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Hit the road, Jack
Topic Started: May 4 2017, 10:40 AM (276 Views)
Suzuri
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TRIGGER WARNING: a few mature, but non-graphic concepts such as prostitution and gore

“Looking for a sweet time? A sweet time, hun?”

The voice had a sing-song lilt to it, bouncing between passer-bys and the cobblestones on the pedestrian street. A few doors away, a nightclub’s door rattled with bass thumps. People flowed between shadows and neon like a stream of colorful handkerchiefs. A pink bunny sign, a spinning green jenny and a blue Eastern Union emblem lit up the narrow space between the blocks.

A red flutter. A wiggle of the hips. Many strode by without paying attention. The little red dress shined like a rose in the cone of light of the lamp post that she rested against. The large ruffles around her bottom and chest hung like heavy petals. In-between them, the material stretched to accentuate her ribs. Some gazes lingered. They studied her from top to bottom, like an item in a display case. She wasn’t the only one calling. You could see it in the way that the women –or men- waited, even as they were gulping down noodles at a hole-in-the-wall eatery. But the genuine curiosity in her voice intrigued. From a cloud of green cigar smoke, the competition frowned.

She smiled nervously, and fidgeted with her hair. Two thin braids barely contained it, like a crown, adorned with red beads. In the code of the Sea People, their specific sequence and shapes marked the pun: “People are at their best just for one night.”

A man slowed down, and stopped by her side. He drew one finger over her arm, over one of her red elbow-level gloves. She stifled her disgust. He looked older, maybe in his forties. His suit was business casual. Winking, she shuffled away on her knee-high red leather boots. Her outfit covered more skin than she was used to, but Thomas had suggested it. Thomas had showed her the ropes: confidence, caution, see the money first. He said that one could make a lot of money like this.

Her plump, bright red lips curled in a smile. The man looked straight at them. Words were spoken. The girl wore no other make-up apart from her lipstick. She pressed her folded hands over her chest. The heart’s bass sound vibrated in her phalanxes. She had been afraid that her lean, thin figure would disqualify her, but Thomas had said that innocence was a common fantasy to sell.

He could tell that she was nervous. “Are you new,” he asked. “My,” she chuckled, “If I said, then I’d have to charge extra.” He said something, and she shook her head. Taken aback, he turned to leave. The girl crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. Part of her was glad that she didn’t have to go through with it.

It was good that she was new at this, Suzuri thought. All the creeps targeted the new girls.

She was looking for a more dangerous creep. A more subtle one, though.

Evisceration. Missing organs. A cut-off face. The murders had made journalists giddy to provide complementary blood-chilling headlines for their clients’ morning coffee. ‘Sex worker murdered in Westchapel’. ‘The SIXTH body found’. ‘Police are CLUELESS!!!’. When she settled down on the Silver Gate bridge to sell her paintings, Suzuri had heard people talking about Westchapel as if it was a hotbed of sin and the deranged. ‘It’ even had a name, as if he was some sort of grunge metal pop idol – the killer, that is.

Jack the Ripper.

It rubbed her the wrong way. She couldn’t quite understand why, and it gnawed at her. That’s when Y.T. appeared, and he asked questions, and they gnawed at her even more.

Y.T. was a detective. He was also, in a way that Suzuri didn’t quite understand, a part of her mind that other people could see. She was afraid of him. He asked the most uncomfortable questions.

Suzuri didn’t particularly like computers. But she knew enough about them to carefully key-peck her way through the York New Municipality’s website. Then she found the charts, the numbers. And she knew.

The Westchapel murders were drops in an ocean. Certainly gruesome, but they were not particularly many in comparison to the ones resulting from gang violence, domestic abuse, addiction, trafficking. For prostitutes, the chosen victims of Jack the Ripper, the murders had barely changed the yearly fatality rate by one significant digit.

Yet, for the comfortably middle class, it was these ‘orrible murders which counted.

Why?

It made Suzuri angry when she understood. Jack was mad. He was unpredictable and it seemed like he might, in the right conditions, strike anyone. The other crimes were expected. In the corners of people’s minds, there was a reflex their said ‘They deserved it.’ I mean, what do you expect if you decided to sell your body? That’s a crime. It’s disgusting, to ask for money for a service that I demand should be free.

Citizens of York New were otherwise obsessed with their money. It seemed hypocritical to Suzuri, but she came from a gift economy.

Yet, it was Jack that she set on to hunt, in her bona-fide Lady of the Night uniform. Because Society was big and she was small, but Jack was small too. She was afraid of Y.T., but Jack should be afraid too. He was the best detective in the world. (The bastard. According to him, at least.) Also because, when she came to York New, Thomas and his coworkers from the host club treated her more than kindly for recovering their Persian Blue, and two of their clients had been found in the streets with their abdomens split open. The women often went to the host club after work, to unwind emotionally after a day of pretending to care about their clients.

