---

"Oh... thanks..." Dakota spoke in a somewhat dazed voice as the well-dressed boy shifted her bag away from the window. He had just volunteered to pick up the shrapnel she had indicated, but apparently changed course upon seeing that she was hurt. This wouldn't do at all. Her head was still spinning, partly from the pain of her wounds and partly from the shock of the whole situation. Dakota had never been the calmest of people, and at the moment she was struggling to keep her brain from entering full-on panic mode. Still, the terrible feeling that she was dragging these people back overpowered every other emotion that was swirling around inside of her. Most of these people seemed so calm, so logical... Even though none of them had any clue what was going on, they seemed to be handling it a lot better than she was. All she had managed to do was get herself hurt. This guy should have been arming himself or finding an exit, but here he was, going out of his way to help her. She couldn't let that happen.

"I'm okay!" She forced a smile in response to his expression of concern, stepping away from the windows as instructed. "Just a few scrapes here and there. That's what I get for standing in front of an exploding window!" She laughed, trying to assure the others that she was alright. There was no need to worry about her- they could focus on saving themselves. She only hoped that the terror in her voice wasn't too apparent. It seemed to work well enough, as he shifted his focus away from her and back to the situation at hand. He suggested they look for an emergency switch, which she had to admit sounded better than her idea. But from the looks of it, the seat-switching guy at the front of the car had been doing that for a while now with no success. There were the obvious red levers that could operate the outside doors, but unless they planned on falling to their death, those seemed pretty useless at the moment. Either the helpful boy realized this as well, or he simply wished to arm himself, because he still dove toward the pile and managed to get his hands on a large piece of metal.

As she watched him run toward the door, she heard another voice come in from behind her. Its sudden appearance startled her, and she clenched her fists as she spun around. In her head, she was prepared for the worst. But as it turned out, the voice came from the disheveled boy who had stepped over her earlier. She laughed a little, slightly embarrassed at her reaction. Here she stood, looking as though she were ready to fight for her life, when all he was trying to do was offer her painkillers for her wounds. For better or worse though, it seemed the boy could not see her reaction. Although he was speaking to her, he had his eyes shut and his head turned away. He also appeared to be trembling, and his breathing was erratic. If he was anywhere near as scared as she was though, that was entirely understandable.

Dakota smiled at the boy as she took the pills from his hand, though he could not have seen it through closed eyes. Here was another person going out of his way to help her, even though he was obviously just as (if not more) terrified of the situation than she herself was. "Are you alri-" she started to ask, but was interrupted by a loud CLANG from the front of the car.

Mr. Stylish had managed to open the door! The nervous boy immediately disengaged from the conversation and ran toward the door, and Dakota followed suit immediately afterwards. After a few steps though, she halted in her tracks. Something had brushed against her foot. The sight of the object nearly sent her into shock. It was a smartphone- her smartphone- an object she had seen every day for the past three or four years. The sight of it now... the screen was shattered, and a couple drops of blood had fallen on it. Just moments before, she had been eagerly offering that very phone to Jason. She had been looking forward to classes, stressing about her new life, trying to make friends... all of that, everything normal, had been shattered along with that screen. For the first time in all of this insanity, it struck her that Jason was dead. The boy she'd been talking to less than five minutes ago was gone. Forever.

While the others examined the newly-opened doorway, Dakota knelt and picked up the device. There was no signal, of course. As she touched it, the screen flashed on, revealing a half-typed message to an unknown number. Jason must have begun to text someone before the world had shifted.



That was all it said. The cursor still blinked, as if it expected an end to the sentence that would never be finished.

"Seems clear." Seat-switcher's voice brought her back to reality. If this even was reality. She stood quickly, shoving the phone in her pocket and pacing over to the door. Everyone was here now, except for Mr. Stoic at the back of the train. The next car looked identical to the one they found themselves in now, save for the lack of bloodstains and broken glass. Same eerie red glow and cobwebs everywhere. Dammit. How many more cars would they have to pry open? And even if they reached the control room, she highly doubted anyone here knew how to drive a train. Even that was assuming the vehicle would start up again. Something had caused it to break down, after all. What if it was irreparable? Swallowing her panic, she stepped past the others into the next car. She'd been pretty useless so far, but perhaps she could at least scout ahead...

