[Car 5]
Zachariah was dumbstruck. It was one thing to pause before saying "no", but to reject the offer entirely out of hand? That was almost unheard of, especially when the offer was something that valuable.
He was going to die. There was no doubt about that, his guts were too far gone. But maybe he could take some of them with him. He began gathering up his power, aiming to incinerate the entire train c-
Tamara shot him in the head with her SMG, tearing his skull to pieces. Zachariah dropped to the ground, his blood pooling on the ground around his body. The icicle in Tamara's shoulder disintegrated.
"Yeah," Tamara said to Isaac. "His blood'll stain the ground and the people who own the train'll make us clean it up and ask all kinds of awkward questions."
"You know I just gotta ask this question," said Irving to Thomas, finally, "You keep talking about demons this and demons that. Tell me — what have demons ever done to you?" After that, he glanced over to Angelus. "Huuuh, maybe with a name like that, you should be in that party, too, right? Or a city out west...east... it's east now..."
[Dining Car]
Tomas' eyes narrowed, and he said, "one of them destroyed everything I had." He gritted his teeth. "Found me at my weakest moment. Tricked me into thinking him an angel of God. Turned me into a mindless slave, a weapon of hate and bigotry. And then tried to trick me into walking into the moth of Hell itself." He leaned forward, clenched his fist, and growled, "I used to have a life, a family... all of that, gone. But now, with God as my witness, I will hunt that vile monster down to the ends of the Earth and beyond if I must."
[Car 5]
"And that's how it's done," Isaac said, satisfied.
Alice picked through the splattered remains until he found one of Zachariah's yellow eyes. "Ooh, perfect! Hey, anyone got, like, a mason jar on them?"
Isaac replied, "I think I might have an peanut butter jar in my room we can wash out for now."
"Okay, that'll do in a pinch. Anyone got something more immediate? A Ziploc bag or something, maybe?"
Yes, Isaac and Alice are taking it in stride, because that's how they roll.
edited 27th Jan '12 9:03:37 PM by KillerClowns
[Dining Car]
"Into the mouth of Hell," Irving slurred, pointing to his mouth, "Like this? Aaaah..." he let his mouth hang open, letting out the faint smell of brimstone — no, sulfur. Normal sulfur, of course, like he had eaten something a while ago that was rotten. "I don't know man. I don't know if I believe you. You know. Because it's kind of harder to get into Hell than people make it out to be."
Angelus clears his throat. "I'm very sorry to hear that, Thomas," he says wearily. "I, too, must hunt down a monster."
Probably best to avoid mentioning that his idea of "monster" is what this world calls "Homo sapiens."
He is distracted by Irving, and he furrows his brow. "Pardon me, but you seem to be implying that you can be used to enter... Hell."
Angelus always saw hell simply as a very sticky situation, not an actual place of punishment for dead souls like he heard some humans around here did.
He doesn't really want to be sitting too close to Irving anymore.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage![Dining Car]
Still not entirely aware demons beyond the sort he'd encountered personally existed, Tomas failed to grasp that Irving was being literal. "God help your dentist," he said, only half-jokingly. Then he continued, "but when the living Avatar of fanaticism and bigotry calls forth the gates of Hell, they answer. And it doesn't actually smell like... whatever that was." He shook his head, and sighed, uncertain why he was delving into the dark memories of that day. "Nay, the stench of Hell is not mere sulfur and brimstone. The smell is of dust, of sand, of... such utter sterility."
edited 27th Jan '12 9:37:54 PM by KillerClowns
[Car 5]
Tamara pushed herself to her feet, blinking. "Um... why are you taking his freaking eye? Are you going to try and study it or something? Because I think that all traces of Shaurei are gone, since he's dead. I'm not certain about that, though."
She put a hand to her shoulder and muttered something under her breath. Slowly, the wound began to close. "And if you want, you can take some of my blood," she said. "I didn't get the chance, but I've got some similar powers to him and then some."
[Car 5]
Alice said, "nah. Just a trophy. I got a spot between my tanned Yakuza skin and that gold-plated AK I stole off an African warlord, and I think a creepy golden eye will do perfect. Hey, golden eye! Like Goldeneye! Oh man, that was an awesome game..."
Isaac replied, "of course you think of the game first. Though I will say..." that's when he noticed Tamara's rapid healing. "Well, holy shit! Yo, Alice, you usually carry..." before the sentence was even finished, Alice had tossed him a handkerchief. "You always think ahead, don't ya!" he said as he dabbed some blood from Tamara's wound. "So," he said to Tamara as he did so, "if you don't mind me askin', if you ain't cutting a deal with a demon, how're you able to, y'know, heal up an icicle to the shoulder?"'
