So many deaths. So many fatalities. So much destruction one man had caused all by himself.
Jacket was no stranger to death and the horrors that it births. His fingers twitched as he was recalled to the touch of a bayonet he used to slice open the necks of those soldiers at Hawaii in 1985. His eyes perked as he involuntary harked upon the screams of those Russian mobsters as they approached their demise. Good riddance. Their presence reminded Jacket of his bearded friend's death. His mind let out a familiar aching over his new misdeeds. The annihilation of these gangsters and their legacy in the city and throughout the location. And for what? The unknown purposes of the man behind the phone?
He had been viewed a freak to society. During his time in prison, he heard about how a film was being made in which the killer was based on him and was a total savage with no sanity left in his ill mind. Jacket could still feel bile in his mouth at the thought of the abominable film. He remembered the jeers from the hellhole was incarcerated in, along with some compliments from certain cellmates for being a true psychopath. Jacket sometimes wonder if he really was a psychopath. All this time, he had killed so many people so easily without any remorse or guilt. Perhaps he really was-
He let out a small yell at himself as he shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. When he was brought to this world, he wanted a life of peace and tranquility. What he got was the exact same thing he had received back in Miami. That ends now. Jacket trusted his gut that beyond this room were the ones burdened of this dilemma. He was going to put a stop to this. He did not care if he was going to die trying. Up to this point, death was not a concern for the impassive killer. Death was not a stranger for the man, for he had faced it many times. Back in the nuclear plant with his bearded friend. Back in Miami thanks to that rat-masked stranger. Back in prison where he was doomed to rot. He was not afraid of death. He was only afraid of himself. The fear of failing to stop this madness and bring order not to the innocence but to himself as well.
The rooster-masked killer entered the final room.
Even though he was in a mission of his own, he couldn't help but to gaze at the habitat around him. The grand room was gifted with flooring made from crystal clear glass. A small exotic pool was located to the masked man's left that even had a tray filled with alcohol floating in the water. Two gigantic granite statues, depicting fully armored knights riding on their horses, were placed in the room. A long table to the right was filled with several kinds of foreign guns along with highly dangerous explosives. Next to the weapons were maps and notes that looked like it had high importance. Perhaps if contained the plans of the masterminds? Speak of the devil, the masked man muttered in his mind as he looked forward. Jacket saw two green-skinned teenagers sitting behind wooden desks. Each desk contained some papers along with hundred dollar bills scattered next to glasses of bourbon. Despite the fact that one teenager had white shaggy hair and the other had long red hair, they almost looked fairly similar. Each of them wore identical street threads that looked slightly serrated along with smug smirks on their round faces.
"Well, well, well." The red-haired teenager spoke with delight in his tone. "Look who we have here."
The white-haired teenager nodded in response at he looked up and down at the rooster-masked mercenary. "You made it all the way here. Damn, does NOTHING stop you?"
Jacket tilted his head when the adolescent spoke. The teen let out a nonchalant chuckle as he predicted what Jacket was thinking about.
"Yeah, I'm the guy on the phone telling you to kill all those idiots."
Jacket continued to stand at his spot with his eyes behind the mask looking at the young masterminds. He did not expect kids to be running this operation. He needed answers as to why he was forced to be mixed up in this. He was not the only one to be thinking about the purpose of this mess. The two juveniles looked at each other before slowly shaking their heads at the assassin with sly smiles.
"I suppose you want an explanation." The red-haired boy uttered as he lit himself a cigar. "Canterlot City seems like a peaceful and quiet town. Well, I use the term 'seems' very loosely. It kinda started with the quote unquote rumors of some sort of magic attack at Canterlot High. You know that school? Of course, they weren't really rumors. We were part of it, after all."
"You think we'd lie about it?" The red-haired youth stated in a derisive tone. "We really were brainwashed by Sunset Shimmer back when she was evil and cruel. Kinda like you."
The aching in Jacket's clenched fist multiplied as it felt itself getting tighter.
"She tried to take advantage of the stupid magic but not only did she fail, she wanted to change her ways. Ha! How the mighty have fallen. I personally think redemption is a bunch of bullcrap."
"Everyone in the school thought that was over. We thought it was over. But once again, we got brainwashed by three new students in our school."
The Dazzlings... Jacket assumed in his mind as the teenagers continued their justification.
"Those wenches could control others by their siren singing. Of course, following their defeat at the idiotic Battle of the Bands contest, they lost their ability to sing and soon disappeared. We thought they had left town. We were wrong."
