Jug looked at Jim and Jen, they both had an expression mixed with confusion and hatred.
"You know, you guys really could've made it out" He admitted, "If only you didn't enter this place with me" His arms glowed brighter as he clenched his fists.
"Why?" Jim asked Jug. "Why don't you just escape by yourself?"
Jen was also confused, "You've had the power to escape all this time, yet you choose to stay? You talk to others about escaping only to crush their hopes?"
"What the hell happened to the Jug that wanted to escape so badly in that story?"
"You don't get it, Jen. Out there, I'm nobody. But down here, I'm someone who's needed" Jug told her. He could see that they both felt genuinely angry at him for ruining their chance.
"I'm sorry" He told them before punching Jim in the gut. The green glow forced his clothes to tear open.
Jim went back, he held his hand to his mouth as he coughed. Looking at his hand, he saw blood. "Weren't you just panting a while ago?" He asked before swinging his fist at him.
Jug swerved away from its path, "I knew Mark was the most athletic between everyone else"
He got close to Jim and swung another punch at him. This time, Jim blocked it with both of his arms.
"I needed to wear him out just in case"
Before Jug could do another move, Jen landed a punch behind his head. "Don't forget about me!" She shouted, running at him as she continued to continuously land hits on him.
Jug kept defending, trying to back off as she kept going. "Do you think this is enough to stop me?"
Jug swept Jen's feet, causing her to fall down. "Do you know how many people I fought, stomping each group that thought they had a chance at escaping?" He stomped her back, causing her to shout in pain.
"Hey!" Jim shouted out as he threw a punch at Jug. He dodged it easily however, now focusing himself on Jim.
"This is between you and me, munchkin" Jim lifted his guard up, knowing what's to come.
Jug was visibly angry at his remark, "I AM NOT A MUNCHKIN!" He shouted out before sprinting at Jim.
Meanwhile, Mark and Tom were backed to a corner. "Nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide" Parquatz said, toying with the two as he got closer.
Mark looked at Tom, "Is your arm bleeding?" Tom looked at it, "No, at least I don't think it is"
They both scrambled their brains for a way out of this. The only chance they had of escaping was blocked by Parquatz.
"You already heard of what I've done to those who worked with Jug, right?" Parquatz asked them, "Where one cease to exist, alive but not quite" He waves his eraser playfully towards them.
He was delighted to see both of them were listening intently, "You know, I've erased someone's eyes before, asked them what they saw"
"You know what they told me?" He asked them.
"They saw nothing, a pitch black world devoid of an up or down" His eyes rolled as he recalled the events. "He screamed for the release of death before I sent him off with another swipe" He re-enacted it, swiping the air as he ended his sentence.
It left a dark mark on the air when he did it, its color further enforcing the scene Mark and Tom imagined. "Tom" Mark called out, "I don't see a way for both of us getting out of here"
His words sent Tom into despair, Mark was the strategist of the group. If everyone was stumped, he would come up with a solution.
"So we're dead?" Tom asked him, "Our journeys ending before we get out of this place?"
Tom was always scared of the concept of death, just thinking about it made him shudder. But never had the thought that when he faced the inevitable that he would feel at ease.
He looked back at his life, the decisions he made and the mistakes he wished he hadn't made.
"Not ours" Mark's voice snapped him back. "Just mine"
He clenched his fists together as he rushed towards Parquatz. He braced for impact as he rammed him.
Parquatz laughed joyfully, "Playing hero are we?" He shoved him away, pushing Mark to the ground.
"I'll fill in the villain for you"
Tom watched as Mark struggled to fight him, with Parquatz foiling him at every move he tried. Mark's desperation and determination to kill Parquatz was only met with mockery. He wasn't witnessing a fight, he was watching a predator playing with his prey.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Mark shouted out at Tom as he kept trying to knock Parquatz down.
"RUN TOM!" He screamed out before rushing at Parquatz again.
Those words made him realize that he was frozen in place. Tom scrambled to run away, passing by the both of them to make his escape.
Parquatz laughed, it echoed in his mind as he ran away. Tom closed his eyes as he tried shutting it all out, to distract himself from reality. His eyes were so shut that he eventually bumped into something.
"Are you alright?"
He heard a calm voice call out to him. He slowly opened his eyes to see that a hand was reached out to him. Grabbing it instinctively, he followed where it came from.
It was a tall pale man coated with black. He patted Tom's head, showing him a warm smile before he saw Parquatz fighting Mark.
"Are those your friends?" He asked Tom. He nodded, "Yes they are, can you please help us?" He asked desperately.
Tom knew that joining the fight alone wouldn't change anything, but maybe if someone else who awakened just like Parquatz and Jug joined them...
"Alright then" He told Tom, patting him one more time before heading towards Parquatz.