The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

We Gotta Go Deeper

In the aftermath of the massacre at the hotel room, the Sin Hunter and his associates gathered in the plaza outside, addressing the authorities on the matter. Since Jack had taken care of the corruption in the legal world, the police in New York were far more well mannered, especially thanks to Harry's boyfriend Keith, who had graduated to become the Chief of Police. While Jules and Deck danced back and forth, flexing who could be more agile, Jack and Cynthia stood with crossed arms talking to the police.

"We don't know where they came from, sir," Jack concluded, "but wherever they came from or whoever they're working for, I don't wonder if they'll try it again." The police officers, one round and the other slightly bulkier around the arms, both nodded in agreement, closing their notebooks and pens. The bulkier officer stepped forward, shaking hands with Jack and Cynthia. "Thank you both for bringing this to our attention. We'll get all our guys on this as soon as we can." Cynthia nodded, keeping her hands crossed in front of her.

"And thank you, officers, for hearing our story. We appreciate it." Both of the policemen tipped their hats, then turned and walked away to their car. Jack breathed a sigh of relief, keeping his sleeves crossed while Cynthia turned to pick a few stray bits of glass out of his jacket. "You really gotta work on holding back when killing people." Jack dropped his shoulders, tilting his head and his fedora to face the concerned Doctor Florence. Cynthia stopped picking out glass shards, her eyes locked with her best friend. "I get your concerns, Doc. But we can't keep pretending that negotiations will always work.

"The problem is, not every Demon is looking for a quiet, peaceful life. And if they know that the Sin Hunter is going back to Hell, then we need to figure out how we can fix this before it breaks." As Cynthia stepped back with a huff, Crow and Shrap both returned from the lobby with Crow wiping away blood on his forearms. "How'd cleaning up the mess go?" Cynthia asked. Crow scoffed, removing his goggles and hanging them on his belt with his mask. "Let's just say the morticians are gonna have some burnout this weekend."

Shrap tipped his top hat to a crowd of finely dressed ladies in the plaza, then returned to the group. "I never knew things were so much easier to kill in the Living World. The more y'know, I guess." Jack felt the trim of his trench coat flapping against his legs when he turned, nodding against the flaps of his collar. "That's because things in the Living World don't expect Demonic magic to rear its ugly head. And Demons don't expect Humans to know how to swing back." Shrap tapped the bottom of his chin thoughtfully, nodding before lowering his arms. "Makes sense to me."

Crow stepped forward, extending his hands to motion the direness of the situation. "So here's where we're at now," he stated while Cynthia motioned for Jules and Deck to come join them. The Plague Infector struck his palm with his fist, pacing back and forth. "Shrap has a plan to get us into Hell. If we can't resolve anything else with Bile and his goons in the Living World, then we have to take the fight to him." Jack stepped forward, the spurs on his boots striking one another when he walked. "I agree. It's about time we finished things off and made sure nobody else goes rearing their ugly snouts, tusks, trunks, slits or God knows whatever else these Demons have on their faces.

"We need to cut this problem off at the source." Jules stepped forward to offer her own thoughts. "But how do we intend to get to Hell if the entrances are all guarded?" At this moment, Shrap stepped forward with a hand on his tie and a cough being cleared. "Well, my dear Sin Hunter in training, I happen to have the perfect solution to all of your needs." Jack raised his eyebrows in stunned silence, his eyes darting around with the possibilities of his response.

"You see," Shrap waved a hand, to which Crow groaned and Deck chuckled, "my associates and I have a card that will allow us easy access to and from the Living World." Jack stepped forward, eyes wide with shock. "You have one of those?" Cynthia paused her train of thought, turning to face Jack. "One of what, the cards?" She asked. Deck entered the ring with his own thoughts. "The cards allow temporary, but perfectly manageable travel between worlds."

"'Course," Crow commented, "you can only stay for a reasonable amount of time. Ix nay on staying in one world for three or four years." Jules crossed her arms while fixing her fedora. "Hunh. Guess that makes sense," she muttered. Jack stepped closer, taking a card from Shrap's hand. He turned it over in his gloves, then said, "And you're confident this will work?" The salesman chuckled, scooping up his briefcase from the ground. "Not a hundred percent, but way more than fifty. I tried it on myself, so it should be fine." Jack crossed his gloves with a raised eyebrow in cautious speculation, but Cynthia stopped him.

"If the card worked on Shrap, then it has to work on you, Jack." Jack turned with a cold, blank stare. "Yeah, but I'm not worried about myself." Cynthia raised her own eyebrows in puzzlement, but when Jack leaned forward and whispered his concerns, her expression changed to reasonable proportions. "I'm worried about what could happen to Jules if she tries to go down with us." As the bioengineer and the assassin split apart, the young Sin Hunter in training leapt through the conversation, performing a cartwheel from the lip of the fountain behind. Jules dusted off her gloves while facing her mother and her biological father.

"Just so we're clear, I am going on this mission. And I don't care what this card does," she commented, waving a hand to the gold business card while Shrap cradled the transport, "I'll be fine. But you have to trust me that I can handle my own." Jack knelt down to Jules' level, putting both of his gloves on her shoulders. "Jules, the issue isn't that you're gonna be fine. The problem is that you froze like a deer in headlights at the sight of a Demon. If that happens again, you'd be dead with the rest of Hell."

But Jules brushed the Sin Hunter's hand away, laughing. "Oh please, Jack. You trained me to be a professional assassin and detective for hire. And not to poke," Jules waved her hands, sidestepping in a circle around Cynthia and Jack, "but I have no intention of letting those skills go to waste." Cynthia stepped forward to offer her own thoughts, but Jack rested a glove on her shoulder, shaking his fedora from side to side. "Jules, you have to understand that you're gonna see things. Things that, honestly, you may wish you'd never seen before."

Jules nodded, fixing her own fedora. "No matter the cost. If I gotta die so millions others can live, then so be it. That's the Sin Hunter Code. You taught me that." Jack turned to a very irritated and surprised Cynthia, whose eyes lingered on her daughter. Jack dropped his shoulders, facing Doctor Florence with a defeated stance. "She has a point, not to mention a good mindset."