Excursion 3: Basement Escape

Jasper has escaped the confines of his ropes, and in the split second where Black Hawk was frozen in place for a split second. His whole world was white, as through the cracks in the basement window, he saw an instantaneous bright white light, witch blinded him, as his eyes had already adapted him to the dark environment in the basement. He protected Jasper's eyes as he was in the way of the light to Jasper.

This frame of vulnerability allowed Jasper to escape by summoning his gift, and he swiftly ran up the stairs, giving him a quick head start, but that wasn't enough to escape Black Hawk.

The Black Hawk also possessed a gift, it was called the Ghost Blade, and it had an incredibly unique ability.

The blade wasn't a real blade, it was merely a projection, however it had the properties of a real blade, cutting, slashing, dicing, and it's sharpness was too remarkable, allowing the user to cut through cement and rocks, and even thin sheets of steel. What sets it apart from a normal blade however is that the objects it cuts don't immediately feel the impact of the slash.

The user can control precisely which cuts and when the effects of those cuts manifest on the object through clicking the button at the bottom of the knife.

Black Hawk, who had experienced many surprises before, expected Jasper to eventually escape, and hopefully drag in one of his allies into the attempt. He cut Jasper, a cut of medium depth, on his right shoulder, and as he walked out the door of the house, Black Hawk triggered the cut, leading to his blood trickling onto the ground.

"Gah!" Wailed Jasper in pain.

"What's wrong?" Asked Jasper's friend, Flick, who was standing next to Jasper to his left.

"Shit there's a cut on my shoulder. It's pretty deep, and it hurts like hell."

"Oof, let me look at it buddy, there's a gas station nearby, we'll rest there for a while—"

"No we can't, he's like a Hawk man, and he's strong, nothing like Rick."

"Nah, we can't make it anywhere. I'll set up a tent buddy how's that? Disguise ourselves as a couple of homeless. Will that trick him?"

"It just might."

What the two didn't realize is that as they walked, they left a trail of blood, as there was a second cut, much less deep, but deep enough to have blood gushing without creating an extreme, lingering pain on his calf.

The blood from the cut left a trail that the Hawk could follow. And so, he let his prey walk away, for maybe ten or twenty minutes, simply waiting until they fell into a state of security.

*** Back at Doc's room, during the escape ***

Doc began the surgery. He wove the string into the stump where Fyky's hand should've been. He slowly attached a grey hand, covered in scars.

The Devil String then embedded itself deeper, connecting the sinew of the hand to the nerves of the stump.

Over the course of ten minutes, Doc spent all of his focus on the surgery.

"It's a success, the hand's attached." Doc said, before sighing in relief.

The grey hand which was successfully attached turned a new color, matching the skin tone of Fyky.

"Man thanks a lot Doc, my girlfriend might've been pissed hahaha," said Fyky jokingly.

"No problem kid, but this time don't lose it, we don't have any more spares."

The two laughed. Fyky smiled, ready for his new path; looking forward to the most exciting battles he can partake in. But the excitement was short lived.

Outside the window was a single, black umbrella, seemingly fixed in place.

Instinctively, Doc realized that an umbrella suddenly appearing must be the sign of a gift as it was something so out of the ordinary. With his years of experience he knew he needed to duck and cover; he grabbed the side of Fyky and dragged him of the bed.

The two hid behind the frame as the umbrella shifted the underside of its canopy and it began shooting hail stones at blinding speeds, shattering the window and embedding themselves into the wall. All they could hear was machine gun-like spray.

The hail melted rapidly from the heat it accumulated, the water spilling onto the floor. Doc and Fyky felt the wetness on their shoes,

"The bastard's firing ice at us, interesting…" whispered Doc to Fyky.

The shooting stopped, and a man jumps through the window, his footsteps reverberating across the floor. Doc tells Fyky, "I'll distract him, you run to safety, get downstairs and wait for me, understood?"

"C'mon Doc, I got powers now, I can take this guy—"

"And what are your powers?" Interrupted Doc. "You don't know anything yet, so I'll tell you about them after this fight, so wait for me downstairs. Stop being so brash."

The plan was simple, Doc would stand up, and Fyky would run, in a matter of seconds, the fight would be over, but nothing ever goes as planned.

An umbrella suspended off the ground, with eyeballs dangling off the rim of its canopy appeared at the door frame. Doc through a scalpel towards its shadow, and all of a sudden it couldn't move.

The man simply said,"so you can mess with my umbrellas, is that your power? Underwhelming."

Doc stands up, facing the man, and he says, "yeah what of it?" And Fyky begins to run out of the door.

Before the umbrellas in the room can reorient themselves to shoot hail, Doc throws a scalpel onto their shadows, freezing them in place. But the man notices Fyky darting to the left past the door frame, and initiates a command where umbrellas just outside the house begin shooting highly pressurized water droplets which penetrate through the walls.

"Hahaha you thought I didn't prepare for this? You're a fool," said the man.

Doc hypothesized that there might be one way to stop the attack.

"Death's Door!" Doc yelled out. Behind him emerged from the ground a green flint the size of a man, and a face in its center. The face had a mouth that was stitched into a smile, and eyes with massive pupils, focused forward. It smelt malevolent, like spent gunpowder or rotting flesh to most people, but to the man it smelt like dirty rainwater.

"So, tell me your name?" Asked Doc to the man.

"Weeping Sam," said Sam dejectedly.

"Good. Sam, welcome to Death's Door…"

… To be continued.