No More Heroes: Similarity and Causality
Rank 30: Jack of Hearts
As the sun set behind him and the moon rose before him, Jordan made his way along the cold streets toward the UKAA building. To his surprise, it was a tall skyscraper lined with windows. It was topped with a large spire and looked at the peak of modern building techniques. Jordan wandered inside, past the sliding automatic doors and into the main office. A man dressed in a business suit approached him.
"Jordan Argo?" he asked.
"Yeah that's me" confirmed Jordan. The man nodded and gave a signal for him to follow him as he turned to an elevator. As they entered the steel box, the man tapped a button marked "51" on the elevator wall. The door's shut slowly and they began to travel up. Up into the tall building. The lift came to a sudden stop and the doors opened to reveal an office. It was decorated rather lavishly, with red carpeted floors, wood panelled walls and an expensive looking desk where a black swivel chair had its back to the door. The man urged Jordan out of the elevator before he pressed another button and was gone. The chair swivelled round and Jordan caught sight of the woman who had called him there. She was wearing rimless glasses and had long shining brown hair that reached her shoulders. Her face was fairly pale and two hazel eyes sat above her nose. She was dressed in a sharp business suit and had a strange red pin on the collar. Her chest also made a massive impression on him and he caught himself staring at it, to which she tutted.
"So...Jordan Argo...I presume you know why you're here?" her voice sounded rather sweet but also tricky. Jordan shook her head and the woman gave a sigh. "Well...I'm here to inform you about your first target. I help run this organization." She explained.
"Wait...target? What's that mean?" Jordan demanded. The woman moved some hair out of her face.
"Well, you are an assassin. It's now your job to hunt down those above you in the ranks and cut them short, so you can move up." Jordan gave a humph sound as he realised what Vespia had tricked him in to. "Anyway, your first target is waiting at "The pot of avarice" casino to the west of town."
"The... what?" Jordan asked. The woman sighed again.
"Look it's easy to find. It's got neon all over it so even you can find it" She remarked sourly. "Now you'd better hurry, he won't wait all night" she told him as she swivelled back around.
"Wait...I don't even know your name" complained Jordan.
"Its Melissa Diamond, now hurry it up" she spat at him, which sounded just as sweet as her normal speech. Jordan decided to do as she said and pressed the lift button. After a few seconds, the lift arrived. And just as the doors closed in front of him, Melissa called to him
"Don't die on me" to which Jordan snorted.
It barely took Jordan any time to find the Pot of avarice. Even in the dark night, the neon flashed brightly displaying a pot with a face tipping over and spilling poker chips everywhere. Jordan smirked at the idea and went in through the main entrance. To no surprise, the casino was a buzz of activity; waiters serving drinks, gamblers betting their money with women curled around their waists and arms, and from every part of the room came cries of triumph and sighs of loss. How Jordan was going to find his target in this throng was a mystery to him. He sifted through the crowds, keeping his sword hidden under his jacket. He earned a few odd looks from the gamblers and even a few flirty looks from the girls. Ignoring them, he continued his search, looking to see anyone of assassin description in the room. The person who caught his eye however, looked something of the opposite.
He was sitting near the wall on a wooden chair, in front of a circular table, collecting his winnings from a game of poker, while keeping the rest of his cards hidden in his spare hand. He wore a red suit with a heart shaped pin attaching a cloak to it. Along the front was an odd sword shaped object that reminded Jordan of something on a Jack's playing card. He had silky blond hair that hung over his shoulders, and wore a pillar box hat with a heart decal on the top. Two girls dressed in casino style bunny suits, purred contently on either side of him. He had a smirk on his face that seemed ever present. His opponents however, were less pleased as they walked away. The gambler spotted Jordan and his smile broadened. He beckoned him over and Jordan confusedly obliged.
"So..." he began as Jordan drew close "You must be the new 31 right?" Jordan's eyes widened. So this was his target?
"Yeah..." he answered cautiously. "Who knew I'd be killing royalty on my first run?" The man chuckled and got to his feet, winking to his girls who moved the table away. The other people in the casino also noticed what was happening and they made a space for the two. Jordan even heard some of them placing bets at a table nearby.
"Well... this league is full of surprises." He answered. "So...what's your reasoning for this job?" he inquired, twiddling a spare playing card in his fingers.
"I'm taking over for someone...Vespia Tarot" he replied. His opponent smiled as he recognised the name.
"Good killer she was...and a good card player too. But anyway, I suppose you want to know ol' Jack's reasoning too eh?" Jordan shrugged at this.
"If you want to" he said sharply, one hand in his jacket in case his opponent attacked. Jack smirked.
"It's because of the risk. This league, these assassinations. It's all a game we bet our lives on. The greatest gambling experience in the world." He explained solemnly, unclipping the object on the front of his suit and holding it in his hands.
