Episode 4B: Revelations and Deviations

A Chapter by Xerclipse

Friday 3:15 AM. Logun will meet the dodger who had been following him since and will learn some....muddled facts about Acrisius.

Episode 4
Revelations and Deviations
Part B

The Hangmen had rushed out of the door, then through the lobby, and then through the streets. However it was still raining outside and the clouds were thick. Their strings have been controlled by Carnegie Spree who was the puppeteer. They jumped from buildings and great heights to dive through the pentagrams. Through the underworld, several members of the Ascension have just appeared instantly in the dimension in a very confused matter.

Crank, Pow, Boom, Blam, Cling, Clang!

The booming environment had isolated them in place, and the ground vibrated rapidly. They looked amongst each other and the environment around them. For they knew what was to come for them and it was a giant horde of hangmen. The members of the Ascension pulled out their bladed weapons in a flash. Some held staffs, and some held swords.

“What the hell happened here?” asked one Ascension member.

“We have been dragged here! And no one else knows about this. Everybody we have to stand our ground.” replied the other member.

Blam, blam, blam. Ratta ratta ratta! Splatter, Splat, Splooch!

The bullets flew by to penetrate through a couple of the Ascension members. Blood had sprayed furiously through the wounds. Some of the bullets have caused the heads and limbs to pop off.

Boom!

A bullet had just caused a chest to explode on one of the chests. SPLAT! The exposed ribs and the splattered blood had created gruesome imagery for the remaining members of the Ascension.

“Hangmen!” screamed one of the Ascension members covered in blood. “Defend yourselves!”

Crash

Oh no! The large horde of hangmen jumped from windows, alleys, sewers, and doors. They charged in with swords, bayonets, spiked chains, and sickles. The Ascension members put up their weapons to maintain their position. But then there was Ryan Gillard who was on front of the hangmen horde who screamed like a hangman and then threw his large bowie knife at one of the Ascension member’s leg. He pulled out his shotgun and then....

BLAM!!!

In the meanwhile at the regular mortal world, Vixen and Carnegie left the stage. However Carnegie Spree walked away twirling his cane and singing to himself in that cheesy accent of his. Crimson and Logun remained on the stage that now hosted an empty audience. Carnegie and Vixen have disappeared laughing while Logun sat down on a chair backstage. He made a deep sigh and rubbed his eyes.

“Is something the matter Logun?” asked Crimson so kindly with a grin.

“Nothing really, I was just thinking about what if the Ascension is a lot more powerful than we think they are.” responded Logun.

“Well that’s where the fun comes in. It’s more challenging Logun! It’s gonna be a lot more fun now isn’t it. Look at me Logun, what am I?” asked Crimson.

Logun then stared at Crimson and examined Crimson’s bleeding hands. He then responded by saying. “The right hand hangman.”

“Yes Logun, the right hand hangman. But that is because I have been granted a wonderful gift of immortality and this.... new blood. I can be decapitated, dismembered, shot, or stabbed, but I cannot die. Thanks to the boss, I have had this for many, many centuries. About two hundred years I would say but I can’t really remember the times I never had this. Eventually it can sometimes get boring because you can’t get defeated by anybody you fight against. Sometimes I wished to fight as the body of a regular human and not this undying body. So be grateful that you will have a challenge against the Ascension. But nevertheless let us live for what is now, and fulfill our duty as hangmen. But then I want you to think of this......Do you feel more alive Logun?” Then Crimson laughed and disintegrated into a puddle of blood.

It was now Friday at 3:10 AM, and Logun had sprinted as if there were no tomorrow. He had to find the nearest pentagram, for he would not be able to reach one in time. Time was running short, but then it was always like that for him. He always wanted to assume he would be late and the time was one step ahead of him. Now what would that make him, glass half empty?

Left, Right, Left, Right

Each turn he made through the alley was a hard ninety degree angle. Eventually he had found a ladder he could simply climb. But wait, he climbed as fast as he was running. The moon was full, young, and bright. Once Logun had reached the top of the building, he leaped from the edge, then dropped from the fifteen story building, and went through the pentagram.

