Spread Your Damn Wings Already || Jack

Not really all that long ago, Jack could have been the person that people often considered the class clown. Always trying to make people happy, always goofing around, smiling, being a generally very happy person. Things have been going good for the last few months; he had good friends, a peaceful environment, and, most importantly to him, a beautiful and loving girlfriend in Meara; a person that Jack has already had the thought of spending the rest of his life with her. He was whole; and he honestly couldn't have asked for anything more.

And then...the prison break. That damnable prison break happened.

He didn't know all of what had happened, just that Meara had been attacked by some villain that injected a heavily addictive drug into her, and she's been feeling the pain of it ever since. It's only been a downward spiral from there; Jack just doing his best to give her whatever she needed; whether it be space, or food, or cuddles...whatever she asked within reason, he gave it. It wasn't enough. It just got worse...and then-

Gone. Gone, gone, gone...

She was gone. She had called for help, but by the time they got there, she was gone. Taken. 

And Jack blamed no one but himself.

He laid on his back in Ground Alpha, his wings fully spread out, wearing nothing except his baggy training pants, bracers, and boots. Two chains hung from his neck; one being the obvious necklace he always wore; the other being a golden locket, a gift from Meara for his birthday, among other things. Inside was a picture of the two of them that he took on their first date, after they had confessed their feelings to one another. It was a warm memory; probably the only thing preventing Jack from going a rampage, or a massive depression meltdown.

It only helped so much, of course. His horns and gem on his chest - the latter of which appeared only because of his stress, because why wouldn't it have - glowed a dim purple shade. He heaved a deep sigh, a big puff of steam emitting from his mouth. He was hardly much in the mood to do anything; but, of course, someone at the least tried to reach out and suggest doing something that would cheer him up a little bit. It had been a little bit since Jack had flown; maybe it would help something. Or maybe it'll make him feel worse. Who knows?

Jack glanced over and began to sit up as he detected Jaz coming over to him. He raised an eyebrow at her at her greeting. "We're hardly that different in age, you know," he replied, though he didn't seem to have any emotion in his tone. There were still tear stains on his face from all the crying he had been doing not long ago. He stood up; at least the only thing that hadn't suffered much from all of this was his slim and muscular build. Even if it was all compacted into a five-foot-tall build. 

"I'm alive. As emo as it sounds, I'm not really sure how good that sounds right now." He stretched himself out a little, letting his wings go out a little bit further as well, easily quadrupling...no, sextupling his size in length. It was a wonder how he managed to really keep all of that as compacted as he did normally. "...I'm surprised you even offered to do this for me. Last thing I remember doing with you was getting dunked into the lake because my Quirk was acting haywire...damn hiccups," he commented, chuckling darkly at the memory. Back then, he was barely anything more than a hatchling; he hadn't even grown in his wings yet.

What did that make him now, he wondered? Meh. Probably not that important all things considered.

Jack's gaze remained the same at Jasmine's reply to them being the same age. All things considered, they've both had really rough lives. The main thing that Jack held to heart after all was that money couldn't buy happiness - hence why he was more than willing to use what he works for and his (rather ludicrously large) allowance to either donate to charity, put into savings, or buy smaller things for people, from food to the occassional gift. The main difference was how they both took it - Jack's already heightened emotions had a pronounced effect on the boy, otherwise he may well act the same as Jasmine did herself, give or take. He said nothing on the matter, but simply snorted out a bit of steam as a response.

Nonetheless, he replied how he was alive and unsure as to how he felt about it. The girl then said how sometimes that was all they could really hope for. As the dragon boy stretched, he did ponder on that. Sometimes life could be just as painful as death - maybe even moreso. The difference there was more how it effected the world and people around you. It was ironic, in a sense. You're either bringing on more pain to yourself or more pain to the people closest to you. He grimaced lightly at that thought, considering his current position. He shook his head, dismissing the comment and moving on with the conversation.