"We kinda thought that another magic attack was going to happen. We knew it was going to happen in some big ass event that would the perfect opportunity for magic to pop up. It turns out that event was the Friendship Games against Crystal Prep Academy."
Jacket paused a moment, thinking back to the scared girls that he saw at the Wifi Palace and back at Canterlot High. Didn't Sonata say that the students of Crystal Prep wore that particular attire?
"Twilight Sparkle was tempted by those five 'Shadowbolt' girls to 'unleash the magic.' Ugh, that sounds so cheesy to say. She turned into some magic monster and was stopped by Sunset Shimmer who also turned into a magic monster."
"Now Twilight Sparkle moved to Canterlot High and even hangs out with the girls who made her a monster. You got to be fucking kidding me with that."
"And I don't give a fuck what Sugar what's her face and Sour whatever her last name says. It was more of their fault than their principal's. So how fucking cheap. 'Oooooh, we bullied you into a monster, let's be friends now that it's over!' I think I'm going to puke."
The red-haired teenager pulled out an ashtray and discarded his cigar on the tray as he let out a sigh. His eyes redirected to Jacket as his lips shaped into a beaming, yet cruel, grin.
"Now, why did we tell you about this?" He stated as his eyes diminished at the rooster-masked warrior. "It's simple. Throughout our time at Canterlot High, we witnessed some insane magic that blew the minds of every student. But you. You're something special you know that?" Who else can easily kill every single jackass with a gun or weapon or giants with knockout punches than you? I mean, you use only your fists and you killed every single idiot in each building!"
"You're better than magic." The white-haired teenager added. "Makes us wish we got to know you better so that we can know where you get your bloodlust and the energy to keep on fighting and killing."
"But now it's too late." The other teenager remarked as his smile turned from mischievous to cruel. "We wanted to take over the streets so we had to find a way to get rid of Tirek and Scorpan. We already got three masked assassins to kill the two men soon, but we needed you to destroy their men. Of course, your use was no longer needed, so we had the assassins try to kill you."
"Judging by the fact that you're still standing here breathing, they failed. Oh well. They're expendable anyway."
"Tirek and Scorpan needed to be taken care of, so we had no choice but to let you do the honors. Good call, since you killed them."
"With them gone, we can finally succeed and soon take over the streets. We'll be so powerful, no one can stop us. Not the people who try to resist us, not the police force, not even Sunset Shimmer, the Dazzlings, or Twilight Sparkle when she unleashed that magic!"
"We thank you for giving us this power. Unfortunately for you, our use for you is no longer needed. In fact, you pose a threat to our power. So we'll make you a deal right now. Give up now. We'll just shoot you in the head. It's quick, painless, and fucking better than what we are originally thinking of doing to you now."
They paused a moment to let their unwelcome guest decide on his decision. They wished they could hear what the killer was thinking. It was wise that their wish had not come true. Jacket's face remained stable but his mind was riddled with explosions of utter rage. This was it? To conquer the fucking streets? This is why I was forced to kill these motherfucking gangsters and traumatize a fucking school in the process? To make me kill when I just want some goddamn peace and quiet!? A fucking chance to control the streets?!?! The blood flowing inside Jacket's body started to boil as the vein in his forehead was almost ready to pop. He had suffered many hardships in his life. The loss of his bearded friend. The loss of his girlfriend from that rat-masked killer. The loss of freedom and peace in Miami. Now he was robbed the chance for stillness by two kids. No more. He made a promise to end this, once and for all. He stepped forward a bit which developed in the two teenagers letting out bewildered looks on their faces.
"You honestly think you can stop us?" The red-haired teenager asked in disbelief.
The white-haired teenager's surprised expression instantaneously composed into an amused grin.
"You really ARE an idiot..."
The eyes on Jacket's eye sockets stretched open wide as the pair of teenagers ducked behind their desks and jumped back to their feet with M60 machine guns on their hands. They opened fire, shattering the glass floor as Jacket quickly glided to the right and docked near the granite sculpture.
Bits and chucks of granite began to fly from the statue as Jacket winced at the high pitched sounds of caliber bullets ripping through the air. He slightly tilted his head to the table with the foreign guns and explosives. He pondered how he was going to get to them before he realized he doesn't have time to ponder as a bullet flew past next to his shoulder. He noticed the statue was almost disintegrated from the heavy machine guns so he had to react fast before his cover is destroyed. Reciting a short prayer, Jacket picked up a chunk of debris and threw it to the left. The teenagers acted on instinct and fired at the debris that they initially thought to be Jacket. The anti-hero rushed to the table as fast he could and picked up a Kalashnikov and fired it at the teenagers.
