Chapter 2

10:37 AM - Maplecrest

"Holy crap, these guys are persistent." Jack said, standing in the shadows as Black Egrets thundered past him in a search. "Seriously, don't you have anything better to do, Princess?"

"I should be asking you that question." Jack jumped and spun around to be met with a large trenchcoat.

"Big B!? Don't scare me like that! That's my job!" Jack complained.

"Don't call me that." The giant of a man sighed. "You haven't changed a bit, kid. Don't know whether that's a good thing or not."

"C'mon, you know you love it." Jack chuckled. "So then, any reason your here? Ruining my hiding spot?"

"Dr. Avian asked me to come find you." He said. "Knowing you're here, he wants to talk."

"Ah, right." Jack mumbled. "So the Anti-Skullgirls Labs are still around then?"

"Just 8 and 0." BB sighed. "Listen kid, I know your not a fan, but the Doctor and Peacock need to-"

"Peacock's gonna be there!?" Jack instantly grinned. "Why didn't you say so, let's go already!" He then marched past him.

BB chuckled. "Haven't changed a bit." He then proceeded to follow.

10:51 AM - Black Egrets Training Facility

Parasoul stood with a stoic expression, watching as her soldiers trained vigorously.

"If the Skullgirl will reveal herself today, then we cannot afford to make any mistakes." Parasoul stated firmly. "Not only the Skullgirl, but Jack as well, both are powerful, but this is the moment I have been waiting for! ever since that day, seven years ago...I will defeat them!"

"Sis, you don't have to get so riled up!" Parasoul looked down to see a young girl with pink hair, wearing a yellow raincoat and carrying an umbrella that also had eyes.

"This will be no concern of yours, Umbrella." The older sister told the younger sternly. "You will stay out of this, no matter what."

"Boo! No fair!" Umbrella pouted, poking her sibling in her impressive chest. "I don't even get to watch any action! I wanna see that Jack guy you're always talking about!"

Parasoul's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Umbrella, this is a serious matter, please try to refrain from acting so immature."

"You're immature!" Umbrella huffed. "...How about I have some ice cream, then? To keep me occupied?"

Parasoul sighed, unable to argue with her sisters logic. "Adam, can you take Umbrella to get her some ice cream, please?"

"Yes, ma'am." He saluted. "Come on, Princess Umbrella, this way."

"Yay! Thaaaaanks, sis!" Umbrella cheered, following Adam.

"If not for myself, I have to protect you, Umbrella." She spoke to herself after they left.

11:06 AM - Lab 8

Jack and BB had arrived at an advanced looking lab, descending down into lower, untouched levels via elevator.

"I like what you've done with the place. The mix of grey and white really screams 'pizzazz'." Jack commented.

"Glad you think so." BB replied blandly as the elevator door opened and they both walked out down a corridor. "The ASL's were shut down after the previous Skullgirl. 8 Has gone covert, and we don't know where 0 is or what's going on there."

"Oh, right...that time..." Jack mumbled uncomfortably. BB obviously took notice of it, but said nothing.

"We're here." The door opened, revealing a large spacious lab. Sitting in front of a large group of screens was an elderly man with shrunken red eyes and grey hair. "Dr. Avian, I brought him."

The man nodded and stood up, facing the young man with heterochromia. "Hello again, Jack."

He tipped his faced hat. "Dr. Avian. I think I can tell why you brought me here."

"Is it that obvious?" Avian asked with an eyebrow.

"Myeh." Jack shrugged. "So then, where's-"

"Hey, Jacky-boy." The three of them turned to see a black chair, swivelling around to reveal a cartoonish-looking girl smoking a cigar. "Looks like we meet again..."

"Hey, Peacock." Jack waved casually.

"Wha-!? You jerk!" Peacock yelled, revealing her sharp teeth. "Haven't ya ever watched cartoons!? You're supposed to be intimidated! It's the big mob boss gig!"

"Too bad, then." Jack smirked. "You're my friend, simple as. So don't try to do some big flashy intro when all I want is a 'nice to see you again.'"

