It was safe to say he hadn’t expected retaliation of this magnitude; he at least had hoped to garner a semblance of fear, a modicum of regret as the realisation of how bad an idea allowing the former tyrant a body of his own was. If he’d been a danger to Rhys just as a digital copy floating around in his head, surely he should’ve had an idea of how much more threatening the maniac could’ve been as a tangible entity.
Rhys didn’t appear the least bit fazed by the attack. Rather, with how readily he managed to tear his throat from Jack’s powerful grasp, and even SHOVE his assailant back, it was Jack whose momentum was thrown off, taken aback by the ATLAS CEO’s newfound backbone. Pain registered in his mind as his back hit the wall, an audible oomph passing masked lips (and were this any other time, Jack would’ve found humour in Rhys’ decision to recreate the iconic mask).
Jack noted how Rhys had been smart enough to use his cybernetic arm to pin him this time around, the sharp, metallic edges of the limb digging hard into his chest – which, in fairness, made it a revelation difficult to ignore.
So he managed to smarten up a bit in the time he’d been away (if one could call raising a hand to HANDSOME JACK even remotely a good idea). Not only that, but he seemed to have developed an ATTITUDE – and for him to have the goddamn NERVE to taunt him – HIM of all people! It’d be adorable – like some meager, yipping mutt thinking itself to be bigger than it was in actuality, when in reality, he could easily PUNT the damn thing across the room – had he not banked on having the asshole piss his pants upon realising the mistake he’d made.
Jack INTENDED on making the bastard grovel before him, INTENDED on bringing Rhys down to his KNEES before he had the satisfaction of watching the life leave his eyes. That is, if Jack decided to grant him the mercy of death (he wouldn’t so soon. Not after what Rhys had put him through). This time, HE’D be the one to tear him limb from limb with his own bare hands while the other man could do nothing more but WATCH as he was dismantled and plead through the blood and tears to be put out of his misery.
All this, and to think Rhys had the fucking gall to SMIRK down at him as though HE had the advantage.
❝ — You – friggin’ – JACKOFF! ❞
To say Jack could act the part of a rabid animal wasn’t far from the truth. In the times he felt cornered, as though he was being undermined, DISRESPECTED when he’d come too FAR to be looked down upon, he just couldn’t be BOTHERED to reign his temper in. The way his lips pulled back to bare teeth in a snarl resembled that of such a beast preparing to strike. His hands came up to grasp at the cold metal keeping him against the wall, and while the cybernetic arm may have been stronger than what he’d anticipated from Rhys, he pushed back against the cyborg with all his might – and when that didn’t reap the desired result as soon as he’d hoped, he swiftly brought up a leg to kick at Rhys.
His main goal? To throw the other off balance in order for him to gain leverage.
❝ —Thankful? I think YOU’RE the one that should be grateful there, pal. This? This just means I don’t have’ta use YOUR pathetic body.❞
Even if the first kick hadn’t been enough to ward Rhys off, Jack didn’t let up in his efforts. While one hand continued to push at the unmoving hunk of metal, the other lashed out to claw at Rhys’ face – he was aiming for the eyes; he ALWAYS went for the eyes.
❝ — Ohhh yeah, and by the time I’m through with you? You’ll be grateful when I DO decide to finally put you out of your goddamn misery!❞
Seems the King was a little ticked off - expected really. Things had definitely changed since the fall of Handsome Jack - the ex-King. Rhys was now running things around here, and was things for the better? Perhaps. He thought as much anyway. The past of the Hyperion ‘janitor’ being a punching bag, an empty item being tossed aside and used was no more. There was no more of being succumbed to Jack’s endless torment, the ravaging blabbering, exaggerated threats and so on - time, fortune and future were now within Rhys’ palms and he was taking it by the very throat.
It was time to hail to this King now that the other tyrant had been dethroned.
Every breath, every moment that was shared within the seconds of their encounter, he couldn’t help but be tickled by the reactions he was getting from Jack. It was hysterical. The sounds that came from Jack’s lips made his spine tingle with anticipation, with a slight shudder of pleasure. Damn, that felt good. Too good.
It was hard to perceive this. If this was Rhys so far ago, he wouldn’t have even dreamed nor dared to have ever even done this to his Hero, to his idol. But the time was now, and Rhys was a completely different man from before.
Ah, there it was. The threat of a now undervalued man, one that had been belittled by a mere sentence or two. His grin was encouraged from that very scream of slight aggression and torment, even escaping a light chuckle from how humorous it actually was. The temper was just a delight and he just wanted more. It felt good seeing Jack being broken apart, piece by very piece.
The defensive maneuver from Jack was a success since Rhys didn’t really put all that much effort into his strength against him, Rhys taking a very light, small fall back from the pressure, the grin continuing to remain strong upon his face. He took the attack from Jack, a grunt escaping his lips upon impact. That grin refused to budge, however. He wasn’t showing any weakness to Jack, nor did he intend to. He soon steadied himself out, gathering himself together both accurately and swiftly, staring at Jack right into his sockets.
However, he saw the next oncoming strike from the other, quickly grabbing at his wrist and squeezed at it very tightly, metal digging into the skin with ease.
“Oh no, I don’t think you’d be doing any of that anytime soon, Princess, believe me. I think it’s about time someone became the peasant, the servant to this King.”, he started with an aggressive tone, dragging his wrist closer with strong assertive dominance. “You’re going to be working under me this time. And I think you’re going to love it! It’s about time you got dethroned and back in your place - at the very bottom of the ladder, in the trash. You’re gonna get what’s coming to you, Jack, and boy oh boy, you’ll find that out soon enough.”, here came that small maniacal laughter...