“Don’t run. She will find you. Don’t fight. Or I will kill you.”

The voice was chilling. Dakota spun in circles, looking frantically around the empty car for its source. Nothing. Perhaps it was back in the other car? The deep, gravelly noise seemed to be coming from every direction at once. She scanned the car once more before turning back to join the others. Safety in numbers, right? Just as she reached the doorway though, all hopes of attaining "safety" were immediately discarded. The awful, screeching sound of tearing of metal reverberated throughout the car, and she found herself staring up into the beady eyes of the ugliest, most ridiculously gigantic spider she had ever seen. The sight of it flooded her with terror- stronger and deeper than any of the preceding events. She began trembling, choking back the uncontrollable laughter that was attempting to escape from inside of her. It was Dakota's equivalent to a scream of fear. This was how her brain had always coped with such emotions, and while it was impossible to make light of a situation such as this, she had to brace herself against the door frame to keep the laughing fit from taking over.

It would be so much easier to give in, to fall to the ground and die reveling in the ridiculousness of the situation. It was ridiculous after all. Impossible even. The whole thing felt like a scene out of a video game. Except in a video game, the screen would have blurred the second she saw that spider. Then she would have found herself up on the roof, weapon in hand, ready to kill this thing or die several times trying. But this was real... Dakota had no weapon, no magical powers, and no "Retry" button. Although from the looks of it, she was about to have a "Game Over." Right after the soft-spoken girl it had just snatched in its claws... It had all happened so fast. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. Her bandaged hands were completely useless against the enemy atop the train. Even if she could climb to the roof while avoiding the lightning-fast movements of this spider-creature, AND land a successful blow with her fists somehow, there was no way it would not have already consumed the girl.

I'm sorry... The thought rang through her head. She turned away and shut her eyes, unwilling to watch the carnage about to take place. I'm so sorry...

Here was one more person she'd failed. Another life she could not save. That girl, Jason, the others... she couldn't help any of them now. The disheveled boy's voice met her ears, seeming to echo her own feelings. "Couldn't you have taken me instead!?" At least he'd done something useful... Dakota should be the one to become spider food. Not that that wouldn't have happened in a moment anyway, but the impending doom did not help to ease her conscience. At least each of the others had contributed something. Heck, the boy who was now screaming that the spider should have taken him had gone out of his way to bring her medicine. She hadn't even had the chance to thank him. All she'd done was get herself injured and distracted. Tears began to form behind her still-closed eyelids.

All of you... I'm sorry...



A sudden gust of wind nearly blew the purple-haired girl out of the doorway. Dakota's eyes flew open, only to be met by a blinding blue light. Her guilty thoughts fell away as she stared at it with amazement. Both the chestnut-haired girl and the spider had been completely consumed by it, to the point where Dakota could barely make out their figures. She found herself frozen in awe, overcome by this power before her. It lasted only a few moments, but it felt like an eternity. This girl... the shy, innocent young woman who had seemed so uneasy on the train ride before all of this even happened... Somehow she was fighting back. It was impossible, and yet it was happening. This girl had quite literally looked into the face of death, and had remained unresigned to the obvious fate before her. Had she always had this power? Why hadn't she used it before? No... that couldn't be it. If she could have done this the entire time, there would have been no reason to offer up her kitchen utensils as weapons. And if the power was hers, she wouldn't have had to cry out to someone else. Whoever this "Adam" was, he must have been beyond powerful. Was he the one causing this weird glow?

But when she saw the creature that appeared, she began to doubt that particular theory. Whoever this fox-person was, she certainly didn't look like an "Adam." Way too pretty. The nine-tailed woman was dressed entirely in white, with gold accents that only added to her ethereal beauty. Everyone, including the girl in the monster's claws, seemed shocked by whatever had just occurred. Still, she seemed to find her resolve, driving her knife into the monster's claw as the fox-girl began her assault. Dakota managed to tear her eyes away from the scene, scanning the room again for some kind of weapon. She might not have magical animal-summoning powers like that girl, but she had been given the same second chance. And this time, she would not let these people down.

