Chapter Eleven:
Hitting Jackpot
It was raining, the soft sort of rainfall that pattered on the roof and served to make everything sort of misty and quiet. Sound was muffled by the falling water, and it was light enough to be refreshing but not hard enough to make one soggy in minutes.
Yet even if it had been raining cats and dogs, Jace Kellen would still have been smiling.
Jace smiling wasn't really a happy event, as her smile was wild and more than slightly scary, most of the time. This smile was no exception - but people took what they got. And what they got today was five foot, six inches worth of Jace T. Kellen, wearing a gray man's shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, jeans that were slightly too big for her, and bulky boots. The effect was nice, but the way she was carrying herself, she could have just won the Miss World title.
"C'mon, c'mooon," she muttered, rapping on the door. Oh, now that felt good. It wasn't often she could knock at a door properly. "Is nobody home?"
Maybelle had been practicing piano when the sharp raps sounded upon the front door. "Well, who in the world could be knocking?" she wondered aloud as she pushed the piano bench back with a small scrape noise and made her way over to the door.
"Hello?" she asked as she opened up the door. A grin plastered to her face, Maybelle stepped out to the odd girl. Her light pink summer dress and pink bunny slippers seemed to get a small rise out of Jace.
The redhead grinned evilly. "Hey. Um, I didn't know it was Nothing To Hide day. Is Leta in?"
Still keeping the same smile pasted on her face (although it was obviously fake now), Maybelle opened the door wider. "Do come in, dear." she grinned, her words coming through gritted teeth. "I'm sure you don't want to stay out in this rain." she added.
Jace walked in clumsily, and her feet sounded rather heavy on the carpet. "Thanks. Um, where is she?"
"Leta? Oh yes, she is upstairs. But I wouldn't suggest going up when she is talking on the ph-"
But Jace had already eyed the stairs with a gleam in her eye and was clunking up them like she had weights in her boots. "Thanks. Have a nice life."
"I knoooowww! Did you see how Charlie was checkin' me out? I so agree. He's my next victim, hee hee." Leta chirped as she kicked her legs around on her bed. Holding a stuffed teddy-bear, she continued. "Nooo wayy! I can't believe you did that! Oh, god, that's soooo funny!" she giggled.
All of a sudden, the door opened.
Eyeing the blonde in distaste, Jace tromped into the room, shutting the door behind her with a clumsy clang. She shuddered audibly to see the blonde giggling on her bed, and turned to the lovebird eating seed in his cage. "You're coming with me," she addressed him, ignoring Leta entirely.
Percy swallowed the last of his birdseed. "Not until you get rid of those legs I won't," he replied haughtily. "You realize that you could have enemies SWARMING all over us if you stay like that? Plus, it's not good for your health. Or for your attitude, I'm sure. Get rid of them now!" Percy squawked and shifted his perch.
"HEY! Can't you knock!?" Leta squealed towards Jace after Percy had given his lecture. "I'll call you back." she muttered into the phone and hung up. Putting it back in it's pink, fuzzy holder, she sat cross-legged on her heart-spotted sheets.
"You can keep him for all I care, just knock! You need some manners, or whatever they are called!" she screeched, her high pitched voice reaching unbearable.
Percy sighed and ruffled his feathers. "See what I have to live with?" he groaned.
Jace ignored Leta's screechings and glared laser melting death at the brightly coloured bird. "Damn you. Nobody appreciates how sexy I am. Okay, okay, I'll change 'em when we're outside, birdbrain."
She seemed to finally notice Leta, but her mood was ruined and her eyebrows were drawn in a scowl. "Keep your panties on, cream puff," she addressed her. "Perdix wants me to take Perseus whilst I'm out. Just in case I run into any Graikos, or something. Or maybe he just wants me to assassinate him whilst he eats lice, or whatever partridges do. And lock your door if you don't want me coming in." She began to unlatch his cage. "S'not like you were dressing. Ugh."
Percy hopped onto Jace's arm, being careful not to dig his claws in to hard. Ruffling his colorful feathers, he looked towards Leta. "I'm going with Jace, as Perdix suggested. Its always a good idea to look for Graikos, so I might as well. Besides, its better then sitting in that dirty old cage that you NEVER clean-"
"Alright already!!! Jeeze, can you just like, take him and go and stuff? I have a party to get ready for." Leta squeaked, and shooed Jace away with a motion of her hands. Sighing and tossing a braid over her shoulder she threw one last glance towards Percy. "And stop complaining about your cage, bird. I keep it clean enough." she grumbled and then picked up the phone once more and began dialing her friend's number.
