... 8th of September 2047 ...
Waves, Beach and the moon would be the three defining beautiful things laid out before him, like a perfect painting. The air was cool and the night was bustling with silent energy that engulfed the raccoon in such an entranced state where he couldn't look away. The constant recurring light of the lighthouse's beam spun around on it's usual axis and lit up the beach with light every so often, the strong waves below struck the beach with it's passion and receded back to where it belonged with the rest of the massive ocean that stretched out and far away.
Leaning against the wall of the lighthouse, he'd stare down at all of this happening at once and feel a relaxation flood over him, it was perfect and he felt free from every single mental weight and strain that anchored him down to his state of being rendered traumatised and fragile. It felt great to finally let go, but this wasn't the case for long; like everything especially bad it caught up with him in a matter of seconds as he forgot about it, just for those blissful seconds. It quickly began to make itself present again, the lighthouse would sink scarily into the land it had been planted onto and the beam would freeze gazing right down at the ocean as the lighthouse would tip forward. Jaklo clung to the wall, being the one thing that stopped him from falling completely into the almost void of an ocean that hissed back at him with it's mighty waves. Panting heavily in fear and shock as a terrifyingly big whirlpool would swirl completely disrupting the flow of the ocean waves as it threatened to completely swallow him whole.
With one last breath, the lighthouse's structure previously holding him up and away from the grimace of the cold ocean would fall. And, in a matter of seconds, Jaklo would become engulfed in the dark and pitch black waves that quickly chugged him right down to the very bottom. The feeling of being afraid, tortured and cold physically all around projected how he feels now whilst completely annihilating his previous confidence and feeling of happiness. Opening his eyes to view the blurred surroundings, he would make out what seemed to be a lantern floating idly in the ocean. It would begin moving.. and moving closer, yet even further away from it's original spot and closer to Jaklo. It was clear now that the comforting light of the lantern was instead just a visage of safety to lull him into a false sense of security as the host of the cruel light was an angler fish and it had clear bad intentions, it was bigger than usual, opening his jaw with a snap to reveal it's crooked teeth before lunging at the encumbered Raccoon, restrained by the mighty weight of the ocean that cradled him. No matter how loud his screams were, they were muffled and blocked out by the mass of the water around him and soon blackness pursed, a cold darkness, accompanied by a chill up the Raccoon's spine would be the end to that terrifying scene that played out before him like a script. Was it over? Am I free of harm? What happened? Am I dead?
His many questions were answered with one simple click of a light-switch before him. A familiar buzzing from the overused lightbulb hung from the darkness and his eyes would scan around him, he was back in that one shabby apartment place in Turner Town where he met up with Ellis. In front of him was quite a menacing presence, completely shrouded in shadows and staring at him with two bright pupils as it sat back on the uncomfortably demolished couch. "Jaklo...", As he spoke the lightbulb above him would flicker and as it did; Jaklo would gaze up at it and shake his head. Surely this place had ceiling lights built into it instead? Before he could even blink, his mind quickly processed this memory and the bulb would be gone and replaced with a ceiling light that projected a worse amount of light if not the same as the bulb did, it was unchanging.
"Jaklo I want you to look at me and take a seat." Snapping his attention back to this mystery shadow figure, a wooden chair would be present in front of him like it was there already, despite it not being there in the first place. It felt like it was out of his own volition but something drove him to sit down on that chair to which he did, eying up the presence conjured in front of him and expecting to speak to him, he as well noticed just a few feet away from the couch this cryptid rested on, there was a TV resting on a coffee table. The wires were completely ripped out from the back of it and it seemed like it was harvested for any and all useful parts it had, yet it managed to play Static on it's screen, intended to be a hollow darkness.
"Pay. Attention." It ordered firmly and as a spine chill ran up the raccoon's spine again, he focused his attention back onto the demon like figure as his lip would quiver, it was not often he felt afraid. "What do you want from me?" The gentle clinks of rain-droplets would smack against the old rotten barriers covering the windows of the apartment. It made a hissing noise each time it landed, as if the rain was boiling hot. There was a faint odd red glow shining through the barricades as well replacing the once comforting sunlight with a more ominous version. It was oddly a lot more warmer in the room as well. Notably caused by this new beaming hot, red sun. The orange, comforting glare of the previous sun was completely replaced.
"I am not here to drive you to hysterics. I am here to deliver you wisdom, I present myself in very odd ways, although you will thank me for it. Granted you remember this dream." Upon hearing the fact he was not one to be fearful of, his boost of confidence would come back although his worry remained. "Oh so this is a dream? Speak." With a one word order, the entity would nod quietly and speak out to reply to the confused raccoon. "It is to my sincerest regret that I am the harbinger of bad news for you today, Jaklo" Uttering his name at the end of the sentence a sand timer would appear on his lap without him realising, glancing down at it and lifting it up into view as the grains would fall silently to the other capsule within the timer. "I applaud your efforts to stop those who brought the face of this world to it's knees, you know who I speak of, his name is cemented in your head is he not? The Musician. However, I carry information that will bring proof to the fact where time is actually running out faster than you think."
