Sunset Colony

   Jack had intended to drop off the passengers on the sunset island and continue onwards alone, but instead he'd moored his boat and joined them, watching their progress.  The colony was coming along nicely; the buildings were springing up almost faster than Jack could acrobatically scale them.

   It was upon one of these buildings, a medium-sized, two-story cottage, that Jack was perched when he spied the enormous stone cathedral across an open patch of dirt.  He sprang from the building and executed a momentum-breaking somersault that blended seamlessly into a sprint toward the structure.

   He arrived and saw that they had built an enormous stone statue in his honor on the steps to the cathedral.  The sculptors had taken artistic liberties with his body structure and crafted a strong torso and thick legs.  One hand lay at his side, the other raised toward the sky with an open palm.  Slung around his chest like a bandolier was a thick chain.  His head flickered between two states, one being affixed properly to his neck and the other being held by the upward palm.  Together, the chain and the flickering head were meant to symbolize something Jack wasn't aware of.  Below, Jack noticed a toppled statue of his mentor from the Old World, LaDinci.

Death Grip

   "I think I'm stuck!"

    "Alright, man, don't move.  We'll get you out in just a bit!" Black Jack yelled down to his son underneath the slatted boards of the walkway.  This wasn't the first time one of his boys had gotten stuck in the plumbing corridors.  He wished they would listen to him and stay above ground.

   Black Jack jumped down onto the grassy road that wove between the tall, darkened skyscrapers.  To his right, an enormous wooden door prevented access to the areas beyond, and to his left the grass road led away a few hundred feet to a T-intersection.

   "Hey, your son is stuck again," Jack explained to his black self, who had separated out and was looking disinterestedly through a small hole in the wooden gateway.

   "I've got to take care of those," he said, gazing through the peephole.

   "Uh, but, your son..." Jack trailed off in annoyance.  It was clear his black self, for whatever reason, had decided to leave his son down there for a little while longer.  No matter, the child wasn't in any mortal danger.

   Jack walked toward the intersection and took the road on the right.  The sky above was completely black, though the city below was naturally illuminated from some inner source, providing ample light for the strolling citizens.  Jack looked ahead to see the old grandmother and her grandaughter together on the sloping, grassy road.  The grandmother's condition was worsening; her head jerked from side to side in macabre disharmony with her limbs, her mouth working frantically.  Despite this, the grandaughter was laying peacefully beside her, at the beginning of a nap.

   Gradually, the elder moved from her chair toward the girl, seemingly for a hug.  The embrace began gently, and was reciprocated by the girl.  The machinations of the old woman's mouth became slowly audible.

   "Fry...fry...fry...fry..."

   Jack could see the girl's eyes go wide, shot through with an infusion of fear and panic.  The old woman's grip tightened around the girl, squeezing her with demonic strength.

   "Help!  She's choking me!" shouted the grandaughter.

   "FRY.....FRY.....FRY......."

   Jack hurried over to the pair and started prying and kicking at the old woman.  Without warning, the grandmother went limp as her head popped cleanly off and she released the girl.  The condition had run its course.

   The grandaughter, too, had gone rigid, her eyes closed, until suddenly her head took on the aspect of a skull.  Jack watched in horror as the familiar refrain returned, this time from the mouth of the girl, the only part of her body that wasn't solidly paralyzed.

   "Fry....fry...fry...No!  I was just laying down for a nap! Fry...fry..."