Jack actually looked a little surprised himself at Jasmine's surprise. He didn't really think about why she was really coming out to help him like this - for all he knew it was more just a pity thing, all things considered. She seemed genuine in her wanting to help Jack improve, though. She even went as far as to recognize his own strength, the light compliment making the dragon boy's eyes narrow lightly. He didn't FEEL strong, especially right now. While another hiccup fit was probably never going to happen again, it was by no means something that could have helped him help the one person he loved. He hated himself for all that had happened - at his inability to do anything.

He supposed that's part of why she was here, however.

He narrowed his eyes lightly in response to her little wager. He simply crossed his arms, knowing well that meant either she was going to hold back on him, or completely leave him in the dust. He was no fool - especially right now. However, he played along lightly, rolling his shoulders - both sets, including his wings - and cracked his neck a bit. "Payback's not my thing. Believe me when I say every time I've thought about that kind of stuff it's never sat right. Same thing applies now, especially when we both know how it's going to end," he said flatly, still crouching down with his wings spread nonetheless. He had thought about revenge in the past - both for all the shit that people like Saito had done to him, for his sister attacking him, and for the bitch that put Meara through all of this to begin with. However...it never sat right. It wasn't who Jack was as a person - it would only leave him feeling hollow, at most. The same applies most certainly now.

He would wait for Jasmine to get into position, taking a deep breath, exhaling enough steam to make it look like there was a motor in his lungs. He would let the tension sit there for a moment, his horns and gem glowing their brilliant azure hue as he prepared himself for aerial combat. "...GO!" he would exclaim, taking off into the air like a bullet, flapping his wings every now and again as he soared into the air rather majestically. He wouldn't look back - his mind was already in the game as he soared as fast as his wings could take him. 

"Just so you know, I don't plan on going easy on you."

Jaz's words echoed inside Jack's ears, actually stirring something inside of him, even if it was just for a brief moment. "I wouldn't exactly expect you to..." he replied, his voice still monotone, but there was an undertone of something there. Considering the current emotions conflicting within Jack, it was honestly hard to tell what it was. Anger, sadness, annoyance? The light in his horns and chest flickered for a moment, like they were turning back on after a moment of standby. Why would THIS of all things cause any kind of emotion inside of him, especially right now? Jack hardly understood himself sometimes...but there was also hardly any use fighting it.

Especially the one thing a dragon kept was supposed to be his pride.

Not thinking much of that thought for a moment, Jack took off with a good flap of his wings, soaring high into the air as fast as his wings could take him at that moment. He took a deep breath, taking in the air that quickly rushed into his lungs. The feeling was...exhilarating. It was enough to actually make the dragon boy crack a grin. Maybe this was something he needed...it felt good. The feeling of weightlessness on his body, gravity hardly being a match for him...it was amazing. If something as big as what was making him depressed didn't happen to begin with, he probably would have forgotten what it was all together, even if for a moment.

His ear twitched as he could hear Jaz quickly following up behind him with her explosions, quickly catching up to him and flashing him a grin. With how he felt now, he couldn't help but at least smirk back at her, at least showing to her that she MAY have had a point in what she was trying to do. Not that he particularly knew, but still, it was working, even if only lightly. She quickly began to speed past him, though, telling him to try and keep up.

Jack gave her a sideways smirk, his eyes narrowed. "Not all of us can exactly propel ourselves at a freakin' million miles per hour, you know!" he replied, but still picked up the pace as best as he could. Actually, looking at what she was doing did give a light idea...though it would most certainly take some time to do. He wasn't like Jaz, who could summon explosions at a moment's notice without any care in the world, and his beams probably wouldn't be enough to propell him alone...

However, that certainly didn't mean he couldn't charge it.

Jack's horns and chest quickly began to emit a light, brilliantly purple and white hue, sparking with plasma energy as he was clearly planning on doing SOMETHING. It would just take a minute to do so. Nonetheless, he would do his damndest to keep up with Jaz as best as he could, trailing behind her only a really light amount. He clutched the locket that hung around his neck, taking a deep breath, the metal seeming warm despite their increasing atmosphere...

He wished she was here, watching their brilliant display.

Jasmine Noir  13 exp added to 143 exp for a total of 156 exp
Jack Orion  21 exp added to 535 exp for a total of 556 exp
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