplestein, and Sam. They were both silent for a while, Schneeplestein because he was checking on Marvin. Jack was silent because he was thinking about what had happened in the hospital.
It hadn't worked. The power was gone. But Jack wasn't entirely sure of how to feel.
Jack would've felt useless if he wasn't relieved about it. Yes, Jack hadn't wanted that power. It reminded him of how much of an asshole the old him had been. After the memories had all returned, Jack had realized that there had been more reasons that his old self had decided to banish himself and Anti. It hadn't been just for the safety of the planet or his friends.
And Jack didn't want to be that asshole. He knew that he had been one in his past life. That was why the others had been giving him such strange looks whenever he acted kindly and considerately with them. They had been expecting him to say what he would've said before. Here was hoping that they didn't actually want that.
"Jhack," Schneeplestein said quietly.
Jack looked up. "Hm?"
"Vee don't expect you to be zee same as that, you know," Schneeplestein said.
Jack gave the doctor a small smile. "You always know what I'm thinking, don't you?"
"Vell I am a part of you," Schneeplestein said with a shrug. "Zat vill not change. I know how you sink. Vee all do."
"Anti was right about me before, you know," Jack said. "When I talked to him earlier today, he called me selfish and vain. We had always told him that he was wrong in the past, but he wasn't."
"Jhack-,"
"No," Jack said, "he was right. And here's why: when you guys first came, I didn't want you. I didn't want your help or anything. I may have acted like I cared, but I didn't. I was angry with Selah for cloning me. I was angry that I wouldn't be the only one with the glory anymore. To put it simply, I was a selfish prick."
"But —!" Schneeplestein frowned.
"Eventually I cared," Jack said. "But only a little bit. At first, I hated all of you. But I learned... with Anti though, I think I learned too late. That's what happened to him. It wasn't that he was jealous of my power. He was upset that I put my power over our friendship... I'm not the old Jack. I've never been a part of him, and he's never been a part of me. We're two different people, just sharing the same body and voice. He's like another ego, I guess."
    There was a pause.
    "No," Schneeplestein said.
    "Huh...?" Jack asked, surprised at this response.
    "Jhack," Schneep said, "I don't zink I have zee time to discuss zis all vith you now, but I must tell you zis: everysing you remembered... It's not true."
    "Wh-what?" Jack asked. "But I—!"
    "It's zis place's history," Schneep said with a sigh. "Zat is vhat you remember. But zis place... it vas made for us. Your egos. Your mirrors. You have not had two lives as vee told you before."
    "Then why did you tell me that...?" Jack asked.
    "Because vee needed you to be avare of vhat zis place expects of you," Schneep said. "Only your mirrors, like JhackieBoyMan, Marvin, and myself, as vell as Sam, truly know vhat is and isn't real. Zis place; its history... zhey're all fake."
    "Okay...," Jack said. "So what's with all the weird looks you guys have been giving me...?"
    "Oh zat?" Schneep said. "Vee veren't entirely sure if zis place has effected you at all. It's jhust a check-up. Don't vant you to take up zee mantle of zee character you saw."
    "Oh," Jack said.
    "Be vee're getting too into zis," Schneep said. "Vonce zis is all over and you go back home, zen vee can discuss it further. Understood?"
    "Okay," Jack said. "So... about Anti."
    "Vright," Schneep said. "Vhat are you sinking?"
"I have a feeling," Jack said. "There's more to all this. He knows that he'll stop existing if he kills me, so why is he trying so hard?"
Schneeplestein frowned at this.
    "Vright," he said. "Zat's been bothering me as vell. I thought it vas all an act. But is he really acting so serious about it?"
    Jack nodded.
"Yeah," Jack said. "He's always failed, though.  I've always come out okay despite what he did. He doesn't want to, even if it's only because he'll stop existing. And he wouldn't give me a straight answer whenever I asked him about it. He just kept jumping around it."
"Hm," Schneeplestein said. "Did he say anysing zat might give us a clue?"
"I mean," Jack frowned, "the whole point of finding and saving everyone is supposed to help me 'see the whole picture' as Anti put it. The only other thing that really stuck out to me was the fact that he existed just to kill me."
"Zat's not vat he usually says," Schneeplestein pointed out. "He usually says zat he is just your dark side. The more angry and violent part of you."
"Exactly," Jack said. "There's more to it. And I think Anti wants us to find out. He just can't tell us."