Peacock gave him an annoyed look. "Ahhhh, screw it!" She bounced off of her chair, landing in front of him and shot him a look. "Fine. It's nice to see ya again. Happy?"

"Very." Jack nodded, before Peacock's hat then popped open, and a little blue bird wearing the same clothes as Peacock popped out. "Hello to you too, Avery."

Avery whistled using two fingers. "Yo, boys! Jack's back!" Jack was suddenly wrestled into a group hug by a group that was weird to say the least, including an 8-ball bomb, an anvil with limbs and boxing gloves, as well as an iron ton with a face, arms and legs.

"Where the hell ya been, Jack!?" Andy Anvil laughed.

"You betta have a good reason to make us wait so long!" Tommy Ten-Tons said as George Bomb bounced around excitedly next to Lonesome Lenny.

"Oi! Get off of me you weirdos!" Jack raged. "I didn't miss any of you for a second, bastards!"

"There's the guy we know!" Andy smirked.

Peacock grabbed Jack in a chokelock. "Let's you and me catch up over some cartoons, Jacky-boy!"

"But you hog all of the popcorn and take up the whole seat!" Jack argued, the two ranting at each other.

"I almost missed this kid." BB joked.

Dr. Avian loudly cleared his throat to get the attention of the two oddballs. "Remember, we have important things to discuss."

"Got it, Doc." "Of course, Dr. Avian." The two 'apologised'.

"So, Jack is back, then?" Two more figures appeared. One was a woman with violet hair who had a bee-themed suit, whilst the other was a guy with blonde hair and cybernetic arms and legs that looked like tesla coils.

"Hive, Leduc, you're both well I presume?" Jack asked.

"Well indeed, thank you." Hive nodded.

"So, you're here because of the Skullgirl?" Leduc assumed.

"He is." Dr. Avian confirmed. "So, Jack, what time will the Skullgirl reveal herself?"

"Getting straight to the point, huh? Fair enough." Jack nodded. "The Skullgirl, after going through half of the transformation, ill appear at 12 AM today. Her powers are that close to becoming powerful enough to start a party."

"That's less then an hour from now." BB noted.

"Then we haven't got much time to prepare." Dr. Avian said. "Peacock and Big Band, I want you both on the frontline, whilst Hive and Leduc shall remain here. Jack, do you know where she will appear?"

"Trust me, you'll know, just look for the dead rising from the ground." He told them. "I guess I would recommend being outside at the time, get a nice view when shit goes down."

"The city centre it is, then." Dr. Avian nodded. "I'll be counting on the both of you."

"Yeah, good luck." Jack smirked, giving a mocking wave.

"We'll be ready, Doctor." BB said.

"No prob, Doc!" Peacock smirked, rustling up her gang. "Okay, boys! We got our goal, so lets go beat up a Skullgirl!"

"YEAH!" They all cheered, setting off into a run.

"Just a moment, Peacock." Said girl screeched to a halt at Dr. Avian's words, causing her gang members to crash into her and leaving them in a pile on the floor.

"Aw! What is it, Doc!? We're heading out the door!" Peacock whined.

"I only recently just modified the Argus System. We're not sure whether it is effectively operational or not." The scientist told her. "We need to run a test."

"Doc, I can beat the crap out of anybody fine!" Peacock complained.

"Even so, we must remain thoughtful of such things." He said. "I was originally planning to have Big Band test you, but seeing as Jack is here, would you mind having a little sparring match?"

"Are you kidding? I am all over this!" Jack grinned, cracking his fingers. "Whaddya say, Peacock? Wanna tussle?"

"Ha! Bring it on, Jacky-boy! I've been wanting to do this for a long time!" Peacock grinned, swinging her arm around.

"Come and get some, pretty boy!" Avery taunted, safe within Peacock's hat.

"Is having those two fight really a good idea?" BB whispered as best as possible.

"It should provide interesting data." Avian replied.

"Alright, Jacky-boy! Play ball!" Peacock instantly pulled out an oversized cartoon revolver and fired three shots at him.