"That's it? Just one big gamble? Sounds stupid to me"
"That's because you're not a true gambler. A true gambler can see value in every gamble he makes." Jack countered, clicking a button on the strange object as the flat end of it separated from the rest, and a handle was created. Above the handle, blades clicked out and created quite a hefty looking broadsword. "Now enough talking... it's time to go to work Cardshark" he announced, referring to his weapon. Jordan quickly drew his own weapon and readied himself for his opponents attack. For a few moments, the casino was quiet and still...
Jack made the first move, running at Jordan, blade ready to stab out at him. Jordan was ready for it and dodged to one side, taking a slash at his opponents arm. Jack brought Cardshark round to block and forced Jordan back with a strong push. Before Jordan could recover, Jack ran at him again, bringing his sword into a left swipe. Jordan barely blocked the attack and moved back. Jack smirked. "How pathetic..." he remarked, charging at him again, this time trying to stab down. Jordan grimaced at his opponent's words, ducking to the right of his attack and slashing at Jack. The blade caught a part of his red suit and bit into his flesh slightly. Jack grunted and staggered back, giving Jordan his chance to switch to the offence, slashing at him. Jack continued to move back as he blocked Jordan's swift attacks but spied an opening as he raised his weapon for a downward stab. Jack ducked and stabbed at his midsection, giving a cruel grin as the blade hit home. Jordan clutched his bleeding wound and toppled over backwards.
"D-d-damnit" he stuttered as his opponent leered down at him and the pain racked his body. Jack raised his blade to finish the job when Jordan rolled to the side, tripping Jack over, like he had Dojo, giving him time to recover. Jack frowned.
"Ok...so you're a little tougher than I expected...so what? You're still going to die here" he shouted before taking another stab at Jordan. Jordan was ready to block it, and was about to counter when suddenly a flurry of cards flew out of Jacks left sleeve and into his face. Startled by his opponent's sudden move, he stumbled back, giving Jack an opportunity to slash at his arm, creating a big red gash. Jordan yelped in pain and clutched his arm. Jack gave a cruel laugh as he looked at his opponent. "Like I said...it ends here for you" he announced as he readied Cardshark for the killing blow. Jordan just stood there, looking dazed. But as the blade came toward his chest, Jordan's blade leaped up to block it and deflected the larger sword away. Jack gave a startled expression as Jordan came back on the offensive, making fast and strong slashes at Jack. Finally, his blade dug into Jack's arm but he did not stop there. He slashed across his chest and along his face creating a nasty cut on his cheek. Jack cried in pain and ran backwards, desperate to get away. But Jordan had had enough of the red assassin's tricks, and charged after him. In one swift movement he knocked Cardshark from Jack's hands and slashed across his chest.
In that one moment, everything seemed to move slower. Jack's cry of pain was slurred and Jordan's sword swipe blurred. Then everything was at full speed and Jack was kneeling before him, panting heavily from the battle. Cardshark was too far away for him to reach, and as he looked up, Jordan could tell by his face, that he too knew this match was over. His lips cracked into a smile.
"Heh...good match kid...guess you caught me off guard..." he admitted wearily. Jordan almost felt sorry for him. "Well...you live by gambling...you die by gambling..." he said solemnly. Jordan raised his sword again and came up with a line to say.
"You may look like a prince...but you'll still die like a peasant!" he shouted as he brought the sword down on the man's neck, the strong steel slicing all the way through, cutting his head clean off. The head spurted blood as it rolled to a stop next to the collapsed body. The lavish red carpet turned a deeper shade of red as the blood of the fallen prince spewed out.
Jack of hearts
DEAD
Jordan cleaned his blade on his jacket and replaced it into its leather sheath, panting from the exhausting battle. Around him, most gamblers groaned at losing the bet while some cheered with glee. Jordan looked annoyed at how they had bet on all this...just like Jack had bet his life. His two bunny girls, after quickly switching sides came over to him and looked at him sweetly, clinging to his arms. Jordan blushed a little at the sudden attention. Just then, a familiar woman entered the room, flanked by two individuals in white biohazard suits.
"Congratulations Jordan. You are now ranked 30th." Melissa congratulated, as the two men passed by him and over to the body of the once assassin. " So, how was your first kill?"
"It...It was weird...I got such a rush...but...it felt bad when I finished him..." he admitted. Melissa gave an understanding look.
"Well you'd better be careful. There are still 29 assassins above you so if you want to climb the ranks, you'd better hurry." She advised. Jordan just gave her a "what the hell?" look. He had to do this again?
"Can I at least get some medical aid first?"
"But of course" Melissa replied as she turned to leave, the two bio suit wearers following her with Jack's body in a bag.
After staying at the Casino for a while, Jordan went back to his apartment, with the cell numbers of the two girls he had gotten to know. Truly a successful night.