Percy snorted, and shuffled his way up to Jace's shoulder. "Go somewhere private to detransform, mind you. We can't have people gawking when you return to your normal state. Are there any alleys nearby? I don't normally go out because Leta here NEVER takes me out or cl - "
Leta thrust her fingers into her large ears and dropped the phone. "Tra la lala! I can't hear yooouuu!" she chorused, and then picked up the phone again. "Sorry Michelle, go on, my phone dropped."
Percy gave a hawk like glare in Leta's direction but turned back to Jace. "Let's go, shall we?"
Jace rolled her eyes again, hightailing it out of the room as quickly as she could. It had too much pink in it. "You two must love each other so much," she deadpanned, clomping back down the stairs and out the door. The rain had advanced into a light drizzle.
Percy shifted his feet on Jace's shoulder. "Don't just stand there! Find some place to revert to normal!" he squawked in her ear loudly, as he searched for one himself. However, his bird eyesight wasn't all to useful, and he gave it up quickly as he stomped along heavily with Jace.
"Try not to jar me around so much." he muttered, ruffling his orange and yellow feathers. "It's annoying. Hopefully your better with your wheelchair then you are with your legs." he sighed, making sure he kept his voice quiet as there was pedestrians on the sidewalk.
"Did I mention that I hate you and I wish you would die?" Jace commented disinterestedly, ducking alongside Leta's house.
"No you didn't. But if you would like to now, go right on ahead and see if you'll enjoy the consequences." warned the love bird, bluffing although it was not to visible. Flapping off of Jace's shoulder to rest in a low hanging tree branch, Percy waited rather impatiently as Jace de-transformed.
After she crawled back into her wheelchair, Percy cheerfully glided over to Jace. "Ahh! Much better, I get a smooth ride now." He preened, ruffling his chest feathers impressively. "Alright, you go on ahead and go where you like, I on the other hand are going to take a nap. Don't wake me," he yawned, as he shrugged his wings up to his neck and nestled down in his own feathers standing up.
Jace glared at the tiny, colourful bird. "'Scuse me, retard? Do you have some innate ability to find Graikos while you snore your ugly head off?"
There was no answer.
"Makes me sodding lucky I don't have a guardian," Jace mused. "They're all dumb fucking sods."
She wheeled away, disgruntled.
Jack Reilly shrugged at his supervisor. "Sure thing, Dennis," he drawled. "Just let me finish moving this stuff out onto the floor." With a small grunt of exertion, Jack kicked his hand truck to the suitable angle and pushed it through the door. Get these last few ceiling fans out on the shelves and then he was on customer call. He frowned slightly, a major change in facial expressions by Jack- standards. Chances were, they were busy and he'd be hauling tail to keep up with the questions hurled at him by customers rushed for time and patience. Oh, well, he thought. Such was the glamorous life of a Home Depot worker. At least it kept him in charcoal and pencils and out of his father's house.
Lost in his thoughts, Jack cut a corner too close, setting off a chain reaction of metal shelving to boxes to metal hand truck to Jack's jean-clad knee. "Ouch," he hissed, squinting slightly. Then he recovered in time to grab the boxes before they tumbled off the cart.
"Way to go, Jack, my man. Real smooth." A shaggy blonde teenager appeared and helped shift the boxes back in place. Then he pointed at Jack's knee. "Broken it yet?" he asked.
"Nah, Brian." To illustrate his point, Jack tapped his knee without grimacing. "Just fine." He tilted the hand truck again and smiled. "Gotta get going now. Catch ya." With that, he disappeared down the aisle. After reaching his destination, it took only a matter of minutes to stock the boxes on the appropriate shelf and hand the cart off to a passing warehouse worker. Jack slowly rolled his shoulders, working out a crick, and then solemnly cracked his knuckles. Onto the customers, he thought. A half-smile crossed his face as he heard the first question echoing in the distance. Freedom was nice indeed.
"Where the hell is everything?" Jace snarled viciously. "Don't tell me you've moved everything -again-. Sweet zombie Jesus!"
Jace Kellen was a regular at Home Depot. Jace Kellen was well-known at Home Depot. Jace Kellen was sodden and wet, and there was a lovebird asleep down her shirt. All of this was not contributing to her temper whilst at Home Depot.
Much like a predatory animal, workers fled before her.
Except for that one in the distance. He looked new. Ha! Fresh meat!