The two masterminds were able to dodge this attack as they collapsed down behind their desks. The red-haired teen was unscathed yet the teenager with white hair hissed as he clenched his bleeding shoulder. The other teenager wiped the sweat from his red hair as he grabbed a grenade launcher and leapt from his desk.
"Come get some, asshole!" He yelled as he fired a grenade round at the ruined statue Jacket was hiding, exploding it to smithereens. Jacket almost gasped as the explosion impact pushed him away and caused him to tumble to the ground. His rifle plummeted to the floor as Jacket's face met the floor. He could hear the teenager laughing while readying up another grenade round. Through his almost destructed mask, Jacket opened his bruised eyelid to see the rifle on the ground that was just a couple of feet away. Extending his arm towards the gun, Jacket let out a pained grunt as the grenade round entered into the teenager's weapon. The teenager winked at Jacket before firing a round at him. Just before the teenager shot the grenade round, Jacket hastened his efforts and grabbed the gun before shooting a couple of rounds at the grenade round that barely came out of the launcher. The teenager's smile turned to a look of horror as the bullets ripped through the grenade round which caused it to explode. The red-haired mastermind wailed as the explosion ripped him into bloody bits. Guts rained upon the room along with blood that showered all over the glass floor along with the blood saturated arm and limb from the doomed teenager. Jacket remained stalwart over this turn of events, only caring that his weapon had just lost its ammunition.
Even after the gruesome sight of his partner's brutal demise, the surviving teenager merely reacted with shaking his head while rolling his eyes. "Whatever. I can control the streets myself."
He poked his head from behind the desk and chuckled at Jacket as he temporarily ignored his bleeding wound. "You got guts, I'll admit that. Let's see what they look like!"
He sprang from his hiding position with an M134 resting on his palms. Jacket was struck with confusion and dread at the sight of the minigun. Where the fuck do these assholes get their weapons?!
"You're dead meat!" He howled with a vile grin as he opened fire and unleashed the barrage of lethal NATO bullets.
The unpleasant memories of fighting that mysterious biker raced through the man's head as soon as he heard the green boy's line. It was enough to fuel his adrenaline that allowed him to stumble away from the caliber bullets. The teenager let out a maniacal guffaw as the bullets ripped through the floor as they started to head towards the anti-hero. Jacket spotted a red coated katana resting on a shelf attached to the wall and decided he has no choice. He sprinted towards the sword while miraculously dodging the rounds from the laughing teenager. He yanked the sword out of the wall and circled around the white-haired mastermind. Jacket let out a yell as he swung his sword at the teenager who dropped the minigun as his chest marked a red slash. The masked man was about to snatch the minigun but was not aware the injured teenager had a katana concealed behind his back. Jacket's katana was collided with the sword of his enemy.
"It's just you and me now, friend." The teenager remarked, unaware that Jacket could hear that man's voice. The man with the golden hammer & sickle earring. Jacket had actually expected him to say something about wanting to avenge his father. He got a different response.
"If I'm going to die, I'm fucking take you with me! NO ONE FUCKS WITH ME!"
With one hand on the katana, the teenager used his other hand to pull out a revolver and point it at Jacket. With a silent boost of determination, Jacket felt his energy flow into his hands as he pushed his katana further. He swung the teenager's katana out of his hands before Jacket focused on the imaginary target sign on the teenager.
The white-haired mastermind coughed in terror as his revolver dropped to the floor. His attention was now directed to the Japanese blade that pierced his scarred chest and passed through the muscle and lower part of his ruptured heart. Blood slowly seeped from his mouth as his shaky vision saw only a man with a mask of a chicken. With one final yell, Jacket jerked out the katana from the chest, causing a stream of blood to dispatch all over him. The teenager continued to stand on the spot with twitching eyelids as the blood continued to spray all over his enemy. As the blood slowly decreased in its pace, the teenager toppled towards the floor with a flabbergasted look on his lifeless face.
Jacket did not move a single flesh on his body as the late teenager fell down to the broken glass floor. The two people he wanted dead for making him become involved in this mayhem were now laying on floor either in bits or impaled. Along with staring up at the ceiling with closed eyelids, Jacket whipped out his blood-soaked mask from his head and could feel the calm air breeze through his stone cold face. He slowly opened his eyelids as he could hear only the subtle dripping of the blood from his clothes and how it descended across his clothes. He did not move from his position yet he could hear the doors open. His ears picked up the gasps of the four girls he had hoped would stay out of this. No doubt they were not impressed to see what had happened now. Jacket felt his chest ache a tiny bit as he let out a breath of fresh air through his bruised nostrils. The girls were horrified to see what had happened, though they did not show too much disgust as they were unfortunately used to it now. Jacket only cared about one thing now.
