Sarah glanced over, “Yea, yea look in the back, there should be an old metal box thing with some in it, be careful not to scuff my paint when you use it though!” she said.
Pernille looked at Styx and nodded slowly, “I see, well if you think it wise.”
“Thanks!” Styx shouted to Sarah. To Death she said, “It’s about being right, not wise. Hold my seat for me.”
Styx moved further inside and went to the back, trying to find that box when the rectangle spoke.
“Why restrain me? How am I to defend the universe, or even Kip, if I cannot move?” Blockade asked, though the sounded more like statements.
“You don’t have any better ideas if you ask that now!” Styx shouted.
“That does not answer the question. I shall ask someone with authority. Kip, how best can I defend you? Should I be bound or follow?” Blockade asked.
“HEY!” Styx shrilled, either insulted or disgusted. “Mrs. Appleton, that thing says a dog has more authority than you!”
Derek stumbled along under her grip like he was being lead by the ear. He sheepishly slunk inside the vehicle and sat himself in the corner while shrinking his body as much as he could.
Derek struggled to slip his hand into his pocket and retrieve the piece of paper kept there.
“Uhh…” he glanced at it very unsubtly for a few seconds. “He says Blockade can enter a different form for transportation, and that it would… be advised because he’s a-…”
“I’m not reading that part.” He tucked the paper away.
“That so? “ Dan said, opening the door silently, before starting to walk towards the woods.
“Do you know what you are?”
Syn clapped his hands together.
“That’s right! You haven’t even finished the deal! Ok, here’s the slip: You do have control over me, but you’ve only started the transaction. Now, you have to finish it.”
He stood in front of Henderson.
“So, here’s a question for you: do you, or do you not wish to transcend the world of man, and for once open your eyes? “
The eye projections vanish and reappear on whatever surface was closing to facing Derek’s direction.
“Should I debase myself to such a state, who would carry me?” Blockade asks.
Zenn takes a mental note: so, chilling means laying around doing whatever one wants…
Zenn smiles. She likes that word.
As Cody steps back, She is getting closer and more in his face by the second. For the first time, her face shows a great deal of genuine interest, even bordering on obsession.
“So, let’s rewind. You went to a weird place that you weren’t supposed to go to and did something that you weren’t supposed to do. And now, here I am right in front of you, neither of us knowing who I am, what I do and where I’m from. Sounds interesting, don’t you think? We gotta go there as quickly as possible!”
Zenn doesn’t know why, but she feels that this mysterious thing that happened to Cody last night is extremely important. A matter of life and death, almost. It feels strangely exciting.
But, as soon as that excitement came, it quickly goes away. Zenn returned to her usual disinterested self and moves away from Cody. Her face begins to look bored and dreamy once again.
She points the index fingers on all four of her hands at the pan on the stove.
“Isn’t that burning?”
Pernille raised an eyebrow but said nothing more sitting down in the front of the van and quickly making note of the many jumbled cassettes and CD’s that were in the glove compartment. With this at mind she quickly began to look through them to find something suitable, well, once she figured out what they were and what they were meant to do, but the pretty pictures on the front were quite neat.
Sarah turned slightly and stared with a deadpan expression, “I don’t care Styx!”
Sarah stared at him as she walked over, “What did it say? Let me read it kiddo…”
Henderson starts up his jeep and prepares to follow where everyone else is going.
“Brother, you have upgrade the sales pitch with whatever you are trying to deal. Ain’t no way someone is going to buy your goods with that sort of offer.” He pauses for a bit. “Unless you are trying to sell with edgelords, I hear that that market is exploding currently.”
“…What??”
“oh,” Derek looked at Kip, who did not seem to indicate anything one way or another. “I uh… I could, I guess… Just for now, at least until-”
He reached down and pulled the paper out again. “B-But it’s not that big of a deal! Look, all I have to do is carry the whatever thing this Revenant turns into, and-”
Derek clutched the paper to his chest with the appearance of utmost horror plastered across his features. “What?! No, nono, I can’t…”
“…here.” He handed the paper over without any protest, shamefully looking away as he spoke. “Does… does it say anything different?”
If Sarah were to look at the paper, she would see a wonderfully-detailed pencil sketch of her childhood home.
“I see. Allow me to put this into perspective: You, in all of your infinite wisdom, have already started, the deal. You cannot stop that. If you finished it, you would have access to my power, and thus, you gain a level with everyone else. Because believe me, you are going to be severely outmatched if you don’t take care of this.” He said, cocking his head to the left.
“This isn’t a market deal, this isn’t something you get to back out of if immediately, this is where you get a chance of finally fixing that fissure in your head, and perhaps, some revenge against your government’s supposed wrongdoings. So… what would you say to that?”
@Spawner
“Sounds like you’re in charge, Kip!” Styx said with a grin.
Styx gave up looking for the straps and came back to the open van door.
“Become small and I’ll tie you to Kip. How’s that blockhead?” Styx offered.
“Blockade. Acceptable terms.” The fridge answered.
In a sudden movement, Blockade slammed into the ground. Though there was no noise, not even a shake of the ground. Loose debris moved from the rush of air but nothing else. The white pillar shot downwards and as soon as the last white square plain of his top vanished beneath the earth, a ping pong paddle appeared in its stead.
Styx blinked a few times at the new object, shrugged, and then picked it up. She waved it around and knocked on it. It seemed like a normal paddle to her.
“Whatever,” She said. “Kip! Come here please, I need to tie this thing on you.”
