-And now for someone completely different-
You are now Droll.
What's your last name? Droll is your last name.
Then what's your first name? Well, dang, you can't remember. Let's just call you Droll for now.
You are now Droll. You were the happy homeless man from the prologue. You are a shortish man who keeps a semi-neat appearance even for a homeless man, and you have been living in-slash-around the old Betty Crocker factory for seven years. You kept an eye on the place since it shut down and moved to New York. You are also not happy that two ne'er-do-wells have occupied your home for the past two days, all while watching them from the side like the little creeper you are. A girl had trespassed as well, and she joined the other two. Even after all of the arguing, you're convinced she is in cahoots with them.
You step around the red designs on the floor, nearly tripping over your own feet in the process. You flip your shit and flail aimlessly until you regain your balance on a nearby wall. Whew! Good thing you didn't disturb it. Who knows when it'll awaken and kill everyone again. You don't know it yet, but in your pocket holds the device that controls these things. So you really don't have anything to worry about. You have never tried out the device.
While you were spying on the three youngsters, the device in your pocket began to vibrate and get really hot. It had never done that before, so you took it out. It was glowing an ominous gold. The four white orbs seemed to float around it is glowing and jiggling in your hand as if it were around familiar entities that were not yourself. You hold it in your hand and stare at it for so long, you space out. More yelling jolts you back to the young people. Your gaze switches from one to the other until you see the girl's face more clearly.
That was the girl! The girl from all those years ago when Jack was arrested, you're sure of it! Your eyes widen significantly and you scamper away from the children. You have to tell the boss!
-The next day…-
You are now Jack Noir, and have been sitting in jail for attempted murder, and are completely content with your current life. You wake up every morning, satisfied that you have dealt with the head bitch-in-charge and her stupid granddaughter heir or whatever.
That is, until your roommate, previously known in another life as simply "Boxcars", told you a year ago when he was arrested and put into the slammer with you, that the old hag that had destroyed your planet so many years ago was very much alive and the little girl was simply missing, presumed dead, which is just fine with you. Let's just say that you flipped out. Over the months that had commenced since then, you have been trying to escape and finish the job, but every attempt made your situation worse and eventually landed you in permanent solitary confinement. At least you still get three square meals and visiting hours. But then again, who would ever visit you?
"Hey, Noir!" the guard yelled, banging on the door roughly. He loves to rattle you while you sleep.
"Fuckin' douche," you mumble. Then you yell, "What?"
"You have a visitor." The door clicks open and you are promptly placed back in cuffs.
"Glad to see someone has faith in me." You are led from your cell to the main visiting area.
"Oh, I have faith in you. Faith that you'll try to escape. So I'll have the warden sit in on our discussion."
The warden? Ugh, that guy was a joke, you thought. The dark, stout man used to be a judge and now he has taken over the jail as warden in his late middle-age. He is obsessed with caution tape and the way he decorates his office with it does not convince you that he is to be taken seriously. You are also pretty sure you both came from the same planet. You have suspected it for a long time.
You are led from your room that you have now convinced yourself you will never see again after this random visit. You have no idea who is waiting for you, but you are planning to use them in a hostage situation if necessary. You have a shank taped to your chest just in case.
You finally get to the visiting area full of tables and chairs bolted to the floor, which is roped off and isolated. Despite your relief, you physically cringe and furrow your brow, shutting your eyes tight at the sight of the visitor.
"Hey boss!" he stands up, waving with fake excitement. You squint your eyes at him, knowing that tone of your former colleague's voice anywhere. Something terrible has happened. Or rather, something stupid. You eye the warden, dressed garishly in his usual caution tape-yellow pants with matching dress shoes, a white button-up, and a tie with overlapping caution tape designs on it, and roll your eyes.
The guard sits you down, leaving you in cuffs, and leaves. You were still glaring at nothing in particular when Droll speaks up.
"So, uh, boss, we have a problem," he stutters.