Jack looked up at the sound of wet rubber propelled unceremoniously across the cold concrete floor. -Worse than nails on a chalk board,- he thought dispassionately. His interest level rose a fraction more when he noticed the hellish noise was being produced by a thoroughly soaked teenage girl in a wheelchair. As she neared him at a nearly suicidal pace, he briefly wondered if she was actually going to run him down in cold blood. The nervous glances and skittish movements of the other, suddenly-very-busy employees gave him his answer. With a shrug and a slight side-step, he prepared himself for what was obviously a recognized "problem customer."
"May I help you, miss?" he drawled, a nod of his head indicating the teenager.
"Yeah," she grunted. "Go get yourself a haircut, you damn hippie. Or, tell me where the hell everything is; which fuckwit keeps on moving everything?"
Jack shrugged and edged his sneakers away from her wheels. "Whoever is calling themself the manager today, I'd bet," he replied mildly. Then he launched into the obligatory customer service spiel dryly, "Anyway, my name is Jack and welcome to the Home Depot. How may I be of assistance?"
Jace looked at him suspiciously. He was too mellow. Maybe he was on something like the other hippies. "Just show me the sections," she demanded. "And then kill the manager."
"Kill the manager?" Jack repeated slowly. "Nah, he signs my paychecks. If you want, though, I can show you his office." Inwardly, he grinned as a muscle in the girl's jaw twitched in response to his casual reply. Best way to deal with anyone gearing up for trouble is to just turn on the chill. Worked for his dad, worked for others. "How about you tell me what you're looking for and I'll just point the way. 'S what they pay me the big bucks for."
Jace grunted. She wasn't getting through to him. He must have been stoned up to his eyeballs. "Just get me to the power tools section, longhair. And don't be slow about it."
Jack hesitated for a split second before starting towards aisle five. He had experienced a momentary urge to politely offer assistance in the relocation effort but a fine-tuned sense of life- preservation halted his hand before he could extend it. -She might just bite it off,- he thought. Aloud, he replied, "Power tools. Right this way."
Jace moved her hands to the wheels, easily propelling herself where the assistant directed. "Bet they don't have anything good in stock. Bet it's still incredibly shitty. If fucking Noah had bought his boatmaking supplies from here he would've sodding sank."
"You just missed him," Jack deadpanned. "Said it was raining for the 40 days, nights thing again." With a nod, he indicated the shelves of boxes promising all sorts of construction zone delights. "Anything special?" he asked.
Jace grunted, then turned her professional eye towards the rack. She inspected and discussed the merchandise (as well as mocking it) for the next few minutes.
Then, quite suddenly, her steel-coloured eyes went wide. In an amazing show of acrobatics, she turned her wheelchair a complete about face away from Jack.
Probably just in time, as her chest had started to wriggle.
A brightly plumed bird stuck his head out from under Jace's shirt, studying his surroundings and squawking like a madman. Among squawks were words. "He! *Squawk* Is! *Squaawkkkkk* A! *Squawk* Senshiiiii!" Percy crowed merrily. "Don't just stand there, you red-headed fool! Get him alone! *Squwaaaakkkkk!*"
Jace paused for a moment, then attempted to put both of them out of their misery by strangling Percy. "Shut the hell up!" she hissed.
Percy then with a bit of a struggle managed to wriggle his way out of Jace's shirt. "Awful huffy in there." he complained to himself, before squawking and settling himself on Jace's left shoulder. He then noticed that he happened to be attracting a lot of stares. "*Squawk!* Polly want a cracker!" he added nervously, looking grim as he said the words. He then turned to Jace's ear, pretending to nip it in a parrot way but instead speaking to her. "How insulting. Just get that *SQUAWK* boy alone."
Jace just shuddered.
What in the world..? Jack had done his best to ignore the conversation that this strange girl apparently had been having with her shirt. It was only polite and, hey, mentally unstable people had just as much a right to good service as anyone else. Maybe more so. It wasn't for him to judge. However, when the bird emerged from her shirt and started squawking madly, he turned to stare outright. He was pretty damn sure that pets weren't allowed in Home Depot and this sure as heck wasn't a seeing eye dog. "Um, miss?" he offered hesitantly. "Is there a problem?"
Jace took one look at Jack and was at a complete loss. Then, the seed of another terrible Jace Kellen idea sprouted in her mind.
Vowing to -dismember- Percy later, turning him into Lovebird Bits and shoving him in her oven to eat later with some white wine and a side salad, she narrowed her eyes at Jack. "Yes, something IS wrong," she began slowly, then tugged his arms down so that she could hiss in his ear. "I have a bomb and I'm going to blow this entire shithole to smithereens unless you do whatever the hell I say!"
