Meanwhile in a cave at the far end of the Abyss, Jack and his group were deep in sleep. Shawn was awake, holding down the fort and taking the night watch. Every hour, the group took turns keeping watch.
Jack was deep asleep, having dark nightmares that dug deep into his skin.
In his dream, he was fighting Nousaurong. He was back in Orogonis.
"Fear is a wonderful thing, isn't it!", said Nousaurong.
Nousaurong swung his mace. Jack got a deep cut in his face. He was bleeding.
"You cannot stop me, I will stop you whether you like it or not! All life succumbs to me! Succumb to me, Jack, succumb to the God-Emperor! Succumb like your friends have!", said Nousaurong.
Tons of bodies fell from the sky and landed right in front of Jack. They were his friends.
"No! STOP!", screamed Jack.
"They have succumbed to me, as all life has done and as all life will!", laughed Nousaurong.
A crack emerged from the ground. Jack tripped and fell. At the bottom were tons of ghoulish demons.
They reached their hands and grabbed Jack.
"NO NO NO STOP!!!!!!!", screamed Jack.
Jack then fell through a bottomless pit. He was in a black void, cold and dark
He was a ghost! He screamed, his voice echoed.
"WHAT IS THIS?!!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BODY", said Jack
"Nothing! All I did was break it down! Don't worry, it's good as new now! Now your flesh and blood is mine! Don't worry, I'll take good care of your flesh and blood! After all, it's mine forever! Now you're nothing more than a ghost!", laughed Nousaurong's voice.
A dark figure emerged in the dark void. It was Jack. His eyes were glowing purple. He smiled sadistically.
Jack was starring at his own reflection. Nousaurong was starring back.
"WHAT IS THIS?!!!!!!!", screamed Jack.
"Now Jack, don't tell me that you're disgusted by the flesh and blood that keeps you alive! Awwwwww, or are you just jealous that it looks better on me!", laughed Nousaurong.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! THIS ISN'T REAL, THIS ISN'T REAL, THIS ISN'T REAL!!!!!!!", screamed Jack.
"You are my martyr, grandson! You were born just to die at the proper moment! The time has come, grandson! It's time to succumb! Succumb to me, it's what you were born to do! Come home, come to Asmeth!", laughed Nousaurong.
Nousaurong reached out his hand and grabbed Jack. Jack kicked his legs and screamed.
"LET ME GO!!!!!!!", screamed Jack.
"I'll never let go until you succumb to me! Succumb to me, it's inevitable! Succumb to me, as you will to death, because..........I.........AM...........DEATH!!!!!!!!", laughed Nousaurong.
"NO!!!!!! STOP!!!!! DON'T!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!", screamed Jack.
He was kicking his legs in his sleep. Shawn, who was taking night watch, was annoyed by this.
Shawn kicked Jack in the butt.
"SHUT UP, LOSER!!!!!! WAKE YOUR HAPPY BUTT UP!!!!!!", snapped Shawn.
Jack woke up, gasping for air.
"Whew! It was just a dream!", said Jack.
"Good! I'm done with this bull crap! What the heck were you dreaming about?! You looked like you had PTSD!", said Shawn.
"Nothing," said Jack.
"Ok, so nothing made you that scared!", teased Shawn.
"Just shut up for once in your life! Since when do you care?!", said Jack.
"You haven't been sleeping well since that Butt God started pursuing us. You were having a nightmare about Mr. Butt God, weren't you?", said Shawn.
"Fine, I was! I dreamt about all sorts of weird stuff, such as my own death and your deaths!", said Jack.
"Jeez, what a troubled young man you are," sighed Shawn.
"Hey, you haven't been sleeping well either, Mr. Angsty Teen!", said Jack.
"Of course I haven't, do you think I'm stupid?!", said Shawn.
Jack was shocked by this. Usually, Shawn would say the exact opposite of this. Usually, he would put up a tough-guy act and say he wasn't scared of anything.
"What?!", said Jack.
"That bastard almost killed us too many times to count! His overall personality gives me the hibbie jibbies, not to mention his terrifying powers!", said Shawn.
"Since when does Gangsta Shawn admit his fears?!", teased Jack.
"Shut up, Mr. PTSD!", said Shawn.
"Hey, I don't have PTSD!", said Jack.
"Lemme guess, Waldo has PTSD is what you're gonna say?!", said Shawn.
"Yeah!", said Jack.
"Hey, what we just faced at Orogonis, Ezgarlos, and Sadika were pretty traumatic experiences! We never faced something that terrifying before, even Mr. PTSD never witnessed something that frightening when he fought Dark Cranky!", said Shawn.
"Well, my nightmares go beyond Orogonis, Ezgarlos, and Sadika! It's whatever happens in my future that frightens me!", said Jack.
"Your own death?", said Shawn.