"Stop calling me boss, you moron!" you snap, gesturing your chin towards the warden. You just notice the warden's gavel pen in his chest pocket. For some reason, this pisses you off even more. "And get on with it, I have plans tonight."
"Okay boss—I mean, sir." He fidgets and shoves his hand in his pants pocket. Droll is wearing exactly the same clothes that he wore ten years ago. He truly was a homeless man. He is also nervous. You cue him to move on. "Well, I kind of saw the girl alive…" You lose it.
"What?!" you bellow, standing up. The table groans against you and the chair rips up from the floor and clatters behind you. The warden reacts immediately, subduing you and forcing you back in the chair.
"Well, I wasn't sure at first, but then I recognized her from all those years ago!"
Through your seething, you finally calm down. "You're positive? One hundred percent?"
"I wasn't until…" He paused.
"Until…?"
"Until I uh…"
"Spit it out!"
He has to be positive it's her, if only for your own sanity's sake. If only you hadn't thrown away that ring! Without that ring, you are powerless. It supposedly remembers the intents of its previous wearer, as long as it hasn't been worn by somebody else. Or at least that's what some crackpot documentary back on Derse said. In any case, you can't exactly approach a well-protected person of interest without some serious firepower. Rather, ringpower. That ring was the key to everything: to revenge, to the future, to—
"You mean this ring thingy?" he says, pulling out that familiar gold ring with the hovering spheres around it. Your eyes widen.
"Where," you whisper. "Did you get that?" You lick your lips, eyeing the warden again. He looked absolutely uninterested. In fact, he is completely taken by the inside of his eyelids, snoring lightly.
"Well, you threw it out that night, then I found it—"
"Give it to me!" you demand. This startles the warden awake. He frowns in disapproval. This particular jail was thick with thieves before he took over.
"But it's just a ring," he tells the warden. The warden is wary, but nods in approval. You stand up quickly, almost too quickly, and turn around, extending your fingers towards Droll.
He puts the ring on your finger. You smile for the first time in a year. Tonight will be the night. Well, it's the afternoon, but still. You give Droll a secret signal with your fingers that you were positive he would still remember after so many years. You turn to face him again and he nods and ducks under the table.
You use the ring's power to transform yourself into the familiar form of the jester hat and the sword sticking out of your chest. There is some screaming from the other visitors, but you ignore them. Your wings extend and you break your cuffs, startling the warden again. You crack your neck and saunter toward him menacingly. He scrambles to the panic button on the wall, stumbling along the way. His mistake: turning his back on you. You pull the sword from your torso and with one fatal swipe, behead the warden where he cowered.
You smirk, letting out a single "heh" and face Droll.
"Let's scram." He cautiously gets to his feet and you grab his arm. Sword still in hand, you cut down the bars leading to the exit, as well as the foolish humans that got in your way, dragging Droll along. You plow through the building less-than-gracefully. You reach the exit doors, accidentally decapitating the man behind the visitor's desk. Again, the foolish human should have moved.
You break through the glass doors, simply not giving a fuck anymore, making the humans scatter and scream in different directions, toppling chairs, tripping over each other and whatnot.
Ah, sunlight.
You hate sunlight.
You turn Droll away from you, grab his underarms, and hoist yourselves straight up into the sky, your companion screaming bloody murder until you knocked him out about half an hour later.
What will you do?
Jack: Kill that bitch and her granddaughter.
And their little dog too, if they have one.
-Gadzooks! Let's switch to the other three guys-
-Rats, I have to choose one?-
-Fine.-
-Be Jade-
Your name is Jaya Vantas, and you are very annoyed that you have to take the train across the entire country with three layovers and no compensation. At least your party has your own private room thing. It's better than cots and the hard floor, you think.
You don't think you like trains very much. You can't go outside and feel the air through your fingertips, or have the wind blowing through your hair at top speed, or even hunt from your window, jump off and collect your loot, then jump back on. Besides, your collapsible shotgun you packed was confiscated. Life isn't fair most of the time. You sit with your knees against your chest and your arms folded on top of them, glowering out the window at everything.
