The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

An Ash-Clogged Arrival

In a crash, a flash and beautifully horrifying bursts of fleshy reds and grays, purples and blacks, the group of misfits, mercenaries and detectives tumbled down through a shaft into the warehouse facility with a crash and rumbling clanks. The wall itself, by the broom closet on the first floor, churned and gurgled, splitting open into a deep crimson tunnel as Shrap, Deck and Crow exploded from the shaft, flying out into the hallway in a crash of dust and dirt. While the trio rolled to a stop, struggling to climb over one another, the other half of the team came rolling through.

Cynthia flew out of the tunnel, spreading large, majestic dragon's wings while sharpening large blades of elemental varieties from her hands as she hovered in the air, laughing to have returned to her home terrain. Jack came next, a shadow of his former self, cloaked in the darkness as he swirled into life, a void given form in the darkest flashes of the portal. His rolled tight trench coat, tactical armor and his fedora blew in the wind from the rushing portal as the younger of the Sin Hunters launched headfirst, rolling into a twisting flip beside her mentor.

Jack's fully cloaked face revealed two striking, cartoonish eyes which raised their eyebrows and chuckled to see their young protege already adapting to Hell. It brought him confidence and courage, that a young little sprout was already readjusting to the soil it was planted in. Jules, however, found herself surprised and shaken by what she saw. This was, in all truth and honesty, a world that existed. But it was not the same world she had grown up researching and studying about. Because this was Hell. And Hell was not Jules' everyday playground.

Strange, distorted images of Demons and twisted, scary monsters roamed around the facility. Hissing steam and powerful presses clamped with force around her ears. And despite everything she had ever known regarding the truth of her family, Jules couldn't help herself from gaping in the purest form of shock and trembling terror at her mother, who soared around the facility with large, demented wings while spewing flames, icy shards and volts of ribbon lightning from her palms. Jules felt her shoulders dropping while her mentor slid forward, removing a hand from his folded over trench coat, resting his hand on her sleeve.

"Ahh! Oh, it's just you," Jules exhaled, laughing softly while Jack moved his hand to pat her on her back. "Yeah, I feel that. Things will change down here, Julie," Jack muttered, tilting his fedora upward to the skylights above the factory, "but they will also get better as time goes on. You just gotta put a little trust in things down here." Jules nodded, smiling to hear words of comfort. But her smile disappeared fast when a short, blonde Demon with faded purple muscles popping out of sparkling silver armor approached the group. The Demon chuckled, flicking off his sunglasses to reveal his eyes arranged vertically on his face, one eye winking.

"Heya Julie! Don't tell me you've already forgotten who I am!" Jules stepped forward, trying to hide the truth that she was deeply drawn to this striking Demon. "Uh...Deck, right?" She asked, quivering in her tone. The Demon laughed a great, hearty laugh, scooping the young Sin Hunter up in his arms and spinning around. "You know it! God, it feels good to see you didn't hit your head too hard on the way down!" Jules struggled to stop her nose from gushing out as she stepped back, keeping her arms on the shorter, but far too mysterious Demon before her. "They, uh, they didn't, um, tell me that, y'know, I, uh, Demons are cool looking?"

Deck paused, turning to Jack before the two burst out shrieking with laughter. Deck rolled back and forth on the ground while Jack struck the table behind him with his glove, tears streaming down their faces while Cynthia returned to the floor with Crow and Shrap, her arms hanging by her sides in confused spectacle. "Uh..." Cynthia paused, turning to Crow and Shrap for help. "Did I miss something important?" Crow waved his hand, coughing. "Mm-hrmm! Uh, no, they're fine. Those two were on a big stakeout for two weeks and developed a lot of free time. Probably an inside joke of some kind."

Cynthia sighed, her back arching forward in a relieved angle when the mechanical fingers of a very disgruntled, yet easily psychotic Nazi Engineer approached the Doctor. "Ah. Zhere you are, Doctor. I vas worried I vould not be seeing you again so soon." Cynthia turned in slow surprise, being cautious with the trigger-happy Sinner. "Wrench! Oh, it's good seeing you too!" Cynthia squeezed Wrench tight, knowing it was not his preference. Wrench, however, returned the hug, wrapping his own artificial limbs around Cynthia. "And it is good to see you as vell, Doctor."

Shrap crossed his arms, pulling out a chair beside Crow and sliding into a seated position, shuffling a hand over his twisted theater mask. "Great," he mumbled with a saddened manner, "it's gonna take a hit second to feel the wind on my face again." Crow, however, breathed a sigh of relief, strapping his mask and goggles closed over his face. "You say that, Shrap, really, but I tell ya this; I ain't ever gonna forget the feeling of my goggles moving like cartoony eyes again. What a time this is." The Plague Infector slid over to go chat with Jules, who had been inspecting her biological father laughing right alongside Deck and a few others.

"Must be interesting, seeing Hell for the first time, huh?" Jules turned to face a now lively and energetic Crow, nodding her head. "Mm-hmm. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit excited to see what the real big bads of this world look like." Crow chuckled, patting a charred bloodstained hand on the Sin Hunter's shoulder. "That's a...probably good mindset to have. But I've faced Hell's Hierarchy before, and I can warn you with confidence that they won't be so willing to comply with any of us now."