CHAPTER ONE: Magic, Smagic
Jakub Inuku sat in a rather dimly lit bar, nursing a glass of bourbon and a cigarette. The air was thick with the acrid smoke of tobacco and the stench of stale beer. He took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled slowly, relishing the burn in his lungs and the calming effects of the nicotine.
Jakub would take a deep sip of his bourbon as he watches the tv set up at the bar. It was news footage of some terrorist attack that had happened in Victoria. The entire area looked like it was hit by some hellish natural disaster, with upturned land and upside down cars, even a few on fire houses. As he watches, he would inhale yet another hit from the cancer stick nestled between his fingers, a look of worry showing on his face as he wonders what weapon could have caused such widespread disaster..
Suddenly, he heard a commotion outside. It sounded like a group of people shouting and screaming, before what sounded like a gunshot. Jakub quickly stood up, flicking his cigarette onto the floor and grinding it out with his boot in one clean motion. As he pushed open the door and stepped outside, he would begin scanning the street for the source of the disturbance, and what he saw shocked him.
The area seemed heavily damaged, with singed earth, multiple freshly broken buildings, and a decent bit of blood on the ground
There were several people gathered around a young woman, who was surrounded by a shimmering, iridescent aura. Jakub had never seen anything like it before, and for a moment, the woman in front of him looked almost like an angel. He watched in amazement as she lifted her hand and a blast of energy shot out, knocking one of the attackers back far enough to slam them into a building.
But the others were undeterred. They closed in, fists flying, but the woman held them off with a flurry of magical attacks. Jakub stood there for a moment in awe, watching the chaos unfold. But then, as one of the attackers lunged at him, he sprang into action.
Jakub moved with lightning speed, ducking below a right hook and striking back with a bone-crunching uppercut. He was thankfully bigger and stronger than any of his opponents, and he had a feeling that that would make this quite easy.
After the first one had fallen, Jakub would immediately rush the others that were around the girl, before being stopped as one of them unleashes a single snap, her orange hair seemingly glowing for a moment as she does so.
He was not prepared for what followed, as a massive blast of fire erupts in front of her, the flames nearly engulfing Jakub, who would immediately fall backwards and roll slightly to hopefully put out his flaming shirt, being thankful he had worn a leather jacket.
As he rights himself up he realized he couldn't risk whatever had just happened happening again be it magic, or some sort of technology, and as such he would quickly unholster his signature weapon: a Desert Eagle chambered in .50 Action Express rounds. He aimed quickly and with deadly precision, hitting his target directly in the chest with a single shot. She would look down at the massive wound that had just been inflicted, her mouth opening and closing as if trying to speak, before falling to the ground, dead.
He would immediately shift his gaze to the other two people who were attacking the girl. They had turned upon hearing the absurdly loud gunshot, and would both look at their fallen comrade. One would stumble backwards in fear before Just beginning to run, and the other would roar in rage, clearly being connected to the woman Jakub had just shot. "ESMERELDA NOOOOOO!!"
Jakub would back up as the man advances, his gun still drawn and aimed at him. "Look, man, i was ju-" Jakub would be interrupted by the man, who was growing redder with rage by the second. "JUST WHAT? JUST SHOOTING MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND?"
"To be fair-" Jakub would immediately regret his response as the man immediately began to charge him, his body seemingly transforming by the second. His muscles would grow larger, and his body more red. Jakub would immediately fire upon the man, yet that wouldn't stop the train of pain, and he would get two shots off before impact, the gun flying off into the air as the man slams Jakub into a brick wall
The impact would knock the breath out of him, but that was merely the start of Jakub's problems. He would be impacted immediately in the face by the man's fist, followed by a punch to the stomach, before another to the face, and another, and another. Each punch would hit with greater and greater force. As the man kept pummeling him, Jakub would suddenly hear an incredibly loud bang, stopping the attacks, but also covering Jakub in a warm, wet fluid that would briefly blind him.
Jakub would take a moment to regain his breath and try to wipe the blood out of his eyes, wondering for a brief moment if someone had called the cops. However, as he looked around instead of seeing a savior, he would see the destruction that had been wrought, and would have a sudden moment of clarity. What in the hell had just happened? Jakub couldn't believe it. He had always thought that magic was just a myth, a fairy tale. But now, what else could he call what happened? People don't exactly spawn flames from their hands normally after all. He looked at the woman with the shimmering aura, who was now lying on the ground, battered, bleeding, and bruised, and he would notice his gun lying beside her, a spent cartridge stuck in the gun's slide, Stovepiped. With that, he realized who had saved him.
Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone and dialed the police, quickly picking up the gun beside the girl. He explained what had happened and gave them his location, along with the details that there was an injured person. But he knew he didn't have time to talk, and after that he would hang up. A feeling of unease would wash over him as he did so, and although he knew that he had done the right thing by calling the authorities; he just hoped he wouldn't come to regret it.