"The Dagger of Thorns"
Whitechapel, London – October 12, 1889
The fog rolled in thick that night, curling like fingers over cobblestone alleys. Gaslamps flickered in protest, their amber glow swallowed by the damp veil hanging over Victorian London. Rats scurried, horses neighed nervously, and something moved—too silent, too smooth—through the smoke of the living city.
And then came the scream.
High. Piercing. Wet.
Blood sprayed across a brick wall, warm steam rising from a body still twitching on the ground. The killer knelt beside her, blade in hand — no longer rusted iron, but something far worse.
It pulsed.
The dagger, curved like a serpent fang, was wrapped in obsidian-black vines that writhed with every heartbeat. The air around it shimmered, distorting as if time itself recoiled from it.
Jack watched the woman's final breath leave her throat, his eyes glazed not with pleasure, but with purpose. The dagger wanted. It whispered in a tongue that had no origin, only intent.
"Another. It's hungry."
Jack stood and vanished into the mist.
---
British Chrono-Intelligence Bureau (CIB) – Undisclosed Location beneath Westminster
Agent Eleanor Maves paced under the dim green glow of temporal anomaly readings. Five bodies this week. All mangled in ways no human weapon could explain.
The latest crime scene photo was still developing. But the signature was unmistakable—deep serrated cuts, charred bone marrow, and a black residue on the flesh that corroded the very air.
She turned to the telegram officer.
"He's struck again. Fourth time in ten days."
"You think it's him?"
"No." She lit a cigarette with shaking fingers.
"I think it's something inside him."
She yanked open the secure comm unit. A rotary panel slid aside, revealing a strange brass-lined dialer etched with runes.
> "Prepare a telegram. Highest priority."
The agent clicked in the sequence slowly:
✴️ 2-4-5-7 ✴️
A moment passed. Then a click.
The operator nodded.
Maves dictated:
---
> TO: YŪGEN SECTOR 9 – NEO-TOKYO HQ – YEAR 2457
FROM: AGENT MAVES – CIB, LONDON – YEAR 1889
PRIORITY: BLACK
SUBJECT: ROGUE ENTITY – CODE NAME: RIPPER
Temporal breach confirmed. Unknown artifact of pre-temporal origin in use. Multiple fatalities. Entity may be vessel.
Requesting immediate cross-era enforcement.
Time fractures growing.
If we fail to contain this...
The World Zone collapses.
Somewhere in Tokyo—far in the future—the call reached ears that did not blink.
And across space, time, and death itself… Jack grinned.
The hunt had begun.