Description: Memories. Jiro Kasagi doesn't know why he has come from a place out of time, nor why he has been jutted into the future. Accompanied by his cousin, Jira, the Stray Dog goes through Southtown, trying to find what has changed in the journey to the future. But he is soon shadowed by a detective, who knows that he is shouldn't be here... and that his presence is an omen of greater, more terrible things.
Chinatown is a place where everything is like China, except smaller. The miniature China is where paper lamps reign and various Chinese shaped buildings are prevalent. Normally, there would be people out and about, but the atmosphere is scarce.
It is empty.
Not many people travel around the outside area. In fact, if anyone is around the area, their presence is short as they are hurrying out. Some people have remain out to try to enjoy the day, but it becomes more difficult with the ashes falling from the sky.
One person chose to travel out to Chinatown. He wants to survey his surroundings and get to see everything around him. He wants to know every nook and cranny of the town.
A lot has changed since he has been gone.
The Boy Who Defies Time is roaming the streets, hood over his head while he surveys the area. "... Meh, some parts of Chinatown has not changed..." He considers, "However, it is significant enough for me to roam around." He curls to a frown, "I don't suppose you travel around these parts often, huh?" He seems to be talking to someone in particular behind him.
The ashen, dusty air is almost visible, and thick soot 'snow' covers most of the surfaces outwardly visible or unprotected from the sky. However, none of that, or the trapped, muggy heat deter Jira from wearing her usual hot-weather clothing. Yet, in an unnatural and uncanny fashion, the air around her immediate form is entirely clean of particles and debris. An unseen and intangible force gently nudging the cloud of gray 'snow' out of her way, in the air and on the ground to the effect of keeping her clean. Her gun, clearly on display, glimmers and shines inappropriately for the ambient light.
"Yes, actually. I work at a restaurant here, a little out of the way. I suppose I should pay out my tab once I see my boss." she replies to her cousin, whom has defiantly broken the rules of death.. and hadn't met before that. She was keeping her place very close to him and off to his right.
Hell's coming.
Daniel Jack isn't in his orange zoot suit. That wouldn't survive the ash. Clad in a grey trenchcoat, he glares through his rose-tinted sunglasses, hat low. This was the apocolypse. Daniel saw the signs. He had the signs. But he didn't stop it in time. The crabgrass was breaking through the ash. The volcano was on the cusp of taking down the city. He could see it. So as the detective forces through the city, he had one goal now.
He had to get out of here.
But there was loose ends. There were always loose ends. A loose end had wandered its way down Chinatown. A loose end couldn't be there. A loose end that shouldn't be here. It was just a image. A passing face. An old case, a dead case. A murder case. A missing persons case. Old business.
But old business always had to be settled, before you let the end of the world come.
He followed that face. Around turn, around the streets, shadowing the man. But he wasn't the only one, it seemed. There was someone with him. And strangers were trouble. As the pair stopped, Daniel Jack was standing at the corner of an nearby alleyway. Hands buried in his coat pocket. Collar turned up, guarding against the ash, concealing a good portion of his face. And there, he saw Jira slip out. The detective analyzes the situation. She was armed. Claimed to be family. Unnatural aura. Pretty unusual stuff, to be sure.
But what were they doing here?
With a glance back, Jiro looks more curious, "Is that so? Is it Pao Pao Cafe?" He pauses, then his eyes furrow, "...Please tell me Xiangfei aka Giant Forehead is not your boss." God. Imagining Xiangfei as the boss of anyone. Jiro frowns at the thought. He rubs his forehead while he tries to dismiss such a horrible image.
"...I seriously cannot believe that so much has changed in the past seven years." His eyes narrow, placing a hand over towards one of the stands. When he looks around one of the shops, Jiro's frown grows and he looks back at Jira, "Even worse, with this disaster spreading, it doesn't look like many people have been coming out."
"THE END IS HERE! IT IS COMING! IT IS COMING! IT IS A SIIIIIGGNNN!! IT IS A SIIIGGNNN!!!" There is a group of men, all covered with a cloak made to shield against the ashes. They laugh. Some of the men are crying hysterically.
Jiro grunts under his breath, "...Doomsayers. Great." His eyes flutter shut. Then, he sniffs the air. A growl stirs from the young man before he turns his head over towards the corner of the alleyway.
Wheeling his head past Jira, she will see that his eyes have changed from its cool blue hue to green slits in an animalistic sort of way. That growl becomes louder as he directs his gaze at the alleyway corner.
"Bring your ass out here, now. You're not fooling me."