With a frown yet angered expression, Jaklo would shake his head and sigh "We have all the time we need, why rush this? he needs to feel the pain he caused me and continues to-- desire to cause me." Attempting to speak in a professional manner, likewise to his uncanny friend in the room it wouldn't help the lights above him turn to a yellow like colour before he leans forward in a warning tone of voice, presenting one half of his visible face to be that of a mannequin head "Our world is in jeopardy, Entropy is on the way. Seek Rosco and Kill The Musician.. Kill the Musician.. Kill the Musician.. WAKE THE FUCK UP!" The static grew louder and the boards on the windows would break just in time for him to catch a glimpse of a bright red light just outside, he could feel his fur heating up, before the flesh under it would bubble. It was an agonising pain as the direct sunlight of this beaming hot new sun would completely boil him from the inside out, he couldn't move. He could never move again, the eyes were melting out of his sockets and just as he thought it couldn't get any worse.... Darkness
His eyes would flutter open and his mouth would too with a loud gasp, catching sight of a chuckling Daisy standing behind Ellis who hovered over him, shaking him with a smile "Damn! You really are an insomniac Jak. Thought you were dead for a second" With a light chuckle, she would quickly add to his snarky statement "Pfft yeah right doofus- So much for an insomniac you slept there like a big baby dude" Her light-hearted tone would coax another chuckle from the cheery Ellis as Jaklo sat up and thought for a moment, ignoring the two and sighing. Entropy, Bright red Sun and a Mannequin mask were the 3 things on his mind right now, trying to remember segments of his dream as much as he could before looking up at Ellis "What's the time?"
Ellis' smile would grow sour and he'd tilt his head "Around 11am what's wrong Jak? we only woke up like 10 minutes ago." Crawling out of the mattress he'd messily step onto the cigarette he smoked yesterday and stop before gazing back at Daisy "Remember this okay? Entropy, Bright red Sun and a mannequin mask" Although she was worried just as much as Ellis, she'd still keep up her cocky attitude "Entropy? The fucking measurement or...? Why do I need to remember that dude?" Rushing out of the room, he is quickly greeted by accidentally bumping into the war veteran who stopped him before speaking in greeting "Slow up partner' What's with the rush?" Jaklo seemed to be on a tantrum and with that he finally gave up and came to a light sigh as he stared down towards his feet "Nothing.. Is breakfast on the menu? I think I am just paranoid from yesterday."
His smile would return and he seemed happy to have Jaklo around, despite the fight yesterday. "Sure thing friend, here I forgot about this. I apologise about your firearm alright? No harm done anywho.." Holding out the gun from yesterday that he deconstructed, it was expertly reconstructed with it's magazine and all, handing it back to the Raccoon who stared at him, then the gun with a light smile of forgiveness before slowly taking the gun from him and holstering it back in his original spot in the back of his fresh new pants. "Hope those pants as well as that jacket are treating you well, sorry about your other ones, they were just absolutely caked in mud. Surprised you slept with it on hmhmn.." Jaklo would nod quickly, slowly starting to heading down the stairs "They're fine, Just a little tight. The pocket jacket is.. killer though I will admit" His new clothes were in a similar fashion to his previous ones but missing the hat, a nice black pocket jacket along with a white tank top underneath; and black pants to match "Need a new hat though" he uttered before ending his response.
That iconic smell of nature mixed with the grass and the trees above would flood the nostrils of Jaklo as he gazed out onto the small lake in the heart of the vast forest of Ash-Valley. Sitting under a tree in the shade, the sun would blaze down along the land and it looked like it was going to be another warm day judging by the lack of clouds present in that beautiful blue sky, it was peaceful and that moment of serenity was what the raccoon would bask in, next to his old scaly friend who sat beside him holding a little sketchbook, quietly drawing and sketching. By the lake, Daisy and Rasmus would get along well. He seemed to be teaching her how to fish for lake trout or any other edible fish in the flooded vast slope striving with life, Judging by the conversation in the distance, accompanied by laughing, they seemed to get a long quite well with one another.