Jacket let out another sigh as he began to examine the destructed environment around him. The glass floor was almost shattered into pieces with some bits of ashes and small chunks of granite lying on the floor. The statues that had once stood in their places have been reduced to mere destructed objects. The remains of one of the teenagers remained soaking on the floor with the bullet casings scattered everywhere. The last teenager resumed to lay on the floor with his chest profusely bleeding. The four girls could smell the gunpowder, warm granite, and gore from the environment. None of them were too happy about how this room turned out. Regardless, they assumed these two deceased men were the ones responsible for this mess. Perhaps this chaos will finally stop here in Canterlot City. Ignoring the torment in his body from the recent battle, Jacket staggered over to the four anxious girls.
Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her arm as she glanced at Jacket. "So...what now?"
Jacket remained indifferent as he stared at Sunset with no sentiment on his face. Without blinking, he seized a piece of paper from one of the desks along with a ballpoint pen as he began writing on it. He had to admit, he was getting tired of communicating like this. He had to find another way. After he wrote what he had intended to say, Jacket handed the wrinkled paper to Sunset Shimmer to read.
Here's exactly what you're going to do. Call the police. Inform them that the rooster-masked killer, AKA me, has killed Tirek, Scorpan, and their gangs. Tell them I have also killed these two who were responsible for all this chaos. Their plans are intact in that table over there.
Sunset turned to where Jacket was glancing at, seeing a table with guns and papers that looked like plans from a distance. She turned back to the paper as the Dazzlings were reading it along. Their faces turned to absolute horror at what they are currently reading about.
Make sure to pin all the blame on me. Afterwards...I have to leave this city forever.
The Dazzlings reacted by gasping and expressing horrified looks on their faces. Sonata ran up to a distant-looking Jacket.
"You can't!" She choked out as she could feel sobs coming out of her mouth. "Jacket, you can't!"
Jacket could already see the looks of misery on each face of the sirens. He began to write down on the paper before showing it to the girl.
If putting the blame on me is the only way there can be peace in this town again, then so be it. I'm a wanted man now. I can't let you girls suffer for what I did. I'm sorry, but I have no choice.
He placed the paper down for a moment to review each expression the siren girls were giving him. Adagio had a look of disbelief covering on her face as Aria seemed to be more upset than saddened. He didn't face Sonata yet could already see the tears dripping from her raspberry-colored eyes. Jacket turned to Sunset, who looked the least upset of the girls but still had an uncomfortable look on her face. He had honestly wished there was a better and proper way of saying sorry and goodbye. It pained him to leave immediately but it was the only chance he got.
Goodbye Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. I'm afraid we will never meet again. Thank you for everything.
With his face devoid of any emotions, the blonde man softly walked away with his rooster mask on his hand and his head bowed down in regret. He didn't like expressing much of his feelings, but he couldn't help himself but to feel a pang of pain in both his physical wounds and the emotional wounds he had received. His head clicked back up as he felt sturdy arms around him. He turned his head gradually at the source of this surprise act and discovered it was Sonata Dusk. The blue-haired girl sobbed as she continued to place her head on his chest. More arms were enclosed around the man as he saw Aria and Adagio hug him from each side. Each of them looked less sad as Sonata but still had a look of remorse on their faces.
"Jacket...I'm sorry for earlier." Adagio choked out from her throat. "Even though you killed people and lied to us...you were still there for us. We practically hated each other yet you were there to make us tolerate and respect one another! Without us...I dunno...Look, you are like one of our best and only friends we had ever received. Thank you..."
She let out a sniff as she hugged the man once more with a grateful smile. "G-goodbye Jacket."
"Thank you again for all you have done." Aria added as she looked away to hide her sadness from Jacket.
"We'll never forget you! For realsies!" Sonata grieved as she let out a sad smile and tightened her grip around Jacket.
Jacket let out a faded smile as he hugged the trio of girls as tight yet softly as he could. Eventually, the girls mildly let go of him as he looked at the red and yellow haired girl. Sunset Shimmer let out a demure smile as she lifted up her hand for a handshake. Jacket extended his hand and shook her hand politely. As he let go, he gave them both a nod before he moderately left the room. Sonata wiped away her tears before she felt Aria's hand on her shoulder. Adagio turned to Sunset as they haltingly gave each other friendly smiles, feeling their hostility towards each other fading away.
The four girls looked at each other, swearing that they could hear the blonde man privately forbidding them goodbye as he passed through the exit.