She wasn’t a hero. She was terrified. She felt that Y.T. manipulated her into playing the bait, with guilt and reason, disinterestedly pulling strings that he knew were in her mind because he lived there. They weren’t even his reasons. He simply wanted to explore murder like a playing field.

If she died, he might as well, given the little he’d shared of his true nature. Yet, Suzuri wondered whether he even cared if she got hurt.

She clenched her fist until her knuckles turned white. Her choice. Gray, Y.T. Everyone wanted to ‘guide’ her. But even then, she had to take responsibility for her choices. The girl forced herself to relax, and looked along the street for the next man that she could entice to follow her in a dark alley in hopes that he tried to kill her.

She blinked. Among the people leaving the casino, there was the flicker of a dragon tattoo. She shuffled on her soft leather boots, and got behind the lamp post. Her nails dug into the metal. Here it should have been safe. She always changed the places she advertised herself.

The girl strained her eyes. The dragon tattoo was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she had imagined it? Her hands fell limp by her body. It was a nerve-racking role to play.

“You!” The man shouted. From across the crowd, for one moment, Suzuri met his eyes. She started running just before he did. “You skirted me!” She was fast, but with the crowds of people going in all directions one could have as well been a fly in a jar of molasses. “Scuse me, scuse me,” she muttered under her breath, pushing away elbows like her life depended on it. The thing about ghosting on people after negotiating sexy times, is that they tended to get angry.

His voice loomed closer. He looked frightening enough to part the sea of people like a prophet of old. One with gang tattoos and hidden weapons. Suzuri darted for an alleyway. She stopped. By the alley entrance, two men eyed her strangely. Trusting her gut, she turned on her heels and ran along on the street. “Get her, boys! We’ll teach the bitch not to disrespect the Lisanne Family.”

Something grabbed her arm. She slipped and fell, rasping her knees and palm on the cobblestones.
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Grandmapancakes
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"Talk to me smalls, what you got for me?" The Gigantic Hunter made his way down the crowded street which parted in front of him like some biblical miracle.

"Not an official bounty since the city is trying to keep it hush hush and all buuuuttt..."

Gilgamesh grinned as he heard his partner tease him. Smalls always knew which cases were the best. "I like where this is going, strong?"

"Maybe, but he's certainly a bully, only picks on prostitutes, murders are really gruesome Gil, I'll send some to you"

There was a ding that came from his phone as he received the pictures. For a moment the battle hardened beast's stomach churned, he felt like he would puke. The feeling passed as quickly as he came overcome by a much stronger emotion, anger.

"Where" Was the only would able to make it through his clenched teeth.

"Red light district, only at night, victims ages range, profession all the same."

The blonde giant began to quicken his pace sending terrified pedestrians scrambling out of his way in fear of being crushed. It mattered not to Gilgamesh if there was no Jenni in this for him. This man disgusted him and on that basis alone he would be the one to take the killer out.

"Careful big guy, this guy sounds crazy, you don't know what he's capable of...The media is calling him 'Jack the Ripper' or 'The Monster of York New City' He sounds scary"

A grin began to crack on along the Hunter's lips "If he is a monster then he will learn to bow at his king's feet." With that Gilgamesh hung up.



It took Gil about twenty minutes at a quickened pace to reach the edges of the red light district. From the get go there were offers from scantily clad women about 'having a good time' and 'making your dreams come true'. It confused him a little, he had spent so much time outside of cities that their culture was sometimes confusing. Why would one pay for sex if you could get it for free with a little effort?

"What can you tell me about Jack the Ripper?" He had asked to a group of women huddled together on the street corner. None of them answered, all of them averted their gazes.

"Have you Seen the Monster of York Shin City?" He questioned two business men, obviously freaked out about being talked to they ran away quickly.

It was disheartening to Gilgamesh that everyone was so gripped with terror that no one would come out with even a small morsel. This only made the black-list hunter more determined to find out exactly what was happening in this place.

As the giant searched the area, asking his questions he overheard an argument a block away only to see a small, young girl dressed in a frilly red dress scurrying his way. Gilgamesh raised his eyebrows and stopped to watch the events unfold. It looked like she would get away from her would be attackers until they blocked the alley way, not good. As the girl turned and ran in the other direction another man appeared out of the crowded and grabbed her arm, sending her to the ground.

This was when the beast king began to move. "What seems to be the problem here?" Gilgamesh's voice boomed as he towered over the man.