The door slid open. It's John, the guy who is acting as your brother. You two looked nothing alike. You can't see the resemblance, anyway. He's holding three slices of pizza and three condensation-soaked water bottles between his arm and his stomach. Your stomach rumbles.
"Where did Dave go?" he asks, closing the door.
You shrug. You couldn't care less where Dave is or where he went. His stupid sunglasses-covered face that you couldn't even see annoyed you. Since day one, he's been bossing you around, telling you to act more like a normal human, and being a real douche about it. That, and he stood by while your gun was taken away. It's your favorite thing in the world; you even made it yourself. It's the only thing you're grateful to Vriska for, since she smuggled the parts over from the mainland for small favors here and there.
"Pizza?" He is obviously trying to break the tension. He sits down, allowing a whiff of the stuff to float past your nose. Your stomach rumbles again, louder this time. "I'll take that as a yes?" he guesses, nudging the plate against your arm.
"Thanks, John," you say sheepishly, accepting the plate. You feel bad for him, always having to hang out with that coolkid who isn't really cool. The only one who thinks Dave Strider is cool, is Dave Strider.
As if on cue, in walks Dave Strider, sunglasses and all. He is carrying a shoebox. Since when do they have a shoe store on a train?
"Hey Dave!" John greets with that silly grin of his. "What's in the shoebox?" he asks, pointing.
"Hey, pointing is rude," he quips. "It's not for you anyway." You think your eyes meet for a split second, but he immediately turns away, putting the shoebox above their heads next to their minimal luggage.
You huff a bit and turn back to the window, spacing out. You miss your dog. He must be lonely in the baggage car. You sigh.
"Getting cold feet?" Dave asks, feeling awfully close by. You turn and find his face in very close proximity to your own.
"Wah!" you yelp, flailing slightly and hitting Dave in the nose with the back of your hand. His sunglasses fly off. You also bump the back of your head on the window in the process and crouch forward, holding the spot with both hands.
"Ah, fuck!" Dave yells, pressing his hand against his face. "Ow!"
"Jaya, what happened?" John says, pushing past Dave. "Are you okay? Did you bump your head?" You want to reply, but Dave speaks up first.
"Oh, thangs a lot, buddy," Dave retorts. "I thought we were frienz."
"Sorry, Dave," John apologizes.
But that's not enough for Dave. He turns to you.
"I thing you broge my doze!" Dave yells. You've seen his eyes only once before, and they're pretty scary when he's angry, especially in that bright red color you've only seen on your patron.
"Well, all men are babies anyway!" you yell back. You stand up, glaring into those red eyes at your full stature, even though you're still shorter than him by a head, which just so happens to be another thing about him that pisses you off. There is a bump growing on the back of your head, and it's starting to throb with the adrenaline.
Dave rolls his eyes, still angry. "John, put thoze fingurs dowd!" he orders, not even turning around. You look past Dave, and sure enough, John is holding his fingers in a rectangle shape towards you and Dave with one eye closed and a smile as wide as the Pacific itself. You have no idea why he keeps doing that. Or what he is even doing.
"No!" he laughs.
"Egberd," Dave stretches out the "r" sound. He turns away from you. "Put. Theb down. Now."
"Nope!"
What will you do?
Jaya: Go visit your dog.
You go visit your dog.
-Be Dave-
You are Dave Strider, and you think your nose is broken and bleeding, and it's all that girl's fault. How were you supposed to know that she was that easily startled? And John is doing that thing again where he puts his fingers into a rectangle shape and pretends to film what he sees. It's like he ships you and Jaya or someshit.
"Well, I'm going to go visit my dog!" she interrupts, pushing you aside with one hand. Damn, she pushes hard! It's no use saying "ow" again. You're already in pain. Not pain in your nose, but pain in your neck, back, and side from this girl's entrance in your life. It's not like she's not enough trouble already, taking her across the country without her having to pay a dime. You got the tickets from a shady ashen guy outside the train station wearing clown pants and crazy hair. He gave them to you for the shady price of four dollars and twenty cents each. You gave him a ten-dollar bill and told him to keep the change, which he took without even looking at it, all dazed and confused for so long it ain't true. You're starting to wonder if they were even legit.