The woman gives a nod to the first query, then shakes her head to the next and the statement. "No, I work at Genhanten, under Yang. I haven't met this Xiangfei." she replies, and leans in a bit closer at his headrubbing.
Then she smiles. "I'm rather new around here, I don't know how much progress I've skipped in that.. Yeah, he's been telling me that I need to be ready for the worst, if the planet turns against us." and then there's crazies spouting things and eliciting a whine from Jira at their presence, and Jiro's hostility. Which seems to grow stronger and causes her to hop away from whatever he's glaring at.
"Who?"
"I didn't think they had strays in this part of the city."
Those are the words as the dark-skinned detective steps out from the shadows of the alleyway. Discovered. His posture was erect, aggressive. Every movement was restraining back bursts of power. From the turned up collar, those eyes are focused dead on Jiro, burning behind those red lens. Walking straight towards the pair, he keeps a brisk pace, stopping only a few yards, right in the middle of the street.
"I didn't think they had ghosts, either."
Daniel Jack glances towards the babbling cultist. The disgust was palpable. Turning his nose up, the man sneers, scowling at the men. "They're right, you know. I hate them with a passion, but their right. The world's falling apart at the seams. Fire, brimstone, cats and dogs living together. And memories from the past, walking right here in Chinatown." The detective coughs, hacking violently as he covers his mouth with his trenchcoat sleeve. Clearing his throat, he glares at the woman standing by Jiro.
"Who's the dame?"
Jiro's anger is only roused more when the person addresses about the strays living in the Chinatown portion of the city. Once the older man reveals himself from the shadows of the alleyway, the young man is just as aggressive and ready to go. Jiro is not without an itch for a fight.
While Jiro does appear like the former that the older man remembers, one cannot help but the man looking... younger?
At the talk of ghosts, Jiro's eyes lower to the side. "...Ngh." His eyes drift towards the cultists briefly as Daniel comes into agreement with the men. "...Memories of the past, huh?" Jiro's expression calms, now replaced with a more downcasted look.
An eye twitches at Daniel, his posture turning defensive once more before he tightens his fist.
"My cousin. Who the hell are you?"
Jira gives another whine to the temper, and shifts herself a little behind her cousin, despite being taller than him.. her family life has gotten -weirder-. She stays out of the line of fire herself and doesn't reciprocate the aggression. She shivers, contrasting the usual effect of the heat.
"You must've been popular, Jiro-kun." she murmurs, reaching out to grab at him- but catching herself midway. At the mention of being cousins she give a blush. Damn teenagers.
He did look younger.
"The name's Jack. Daniel Jack. Private eye." The detective responds curtly, body still rigid. He was looking at his eyes. Reading them. Trying to understand them. They were all wrong. Everything about this seemed wrong. If it was right, it wouldn't have pulled him in like this. The cousin speaks up. The burning stare shifts from Jiro, into Jira. The blush spoke volumes. This stunk. Not softening his expression in the least, he responds to Jira.
"He was pretty popular."
Nodding, he looks back at Jiro. "I've worked against you before. We've worked together before. You had a run in with NESTS, I backed you up on. You were my weirdo, the man that Hotaru wanted. The murderer. You've made a lot of friends in your lifetime, just like how you've made a lot of enemies." Daniel Jack hadn't shown himself to be either so far. Adjusting his collar, he challenges Jiro, calling him out.
"You remember any of this, Stray Dog?"
A glance is given back towards Jira with a thoughtful frown, "...I tend to have that knack, for better or worse." He considers. "At the very least, I am actually glad that I have not ran into a few faces that I remember hating."
However, Jack is given glare once more. "Well, Jack. While I'm somewhat known, I'm starting to learn that this is not quite my time." The young man lowers his head. A ghost Memories of the past. More and more, Jiro is starting to feel that he really doesn't belong in this world. It is an alien feeling.
However, he has not met anyone that he is familiar with yet. He has not seen Alma. He has not seen the family that he grew up with. Just strangers that seemt o have known him.
"...NESTS? Who the hell is NESTS?" He furrows his eyebrow, then he blinks. The mention of Hotaru earns a bit of a lowered gaze, "...Heh." Nothing really seemed to happen between the two, truth be told. However, those thoughts slowly fade away.
"I don't know any of this." Pause, "Let me put it this way. I am apparently from seven years in the past." He furrows his eyebrows, "Figure that shit out."
An indeterminable gaze garners a bright shine from her glowing irises and an equally bright flash from her weapon. Which has taken upon itself to aim at the detective, without her influence. Made more apparent by her hand turning it back to facing the ground at her hip. She then listens to the back and forth, and herself is rather out of the loop on all this.. truth be told, neither of the twin dragons, the owner of her uniform-dress, or her sensei were familiar to her despite having their own renown and sway in the world's workings.
