UselessBytes
Plays too much Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2015
- Messages
- 454
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- 174
Alright, I've been meaning to post again for a while, and I wanna preface this little story with a big ol' "You'll be seeing this again". I've got a huge story planned in this world, that will explain the world a lot more. Think of this as a tech demo, of sorts.
~~~~
Jazz felt like the queen of the world. The neon lit city sprawled out beneath her feet as she stared down at the streets from her perch atop a towering building, the sidewalks populated with those who did their business in the dark hours of the morning.
She took in a deep breath of the cold, early morning air and closed her eyes. The wind pulling at her chocolate brown hair and raising goosebumps on her olive skin only seemed to emphasize the danger of her position, balancing on the lip of a roof fifteen stories high. Any slip up at this height would surely kill her.
Jazz opened her eyes. There was a fire escape on the building across the street. It would’ve been a better vantage point. It wasn't worth thinking about now, Jazz decided. She was already in position. She reached into her coat, producing a small set of binoculars, the pair her dad used for stargazing. She smiled as she thought about it. He never had much luck, given the massive amounts of neon signs and bright lights that lit up the city the moment the sun set. She peered through the binoculars, looking down at the street.
There you are, Jazz thought. A man in a crisp black suit with auburn hair, coming out of the building she'd been told he'd be leaving, about a block away.. Having spotted her pray, she stowed the binoculars and prepared to jump. She made a mental note to return the binoculars as soon as she could. She didn't want her dad finding out about her nighttime activities.
Jazz took another breath, leaning forward. Her head began to spin as her body tilted out over the edge of the roof. Her hand drifted down to feel the familiar shape of her dagger under her jacket, the one Jacob had given her a few months back. The feel of the leather grip calmed her as she teetered over the void. With one last deep breath, she began to fall.
As she fell, Jazz whipped around, grabbing hold of a pipe that ran down the side of the building. She swung her feet towards the wall and slammed against the brick. She kept sliding down, her descent rapid, but controlled. She’d practiced similar maneuvers countless times before. She glanced down, keeping an eye on her target to make sure he didn’t run off.
Jazz hit the ground with a grunt, quickly releasing the pipe she’d slid down and straightening out her jacket. If any of the few people on the sidewalk had noticed her descent, they didn’t show it. She checked herself to make sure her dagger was still concealed, and then set off down the street.
“Quite the entrance, Miss.”
The familiar voice froze Jazz in her tracks. She turned around to see a man sitting on a bench not ten feet away from where she’d dropped smiling at her. His spiky black hair reflected the various colors of neon lighting up the street, and the slender, curved sword strapped to his waist made his intentions perfectly clear.
“Morgan! What the hell are you doing here?!” Jazz hissed, glancing over her shoulder to confirm that the man in the suit was still in sight.
Morgan chuckled, standing up and brushing off his coat, which was so long and flowing that it reached past his knees. He often said it made him look like a regal warrior, but Jazz just thought it made him look like a tacky cosplayer. “Probably the same as you, I’d imagine. Jamie Stuards, right?”
“Like hell you’re stealing another job from me, Morgan! Buzz off!” Jazz exclaimed in a loud whisper.
Morgan laughed again. “Relax, I won’t steal your pay. I’m on this job as a favor to a friend. Would you like some help, or should I leave it in your capable hands?” He asked with a smirk.
Jazz huffed. If he really was on the job as a favor, she could use the the help to make sure her target didn’t get away. She had never known Morgan to lie, either. “Fine, you can help. But at least hide your sword a little better. It kinda puts a big red flag on you.”
Morgan brushed her off. “Plenty of people open carry in this district. No one’ll bat an eye. Besides, I’d be focusing more on your target than my blade, if I were you.”
Jazz glanced over her shoulder again and cursed. The man was gone. She glared at Morgan, as if it was somehow his fault that the man had decided to move.
“Relax,” he said, “he just went into that building over there.” He pointed at a brick building roughly twelve stories high, with a fire escape on the side. It was the one Jazz had noticed earlier. “Here’s the deal. I’ll chase him up to the roof through the inside, and you can take the fire escape and wait up top for me. Sound like a plan?”
Jazz nodded. It wasn’t much of a plan, but she needed to make up for lost time and it would work. “Let’s do it.” She rushed off towards the fire escape, and Morgan made his way to the building’s entrance.
Jazz hoisted herself up onto the fire escape and began climbing quickly. It wasn’t long before she heard shouts echoing from the lower floors of the building. She shook her head. Morgan never had been one for subtlety. She quickened her pace, not wanting Morgan to beat her to the roof.
Jazz bounded up the last staircase and found herself on the roof, her target and Morgan nowhere to be found. Good, she thought, I beat them. Her thought was short lived, however, as the roof access door slammed open, the man in the suit bursting out of it, panicked. Morgan stumbled out after him, clutching his side.
“Careful!” He called out to Jazz as he noticed her. “He’s got a knife. Caught me off guard and nicked me.”
The man in the suit looked at the two of them and swore. “Bounty hunters, it’s always god damn bounty hunters. I’ll have you assholes know that nobody’s caught me yet!” His face and tone were angry, but Jazz could see in his eyes that the man was terrified.
