For a long time, the human race sought to know the identity of Jack the Ripper. From Europe to the United States, many wanted to know the identity of the infamous murderer. But upon the killer's identity being revealed. No one knew how to make of this.
Anger?
Confusion?
Fear?
All of these emotions blend into a single feeling.
...Dread.
"This is insane! The Jack the Ripper is a woman?!" One onlooker yelled
"I never thought this was possible. All of my theories are wrong," An investigator morosely said, throwing his fedora on the pavement.
"I may be a god, but this is shocking even to me!" A minor god exclaimed.
However, none of the audience members were more vocal than those from the Victorian Era.
"This can't be true! M-Ms. Pryor?!" A socialite screamed in disbelief.
A police officer shakes his head, refusing to accept this as reality.
"This has to be a trick. How could one of our finest be the horrid killer?"
"How could she be Jack the Ripper? It doesn't make sense," A female socialite muttered as she remembered having tea with Winifred.
Meanwhile, Tomoe couldn't make of Jack, or more accurately, Winifred. She would hear tales of Jack the Ripper. The murderer that even the gods couldn't catch. She pictured every version of the killer.
A sadistic, brutish man.
A demon.
Even a cult uses the moniker to conduct sacrifices.
But standing before her in this proxy version of Kyoto is a fair lady. Yet, Tomoe could sense an otherworldly maleficence from this woman.
"So... You're Jack the Ripper," Tomoe said, glaring at Winifred.
Winifred chuckled dryly, "I did say I was, didn't I? But it's alright, my dear Tomoe. You and everyone in this arena have every right to be astonished. I mean, for the greatest mystery of criminology to be exposed is rather...shocking. Ufufu."
Winifred then grasped her hands together and gave a pleasant smile at Tomoe.
"Now then. Since you exposed me, I understand everyone is curious to know who I am and why I did those things. You can ask me questions, and I'll answer them truthfully."
"This isn't a game," Tomoe stated, every word uttered with a hint of disgust.
"A game? Oh no, this isn't a game. This is a forum. This is where you will get to know the real me, and I will get to know you. After all..."
Winifred's following words spoke with a cold, unfeeling tone.
"Only one of us will not be leaving here alive."
Tomoe glares at her foe with no hint of fear and reluctance.
"...Okay, then. Two questions. One, who were you before you became Jack the Ripper?" Tomoe said, her glare unchanging.
Winifred let out a small giggle before answering Tomoe's question.
"I was a detective, my dear. I once pursued a path of justice until I found that some of my associates were not as righteous as I. Thus, I took justice into my hands."
Tomoe sneered, "I highly doubt killing defenseless prostitutes counts as justice. This led me to my next question, why did you kill them?"
"Why?"
Then Winifred's darkens into a wicked grin.
"Because they're trash, dear."
The gods and humans in the audience gasped at Winifred's disregard for the action she committed against her five victims.
Tomoe's face deepened her scowl as she hissed, "Trash, you say? How could you be this heartless after what you did!"
Winifred scoffs as she dismissively waves Tomoe's words.
"Innocent? Silly, naive samurai. A prostitute is one of many plagues that ills society. You see, Tomoe, there are people, then there's filth. Filth, like those women, is a disease to civilization. For every good man, there's a murderer. For every refined lady, there's a harlot. If anything, I did London a favor, really."
Tomoe grimaces as she couldn't accept such bile spewing from this monster standing before her.
"A favor, huh? Okay then," Tomoe said as she put away her bow and walked to her naginata.
"Then I'll do all of humanity a favor and-"
Then Tomoe removed the naginata from the ground and pointed it directly at Winifred.
"Jack the Ripper! I will do away with your evil!"
Winifred smirked as she found it amusing to be called evil despite seeing the exact evils she slayed.
"Me, evil? Ufufu," Winifred darkly giggled as she pulled out sets of throwing knives in each hand.
"A pity you don't see my point of view. I guess I'll die a fool's death!"
Then Jack the Ripper unleashed a series of series of knives towards Gozen. Tomoe responds as she deflects them with her naginata.
Knowing that he needed to provide commentary, Hermes decided to refer to Winifred as Jack the Ripper.
"J-Jack the Ripper has unleashed another flurry of knives, but the strongest samurai of the Heian Era is pushing through the onslaught! These two women intend to kill each other in the most gruesome of ways!"
In the skybox, Nike watches the match with a sense of curiosity.
"Okay, I don't know what's going on here. If Winifred is Jack the Ripper, how did she elude the other gods of justice and the angels?"
"Tell me, Nike. What do you know about the Mere of Cocytus?" Athena asked her faithful companion.
"W-well, it's a gloomy marsh where the souls of those who haven't paid Charon for passage are forced to wander. Why?" Nike asked
Athena adjusted her glasses before telling Nike, "After the Constitution of the Divinity that brought the pantheons together, the gods of the Chthonia formed the pocket, Limbo, to house excess souls of mortals into slumber."
