Mal relaxed minutely when he realized that, if they were teammates, then Jack had been with Marshall for quite some time, and that if Mal didn’t provoke him, Jack wasn’t likely to end his game any time soon.
Mal filled a tiny drop of essence with the thought,if you leave my stuff alone, I’ll leave your stuff alone,and mentally flicked it at Jack like a wadded-up ball of paper.
He didn’t get a response, but he was certain he saw Jack’s ever-present smile kick up a notch.
Just when Mal thought that maybe, just maybe, he’d impressed Jack enough with his power that he wasn’t willing to provoke Mal any more than Mal wanted to provoke him, Jack went and changed everything.
Mal could feel the moment Marshall had clocked him and was prepared to act the moment he was attacked, but nothing happened. Instead of getting into a stupid fight, Mal was treated to witnessing the world twisting and rearranging itself, affecting everyone but Mal and Jack.
Jack had wiped away the knowledge of what Mal was from not just Marshall’s mind, but from the minds of everyone in the area. It was like an explosion radiating out from Jack, rippling through the fabric of reality. It was complete overkill, and it immediately triggered an avalanche of memories to come forward and present Mal with an annoying and unacceptable truth.
All the times when Mal had thought he’d been too sneaky, or too powerful to be noticed by the Guard, all of the times he’d mocked members of the Other for not seeing what was right in front of them… it had all been the work of someone else.
All of those people… They’d all had the same dazed expression on their faces Marshall had just now, much like the one he’d seen on Clayton’s multiple times since they’d met.
Had that all been Jack? Had he been toying with Mal too?
If so, what had Mal done to attract the attention of such a creature? He didn’t even know what Jack was. He was too old and far too powerful for Mal to begin to guess. All he knew was that if Jack had wanted it, Mal and everyone else in the city would be dust in the blink of an eye.
Mal stared down the god-like creature, refusing to quail before him. If Mal was going out, it would be on his own terms, and it wouldn’t involve him being afraid.
No. Mal’s purpose in life was to evoke fear, not to feel it.
If it came down to it, he would stash Clayton away somewhere safe and come back to face this ancient horror.
Said ancient horror’s eyes flashed merrily, and he said, “This is going to be so much fun.” Then Jack nudged Marshall excitedly. “Come on, let’s get to work and help Clayton’s boyfriend find their kids. This was so worth waking up and spending an hour waiting for Adelle to get out of the bathroom this morning.”
Mal’s glare intensified. How dare this monster mock him by being so cheerful?
Then he realized Clayton hadn’t bristled when Jack referred to Mal as his boyfriend. He hadn’t commented at all.
Jack wasn’t rooting for Mal, was he? Was he trying to be his wingmonster?
Pfft. Whatever. For the moment, Mal would leave Jack alone and see what happened next.
Nothing. Exactly nothing happened next. Mal spent what felt like three thousand hours waiting for Marshall and Jack to figure out something Mal already knew, and eventually it became too much for him, and he broke.
After the fifth time watching Marshall spend an exorbitant amount of essence trying to divine the exact location of the boat and have Jack dosomethingto keep him from finding it, Mal snapped, “Enough. I can’t watch this anymore.” He glared at Jack. “If you’re only going to get in the way, I'll do this myself.”
He grabbed Clayton by the wrist and began to haul him over to the spot where the gangplank used to be.
“Don’t be so grabby! Hey, where are we going?” Clayton hissed and pulled against Mal’s hold, but he still ended up getting towed exactly where Mal wanted him to be.
Mal ignored the fact that Marshall and Jack followed close behind them.
Mal reached out into thin air and began to pull with his essence. Like the time in Boston Below, Mal could feel the energy signature of the person who had torn open a rift between dimensions. All he had to do was flood the area with his essence, and he could open it again. Unlike last time, he wouldn’t be yanking people to his side; he’d be pulling himself and Clayton through.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Jack said. There was a sternness to his tone that contrasted with his cheerful smile.
“Good thing you aren’t me, then,” Mal said as he tried to concentrate on finding the magic signature he was looking for.
“If you drain yourself dry getting in, you’ll be in no shape to handle what you find on the other side,” Marshall warned.
“Don’t worry about me, cupcake. It takes a lot to drain me dry.” Mal gave Clayton a lascivious look, and his little chaos magnet blushed furiously and began to stare at the harbor.
“But will you be able to get back home again?” Jack asked.
Mal weighed the question seriously. He was practically bursting with what he’d gotten from Clayton over the past twelve hours, but traversing dimensions took a heavy toll. If Malhad to use too much of his essence to get the kids back, he could be in trouble.