The sight she was met with, however, was nothing as promising as a potential weapon. In fact, it was quite the opposite. A grotesque, fly-like creature had appeared in the shattered window, and was making its way inside to join the battle. Dakota grinned, eyeing this new foe as it made its way into the train. This was a bit like a video game... and with "Adam" the fox-girl on their side, it struck her that they may even have a chance of winning. This time, she would not hesitate. All the pain and guilt faded to the back of her mind as her legs propelled down the hallway, dodging to avoid a collision with the disheveled boy. "Help me out!" she called to him as she passed. As soon as Dakota got close enough, she lunged toward the monster. She was aiming for its back, hoping to grapple it so the others could strike. At least if it couldn't fly around, it would be a much easier target for fox-lady. Even dead weight is good for something.

@Aislynn The fly like creature maneuvered through the window, setting himself between the first and second cart. Being the first humafly here was a bit of a drag, but he knew if he could handle the mess while the offspring took care of the other demon, he'd be up for a major promotion. Heck he might not ever get eaten again, what a motivator!

To his surprise, some female human had realized what he was doing and was bum rushing him like a shark on a floating seal. "Try not to kill um" he thought to himself "that aint what her bigness wants." The little human leaped at him, seeming to intend on grabbing him in some way. She wasn't that fast or anything, so the humafly easily raised the blunt side of his spear in front of her, making contact with her chest.
"Sawry girly, nice try and all though."


Does she fall? Keep pushing on trying to grab him? Let someone else get in there?

Y'know when Sam leaped for the metal bar near the windows he did it in a mad rush 'cus he was scared of that weird pincer leg coming back in for round two. Seeing someone get wasted by something straight out of a monster movie could really light a fire under your ass. Which made it even weirder when he grabbed the thing and everything felt like it calmed down. Like, in a calming but creepy way. Everything outside felt just too damn calm. Despite how high up they were the air was totally still and stale. The silence was so heavy that it actually made Sam stop and notice the hammering of his heart in his ears.

None of this made any sense. Everything outside looked like the sky was having a bad acid trip, and those spider webs! Sam didn't know if he'd make it out of here or ever work out what was going on but now he had something like a weapon in hand he felt a little more like he could handle it. It was weird but the stillness was kind of zen in a way. Then he remembered the giant monster outside and it went back to being freakin' sinister!

With a fresh sense of purpose and capability Sam strode towards the end of the carriage and slammed the thin part of the bar into the seam in the door. Internally cursing himself for not going to the gym or working out more he strained with all his might, finally managing to pry the door open with the help of the Asian guy with the glasses. A little out of breath and too pumped up to feel chatty Sam gave him an appreciative nod and a grunt by a bro's way of thanks.

He didn't know whether to see the empty cart through the way as soul crushing or not but Sam kept on going anyway with nowhere to go but forward. He made for the far side and the next door, ready to lather rinse repeat on the new door. Until that voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Don’t run. She will find you. Don’t fight. Or I will kill you.”

“What the hell was tha-” Sam didn't get to finish that thought as the roof got torn apart like it was paper . That damn clawed leg thing came reaching in again and in a blind panic Sam flailed away at the thing with his broken bit of pipe.

He quickly learned it didn't do anything 'cus the one swing that connected with it bounced off the lib like he'd hit a brick wall. And Sam couldn't do anything but look on helplessly as it grabbed the smaller of the two girls in the group and leaving them all looking on in terror.

'Oh god... oh god no!' Sam couldn't speak, he couldn't make any sound at all! His blood ran cold, his legs felt weak. He was about to see someone die! Really die! As that sick monster leaned in close and Sam felt his eyes welling up yet he couldn't turn away. 'Please no...'



“What the hell is that!” Sam cried.

It was a sexy fox lady was the answer but Sam didn't quite get that right away. What did get was the dead air going cold like a gale swooped in and blew the actual cobwebs away. What looked like ice started springing up and Sam was left gawping as the monster above them recoiled like it was the one who should be scared.

That sexy fox chick was on their side! Holy shit!

That was good enough a hope for Sam to latch onto! It felt like their narrow prison was exploding into activity but they weren't alone on the ground anymore. There were more monsters now, one more at least. It looked like the thing was breaking in through the window and goddamn if Purple Hair wasn't trying to take thing thing on!

