The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

Exits Before Entrances

The wind above the dark city skyline furled and brushed away the jackets of the Sin Hunters as they prepared to launch for the hospital building from the air. As Jules tightened her glove straps, Jack kept a constant eye on the building, teeth gritting with every pass of the binoculars. Lasers would occasionally, but evidently pass across the view, hinting at trained snipers defending the fort. "Well isn't that splendid. What kind of hospital hires trained snipers at night?" Jules crept up to the ledge to join her mentor, inspecting the scene. "The kind of hospital that really doesn't want us to know what's going on." Jack nodded, retreating from the ledge to fasten his belt and slide strange coats over his fingerless gloves.

Jules watched as Jack performed this motion, intrigued. "What are those things?" she asked. "Micro suction finger tips," Jack replied, "they automatically attract any surface, so be careful when I give these to you. They are incredibly sticky and almost ten times more magnetic than the leading stuff they develop at California State." Jules grabbed her own finger tips, sliding them on top of her gloves. "Okay, got those on," she replied, "but how do we intend to-Jack?" As Jules finished her thoughts, the Sin Hunter charged over the ledge of the rooftop, soaring across the gap and slapping against the side of the tower, sticking the landing.

Jules' eyes widened in shock as her radio snapped to life. Raising the radio to her ear, Jack's voice crackled to life. "That's a jump you can very easily make. I have faith in you, and you've jumped a whole lot farther than this before." Jules nodded, clipping the radio to her belt. "Okay. If you say so." Jules backed up slowly, taking deep breaths. "You've faced men and women with guns before. Heck, you got shanked and didn't tell your parents for a month. Grenades at close range, a bomb, too? Jules, you've got a silly little jump." The new Sin Hunter charged forward with horrifying momentum before rocketing from the ledge, flipping through the air before sticking to the side of a steel beam, just a few inches below Jack.

As both Sin Hunters nodded, the climb began. Hand over hand, the billowing bundles of cloth and trench coats ascended the hospital wing, reaching the top after roughly 45 minutes of muscle-quaking, excruciating pain. Jack hauled himself onto the rooftop first, rolling over the ledge and removing his finger tips. Then he reached back for Jules, grabbing her sleeve and pulling her almost to the roof when a gun clicked behind his head. "The boss said you might try something stupid. Raise your hands where I can see them." Jack tilted his head to the air, a malicious grin forming beneath his shadowed face. "Why of course, pal." he growled, and a bullet cracked from beneath his trench coat.

As blood spattered over the guard's shoulder, the demon staggered, clutching their chest. "Agh! What the-" they sputtered through a mouth of blood, but then the Sin Hunter grabbed Jules' sleeve tighter, flinging her over the ledge right toward the wounded demon. Jules twisted around, her boot launching forward and shattering the demon's skull against the rooftop. Goo splattered across the space behind the rooftop access as Jules and Jack both sprinted for a ventilation port at the far right of the building. "Sorry for the rude launching," Jack commented, but Jules laughed, her own malicious grin forming behind the folds of her own trench coat. "Nah, you're cool. Heat of the moment plans are the best ones anyway." 

Jack flipped a serrated knife from his right leg, slashing across the screws that held the grate against the aluminum shaft, then Jules flipped through the grate, the rays of her flashlight cutting at the dark interior. Jack climbed through next, fastening the grate in place with a special type of spray Cynthia had provided. 'Only use that on adhering surfaces.' she had said. As Jack lifted the lid from the rooftop, he secured the grate in place, then threw himself down the shaft after Jules. Bracing his arms and legs against the shaft, the Sin Hunter slowed himself enough to avoid making any noise, sliding cooly down behind Jules as the two crawled for the storage facility. 

Jules unfolded a map from her belt, passing it back to Jack, who switched on his headlamp. Inspecting the labyrinth of pipes, tubes and air ducts, Jack narrowed his eyes, nodding. "Okay. Three rights and two lefts. I'll tell you where to turn next." "Got it." The two Sin Hunters pushed forward, turning right at the crossroad ahead.

Cynthia entered through the entrance at the bottom, rolling her fashionable Jeep to a stop by the pavement while she removed her glasses, tucking them safely behind her coat as she advanced up to the pavement. Unfortunately for Cynthia, two guards with trained weapons approached from either side of the door. "Apologies, miss, but the hospital is closed for the night." Cynthia extracted her own ID card, revealing to the guards possibly the highest ranking medical badge in the whole facility. "Maybe next time I'll contact security and let them know that you two tried stopping a doctor from her work."

The guards, although evidently disgruntled and clearly pained by the realization, turned and opened the doors for the Doctor. "Oh. Our apologies, Miss Frida. Please, make yourself accustomed." Cynthia nodded, stepping through while the guards locked the doors behind. One guard placed a finger on their headset, growling, "No sir, still no sign of the Sin Hunter or his lackeys. They must be pretty cocksure to try and make a plan before coming in here." While the guards debated their situation outside the glass doors, inside, Cynthia walked with casual flare across the tiled floor of the hospital, coiling the ID card into her palm where it shrank and disappeared, replaced by her fingers.

'And I thought those guards would be more difficult to take charge of." Cynthia stepped over to the elevators, passing a group of doctors and someone holding a clip board as she entered the elevator, pressing a button to the Fifteenth Floor. As Cynthia fixed her posture, she kept her face collected as three more guards entered the elevator after her, pressing a button to the Thirteenth Floor. Once the elevator doors closed, however, Cynthia turned to the guards, playing her best 'Dumb Card'. "Seems like an awful lot of security tonight. What's the special occasion?" One of the guards, masked by the human eye, but visible to Cynthia as a scaly, serpentine grin with a toothpick, responded in a sly tone.

"Precautionary orders, Miss Frida. We've received information of a potential attack coming to this hospital in a few days' time." Cynthia raised her eyebrows in shock. 'My disguise works on demons. Very good to know.' "An attack? As in, a terrorist attack?" she asked. "Hard to tell, ma'am," another guard, overcome with oozing battery acid and two gaping white holes for eyes responded, 'but our men are looking into the threats now. Until then, this hospital is under secure lockdown." Cynthia nodded, taking the information carefully. 'So they ARE planning an attack from the inside. Makes enough sense.' As the elevators stopped at the Fifteenth Floor, Cynthia smiled and nodded to the guards. 

"Very well then. I suppose I'd better be off. Thank you for your service, boys." As the elevator doors sealed shut, Cynthia hurried away to the office space, ready to greet her daughter and her friend.