The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

Not-So Thrilling News

Bile stopped beside Griffith's workspace, scooping up a small trinket on the aquatic demon's desk. "Fascinating," he muttered, inspecting the object. It was a small cube, lined with gold trim across the edges and a sea breeze of turquoise in the gaps between. However, twisting the edges of the cube flipped the sides against one another, creating a multi-pointed shape. Griffith paused his work, turning to see what had caught his boss' attention. "Oh, that?" The scientist shrugged, returning to his work at the welding table, "that's just a little bauble compared to what we're really doing here." Bile nodded, setting the cube back on its pedestal.

"Thank goodness we got all those new guys and gals. Production is through the roof in this laboratory!" Griffith nodded, smiling when one armed Sinner rushed forward,d mounting the steps with a cell phone raised. "Mister Bile, sir! There's a phone call for you." The tall, dark green demon nodded, rolling his emerald sleeves over his elbows and taking the cell from his employee. "Thanks, pal." Moving away from the table, Bile raised the phone to where his ears could have been. "Yello?" He asked. A voice responded, quaking as if it had just run a marathon. "Sir! We have a very big problem!"

Bile turned away from the phone, gazing back toward Griffith and the guards by the podium, then he stormed into a neighboring room, closing the door as quietly as possible. "Tell me everything, leave nothing out." Bile growled into the receiver. The voice cleared itself, then presented their message. "The Sin Hunter got through our defenses and found the body. Once we engaged...he slashed through thirty of our best guys. Top Tier, A List men and women." Bile remained silent, however, his trembling lip above his razor blades of teeth flashed black and a muddied pink as the phone responded. "Uh, sir? Are you the-"

In a swift and violent motion, Bile set the phone on a nearby desk, then shattered the phone into brittle pieces with his fist. Bits of sparking technology sparked and swept over the floor as the tiger shark was left to stand in quiet rage, fists smoking as they clenched and unclenched. His breath quivered in his gills while his blood red lenses flashed in the white light from the outside office space. 'The Sin Hunter...a miserable case,' Bile whispered to himself, imagining pummeling the assassin over and over again, crushing him into dust. 'So he knows that the jig's up. The lawyer girl didn't die of drugs. So now he's coming for us.'

The shark-like demon stormed over to the desk in the workspace, grabbing a set of car keys from beneath the shelf. 'I have a phone call to make. Just one of many I've made today.' Leaving the office space, Bile fixed his aviators, leaving the room and stepping into the elevator at the entrance to the laboratory. As the doors slid shut, Bile crossed his arms, swiping through the Contacts list on the small device. 'Though it's a good thing we got those three thousand guys ahead of time. More cannon fodder to our benefit.'

Striding across the sidewalk with an arm tucked smartly behind his back, the Crimson Stripe whistled a shrill tune to himself, his scissor-bladed hand snapping open and closed in a swinging manner. Tubes and wires stretched and compressed over his bloody suit and tie, recirculating blood through his stitched body while his eye blinked open, admiring the lights of the Hellish city far beyond the walkway at the top of the mountain. Here, atop the highest hill across the valley, the Stripe was able to view every district and area of Pride, clear across to the edges of its borders with the other Sins. "A marvelous thing," the Stripe commented on, crossing his arms behind his back when the air began to fracture.

The serial killer remained unamused, keeping a straightened face as a set of glowing eyes pierced the air in front of the Overlord. "Why hello there, you sharply dressed pile of scars and steel! What brings you out here?" The Crimson Stripe chuckled, dragging the tip of his blood soaked scissor blades across the edge of his pale white mask. "Relax, you old softie. I'm here to discuss the happenings in the Living World now." The eyes remained inert, only blinking every so often. "I see. Carry on." The Stripe seized his moment to crack a joke. "You do see indeed with those bulbous things. Now then, the Living World matters."

The Stripe paraded across the ledge, resting his hand upon the railing. "It looks like the Sin Hunter's back in town. I'd offer words of comfort to the other Overlords and Ladies and even their bosses, but trying to tell them the Sin Hunter is 'a coward, a loser, a fossil in dusty clothes,' might not gloss over well." The ownerless eyes blinked in acceptance of the information. "I see. We could propose a deal, you know." The Crimson Stripe clutched the side of his face covered in matted blood and scars, laughing. "A deal with you? No thanks. I know you have all your precious little collars wrapped tight around those other Overlords down there. Why not speak to them for help?"

The eyes remained motionless, processing the question. Waving his scissor-blade hand, the Crimson Stripe continued through. "And, for that matter, why do you need help? I thought, surely, that a demon Overlord of your stature wouldn't need a shoulder to lean upon." But when the serial killer turned around to wave the eyes away with a bladed finger, he was surprised to see that those cold green eyes had disappeared, dismissed without his leave.