Jack blinked and then his dark green eyes slid from the girl's cool gray ones to the bird. "Sure," he muttered. -I wonder if the bird has anything to do with this,- he wondered. -Maybe it told her to perform a kamikaze on the local DIY shop. Yeah, sure.- He brought his eyes deliberately back to hers, heavy eyelids drooping even more. The eye contact jolted him slightly and he frowned. Now he was going nuts, too, feeling as if he should know her. Finally, he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and asked, as calmly as possible, "What can I do you for?"
The redhead blew a sigh of relief. It had worked. "I don't particularly want to do you," she began cheerfully. "You don't turn me on. Anyway, it's not me who wants you." Jace quickly looked around; luckily, this aisle was deserted. "Is there anywhere we can go that not a whole lot of people will see us? I'd like to murder you, and all that."
Jack studied her for a second and then straightened, reaching up slowly to run his hands through his dark hair. If she was dead serious, he figured he could outrun her easily enough and alert everyone else. If she was bluffing... Well, that was much better overall and he could simply direct her out of his store. Shrugging, he motioned for her to follow him. "Yeah, sure," he muttered. "Figure the locker room's pretty dead." He looked over his shoulder. "If that's okay with you?"
"Do I look like I give a damn?" Jace said tiredly. The lovebird on her shoulder trilled. "Just lead the way."
The moment they were safely behind doors Jace threw the brightly- coloured bird off her shoulder. "You are a -fuckwit-," she announced, brows drawn together. "Wish I'd taken Perdix instead, freak. Just sexually molest him so I can get out of here, or whatever the hell you guys do."
Percy squawked indignantly as he regained his balance back in the air. "Well, you had to go about with the bomb stuff!" he accused angrily, before turning to the bewildered Jack. "Yes, I talk. And yes, you're not dreaming. Quite actually, you're a senshi. Tyche. Luck. Well, today is your lucky day!" chirped Percy merrily, happy that his hard work had been rewarded. Fluttering down onto a table, he pecked at his leg and pulled off it a leather cord with a penny charm.
Fluttering over carrying the henshin item in his beak, Percy landed on Jack's shoulder where he settled down comfortably. It was obvious he wouldn't be able to sleep on the seething Jace's shoulder for quite a while.
Jack opened his hand to receive the gift the bird was dropping from his perch on Jack's shoulder.
"Try it on, why don't you?" he yawned, and ruffled his feathers slightly. "Oh, I forgot. You're a Graikos. And I'm Percy, a guardian. That girl over there is Jace, or Sailor Hephaestos. A comrade. The other guardian she was ranting about, Perdix, is a fellow guardian. You'll meet him soon enough, I'm sure. Anyway! I'm sure as soon as you try that on, you'll know what to do. To transform back into your normal self, all you have to do is think of who you were before you transformed. It takes a bit, but I'm sure you'll figure it out." Percy squawked to punctuate his point. Clacking his beak together, he looked around. "Um, also, Jace doesn't have a bomb just so you know," added Percy, shifting on his feet nervously.
"Well, that's a good thing," Jack muttered. Then he froze, staring unblinkingly at the bird on his shoulder. Okay, it was talking. At least he thought it was talking. Maybe the girl (Jace, was it?) was a ventriloquist. Suddenly, he blinked. Or maybe not. -Maybe this was a flashback,- he thought. No, never did acid. Carefully, moving slowly so as not to disturb the bird, Jack glanced down into his hand. A thin leather cord with a flattened penny lay there, oddly warm against his skin. "Okay," he drawled. "Neat necklace but you two are..." He paused, searching for a tactful way of calling them lunatics. Finding none suitable, he sighed and shrugged. The bird fluttered wildly at the movement and he turned his head to meet its beady little eyes. At the black stare, Jack gave up. Might as well go with it, he thought. It's what I do best. "Okay," he sighed, "I'll accept this talking thing for now but just what the hell is it that you want me to do again?"
Jace smirked. How nostalgic. "You say some fucked-up phrase," she explained. "Then lots of bright lights, and you get a whole new wardrobe. What does he say, birdbrain?"
"Tyche Deus Power, Make-Up!" chirped Percy with enthusiasm, as if it was him who was going to transform instead of Jack. "Go on!" urged Percy as he flapped of his shoulder and back onto the table. It wasn't as comfy as a shoulder, but oh well. Percy nestled down on the table, ruffling his feathers and preening slightly, but made sure to keep his sights mainly on Jack when he transformed.