Woosh!

On the other side, Logun had sprung up on the air and observed the destruction and chaos the environment had done to itself. In fact the animated city began to twist and combust as Logun was floating on the air. This was nighttime and you know how the underworld acts during that time right? The environment turned black and red. It was ghastly, violent, and deadlier than the daytime Underworld. After the path had lined up perfectly for Logun’s feet, he had fell down harshly and landed in a three point landing. Once he stood up, he heard demonic screams on the air. The female voices have shrieked so high that it could break glass. The male voices have screamed that the debris began to vibrate.

Logun ran quickly to hide inside of the alley because he saw the broken moon that revealed a giant demon eye inside of the moon itself. It was searching endlessly, but what was it searching for? The debris and trash cans behind Logun scattered and jumped around so violently.

Clank, Sprat, Pow, Cling, Clang, Bam!

Logun knew he could not stand there any longer, for the random and animated environment turned against him. He opened one of doors and entered through it. The lead pipes, doors, and steam all expelled at once which made a ton of noise. Logun had to run past through the violent activity. Once he reached the stairs, he ascended onto it but the bending stairs did not do less than to make the path confusing for Logun.

Oh well, he could manage. Logun jumped onto a rail and clutched onto it as it twisted to another set of snake like stairs. He walked cautiously as the stairs crawled up on the walls which caused Logun to clutch onto one of the steps with his knives. At the top of the roof, Logun had made his way by climbing underneath the ceiling. He shot the glass window to open a path for himself, then proceeded onward. He stood above and then ran behind a gas ventilator. Logun made one quick glance behind him. The eye was looking else where. That red moon still looked furiously for whatever it wanted but Logun had something else in mind too.

What was he looking for? What was the purpose of this Underworld traveling? Oh yeah, it was to meet one of the dodgers that had followed Logun! He leaped across from building to building. Of course learning to jump across the buildings was half the battle. The night time Underworld grew restless by curving the edges of the buildings and bending the surfaces. Logun then fell into a roof which caused him to lose his footing. He fell a couple of feet here and there but he caught his knife on a wall to have him drag down gradually. Once he hit a floor of the building, there he was, in his apartment. But it wasn’t the apartment he had been living in. This was the underworld!

He looked around, nothing much different. The walls were the same, the bed, the refrigerator, and the windows did not change. However, Logun did notice the mirror. There was a bloody handprint and writing that was written, backwards! In fact the only way to read it was by using another source of reflection. Logun saw what was written and wondered what was going on.

"Boo" said a voice behind the walls.

Logun quickly turned around and pulled out a pistol for one hand and his knife for the other. He shot his pistol once, twice, three times, and the fourth which was the last shot out of his reflex.

“Now now, do you have to shoot first, then ask questions later?” asked a voice behind the walls. “Oh geez, look at these holes Logun, what have you done? You ruined your own walls and mine as well!”

“Who the hell are you?” asked Logun with a bit of nervousness.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, have no fear for I am here to answer your questions my friend. Let me just get into your room okay. But first I can feel the wall shake a bit so it could just......”

BAM!!! CREAK!

The walls have parted revealing the other room that man was in. This man wore a fedora, broken sunglasses, and a trench coat. His face was covered in scars. This was the dodger that had followed Logun.

“Ah, that’s better.” said the dodger who walked casually to enter Logun’s room. “So then, may I introduce myself. I am Samuel Finch. And how are you?” He offered Logun a handshake by placing his hand on front of Logun. This hand was also disfigured by scars. In fact this one was bloody as well. Logun saw the hand with slight disgust but seeing abnormal qualities like that wasn’t new to him.

“Oh...this....”laughed Samuel Finch. Samuel then continued in a very fast voice. “I’m so sorry but trying to call you was difficult because you gotta find some glass, a mirror, write things backwards, scream out loud, and you never know what you look at. Now I had to draw some blood here and there, and here, and there and there there there! Because here is the thing. Sometimes you see the living world, but you don’t know if they see you. Sometimes the living world sees us but we don’t know if the world sees us. It’s a game of trial and error, it can happen or it doesn’t, so I gotta......”