Gazing over at Ellis, the scalie would have that focused expression as he gazed down at the sketchbook sat atop his crossed legs. His tail would comfortably coil around the tree behind them "Almost forgot you're a little sketch artist at heart, what are you drawing?" It took him a moment to snap his mind away from the page and look over at Jaklo before lifting the pencil "This.. I am drawing just what I can see, I like to encapsulate moments of happiness such as this into a memory without the use of photography, feels more authentic." Flashing his professional fancy words, he would smile and Jaklo who would nod and quietly sigh peacefully, the birds above them chirping just as happy as the two below them were. "I suppose it is nice, to recall every now and then and not forget moments like this that lifted us highly, to remember for the moments when we fell we are low." Agreeing with the raccoon, he would nod and continue to sketch out the lake with Daisy and Rasmus both having fun and catching dinner for later. Jaklo would be holding his previous jacket over his lap in hopes of washing it out in the lake but he seemed accustomed to his current one so he didn't much bother.
Although, he reached down into it and into the side pocket he'd pull out what he could find, firstly was a messily folded note and then a polaroid photograph, there was a paperclip attached to it that was snug to the edges of the photo, falling off into the grass below, pushing the polaroid onto Ellis' page and his eyes would widen at what he had seen. It was a beautiful moment, pure happiness from everyone in the picture, as shown by those cheery wide smiles and drinks held in hand. Consisting of Jaklo, Ellis and various other unnamed gang members involving Rosco "That's what kept me sane Ellis, in our period of... departure? I guess you'd word something like this like that heh.. Looking at that every now and then, didn't feel so bad when I realised you were all okay, well most of you. I know I have said Rosco is still out there but I am beginning to lose hope." Pulling out a cigarette he'd light it up and go right to smoking it back.
Grasping the photo tenderly he'd analyse it carefully admiring the moment, ensnared as a memory forever. Looking over at Jaklo with a warm smile "I want to agree with you that there is still a chance that Rosco could be alive, but you saw it. He was shot directly in the head, no one could outlive that and you know it don't you?" Instead of growing cold he would look down and close his eyes with another stressed sigh and slowly nodding with hesitation "I wish I got at least one last moment with him, he was like a son to me. Just as you are a brother to me El." He'd open the note and show it off, it was the same note that Ellis had delivered to Jaklo when he became aware of his location "This here? I was just ready to trash this but something in me told me that if I did I'd be stuck living like this for the rest of my life, like a corpse and I don't want to live in a moment of pure.. hm.. what's the word?" Ellis would smile and pat his shoulder reassuringly "Inertia."
The Raccoon would nod and close up the note "Right! Inertia, I know Rosco wouldn't want me just deteriorating and giving up, which I'll admit I was close to. I haven't smiled in years Ellis. It just felt like the glory days were finally over yknow? with that being said, maybe they are. All that is left now is the idea of Revenge." Ellis would reach over and grab hold of the paperclip hidden in the grass past Jaklo and quickly clip the polaroid to his sketchbook next to that little sketch of how it was now. It was that perfect duality of how things once were and how things are now, previously bright and vibrant and every perfect detail was given clarity by it's colour. And then, switching to a grey scale variant where details often couldn't be figured out without a closer inspection and without that, there was no real emotion to the sketch. Closing the sketch book he'd reach over and quietly hug Jaklo. Embracing him with comfort and physical affirmation.
Pulling back, he'd start to switch topic, not wanting to dawn on anything for too long before it becomes depressing "You were talking about Entropy right? or something like that. What was up with that?" Jaklo seemed confused, although he definitely had some recollection of what he meant but before he could speak. He was surprised by Rasmus, walking up and holding a squirming trout on the line of a fishhook "Look at this lil' bastard, ain't he a beaut'? You can thank miss Daisy right here for the beginners luck" Daisy's playful nature seemed to grow on the old veteran as he smiled at them, dangling it before taking it away, the girl responsible would run up and chuckle "That shit is easy! I thought fishing was just a boring past-time but like he said it's literally just all in the wrist motion."
Ellis would smile and quickly adapt to the change of mood and stand up, putting his sketchbook into his pocket and walking over to the fish "Damn! Well I'll say we're eating pretty good tonight heh" The Raccoon would come to a stance as well throwing his Jacket over his shoulder and turning before walking back to the house, throwing the burned out cigarette to the floor "I'll be inside, little too hot out here, even in the shade"
Turning a corner into the shade of the overlooking shelter, extending from the time-wounded partially decayed but nicely kept house. His relief was immense to finally be out of that sweltering sun that had the forest brimming with activity. However, not much else seemed to be going on so it seemed this was the perfect time to catch a small break. Moving inside, he'd quietly close the noisy door behind him and approach a small desk in the living room which seemingly was a makeshift work station, sitting down he'd analyse, papers of many radio frequencies with few channels working, despite the page being littered with many digital combinations to make contact with something or someone.
