Mark's POV

I felt Jack's breathing hitch for a second as he stood there, frozen. However, without warning, he swiftly grabbed the back of my head and began kissing back while bringing our bodies even closer together.

I smiled and pulled my head away a bit. The second our lips were no longer touching, the music scratched to a stop.

I looked over to the radio, but it didn't look any different than it had before. "Jack, why do you think the music stopped?"

After not receiving a response, I looked back to Jack. His eyes were narrowed and he seemed to be staring straight through me.

I hesitated before stuttering, "J-Jack?"

In perfect unison, Jack replied with a voice coming from the radio, "Sorry, Mark, you made the wrong move."

I felt Jack's hand slowly move away from my head and saw him reach behind his back. I was glued where I was, still not completely sure what was going on.

I felt something at my side move as a small weight was relieved. That damn sword must've fallen.

Jack began turning around in a full circle when I noticed a blade in his hand. Still frozen on the spot, I prepared to feel an agonizing pain.

That pain never reached me, though.

Before the blade slashed through my chest, I was yanked backward and thrown to the floor. Someone leaped over me and stood between me and Jack in a fighting stance.

The boy seemed about the same age as Reagan and those other kids, but at least ten times more mature. He had scars lining the part of his face that I could see. A bandana covered his mouth and nose. He was wearing a ripped up, black shirt and torn, dirty gray shorts.

My eyes dropped down to his right leg, where there was something imprinted on his skin. I got a clear view of what it said, but wasn't completely sure if I believed my eyes.

The brand on the boy's leg read, "KYLE".

In a voice that sounded nothing like his own, Jack asked, "Kyle, what the hell are you doing here?"

Kyle didn't respond. Instead, he remained in his fighting stance and turned his head to face me. "Mark, you have to get up and fight. They win if you don't."

"Why should I trust you?" I questioned the boy in front of me.

He fell out of his fighting position and looked at the floor. "I...I guess you really have no reason to trust me. Especially here. But," he paused and seemed like he was blinking back tears, "Mark, you're the only person still standing in their way."

I moved into a sitting position. "Standing in who's way? What's really going on?"

"You're the only one left keeping the bad guys from getting exactly what they want. They've made an alliance with the King of the freaking Underworld!" Kyle swiftly wiped a hand across his face and continued at the same quick pace, "They're going after Dan and everyone with him next! They're all about to fall into a trap, and they just saved Percy for heaven's sake! You're the only one standing between the bad guys and the...well, the innocent guys!"

A tear fell from his face and hit the floor. I watched him clench his fists at his sides before I asked, "Are you really trying to help me?"

"I'm trying to help the people who can't help themselves." He took a deep breath. "Mark, they want Reagan. That's why all of this is happening. They want you and all of your friends out so that they can keep her here. That's what they tried to get you to agree on back at the orphanage, remember?! They want to do what they did to me, to Reagan. When you left the orphanage and went to the Underworld with Anti, everything paused. You forced them to a standstill, and Anti knows damn well that's what he did!"

Kyle spun around to face a dumbfounded Jack. "Isn't that right? A pesky little demon screwed over a bunch of power stricken geniuses like yourself, correct?"

Jack sent Kyle a skeptical glance. "Who leaked information to you?"

"No one needed to, Jack, or should I say, Katherine!" He pointed a finger at Jack, causing Jack to seem the tiniest bit more afraid than he already looked.

Just as quickly as the fear set in, Jack looked furious. "Kyle Gage Myers! I don't know what you're doing here, but I need you to go back to the orphanage. Now."

He took a minute to look like he was thinking it over before replying, "Hard pass."

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were completely black. He grinned as his skin began melting off, revealing parts of his bones.

Kyle kneeled down next to me. "Okay, I really do need you to trust me." He helped lift me off the ground before he grabbed me by the arm and hurriedly pulled me toward the couch.