The mobster growled without looking at him "This whore took our money and ran, now she's going to get what's coming to her, you will too buddy if you don-" The gangster cut himself off with his own scream. While he was talking Gilgamesh had grabbed onto the mans arm and squeezed tight, breaking it so he would let go of the girl.

"It isn't very nice to call such a little girl a whore now is it." It was then the gangster finally turned around, his eyes bulging at the site of the intruder. "Now how about you take your friends and pretend this never happened" For extra emphasis Gil twisted the mans arm, another shout was heard as his shoulder was popped out of place, the sound was deafened by the city itself.

After the mobster's broken arm was freed from the vice grip he disappeared back into the crowd "Good" Was all Gilgamesh could get out before he felt a blow to his back, the pain was dull but the pain shot up and down his spine none-the-less, it was a good hit. "Ya'll just don't know when to quit" The Hunter spoke before letting out a loud, bellowing laughter.

The brawler didn't even bother turning around first, he swung his right arm out and spun with it sending the cowardly mobster into a wall by the entrance of the alley way. It was a gesture of force strong enough to make the last mobster think twice about attacking, instead he just ran.

Now that the trash was dealt with, Gilgamesh focused his attention on the small girl in front of him. He bent down to scoop her up from the ground, if she had let him he would keep her in his arms so that she was eye-level with him. "You might be dressed maturely but you look far too young to be in this line of work little lass." His voice was lower than before but most would still consider it pretty loud. "I don't blame you for not wanting to fuck those guys" This blunt comment was followed by another bellowing laugh.

"I'd be more careful if I was you, little one, there is a psychopath on the loose, one with a penchant for killing prostitutes and you look like the perfect target for such a monster." The Hunter was half scolding-half warning the little harlot. "Go home, the streets aren't safe anymore until he's dealt with and I would hate to see your body show up in the newspapers as the next victim."

If he was holding her this would be the part where he'd set her on her feet, patting her head "Run along now little girl, find a new profession while you still have the chance." And with that he began to move on in search of some much needed information.

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It was the swiftest, most brutal rescue that Suzuri had ever been at the receiving end of. One moment her face and palm grazed the cobblestones, the next one harsh words were exchanged above her, and then the sound of her assailant's broken bone reverberated through her body. She was free from the mobster's grip before blood had time to drip from her scratches.

"Our money?" Was all that she managed to say. Spite and anger sparked in her eyes and, on her knees, she tried to stand up.

A Mob group could be like family. Yet, Suzuri had yet to meet a gang so laissez-faire that goons would reflexively claim their boss’s fun money as their own.

That’s because they hadn’t. She remembered them throwing banknotes at her, laughing. She remembered being backed into a corner.

She swung her head around like an annoyed horse, her soft mane spreading around her like a dandelion. As if by chance, her eyes poked the scene for escape routes. People in elegant outfits moved away, while the ones further out rose on their toes to watch the show. For all his kind words, her rescuer could turn out to be an even bigger bastard than the mobsters. Her voice went quiet.

"Are you admitting to assau-“ Her eyes went wide. She saw movement in her rescuer’s back. “Be-!"

'-hind you!' She tried to say, but the thump of a connecting punch made the shudder. No matter his large, muscular frame, her rescuer would be brought to his knees by that fist in the kidneys.

…or not. She leaped towards him, and stopped half-way. He swatted the assaulter away as if he were a fly. Without even looking. Suzuri’s eyes widened. Her mentor Zanto would have the force to do so, and Gray the Assassin was known for that cinematic mercilessness. But that bright spirit, like a powder keg filled with fireworks, that joyous capacity for violence, mostly reminded the travelling painter of her mother. The mobsters ran away.

As if summoned by that thought, came the kindest, most disempowering lecture that the girl had had to suffer through in a long time. The large man picked her up. A thank you, a thank you would be proper, she thought hopelessly, lips trembling to get the words out. Her eyebrows frowned. Her gratitude got stuck in all the insults she was burning to spout. She blinked to fight away tears. She’d survived a shipwreck, hypothermia, the Clocktower and climbed the Celestial Tower only in the last few months. He was treating her like a kid!

"If I'm old enough to kill people for money, I'm old enough to have sex with them." She said, with a slow, restrained voice. She bit her lip, and kept staring at his back as he walked away. Her hand swung, as if unsure whether to curse him with an obscene gesture.

She was playing a role. She couldn’t afford to forget that.

Around her, the crowd was beginning to move. Yet too many eyes were still fixed on her; her skin itched. The girl in the bright red dress straightened her back, and walked through them to a street vendor. Asked for a glossy. Suzuri didn’t read the glossies, but this small gesture diffused the tension and sent people on their way. She shuffled through the magazine, reading about a popular teenage actress and her comments on deadly allergies. The vendor gestured to his face, and handed her a tissue pack. A drop of blood splattered on the corner of the page. Suzuri raised her fingertips to her eyebrow, and felt a small gash.