Jack looked doubtfully at Percy. -Then he looked down at the necklace in his hand again. If it gets the bird to stop talking,- he thought, -it's worth a try.- With yet another shrug, he tossed the necklace idly upwards, thinking to buy time with the action. Instead, to his amazement and dismay, he found himself dutifully repeating "Tyche Deus Power, Make-Up." A golden glow surrounded him as he caught the necklace reflexively and frowned slightly. Echoingly hollow, a disembodied voice screeched "Jackpot," making him grimace at the pun. The grimace evaporated quickly, though, as dozens of golden coins materialized from the ether and fell groundwards, burying Jack completely in their shining weight. A second more passed and then the coins disappeared without a trace. Frozen in a position of smooth confidence, Tyche grinned out from behind Jack's features. "Hiya, ma'am," he drawled in Jace's direction as he lowered his walking stick and bowed elaborately, doffing his white hat in a flawless gesture.
Jace beamed in appreciation, then stared in jealousy. Tyche looked cool. He even got a sodding -hat-. Why didn't she get a hat? She wanted a hat!
"I like," she nodded. "He reminds me of those old cowboy movies. Let's keep him. Hephaestos Deus Power, Make-Up!"
In a flash of red sparkles, soon the metal-decorated Sailor Hephaestos stood in front of Jack. She was only a few inches shorter than he was, but seemed a giant compared to the height she had previously been. Jace looked down at her uniform and made a mental note to rip off the bows later and attach spikes or something.
Reaching out a gloved hand, she shook Tyche's firmly. "Welcome to the Graikos," she said formally. "We're the ones who are -less- inclined to be lameass jerkfucks, like other creampuffs and men with mice." Hephaestos had never gotten over the Horologium incident.
Tyche replaced his hat with a frown. "You've done some fighting already then, huh?" he asked. Thoughtfully, he tapped his cane on the concrete floor. That must mean he had attacks. Otherwise, I'd be pretty useless, he thought. Was he supposed to remember how to fight or did someone tell him? "So how's that work?"
"We all get our own attacks. Percy'll tell you 'em." Hephaestos gestured towards the smug lovebird.
Percy gave Hephaestos a disgruntled look. With a sigh, he shuffled on his perch. "Erm, give me a second to remember. It's not easy memorizing all this, you know. Uh, ah! Yes! Jackpot. Yes, that's a nice once." Percy blurted, and then flapped to Hephaestos' shoulder with caution. "Aim it away from us, mind you."
Tyche nodded and turned on his heel to point his cane at the nearby water cooler. "How's that for a target?" he asked. Without waiting for a response, he moved forward into the attack, his lean body remembering the gestures before his conscious mind could. Smoothly, his feet came together and he raised his free hand, jerking downwards on an imaginary lever with a devilish grin. The sudden silence was shattered then by a cacophony of noise. Tyche thrust his fist up and shouted, "Jackpot!" Immediately, golden coins materialized and fell from nowhere, landing heavily all around and on the water cooler. After a few seconds of this rough treatment, there was a small cracking sound and a sliver-thin fracture appeared in the large bottle. Water began trickling floorwards.
"Whoa!" Tyche dropped his fist and grinned sheepishly as he went over to inspect the crack. "Why didn't someone warn me about that one?" The crack widened under his attention and more water dribbled out, falling on his neat white boots. Calmly, he held his hand over the hole and turned his eyes towards the others. "Um, someone want to get me a plug so I'm not like the little Dutchboy here all night?"
Hephaestos pondered the situation for a moment, then devolved into wild sniggers, applauding slowly. "Congratulaaaaaations," she jeered. "Nice one! Tyche in the dyke!" Nevertheless, she began looking around for something to plug it with, like Percy.
Tyche chuckled along with her good-naturedly. "Guess I'm going to have to practice some, huh?" he replied. He shifted his hand over the gap, better blocking the water.
Percy squawked excitedly. Flapping his wings and accidentally knocking Jace in the ear, he quickly flew off her shoulder before she strangled him. "Very good! Good aim for a beginner. Yes, about the cooler. Erm...do you have a rag or something? That might do the trick. Tear off a bit of your skirt Jace. We can plug it with the fabric," Percy suggested, obviously having a death wish.
Hephaestos gave Percy a look that would have broke stone, then pulled a handful of the metalmaterial ribbons out of her skirt, revealing quite a lot of thigh. It would come back the next time she transformed; she'd attempted to 'change' the costume before, only to have it revert back again each time.