Good night.
edited 27th Jan '12 9:52:14 PM by KillerClowns
[Dining Car]
"Oh yes my dentist," said Irving, "God help my dentist. God help her. But I'm just wondering..." he poked his cheeks with the index fingers of both hands, his pajamas sliding down on his arms to reveal far too many scars on his wrist, going down his forearms. "Do I look familiar to you? At all? My face, I mean. I'm just wondering." Irving had acted as the Gates for so many demons that he didn't know if Thomas's demon was his or someone else's.
Baila eyed him cautiously, deciding silently that if things got too out of hand, she would attack Irving for being a dolt.
[Car 5]
"Born into it," said Tamara. "In my world, something like a quarter of the population has magic in some way. Most of it's small and only a single talent or so, but there are a few people who are more powerful and can use magic in a wide of ways. I'm one of them, although my actual talents are... somewhat lacking. The only things I'm more than decent at are shapeshifting and healing."
The train gently pulled to a stop as it reached the next station.
[Dining Car]
Tomas shook his head and said, "no, you don't. Why do you ask? And... what are those scars on your wrist?" He looked at them in worry. "I should hope they're not self-inflicted, or if they are, you've left that chapter of your life behind. I hope you understand, there are people who will help you if you have a problem..."
A cantankerous looking vulture — which an ornithologist would recognize as a Griffon Vulture — waddled gracelessly towards the train, a ticket in its beak. One of the station's employees made a quick attempt to shoo the bird away.
A voice, excessively formal, echoed in the employee's mind. <Is my ticket not sufficient? I assure you, I will not make any sort of mess, given that this form's biological processes are under my control, and I can manipulate the usual human toilet facilities.> The employee gaped and stepped aside. <Thank you.>
Tomas looked over at the creature. "Kokabiel?"
The bird's telepathy spread, so that not only Tomas, but all near him, could hear. <Indeed, old friend. It seemed time I ensure you did not get yourself killed upon this journey into the absurd. There are powers at play neither my Creator nor my Brothers can lay claim to. I suspect they may be relevant to my discussions with the late Qaisar Hosseini.>
Tomas nodded and said, "Ah... well, that's different."
<Indeed,> Kokabiel said as he took the seat by Tomas. He closed his eyes and, with other senses, examined each of Tomas' companions. <You choose such interesting company. My greetings to all of you. I am Kokabiel, former Avatar of Despair, present Avatar of Entropy.>
Unless it's said otherwise, assume Kokabiel is "talking" to everyone around — he considers private telepathic conversations without a good reason to be extremely rude.
[Car 5]
Isaac raised an eyebrow and said, "shapeshifting? Do you have any idea... holy fucking shit, let me think here. Listen, as a biochemist, I can't even begin to explain just how much crazy shit that power involves." He began to stammer, "I mean... I mean... I... how the fuck do you keep yourself — your brain, I mean — intact? And ain't there mass to worry about? Or do you just do, like, arm-to-sword? Shit, I don't mean to sound like a movie villain, but you have any idea how much I'd pay you to run some tests?"
edited 28th Jan '12 8:28:04 AM by KillerClowns
Irving pulled his sleeves down. Currently he was not too drunk to be embarrassed by the scars. people always made the wrong assumptions. There were always wrong assumptions to make, and his manner of carrying himself didn't do much to dispel them.
The train stopped, though, and he watched the massive bird converse with the employee, and soon the voice ringing in his brain. Well, shit. He didn't know how high on the pecking order a demon needed to be to do that, but considering the only one he had heard was Ashmodeus...
Baila finally got up, stretched herself on the table, and leaned forward towards Kokabiel to get a closer inspection.
<Why, hello there,> said Baila, though only Irving and Kokabiel could hear. It was rather obvious that she was trying to keep her voice from sounding like a giddy schoolgirl. Irving just turned pale in response — well, paler than usual.
This was the Trans-Siberian Railway, and so it was at least marginally cold out. The outfit of the newcomer climbing into the dining car reflected this, with a bulky, heavy jacket and similarly bulky pants leading to furlined-boots. It couldn't be that cold, though, considering the lack of headgear and the fact the gloves he wore appeared to be nearly skin-tight and tucked into his sleeves.