"Bye Jaya!" John says, waving after her. You swear that he already acts like her brother. "You know, I totally ship you two."
"What?" you deadpan. Called it. But no. Hell no.
"Yeah, you're totally my OTP!"
"OTP?!" You throw your arms up in frustration and remember that the world is brighter than normal and start to search for your sunglasses. "Why? I don't even like her!"
"… Not yet," John adds. "I just see you guys interact and I can't help but to put my fingers up and say to myself, 'Wow, there is attraction here!' "
"Attraction!" That's it. You are done. You are so done. "Dude, what is even happening right now?"
You decide to leave your best friend alone and try to find a bar. The dining car is in the opposite direction as the baggage car, which is convenient. The less you interact with Jaya the better. You're the director, and she's the actress. You're colleagues, nothing more. You shake your head and the uneasy feeling you have in your stomach goes away. Finally, you find your sunglasses up next to the shoebox and slip them on.
You open the door, slam it shut, remember there is a slice of pizza, go back, open the door, grab the pizza, and slam it shut again, shoving the overpriced food in your mouth all at once.
You fumble your way through the cars, dodging children and carelessly tossed bags in the walkway. Somewhere, your bro is laughing at you. You have never been too nimble on mass transportation vehicles. You really should learn to flashstep while in motion better. Your swag meter is really taking a dive right now. Good thing Jaya isn't here to see you.
Were you just thinking about Jaya again? You seriously need to stop before she goes and infects your brain like a parasite that doesn't really do much harm at first, but then you start getting used to her and then she sucks the life right out of you.
Finally, you get to the dining car, and lo and behold there is a bar, complete with a bartender. The guy doesn't look like much of a threat, more like a relaxed and laid-back sort of guy, so you casually approach and sit on one of the stools bolted to the floor.
"I'll have a Rita," you say. A Texas Rita. Your bro calls cocktails girly drinks. You like them ironically, though. It's more like you hate the taste of alcohol even more than those damn smuppets he's always making.
"Beat it, kid," the bartender says without looking up from cleaning the glass.
"Hey, if you need an ID, I have one right—"
"You're not twenty-one, so get." How does he even know?
"You're right, I'm twenty-two."
He looks up from the glass with only his eyes and you notice the small diamond tattoo next to his eye, like a fuckin' teardrop tat you get in jail when you kill someone. His ice-blue eyes nearly pierces through your gaze in this crazy staredown. "Leave, or I'll have you thrown off at the next station."
You sigh and ask for apple juice instead. He gives you a cold one and you make your way back to your car. You are so thirsty that you finish it before you get there. You sigh and toss the empty bottle on someone's chair.
It doesn't seem that you were gone that long, but already the sun was setting. Probably because you were going East. Three-hour time difference and all that. Plus going in the other direction away from the sun was like going fast-forward into the future. Kind of like time traveling and the mindfucks it gives you. You don't think you could ever handle time-travel. Time shenanigans are not your style.
You stop and stare at the door to the tiny room thing that you, John, and Jaya share for a few moments. You cautiously open the door a crack, just in case Jaya was in there chatting it up with John… or worse… You shove the uncomfortable anger away and gag instead. You peek inside. Coast is clear. You slide it open all the way and go in. You nearly sit down when you realize the seat is breathing.
You freak out a bit and jump to the left, raising your arms in the same direction. If this were a comic, you would have had an exclamation point at the side of your head in surprise.
Oh, it's just Jaya. Sleeping. Like. Right there. And you almost sat on her. You're still thinking about sitting on her. No, Dave, that would be rude. You decide not to and sit on the other side, putting your elbows on your widespread knees.
