The Beat Part One
Jack arrived on Ravnica, it had been some time since he first traveled away from Innistrad, about a month or so to be exact. He was searching the planes for a cure for his condition, every night he blacked out and he always awoke covered in blood that was not his own, the serum he had developed may not have killed him, but it was turning him into a monster, he could feel it lasting longer every day, and that scared him. Jack went searching for a library, hoping he could find something, anything to help him.
Somewhere else, Zerriko was in his home experimenting with the lagac spinal powder Anwyn had given him. He wasn’t really focused on it though, his head was swimming with thoughts on the twin phyrexians in the undercity, and how Anwyn had acted the other day. On the matter of the phyrexians, he knew that he couldn’t trust them as far as he could throw them, but if they were left to their own devices they could cause serious damage, and killing them would simply spread the plague in their oily blood. However, he knew getting Maris to agree to tolerate their presence wouldn’t be easy either.
On the topic of Anwyn, he just didn’t know what to think about her anymore before she seemed to be honest, granted it was quite brutal, but he could trust what she could say. But after she asked about his path and he repaid that honesty with his own she seemed to change, she wasn’t acting like she normally did. It was a shame, he really enjoyed her company. She seemed to understand the side of him that others hadn’t seen, his inner hunter, the part of him that lived for the thrill of the chase. He pushed those thoughts aside for now, he had work to do right in front of him, perhaps mixing the substance with belladonna or nightshade would produce interesting results?
Yet again somewhere else, Belthor was on patrol, life seemed to be looking up for him. He had successfully joined the Boros legion and made a good friend in the process, he had a place to stay, and he had even met another person from his world and she was very lovely. Of course there was a downside to starting over, he was still used to commanding troops, and well cadets were on the bottom of the food chain. He had another Wojek assigned to be his mentor, Sergeant Alessia, she was stern so far but not overly so. This evening’s patrol was quiet so far, there were a few drunken rabble to clear up, but nothing beyond that.
Still, Belthor couldn’t help but feel on edge tonight, he kept his eyes open for anything suspicious. “There something wrong cadet?” Alessia said she could tell something was bothering him.
“No ma’am, just a bad feeling, tis nothing to worry about.” Belthor replied. Nothing else was said, they continued to walk along their designated patrol route.”
Jack was in a dark alley now, he wasn’t the same Jack that had arrived on Ravnica. This Jack had a hideous toothy grin, and his eyes were wide and unblinking. He picked up three scents, one smelled like poison and… potatoes? Of the other two, he could smell fear on one of them, and on the other he could smell the fruit scented soap they had used the night before. He decided to stalk the pair, he didn’t feel like dealing with prey that was potentially poisonous.
Belthor kept his eyes open, he didn’t know if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he’d a figure moving in the shadows, humanoid in shape, but faster than any man he’d ever seen. He looked to Alessia, she seemed uneasy as well, he could see that she was sweating.
“Sergeant, did you see it too?” Belthor asked, he was formulating a plan
“I did cadet, stay on your guard, I think whoever or whatever this thing is it’s toying with us, probably an escaped imp from some Rakdos pit.” She had a light shake in her voice, this wasn’t something she had encountered before, and from what Belthor knew about imps, they were never this cunning.
Zerriko walked through the empty streets, he could hear something scuttling, but it was moving in a direction away from him. He decided to investigate, things don’t usually scuttle in this area at night and he had all of his bounty hunting gear anyways, and an addition to that, he had found an old suit of studded leather armor among his collection, it was as protective as chain mail, but it was lighter, something that suited him perfectly. Before he could start though he heard a painful scream from a block away, he drew his steel sword and drank one of his reflex enhancement potions, then he ran towards the sound of the struggle.
Belthor reacted in an instant, the thing stalking them had made its move, jumping out of an alleyway and slicing Alessia along her side, she howled in pain and fell down to her knees, clutching her side. Belthor drew his longsword, it wasn’t quite what he was used to, but it would have to do. He could see the man in front of him, he was hunched over with a hideous grin on his face. In his right hand he held a knife, now covered in blood. He looked Belthor in his eyes, he could tell he was crazed, but there was something else too, it seemed like regret.
Jack charged Belthor, it was reckless and almost animalistic, but he was inhumanly fast, he laughed hideously the whole time. Belthor was ready though, he slammed his shield into his face, more than enough force to knockout a normal man and followed up with a slash with his sword to Jack’s leg. Jack howled in pain from the injuries but he got back up and seemingly unfazed by the attack. Jack lunged once more, this time his blade caught true and sunk into Belthor’s side. This time Belthor yelled in pain, and he felt something affecting him, it was definitely poisoned with something. He couldn’t support himself on his own legs anymore, he fell to his knees. “You know, you put up more of a fight than most of my prey, perhaps I’ll carve you up while you’re still awake” He looked to Alessia “Or maybe I’ll let you watch me carve her up, you-” He was interrupted when a crossbow bolt struck him in his side, he rigidly froze up and a man came around the corner.
“Well well well, what kind of scene do we have here? Two injured wojeks and a homicidal maniac with a bloody knife, and I thought tonight was going to be boring. That paralyzing agent should wear off in a few seconds, when it does this can go down one of two ways, either you fight me and lose, or you run and I catch you, neither are favorable to you. Think about your options now.” He looked to Belthor and Alessia. “You two get yourselves some medical treatment, and tell Captain Maris Zerriko showed up, he knows who I am”
Belthor could see the look in the maniacs eyes, there was fear there, and just like the other man had said the paralytic wore off and the other man ran in an instant, straight into a nearby alley way, the other man chased after him. Belthor slowly got to his feet and picked up Alessia, she was unconscious now. They were no use in this fight, the poison had taken both of them out of the fight, HQ wasn’t far though, the least he could do was bring the sergeant back to get treatment.
End of Part One