Escape: Through the Fourth Wall

10: "An Explanation" - Jack and Wen

(This chapter is dedicated, of course
To mah bros who convinced me to write it in verse.
Now, I wouldn't call myself a bad poet, per se
But if you're a fan of good ones, please turn away.
Still reading? Great! For chapter ten
I present "An Explanation" by Jack and Wen!)

_

Wen calmed down slightly. "Jack my boy, I'm shook
Like, seriously, a goddamn Wattpad book?"
"They said it, not me!" Jack threw his hands in the air,
"Now the big question is, how do we get out of here?"

"Assuming, of course, that that's even a possibility
And that doing something that crazy isn't beyond our ability-
Now, bear with me, because this might sound insane
I think this is The Prophecy of the Seven Planes."

Jack cocked his head and crinkled his nose.
"The Prophecy?" he frowned, "I know how this goes
Some nonsense by some old hag with some crystal ball
That somehow turns out to influence us all?

"The hero- is that me?- must unite his friends
And together defeat their foe in the end.
Maybe somebody dies, and we're supposed to be sorry
But as the MC I'm not particularly worried."

Wen leaned back in his chair and furrowed his brow
"Jack," he said slowly, "you're a beacon of light
A protector, a guardian- not just a hero.
You're responsible to the citizens of The City at night
You must keep them all safe, whether you like it or no-
Whether they're real or not- please do what is right.

"I know you didn't come here to be handed a speech
But eh, I'm a preacher, and preachers will preach."
Said Jack, "First- at the risk of this becoming a meme-
Old man, the heCk didja do to my perfect rhyme scheme?"

"Ha, what do you know about rhyming?
It's not about nuance, kid, it's all about timing.
aabb? That's just The Author being lazy
No, a true gentleman goes for ababab."

"Ignoring the irony in that verse, sir
I have to ask- how do you know The Author?
You've never mentioned him before, that's the thing
If I didn't know better I'd accuse you of eavesdropping."

Wen twirled his red binder, gave a slight smile
Didn't answer immediately, took quite a while;
But when he opened his mouth and spoke
One could instantly see this wasn't a joke.

 "Jack my boi, listen, and listen well.
I'm about to monologue- you can probably tell.
This voice I keep hearing that I thought made no sense?
That I called him The Author is mere coincidence.

"Seriously though, if somebody wrote
At the start of each sentence, an 'Author's Note'
Would you come up with a name for them, or
Just stick to the obvious and dub them 'Author'?"

"Sorry to interrupt your monologue," said Jack,
"If you heard him before", he smiled, on the attack,
"Then I have a tiny query, quite small, just a tad
Why were you so shocked to find out this place was Wattpad?"

Over Wen's head appeared three dots
(Ya know, the ones that signify slow thoughts)
"I don't know," finally frowned Wen,
"That's... a pretty compelling question.

"Truth be told, a lot about our world makes no sense
And my inability to explain it is quite the pain.
True, we understood almost nothing at all, past tense
But now that we know we're stuck in a book, our main
Focus is to get our asses out of here, and hence
I think we must return to the explanation of the Plane."

Jack raised a hand. "Sir, just one thing
...why in the hell are we rhyming?"
Wen squinted at the title. "Tenth chapter or some shit?
I don't really care. Let's just not question it.