Hyped on seeing one of these monsters back them up and feeling a wave of fresh strength coming over him – kind of – Sam's brain went all 'Do or die' as he brandished his pipe and got ready to charge in.

“Okay...” He breathed in deep looking at the other guys still around him. “Let's fuck him up!” And he ran for the thing that seemed busy poking at Purple, and swung right for its head!

Jeff's heart was certainly about to blow itself to bits. The girl who had just been snatched up by that hideous claw thing was now dangling less than a meter away from her captor's venomous maw. Jeff knew that by himself, there was no way to save the girl's life, and he highly doubted any of his classmates could do any more for her.

You sure you don't wanna play the hero right now? I'm sure you'd give them at most half a second's worth of distraction if you were to jump inside instead.

"Shut up!" Jeff barked at the empty night sky. It looks like the effects of Jeff's pills had just worn out, releasing a much more dangerous side to its awkward, well-meaning, and clumsy counterpart. "I don't get you! You show up just to mess with my mind during a life or death situation like this one! You know that if I die because of your ox dung, you're not leaving without me."

Everyone was too spooked solid to notice as each passenger was busy trying to look away from the upcoming gruesome display of their classmate's guts...

Everyone except for Jeff, of course. He was busy watching the end all go down. Wow, looks like this'll be quite the bloodbath--



Suddenly, the whole train starts to shake, almost knocking Jeff down, and where the monster was supposed to be standing and leering menacingly at its enemies while chewing on the little nugget's freshly cut head... A giant icicle... "An iceberg?" regular Jeff says, awestruck. It is then that the creature born from Eden's heart made itself manifest, much to the shock of both personalities of Jeff. This new combatant, apparently as human as the animated females from those "octopus documentaries" that Jeff enjoys, suddenly grabs the poor girl's body in its hands and places them in the arms of that one Japanese kid who scoffed at him earlier.

"I would kill to see this douche flat on the floor, dying from his injuries or whatever. I'd make sure the last thing he hears is my whispers, telling him..."

"You tried."

Jeff could barely notice the purple haired girl as she rushed empty-handed in a crash course towards the spear-wielding bugger monster. "Hey, little lady; did you not just see me attempt that same maneuver?" Just as she sprinted past Jeff, she yelled at him in distress. "Help me out!"

"That's the first time anyone relies on me in a good while..." He thought out loud, gripping the bloody handkerchief that he'd received from the little cooking girl. "And this time, there's no way I'm letting this girl down!" At this point, the young lady in question was tugging at the monster's spear, trying to wrestle the weapon away from it. "This girl must be out of her mind... There's no way she's snatching the weapon from that thing on her own."

Jeff noticed that the monster was fighting with a handicap. He's holding the spear upside down! Recognizing his opponent's incompetence, as well as his inability to operate its weapon, he decided that his best shot at tipping the scales in his direction were to do what everyone knows he does best...

Before his body could begin sprinting in the enemy's direction, though, his mind urged him to stop and consider the situation he'd been thrust into. "Maybe I'm better off aiming for a weak spot or something..." His eyes immediately fixed on his opponent's huge, bug-like peeper on the left side of his face. "If I were to smash my knuckles against that eye, I could at the very least cripple his vision..."

He charged at the monster at full speed, yelling "This is how we do it in Brooklyn!" For once, he was trembling... not out of fear this time around, but with excitement. If he keeps going down this path, risking his well-being on a whim to ensure the survival of all the Pillars of Hope, he knew that he'll be able to change the world himself... That girl's awakening means that he's definitely on the right path to achieving his goal. Jeff arrived at an appropriate range to strike, and with little to no remorse in his face, and a single obnoxious chuckle, he swung a left hook with as much motivation as possible, aiming straight for the monster's eye. "Say hi to my buddy Beelzebub for me, will ya?"

The World

To the fly creature’s dismay, it appeared that the group of students were actually attempting to put up a fight. He swore the last time he had done this, half of them had been trembling in fear wishing for death. The colorful girl had grabbed onto his spear handle and was attempting to pull it away. And he was pretty sure that two of those boys were rushing over to help her. How troublesome. “Gimme dat back!” he yelled at the girl as he attempted to pull it away. It was no use though, she was surprisingly strong for a human and if he was going to deal with the other two threats he was going to need both hands.