“Why did you call me?” interrupted Logun who stopped Finch’s rambling.

Samuel looked upon Logun with his hands up and on front of his face. “Now, you don’t wanna be mean to me because if you are impolite to other people, you can really give yourself a bad image, very bad!”

“Get to the point!”

“The point” Samuel had wandered around aimlessly touched the wall. “the point the point the point the point the point.......” He looked under the ground and placed his hands on the floor. He then said “Ah, look here, a point! You see, it’s a nail that would have stubbed your toe.” Said Samuel Finch with a smile. “Very bad for your smelly feet, plus you would earn a little infection. Ha ha..... you deserve a medal doc!”

Logun took the nail and threw it away into a random spot in the room. He replied to Samuel’s words with a soft but a sigh.

“Samuel, why did you call me here?”

“Ooohhhh......that point.” responded Samuel who looked at Logun with his right eye, and his covered left eye. “Okay, so a dodger like me has nothing else to do but to suck up to this underworld. And of course since I am not a hangman, I can’t choose whether I can leave or not. Those darn pentagrams get me all the time. I run into them breaking my nose and my face all the time until I can leave!"

"Well what does this...."

Samuel came down on his knees and placed his hands on the ground. He gave out a sad, dramatic tone and said "Oh please you gotta help me Logun, I have been stuck here in my whole wretched life. Oh no oh no what else could I do here? Being a dodger is no easy life!"

He then stood back up, smiled with his hyper body and said "But now that you are here, you can get me out if this place."

"Really, what would you do then?" asked Logun with caution. "How do I know that you won't run off?"

Samuel laughed and said "Run off? Come on, there is no such thing as a peaceful path that is free of surveillance and cameras. I mean Carnegie can just drag any citizen into the underworld if any camera catches one second of you! You don't screw with Acrisius Logun, and the ones that do are the ones that you kill."

Logun then grappled onto Samuel and slammed him onto a wall.

SLAM!

"Don’t talk about my job!" screamed Logun!

"Aahhhh... interesting, you see if I said that to another hangman, he would love to continue the conversation either elegantly or as a table discussion like what are you gonna have for dinner. of course since all of you are so young, you are a bunch of kids who think its so...."

"God f*****g damn it! Can you just shut up!" shouted Logun with the top of his lungs! “I am here because you want me to take you out of the underworld. Well, let me tell you this, it’s not going to be easy for you to stay in Acrisius!“

“Oh, no please, don’t leave me! What did I do to deserve this?” pleaded Samuel Finch who stepped onto the bed.

“Yeah, what did you do to be a target for Acrisius Samuel Finch?” asked Logun who put his weapons in his holsters. His emotions were now calm and he was ready for an answer.

“Have you ever hear of curiosity killed the cat? Well it did, kinda, but not completely on me. I still got a few lives left! I’ve read what was in the Hermes Library. They are completely confidential. Well, there are three tiers. One is for the ordinary citizens, the other is for the hangmen, and the last is for Carnegie Spree himself. There are some confidential information at the second tier but you gotta get to the third tier if you want the meat of the sandwich!”

“And what have you read from the third tier?”

Samuel Finch began to laugh. His uncontrollable response made him animated. He clapped his hands and kicked his feet up and down. Samuel then said. “That’s what I have been trying to get into for a very, very long time. Breaking in that tier was a serious crime. It’s been about one year Logun, and you guys haven’t found me yet! So I....”

Crash, Bam, Boom pow!

The walls began to shift and the floors below them have made, chaotic noises.

“Oh no! Not that thing! Not that thing! It wants the debt! It wants something!” cried Samuel who crawled underneath the bed.

“What the hell does it want?”

“That’s what I read in the third tier Logun! It’s somewhere deep and hidden. It’s very unclear but I bet you would know! You gotta find the answer for yourself!” responded Samuel Finch with a bit of that nutty personality.