"I'm not quite sure who you are, Jack-san, but you should make clear your intentions so that we can set the tone of this encounter appropriately. I don't want to have anyone hurt by misinterpreting and acting in bad form." she states, after Jiro mentions his bit.
Daniel Jack grabs his temples.
The stoic exterior cracks, as the detective relaxes a moment, shaking his head. "No, no, it isn't Jack. it is Daniel Jack. The Jack is a lead in-" Daniel Jack facepalms.
"Never mind."
The detective is quiet for a moment, regaining his composure, digesting what he now knows. Or rather, what Jiro didn't think he knew. Daniel knew what Jiro was saying. He could here him. The thing was.
He found it hard to believe him.
"My intention is to figure out why he is walking around town, ma'am." The detective states cooly, the rigid exterior still not quite regained. "And why you are escorting him around. As far as I know, you just think you are from the past. You could be a clone for all I know. Maybe there is amnesia. Maybe you woke up, from-"
Daniel pauses, expression going blank.
With a glance back at Jira, Jiro considers her words for a brief moment. Yet, he does not pay much mind to her weapon. His temper is starting to get the best of him. The young man is already riled up from someone sneaking in on him. The Stray Dog has been trying to get familiarized with the area. It doesn't help that the doomsayers are still nagging behind him. That incessant noise of the impending doom.
"Whatever. I don't care. We're getting to the point."
"This place is different from what I remember. I am trying to get familiarized with the area. You're getting in my damn way of that." The young man is already getting more riled up. The teenager looks more annoyed. "Clone. Past. $&%@ you. I don't care."
'Maybe you woke up, from---'
"--Enough. I heard enough."
Jiro is getting tired of hearing that he died. It leaves him with a very unsettling feeling. To be reminded of that fact is only rousing his temper more.
His anger slowly subsides, now looking rather somber at this point.
"I have not seen familiar people yet. I am working on that. The last thing I need to be reminded of is... -that-."
Jira blinks dumbfoundedly at the detective, confused on his bit about Jack, and dropping it with him. Westerners, she figures, so weird about names. What she's focused on now is that temper flaring, at his swearing she rests her left hand on his right shoulder in a reassuring gesture. She decidedly didn't want him to snap. Not without a damn good reason!
The woman takes a step closer to the currently familiar one, eyes leary at the detective. "Let's take advantage of this time you've got now, there's probably something more you can do now.. maybe this is important."
Daniel Jack looks at his feet.
Death. The aggression flows from the detective. He was reflecting on what was it like for Jiro. To wake up, and see your own tombstone. Just how confusing the world was to him. To know your purpose. And yet, the fact he merely exists, was much bigger than what he was. The detective mutters to himself, softly.
"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it."
Daniel Jack looks up, face softened, but still grim. Seeing that Jira was stepping in to cool down the raging beast, he nods to the girl, appreciating her efforts. "And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." The detective is quiet for another moment, the ground rumbling briefly under their feet as Mt. Fuji churns. "I'm sorry, Jiro." He finally answers. "I can't even imagine how... what all this is to you. But you have to understand what you are to me, Let me make this clear."
"You're an omen."
Daniel Jack looks towards the ranting and raving cultists. "You're a sign of the times. You being here... it is unnatural. And frankly, that's scary. That's real frightening. But that's not important to you." Daniel looks back over to Jiro, expression now gentle. "You are just... you. I didn't realize that. I didn't even consider that. You just need to find yourself. Maybe..."
"Maybe I can help with that."
Taking the moment in, Jiro has fallen into complete silence. His eyes downcast, the somberness slowly taking over him. To hear that he had been dead. His cousin informed him of that. This man informed him of that. Hearing this has made him wary of visiting home. It has made him wary and afraid of seeing his own family.
Jiro is in this world now. He is here for some reason. With his cousin reminding him of taking advantage of the situation, Jiro offers a smile her way, "Yeah... we will." He gently rests a hand over towards her shoulder, then he turns towards Daniel.
The eyes narrow, still wary of the man. "Before I came here, I was racing someone to deliver pizza to Geese Tower for a huge tip. Next thing I know, I meet an old man in a pick up truck who is apparently the Hero of Nepal. I meet the tournament organizer of this Gaia Tournament who is some inhuman gelatin of destruction, and everything else seems to have happened."
"...Heh. An omen."