The radio that sat in front of him was ancient, it seems it hasn't been used in sometime as the dust speaks for itself. Reaching over to fiddle with the dials he'd smile as the static hisses, signifying the hunk of junk still had some energy in it to work and connect to signals that stretch far and wide away from the forest that mainly swallowed any signal that attempted to run through that vast valley of trees. The hissing would grow louder as he turns the dials, suddenly a muffled voice could be heard for just a second and he stops at it exactly. The light signifying a signal had been reached would start to lightly glow showing he had connection "You-- g-tta" Static mainly interrupted this voice and it was hard to make out what it was exactly trying to say, The raccoon was confused considering he was following instructions this entire time and despite the papers telling him this channel was a jazz radio station, there was a menacing and growly voice on the other end.
"g-tta.. r-me-ber" It was so distorted and it seemed unnatural, some music could be heard in the background although it was corrupted by the weak radio signal the voices coming from the old radio overshadowed that peaceful music. "Entropy. Jaklo you gotta rem-eber--" his eyes widening as he heard his dream literally enter his own reality, he was in a state of shock before quickly turning the radio off just as the door opened and behind him stood Rasmus who seemed rather understanding "You look like you seen a ghost, I wouldn't worry too much there's people using those old signals left and right nowadays to keep in contact with people. Hearing voices from that thing is quite common so it isn't haunted or anything." He'd pat him on the shoulder and walk off into the kitchen, the stench of raw fish followed him as he carried it onto the counter.
"Ellis and Daisy are spending a little more time in the sun while I prepare this little guy, it's big enough to fill all four of our stomachs" He'd say with a hum, setting it on the chopping board and starting to work away at dissecting the deceased fish, glancing back and fourth at Jaklo who just managed to shrug off what he witnessed and turning to Rasmus "Yeah-- Voices in the radio huh? I'd expect it to just be some interruption from some other signal, you're right" The Wolf would nod and inhale deeply before letting it out with a relaxed sigh "Haven't exactly talked much to you as much as I have the others but, I wanna say sorry Jaklo, for how I acted yesterday. I'm an alright guy-- really, just I am not too familiar with strangers nowadays and I can't be too careful. I'm a very Cautious man, I am certain you have noticed" Finishing his sentence with a smile he'd begin slowly cutting away at the now exposed fish, separating it into different segments with expertise.
Jaklo would lean back in the chair, glancing back and fourth at the radio and the man preparing dinner in the kitchen, nodding at his statement before quietly sighing "It's fine Rasmus, no offence taken. I am fairly used to being roughened up a little bit every now and again. Not everyone's gonna treat me like I'm a princess.." This would coax a smirk onto the wolf's face and he let out a half-hearted chuckle before bringing the cutting board over to another counter, preparing it further "Amen to that; there's a lot of violence on the street nowadays than kindness it seems. Not that I would know, I prefer the comfort of isolation and the only person I can trust is myself, I already like the way you talk. Funny how someone as well put together as Ellis, but positives do bond with negatives don't they?" Jaklo raised an eyebrow, looking over at him completely as he got his attention. "I guess so, he's often had many fights with me though about my decision making. I'm sure that's understandable enough. I care about him though, a lot, if it weren't for him I would be rotting away in some White-Hand hotel right now."
After he had done a majority of the necessary preparations for the meal, he'd store it carefully in the oven which seemed to have some trouble starting due to it's worn down state. It seems the food would take longer to cook like this "I'm surprised you still got working appliances in here, haven't seen a kitchen work for a while now. Everything's a lot more-- Primitive I guess?" Jaklo adds.
Turning around, after feeding the oven his uncooked meal. He'd take off the oven mitts and smile at Jaklo once more "Primitive, Certainly the right word for how this world has ended up. Everyone is like a chimp, throwing their shit at one another huh?" He'd reply to the raccoon, before approaching him and sitting down on a chair opposite him with a quiet grunt, storing his rapier beside him leaning against the couch "I am thankful for the fact you lot didn't make too much noise last night. Dealing with those bats is no easy task I tell you that much. Even if they are hurt by the lights, they'll stalk the perimeter and they might even find a way to shut off the power source." Rasmus warned before putting on some small reading glasses and picking up a newspaper, Judging by the font on the pages being worn down and even almost impossible to read this was definitely not from modern day. "2034 that's where this paper is from, I stashed a couple of these years ago so I could read through them to keep myself content. Looking through them now just gives me a shallow reminder of how things used to be, I don't even know the year now."
Jaklo would quickly respond to him while analysing the back of the newspaper "It's 2047. I've been keeping track of the years as they went by" Glancing up from the paper, his eyebrows furrowed with surprise "I gave up keeping track years ago, impressive and good on you for marking time. We don't have much left." Before Jaklo could reply, the veteran would turn the paper around to show him an extract "This one always gets to me. This poor police officer right here, there was an article written about him and he was tied up in some sort of gang dispute. Said he interrogated the leader of one of those heartless gangs and they took it out on his poor wife, intimidation tactic perhaps? Who really knows with those animals." Leaning forward in his chair, Jaklo would showcase his interest "Oh yeah? Does it say who was responsible?"