"I prefer video games, thanks." He joked jumping out of the way of the shots, then holding his finger out as fire sparkled all around the end of it, making her jump back.

"Poke!" She declared, forcefully poking Jack in the chest.

"Oi! Don't poke me, or I'll poke you!" Jack lit his forefinger up with a green flame and jabbed Peacock in the stomach.

"Yeowch! Don't do that!" Peacock snubbed her cigar on Jack's arm (which he wasn't bothered by) then blew smoke in his face.

"Well YOU don't do THAT!" Jack flicked a fireball into her arm.

"Knock it off, knucklehead!" Peacock kicked one of her Eyes of Argus, making it pop out and hit Jack in the stomach, just before she held out her arm as three of the eyes turned into daggers that would have skewered Jack had he not dodged.

"I'll knock your block off!" Jack pulled a candy bag out of his hat and smacked Peacock across the face, making her metal teeth fall from her jaw, making her quickly put them back in.

"Put a sock in it!" Peacock quickly thrust a coconut cream pie into Jack's face, making him stumble back and lick it off of his face.

"Mm-mm, that's pretty nice." Jack complimented, before the two of them began wrestling together in a cartoonish dust cloud brawl.

"This is certainly fascinating." Hive commentated.

"I'm more worried about the lab." Leduc said.

"Back off!" Jack kicked forward, making a lollipop shoot out of his shoe and hit her in the stomach.

"Nu-uh!" Peacock stomped the ground, making a plank of wood pop up which punched Jack in the crown jewels, making all other males in the room cross their legs.

"Th-That was a...dirty shot!" Jack squeaked.

"Were you expecting something different?" Peacock ran forward, her legs spinning around like a cartoony wheel, when Jack threw gumballs all over the ground, making her comically trip and fall flat on her back.

"Pretty much. So same rules apply!" Jack stamped his foot, making a carton ghost pop-up underneath Peacock, making her fly up and smack straight into the ceiling, flattening her as she peeled off and returned to her original form, before covering her head with her hat, only for her head to re-emerge underneath Jack and bite his bum with her sharp teeth. "Owiiiiiie! You!" Jack tipped his witches hat, the face grinning maliciously as fireworks shot out of its tip, exploding around Peacock and making her cough out smoke, whilst she still smoked her cigar.

"Okay, that does it! Get out here, George!" She held up two flags as George Bomb rode in on a small red aeroplane before it started plummeting towards Jack. Peacock ran towards him as Avery appeared holding an American football as Peacock swung with her foot, only for Avery to disappear, making her take a reckless miss kick, which Jack blocked by holding out a fake skeleton, unfortunately forgetting about George, who crashed down into him, though he quickly shrugged off the small explosion.

Peacock slid forward whilst striking an admittedly killer banjo solo as Jack bent down and kicked her in the kneecaps, making her jump up and aim her gun at him, only for a dagger with a shark face on it to shoot out instead, narrowly missing the chance to edge itself inbetween Jack's eyes, as he flicked three embers into her face, making her tumble back overdramatically.

"Come on, boys!" Peacock pulled out and blew a whistle, causing a shadow to fall over Jack. He looked up as his eyes widened as he saw the objectfalling towards him.

A teacup fell on his head, then bounced harmlessly to the floor, making everybody look at it awkwardly. "Uhhhh..." Jack mumbled.

"Not a word!" Peacock shouted as the teacup hopped away. "Alright! That's it! I'm ending it now!"

"Ditto!" Jack replied. He held his arms upward, forming a giant ball of fire with a jack-o-lantern face on it, whilst a peacock head popped out of said girls hat.

"Doctor, this is getting kinda dangerous." Leduc said.

Hive stepped forward. "We need to sto-"

"Avery Agony!" "Trick or Treat!" Peacock fired lasers from all of her eyes whilst Jack's fireball exploded into streams of rainbow coloured ghostly fire. The two attacks collided in an array of large explosions that shook Lab 8 around, the force of the colliding attacks sending both combatants flying back and crashing to the ground as the smoke cleared.