James Sanderson regarded the small number of people in the dining car with a vaguely disappointed expression. Not nearly the crowd he'd hoped for, but they at least looked to be a...unique bunch, so they were distracting enough in their own way hopefully. And tempting as it was to supervise the loading of his cargo, it wouldn't do to draw too much attention to it.
The vulture was going to take considerable getting used to, though. If it was vulture. It did not look like any other bird he'd ever seen, but being a creature of the concrete jungle himself that said little. Sanderson warily approached the bar, mindful of the fact birds and cats generally did not mix.
edited 28th Jan '12 9:17:35 AM by Night
Nous restons ici.[Dining Car]
Tomas looked over at Baila and, putting a protective hand on Kokabiel's head, said, "please make sure your cat doesn't eat the Avatar of Entropy. He doesn't appreciate having to find a new body."
<Do not worry for my sake, Tomas — she merely wishes to talk.>
Tomas looked at Kokabiel incredulously. "I thought you said animals can't talk."
<This one can.>
Tomas blinked in suprise and confusion and said to Irving, "er... were you aware your cat could, er, evidently talk?"
Kokabiel, meanwhile, turned his attention to Baila. Speaking exclusively to her, he said, <likewise. Though I must express some confusion — what manner of being are you?> He cocked his head, closed his eyes, and listened to Baila's soul. <You resonate with an unfamiliar tone. You are not a cat, nor a man, nor a being of the Unreason I know. Are you born, perhaps, in the lights of Paradise, the flames of Inferno, or the dust of Sheol? All three places are theoretical in my experience — there is only Unreason and the material universe — but mortal tales tell of them.>
Tomas nodded a greeting to the new man in the bulky snow gear. If this kept on, he'd let Kokabiel and Baila talk. Best not to interfere in the affairs of such beings if it could be avoided.
<Well,> said Baila <your friend seems unreasonably afraid of demons — I admit we're not the nicest bunch, but still — yet, he's been completely oblivious that he had been stroking the ears of one for about the past twenty minutes. The inferno is real, but it's not as they say.> She stretched, making a feline gesture back to Irving. <Possibly because we've been forced to put the gateways in odd places...>
"Baila!" Irving's voice was high and thready, and he looked about ready to pass out. He knew what was going on, and he didn't like this. This... Kokabiel did not belong to another witch. He said he'd never heard of the inferno, even, why did she have to tell him about it? He might get curious! He grabbed onto her and dragged her back on the table, her claws pulling the tablecloth with her. "Bad kitty! Don't talk to strangers!"
Okay, so the vulture was talking, somehow, about the cat. Which might not be a cat either. The concept of appearance not remotely reflecting reality was familiar enough to Sanderson that it didn't stun him. Still, it wasn't an entirely comfortable situation either.
He nodded to the man petting the cat, and started to introduce himself with a simple "Sanderson" when the other grabbed the cat and started pulling.
It might not actually be a cat, but it had acted marginally catlike so far. This wouldn't end well.
edited 28th Jan '12 9:50:25 AM by Night
Nous restons ici.<Let me down you big brute!> Baila hissed, though to everyone around except Kokabiel and Irving it just sounded like a normal, plain cat-hiss.
"No!" said Irving. "You are being bad! Very, very bad!" Baila's claws had dug past the tablecloth and into the table below, scratching the wooden surface. When he finally got Baila into his arm, she scratched his face, but Irving looked like he was used to this sort of thing by now, the lines turning red.
"Whatever you want," said Irving to Angelus. The bottle was nearly empty, anyway. "It's not mine anyway."
To Sanderson, Tomas said, "ah, come to join us? You've, uh, chosen an interesting time and place... in fact, you might want to wait for the next train..."
Kokabiel put in, <don't be offended by my friend's words — he speaks simply out of concern for your own well-being. But much like Irving, Angelus, and Tomas himself, I sense you are not entirely unused to the strange.>
Tomas then looked over at Angelus and said, "are you sure you want to do that? I should think that saying sober would be... your healthiest option, given the circumstances."
Kokabiel turned back to Irving and said, <dare I ask about your hesitance to let me and Baila talk?>
[Car 5]
"It's just animals," said Tamara, "and although there's a certain playability in the mass of my new form, it has to be fairly similar to my own. So no becoming a fly to spy on someone, and no becoming an elephant to trample them."