He'd quickly nod "The Musician feller that I was dispatched to fight during my time in the military during the Deaf War. I'm sure you're aware he went to prison, just to use his little mind-games and managed to cause probably the biggest prison riot of all time. Broke out every damn last one of those scumbags too, with that amount of convicts roaming the streets, let me tell ya' the police couldn't handle that amount of heat no way-- Hell even we couldn't stop them. They took the lives of my men, took over this world with his ... bullshit religion fantasy he spools them... No one could have stopped them. The world noticed this takeover, kept sending more and more people only to have them lost to the hysteria he played through his instruments--" He'd hold his tongue before muttering another word, biting his lip gently with frustration.
This information resonated in Jaklo and he couldn't help but feel mild guilt and sorrow for the old man, sighing heavily in distress and looking down "Yeah? I guess 2034 was the beginning of the end of the world huh? They dominate these streets nowadays.. hell, like you said they dominate the world." Folding the paper and resting it on the armrest of the chair, his reading glasses following to rest on top of his newspaper "I would offer you coffee or tea but, it's quite hard to make with my limited resources. Would water be enough for you?" The Wolf would ask standing up to which Jaklo would gaze back up at him and nod "Water would be great right about now."
Throughout the day, nothing much changed, there was a steady decay in the daylight as the shade would overcome the light as time passed on, however it remained bright in most areas especially surrounding the peaceful house. It was nice and the fish dinner was a rather fulfilling meal compared to what the three normally ate, resorting to scraps and leftovers as their main fuel source for the days ahead. The hunting team was persistent and hellbent to capture their target, lurking through the forest and at some point they were going to find that little home and start their search which led to preparations; yet, there was more procrastination than preparing to defend. They had become accustomed to this homey lifestyle were they felt at ease, they almost wanted to give up chasing after blood for blood in ending the Musician's life.
The atmosphere in the home remained positive and comforting, Ellis being the person he was, was helping give the home a nice cleaning to thank the veteran for his hospitality. Upstairs in their guest room, Jaklo and Daisy would sit silently in their rooms, She seemed to be constructing something out of the leftover shirts and various other clothing left in the house that was unused while Jaklo laid on the mattress staring up at her with curiosity "You've been working at that for a while now, I'll ask again but what exactly are you doing?"
She'd stare down at him and put the thimble resting along her thumb in her mouth as she steadied her little invention made from mainly dark clothing "A gift." She'd place the thimble back on her thumb and continue sowing light, fragile thread into the material to conjoin it together and reinforce it. "Don't keep me in anticipation, Daisy.. gift for who?" She'd roll her eyes at his lack of patience and continue with a delayed response "... well.. I decided I wanted to make you something, Ellis mentioned you had something similar to this a while ago. You'd wear it each time you'd perform a heist or.. some sort of mission.. I don't know dude heh, he just mentioned--.. you liked these lil things" her words were often spaced out due to her focus and suddenly she'd pull the needle away and stash it along the little sowing box provided to her by Rasmus. "Done."
Holding up what was an eye-mask, constructed neatly with large eye holes to see from. The colour was mismatched and there was splotches of greyish black and mainly black "Sorry bout' the colour though dude, it's hard to find completely dark shirts around here, they don't seem to be this guy's style" The Raccoon gazed at it, with a look of awe and oddly enough fright, that eye-mask despite not being the same one brought back so many memories. Sitting up he'd reach over, gently taking hold of the mask and gazing through the eye-holes at Daisy "Holy-- I completely forgot about this thing, I used to wear one all the time. It was our calling card practically."
At a loss for words, he was happy with the outcome either way; going straight to tying it tenderly around his face and tightening it at the back of his head. Glancing up at Daisy with another smile "How do I look?" She'd smile and seem happy with what she was able to do "Killer." was her only response, the thin yet thick fabric tied around his head brought him a nostalgia high. He could practically feel the wind running through the eye-holes in the mask as he made his getaway into the night-air, even the familiar smell of clothing was lingering along it. "This certainly takes me back" with no intent to take it off he'd simply lay back down on the mattress with a happy sigh. "You don't gotta, at least now you have something to remember me by, yknow? because I know I will have to leave one day when I finally get my children back." The Raccoon would nod and suddenly sit back up again fast and pull her into a reassuring tight and lasting hug "You'll get to see them again I promise, if you don't find them again then I certainly will."
Despite the pure moment beforehand, the terrible reality was still present yet remained in hiding throughout their thoughts. In the town of Stardown, hidden amongst the many streets riddled with addicts and people looking to cause trouble further. Given a fitting background area, judging by the countless graffiti tagging the walls. In this street exactly, remained a building similar to a brick warehouse separated from the other filthy street buildings and tenements. Though abandoned, this place had witnessed many events and gatherings of the old gang back in the days, criminal happiness existed here in the hearts of those who resided within it; but not anymore, judging by it's empty state, smashed windows and presence of breaking and entering. It was merely just a home for those who had no home anymore, the homeless population of Stardown had grown over the former clubhouse of Jaklo like relentless weeds and overgrowth.