“Jazz? You wanna handle it from here? I could use a second to catch my breath,” Morgan said, gesturing to the gash just above his waist. Jazz nodded, reaching into her jacket and pulling out her dagger.
“Shit!” the man exclaimed upon seeing Jazz draw her weapon. He looked around frantically for a way off the roof, his eyes settling on a thin bridge of planks and plastic piping reaching over to the next roof, most likely leftover from construction. He glanced back at Jazz, and then started running for the bridge.
“Not a chance!” Jazz exclaimed, grinning wildly. This is where the fun begins, Jazz thought. A good chase always excited her. She started off after the man, the makeshift bridge shaking violently as she breezed over it in pursuit of her prey.
The man wasn’t too far ahead, but when he looked back and saw Jazz gaining on him, he pushed forward again, energized by fear. As he approached the edge of the roof he’d fled to, he realized there wasn’t anywhere else for him to go, unless he could muster the courage to jump the gap to the next roof. He closed his eyes and leapt, landing hard on the concrete of the next roof. He was dazed for a moment, but then picked himself back up to resume running.
Jazz was close behind, and prepared to make the leap herself. It wasn’t a particularly large gap, just over six feet. Jazz could make it in her sleep. She leapt, and for a moment was suspended over the void, blood roaring in her ears and adrenaline pumping through her veins. Then the next moment, she was grounded again, her target only a few meters ahead of her, preparing to jump the gap to the next roof.
Jazz crossed the roof quickly, making the next jump just as easily. Her target had clearly gotten used to the feeling of leaping from rooftop to rooftop, as he was no longer stumbling after every jump.
Jazz followed his path, scanning the roofs for some way to cut him off and shorten the chase. She grimaced when she saw none, and readied her dagger as she leapt one final gap. Jacob had said he’d balanced the dagger for throwing, but she’d never had the time to get a feel for it. She hoped she could get a lucky shot.
As Jazz came crashing back down to earth, she hurled the dagger at the fleeing man’s back as he prepared to leap yet another gap. It pinwheeled through the air, and seemed to grind to a halt as Jazz prayed that the dagger hit its mark.
The hilt of the small blade slammed into the back of the man’s skull, knocking him to the ground. It wasn’t quite what Jazz had intended, but it worked just as well. She caught up with the man as he struggled to get back on him feet, forcing him down and planting her knee on his back. She looked out over the edge of the roof and onto the street below, to, see, surprisingly, Morgan, jogging along, still grabbing at his side and trying to keep up. Jazz looked down at her target, who lay defeated accepting her fate, and the back down at the street some stories below her. And in that moment, Jazz felt like the queen of the world.
~~~~
Jazz felt like the queen of the world. The neon lit city sprawled out beneath her feet as she stared down at the streets from her perch atop a towering building, the sidewalks populated with those who did their business in the dark hours of the morning.
She took in a deep breath of the cold, early morning air and closed her eyes. The wind pulling at her chocolate brown hair and raising goosebumps on her olive skin only seemed to emphasize the danger of her position, balancing on the lip of a roof fifteen stories high. Any slip up at this height would surely kill her.
Jazz opened her eyes. There was a fire escape on the building across the street. It would’ve been a better vantage point. It wasn't worth thinking about now, Jazz decided. She was already in position. She reached into her coat, producing a small set of binoculars, the pair her dad used for stargazing. She smiled as she thought about it. He never had much luck, given the massive amounts of neon signs and bright lights that lit up the city the moment the sun set. She peered through the binoculars, looking down at the street.
There you are, Jazz thought. A man in a crisp black suit with auburn hair, coming out of the building she'd been told he'd be leaving, about a block away.. Having spotted her pray, she stowed the binoculars and prepared to jump. She made a mental note to return the binoculars as soon as she could. She didn't want her dad finding out about her nighttime activities.
Jazz took another breath, leaning forward. Her head began to spin as her body tilted out over the edge of the roof. Her hand drifted down to feel the familiar shape of her dagger under her jacket, the one Jacob had given her a few months back. The feel of the leather grip calmed her as she teetered over the void. With one last deep breath, she began to fall.
As she fell, Jazz whipped around, grabbing hold of a pipe that ran down the side of the building. She swung her feet towards the wall and slammed against the brick. She kept sliding down, her descent rapid, but controlled. She’d practiced similar maneuvers countless times before. She glanced down, keeping an eye on her target to make sure he didn’t run off.
Jazz hit the ground with a grunt, quickly releasing the pipe she’d slid down and straightening out her jacket. If any of the few people on the sidewalk had noticed her descent, they didn’t show it. She checked herself to make sure her dagger was still concealed, and then set off down the street.
“Quite the entrance, Miss.”
The familiar voice froze Jazz in her tracks. She turned around to see a man sitting on a bench not ten feet away from where she’d dropped smiling at her. His spiky black hair reflected the various colors of neon lighting up the street, and the slender, curved sword strapped to his waist made his intentions perfectly clear.
“Morgan! What the hell are you doing here?!” Jazz hissed, glancing over her shoulder to confirm that the man in the suit was still in sight.