"Memo; must eat Lovebird Surprise," she muttered, striding over to the unlucky Tyche. She pulled his hand out of the cooler with a squirt, then packed the material in tightly. It grew heavier than lead and set over the leak with a depressing squelch.
"There," she declared, tugging her heavy-sodden gloves off. Her hands were thin, tan and calloused. "Another Graikos fuckup fixed by Heph. You guys should pay me."
"What do you want? Birdseed?" sneered Percy, making sure to be as far away from Hephaestos as possible. Looking at the two, Percy blinked his small, beady eyes. The brightly plumed bird then clacked his beak in satisfaction. "Alright, de-transform the two of you. I want to go home. I'm tired and talking about bird seed made me hungry." he complained, giving a pitiful look in Jace's direction. "And no walking, mind you!"
Tyche absent-mindedly wiped his damp hand on his green pants and shrugged. "Re-entering reality now," he murmured as he closed his eyes and imagined what he was wearing before. With a faint golden glow, Tyche's outline shimmered and faded, revealing just plain Jack in his jeans and flannel shirt. He looked down to find the necklace gripped in his hand. Slowly, he reached up and tied it around his neck. "Now what?" he asked.
Hephaestos did the same, soon clad back in her shirt and jeans and wheelchair. Jace looked more than slightly worn out; she'd transformed a lot that day as well as training.
"Home," she said decidedly. "Drill, then home, then collapse in the bed and die because I've just wheeled myself all the way back near Fleming. In that order."
Jack looked down at his watch, checked the time, and then looked back up at Jace. "Hey, if it helps any, I'm off shift," he commented. "Need help?" -I'll risk it,- he figured. -We must've just bonded or something anyway. If she bites my head off, I haven't lost anything. I'll just go home and draw.-
Pride and exhaustion battled until pride lay bleeding on the sawdust. "I guess," Jace said hesitantly. "A little of the way. Thanks. Bet you need the exercise anyway, fatass," she added lamely to his lean frame.
"Your wish," Jack replied simply. Then he strolled over to the time clock, grabbed his card, and punched out. Replacing it, he almost smiled to himself. She wasn't so bad, after all. Just prickly. Probably good to have on your side, though. He glanced at Jace, sitting wearily in her wheel chair. -In fact, on my side is the only place I'd feel safe to have her on,- he decided. With that, he gently gripped the handles of her chair and pushed. "Just tell me how to get there, okay?"
Jace smirked. "Those are the key words, my man. I think I'll forego the drill today. Out the door. Run, horse, run!" She turned her head wearily. "You too, Percy. Leta might miss you. I think. I doubt."
"Of course she will. After all, I am me." Percy said confidently, flapping onto Jace's shoulder.
So thus the odd trio walked out the door and into history... or if not history, a telephone pole when Jace attempted to swing a left.
Sitting cross-legged on his unkempt bed, Jack looked down at the necklace in his hand, feeling it weigh heavier on his skin than the wafer-thin penny had any right to.
So I'm some sort of soldier of justice now, huh? he thought. Nah, lucky actually, he immediately corrected himself. With a sigh, he looked up at the ceiling of his small studio apartment, tracing the hairline cracks in it in their crazy dance as his mind continued to deal with his new situation.
Did he like this idea of fighting others? No. Did he accept it? Sure. What else was he going to do about it? It had been made pretty clear on the way to drop Jace off at her house that there was no hiding from the coming battles and to be caught trying it would be a death sentence. Needs must as the devil drives, he quoted to himself. Story of my life.
Sliding off the bed, Jack moved to the center of his apartment. After a second's thought, he kicked his foot outwards a few times, clearing the space around him of dirty clothing, crumpled papers, and books. Then he tossed the necklace upwards and called out his transformation phrase softly.
A few seconds sped by in overdrive and then Tyche was standing in Jack's apartment. This time, however, he still felt slightly like Jack; Tyche wasn't quite in control. Nervously, he moved towards the mildly reflective piece of glass he liked to refer to as a mirror. he already knew about the broad-brimmed white hat; he remembered that much. And the white boots... And the gold sash... And the green pants...
Finally, Jack/Tyche confronted himself in the mirror and his jaw dropped.
"Not ruffles. Oh, please. Not ruffles," escaped his lips. As his eyes confirmed that, yes indeed, he had ruffles at his neck plus a spiffy vest, the most emotion Jack had exhibited all day was released in one slow word.
"Shit. Ruffles..."
And thus Tyche was born into the world...