[Round One] Blackjack (Chibi, Lysis, Kiri)

Sun Tzu once said that if you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will come floating by. But those were ruthless times--there was no hour without betrayal and war.

Now if you go by the river, you’ll likely meet the enemy who was waiting for you.

It was in the month of September in the year 1904. The place: Everton, northern Liverpool. This was where he was last seen; the notorious ‘Spring Heeled Jack’. He was described as a dark, slender being with round, red eyes. He was said to be able to leap great heights and distances and ‘spit blue fire’. The being was said to be a more mischievous than malevolent--harassing passersby with his tremendously surprising leaps and mischievous laughter. Once he was agitated or enraged, he took it upon himself to scare his onlookers away by breathing 'blue fire'.

An interesting tale came from each person who witnessed the spectacle. The results were similar--so it must have been true. The only question left after asking whether the incidents were true or false, was: "Who or what is the infamous Spring Heeled Jack?"

The velvet blanket of night had already covered the land in darkness. And while the moon concealed itself behind the clouds and the stars refused to shine, a small group of people gathered near the graveyard of the large church which towered over almost all of the other buildings around it. There, a biting mist had settled amidst the stone. It was clearly visible, especially to the one who could have seen through the dark. The people in the group huddled closer together while pulling at their clothes; concealing every inch of their skin from the cold air would be their first priority now.

“Tell me,” a boy in the group whispered to the girl next to him, “why are we here again?”

The two stopped walking, but they were ignored by the rest of the group, which continued to move forward through the graveyard.

“It’s because he’s been sighted around here.”

The girl raised her lantern to a broken gravestone and watched in silence as the darkness retreated to the grass behind it.

“But what about that guy with the yellow eyes and weird clothes?”

A slight breeze passed. The light within the lantern flickered, making the shadows twist and dance ritually around the youths.

“What about him?”

The boy turned and looked at the dark-clad person who tagged along casually at the back of the group. The man knelt before a gravestone and placed a gloved hand against the writing, rubbing from side to side, wiping off the dust.

It's always exciting when it's like this, the man thought, smiling and tracing the outlines of the words on the gravestone with his fingers. He traced along the different letters--the e's and h's--and the numbers which formed the year 1897. Such a shame, he frowned, three years shy of the new century.

“He’s kind of creepy,” the young boy continued, still looking at the man who was at the stone, “and suspicious, don’t you think? He only joined us at the last minute.”

Suddenly, the young boy felt someone’s eyes upon him. He quickly turned away from the gold-eyed stare and pulled up his collar around his face. The man stood up and dusted his hands before putting them in his pockets.

“He’s coming,” the youth whispered to his companion.

“It’s pretty cold out,” Rain whispered to the two, “are you sure you two are okay?”

“Yes, sir,” the girl responded, smiling, “thank you.”

Rain smiled back at her while the boy frowned, disappointed that she might have ignored what he had just said.

Just then, an uproar rose out of the part of the group that had went on ahead, leaving the three behind.

“He’s over here!”

“I see him on the roof!” someone cried.

There was a black blur as something ran across the rooftop of the cathedral and leaped high into the air. The youths rushed forward, frantically glancing up at the rooftop of the church and trying to watch where they were stepping at the same time.

“I see him! I see him!” the girl shouted, pointing at the blur which almost vanished from sight.

And there’s my cue.

There was another figure, another blur and another leap through the air.

“What now?! There’s two of ‘em?!” an astonished gasp came from the tiny crowd of spectators.

The Grim Angel chased the figure as it leaped from rooftop to rooftop, making loud banging sounds as they landed--the local residents were not pleased, as their protests could be heard from the rooftops. Jack was quick on his feet and swift on the uptake, changing direction constantly--it was heading back to the church one second, then it was heading away from the building in another.

This is getting annoying!

The figure seemed to read its pursuer’s thoughts, as it quickly changed direction and landed in the backyard of one of the nearby houses.

Rain jumped down after it.

It was a lanky thing. Taller than the grim angel, his arms were much shorter, but the legs were much longer; longer than the average. It seemed to have on a black, skin tight bodysuit with a round helmet which had two points resembling a bat’s ears and its eyes were hidden by a huge pair of round, red goggles.

The Grim Angel calmly brushed the hair from in front of his eyes and half smiled at the creature.

“Master Jack, I presume.”

The creature exhaled. A small cloud of mist appeared near its lips and then disappeared.

Silence followed after that. The being only tilted its head and stared at the person who confronted him, as if to say, “I don’t know you and I don’t care to know you.” It cackled loudly, bobbing its head up and down vigorously as it let out each sound.

“Ah-kekekekekeeee!” It spun around suddenly and made a straight shot for the bushes. Rain gave chase, but only to find himself spinning round and round, looking for the being that had disappeared in the shadows of the trees.

“Ahkekekekekeeee!”

The laughter echoed through the woods, seemingly coming from every direction.

There was a sudden movement.

Another figure was walking calmly through the darkness, not looking as if it were bothered by the echoing laughter at all.

Doesn’t look like him…but it won’t hurt to check it out…


OoC: Good luck to you all! Ahkekekekekeee~