Yet, the crowd was slow to return to its former Brownian motion. Her rescuer was a disturbance, gravitating from group to group, scattering them in a way that couldn’t be explained by his large frame alone. Suzuri pressed a tissue against her scratch. He was asking about…

The Ripper.

“You don’t say,” she whispered, as if replying to someone far away. She shook her head, and paid the magazine vendor. Her fists clenched. Her lips moved silently as she walked away. “I’m not your bitch, you know.”

She had to run to catch up to the man. Suzuri was tall and lanky, but in comparison to this giant, she felt very small. To get his attention, she poked him in the arm.

She rose on her toes, and gestured for him to get closer. Whispered:

"Heard you're into info. There's people selling that, if you're looking to buy." As she walked away, she gestured with a tilt of the head for him to follow.

Left by the casino, right by the growling alley cat defending its trashcan, carefully leaping through the place with the broken paving stones, the streets thinned out, and grew darker. Her dress flickered like a flame. The music faded. Here was the backside of the dazzling illusion in the main street. The side entrances for employees and suppliers, the place where gamblers with five aces were thrown to re-arrange their skeletal system. A lone man sat on a set of stone steps, with a glass of rose champagne in hand. He had rich white hair that flowed down to the stairs, orange-purple robes, and a smile like a dealer would have as he prepared to recover more chips than you’ve got. When Suzuri walked past him on the sidewalk, he clinked his glass on the metal handrail.

As the large man walked past him, he wobbled up from behind him and put an arm around his neck. Even with him standing on his toes, it was an awkward angle. The champagne glass fell. A pair of scissors slipped from his sleeve into his hand, blade gently pressed above the carotid artery.

"Information is the most precious currency.” The white-haired young man said, cheerfully, his voice as smooth as a blade. “It should only be exchanged for something of equal value."

Suzuri turned on her heels.

"Just who are you?" She asked. Her stare scorched her victim and her partner in crime equally. "Your pockets. Kindly. Empty them."

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Edited by Suzuri, Jun 7 2017, 01:34 AM.
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Grandmapancakes
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So the kid actually knew something, that was a convenient surprise. Even if she did talk to him like a brat he was more than happy to forgive her for the right information. With out much more thought Gilgamesh decided to follow the girl.

It didn't take the hunter very long before he started to shower the girl with questions "So, what kind of information are we talking here? Location? Sightings? Do you know him?" God he hoped this girl wasn't trying to proposition him.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he followed her into the alley "Listen, if this is about your job, no offense but..." He voice trailed off as he looked her over "You're cute but I'd probably rip you in half" He warned hoping if that is what she sought that she would drop it now.

You can sort of guess his surprise when he suddenly found a pair of scissors around his throat. To make matters worse the brat had the balls to try and mug him. "So...Is this your pimp then?" He asked calmly eyeing the girl with an amused grin. If his life wasn't immediately being threatened, this would have been hilarious.

Gilgamesh didn't wait for a reply, the grin slipping away from his lips the moment words passed through them. "Boy, If you're going to threaten a mans life you better make sure you can deliver that promise." The giant took a step forward, his stone-y gaze never leaving the child.

The scissors cut into the Hunter's skin ever so slightly as took another step "And even if you do have the balls to take a man's life surely you understand it would take a few minutes for me to bleed out."

With the next step Gil took the detective would have to make a decision, would he attempt to kill the giant before he slipped out of his grasp or just let him go. Gilgamesh had no interest in fighting a child and what he could only assume was her 'special friend'

Once his next foot touched the ground Gilgamesh's En roared to life, his hair fluttering in the air as if pushed by some invisible breeze. "It would take only thirty seconds for me to kill you both at that point" Another step "A minute at most if I wanted to make sure you suffered before you died"

Gil was nearly on top small girl by now, towering over her as spoke "I don't know your game here child but I will break every bone in your body before I pass out and even then I might live but I Promise you that you will not" With every emphasis in his words the Hunter's En crackled.

Then his En vanished almost as soon as it appeared. The giant's cold gaze replaced by sheer joy in his eyes accompanied by a loud bellow of a laughter that echoed off the walls. This was a genuine laugh one that lasted several minutes even managing to bend Gilgamesh over twice.

It wasn't like the Archaeologist enjoyed terrifying kids but he felt this particular brat needed to be scared straight before they could have a civil conversation "Oh man, Oh boy, the look" He began to laugh again regardless of what look the girl had on her face. After a good two minutes Gilgamesh finally regaining composure "Holy shit..." Gil wiped away a tear of joy as he let out the last of his chuckles.

