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You watch Draconian Dignitary command Droll and Brute to the escape ships. He's yelling something about how it's a capital ship, not a goddamn Arch Deaconstructor. You smile despite yourself. It's one of the few times you've seen DD lose his infamous cool. "Good luck guys." You mutter, but you know they won't hear you from way up here. You're standing on the chain of Derse's moon. You never thought much of the giant eyesore, but it actually provides a nice view of the city as it falls apart. You're so distracted (and perhaps unguarded) that you don't hear her approach.
"So, think they'll make it?" The Black Queen asks. She snuck up on you, the bitch. She could've stabbed you, or pushed you off the roof. But she didn't, for some reason.
"Eh, I think they have enough time to squeeze in one last trip." You don't bother to give her a snappy reply. You've used up all your anger, you think. And anyway you don't really want your last moments to be fighting this huge bitch tooth an nail. "Can't really ask for more than that, can you?"
She shrugs "Suppose not." She's trying to be calm about this, rational. But you can tell she's scared. God, you've never seen The Black Queen scared before. Even when Derse fell, she was too full of rage to be afraid. You don't want to think about how bad the situation is for the great Snowman to be scared.
"So, you decided to stay?" You say, turning to give her a smirk. Her eyes narrow. "Yes." She says cooly, and your smirk grows wider. "Finally gave in and believed me, huh?" You gloat. You knew she would. Eventually. You hoped.
The Queen sniffs "Not quite." She says "I just figured you haven't steered me wrong yet, why bet against a streak?"
You chuckle, and she looks surprised at that. Wow, new emotions all around today. "Well, come sit with me then." You say, patting the edge beside you. "I got some great seats for the end of the world. Saved ya one."
"Okay." She says and comes forward slowly. She doesn't trust you. Good. You wouldn't trust you either. "Jack..." She begins quietly "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yeah," you say confidently "you know, it took a couple versions of me to understand it but I think sometimes, sometimes you just gotta let go. And if you do, the things you let go can sometimes come back on their own..." You turn and give her a hesitant smile "They did today."
She doesn't understand, so she jut says "Wow, guess the theory has proven right then. And in the nick of time."
"Yeah, I guess it was."
There's a small, awkward silence
"So," she says still a little stiffly, "Any regrets?"
You shrug your shoulders "Eh, a few. Probably could've raised more hell for you and the rest of your snobby entourage."
She chuckles at that "You did have a lot of down time." She teases. "Could've come up with something Jack. I thought you were better than this."
You grin and wave her off "Well, what do you want from me?" You say jokingly, then say quieter, "Had other things on my mind, I guess."
The entire dream bubble shakes, and cracks start forming in it's glassy surface. The screams of panic have all died down, everyone left or resigned to their fate like you.
"I guess this is it." Snowman says. She doesn't look too scared now. Her back is straight, her eyes steely as she looks out at the kingdom- her kingdom. For once in your life, you don't see her as the bitchy, manipulative royal you've always seen. For once, she looks noble, like a true queen
"Your highness," you say before you can second guess yourself. She looks at you in shock. You've never referred to her as her proper title before. The words continue tumbling out of your mouth "there's something I need to tell you. I think it's important that I say this now."
She holds up her hands. "Wait a second." She says hurriedly. "Look, I can take the whole 'at peace with the world' thing, and I can even stomach all the 'accept your fate' crap." Her face looks pained "But... just do me a favor, okay? Don't say goodbye." She begs "I hate goodbyes. I mean, we are Dersites, aren't we?" She continues, trying to play it off as a joke. "We should try to maintain some level of professionalism.
"No, no, no, BQ," you say, and she relaxes. "no. I think I just figured out what Lord English couldn't. And Jack either. It was you, Snowman," you say earnestly. "all along. See I thought- I thought we made you." You say, remembering all the baddies in the past. "LE, Doc Scratch... but that's not the case. You made us. When Jack Noir was created, you just kinda came along for the ride. You gave Lord English the idea that he could make something more. That he could split me up." You take her hand in yours, forcing her to look at you "Don't you get it? You were the memory. You were the key. You were so strong, you made a whole other person." And you pull her in for one last hatesnog. You pull away too soon, you know you did, and sigh. "God - he always wanted to find you. You know, to get you right. To just see you one last time. And he wanted me to be able to do the same. To find you in here or..." You look up at the slowly shattering sky. "just, go down another timeline. Figure out this little Black Queen problem. Figure out how to do it right. But now I know." You say, turning to look Snowman in the eye. "I know how to fix all a' this. How to end it once and for all. It was so simple all along. I just had to tell you three words. Three words I couldn't tell you before." Her face goes from amazed to disgusted so fast it's almost comical. "Oh, okay, wait a minute..." She says slowly "are you going to say "I love you?"
You sigh ruefully. God, you wish it was that easy. That saying that would fix everything like in some trashy romance novel. "No Snowman, I'm not gonna say I love you. I'm gonna say I forget you." You close your eyes and repeat it, louder this time, announcing it to the entire memory bubble. "I forget you. I'm letting you go." You open your eyes and look around.
She's gone.
Another quake comes, the biggest one yet. It nearly knocks you off your feet.
"Alright you bastards!" You yell over the roar of the tremors "Do your fucking worst!" You look down an clench your shaking fists.
"Cause I sure as hell just did mine."