She had taken her glasses off and is now clutching them like they were going to get stolen while she slept. Her mouth is slightly parted, showing her surprisingly cute buck teeth. Hair had fallen onto her face, so it was partially hidden. The rest of her long hair acted sort of like a blanket. Her clothes also hang off of her, like she had inherited them from a much larger person. For some reason, you think she would look really good in blue…
Before you even realize it, you're looming over her sleeping, curled up form, about to bend down and do something. You snap out of it and stand up straight again. You purse your lips and feel your face getting warm for some reason. You hit the side of your head with your palm and look towards the shoebox behind you. You sigh and reach for it, opening the box. You have no idea how to put a shotgun together, so you just close the box again and hold it in your lap.
After a few minutes of aimless staring out of the window, you sigh and put the shoebox back in its place and slump down where you were before to take a nap. You barely lean your head back on the chair when John bursts in.
"Guys wake up!" he yells, startling both you and Jaya from her sleep. "We have a problem!"
Will you kill your best friend?
Probably.
-Be John-
You are John Egbert, and you are all officially screwed.
"Guys, wake up! We have a problem!"
"Dude! I was going to take a nap!" Dave replies, annoyed.
Jaya sits up and rubs her eyes. "What's going on?"
"These tickets are bunk," you say, presenting one.
"What?" Dave reacts. He smacks his forehead. "I knew it, I fucking knew it…" he mumbles.
"Oh, no!" Jaya says. "What'll we do?"
"I don't know!" you panic. You've been racking your brain for the last five minutes trying to find a solution to your predicament.
"What exactly is wrong with them?" Dave asks coolly, trying to mask his anger.
You take a breath. "Okay. So I compared our ticket to someone else's because I was curious, and instead of the last four digits of the ticket number be letters, they're numbers. So I ran off and came straight here. And also the ticket guy is coming."
Jaya's eyes widen. Dave makes a stink face.
"Well, we all know what this means," Dave pipes up.
"What?" you ask, afraid for the answer.
"We're going to go hang out with Jaya's dog for a while."
-Ten minutes later-
"Ugh, why is it so cold in here?" you complain. "There's no heat in here!"
"Imagine how Bec feels!" Jaya says, cradling her dog in her lap. She sits on top of some boxes that may or may not be filled with explosive contrabands. The "TNT" logo is poorly crossed out with squiggly lines.
"Dogs have fur coats," Dave corrects her, also shivering.
"Shut up, Dave! He's still a puppy!"
"Holy shit you are sensitive!" Dave hisses through his teeth. "John, how long do we have to stay in here?"
"Well, uh," you stammer, looking for the right way to put it as gently as possible. "Probably…" You gulp. "For the rest of the trip?" You shrug. It's not like you planned it or anything! It just turned out that way. You brace for impact.
All Dave does is let out a frustrated scoff, and almost unnoticeably at the same time, Jaya. "At least it's not January." He purses his lips and eyes the shoebox that he was so intent on bringing. Whatever it was, you determined it to be important to Dave.
"Well," Jaya pipes up twenty minutes later. "If we're going to be here a while, we might as well make a bed or at least living quarters. Did anyone bring blankets?"
You and Dave exchange glances. You two expected to sleep in hotels and train-provided bedding so it was all left at the factory where you found it. After that, when you two had gotten the money, you would live the high life. You were the only one that shook your head.
Jaya sighed. "You guys probably didn't pack any jackets either, huh?"
"Ooh! I have a parka!" you say enthusiastically.
Jaya nodded. "Okay, and?"
"I packed two sweaters," Dave answers. Jaya looks at him quizzically. You had never taken him for a sweater guy, either. "What? It's colder than what I'm used to, okay?"
"You grew up with me on an island!" you say exasperatedly.
"You grew up with me on an island!" he mocks in a higher-pitched voice.
"Shut up!" Jaya yells. "Jeez, you're just like my other family back at the island!"
"What other family?" you and Dave ask simultaneously.
After an hour of Jaya's explanation of these gray people finding her and raising her on an island not far from your own, you are still very confused. Now you have a headache. You feel like taking a nap. A nap sounds excellent right now. You yawn behind your hand and lay out on your back between the tied-down suitcases and other assorted boxes.
John: Try to sleep.