"Well then Down to business I guess, so this information you have I would love to hear it" He laid a large hand on the girls head and bent down to her height to talk "I think your life is proper payment don't you think? After all if I don't kill him he might end up killing you sound fair?" A smile almost as large as the man crept across his lips after announcing his proposal.

Gilgamesh knew full well that his life could still be in danger but something inside of him told him that she wasn't going to harm him at all. Her eyes were gentle, no matter how harsh she tried to make them look Gilgamesh could see past the facade.
Edited by Grandmapancakes, Jul 26 2017, 02:09 AM.
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Suzuri
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She was yearning to fight him.

“But you’re more useful to us alive,” Y.T. had whispered, piggybacking on the giant’s shoulders. The scissors retreated an inch. As if through honey, Suzuri saw the detective lose his grip and fall backwards, back arching, rolling into his own hair like a cocoon as he hit the pavement. One step, two steps. The giant was now upon her. His long hair, the color of butter, floated in an unseen breeze. It was like the air had been set on fire.

‘I can’t move.’ The thought seemed irrelevant. Unseen energy burned every inch of her being. The girl’s painted lips parted. ‘More.’ She reached inside her, let her own power swell and wrap around her, like a cool river. The giant’s voice thundered over her. Her eyes went wide. ‘More.’

Her aura fizzled, like a waterfall under a dragon’s breath. It wasn’t enough. Struggling, she tore away the aura from herself, and turned it towards her opponent. Her hand rose up his toned, bare chest, until her index finger prodded the space above the man’s sternum, between his clavicles, putting pressure on his windpipe. A shield forged into a blade. Ten into Ren. Defenseless. She wanted to laugh, it was too rich, this dance on the edge of a precipice. From the corner of her eye she saw Y.T., trying to get to his knees. Shocked. Why are you escalating. But in this state, not even his voice could reach Suzuri.

“A gamble?” The girl with the red dress curled her lips into a grin. “I like playing against the odds.”

Aura and tension scattered, as the man burst into laughter. Suzuri looked shocked and hurt, trying to recover her balance as the nearly physical presence of his aura, disappeared. She stepped back, arms curling around herself to contain her energy. For a moment it looked like she was going to cry. Then something inside her cracked, and a chuckle escaped through her lips. Then another. Arms crossed, she waited until her opponent came to his senses. Behind him, Y.T. tentatively stood up, wincing as he touched his chest.

When the large man put his hand on her hair, Suzuri’s glare spoke of the many ways she was planning to cook it. Yet the instant he finished speaking, her face turned a shade paler.

“You…You actually believed me?” Her big, soft eyes, like chocolate truffles, faced him, as if unsure which of them was the child. “Dude, I wouldn’t have believed myself.”

She shook her head slowly. The man actually expected her to lead him into a dark alley to be mugged on true pretenses. Then again, he did try to investigate Jack the Ripper out loud, in the busiest part of the Red Light District…She was starting to understand why Y.T. had picked him.

“I didn’t say it was a lie.” The girl stuck out the tip of her tongue.

“But…I’ve got a better offer.”
Her hand rose awkwardly near his. “Work with us. Then you’ll get not only our current data, but also whatever we’re bound to discover on this case.”

Her lips sketched an impish smile. Her eyebrows twitched in a frown.

“You might laugh at our methods, but we’ve found quite a few things from picking people’s pockets.” Her hand twirled in a grabbing gesture. Shuffling her feet, she looked down. “Usually I give them back though. If they aren’t assholes.”

“Such as the fact that Jack the Ripper isn’t the criminal that the media makes him out to be.” Y.T. spoke, joining them. “It’s several criminals.” He stopped a moment to pat the giant on the shoulder. “My condolences if you are working for the police. They’re incompetent.”

He stopped at their side, passing his fingers through his long hair. His eyes stopped on a tangle of silky threads that he brought in front of him.

“As an aside,” he added, “it’s fun to compare the publically available speech of the newest Homicide chief, containing things like ‘restructuring the department for increased efficiency’ and ‘employing experts’, with more recent online reviews on QuartzDoor, that mention terms such as ‘budget cuts’, ‘lay-offs’ and ‘nepotism’.” His voice was deadpan, but his smile would’ve made a scythe jealous. “I should get to the point.”

“Our lovely vixen here managed to relieve a crooked forensic copper of his tools of the trade.” With a magician’s grace, he slipped a plastic tube out of his wide sleeves. He unscrewed the top, revealing a stick with a cotton ball on the end, and handed it to Suzuri.

