anima walks to his doorstep to see a few people have still stuck around for the finale of our story.

"Thanks for sticking with me, folks.  Have a seat and hear how Jack made his stand."

anima lights up his Cuban and pours his glass of scotch as he sits down to continue his tale:

The smell was so familiar to Jack.  The must of old, smoked cigars.  The twinge of alcohol on every gasp of air.  The safe house had been built when Jack was born in case of emergencies for the family.  It had been used a number of times whenever a new gangster decided he was tough shit.  It then became more of a war room for his father and his closest captains.  Jack had been here plenty of times, but never ever did he imagine he'd be here under this circumstance.  It was the only building left of the family's entire estate.

Jack poured himself a glass of Johnny Walker Blue, his father's own special stash.  Sitting in his father's large leather chair, Jack closed his eyes and thought about the events of the last few days.

Sitting in the chair in the warehouse, he could barely see his father being surrounded by goons.  He tried to yell, but nothing came from his tired body.  He knew that if he could get to the opposite roof he could use one of the sniper rifles his father had inevitably left up there.  It took Jack no time to untie the ropes that bound him, he had done this so many times with his trainer, and bolted for the opposite building.  He knew his time was short and with every step he took he knew he was coming closer to his fathers death.  Jack reached the rooftop and found the stash of snipers.  He grabbed the first one he could find and scoped into the next building, only to see his father's dead body lying on the ground, and the guards all looking at where he was sitting just a few moments ago.  Jack felt a ping of rage he had never had before.  That's when the shooting began.

The next wave of rage came when Jack moved his scope to Marauder, who had escaped.  He knew he should have shot him first, but was worried of any of the guards coming out and finding his position.  Bolting from his position on the roof, Jack decided the first thing he needed to do was make sure his mother was ok, and understood the situation.  That was the first thing he did when he got to the safe house.  His mother was devastated, of course, but understood the next steps.  Luckily the family had plenty of friends in Paris for her to hide out at.

Jack now needed a plan to get back at Marauder, and take back his family business.  And he had just the idea to do it.  You see, word hadn't quite reached everyone what had happened, and not everyone knew that Marauder was looking for Jack.  So, he had a little time to get a few steps ahead of Marauder.  First things first, Jack needed a fake eye if was ever going to be able to play off being someone else.  Then came a few plastic surgeries and a new hair change.  After a few months you couldn't even recognize Jack.  You would have never guessed his heritage.  Which was just what Jack wanted.

You see, as Jack was taking the time to look different, Marauder was setting up his empire.  Being a fearless maniac generally does not work out in your favour.  But in our world it can lead to people being afraid of what you may or may not do.  This was the situation Marauder found himself in.  Many had tried to cross Jacks father, but all had failed.  Epically.  The fact he got to him, and rumor had it he had gotten his son as well, was enough to make all of the other top Mafioso's bow to Marauder without flinching.  To add insult to injury, Marauder resurrected Jack's family mansion and moved himself and his crew into what was his childhood home.

Running things from Shellshock Crossroads made things much easier for Marauder, but it also meant he needed a large influx of new members.  Jack instantly saw his in.  Being a young kid, he knew he could get in at the lowest level running drugs around the city, and move his way up.  This is exactly what he did.  Jack had been watching these trades since he was 10 years old.  He knew exactly where to be, and when, and quickly rose up the drug ladder.  By the time Jack was 18 he had 10 dealers under him, and a few bosses looking to bring him under their wing.

After hearing numerous reports of a young up-and-coming member name Leroy, Marauder decided to talk with the kid.  He needed someone to run Shellshock Crossroads, as he was having to move around a lot for meetings.  Everyone in the city already loved and respected the kid, so it seemed like an ideal match.

When Jack got the letter to head to the HQ, he couldn't believe his eyes.  He knew he had a plan, but he never knew it would go this well.  The meeting lasted for a day with Marauder, who was thoroughly impressed by his new recruit, Leroy.  Marauder saw much of himself in this kid.  Smart, capable, and willing to learn.  This was the obvious choice for his manager of Shellshock Crossroads.  It was 2 days later that it was announced to the public.

A few year passed, and Jack was now the right hand of Marauder.  He had brought Shellshock crossroads to a new high in commerce, and the city was flooded in money.  He had also been working on his connections, and knew that it was about time to finish his plan.

Jack had, over the last few years, put bugs in peoples ears.  He knew that his charismatic ways would lure people to want to be around him, and it did.  He had found 3 close friends who knew who he was, and knew about what had happened with his father.  In Jack's opinion that's all he'd need.  Jack had no intention of running the show.  He just wanted to kill Marauder and let his reign end. 

The plan was simple.  Jack was one of the few people allowed into the HQ with a gun.  His friends would distract the other guards near the front office while Jack cornered Marauder to himself.  The next day they set the plan in motion.

His friends got all of the guards distracted with a stripper in the break room.  Not knowing who it came from, or why it was there didn't really matter to those guys.  Who's gonna mess with Marauder anyway?  Jack walked right into Marauder's office and there was no one around to stop what was about to happen.

Marauder looked up from his paperwork and flashed Jack a smile, "Ahh, Leroy, what can I help you with?" Marauder asked as he moved his attention back to his desk.

Jack put on a sly smile as he raised his Desert Eagle and pointed it directly at Marauder's head.  He pulled the glass eye out of it's socket and said, "Don't you think it's about time you call me by my real name?"

The look on Marauders face was priceless.  In one instant he was confused, in the next utterly baffled.  How could someone as intelligent as him let this happen?  How did he let the power get to his head enough that he did not see this coming?

"So, what?  You're going to shoot me?  You think you'll make it out of here alive?" Marauder said, thinking maybe he could talk his way out of this.  "My guards are everywhere.  You have nowhere to go. No, no.  Your best option is not to shoot me, but let's figure out a compromise."

"A compromise? A COMPROMISE?" Jack yelled.

He didn't even let Marauder finish speaking before  he pulled the trigger.  The gun made a loud bang like dynamite making a hole in a mountain side.  The blood flew from his head onto the wall as bits of brain matter slowly crept to the floor.  What happened next Jack expected.  He heard running towards the office, and saw the office door burst open.  What Jack saw, was not what he expected.

Instead of seeing Marauder's henchman he saw the 4 other major bosses from the other cities, and their henchmen surrounding them.  Apparently Jack's friends thought that they could offer much more help then just a distraction.  All of the other bosses had been griping about Marauader's ability to run things, and more specifically his tax rate.  Marauder felt that since he didn't just kill the bosses they owed him an exorbitant of money.  No one was happy with that.  Upon hearing of Jack's potential return, all bosses decided to work together to take down Marauder. 

The biggest boss stepped forward and said.  "So, what now, boss?"

anima takes a large sip of his scotch

"And that is the story of One Eyed Jack, the biggest bad ass of all time.  Hopefully you can take a page from his book and learned to be loved and respected.  To work your way to the top, and then find the friends to help keep you there.  Thanks for listening :D"