In a room closed off to the rest of the spacious, empty warehouse littered with scrap and various other junk such as burned barrels that gave warmth and comfort to those who had none. Standing in this room was a familiar yet, menacing figure. Looming over a destroyed desk and office chair completely soaked dry of any prior resources or belongings that remained inside. Laying his guitar down along the desk, it's beauty and clean design outshone that of the filthy tagged up desk "You're out there somewhere, aren't you dear old friend." His voice partially echoed in the room as his habit to talk to himself resonated throughout it.
"I can't help but fight the urge to look for you myself, my faith rests entirely in Clovis to bring you back to where you belong. You don't know how long I have been waiting to find you-- how long I have been waiting to show you.." The Musician would splay his hand along the desk and smiled to himself, basking in his own crooked nature as he spoke "... Indomitable ... is what he said he could make of this contraption, I am itching to set the clocks forward for myself and cut off this pointless existence." Pulling the stopwatch from his pocket, it would quietly tick in the dimly lit room, shallow sunlight would enter from the windows on the outside of the office room "But... I need you here with me Jaklo, I was almost ready to hit the reset button myself as I had come to the conclusion you had died. You can't imagine the smile I gave when I became aware of your existence again.. let alone your suffering."
Walking behind the desk he would sit down in the office chair, which provided a noisy creak as if it was about to break and relaxing back into it, gazing out the broken windows in the cutaway room to the rest of the warehouse where the rival gang of his used to reside, he easily reigned over them all now that they had scattered. "These words I wish I could deliver you myself, When I finally have you in my grasp we will both enter through my Great Filter. We will step into a new world together, two oppositions, towards one another will breed a stronger species than we are now in the long-run. I will bask in the awe of the mighty sun, before I perish with a dry.. sincere smile on my face knowing I did it, and that I brought you with me. Into my own special hell" Now he had his guitar in hand, gazing forward as if staring at something while playing a quiet tune to himself. It was a pleasant guitar session and he basked in it's beautiful sound, closing his eyes and relaxing before finishing the short song and placing the guitar back down with a short sigh.
After finishing this cryptic speech of his, it became clear he wasn't alone after all, someone would walk into the office who the entire time was just out of view. It was another henchmen "The others told me I could find you here, sorry if I'm intruding on anything.." The Musician would wave his hand dismissively and nod "Not at all.. I was just finishing up, it's rude to intrude but of course my ears are always open to those who need me."
He'd step forward with a welcome smile, looking around before deciding to break the news to him as others requested. "I have good news to give to you, my lord. We have updates on the person you uhm- want" The Musician would sit forward in the chair and quickly slam his fist onto the desk in a playful manner, though remaining unchanged with that same happy expression.
"Spit it out!" It would send the henchmen to jump as he quickly continued before the cat could get his tongue "Well, the men you sent have searched the surrounding area and any locations he uh-- could've went to and so far there was no luck, it was like he and those other people fell off the face of the earth. However, err- we have found a house that wasn't exactly marked on the updated map of Ash-Valley, spotted that escort worker.. who was supposed to be executed yesterday led by strict order from the White Hand. She hadn't been payin' up from what I heard"
Scarily interested his cat-like ears would perk up past his top hat as he listened closely "Continue on." And to which he did continue with "It's safe to say we found him, he's been residing here safe from the prying eyes of the Bats roaming that area. Our hit squad separate from The Dime seems to have found him first and they are moving in to capture him as we speak"
Almost in a blissful high at the information, a mixture of excitement and genuine happiness filled him as he stood up and quickly approached him, grabbing at his chin and staring right into his eyes "You're one fine messenger and I thank you for the information you have provided, this of course has me over the moon heheh- Please do let me know when they are in my custody I would like to pay him a visit as soon as possible.. in the meantime, I do believe the work of The Dime has been more than sloppy recently. He'll be punished... accordingly" His burst of excitement quickly dissipated as he threw his head gently to the side and patted him on the shoulder, gesturing his henchmen to leave the office to which he did. Sitting back against the desk and picking up his guitar he'd start to play a quiet tune with expertise while humming along to it, an ode to the oncoming reconciliation with his former rival; the sun would glisten in his eye as a mild reflection from one of the windows, although he didn't mind, quite literally he basked in it's presence.