“This is like what they used to recover the blood splatter near Sheila Evans’s body.” The girl’s voice didn’t show Y.T.’s cool, but rather a stubborn nervousness. The subject clearly unsettled her. “The tissue remains under Else Windmill’s nails. This is what proves that all murders were committed by the same person.” She pointed the cotton swab at right the large man’s nose. “And if I swabbed your cheek, you’d be a match.”

She shook her head.

“It’s wrong.”

She shifted her fingers to reveal writing on the screw lid attached to the swab.

“Sterile.” She read. Her arms flailed in strange gestures as she tried to explain. “From what I was told, everyone has a code. Dee-Ann-Ay, they call it. If you’ve got a blood sample at a crime scene, you can check whether it contains a code you already know. Even if the sample is very small.” Her forefinger curled towards her thumb. “The problem with this is that even infinitesimal levels of contamination can screw up your results.”

She presented the cotton swab on her open palms. Biochemistry wasn’t something the travelling painter had any experience in. Y.T. didn’t, either. However, he knew where to find his experts. Uneducated people weren’t the only ones pushed into the Red Light District. . As the detective had (perhaps uncaringly) observed, they were in a city in which professors often tried to get 5 years of lab work out of new graduates on a 3-years’ bursary.

“As in, say, traces of DNA on the cotton swabs.” Suzuri continued. “If you read the small print, it says that even though they’re ‘sterile’, they’re not certified ‘DNA-free’. So the reason you’d get a match for several samples is not because the killer was necessarily the same, but because the swabs were touched by the same worker during production.” The girl’s calm exposition turned bitter. “All because the cotton swabs they should have used were 5.19 Jenny more per pack.”

“Never attribute to malice what could be adequately explained by stupidity.” Y.T. murmured. He had mostly managed to arrange his hair. His shoulders rose. “But it’s a murder investigation, so…We wonder.”

The girl nodded, and turned to the stranger.

“I’m Suzuri. Inkstone.”

The cat-eyed man bowed.

“Y.T.” He watched them, amused. “The best detective in the world.”

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The girl had guts, even in such a dangerous situation she stood her ground and did not crumble for an instant. At least that was what it looked like in Gilgamesh's eyes. Better yet she met his threat with one of her own, Gil could tell he would like her. As for her bladed companion, that was yet to be seen.

It caused some confusion to Gil that the girl would be shocked that he believed her. After all she was the only person in the red light district who gave him any hint of where he could find Jack the Ripper. He wanted to say something to that effect but one look into her large eyes turned his mind into mush. She was like a small puppy and the idea of letting her anywhere near a killer even with the balls she...

The giant was pulled out from his train of thought as the white haired man patted him on the shoulder. "Nah I just work with them as a Hunter from time to time. This is a favor since...Like you said...They're incompetent" He let out a chuckle and gave Y.T. a firm pat on the back.

Gilgamesh gathered his thoughts. What was the girl saying again? Something about teaming up he thought? Shit. She was speaking again and he had no idea when that started. How long was she talking about the cotton swab for? What did that have to do with Jack the Ripper? Aw Fuck. She was probably telling him that just now and he was completely missing it trying to figure out what she had said before.

By the time the small girl had finished talking Gil had gathered most of the information he needed. There were multiple killers, or at least that was what he hoped he had heard. That was different, most killers he was asked to hunt worked alone, not in a group and definitely not a group made up of equally sick, sadistic people in it.

Once again he was brought of of his thought by the girl speaking up again "Suzuri. Inkstone" The man repeated both committing the name to memory and making sure he didn't get it wrong. He then turned to the Silver haired detective Y.T. "That stand for anything Mr.Greatest Detective?"

Gil didn't wait for them to respond before he threw his arms around the two wrapping them up in a great big bear hug. The hug was one of the most bone-breaking affectionate hugs Gil had ever given. It was a hug that a grandmother would give to a grand child she hadn't seen in a long time If that grandmother was a seven-foot tall grizzly bear. After about half a minute of hugging the large hunter set the pair back down.

"My name is Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh Harlett, pleasure to meet you two" He let out another hearty chuckle before adding "I would love to work together, you two seem to have a better grasp on the situation than I so how about this" He clapped his hands together before continuing "I'll help to the best of my ability in finding them, which to be honest isn't the greatest. And you guys let me beat the shit out of each of the Jacks we find? I mean you're more than welcome to help with that" He looked Y.T. and the girl over giving them a consolatory smile "It looks like trackin's you're thing and fightin's mine" He teased gently, his grin widening as he spoke "I'm sure with 'The Best detective in the world' finding these fuckers won't take long at all!"
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Suzuri
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Suzuri’s ribs tensed to the point of cracking, and not only because of the hug. The man’s straightforwardness, with anything from violence to investigations to alliances, nearly made her break into sniffles. Scratch that. She was sniffling like a kid. Shaking. It was soothing, not having to second-guess every single word.