"Yeah! I was fighting Nousaurong at Orogonis! You guys were nothing but dead corpses! He threw me through that crack, and I died! Then I saw myself in a dark void, except it wasn't really me who I saw! It was Nousaurong who I saw in my own reflection!", said Jack.
"Jeez, that's creepy!", said Shawn.
"We face a dire threat! He's not like the other villains we faced before! He's not like any of the Grimoires and he's not like Shadowking! This guy is pure unadulterated evil!", said Jack.
"Anyways, my shift is over! You're on watch now! I'm gonna go get some shut eye!", said Shawn.
"Fine," said Jack.
Shawn was already asleep.
Jack sat there for a few minutes or so. Nothing happened, which was good. Suddenly, Jack heard someone screaming behind him.
He turned around. Isaac was kicking his legs in his sleep, he was having a nightmare.
"NO, STOP IT STOP IT!!!!!!!!!! MOMMY, DADDY, COME BACK!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T GO, DON'T GO!!!!!!! COME BACK!!!!!!! DON'T TAKE ME, LET ME GO, NOUSAURONG!!!!!!!!!! LET ME GO!!!!!!! NO, STOP!!!!!!!! I DON'T WANT TO GO, I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!!!!!!!!", screamed Isaac.
"Crap, he's gonna give away our location if I don't do something!", Jack said to himself.
He approached Isaac and attempted to wake him up.
"NO, STOP!!!!!!! LET ME GO, DON'T TAKE ME!!!!!!!! MOMMY AND DADDY, DON'T GO!!!!!! DON'T KILL ME, BAD MEN!!!!!!!!!! BAD MEN, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!", screamed Isaac.
Jack lightly touched Isaac on the shoulder. He turned away in his sleep.
"Isaac! Wake up!", said Jack.
"NO, DON'T DO THIS TO ME, NOUSAURONG!!!!!", screamed Isaac.
"Isaac, it's me, Jack! Wake up! It's okay, it's just a dream! He's not here, Nousaurong is not here! The bad men won't get you, I freed you from them!", said Jack.
"HELP MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!", screamed Isaac.
"Isaac, help is here! Come on, wake up!", said Jack.
"NO, DON'T KILL ME!!!!!!!", screamed Isaac.
"WAKE UP!!!!!!", yelled Jack, subconsciously raising his voice.
Isaac woke up. His eyes were opened wide. He looked at Jack. What Jack saw in Isaac's eyes were the eyes of a frightened little boy, one who experienced terrors, evils, horrors, loses and traumas that Jack wouldn't ever imagine experiencing.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to raise my voice. Heh heh," said Jack.
Isaac crawled towards Jack and hugged him tightly, gripping his legs. He was crying.
"He's gonna kill me! Nousaurong's gonna kill me! The bad men who work for him killed Mommy and Daddy! Mommy and Daddy left me, and they're never coming back! I can't take it anymore, I can't take it!", wept Isaac.
Jack felt sorry for Isaac.
"It's okay, it's just a dream! I can assure you that Nousaurong will not kill you! You're safe now because I am here!", said Jack.
Isaac stopped crying, he looked at Jack. Isaac's eyes were filled with fear.
"But Nousaurong always kills people. The bad men always said that all life succumbs to Nousaurong," said Isaac.
"That may be true if you believe them. Tell me, do you like what the bad men say? To me, that crap sounds stupid!", said Jack.
"No, I hate the bad men," said Isaac.
"Then ignore whatever nonsense they say! From here on, you are your own person! You don't serve those idiots anymore, you are not a slave! You are free!", said Jack.
"Free? What's that?", said Isaac.
"You know, free! Like as in freedom!", said Jack.
"What is that?", said Isaac.
"It means that you can be what you wanna be, do what you wanna do! There's no bad men or Nousaurong telling you what to do if you're free!", said Jack.
"But that makes no sense! Nousaurong rules everything and everyone! We are born to serve him! We all succumb to him! All life succumbs to him!", said Isaac.
"Nope, not anymore! Nousaurong grows stronger as more people believe in that crap! But he's weakened by everyone who fights back!", said Jack.
"But he's the God-Emperor!", said Isaac.
"Not anymore, not as long as you don't give him that type of power over you! Things are different now because I am here! Ever heard of the Chosen One before?", said Jack.
"My mommy and daddy would always talk about this story where a Chosen One would one day free us from the God-Emperor," said Isaac.
"Well, that dude is me! I am the Chosen One!", said Jack.
"You are?!", said Isaac.
"Heck yeah! I am totally the Chosen One! As long as I am here, you are safe!", said Jack.
"You mean it?", said Isaac.
"Yes, every single word of it! I promise you that I will protect you to the best of my ability! I will not let that bastard take your life, I won't let him take anybody's life!", said Jack