Morgan chuckled, standing up and brushing off his coat, which was so long and flowing that it reached past his knees. He often said it made him look like a regal warrior, but Jazz just thought it made him look like a tacky cosplayer. “Probably the same as you, I’d imagine. Jamie Stuards, right?”
“Like hell you’re stealing another job from me, Morgan! Buzz off!” Jazz exclaimed in a loud whisper.
Morgan laughed again. “Relax, I won’t steal your pay. I’m on this job as a favor to a friend. Would you like some help, or should I leave it in your capable hands?” He asked with a smirk.
Jazz huffed. If he really was on the job as a favor, she could use the the help to make sure her target didn’t get away. She had never known Morgan to lie, either. “Fine, you can help. But at least hide your sword a little better. It kinda puts a big red flag on you.”
Morgan brushed her off. “Plenty of people open carry in this district. No one’ll bat an eye. Besides, I’d be focusing more on your target than my blade, if I were you.”
Jazz glanced over her shoulder again and cursed. The man was gone. She glared at Morgan, as if it was somehow his fault that the man had decided to move.
“Relax,” he said, “he just went into that building over there.” He pointed at a brick building roughly twelve stories high, with a fire escape on the side. It was the one Jazz had noticed earlier. “Here’s the deal. I’ll chase him up to the roof through the inside, and you can take the fire escape and wait up top for me. Sound like a plan?”
Jazz nodded. It wasn’t much of a plan, but she needed to make up for lost time and it would work. “Let’s do it.” She rushed off towards the fire escape, and Morgan made his way to the building’s entrance.
Jazz hoisted herself up onto the fire escape and began climbing quickly. It wasn’t long before she heard shouts echoing from the lower floors of the building. She shook her head. Morgan never had been one for subtlety. She quickened her pace, not wanting Morgan to beat her to the roof.
Jazz bounded up the last staircase and found herself on the roof, her target and Morgan nowhere to be found. Good, she thought, I beat them. Her thought was short lived, however, as the roof access door slammed open, the man in the suit bursting out of it, panicked. Morgan stumbled out after him, clutching his side.
“Careful!” He called out to Jazz as he noticed her. “He’s got a knife. Caught me off guard and nicked me.”
The man in the suit looked at the two of them and swore. “Bounty hunters, it’s always god damn bounty hunters. I’ll have you assholes know that nobody’s caught me yet!” His face and tone were angry, but Jazz could see in his eyes that the man was terrified.
“Jazz? You wanna handle it from here? I could use a second to catch my breath,” Morgan said, gesturing to the gash just above his waist. Jazz nodded, reaching into her jacket and pulling out her dagger.
“Shit!” the man exclaimed upon seeing Jazz draw her weapon. He looked around frantically for a way off the roof, his eyes settling on a thin bridge of planks and plastic piping reaching over to the next roof, most likely leftover from construction. He glanced back at Jazz, and then started running for the bridge.
“Not a chance!” Jazz exclaimed, grinning wildly. This is where the fun begins, Jazz thought. A good chase always excited her. She started off after the man, the makeshift bridge shaking violently as she breezed over it in pursuit of her prey.
The man wasn’t too far ahead, but when he looked back and saw Jazz gaining on him, he pushed forward again, energized by fear. As he approached the edge of the roof he’d fled to, he realized there wasn’t anywhere else for him to go, unless he could muster the courage to jump the gap to the next roof. He closed his eyes and leapt, landing hard on the concrete of the next roof. He was dazed for a moment, but then picked himself back up to resume running.
Jazz was close behind, and prepared to make the leap herself. It wasn’t a particularly large gap, just over six feet. Jazz could make it in her sleep. She leapt, and for a moment was suspended over the void, blood roaring in her ears and adrenaline pumping through her veins. Then the next moment, she was grounded again, her target only a few meters ahead of her, preparing to jump the gap to the next roof.
Jazz crossed the roof quickly, making the next jump just as easily. Her target had clearly gotten used to the feeling of leaping from rooftop to rooftop, as he was no longer stumbling after every jump.
Jazz followed his path, scanning the roofs for some way to cut him off and shorten the chase. She grimaced when she saw none, and readied her dagger as she leapt one final gap. Jacob had said he’d balanced the dagger for throwing, but she’d never had the time to get a feel for it. She hoped she could get a lucky shot.
As Jazz came crashing back down to earth, she hurled the dagger at the fleeing man’s back as he prepared to leap yet another gap. It pinwheeled through the air, and seemed to grind to a halt as Jazz prayed that the dagger hit its mark.
The hilt of the small blade slammed into the back of the man’s skull, knocking him to the ground. It wasn’t quite what Jazz had intended, but it worked just as well. She caught up with the man as he struggled to get back on him feet, forcing him down and planting her knee on his back. She looked out over the edge of the roof and onto the street below, to, see, surprisingly, Morgan, jogging along, still grabbing at his side and trying to keep up. Jazz looked down at her target, who lay defeated accepting her fate, and the back down at the street some stories below her. And in that moment, Jazz felt like the queen of the world.