Y.T. always told the truth, but his truth wasn’t always what you thought it was. Every conversation was a battle. Every moment, on guard. ‘Yours Truly. Like the letters.’ (So ironic) He’d presented himself as such, half-suffocating in Gilgamesh’s hold. Y.T. would want to have the last word even if that made it his very last word.

“Looking forward to working together.” Suzuri said, sheepishly rubbing her nose with a tissue. “Although I’ve got to say, once this is over, I’m tempted to challenge you to a fight. Mr. Harlett.” She gave the giant a coquette smile.

“We dare say our enemies might be closer than we think.” Y.T. mused.

Something hit Suzuri in the head, and then clinked on the pavement. The girl raised a hand to the stinging impact spot, while crouching down. She looked up, but the streetlights blocked her view.

The object was a Barbie doll. Its plastic limbs were broken in unnatural positions, over a torn dress. A red dress with ruffles. Its hair was braided over the doll’s mouth, imagining a gag, and under it lipstick was smeared obscenely from cheek to cheek. Vivid red.

Suzuri picked up the sick figurine. Frost grew on her guts. The lipstick trickled. She sniffed. Lipstick.

“It’s blood. Fresh.” She said.
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Grandmapancakes
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Gilgamesh's eyes raised as soon as the girl admitted that she wanted to fight him. That was new, not many people, upon talking to him, decided to take that course of action. This of course drew a grin to his face, with each passing minute he began to like the girl. He thought that Suzuri had pep! And Verve! The kid was sure to be going places, especially if she could catch 'The Ripper of York Shin City'. It was confusing for him though. For all the bravado the young lady exuded she still seemed like a small child, sniffling at the slightest provocation.

As for Y.T. he didn't much understand the man and while the silver haired detective intrigued him, Gil doubted he would get anything useful from just asking questions.

His internal train of thought was once again derailed as Suzuri took a doll to the head. Gilgamesh's eyes darted around rapidly for any sign of the culprit but couldn't find any. That wasn't surprising to him in the least, he couldn't see shit in the city, it was always too damn bright. The hunter did not let this get to him though and within an instant his en once again roared to life. The range of his en was limited but the giant had hoped that he might be able to find even just a hint of the murderer with it.

The words that Suzuri were washed away like a small tree in the tidal wave that was his own booming shout "Is that your idea of a threat!? Do you think that this makes you look strong!? Come out and face me and we will see who will rip who to shreds!" Gilgamesh did not turn around to see what was thrown at Suzuri, he did not do this out of apathy but because as the seconds passed the chances of encountering the one who throw it grew lower and lower and he dared not waste a second of it.
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The Hunter’s En engulfed Suzuri, Y.T., and expanded further just in time to catch the flickers of three more auras high up on the roof. The first of them disappeared just as the En reached it, leaving behind a hint of steel-toed boots, darkness and metal. The second was motionless, and smelled of blood and pain. The third…

A shadow darted from the roof edge, zigzagging between buildings before it struck Gilgamesh. It roared with black flames of aura that spoke of death and, for some reason, of sour gummy sweets. As the shadow recoiled, its bare feet clinked on the pavement. A dark cape with golden edges wrapped it from head to toe, and its hood floated back just enough to reveal the grin of a skull. Crow’s feet cracks expanded from its orbits that glowed with red fire.

“You shouldn’t cause trouble in my domain.” The figure boomed, in a voice like the closing of a stone coffin. Its skeletal hand shifted to better grip its weapon. The weapon was a staff crooked like a lightning bolt, and crowned with a circle of snakes holding an array of different-colored gems in their mouths. They were almost as intimidating as the plasticky ring of orange glitter that hung loosely on one of its phalanxes. The creature screeched: “Poking your nose in my business…Don’t you know what happens to those who mess with the Death of the Cities?”

It swung its staff at Gilgamesh, with such force that the Hunter would find himself challenged. Its other hand shot forward, its sharp bone claws aiming for the eyes. There was a snap: Suzuri released her lasso, previously hidden under many ruffles, and gripped the top of the staff. But before she could capitalize on it, the skeleton twisted the staff in her direction, and a parenthesis of dark energy shot through the air, throwing the girl into a brick wall.

A long, bony finger pointed towards itself.

“That’s me, by the way.”

Its head shot to the side. Its red eyes burned brighter. It seemed to notice Y.T. for the first time, and its staff fell on the detective’s shoulder before he could even speak. The white-haired man collapsed to his knees.