Sure he was crazy but he sure was knowledgeable. There came a giant hole that formed on the window as the glass shards levitated and scattered away.

“Before you run away from that thing? I just want to say that you are an interesting hangman Logun!” screamed Samuel Finch who still defended himself from the debris.

“Now why you say that?” asked Logun who was confused by that statement Samuel Finch made.

“Because you are different Logun. You haven’t eaten the chocolate. Come back anytime in this room, I will be waiting.”

In the afternoon, Logun had been walking among the citizens of Acrisius. He was no longer in the underworld but was within the regular world environment. No more chaos, no more destruction, and no more demon eyes that made a twenty four hour surveillance. Well, can’t say that most of that is true. He had travelled to the terminal. Boy oh boy, what a night he had. Wasn’t he so tired? Under his eyes were black bags that made him stand out from the crowd. When did he last sleep? How long did he sleep after the underworld. He currently walked among the regular world with the citizens and found himself to be almost wandering aimlessly, but hey, Logun never loses focus.

Of course nobody cared about Logun at all. Everyone was so busy that they followed their own routine. Logun’s vision was partially blurry but he wasn’t blind he had thought to himself! However there was that girl again....Tanya. That was her name according to the photograph, right? Well then, she observed Logun’s new facial appearance.

Once they had both entered the train, Tanya and Logun actually sat on front of each other due to the scarcity of available seats. That actually woke up Logun a bit now that he saw Tanya right on front of his face He became self conscious about his appearance once he had seen Tanya but he hadn’t been able to clean himself perfectly for a situation like that. The train had jerked, Logun slightly lost balance but he adjusted to the constant motion of the train.

He looked what was behind Tanya. Behind her was a window, and behind the window were a couple of buildings, then a behind those buildings was the big PRO news station. To him the appearance of the giant station kept on flashing back and forth due to the motion of the buildings. They kept on passing the station from Logun’s perspective. His dizzy mind did not help him at all. Instead he allowed his dizzy mind to occupy him.

“Good evening citizens of Acrisius. This is Dick Bobber for PRO news” said the audio from the television in the train. “I would like to report that there was a violent confrontation between the Ascension and the Hangmen. However, we won against those sons of b*****s! You don’t need to worry because the Hangmen are just the guardians and lovely angels sent from Heaven. God wants our Hangmen to protect this city from this disgusting Ascension that will pollute Acrisius! My personal view of the Ascension is that they are stupid, dumb, ignorant, and cry babies who don’t know up from down. So I would like all of you to congratulate the hangmen who have succeeded in the attack against the Ascension.”

He had a quick image of the Ascension slaughtering the hangmen at the night. Logun thought to himself “Seriously, stupid, ignorant, and dumb? They at least were able to navigate through the Underworld and invade the News station!” His memories were quite graphic and detailed. Logun then saw the images of Ryan being tossed around by Carnegie’s violent form. He then saw quick images of the two female lovers being shot and Ryan’s deep regret. Suddenly.... Logun had felt a quick pain in his chest. This pain did not stop immediately, instead it burned, it turned, quivered, and ached. He screamed loudly which earned the attention of the citizens in the train, including Tanya.

“Stop the train, Stop the train.” shouted the voice of Tanya that was right on front of him. He was clearly in desperate need for help. His neck was stiff, his throat was locked, and his heart was in pain. In a matter of seconds his vision turned blank completely. He couldn’t focus any longer, but the last thing he saw was Tanya standing up unlike the rest of the subordinates in the train.

To Be Continued

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© 2013 Xerclipse

Author's Note

Now time to work on Episode 5. I will have to make another book for Ghost Runner Volume 2 because there is a specific capacity for which this book can hold. It could hold more chapters but then it could end at Part A of a chapter then won't allow Part B. I hope you will enjoy the next Episode. But I do hope you have enjoyed this chapter.

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Reviews

Writer #00

You just left it hanging!! Why????? Great endings and fabulous chapter, as usual. i can't wait to see the way Tanya and Logun interact...I have a feeling it'll be a bit awkward...

I like the dodger, even though he crept me out up until now...