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If you had asked Jack what he was planning on doing in the middle of the night on a Wednesday, a few years ago, he probably would’ve responded with something along the lines of “Sleeping, obviously, you fuckin loon”. At the very least, Jack knew for a fact that he wouldn't have said "Having a scrap with a well-known war criminal who literally killed me a little while back" And yet, that looked to be what he was getting himself into on this fine evening.
Ever since he came back from… y’know, Jack’s been a bit off, to put it lightly. It took him a minute to notice, of course, it did, he’s an idiot, but the changes were clear as day. You’d think you’d notice the fact that you weren’t breathing in like, what? The first few seconds of your newfound life? Not Jack though, no 'course not! In fact, it took him multiple days to notice he wasn’t doing it naturally anymore.
Snowchester was what gave it away in the end, the cold made the others breath visible, he realised he couldn’t see his. That's how it clicked. He was a little bit embarrassed by that one, to be honest.
Snowchester also revealed one of the other changes. He can’t feel the cold. When Tubbo would leave the house without his jacket, it only took a little while for him to start shivering. Meanwhile, Jack was fine- even hours after offering the poor kid his jacket- it really didn’t bother him. He wasn’t sure why, but that one freaked him out more than not needing to breathe. Something about being able to jump into the docks, and not even realising he's in hy-pothermia-inducing waters until Tubbo rushes over to pull him out, was eerie.
His senses got worse too, like, dulled almost.
He can't taste shit anymore, and his hearing is worsening by the day. His eyes held on the best they could but... Not much you can do against the inevitable.
One day he noticed himself squinting at stuff not two paces in front of him- that day wasn't the best. He spent it fixing up Snowchester’s perimeter. So, he could be as far away from the others as possible. If he had seen Tubbo that day, he is 99% he would’ve broken down.
..
....
He didn’t though- no one was subjected to his waterworks, so it was good. He was fine!
He had thought losing his senses would be the worst thing that happened to him. However, the scariest thing he noticed, was definitely his heartbeat. Or rather- the lack thereof.
The night he figured it out is still blurry to him, probably due to the panic he fell into. Some-thing just possessed him into touching his wrist and he realised he couldn’t feel his pulse. That sent him into a frenzy, he fumbled to place a hand on his chest and then to his neck. To no avail.
God, it was fucking terrifying. That was the first proper cry he'd had in a while, he just sobbed and sobbed until he couldn’t anymore. His throat has burned since then, his body can't heal itself without a regen potion at this point.
He didn’t sleep that night, nor did he any other night. As of late, he's been getting a couple of hours a week- max. Not sure if that’s a revival thing or just an insomniac thing- it honestly could be either.
He was so fucking tired, the exhaustion's practically a permanent fixture in his life at this point (not that it wasn’t close to being one before).
But, regardless of what caused it, his poor sleeping habits were the reason he was all the way at L’manburg in the middle of the night.
Just a quick walk was what he promised himself, maybe just around the perimeter once or twice, then back to bed. That didn’t go to plan, obviously. The giant fence around Snowches-ter didn’t do much to help him shake off his nerves, so he decided to pop over to L’manburg. Figured if he wasn’t going to sleep, he might as well do something with the rest of his night.
Anyways, back to the present.
Currently, he's stood still, staring at Technoblade as he makes his way across the massive fuck off crater in his path, or the “L’manhole” as it had been dubbed by the locals.
Now, Jack fucking hates Technoblade. Once upon a time, when he was a little younger and a lot more naïve, Jack used to believe there was no pure evil in the world- then, he grew up. Here, in front of him, is one of the biggest teachers from that fun little life lesson. This fucking piece of bacon has massacred countless innocents without a second thought and has more blood on his hands than Jack cares to know. A truly sick bastard, on par with Dream, in his humble opinion. Jack's blood boiled just seeing the absolute prick; all done up in his fancy clothes and donned in his ever-present netherite armour.
Coward.
Jack stormed over without a moment's hesitation; fuelled purely by rage. He was going to beat the shit out of this smug bastard. Last time he gave up, last time he let himself lose- but coming back has changed Jack, and he will NOT submit to this dickhead ever again.
“HEY TECHNOBLADE!” He shouted. The piglin-hybrid whipped around to face him. He looked… confused? “Jack Manifold?”
Oh! He actually remembered his name- that was nice of him.
Taking into account how many people he's senselessly murdered, Jack had doubted he would remember him at all.
“What?” the prissy pink prick looked around a bit before facing Jack- then made his way over to him. “I stabbed you in the side of the head, how are you alive?”
Oh shit- that’s right, he did do that! And Jack had absolutely no explanation for how he survived it.
Huh.
"What, did you think I was gonna just die? I’m not a pussy, takes a bit more than that!” that’s the best he had so it'd have to do.
After that "explanation" Technoblade looked thoroughly unimpressed, “And I take it you want a rematch?” Jack didn’t actually get a chance to answer that, as Techno just unsheathed his sword, “Let’s just get this over with.” he sighed unimpressed.
Now, to be clear, Jack wasn’t bad with a sword- far from it actually, he knows his way around a battle better than the average person! He'd partaken in one too many wars not to know at this point... But Technoblade is a different breed man! And, despite his confidence, Jack knew Techno was simply better than his, no two ways about it.
He didn’t back down though, no fuck that! This was a fight to the death, and Jack wasn’t even sure he could die at this point. Sometimes curiosity possessed him to ponder that thought, but it always freaked him out, so he tried not to dwell on it. What would happen if he lost? If techno got a good swing in?
The answer to his queries came a bit quicker than he'd have liked. Not focusing had cost him and techno now had an opening. A sword was coming towards his side before he could even react. Jack heard the sickening squelch as the blade embedded itself in his flesh and then heard it being withdrawn but unlike the last time, Technoblade stabbed him he did not falter. He did not stumble, nor fall, he barely even gasped.
It didn’t hurt.
Oh my God- it didn’t hurt!
That should be agonizing- why can’t he feel it?
Blood dribbled down his side, but it wasn’t nearly as much as it should’ve been- it didn’t gush out and stain his clothes- there was barely any at all.
What the fuck?
No time, you’ve got a fight to finish, he reminded himself. He came over here with a purpose in mind- this new development can wait until later. And so, he put his questions aside, fixed his footing and began to slash at his enemy. If he wasn’t so utterly freaked out, he probably would’ve laughed at the look on Techno's face. He was baffled.
What a loser!
Then, Technoblade began to move, the man, with an uncharacteristic move: reached down with one hand and pulled out a pearl. Not a few seconds later, he was gone, teleported away further than Jack cared to run to catch up.
Now, he had the monumental task off to walking back to Snowchester with a gash in his side, wonderful! At least he managed to spook Technoblade- this'll be quite a story once he fixes his side up and figures out the best way to tell Tubbo he got stabbed during his nightly stroll.
He’d best be getting back then, it's quite a trek, and he doesn't want to leave that wound open longer than necessary. Hopefully, his clothes are okay- this is the third uniform he's been given now and Tubbo’ll be out of old spares if he keeps this up!