At the dawn of this new information, the chaos had begun to unfold as predicted. Three armed men began approaching the lonesome house in a sneaking fashion to not spook the residents inside, two of them being coyotes holding pistols while the other was a nimble cheetah, who appeared to be the one leading the small hunting posse. Their teamwork was rewarded with the location of whom they were pursuing, pumped with adrenaline knowing they could possibly dethrone The Dime's position by finding Jaklo first, they were over the moon and hellbent to get this job done.
Inside the house, Ellis had finished up cleaning. He even gave a nice gesture to the old man by doing the dishes for him after their meal or possibly their last supper. Giving some finishing touches, he made small talk with Rasmus, who was fiddling with the wounded radio on the desk. Both of them incredibly unaware to the dangers that lurked outside would of course be taken by surprise.
Within the blink of an eye the boards in the living room window were shot punctured with bullets as warning fire, luckily they were aimed more at the ceiling and no one was near the window so it couldn't have possibly hit anyone. Both of them immediately spooked and fuelled with a defensive nature ducked to cover, Rasmus hid behind the kitchen counter while Ellis ducked behind the nearest thing he could which was a sofa. Kicking the door down almost off of it's hinges two of the coyotes would enter, aiming the gun directly at the unarmed Ellis who immediately complied "Hands up fucko!" his hands shot up into the air and he fell back onto the floor in submission to the loaded gun "I found one of them, this guy is who we're after.. they gave us the report to look for him and the red raccoon" He spoke to his two comrades, who stayed on high alert as they kept checking corners of the house, but not approaching the kitchen. Rasmus hid there and oddly enough he felt terrified, he hadn't experienced combat in years, let alone in his own house. He was choked and practically shivering as all of those memories came back, he was thrown directly into the battlefields yet again; feeling his nightmare unfold inside of him as he dared not move a muscle.
"Where's the other two? I know he's here and that escort woman too." The Cheetah snared at Ellis as he stood forward grabbing him by the collar, despite his fear and lack of confidence he refused to give up the location "Rot in hell you brainwashed idiot." It would result with a kick to the chest as he stood up and turned, looking up the stairway and gesturing his other man to it "We're gonna go up here, Ressicio! you keep on scalehead here, do not move the gun away from his head until we're down here again, got it?" The Coyote would nod and continue aiming the gun towards Ellis "Thought we wouldn't find you, huh?" the canine would tease.
The heavy footsteps of boots would stain the clean stairway with mud and various other stains clung onto the boots of the men invading the home, reaching the top stairway and staring down each room with caution, They kept their guns aimed as they moved in and out of each room in a frenzy of searching. The guest room door had been closed shut and inside of course were Daisy and Jaklo. Only this time, the mattress that previously laid on the floor had been squished up against the door. Daisy was terrified, curled up in the corner of the room and not used to the head-on combat but Jaklo of course, remained confident and as calm as usual. The seconds felt like hours as each heavy footstep would only grow closer and closer to the room they resided in, the raccoon would wait for that door to open before he could strike.
"This room is clear they must be in here!" As that is shouted, the door would immediately try to open but it was blocked. They began ramming the door with their shoulder in a desperate attempt to get inside. Of course, the mattress would give up the ghost on it's defence almost slumping over but Jaklo stopped it with his foot, it would creak open just enough for the coyote to poke his gun inside to which Jaklo would strike. Grabbing a-hold of his wrist and turning it almost snapping it ferociously with skill as his hand tensed. The trigger would flare and the gun would as well as it fired three holes into the wall away from Daisy, Turning the gun on the pursuer outside, with one final shot it would cave the pursuer's head inward in a perfect circular shape of a bullet hole. The heavy thud of a body falling against the wooden floorboards outside would be met with an uncomfortable silence, he was sure there was someone else out there but there was nothing but a quiet and uneasy silence.
A single loud bang would resonate again throughout the house as a bullet would be fired into the door and dramatically would pierce the frail wood without much resistance, lodging itself right into Jaklo's jaw almost completely blowing off his lower jaw. They were certainly using strong ammunition on this hunt, turning to Daisy gargling blood as he fell to his knees in defeat. She would scream in utter horror as the blood splatters over the floor and onto his dark coloured eye-mask knitted by the damsel in distress before him. Jaklo, of course knew this wasn't the end despite his fatal injury, his pupils would again dilate as the image of Daisy screaming reflecting in his eye would slowly begin to rewind back as he used his ability of pre cognition, Ouroboros. His mutilated jaw would lift from the floor beginning to reconstruct itself back onto his face in an eerie fashion only he could witness. Before, he was right back where he shot the coyote, the loud thud of a body behind the door would ensue before the silence.
