The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

We're Part of

"A bigger picture just came into focus for us." Jack began, dragging the edge of his knuckles along the table. The fresh waves of shaved cheddar and polished mozzarella wafted into the air with hints of seasoning and freshly buttered crust as the group sat around the table, sampling New York's finest slice of pizza and some drinks while inspecting the large bulletin board cluttered with ribbons, tape and pins marking photos and documents. "Our problem is this guy," Jack proclaimed, a mouth set with fierce vengeance in the jaws and a breadstick in between like a large, salty cigar.

Striking the board with his hand at a sticky note with the word 'Bile' spread across it, the Sin Hunter continued his formulation. "Bile, whether it's a code name or an acronym, is our primary target. We don't know him personally, but we know that, as a Demon, he's the one causing trouble for the Living World and Hell." Crow waved a hand into the air, which Jack promptly tapped with a pointer. "Yes?" "We know that Bile has been creating a serum of some kind, something that would theoretically rival our own stimpaks." Shrap, keeping his arms crossed around a can of soda, finished helping a plate of pepperoni pizza over to Jules before adding his own perspective.

"The last I recall, Jack, you said you paid a visit to the morgue with the younger Sin Hunter and the Doc. What was that all about?" Cynthia stepped into the meeting, brushing back her hair and fixing her glasses. "One of Jack's friends passed away a few weeks ago. After investigating why her death was being covered up by external sources in the media, we confirmed that she died of a strange mutation caused by an unknown source." Jules offered her own insight, turning the attention of the group inward for the table. After clearing off her plate, the Sin Hunter in training continued.

"We theorized that Miss Winters' death and mutation may have been created artificially by splicing DNA, and after talking with another Demon we confirmed that Bile is rumored to be making a special type of superhuman serum." At the end of Jules' explanation, however, Deck raised his own hand, offering a question. "Wait wait, hold on. Did you say you talked to another Demon?" Jack and Cynthia, both standing at the bulletin board, exchanged glances of surprise and concern. "Yes, we did. There's a Demon at the Italian place we got this pizza from. Why do you ask?" Deck scratched his chin, still disguised as a Living soul.

"Hmm," he muttered, "if there's other Demons who are able to cross into the Living World, we have a huge problem." The others turned in stunned silence, but Crow quickly picked up the scene, eyes raised in indefinible terror. "Oh. OH, NO." He half-shouted, turning to Deck, exchanging a glance of fear, then sending his chair flying across the room as the Plague Infector stood up, clutching his face. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no..." he groaned, retrieving his chair and sitting at the table again. Everybody had their eyes on Crow as the Plague Infector cleared his throat, grumbling.

"If the Demons have a way of getting into the Living World, and we know that He'll is about to start a war, then where's the very first place they'll come running to?" Jack turned to Cynthia in panicked disbelief, his shoulders dropping with every breath. "It'll be border crossing all over again," Cynthia whispered, eyes hovering on the floor in stunned silence. Jules inched forward, sliding her soda to the edge of the table while she crossed her gloves. "So, if the war in Hell kickstarts, we could be looking at a war in the Living World too?" Jack nodded, putting his back to the room and his face to the bulletin board, gently dragging his finger along the bright blue thread connecting the dots.

"We can't let that happen," he whispered slowly, causing Shrap and the others to congregate around the table in hushed muttering. Jack traced his hand along the fabric of the string, slipping his finger beneath the rope and then back up to the top, like a screw sliding into a hole. And then Jack saw the screw as something else. Something he hadn't before, something he had not anticipated. He continued the motion with his finger along the rope, back and forth, back and forth, up and down, between the sides. And then it clicked. Jack knew how he could prevent the war of Living and Dead.

Turning with an audible brush across the air, everyone turned to face Jack in anxious expectation. Grabbing a slice of pizza from the box, Jack took a bite, swallowed, then continued. "We're going back to Hell. But we're gonna be playing the world's craziest game of In the River, On the Bank anybody's ever seen." Everyone at the table responded with puzzled silence, but Jules perked up in surprise, clasping her hands together. "Are you saying we're going to be-" "Bouncing between the Living World and Hell? Absolutely." Jack crossed his arms in subtle victory, to which the rest of the group applauded the courage and the masterfully crafted plan. Jack adjusted the brim of his fedora, grinning with foam at the chops.

"But if we're gonna do this, I'm going to need to cash in a quick favor with two guys who love playing games." Cynthia turned with widened eyes and two hands planted at her hips. "Jack, no." "Why not?" The Sin Hunter motioned, waving his gloved hands. Cynthia returned with a look of stern control. "Jack, if they find out we've been dragging more Sinners and Demons into the Living World, they're going to be mad." Jack shook his head, laughing while he placed a hand on Cynthia's shoulder. "Doc, they'll be fine with this. Especially if we tell them what's coming next if they don't help out. We're doing them a favor at the same time!"