He released the spear pushing it to the side, he knew he’d only have one chance to make this work, and then he’d have to deal with this girl having his only real weapon…For now he just had to focus on the boy with the metal piece. The swing came in, and while swift completely missed his face. “HAHA, you missed!” he yelled into the air “Now’s my turn!”.

The cart was starting to get pretty full and the fly man knew he would eventually be outnumbered “if oly wun dies, I should be okay,” he thought to himself. He raised his left hand and moved it to the right and a huge gust of wind made contact with the fancy boy and his metal, shooting them both outside the window to fall to their deaths. The creature looked back just in time to take a huge punch to his eye cluster, a few of them popping as the boys fist made contact. It let out a scream and stumbled back further into the cart away from its escape route.

@aislynn
Dakota felt the spear give way as the bug attempted to toss it to the side, in one movement the two boys who had come to help had made their moves, and one, seemingly out of nowhere, was hit by a huge gust of wind that just narrowly avoided her. She watched as the sharply dressed boy went flying out of the window. To die a slow and terrifying death, yet there was something inside of her, something that knew she could still help, if only she could reach out, if only she could be better. A word attempted to remove itself from her mouth, it begged to be screamed!

Although she didn't look like it, she knew that her master was in good hands with the rest of those children. Just by looking at them, she could sense the Personas just waiting to burst out of them and come to her aide, but it was clear that it wasn't their time yet. Stealing one quick glance in the direction of Eden, seeing that she was protectively stashed away on one of the corners near the floor, and that those who were fending off their enemies with a new found strength were also okay, Inari brought her attention back to the spider monster, her expression stern, but playful. She watched with a amused look as the monster began to back up, trying to separate her from her master and the other humans. While she would have much rather stayed behind and made sure everyone was alright, moving one of the bigger enemies away from them made more sense; they were humans, but they could take care of themselves...

Playing along with the spider monster's plans, Inari followed after the spider as it crawled farther away from the mess. As she slowly caught up, she released another icy breath towards her opponent, hoping to slow it down before bringing up a clawed hand and slashing downwards. She needed to inflict as much pain as possible so that when her backup arrived, it would make things easier.

@Tenma Tendo
The ice flew out of the fox demons mouth again, but the large spider was prepared this time raising himself back onto his 2 most hind legs as the cold struck where his front legs had just been. The ice was only a distraction though it seemed, as the woman's claw came down toward where his face had been a moment ago, the nails shimmering in the cold air.

Luckily for the spider, he had raised himself high in the air and as the claw came crashing down on his chest, leaving a large gaping claw mark, he was able to fall down on the kitsune. Shoving his pincers into both of her shoulders and slamming her onto the ground. He barred his fangs again ready to sink his teeth into the other demon, so that he could return for the children he had come for.

---

Dakota felt the air leave her lungs as the blunt end of the creature's spear met her chest. In hindsight, that had probably not been the best of moves. After all, they'd seen how quickly the spider-like demon could move, and had no reason to believe that this one would be any slower. Had she not been so caught up in the moment, she may have found it odd that the creature had merely tried to deflect her, as opposed to impaling her with the sharp end of his weapon. Either this thing had no intention of killing her, or it was simply terrible at its job. Whatever its motivations, it lost no time in mocking her for her failure. It spoke in a hideous, raspy voice that would have unnerved her were she not still flooded with adrenaline from her initial charge. "Sawry girly, nice try and all though." Instead of fear, the words filled her with anger and disgust. She wasn't done trying yet.

The only thing standing between them was that spear. Dakota regained her composure, inhaling as she wrapped her hands around the weapon at her chest. Then she pulled as hard as she could, determined to tear the object from the fly-creatures grip. It snarled at her, demanding that she release her hold, but she yanked again. This time, the hideous beast gave in. Dakota stumbled back slightly, the weapon now firmly clenched in her fists. She stared at it for a moment, somewhat amazed at what she had just done. She'd actually been useful! Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a horrifying shriek. She looked up at the battle ahead, just in time to see the nervous, white-haired boy land a direct hit on the creature's disgusting face. Fly-guy stumbled back into the train car, reeling from the blow. Dakota then turned to the boy, whose fist was now covered in blood and eye-fluid. Alright! She grinned. Gross, but alright!