“You traitor! You brought him here.” Pavement cracked under the weight of the skeleton’s voice.

Returning to his main opponent, Gilgamesh, he continued swinging the staff, left and right, up and down, with a strength that dented the lampposts it hit. It was strong enough, one might say, to distract from its absolute lack of skill. The skeleton grumbled under the breath it didn’t have:

“How. Dare. You.”

Opponent

Edited by Suzuri, Dec 11 2017, 01:39 PM.
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There was no time for Gilgamesh to try and determine what the other two life signs above him were, one of them attacked as soon as the trio were discovered. Before the large hunter could even look at Suzuri a sharp pain shot through his body as a dark figure struck him in the chest. The man flew back a few feet, a look of surprise crossed his face as he regained his composure, the fucker was strong.

As the shadowy figure began to speak Gilgamesh realized that the man was in fact a skeleton. The look that soon crossed the giants face was much like a small child in a candy shop. Gil had never fought a skeleton before, he didn't even know Skeletons could fight! For all the books and scrolls he head read there wasn't much mention of the dead returning to life. This of course led him to conclude the one line of thought that seemed logical during the impossible: Nen was involved. Of course the hunter threw that conclusion out with the bath water, it was a lot more fun for Gilgamesh to believe that the dead had returned for vengeance.

It came to no surprise to the over-sized hunter that the skeleton spoke as well, calling itself 'The Death of the Cities'. It was an intimidating name, no doubt one meant to inspire fear in it's victims. All this did was fan the flames of desire within the pits of Gilgamesh's stomach, nothing would make him happier than to fight the creepy son of a bitch in front of him. That was of course if his companion didn't beat him too it.

With the crack of a whip that Gil could have sworn just materialized in the girl's hand, Suzuri had successfully stopped the murderous skeleton from beating the hunter to death with his stick. The butter-haired man let himself enjoy the moment only for a second as the situation appeared to be coming under control. It was that greed that left an opening, an opening that 'The Death of the Cities' was all to happy to capitalize on. With a quick twist of the figures staff Suzuri was shot back by what Gil could only assume was the Skeletons hatsu.

"Shit! Kid!" The hunter's head swiveled as death made sure the trio knew who he was and by the time he looked back, Y.T. was also on the ground. It wasn't long after that that his attacker turned it's attention to Gilgamesh and began to swing wildly at him sending garbage cans flying and breaking lamp posts.

The brawler first tried to counter Death's flurry with a right hook straight to it's head.Ouch. The staff slammed straight into his forearm and he quickly pulled it back. Then it was a kick to the ribs.OUCH. The staff hit him right on the shin, the most painful place to get hit. There was not a moment to recover from the second hit before the third came, hitting him straight in the shoulder, then a fourth across his ribs.

It wasn't long before Gilgamesh gave up on the counter-attack and launched himself backwards putting some distance in between him and his foe, not much but enough for the giant to reorient himself.

It didn't take long for the skeleton to close the distance between them once again, maybe a half a minute at most. Within those thirty seconds though the hunter was able to notice a pattern, an embarrassingly simple pattern, a pattern that Gil should have figured out way before now. Left, Right, Up, Down.

To Gilgamesh, the pattern and his inability to recognize it was down right hilarious and the bellowing laughter that followed this realization proved such a point. "Oh God..." He chuckled, and if there was a tear welling in his eyes he would have certainly wiped it away. "Eat. Shit." With those words Gil focused just for an instant, Those seeing familiar with Nen would be able to see that he was focusing his Nen around his feet. A second later he launched himself at 'Death' with his right arm outstretched an attack that if it hit would send the skeleton flying into a wall of his own after traveling the rest of the distance of fast step with Gilgamesh.

Upon completion of his technique Gilgamesh slammed his foot into the ground and threw his arm and weight forward, throwing the skeleton straight into a wall much like the being did to his companion. Gil walked slowly, confidently over to the creature, extending one hand out to the crumpled body and grabbing the staff. The giant began to yank on the staff which was quickly met with resistance followed up with another black wave shooting out of the dead man's hand. Luckily for Gil the dark swath of energy cut through his shoulder sending a sharp stabbing pain that went from his shoulder and shot through the rest of his body. A deafening, bellowing roar erupted from deep within Gilgamesh, a roar that sounded more like monster than man. With that a heavy boot was lifted off the ground and driven straight into the skull of his opponent with such force it sent the head further into the wall. Finally death's grip was released on his staff and Gil threw it to the only person he could count on in this situation, Suzuri.

Techiques used
Edited by Grandmapancakes, Dec 15 2017, 09:32 AM.
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