Where he was once downcasted, he is now amused. "Well, that is an interesting feeling. To be an omen of what could be of---"
"DOOM! THE END OF THE WORLD IS HERE!"
"OH SHUT THE #%&^ UP!" Jiro snaps out at the doomsayers. He wheels his attention at Daniel. "Perhaps, but we'll deal with that another time. I am still trying to get my bearings and look over a couple of things. Besides, I need to head to the Gaia Tournament soon after I get my bearings with this place."
He laughs, "...To see that Alma is the founder of the youth center I was in. Who knew he would make it this big?" He shakes his head.
She seems a bit upset at the silence and down, obviously having some sense of care for him, for whatever reason. And a smile for his reply, mostly having that newcomer out of mind. Or rather, she seems to be inwardly preoccupied, vacant with the telling flicker of her eyes.
That lack of mindfulness drops when someone proclaims doom, and of someone to shut up. "Maybe I should get a shotgun.. and lots of ammunition. What do you think?" she asks, looking down at her gun. Then she smirks. "Now you're just being silly." half of a short conversational exchange is made present, then she straightens up. "What's the plan now, Jiro-kun?"
Daniel looks up at the sky.
Doom. The end of the world was here. That's what he felt now. He didn't parade around like the nutjobs. But it was what he was thinking. It was what he was feeling. Jira was joking about it, but her question was piercing. What's the plan now.
What was the plan now?
"That's Rust." He responds, answering about the Hero of Nepal. "Kyokugen trainee. He's a good man. Well. For your purposes, you can trust him. If you stick around, you should stick with him." The detective sighs. He mentioned about Alma. He remembered seeing Alma all over the place. And then, he just disappeared. Just like Jiro. What ever happened to Alma. Maybe the same thing that happened to Jiro.
Maybe he would be reappearing soon, too.
Glancing a somber gaze to Jira, he takes in a deep breath, and exhales. And promptly coughs again, the ash choking him. "I heard about that tournament. I don't trust it. Neither should you." The detective puts away his notepad. "I'm not gonna stick around Southtown. That volcano is gonna level the city, if it keeps up. If you are gonna stick around here... well, probably won't see you again. Just rememeber this." Daniel Jack points at Jiro. "You shouldn't be here. Whatever is keeping you here, may not last. Every minute you are here is borrowed time. Spend it where it matters, kid." Daniel Jack turns around, beginning to walk down the street.
"The next moment may be your last."
A glance is given towards Jira as she is talking to her gun, "Eh?" And then she imposes a question of his plan.
Jiro lifts his finger to answer her question until the detective speaks about Rust. Jiro nods, "Yeah, he's a good man. ...An old man, but a good man."
A grunt, "I stick where the path leads me."
And of course, the strange tournament is now the focused topic. "No shit I don't trust the tournament," Jiro snaps at Daniel, "I met the organizer personally. He is not human. Not by scent or by his movements." Jiro would explain more, but he stops himself. He shakes his head at this point.
Instead, Jiro looks over towards the ground. "...Hrm." Shouldn't be here. Spend it where it matters.
...Next moment will be his last.
Hearing those thoughts only earns a sneer. His lips curl up to that snarling look. At this point, the young man is exhausted.
"...Alright. Jira, let's go to the airport. It's time to head out to the tournament." Jiro rubs his forehead. "...Just want to get away from this place now."
Jira sighs... more tournament news, people leaving the country, and her about to go out. She gives a sigh and nods, pulling an innocent, pink earpiece from her vest and donning it.
"I'll have my things driven out ahead of us.. and dinner." she murmurs and clicks the piece on, waving at the detective as he turns to leave and seems focused. "This is Jira. I need one of you to head out to the Youth Center in south town and retrieve my backpack, and get some lunch. If I'm not at the airport in a couple hours, head to where I am now and call ahead." she half murmurs to the piece, then stuffs it back into her vest and adjusts the piece.
Oh, Daniel could feel that sneer.
Young and stupid. Bitterly, Daniel considered that this is the path that took him to death. The detective recalls his own youth, the stupidity he took. And the kid was in the aftermath of his demise, the wake of what his sacrifice had created. His enemies would remember him. And they would one thing Jiro was lacking now.
Experience.
The dull roar of the volcano rumbles again. Daniel picks up the pace, hustling quickly as a fresh new cascade of ash comes. Jiro had the right idea about one thing. He needed to get out. They all needed to get out. The death, the doom was inevitable here. Every moment counted.
The next might be his last.
Log created on 23:24:56 08/20/2014 by Daniel, and last modified on 09:29:10 08/21/2014.