But the victory was short-lived. In all of the commotion, she hadn't noticed the spell that had been cast. A powerful gust of wind blew against her face, nearly knocking her over. And she hadn't even been the intended target. The unmistakable sound of human screams drew her eyes to the window. She regained her balance as quickly as she could, watching in horror as the well-dressed boy was cast out into the night. No! she cried. Abandoning the fight at hand, she took off after him. Yet the winds were too strong, and too fast. She reached out as she ran, but the boy seemed to get further and further away, and the seconds felt like hours as all hope of saving him vanished from her mind. Dakota's pursuit was halted by the windowsill. She grabbed onto it, leaning out of the car as far as she could despite the jagged shards of glass that remained. But by now it was simply a hopeless gesture. He was just too far away... another person lost. She watched, wide-eyed and helpless, as the boy began to plummet toward certain doom.

I... I'm so sorry...

The world seemed to freeze for a moment. The weight of the stagnant atmosphere vanished, and the noises of battle ceased to reach her ears. Was this what death felt like? Perhaps one of the creatures had snuck up behind her, devouring her before she'd had the chance to think. But the overdressed boy's face was still imprinted on her mind. She couldn't move or breath- she only found herself staring. He too was frozen, along with the other fly creatures that had yet to enter the car. Though she could not turn around, she somehow knew that the action behind her had ceased as well. Dakota didn't know what to think, or what to feel. She was as silent and still as the rest of them, which was entirely new to her. She couldn't remember the last time she had been completely still. Usually she was always shaking, but now... nothing. Then a melodic voice pierced through the silence.



What?



The voice sounded sophisticated and full of scorn. What did it mean by "go after him"? The boy was already so far out of her reach, there was no way she could save him. If she were to jump from the car, all she would accomplish would be to get herself killed alongside him. The voice was right, he had just tried to help her. But any effort she made would be completely useless. Useless... that was all she was. All she ever would be. There was nothing she could do for Mr. Stylish, or anyone else for that matter.

It's impossible...



And...



Dakota felt the weight of the cell phone in her pocket. Jason... she'd been on the ground, lying there helpless as he was slain in front of her. And Hayden... she'd let him down too. And now this boy... just moments before, he had been pulling her bags to the center of the train, going out of his way to make sure she was alright. No matter what she did, she was always in the way... But not anymore. Yes, it seemed impossible. But that meant nothing. The world began to move again as she reached for the windowsill. She hoisted herself over it, willingly jumping toward the endless abyss below. Toward the one she wished to save. Though it was just coming to her now, Dakota had always known what to do in the face of the impossible...







Suddenly she stopped falling. Brilliant light enveloped her, and powerful winds blew out from where she now hovered. Her hair was flying in every direction, and true to her word, she was grinning from ear to ear. As the light began to fade, a figure manifested behind her. catching her by the waist as the levitation wore off. It then dived further, grabbing the boy by one of his many layers of clothing and pulling them both back up toward the train car. While she could not yet turn to see her savior, Dakota found herself amazed at the purple-and-gold wings that propelled them upward. They seemed like those of a peacock, but more elegant. As the new arrival soared up above the train, depositing the humans on the roof before flying in to join fox-girl in battle.

Lyrika...

Dakota somehow knew the name. It echoed in her heart, drowning out all other thoughts. She found herself nearly frozen now, concentrating on maintaining the manifestation before her. The creature was beautiful. It looked almost human, although she got the impression that the masquerade-esque pattern that engulfed one side of its face was not, in fact, a mask. Lyrika held a massive harp, which Dakota instinctively recognized as a weapon. Despite never having seen anything like it before, she felt confident in what she had to do. Lend her strength, she thought, shifting her eyes toward the fox-woman. Dakota's own persona responded accordingly, playing a tune on the harp that could only be described as inspiring. An orange circle appeared under the fox woman, flashing for a moment before fading away. Somehow, Dakota felt that it had increased the fox's attack power. She only hoped it would be enough to let her break free. Well done, Lyrika. She smiled again, even wider this time. Guess I'm not so useless after all.