Nike's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this revelation.
"Wait, gods like Lord Hades made Limbo? I thought Lord Zeus created it."
"He gave me and the rest of the Chthonic Council the means to make the pocket realm," Hades interjected.
"After the constitution, as the souls cross over, there was a bit of an influx. So, Hel, the other Cthonic gods, and I came up with Limbo in agreement with Zeus."
Nike nods as she starts to understand.
"Okay, but what does that have to with Winifred?"
Then Nemesis snorts angrily and speaks with anger and a hint of shame.
"Well...there was an incident that involved one of the mortals escaping Limbo...under my watch!"
Nemesis shakily removed her visor as the gods could feel the vengeful goddess's palpable fury, revealing red eyes with steel grey irises.
"To think that this bitch is not only Jack the Ripper and the same soul that broke out of Limbo of her judgment was called! I...I atta..."
"Honey," Melinoe softly said as she grabbed Nemesis's hand as a sign of affection and reassurance.
Nemesis let out a deep sigh. "Apologies, my love. I merely can't comprehend how this human managed to outsmart me and the rest of the Chthonic gods."
Hades nodded in agreement, "Indeed, Nemesis. Limbo was meant to be a stasis to put the humans in slumber before they are judged. For Ms. Pryor to do something unimaginable is admirable yet...ghastly. I wonder what drove her? Her conviction? Or her sins?"
Back in the action, as Tomoe got close, she prepared to bring down the blade of her naginata to cleave through Jack. But the Ripper, seemingly from thin air, brought out of a pair of cleavers to deflect the attack.
"C-Cleavers?!" Hermes said in disbelief.
As Winifred backed away, Tomoe huffed, "Cleavers, Jack? You must have loved to crave helpless victims, don't you?"
Winifred moans as she finds Tomoe's accusations bothersome.
"How rude of you to assume I enjoy killing for perversion's sake. Didn't your mother tell you not to judge before getting to know the individual?"
"You kill helpless people," Tomoe hissed.
Winifred shakes her head in disapproval.
"I see my word didn't wrinkle your brain. A pity. Do you think those I killed were innocent? Are prostitutes and adulterers innocent? Are molesters and rapists innocent? Con men and violent drunkards innocent? Dear Tomoe, I believe the battlefield has warped your perception of right and wrong."
"My perception is clear, Jack the Ripper!" Tomoe yelled as she charged at Winifred.
Winfred flings the cleavers at the samurai with precise aim. Tomoe blocks the first cleaver, but the second curve in the trajectory hits Tomoe in the right clavicle. As blood flowed from the wound, Amaterasu let out a concerned gasp.
Nohime and Benkei watched as their comrade pulled the cleaver out of her clavicle in the stands.
"Honestly, Tomoe, can you see a straightforward approach work. For once, stop being so foolish," Nohime spoke harshly with a tinge of concern.
Yet Tomoe watched continue her charge, undeterred from her injury. Then, jumps in the air, changed her grip near the end of her polearms, and launched a powerful thrust.
Izanaki: Landmaker
Winifred jumps back before the attack can strike. As Tomoe's attack landed, the force of Inazaki caused the grounds to break and kick up debris. Before she could react, the blade of Tomoe's blitzed out of the dust and managed to slash at the upper right arm. The serial killer winces in pain and stumbles back as she clenches at her now bleeding arm. Tomoe then cleared the dust, standing vigilant and absolute.
"Tomoe has managed to direct a devastating strike to Jack the Ripper," Hermes announced as the crowd cheered, clearly showing their support for the samurai.
Tomoe removes the cleaver from her shoulder blade and discards it to the ground.
"Well...it seems we both have hindered each other's right arm. How poetic," Winifred said amusingly.
Tomoe sneers, "Doubtful. I can manage the pain and endure it, murderer. I won't stop until your legacy of madness ends."
"Madness?" Winifred repeated before giggling.
As she chuckled, it became more unhinged and manic, unsettling the audience and the gods, say for Loki.
"Ufufufu, that samurai is in for it now," Loki said with a sly smirk.
Hachiman looks at Loki, sensing that the Norse trickster knows something.
"What are you talking about, Loki?"
Loki drifts and leans onto Hachiman's throne and playfully touches his hair.
"What I mean, Hachi~ Is that Winifred takes being called mad very personally."
Meanwhile, Winifred's gloves radiate crimson energy as they materialize a massive pair of silver scissors.
"Madness, you say, dear Tomoe. If you think upholding justice is madness..."
Then Winifred had an eerie, unhinged grin as she opened the sinister blades of the scissors.
"Then...I must teach a course through delightful pain."
A Madness that runs deep into this Woman's Soul...!
Next time, The Origin of a Lady turned Killer...!