"...I think we gathered...sufficient, data." Dr. Avian said.

"Wow...you're pretty tough, Peacock." Jack said, straightening his hat.

"Ah...you're not too bad yourself." She muttered, re-attaching her left arm.

"I think it's safe to say she's more then ready to fight a Skullgirl." BB said.

"Here, here." Jack said. "Good luck with that, then."

"Oh, you just wait, I'm gonna beat that Skullgirl down!" Peacock declared.

"Even so, I think it would be best to keep in contact when the Skullgirl does appear, very soon, might I add." Dr. Avian handed a walkie-talkie to Big Band and Peacock. "Use these to keep I contact with each other and us back at Lab 8. Jack?"

"Sure, toss me one." Jack caught and pocketed a third one, before standing up and brushing himself down. "Now then, if you'll excuse me, it's been a while since I've witnessed this event, and I wanna get front row seats! See ya!" He then turned and sprinted out of the lab.

"No fair! You got a head start! Let's get moving, boys!" Peacock and her gang hurried after him.

"I guess I'd better go too." BB sighed.

"Ben." The large man looked at the doctor. "Look out for her."

"I will, don't worry." He nodded, following after them.

"I just hope they'll be okay." Leduc said.

"They'll be fine. Besides, Jack's a Skullgirl expert, they've got nothing to worry about." Hive said.

Avian sat in his chair. "I sincerely hope you're right..."

Jack Ifrit

Battle Animations

Battle Entrance: A white cloth ghost costume stands with two black eyes and a stitched up smiley mouth. The cloth is lifted up to reveal darkness and a glint, before the cloth burns up in green fire, revealing Jack.

Idle Stance: Jack stands with his hands in his pockets, smirking whilst bouncing on his heels as a small green flame flickers on his shoulder.

Walking: Jack strolls along casually with his hands in his pockets.

Running: Jack runs forward with his right arm out behind him and his left arm holding the brim of hit hat with a smirk on his face, green fire blazing from his heels.

Backstepping: Jack does the moonwalk whilst doing a 'Thriller' pose with his arms.

Jumping: Jack holds onto his hat with both hands as he jumps into the air, legs spread wide.

Tagging In: Jack's hat hops onscreen before jumping up as Jack appears underneath him, before the hat lands and Jack straightens it.

Tagging Out: Jack makes a peace sign with his right hand, then a green fire envelopes him before disappearing along with him.

Damaged: Jack's body curves inwards with his arms flailing out, whilst fire erratically bursts from his chest, as his eyes widen and he visibly clenches his teeth, as his hat spikes out with a look of pain on its 'face'.

Knocked Down: Jack lays on his back on the floor with his hands out, his right leg bent, and his hat on top of his face.

Recovering: Jack jumps to his feet as his hat jumps up and lands on his head.

Breaking an Infinite Combo: Jack makes jazz hands as happy little pumpkins and skulls explode around him in fireworks as green fire burns from his wrists and ankles.

Win Pose 1: Jack pulls a lollipop out of his hat and sticks it in his mouth, grinning with the stick hanging out, as a green flame on his fingertip illuminates his face.

Win Pose 2: Jack pulls a bunch of sweets out of his sleeve and stuffs them in his mouth, before giving belching green fire then smirking with smoke coming out from inbetween his teeth.

Win Pose 3: Jack holds his right hand underneath his face with a green flame as if he was telling a scary story, and laughs darkly.

Timeout: Green fire burns around Jack as he angrily bites his own arm, whilst his hat slumps forward with a tear dripping from one of its eyes.

So, yeah, I wrote another chapter of this. Why? Because I felt like it. And I've been reading Skullgirls fanfics lately. Particularly Spitfire1994's.

If this IS going to become a story I continue, it will follow a timeline kinda storytelling, which is indicated by the inclusion of times in this chapter, spanning three days.

Again, if you guys are interested in Jack and more info about him, say so in a review or PM! I don't have time to write something like this usually, so maybe even some help would be appreciated. But in any case, thank you all for reading!