Sam had never been the best kid at sports so maybe he shouldn't have been surprised when his swing met nothing but air. All the adrenaline fueled strength in the world couldn't help you when you were too panicked by looking a nightmare in the eye he guessed.

“HAHA, you missed! Now’s my turn!” Came the gloating screech of the monster in front of him. It's voice was worse than its face, buzzing and grating against his ears like a high pitched whine on the edge of his hearing.

In all the confusion of his first ever fight to the death Sam hardly noticed the flick of its wrist the thing sent at him, like some gesture to dismiss him. He felt what followed it though. The rush of air hit him like a brick wall, smacking him full on and knocking his improvised weapon from his hand. before he felt it rushing past and its push clutching at him like a hundred invisible hands. He didn't even have time to scream, that came once he realized the ground was gone.

That came as a dreadful moment of realization when he regained his sense, opened his eyes, and saw the grav train looming above him. For a second that dragged on like nails down a chalk board Sam felt that stillness from before all around him. Smothering him. He screamed. With everything he had he screamed as his brain realized what was happening, as he felt the cold terror of knowing he was about to die. Helpless, frozen, tears welling in his eyes- THIS WASN'T RIGHT! IT WASN'T FAIR! And their wasn't anything he could do about it... he'd failed. All the boy could do was look on in horror as all hope left.

Then there was that freakin' flash of light! The punk rocker chick from the train was floating above him, a big shit eating grin on her face. That wasn't even the weirdest thing of it all, she was actually in the goddamn arms of angels. One that was reaching down and grabbing Sam out of the air by his coat. So was he actually dead... was this what the end looked like? Like Gem and the Holograms?

Thankfully for Sam's Catholic relatives, no. Their second giant woman friend took to the air like neither of the teenagers in her arms weighed a thing and dropped them off on the train roof.

Sam dropped to his knees, eyes still watering and panting like a damn wreck. For some stupid reason he felt the need to look over the train's edge at the empty void, like he just had to check that he wasn't still there. His stomach churned and he instantly regretted that decision.

"You... you saved me!" He practically squeaked. To purpele hair, and kinda to himself.

Sam's heart was pounding in his chest like a sledgehammer and his shocks didn't end there. That angel that had just saved him (she was freakin' huge and shone like gold so she was pretty hard to miss) was already taking off and joining the fox chick fighting the giant spider.

THE GIANT SPIDER?! That was the thing, the thing that got them before! Sam would recognize those legs anywhere. "We gotta get out of here!" He called to Purple. Except she looked like she was in a world of her own. Staring down the angel that had just saved them (had she gotten knocked out of the train too?) and was looking at it like... like she knew what was happening. Was she linked to that thing in some way?

"Great job, asshole." The voices were finally starting to dig deep under Jeff's skin, as if capitalizing on the boy's state of sheer terror. Two of your precious pillars of the future just abandoned ship right now. Do you want to join them yourself, or would you rather that fly monster tell you which window to jump off of?" No thanks to the influence of his other half, Jeff hung his head in disbelief, dropping tiny salty droplets from his eyes. It is only then, as his eyes were focusing on nothing but the floor below him, that he noticed something rather interesting laying on the floor within arm's reach: a lead pipe! It bore no resemblance to any functional weapon of its kind, but it made for a much better blunt weapon than Jeff's bleeding knuckles. With a grip trembling with both nerves and excitement, he reached for the pipe, a sinister grin creeping from ear to ear.

"My answer is C, neither of the above. Letting this tenderfoot get away with my head would be far too anti-climactic an ending for me." By then, his control over his own sanity had started to slip. "I want to make sure this guy gets what he deserves, so I'm passing the baton over to you. Just try not to get too much blood splatter on the jacket," he said to his other half.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" His blood started boiling as he sacrificed any and all morality in his system to focus on raw, unbridled power. With the lead pipe gripped firmly in his right hand, he started walking slowly towards his target, never looking away from the other eye cluster--the one that wasn't busted open by Jeff's fist earlier. "I'll do you a little favor before I trample you like the bug you are," he snickers, raising his blunt weapon. "I'll knock out your other eye, so you can tell everyone else in Hell that you never saw it coming.