-Be Dave again-
You are Dave Strider, and you have questions about Jaya's questionable past.
"So, these relatives of yours," you start. "They're not really related, right?"
"Not to me, no, but they are kind of to each other," she answers honestly. She scratches awkwardly at the back of her head. "It's kind of hard to explain."
"Not to be of the offending kind, but this Karkat guy, is he the reason you're so emotional all the damn time?" You don't mean to be harsh, but you just mean to be harsh. She squints at you in response.
"Probably. But I'm pretty sure he has Kanaya to keep him in control."
"They sound like they're dating or something." You shift into a cross-legged position.
"I wish!" she laughs. "He gets so embarrassed whenever she's around! She's really good with the little ones, but they also like to pile on him, so she steps in to help a lot." That smile… so she can be human sometimes. She has hope after all.
"Fuckin' dream team babysitters."
"Fuck yeah," she says, a smile growing on her face. You spoke too soon.
She takes a deep breath and moves her dog from her lap to the top of the box beside her. How the hell is it even still sleeping. You thought puppies were awake all the time and never this well-behaved. You're beginning to think that dog isn't exactly normal. She jumps down gracefully and picks up the parka and both sweaters.
"So, do you miss it?" she asks, walking over to John's sleeping form.
"What?" you reply, following her.
"The island you grew up on."
"Oh. Not really." You didn't mean to say that. You actually did miss the size. Not too big, not too small. Lots of open space for strife battles.
"I miss my island." She sighs again. "Everyone was so good to me, even though I wasn't like them. Even Karkat sometimes."
You had nothing to say to that. You have a feeling you would hate this Karkat guy for a number of reasons.
"The truth is, they wanted me to go work at this factory in Olympia, but I got—ended up in Seattle instead, where you guys were. I changed my mind and wanted to look for my real family instead of working."
"That's a noble calling," you semi-mock. Damn it. You close your eyes in frustration at the tone that came out with that statement. You did it again.
"I think so," she smiles again, unaware of your sarcasm. She puts the sweaters on one arm and tucks a lock of hair around her ear. "Okay." She stands next to John, who is now officially sound asleep. She lays down one of the sweaters next to John and the parka on the other, and carefully rolls him onto the parka. She scootches the first sweater closer to him, and lays the other sweater on his other side.
"What are you doing?" you ask in a sort of demanding tone.
"Making our bed."
"I'm not sleeping next to John."
"Well, it's either that or sleeping next to me!"
"I'd rather sleep by myself."
"Trust me on this, Dave, you'll freeze."
"Nope."
"I've been camping before, and it's always a good idea to sleep huddled up in a group!" John stirs, which makes you both shut up. He doesn't move again, so she continues. "So come on!"
"Give me the damn sweater."
"Ugh, fine! Freeze to death!" She throws the sweater at you and kneels next to John, laying herself down on the sweater. Most of it hangs over your shoulder, and one arm crosses your face. Good thing she threw the good sweater at you, because if she threw the crappy one, she would have had another thing coming. You turn on your heel, trying to get rid of the mental image of Jaya and John embracing each other while they slept. You grit your teeth, muttering.
You turn back to them stubbornly and set up the sweater next to Jaya. She was now in the middle.
"Dave, what—"
"I'm not sleeping next to him. Trust me on this." You lay down on the sweater, facing away from her, trying not to overthink things again.
Dave: Sleep.
-Okay, enough Dave. Be the girl this time.-
Jaya: Dream.
You are now Jaya, and having a good dream. A dream where you are playing with someone your age with the same dark hair and bright, blue eyes. You are in a dark place, but it wasn't scary. You two were playing. Playing hide and seek. Someone else was It, though. Who? You heard her voice, but it was garbled. Suddenly, the earth shook and things started to collapse all around you. You heard someone calling your name in the distance.
"Jaya!" Your eyes shoot open. The earth really is shaking, but it's the train. Things that were tied down before had been broken loose and shifting every which way. Your vision finally clears when your glasses are shoved into your hands, surprisingly unharmed given the circumstances.