She closed her eyes, concentrated, and her form changed, becoming quadrupedal. In a few seconds, she had turned completely into a wolf. Opening her eyes, Tamara continued, "I don't know how my brain stays intact. In fact, no one does, but the most likely theories involve something with the soul and mind or something. And apparently, the extra mass gets drawn in from the air or expelled into it, rearranging the subatomic structure or something."
Tamara glanced over her wolf body. "And before you ask, no one knows about the clothes, either. Magic, I guess. Same way I can still talk like this."
[Dining Car]
Irving still looked on the verge of passing out. "You know," he said to Kokabiel, "You know, sometimes... sometimes there are things that only certain people, or things, or whatever, are supposed to know." He started, and swallowed, and didn't know how to press on with this, with so many others present. "And sometimes... sometimes Baila shoots off her mouth in all the wrong directions. Okay?"
Baila batted at Irvings face again, but he managed to bob his head out of the way in time, only getting a nick on the cheek. <You're supposed to be the one listening to me, stupid boy!>
edited 28th Jan '12 10:36:43 AM by ohsointocats
Sanderson started to reply to Tomas, opening his mouth, but the reply came to a screeching halt at being directly addressed by Kokabiel. It took him a noticeable moment to rerail his train of thought and reply after that.
"I'm...required, to be on this train." Sanderson adjusted his gloves momentarily, pulling them on tighter, but curiously by pulling on the portions just below the jacket rather than finding and pulling the ends. "Besides, I get the feeling this may have been the best train to get on when it comes to not having anyone check my papers."
Another brief pause and a sympathetic wince as Irvine got his face clawed for the second time. "Strange is a relative term. Rather say I put little stock in appearances as a determinator of anything."
edited 28th Jan '12 10:45:24 AM by Night
Nous restons ici.Angelus finishes off the bottle in one glug. "Thank you. Don't worry about me, Thomas. Just need a little to settle the nerves. I, too, have a... pet. More similar in nature to Kokabiel than Baila, I think. But he's very shy around fleshlings such as ourselves. In fact, he usually only appears when I'm about to kill someone."
How easily you forget that I am no pet. I'm telling your father about this.
Angelus suppresses a wince and holds out his hand to Sanderson. "Very nice to meet you."
The last battle's curtains will open on stage![Car 5]
Isaac was only half-listening to Tamara as he examined the inside of her mouth. "Tongue looks canine..." he gently put a finger on her throat, "vocal cords... the fuck?" He stood and said, "aight, Alice, I think we can agree what to say about this..."
In unison, they said, "fuck. Magic."
Alice continued, "no offense, but Izzy's a scientist. Magic stuff kind of... annoys him."
"It's total fuckin' bullshit!" Isaac exclaimed. "You're a wolf. You should be barking at us. Your tongue and vocal cords cannot make the sounds they are making! And... and... okay, y'know what? Fuck it. I don't care. You can turn into a wolf. Fine. Whatever. I ain't even gonna try and figure out what the fuck is going on, because I hate magic, and it's a mutual feeling." Then, softening, he added, "don't worry, though, you're still cool."
[Dining Car]
Kokabiel looked at Baila and asked, <is it really necessary that you assault your... friend?> His hesitance at the use of the word friend hinted he was uncertain if that was the right term. Then it turned its attention to the presence whose whispers he had sensed around Angelus. <And what, pray tell, are you, formless one?>
Tomas turned to Sanderson and said, "required? Ah, you have some idea of what you're getting into, then." With a nervous, forced half-laugh, he added, "that is more than I can say... and yes, I know very much what you mean about appearances." He sighed, turning down to the table and avoiding Sanderson's eyes. "I used to think appearance was everything. Thank God I learned my lesson. Demons can wear the skins of angels..."

[Car 5]
"Nah. Too long," Alice said.
"You always been impatient," Isaac chimed in, then turned to Corvine and Tamara and added. "You should see her 'round Christmas!"
Alice cleared her throat, and when Isaac turned his attention back to her, she said, "Izzy, 'nother round?"
"Probably a waste of ammo," Isaac replied. Then he turned to Tamara. "Any reason not to kill him where he stands?"
[Dining Car]
Tomas nodded grimly and said to Angelus, "a demon hunter — along with a sociopathic midget, a mad scientist, and a terrorist — have gone hunting for a demon. Wait, no, demon thrall. So there's that. Odd enough?" Then he pointed over at Irving. "That's Irving, a student with a... blatant penchant for vodka. And Irving, this is Angelus, a... er, if you don't mind my asking, who are you, anyways?"