The Adventures of Hat-man & Pigeon

~Chapter 27: End~

I tried to end the whole book last chapter, that's why it's so long. Ignore the spelling mistakes, I'll edit this later maybe. Lmao. Also, there's a lil swearing. Sorry.

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After a few minutes, Jack could barely move his fingers. Every inch of him was covered in blood. His hand was completely shattered, and his leg and ankle were broken.

He stopped trying to reach Ryan, and instead laid still on the floor. A crimson pool surrounding him.

He weakly watched as the Talon walked closer to him, a knife in hand.

He shut his eyes, and another slash from the Talon's weapon made another bloody fountain appear on his body. He grimaced, covered in his own hot blood.
The Talon picked him up again, lifting his ragged body into the air and slamming it back down. Jack screamed again, and he couldn't move an inch anymore. His back was broken and it hurt to breathe. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't even cry.

The Talon seemed amused at Jack's weak attempts. It walked closer, kneeling down beside him, and Jack could practically feel its smile.

Jack distanced himself from the world, ignoring everything and instead focused on his breathing. He was the goddamn Batman, and he was never going down without a fight.

Jack tuned back into the world and shakily brought his hand down to his utility belt. The Talon did nothing to stop him, It just tilted Its head in confusion.

Jack pulled out a small ringed device and quickly stuck it on to the Talon. He pulled a trigger and before the Talon could react, it exploded.

Jack was now burned on his right shoulder blade from being so close to the explosion. His costume was torn and in shambles, and it would probably be mistaken for red instead of black. He cursed the stars above when the Talon got up again. It was a little shaky, and half of Its mask was blown off, but It still continued after Jack. Walking achingly slowly.

Jack wished for death, and he knew it was near.

A loud gunshot rang through the room, echoing off the marble walls, piercing Jack's ears. It was similar to the gunshot from that night. It made Jack's insides churn.

He hesitantly looked up to find Adam staring at the Talon's corpse, a gun in hand. Jack's heart seemed to start up again. Hope. Glistening, beautiful hope. Adam was here now.

"Stay away from him, bitch." Adam whispered to the Talon's dead body before dropping his gun and rushing over to Jack.

He knelt down beside Jack. "I'm so sorry. I should've been here. I-I should've protected you better- I-"

Jack smiled faintly. "Shh, it's okay, Adam. Everything's okay." Everything was not okay, he knew that because it felt like his guts were spilling out. But if a lie would make Adam feel better, Jack would tell a thousand.

Adam looked his little brother in the eyes as tears began to blur his vision.

"I just had to distract the Talon long enough for Ryan to escape. I slipped him a note when I threw a smoke bomb in the other room. He's probably safe now."

"Stop. Please, stop. Don't waste your breath."

Jack's shallow breathing grew fainter as Ryan ran in, immediately kneeling beside them. "Jack?! Oh my God, Jack-"

"Hey, Ryan....... a-aren't you....... supposed to be getting........ somewhere safe?" Jack weakly asked, surprised that he could still talk.

Ryan started to cry. "This isn't fair! It's all my fault! I should've been the one to die!" He pulled Jack's bloodied body over to him and held Jack close.

"I'm s-so so-orry- I-" Jack began but stopped himself. He took a deep breath (as well as he could) and decided on something else to say. He realized he could cry again as he started to speak. "I-I don't want.... to be alone. I'm n-not going to make it- please, don't let me go," the last part only came out as a whisper, and Jack whimpered, his blood turning cold.

Ryan and Adam pulled him closer and hugged him gently. They were all shaking--except for Jack who couldn't move his body at all, so he just let Adam and Ryan keep him close to them.
Ryan softly hummed as he gently stroked Jack's hair, comforting him the best he could. Jack closed his eyes, pushing everything away and listening to the gentle music.
He weakly sang the lyrics to the song Ryan was humming, in a soft voice. Adam joined in, too.

And they stayed that way, for as long as they could. All holding onto each other, crying, and gently harmonizing until Jack suddenly stopped. His voice lingered in the air, and it made their hearts drop. The peacefulness turned into bitter suffering in less than a minute.

Ryan screamed, shaking Jack, trying to wake him up.

Adam forgot how to breathe. Color began fading and even Jack's red blood seemed to turn gray.

Ryan sobbed harder when Jack didn't respond. Adam took Ryan into his arms and held him close, shielding him from Jack's dead body. Ryan held onto Adam tightly, screaming and crying until his throat hurt.

Adam didn't know what to do. He was also crying uncontrollably, but he couldn't stop staring at Jack, praying that he would move.

Ryan let go of Adam to cling to Jack, begging him to wake up.

They were both covered with their little brother's blood.

After an hour, Adam picked his little brother's broken body up from the blood pool. He carried Jack out of the room, and was greeted by The Court of Owls. They stared at him and Ryan until one of them spoke.

"One of you has died here. Ryan is free to go."

They pointed Adam and Ryan to the exit, waving them off.

Adam felt so hollow as he carried Jack's body through the white hallway and out the secret door. Ryan was holding Jack's good hand tightly, and never wanted to let go.

They got outside and immediately collapsed.

Ryan began crying again, hugging Jack. "Come back. Please come back."

Lee flew over to them, setting his sweater next to Jack and nudging him, wanting Jack to put his sweater back on.

Ryan pushed Lee away.

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The funeral was five days later. It was bleak and cold. Adam and Ryan refused to talk to anyone. They sat alone together and mourned by themselves. Adam hated himself for what had happened, he should've been there sooner. And Ryan blamed himself for what had happened, he should've been the one to die.

And so ends the thrilling Adventures of Hat-Man and Pigeon.

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