With a ravenous roar it charged. Ash took aim, ready to level the deadite with a single blast straight to the head. But as he steadied the gun, Felicia emitted a high pitched hiss, and in an instant the deadite flew backwards and then lay flopping on the ground emitting low gargles.
"Oh yuuuuck!" Felicia shrieked as she looked with disgust at the blood and flesh on her claws and fur. She looked desperately for something to wipe the mess on, grabbed the first thing she saw and hurriedly rubbed. She stopped when she realized what she was holding, and followed the material up to Donovan, who was giving her a slightly annoyed look. "Heh...sorry." She said and released the cloth, letting it dangle back on its owner.
"Jeez lady, remind me never to piss you off." Ash said admiringly. Felicia flashed him a charming smile and struck a quick pose. Their attention was drawn by the gurgling growl of the deadite as it rose back to its feet, blood and puss still pumping from the gashes across its face.
"Swallow your souls!" it snarled, and before the stunned eyes of the gathered band of warriors, its head transformed, the skin pulling tighter across the skull, the eye sockets growling larger and deeper, the teeth shifting unevenly in the jaw, the tongue splitting at the end into a fork. Its neck grew out, nearly six feet long, pulsing like a great serpent. Its growls grew high pitched, like the shrieking of a monkey, and it gazed at them with the balls of puss that were its eyes. "Swallow your souls, swallow your souls!" it repeated in its now crackly voice.
With a flick of her wrist, Hsien-Ko threw a series of daggers at the creature. Two of them ripped its arms away at the elbows, and three more tore into the giraffe-like neck, decapitating it in an instant. Blood sprayed from the stumps where its forearms and head had been, and the body danced about as if drunk. A quick flash of Donovan's massive sword, and the torso fell away from the hips, and in an instant the remnants of the dismembered creature rotted into nothing.
Ash stood, his jaw dangling in amazement at the speed with which it had all unfolded. His head snapped too and fro, gazing to the rotting body-parts back to his companions. "Man..." he finally said, a goofy smile working across his face, "You guy's really are groovy!"
"Groovy!" Felicia purred with delight at hearing this familiar term.
"Again with that word!" Hsien-Ko said in exasperation. "What does it mean, this 'groovy'?"
"I'll explain it later." Felicia giggled. "What was that thing?"
"A deadite" Ash said seriously, "And you're going to be seeing a lot more of them if you don't help us."
"How many is a lot?" Felicia said quietly, afraid of the answer she would receive.
And the answer came not in words, but in the roars of a dozen more deadites charging onto the platform. The warriors all dropped into combat-ready positions, prepared to fight. But the battle was interrupted before it even started by the long, dreadful howl. All eyes, including the deadite's, snapped up to see the muscular figure standing atop the train. It lowered its canine head to reveal a pair of glowing read eyes. It leapt off the train, performing a perfect somersault in the air, landing graceful as a ballerina on its feet and glared at the group of deadites.
They snarled at the werewolf like creature, and it snarled back, just as impressive. The deadites charged, and the wolf-man simply thrust its clawed hands forward, and a massive fireball shaped like a wolf's head flew forward, incinerating the monsters in an instant, their last cries echoing into the night.
"Whew, thanks John. I was starting to think I'd have to break a sweat there." Felicia said as she strode calmly up the wolf-man. He smiled through his fangs, and wrapped one arm protectively around her, his hand resting on her hip.
"Uh...is there something I'm missing here?" Ash asked as best he could, considering he could not seem to get his jaw off the ground. Felicia blushed slightly, and the were-wolf chuckled.
"Oh, how forgetful of us" Mei-Ling said, apologetically, "Ash, this is John Talbain, a...traveling companion of Felicia's." She threw the cat-girl a smirk, and the blush in Felicia's cheeks deepened.
Talbain strode forward and extended his furred arm to Ash, who gaped at the size and muscularity of that hand for a moment. Then he clasped it with his own, feeling like child shaking the hand of an adult.
"Man, it's getting so nothing surprises me anymore." Ash muttered as they shook.
"Are you positive this could work?" Q. Bee asked the vampire. Lilith sat on her branch, addressing the insect-darkstalker rather casually, considering the situation. She kicked her legs in the air, as if she had not a care in the world.
"Of course I'm sure it'll work." She said and with that she hopped off her branch to join Q. Bee on hers. "All we need is a piece of his hair. That's all. Then we'll have someone to get the book for us."
"And you're sure that they'll listen to it?"
"Of course they would. After all, it's one of them."
"So that's the whole story." Ash said as he crouched down to pick up the last crate. After hearing of the situation, Felicia had gladly agreed to help them, but insisted that they help finished loading up the train with supplies for the journey. He struggled and groaned to move the heavy box, but with only his one hand available, and his only-human strength, it proved impossible.
"So you actually went back in time?" Hsien-Ko said as she crouched down on the opposite site of the large box to help.
"Yeah. Went back in time, fought an army of skeletons, saved a kingdom, nothing big." He raised his head to look across the surface of the box at her, and found himself unable to help but take advantage of the view their position offered him of the impressive contours of her cleavage. "Um...you know, those people asked me to stay and lead them, offered to make me their king." He said, his words coming absently as his attention was focused entirely on the view.
"I can just imagine how things would have turned out then." Hsien-Ko said, dripping with sarcasm. She raised her head to look at him, but found his gazed was pointed downwards. She lowered her own eyes, saw what he was looking at. Twin spots of ruddy color worked their way against the usual blotches of pink on her cheeks. She hoisted the crate easily, its edge knocking Ash on his chin, the momentum throwing him back onto his butt. "Don't get fresh with me, pal." She said haughtily, and with that she carried the crate into the train all on her own.
"Wanted to make you king, eh?" another woman's voice interrupted as Ash rose to his feet. He looked up, and found Mei-Ling gazing at him, amused.
"You betchya" he said as he came up alongside her.
"So why didn't you take them up on their offer?"
"Well, I just didn't belong there. I had to get back to my own time, you know? And besides, in some ways, I already am a kind." With that, he bent his knees, bowing his head to her, and he took one of her hands in his own and placed a single kiss onto it. He raised his eyes to see her looking surprised, a light blush rising onto her face as well. "Hail to the king, baby" He said, lowering his voice a few decibels, trying his best to sound sexy.
"Hey, don't get fresh with my sister either!" Hsien-Ko shouted as she planted her foot firmly onto Ash's behind. He yelped and jumped several feet. He watched as Hsien-Ko prodded her sister onto the train. He smirked, even as he rubbed his sore posterior.
"No doubt about it. She wants me." He said to himself, and boarded the train.