As he was doing this, I couldn't stop staring at Jack. Well, what was left of him, anyway. His skin had disappeared entirely, leaving only his skeleton standing there, staring at the place Kyle and I had stood moments earlier. The clothes Jack had been wearing were in a pile on the ground, right next to the blade he had been holding.

Kyle snapped in front of my face, bringing me back to reality. He had flipped the couch over while I was busy watching Jack. "Mark!"

"Sorry, what happened?" I asked, still kind of in a daze.

He narrowed his eyes. "You won't make it if you can't focus!"

I grabbed the kid's shoulders. "Kyle, I'm sorry. What are we doing?"

The skeleton let out a piercing shriek. Kyle covered his ears and shouted, "Get behind the couch!"

I ran around the couch and sat down behind it while Kyle dove over it, landing next to me. We both slammed our hands over our ears, and I watched as Kyle's eyes suddenly widened.

"What now?!" I yelled over the shrieking skeleton.

Kyle briskly shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small disk. He pressed his thumb on it, and it suddenly glowed to life. The only thing on it was "01:36".

I saw him mouth 'shit' as the timer started ticking down by the second. "What's that for?!" I yelled.

"It's when Sam and Tim will get their asses here!" he shouted back.

"Why is that bad?" I asked as it reached one minute twenty-four seconds.

"I didn't stall long enough," he stated as the shrieking stopped and a menacing laugh filled the room.

He quickly shoved the disk back into his pocket and looked at me. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a feminine voice. "Sorry boys, play time's over. It's time to restart."

I tensed up. "'Restart'? Restart what, exactly?"

The person on the other side of the couch giggled, "Your little adventure here, of course! You won't remember any of this. You'll wake up under that tree just like before, and Felix will find you there just like before. It's an endless loop, Mark Fischbach, and you fell right in just because you thought you were helping your friend."

The couch was ripped away from where it had been set against mine and Kyle's backs. Kyle immediately clutched my shoulders in his hands. "Mark, this is your first boss battle, okay?"

"What are you talking about?!" I screamed back.

He seemed taken aback. "I thought video game analogies were supposed to help you understand?"

"I understand what you said, but you can't honestly expect me to fight whatever the hell is behind me by myself, can you?!"

"What is it with you people and thinking you have to do everything by yourself?!" Kyle shouted. "Dan was the same freaking way! He thought none of you were his friends except for Phil! You're all so damn dramatic!"

"So who's gonna help me?! I don't even know how to use a sword!"

"I don't know, man, just feel it!" Kyle exclaimed before he began glowing bright blue. "And don't forget that you aren't alone, got it?"

I nodded as he slowly began taking the form of a sword on the ground in front of me.

The person snickered, "Now that he's made his dramatic exit, how about we get this over with? I still have to deal with the rest of your friends."

I wrapped my hand around Kyle's grip and shuddered. If holding that sword wasn't already awkward, it sure as hell was now. I pushed back my uncomfortableness and looked up to see who was towering over me.

Of course, just as Kyle had said earlier, it was Katherine.

I stood up and tried my best to square up to her. "To get to any of them, you're gonna have to get through me, first."

She pushed a strand of hair out of the way of her face and shot back, "What are you going to do? You're all alone, and with no experience to fall back on, you're in no place to sound confident."

I opened my mouth to retort but was cut off by a familiar voice outside the door yelling, "Hey! That's Mark! He said what I said earlier!"

I heard a Swedish accent groan, "Tim, I know that you're supposed to be the cute and innocent one, but could you please shut up for five minutes?"

I watched as worry briefly flashed across Katherine's face. "The hell are they doing here?! Sam and Tim were supposed to take care of them until I could handle it!"

I laughed, "Hate to break it to you Kit Kat, but I'm never alone."

A/N

I've had this planned for Kyle for so long and really loved finally writing it

Also...

"Hate to break it to you Kit Kat"

That was completely unintentional and I'm very proud

Anyways, BUH-BYE BROTATOS!