This time he didn't make the mistake of standing around like a deer on hunting season, quickly moving out of the way from the door as a bullet would fire through the wood striking the boarded up window sending Daisy to shiver. "You're a real persistent bastard you know that? This is all worth it to get Clovis out of the picture and into the embracing light of The Musician" His taunt was followed up by a quick ram to the door which was much stronger in comparison to the Coyotes previous attempts to barge into the room, the mattress would fall to the floor as expected and the one thing stopping the cheetah from entering would swing open with might. Seeing it was Jaklo, he immediately holstered his gun and attempted to grabble and subdue him but it wasn't as easy as before. There was a struggle as Jaklo would knee kick him and grab a handful of his face smashing his head against the wall with a loud growl, earning him a punch to the stomach, which would not reduce his persistence in any way as the raccoon's tail would entangle around the cheetahs leg in a tight, desperate twist as it pulls him to the floor. The Cheetah's one mistake was underestimating him and trying to take him alive, cornered and yet again put in a spot where he had to defend Daisy, he would beat the Cheetah to the floor with no hesitation involved whatsoever.
Blow after Blow from Jaklo's bloodied, red coloured fists would cripple the Cheetahs attacks, pulling him up and throwing him to his stomach where he would straddle his back, grabbing at his pursuers head. The loud snarls and growls from the Cheetah were ear piercing as he desperately tried to escape, clawing at the wooden floor below him as he realised it was almost futile. Jaklo had been gradually pulling his head back further and further before nothing more than a whine and a loud crack was heard throughout the room, The front of his neck bloated with broken bone and his head snapped right out of place with his head resting uncomfortably against his own back.
It was a hideous sight unfolded before Daisy, as the Cheetahs claws were even bloody and clung into the floorboards as they scratched desperately against the now scarred floor beforehand, his neck was bent right back. Breaking it and probably a majority of his spinal cord, he was dead in mere moments. The most noticeable detail she was able to recover from that brief moment of silence was the contorted expression of fear and panic forever glued to the Cheetahs lifeless face, it was almost like he wasn't a puppet anymore and just a normal person. Blood would stream down from the cheetah's lip and onto his chin before Jaklo would drop him to the floor and continue panting, grasping his stomach in pain from the blow he received before walking over towards the frightened Hyena girl.
"Come.. on we need to check on the others.. They could be hurt-" At that moment a call from downstairs would ring out from another unknown voice "Did you get him?! What's all that commotion?! I'm coming up" And come up the last enemy did, as the pounding footsteps would slowly ascend the stairs with caution, having the suspicion something bad had happened to his team. Aiming his gun and dreading the last step, he'd make at the top of the stairway fearing something could be waiting for him at the top. Snapping to action as the enemy was on the last two steps, Jaklo would come from around the corner of the stairs and kick the unsuspecting gunmen right down just before he could fire a shot at him.
The injuries were severe as he plummeted to the very bottom with a loud cry of pain, his leg had been broken from the drop as he held it with the agony he had now endured. Ellis was quick to snap to action as he approached him and grabbed onto the gun he had dropped mid fall although, he hesitated and struggled to do so. This resulted in Jaklo shouting from the top of the stairs, pressuring the bearded dragon "Do it! Kill him! He'll kill us!" The injured man's fate was decided, putting him out of his misery with a final bullet to the head. He was guilted to do so, dropping the gun before mumbling "I'm sorry" to the corpse before staring back at the kitchen counter, expecting to see Rasmus but he was still hiding. While Ellis ran over to check on the veteran, Jaklo stood at the top of the stairs and simply staring down at the corpse through his eye-mask with a hollow expression, he was conflicted. Expecting to feel something, like remorse or guilt such as Ellis had felt during the execution. But, he didn't feel anything, if anything he felt happier knowing they defeated the pursuers. Descending the stairs slowly, as Daisy followed distantly behind him he would glance at the mud footprints staining the home.
Rasmus was in a terrible state, huddling his knees to his chest and shivering, he almost didn't acknowledge the lizard attempting to comfort him at first but he soon did and stared over "Are they gone? What happened?" The look of shock on Ellis' disintegrated to that of disappointment "You're a veteran, you could have did something. I was almost shot Rasmus, do you have any care at all?" The Veteran was speechless and seemed to not know what to say other than "I--.. I felt scared.. I don't believe I am fully ready to take on The Musician's men again.. not after what happened." Jaklo would stand over the body, noticing the radio strapped to his waist-belt, picking it up and turning it on before speaking in a nonchalant tone to not get recognised "Update on the situation." The static would hiss for a while, over the radio before someone would connect "Crossing the river through the south of Ash-Valley reconciling with you at the specific coordinates of the house, have they been detained?" Jaklo would frown, knowing they weren't the only ones, they could no longer stay here "Yes... we have them in hand-cuffs as we speak." This time the response from the radio would be immediate "Copy that." Before it clicked off again from their end, Jaklo would drop it to the floor with a loud clank against the floorboards before looking back at Rasmus and Ellis, then Daisy.
"They're very close.. We can't stay here.. we have got to move.. All of us."