He winces slightly at the sound and doesn’t touch the drive. “Dunno if I’m gonna get used to that,” he breathes as he slips into the car.
A moment later the vehicle roars (or rather, grouchily grumbles) to life, pulling out of the clearing and heading for the restaurant.
As Kip dutifully approached Styx to receive his new decoration, Will’s vehicle exits the clearing, heading towards the small diner on the outer edge of Tempest.
Large, single-pane windows covered the wall, completely revealing the interior. Aside from the owner, who grouchily recounted the cash in the register, there was only one other patron, an elderly man seated in the farthest possible corner fast asleep, a half-eaten slice of apple pie on the dish in front of him.
The street was, as it always was in Tempest, virtually empty.
Henderson snorted, "as if fixing my crazy will help me deal with whatever is coming next. I understand that I don’t see eye to eye with most people, and that I perfectly fine. If here is normal problem out there, let the normal people figure out how to fix it.
Yet, I don’t think this entire situation, or even you being here, counts as normal in the broadest sense of the term. I doubt that anyone else here is able to comprehend what in happened, and if it seems like they are i also doubt that they thought about it that much. If everyone single one of you Revenants is and real and powerful as you claim to be, then this whole town is already falling into madness. Might as well be ahead of the curve."
He rolled up the restaurant and hopped out of his jeep. "Anyways, what sort of pie in your favorite? "
A text box appears in William’s eye when they arrive at the restaurant.
Hacktop: So what is your plan now? Are you really going to go along with what that jerk Monty has in mind?
His eyes narrowed.
“And you believe you understand what comes next? Understand, Henderson, while I must protect you, I do not have to agree on the same terms.”
"Normalcy is a foolish concept…only used by those complacent enough to no longer ask questions. The other bearers…they understand enough…
…ΣПӨЦGΉ ƬӨ MΣDDᄂΣ ЩIƬΉ FӨЯᄃΣƧ BΣYӨПD YӨЦЯ ӨЩП…”
Syn’s voice distorted again, mixing with the sound of the dialtone and garbage noise. He twitched again, his body shuddering at some awful thought.
Syn went quiet for a moment. His form appeared back in Henderson’s vision, standing next to a lamppost. And then for a while longer… and eventually, it was hard to tell if he was active still.
“BᄂΛᄃKBΣЯЯY.”
He finally replied, blinking. It had been some time, since he had consumed something.
A century? No. Perhaps two. Or, was it just last year? How long have I been asleep?
Syn turned to Henderson.
“ЩΉΛƬ YΣΛЯ IƧ IƬ?”
Sarah moved into the driver’s seat and after checking that all of her wards were in place, “Alright everybody! Buckle-up and strap your seat belts in! That means you Styx!” she said glancing back to make sure she bothered to do it.
Pernille glanced around, “What is a strap belt? I require directions to th-” this diatribe was swiftly interrupted as Sarah stepped up, picked up the child, sat her down onto the chair and did it herself.
“Very funny kiddo,” she muttered as she got back up and moved back to her seat at the wheel.
Will pulls into the diner’s parking lot, exiting and locking his car. He makes sure to take the USB with him, looking a bit cautiously at it as he walks toward the front door.
His stride falters as he sees Hacktop’s text flit across the air, and turns a few times before he discerns it’s in his eye, or his vision somehow. He sighs heavily and grabs the door handle.
“He either knows things, or he’s lying. Either way I get breakfast.”
His face hardens. “And last I checked none of you others started offering up ideas on how to fix this whole situation. None of you other weirdos even knew why you showed up here, except the little girl convinced she’s some kind of avenging angel.”
He pulls open the door and steps inside, walking towards one of the tables. He whispers under his breath as he goes to avoid looking even weirder to the two people present. “So we’re gonna hear him out, and you can comment after.”
The journal does not stir in Sarah’s pocket. Horizons seems uncharacteristically silent the whole ride.
Using whatever string, maybe a random belt, or whatever she can find, Styx tied the paddle around Kip. The handle of the paddle was tied around the neck with the other portion resting on the back.
“Come on,” Styx bellowed and followed with a quick, “One sec.”
After Kip was handled, she briefly thanked Pernille for saving her shotgun seat and jumped in. She grabbed and pulled on the seatbelt. Her entire frame rolled in the seat as she locked it into the buckle with a satisfying snap. Slouched into a relaxed position, Styx sat back up in a more proper position when Sarah returned to the driver seat.
“I’m strapped Miss Appleton,” Styx said with an indicating air that someone should be impressed by this. Even pulled on the belt away from herself for emphasis.
“I see, good on you,” she sighed with a chuckle, “So, Styx, how are you holding up? Also, meant to ask earlier, is that kiddo your companion or something?” Sarah asked as she began to drive forward, presuming that Derek buckled in.
She popped up at the mention, “Oh yes, I am, if that is what you like to call it. I am the current Grim Reaper.”
“Of course you are, sit back down!” Sarah grumbled.
Henderson sighed and walked back to his jeep, “Listen man, if you are feeling hangry just say it.”
He opens the doors, and searches for something and comes back with a snickers bar. “Here, you are not yourself when you are hungry.”
He holds the snickers and pulls out the amulet near it, hoping for Syn to eat it, somehow…
Hacktop thought for a moment. It is true that he didn’t fully know what was going on. Then again, management didn’t bother to tell him the full picture either. If he asked why unknown users where online on the same system that he is working, they might blow him off entirely, and at that point asking would be a major waste of time. He needs to figure out more before he writes up a proper report.
Hacktop: Well if you say so.......