It's Becoming Crystal Clear (Jasper x Reader)

Chapter 13: The Game is Afoot

Jasper dropped the man and leapt forward, tackling you to the ground underneath her. You felt the enormous weight on top of you jolt and heard her grunt as the blade grazed her back. You sat up and shuffled back as Jasper stood up, holding Roger's sword arm and forcing it back. Servo motors whined until, with a sharp tug, she pulled the limb right off. His permanent smile unchanged, Roger looked down at where his arm had been, then shot his remaining hand out towards Jasper's face. Powerful robotic fingers managed to flex in their coating of stiff painted foam padding as they gripped her gem, albeit with some difficulty. The character's silly expression seemed sadistic as he tugged and twisted. Jasper fell to her knees, howling in pain.

"Jasper!" you screamed. You felt helpless... until you saw the detached arm and cutlass lying on the floor. Roger saw you but did not have time to react, nor a free hand with which to react, as you swung at the exposed joint of his neck. The impact travelled painfully to your hand and arm as metal struck against metal. You swung again with the blade, this time striking squarely at the joint and cleanly decapitating him. The mechanical hand released Jasper, but the headless android now turned toward you, reaching for your face. You shuffled back a few steps and swung again, detaching the remaining arm. The armless, headless skeleton first mate staggered about awkwardly, the gem shards inside obviously unsure what to do with their now rather useless form. What was left of Jolly Roger turned to face you again, raising his right foot in an attempt to kick you. The motors in his legs couldn't move very fast, so it was a comical spectacle. As you watched the slow motion kick coming, Jasper seized his other ankle, tripping the robot and sending him crashing to the floor. The legs wiggled uselessly, trying to stand up. But after a moment, he gave up trying, and lay still on the floor.

"Oh..." muttered the man-ethyst thing. "This is not going how I planned." His previously demonic tone now sounded more clumsy and awkward - not especially threatening. "The idea was kind of that one of you would've gone down there, and then it'd be just one of you trying to make it the rest of the nights. I probably should've armed the other two robots. Now this whole week's just going to be a mess."

"Do you EVER shut up?" Jasper groaned loudly, rolling her eyes. "You're turning yourself into a joke at this point."

"And I thought you said it didn't matter to you whether we died," you added.

"Well I mean, I had to say that, didn't I? I have to give the impression that I think so little of you that I don't even care what happens to you, okay?"

"You went to an awful lot of effort for someone who doesn't care," you observed.

"I'm not trying to boast, but how did you expect to stop me?" Jasper asked. The man-ethyst gave a wicked grin.

"You'll see," he whispered. "You'll see."

"See, there," you said, pointing approvingly with the cutlass still in your hand, "there's the schtick you should stick to. Keep your trap shut unless you have a couple of spooky words to say." You regretted doing that when he reached out through the broken window, grabbed the sword, and yanked it out of your hand.

"Thank you," he said in mock appreciation. "I'll keep this so you can't just chop through everything in your way."

"Say, (Y/N)," Jasper said to you, "what's stopping us from just going in that office after him?"

"Tsk tsk," he scolded. He held the tip of the blade to his own throat. "I wouldn't if I were you."

You placed a restraining hand on Jasper's arm.

"I don't think they're bluffing. It doesn't matter to the gem whether this guy's body is dead. He's innocent in this."

"We'll play your game," Jasper growled through gritted teeth.