"What's going on?!" you shout above the horrid screeching of the train.
"I have no idea!" John shouts back. He is holding your hands. "Dave went to check it out!" The door flew open. It was Dave.
"We're the only ones on this train!" he reports, yelling. "The only ones alive, anyway!"
"What?!" you yell. "How?"
"I don't know! Everyone's dead, or thrown off, or something!"
Your thoughts went to the passengers. Some of them were children! What could have happened to make them all disappear or be killed? You shudder, trying not to let your thoughts wander to everyone at the island, and if it had been the wigglers instead.
"They all had holes in their chests, like something huge stabbed them…" Dave seemed lost in thought, remembering. Your head starts to hurt at the thought. Holes… getting stabbed… it all seemed so familiar…
"Guys!" John called from the doorway. Both you and Dave look over at him. He's pointing at something in the direction the runaway train was heading. You look over his shoulder, down his arm. Your eyes widen again.
In the distance, there was an approaching bridge. On the bridge's old-fashioned wooden structure, there were large red roots covering it like vines. In a matter of seconds, the vines crushed the bridge, making the entire thing shatter and fall into the canyon below. You freeze in shock for a moment.
"You don't see that every day," John commented.
"We need to get off this train!" Dave orders. "Does anyone have any ideas?"
Bec barks in response.
"I didn't ask you, furball!"
"Hey!" you scold, breaking out of the trance.
"Well, if no one has any better ideas, I say we jump before we hit that gorge!" Dave says, pointing.
"The train's going too fast!" you protest. "We'll die from the sheer force of hitting the ground at this velocity! Or at least from hitting a tree or a rock!"
"Ooh, someone's got it allll figured out!" Dave argues.
"Guys, shut up!" John interrupts. "I have a plan!"
John tells you both the plan. Dave already has a comment.
"That's the stupidest plan I have ever heard, Egbert!"
"Let's do it!" you say. Dave balks at you. "It's better than jumping just willy-nilly!"
"Fine, whatever!" Dave throws up his arms in defeat. "What do I need to do?"
John looks around and the train jostles violently, sending everyone into the air. John lands on his stomach on a pile of luggage, Dave lands against the wall a few feet from him, and you land face-first onto Dave's chest.
"Ow!" you say, rubbing your knee which had hit the ground upon impact. You realize where you are and scramble away, kicking Dave in the process. John smirked, but shook his head, scrambling around for something.
"It's bad enough hitting the wall, but damn it, Jaya! You're really heavy, you know that?" Dave remarks.
"I hate you so much right now," you mumble.
You eye the shoebox Dave had been trying to hide from you earlier. The top had fallen off, probably while you all were in the air. A familiar metallic color grabs your attention. You make your way over to it, hoping it's what you think it is. The wobbling of the train doesn't help your journey. You get there and see exactly what you had hoped to see. You turn to Dave to demand an explanation, but he's already helping John with the plan. You turn back to your beloved shotgun, feeling a bit guilty. He even managed to get back the special bullets that you and Nepeta had custom-built for larger animals. You didn't know what kind of "larger animals" she meant at the time, but they seem to be perfect for John's idea now. No time to waste.
Jaya: Put your shotgun together.
-Time to be Jack!-
You are now Jack Noir. Duh, we just said that.
Everything is going to plan. You had found the little brat heading west on an express train. Her two companions have no idea who she is, do they? Not like it matters. They will die as well. You used your ring as a homing device and got her whereabouts on the train. She was not one of the passengers that the Red Miles had eradicated, so just to be sure, you had them destroy the bridge.
Flying alongside, for some reason, you think the train wasn't going as fast as you wanted it to. You narrowed down their location to the baggage car, so you cut off the passenger cars behind them with your sword to lighten the load. The train does indeed go faster. You bolt to the other side of the canyon, where the bridge was intended to connect the two masses of land, and sit on the edge, awaiting the eventual explosion you have anticipated for a very long time.
Jack: Sit and wait.
You sit and wait.
